498 



METHODISTS. 



mate means, strive to promote the spirit of brotherly 

 kindness among all wno hold the Christian faith, as 

 expounded by our venerable founder. While affirm- 

 ing its unabated confidence in the essential principles 

 of the government of the Weslcyan Methodist Church, 

 and while believing that any attempt to promote or- 

 ganic union is not at present desirable, the Conference 

 is of opinion that by mutual forbearance and consid- 

 eration some at least of the waste of labor and re- 

 sources caused by the needless multiplication of Meth- 

 odist Chapels might be prevented. The Conference 

 therefore appoints a committee, which shall meet dur- 

 ing the year, to consider and report as to the way by 

 which the waste and friction in the actual working 

 of the various sections of the Methodist Church may 

 be lessened or prevented, and brotherly love pro- 

 moted. 



On the meeting of the Representative Con- 

 ference, an equal number of laymen were added 

 to the Committee. On the report of a com- 

 mittee on the relation of baptized children to 

 the Church, the Conference, in vfew of the 

 diversity of opinion on the subject, decided 

 that it would not at present make additional 

 regulations. A series of resolutions were of- 

 fered, directing that persons attending the 

 Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in connection 

 with the Wesleyan Church, should have their 

 names entered on the class-books, and should 

 be expected to conform to the rules and dis- 

 cipline of the Church ; but that attendance at 

 the class-meeting should not be absolutely re- 

 quired as a test of membership. The mover 

 explained that the design of the resolutions 

 was not to impair the class-meeting, but to 

 meet the case of those who for any reason 

 could not meet in class, and yet had on various 

 grounds a claim to be recognized as members 

 of the Methodist Church. The whole subject 

 was referred to a committee to meet during 

 the year. A report of the Home Mission Com- 

 mittee, recommending the extension of the 

 system of employing lay agents, and proposing 

 plans for more active promotion of Methodist 

 work in villages, was approved. A proposal 

 to change the time of the meeting of the Pas- 

 toral Session, so that it shall not anticipate the 

 meeting of the representative session of the 

 Conference, was referred to a committee for con- 

 sideration, lest, if it were passed unadvisedly, the 

 Conference should, by the change, be in future 

 illegally constituted. Proposals for improving 

 the religious education given in the day schools, 

 and for securing a more regular examination 

 in religious knowledge, were ordered to be 

 sent for consideration to the district meet- 

 ings and school committees. In the matter of 

 help to students in the Theological Institution, 

 it was resolved to encourage those who have 

 means to pay for their education, while still 

 giving aid to poor men who feel called to the 

 work. The Committee on the Preparation of 

 a Catechism of Methodist History and Polity 

 was reappointed. 



Colonial Conferences. The West Indian 

 Conference includes 69 itinerant ministers, 560 

 local preachers, and 45,124 members. 



The South African Conference had, at the 

 time of its meeting in April, 170 itinerant min- 



isters, 1,477 local preachers, 60 evangelists, 

 24,280 full members, 8,002 members on trial, 

 2,961 in junior society classes; 307 Sunday- 

 schools, with 1,809 teachers and 19,377 pupils; 

 234 day-schools, with 346 teachers and 15,042 

 pupils; 102,056 attendants on worship; and 

 380 churches and chapels, and 1,012 other 

 preaching-places. 



The statistical reports made to the New 

 Zealand Conference at its meeting in 1887, 

 showed that during the past four years 2,341 

 members, 62 churches and preaching-places, 

 and 6,441 attendants on public worship had 

 been added. The Church now numbered 50,- 

 000 adherents. A bequest of 3,000 had 

 been received from a member of the Episcopal 

 Church, and was divided equally between the 

 Loan fund and the Theological Institute. The 

 sum of 2,800 had been raised for home mis- 

 sions. Four Maoris were ordained to the min- 

 istry. Resolutions were passed expressing an 

 ardent desire for the union of the Methodist 

 Churches of New Zealand, and for the separa- 

 tion of the New Zealand Conferences from the 

 group of conferences constituting the Aus- 

 tralasian Methodist Church. The following 

 action, which, however, has no mandatory 

 force, but merely expresses the feeling of the 

 Conference, was taken with reference to the 

 troubles in Tonga: 



1. The Conference deplores the present unhappy 

 divisions which have rent the Methodist Church of 

 Tonga, and trusts that measures may be speedily de- 

 vised for the restoration of the unity of the church in 

 that district. 



2. With a view to the attainment of this desirable 

 end, the Conference recommends the Missionary Com- 

 mittee and the New South Wales and Queensland 

 Conference to make overtures to the Free Church of 

 Tonga for the holding of a friendly conference, com- 

 posed of representatives of that church, and of the said 

 committee and Conference, for the purpose of discuss- 

 ing the terms and conditions of organic union between 

 the Wesleyan Church and the Free Church of Tonga, 

 the proposed united church to be constituted an annual 

 conference for the Friendly Islands of the Australasian 

 Wesleyan Methodist Church. 



VII. Primitive Methodist Church. Statistics of 

 this church were presented to the Conference 

 in June, of which the following is a summary : 

 Number of members, 191,663 ; of ministers, 

 1,038; of local or lay preachers, 16,138; ofCon- 

 nectional and other places of worship, 5,855 ; 

 of hearers, 552,506 ; of Sunday-schools, 4,065, 

 with 60,671 teachers and 410,950 pupils; value 

 of Connectional property, 2,999,762. 



The income of the Superannuated Ministers, 

 "Widows, and Orphans' fund for the year had 

 exceeded 7,400. With this sum the commit- 

 tee had paid 5,150 to superannuated minis- 

 ters and 1,700 to ministers' widows ; a con- 

 siderable amount had gone to assist orphans. 

 The income of the Book Concern had been, 

 including the small balance from the previous 

 year, 34,000. Out of the profits of its busi- 

 ness the Book Committee had given 3,300 to 

 the Superannuated Ministers, Widows, and 

 Orphans' fund, and other sums to various be- 



