574 



LUTHERANS. 



Debts resting against the Board of $7,000 in 

 the United States and $2,000 in India had been 

 paid, and the current expenses of the two mis- 

 sions had been promptly met. The India mis- 

 sion (at Goontoor) returned 4,731 baptized 

 natives, of whom 2,086 were adults and regu- 

 lar communicants, with 813 candidates for 

 f baptism, and reported a net gain in one year 

 of 1,191. Several Sunday-schools had been 

 organized. The mission was conducted at an 

 average cost of nearly $11,000 a year. The 

 African mission, conducted at an average cost 

 of about $3,750 a year, had forty Christian 

 families residing in its neighborhood, and more 

 than sixty children in its school. A project 

 for forming a second station in Africa, if it be 

 found expedient, was approved. The pledge 

 of the Synod of $10,000 a year for Church ex- 

 tension was continued for two years. The 

 Committee on Sunday-Schools reported that 

 about 10,000 scholars had been added to the 

 rolls of these schools during the past year. 

 The committee had secured a representation 

 on the International Lesson Committee and 

 the International Executive Committee. The 

 reports of tbe literary and theological institu- 

 tions showed them to be prosperous. A reso- 

 lution was passed declaring it to be the judg- 

 ment of the General Synod that the policy of 

 the Church should be, for the present, " rather 

 to strengthen and enlarge the colleges and the- 

 ological seminaries we have than to found 

 new ones ; and that the organization of new 

 institutions of these grades, when needed, 

 should take place, not under an irresponsible 

 individualism, but only under the direction of 

 responsible Synods or the General Synod, ex- 

 cept in cases where generous men may found 

 and permanently endow them by their own 

 large gifts and legacies." The District Synods 

 were advised to permit the contributions of 

 German churches for education to be appro- 

 priated for the theological training of young 

 men for work among German Lutherans. A 

 committee of German ministers was appointed 

 to prepare a plan for promoting German theo- 

 logical training. A Scandinavian Secretary 

 was appointed to lay the work of the Synod 

 before the people of that nationality. 



The eighth annual meeting of the Synodical 

 . Conference was held at Columbus, Ohio, in 

 July. About fifty delegates were in attendance, 

 representing the Synods of Illinois, Minnesota, 

 Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Norwegian 

 Synod. The Kev. W. F. Lehman was reflected 

 President. The discussion of doctrinal ques- 

 tions was continued, and the 14th and 15th 

 theses on Church Fellowship were adopted as 

 follows : 



" 14. It is in decided conflict with the Confession 

 when, in an ecclesiastical body calling itself Lutheran, 

 the doctrinal discipline which God's Word requires is 

 not exercised, and the popular theory of open ques- 

 tions is accepted. 



15. It is not in accord -with the Confession when a 

 Synod or larger ecclesiastical body makes no efforts to 

 have the discipline in doctrine and life which Christ 



requires, and which is more particularly defined in 

 Matthew xviii. 15-17, gradually brought into exercise 

 in its congregations. 



The mission among the negroes was repre- 

 sented as in a flourishing condition, and the 

 opening for extending the work as promising. 

 A German and an English periodical are pub- 

 lished in the interest of this mission. A plan 

 for the establishment of an English theologi- 

 cal quarterly review at Columbus, Ohio, was 

 adopted, dependent on its approval by the Syn- 

 ods, and Professor M. Long of Columbus and 

 the Kev. F. A. Schmidt were designated to be 

 its editors. A plan was adopted for the for- 

 mation of State Synods, the chief features of 

 which are as follows: The German Synods 

 connected with the Conference are to form 

 State Synods ; these State Synods are again to 

 form two or three joint Synods, one east of 

 Indiana, one to embrace the northwestern, an- 

 other to embrace the southwestern States and 

 Territories ; the Norwegian Synod not to be 

 affected by these boundaries, and English 

 Synods to belong to the joint Synods in whose 

 territory they lie. The Synods thus formed 

 are to establish a joint theological seminary 

 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with three faculties, 

 German, English, and Norwegian; or with two 

 faculties, if the Norwegians prefer to have a 

 separate seminary. The Conference recom- 

 mended that the celebration of the three hun- 

 dredth anniversary of the adoption of the Augs- 

 burg Confession be celebrated on the 25th of 

 June, 1880. Hereafter, the Conference will 

 meet biennially. 



The General Council met at Zanesville, Ohio, 

 October 9th. The Rev. C. P. Krauth, D. D., 

 presided. Keports were presented from the 

 institutions and enterprises of the Council, as 

 follows: The income of the Immigrant Mis- 

 sion in New York from October 1, 1877, to 

 October 1, 1879, had been $1,806, and the ex- 

 penditures $1,799. The income of the Emi- 

 grant Home Association for the two years 

 ending April 1, 1879, had been $13,544, and 

 the expenditures $13,174. A favorable report 

 was made of the working of these institutions, 

 which are for the care and comfort of Lutheran 

 immigrants on their arrival at New York, and 

 they were commended for greater liberality of 

 support by members of the Church. The total 

 receipts of the Foreign Mission Committee for 

 the two years had been $11,473, and its expen- 

 ditures had been $11,291. 



The most prominent business before the 

 Council consisted in the discussion of the theses 

 which had been prepared by the Rev. Dr. 

 Zrauth by order of a previous General Coun- 

 cil on "Pulpit and Altar Fellowship," and the 

 continued consideration of the proposed new 

 " Constitution for Congregations." The theses 

 on "Pulpit and Altar Fellowship" were de- 

 signed more fully to establish and explain the 

 position of the Council on the so-called Gales- 

 burg rule, adopted in 1875, which declared in 

 substance that Lutheran pulpits were for Lu- 



