with any of the great agencies of Sabbath desecra- 

 tion. A special pastoral letter on worldly amuse- 

 ments (including the dance, the theater, and the 

 card table) affirmed that " Christians can not af- 

 ford to do those things which are looked upon as 

 belonging peculiarly to the world, and by doing 

 which the line of separation between the world and 

 the Church is erased or obscured . . . because ex- 

 perience shows that persons engaging in worldly 

 amusements are easily led into such indulgences 

 as are wrong in themselves. . . . Worldly amuse- 

 ments and the company into which they often 

 bring those engaged in them are not favorable to 

 growth in grace and loving service of God in the 

 Church. It can not be denied that those who in- 

 ulge in worldly amusements do not become emi- 

 nt for piety, do not hunger or thirst after God, 

 d do not excel in Christian work. It is touching 

 ch matters as these, not things evil in themselves 

 ly, but also things considered evil or associated 

 ith evil, that Christians must practice self- 

 nial and lead lives which will mark them as 

 parate from the world." In answer to an over- 

 re touching the introduction of the theatrical 

 and spectacular into the programmes for Chil- 

 dren's Day, the Assembly directed the exercise of 

 the greatest care in the preparation of such pro- 

 grammes, " to provide only that which is scriptural 

 d appropriate." 



Afro-American Presbyterian Synod. The 

 nod of the Afro-American Presbyterian Church 

 et at Bethel Church, near Dillon, S. C., Nov. 15. 

 he Rev. J. M. Coleman was chosen moderator, 

 t a popular meeting held in the interest of edu- 

 tion, Ferguson- Williams College and the Acad- 

 ay at Wilkesboro, N. C., were reported as 

 doing well except that Ferguson- Williams College 

 was burdened with a debt of $5,000. A popular 

 meeting was held in the interest of home and 

 foreign missions. All the presbyterial records were 

 examined and approved with one exception. The 

 next meeting of the Synod was appointed to be 

 held in Abbeville, S. C., in November, 1901. 



III. United Presbyterian Church in North 

 America. The statistical reports of this Church 

 for 1900 give it 13 synods, with 68 presbyteries. 

 The whole number of ministers is 997, of whom 

 684 are registered as pastors and stated supplies 

 and 313 as "without charge"; number of licenti- 

 ates, 75 ; of licensures during the year, 26 : of stu- 

 dents of theology, 69; of ruling elders, 3,919; of 

 congregations, 996 ; of pastoral charges, 821 ; of 

 congregations organized during the year, 20, while 

 7 were dissolved ; of mission stations, 486, of which 

 468 were in the foreign field; of members, 128,836, 

 of whom 115,901 were in America and the rest in 

 the foreign missions; of members received on pro- 

 fession during the year (in the whole Church), 

 6,517; of baptisms, 3,961 of infants and 1,326 of 

 adults; of Sabbath schools, 1,171, with 12,655 offi- 

 cers and teachers and 116,091 pupils; of Young 

 "eople's Societies, 1,029, with 40,011 members, 

 .mount of contributions (in America) : For sal- 

 ries of ministers, $607,456; for congregational 

 urposes, $587,118; for the boards, $282,202; for 

 neral purposes, $137,518; total for America ac- 

 rding to the footings of the table, $1,614,294; 

 tal for the Church, $1,637,425; average per mem- 

 r in America, $14.06; average salary of pastors 

 America, $1.039. Nineteen houses of worship 

 ad been erected during the year, at a total cost 

 $125,755, and 9 parsonages at a total cost of 

 17,197. 



In the list of presbyteries, the Presbytery of 

 'gypt, having been constituted a synod, appears 

 ivided into three new presbyteries, those of the 

 ' Ita, Thebes, and the Thebai'd. 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



595 



The forty-second General Assembly met in Chi- 

 cago, 111., May 23. The Rev. Dr. J. P. Sankey 

 was chosen moderator. Much attention was given 

 to discussion concerning the administration of the 

 article of the testimony on secret oath-bound soci- 

 eties. The subject had already received a large 

 degree of consideration by pastors in their regular 

 work, but had only within the past year become 

 a matter of public discussion. While there had 

 not been any material change in the sentiment 

 against these societies, their multiplication had 

 caused considerable difficulty in the admission of 

 new members. A number of memorials on the 

 subject had been sent in to the previous General 

 Assembly, and it had appointed a committee to 

 take it into consideration and report to the present 

 Assembly. The report of this committee empha- 

 sized the importance of the question, and insisted 

 that no backward step should be taken in the tes- 

 timony of the Church concerning it, but that its 

 unanimous judgment was that if changed at all, 

 the expression should be strengthened rather than 

 weakened. Only a change in the provision for 

 administering the testimony was demanded to 

 bring the Church into a closer alignment with 

 Christ's teaching of discipleship. Certain modifi- 

 cations in the reading of the articles bearing upon 

 the questions asked candidates for membership 

 were recommended. The paper was referred after 

 discussion to a special committee for revision and 

 amendment, and its report was referred to a com- 

 mittee to report to the next Assembly, its con- 

 clusions to be published in the papers three months 

 before the meeting of that body. A committee 

 appointed by the previous General Assembly on 

 the promotion of spirituality reported setting forth 

 what they had endeavored to do through the 

 Church papers to awaken members to a deeper 

 sense of their obligations and a better use of their 

 privileges. The Committee on Union with the 

 Associate Reformed Synod of the South reported 

 that no progress had been made toward organic 

 union, but evidence appeared that the union sen- 

 timent was growing, and the relations of the two 

 bodies were becoming more intimate and cordial. 

 A report was made upon a question from a synod 

 concerning divine healing, to the effect that no 

 doubt much of the teaching on that subject arose 

 from a misrepresentation of Scripture on the sub- 

 ject of Christ's redemption and the function of 

 Christian faith, and was repugnant to sanctified 

 common sense. It was proper to inquire of per- 

 sons holding to such doctrines whether their 

 opinions were founded on ignorance of Bible teach- 

 ing or were heretical perversions of the principles 

 taught in the word of God, and whether the non- 

 use of recognized means of relief or cure was an 

 error of judgment or criminal negligence. Only in 

 the latter case, after due trial, should members 

 holding these mistaken views be deprived of their 

 good standing in the Church. Great interest was 

 shown in the work of the Board of Education, 

 toward which every presbytery and the Young 

 People's Societies had made contributions. A re- 

 port on reform covered the subjects of temperam-p. 

 the Sabbath, secret societies, and polygamy. The 

 part relating to the Sabbath urged the responsibil- 

 ity of members, and seconded the request of the 

 Presbyterian Assembly asking Congress and State 

 Legislatures to make no more appropriations to 

 expositions unless they agree to close their gates 

 on that day. The Assembly decided adversely to 

 the baptism by United Presbyterian ministers of 

 children whose parents are at the time members 

 of another denomination, as a violation of inter- 

 denominational comity. Appropriations were 

 made to the various enterprises of the Church as 



