PRAYER FOR THE ASSEMBLY.

Extract from the Minutes of the General Assembly, in Session at Philadelphia, May 19th, 1821.

"An overture from the Synod of North Carolina was received and read, and is as follows:

"Whereas the General Assembly is the highest and most important judicatory of the Presbyterian Church; and whereas, to obtain the Divine. blessing on that judicatory must appear, to every Christian of our denomination, to be a matter of the utmost moment; therefore,

"Resolved, That this Synod do respectfully suggest to the General Assembly the propriety of recommending, to all the churches under their care, to observe the afternoon or evening previous to the meeting of that body, as A SEASON OF SPECIAL PRAYER to Almighty God for his blessing; that he would, of his infinite mercy, condescend to superintend and direct all their measures, deliberations and decisions; so that all may redound to the promotion of his own glory, and the general prosperity of that particular Church to which we belong.

"After some discussion, the above overture was adopted."

COMMISSIONERS' FUND.

Extract from the Minutes of the General Assembly, in Session at Philadelphia, May 23d, 1843.

"The Committee on the Commissioners' Fund made the following report, which was adopted :

"Resolved, 1. That the regulations of the Assembly, passed in 1838, be and the same are hereby repealed.

"2. That hereafter any Presbytery, which had formerly obtained leave to pay the expenses of their own Commissioners to the Assembly, shall have liberty to pursue the same course, if they shall desire it.

"3. Nevertheless, the Assembly would earnestly desire and recommend, that all the churches and Presbyteries, under care of this Assembly, should make common cause in raising an adequate fund to defray the necessary expenses of all Commissioners whose circumstances may constrain them to apply for the same. This course of conduct the Assembly deem most equitable, fraternal and Christian; for thus the strong will help to bear the infirmities of the weak, and all parts of the Church be best tempered together and edified.

"4. That every Presbytery be and hereby is earnestly requested to cause a contribution for the Commissioners' Fund to be taken up in all their churches, in the winter preceding each future General Assembly, and transmit the whole amount of the same to the Assembly, by their own or some neighboring Commissioner.

"5. That such Commissioner to this or any future General Assembly, whose Presbytery has not preferred to defray his expenses by the applica

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tion of their own funds, and who has returned his mileage, or at any within four days from and after the opening of any future Assembly, returns to the Mileage Committee the number of miles which he has necessarily travelled from home in going to the Assembly, shall be entitled to receive his share of the Commissioners' Fund, provided the Presbytery from which he comes shall have made any reasonable contribution to the said fund out of which his mileage is to be drawn; of which the Mileage Committee, subject to an appeal to the Assembly, shall be competent to judge.

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6. That all funds sent up to the Assembly for this purpose shall be, at every General Assembly, committed to the Mileage Committee, to be divided between the lawful applicants for the same, in proportion to the number of miles which they have necessarily travelled.

"7. That, should the Commissioners' Fund in any one year be sufficient to allow each applicant Commissioner for allowance of mileage more than five cents for each mile travelled in coming to the Assembly, then the surplus at each Assembly, after paying five cents a mile to the applicants, shall be reserved and paid to the Treasurer for the time being, for the purpose of being divided at the next Assembly, if needful."

See also Minutes of 1851, p. 24.

CONTINGENT FUND.

The Annual Meetings of the General Assemblies of the Church are attended with considerable expense. In addition to the travelling expenses of the Commissioners, which are defrayed by the Commissioners' Fund, as far as that fund will allow, the salaries and travelling expenses of Clerks and of the Delegates to Corresponding Bodies, the incidental expenses of the sessions, the bill for printing the Minutes, &c., are to be met by a Contingent Fund. These various items require an outlay ordinarily of more than five hundred dollars. It is expected that every Presbytery will call upon the churches under its care for a contribution to this fund; or that they will designate what proportion of the funds raised within their bounds for the Assembly shall be paid into the Contingent Fund. That proportion should not be less than twenty-five cents for each minister of the Presbytery, which amount will entitle each of them to a copy of the Printed Minutes when published.

PRESBYTERIAL REPORTS.

Every Presbytery in connection with the Assembly is expected to send up to the Assembly, every year, a Statistical Report, in the form and manner of those published in this Appendix, accompanied with a statement of the various changes that have occurred in their constituency, &c., ' during the year, as enumerated in the Form of Government, chap. x., sec. ix., respecting their reports to Synod. They are to be strict in requir ing the usual statistical report from the Session of any church under their care, in season for the transmission of the Presbyterial Report by their Commissioner to the Assembly.

It was enjoined by the General Assembly of 1818, on every Presbytery, to inquire of their Commissioners to the Assembly, at their first meeting after the rising of the Assembly, whether the Statistical Report of that Presbytery was laid before the Assembly.

It is expected, also, that every Presbytery will forward to the Assembly, by the hands of their Commissioners, a written Narrative of the State of Religion within their bounds during the year previous. Complaint was made by the Assembly of 1851, that not more than three fourths of the Presbyteries had fulfilled this duty. These Narratives should particularize, as much as possible, the various matters respecting both the temporal and spiritual state of the congregations under their care; their trials, encouragements, and prospects, as also the peculiar moral and religious condition of the community, and the encouragement given to the various benevolent enterprises of the Church. They should, as much as possible, serve to furnish the Assembly with the moral and religious. statistics of the whole Church for the period of one year. Such reports will serve a most valuable purpose; and it is hoped that care will be taken by all the Presbyteries to furnish them.

STATED CLERKS OF SYNODS.

It is made the duty of the Stated Clerks of the respective Synods to take special care in forwarding to the General Assembly, by the hands of one of the Commissioners, their Book of Records, for "the inspection of the General Assembly," and to report to the Assembly the number of Presbyteries, ministers, churches, licentiates and candidates within the bounds of their Synod, and particularly all changes which may have been made in the number or arrangement of their Presbyteries since the last report, authenticated by the signature of the Stated Clerk.

The Assembly of 1851 took order in relation to the Statistical Reports of the Synods, on account of the numerous delinquencies in this respect, and enjoined it on the several Synods to be careful in this matter, according to the Form of Government, chap. xi., sec. vi. It is desirable, also, that the Synods report the time and place of their next meeting, with the names of their Moderator and Stated Clerk.

STATED CLERKS OF PRESBYTERIES.

The attention of the Stated Clerks of Presbyteries is respectfully requested to the following matters pertaining to the General Assembly. They are requested to take particular care,

1. That the Commissioners to the Assembly be furnished with a commission, according to the form prescribed in the Form of Government, chap. xxii., sec. ii.

2. That collections be taken, if possible, in all the churches of the Presbytery, for the Commissioners' Fund, and also for the Contingent Fund, and that the amount be forwarded by the hands of one of the Commissioners.

3. That a Narrative of the State of Religion be prepared at the stated meeting of the Presbytery immediately preceding the meeting of the General Assembly, and forwarded in like manner, properly authenticated. The Narrative should specify also the decease of every minister who has been removed by death since the last report.

4. To prepare a full and accurate Report of the Statistics of the Presbytery, distinctly written, not on the same paper with the Narrative, but separately, for the convenience of the Assembly in referring them to distinct committees. In preparing the Statistical Report, let the following rules be observed :

(1.) Carefully copy the blank form and order of columns, &c., on the opposite page.

(2.) Record ministers in the order of their ministerial age, with their Christian names in full, and their address in the adjoining column.

(3.) Place the name of every church opposite the name of its pastor or stated supply; or, if vacant, at the foot of the roll.

(4.) Place, after the name of every minister, an abbreviation denoting his occupation: e. g., P., for pastor; S. S., for Stated Supply; H. M., for a Home Missionary; F. M., for a Foreign Missionary; Pres., for a President of a College; Prof., for a Professor in a College or Theological Seminary; Sec., for a Secretary of a benevolent institution; Ag., for an Agent of do.; Ch., for a Chaplain; Tea., for a Teacher; Ed., for an Editor; P. C., for a Pastor of a Congregational Church; W. C., for a minister without charge; Col., for a Colporteur; and T. M. for a Tract Missionary.

(5.) Place, after the name of every church, the abbreviations, P., for one that has a Pastor; S. S., for one that has a Stated Supply; or V., for one that is vacant.

(6.) If a church fails to report, let the number of communicants be given as reported to Synod, or to the last Assembly, with an asterisk (*) in the column of communicants, denoting the fact.

(7.) In the additions to the church, distinguish between those on examination and those on certificate; in the baptisms, between the adults and the infants; and be careful to observe the order of the columns in which these particulars are recorded.

(8.) The names of the Licentiates to be recorded in the last column; but of the Candidates, the number only is to be given.

(9.) Avoid erasures or interlineations; and make names and numbers distinctly legible.

(10.) Add up every column, and authenticate the Report with your signature.

(11.) Affix no extraneous matter; such as memoranda, explanations, or orders for the delivery of the Printed Minutes of the Assembly; let these be given on a separate sheet.

5. That the Statistical Report be forwarded by the hands of one of the Commissioners of the Assembly; or, if this be neglected, that it be sent, as soon as possible, by mail, to the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, No. 202 Henry street, New-York.

FORM OF A PRESBYTERIAL REPORT TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

report to the General Assembly, that they consist of