The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-09-04
GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
Extracts From the Minutes
Of the fO9th Session at
Winona, Indiana.
SOME INTERESTING STATISTICS
Days for Special Services SET
Apart-Among the City
Churches.
SOME INTERESTING STATISTICS

~
Rev. William Fl. Roberts, D. D., LID,
of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, New
Brunswick, as Stated Clerk of the General
Assembly, during this month has sent
copies of the minutes of the 109th session
of the General Assembly, held at Winona
Indiana, last May. to the ministers of the
church. The volume contains S24 pages
or closely printed matter and in addition
TO the minutes proper there are statistical
reports of the 1871 Presbyterian churches
in connection with the General Assembly.
There are also given the names of the
1923 ministers. Thus if all the ministers
were IN active pastoral service there
would still be more than 80 vacant church.
es, allowing one minister to each one.
But there are many more than this num-
Der vacant, inasmuch as. not a few Of
these ministers are otherwise engaged, or
on the retired list. There are 81 synods,
an Increase of one over last year, and 229
presbyteries, an increase of S over the
previous year.
A new feature of the minutes is a list of
the local ~evangelists and helpers.
From the minutes the following facts
of interest to the members of the Presby-
terrain churches of the city are cleaned
The Christian training course. as pub
lished in The Church at Home and
Abroad was commended as d convenient
and efficient help in the study of the
Bible. Presbyterian history and doctrine.
and allied topics; and the Assembly adj
vised the devotion of one meeting each
month to his course.
The Assembly also defined the aualiica-
lions of trnfnr.g - 49, - - q aa.-a+ sa
the church, for pastor, for congregational
meeting. election of trustees, elders n
deacons. The Young Peoples Societies
Were commended.
The following days were appointed
Ghildrens Day, June II, 1898; Day of
Prayer for Colleges. January 20, 1888;
Education Day. January % or 80, 1885;
RalIying Day, September Is, 1897; Temper
ance Day, November q. 1897.
The Assembly also took the following
action of interest to Presbyteries:-
Enc overture sent down last year con
corning the examination of students for
the ministry in the English Bible wars
answered in the affirmative by a majority
or the P~resbyteries, and was, therefore,
declared by This Assembly a congre-
as No. 2. 1t is as Observation-Disclosures
for Hcensure, in addition to the examina-
ton required by Chapter XfV.. Section 4,
OF the Form Of Government, Shall be dill
gently examined in the English Bible and
shall be required to exhibit a good knowl-
edge of its contents and of the relation of
It's separate parts and portions to each
The Assembly voted to send down the
following overtures for the action Of the
Presbyteries:-
Cd Shall the Form of Government.
Chapter TX, be amended by adding q
new section, to be numbered Section Z;
the three succeeding sections to be re-
numbered as Sections s, 9, 10, the new
section to read as folIows:-
Section z. Subject to the provisions of
the Directory Tor Worship, the session
shall have and exercise exclusive atl-
tions including the musical service; and
determine the times and places Of
preaching the word and of all other res
ligious services. They shall also have ex-
authority over the uses to which
the church buildings may be put, but
temporarily delegate the deternina-
ton of such uses to the body having
management of the temporal affairs Of
the church, subject to the superior au-
thority and direction of the Session:
"{1I.) Shall he Form of Government,
Chapter VI, be amended so as to read as
CHAPTER vi.
OF Deacons and of Temporal Affairs.
Section l. The scriptures clearly point
church, whose business it is to take care
of the poor and to distribute among
them the collections which may be rais-
ed for their use. To the deacons, or to
AASAA 80 0AA 4liI 1lC oC0GlJl
ought ordinarily to be committed the
management of the temporal affairs of
the church whenever permitted BY the
law of the State. and, in their manage
nienf Of such temporal affairs, the dea-
cons or the deacoffs and session, are to
be subject to the direction of the congre-
Section 2. Where, by reason of the pro-
visions of the law of any State, or of
the terms of any deed or will, or other
writing, or where. by reason of the ac-
ton of any congregation, the manage
rnent of the temporal affairs Of a church
hall be committed to trustees, such man
agement shall be subject to the control of
the session.. over the uses to which the
building may be put, and, in
other matters, subject TO the control and
of the congregation. Such trus-
tees ought ordinarily to be chosen from
communicate members of the church.
Section 8. The rights and duties herein
specified, and the powers thus conferred,
are to be construed in harmony with all
the powers vested in the judicatories of
the church for the maintenance of its
spiritual government.
The Assembly recommended Presby-
teries also TO hold appropriate exercises
of the 250th anniversary of the adop-
ton of the Westminster standards.
There were 12S deaths in the ministry
during the year, two being from New
Brunswick, the Rev. Aaron f. Hutchin-
of Trenton. and the Rev. Joshua
McIlVaine, D.. d, of Princeton.