Church Congress.--An organization of the Clergy and Laity in the American Church having for its object the general discussion of living questions of the day and the application of Revealed Truth to the needs of our modern life. It was organized in 1874 on the model of the English Church Congress which, no doubt, suggested such an organization for the Church in the United States. It is not a legislative body, but rather an "Open Court" for the free {60} exchange of views. Meetings are held annually and an elaborate programme of subjects is prepared for each meeting, with appointed essayists and speakers, and volunteer speakers are permitted. The proceedings of each Congress are published in book form, of which the Rev. Dr. Wildes for so many years the General Secretary says, "The proceedings, addresses and speeches of the several sessions embodied in annual reports form a _thesaurus_ of ripe learning, vigorous thought and eloquent utterance upon great questions of the times, of which the Episcopal Church may well be proud. To the student in Theology and its cognate topics, no less than to clergymen and thoughtful laymen, these volumes will be found most valuable." Church Militant.--(See CHURCH CATHOLIC, THE). Church Missions House.--This is a name that ought to be familiar to every American Churchman. It is the name given to the handsome building which is the headquarters of "The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America." For many years the headquarters of the Society were in rented rooms in the Bible House, New York City. By special offerings given for the purpose by many generous Churchmen, the Society was provided with the means to erect this beautiful and spacious building. The corner-stone was laid on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Twenty-Second Street in New York City on October 3, 1892. The building was occupied by the Society on New Year's Day, 1894, and on the 25th of the same month, St. Paul's Day, the building was formally dedicated. "Thus after more than {61} seventy years, during which the Society had been a tenant, the Society, representing our whole Church, was established in its own beautiful home." The Church Mission House is a perfect beehive of Church work. Here all the leading interests of the Church are centred. In its spacious, well-lighted rooms are the offices of the Missionary Society. Here, too, are the headquarters of the Woman's Auxiliary, the American Building Fund Commission, the officers of the General Convention, of the General Clergy Relief Fund, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, the Girls' Friendly Society and other Church agencies. Here, too, in its beautiful Chapel the noontide prayers are daily offered for the spread of the Gospel of Christ throughout the world. The Church Missions House is well worth a visit by those who are visiting New York even for only a few days. (See DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY).