676 



REFORMED CHURCHES. 



this sad state of facts, and heartily approve the ef- 

 forts being made by various Sabbath associations to 

 promote a better observance of the Christian Sab- 

 bath. 



Resolved, That all the pastors within the bounds 

 of the Synod be requested to preach a sermon on 

 the proper observance of the Sabbath, on the last 

 Sabbath of October, 1875. . 



Total abstinence from the use of ardent 

 spirits, the formation of temperance societies 

 by churches, ministers, and individual Chris- 

 tians, and prayer for the suppression of intem- 

 perance, were recommended. The sympathy 

 of the Synod was expressed with the work of 

 the Free Italian Church, and the Board of 

 Foreign Missions were requested to receive 

 and forward such moneys as might be offered 

 for the support of the evangelists of that 

 Church. The Rev. H. D. Ganse was chosen 

 lecturer on the Vedder foundation for 1877. 

 The Rev. Dr. T. W. Chambers had been chosen 

 by the previous General Synod for 1876. 



II. REFORMED CHUEOH IN THE UNITED STATES. 

 The following is a summary of the statistics 

 of this Church, as they are given in the Alma- 

 nac for the Reformed Church in the United 

 States (Philadelphia) for 1876 : 



Total number of baptisms, 13,607 ; of con- 

 firmations, 8,766 ; of persons who communed 

 during the year, 116,363; of Sunday-schools, 

 1,148 ; of scholars in the same, 72,205 ; of 

 students for the ministry, 107. Total amount 

 of benevolent contributions, $89,067.14.. 



The A Imanac gives a list of twelve English 

 and four German periodicals of the Reformed 

 Church in the United States. Of these, three 

 are weekly, two are published every other 

 week, two are semi-monthly, eight are month- 

 ly, and one is quarterly. The number of liter- 

 ary and theological institutions, as given in the 

 Almanac, is seventeen. 



The General Synod of the Reformed Church 

 in the United States met at Fort Wayne, Ind., 

 May 14th. The Rev. W. K. Zieber, D. D., of 

 York, Pa., was chosen president. The commit- 

 tee appointed by the previous General Syn- 

 od to confer with a committee of the General 

 Synod of the Reformed Church of America, in 

 reference to a union of the two Churches, re- 

 ported the proceedings of a joint meeting of 

 the two committees, which was held in De- 

 cember,' 1874. It had not been found possible 

 to suggest a plan of union which would be 

 satisfactory to both Churches. 



The Rev. John A. Baum was received, and 



addressed the Synod as a corresponding dele- 

 gate from the Reformed Church in America. 



A communication was received from the 

 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 

 in the United States of America, asking the 

 Synod to appoint a committee to consult with 

 similar committees of other denominations in 

 regard to holding a General Council of all Pres- 

 byterian Churches. In reply, the folio wing res- 

 olutions were adopted: 



Resolved, That this General Synod contemplates 

 with much satisfaction the various movements, look- 

 ing to a closer union of Eeformed Churches related 

 to one another by the inner ties of affinity in doc- 

 trine and government, and finds special reason for 

 cordial interest in the proposed Council of Presby- 

 terian Churches, as being a movement tending to 

 bind together still more closely those Churches 

 which hold the Westminster standards of faith. 



Resolved, That inasmuch as the Reformed Church 

 in the United States, represented by this General 

 Synod, recognizes no Confession as possessing bind- 

 ing authority but the Heidelberg Catechism, while 

 the (Ecumenical Council proposed by the General As- 

 sembly of the Presbyterian Church, in the paper laid 

 before us, respects only those Eeformed Churches 

 holding by the Westminster standards, it is not, in 

 our iudgment, relevant to the character and object 

 of this movement of the Presbyterian Church that 

 this General Synod appoint delegates to represent 

 the Eeformed Church in the United States in the pro- 

 posed (Ecumenical Council. 



Resolved } That it accords with the views and de- 

 sires of this body to have proper arrangements made 

 for a convention of Eeformed Churches, on a broader 

 basis, that is to say, a Council of Churches, holding 

 in common the recognized symbols of the Eeformed 

 branch of the Evangelical .Protestant Church, and 

 that we will cooperate with any suitable measures 

 which may be proposed to effect such a convention. 



Provision was made by which a pastoral 

 charge where the German language is prevail- 

 ingly used in worship, though located within 

 the bounds of an English classis, may be con- 

 nected with the nearest German classis, and the 

 corresponding privilege may be exercised by 

 an English charge situated within the bounds of 

 a German classis. The judgment of the Synod 

 was expressed that whenever a report for the 

 transfer of a charge from one classis to another, 

 under the circumstances indicated, is presented 

 in a regular manner, the classis to which the 

 report is made should not refuse to grant it, 

 unless there be grave and sufficient reasons for 

 so doing; also that such reports ought to be 

 made with as great a unanimity as possible, 

 and should never be made unless a majority of 

 the legally-qualified voting members of the 

 charge are in favor of it. 



The Synod resolved, " That, according to the 

 clear provision of the constitution of the Church, 

 all public theological teaching within the 

 bounds of any particular Synod is placed ex- 

 clusively under the direct control of that dis- 

 trict Synod." It was, however, expressly pro- 

 vided that nothing in this resolution should be 

 regarded as reversing or affirming the action 

 of the General Synod of 1872, in reference to 

 the so-called "super appeal case." In this 

 case, the conduct of Dr. Bemberger, and the 

 persons associated with him at Ursinus Col- 



