they shall designate the amount desired from each Convocation, basing the amount so desired upon the current expenses of the Parishes within each Convocation, as contained in the last published JOURNAL of the Convention. The said current expenses are hereby defined to be such as are set forth in Canon X, Section II, Sub-section I. The amount so designated shall not exceed the sum that will suffice to carry on existing work for the ensuing year. It shall be the duty of every Parish and Mission Station in the Diocese to take at least one offering annually for the inauguration of new work and the further development of old work. The Board of Missions shall also allot the amount to be expended within each Convocation for Missionary purposes during the ensuing year, and shall forthwith notify the Secretaries of Convocations of their action under this Section: which were referred to the Committee on Canons.. Mr. Rowland Evans offered the following amendment to Rules of Order: Resolved, That the Rules of Order be amended by adding: “No resolution affecting salaries under control of the Convention shall be finally adopted on the day on which it is introduced:" which was referred to the Committee on Canons. On motion of the Rev. J. A. Harris, D. D., it was Resolved, That the Convention requests that all propositions looking toward changes in the Constitution or Canons be printed or reduced to writing and made in duplicate; one copy for the Secretary of the Convention, the other for the Committee on Canons. On motion, it was Resolved, That the Convention adjourn to 2.30 P. M., the Tellers of the vote for Assistant Secretary having permission to sit during the recess. WINFIELD S. BAER, Secretary. Tuesday, May 10, 2.30 P. M. The Convention assembled, pursuant to resolu- The Tellers of the vote for Assistant Secretary being ready to report, the Tellers of the Clerical Total number of votes, 136; necessary to a choice, 69; of which The President declared that the Rev. Charles L. Report of Committee of Arrangements; page 149, JOUR- Report of Committee on Recommended Charter; page 60, Report of Committee on Changes of Prayer Book, etc.; Report of Committee on Parochial System; page 159. Report of Committee on Amendments to Canon XX; page 159. Mr. G. Harry Davis presented the Charter of All Saints' Church, Norristown, which has been approved by the Bishop and Standing Committee, and the Charter was referred to the Committee on Charters. The Rev. W. Howard Falkner offered the following amendment to Canon VIII, Section VII : That Canon VIII, Section VII, be amended by adding to the first paragraph thereof as follows: Provided, That nothing in this section shall render a Parish which has been so adopted as a Mission Station, ineligible to receive aid from the Sustentation Fund. And, Provided further, That if such aid be granted, any such Parish receiving it, shall be restored to all its rights as an organized Parish: which was referred to the Committee on Canons. The Rev. Mr. Hodge presented the Report of the Committee to consider Canon XIV., Section V, as follows: REPORT OF CONVENTION COMMITTEE ON CANON XIV, SECTION V. The Committee appointed at the last Convention to report to this Convention "such modification of the present Canon XIV, Section v, as may be desirable" respectfully reports: The subject which has been entrusted to the consideration of your Committee is confessedly a difficult one. At first sight it might seem very simple. It might be supposed that if one was Confirmed in a Parish and made his Communion, that his name would then be entered on the Parochial List of Communicants and would remain there until removed by reason of death or of regular transfer to another Parish, and that no names should be entered on a Parish Register unless of such as have been Confirmed in the Parish or received by letters of transfer. But any one who has had experience in keeping the register of a large, or even moderate size, Parish knows that what seems so easy is really a very difficult thing. In the first place there are some who are Confirmed who never come to the Holy Communion at all, some come on a few occasions or possibly for a few years, and then cease ever Communicating. Then many remove from a Parish without ever taking, and even refusing to take when offered to them, letters of transfer to other Parishes, and in time they are lost sight of, the Rector of the Parish from which they have removed loses their address, the Rector of the Parish to which they remove does not know them or regards them as Parishioners of another Church, and so it comes to pass that their names are finally erased from the Register of the Parish from which they have removed without being entered on that of the Church they are attending, or they may be entered there and still retained on the old Register. Again many persons going from one Church to another defer asking for letters of transfer; they fear hurting the feelings of the Rector they are leaving, or do not care to assign their reasons for leaving, and the Clergyman of the Parish they are attending does not like to insist upon it, lest an unpleasant feeling be created between him and his brother Clergyman, and he takes it for granted that the names have been erased from the former Register and so enters them on his own. Again, many Clergymen actually object to giving letters of transfer, they do not want to lose their Parishioners and make various excuses for not giving letters when they are asked for, and so retain names of persons on their Registers whom they know have removed to and are worshiping in other Parishes. Then there are many who are constantly changing their residence and fail to notify the Clergy of the Churches they attend, or perhaps cease to attend any Church regularly, and so in time their names cease to appear on any register. Again, owing to the fact that many persons attend one Church during a portion of the year and another Church during another portion, there is often much uncertainty as to which Church they should be attached. So, too, from frequent changes of Rectorships, and carelessness in keeping lists, many persons cannot be found by incoming Rectors, and names of bona-fide Communicants are often removed by scores from lists because the new Rectors do not know, or cannot find, them. And when our Communicant lists run up as they do in our large Parishes, not only into the hundreds but in some cases to over a thousand names, it is manifest that it is no easy task for a Rector to know personally and keep in mind and trace the whereabouts of each one of such a multitude. Hence it has come to pass that there has been no little disorder and confusion in our Parish Registers, and the impression is very prevalent that the numbers reported as Communicants in our various Parishes are not to be relied on as correct. An examination of the Parochial Reports, in our Convention JOURNAL, will show that some Parishes report large numbers of Communicants when it is known the attendance at those Churches is very small, and while the additions made by Confirmation or transfer are added to the number reported as Communicants, yet, except in a few cases, not many removals are noted except those by death, though every one knows that owing to the migratoriness of our people there must be a great many removals in a large Parish every year. Some Clergymen do not pretend to give accurate statistics but simply return the number of their Communicants as "about" such a figure. We knew the Rector of one of our largest city Parishes who said that it was impossible for him to keep a list of his Communicants, and that he had the number of those making their Communions on Easter day counted, and returned that as the number of Communicants in his Parish. A leading Layman of the Diocese has openly declared his belief that the number of Communicants returned by the Clergy must include many of those who are lying in our churchyards, and who, therefore, if still in the Communion of the Church, are not active members. On the other hand, it is the belief of your Committee, that there are multitudes of persons who have been Confirmed and who, from time to time at least, make their Communions, whose names do not appear |