PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. 



suits during the last twelve months gives : Niiin- 



r of dioceses aided, 24 ; persons confirmed, 818 ; 

 communicants (1897), 6,608; (1898) 7,556; baptized, 

 1,479; Sunday-school scholars (average), 6,248; 

 teachers, 633 ; day scholars (average), 3,940 ; teach- 

 ers, 128. Net value of mission buildings, etc., 

 $420,439; amount of collections, $24,864.92. The 

 number of colored clergy is 88, of whom 75 are 

 laboring in these dioceses. About 60 white clergy- 

 men also take part in the work. 



The Bishop of Nevada and Utah, while reporting 

 that every parish and mission in Utah has made a 

 contribution to the general missionary work of the 

 Church during the year, says: "With difficulty 

 have we maintained our work. Mormonism has as 

 strong a hold as ever; indeed, I am not sure but 

 that it has a stronger hold. It is most aggressive 

 in its methods. Many hundred missionaries are at 

 work in all parts of this country." 



The result of Church work among the aboriginal 

 races is most encouraging. Statistics of the Alas- 

 kan mission give the number of clergy, 7: church 

 edifices, 9 ; organized missions, 9 ; unorganized mis- 

 sions, 12 (an increase of 11 missions during the year); 

 communicants, 294; Sunday-school teachers, 12; 

 Sunday-school scholars, 317 ; teachers in schools for 

 natives, 5 ; scholars in schools for natives, 317. The 

 baptisms during the year were 214 ; the confirma- 

 tions, 38; and the amount of contributions, $2,113, 

 an increase from $542 in 1897. In South Dakota, 

 where is the largest Indian work, the Right Rev. 

 Dr. Hare completed twenty-five years of service as 

 missionary bishop, and more than 3,000 Indians 

 gathered in attendance upon the twenty-fifth annual 

 convocation of the Church in South Dakota, held 

 last autumn in the Rosebud reservation. The re- 

 sults of Bishop Hare's great work are the chapels, 

 schools, and the 70 congregations scattered over that 

 great prairie waste, in which now stand 53 neat 

 churches, 37 mission houses, 4 boarding-school 

 houses averaging 50 pupils each, and 33 residences. 

 More than 10,000 Sioux Indians have been baptized, 

 12 of whom have been trained, educated, ordained, 

 and sent to minister to their own people. 



Church work among the Swedes has grown and 

 prospered in a measure unprecedented in the his- 

 tory of any mission that the Church has yet under- 

 taken among foreign-speaking people in the United 

 States. Within eleven years 30 parishes and mis- 

 sion stations have been established, 13 of which 

 possess their own church building, administered by 

 22 Swedish clergymen of this Church, and having 

 about 7,500 communicants. During the past year 

 there have been nearly 1,000 persons baptized, and 

 upward of 200 confirmed. There have been about 

 2.150 public services held, and $ 20,000 contributed 

 toward the maintenance of the clergy. 



Never in the history of foreign missions has the 

 outlook for aggressive Christian work seemed more 

 propitious. In Liberia, the national Legislature at 

 it last session exempted the mission schools from 

 duties on all goods and building material imported 

 into the country. Four town lots and 150 acres of 

 farm land were granted to the mission at two places 

 on Caralla river, 30 acres at Newcress, and at the 

 previous session a tract of 20 acres was given at 

 Cape Mount, making 50 acres at that place. Sta- 

 tistics of the West African mission for the year 

 show that there are 15 day schools, 15 boarding 

 schools, and 22 Sunday schools now in operation in 

 connection with the mission. The church buildings 

 number 7; the places where service is held, 83; 

 there are 3 mission houses and 1 school, American 

 built, and 15 mission houses, used also for school 

 purposes, native built. The baptisms during the 

 year were 336; the confirmations, 86; and the con- 

 tributions amounted to $1,875.96. 



In China there has been a marked increase in both 

 educational and evangelistic work. The baptisms 

 of natives were 385 ; confirmations, 183 ; umoi.: 

 contributions, $1.020.4:!. Early in the year id.- 

 complete prayer book in the classical style, HV/-//. 

 was issued. The bishop has prepared ah edition in 

 Mandarin, and the first part of the prayer book has 

 been prepared and printed in the Shanghai collo- 

 quial. The schools at Shanghai have lx?cn doing 

 excellent work. T:he great changes that are taking 

 place in the empire are leading tin Chin.-.- t. 

 for Western learning in larger numbers, and so great 

 is the demand that the schools can not receive a 

 tenth of those who apply for admission. Recently 

 a Chinaman received a degree- for writing out the 

 Ten Commandments and commenting upon them. 

 They were represented as " the great code of laws 

 of the western nations." The Scriptures in China 

 have at last gained a recognition by the Govern- 

 ment, and a knowledge of them is required from 

 students in the state examinations. 



Of the Japan mission the Bishop of Tokio says : 

 "The spiritual tone of our people is steadily rising. 

 This is evidenced by the increased interest in mis- 

 sions, by the organization in both dioceses of 

 woman's auxiliaries to the Japanese Missionary So- 

 ciety, and in more churchly ways of thinking, work- 

 ing, and worshiping. There is also a marked ad- 

 vance in the matter of self-support. Nearly every 

 station has increased its contributions to the various 

 activities of the Church. There has been a decided 

 increase in the numberof pupils in all of our schools. 

 This is largely due in the case of our boys' schools 

 to the fact that they are now recognized by the 

 Japanese Government and conform themselves to 

 the Government regulations. We have been much 

 concerned by the attitude of the Government to- 

 ward religious instruction in schools receiving its 

 license. It assumes strict neutrality toward reli- 

 gious instruction, whether Shinto, Buddhist, or 

 Christian, during the hours in which the fixed, cur- 

 riculum is to be taught. We have consented to 

 this rule as a condition for Government recognition, 

 but claim and exercise the liberty of teaching Chris- 

 tianity before and after school hours in the school 

 buildings. Since receiving Government license the 

 students in St. Paul's College have doubled in 

 number." 



In the year 4 churches were consecrated, 3 deacons 

 advanced to the priesthood : 250 Japanese baptized, 

 203 confirmed, and $5.150.79 contributed. Mission 

 work was extended into Kanazawa, the largest and 

 most flourishing city on the west coast. 



A movement of importance was inaugurated by 

 the Haytian Church at its last annual convocation, 

 whereby that Church entered into an agreement to 

 receive the congregation of the Holy Trinity at San 

 Petro de Macoris. in the Republic of Dominica, into 

 its jurisdiction. The Church in llayti abstains from 

 engaging to give the congregation pecuniary aid. 

 Statistics of the Haytian Church give: Clergy. 12; 

 mission stations. 20; candidates for orders. 3; lay 

 readers, 18; teachers, 11; Sunday-school teachers. 

 12: baptisms. (ir> ; confirmations, 9 ; communicant. 

 480: marriages, 6 ; burials. 42; day scholars. 190; 

 Sunday-school pupils, 301 ; total of contributions. 

 $2.536."42. 



The condition of the Mexican Episcopal Church 

 continues to be encouraging. It ha> 7 pric- 

 deacons, 2 candidates for orders. 5 other readers, 28 

 congregations, 6 parish schools, (i teachers, and 

 about 250 scholars. The baptisms during the year 

 were 112; confirmations, 73; and cominunicunts. 

 572 



Miss Marion Muir, who since 1S<>7 has been the 

 most efficient head of the Creek Mission School, 

 died suddenly on Aug. 15. The Board of Missions 



