UNITARIANS. 



UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH. 747 



ARTICLE I. The Churches and other organizations 

 here represented unite themselves in a common body 

 to be known as the National Conference of Unitarian 

 and Other Christian Churches. 



The conference, holding that the bestowment 

 of Government funds for the support of enter- 

 prises conducted by religious bodies is opposed 

 to the spirit of our institutions, requested the 

 directors of the American Unitarian Association 

 to consider the advisability of surrendering all 

 Government aid for its school at the Crow 

 agency as soon as the arrangements can con- 

 veniently be made. It also expressed its sense 

 that the United States Government should pro- 

 vide industrial and common-school education 

 for the 10,000 Indian children not enrolled 

 in any schools. A resolution was passed de- 

 nouncing lynching, the " willing failure of 

 public officers" to protect accused persons 

 against it, and the neglect of citizens to support 

 their officers in repressing it. A committee was 

 appointed to assist the First Church of Plym- 

 outh, Mass., the church of the Pilgrim Fathers, 

 in securing funds needed for building a new 

 church in place of the one recently burned. 



British Unitarians. The annual meetings 

 of the British and Foreign Unitarian Associa- 

 tion were opened in London, May 15, with an 

 address by the Rev. Dr. Martineau on " Theo- 

 logical study for Young People." The treasurer's 

 report showed that the income of the associa- 

 tion from subscriptions, gifts, sales of books, be- 

 quests, dividends, and all other sources, had 

 amounted to 7,551. The report of the Execu- 

 tive Committee testified to greatly increased 

 activity in all departments, but especially in the 

 association's publishing business. District mis- 

 sionaries had been appointed for several new 

 "provinces" in England and Wales. Special 

 mention was made of Unitarian mission work in 

 Sweden, India, and Japan. A great demand 

 had been made for the works of Dr. Channing, 

 and more than 176,000 tracts and 2,316 books 

 had been distributed. A resolution was adopted 

 condemning the recent action of a majority of 

 the London School Board in adopting a circular 

 to teachers specifying certain theological doc- 

 trines which must henceforth be taught ; pro- 

 testing against any such instruction as an out- 

 rage upon the minds of the children, as involving 

 a religious test which no school board had a 

 right to impose upon its teachers, and as intro- 

 ducing the teaching of sectarian dogmas at the 

 public expense ; thanking the minority on the 

 board for the resolute way in which they had 

 opposed this measure; and calling upon all 

 friends of civil and religious liberty " to unite in 

 condemning a policy which, if finally carried 

 out in London, must inevitably lead to dissen- 

 sion throughout the country and arrest the 

 progress of national education." Other resolu- 

 tions condemned lynching in the United States, 

 and favored the opening of museums on Sun- 

 day, Welsh disestablishment, and international 

 peace and disarmament. Papers were read and 

 discussed on " Pioneer Work at Home " and 

 "Mission Work in Non-Christian Countries." 

 The postal missions were reported to include 

 about 1,000 correspondents in different parts of 

 the country. The Sunday School Association 

 reported the expenditure of 1,543 during the 



year, while the sales had realized 869. A 

 gratuitous distribution of biblical manuals and 

 other publications had been made to head mas- 

 ters and mistresses of colleges, etc. 



The fifth triennial National Conference of 

 Unitarians and others belonging to nonsub- 

 scribing churches met in Manchester, April 10, 

 Mr. James Beard, M. P., presided. Among the 

 visiting delegates were the Rev. J. P. Hocart, 

 pastor of the Liberal Church in Brussels, and 

 the Rev. C.. Eliot, of the United States. Baron 

 Schickler, of the French Protestant Churches, 

 and Dr. Grindall Reynolds, of the United States, 

 sent letters of sympathy. " Congregations and 

 Colleges and their Mutual Relations," " The 

 Churches and the Poor," and other subjects 

 were discussed. 



UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH. I. Lib- 

 eral Branch. The statistical reports of this 

 Church for 1894 give it. in the United States, 

 2,136 ministers, 4,097 churches, and 215,718 

 communicants ; in Canada, 12 ministers, 38 

 churches, and 1,413 communicants ; in Ger- 

 many, 8 ministers, 17 churches, and 765 com- 

 municants ; in Africa, 20 ministers, 55 churches, 

 and 5,742 communicants : in all, 2,176 ministers, 

 4,207 churches, and 223,638 communicants. 



The twenty-third annual meeting of the 

 Church Erection Society was held in Dayton, 

 Ohio, May 11. The treasurer's report showed 

 that the receipts for the year had been $8,315, and 

 that loans of $6,568 had been made to churches. 

 The collections of the society since 1873 had ag- 

 gregated $41,780. The society determined to 

 make the building of a church in Washington, 

 D. C., a general Church enterprise, and took 

 measures to support it. The officers of the 

 board and the bishops were requested to urge 

 the people -to pay at least an average of 10 cents 

 a member for church-erection purposes, and the 

 annual conferences were asked to make their 

 apportionments on that basis. 



The Board of Education met in Dayton, Ohio, 

 May 4. The report showed that the year had 

 been one of general success in the work. The 

 board had received $2,748, and had aided 36 

 beneficiaries, in sums ranging from $20 to $150 

 each. The Church was operating 14 schools 

 8 colleges, 5 academies, and the theological 

 seminary with an attendance of 2,308 stu- 

 dents in all the departments, 157 of whom were 

 studying for the ministry. The institutions had 

 24 buildings, which with their grounds were 

 valued at $313,235; total productive endow- 

 ment, $289,942 ; unproductive endowment, $65,- 

 058; amount of indebtedness, $298,800; total 

 available contingent assets, $177,310. Funds 

 were secured during the year of $85.000 for 

 Otterbein University and $35,000 for Western 

 College, relieving those institutions from em- 

 barrassing indebtedness. 



The publishing agent reported that the re- 

 ceipts of the publishing house for the year had 

 been $210,655, of which $26,627 was borrowed 

 money, and the expenditures $206,198. The 

 net assets of the establishment were estimated at 

 $333,204, showing a net gain during the year of 

 $7,298. The actual profits for the year were 

 $13,303. 



The receipts of the Board of Missions for the 

 year had been $40,821, and the expenditures 



