METHODISTS. 



503 



The traveling preachers are classified as fol- 

 lows: Preachers on trial, 1,065; in full con- 

 nection, 8,292 ; supernumerary, 719 ; superan- 

 nuated, 1,193. The footings of other items of 

 the statistics are as follows : Number of local 

 preachers, 12,537; of Sunday-schools, 19,868$; 

 of teachers in the same, 216,902; of Sunday- 

 school scholars, 1,493,718 ; of baptisms of chil- 

 dren, 55,834 ; of adults, 76,248 ; number of 

 churches, 16,200^, valued at $70,239,441 ; num- 

 ber of parsonages, 5,855, valued at $9,175,480. 



The Theological Institutions of the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church include 4 regular theological 

 schools in the United States, viz. : the Boston 

 University School of Theology, founded at 

 Concord, N. H., as the Methodist General Bibli- 

 cal Institute, in 1847, and removed to Boston, 

 Mass., in 1867, which had, in 1877, 6 professors, 

 108 students, and 5,000 volumes in its library; 

 the Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, 111., 

 founded in 1855, which had 5 professors, and 

 several non-resident lecturers, with a working- 

 library of 3,500 volumes, and a reference-li- 

 brary of 80,000 volumes ; Drew Theological 

 Seminary, Madison, N. J., founded in 1867, 

 which had 6 professors; and the Scott Cen- 

 tenary Biblical Institute, Baltimore, Md., 

 opened in 1872. Theological classes are also 

 taught in several of the colleges and academies 

 of the Church. Two theological schools are in 

 successful operation in connection with the 

 missions of the Church, viz. : the Martin Mission 

 Institute, Frankfort - on - the - Main, Germany, 

 founded at Bremen in 1858, and removed to 

 Frankfort in 1868, having 2 professors and 13 

 students, and property valued at $30,000 ; and 

 the India Conference Theological Seminary, at 

 Baruilly, India, having a principal, or director, 

 property valued at $15,000, and a scholarship 

 endowment of $55,000. Other theological in- 

 stitutions are in contemplation, to be connected 

 with various missions, and nearly all of the mis- 

 sions already report small classes who receive 

 theological instruction from the missionaries. 



The fifty -ninth annual meeting of the General 

 Committee of the Missionary Society of the 

 Methodist Episcopal Church was held in New 

 York City, beginning November 14th. The 

 treasurer of the Society reported that his total 

 receipts for the year ending October 31, 1877, 

 had been $628,977.25, showing an increase of 

 $84,788.87 over the receipts of the previous 

 year, and his total expenditures had been $560,- 

 055.40. Of the expenditures, $258,781 .27 were 

 on acconnt of foreign missions, and $254,927.60 

 on account of domestic missions. The amount 

 of the indebtedness of the Society had been 

 diminished by $92,979.70 during the year, nnd 

 stood on November 1, 1877, at $lfi9,375J. 

 The total amount of appropriations for the en- 

 suing year was fixed at $676,907. 



The tenth anniversary of the FretAmeri?* Aid 

 Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was 

 held at Springfield, Mass., December 10th. The 

 total receipts of the Society for the year end- 

 ing July 1, 1877, were $70,269.44, and its total 



