BAPTISTS. 



55 



tin- Son! hern Baptist Theological Seminary, 

 I,C>III-M!|C, Ky. : "Tlir Inerrancy of tlic Scrip- 

 tuivs." by (lie Kev. T. A. T. Hanna, 1'n.f. D. <i. 

 Lynn, I'll. D., Ih.- Kev. .1. l;.J. Pidgi-. I). I)., ami 

 I'n.l. Howard Osgood. D. I).; "The Pulpit in 

 Kelation In I'ulilical ami Social Reform." l>y the 

 Kev. II. II. IVabody. D. D.. Kev. ('. It. Hender- 

 son, D. I)., and I to v. Thomas Dixon, Jr.: "Chris- 

 tianity in Kelation to Heathen Kcliirions," by 

 the Kev. F.dward l'>rai>lin. I >. !>.. l'n>t'. Nathaniel 

 Schmidt, and the Rev. F. M. Ellis, D. I).; and 

 "The Relative Authority of Scripture and Rea- 

 son," by Pres. David .1." Hill, LL. D., Prof. VV. 

 N. Clarke, I). I)., the Rev. E. G. Robinson, I). I)., 

 and Prof. A. T. Robinson. The appointed 

 speakers were all followed in the discussion of 

 the several topics by volunteer speakers. 



II. Free-Will Baptist Church. General 

 Conference. An act of incorporation having 

 been sought and obtained by the Free- Will Bap- 

 tist General Conference from the State of Maine, 

 the board of ^corporators met, by direction of 

 the statute, at Ocean Park, Old Orchard, Maine, 

 Oct. 3, for formal organization as the Free Baptist 

 General Conference, the name given the body in 

 the charter. The board then adjourned, to meet 

 with the original General Conference, with which 

 it was to be merged. The twenty-eighth session 

 of this body met at Lowell, Mass., Oct. 4. Prof. 

 J. A. Howe was chosen moderator. The object 

 sought in obtaining the act of incorporation was 

 to bring the benevolent boards and societies of 

 the Church into unity with the General Confer- 

 ence. The competency of the General Conference 

 to consummate this measure was disputed : for 

 the old constitution of the General Conference 

 required the approval of three fourths of the 

 yearly meetings and associations to any amend- 

 ment. Final action on the subject was therefore 

 delayed, and it was referred to the yearly meet- 

 ings and associations, to be voted on by them. 

 The secretary of the benevolent societies report- 

 ed concerning his labors in holding conventions 

 in behalf of the causes committed to his care. 

 Concerning the special objects of the societies, 

 the educational work was in good condition, and 

 the mission in India was prospering so far as the 

 means of the society permitted its extension. In 

 the United States, the Church had to face the 

 fact that it was numerically decreasing. Action 

 was taken concerning the acceptance of an act 

 of incorporation from the State of Maine, a 

 draft for a constitution and by-laws, the Corre- 

 spondence School of Theology, the Ministerial 

 Relief Bureau, and the proposed denominational 

 exhibit at. the World's Columbian Fair. 



III. Baptists in Canada. "The Year-Book 

 of the Baptist Convention of the Maritime 

 Provinces and Canada" for 1892 enumerates 392 

 churches, with 42.777 members. Of these, 204 

 churches, with 25,855 members, are in Nova 

 Scotia: 762 churches, with 15,0(!7 members, in 

 New Brunswick ; and 26 churches, with 1.855 

 members, in Prince Edward Island. The num- 

 ber of baptisms during the past year had been 

 SI14 in Nova Scotia, 813 in New Brunswick, and 

 95 in Prince Kd ward Island in all, 1,772. Five 

 hundred and twenty-two Sunday schools had 

 2N.s-.25) enrolled pupils. The Baptist Convention 

 of Ontario and Quebec met in Brantford, Oct. 

 14, the Rev. J. B. Thomas, D. D., presiding. The 



receipts for foreign missions had been $31,845, 

 of which *l,K!!t had been contributed through 

 the Sunday x-hools, $7,757 through the Women's 

 Societies of Ontario and the eastern provinces, 

 and $3,902 through the < Wy fund. The dis- 

 bursements included $24,212 to the mission in 

 India. The subjects of foreign missions and 

 home missions were discussed ; reports wi-tv 

 made of the Superannuated Ministers' Society. 

 the Church Ed i nee Board, and the Educational 

 Board and fund; a conference of the Young 

 People's Baptist Union was held ; and a meeting 

 was given to the celebration of the centennial of 

 foreign missions. 



IV. Baptists in Great Britain and Ire- 

 land." The Baptist Handbook " for 1892 gives 

 the following statistics of the Baptist churches of 

 Great Britain and Ireland : Number of churches, 

 2,812 ; of houses of worship. :>.?!)8, with a seating 

 capacity of 1,225,097 ; of members, 334,163 ; of 

 teachers in Sunday schools, 47,784 ; of pupils in 

 Sunday schools, 483,921 : local preachers or 

 licentiates, 4,155 : of pastors in charge, 1,841. 

 As compared with the previous year, these fig- 

 uses show an increase of 10 churches, 17 church 

 edifices or chapels, 1,571 in seating capacity, 4.- 

 000 members, 155 local preachers, and 1,029 

 pupils in Sunday schools ; and a decrease of 348 

 teachers in Sunday schools and 33 pastors. As 

 compared with the statistics of 1888, they show 

 a gain in three years of 42 churches, 53 chapels, 

 3,274 sittings, 9,665 members, 1,754 pupils in 

 Sunday schools, and 17 local preachers: and a 

 loss of 1,193 teachers and 24 pastors. 



British Baptist Union. The Baptist Union 

 of Great Britain and Ireland met in London, 

 April 25. The Rev. R. Henry Roberts presided, 

 and delivered an inaugural address on "The 

 Witness of the Bible to Belief." The report of 

 the Council showed a slight advance in most of 

 the items of denominational progress, the num- 

 ber of members having increased from 330,163 

 to 334,163, while the number of pastors had de- 

 clined from 1,874 to 1,841, and the number of 

 local preachers had increased by 155. The fol- 

 lowing sums had passed through the hands of 

 the Council during the year: General expense 

 fund, 1,112; Home Mission fund, '3,053; an- 

 nuity fund, 8,870 : the total cost of invest- 

 ments being 129,756 ; augmentation fund, 2.- 

 888: and education fund. 131. The action of 

 a minister connected with the Union in exchang- 

 ing pulpits with a Unitarian minister had been 

 much discussed in the denomination. A resolu- 

 tion was adopted with reference to it, declaring 

 that 



While fully and gladly recognizing the duty of 



chcrishiiii,' gxxl-will toward nu n of all creeds. and 

 co-operating with them in works of 1'iety and mercy 

 when this can he done without dislojalty to convic- 

 tion or to the Lord, the Union depreoatee and disap- 

 proves any and every association with those \\lio 

 deny the above essential truths, which would weaken 

 the force of our testimony or produce the impression 

 that, in our judgment, it is a matter of secondary im- 

 portance whnt ""men think of Christ''; and that the 

 Union, therefore, urges all the churches and past <>rs 

 in connection with it jealously to "guard the tn^t 

 " 



which is committed to them," und especially t<~> secure 

 in the public ministry of the gonw clear and eon- 

 sUtcnt and coii!tant witness-lu-ariiiir t" the l>city of 

 the " one Lord " aud only Saviour, C'hrist 



