11--' 



CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



steadfast effort to elevate, and on no account to 

 lower, the requirements for entrance upon the pas- 

 toral office : that seminary curricula, while aiming 

 nt the highest intellectual and scholarly attainment, 

 should for all students give largely increased in- 

 clusion to the practical and tactual in training; that 

 utmost care should be exercised not only in the ad- 

 mi-i,.n ..f -tu. lents. l.ut also in continuing them 

 aft.-r admission, to the end of discouraging the in- 

 capal)le and unsuitable, ami retaining only the fit; 

 that i.tir churches should .-xercise much greater care 

 in admitting to their pulpits, whether for purposes 



mdidacy or supply, men whose credentials as 

 to character and standing have not been thoroughly 

 examined and approved; that from candidates for 

 pnroliation before associations and conferences, 

 and from men of other denominations seeking ad- 



..iii to our body, evidence should be required of 

 adequate training and experience and of a reason- 

 able familiarity with our polity, and that in lack 

 of these only a" limited commendation be granted 

 pending t he prosecution of further study ; that min- 

 ti ami churches should exercise the greatest dili- 

 gence in seeking to recruit the ranks of the ministry 

 from young men of promise in their parishes; and 

 that officers of the Education Spcitey, boards of 

 trust, committees of recommendation, and seminary 

 faculties should hold to close examination and con- 

 tinued strict account all who make application for 

 and all who are receiving educational aid. On the 

 subject of ministerial standing the council reiter- 

 ated the declarations of the councils of 1886 and 

 1892 that standing in the Congregational ministry 

 is required by membership in a Congregational 

 church, ordination to the Christian ministry, and 

 reception as an ordained minister into the fellow- 

 ship of the Congregational churches, in accordance 

 witn the usage of the State or territorial organiza- 

 tion of churches in which the applicant may reside; 

 and resolved, further, "that in the transfer of min- 

 iMerial membership from an association, confer- 

 n< . or other ecclesiastical body, in the judgment 

 of the council, the gaining of new membership is 

 ecclesiastically impossible until the applicant shall 

 have U>eii fully released from his previous eccle- 

 ' :<-al membership." A report on secret socie- 

 ties was adopted which, while commending the 

 fraternal and philanthropic purposes of such or- 

 ganizations, expressed a desire that they might be 

 " supplanted by the higher social service and warmer 

 Christian fellowship of the Church of God." A 

 re|M>rt was adopted favoring alliliatioii with the 

 AntisaliN.il League in its temperance work. A 

 Committee on Comity. Federation, and Union was 

 appointed to seek fellowship and closer relations 

 with the Oongregationalista of Canada and the 

 M-thodist Prote-taiit> of the I'nited States, and the 

 promotion of Chri.-tian union generally. The va- 

 rious Congregational benevolent societie's were rep- 

 resented on the floor of tin- council in addresses 

 setting forth their condition and needs. Papers were 

 n-ad (Toting the meetings advocating the union of 

 all churches, of whatever doctrine and policy, in 

 N-mjM-raticc and other reforms, on "A Common 

 Ha-i- ..f Melief." "Christian (Jiving and Living," 

 "Mod.-ni Method-; in Mis-ion Work,'* "Religions 

 Movement -on the Pacific Const. "and ot her subjects. 

 In the ease of two ecclesiastical organizations in 

 Alabama claiming representation in the council, 



-inposwl of white members only and the other 

 not recognizing distinction! of color, the council, 

 following the example of previous councils, refused 

 to decide ujM.n the differences between them, but 

 referred the question back to the Congregational ists 



of Alabama with the advice that theyc e together 



in the spirit of Christ and settle it 'between them- 



--. 



British Congregationalists. Statistics of the 

 British Congregational Churches, published at the 

 close of 1897, snowed that there were on Dec. 1 of 

 that year in England, including Monmouthshire, 

 3,362 churches and mission stations, affording ac- 

 commodation for 1,263.375 persons, and in Wales 

 and the Channel Islands 1,090 places of worship, 

 with accommodations for 372,657 persons. If to 

 these were added 166 churches from which no re- 

 ports were received, the total number of churches 

 would be increased to 4,618. In Scotland there were 

 176 churches, and in Ireland 29 churches, with 96 

 mission stations. The whole number of churches 

 for the United Kingdom was thus 4,919, besides 

 some mission stations in Scotland not included in 

 the making up of the tables. In the British colonies 

 and on the Continent of Europe there were 1,054 

 churches and mission stations and 423 ordained 

 ministers. The number of ministers in England 

 and Wales was 2,881, in Scotland 201, and in Ire- 

 land 30 in the whole United Kingdom, 3,112. 

 The various county associations returned in all 225 

 accredited lay pastors and evangelists. The Union 

 of Welsh Independents returned 140,652 members, 

 142,141 adherents, and 147,884 members of Sunday 

 schools in 1,251 churches and mission stations. 

 The British colleges had 409, and the colonial col- 

 leges 27 students. The institutes in South Africa, 

 Madagascar, and the South Seas for the training of 

 native pastors and evangelists had about 300 

 students, under the care of the London Missionary 

 Society. 



The sixty-sixth annual meeting of the Congrega- 

 tional Union of England and Wales was held in 

 London, May 9. The Rev. Alfred Rowland pre- 

 sided. The report showed that there were, includ- 

 ing mission stations, 1,600 churches in the union. 

 Reference was made to a visit that had been paid 

 by the Rev. Charles A. Berry, representing the 

 union and the Council of Free Churches, to the 

 United States as having had beneficent results in 

 promoting harmony between English and American 

 churches. In the matter of Lord Wharton's ;t Non- 

 conformist Book Charity," the administration of 

 which, it was alleged, had fallen under the control 

 of the Established Church and was carried on in 

 its interest, the High Court of Justice (Chancery 

 Division) had ordered the establishment of a 

 scheme, and the Attorney General had invited sug- 

 gestions from the Congregational Union. A special 

 subcommittee had recommended that the charity 

 be deemed one for the free distribution of Bibles 

 among poor children in the counties of York, West- 

 moreland, Cumberland, and Bucks. The Literature 

 Committee referred to the publication of Dr. John 

 Brown's Congregational Union " Lectures on the 

 Apostolic Succession," and reported that Mr. John- 

 son Evans's "Summary of the History of the Eng- 

 lish Free Churches" was expected shortly to be 

 ready. Among the rare works acquired by the 

 Congregational Library were a collection of early 

 Puritan tracts, published about 1590, under the 

 title " Part of a Register," etc., and a volume of 

 theses maintained by students at Geneva, trans- 

 lated and published with an introduction by John 

 Wesley. The financial report showed a revenue of 

 17.440, with a credit balance of 1,092. Resolu- 

 tions were passed favoring the Sunday closing of 

 public houses, protesting against the alliance of 

 Church and state, and denouncing the proposed 

 endowment of a Roman Catholic University for 

 Ireland. 



The autumnal meeting of the union was held at 

 Halifax in October. The chairman in his opening 

 address, which was on " Priestism and Priesthood, 

 accounted for the interest manifested by Congrega- 

 tionalists in what was going on in the Episcopal 



