493 



i.rniKi; 



The Rev. Edward F. Moldehnke. IMi. !>.. I> 



illiaiu K. 1 







German*- -lav A. Brandelle, of 



*h secretary; and William II. 

 Staake, Esq.. of Philadelphia, Pa,. trcas.r 

 gate* were present from '. : 



an synod of Manitoba (organi, -7) was 



admitted as a member of the bod. vi-. 



pre-4-nt from the General Synod, the 



I'mted Norwegian Chun-h. and the Danish Church 



Miierica. The convention rcpr. -ented more 



than half of the Lutheran Church in this country. 



:>dy IH the moM polyglot of all the general 



-, Lutheran Church in tin- Unil 

 an.l i* drawing into do>er union with - 



that have hitherto I n holding aloof from connee- 



tion with general bodies, though orgiini/ed ..n the 

 same confessional basis as the Genera) Council. 



or these are the Danish and Icelandic n 

 and the t'nitcd Norwegian Church, the hit; 

 which is one of the largest Scandinavian organi/a- 



m the count ry. The work of the convention 



-ted chiefly in hearing and acting 

 of the general board- an<l standing commit !-. 

 and . for the general interests of the 



Church. Two morning sessions were devoted to 



-sjon of the " Principles of Faith and Polity," 



adopted at the time of the ornoisatioa of the 

 .lowing are the " Fundamental 

 Princ-iples of Faith*': 



1. There must lie and iihide through all time 



one holy Christian Church, which is the assembly of 



all 1- - non g whom the Gospel is purely 



preached and the holy sacraments are admiuis- 



demands. To the true unity 



of thoChurch.it is sufficient that there U a. 



inent touching the doctrine of the Gospel, that it be 



preached in one accord, in its pure sense, and that 



the sacraments be administered conformably to 



l'i Word. 



i he true unity of a particular church, in \ir- 

 f which men are truly members of one and the 

 same Church, and by which any church abides in 

 real identity and is entitled to a continuation of 

 her name, is" unity in doctrine and faith, and in the 

 sacraments, to wit: That she continue to teach and 

 to set forth, and that her true members cm 

 from the heart and use the articles of faith ami 

 the sacraments as they were held and administer. -d 

 when the Church came into distinctive being and 

 received a distinctive mum*. 



8. The unity of the Church iswitn ><-.'! to. and 

 made manifest in. the solemn public and official 

 confessions which are set forth, to wit : Th-- generic 

 unity of the ('hri-han Church in the general 

 and the s|ieciHc unity of pure parts of the Christian 

 Church in their -]< ifi<- creeds; one chief object of 

 lames of w hi' .that Christians who 



are in th" unity of faith may know each otic 

 such, and may have a \ i-il.le bond of fellowship. 



4. That finfft.Hi.iiK may be such a test of unity 

 and bond of union, they mutt be accepted in every 

 statement ,,f doctrine in their own true, n 



nal. and only sense. Those who set them 

 forth and subscribe them must not only ag! 

 use the same words, but must use and understand 

 those words in one and the same sense. 



5. The unity of tin- F.vang.-lical Lutheran Church 

 as a portion of the holy Christian Church depends 



.upon her abiding in .n- and th, -ame faith, ii. 

 feeing which she obtained h.-r distinctive being 

 and name, politic*] recognition, and her history. 



6. The unaltered Aug-burg ('nf.---.ion is by j.n-- 

 emin f that faith. The accept- 

 ance of its doctrines and the avowal of them without 



cc,ui\ ntal reservation make. mark. 



and identify that Church, which alone in the true. 

 original, historical, and hoiie>t -ene of the term is 

 the K\anp-lical Lutheran Church. 



. f any land. 



\\ Inch are properly in the unity of that communion, 

 and i .. n'ce entitled to its name. 



'.utheran. are those which sincerd\ n-.M and 

 truthfully confess tin- doctrines of the una 

 



8. We aceept and ack n. ]n 1 _'. th- doetrin- 

 tin- unaltered Au^'sburi; 



as ihroii^liout in coiifornnty with tin- 

 truth of which ' d is ihe only rule. \\ e 

 iM.'Hts of truth as in ; 



ance with the canonical Scriptures. \\ . rejeci the 



ondemns and believe that all which it 

 commits to the liberty of the Chun-li . : 

 to that liberty. 



9. In thus formally accepting and a< . 

 ini: the unaltered Au^sl'i. -ion \ve ij. 



our conviction that the other conl t the 



_-elical Lutheran Church, inasmuch n- 

 set forth none other than it- s\vj rm of doct 

 and articles of faith. are of necessity |.iin-anil scrip- 

 tural. Pre-eminent among such 'accordant 

 and scriptural statements ,,f doctrine, by their in- 

 trinsic excellence, by the great and necesar\ 

 for which they were prepared, by their hisi. 

 position, and 'by the general judgment of the 

 Church, are these: the Apology of the Ai. --burg 

 Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the catecl 

 of Luther, and the Formula of < Yd of 



which are. with the unaltered Augsburg" 

 in the perfect harmony of one and the same > iij- 

 tural faith. 



This general body i< composed of various nation- 

 alities and in its legislat ion must 1 I f..r 

 the needs and wants of a widely scattered constitu- 

 ency. There are within its bounds, or under the 

 control of its district synods. :; theological 

 naries, 5 colleges, 8 acaden.i. B, 1'J orphanaL'cs. and 

 JC. institutions of mercy. The next convention will 

 be held in 1899. 



Foreign Missions. Th< i; v. William Ashm.ad 

 SchaelTer. I ). I >.. corresponding secretary, presented 

 then-port of the Hoard of Foreign Missions. The 

 misxi,,n of the (Jeneral Council is in t 1 



-t India, with Hajahmundry . 

 il station. The total receipt* of the l>oard 

 for two years amounted to $40,606.t. ) .". anl t! 



penditufes to S III view of the den 



of the work in India, the Council determined to 

 raise $50,000 a year for the next two years. 

 Three missionaries returned, one (the H- 



Paulus) died, and two new ones were sent out. 

 The following is a summary of the ^tati-tics ,,f the 

 mis-ion: 7 mi .md their wives, 1 native 



r, o xenaiia sisters,4 and cat*. 



and 13H teachers. There are 7 principal stations. 

 li:{ villages where schools, have been established. 

 1!1 villages where the < io-pel i- preached. 2. 7 1! chil- 

 dren in the schools, and ."i.Oi'.Ji Chri-tiaiis. "f whom 



minunieant members ,f native co; 

 gat ions. The semiii. fthmundry, the j>rin- 



cipal scho.l of the n in charge of ih- 



Calvin F. Kudcr: tli .inling school under 



.ire of Miss Aui.. - I. Si hade : and the < 



seh.K.l tiri'ler the care of R dtlcr. 



Home Mis-ion*. -The home-missionary r.pera- 

 tion** are in ch.-i m-ral boards and the dis-- 



trict synod-. This work embra'-.- :?"J mi-si- 

 an annual expense of $80.000. Only the '> general 

 boards render reports to the general body. T 

 port of the board of Fnglish home missions was 



jited bv th" Kev. .John F. Whittekcr. su[f-rin- 

 tendent of English missions. The income of this 



