REFORMED CHURCHES. 



REFORMED CHURCHES, ALLIANCE OF. 



years since the previous meeting of the General 

 Synod encouraging progress had been made in 

 all the departments of the Church's activity. 

 Many new churches had been erected, and 23 new 

 congregations had been organized. The number 

 of ministers had increased from 901 to 1,04(5, 

 and the membership from 226,572 to 238,(>44: but 

 the aggregate of benevolent contributions had 

 fallen from $676,271 to $630,454; while the con- 

 tributions for congregational purposes had in- 

 creased from $3,067,780 to $3,212,306. 



The General Synod met in its thirteenth trien- 

 nial session at Tiffin, Ohio, May 23. The Rev. 

 Calvin S. Gerhard, D. D., of .Reading, Pa., was 

 chosen president. The Board of Home Missions 

 reported that on account of the stringency of the 

 times its work had not been enlarged during the 

 past three years. It returned 142 missions, with 

 15,275 communicant members; 162 Sunday 

 schools, with 17,100 teachers and pupils; $29,- 

 696 raised by the missions for benevolent and 

 $141,008 for congregational purposes, and $02,- 

 079 received for church building. Only $98,- 

 508 of the $135,000 promised by the synods 

 had been received, and a deficiency of $26,- 

 492 had been incurred. The Woman's Board 

 had contributed $6,903; legacies amounting to 

 $12,423 had been received; the board had 80 

 church-building funds, amounting to $40,000; 

 8 Hungarian missions were under its care. A 

 Hungarian traveling missionary had been ap- 

 pointed, a Hungarian paper was published, and 

 the formation of Hungarian classes was asked 

 for. A Bohemian mission had been opened in 

 Chicago. The Board of Foreign Missions reported 

 concerning the mission in Japan, where, with 8 

 organized churches and 48 unorganized com- 

 panies of believers, 1,811 communicant members, 

 and 1,623 children in Sunday schools, the field 

 had been divided into a northern and a southern 

 section. The board had not seen its way clear 

 to go into any new field. The Sunday-school 

 Board had employed 12 missionaries, organized 

 7 Sunday schools, and formed five congregations. 

 In its educational department it had labored for 

 the establishment of home departments of the 

 Sunday schools and for the development of a 

 " twentieth century movement " in behalf of a 

 larger Sunday-school membership; and it had 

 published periodicals and books. Its net profits 

 had been $9,672. The Committee on Correspond- 

 ence with Foreign Churches reported correspond- 

 ents in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hun- 

 gary, Holland, and Russia. Delegates were ap- 

 pointed to the meeting of the Reformed Alliance 

 at Magdeburg, Germany. The subject of the 

 establishment of missions in Cuba and Porto 

 Rico was referred to the Foreign Board. This 

 board was also instructed to open a mission in 

 China. The policy of comity and co-operation 

 in the cultivation of unoccupied mission fields 

 was recommended for favorable action. A com- 

 mittee was appointed to formulate some plan for 

 raising money for benevolences less objectionable 

 than the present apportionment system. The re- 

 port on temperance recognized the great sin of 

 intemperance, and expressed the full accord and 

 hearty sympathy of the Synod with the temper- 

 ance work. The work of deaconesses was com- 

 mended to all the classes and consistories. The 

 Society for the Relief of Ministers and their 

 Widows was invited to enter into closer union 

 with ^ the General Synod. The observance of the 

 Lord's Day as "for every man a day of rest, a 

 day of worship, a day of the promulgation of the 

 Gospel, and a day of doing works of love and 

 mercy" was commended in special resolutions, 



and ministers and Sunday schools were advised to 

 take such steps by preaching and instruction as 

 would emphasize the perpetual obligation of the 

 fourth commandment. Favorable action was 

 taken regarding the formation of Hungarian and 

 Bohemian classes. The holding of annual con- 

 ventions of Hungarian pastors and churches, to 

 have advisory power after the approval of their 

 conclusions by the Board of Home Missions, was 

 authorized : the provision of a suitable course of 

 reading on the subject of American church life 

 was recommended for the benefit of Hungarian 

 missionaries: and the Board of Home Missions 

 were enjoined in their intercourse with foreigners, 

 subjects of missionary work, to emphasize " the 

 imperative necessity of systematic and persever- 

 ing effort on their part toward self-support." 

 Measures were taken looking to the strengthening 

 of mission work among the Germans in hiiL't* 

 cities and of the Harbor Mission in New York 

 city. 



REFORMED CHURCHES, ALLIANCE 

 OF. The seventh General Council of the Alli- 

 ance of Reformed Churches holding the Pn-l.\ - 

 terian System met in Washington, 1). C.. Sent. 27. 

 The Rev. Marshall Lang, D. D., of Scotland. ]>i 

 sided. The opening sermon was preached bv tin- 

 Rev. Prof. John DeWitt, of Princeton, N. ,j. It 

 was on the subject of The Bible and the Reformed 

 Churches, and presented the conservative attitnd> 

 of ecclesiastical thought as opposed to the mod- 

 ern school of criticism. An address of welcome \\ M 

 made by the Rev. Dr. W. Radcliff, pastor of i In- 

 New York Avenue Church, Washington, in which 

 the meeting was held. The opening address of 

 the moderator. Dr. Lang, was on The Progress. 

 and Permanence of Christianity, and wa- n 

 garded as presenting the more liberal or " ad- 

 vanced " school of Presbyterian thought. A i . 

 port made by the Rev. Dr. G. D. Matthew-, ucn- 

 eral secretary of the Alliance, gave the following 

 summary of the Presbyterian and Reformed 

 Churches in the world: 



In this table some "minor" churche- \\vre 

 omitted, and some branches which made no re- 

 ports were not included. The number of "at- 

 tached " members that is. of Sunday-school chil- 

 dren and persons who, while not members attend 

 more or less regularly upon Presbyterian wor- 

 ship, was estimated at 25,000,000. 'Of the <.>m 

 municants 1,000,000 spoke the Continental lan- 

 guages of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and 4.000,000 

 the English language. An organic union of the 

 various churches composing the Alliance \\;i- re- 

 garded as not possible, owing to the diverge con- 

 ditions. The belief of the churches showed dif- 

 ferent shades of orthodoxy, and their polity and 

 their church forms were likewise varied. The 

 fellowship between the different churches had 



