CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



205 



Pages printed, as nearly as can be learned 15,145,716 



Churches 310 



Church-members 26,065 



Added during the year 3,481 



Whole number from the first, as nearly as can be 



learned 98,183 



High-schools, theological seminaries, and station- 

 classes 56 



Pupils in the above 2,352 



Boarding-school for girls 41 



Pupils in boarding-school for girls 1,958 



Common schools 856 



Pupils in common schools 82,57T 



Whole number under instruction 89,877 



American Missionary Association. The fortieth 

 anniversary of the American Missionary Asso- 

 ciation was held in New Haven, Conn., Oct. 

 ] 9 to 21. The Hon. William B. Washburne, of 

 Massachusetts, presided. The general receipts 

 of the society for the year had been $335,704 ; 

 besides which $3,000 had been added to the 

 endowment fund, and receipts were returned 

 by Berea College of $25,644; by Hampton 

 Institute, of $91,905 ; and by Atlanta Univer- 

 sity, of $10,100; making the total receipts 

 $466,353. The expenditures had been $341,- 

 488 ; of which $197,345 had been applied for 

 churches, educational work, land, buildings, 

 etc., in the South ; $11,756 for work among the 

 Chinese ; $54,884 for work among the Indians ; 

 and $6,065 for foreign missionary work. 



The report of the missionary and educational 

 work showed that the number of churches 

 under the care of the Association was 124; 

 that they were served by 117 missionaries, and 

 returned 7,571 church-members ; and that 

 1,088 persons had been received during the 

 year on profession of faith. The number of 

 pupils in Sunday-schools was 13,149. Twelve 

 new churches had been organized during the 

 year, and 2,500 had been added to the number 

 of pupils in Sunday-schools. Fifty -three schools 

 had been sustained, with 239 instructors and 

 8,753 pupils, classified as follows : Students of 

 theology, 118 ; of law, 78; collegiate students, 

 53 ; collegiate preparatory, 95 ; normal stu- 

 dents, 799; grammar grade, 1,597; interme- 

 diate, 2,348 ; primary, 3,766. Thirty-three of 

 these schools were common schools, and were 

 situated in North and South Carolina, Georgia, 

 Florida, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, 

 and Arkansas. Fourteen of them were normal. 



The Association had among the Indians 5. 

 churches, with 348 members; 15 schools, with 

 685 pupils ; and 56 missionaries and teachers. 

 Its missions among the Chinese (in California) 

 included 18 schools, with 1,279 pupils, and 34 

 missionaries; and returned 123 hopeful con- 

 versions. 



Congregational Council. The fifth triennial meet- 

 ing of the Congregational Council was held in 

 Chicago, 111., beginning October 13. The Hon. 

 L. A. Cook, of Connecticut, presided, assisted 

 by the Eev. B. A. Jones, of Tennessee, and the 

 Rev. J. K. McLean, D. D., of California. The 

 secretary made a statistical report which showed 

 that the churches associated in the Council 

 numbered by the last summary 4,170. The gain 

 in three years had been 234, or an average of 

 78 yearly. But the number of churches organ- 



ized was 513, or a yearly average of 171 ; of 

 these 513 churches, 76 were in the East (east 

 of the east line of Ohio), 198 in the interior 

 (between that line and the west line of Missou- 

 ri), and 239 in the West ; and of the last number 

 86 were in the Territory of Dakota. Of the 

 members of all the churches, 216,118 were in 

 the East, 126,206 in the interior, and 29,240 in 

 the West giving an average to eadh church of 

 39 members in the West, 81 in the interior, 141 

 in the East, and 100 for the whole country. 

 The gain in the number of members of Sunday- 

 schools had been greater in the last year than 

 was ever before recorded. The rate of increase 

 in the number of members of the Church did 

 not keep pace with the increase of population 

 of the country, but the number of infant bap- 

 tisms was increasing. The gifts for benevolent 

 purposes during the last ten years had averaged 

 $1,385,859 a year; or, if the " Slater gift " of 

 $1,000,000 be excluded from this account, the 

 annual average would still be $1,285,859. The 

 increase in the gifts made in 1885 over those 

 returned for 1884 was $176,000. The " home 

 expenditures " of the churches in the last year 

 had exceeded $4,000,000, and gave an average 

 of $1,442 to each reporting church. The total 

 value of 2,515 churches was returned at $24,- 

 607,476, representing an average of $9,784 for 

 each church. Parsonages were reported by 

 1,092 churches, with an average value of $2,189. 

 The average of the pastors' salaries reported 

 by 2,230 churches was $982, but this would 

 have been reduced had returns been made by 

 all the churches. Notice had been received of 

 a bequest of $10,000, which had been left by 

 Mrs. Ellen 0. Knowles, of Worcester, Mass., 

 to be applied under the direction of the Council 

 in aid of the aged or disabled ministers of the 

 gospel, or their widows and orphan children. 

 The gift was accepted, with expressions of 

 grateful acknowledgment. A gift was also 

 offered by Mr. Albert Curtis of $15,000 toward 

 the establishment of a home for disabled minis- 

 ters, their wives and widows. 



The following declaration was adopted on 

 the subject of ministerial standing : 



Resolved, That standing in the Congregational min- 

 istry _ is acquired by the fulfillment of these three 

 conditions viz : 1 . Membership in a Congregational 

 church ; 2. Ordination to the Christian ministry ; and, 

 3. Reception as an ordained minister into the fellow- 

 ship of the Congregational churches, in accordance 

 with the usage of the State or Territorial organization 

 of churches in which the applicant may reside, and 

 such standing is to be continued in accordance with 

 these usages; it being understood that a pro re nata 

 council is an ultimate resort in all questions. 



Resolved^ That all Congregational ministers in good 

 standing in their respective States who have been in- 

 stalled by Council, or who have been regularly called 

 to the pastorate by the specific vote of some church, 

 have formally accepted such position, and have been 

 recognized as such by some definite act of the Church, 

 should be enrolled as pastors ; and we advise that all 

 our denominational statistics and direct that, as far as 

 possible, our "Year-Book" shall conform to this 

 principle. 



Resolved, That the National Council commends to 

 the churches, in accordance with our ancient usage, 



