Part 3

The minutes of the day were read and approved, and the Secretaries were authorized to complete the minutes to the end of the meeting, and the Executive Committee to print at their discretion.

Secretary Powell, in behalf of Rev. Dr. McIlvaine, of Rhode Island, who had been called away, extended the invitation of the churches of Providence, R.I., that the annual meeting of this Association for 1888 be held in that city. The invitation was accepted.

The Association listened to an address by Hon. William P. Frye, of Maine.

Secretary Beard, of the Association, presented an address of thanks.

A response was made by W. H. Fenn, D.D.

Voted to adopt Dr. Beard’s statement as a minute, to go upon the records. The minute is as follows:

A year ago when the American Missionary Association was reaching out in its thought for a place where the churches and Christians who are interested in its work could assemble to hear its reports and to consider the great causes which have been committed to it, a most cordial invitation was received from the churches of Portland to accept their Christian hospitality.

Those of us who have had occasion to know how much solid heartiness and sincere good will is extended in the outstretched right hand of this people had no question as to the pleasure which would be experienced by those who should be recipients of it. We answered that it was in our hearts to come, and we have done our best all this year to bring to these churches cheerful faces and glad hearts.

We came grateful to God in that we could look the world in the face with our debts cancelled, owing no man anything but love; with no gloomy shadows over us, happy in the glorious experience of knowing that we possessed money enough in our treasury to carry on our work two whole days. We have met with the characteristic greeting of a people “given to hospitality.” We have come to a land of steady habits, and when some of you have taken us by the hand in the closeness of your grip we have sometimes been led to think that this is the greatest vice (_vise_) you have. And now, with our gratitude to God for His smiles in these beautiful clear days and bright skies, as if in harmony with the delightful Christian atmosphere of these meetings—symbolizing the spirit of our gatherings—it is not in accordance with a custom of form merely that we desire to express to these churches and pastors, and to all our kind friends here, our high appreciation of their service to this cause of missions, and to us so far as we represent this cause. You have given us strength and courage for our work another year.

It is not a small thing to arrange for a series of services like this. It means forethought and much care, many steps and much fatigue. It is not a small thing for people to open their homes freely to strangers and to so receive them that they are no more strangers.

Permit us then to thank the pastor, the officers and members of this church and society within whose walls we have studied and reviewed our work together. This is an ancient church, historic over the land. You have done no injustice to its history in your interest for the kingdom of God. Let us also thank the churches and pastors who have kindly shared in this abundant hospitality.

We should do that to which our hearts are foreign should we fail to remember those who have led us in Christian praise and those who in their labor of love have in many ways of service assisted the objects of this Missionary Association.

We recognize the courtesy of those railway and steamboat lines which have facilitated our travel here. Nor do we forget the enterprise of your public press and the kindness which has been extended to us in their full and accurate reports.

If any of you in this free-hearted welcome have entertained angels awares or unawares, we are glad of it. Most of us have left our particular angels at our homes. Some of us have not failed to discover that there are angels here in yours.

Therefore, brethren, in the name of our great Mission, of the schools and institutes which we have brought before you, of the churches which have prayed for us while we have been assembled, and in the name of the people to whom we are sent in Christ’s stead and in your stead, accept our sincere thanks.

As we take up our farewell to go, we can appreciate your hearty services not only, but also your ability to successfully conceal any gratification which you may have that these three long days are over.

Voted that after singing, and a benediction by Rev. Dr. Walker, of Connecticut, this meeting stands adjourned _sine die_.

HENRY A. HAZEN, Secretary. EDGAR M. COUSINS, Assistant Secretary.

* * * * *

SUMMARY OF TREASURER’S REPORT.

RECEIPTS.

From Churches, Sabbath-schools, Missionary Societies and Individuals $189,483.39 From Estates and Legacies 52,266.73 From Income, Sundry Funds 10,561.07 From Tuition and Public Funds 28,964.81 From Rents 478.10 From United States Government, for Education of Indians 17,357.21 From Slater Fund, paid to Institutions 7,650.00 —————————— $306,761.31 ===========

EXPENDITURES.

THE SOUTH.

For Church and Educational Work, Land, Buildings, etc. $197,768.68

THE CHINESE.

For Superintendent, Teachers, Rent, etc. 7,564.95

THE INDIANS.

For Church and Educational Work, Buildings, etc. 47,920.71

FOREIGN MISSIONS.

For Superintendent, Missionaries, etc., for Mendi Mission, Income paid to the Society of the United Brethren in Christ 4,870.10 For Support of Aged Missionary, Jamaica, W.I. 250.00

PUBLICATIONS.

For “American Missionary,” (22,600 monthly, including cost of copies sent gratuitously to pastors, S. S. superintendents, life members, donors, etc.) Annual Reports, Clerk Hire, Postage, etc. 7,080.00

AGENCIES.

NEW YORK.—Associate Corresponding Secretary, Traveling Expenses, Circulars, etc. 4,159.93 NEW YORK.—Woman’s Bureau, Secretary, Traveling Expenses, Circulars, etc. 1,434.33 FOR EASTERN DISTRICT.—District Secretary, Clerk Hire, Traveling Expenses, Printing, Rent, Postage, Stationery, etc. 4,389.77 FOR WESTERN DISTRICT.—District Secretary, Clerk Hire, Traveling Expenses, etc. 4,603.67

ADMINISTRATION.

For Corresponding Secretary, Associate Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer and Clerk Hire 11,931.81

MISCELLANEOUS.

For Rent, Care of Rooms, Furniture, Repairs, Fuel and Light, Books and Stationery, Rent of Safe Deposit Box, Clerk Hire, Postage, Traveling Expenses, Expressage, Telegrams, etc. 5,073.40 Annual Meeting 379.35 Wills and Estates 271.32 Annuity Account 899.77 Amounts refunded, sent to Treasurer by mistake 186.01 ———————— $298,783.80

Debt, September 30th, 1886 5,783.71 —————————— $304,567.51

Balance on hand September 30th, 1887 2,193.80 —————————— $306,761.31 ==========

THEOLOGICAL ENDOWMENT FUND.

North Bloomfield, Ohio, “A Friend,” for Talladega College $709.25

ARTHINGTON MISSION FUND.

Hillsdale, Mich., Estate of Mrs. T. F. Douglass $100.00

The receipts of Berea College, Hampton N. and A. Institute, and Atlanta University, are added below, as presenting at one view the contributions for the general work in which the Association is engaged:

American Missionary Association General Fund $306,761.31 American Missionary Association Theolog’l Endowment Fund, Talladega College 709.25 American Missionary Association Arthington Fund 100.00 —————————— $307,570.56 Berea College, Donations 11,131.51 Berea College, for New Building 15,000.00 —————————— 26,131.51 Hampton N. and A. Institute 82,715.26 Atlanta University (add’l to A. M. A.) 10,171.69 —————————— $426,589.02 ==========

H. W. HUBBARD, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York.

* * * * *

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

* * * * *

REPORT ON EDUCATIONAL WORK, SOUTH.

BY REV. W. F. SLOCUM, CHAIRMAN.

Your committee, to which the report of the executive committee on educational work in the South was referred, would express at the outset their profound gratitude for the success that has followed the efforts that have been put forth in this large and important department of the work of the American Missionary Association.

While they deplore with all those who have the interests of this work at heart, the political attempts to limit the usefulness of the Association, that has grown out of unworthy partisan prejudices, yet they perceive with thankfulness that there is an element growing stronger every year at the South that appreciates the place, the importance and the value of these schools. Notably is this shown in Mississippi, where the State appropriation for the Tougaloo University was the only one not reduced. They would speak with appreciation of the Christian spirit that infuses all these schools, and the deeply religious character that is given to the work, and of the strong personal influences which are brought to bear upon the students.

Your committee feel that the time has come to push with greatest vigor a work that shall meet the demand for teachers in the public schools of the South, and to avail ourselves of the opportunity to reach the children and the homes of colored people through these; that every effort needs to be put forth to send out these teachers established in Christian ethics and feeling that the moralities of life are the basis of all true education.

Great pleasure is taken in the advance that is made each year in the matter of industrial and agricultural training; and every effort which tends to transform this people into an intelligent, upright Christian yeomanry, will be a profound blessing. Our constant aim should be to establish the true dignity of labor and the healthful desire to possess property and an intelligence that secures the best condition as property holders. Your committee are of the opinion that the opportunity for good through these schools was never larger than at present, and that the need of enlargement in many is imperative, and also that the time has come to push the work of special endowment for the larger institutions, that they may become independent of any financial pressure and may be put upon a permanent basis. And therefore of the three alternatives suggested by the claims of the work at present which they suggest in their report, can endorse one only, and do therefore most heartily recommend that instead of sacrificing the character of the work, instead of reducing the amount of work done, the Association shall have more money.

* * * * *

REPORT ON CHURCH WORK, SOUTH.

BY REV. CYRUS RICHARDSON, CHAIRMAN.

Your committee into whose hands has been placed the report of the church work in the South desire to state their impressions by calling attention to three or four important points.

First, to the marked increase in the membership of the Sunday-schools—an increase during the year of 2,000 pupils, or 15 per cent., bringing the present membership up to 15,109.

Comparing this with the entire enrollment in 1882, we find that during the five years there has been a growth of 100 per cent.

This is specially gratifying because it is understood that Sunday-schools or missions started at new stations look to the speedy establishment of churches at those stations; while well-organized schools in churches already established result in the careful study of God’s word, with a constant application of inspired doctrine to practical life, looking both to the permanence of the churches and the personal purity of their members.

Another important item noticed in the report appears in the statement touching the amount of money which these churches have given.

Beside the $16,000 contributed for their own religious work, $2,300 have been devoted to pure benevolence. If this should seem a small sum as a contribution of 127 churches, it must be remembered that it is the gift of poverty, and not of wealth. The free-will offerings of almost any one of these congregations, when compared with the contributions of not a few New England churches, suggest the words of the Master: “She hath cast in more than they all.”

Their spirit of sacrifice has often won for the colored people hearty commendation. To those of us who live amid multiplied temporal and spiritual privileges, and who easily lose sight of the goodly heritage for which we are to give an account, it is a spur, if not an inspiration, to read the story of the sacrifices which some of these brethren make in the giving of their scant substance for the more destitute members of the human family.

Their offerings for pure benevolence were above $600 more than the previous year, and are double what they were four years ago.

Your committee are glad to find that this feature of denominational work is strongly emphasized by the Executive Board, and that these churches, poor though they be, are taught that _giving_ as well as _receiving_ is a necessary factor in their growth, and that in true worship alms as well as prayers rise before God as a memorial.

Another noticeable item in the report is the building of meeting-houses. Indeed, the report characterizes the past year in its Southern work as one of “building activity.” Every church that is to become permanent must have its house dedicated to God. The sanctuary helps to hold the people together and attach them to forms of worship that demand a reverential attitude. Perhaps no people have greater need than our colored brethren of those religious forms and ceremonies which secure quiet and order in the public devotions of the assembled multitudes.

We therefore rejoice in every new meeting-house that this society helps the struggling churches of the South to build.

Another item in the report to which we call attention is the organization of seven new churches during the year, about the average number, if you take a series of a dozen or more years, but not the average if you take simply the last five years.

Since 1882 the average rate of increase has been eleven per year.

It would undoubtedly be a joy to us all if the rate of increase could be more rapid. We must not, however, forget that we are at work “among a people who have no congregational trend or training.” It is undoubtedly wise to proceed with care, planting churches at the right centres and only where they will give promise of permanence.

After all the caution that has been exercised it has been necessary recently to drop four or five from the list. The aim should be at stability and worth rather than numbers. A single church organized on the right basis, watched over with painstaking care, so that her members shall adorn the doctrines they profess, will do more for the prosperity of Congregationalism in this part of the country than would a score of churches hastily organized and unsuitably located. We think the officers of this society have been wise in their movements thus far; nearly all the churches organized having made a history that deserves the admiration of Christian people everywhere.

But when we think of the constantly increasing number of graduates from the Christian schools and colleges under the patronage of this society; and the greater familiarity of the Secretaries with the localities suited to become strategic points for Congregationalism in the South; and the marked success of those churches whose permanence is beyond question, are we not warranted in expressing the hope that in the near future we shall see a radical advance all along this important line of denominational work? We know that this is what our Secretaries long for as well as pray for, and what with our contributions cheerfully made, they will hope to accomplish.

They heartily agree with us in believing that the uplifting influences of schools and colleges would be readily dissipated or turned into channels for evil if they are not gathered up and multiplied in rightly constituted bodies which shall prove the germs around which the forces of the community shall organize for good. Working together, therefore, as contributors and directors, we may expect to be cheered from year to year with the rapid growth in the numbers of these organized Christian forces which have in themselves vitalizing and transforming power which works for righteousness both in character and conduct.

* * * * *

REPORT ON MOUNTAIN WORK.

BY REV. A. H. QUINT, D.D., CHAIRMAN.

The committee on so much of the Annual Report as relates to mountain work, particularly in Tennessee and Kentucky, respectfully reports as follows:

The few details given in the report are of such an interesting character as to suggest the earnest wish that far more extended accounts of facts and incidents had been spread before the Association.

Want of space in the narration of the vast work of this body was of course the constraining reason for brevity in the report. But the comprehensive statement which is made exhibits conclusively the opportunity for a new and peculiar work, namely, that of giving the Gospel, its character and its schools, to a class hitherto scarcely touched by beneficent Christian agencies.

This is a class of white population, a class which felt of course in some degree the blighting influence of slavery, which contaminated everything within the reach of its malaria; but this class, from its circumstances, was not a slave-holding class. It is a class of sturdy blood and mountain habits, and is capable of great development. Two considerations urge the necessity of covering this field.

One is, the ordinary obligation to preach the gospel to those who do not have the gospel.

The other is, the evident capacity of this peculiar people to become a power in the development of that section of our land.

While the field and the number of persons are both limited in comparison with the great work among the freedmen, their importance appeals to this Association with steadily increasing force.

The opportunity is at hand, and it is in a line which old friends of our regenerating work could scarcely have hoped for. Devout praise is due to Almighty God for this open door to a vast success.

It is worthy of notice in this respect how, in the history of this Association, God has steadily placed before it successive duties and successive privileges. From the first dawning of its Foreign and Home work, freed from complicity with the great sin of our country, new specialties have been added as fast as older ones were ripened into practical efficacy. This comparatively new work seems to be in a direct line of Divine development. Your Committee feels that the sanction of this Association should be emphatically given to the work of its administration in this department, a work in which no spirit of caste shall be in any way tolerated, and that the call for a large increase of laborers to be located at all suitable points, should be met as rapidly as possible.

The Committee has no doubt of the wisdom and judicious care which characterizes your Executive Committee, and believes that that committee needs only the hearty approval of this body to encourage it to go on in this direction.

* * * * *

REPORT ON INDIAN WORK.

BY MR. FRANK WOOD, CHAIRMAN.

The first great work of this Association was due to a crisis in the history of one oppressed race on this continent, who after more than one hundred years of slavery and oppression, had, in the providence of God, freedom and citizenship suddenly thrust upon them. Four millions of souls—a large majority poor, ignorant and degraded—to these came the A. M. A. as God’s own messenger to lead the way to education, usefulness and Christianity.

A similar emergency has now arisen in the history of another oppressed and wronged race for whom this Association has always done good work—the North American Indian.

Since the last annual meeting of this Association, the Dawes Bill, which has been called the emancipation proclamation of the Indian, has passed both houses of Congress, and is now the law of the land. Public attention, as never before, has been turned to the wrongs and the needs of the Indian. The new conditions have developed new necessities, new opportunities, and new dangers. Numerous societies, in thirty-two different States, have been organized to assist them. All this gives new importance to the work of the A. M. A. among the Indians. The summary for the year is encouraging. The conversions and additions to church membership tell a story of faithful, unselfish work for the Master, in one of the hardest possible fields of missionary labor, with little of the romance or pleasure of travel sometimes afforded by missions in foreign lands; among a people whom a Judge of the Supreme Court called “a despised and rejected class of persons;” handicapped and hindered in all their efforts by the suspicions and hatreds developed by centuries of injustice, robbery and cruelty from a Government that claimed to be civilized and Christian, and also by the Reservation System, which puts the missionary and the teacher under the absolute control of the Indian Agent, who may be a mere political tool and a man of no character, yet has despotic authority on the reservation, with power to expel or imprison the missionary, or break up his school or congregation. Yet in spite of all obstacles, through love of Him who was also “despised and rejected of men,” they remained faithful amid dangers and difficulties, till, through their labor and that of their companions and predecessors, there are now nearly 29,000 Indian church members.