

METHODISTS. 



487 



College, Hernando, Miss. ; Western Universi- 

 ty, Quindora, Kansas ; Morris Brown Univer- 

 sity, Atlanta, Ga. ; and Garfield University, 

 Montgomery, Ala. All but the first two of 

 these institutions have become active only 

 since 1880. The total value of their property 

 is given at $151,600, but some of them are 

 laboring under heavy indebtedness. Thirty- 

 three subordinate schools are also maintained 

 in South Carolina. The total receipts of the 

 Home and Foreign Missionary Society for four 

 years, including special funds, were $34,811, 

 and the expenditures were $36,112. The so- 

 ciety has been organized only four years, and 

 has labored to establish a mission at Port-au- 

 Prince, Hayti, having in view, also, missions in 

 Africa and San Domingo. The society returns 

 25 missions in the Indian Territory, with 25 

 missionaries, 22 churches, 26 Sunday-schools, 

 and 573 communicants. In the home mis- 

 sions, the increase had been so rapid that sev- 

 eral new conferences had been formed, and at 

 least three others were talked of. The Church 

 has a publishing-house in Philadelphia, from 

 which is issued the " Christian Recorder," 

 weekly, as its official newspaper organ. The 

 income of the publishing-house for the four 

 years ending May 1, 1884, was $63,139, and 

 the whole sum was expended. The estab- 

 lishment returned to the General Conference 

 its assets as $31,117, and its indebtedness as 

 $6,038. The secretary of the Missionary So- 

 ciety reported that the receipts of that body 

 for the past four years had been $34,800, and 

 its expenditures $36,112. 



General Conference. The General Confer- 

 ence of the African Methodist Episcopal Church 

 met in Baltimore, Md., May 5th. The condi- 

 tion of the affairs of the Church was reviewed 

 in the quadrennial address of the bishops, and 

 attention was called in the same paper to some 

 topics which the Conference would be invited 

 to consider. The negotiations for a union with 

 the British Methodist Episcopal Church had 

 been carried to a successful termination, and 

 the Conference directed that a declaration be is- 

 sued announcing the consummation of the union. 

 The territory covered by the British Methodist 

 Episcopal Church, which is included chiefly in 

 Canada and Bermuda, will constitute the tenth 

 district of the African Methodist Episcopal 

 Church, and will be under the Episcopal juris- 

 diction of R. R. Disney, bishop of the former 

 body. Provision was made for the admission 

 of local preachers to the General Conference as 

 representatives of the laity. Declarations were 

 adopted denying the doctrine of the apostolic 

 succession of bishops, and denouncing ritualism 

 and the wearing of gowns, surplices, and other 

 badges of office of bishops and ministers. A 

 report was adopted refusing to recommend 

 camp-meetings, but allowing them to be held. 

 The office of presiding elder, the adoption of 

 which had hitherto been optional with the Con- 

 ference, was made universal. The publication 

 of a quarterly magazine was determined upon. 



IV. African Methodist Episcopal Zioi Church. 



The statistics of this Church are very incom- 

 plete. The statistical secretary reports the fol- 

 lowing items, which are, however, mostly 

 regarded as falling short of giving a true rep- 

 resentation of the condition of the Church : 

 Number of conferences, 21 ; of elders, 500; of 

 deacons, 347 ; of traveling preachers, 234 ; of 

 local elders,' deacons, and preachers, 1,800 ; of 

 exhorters, 1,146 ; of members in full connec- 

 tion, 154,807 ; of probationers, 14,232 ; of 

 churches, 1,180 ; of parsonages, 356 ; of Sun- 

 day-schools, 2,071, with 9,222 officers and 

 teachers and 90,323 scholars ; value of church 

 property, $4,109,321. The real total number 

 of members of the Church is believed to be 

 225,000 or 250,000. 



The African mission returns one missionary, 

 10 local preachers, 14 exhorters, 5 elders and 

 deacons, 500 members, and 158 probationers, 

 or a total, exclusive of the missionary, of 687 

 members. 



The receipts of Zion "Wesley Institute, Salis- 

 bury, N. 0., for four years were returned to 

 the General Conference at $17,845. Its liabili- 

 ties were estimated at $5,844. The school was 

 attended by 146 pupils. 



The receipts of the Book Concern for four 

 years had been $8,529, and its expenditures 

 $8,340, while its liabilities were $1,979. 



General Conference. The General Confer- 

 ence of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion 

 CKu/ch in America met in its seventeenth ses- 

 sion in the city of New York, May 7th. 



The bishops presented a " quadrennial ad- 

 dress," relating the transactions of the Episco- 

 pal Board during the previous four years, and 

 reviewing the condition of the connectional in- 

 terests. In accordance with the instructions 

 of the preceding General Conference that they 

 should make a new assignment of episcopal 

 districts, they had assigned to each bishop the 

 attendance upon a certain number of confer- 

 ences, the results of which had been to make 

 the several members of the board each more 

 extensively acquainted with the condition and 

 character of the connection; to bring them 

 more frequently together; and to give more 

 unity to the episcopal superintendence. The 

 Foreign mission (in Africa) had prospered; and 

 the missionary, the Rev. Andrew Cartwright, 

 had been empowered to hold annual confer- 

 ences in Africa, and to authorize and appoint 

 suitable persons to preach and teach the peo- 

 ple, "subject to the ratification or modification 

 of the General Conference." The Zion Wes- 

 leyan Institute at Salisbury, N. C., had been 

 strengthened by gifts of $9,000 obtained through 

 the agency of its principal from friends in Eng- 

 land, and by the contribution of $1,000 from 

 citizens of Salisbury. The efforts in behalf of 

 church extension had been attended with a suc- 

 cess that was marked by the building of several 

 fine churches. The financial resources of the 

 Church had been greatly strengthened. Much 

 of the time of the General Conference was 



