EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 805 EVANGELICAL UNION. live operation only when il meets in general con- ferences having the character of Protestant ecu- menical councils, but claiming only moral and spiritual power. These have already been held at London, 1851; Paris, 1855; Berlin, 1S."i7; Geneva, 1861; Amsterdam, IsiiT; New York, ls7.'l; Basel, 1879; Copenhagen, 1885; Florence, 1891. The United Stales branch laid a national conference at Chicago in October, 18!l.'i. One (it the most ell'cctive (jf the general conferences was that at New York in 1873. The visible results of the Evangelical Alliance may be seen, in part, in its promotion of religious liberty wherever that has been restricted or assailed. Since its organiza- tion several cases of persecution have occurred in southern Europe under the operation of penal laws against Protestants. In these cases the in- Buence of the Alliance has been successfully exerted to bring the persecution to an end. It has aided in bringing about changes in favor of re- ligious liberty in Turkey, Sweden, the Baltic Provinces of Russia, and Japan. EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. A reli- gious denomination formed originally among the Germans of Pennsylvania. It has grown and ex- tended till it is represented in most parts of the United States and Canada, and has gained a solid footing in Germany and Switzerland. Its founder, Jacob Albright, was born in Pennsylva- nia, in 1759,. and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Observing the low condi- tion of religious life among the German popula- tion around him, he undertook a work of refor- mation among them about 1790, and traveled as an evangelist. In 1800 he formed a class or so- ciety of his converts, which by 1807 had become large enough to make some organization desir- able, and a conference was held at which Al- bright was unanimously elected bishop. He died in 1808, leaving the association a growing body of much vigor. A book of discipline was pub- lished similar to that of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and the name Evangelical Associa- tion of North America was adopted. Annual conferences were formed, and the first General Conference, consisting of all the elders, was held in 1816, in Union County, Pa. The doctrines and theology of the Evangelical Association are Arminian, and its twenty-one articles of religion do not differ in any essen- tial point from the twenty-five articles of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Its government, polity, and methods of worship likewise closely resemble those of the Methodist Church, and it is represented in the Methodist Ecumenical Con- ferences. It has bishops, chosen by the General Conference for terms of four years; presiding elders, serving not more than four years con- secutively in the same districts ; classes, quar- terly conferences, annual conferences, and the General Conference, the supreme judicatory, meet- ing every four years. The ministers are of two orders — deacons and elders — and the itinerant system prevails, the pastors being appointed to their stations from year to year, at the meetings of the annual conferences. In 1891 the Church suffered a division, the culmination of a con- troversy of several years' duration. Two bodies met, one at Indianapolis and the other at Phila- delphia, each claiming to be the true and lawful General Conference, and regarding the other as spurious. Lawsuits resulted concerning titles to property, the final decision of which was given in favor of the part} representing the majority, whose General Conference had been held at In- dianapolis. The minority then withdrew and organized the United Evangelical Church, By this division the Evangelical Association losl about 40,(100 members. In IS'.il, previous to the division, it had 26 annual conferences, 1227 itinerant and 619 local preachei 1.50,334 church members, church buildings valued ;it $5,168,210, and a missionary income for the preceding year of $159,443. Ill 1901 il had 27 annual con- ferences, including two in Germany, one ill Swil zerland, and one in Japan; 1088 itinerant and 470 local preachers, 139,459 pupils in Sun- day schools, church property valued at, $6,125,- 430, anil a total income lor missions of $1 17.080. Besides its German elements, it, has a relatively large English-speaking membership, and pub- lishes English periodicals and English books. It, has three bishops, with one vacancy in the epis- copal ollice ; a well -equipped publishing house at Cleveland, and another at Stuttgart, Wtirttem berg; a biblical institute and a college at Naper- ville, 111.; two seminaries; an orphan home at Flat Rock, Ohio; a charitable society; a mis- sionary society, sustaining domestic missions and a foreign mission in Japan, and assisting the European churches; a Woman's Missionary So- ciety ; a Church Extension Society ; a Sunday- School and Tract Union ; and a Young People's Alliance, returning 33,626 members. Its peri- odicals are: The Evangelical Messenger (week- ly) ; The Missionary Messenger (monthly) ; Der Christliche Botschafter (weekly); Der Evange- lische Missionsbote (monthly) ; papers for Sun- day schools and the young people, in English and German — all published at Cleveland; Der Evan- gelische Botschafter (weekly) and Der Evange- lische Kinderf reund (weekly) , published at Stutt- gart, Wiirttemberg. Consult: Plitt, Die M- brechtsleuts (Erlangen, 1877); W. Orwig, His- tory of the Evangelical Association (Cleveland, 1858) ; Mrs. H. Bennett, Uistory of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Evangelical Association (Cleveland, 1902). EVANGELICAL CHURCH CONFER- ENCE (Ger. Evangelische Kirchenkonferenz) . See Eisenach Chukch Conference. EVANGELICAL COUNSELS, or Counsels of Perfection. A term signifying, among Ro- man Catholics, the recommendation of certain things which are not universally necessary to salvation, but which, on the basis of the words of Christ recorded in the Gospels, those who wish to attain perfection are advised to practice. The most important are those which form the basis of the monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedi- ence. EVANGELICAL UNION. The name as- sumed by a religious body constituted in Scot- land in 1843 by the Rev. James Morison (q.v.t.of Kilmarnock, and three other ministers, who had been separated from the United Secession Church for doctrinal views, of which the fundamental and determining article was the strict universal- ity of the Saviour's atonement. They were soon joined by a number of ministers and churches of the Congregational Union of Scotland, and have since extended themselves considerably in Scot- land and the north of England. In 1899 they reported between 90 and 100 churches and 712 ministers. Their Church government is inde-
