708 



REFORMED CHURCHES, 



REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH 



bers, together with 110 Sunday schools, hav- 

 ing an attendance of 10,500 pupils. Five new- 

 churches had been organized, seven had become 

 self-sustaining, and 621 members had been re- 

 ceived on confession of faith. 



The entire receipts of the Board of Foreign 

 Missions were returned at $88,131, of which 

 $10,480 had been contributed through the 

 Woman's Board. The missions were in China, 

 India, and Japan, and reported 12 stations, 129 

 out-stations and preaching-places, 20 ordained 

 missionaries, 29 assistant missionaries, 19 na- 

 tive ordained ministers, 187 other assistants, 41 

 churches, 3, 196 communicants, 9 academies with 

 420 pupils, 93 day schools with 2,331 pupils, and 

 36 theological students. The contributions of 

 the native churches were $4,476. 



The General Synod of the Reformed Church 

 in America met in Syracuse, N. Y., June 3. 

 The Rev. J. Howard Suydam, of Jersey City, 

 N. J., was chosen president. The Committee on 

 Overtures reported that certain constitutional 

 amendments which it had been proposed to 

 make by the insertion of foot-notes to the bap- 

 tismal form had been rejected in classical ac- 

 tion. The principal amendment proposed was 

 to the clause, " Dost thou believe that thou art 

 conceived and born in sin, wholly incapable of 

 any good, and prone to all evil ? " for which 

 it was proposed to substitute the phrase in the 

 Canons of Dort, u incapable of saving good and 

 prone to evil." The committee in its report 

 considered as the first and fundamental point 

 to be regarded in the proposed action, the ques- 

 tion of the right of the Synod to make the 

 changes desired. The Church in the United 

 States was organized in 1771, under a pledge to 

 "abide fully by the Constitution of the Re- 

 formed Church of the Netherlands, as estab- 

 lished by the Synod of Dort, in 1618 and 1619." 

 "What it was thus agreed to abide by were the 

 various doctrinal standards, the Liturgy, and the 

 rules of church government ; and an important 

 difference existed between the first two of these 

 and the last. The doctrinal standards and the 

 Liturgy were the work of all the delegates from 

 England, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and 

 other countries. " Into the standards they in- 

 troduced nothing upon which they could not 

 be unanimous. These standards represented, 

 therefore, as they now represent, the bottom 

 unity of evangelical Protestant Christendom, 

 when its doctrines were taken, as these were, 

 direct and fresh from the Bible well; while the 

 Liturgy represented the same when reduced to 

 'arm. The rules of church government, on 

 the other hand, were the work of the national 

 Church, its * post actaj when the other dele- 

 gates were gone ; rules applicable to its own sit- 

 r.fition, and changeable to suit circumstances." 

 Whatever contained doctrine, and this involved 

 both standards and Liturgy, could not be al- 

 tered ' by majorities, without general consent, 

 so as to bind dissentients ; but there was a con- 

 stitutional and open way for all needed devel- 

 opment. This was defined as follows : 



Instead of the proposed " amendments,'' which have 

 been rejected, let simple marginal references be ap- 

 pended to the page as proposed by the Classis of Pa- 

 ramus ; but leaving everything in the way of inter- 

 pretation and explanation to the standards themselves 

 and to an honest ministry pledged thereto, where it 

 has been these two hundred years. 



So far as present foot-notes are merely of the na- 

 ture of better translation, let them be transferred to 

 the text, as proposed by the South Classis of Bergen. 



Whatever a proper development may seem to de- 

 mand in the way of forms additional to the old or 

 other matter, let it be properly adopted and placed 

 separately by itself, as new matter, marking and ap- 

 propriate to its own age ; and 



Since there has been as yet no correctly prepared 

 edition of the Constitution, and especially its Liturgy, 

 let a suitable committee be appointed to prepare an 

 accurate one as to translation, arrangement, etc., for 

 future publication, as proposed by the Classis of New 

 Brunswick. 



These recommendations of the committee 

 were adopted by the Synod. 



II. Reformed Cbnrdi in the United States. This 

 Church is organized in seven district synods 

 those of the United States, Ohio, the German 

 Synod of the Northwest, Pittsburg, the Poto- 

 mac, the German Synod of the East, and the 

 Central Synod with a General Synod meeting 

 triennially. In the whole Church are returned, 

 by the statistical reports for 1885, 52 classes, 

 780 ministers, 1,467 congregations, 172,949 

 members, 106,093 unconfirmed members, with 

 13,527 baptisms of infants, 1,135 baptisms of 

 adults, and 9,746 persons confirmed during the 

 year; 1,361 Sunday schools; with 114,004 pu- 

 pils; and 164 students for the ministry. The 

 contributions for the year included $127,284 

 for benevolent purposes, and $747,724 for con- 

 gregational purposes. 



In 63 mission-stations in the United States, 

 and one at Valparaiso, Chili in all, 64 sta- 

 tions were 102 congregations, with 5,323 

 members and 5,162 pupils in Sunday schools. 

 In these stations were contributed $2,014 

 for benevolent and $24,935 for congregational 

 purposes. The church at Valparaiso, Chili, 

 returned 25 members and 30 Sunday-school 

 pupils. Three orphan-homes in the United 

 States provide for 145 orphans. The literary 

 institutions include 7 colleges, 2 theological 

 seminaries, a mission-house, and 9 collegiate in- 

 stitutes and academies. A foreign mission is 

 sustained at Tokio, Japan, where the first Ee- 

 forrned congregation was organized May 11, 

 1884, and is served by a native elder and a 

 native deacon. 



REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The Tenth 

 General Council of the Reformed Episcopal 

 Church met in Peoria, 111., May 28. 

 Treasurer reported that his receipts for tj 

 past two years had been $14,187, and his dis- 

 bursements $14,026. Two parishes had beei 

 added to the organization of the Church. 1 

 ordination of five presbyters and three deacon 

 was reported, and two clergymen had been 

 received from other denominations. The trus 

 tees of the sustentation fund reported the re- 

 ceipt of $9,972. The home - missionary fund 



