58 



BAPTISTS. 



with 17 teachers and 400 pupils, and 2 day- 

 schools, with about 150 pupils. Keport was 

 made concerning co-operation in sustaining 

 churches with the local organizations in vari- 

 ous States, and of work among the colored peo- 

 ple. The Woman's Missionary Societies had 

 contributed $2,281 to the funds of the board, 

 had supported three laborers in the field, and 

 had given aid to the Levering-School in the 

 Indian Territory. 



The receipts of the Board of Foreign Mis- 

 sions had been $87,955, and its disbursements, 

 $87,744. The financial exhibit was the best 

 the board had ever been able to make. The 

 missions which are in Brazil, Mexico, Italy, 

 Africa (Yoruba Mission, etc.), and China re- 

 turned, in all, 116 missionaries, native and for- 

 eign; 65 churches and stations; 1,551 mem- 

 bers; 228 baptisms during the year; 25 

 schools, with 587 pupils; and $3,012 of con- 

 tributions. 



Colored Baptist Organizations. The colored 

 Baptists of the United States are represented 

 in the American National Baptist Convention, 

 and the Baptist General Association of the 

 Western States and Territories. 



The American Baptist National Convention 

 of colored churches in the United States was 

 organized at a meeting held in St. Louis, Mo., 

 August 25, 1886, with William J. Simmons, of 

 Louisville, Ky., as president. Seventeen States 

 were represented by delegates and visitors. 

 Papers were read and lectures delivered on sub- 

 jects relating to colored Baptists and the inter- 

 ests of the Baptist Church, and an Executive 

 Board was organized, to have its headquarters 

 at Louisville, Ky. 



The receipts of the Baptist General Associ- 

 ation of the Western States and Territories 

 were $5,163. The association had sent two 

 missionaries to the Congo Valley in Africa. 

 Steps were taken at its meeting in 1886, for 

 consolidating its work with that of the Amer- 

 ican Baptist National Convention. 



Baptist Congress. The sixth annual session of 

 the Baptist Congress was held in Indianapolis, 

 Ind., November 15, 16, and 17. Mr. Will- 

 iam S. Holman presided. The proceedings 

 consisted in the discussion of the following 

 subjects, in papers and brief addresses ; " The 

 Organic Union of Christendom," Rev. G. D. 

 Boardman, D. D., Prof. Norman Fox, the Rev. 

 Dr. Bulkley, and volunteer speakers ; u Phases 

 of the Labor Problem," " The Land Question," 

 by the Hon. J. R. Doolittle, and the Hon. 

 Allen Zollars; and "Profit Sharing," by Prof. 

 Moncrief, of Franklin College ; " The Proper 

 Functions and the Influence of the Newspapers 

 of To-day," R. J. Burdette, the Rev. Dr. G. 

 W. Lasher, and the Rev. H. L. Wayland, D. D. ; 

 " Improvements in Methods of Theological 

 Education," Rev. W. C. Wilkinson, D. D., and 

 Rev. Dr. H. C. Mabie ; " Woman's Work in 

 the Church," Rev. Dr. W. M. Lawrence, Rev. 

 M. Willmarth, and volunteer speakers; "The 

 Proper Attitude of the Church toward Amuse- 



ments," Rev. M. Watson, Rev. T. I. Eaton, 

 D.D., Rev. Dr. E. A. Wood, and Rev. Kerr B. 

 Tupper ; and " The Sin of Covetousness," Prof. 

 Stider, the Eev. Dr. C. R. Henderson, and Rev. 

 Dr. P. S. Hen son. 



II. Free-Will Baptist Church. The "Free -Will 

 Baptist Register and Year-Book" for 1887 

 gives in the summary of the statistics of forty- 

 eight yearly meetings of the Free-Will Baptist 

 Church, 194 quarterly meetings. 1,542 church- 

 es, 1,291 ordained preachers, 5,988 licensed 

 preachers, and 82,323 members. Twelve new 

 yearly meetings united with the General Con- 

 ference at its last session (six of them mainly 

 composed of colored people), the membership 

 of which is about 6,500. They are all in the 

 Western and Southern States. 



The Free-Will Baptist Education Society re- 

 ceived and disbursed in 1886, $3,226. Its funds 

 were: Permanent fund, $1,000 ; Library fund, 

 $2,235 ; E. True fund, $9,965. One hundred 

 students were preparing for the ministry in the 

 schools of the Church. The Free -Will Baptist 

 Home Mission Society had received and expend- 

 ed $9,126, and returned a permanent fund of 

 $10,355. The special appropriations to mis- 

 sions amounted to $7,449. The receipts of the 

 Free -Will Bapti>t Foreign Mission Society had 

 been $14,781. It returned a permanent fund 

 of $9,283, a Bible-school fund of $18,136, and 

 a Bible-school hall fund of $50. The mission, 

 which is in India (Bengal and Orissa), returned 

 558 communicants; 16 additions by baptism; a 

 native Christian community of 1,085 persons ; 

 2,904 pupils in Sunday-schools ; and 3,563 pu- 

 pils in other schools. The native contributions 

 amounted to 585 rupees. The educational in- 

 stitutions comprise five colleges (one, Storer 

 College, at Harper's Ferry, W. Va., with a State 

 Normal and Academic Department in opera- 

 tion, largely attended by freedmen), and five 

 seminaries and academical schools. Other be- 

 nevolent institutions are the Temperance Soci- 

 ety, the Sunday-School Union, and the Woman's 

 Mission Society. 



HI. Seventh-Day Baptist CImrch. The position 

 of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church is described 

 by the Rev. A. H. Lewis, D. D., author of 

 "Sabbath and Sunday," and the "Seventh- 

 Day Baptist Handbook," as that of making a 

 plea for the Sabbath (as distinguished from 

 Sunday) " not on merely denominational 

 grounds, nor as a sectarian peculiarity, but 

 rather as a fundamental requirement of God's 

 moral government. We plead for a return to 

 the Sabbath as against the Sunday, because 

 there is no scriptural warrant for the change, 

 and because the verdict of history is, that the 

 reason assigned for observing Sunday, and the 

 method adopted for upholding it, have failed to 

 create conscience toward God, and hence to 

 make of it a sacred day." 



Statistical reports to the General Confer- 

 ence from 75 of the 110 churches gave the 

 number of members therein as 8,255. Seventy- 

 nine Sabbath- schools returned 485 teachers, 



