METHODISTS. 



547 



IX. MKTIH.MST CnuBCH or CANADA. Tho 



s ..i' tli.- l:iu-*t estimates of the number 



>: ministers nnd members of the three bodies 



\vhii-h lm\o iiuitrd in the Methodist Church 



;iada arc embodied in the following table : 



The first General Conference of the United 

 !/an Methodist Church of Canada met in 

 iotropolitan Wesleyan Methodist Church, 

 Toronto, September 16, 1874. The Hon. L. 

 A. \\ ilnmt, ex-Governor of New Brunswick, 

 hoson chairman pro tern. Subsequently, 

 the Kev. Dr. Edgerton Ryerson was elected 

 i lent of the General Conference for four 

 years. It was decided that persons who had 

 been elected as alternative delegates should be 

 admitted as members. On the third day of 

 the session a resolution constituting the Con- 

 ference was adopted. 



At a subsequent stage of the proceedings it 

 was decided that the name of the Church 

 should be THE METHODIST CHUKCH OF CANADA. 

 A General Conference seal was adopted, to 

 have upon it the words, "The General Con- 

 iVrcnce of the Methodist Church of Canada. 

 The best of all is God is with us." The Rev. 

 Mr. Robinson, who was present as the repre- 

 sentative of the English Conference of the 

 Methodist New Connection, addressed the Con- 

 ference, and expressed the acquiescence of 

 that body in the union. 



The attention of the Conference was mainly 

 directed to the adjustment of the connectional 

 interests and enterprises, hitherto distributed 

 among three distinct conferences, so as to con- 

 form them to the changed conditions resultant 

 upon consolidation. The constitution, boun- 

 daries, and functions of the six Annual Confer- 

 ences were defined. Three of these confer- 

 ences, the Toronto, Montreal, and London 

 Conferences, are in the Provinces of Ontario and 

 Quebec ; and three, the New Brunswick and 

 Prince Edward Island, the Nova Scotia, and 

 the Newfoundland conferences, are in the 

 Eastern Provinces. The Annual Conferences 

 were left with all the rights, powers, and 

 privileges they already possessed, except such 

 as had been vested in the General Conference, 

 including those of choosing their presidents, 

 secretaries, and chairmen of districts by ballot, 

 from among their own members, of examining 

 ministerial characters, and of stationing min- 

 isters. Provision was made for the adjust- 

 ment, for the present, of the boundaries of the 

 circuits of the former Wesleyan and New Con- 

 nection Conferences where they may overlap 

 each other. The missionary committee w re- 



authorized to take the income arising from the 

 New Connection Missionary Society, and, con- 

 sidering the independent circuits an domestic 

 missions, to make equitable grant* to them. 

 Provisions were also made for effecting the 

 permanent adjustment of the boundaries of 

 circuits ; for the disposal of surplus Church 

 property ; and for the consolidation of the 

 funds of the Wesleyan and New Connection 

 Churches. Plans were devised for adjusting 

 the relations of the General Conference to the 

 educational institutions of the Connection. 

 These consisted of one university, five colleges, 

 and numerous academies. An Educational 

 Society was recommended ; an Educational In- 

 stitute for the French Canadians in the Prov- 

 ince of Quebec was proposed. It was stated 

 that the colleges and schools at present in 

 operation required to maintain them fifteen 

 thousand dollars a year more than their pres- 

 ent income. A scheme was adopted to regu- 

 late the tenure of Church property, and a 

 standing committee was appointed to carry 

 out its provisions. 



A constitution was adopted for a General 

 Conference Missionary Society, membership in 

 which should be determined by subscriptions 

 of four dollars a year and upward. Existing 

 missionary societies were recognized as auxil- 

 iaries, and provision was made for district and 

 Annual Conference societies. The income of 

 the Missionary Society for the current year 

 was reported to have been $150,000. The 

 Book Committee was constituted, to consist of 

 thirty-seven ministerial and lay members, to 

 be selected proportionately from the several 

 Annual Conferences. It is to be divided into 

 Eastern and Western sections, which will meet 

 yearly, and it will itself meet as a whole at 

 the time and place of holding the next General 

 Conference, and make a full report of its 

 doings. The book nnd printing establishments 

 at Toronto and Halifax were ordered con- 

 tinued, and action was taken toward establish- 

 ing an agency at Montreal. A committee was 

 appointed to revise and prepare the materials 

 for a new hymn-book for the use of the de- 

 nomination, and submit the results of its 

 work to the next General Conference. The 

 salaries of unmarried ministers were fixed at 

 three hundred dollars a year, and the mini- 

 mum stipend of married ministers at seven 

 hundred and fifty dollars a year, including 

 house-rent nnd all other costs. The Confer- 

 ence was visited by fraternal delegates from 

 several other Methodist Churches in Canada 

 and the United States, and from the British 

 Wesleyan and New Connection Conferences. 

 It adopted addresses and appointed fraternal 

 delegates to the Genefal Conferences of the 

 Methodist Episcopal Churches in Canada and 

 the United State*, of the Methodist Episcopal 

 Church South, of the Methodist New Connec- 

 tion in England, of the Primitive Methodist 

 Church in Canada, and of the British Wesleyan 

 Connection. 



