674 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



For the glory of God, and for the greater unity and 

 advancement of the Church of which the Lord Jesus 

 Christ is the Head, the Reformed Churches in the 

 United States holding to the Presbyterian system 

 adopt the following articles of federal union : 



1. Every 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. 



2. The acts, proceedings, and records of the duly 

 constituted authorities of'each of the denominations 

 shall be received in all the other denominations, and 

 in the Federal Council, as of full credit and with 

 proper respect. 



3. For the prosecution of work that can be better 

 done in union than separately, an ecclesiastical as- 

 sembly is hereby constituted which shall be known 

 by the name and style of The Federal Council of the 

 Reformed Churches in the United States of America 

 holding the Presbyterian System. 



4. The Federal Council shall consist of 4 ministers 

 and 4 elders from each of the constituent denomina- 

 tions, who shall be chosen, with alternates, under the 

 direction of their respective supreme judicatories, in 

 such manner as those judicatories shall respectively 

 determine. 



5. The Federal Council shall promote the co-opera- 

 tion of the federated denominations in their home 

 and foreign missionary work, and shall keep watch 

 on current religious, moral, and social movements, 

 and take such action as may concentrate the influence 

 of all the churches in the maintenance of the truth 

 that our nation is a Protestant Christian nation, and 

 of all that is therein involved. 



6. The Federal Council may advise and recommend 

 in all matters pertaining to the general welfare of the 

 kingdom of Christ, but shall not exercise authority, 

 except such as is conferred upon it by this instrument, 

 or such as may be conferred upon it by the federated 

 bodies. It shall not interfere with the creed, wor- 

 ship, or government of the federr.ted denominations. 

 In the conduct of its meetings it shall respect their 

 conscientious views. All matters of discipline shall 

 be left to the exclusive and final judgment of the ec- 

 clesiastical authorities of the denomination in which 

 the same may arise. 



7. The Federal Council shall have the power of 

 opening and maintaining a friendly correspondence 

 with the highest assemblies of other religious denom- 

 inations, for the purpose of promoting union and 

 concert of action in general or common interests. 



8. All differences which may arise among the fed- 

 erated bodies, or any of them, in regard to matters 

 within the jurisdiction of the Federal Council shall 

 be determined by such executive agencies us may be 

 created by the Federal Council, with the right of 

 appeal to the Federal Council for final adjudication. 



y. The officers of the Federal Council shall be a 

 president, vice-president, clerk, and treasurer. 



10. The Federal Council shall meet annually, and 

 on its own adjournment, at such time and place as 

 may be determined. Special meetings may be called 

 by a unanimous vote of the officers of the council on 

 thirty days' notice. 



11. The expenses of the council shall be met by a 

 contingent fund to be provided by a pro rata appor- 

 tionment on the basis ot'the number of communicants 

 in each denomination; and the expenses of the dele- 

 iratcs to the council shall be paid from this fund. 



12. Amendments to these articles may be proposed 

 by the Federal Council, or by any of the supreme 

 judicatories of the churches in the federation : but the 

 approval of all those judicatories shall be necessary 

 for their adoption. 



The fourth report of the Committee on Co- 

 operation in Church Work narrated the results 

 of friendly conferences among the representa- 

 tives of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian 

 Churches and the Congregationalists on the 



home mission fields; approved and emphasized 

 the rules and recommendations of the home 

 mission conferences, which had been called by 

 the request of the General Assembly ; called the 

 attention of the home board and of the presby- 

 teries to the local conferences between the allied 

 denominations provided for in those rules, and 

 requested those bodies to give effect to the same 

 by co-operating with the agents of other denom- 

 inations in forming the committees of coni'er- 

 ence ; and provided, further, 



That the Board of Home Missions be allowed so to 

 amend its rules governing the commissioning of mis- 

 sionaries under its care as to include ministers in 

 good standing in co-operating bodies which may de- 

 sire grouping according to the plan of co-operation 

 herein proposed ; that presbyteries be directed to in- 

 quire whether there are churches in their field be- 

 longing to these co-operating denominations which 

 can be united under one ministry in the manner pro- 

 posed, or whether there are churches which in their 

 judgment should be disbanded and their members 

 advised to unite with some other church ; and that 

 the committee be continued, and directed to secure 

 occasional conferences of the mission boards of such 

 allied denominations as may be willing to co-operate 

 in the general plan, and, in order to secure the perma- 

 nence of the work under proper denominational sanc- 

 tion and control, that the co-operating societies be 

 advised to make annual reports to their respective 

 denominations. 



The Committee on Church Unity reported 

 further concerning correspondence with the 

 Protestant Episcopal Church. A suggestion had 

 been made concerning an amendment to the 

 canon law of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 

 under which Presbyterian ministers could be 

 recognized by the Protestant Episcopal bishops 

 as standing upon the same basis of apostolic 

 succession with themselves, but no action had 

 been reported upon the subject. The report 

 closed with recommendations that the General 

 Assembly reaffirm the declaration of the General 

 Assembly of 1883, that it 



Is in cordial sympathy with the growing desire 

 among the evangelical Christian Churches for prac- 

 tical unity and co-operation in the Avork of spreading 

 the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout all 

 the earth ; it reaffirms the further declaration of the 

 same Assembly (a) that all who believe in Christ 

 constitute one 'body, mystical yet real, and destined 

 to grow into the fullness of him who filleth all in all ; 

 (b) the universal visible Church consists of all those 

 throughout the world who profess the true religion, 

 together with their children ; (c) mutual recognition 

 and reciprocity between the different bodies who 

 profess the true religion is the first and essential step 

 toward practical Church unity; the General Assem- 

 bly approves of the way in which its Committee of 

 Conference with the Protestant Episcopal Commis- 

 sion on Church Unity has conducted its negotiations ; 

 the General Assembly, on the request of its commit- 

 tee, directs it to suspend further correspondence with 

 the Protestant Episcopal Commission until that com- 

 mission secures from its General Convention instruc- 

 tions to accept and act upon the doctrine of mutual 

 recognition and reciprocity. 



A minority report recommended that the 

 committee be continued till an official answer 

 from the several Churches is received, and that 

 with reference to the Protestant Episcopal 

 Church the Assembly approve of the recom- 

 mendation of the committee made to the last 

 General Assembly that the ministers and mem- 

 bers of the Presbyterian Church should in all 



