504 



LUTHERANS. 



tions comprise 25 orphanages, 8 hospitals, 1 

 home for the aged and infirm, 1 institute for 

 the deaf and dumb, 4 emigrant missions, under 

 the care of different bodies, in New York city, 

 and 1 emigrant mission in Baltimore. The 

 whole number of periodicals is 87, of which 30 

 are in the English language, 28 in German, 7 

 in Swedish, and 22 in Norwegian and Danish. 

 The General Council. The General Council met 

 in the city of New York, October 18th. The 

 Rev. Dr. A. Spaeth, of Philadelphia, presided. 

 The business of the session consisted chiefly 

 in the continuation of the regular discussion 

 of the ninety-five theses of Luther and the 

 review of the progress of the various mission- 

 ary and publishing enterprises of the body. 

 The discussion of Luther's theses, to which the 

 Council statedly devotes a part of the time of 

 every annual meeting, has been instituted for 

 the comparison of views among the members of 

 the body, and for mutual enlightenment in doc- 

 trine, and does not take the shape of formal 

 action. On the present occasion the fifth, sixth, 

 and seventh theses, declaring the impotency of 

 the Pope in the forgiveness of sins, were con- 

 sidered, as follows : 



The Pope neither wisheth to nor can remit any pun- 

 ishments save those which he, of his own will, or ac- 

 cording to the canons, hath inspired. 



The Pope can not forgive any sin, except so far as 

 he doth declare and confirm God's forgiveness ; or, 

 indeed, when he forgiyeth reserved cases, where, if 

 they be despised, the sin remaineth still. 



God verily fprgiveth no man's sins, without at the 

 same time subjecting him in all things in humility to 

 his vicar, the priest. 



A strong desire was expressed for the union 

 of the synods of the United States on the occa- 

 sion of the four-hundredth anniversary of the 

 birth of Martin Luther ; and the corresponding 

 secretaries were instructed to enter into corre- 

 spondence with the synods which are one with 

 the Council in the unity of the faith, with that 

 end in view. 



The Board of Foreign Missions reported that 

 its receipts for the year had been $7,278, and 

 that its estimates for expense for the coming 

 year amounted to $10,000. The mission is in 

 the Presidency of Madras, India, and has its 

 principal stations at Rajamundry and Samul- 

 cotta, with numerous sub-stations. It em- 

 ployed four American and European missiona- 

 ries, two native pastors, two woman missiona- 

 ries, two evangelists, and forty teachers, and 

 returned 722 children in the schools and 465 

 persons baptized during 1882 and the first six 

 months of 1883. The German Home Mission 

 Committee had received during the year $4,447, 

 and had expended $4,410. Three missionaries 

 had been dispatched to Canada, seven had been 

 appointed to fields within the United States, 

 and a traveling missionary was employed in 

 Texas. The committee was unable to meet 

 the demands made upon it for additional labor- 

 ers. Thirty-four students were, however, un- 

 der preparation at institutions in Germany to 

 engage in its work. The Swedish Home Mis- 



sion Committee had missions at San Francisco, 

 Cal., Astoria and Portland, Oregon, and Puget 

 Sound, Washington Territory, in Idaho, at Salt 

 Lake City, and in Colorado. The Emigrant Mis- 

 sion had given shelter in its home in New York 

 city to more than 15,000 persons. The House 

 and its mission was now generally known, and 

 the Home Missionary Society in Europe was 

 very generally co-operating with the commit- 

 tee. Mission stations had been established in 

 Bremen, Hamburg, and Antwerp. Castle Gar- 

 den was regularly visited at each arrival of 

 passengers. The Swedish Augustana Synod 

 was sustaining a mission in connection with 

 the committee's work. A recommendation 

 that the Home Mission Committees be advised 

 to secure the services of one or more traveling 

 missionaries for the purpose of organizing con- 

 gregations along the line of the Northern Pa- 

 cific Railroad, and of securing sites for church- 

 es, etc., was offered, and referred to the next 

 meeting of the Council. A general committee, 

 which had been appointed the year before in 

 furtherance of the same object, reported prog- 

 ress. A declaration was adopted to the effect 

 that the co-operation of women in the work 

 of the Church was greatly desired. " But as 

 the Church is the proper channel through 

 which all efforts are to be directed, the Coun- 

 cil can recognize no other. It must leave to 

 the individual congregation the right to direct 

 its own affairs. If it deem it wise to organize 

 woman's mission societies, it can do so, and 

 will no doubt have the approval of the Council." 

 The General Synod. The General Synod met 

 in its thirty-first biennial convention at Spring- 

 field, Ohio, May 16th. The Rev. J. G. Morris, 

 D. D., LL. D., was chosen president. Reports 

 were made by the several boards having charge 

 of the benevolent enterprises of the synod, 

 of their operations during the previous two 

 years. The Board of Church Extension had 

 received $41,791, and had expended $39,325. 

 It had completed its work in aid of the mission 

 in Brooklyn, N". Y., was helping to build a 

 church in Chicago, 111., and was arranging for 

 architectural plans to assist in building church- 

 es in the mission-fields. The plan for securing 

 an income by apportioning among the church- 

 es the amount they would be asked to contrib- 

 ute had been worked with satisfaction and suc- 

 cess. The Board of Publication had increased 

 its net assets by $14,016, the present amount 

 being $61,767, and reported sales for the year 

 ending March 31, 1883, of $49,049. It had been 

 able to appropriate from its profits $5,000 to 

 the benevolent work of the Church as repre- 

 sented in the organizations connected with the 

 General Synod. A history of the Lutheran 

 Church in America was in preparation under 

 its direction. The Committee of the Pastors' 

 Fund had received $1,951, and expended $1,541. 

 The Board of Home Missions had received $38,- 

 407, and had paid to missionaries $24,040. It 

 had the care of 53 missions, which represented 

 63 congregations, having 3,680 members. The 



