was so thoroughly antislavery that it would not accept a slaveholder as a missionary. A letter addressed direct to that organization by the Alabama State Convention, asking for information, brought a courteous reply to the effect that while the board refused to recognize the claim of anyone, slaveholder or nonslaveholder, to appointment, "one thing was certain, they could never be a party to any arrangement which would imply approbation of slavery."

This decision led to formal withdrawal of the various Southern state conventions and auxiliary foreign mission societies, and to the organization at Augusta, Ga., in May, 1845, of the Southern Baptist Convention. About 300 churches were represented by delegates from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Kentucky, the largest number of Baptist churches in the South at that period being in Virginia. In all the discussions and in the final act of organization, there was very little bitterness, the prevalent conviction being that those of kindred thought would work more effectively together, and that, in view of the sharp differences between the two sections, it was wiser that separate organizations should exist. The specific purpose of the convention, as plainly set forth, was to carry out the benevolent purposes of the churches composing it; to elicit, combine, and direct their energies for the propagation of the gospel, and to cooperate for the promotion of foreign and domestic missions and other important objects, while respecting the independence and equal rights of the churches themselves.

Previous to the Civil War the convention met biennially; since that time it has met annually. Two boards were organized, both of which were appointed by and reported to the convention-a foreign mission board, located at Richmond, Va., and a domestic or home mission board, located first at Marion, Ala., afterwards at Atlanta, Ga. Subsequently boards were added to administer funds contributed for Bible distribution and to carry on Sunday school work. The Bible Board was afterwards consolidated with the Home Mission Board. The Sunday School Board failed through financial difficulties, but in 1891 a new board of the same nature was established at Nashville, Tenn., which has been highly successful.

Up to 1860 the missionary work of the convention was carried forward with marked enthusiasm and success. Every department of denominational life was quickened by the increased sense of responsibility and the increased confidence that sprang from direct control. Parallel with this was the growth in numbers and liberality of the denomination, which was strengthened by the standing conflict with the antimissionary spirit rife throughout the South, and manifest more particularly among the Primitive, United, and Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian

Baptists. The denomination suffered severely during the Civil War, but since that time has shown great prosperity.

As was inevitable, emancipation brought about great changes in racial conditions, and, whereas before the war the Negro Baptists were, for the most part, identified with the white churches, after the war they formed their own state conventions and, later, a National Convention.1 The first Negro association to be formed under the new régime was that in Louisiana in 1865, and it was soon followed by others in North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky. An indication of the development of the Southern Convention is found in the fact that, whereas at the time of its formation the estimated membership of the churches identified with it was 450,000, of whom 250,000 were white and 200,000 Negro, the report for 1890 showed a membership of 1,280,066, consisting of whites alone.

With the entrance of the United States into the war with Germany the Southern Baptist Convention took up religious work for the Army and Navy most heartily and effectively. It was represented on the General Committee on Chaplains of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, though not a constituent member of that body, and contributed liberally toward the work of the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., and kindred organizations.

DOCTRINE AND POLITY.

In doctrine the Southern Baptist churches are in harmony with those of the North, although in general they are more strictly Calvinistic, and the Philadelphia Confession of Faith is more firmly held than in the northern churches. In polity, likewise, there is no essential difference. The northern and southern churches interchange membership and ministry on terms of perfect equality, and their separation is purely administrative in character, not doctrinal or ecclesiastical.

WORK.

The work of the Southern Baptist churches is carried on through 3 denominational boards, having charge, respectively, of home missions, foreign missions, and Sunday school work. The home mission work, under the care of the Home Mission Board, covers the entire territory of the South, Cuba, Isle of Pines, and the Panama Canal Zone. It also covers the terri

tory of southern Illinois and New Mexico, in cooperation with the Baptist State Mission Board of Southern Baptists in the states of the convention. It does cooperative work with the Negro Baptists in the South, conducts missionary effort among the foreigners, maintains work among the Indians in Oklahoma and other Southern states, and operates 36 mountain mission

1 See National Baptist Convention,

p. 97.

schools in the southern Appalachian and Ozark highlands, with an attendance of nearly 6,000. A department of evangelism has a staff of 25 trained evangelists and Gospel singers, who participate both in the city campaigns and in other activities. A church extension department is raising a building loan fund of $1,000,000, and the erection of church buildings is annually aided by gifts and loans to the extent of about $100,000. An educational and publicity department conducts a large propaganda for the instruction of the denomination in the principles and activities of home missions. In 1916 the total number of persons em- | ployed in the work of the board was 1,507, the number of churches aided by them was 2.625, and the receipts for all purposes were $474.792. To this may be added about $600.000 raised by the state mission boards for work in their several states, making a grand total of $1,074,792. The board holds as assets properties and invested gifts amounting to approximately $800,000, most of which is church and mission school property, the remainder being in invested funds.

In close sympathy with the home mission work is that of the Sunday School Board, which is both missionary and educational in character. Pecuniary assistance is given by it to the Home Mission Board, and to the state boards for the employment of Sunday school missionaries and instructors, the expense being met from the proceeds of the business done in the publishing department at Nashville, Tenn. Assistance is also given to the Foreign Mission Board and to all the other activities of the denomination. A corps of trained specialists is maintained who traverse the territory of the convention, holding normal institutes for training Sunday school teachers, and instructing in efficient methods. Lectureships on Sunday school methods are sustained in the Louisville Theological Seminary, and the first chair of Sunday school pedagogy was established by this board in that institution. Free tract distribution, Bible distribution, and colportage work are also provided for by the board.

The foreign missionary work of the Southern Baptist churches, which was the immediate occasion of the organization of their convention, has always held a prominent place in their church life. The Foreign Mission Board occupies 61 stations and nearly 1,000 outstations in China, Japan, Africa, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. The report for 1916 shows 307 American missionaries, 809 native helpers, and 458 organized churches with 47,161 members. The educational work of the board was represented by 509 schools with 14,038 students. Of these, 8 were theological institutions, 12 were colleges, and 10 normal training schools. The board has 33 hospitals and dispensaries, of which 29 are in China, the other 4 being in Africa and Mexico. The total number of patients treated during 1916 was 70,479. Including the hospitals, schools, and 226 buildings owned by the board for purposes of worship, the total value of the prop

erty owned is estimated at $1,000,000; and the receipts of the board for the year were $529,405. There are publishing houses at Mexico City, Mexico; Canton, China; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The result of the work is apparent in the fact that during the year 6,347 natives were received into the churches on confession of faith.

The Woman's Missionary Union cooperates with all the boards of the denomination, contributing largely to their financial support. These contributions in 1916 amounted to $491,111.

The

The educational institutions under the auspices of the Southern Baptists include 2 theological seminaries, 39 standard colleges and universities, 12 junior colleges, and 63 preparatory schools. The only one of these institutions with which the convention has organic relations is the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Ky., the others being under the general supervision of the state conventions. theological seminary at Louisvilie in 1916 reported 12 professors, 323 male and 100 female students, an endowment of $1,160,000, and buildings valued at $500,000. The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary at Waco, Tex., under the control of the Texas State Convention, had 15 professors, 165 male and 120 female students, an endowment of $450,000, and buildings valued at $450,000. The women in these institutions are preparing for missionary and social settlement work. In the 114 colleges, junior colleges, and preparatory schools there were in 1916 a total of 1,471 teachers and 21,210 students, of whom 1,934 were students for the ministry. In addition, there were 34 mountain mission schools, with 181 teachers and 5,303 students, and with property valued at $611,650. The total value of the land and buildings owned by these institutions is estimated at $15,187,031, and there are endowments to the amount of $7,964,382. The total amount contributed for the cause of education during the year was $2,424,169.

The denomination maintains 11 hospitals, in which during the year about 20,000 patients were treated, and 12 orphanages and homes for the aged. The value of property of these institutions is estimated at $2,000,000.

The number of young people's societies is reported as 4,711, with a membership of 175,540, an increase since 1906 of 2,818 societies and 105,530 members.

The publishing interests of the Southern Baptist churches are represented by 19 weekly, 4 monthly or semimonthly, and 2 quarterly publications.

STATISTICS.

The general statistics of the Southern Baptist Convention for 1916 are given, by states and associations, in the tables on pages 72 to 96, and the relation of these statistics to those of other bodies is shown in general tables in Part I. A comparative summary of the principal items for 1916 and 1906 follows: