700 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



aud China 7 stations, 75 out-stations, 57 mis- 

 sionaries, 32 of whom are women, 48 native 

 helpers, 1,402 communicants, 526 pupils in Sun- 

 day schools, and 678 in day schools. Another 

 station was soon to be opened in Japan. 



The General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

 Church in the United States met in Houston, 

 Texas, May 21. The Rev. Dr. H. Raymond, 

 of Marion, Ala., was chosen moderator. It 

 was agreed to celebrate in 1886, when the As- 

 sembly will meet in Augusta, Ga., where the 

 organization took place, the quarter-centennial 

 anniversary of the separation and organization 

 of this Church. The Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D., 

 moderator, the Rev. J. N. Waddell. D. D., stated 

 clerk, and the Rev. J. R. Wilson, D. D., perma- 

 nent clerk of the General Assembly of 1861, 

 being still living, were invited to deliver suit- 

 able commemorative addresses. Concerning 

 the question of striking out from the Confes- 

 sion of Faith the clause averse to marriage with 

 a deceased wife's sister, which had been referred 

 to the presbyteries, the majority of the pres- 

 byteries which had reported their answers had 

 replied in favor of striking out ; but as not all 

 the presbyteries had responded, the decision in 

 the case was postponed to another year. The 

 Executive Committee of Home Missions was 

 empowered to secure suitable white ministers 

 to work as evangelists among the colored peo- 

 ple, and to aid the colored people to organ- 

 ize a Presbyterian Church among themselves. 

 The committee was also authorized to make 

 loans, payable in five years, without interest, to 

 weak churches to aid them in building houses 

 of worship. Foreign evangelists were given 

 power to ordain native pastors or evangelists, 

 under certain restrictions, until such time as 

 native presbyteries may be formed. The pres- 

 byteries were asked for advice respecting mak- 

 ing provision to enable ruling elders to act as 

 moderators of church courts. A resolution 

 was adopted condemning the growing dese- 

 cration of the Sabbath, and having special ref- 

 erence to the opening of the New Orleans Ex- 

 hibition on Sunday. 



111. United Presbyterian Church in North America. 

 This Church includes, according to the sta- 

 tistical reports made to the General Assembly 

 of 1885, 519 pastors and stated supplies, 868 

 congregations, and 88,871 members. The con- 

 tributions of the year for all objects amounted 

 to $955,248, of which $71,666 were for foreign 

 missions. The average salary of pastors was 

 returned at $925. 



The twenty-seventh General Assembly of the 

 United Presbyterian Church in North America 

 met at Topeka, Kansas, May 27. The Rev. 

 William Johnson, D.D., of College Springs, 

 Iowa, was chosen moderator. The Commis- 

 sion of the Quarter-Centennial Memorial re- 

 ported that 514 out of 1,839 churches had re- 

 sponded to its circular, and that the sum of 

 $765,444 had been subscribed to the fund. A 

 report of a committee to whom the subject 

 had been referred, disapproving all connection 



of members of the Church with the Grand 

 Army of the Republic, was laid upon the table. 

 The subject of the use of instrumental music 

 in worship again received attention, the party 

 in the Church who are opposed to it still seek- 

 ing a reversal of the action of a former Assem- 

 bly relaxing the prohibition which formerly 

 existed against it. The report of the commit- 

 tee to which the subject was referred, recom- 

 mending that the matter be left to the several 

 congregations, and opposing a prohibition of 

 the use of instruments, was adopted by a very 

 large majority. An adverse report was made 

 on the subject of the organization of a Woman's 

 Missionary Board. The action of the Board 

 of Education in refusing to aid students who 

 use tobacco was approved. Further action was 

 taken toward union with the Associate Ee- 

 formed Synod of the South. 



IV. Reformed Presbyterian Church: Synod. The 

 following is a summary of the statistics of the 

 Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church : 

 Number of presbyteries, 11 ; of ministers, 111 ; 

 of congregations, 121; of elders, 508; of dea- 

 cons, 316; of communicants, 10,745; of at- 

 tendants on Sunday schools, 10,290; of bap- 

 tisms during the year, 480. Amount of con- 

 tributions: For foreign missions, $11,439 ; for 

 home missions, $2,142 ; for the Southern mis- 

 sion, $3,489; for the Chinese mission, $1,626; 

 for the Theological Seminary, $4,109 ; for edu- 

 cation, $3,431 ; for sustentation, $2,356 ; for 

 church erection, $20,736 ; for pastors' salaries, 

 $80,473 ; for " National Reform " (insertion of 

 an explicit recognition of God and the Lord 

 Jesus Christ into the Constitution of the United 

 States), $4,840; miscellaneous contributions, 

 $54,342; total, $188,983. 



The Freedmen's School, at Selma, Ala., re- 

 turned 7 teachers and an enrollment of 456 

 pupils. 



The foreign mission at Latakieh, Syria, re- 

 turned 7 missionaries, 31 native teachers and 9 

 other agents, 143 communicants, 11 baptisms 

 during the year, and 20 schools, with 619 pupils. 



The Synod met at Morning Sun, Iowa, May 

 27. The Rev. D. McKee, of Kansas, was chosen 

 moderator. 



V. Reformed Preshyterian Church : General Synod. 

 The presbyterial statistics of this body are 

 incomplete. The number of communicants un- 

 der the care of the Synod, six presbyteries, is 

 estimated at about 6,800. The pupils in the 

 Sunday schools are in the proportion of about 

 three to five. The salaries of pastors range 

 from $700 to $2,500. 



The endowment fund of the Theological 

 Seminary amounts to $34,737 ; its receipts for 

 the year were returned at $2,866. The income 

 of the Church extension fund was $2,745. 



The contributions of the Church for foreign 

 missions were returned as $4,118. The mis 

 sion is at Roorkee and vicinity, in the North- 

 west Provinces of India, and employs 1 

 sionary with 1 assistant, 5 catechists, and e 

 licentiates. 



