506 



LUTHERANS. 



kittsville, Md. ; Mount Pleasant Seminary, 

 Mount Pleasant, N. 0.; Staunton Seminary, 

 Staunton, Va. ; Female College, Marion, Va. ; 

 Young Ladies' Institute, St. Joseph's, Mo. ; 

 High School (German), St. Louis, Mo. 



Kurtz's Almanac enumerates 18 English, 

 24 German, 1 Danish, 3 Norwegian, and 4 

 Swedish periodicals, as published in the inter- 

 ests of the Lutheran Church. Ten of these 

 are weekly, 9 are semi-monthly, 26 are month- 

 ly, 1 is quarterly, and 4 are yearly. 



Rolerts's Kalender gives 19 German, 13 Eng- 

 lish, 3 Swedish, 4 Norwegian, and 1 Danish 

 periodicals. 



The General Synod, South, of the Evan- 

 gelical Lutheran Church, met at Savannah, 

 Ga., April 30th. Representatives were pres- 

 ent from the Synods of South Carolina, Vir- 

 ginia, Southwest Virginia, and Georgia. The 

 Rev. J. P. Smeltzer, D. D., was chosen presi- 

 dent. A communication was received from 

 the Corresponding Secretary of the Lutheran 

 General Council of 1873, inclosing the action 

 of that body in favor of holding a Colloquium 

 of representatives of all the Lutheran bodies 

 in the United States, for the discussion of the 

 points of agreement and difference between 

 them. It was referred to a committee. The 

 committee returned the following report and 

 resolutions, which were unanimously adopted : 



The overture thus officially laid before us is so clear 

 and unequivocal in its design as to allay all that sus- 

 picion with which some of us have regarded previous 

 efforts professing a similar object. The reading of it, 

 and the statements made by the Eev. Dr. Fry before 

 this synod, assure us that it solely contemplates a 

 greater unity in the one true faith of our Church, 

 without any reference to the present general organi- 

 zations as such. 



A closer union between all the parts of the Luther- 

 an Church in this land is sought not by legislation 

 or through formal organic convention, but by a vol- 

 untary conference of those bearing the same name 

 and holding the same confession : "That by a candid 

 and fraternal expression of views" on points con- 

 cerning which there is a difference of interpretation 

 wo may all " by the grace of God be brought to a 

 greater unity of spirit." 



Believing that such unity is highly desirable and 

 essential to the fullest prosperity, moral power, and 

 efficiency of the Lutheran Church on this continent, 

 and that said Colloquium is neither designed nor cal- 

 culated, openly or covertly, to weaken or interfere 

 with the organic union of all the Lutheran synods in 

 one general body a consummation deemed by us 

 of prime necessity in our peculiar work, and in which 

 we should have the undisguised sympathy of the 

 other general bodies of our Church ; and being as- 

 sured that nothing that may be said or done at such 

 Colloquium shall in any wise bind individuals .or 

 synods with any legislative authority, but shall leave 

 all as free to follow their own honest convictions as 

 if they had in no way participated in it : therefore 

 be it 



Resolved, That we do most heartily approve of the 

 holding of such Colloquium for the fraternal exami- 

 nation of our confessions in the light of God's word. 



Besolved, That fervent prayer be made continually 

 to Almighty God for that unity which is the work 

 of the Holy Spirit. 



Besolved, That a committee of five ministers and 

 five laymen be appointed to cooperate with similar 

 committees that may be appointed in arranging the 



points for friendly discussion at the proposed Collo- 

 quium, and the time and place of its convention. 



A copy of the paper was ordered sent to the 

 General Council. The committee of confer- 

 ence and arrangements, contemplated in the 

 resolutions, was appointed. Some efforts were 

 made for the endowment of a second professor- 

 ship in the Theological Seminary. A commit- 

 tee was appointed to revise the Book of Wor- 

 ship and provide for its continued publication. 

 The periodical, the Lutheran Visitor, was as- 

 sumed by the synod, and an editorial commit- 

 tee was appointed to supervise its conduct. 



The third annual convention of the Synodi- 

 cal Conference of North America was held in 

 Pittsburg, Pa., July 15th to 21st. The Synods 

 of Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minne- 

 sota, and the Norwegian Synod, being all the 

 synods in connection with this organization, 

 were represented. The number of representative 

 delegates was fifty-two, and as many advisory 

 delegates were also present as swelled the num- 

 ber of members of the Conference to one hun- 

 dred ; two series of theses were discussed, one 

 on fellowship and the other on parochial law. 

 On the former subject, a thesis was unani- 

 mously adopted, the import of which was 

 that whoever denies the inference legitimately 

 drawn from the words of the confession is not 

 a true member of the Lutheran Church, even 

 though he does without right adhere to the 

 Lutheran name. On the second subject several 

 theses were adopted, the substance of which 

 is : Parishes should be geographically limited, 

 and have each is own territory, according to 

 apostolical example; those persons who live 

 within the reach of the services of an orthodox 

 minister, but decline to use them, despise not 

 merely a man, but the Lord ; where the boun- 

 daries of different parishes meet, care for the 

 soul and interest in the welfare of Zion must 

 determine to which one a person must belong ; 

 parochial boundaries, being merely of human 

 right, may be changed whenever the interests 

 of the Church demand it. The invitation of 

 the General Council to take part in the ar- 

 rangements for a Colloquium occupied a con- 

 siderable part of the time of the Conference. 

 It was represented that many members would 

 have supported a call for a free conference, 

 but it was said they could not approve the plan 

 of the General Council for the appointment of 

 a committee to cooperate with the committees 

 of other bodies accepting unreservedly the 

 Augsburg Confession, for fear it would commit 

 them to action implying an acknowledgment 

 that the General Synod so accepted that con- 

 fession. It was finally agreed to forego the 

 privilege of taking part in the preliminary ar- 

 rangements, and merely to declare itself willing 

 to attend the Colloquium when it should be 

 called. Action was taken toward the prepa- 

 ration of a series of books in the English lan- 

 guage for churches and schools, beginning with 

 a primer and reader for schools. A committee 

 was appointed to superintend a mission which 



