734 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



proceedings to be taken in the case of members 

 who indulge in worldly amusements not coun- 

 tenanced by the Church was raised by some 

 general inquiries made by the Presbytery of 

 Atlanta, where a member had been excluded 

 for dancing. The Assembly decided that its 

 deliverances on this subject were not necessa- 

 -rily to be enforced by judicial process, but ac- 

 cording to the discretion of the different church 

 courts of original jurisdiction, acting under the 

 checks and restraints of the Church. "The 

 perplexity about the nature of the deliverances 

 in question," the Assembly said, "has arisen 

 from confounding two senses in which the 

 word discipline is used in our constitution. 

 One is that of 'judicial process,' the other is 

 that of inspection, inquest, remonstrance, re- 

 buke, and private admonition. . . . The dis- 

 tinction here asserted is recognized in the Word 

 of God, and in our constitution, for substance 

 at least, in the directions given for the conduct 

 of church members in the case of personal 

 and private injuries. If scandal can be re- 

 moved or prevented in such cases more effec- 

 tually oftentimes by faithful dealing in private 

 with offenders than by judicial process, it does 

 not appear why similar good results may not 

 follow from the like dealing in the matter of 

 worldly amusements." A report on Sabbath 

 observance was adopted, which recommended 

 among other things the appointment of pres- 

 byterial committees to secure the proper agita- 

 tion of the Sabbath question in their several 

 presbyteries, and to cooperate with the com- 

 mittee of the Assembly. A proposition was 

 made to merge the Colored Evangelistic Fund 

 in the Evangelistic Fund, but it was defeated. 

 It was shown in the course of the debate on 

 this subject that more was done by the Church 

 in behalf of the colored people than appeared 

 in the reports, inasmuch as considerable evange- 

 listic labors conducted under the authority of 

 the presbyteries were not brought to the at- 

 tention of the Assembly's committee. The 

 presbyteries were requested hereafter to send 

 up annually to the Committee of Home Mis- 

 sions accounts of the work done within their 

 bounds in addition to the work of the Com- 

 mittee for the Colored People, and of the 

 amounts contributed therefor. A full list of 

 delegates (twenty-eight in number) was ap- 

 pointed to attend the meeting of the Presby- 

 terian Alliance to be held in Philadelpia in 

 1880. 



III. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHTTBOH OF NORTH 

 AMERICA. The following is a summary of the 

 statistics of this Church as they were reported 

 to the General Assembly in May, 1879 : Num- 

 ber of synods, 9 ; of presbyteries, 58 ; of min- 

 isters, 683 ; of licentiates, 56 ; of students of 

 theology, 64 ; of congregations, 798 ; of mis- 

 sion stations, 65; of members, 80,692; of bap- 

 tisms during the year, 4,176 ; of Sunday-schools, 

 726, with 7,647 officers and teachers and 65,- 

 467 scholars. Amount of contributions : for 

 salaries of ministers, $435,961 ; for congrega- 



tional expenses, $207,678 ; to the boards, $106,- 

 765; general contributions, $37,126; total con- 

 tributions, $787,530, being an average of $10.85 

 per member. The contributions by Sunday- 

 schools were $25,037. The average salary of 

 the pastors was $893. Out of 176 missionary 

 societies, 160 reported 5,650 members, and con- 

 tributions of $13,363. 



The twenty-first General Assembly of the 

 United Presbyterian Church of North America 

 met at New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, May 

 28th. The Rev. William Bruce, D. D., of Xe- 

 nia, Ohio, was chosen Moderater. In answer 

 to a question if the imposition of hands by rul- 

 ing elders in the ordination of ministers is re- 

 quired or permitted in the " Book of Govern- 

 ment," the Assembly decided by a small ma- 

 jority that " ordination is an act of govern- 

 ment, and is valid in the case of ministers only as 

 authorized by the Presbytery in its constituted 

 capacity. When so authorized, its administra- 

 tion by the imposition of hands is technically 

 the act of Presbytery if performed only by the 

 presiding officer in the name of and as the ex- 

 ponent of the Presbytery. In view of the di- 

 rect recognition of the power of ordination in 

 teaching elders, and no such direct acknowl- 

 edgment of it being given to ruling elders, the 

 imposition of the hands of the elders is not 

 required, and therefore is technically to be re- 

 garded as not permitted." To the question, 

 " Is the mingling of the sexes in the dance in 

 a private house, where only the moral and re- 

 spectable are permitted to participate, a viola- 

 tion of the law of the U. P. Church, when the 

 parties engaged in the dance are members of 

 her communion ? " answer was returned that 

 promiscuous dancing is one of the vain and en- 

 snaring recreations of the men of the world, 

 and for members of the Church to engage in 

 such amusement, even with one another, is to 

 have fellowship with the world in its sinful 

 recreations, of which the Assembly distinctly 

 and unequivocally disapproves. An important 

 question arose upon the action of the Presby- 

 tery of Sealkote, India, which had admitted te- 

 church membership persons having more than 

 one wife, who did not see their way clear to 

 disown wives with whom they had lived for 

 several years, and expose them and their chil- 

 dren to poverty and contempt. No official re- 

 port had been made from the Presbytery on 

 the subject. The Presbytery was directed to 

 report to the next General Assembly its official 

 action in the matter, and the ground on which 

 it was based. The Assembly recommended, in 

 reference to the instruction of elders before 

 they are ordained, that pastors must instruct 

 their own elders ; hence, first, that the profes- 

 sors in theological seminaries be directed to 

 give their students full instruction on the du- 

 ties and office of the eldership ; second, that 

 pastors instruct their elders in some systematic 

 way, in order to obtain the highest efficiency of 

 session ; third, that the faculties of the semina- 

 ries be asked to prepare a manual for the in- 



