LUTHERANS. 



513 



may be mentioned the Deaconess Institution 

 in Philadelphia, in connection with the Ger- 

 man Hospital, largely under the control of the 

 Church. The 134 Lutheran periodicals include 

 42 English, 53 German, 22 Norwegian, 9 

 Swedish, 2 Danish, 2 Icelandic, and 1 Finnish. 

 Three of the general bodies held conventions 

 during the year. Following are brief reports 

 of their transactions and operations, together 

 with a statistical report of each : 



General Synod (North). Organized in 1821. 

 The last convention of this body was held in 

 Harrisburg, Pa., in May, 1885 (see "Annual 

 Cyclopaadia " for 1885). The next convention 

 will be held in Omaha, Nebr., June 1, 1887. 

 This body is composed of the following twenty- 

 three district synods: 



The following institutions exist within the 

 bounds of the General Synod: 5 theological 

 seminaries, at Hartwick, N.Y., Gettysburg, Pa., 

 Springfield, Ohio, Selinsgrove, Pa., and Chicago, 

 111., with 64 students (1 institution not report- 

 ing), and 12 professors ; 4 colleges, at Gettys- 

 burg, Pa., Springfiield, Ohio, Carthage, 111., and 

 Guntur, India, with 455 students and professors; 

 2 academies and 3 benevolent institutions. 



General Conneil. This body, organized in 

 1867, is composed of the following eleven dis- 

 trict synods, two of which, however, to wit, 

 Norwegian and Iowa Synods, are not yet in 

 organic connection, but annually send dele- 

 gates to its conventions : 



VOL. xxvi. 33 A 



There are within the bounds of the Council 

 4 theological seminaries, at Philadelphia, Bock 

 Island, 111., Mendota, 111., and Beloit, Iowa, 

 with 164 students and 9 professors; 7 colleges, 

 at Rock Island, 111., Allentown, Pa., Waverly, 

 Iowa, Greenville, Pa., St. Peter, Minn., Roch- 

 ester, N. Y., and Lindsborg, Kans., with 626 

 students and 47 professors ; 4 academies, 2 

 ladies' seminaries, 1 deaconess institution, at 

 Philadelphia, and 21 benevolent institutions. 



The General Council of the Evangelical 

 Lutheran Church in North America held its 

 nineteenth annual convention in Trinity Eng- 

 lish Lutheran Church, Chicago, 111., Oct. 21-27, 

 1886. The convention was opened with the 

 full communion service. All the synods were 

 represented by 94 delegates. Prof. Adolph 

 Spaeth, D. D., of the Philadelphia Seminary, 

 was re-elected president. The most important 

 matters claiming the attention of the Council 

 were its home and foreign missionary opera- 

 tions, consideration of ministerial acts, and 

 the common order of service for English- 

 speaking Lutherans. 



The committee on foreign missions reported 

 concerning the condition of affairs in the 

 mission-field in India. The report shows that 

 there are at present five missionaries in India ; 

 Rev. H. 0. Schmidt, the senior missionary, at 

 Rajahmundry ; Rev. I. K. Poulsen, at Samul- 

 cotta ; Rev. F. S. Dietrich, at Dowlaiswaram; 

 Rev. F. J. MacCready, at Tallapudi ; and Rev. 

 W. Groenning, superintendent of the schools at 

 Rajahmundry. Besides these, the following 

 statistics may be given, to wit : 4 wives of 

 missionaries, 2 native ordained pastors, 7 na- 

 tive evangelists and catechists, 56 teachers, 381 

 scholars, 311 baptized in 1885 and 146 during 

 the first six months of 1886, 1,901 baptized 

 Christians. The expenses for the year were 

 $10,744.97; estimates for 1887, $14,000. 



The home-mission work is intrusted to 

 three committees, English, German, and Swed- 

 ish ; but these committees have charge of only 

 a small fraction of the missionary operations 

 whhin the bounds of this body, while the dis- 

 trict synods are carrying on extensive mission- 

 ary operations within their respective territo- 

 ries, numbering more than 200 congregations 

 or stations. The English committee reported 

 mission -stations in Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, 

 and Dakota. Their expenses for the year 

 were $2,967.67. The German committee pre- 

 sented an interesting report of work done in a 

 large number of States, from Canada to Texas, 

 among the widely scattered German Luther- 

 ans. Their expenses were $5,927.92. But no 

 report showed such far-reaching results as 

 that of the Swedish committee, which have 

 charge of all the missions of the Swedish 

 Synod. Among the missions mentioned, the 

 principal ones are those . in California, at San 

 Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento ; in Ore- 

 gon, at Portland and Astoria, including a Fin- 

 nish church at the latter place ; in Washington 

 Territory, at Marshfield, Walley, Kokensen, 



