LUTHERANS. 



497 



This congregation receives and adheres to the ca- 

 nonical b>uk ni' the (Mil uml New Testament*, as 

 .alrd \V,.rd ,,r (,,! mid the only rule of faith 

 and lili-, and to the Confession* of tin: hvaii^elieal 

 Lutheran Church, especially the unaltered Augsburg 

 -i"ii and Luther's Small Catechism, as a cor- 

 >.d t'aiilii'ul exposition ot tlie Divine Word, to 

 whien rules and confessions ull instructions in the 

 churcli, tin- schools, and family, shall be conformed. 

 and by whieli all questions shall bo decided; anil 

 with which ull books of worship and instruction in 

 the congregation shall accord. 

 s 



Of the articles adopted at the present con- 

 vention, the second section of the first article 

 provides that the congregation shall be in union 

 with a synod of the Evangelical Lutheran 

 Church, whose doctrinal basis is in accordance 

 with that elsewhere laid down in the constitu- 

 tion, especially in the article first quoted. Ar- 

 ticle II., section 1, declares that " the congre- 

 gation shall consist of the pastor or pastors, 

 and other members of the Church of Christ, 

 who have been baptized and admitted to the 

 Lord's Supper, and who unite themselves as 

 one communion under this constitution by ac- 

 cepting the same and conforming to the duties 

 it enjoins ; and also such baptized members of 

 their household as have not yet reached the 

 years of separate responsibility, and are subject 

 by God's ordinance to their control as parents 

 or guardians." The second section of the 

 same article provides that " all those members, 

 so far as their years and spiritual fitness allow, 

 have a right to the means of grace provided 

 for in the congregation, and to the faithful ob- 

 servance toward them of the duties which pas- 

 tors, officers, and other members of the church, 

 owe one to another." The third section makes 

 it "the duty of nil members of the congrega- 

 tions to be steadfast in the baptismal covenant, 

 and, if they be parents or guardians, early to 

 bring the children under their care within the 

 same, presenting them for holy baptism, to 

 bring them up in the nurture and admonition 

 of the Lord, and to urge their attendance upon 

 the catechetical instruction of the pastor, and 

 their preparation for the rites of confirmation 

 and the Lord's Supper. As they grow in years, 

 they are to grow in the knowledge and grace 

 of God, diligently to study holy Scripture, 

 and use devout books which accord with it, to 

 seek the light and aid of the Holy Spirit, and 

 all other needful gifts, by fervent prayer, to 

 examine themselves, to receive the Lord's Sup- 

 per faithfully, and, if possible, whenever it is 

 celebrated, and regularly to use the ordinances 

 of public, family, and private devotion," etc. 



Article III., section 1, declares that "every 

 male member of the congregation, not under 

 church censure, twenty-one years of age, who, 

 as he conscientiously judges God has prospered 

 him, regularly contributes in accordance with 

 its plans of local support and general benefi- 

 cence, shall be entitled to take active pail in 

 all its meetings and to vote at all its elections." 

 The second section of the same article pro- 

 vides for the holding and calling of congrega- 

 VOL. xvi. 82 A 



tional meetings, the transaction of business in 

 the same, and for the powers of such meet- 

 ings. 



The consideration of section 1 of article 

 IV., which declares that "the permanent and 

 ordinary offices of the congregation shall be 

 the pastorate and diaconate," was postponed. 

 The second section of the same article was 

 adopted, as follows: "The chief offices of the 

 Christian congregation are named iii the New 

 Testament: pastors or shepherds, bishops, pres- 

 byters, or elders, and all they that have the 

 rule in the Lord, all which names designate 

 one and the same class of officers, whose dig- 

 nity, rights, and general duties, are under di- 

 vine appointment the same, and are inalien- 

 able and unchangeable." 



A committee appointed by the General Coun- 

 cil of 1874, to consider the testimony borne 

 by the General Council against "secret and 

 unchurchly societies," and to suggest a method 

 for accomplishing works of benevolence and 

 mercy, made a report, which pointed to the 

 local congregations as affording the best media 

 through which such works should be per- 

 formed. Upon their report a resolution was 

 adopted, directing the earnest attention of pas- 

 tors and churches to the claims " of the suffer- 

 ing members of our Lord's body," and recom- 

 mending that the diaconate of the congre- 

 gations be so reorganized as to number and 

 division of work " that it may be said of our 

 churches, as of the first churches of the saints, 

 that there are none among us who lack." A 

 report was adopted upon the condition of the 

 Lutheran churches in Germany, protesting 

 against interference by the state in their ec- 

 clesiastical affairs. 



The Rev. J. B. Riemensnyder was received 

 as a delegate from the Southern General Synod. 



The receipts for Home Missions during the 

 year were reported to have been $3,142.97, 

 leaving, after the payment of debts of $1,050, 

 $2,092.97 clear receipts. Including the amount 

 contributed by the Swedish Augustana Synod, 

 and expended by it in the general mission- 

 work, the total receipts for the year had been 

 between $4,000 and $5,000. To this should 

 be added what had been done for home mis- 

 sions by the several synods apart from the 

 General Committee. 



The report of the Board of Foreign Mission* 

 contained several letters from the missionaries 

 in India. The board regarded the enlarging 

 of the mission as an imperative necessity, and 

 spoke of the need of more liberal contribu- 

 tions. 



The report of the New York Immigrant Mit- 

 sion represented that the institution was in 

 debt, and badly needed money. It stated also 

 that the proper interest had not been taken in 

 the work of the mission by the Church at 

 large. 



The report of the trustees of the Emigrant 

 Home Association nn institution the object 

 of which is to secure the protection and welfare 



