490 



METHODISTS. 



The reports make return of 507 unstationed 

 ministers and preachers, 667 church edifices, 

 and 171 parsonages, and give the total value 

 of church property at $1,767,140. 



No reports were received from the Califor- 

 nia, Boston, and Tennessee Conferences, and 

 the returns from several of the conferences 

 named in the table were imperfect. 



The third General Conference of the Meth- 

 odist Church met at Princeton, 111., May 19th. 

 The Rev. John Burns, of Cambridge, Ohio, was 

 chosen chairman. The most important busi- 

 ness which came before the body was the con- 

 sideration of the subject of union with the 

 Methodist Protestant Church. The General 

 Conference of the latter Church, which met at 

 Lynchburg, Va., in 1874, had signified its 

 readiness to negotiate for union with such 

 other Methodist churches as might respond^ to 

 its invitation, and had appointed a commission 

 of nine ministers and laymen to meet a similar 

 commission appointed by any other Methodist 

 body, to arrange the terms on which union 

 could be had. This action, although general 

 in its terms, had especial reference to the 

 Methodist Church. A commission of nine 

 ministers and laymen was appointed to meet 

 the commissioners of the Methodist Protestant 

 Church. Their authority to act was, however, 

 limited by a resolution instructing them " to 

 enter into no arrangement with the commis- 

 sioners of the Methodist Protestant Church 

 that shall not be subject to the decision of this 

 General Conference at its next session after 

 the action of said commissioners said General 

 Conference retaining the right to approve or 

 reject the same." The commission was consti- 

 tuted as follows : Ministers, J. J. Smith, John 

 Burns, E. A. Wheat, Alexander Clark, George 

 B. McElroy ; laymen, F. H. Pierpont, J. J. Gil- 

 lespie, T. J. Finch, P. F. Eemsburg. Five alter- 

 nate commissioners were also appointed. The 

 Committee on Methodistic Union reported that 

 there was no prospect of an immediate union 

 with the Methodist Episcopal Church. The 

 Board of Missions was directed to consist of 

 nine members, elected by the General Confer- 

 ence, three of whom shall constitute the Exec- 

 utive Committee the acts of the Executive 

 Committee to be subject to revision by the 

 board. Provision was made for the organiza- 

 tion of missionary boards of the annual confer- 

 ences, and of district boards within the annual 

 conferences, and for the collection and dispo- 

 sition of missionary funds. The board was lo- 

 cated at Springfield, Ohio. A Board of Church 

 Extension was organized. A paper was 

 adopted, advising increased interest in camp- 

 meetings, and recommending the organization 

 of a general camp-meeting association, to ren- 

 der aid to the annual conference and local 

 camp-meetings and associations. The Rev. 

 George Burns, D.D., one of the "fathers" of 

 the Church, had been requested by the pre- 

 vious General Conference to prepare a volume 

 of his sermons and recollections of the early 



history of the Church, and had begun the 

 work, but died before completing it. The Rev. 

 John Scott, D. D., was selected to prepare 

 this work for publication. A committee was 

 appointed to take into consideration the sub- 

 ject of church property, and to suggest meas- 

 ures to make such property more secure to 

 the denomination than it now is. A favorable, 

 report was made of the condition of Adrian 

 College. The indebtedness of the institution 

 had been provided for, but the endowment 

 was not yet sufficient to afford provision for 

 current expenses. The reliable assets of the 

 college were estimated to amount to $239,358. 

 Arrangements were made for raising a " cen- 

 tenary offering " in connection with the cel- 

 ebration of the centennial anniversary of 

 American independence. They contemplated 

 the collection of a fund of $200,000, of which 

 $100,000 should be appropriated to the endow- 

 ment of Adrian College, and $25,000 each to 

 the publication interests, missions, and church 

 extension. The Conference was visited and 

 addressed by the Rev. Bishop E. S. Janes, of 

 the Methodist Episcopal Church, and by the 

 fraternal delegates appointed by the General 

 Conferences of the Methodist Protestant and 

 Methodist Episcopal Churches. 



The commissioners appointed by the Gen- 

 eral Conferences of the Methodist Protestant 

 and Methodist Churches, for the purpose of 

 arranging the terms of a basis of union of the 

 two Churches, met at Pittsburg, Pa., October 

 22d. L. W. Bates was chosen president of the 

 meeting. Sixteen amendments to the Disci- 

 plines of the two Churches, designed to make 

 them conform to each other, were agreed upon, 

 as well as terms for the adjustment of minor 

 details of the relations of the Churches, all of 

 which are to be submitted to the convention 

 which was afterward provided for, for ratifica- 

 tion. A recommendation was agreed upon 

 that the name " Methodist Protestant Church " 

 be retained as the name of the denomination 

 in case the union is consummated. A conven- 

 tion of the Methodist Protestant and Methodist 

 Churches was called to be held in Baltimore, 

 on the second Friday in May, 1877, " to con- 

 summate the whole work." A resolution was 

 adopted recommending that a national camp- 

 meeting of the two denominations, for the 

 promotion of the cause of union, be held in 

 the summer of 1876, and a committee was 

 appointed to name a time and place for hold- 

 ing it. 



IV. WESLEYAN METHODIST CONNECTION. 

 The ninth quadrennial session of the General 

 Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Con- 

 nection of America was held at Sycamore, 111., 

 beginning October 20th. The Champlain, New 

 York, Syracuse, Rochester, Lockport, Allegha- 

 ny, Central Ohio, Miami, Indiana, Michigan, 

 Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Minne- 

 sota Conferences were represented by dele- 

 gates. The Tennessee Conference had appoint- 

 ed delegates, who were not able to attend. 



