696 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



United Presbyterian Church of North Ameri- 

 ca met at Cambridge, O., May 22d. The Rev. 

 S. G. Irvine, D. D., of Oregon, was elected 

 Moderator. A paper was adopted recommend- 

 ing the appointment of deacons in the different 

 congregations of the Church, in the manner 

 prescribed in the Book of Government and 

 Discipline; urging the Synods to take steps 

 for securing such civil legislation in respect to 

 the tenure of ecclesiastical property as is needed 

 to enable congregations to commit to deacons 

 the charge which now rests upon ordinary 

 trustees; and giving permission for the ap- 

 pointment of pious women as assistants to dea- 

 cons, " it being understood, however," the reso- 

 lution provided, " that those so devoting them- 

 selves and banded together shall not be formed 

 into sisterhoods living apart from ordinary so- 

 ciety." The practice of preaching by unli- 

 censed students was declared to be unlawful, 

 and all Presbyteries were directed to suppress 

 it to the full extent of their authority. The 

 report of the Committee of Correspondence on 

 the subject of the General Presbyterian Alli- 

 ance recommended .the appointment of dele- 

 gates to the Council of the Alliance to be held 

 in Philadelphia in 1880, who should be in- 

 structed to use their influence to secure a 

 constitutional guarantee that the principles of 

 the United Presbyterian Church in regard to 

 psalmody shall be respected. 



IV. REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The 

 General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian 

 Church of North America met in the city of 

 New York, May 16th. The Rev. A. G. Wylie, 

 of Philadelphia, was chosen Moderator. The 

 Committee of Conference with the Synod of 

 the Reformed Presbyterian Church, who had 

 been appointed at a previous meeting of the 

 General Synod, with a view to the promotion 

 of an organic union of the two bodies, made a 

 verbal report, and were discharged. The trea- 

 surer of the Theological Seminary reported that 

 the funds of the seminary in his charge amount- 

 ed to $31,007, and that he had received $21,- 

 185, and paid out $2,172. 



V. CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

 The following is a summary of the statistics of 

 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as given 

 in the reports of the General Assembly of 

 1878: 



CONTRIBUTIONS. 



From Sunday schools * 7 703 



For home missions TQ98 



" foreign missions .".'' o'ii? 



" education ft snn 



u publication ' " O'^T 



; chuirh building and repairing'.'; .' .' .' .' '. &3$. 



tt paators and supplies.. iS'sS 



For presbyterial purposes $5 939 



" charity 3,197 



Miscellaneous 10,523 



Total contributions $280,782 



Value of church property 1,741,347 



Many of the items are defectively reported. 



The receipts of the Board of Publication had 

 been $46,478. Its assets were valued at $76,- 

 019, and its liabilities amounted to $12,308. 

 The Board had the charge of one quarterly 

 review, one general weekly paper, and three 

 Sunday-school papers, all of which, except the 

 smaller Sunday-school paper, had suffered a loss 

 of subscribers. 



The General Assembly of the Cumberland 

 Presbyterian Church met at Lebanon, Tenn., 

 May 16th. The Rev. D. E. Bushnell, of Cali- 

 fornia, was chosen Moderator. The foreign 

 mission of the Assembly in Japan was in oper- 

 ation, with one missionary in the field, and 

 one who had temporarily returned home. A 

 third missionary was ordained during the ses- 

 sion of the Assembly, with the intention of his 

 starting for Japan in a short time. Attention 

 was directed to the missions in the Indian Ter- 

 ritory and to the German mission in St. Louis, 

 Mo. The Committee on Education made a re- 

 port upon the condition of the West Tennessee 

 College; Lincoln University, Lincoln, 111.; Trin- 

 ity University, Tehuacana, Texas ; Waynesburg 

 College Pa. ; and Cumberland University, Leb- 

 anon, Tenn. ; all of which were represented as 

 being in a prosperous condition. A theologi- 

 cal department had been established in Trinity 

 University, with a secured endowment so far 

 of $26,000, in which the Rev. W. E. Beeson, 

 D. D., had been elected Professor. A training- 

 school for young preachers had been established 

 at San Jose, Cal, by the Pacific Synod. A 

 committee was appointed to assist and advise 

 the brethren of the Cumberland Presbyterian 

 Church, colored, in securing needed literature 

 and in establishing a good school, the participa- 

 tion of which, however, should not place the 

 Assembly under any obligation toward the col- 

 ored brethren. The report on publication ap- 

 proved the plan, which a previous Assembly 

 had adopted, of concentrating efforts upon the 

 publication of a single -weekly journal for the 

 whole Church, and stated that while the Assem- 

 bly did not undertake by authority to prevent 

 the publication of weekly papers by individual 

 members of the Church, nor did it require such 

 persons to apply to it for permission to do 

 the same, it nevertheless requested the whole 

 Church to combine in the support of this pol- 

 icy. Resolutions were adopted recommending 

 a return to the old system of holding camp-meet- 

 ings whenever such meetings may be deemed 

 practicable and profitable, and urging the min- 

 isters and people of the Church to use their in- 

 fluence in all suitable ways in opposition to the 

 desecration of the Sabbath. 



VI. ASSOCIATE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN 

 CHURCH. The Associate Reformed Presbyte- 

 rian Synod of the South met at New Lebanon, 



