CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



133 



churches and mission stations, an increase of 23, 

 in which were provided 1,630,209 sittings. In 

 these churches, so far as the returns show (417 

 churches or mission stations having failed to 

 send information as compared with 516 in 1898), 

 there were 388,009 members, and in their Sunday 

 schools 614,742 scholars, an increase of 10,670; 

 and 54,135 teachers, an increase of 7,389. Adding 

 to these the churches and mission stations in 

 other parts of the kingdom (those of the mis- 

 sions in Scotland and Ireland being, however, 

 incomplete) the whole number of places of wor- 

 ship was 4,851, with a total membership of 415,- 

 664, showing an increase of 37,900. The total sit- 

 ting accommodation provided in these churches 

 was 1,733,065. The clerical force comprised 3,132 

 ordained ministers in the British Isles, 221 recog- 

 nized evangelists and lay pastors, and 5,484 local 

 preachers. Two hundred and ninety churches 

 were without pastoral oversight, and 289 minis- 

 ters were described as " without pastoral charge." 

 The 781 churches and mission stations in the Brit- 

 ish colonies comprised 121 in Canada, 257 in Aus- 

 tralasia, and 288 in South Africa; and 155 

 churches and preaching stations were maintained 

 on the Continent of Europe. Four hundred and 

 fifty-nine missionaries were resident in the colo- 

 nies, 383 of whom were in active service. The 

 theological colleges and institutes returned 407 

 students for the Congregational ministry; in ad- 

 dition to which 10 institutions in heathen lands 

 belonging to the London Missionary Society had 

 about 300 students in training. Sixteen new 

 churches had been formed during the year, 41 

 chapels erected, of which 12 were in the colonies; 

 37 foundation stones of new buildings had been 

 laid, and 24 additional sites secured. 



The Colonial Missionary Society returned an 

 income of 6,108 for work in 11 colonies. The 

 report presented to the annual meeting, May 10, 

 gave a survey of work in Canada, Newfoundland, 

 Jamaica, Australia, New Zealand, and South 

 Africa. The war in South Africa had naturally 

 increased the difficulties there, both of churches 

 and of ministers, and added to their claims on the 

 society, but it would be difficult to tell till the 

 war was over how much would be needed from 

 the Emergency fund. Schemes were being con- 

 sidered by which the scope of the Twentieth Cen- 

 tury fund might be so enlarged as to include all 

 the Colonial Congregational Unions, when the 

 effort would be made to raise 1,000,000 guineas. 



The annual meeting of the London Missionary 

 Society was held in London, April 30. The total 

 ordinary income for the year had been, including 

 legacies, 148,930; while, adding what had been 

 received for the India Famine fund and certain 

 sums received from other sources, an aggregate 

 income was made up of 157,910. The expendi- 

 tures had been 184,815. The whole amount so 

 far obtained from the Centenary fund was 105,- 

 958. 



The annual meeting of the Congregational 

 Union of England and Wales was held in London, 

 beginning May 7, with Mr. Canvell Williams as 

 chairman for the year. The report of the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee represented that the total 

 amount of the year's receipts and stock was 16,- 

 248, and that there remained a balance of receipts 

 over expenditure of 180. The Publication De- 

 partment reported a falling off in the year's busi- 

 ness, which was attributed to the inauguration of 

 the Twentieth Century fund and the appeals for 

 the various war funds. The effect of the canvass- 

 ing for the Twentieth Century fund w r as spoken 

 of as " in the widest and best sense of a propa- 

 gandist character." It had afforded opportunities 





for the inculcation of Congregational principles 

 and for instruction in Congregational church his- 

 tory which had been diligently used and greatly 

 enjoyed by the churches that had profited by 

 them. The council of the Young People's Union 

 was organizing its work in London, a part of it 

 being a bureau through which young people com- 

 ing up to the metropolis might be introduced to 

 Congregational churches. A number of active dis- 

 trict branches had been formed. Several manu- 

 scripts of historical value, among them some un- 

 published works of ejected ministers, had been 

 added to the collections in Memorial Hall. 



A resolution was adopted commending the 

 Simultaneous Mission of the Free Church Federa- 

 tion. A declaration relative to the recent educa- 

 tional proposals of the Government reaffirmed the 

 profound conviction of the assembly that the 

 children of the people should receive the best pos- 

 sible education in public schools, free from retro- 

 grade limitations and sectarian tests, and under 

 popular and representative not private and cleri- 

 cal control. Papers were read upon The Place 

 of the Church Meeting in the Life and Work of 

 the Churches, The Present Position of the Tem- 

 perance Question, Doctrine and Ethics in Modern 

 Preaching, The Present Position of the Sacerdotal 

 Movement in the Established Church; and a 

 Young People's meeting was addressed on The 

 Joyousness of Christian Life, The Attractions of 

 Nonconformity, and Sex. The Rev. Joseph Parker, 

 D. D., was elected chairman for 1901. 



The autumnal session of the union was held at 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, beginning October 16. The 

 address of the chairman, Mr. Carvell Williams, 

 was on the subject of Present-day Evils and 

 Duties, and related to denominational questions 

 awaiting solution, the war in South Africa, the 

 trouble in China, disestablishment, the conflict 

 against ritualism, the educational question, in- 

 temperance, Sunday-school reform, general mis- 

 sions, and the Simultaneous Mission contem- 

 plated for 1901. The annual report contained 

 remarks on the striking change which the de- 

 nomination had experienced during the closing 

 century; the despised sect of 1800 having in 1900 

 won an acknowledged place among the religious 

 forces at work in the nation. The recent Church 

 Congress had given evidence that some of the 

 ablest men in the Anglican Church had come to 

 recognize the necessity of adopting toward Non- 

 conformists a tone more in harmony with reli- 

 gious sentiment, and more consonant with the 

 facts of the case. Regarding the sacerdotal con- 

 troversy within the Church of England, it was ob- 

 served that Congregationalists would have had 

 no right to interfere with the internal arrange- 

 ments of a Church from which they had seceded 

 if that Church did not still claim to include the 

 whole nation within its fold. Two appeals from 

 South Africa one from the Natal Congregational 

 Union and one from 414 Dutch ministers taking 

 opposite ground respecting questions of the war 

 had been referred to the Special Purpose Com- 

 mittee for acknowledgment. The treasurer of 

 the Publication Department reported the receipt 

 of 10,377 from sales. A special committee was 

 appointed to investigate the subject of ministerial 

 removals and settlements. A report made on be- 

 half of the Twentieth Century fund showed that 

 while the amount contemplated at first had been 

 more than promised, it had been so allotted by 

 the donors that there was danger lest some of 

 the objects on which the hearts of its projectors 

 were most set would not be realized. A very 

 large proportion of the money had been set apart 

 by the givers exercising the privilege allowed them 



