656 



PRESBYTERIANS. 



$7,718. Four new books had been issued during 

 the year and three others were in course of publi- 

 cation. Improvements to be made in the Sunday- 

 school publications were under the consideration of 

 a committee. 



The year's receipts of the Board of Missions had 

 been $56,189, besides $13,841 received from a 

 legacy after the report had closed. Ten synods had 

 regularly organized synodical missionary associa- 

 tions. The plan of co-operation between the board 

 and the synodical associations adopted two years 

 previously'had worked satisfactorily. Home mission 

 churches "were maintained in fifteen cities of the 

 United States. The mission in Mexico was repre- 

 sented by a church of 100 members, a Sunday 

 school, a Christian Endeavor Society, and the 

 Griffin Industrial School for Boys at AguasCalientes. 

 During the twenty years of the existence of the 

 mission in Japan, 20 missionaries had been sent 

 there, of whom 14 were at work at the present time. 

 Of the 1,086 persons who had been baptized, 668 

 were still in connection with the churches. There 

 were besides 6 ordained native ministers, 1 girls' 

 school, a Bible school for the training of Bible wom- 

 en, English schools and classes, night schools and 

 schools for the poor, and a kindergarten. Three 

 missionaries had been sent out in September, 1897, 

 one of them under the auspices of the Christian 

 Endeavor Society, to establish a mission in China, 

 expecting to labor in the province of Honan. Very 

 little progress had been made in church extension. 

 The I'eport commended the Women's Board for its 

 efficiency in disseminating missionary information 

 and in the development of the young people and 

 children in missionary activity. 



The mission in Japan was begun in 1877 and has 

 become a branch of the " Church of Christ " in 

 Japan. From Sept. 26, 1880, till the close of 1897 

 there were 1,126 baptisms. The 6 churches were at 

 the latter date ministered to by 4 ordained minis- 

 ters, of whom 2 were installed pastors, while 15 

 chapels with informally organized groups of be- 

 lievers were served by 11 licensed evangelists. Ten 

 Bible women were laboring among the women and 

 children. 



The eighteenth annual meeting of the Missionary 

 Convention of Cumberland Presbyterian Women 

 was held at McKeesport, Pa., May 14 to 17. The 

 treasurer's receipts for the year had been $13,995, 

 and the payments $13,019. Reports were made of 

 work in the Southern mountain region, where two 

 schools were sustained, and of the Chinese mission 

 in San Francisco. Hindrance had been experienced 

 from failures of the crops in some of the States. 



The sixty-eighth General Assembly met at Mar- 

 shall, Mo., May 19. Gen. H. H. Norman, of Murfrees- 

 borough, Tenn., was chosen moderator. A paper 

 was presented by the representatives of the Cumber- 

 land Presbyterian Church in the Presbyterian 

 Alliance relative to co-operation in home missions, 

 explaining the plan which had been adopted by the 

 alliance and its bearing upon the polity and interest 

 of the Church. Accepting the report, the Assembly 

 approved the plan, adding as an interpretation of 

 the fourth section (advising that Presbyterian 

 Church members of any branch, when moving into 

 new communities in which there is no congregation 

 of their own Church, unite for the time being with 

 some other Presbyterian or Reformed Church, if 

 such there be), that it was not intended to recom- 

 mend that Cumberland Presbyterians under such 

 circumstances should unite at once with another 

 Presbyterian Church without consideration of Cum- 

 berland Presbyterian interest s, hut that when they 

 decide to unite with a local congregation they give 

 preference to a Church of the Presbyterian family. 

 The Assembly further recommended that when 



members move into a place where there is no Cum- 

 berland Presbyterian church " they consult t he 

 presbytery having jurisdiction as to the possibility 

 of the organization of a Cumberland Presbyterian 

 church in that community. If, in the opinion of 

 the presbytery, such organization is advisable and 

 probable, the member should be advised to retain 

 liis membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian 

 communion, co-operating meanwhile in the local 

 work of another Presbyterian Church. If, on the 

 other hand, the presbytery thinks the organization 

 of a Cumberland church in said community to be 

 unadvisable, then the member should be advised to 

 enter the communion of another Presbyterian 

 Church." Of a report on Church government pre- 

 sented by a committee appointed to consider that 

 subject, the Assembly adopted provisions advising 

 against the selection of incompetent clerks of pres- 

 byteries and synods; recommending that clerks of 

 presbyteries receive adequate remuneration for their 

 services ; urging that stated clerks become members 

 of Sabbath schools; advising that sessions maintain 

 better control of Sabbath schools and Christian 

 Endeavor Societies ; advising that when the sessions 

 of a group of churches can not decide on a preacher 

 the matter be referred to the Presbyterial Commit- 

 tee on Pastorates and Supplies ; recommending the 

 utmost care in the selection of that committee ; 

 commending the action of stated clerks of presby- 

 teries in refusing to enroll names of ministers received 

 on promise of letter, and of women as elders an 1 

 preachers; and advising that one man serve as clerk 

 and treasurer of the congregation, as was already con- 

 templated with respect to the presbytery. A protest 

 against the action of the previous General Assembly 

 sustaining the course of the Synod of Kansas in 

 seating a woman member of its meeting was re- 

 ferred to a committee which presented majority 

 and minority reports. Both reports were tabled, 

 the Assembly thereby refusing to reopen the ques- 

 tion. The Sabbath report spoke of the dangers 

 that menace the Christian Sabbath and of attempts 

 to relax the observance of it, advised members of 

 the Church to refrain from encouraging Sunday 

 traffic in any way, and suggested the publication 

 of a tract on the subject. The previous General 

 Assembly had ordered the salary of the general 

 manager of the publishing house to be reduced, 

 whereupon he had refused to serve at the diminished 

 compensation, and the board had continued him at 

 theold rate. A presbytery sent up a protest against 

 this condition. The Assembly's committee to whom 

 the subject, was referred found that the course of 

 the board had been governed by regard for the 

 best interests of the Church, and that if the General 

 Assembly had had all the facts it would have ap- 

 proved it; so, while not commending any disobe- 

 dience to the orders of the General Assembly, the 

 committee recommended the continuance of the 

 publishing agent at the old salary. The recom- 

 mendation of the committee was concurred in. A 

 manse department was instituted, to be under tho 

 direction of the Women's Board of Missions, will; 

 memberships at fifty cents a year, and synodical am: 

 presbyterial organizations; in the disbursement <>l' 

 the fund raised, half the amount received by any 

 congregation to be considered as a gift, and hull' a-; 

 a loan to be repaid in installments. A committee 

 was appointed to draft a plan for synodical church 

 extension work for the consideration of the next 

 General Assembly. The Assembly reiterated it.- 

 disapproval of church fairs and church entertain- 

 ments where pay is taken at the door, and advised 

 against the attendance of members on such things. 

 even when given by other churches. Tho Assembly 

 directed that no proposals for consolidation or co- 

 operation should be made to other churches by any 



