Article November 23, 1899 Issue

From the Religious Press

The statistical reports of the Northern Presbyterian Church given it for 1899, 32 Synods, 232 Presbyteries, 7,657 churches, 986,907 communicants, 1,029,229 members of Sunday schools, 1,115 candidates for the ministry, 137 local evangelists, 433 licentiates, 108 churches organized during the year, 48,259 members added on examination, 17,682 adults and 24,908 infants baptized. The contributions were: for home missions, $101,597; for the relief fund, $98,304; for freedmen, $137,567; for synodical aid, $85,921; for aid for colleges, $261,268; for the General Assembly, $80,160; for congregational purposes, $10,094,518; miscellaneous contributions, $793,788; total, $13,777,717. The figures show a gain of 8,030 communicants and a loss of 4,938 in membership of Sunday schools; and the baptisms were fewer than for several years. The financial reports show an advance in nearly every department except ministerial relief; and the whole amount of contributions is larger by $74,156 than in 1898.

The statistics of the Southern Presbyterian Church give it 13 Synods — the same as for the past seventeen years — 77 Presbyteries, 1,471 ministers, 2,919 churches, 221,022 communicants, 8,613 members added on examination, 2,847 adults and 4,588 infants baptized during the year, baptized non-communicants, 19,808 teachers, and 143,639 pupils in Sunday schools. There were also 357 candidates for the ministry and 60 licentiates; 56 churches were organized during the year. The churches contributed last year $30,005 for the Assembly's home missions, $116,533 for local evangelistic purposes, $13,762 for the invalid fund, $111,191 for Foreign Missions, $52,722 for education, $12,587 for publication, $12,459 for colored evangelization, $4,025 for the Bible cause. $15,948 for Presbyterian causes, $802,607 for pastors' salaries, $583,570 for congregational purposes, and $96,276 of miscellaneous contributions, the whole aggregating, according to the footings of the table, $1,851,771. The average amount of pastors' salaries was $670. The figures show an increase during the year of 63 ministers, 46 churches, 3,947 members, and $4,917 in contributions, while the number of pupils in Sunday schools appears to have fallen off 2,268. The increase in membership for the last four years has been two per cent a year, as against four per cent in preceding years.

The Christian Advocate, New York.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

From the Religious Press

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access