ing the general principle of the observance of the seventh day and faith in the second coming of Christ, declined to join the main body of Seventh-day Adventists or withdrew from it. In a few cases such individuals formed independent local bodies not identified ecclesiastically with the Church of God, and yet somewhat affiliated with it. In 1906 these were registered as a separate body under the title "Churches of God (Adventists), Unattached Congregations." In 1916, however, such affiliation as they had seems to have disappeared and they are probably reported as Independent churches.

DOCTRINE.

While the fundamental doctrines and practices of the Church of God are in general the same as those of the Seventh-day Adventists,' the two denominations are at variance in their views of prophecy and its application. In particular the Church of God repudiates the doctrine held by the Seventh-day Adventists that the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2,300 days (Daniel viii, 14) was the heavenly sanctuary, as well as the application of the third angel's message (Rev. xiv, 9-12) to the Seventh-day Adventists. The members of this denomination pay due regard to William Miller for his preaching and efforts to awaken the country, and hold that his mistake was due to wrong calculations of the prophetic periods of the book of Daniel and of historic dates.

POLITY.

In polity the denomination is essentially congregational, except that the general conference of churches is recognized as having a certain authority in matters referred to it. Ordination to the ministry follows essentially the same course as among the earlier Adventists. Candidates, either on their own application or on request of a church, are examined at a conference by a committee appointed for the purpose and, if the examination is satisfactory, are ordained either as pastors of churches or general evangelists.

WORK.

In its home missionary activities, the denomination employs five ministers to engage in religious work outside of their own parishes in the states of Michigan, Nebraska, and Texas. One general missionary has been assigned to work in the northwest conference section, and another is engaged in missionary work in the Central States. In the foreign field, one missionary is in India and another in China, and one church, with a membership of 50, was organized in India in 1916. No records have been kept as to the amount of money contributed for missionary work, but it is estimated that $4,000 was contributed in

1 See p. 20.

1916 for the furtherance of missionary enterprises, of which about $500 was for foreign work. The majority of ministers and missionaries have no stipulated salaries and are dependent entirely upon freewill offerings.

At the beginning of the movement led by Elder Cranmer, a paper called the "Hope of Israel” was published at Hartford, Mich. It was later published at Marion, Iowa, by the Christian Publication Association, and subsequently its name was changed to "Advent and Sabbath Advocate." It is now known as the "Bible Advocate," and is published at Stanberry, Mo.

1 A minus sign (—) denotes decrease.
Per cent not shown where base is less than 100.

As compared with the figures for 1906, the denomination showed in 1916 a considerable increase in number of organizations, membership, church edifices, and value of church property. Part of this increase is probably due to the inclusion here of some churches reported separately in 1906 as "unattached congregations." No debt on church property was reported and no Sunday schools, although 11 such schools were reported in 1906, with 52 officers and teachers and 326 scholars. The total number of organizations in 1916 was given as 22, with 848 members, an increase of 139.5 per cent over the membership reported for 1906. There were 8 church edifices, an increase of 5, and church property was valued at $8,200, an increase over 1906 of 105 per cent. General contributions for missions and benevolences amounting to $4,000 were reported for 1916.

Certain items not included in the above summary are church expenditures and number of members under 13 years of age, reported for the first time in 1916, and the languages used in church services.

creased from $10,300 reported by 4 churches in 1906, to $12,250 as reported by 3 churches in 1916. The Sunday schools increased by 2, while the number of scholars advanced from 259 to 439, an increase of 69.5 per cent. Contributions for domestic work, amounting to $500, were reported in 1916.

Certain items not included in the above summary are church expenditures and number of members under 13 years of age, reported for the first time in 1916, and languages used in church services.

Church expenditures amounting to $8,996, reported by 11 churches, cover running expenses, outlay for repairs and improvements, benevolences, and other items that passed through the church treasury.

The number of members under 13 years of age, as reported in 1916, was 5 out of a total of 658 members reported by this denomination as a whole.1

English is the only language reported in the conduct of church services in this denomination.

The number of ministers connected with the denomination was 15 and schedules were received from 8. All of them were in pastoral work; 5 reported an average annual salary of $766, and 2 reported secondary occupations.

1 See Introduction, p. 10.