Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/342

330 by those of 38 ordained and 112 unordained Japanese fellow-workers,—the whole force being distributed over 74 organised churches, besides many out-stations. In 1903 (the last year for which statistics are available), the total membership numbered over 12,400, and contributed during that year a sum of 34,800 yen. They supported 3 boarding-schools for boys and 11 for girls, together with 10 day-schools, the aggregate number of scholars being 2,289. The various Presbyterian bodies—American and Scotch—amalgamated in the year 1877 into a single church, which is now known as the Nihon Kirisuto Kyōkwai, or Church of Christ in Japan, and which, no longer insisting on such standards of doctrine as the Canons of the Synod of Dort, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism, or the Heidelberg Catechism, confines itself to a much simpler "Confession of Faith," consisting mainly of the Apostles Creed.

The Congregational or Kumi-ai Churches are associated exclusively with one body,—the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In 1903 there were 23 male and 25 female workers on the staff, besides 48 ordained and 41 unordained Japanese. There are 106 organised churches, 38 of which are self-supporting, and over 11,400 members, who in 1903 contributed 41,800 yen. The Dōshisha College at Kyōto—by far the largest Christian institution in Japan—is under the control of this mission.

The Methodists, representing six American societies and one Canadian, consist of 59 male and 71 female missionaries, 126 ordained and 101 unordained Japanese fellow-workers, 139 organised churches, and over 9,600 members, who in 1903 contributed 36,600 yen. The Methodists have 18 boarding-schools and 19 day-schools, with a total of 4,761 scholars. To them belongs the Aoyama Gakuin, the most important Christian College in Tōkyō.

The Baptists represent four American societies, and number 36 male and 24 female missionaries, with 28 ordained and 45 unordained Japanese workers in 55 organised churches, with a