154 



CONGEE G ATION ALISTS. 



reports, in which the views of both sides were 

 presented, the board resolved : 



1. That in accordance with the suggestion of the 

 visiting deputation that, as a preparation for the with- 

 drawal in our time of its missionaries from the work 

 among the Armenians, the board favor the admission 

 of representatives of native churches in Turkey in 

 conferences concerning the practical work of evan- 

 gelization, education, and publication^ including esti- 

 mates for necessary expenses, reserving, however, to 

 the mission, as the responsible agents of the board on 

 the field, final action respecting the distribution of 

 funds drawn from the treasury of the board, sub- 

 ject, of course, to the approval of the Prudential 

 Committee. 



2. That there is a pressing need for a large-hearted 

 and even generous co-operation with our native breth- 

 ren everywhere, its particular form and method being 

 shaped by the circumstances of each locality, but such 

 as may assure them of our Christian love, and fit 

 them most speedily to assume the entire support and 

 management of the evangelization of their respective 

 fields. 



American Missionary Association. The thirty- 

 seventh annual meeting of the American Mis- 

 sionary Association was held in Brooklyn, N.Y., 

 October 30th. The ordinary receipts of the 

 society for the year had been $312,567, or 

 $14,983 more than those of the previous year. 

 Further sums amounting to $13,500 had been 

 received toward the endowment funds of the 

 chartered institutions of the association and 

 the proposed Arthrington mission in the region 

 of the Upper Nile, which with $10,918 ex- 

 pended upon Stone Hall, Atlanta University, 

 made the total amount that had been at the 

 disposal of the Executive Committee, $337,003. 

 In the work of rearranging and consolidating 

 the missions of this society and other societies 

 with which it has fraternal relations, the Mendi 

 mission in West Africa, with its special fund and 

 the steamer John Brown, had been transferred 

 to the United Brethren, whose mission at 

 Shengay is contiguous to it. The Arthrington 

 mission, with its fund, had been offered to the 

 Board of the United Presbyterian Church of 

 North America, which was conducting a suc- 

 cessful mission in Egypt. That board was 

 ready to take up the mission, and intended to 

 establish its base of operations at Khartoum, 

 while Mr. Arthrington desired to have it pushed 

 farther up the Nile to Fatiko. The Dakota 

 mission of the American Board, with the ex- 

 ception of. the Sisseton agency, which had 

 been undertaken by the Home Board of the 

 Presbyterian Church in the United States of 

 America, had been received by this association. 

 It included 4 stations, 9 schools, 5 churches, 

 12 missionaries, 25 teachers, one native pastor, 

 12 native teachers, 271 church-members, 356 

 pupils, and 584 Sunday-school scholars. The 

 old mission of the association in Washington 

 Territory had one missionary, two churches, 36 

 Indian and 13 white members, and two Sun- 

 day-schools, with 95 scholars. The mission to 

 the Chinese in California returned 19 schools, 

 with 40 teachers, 14 of whom were Chinese, 

 and an enrollment of 2,823 pupils. One hun- 

 dred and seventy-five Chinese had professed to 



cease from idolatry. Work among the negrces 

 was prosecuted in twelve of the Southern 

 States, and in Kansas and the District of Co- 

 lumbia. The schools include eight chartered 

 institutions in as many States, twelve high and 

 normal schools, and forty-two common schools, 

 which together reported 279 teachers and 

 9,640 pupils. Seventy students^ were pursuing 

 a theological course, and twenty a course in 

 law. Departments in industrial training were 

 maintained at Charleston, S. C., Macon and 

 Atlanta, Ga., at Fisk University, Nashville, 

 and at Memphis, Tenn. ; and at Talladega, Ala., 

 and Tongaloo, Miss. Six new churches had 

 been added, making the whole number of 

 churches in the South connected with the as- 

 sociation 89, with 5,974 members and 9,406 

 Sunday-school scholars. These churches had 

 raised for church purposes, during the year, 

 $12,027. The Ecclesiastical Association of 

 Mississippi, with six churches, had been added 

 to the State bodies of this character connected 

 with the society, making the whole number 

 eight. They represent an average of eleven 

 churches each. 



Triennial Council of the Congregational Churches. 

 The fifth Triennial Council of the Congrega- 

 tional Churches of the United States met in 

 Concord, N. H., October 10th. About three 

 hundred delegates were in attendance. The 

 Rev. Dr. Arthur Little, of Chicago, was chosen 

 moderator. The council has no authority, but 

 is a voluntary body, for discussion and inter- 

 change of reports and opinions in the effort to 

 ascertain the condition and feelings of the 

 churches, and for the purpose of making such 

 recommendations as may seem good to it. Rep- 

 resentations were made, with statements of 

 their wants, of the condition of the several 

 Congregational benevolent societies, including 

 the American Board of Commissioners for 

 Foreign Missions, the College and Education 

 Society, the American Missionary Association, 

 the American Home Mission Society, the Con- 

 gregational Sunday-school and Publishing So- 

 ciety, the American Congregational Union, 

 and the New West Commission. The general 

 statistical returns showed that there had been 

 a net gain in the denomination during the past 

 three years of 262 churches and 5,079 mem- 

 bers ; that the additions to churches by pro- 

 fession averaged 12,500 annually; that the 

 contributions for Sunday-schools during the 

 past year had amounted to $300,000, and the 

 contributions for charitable objects to more 

 than $6,000,000, and that there were 874 more 

 churches than there were clergymen to supply 

 them. A committee of seven members had 

 been nppointed at the previous meeting of the 

 council to select a commission of twenty-five 

 persons for the purpose of framing a creed 

 or statement of belief to be submitted to the 

 churches for their approval. The committee 

 reported that it had appointed the commission, 

 and was discharged. The commission had not 

 yet completed the preparation of a creed. A 



