The General Triennial Convention of 1868, admitted the diocese of Nebraska, and authorized the division of the dioceses of Western New York and Maryland into two, and the division of the diocese of New York into three dioceses. There are several missionary bishops in the United States, one missionary bishop for Western Africa, and one for China and Japan. Total I number of dioceses, November, 1868, 39; bishops, 47; bishops elect, 2; priests and deacons, 2,687; whole number of clergy, 2,736; parishes, 2,472; ordinations, 206; candidates for orders, 831; churches consecrated, 38; baptisms of infants, 26,835, of adults. 7,067, not stated, 1,800; total baptisms, 35,702; confirmations, 21,958; communicants, increase in 27 dioceses during past year, 14,365; present number, 194,692; marriages, 9,945; burials, 15,346; Sunday school teachers, 21,711; scholars, 194,046; contributions, $4,457,888.28. Other Anglican Churches. The number of bishops and clergymen of the other branches of the Anglican Churches is as follows: The Established Church of England and Ireland, and the Scotch Episcopal Church. England (including the two archbishops of Canterbury and York), 28 bishops, about 19,000 clergy; Ireland (including the two archbishops of Armagh and Dublin), 12 bishops, about 2,200 clergy; Scotland, 8 bishops, about 162 clergy; the Colonies (including India, Melanesia and Sandwich Islands), 51 bishops, about 2,000 clergy; retired bishops, 6: total, 105 bishops, 23,362 clergy. In England there are 5,764,543 Church sittings; in Scotland, 165 churches and 94 schools. In England, it is estimated that from 60 to 70 per cent. of the total population belong to the Estab lished Church. In Ireland, the Established Church embraced a population, according to the census of 1861, of 693,357. The membership of the Scotch is estimated at 13 per cent. of the population. Baptists. The Baptists are divided into a number of denominations; the following are the most important: Regular Baptists in America. The following shows the number of Regular Baptists in the United States in 1866, as published by the Baptist Almanac for 1868: The total number of ministers (reported at the dates above given in the several states) is 8,346, and of baptisms, 92,075. The number of Associations was 609, of churches, 12,955. The number in British America is as follows: These provinces report 444 ministers and 2,036 baptisms. Free Will Baptists in the United States and British America. This denomination held in 1867, 29 yearly meetings and 148 quarterly meetings. It numbered 1,276 Churches, 1,100 ordained preachers, and 59,211 communicants. At the Triennial Convention held in 1868, several associ ations of "General Baptists" united with this denomination, increasing the membership to 63,543. Other Baptist Denominations of America. The statistics of the other Baptist bodies in America are reported by the "Baptist Almanac for 1868," as follows; Baptists in Great Britain. In April, 1866, 2,023 churches reported 209,773 members; but 400 small churches are still unreported. The following statistics of other Baptists in Great Britain are given by the census of 1851: The annual meeting of the Christian (Campbellite) Churches of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, which was held at Nottingham in August, 1866, reported the membership of the Churches represented as 4,607. Baptists on the Continent of Europe. The membership of the Baptist Churches in the countries of the European continent was, in 1867, as follows: Asia and Australia. The Asiatic Missions in Burmah and the neighboring kingdoms, Siam, and China, embrace about 16,000 members. The latest statistics give 3,424 Baptists in South Australia, and 9,601 in Victoria. Congregationalists. Congregationalists in America. The statistics of Congregationalism in America were, at the beginning of the year 1869, as follows: The number of absent members in the United States was 34.915; in all America, 35,396 (against 34,372 in 1867). Total number of ministers in the United States, 3,070; in all America, 3,156; number of pupils in Sunday schools in United States, 339,205; in all America, 346,766. Congregationalism in England and the English Colonies. The Congregationalists in Great Britain and the British Colonies are commonly called Independents. There were, in 1867, in Great Britain and her dependencies, 3,330 Independent Churches, with 1,613 out-stations and missionrooms, under the superintendence of 2,876 Independent ministers, whose labors are supplemented by 2.326 evangelists and lay preachers. The denomination has 76 associations and unions, 27 colleges and institutes, with 386 students under training for ministerial and missionary work. The Friends. In the United States, the Friends number 100,000, belonging to 8 Yearly Meetings. A Yearly Meeting has also recently been organized in Canada. The separate organiza. tion of the "Hicksite" (Liberal) Friends numbers about 10,000 members in 6 Yearly Meetings. The Friends in England numbered in 1867, 13,786 members. Lutherans. Lutherans in the United States. The Lutherans in the United States belong to four different groups, namely: Synods connected with the General Synod, Synods connected with the General Council, Synods connected with the (Southern) General Synod of North Amer ica, and independent Synods. The statistics of these four groups, in 1868, were as follows: I. SYNODS CONNECTED WITH THE GENERAL Synod of the United STATES. 1. Synod of New York. 5. Synod of East Pennsylvania. Synods. 12. Melancthon Synod, (Md.).. Communicants. 1,642 4,109 13. East Ohio Synod.. 2,479 1,697 14. Wittenberg Synod, (Ohio). .13,034 .12,416 1,756 8,347 16. Synod of Northern Indiana.. II. SYNODS OF THE "GENERAL COUNCIL." Communicants. 3,755 3,838 3,678 3,405 3,415 1,576 2,105 817 1,410 1,171 86,770 III. SYNODS CONNECTED WITH THE (SOUTHERN) General SYNOD OF NORTH AMERICA. Synods. 1. Synod of Virginia.. 2. Synod of South-West Virginia.. Synods. Communicants. 4. Synod of South Carolina. 4,817 5. Synod of Georgia.. 1,200 8. Synod of North Carolina.... 3,716 6. Holston Synod (Tenn.).. 2,000 17,112 Grand Total-51 Synods, 1,792 Ministers, 3,182 Churches, 350,088 Communicants. 112,910 Lutherans in Europe. In Prussia and a number of other States the Lutherans and the Reformed churches have been fused into the "United Evangelical Church." The Lutheran element prevails in the Protestant State Church of nearly every German State. In Wurtemberg, the greater part of Bavaria, Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, the principalities of Reuss and Schwarzburg, the union of Lutherans and Reformed has not been introduced, and nearly the whole Protestant population belongs to the Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Church is the State Church in all the Scandinavian States-Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and nearly the whole population belongs to it. Austria has 1,218,750 Lutherans. France has 44 consistories and 232 parishes. The Lutheran population is about 500,000, mostly in the Alsace. In Russia the Lutheran Church is the predominant church in the Baltic provinces and in Finland. The Lutheran population of Poland is 382,000, and of Finland 1,787,000. In Holland there are two organizations of Lutherans; one, the "Evangelical Lutheran,” has a population of about 66,000; the other, the "Reformed Lutheran," numbers about 10,000. Lutherans in Asia, Africa and Australia. The Lutherans sustain missions in India, China, and several parts of Africa. There are about 10.000 Lutherans and German Protestants in Victoria, and a number in the other Australian Colonies. Methodists. The Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. At the close of the year 1868, the Methodist Episcopal Church had the following membership: The fol The number of Annual Conferences in 1868, was 71, an increase of four over 1867. lowing is a summary of other important statistics: Bishops, 9; traveling preachers, 8,481; local preachers, 9,899; total preachers, 18,370; members in full connection, 1,060,265; members on probation, 194,850; total lay members, 1,255,115; adult baptisms, 67,065; infant baptisms, 46,207: total baptisms, 113,272; number of churches, 11,692; number of parsonages, 3,810; value of church edifices, $41,692,922; value of parsonages, $6,275,979; value of churches and parsonages, $47,970,501; number of Sunday schools, 15,885; Sunday school teachers, 181,666; Sunday school scholars, 1.145.167: benevolent collections, $909,962. Methodist Episcopal Church South. The latest statistics published by this Church are for the year 1867, when the membership of the Annual Conference was as follows: The number of white members in 1867, was 472,484 (increase over preceding year, 53,080); number of colored members, 54,172 (decrease during the year, 24,570); number of Indian members, 1,851. The Church has 9 bishops, 2,389 traveling preachers, and 3,952 local preachers. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The former body has 560 traveling preachers, 15,000 local preachers, 200,000 members; the latter has 694 traveling preachers, 164,000 members. The Methodist Church and Methodist Protestants. In 1866, the Northern Conferences of the Methodist Protestants held a “Union Convention," the object of which was to effect a union between non-Episcopal Methodists. The name of the new body was to be simply the "Methodist Church." But this plan of union was repudiated by all save the Methodist Protestants and the new "Methodist Church" which is substantially identical with the former Methodist Protestant Conferences of the Northern States. The Methodist Church has now 624 traveling preachers, 444 local preachers, 49,030 members. In the Southern States, the old name of "Methodist Protestants" has been retained, and the Methodist Protestant Church now reports 423 traveling preachers, and 72,000 members. Other Methodist Bodies in the United States. The Evangelical Association had, in 1868, 15 Conferences, 500 traveling preachers, 377 local preachers, and 62,344 members. The Wesleyan Connection has about 250 ministers and 20,000 members. The Free Methodists have 85 ministers and 4,889 members. The Primitive Methodists have 20 traveling preachers and 2,000 members. Other Parts of America. The Methodist Episcopal Church has a mission in the Argentine Republic, with 171 members. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada has 216 traveling preachers and 18,741 members. All the other Methodist bodies in British America and in Hayti are in connection with the English Methodist Denominations. Altogether, the number of Methodists in America outside of the United States is about 150,000. The Methodist Denominations in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The Wesleyan Church, of England, had in 1868, 367,306 members in Great Britain: 20,299 in Ireland and Irish missions, and 68,741 in foreign missions. Adding the French, Australasian, Canada and Eastern British American Conferences which are in connection with the Church, the Church has a total membership of 594,485. The other Methodist bodies in England are, Primitive Methodists, 159,798; New Connection Methodists, 32,486; United Free Church Methodists, 68,478; Bible Christians, 26,275; Calvinistic Methodists, 58,577; Wesleyan Reform Union, 9,423; Church Methodists in Ireland 9,158. The number of Methodists in France is 2,063; in Germany and Switzerland, 12,092; in Gibraltar and Malta, 51; in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, 769; in India and Ceylon, 2,973; in China, 1,271; in Africa, 42,193; in Australia and Polynesia, 61,081. The total number of the members of all the Methodist denominations was, in 1868, about 3,400,000. Moravians. The Church is divided into four provinces, which, in 1887, reported the following membership: New Jerusalem Church (Swedenborgians). This Church has in the United States 9 Associations, which are united in a "General Convention," meeting annually. The number of organized societies is 67. In England, Holland and Ireland, 56 societies are in connection with the "General Conference," and 10 societies not in full connection. Presbyterians. Old School Presbyterians in the United States. The Statistics reported in May, 1868, are as follows: The number of Synods is 26; Presbyterics, 142; Licentiates, 223; Candidates, 326; Ministers, 2,330; Churches, 2,737; Contributions for Church Purposes, $4,289,595. New School Presbyterians. In May, 1868, the following statistics were reported: The number of Synods is 23; Presbyteries, 111; Ministers, 1,800; Churches, 1590. The Church has missions in Trinidad, Syria, India, Egypt, China and Italy. The United Presbyterian Church arose out of a union of the Associate and the Associate Reformed Churches. A part of these organizations refused to join the Union. They now constitute the "Associate Reformed Synod of New York," which has 16 ministers and 1,631 communicants, and the “Associate Synod of North America," which has 11 ministers and 778 communicants. There is, besides, the "Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church South," which has been separated from the northern organizations in consequence of the Slavery question. It has 68 ministers. *Missionary Station. |