BAPTISTS. 



drafting f the constitution, in 1845, a resolu- 

 tion was passed Instructing the Domestic I'.oard 

 to tuke all prudent measures for the religious 

 in-irue'tion of our cetleuvd population." At the 



iir-t meeting al'tcr the civil war, these negroes 

 thru Ix-iiiLT free, the convention resolved " that 

 in our e-han-ed relations to the colored people 



\se ivcoL:iii/.e as heretofore our solemn obligation 



to give religious instruction to them by all those 

 means which (Jod has ordained for the salvation 

 of men." Twice the convention Mad made for- 

 mal overtures to the brethren of the North to 

 aid them among these people, to neither of 

 which, says the report, was any favorable re- 

 sponse ever made. A committee was appointed 

 by the convention to confer with n similar com- 

 mittee of the American Uaptist. Home Mission 

 Society with reference to co-opera! ion in work 

 among the colored people in tin- South, and with 

 reference to a more definite understanding in re- 

 r.-ml to the territorial limits of the work of the 

 two societies among the white people, the In- 

 dians, and the foreign population of the country. 



The business ail'airs of the Sunday-school 

 Hoard were in a very satisfactory condition. 

 The cash receipts for the year had been $48,529, 

 an increase of r>,4<>0 over those of the previous 

 year. During lsl)2-'})3 the board had distrib- 

 uted of its earnings $l,-H:> among the States, 

 paying the money to State mission boards to be 

 u-ed in such Sunday-school work as they were 

 doing. During the past year a different policy 

 had been pursued, and the surplus funds had 



1 n used rather with a view to encouraging and 



developing distinctively Sunday-school work. 



The Foreign Board had received from all 

 sourc.- xii)i;.:::;-j. nf which $23,515 were from the 

 woman's missionary societies. Twelve mission- 

 arie> had been sent out, 7 more were under em- 

 ployment, and a number of persons had applied 

 for appointment. The missions in Italy, Bra/il, 

 Mexico. China. Africa, and Japan returned 84 

 churches, :;.:; % js members, (i^!> baptisms during 

 the year. -\'2 men and :'.S women serving as mis- 

 -lonaries, ''."> ordained and <i(i unordaincd native 

 agents, and *,?,271 pupils in Sunday schools. 



A report was adopted recommending that the 

 ties of young people be under the control 

 of I he local churches. A paper from the General 

 Convention of the Disciples of Christ, inviting 

 conference with the various denominations with 

 reference to Christian union, was referred to a 

 committee to prepare a courteous answer. The 

 paper declared against any union at the sacrifice 

 of principle and loyalty to Christ, and set forth 



as three points essential ta proper basis of union 



tin- primitive creed of the Church, defined as 

 faith in .lesus as the Christ and the Son of God ; 

 the ordinance^ as Christ left them to the Church, 

 of which baptism was ;dlirmed to be the immer- 

 sion of a penitent believer, while onlybapti/ed 

 believers are regarded as script urally entitled to 

 partake of the Lord's Supper ; and t he Christian 

 life as commanded in the New Testament. 



An enumeration of the churches in the States 

 represented in the convent io-i - Alabama, Arkan- 

 sas. Florida. Georgia, Indian Territory, Ken- 

 tucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi. Mis- 

 souri", North Carolina. South Carolina. Tennes- 

 see, Texas, and Virginia prepared by the secre- 

 tary of the boi.y, shows that they comprise, in 



all, 684 associations, 9,610 ordained ministers, 

 17,346 churches, and 1,368,351 white members; 

 with 20 colleges, 29 seminaries for young women, 

 and 24 academies, having 1,782 instructors and 

 10,138 pupils. Educational property, including 

 endowments ($2,286,306), $6,110,581; reported 

 \alue of church property, $17,361,794. The 

 same enumeration gives the number of colored 

 Baptist churches as 12,454, with 1,291,046 mem- 

 bers; whole number of Baptist members, white 

 and colored, 2,65 1,:5!)7. 



Co-operation. The committee appointed by 

 the Southern Baptist Convention and the Execu- 

 tive Committee of the American Baptist Home 

 Mission Society, in response to the overture of 

 the Southern Baptist Convention to confer with 

 reference to co-operation between the Home 

 Board of the Convention and the society in work 

 among the colored people of the South, met at 

 Fortress Monroe, Va., in September. The Hon. 

 J. L. Howard, of Connecticut, was chosen chair- 

 man. The Southern Committee presented a 

 paper containing the expression 



That, desiring to avoid discussion of past issues, or 

 <>t' matters <m which it is known that the views of the 

 brethren North and South are widely divergent, we 

 will in all sincerity address ourselves' to the task of 

 seeiirinLT tor the future such en operation as may be 

 found practicable without attempting at once to ad- 

 just all diU'ereiiees. The committee desires to state 

 that, in making this overture, the Southern Baptist 

 Convention is prompted not by any necessity of its 

 own work or that of the Home Mission Hoard, but, 

 believing that the time has come when it should en- 

 large its work among the colored people of the South, 



it entertains the hope that a proper co-operation with 

 the Home Mission Society in its work already estab- 

 lished would contribute to the efficiency of both. 



An agreement was unanimously reached 



I. As to Schools among the Colored People, 1. That 



the Home Hoard of t hc'Soiit hern I'.aptist Convention 

 appoint an advisory local committee at each point, 

 where a school controlled by the American Baptist 

 Home Mission Society is located, and that the com- 

 mittee shall exercise such authority as shall be. con- 

 ferred upon it from time to time bv the 1 American 

 I'.aptist Home Mission Society. \>. That the control 

 ot' the schools shall remain in the hands of the Amer- 

 ican Baptist Home Mission Society, but these local 

 advisory committeesshall recommend to the American 

 Baptist' Home Mission Society any changes in the 

 conduct or in the teaching forces of these 1 schools, in- 

 cluding the tilling of vacancies, with the reasons for 

 their recommendations. ,">. That the Southern Bap- 

 tist Convention, through the Home Mission Board, 

 shall appeal to the Baptists of the South lor moral 

 and financial Support of these schools, and that thcM' 

 local committees shall encourage promising young 

 colored people to attend these institutions. -1.' That 

 the joint committee recommend to the respective 

 bodies appointing them the adoption of the t'ore^oiiii; 

 section as unanimously expressing their views as to 

 the work in the schools amoiii: the colored people, 



II. .t* fn Minion Work among t//c <'<>l<>r,,i I'ij>lt>. 

 It is unanimously voted by the joint committee 1 to 

 recommend to our respective 1 ' bodies that the Ameri- 

 cau Baptist Home Mission Society and the Home 1 

 Mission Board ot' the 1 Southern Baptist Convention 

 co operate in the mission work among the coloivel 

 people ot' the 1 South, ill e'ollllectioli with the Baptist 

 State bodies, white 1 and e-oloreel, in the joint appoint- 

 ment of general missionaries, in holding ministers' 

 and deacons' institute's, and in the 1 better organization 

 of the missionary work of the 1 colored Baptists, the 

 details c.t'the plan to be left to bo agreed upon by the 

 1 todies abo\ e 1 named. 



