412 



LUTHERANS. 



dained native helpers, 6 stations, 74 communicant 

 members, 4 Sunday schools with 150 pupils, and 3 

 candidates for the ministry. The board ask for 

 $4,500 annually for the maintenance of this work. 



The board of directors of the Theological Semi- 

 nary reported concerning its operations. The Theo- 

 logical Seminary, formerly at Newberry, has been 

 located at Mount Pleasant, S. C., where a valuable 

 property has been secured for it. The former presi- 

 dent of" the institution having resigned, the Rev. 

 John A. Morehead, of Richmond. Va., was elected 

 to that office. During the last scholastic year at 

 Newberry, the institution had only nine students. 



In the matter of practical co-operation among 

 Lutherans, and of the General Conference of Lu- 

 therans, arrangements were made for co-operation 

 with the General Council and the General Synod, 

 and a representative of the body was appointed as 

 a member of the Committee of Arrangements. As 

 this is a matter of general interest to the Church at 

 large, it is included in the report of the Committee 

 on Co-operation with other general bodies. The 

 following action, which has been approved by both 

 the General Council and General Synod, was taken 

 by the joint committee : 



" 1. That we recommend to the bodies which we 

 represent, for their adoption, the following rule: 

 That where any general body has congregations, 

 whatever be the language, the establishment of 

 a congregation of another general body within the 

 territory be not undertaken, unless the Board of 

 Missions of the body occupying the territory and 

 the officers of the synod on the field be first con- 

 sulted. 



" 2. That a Committee of Arbitration, representing 

 the bodies that enter into the compact, be consti- 

 tuted, to whom shall be referred all cases where 

 agreement has not been otherwise obtained." 



The following action was also taken : 



" 1. It is the sense of this committee that the 

 Committee of Arbitration should consist of not- 

 more than three members from each of the gen- 

 eral bodies; and that in this Committee of Arbi- 

 tration each general body should have but one 

 vote, and that its decision on any subject referred 

 to it should be published as soon as adopted. 



"2. This committee hereby requests the general 

 bodies to appoint their representatives on the Com- 

 mittee of Arbitration at their next conventions. 



" 3. That this committee regards the adoption of 

 common orders of ministerial acts and a common 

 hymn book, in addition to the Common Service, as 

 very desirable." 



Regarding the matter of a common book of wor- 

 ship, the General Council has taken the following 

 action : 



" Resolved that the Church Book Committee be 

 appointed, to confer and co-operate with commit- 

 tees from other Lutheran bodies in the preparation 

 of a common book of worship, including, besides 

 the common order of service, orders for minis- 

 terial acts, and a book of hymns in the English 

 language." 



The General Synod approved the action of the 

 joint committee with respect to the common book 

 of worship, and gave forth the following declara- 

 tion, looking to the compilation of a common hymn 

 book: 



" Resolved, That this synod will do what it can to 

 further the object, consistent with the fact of the 

 issuance of a new hymn book of its own. 



" Resolved, That the General Synod will look with 

 favor upon any movement toward the preparation 

 of common orders for ministerial acts oy and for 

 the bodies of this compact. 



"In view of the favorable action taken by the 

 General Synod and General Council in their ap- 



proval of the action of the Committee of Co-opera- 

 tion, and their evident desire for continued co- 

 operation ; therefore resolved : 



" 1. That this body indorses the action of the 

 joint Committee of Co-operation, and reaffirms its 

 earnest plea for the adoption, at as early a date 

 as possible, of one common book of worship, in- 

 cluding ministerial acts and hymnal. 



" 2. That the Common Service Committee be ap- 

 pointed as the Committee on Co-operation, and also 

 as the Committee of Arbitration ; and that said com- 

 mittee be authorized to confer with similar com- 

 mittees of the other general bodies in the further- 

 ance of the objects contemplated in the appointment 

 of said committees. 



" 3. That we approve the recommendation of the 

 joint committee for the holding of a general con- 

 ference or diet; and that Rev. H. F. Scheele be 

 appointed to represent this body, to co-operate with 

 Dr. H. E. Jacobs and Dr. S. W. Owen in arranging 

 for such diet." 



On the territory of this general body are main- 

 tained 1 theological seminary, 5 colleges, 4 acade- 

 mies, 4 colleges for women, and 1 orphanage. 



The next convention of this body will be held at 

 Winston, N. C., in May, 1900. 



The General Council and the General Synod held 

 no conventions during the year, but their biennial 

 conventions will be held in 1899. Several of the 

 larger independent synods held important conven- 

 tions, notably the Joint Synod of Ohio, the German 

 Iowa Synod, and the United Norwegian Church. 

 The congregations and institutions, both educa- 

 tional and benevolent, of these bodies cover a large 

 part of the United States, especially the States in 

 the middle west and northwest ; and they are doing 

 a most important work among the Germans and 

 Norwegians of this country. In their rapidly grow- 

 ing educational institutions they are training the 

 youth of these nationalities in the language of the 

 country, and are thus affording them privileges 

 which will make of them useful citizens and in- 

 telligent workers both in the State and in the 

 Church. 



Sesquicentennial of the Ministerium of 

 Pennsylvania. The sesquicentennial of the Evan- 

 gelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and 

 adjacent States was an occasion of more than ordi- 

 nary importance in the long and interesting history 

 of the body,- and was celebrated with special serv- 

 ices in Philadelphia, June 2-4, 1898. The Minis- 

 terium was organized in that city one hundred and 

 fifty years ago. In 1893 the president of the 

 Ministerium, in his official report, directed atten- 

 tion to this interesting event in the history of the 

 mother synod of the Lutheran Church in this 

 country. In accordance with his suggestion, action 

 was taken which resulted in making arrangements 

 for the observance of that event. The officers of 

 the Ministerium and the faculty of the Theological 

 Seminary were appointed a committee to present a 

 plan by which the suggestion of the president could 

 be carried into effect. In the following year this 

 committee recommended the publication of a vol- 

 ume containing the minutes of the Ministerium for 

 the first century of its history, together with such 

 historical matter as is now in the archives of the 

 body. The result of this action is the publication of 

 an excellent jubilee memorial volume of 600 pages, 

 bearing the title " Documentary History of the 

 Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylva- 

 nia " (Philadelphia, 1898). Other literature called 

 forth by the event may be mentioned, as follows : 

 " Our Jubilee," a quarterly, presenting the history 

 of the Ministerium and its institutions; the "Jubi- 

 lee Bulletin " of the Danville Conference, a monthly, 

 presenting congregational histories; the jubilee 



