LUTHERANS. 



551 



General Synod (South). -This body held its 

 fourteenth Biennial Convention in 1884 (see 

 "Annual Cyclopcedia" for 1884). The next 

 convention will be held atRoanoke, Va., in May, 

 1886. The General Synod (South) embraces six 

 district synods and 140 ministers, 237 congre- 

 gations, and 18,587 communicant members. 

 There are within the borders of this body one 

 theological seminary at dewberry, *S. C. (4 

 students); four colleges Salem, Va., Mount 

 Pleasant, N. C., Newberry, S. C., and Dallas, 

 N. C. ; five academies, and five young ladies' 

 seminaries. 



General Council. The General Council of the 

 Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Ameri- 

 ca held its eighteenth Annual Convention in St. 

 John's German Evangelical Lutheran Church, 

 Philadelphia, Nov. 15-27, 1885. Representa- 

 tives were present from all the synods in con- 

 nection with the Council, except the Texas, 

 Holston, Tenn., and German Iowa. The Coun- 

 cil is composed of ten synods in regular con- 

 nection, and two synods sending delegates with 

 privilege of debate, but not of voting. These 

 twelve synods number 976 ministers, 1,802 

 congregations, and 255,471 communicant mem- 

 bers. There are within the bounds of the 

 Council three theological seminaries, at Phila- 

 delphia, 63 students ; Rock Island, 111., 37 ; and 

 Mendota, 111., 37; five colleges Allentown, 

 Greenville, Pa., Buck Island, Mendota, 111., 

 and St. Peter, Minn. ; six academies; fourteen 

 orphans' homes ; one asylum for aged ; six hos- 

 pitals ; one deaconess institute in Philadelphia, 

 and one immigrant mission. 



Prof. A. Spaeth, D. D., was re-elected presi- 

 dent. The Committee for Foreign Missions re- 

 ported a prosperous condition of the mission- 

 field in the presidency of Madras, among the 

 Telugus, India. During the year, the senior 

 missionary, Rev. H. C. Schmidt, was in Ameri- 

 ca, while Rev. Poulsen was laboring at Samul- 

 cotta, and Rev. Dietrich had charge of the 

 schools and congregation at Rajahmundry, the 

 principal station, and a general oversight of the 

 entire mission. During the year, Rev. William 

 Groenning, of Schleswig, Germany, son of a 

 former distinguished missionary, was called to 

 take charge of the mission-schools. There are 

 in this mission five ordained missionaries, two 

 wives of missionaries, two native ordained 

 pastors, five evangelists and catechists, and 

 sixty-one teachers. In the mission there are 

 59 schools, with 1,104 pupils. The mission 

 numbers 842 communicant and 1,705 baptized 

 members. The expenses for the year were 

 $15,023.51. 



The home - mission work of the Council is 

 intrusted to three committees English, Ger- 

 man, and Swedish. In noting this part of the 

 General Council's work it must be said that 

 each of the district synods is engaged in mis- 

 sion-work within its own territory, and that 

 the English and German Committees only at- 

 tend to such work as lies beyond the bounds 

 and ability of these synods. The Swedish Com- 



