LUTHERANS. 



411 



property valued at $425,000, endowment amount- 

 ing only to $5,000, with 10,500 volumes in libraries, 

 137 instructors, and 1,039 pupils. The educational 

 institutions number 118, having property valued at 

 $4,865,880, endowment amounting to $1,609,458, 

 with 300,354 volumes in their libraries, employing 

 691 professors, having 13,117 students, of whom 

 2,648 (48 institutions not counted) are in course of 

 preparation for the ministry. Of the 118 educa- 

 tional institutions, only 50 have any endowment ; 

 the rest are supported by the gifts of individuals 

 and congregations. The orphanages number 44, 

 with property valued at $978,849, endowment 

 amounting to $912,145, and having 2,100 inmates : 

 the homes for the aged number 18, with property 

 valued at $206,000, endowment amounting to $13,- 

 384, and 564 inmates; the deaconess institutions 

 number 8, with property valued at $647,500, endow- 

 ment amounting only to $200, but dependent on 

 private charity, and having 271 inmates ; 17 hos- 

 pitals, with property valued at $1,098,000, endow- 

 ment amounting to $30,554, and caring for 8,163 

 patients; and 11 immigrant and seamen's missions, 

 with property valued at $226,000, endowment $6,510, 

 and caring for 13,192 inmates. The total number 

 of this class of institutions is 101, having property 

 valued at $3,156,349, endowment amounting to 

 $962,793, with 26,468 inmates. The total number 

 of institutions under Church control is 219, with 

 property valued at $8,122,229, and endowment 

 amounting to $2,572,251, representing an invest- 

 ment of capital amounting to $10,694,480. Only 

 one of these institutions has been in existence more 

 than fifty years ; most of the others have been es- 

 tablished within the past twenty-five years, and of 

 the 219 institutions 150 are supported by the gifts 



of the people without the help of any invested en- 

 dowment. The number of periodicals is 152, of 

 which 64 are in English, 49 in German, 14 in Nor- 

 wegian, 8 Danish, 7 Swedish, 3 Icelandic, 2 Finnish, 

 2 Slavonian, and 1 each in French, Lettish, and 

 Esthonian. In 1892 the benevolent contributions 

 of the Church amounted to $829,560.75; in 1896 

 the million-dollar mark was reached ; anfl in 1898 

 the amount was $1,118,143.62. This embraces only 

 the contributions that passed through official chan- 

 nels, and fails to account for the sums that were 

 iontributed for missions at home and abroad and 

 for the maintenance of various institutions. 



Of the four general bodies only the Synodical 

 Conference and the United Synod of the South held 

 inventions. These two bodies, differing widely in 

 lany respects, embrace a communicant member- 

 ship of more than 550,000. 



Synodical Conference. This body, composed 

 chiefly of German pastors and congregations, held 

 its seventeenth convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 

 10-15, 1898. Representatives were present from the 

 three district synods in organic connection with the 

 general body, to wit : the synod of Missouri, Ohio, 

 and other States ; the general synod of Wisconsin, 

 Minnesota, and Michigan ; and the English synod 

 of Missouri. These represented 1,879 ministers, 

 2,451 congregations, and 519,524 communicant 

 members ; 1,891 parochial schools. 1,782 teachers, 

 and 102,642 pupils ; and the combined contributions 

 for missions, education, and other benevolent objects 

 amounted to $243,775.31. In connection with ' this 

 body, or under Synodical control, there are 4 theo- 

 logical seminaries, 11 colleges, 6 academies, 12 or- 

 phanages, 5 homes for the aged and other needy 

 persons, and 3 hospitals. The Norwegian Synod", 

 which for years has sustained an official relation 

 to this general body, sent a letter of fraternal 

 greeting to the convention. After divine service, 



the convention was formally organized for trans- 

 action of business, the Rev. John Bading, of 



Milwaukee, Wis., presiding. Eight sessions were 

 held, the morning sessions being devoted to dis- 

 cussion of the thesis on " Uniformity of practice 

 in the Church," to wit: "As far as the church 

 life of a congregation and its members also 

 takes the form of a life in fellowship with other 

 congregations and their membership, the congrega- 

 tion and its pastor must take into account this liv- 

 ing in fellowship, firstly, by conscientiousness in 

 Sractice as far as it is determined by the Word of 

 od." The remainder of the time of the conven- 

 tion was devoted to the transaction of business. In 

 this connection the report of the committee on ne- 

 gro missions claimed the first attention. An ex- 

 haustive report of the work of the committee was 

 presented and considered, together with the report 

 of the treasurer, which showed a total of expendi- 

 tures amounting to $30,401.14. The amount of 

 $30,000 was appropriated for this work for the next 

 two years. New missions are to be established, and 

 the work among the older missions prosecuted with 

 vigor. The district synod of Michigan was ad- 

 mitted to membership in the conference. The next 

 convention will be held in Bay City, Mich., in Au- 

 gust, 1900. 



United Synod, South. This body, composed of 

 the eight Lutheran synods in the South, held its 

 sixth convention at Newberry, S. C., May 11-16, 

 1898. The synodical sermon was delivered by the 

 president, the Rev. Robert C. Holland, D. D., of 

 Charleston. S. C. Representatives were present 

 from the eight synods, organically connected with 

 the general body : those of North Carolina, Tennes- 

 see, South Carolina, Virginia, Southwestern Vir- 

 ginia, Mississippi, Georgia, and Holston synod of 

 Tennessee. These synods have a membership of 

 207 ministers, 427 congregations, and 38,642 com- 

 municants, maintain 357 Sunday schools, with 3,095 

 officers and teachers and 25,805 pupils, and con- 

 tributed for missions and other benevolent pur- 

 poses $20,904.27. The following were elected as 

 the officers of the convention : The Rev. James B. 

 Greiner, of Rural Retreat, Va.. President ; the Rev. 

 Henry S. W T ingard, D. D., of Springfield, Ga., Vice- 

 President: the Rev. Melanchthon G. G. Scherer, 

 of Charlotte, N. C., Secretary ; and C. H. Duls, Esq., 

 Treasurer. The report of the Board of Missions 

 and Church Extension claimed the first attention 

 of the convention. Since the organization of the 

 general body, in 1886, 20 missions have been 

 organized or aided by the board. In these mis- 

 sions are more than 1,300 communicant members, 

 about 1,100 Sunday-school pupils, and church prop- 

 erty valued at $75,000. There are 9 missionaries 

 in the employment of the board, with 2 under 

 appointment, and 4 more are needed to carry on 

 the work. The board asked for an appropriation 

 of $8,000 for home missions annually. The board 

 also supports a mission in Japan, with the city of 

 Saga as the center of operations. This work is 

 comparatively new, and is in need of additional 

 workers and increased support. Nevertheless, the 

 missionaries have made a commendable begirming 

 in direct missionary work, in establishing schools, 

 in securing native helpers, and in the publication 

 of helpful literature in Japanese. Luther's Small 

 Catechism and the Common Service of the Lu- 

 theran Church have been published. The latter is a 

 book of 430 pages, and contains the various forms 

 of service and the ministerial acts, as contained in 

 the book published for the use of congregations in 

 America. Both books were greatly needed in the 

 development of the mission and have rendered 

 valuable service. The field of operations embraces 

 the island of Kyushyu and the city of Saga and its 

 vicinity. The latest statistics are as follows : Two 

 ordained missionaries, part of the time, 3 unor- 



