208 CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



CONGRESS OF CHURCHES. 



the year had been begun, had been cleared off. 

 The society was not yet, however, paying its 

 way, and, to balance expenses, the reserve 

 fund would have to be drawn upon. 



Joint Meeting of the Baptist and Congregational 

 Unions. A joint assembly of the Congregational 

 and Baptist Unions was held May 14. The 

 Rev. C. Williams, chairman of the Baptist 

 Union, read a paper in which he remarked 

 that as the two denominations had worked so 

 long along the same lines in fighting the fight 

 for religious equality, it was a matter of sur- 

 prise that this should have been their first 

 joint meeting. Their aim that day was not 

 to assert themselves as denominations against 

 other churches, or even to lay stress upon 

 ecclesiastical peculiarities at all, but to stimu- 

 late one another to seek inward spiritual force. 

 The Rev. Dr. Conder, Congregationalist, fol- 

 lowed with a paper on " The Idea of a Christian 

 Church held in Common by the Two Bodies " ; 

 the Rev. J. W. Lance, Baptist, read a paper 

 on the promotion and preservation of truth by 

 those true to the idea; and the Rev. Dr. Angus 

 a paper on " Fidelity to the Idea in its Bearing 

 on the Upraising of a Consecrated Christian 

 Ministry." A resolution was passed express- 

 ing the concurrence of the meeting in the sen- 

 timents embodied in these four papers. The 

 public evening meeting was presided over by 

 the Rev. Edward White, chairman of the Con- 

 gregational Union, who spoke of " The great 

 Cloud of Witnesses," as presented by the mis- 

 sionaries and others who were working for the 

 spread of Christian truth in the mission-fields 

 and other parts of the world. The Rev. Dr. 

 Clifford spoke on " The New Democracy and 

 the Old Testament"; the Rev. J. G. Rogers 

 on Congregationalism as a " Church System " ; 

 the Rev. Edward Glover on " The Foreign 

 Mission Work of the Churches " ; and the Rev. 

 Dr. Parker on " The Larger Congregationalism 

 and the Larger England." 



Antnmnai Meeting of the Union. The autumnal 

 meeting of the Union was held at Norwich, 

 October 12. The chairman, the Rev. Edward 

 White, delivered the opening address on "Hand- 

 ling the Scriptures." The subject and rela- 

 tions of non-conformity were discussed in papers 

 on " Non-conformity in the Reign of the Queen " 

 (an historical review), by Mr. Albert Spicer; 

 " The Influence and Progress of Non-conformity 

 as a Spiritual Force," by the Rev. John Brown ; 

 "The Influence and Progress of Non-conformity 

 as a Political Force," by Mr. Carvell Williams; 

 and "The Work which lies before Non-con- 

 formity," by the Rev. Dr. Bruce; other papers 

 were read on the " Need of Well-devised Ar- 

 rangements for Correspondence concerning 

 Pastoral Settlements," by the Rev. William 

 Clarkson ; " The Influence of the Churches on 

 National Stability and Progress," by the Rev. 

 Dr. Hannay ; " Revival Missions," by Prof. 

 Cave, the Rev. J. F. B. Tinling, and the Rev. 

 R. Balgarnie; " Religion out of the Church," by 

 the Rev. T. H. Hollowell; and "What Christ 



has done for the People," by the Rev. G. R. 

 Balgarnie. A minute was adopted upon the 

 death of Mr. Samuel Morley, saying that he 

 had been a beloved and honored fellow-worker 

 with the Union during the last fifty years, arid 

 recognizing " the wisdom he had brought to 

 council, the purity and force of his personal 

 influence, his affluent liberality, and his work 

 as a reformer in the diffusion of knowledge, of 

 purity, of temperance, and of thrift, and in 

 the abolition of unjust laws." The committee 

 of the Union was instructed to prepare a suit- 

 able address to the Queen on the occasion of 

 her jubilee year, expressing the loyalty of the 

 Congregational people. 



CONGRESS OF CHURCHES. The second annual 

 meeting of the American Congress of Churches 

 was held in Cleveland, O., beginning May 25. 

 The Hon. Joseph B. Foraker, Governor of Ohio, 

 presided and made an opening address. The 

 Rev. Dr. Joseph Andrews, chairman of the 

 Council, made a report on "The First Year of 

 the Congress," the first meeting having been 

 held in Hartford in 1885, and in it reiterated 

 a definition of the scope and purpose of the 

 body. The purpose was not to establish a so- 

 ciety or organize a plan of union or put forth a 

 creed, but simply "by holding public meetings 

 from time to time to make provision for a full 

 and frank discussion of the great subjects in 

 which the Christians of America are interested, 

 including those ecclesiastical and theological 

 questions upon which Christians differ," and 

 it had been distinctly asserted in all the an- 

 nouncements of the Council that no inten- 

 tion was had of "excluding any church, or of 

 expressing an opinion in regard to the rela- 

 tive value and excellence of any." The sub- 

 ject of " A True Church ; its Essentials and 

 its Characteristics," was discussed in papers by 

 Mr. D. G. Porter and the Rev. Leonard W. 

 Bacon, D. D. Upon the subject of "Religion 

 in the Public Schools," papers were read by 

 the Rev. Dr. D. S. Stephens; Bishop Gilmour, 

 of Cleveland, who represented the position of 

 the Roman Catholic Church ; and the Rev. J. 

 Coleman Adams. Other topics considered were 

 "The Present Necessity of a Re- statement of 

 Christian Beliefs," by the Rev. Daniel Curry, 

 D. D., the Rev. E. P* Parker, D.D., the Rev. 

 Reuben Jeffrey, D. D., the Rev. Otis A. Glaze- 

 brook, and the Rev. R. B. Tyler ; " The Work- 

 ingman's Distrust of the Church ; its Causes 

 and Remedies," by the Rev. Wayland Hoyt, D. 

 D., Mr. John Jarrett, ex-President of the Amal- 

 gamated Iron and Steel Association, Mr. Henry 

 George, the Rev. William Wilberforce Newton, 

 and the Rev. E. S. Lorenz ; " Re-adjustments of 

 the Church to meet Modern Needs," 1. In the 

 methods of dealing with and reaching the poor 

 in cities, by the Rev. R. B. Tyler and the Rev. 

 W. S. Rainsford, D. D. ; 2. In country towns 

 and on the frontier, by the Rev. S. W. Dike 

 and the Rev. William Barrows, D. D. ; 3. In 

 foreign missionary fields, by the Rev. E. S. 

 Lowrey and the Rev. Archdeacon W. W. Kirby. 





