152 



CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



The judgment of the Assembly was expressed in 

 favor of the formation of a young mens' guild 

 in connection with the Congregational churches 

 of the country, for the promotion of purity of 

 life, and for other purposes connected with 

 the moral welfare of the community and the 

 prosperity of the churches ; and the committee 

 of the Union was instructed to appoint a spe- 

 cial committee to draft a scheme for such guild, 

 and report upon the subject to the autumnal 

 meetings of the Union. A resolution was 

 adopted against ''coercion" in Ireland. 



The autumnal meetings of the Congrega- 

 tional Union were held in Leeds, beginning Oc- 

 tober 11. The Rev. Alexander McKennal, D.D., 

 presided, and delivered an opening address on 

 " The Decay of Dogma " in the present time, 

 for which he said a spiritual rather than a phil- 

 osophical reason should be sought. Many of 

 the doctrines professedly held in the churches 

 a generation since had ceased to represent their 

 real beliefs. An altered type of piety had 

 come in which was simpler and more direct 

 than it had been, franker in the utterance of 

 personal experience and personal conviction, 

 and building less on conviction and logic. The 

 final report of the Jubilee fund showed that the 

 total receipts on its account had been 430,000, 

 while the payments had been about 4,800 less. 

 The balance was almost exclusively appropri- 

 ated as a reserve fund for the Church Aid So- 

 ciety. The amounts expended had been : For 

 the liquidation of church debts, 246,225 ; for 

 church aid and home mission work, 35,324; 

 for Congregational church extension in Lon- 

 don, 92,000 ; for various societies, 4,540 ; 

 for colleges and schools, 20,218; for new- 

 churches and school-rooms, 22,370 ; for an 

 old debt on the Memorial Hall, 1,000. The 

 working expenses were 2,046 ; toward these 

 the Congregational Union had voted 1,000, 

 and the rest had been obtained from interest 

 on investments, so that the contributors had 

 the well-nigh unique privilege of knowing that 

 every shilling they had subscribed had been de- 

 voted to the purpose desired. The Australian 

 colonies had raised a Jubilee fund for similar 

 purposes. New South Wales 40,000 for chapel 

 debts. Victoria 20,300; and South Australia 

 14,430. The addition of these sums made a 

 total of more than half a million pounds (504,- 

 730) as the result of this special effort. Ad- 

 dresses were made and papers read during the 

 sessions on " The Desirableness of County 

 Conferences for the Revival of Faith, and 

 Piety in the Churches," by Mr. Guest; "The 

 Present Aspects of the Question of Church 

 Comprehension," by the Rev. Samuel Pearson ; 

 "The Exposition and Enforcement of Free 

 Church Principles " (a general discussion, em- 

 bracing the subjects of " The Scriptural Ideal 

 of Church Life," by the Rev. W. P. Clarkson ; 

 "The Congregational Idea of Church Life," by 

 the Rev. R. H. Lovell, and "John Milton as a 

 Free Churchman," by the Rev. Dr. Fairbairn) ; 

 " The Great Need of Pastoral Oversight of the 



Young," by the Rev. W. Spensley ; " The Im- 

 portance of Making Systematic Arrangements 

 for the Scientific Study of Theology," by Prof. 

 "Wilkins ; and " The Necessity for Maintaining 

 the Christian Spirit in Political Conduct," by 

 the Rev. Carvell "Williams. Mr. R. S. Ashton, 

 who was deputed to represent the Free Churches 

 of France, informed the Union that there were 

 now 33 of these churches, comprising more 

 than 3,000 members. At the annual meeting 

 of the Total Abstinence Association, which 

 was held on the evening preceding the opening 

 session of the Union, it was reported that of 

 the Congregational ministers in England and 

 Wales, the abstainers outnumber the non- 

 abstainers by 400, and that of 375 students in 

 Congregational colleges, 315 were abstainers. 



Congregational Chapel - Building Society. The 

 report of the Congregational Chapel-Building 

 Society, which was made in May, covered the 

 work of 33 years. The total receipts during 

 that time had been 109,577, and the total ex- 

 penditures 161,842. The society had aided 

 667 churches and 33 manses, representing 

 property valued at about 1,300,000, for the 

 most part freehold, and to a large extent free 

 from interest-bearing debt. The churches pro- 

 vided 300,000 sittings. The society was pos- 

 sessed of available funds, promissory notes, and 

 investments, amounting to 20,000. 



Church Aid and Home Mission Society. The an- 

 nual meeting of the Church Aid and Home 

 Mission Society was held May 10. The re- 

 ceipts of the society for the year had been 

 34,978. Aid had been given to 706 churches 

 and branch churches, and 419 mission stations, 

 or 1125 congregations in all. These congre- 

 gations were under the care of 513 pastors 

 and 108 missionaries and pastor evangelists, 

 and returned 85,908 attendants, of whom 32,- 

 842 were church-members, with 74,200 pupils 

 in Sunday-schools. They had raised for min- 

 isterial support, etc., 50,000, had received 

 from public funds 5,894, and had been aided 

 by the society to the extent of 26,246. 



London Missionary Society. The ninety-third 

 annual meeting of the London Missionary So- 

 ciety was held in London May 12. The year's 

 income had been 105,380, of which 9,000 

 had been contributed by the native mission 

 churches. The expenditure left a deficit of 

 nearly 15,000. Besides the ordinary staff of 

 missionaries, 1,150 ordained native workers and 

 6,000 catechists and preachers were employed in 

 the service of the missions. The report noticed 

 as events favorable to the missions the issue of 

 an imperial edict in China, recognizing the 

 status of Chinese Christians, and a movement 

 in Bengal and Madras to form a native Chris- 

 tian Church. 



Irish Congregational Union. The fifty-eighth 

 annual meeting of the Irish Congregational 

 Union was held at Sligo in May. Nearly every 

 church had made advance during the year. A 

 scheme for the establishment of a Theological 

 hall in Belfast was considered. 



