530 



METHODISTS. 



statement was adopted by the Conference, set- 

 ting forth that in view of the denominational 

 position on the subject of secret societies, it 

 was not consistent to receive fraternal greet- 

 ings from an adhering member of an organiza- 

 tion of that character. 



III. The Methodist Church (Canada) The fol- 

 lowing are summaries of the statistics and 

 condition of the several Methodist bodies in 

 Canada which, in September, 1883, consum- 

 mated a union under the designation of " The 

 Methodist Church " : 



1. The Methodist Church of Canada. This 

 Church was constituted in its present form in 

 1874, by a union between the Wesleyan Meth- 

 odist Church in Canada, the Wesleyan Meth- 

 odist Church in Eastern British America, and 

 the Methodist New Connection Church in 

 Canada. Its statistics are as follow: Number 

 of ministers and probationers for the ministry, 

 1,192; of members, 125,420; of adherents, in- 

 cluding members, 625,000 ; of churches, 2,046 ; 

 of parsonages, 607 ; value of church property, 

 $6,022,227; number of Sunday-schools, 1,947, 

 with 16,980 teachers and 130,629 scholars. It 

 has missions among the Indian tribes of Onta- 

 rio and the French of Quebec, and in British 

 Columbia and Japan, the statistics of which 

 are as follow : Number of domestic or home 

 missions, 332, with 344 missionaries and 30,- 

 149 members ; of Indian missions, 43, with 27 

 missionaries, 12 native assistants, 30 teachers, 

 11 interpreters, and 3,377 members; of French 

 missions, 9, with 9 missionaries. 2 teachers, 

 and 360 members ; of foreign missions or sta- 

 tions, 6, with 14 missionaries (seven of whom 

 are native Japanese) and 721 members. Total, 

 390 missions, with 394 missionaries, 56 other 

 paid agents, and 34,607 members. The income 

 of the society for 1881-'82 was $159,243. The 

 educational institutions of the Church are Vic- 

 toria College, Cobourg, Ont. ; Mount Allison 

 College, Sackville, N. B., and a seminary for 

 young men and young women at Sackville, 

 N. B. ; besides four institutions under the pat- 

 ronage of annual conferences, and one hun- 

 dred common schools in Newfoundland. The 

 Publishing House at Toronto has assets valued 

 at $207,531 ; eight periodicals are published at 

 this house, and one other at Halifax, N. S. 



2. Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada. 

 Organized in 1834. It had, previous to the 

 union just consummated, one bishop and three 

 annual conferences. Number of ministers, 275 ; 

 of local preachers, 270 ; of churches, 536 ; of 

 members, 28.070; of Sunday-school scholars, 

 25,119; value of church property, $1,372,510; 

 amount of income for home missions, $12,350. 

 The educational institutions are Albert Col- 

 lege, Belleville, Ont., and seminaries for young 

 women at Belleville and St. Thomas. A week- 

 ly paper is published at Hamilton. 



3. Primitive Methodist Church in Canada. 

 Founded in 1829. Number of ministers, 99 ; of 

 members, 8,223 ; of lay preachers. 246; of class 

 leaders, 330 ; of churches, 237 ; of parsonages, 



48; of Sunday-schools, 169, with 1,253 teach- 

 ers and 9,343 scholars ; value of church prop- 

 erty. $383,853. A weekly paper is issued from 

 the Book-Room in Toronto. 



4. Bible Christian Church in Canada. 

 Founded in 1831. The Conference includes ten 

 districts, two of which are in the United States. 

 Number of itinerant ministers, 81 ; of mem- 

 bers, 7,531; of churches, 188; of Sunday- 

 school scholars, 9,378. A weekly paper and 

 a semi-weekly Sunday-school paper are pub- 

 lished under the auspices of the denomination. 



Union of the Methodist Churches in Canada. 

 An account was given in the "Annual Cy- 

 clopedia " for 1882 of the negotiations between 

 the several Methodist churches in Canada viz., 

 the Methodist Church of Canada, the Meth- 

 odist Episcopal Church of Canada, the Primi- 

 tive Methodist Church in Canada, and the Bi- 

 ble Christian Church in Canada and the pro- 

 ceedings of their Conferences and General Con- 

 ferences, with reference to the union of the 

 whole number into a single body, the record 

 being brought down to the close of the year. 

 The provisional basis of union agreed upon by 

 the Conferences demanded the submission of 

 the plan to the Annual Conferences and quarter- 

 ly meetings for approval. The basis was read- 

 ily ratified by the Bible Christians and the 

 Primitive Methodists, but met with some op- 

 position in the Methodist Church of Canada, 

 where, however, it was finally approved in the 

 quarterly meetings and in all the Annual Con- 

 ferences except one, and was formally ratified 

 at an adjourned meeting of the General Con- 

 ference held at Belleville, August 29th. The 

 chief objections raised in this body to the plan 

 of union related to the question of the general 

 superintendency and to the anticipation that 

 legal difficulties might arise concerning rights 

 in church property. This was most liable to 

 take place in the case of the property of the 

 Bible Christian Church, the parent church of 

 that body in England having refused to give its 

 consent to the Canadian branch going into the 

 Union. The Canada Conference of the Bible 

 Christians decided, however, to enter the Union 

 notwithstanding this refusal. 



The first General Conference of the united 

 body met at Belleville, Ont., September 5th. 

 It was composed of 161 representatives of the 

 Methodist Church, 30 of the Methodist Episco- 

 pal Church, 8of the Primitive MethodistChurch, 

 and 9 of the Bible Christian Churches. The 

 Rev. J. A. Williams, D,D., was chosen president 

 of the provisional organization. The president 

 of the Bible Christian Conference explained 

 the position of that church with reference to 

 the movement for union by saying that the 

 Conference had at first taken favorable action 

 on the subject, with the belief that the parent 

 body in England would approve the step. A 

 delegation was accordingly sent to England to 

 obtain the desired permission. The refusal of 

 the Conference to give it was an occasion of 

 surprise, and placed the Canada Conference in 



