UNITED STATES CHURCHES 733 



United Presbyterian Church. (7) Between the Northern Baptists and the Free Baptists, 

 long separated by their Calvinistic and Arminian Confessions; the two bodies have consolidat- 

 ed their denominational missionary, publication and educational boards, but the merging 

 of churches, conferences, associations, etc., will, it is expected, be a gradual process. 



The Roman Catholic Church is steadily growing in America, having a population of over 

 15,000,000, not including Porto Rico, the Philippines, and the Panama Canal Zone. This 

 population, embracing representatives of many of the peoples, races and languages of the 

 world, stands fora communicant membership of about 12,750,000 (end of 1911), eliminating 

 unconfirmed baptised children; this indicates a net gain of about 675,000 communicants in 

 the last five years. The Pope, appreciating the freedom, loyalty and prosperity of the 

 Church in the United States, gave it in 1908 a complete ecclesiastical status. Before that 

 year it had been treated as a missionary organisation under the general supervision of the 

 Congregation de Propaganda Fide, in Rome. Now it has the same measure of autonomy 

 as is enjoyed by the Roman Catholic Church in England or Germany. The pope has ap- 

 pointed three new cardinals for the Church in the United States Archbishop Farley of 

 New York, Archbishop O 'Connell, of Boston, and Monsignor Falconio, Apostolic Delegate at 

 Washington. The Papal decree of September, 1910 prescribing rigorous measures to prevent 

 " Modernism" from getting a footing in the Church, evoked no protest in the United States, 

 and the oath required of the clergy was loyally given. 



The group of Eastern Orthodox Churches having congregations in the United States has 

 increased in number by immigration. In addition to the Russian, Greek, Armenian, Servian, 

 and Syrian bodies, the Bulgarian and Rumanian Churches have organisations, the seven re- 

 porting an aggregate of about 434,000 communicants. 



The Church of Christ Scientist, or Christian Science, appears to be gaining in number of 

 branches, or churches, in "readers" and in practitioners. For some years no returns have 

 been given of members. The death of the founder and director of the movement, Mrs. Mary 

 Baker Eddy, in 1910, left the Board of five directors, which had been appointed by her, as 

 the governing body of the denomination. Her fortune, amounting to $2,500,000, was left 

 for the benefit of the organisation. The withdrawal of a few branches and the organisation 

 of a Reformed Christian Science Church is one of the events of 1912. 



The fourth decennial Ecumenical Methodist Conference, for the discussion of problems 

 common to Methodism was held in October, 1911 in Toronto. There were present about 500 

 delegates, 200 from the Methodist Churches of Great Britain, Ireland, France, South Africa 

 and Australasia; and 300 from the many branches of Methodism in the United States and 

 Canada. The questions treated in papers and discussions took a wide range, the newer 

 phases of Church life and Church work, including missionary endeavour, social service, train- 

 ing and care of the young, evangelism, international peace, receiving much attention. Higher 

 biblical criticism evoked expressions of acquiescence in ascertained results, although there 

 was an undercurrent of dissent. Delegates from Great Britain and Australasia had enthu- 

 siastic reports to make of the results of the consolidation of a number of branches. An 

 Ecumenical Methodist Commission, to act for the Methodism of the world in the interval of 

 the decennial Conferences, and especially to cultivate a more intimate fellowship between the 

 various branches, was created. Reports from the Eastern and Western Sections showed that 

 Methodism in America has entered a period in which the rate of increase is lessening; while 

 the British branches are encountering net losses. The larger bodies of the United States 

 have all gained in communicants since 1906, the Methodist Episcopal reporting 3,293,526 in 

 1912, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1,919,873 in 1912, the Methodist Protestant 

 183,318, the African Methodist Episcopal, 620,234 the African M. E. Zion, 547,216 and the 

 Colored M. E., 234,721. In all, the 17 bodies have a total of about 6,905,000. 



The Baptist World Alliance held its second Congress in Philadelphia, in June 1911. 

 Delegates of the Northern, Southern, Colored and Free Baptist bodies of the United States 

 and from the Baptist Churches of Canada, Great Britain, Russia and other countries of 

 Europe, and from Africa, Australia, and countries of Asia were present. The sessions were 

 crowded, and great enthusiasm was evoked by the Russian delegation, who told of persecu- 

 tion and progress and great opportunities. The Congress raised over $60,000 for a theolog- 

 ical seminary in St. Petersburg, and the American Baptists agreed to increase the fund to 

 $125,000. The Rev. R. S. MacArthur, D.D., of New York, was elected President, and he 

 subsequently visited Russia, dedicated a Baptist Tabernacle in St. Petersburg and bought 

 ground for the Seminary. The larger Baptist bodies of the United States are growing steadi- 

 ly. The Northern Baptists number about 1,176,000, the Southern 2,475,600 and the Colored 

 over 1,912,000. A dozen other Baptist bodies bring the total up to about 5,894,000. 



The Congregational Churches have under consideration a plan for the co-ordination of 

 their benevolent societies and for changes in their national triennial Council which would give 

 it administrative functions, with a permanent Secretary. The denomination is growing 

 moderately, having at the close of 1912 742,000 communicants. 



The Disciples of Christ, notwithstanding the division of some years ago into two bodies, 

 show a healthy growth. In this denomination at the close of 1912 there were about 1,340,000 

 communicants, besides the 157,000 or more belonging to the conservative branch known as 

 the Churches of Christ. 



