NOTES ABOUT THE CHURCHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2924, 30 March 1910, Page 90

NOTES ABOUT THE CHURCHES.

FROM ALL SOURCES

About one missionary out of every 40 throughout the heathen world has been a student in tha Moody Bible Institute.

It is stated that Korea now has 200,000 Christians in 1500 churches.

in 1880 there were but 68 Protestant congregations in all of France. Now there are over 1000, while the members number 600,000.

Over 400 missionaries (are working in London. Last year they made over one million and . a-quarter v'sita. They held 7600 open-air meetings and 39,000 within door's. There were 1271 drunkards reclaimed.

Africa has now 2470 missionaries and 13,089 native workers, with 4789 places of worship,. and 221,856 communicants. There are 400G' missionary schools with 202,390 pupils; 95 hospitals and 16 printing establishments are carried on by missionaries.

Speaking in connection with the work of the Y.M.C.A., Dr Wilbur Chapman said recently that he know no place in the world to-diy where the investment of money counted for so much in th\j interests of the kingdom of God as in China.

The General Committee of the New South Wales Christian Endeavour Union has fixed September 10 to 15 as the dates of the next annual convention. In connection with the increase of membership campaign several societies have announced that they have secured the percentage aimed at. /

The New South Wales Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society has in its ranks three gentlement, each of whom is over 80 years.of age, and has served the society for about half that period. . Mr E.. A. Rennie, e?.-Auditor-general, was 89 last October, was elected a member of committee in 1868, has been vice-president since 1886 and chairman of committee since 18S9. Mr T. P. Reeve is 85, and has served on the committee since 1870. Mr William <■■"• ne is 04, and joined' the committer in 1871.

A recent issue of "The Living Church" contained an article on the names given the churches of all Christian denominations in the United States. The churches dedicated to St. John lead the list, 561 in number. St. Paul is the next in favour, with 507, white Trinity and Christ are close in their i?ompetitk;n for .third place, 480 being named Trinity and 474 Christ. Dedications to the Lord, although under different' names, -number 963, those to the Trinity ■under different names f 69, whilst those de dicated in honour of the Lord's life and acts are.6B3 jn/number. ; The sum total.-of those -dedicated' to.-the -apostles and • the evangelists -is ,2894. ;,■,-. .. The Salvation Army Year Book (pubfished in London), says .thajj, the Army has now throughout the world 8574 corps and outposts'. 16,244 officers and cadets, 56,867 local officers, 21,681 bandsmen, and- 6269 persons without rank, but wholly employed in Salvation Army work. In one section of the book devoted to a "glossary" of Salvation Army terms, the Army's institutions, doctrines, and opinions are succinctly • defined. This, :for instance, is the Army's official attitude to " social questions ": "The Army, of course,-rejoices in whatever may be done or even proposed for the improvement of the lot of the poor. But it is utterly opposed to any movement tending to create or increase bitter feeling between class and class, and for this reason is generally unable to take part in any agitation such as the lessening of excessive labour .hours, etc. The Army is naturally opposed to strikes . and lock-outs,. but its soldiers are necessarily left free as individuals to act as they may be compelled by the present organisations to which they may bs forced to submit." The question of the status and responsibility of a minister's wife has recently been- raised in Methodist circles in England, as it seems there has been a growing tendency on the part of Churches to select for their minister one whose wife can take her share of the work. The tendency. 16 partly explained by the difficulty of finding wbrkers f pr the increasing number of organisations, but it is deprecated as interfering with " the principles of the freedom of the human heart." If ministers are to be required to marry with the interests of the circuit mainly in view it is thought there may be more difficulty in finding suitable candidates for the ministry. Many express the opinion that the choice of a minister ought to be free from any consideration arising out of. his domestic concerns. Testimonies to the growing popularity of the practice of reading sermons have been coming of late from various quarters (says the Christian World). The most recent is a statement by Dr C. L. Slattery, a prominent American Episcopalian, in the course of a series of lectures delivered at the Berkeley Divinity School, Connecticut. He says:."l think I see a movement towards the written sermon. The age that demands short sermons will sooner or later, demand sermons in which words are not wasted. The sermon made up of anecdotes may be easy to listen to, but its sloppiness i 6 evident to all shallowest. What is called the anecdotal style is perhaps the favourite style of popular extempore preachers." According to Dr Slattery, "the man who thinks at all" finds that be is being after a few Sundays, under the ministrations of the anecdotal preacher. The layman who " longs for a compact written sermon." represents, he thinks, a " rapidly-growing class."

Dr Forsyth contributes an article entitled "Orthodoxy, Heterodoxy, Heresy, and Freedom" to the Hibbert Journal. He says: " Now we are at - the end of an age—the age of assimilation. It has gone so far that the all j potent differentia of Cftirist is losing its identity in-the effusiveness of our intellectual hospitality, and thousands are absolutely bewildered intellectually •.- and morally. The. time has come in.,.circle for the more positive action. If Christianity, is to escape. the erasure of its own personality in .mental complaisance, it must be' more

critical of what culture offers it, and critical according to its own positive spiritual principles. It must be row more concerned to subdue than to absorb its environment. It must have the courage to. concentrate at the cost of being called narrow, and to be positive, careless of being called dogmatic. It must not be afraid to treat as heretical and formidable a religiosity whose viscous principles are clearly fata! to the power of its own Gospel. And, above all, it must be bold enough to have a Gospel of its own, and an experience of personal grace, behind which no rational considerations can go.

While the material condition of the Churches of Christ is not an entirely accurate index of their real strength, which is essentially moral and incalculable, it is interesting, and to a degree instructive, to note that, according to a Census Bureau bulletin recently issued, the total value of Church property in the United States reported in 1906 f or all denominations was £251,515,173, of which £187,188.515 was reported for Protestant bodies, £58,598,877 for the Roman Catholic Church, and £5,788,901 for all the remaining bodies. Methodist bodies are reported as nolding property to the value o"f £45,890,199 (thus coming nearest the Roman Presbyterian bodies £30,038,000, Baptist bodies, £27,968131 the " Protestant Episcopal Chureh £25,008,399, Lutheran bodies £14,965,278. the Congregationalists £12.650.000. The Jews are credited with £4.639,885, and the Unitarians with £2,852,655.