CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



135 



391.45. The total expenditures for the same 

 period had been $458,327.17, leaving a defi- 

 ciency in the treasury of $16,935.72. The 

 debt of the board, which at the beginning of 

 the year was $31,050.22, had increased by the 

 1st of September to $47,985.94. A statement 

 was presented in the report, showing the com- 

 parative annual receipts of the board, by de- 

 cades, since its organization, as follows: For 

 the first decade, the average receipts were, 

 $18,660.06; for the second, $68,818.14; for 

 the third, $180,511.04; for the fourth, $254,- 

 953.28 ; for the fifth, $320,813.96 ; for the 

 sixth, $455,037.10. For the seventh decade, 

 the first seven years have elapsed, and the 

 average thus far is $452,564.01 ; or, uniting 

 these seven years with the preceding decade, 

 the average for the past seventeen years is 

 $454,018.20. For the last five years the total 

 receipts had averaged $458,592.67, and the total 

 expenditure $471,430.63, per annum. The con- 

 tributions of the Woman's Boards to the gen- 

 eral treasury had been, since 1871 : In 187l-'72, 

 $34,184.26; in 1872-'73, $42,559.93; in 1873- 

 '74, $47,509.73; in 1874-75, $58,633.71; in 

 1875-'76, $75,283.91 ; in 1876-'77, $75,514.74. 

 The following table gives a summary view 

 of the condition of the missions of the board : 



MISSIONS. 



Number of missions 17 



Number of stations 81 



Number of out-stations 581 



LABORERS EMPLOYED. 



Number of ordained missionaries (seven being 



physicians') 151 



Number of physicians not ordained 7 



Number of other male assistants 6 



Number of female assistants 227 



Whole number of laborers sent abroad 891 



Number of native pastors 125 



Number of native preachers and catechists 255 



Number of native school-teachers 622 



Number of other native helpers 270 



1,172 



Number of laborers connected with the missions 1,563 



Pages printed 6,498,100 



Number of churches 256 



Number of church-members, so far as reported 18,425 



Added during the year, so far as reported 1,882 



Number of training and theological schools 16 



Number of boarding-schools for girls 26 



Number of common schools 658 



Number of pupils in training and theological 



schools and station-classes 551 



Number of pupils in boarding-schools for girls, 827 



Number of pupils in common schools 24,562 



Other adults under Instruction 1,022 



Whole number of pupils 26,962 



A subscription was taken up during the 

 meetings of the board to raise means to pay 

 the debt of the society, the result of which 

 was that the whole amount of $48,000 was 

 pledged in the course of a single evening. 



A special committee was appointed by the 

 trustees of the American Congregational 

 Union, September 25th, to consider what 

 measures could be adopted to increase the re- 

 sources of the Union, its efficiency, and its ac- 

 ceptableness to its constituents This com- 



mittee met at New York City on the 21st of 

 November, with a committee which had been 

 appointed by the National Congregational 

 Council in October for the purpose of the 

 conference, to devise measures for carrying 

 out the object sought by the Union. The joint 

 committee, after deliberation, recommended 

 that the specific work of church-building be 

 made distinctive in the name and constitution 

 of the society, and that other work not con- 

 templated in the constitution be transferred to 

 more appropriate agencies ; that steps be taken 

 to change the name of the Union to that of the 

 Congregational Building Society ; that there be 

 but one secretary, and the expenses of the 

 society be brought down to the lowest point 

 compatible with efficiency ; that " special gifts" 

 to aid in church-building, which do not pass 

 through the treasury of the society, be not, as 

 heretofore, reckoned among its receipts, but 

 be reported by themselves. These recommen- 

 dations were approved by the trustees of the 

 Union at a meeting held for the purpose of 

 passing upon them. A recommendation for 

 connecting the officers of the society with 

 those of the American Home Missionary So- 

 ciety, so that it could be aided in its work by 

 the secretaries of the same, was referred to the 

 latter body for consideration. 



In France, most of the Congregational 

 churches belong to the Union of Evangelical 

 Churches, which was formed in 1849, and in 

 1877 embraced 7 churches in Paris, 38 in the de- 

 partments, and 14 stations. The Union does not 

 exclusively consist of Congregational churches, 

 but each church, on entering the Union, pre- 

 serves the liberty of determining for [itself its 

 own constitution, according to its convictions 

 and necessities. It regulates, accordingly, its 

 own discipline, and the form of its internal 

 government. A general synod of the pastors 

 and delegates cf the churches is held every 

 two years. The last meeting was held at 

 Lyons, in October, 1877. Besides the Congre- 

 gational churches which are in connection 

 with the Union of Evangelical Churches, there 

 are 8 Independent churches in France not 

 connected with the Union. The " Evangelical 

 Society " of France, which was established, in 

 1833, for the diffusion of evangelical truth with- 

 out regard to differences of ecclesiastical polity, 

 has gradually, like the London and Home Mis- 

 sion Societies of England, become almost iden- 

 tified with churches that are independent of 

 state support and control. During the year end- 

 ing March 81, 1877, the expenditure of the So- 

 ciety was 5,760, and 52 agents were aided by 

 its funds, of whom 24 were pastors or evangel- 

 ists, and 28 teachers and colporteurs. An insti- 

 tution for training evangelists is connected with 

 the Independent Church of Nice. It was opened 

 in November, 1874, and commenced with 12 

 students. It had, in 1877, three professors. 



Switzerland has Independent churches in 

 the cantons of Geneva, Vaud (45), NeufchAtel 

 (21), and Berne (7). 



