426 



LUTHERANS. 



municant members, 1,267,984: baptized mem- 

 bership, 6,700,000 ; parochial schools, 3,020; paro- 

 chial-school teachers, 3,217; parochial-school 

 scholars, 177,844; Sunday schools, 4,423; Sim- 

 day-school scholars, 415,048; benevolent con- 

 tributions of churches, $829,560.75 ; theological 

 seminaries, 24; colleges, 30: academies, 35; 

 ladies' seminaries, 12; benevolent institutions, 

 75; value of property of institutions, $7,102,- 

 200; amount of endowment of these institu- 

 tions, $1.421,400. 



The summary of statistics given above is for 

 the entire Church in the United States. Fol- 

 lowing are brief reports of the operations of the 

 4 general bodies and independent synods : 



General Council. This general body, em- 

 bracing a communicant membership of 291,234, 

 held no convention in 1892. Its missionary, 

 educational, and benevolent operations are car- 

 ried on by boards. Foreign missionary opera- 

 tions are carried on in India, with Rajahmundry 

 as its central station, with 5 American mission- 

 aries, 2 native pastors, and 2 woman mission- 

 aries. Home missionary operations are carried 

 on by the district synods in their respective ter- 

 ritories, and by the general board of the body in 

 the New England States, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, 

 Wisconsin, Minnesota, the 2 Dakotas, Montana, 

 Oregon, and Washington. An event of more 

 than ordinary importance to the membership of 

 this body was the quarter-centennial celebration 

 of Muhlenberg College, at Allentown, Pa. This 

 college was founded in 1867, and named in honor 

 of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, patriarch of the 

 Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania. The college 

 was established in order to meet the wants of 

 the Church in eastern Pennsylvania, especially 

 to increase the supply of ministers for the rapid- 

 ly increasing number of its congregations. The 

 college had for its first president the now vener- 

 able Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, D. D., 

 LL. D., a grandson of patriarch Muhlenberg, 

 and a distinguished Greek scholar. He man- 

 aged the affairs of the institution for ten years, 

 when he resigned to accept the professorship of 

 Greek in the University of Pennsylvania. He 

 was succeeded at Muhlenberg by the Rev. Ben- 

 jamin Sadtler, D. D., who served the college for 

 nine years, and was succeeded by the present 

 incumbent, the Rev. Theodore L. Seip, D. D., 

 who has had charge of the institution since 

 1886. During the twenty-five years of its exist- 

 ence Muhlenberg College has acquired property 

 worth $100,000, and endowment amounting to 

 $134,000, has graduated 311 young men, and 

 afforded educational advantages to nearly 1,500 

 students. The quarter-centennial celebration 

 helped materially to present the institution in 

 its true light to its patrons and friends, and to 

 make known to the outside world the results 

 accomplished. As a suitable memorial of the 

 event, a book of 584 pages was published, under 

 the title " Muhlenberg College," a quarter-cen- 

 tennial memorial volume, being a history of the 

 college and a record of its men, edited by the 

 Rev. S. E. Ochsenford, A. M., class of 1876. 



General Synod. This body, which embraces 

 a communicant membership of 159,207, held no 

 convention during the year. Its missionary and 

 other operations are also carried on by boards 

 elected by the body and responsible to it. For- 



eign missions are maintained in India and Africa, 

 and are in successful operation. Their reports 

 are published biennially; for the latest, see 

 " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1891. Home missions 

 are carried on in many of the United States, as 

 follows: California, 5 ; Colorado, 4; Connecticut, 

 1 ; District of Columbia. 2 ; Illinois, 9 ; Indiana, 5 ; 

 Iowa, 7; Kansas, 17; Maryland, 9; Missouri, 1 ; 

 Nebraska, 19 ; New Jersey, 1 ; New Mexico, 1 ; 

 New York, 8 ; Ohio, 15 ; Pennsylvania, 28 ; Ten- 

 nessee, 1 ; and Wisconsin. 2 ; employing 151 

 missionaries, who serve 200 congregations, and 

 for whose support were expended, during two 

 years, $61,106.85. 



United Synod (South). This general body, 

 which embraces a communicant membership of 

 37,793, held its biennial convention in 1892, at 

 Staunton, Va. Representatives were present 

 from the 8 synods connected with the general 

 body, and legislated in the interest of the affairs 

 of the Church throughout its territory, which 

 covers all the Southern States. This body has 

 recently established a mission in Japan, and is 

 maintaining numerous missions on its own ter- 

 ritory. Plans were adopted with reference to 

 the extension of these operations and the im- 

 provement of its theological seminary at New- 

 berry, S. C. This institution was established in 

 1840, and is maintained in connection with New- 

 berry College. Although lacking in endowment 

 and proper support, it is doing an important 

 work for the Church in the South. Two pro- 

 fessors give instruction to 6 students. 



Synodical Conference. This general body, 

 embracing 424,497 communicant members, most- 

 ly Germans, held its fourteenth convention in 

 New York city, Aug. 10-16, 1892. Much of the 

 time of the convention was devoted to the dis- 

 cussion of theological subjects. The representa- 

 tives from its 4 large district synods numbered 

 over 1,400 clergymen. The chief items of busi- 

 ness were home and foreign missions, education, 

 and the parochial-school question. One new 

 district synod was received at this convention, 

 the Michigan Synod, which several years since 

 left the General Council. The home missionary 

 operations of this body are carried on chiefly by 

 the district synods, for which the Missouri Syn- 

 od alone (reports from other synods are not ac- 

 cessible) expended $60,000. "Foreign mission 

 work is confined to missions among the Indians 

 and the freedmen of the South. This is the 

 only Lutheran general body that is extensively 

 carrying on mission work among the colored 

 people. Missionaries are stationed in Arkansas, 

 Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and Illinois. 

 The following was reported as the condition of 

 the various stations : 7 missionaries. 3 colored 

 pastors, 1 colored teacher, 11 stations, 9 schools 

 with 705 pupils, 13 Sunday schools with 935 

 pupils, and 437 communicant and 777 baptized 

 members. This work is being prosecuted at an 

 annual expense of about $8,000. The 5 theo- 

 logical seminaries, 5 colleges, and 6 academies 

 of this body, with more than 1,000 students, are 

 exerting a powerful influence in the education 

 of those German immigrants who have settled 

 in our western territory. The next convention 

 will be held in Milwaukee, Wis., in 1894. 



Following are the statistics of the Lutheran 

 Church in the great divisions of the world: In 



