604 



METHODISTS. 



expenditures for the same period were $70,- 

 442.65. The amount of $652,449.55 had been 

 collected and disbursed during the ten years of 

 operation. 



The annual meeting of the General Commit- 

 tee of Church Extension was held in Philadel- 

 phia, Pa., November 21st and 22d. The cor- 

 responding secretary of the Society reported 

 that his receipts for the first ten months of the 

 year 1877 had been $109,003.15 of funds avail- 

 able for use, against $85,499.64 received during 

 a similar period in 1876. The estimates for 

 the ensuing year were fixed at the sum of 

 $137,000. 



From a report officially published by the Book 

 Committee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 

 it appears that the bishops, book-agents, and the 

 principal editors of the Church papers at New 

 York, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis, re- 

 ceive each a salary of $3,000 a year, with an 

 additional allowance for house-rent, varying 

 according to locality ; and that the editors of 

 the other Church papers receive salaries rang- 

 ing from $1,500 to $3,000, with allowances for 

 house-rent to the editors at Syracuse, N. Y., 

 and Atlanta, Ga. ; but not to those at Pittsburg, 

 Pa., San Francisco, Cal., and Portland, Oregon. 



The eighth annual meeting of the Executive 

 Committee of the Woman's Foreign Missionary 

 Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was 

 held at Minneapolis, Minn., May 10th. The 

 New England, New York, Philadelphia, Bal- 

 timore, Cincinnati, Northwestern, and West- 

 ern branches of the Society were represented. 

 The total receipts for the year had been, as far 

 as was reported, $67,688.37. The periodical 

 of the Society, the Heathen Woman's Friend, 

 had a circulation of 13,312 copies, and re- 

 ported a balance in hand of $1,826.62. 



II. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 

 The annual meeting of the Board of Missions 

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was 

 held at Nashville, Tenn., May 4th. The col- 

 lections for Foreign Missions for the last 

 twelve months had amounted to $69,000. The 

 sum of $78,662 was appropriated for the en- 

 suing year June 1, 1877, to June 1, 1878. 



The sum of $100,000 was assessed upon the 

 Conferences for the purpose of meeting their 

 estimates. 



The following is a summary of the statistics 

 of the Indian, German, and Foreign Missions 

 of the Board : Indian Mission Conference, em- 

 bracing the Cherokee, Muskogee, Choctaw, 

 Chickasaw, and St. Paul districts : white mem- 

 bers, 482 ; Indian members, 4,142 ; colored 

 members, 181; local preachers, 90; adults 

 baptized, 438 ; infants baptized, 459 ; Sunday- 

 schools, 44 ; teachers in the same, 149 ; Sun- 

 day-school scholars, 972 ; amount of contribu- 

 tions for missions, the support of preachers, 

 and other purposes, $1,620,82. Two prosper- 

 ous schools are situated at New Hope, Choc- 

 taw nation, and Eufala, Creek nation. 



German Mission Conference of Texas and 

 Louisiana : missions, 20 ; churches, 22 ; value 



of the churches, $78,850; members, 1,012 ; in- 

 fants baptized, 156 ; members received during 

 the year, 130 ; Sunday-schools, 23, with 774 

 scholars; missionary money collected, $941.80. 

 The German missions in Richmond, Va., and 

 Baltimore, Md., reported 101 members, 2 local 

 preachers, 3 Sunday-schools, with 30 teachers 

 and 365 scholars, and 39 baptisms. 



Cuban Mission (Spanish) at Key "West, Fla. : 

 69 members ; 35 Sunday-school scholars. 



China Mission four districts, the Shang- 

 hai, Naziang, Karding, and Soochow districts, 

 with another, the Chingpoo district, about to 

 be formed : 3 missionaries, 6 native preachers, 

 6 other native helpers, 5 churches, and 5 rented 

 preaching-places, 104 members, 141 Sunday- 

 school scholars, $61.40 contributed to missions. 

 Mexico City Mission: 2 native traveling 

 preachers, 1 church, 70 members, 30 children 

 in the Sunday-school, and 65 in the day-school. 

 Mexican Border Mission (of the West Texas 

 Conference) : 11 stations, or circuits, 10 na- 

 tive missionaries, 253 members, 208 Sunday- 

 school scholars. 



Brazil Mission : 2 American missionaries ; 1 

 church of English-speaking American emi- 

 grants, at Santa Barbara, with 38 members. 

 Preparations are making to prosecute the mis- 

 sion work among the Portuguese. 



III. METHODIST PEOTESTANT CHTBCH. The 

 Methodist Protestant Church was founded, in 

 1830, by a number of ministers and members 

 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who with- 

 drew from that body on account of dissatisfac- 

 tion with its polity in not admitting the laymen 

 to representation in the Annual and General 

 Conferences, and with the Episcopal form of 

 government. The articles of religion and or- 

 der of worship were similar to those of the 

 Methodist Episcopal Church, except that the 

 laymen were given an equal voice with minis- 

 ters in the law-making assemblies, the presid- 

 ing elders and the bishops were abolished, and 

 the election of its own presiding officer was 

 given to each Annual Conference. The Church 

 was divided in 1858, on a question connected 

 with slavery. The 12th article of its constitu- 

 tion restricted the right of voting and being 

 elected to office to " white ministers, preach- 

 ers, and male members." A petition was pre- 

 sented to the General Conference sitting in 

 that year, from the Western Conferences, for 

 a change in the article by leaving out the word 

 white. This being refused, the Western Con- 

 ferences amicably suspended official relations 

 with the other Conferences, and two General 

 Conferences were formed, with the same name. 

 At the General Conference of 1866, an effort 

 was made to unite the Northern and Western 

 branch of the Church with the Wesleyan Con- 

 nection in America. To facilitate this object, 

 the word " Protestant " was dropped from the 

 name of the Northern branch of the Church, 

 and the name of " Methodist Church " was as- 

 sumed by it. Negotiations for a reunion of 

 the Northern or Methodist Church with the 



