768 



REFORMED CHURCHES. 



The receipts of the Board 01 Home Missions 

 had been $61,945, of which $12,112 had been 

 obtained through the Woman's Executive Com- 

 mittee. Ninety-seven missionary porters had 

 been employed' in 137 churches and mission 

 fields ; 20 new churches had been organized, and 

 13 missions started ; and 002 persons had been 

 added on profession. 



The Board of Education had 99 students 

 under its care. 



The contributions to the Disabled Ministers' 

 Fund had increased nearly $600 over those- of 

 the preceding year. 



The total receipts for the year of the Com- 

 mittee on Foreign Missions had been $116,205. 

 The Woman's Board had contributed $18,000, 

 since its organization. The Synod 



recommended the holding of general missionary 

 conferences in behalf of the home and foreign 

 boards. 



The three classes in the theological seminary 

 of the Arcot Mission, India, had been attended 

 by 14 students. 



'The General Synod met at Asbury Park. N. J., 

 June 4. The Rev. E. T. Corwin, D. D., of New 

 Brunswick, N. J., was chosen moderator. The 

 most important business transacted was the pres- 

 entation and adoption of the report of the Com- 

 mittee on Federal Union with the Reformed 

 Church in the United States. The report nar- 

 rated the proceedings of the joint commission 

 at the meeting held in the Catskill Mountain 

 House in September, 1890 (see "Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia" for 1890), and of a special meeting held in 

 New Brunswick, N. J., June 3, 1891. The re- 

 sult of its work was given in the shape of a draft 

 of constitution for a federal union, to be re- 

 presented by a federal synod, and of special 

 provisions for giving the constitution practical 

 effect. A summary of the articles of the con- 

 stitution is given below. The constitution and 

 supplementary paper were adopted by a unan- 

 imous vote to be sent to the Classes for con- 

 sideration and action by them. The Synod 

 granted an application from the trustees of 

 Rutgers College for a modification of the stipu- 

 lation 'requiring that three fourths of the mem- 

 bers of the board shall be communicants of the 

 Reformed Church, so that only two thirds of 

 them need be so qualified. Sympathy was ex- 

 pressed with the proposition of the Southern 

 Presbyterian Church to petition the civilized 

 nations to settle all disputes by arbitration. 

 Agreeably to the report of the committee on a 

 plan of securing recruits for the ministry, pastors 

 were requested to present, at least once a year, 

 the claims of the ministry on young men, and to 

 direct the attention of parents and pious sons to 

 this subject. The Committee on the State of the 

 Church reported that the past year had been one 

 of the most prosperous in the history of the 

 denomination. The accessions had been more 

 numerous than in any year since 1877. There 

 had been a net increase of 12 churches, 787 com- 

 municants, 10 Sunday schools with 1.178 pupils, 

 and an advance in benevolent contributions of 

 $3.399. The object and methods of the American 

 Sabbath Union were approved, and it was com- 

 mended to the confidence and support of the 

 churches. A protest was declared against open- 

 ing the World's Columbian Exhibition on Sun- 



days. A Standing Committee on Sabbath Ob- 

 servance was constituted. The work of the 

 New York Society for the Suppression of Vice 

 was commended. The Committee on Systematic 

 Beneficence was instructed to present some plan 

 for adoption by the churches. In response to 

 communications from the Presbyterian Church 

 in the United States of America, committees 

 were appointed to consider and confer upon the 

 subjects of a consensus creed and a federation 

 of Christian Churches. 



II. Reformed Church in the United 

 States. The General Synod of the Reformed 

 Church in the United States met in special ses- 

 sion in Philadelphia, June 4. The Rev. J. S. 

 Keifer, D. D., presided. The purposes of the 

 meeting were stated to be to join with the Pres- 

 byterian Church in the United States of America 

 in formulating a consensus creed, and to act on 

 the question of union with the Reformed Church 

 in America. The report on a federal union with 

 the Reformed Church in America was taken up 

 first. It said : 



It is believed that if a union be formed, which 

 gives but little authority or power to the judicatory 

 at the beginning, the union will grow closer by 

 trial, and the federal judicatory will gradually more 

 and more win the confidence and affection of the 

 Churches. If this federal judicatory should prove to 

 be a decided advantage to the growth and prosperity 

 of the Churches it represents, greater power may be 

 given to it from time to time. Even if it should 

 never possess more than advisory powers or functions, 

 vet if it should serve to promote closer co-operation 

 between the two Churches in the union, or, in addi- 

 tion, open the way for an alliance of all the Reformed 

 Churches of this country, the experiment will not be 

 in vain. Considering the repeated efforts to bring 

 about this uniou, though former ones failed, it would 

 seem that the desire for union is so deep-rooted that 

 it will not be satisfied until a fair trial be made. 



The articles agreed upon by the Joint Com- 

 mittee as the constitution of the federation and 

 the provisions for carrying them into effect were 

 unanimously approved; the president of the 

 Synod was authorized, if the articles should be 

 adopted by the. Classes in 1892. in conjunction 

 with the brethren of the Dutch Church, to des- 

 ignate the place of meeting of the Federal 

 Synod, and delegates were chosen to represent 

 the Church in that body. Concerning the other 

 object of the special session (numbered 1 in the 

 call), the Synod appointed a committee " to con- 

 fer with the committee of the Presbyterian 

 Church with regard to the forming of a consen- 

 sus creed, and to co-operate with said com- 

 mittee, provided the consensus be based upon 

 the historical confessions of the Reformed 

 Churches holding the Presbyterian system, with- 

 out giving preference to any one in particular." 

 Exception had been taken in the debate to the 

 omission in the overture of the Presbyterian 

 General Assembly of the Heidelberg Catechism 

 from the list of standards on which the consen- 

 sus creed shall be based. 



Constitution of the Federal Union of 

 the Reformed Churches. The following are 

 the essential articles of this act: 



I. Each denomination entering into this union 

 shall retain its distinct individuality, as well as every 

 power, jurisdiction, and right which is not by this 

 constitution expressly delegated to the body hereby 

 constituted. 



