LUTHERANS. 



365 



dents, 32 academies with 2,962 students, and 11 

 colleges for women with 1,065 students. These 

 institutions have property valued at $5,971,642 

 and endowment amounting to $1,724,809, with 

 342,610 volumes in their libraries, employing 898 

 professors and instructors, who have under their 

 instruction 13,765 students, of whom 2,612 have 

 the ministry in view. Here, again, language 

 differences supply the reason for the multiplicity 

 of institutions, for the list includes English, Ger- 

 man, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish 

 colleges and seminaries. 



The charitable institutions of the Church 

 number 99, of which 43 are orphanages, 18 homes 

 for the aged and needy, 19 hospitals, 11 immigrant 

 and seamen's missions, and 8 are deaconess in- 

 stitutions. These have property valued at $4,113,- 

 827, and endowment amounting to $252,655, and 

 care for 23,709 inmates. 



The total money value of the property and en- 

 dowment of the 215 educational and charitable 

 institutions is $12,062,933. The endowment is an 

 insignificant sum, amounting to not quite $2,000,- 

 000, and comparatively few have any endowment 

 at all. 



The General Council embraces 10 synods, 

 1,303 ministers, 361,048 communicant members. 

 The membership of this general body consists of 

 English, English-German, German, and Swedish 

 congregations, with a small number of Finns and 

 Slavonians. No convention of the general body 

 was held in 1902, but the various mission, benevo- 

 lent, and educational operations were carried on 

 by boards or committees. The home missionary 

 operations carried on by the General Board and 

 the boards of the district synods received careful 

 attention and number more than 600, with a 

 membership of more than 30,000. The missions 

 in Porto Rico and in East India have received 

 special attention, the former receiving two addi- 

 tional missionaries and the latter 7. This more 

 than doubles the missionary force in India, count- 

 ing only those that have been sent from America, 

 the entire force of workers being 160. Progress 

 has been made in the erection of new buildings, 

 increasing the teaching force, and adding new 

 courses and new departments in the various in- 

 stitutions. 



The General Synod, the oldest general body 

 in America, embraces 24 district synods, mostly 

 English, 1,231 ministers, 1,578 congregations, and 

 202,531 members. No convention of this body 

 was held in 1902, but its various operations were 

 carried on by boards charged with specific duties. 

 Its home missionary operations are extensive and 

 widely scattered in many of the States, and its 

 mission in India is in a flourishing condition, with 

 a college having more than 700 students. 



The Synodical Conference. This general 

 body, organized in 1872 and embracing 3 dis- 

 trict synods, 2,129 ministers, 2,772 congregations, 

 and 599,951 members, almost exclusively German, 

 held its nineteenth biennial convention in St. 

 John's German Church, Milwaukee, Wis., begin- 

 ning July 23, 1902. Seventy delegates were pres- 

 ent, representing the Synod of Missouri, Ohio, 

 and other States; the General Synod of Wiscon- 

 sin, Minnesota, and Michigan; and the English 

 Synod of Missouri and other States. The follow- 

 ing officers were elected: The Rev. John Bading, 

 Milwaukee, Wis., president; the Rev. Philip 

 Brand, Pittsburg, Pa., vice-president; the Rev. 

 Prof. John Schaller, New Ulm, Minn., secretary; 

 Prof. A. Ackermann, New Ulm, Minn., assistant 

 secretary; and Mr. H. A. Christiansen, Detroit, 

 Mich., treasurer. The Norwegian Synod, num- 

 bering 340 ministers, 850 congregations, and 76,370 



members, though not a member of this general 

 body, was represented by delegates who were 

 warmly welcomed by the president. In response, 

 the Rev. O. P. Vangness, of Story City, Iowa, 

 emphasized the unity of spirit and friendly rela- 

 tions existing between his synod and the synod- 

 ical conference. As the Norwegian Synod expects 

 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its organ- 

 ization in 1903, a committee, representing the 

 synods in connection with the general body then 

 in session, was elected to attend the anniversary 

 convention. The request of the English Synod 

 that the general body should cooperate in their 

 work of carrying on English missions met with 

 favorable action to the extent that those synods 

 that have not yet created a fund for English mis : 

 sions were advised to do so. The necessity of 

 prosecuting the English work was emphasized by 

 various speakers. The request for a standard 

 text of Luther's Small Catechism and explana- 

 tion was referred to a committee with instruc- 

 tions to report at the next convention. The com- 

 mittee was also instructed to report on the ques- 

 tion of liturgical uniformity in English congre- 

 gations within the bounds of the general body, 

 including the congregations connected with the 

 Norwegian Synod, which body is to be represent- 

 ed in this work. The committee appointed at a 

 former convention to revise the translation of 

 Luther's Small Catechism, reported additional 

 changes in the proof-text already issued. It was 

 resolved to publish the amended text with edi- 

 torial notes on the changes suggested, and to 

 take final action at the next convention of the 

 conference. The doctrinal treatise prepared by 

 Prof. E. A. W. Krauss, director of the seminary 

 at Addison, 111., on the subject of alleged con- 

 tradictions in the Bible was carefully and thor- 

 oughly discussed. A full report of the mission- 

 ary operations among the negroes of the South 

 was presented and ample time was given to its 

 consideration, much interest being manifested in 

 this difficult, but growing work. The receipts 

 from all sources during the past two years 

 amounted to $36,085.97. Additional workers are 

 to be placed in the field, and one, or perhaps two, 

 preparatory schools for negro students are to be 

 established. This body also carries on mission- 

 ary operations in East India and in Brazil and 

 other South American countries, but reports 

 of these operations are not accessible. The next 

 convention will be held in Winona, Minn., in 

 1904. 



The United Synod, South. This general 

 body, organized in 1886 and consisting of 215 

 ministers, 433 congregations, and 41,795 members, 

 almost exclusively English, held its eighth bien- 

 nial convention in St. John's English Church, 

 Charleston, S. C., beginning May 7, 1902. When 

 the convention was formally opened, the pres- 

 ident presented his report, in which he gave an 

 account of work done, and presented a wide field 

 of pressing work to be done in home and foreign 

 missions, education, work among the orphans, 

 and other benevolent operations. The following 

 officers were elected: The Rev. Robert A. Yoder, 

 D. D., Newton, N. C., president; the Rev. Andrew 

 G. Voigt, D. D., Wilmington, N. C., vice-president : 

 the Rev. Samuel T. Hollman, D. D., Newberry. 

 S. C., secretary, and Charles Duls, Esq., Char- 

 lotte, N. C., treasurer. 



The mission in Japan is in a prosperous con- 

 dition, having several native pastors on the 

 ground. Addresses were delivered, urging an 

 earnest prosecution of the work. Home mission- 

 ary operations occupied the earnest attention of 

 the convention. The crv comes from the West 



