METHODISTS. 



369 



and educational officers in the matter of aiding in 

 the carrying out of the plans of the commission 

 were defined. 



II. Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

 The numerical returns of this Church give it 

 5.950 ministers, 14,190 churches, and 1,400,272 

 members, with church property valued at $5,- 

 400,000. 



The business done by the Southern Methodist 

 Publishing House during 1899 amounted to $383,- 

 746, or $40,447 more than in 1898. The net gain 

 in assets, $33,889, was less than heretofore in pro- 

 portion to the operations of the concern. The 

 capital was returned as amounting to $920,531. 

 A branch house established in Dallas, Texas, had 

 realized a profit of more than $4,000 in the first 

 year of its existence. The establishment of a 

 branch in China has been determined upon, to take 

 place as soon as a suitable man can be found to 

 manage it. 



The reports of the Board of Education repre- 

 sented it as being in better financial condition, 

 taking everything into consideration, than at any 

 previous time. More than $800,000 had been raised 

 toward a contemplated twentieth century fund 

 of $1,500,000. The agitation of this movement, it 

 was believed, had done much to arouse enthusi- 

 asm on the subject of education. The entire sum 

 of $25,000 for Haygood Memorial Hall had been 

 raised. 



The report of the Epworth League Board showed 

 that 441 senior and 111 junior chapters had been 

 added during the year, with a total of 23,730 

 members, making the whole number of chapters 

 4,977 senior and 606 junior, with 245,175 mem- 

 bers in all. A number of lapsed and inoperative 

 leagues had been revived and set to work under 

 better conditions, and a more general understand- 

 ing of the purpose of the League and its plan of 

 work was being diffused throughout the connec- 

 tion. A growth of missionary spirit was also 

 mentioned in the report. 



The report of the Sunday School Board showed 

 gains of 30 schools and 12,637 teachers and pupils, 

 the whole number of schools being 13,940 and of 

 teachers and pupils 951,824. The collections from 

 all sources, including those for the Children's Day 

 fund, amounted to $2,845, which, added to the 

 balance on hand from the previous year, gave 

 $15,742, while the disbursements had been $3,204, 

 leaving a balance, April 1, 1900, of $12,538. Of 

 this sum, $10,000 were in the form of a loan to 

 the Board of Missions, only the interest of which 

 is used for helping Sunday schools. 



The Board of Missions at its annual meeting, 

 May 11, appropriated $222,541 for the work of the 

 missions in Brazil, China, Korea, Japan, Mexico, 

 Cuba, and among the Indians, the German popu- 

 lations, and the conferences of the Rocky moun- 

 tains. The apportionment of amounts to be asked 

 from the several conferences contemplated the 

 raising for the ensuing year of $300,000. 



III. African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

 The following numbers were given in the episco- 

 pal address to the General Conference as repre- 

 senting the statistics of this Church for 1900: 

 Of annual conferences, 65; of churches, 5,095; of 

 ministers, 5,439; of communicant members, 663,- 

 706; of adherents, 1.659,765; of colleges, 20, with 

 165 teachers, 5,237 students, and 660 graduates; 

 value of church property, $10,310,993. Between 

 IKS 4 and 1899 $1,140,013 were raised for education. 



The twenty-first General Conference (quadren- 

 nial) met in Columbus, Ohio, May 7. The epis- 

 copal address began with a review of the progress 

 of the African Methodist Episcopal Church during 

 the four years since the preceding General Con- 

 VOL. XL. 24 A 



ference, in which a considerable increase in num- 

 bers was spoken of, and as evidences of growth 

 in vital piety were mentioned the better perform- 

 ance of the Church's duties on all observable lines, 

 the emboldening and enlargement of the mission- 

 ary spirit, a greater grasp of duty and devotion 

 to the performance of it, and the facts that the 

 denomination had built more churches and edu- 

 cated more persons and had had a greater number 

 of conversions than in any previous four years. 

 A financial scheme for the support of the edu- 

 cational interests of the Church was adopted, 

 under which funds were apportioned to 16 insti- 

 tutions of collegiate and academic grade in sums 

 ranging from $1,600 to $200 each, and a plan was 

 arranged for raising money for the educational 

 department, (1) by appropriation from the "dol- 

 lar money," 6 per cent, of which shall be paid to 

 the Secretary of Education; (2) by private dona- 

 tions and bequests, which shall be paid according 

 to the wish of the donor; (3) by ihe contributions 

 of educational societies, the formation of which 

 was recommended to the churches of the connec- 

 tion; (4) by public appropriations; (5) by the 

 maturing of life insurance policies; (6) by contri- 

 butions of pastoral charges for educational pur- 

 poses; (7) by the proceeds of collections taken at 

 the annual conference educational anniversaries; 

 and (8) by the establishment of a day throughout 

 the connection for taking collections in all the 

 churches, the avails of which shall be used ex- 

 clusively as an endowment fund for the several 

 connectional institutions after present indebted- 

 ness is met the anniversary to be known as En- 

 dowment Day, and held on the third Sunday in 

 each September. The office of Secretary of Chris- 

 tian Endeavor Work was instituted, to be filled 

 by appointment by the bishops. Steps were 

 taken for having the Church represented on the 

 Board of Control of the American Bible Society. 

 Provision was made for the incorporation of the 

 African Methoaist Episcopal Church in foreign 

 lands where it is working. A measure was passed 

 for debarring from the pulpit any man who is 

 separated from his wife except for the scriptural 

 cause. The report of the committee on the state 

 of the Church advised against the drawing of the 

 color line, and urged that the negro should be 

 allowed to advance in accordance with his social 

 and economical efficiency. Two native Africans 

 were present as delegates from the conferences in 

 South Africa. Five additional bishops were elected 

 the Rev. Evans Tyree, D. D.; the Rev. M. M. 

 Moore, D. D.; the Rev. C. S. Smith, D. D.; the 

 Rev. C. T. Shaffsr, D. D. ; and the Rev. J. L. 

 Coppin, D. D., making the whole number of bishops 

 14. In the adjustment of episcopal districts, 11 

 were constituted for the United States (with the 

 Bahama Islands), 1 for Canada, Bermuda, the 

 West Indies, South America, Hawaii, and the 

 Philippine Islands (Bishop Smith), 1 for the west 

 coast of Africa (Bishop Moore), and 1 for South 

 Africa (Bishop Coppin). 



IV. African Methodist Episcopal Zion 

 Church. The statistical reports of this Church 

 give it 9 bishops, 96 presiding elders, 3,200 itiner- 

 ant preachers, 2,800 churches, and 520,000 mem- 

 bers. The general statistician reported to the Gen- 

 eral Conference that the total value of the church 

 property was $4,865,372 ; that $2,177,000 had been 

 raised during the past four years for pastors' sal- 

 aries, $614,800 for current church expenses, and 

 $3,763,996 for new churches and the payment of 

 debts. The sum of $114,000 had been raised for 

 the general fund, $7,500 for home and foreign 

 missions, and $20,000 for purposes of church ex- 

 tension. 



