538 



METHODISTS. 



al superintendency and of lay delegation were 

 generally concurred in. As the General Con- 

 ference of the Methodist Church was then in 

 session, it was thought best to wait, before 

 proceeding further, till that body had discussed 

 the points in question. The joint committee 

 accordingly adjourned, to meet again in No- 

 vember. The joint committee met again in 

 Toronto, November 28th. Bishop Carman, of 

 the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada, 

 was chosen president of the meetings. The 

 only questions about which any difference of 

 opinion was manifested were those of lay dele- 

 gation and the itinerant general superintend- 

 ency. Provision was finally made for equal 

 representation of the laity with tbe ministry 

 in the annual conferences ; the lay delegates to 

 have the right to speak and vote on all ques- 

 tions except the examination of ministerial 

 character, the reception and ordination of 

 probationers into full connection, and the 

 granting of the superannuated or supernumer- 

 ary relation. It was also agreed that minis- 

 ters and laymen shall vote separately when 

 electing their representatives to the Gener- 

 al Conference. The following provision for 

 the office of a General Superintendent was 

 adopted : 



1. There shall be one or more General Superintend- 

 ents elected by the General Conference, to hold office 

 for the term of eight years ; but if it be decided at 

 the meeting of the General Conference, after union, 

 to elect two superintendents, one of them shall be 

 elected for four years only, so that there may be a re- 

 curring election or elections every four years. 



2. The General Superintendent shall preside over 

 all sessions of the General Conference, and over all 

 standing committees of the same. 



3. The General Superintendent, when present, shall 

 open the Annual Conference, and preside therein dur- 

 ing the first day of its sessions, and afterward alter- 

 nately with the President-elect. In association with 

 such President he shall conduct the ordination ser- 

 vices, and they shall jointly sign the ordination 

 parchments; but all other duties pertaining to the 

 presidency of the Annual Conference shall be vested 

 in the President elected by that body, and, in the 

 absence of the General Superintendent, he shall con- 

 duct the ordination and sign the parchments. 



Other articles were adopted, defining the con- 

 stitutions of the Annual and General Confer- 

 ences, and providing for the choice, by ballot 

 in the Annual Conference, from among the 

 ministers of the Conference within the dis- 

 trict, of a district superintendent for each 

 district, to whom the supervision of the dis- 

 trict shall be committed. Questions were 

 also disposed of concerning educational inter- 

 ests, church funds, the stationing committee 

 of the annual conferences, and other matters 

 of detail. 



The United Church, if the union is com- 

 pleted, will have 1,624 itinerant ministers, 

 2,036 local preachers, and 168,831 members. 



VII. WESLETAN METHODIST CHTJKCH. The 

 following is the statistical statement of the 

 British and Affiliated Conferences, as published 

 m connection with the " Minutes of Confer- 

 ence " for 1882 : 



The Chapel Committee reported to the Con- 

 ference, in July, 1882, that the total sum of 

 230,388 had been contributed in Great Britain 

 for chapel-building and other trust purposes 

 during the year, and that the erections and en- 

 largements would afford 25,562 additional sit- 

 tings. The ordinary income of the fund had 

 increased. 



The Committee of the Thanksgiving Fund 

 reported that, on July 12th, the amount prom- 

 ised to the fund was 303,600, and estimated 

 the amount which it might be necessary to 

 allow for loss of subscriptions at 10,000. 

 The Committee of the Metropolitan Chapel- 

 Building Fund reported that eight new chapels 

 had been opened during the year in the metro- 

 politan district; and that sixty-one chapels, 

 each providing for one thousand persons, had 

 been opened since the fund was started. The 

 grants and loans amounted to 27,168. The 

 Committee for the Extension of Methodism in 

 Great Britain had received and considered 

 143 applications and made 123 grants, amount- 

 ing to 1,940. Since it was instituted, this 

 committee had made 538 grants of 33,843, in 

 answer to 777 applications, whereby 89,876 

 additional sittings in chapels had been pro- 

 vided. The fund for the Relief and Extension 

 of Methodism in Scotland amounted to 9,748. 

 This fund was instituted to provide chapels 

 and manses in Scotland ; and it was stated that 

 during twenty years the entire trust property 

 in that country had been renewed, at a cost of 

 100,000. The income of the Theological In- 

 stitution had been 11,544. 



The Committee on Sunday-Schools reported 

 the number of Sunday-schools to be 6,489, 

 with 122,999 officers and teachers, and 829,666 

 scholars, 122,999 of whom were members of 

 the society or on trial. There were 2,257 Bands 

 of Hope, with 227,784 members. The total 

 receipts of the Home Mission and Contingent 

 Fund for 1882 amounted to 35,034, as against 

 34,210 in 1881. The committee was author- 

 ized to employ, in addition to district mission- 

 aries, ministers and lay agents for general evan- 

 gelistic work in different parts of the connec- 

 tion. 



The anniversary of the Wesleyan Missiona- 

 ry Society was held in London, May 1st. Mr. 

 Henry John Atkinson presided. The total in- 

 come of the society for the year had been 

 141,722, besides 10,074 which had been re- 

 ceived from the Thanksgiving Fund toward the 



* The French ministers who are employed in the Channel 

 Islands district are not included in these returns. 



