REFORMED CHURCHES. 



dowment. Since the institution of the special 

 Committee on Finances of this institution, in 1897, 

 $7,439 had been received for current expenses, 

 and $28,351 for endowment. A single gift of 

 $25,000 had been made by Mr. Ralph Voorhees. 



The receipts of the Board of Foreign Missions 

 for the year ending April 30, 1900, were $108,000 

 for the regular work, and, including special gifts, 

 $130,570 in all, besides $10,637 contributed for 

 the Arabian mission; making a total of $147,213. 



The receipts of the Woman's Board were, fur- 

 ther, $50,083. 



The General Synod met at Asbury Park, N. J., 

 June 0. The Rev. Edward P. Johnson, D. D., of 

 Albany, N. Y., was chosen moderator. The Com- 

 mittee on the State of the Church presented 

 statistics of the growth of the Church during the 

 past fifty years, showing that the number of 

 particular synods had increased from 2 in 1850 

 to 4 in 1900; the number of classes, from 24 to 

 35; of churches, from 292 to 643; of ministers, 

 from 293 to 715; of communicants, from 33,553 to 

 109,899; of Sunday-school scholars, from 19,791 to 

 124,248; and the amount of offerings for foreign 

 missions, from $9,606 to $155,943, and of those for 

 domestic missions from $5,095 to $90,054 the 

 statement revealing that in fifty years the num- 

 ber of churches and ministers had more than 

 doubled; the number of communicants had mul- 

 tiplied more than threefold, and of Sunday-school 

 scholars more than sixfold; and the offerings for 

 foreign and domestic missions were more than 

 sixteen times as large as in 1850. The number of 

 persons received on confession in 1850, 1,325, 

 represented an average of about 4J to each 

 church; the number in 1894, 6,114, an average of 

 about 10. But the number received on confes- 

 sion during the past year was less than for any 

 one of the ten preceding years, while within the 

 past six years, with one exception, the number 

 had decreased from 6,114 in 1894 to 4,695 in 1900. 

 A similar tendency to slackening of increase in 

 membership was observable in other denomina- 

 tions. The Synod, in view of the approaching 

 beginning of the twentieth century, resolved to 

 observe the first week in January, 1901, as a spe- 

 cial season of thanksgiving and prayer, and espe- 

 cially to celebrate the new era by the collection of 

 offerings, $250,000 being the amount desired, for 

 the endowment and proper equipment of the Theo- 

 logical Seminary, at New Brunswick, N. J. A spe- 

 cial committee was appointed to consider the 

 system of instruction in the Sunday schools and 

 propose methods for making it more efficient in 

 training the minds and hearts of children and 

 youth. Other special committees were appointed 

 to revise the forms or prepare new forms for ordi- 

 nation and installation of ministers and of elders 

 and deacons; to revise the baptismal forms; and 

 to devise some plan of oversight and regulation 

 for bringing vacant churches and unemployed 

 ministers and candidates together. In order to 

 meet the increasing demands on ministerial serv- 

 ice, and to furnish enlarging opportunities for 

 preparation among the graduates of the theo- 

 logical seminaries, the larger churches were rec- 

 ommended to employ younger ministers, wherever 

 it was practicable, as assistants to the regular 

 pastors. The classes were requested to appoint 

 each a permanent committee on educational insti- 

 tutions. Steps were directed for securing a full 

 endowment for the Western Theological Semi- 

 nary. One two-year post-graduate course was in- 

 stituted for each of the seminaries, and a num- 

 ber of other measures were advised for the ex- 

 tension and improvement of ministerial educa- 

 tion. The support of individual missionaries or 



RHODE ISLAND. 



607 





of particular fields by single churches or groups 

 of churches and by individuals having means was 

 commended. In order to extend the usefulness 

 of the particular synods, the giving of them more 

 the character of a conference embodying a repre- 

 sentation of all general church activities, was 

 advised, to which end arrangements were sug- 

 gested for holding in connection with the regular 

 work of the synod public meetings in behalf of 

 the enterprises of the Church. The report on the 

 Sabbath declared any and all secularization of 

 the Lord's Day destructive of its beneficent de- 

 sign and inimical to public and private morality. 

 A resolution of sympathy with the Reformed 

 Churches of South Africa was passed. 



This resolution, having been transmitted to the 

 envoys of the South African republics to the United 

 States, P. Louter Wessels, replying for them, 

 said : " The Dutch Reformed is a very strong 

 Church in our country. The majority of the 

 Boers are members of that Church, although they 

 are granted absolute facilities and freedom to 

 join any other denomination. The Dutch Re- 

 formed Church has its houses of worship es- 

 tablished in every city and village in South 

 Africa, and its pastors are well paid and their 

 services well attended. Several theological insti- 

 tutions are established, where the ministers have 

 to spend several years in preparation for the min- 

 istry. The influence of our Church educational 

 and missionary work is advanced on every hand." 



REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The 

 Committee on the State of the Church reported to 

 the General Council of this body in May, 1900, that 

 the number of communicants was 10,000, and that 

 of members of Sunday schools 19,782. A distinct 

 gain in three years was shown. The churches 

 had raised for all purposes $165,811, and held 

 property having an aggregate value of $1,573,556. 

 Seating capacity was provided in the church 

 buildings for nearly 20,000 persons. 



The sixteenth triennial General Council met in 

 Baltimore, Md., May 16. Bishop James A. 

 Latane, D. D., was chosen presiding bishop. The 

 treasurer reported that his receipts had been 

 $17,091, and that no liabilities existed, while a 

 balance of $3,943 remained on deposit. The sum 

 of $40,718 had been received for the Theological 

 Seminary, and its accounts showed a balance in 

 bank of $2,420. A resolution was unanimously 

 passed urging the clergy to present to their par- 

 ishes the subjects of a better support of the 

 seminary, and of inducing a larger number of 

 young men to enter the ministry. The treasurer 

 of the special Church Extension Trust reported 

 that $21,884 had been received for it, and a bal- 

 ance of $1,364 stood to its credit. The Council 

 voted, in accordance with the wishes of the cre- 

 ator and donor of this trust, to dissolve and re- 

 organize it. The Board of Foreign Missions had 

 received $14,971. The Publication Society re- 

 turned $5,000 worth of stock, with business done 

 during the year to the amount of $7,011. The 

 sessions of the Council were largely devoted to 

 the consideration of questions relating to the 

 constitution and canons. A proposition to in- 

 sert a clause requiring from all candidates for 

 the ministry a pledge of abstention from the use 

 of alcoholic liquors and tobacco was withdrawn, 

 after a debate which revealed a considerable dif- 

 ference of opinion among the members of the 

 Council. 



RHODE ISLAND, a New England State, one 

 of the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution 

 May 29, 1790; area, 1,250 square miles. The 

 population, according to each decennial census, 

 was 68,825 in 1790; 69,122 in 1800; 76,931 in 1810; 



