The Candidate and the Candidate Department of a Foreign Mission Board Price Fifty Cents Committee of Reference and Counsel 25 Madison Avenue, New York The Foreign Missions Conference of North America The Foreign Missions Conference maintains on the 19th floor of 25 Madison Avenue, New York City, interdenominational missionary headquarters for the foreign mission boards and societies of the United States and Canada and their constituencies. Here the fol- lowing agencies of the Conference have their ofiBces: Gomtnittee of Reference and Counsel The Constitution of the Foreign Missions Conference provides that "The Committee of Reference and Counsel shall act for the Conference in the oversight of the executive officers, in maintaining suitable headquarters, in arranging for the annual meeting, in coordinating the work of the various committees, boards and commissions of the Conference, and in the consideration of poUcies and measures relating to foreign missionary interests both at the home base and on the foreign field, in so far as these have not been sx>ecially committed to some other committee. The Committee of Reference and Counsel shall also act for the Conference ad interim in all matters calling for executive action, in so far as definite authority and power may not have been committed to other regular or special committees." An account of the varied activities of this Committee and of its sub-committees during the year 1918 will be found in the Report of the Foreign Missions Conference. Communications for the Committee of Reference and Counsel may be addressed to the Secretary, Committee of Reference and Counsel, 25 Madison Avenue, New York. Bureau of Missionary Statistics and Research compiles and publishes each year statistics of foreign missions and a Directory of foreign mission boards and societies. Studies and inves- tigations of value to missionary administrators, speakers and writers are constantly being made. Requests for information received from secretaries of boards, pro- fessors of colleges and theological seminaries, missionaries and other investigators will be attended to as promptly as possible. Whenever such requests involve prolonged research which the stafi of the Bureau cannot undertake, the Director, if requested to do so, will secure helpers competent to make the required investigations, the expense to be borne by the correspondent. Address Director Statistical Bureau, 25 Madison Avenue, New York. (Continued on Srd page of cover) The Candidate and th^,^,^^^^^^^ Candidate Department of a Foreign Mission Board ^r Being the Report of a Conference Held at the Headquarters of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America 25 Madison Avenue, New York City December 3-4, 1918 Edited h^ Fennell p. Turner 3V 2391 .N4 1918 Foreign Missions Conference of North America. Committee The candidate and the CLan4ida±e ^eDartment QlL_b^ Published by order of the Committee of Reference and Cottnsel 25 Madison Avenue, New York City THE FOREIGN MISSIONS CONFERENCE OF NORTH AMERICA OFFICERS OF THE TWENTY-SIXTH CONFERENCE Canon S. Gould, M.D Chairman Rev. William E. Strong, D.D First Vice-Chairman Rev. T. Bronson Rav, D.D Second Vice-Chairman Mr. W. Henry Grant Honorary Secretary Rev. George Heber Jones, D.D Secretary Mr. Alfred E. Marling Treasurer COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AND COUNSEL FOR 1919 This Committee is incorporated under the laws of the State of New York (Chapter 99, Laws 1917). The legal title is: "The Committee of Reference and Counsel of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, Inc." Rev. William I. Chamberlain, Ph.D., Chairman Rev. Principal Alfred Gandier, D.D., Vice-Chairman Rev. Paul de Schvveinitz, D.D., Recording Secretary Mr. Fennell P. Turner, Secretary Mr. Alfred E. Marling, Treasurer Office: 25 Madison Avenue, New York City. Teleplione: 9890 Madison Square. ('able Address: "Student, New York." Mrs. Anna R. Atwater Allen R. Bartholomew Fames L. Barton Arthur J. Brown term expires 1920 William I. Ch.^mberlain Stephen J. Corey James Endicott W. W. PiNSON James H. Franklin Alfred Gandier John F. Goucher S. Gould A. Woodruff Halsky term expires 192 1 Miss Margaret E. Hodge George Johnson Arthur S. Lloyd John R. Mott Paul de Schweinitz Frank Mason North Cornelius H. Patton Mrs. Henry W. Peabody term expires 1922 Egbert W. Smith Charles R. Watson L. B. Wolf James Wood CONTENTS Introductory Note S-8 Report of the Committee on Findings 9-12 List of Delegates in Attendance 13-14 Papers, Addresses and Discussion 15 Importance of the Candidate Department — Rev. John F. Goucher, D.D. 16-19 Organization and Administration of the Candidate Department — Rev. Stanley White, D.D ■ 19-26 Discussion 26-3 1 Guiding the Prospective Candidate — Miss Helen B. Calder 32-35 Selecting the Candidates — Rev. Thomas S. Donohugh 35-41 Discussion 41-45 The Selection of Candidates from the Point of View of Missionaries on the Field— Rev. G. W. Sarvis 46-50 — J. G. Vaughan, M.D 50-53 Discussion 53-55 Selecting and Training Leaders in Industrial Establishments — Mr. Paul Super 56-61 The Selection of Candidates from the Point of View of Student Volunteers at Home — Mr. Fennell P. Turner 61-68 The Selection of Candidates for Special Positions on the Mission Field — Rev. C. H. Patton, D.D 68-73 Short Term Workers— Rt. Rev. A. S. Lloyd, D.D 73-76 Discussion 76-77 Board Utilization of Findings, Reports and Literature of the Board of Missionary Preparation— Mr. George B. Huntington 78-82 Discussion • 82-85 The Place of Special Training Schools in the Training of Candidates — Mrs. Anna R. Atwater 85-88 Discussion 88-91 The Effect of the War on Securing of Candidates in Canada — Rev. F. C. Stephenson, M.D 92-93 The Effect of the War on Securing Missionary Candidates in the United States— Rev. Charles. R. Watson, D.D 94-96 Women Candidates and the War — -Mrs. Henry W. Peabody 96-100 The Responsibility of the Boards in Securing Qualified Candidates — Rev. James L. Barton, D.D 101-103 Discussion 103-110 Reaching and Training Men in the Army and Navy for Missionary Service — Robert E. Speer, D.D _ 111-121 Discussion 1 21-122 Miscellaneous 123 A Review of What Has Been Accomplished by the Board of Missionary Preparation — Dr. W. Douglas Mackenzie 124-129 Can the Ideals of the Board of Missionary Preparation as to the Preparation of Missionary Candidates Be Made Effective — Fennell P. Turner. . . . 130-137 List of Books and Pamphlets Suggested for Missionary Candidates 138-139 Report of the Sub-Committee on Medical Missions 139-142 The Missionary Candidate and the Candidate Secretary — Fennell P. Turner 142-157 The China Inland Mission's Method of Dealing with Its Candidates — Rev. Henry W. Frost 158-161 SUB-COMMITTEE ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE HOME CHURCH FOR 1918 Stephen J. Corey, Chairnian Mrs. Anna R. Atwater, Alfred Gandier, John F. Goucher, A. Woodruff Halsey, Miss Margaret E. Hodge, Cornelius H. Patton, T. Bronson Ray, Egbert W. Smith, L. B. Wolf, William P. Schell. John Y. Aitchisox. A. E. Armstrong, W. B. Beauchamp, F. J. Clark, Mrs. E. C. Cronk, Harry Wade Hicks, William E. Lampe, William B. Millar, Francis M. Potter, The Conference was arranged by the Sub-Committee on the Cuhi- vation of the Home Church by direction of the Committee of Refer- ence and Counsel, in accordance with the vote of the Foreign Missions Conference in January, 1918, recommending that there be held a con- ference to consider "the problems of administration, of organization, and of the expenditure of money which bear upon the selection and preparation of missionary candidates." INTRODUCTORY NOTE At the Foreign Missions Conference held in January, 1918, Dr. W. Douglas Mackenzie, Chairman of the Board of Mis- sionary Preparation, gave a masterly review of what the Board of Missionary Preparation had accomplished since its organiza- tion. In this address he strongly urged that there be held a Conference managed by the Foreign Missions Conference for the sole purpose of working out "the problems of admin- istration, of organization, and of the expenditure of money bearing upon the selection and preparation of missionary can- didates." At the conclusion of the address, on motion of Mr. Mornay Williams, it was voted to refer to the Committee of Reference and Counsel Dr. Mackenzie's suggestion as to a Conferenc-e on Missionary Candidates. The Committee of Reference and Counsel, at its first meet- ing following the adjournment of the Foreign Missions Con- ference, carefully considered the suggestion and decided to hold such a conference in New York. The Sub-Committee on Cultivation of the Home Church was charged with the responsibility of working out the program and conducting the Conference. The personnel of the Conference was limited to administrative secretaries of Foreign Mission Boards of Can- ada and of the United States, and to members of Foreign Mission Boards. The plan of the Committee was to make the program as practicable as possible. The topics were arranged so that much time could be devoted to discussion. As finally adopted the program was as follows : PROGRAM Tuesday, December 3rd 9:30 A.M. The Candidate Department 1. Importance of the Candidate Department (15 min.) Rev. John F. Goucher, D.D. 2. Organization and Administration of the Candidate Department Rev. Stanley White, D.D. (25 min.) Discussion Introdiictbry Noie xi:oo A.M. The Relation of the Candidate Department to the Candidate 1. Guiding the Prospective Candidate (iS min.) Miss Helen B. Calder 2. Selecting the Candidate (IS min.) Rev. Thomas S. Donohugh Discussion 12:00-12:30 Devotional 12:30-2:30 P.M. Recess for Luncheon 2:30 P.M. The Selection of Candidates from the Point of View of Missionaries on the Field Rev. G. W. Sarvis (10 min.) Dr. J. G. Vaughan (10 min.) Discussion The Selection of Candidates from the Point of View of Student Volunteers at Home (15 min.) Mr. Fennell P. Turner Discussion 3:30 P.M. The Selection of Candidates for Special Positions on the Mission Field (15 min.) Rev. Cornelius H. Fatten, D.D. Discussion Short Term Missionaries (iS min.) Rt. Rev. A. S. Lloyd, D.D. Discussion 5:00-7:30 P.M. Recess for Dinner 7:30 P.M. The Training of the Candidates Board Utilization of Findings, Reports and Literature of the Board of Missionary Preparation. Mr. George B. Huntington (20 min.) Discussion The Place of Special Training Schools in the Training of Candidates (15 min.) Mrs. Anna R. Atwater Discussion 9:30 P.M. Session closes Wednesday, December 4th 9:30 A.M. The War and the Candidate Problem 1. The Effect of the War upon the Securing of Candidates in Canada (10 min.) Rev. Frederick C. Stephenson, M.D. 2. The Effect of the War upon the Candidate Problem in the United States (10 min.) Rev. Charles R. Watson, D.D. Discussion 11:00 A.M. Women Candidates and the War (iS min.) Mrs. Henry W. Peabody Discussion The Responsibility of the Boards in Securing Qualified Candidates Rev. James L. Barton, D.D. (iS min.) Discussion 12:00-12:30 Devotional 12:30-2:30 P.M. Recess for Luncheon a:oo P.M. Reaching and Training Men in the Army and Navy for Missionary Service Robert E. Speer, D.D. (30 min.) Discussion Report of Committee on Findings Adjournment The Conftience was in session December 3 and 4, 1918, in the Conference Room at the headquarters of the Committee of Reference and Counsel, 25 Madison Avenue, New York. There were in attendance 113 delegates, representing 36 dif- 6 Introductory Note ferent Foreign Mission Boards. The list of delegates in attendance will be found on pages 13-14. In this volume will be found the papers presented at the Conference, as well as the discussions, which have been carefully edited. Considerable time was devoted to the devotional periods of the Conference. On Tuesday, December 3, the devotional period at noon was conducted by Rev. Dr. W. B. Anderson, Secretary of the United Presbyterian Board, Philadelphia, who chose as his theme the passage: "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest." (John 4:35.) The devotional period on Wednesday, Decem- ber 4, was conducted by Rev. E. C. Lobenstine, Secretary of the China Continuation Committee, Shanghai, who chose as his theme: "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to me." (John 12 -.7,2.) At the first session the following Committee on Findings was appointed : Dr. W. B. Anderson, Chairman, Miss Helen B. Calder, Dr. William I. Chamberlain, Dr. John F. Goucher, Miss Margaret E. Hodge, Miss Helen K. Hunt, Mr. Edward C. Jenkins, Dr. p. H. J. Lerrigo, Miss Florence L. Nichols. This Committee on Findings carefully followed the papers and discussion and at the last session of the Conference brought in its report, which after being discussed and amended was adopted. (See pages 9-12.) At the next meeting of the Committee of Reference and Counsel which was held on December 5-6, the Committee on Cultivation of the Home Church, through its Chairman, Dr. Corey, presented the report of the Conference including the Findings, and the Committee took action referring the various sections of the Report on Findings to the different Foreign Mission Boards; and it is hoped that action will be taken by 7 Introductory Note each Board which will result in the recommendations of the Committee on Findings receiving full consideration by the Foreign Mission Boards of Canada and the United States. We have included by request in this volume several mis- cellaneous papers bearing on the candidate problem so that these may be available for those who are studying the subject. (See pages 123-161.) The Conference had no legislative or executive functions and no Board is bound by the conclusions. This report is published by order of the Committee of Reference and Coun- sel in response to the demands of the delegates present as well as of the large number of those interested who could not attend. Stephen J. Corey, Chairman of the Conference REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FIND- INGS OF CONFERENCE ON MISSIONARY CANDIDATES Adopted by the Conference on Missionary Candidates held at 25 Madi- son Avenue, New York, December 3 and 4, and approved by the . Committee of Reference and Counsel on December 6, 1918 The Committee on Findings presents the following recom- mendations for the consideration of the Conference : I. Standard of Qualifications Because of the vital importance, to the missionary cause of securing for service the best quaHfied men and women, each Board should be requested 1. To formulate definitely a statement of required qualifica- tions for its missionaries, and 2. To furnish a copy of this statement to the Board of Mis- sionary Preparation. II. Organization 1. Each Board should have a distinctly organized candidate department composed of a strong committee working with a candidate secretary who makes it his major responsibility, if possible, to discover and cultivate candidates, and to guide them in their training. a. This department should be operated in close connection with the foreign department of its board, keeping in touch with the needs in the fields. h. It should have a budget adequate to enable it to do its work thoroughly. c. It should make provisions for the selection of mission- aries for special forms of work, utilizing the service of special- ists in making the selection, where such is available, and in so far as possible securing their appointment in the field to such work. d. It should cultivate the sympathy of rejected candidates, and insure their continued interest in the cause of missions. 2. Each Board should be asked to report on its candidate organization to the Committee of Reference and Counsel. Finding;!!! of the Conference III. Selection of Candidates 1. In the selection of candidates personality should be a primary qualification. The process of selection and cultiva- tion should be carried on in so far as possible through per- sonal contact with the committee and the secretary. 2. Not only should student volunteers be cultivated but well qualified men and women should be sought and should have the claims of the work pressed upon them. Appointment and assignment should be effected at the earliest date possible. 3. The Committee of Reference and Counsel should be re- quested to appoint a committee to study the various reference blanks, general and special, now in use by the boards, and to formulate some standardized blanks to be then referred to the boards for their consideration. 4. The medical examining work should be most thorough and examiners should be most carefully selected. a. All boards should unite in using the same examining medical questionnaire and report. h. In so far as possible all boards should unite in securing the service of examiners. Such unification and concentration of the work of examination upon a few examiners will tend to produce specialists in this line. c. There should be a preliminary medical examination soon after correspondence is opened with the candidate, followed by special physical training where such is needed, and the medical examination should be repeated as often as necessary. 5. The Report of the Sub-Committee on Medical Missions of the Committee of Reference and Counsel is endorsed by the Conference and all boards are urged to act upon its sugges- tions. (See page 139.) IV. Training of Candidates 1. In directing the training of candidates use should be made of the literature provided by the Board of Missionary Preparation. 2. Care should be taken that every candidate has an adequate understanding of the fundamentals of the Christian religion, and at this point the candidate department must insist upon the quality of the training. 3. He should also have an understanding of the funda- mentals of international relationships. 4. Because of the new emphasis being laid upon specialized forms of missionary work, the candidate department should make every provision possible to encourage candidates to se- cure the highest j^rofessional training. This development of specialization calls for a more careful definition of terms with 10 Fiiidiiig'.s of the Conferene*^ reference to the divisions of the work. Emphasis should be laid upon the fact that the missionary specialist must be as truly a missionary of the Cross as the ordained man. V. Cooperation in Securing and Training Candidates 1. The Board of Missionary Preparation should be re- quested to make an exhaustive study of the subject of the success and failure of missionaries, from data available in the offices of the boards and on the fields. 2. The Committee of Reference and Counsel should be re- quested to confer with representatives of the Executive Com- mittee of the Federation of Women's Boards of Foreign Mis- sions, the Student Volunteer Movement, and the interdenomi- national agencies for the purpose of coordinating recruiting methods and campaigns with a view to the securing of due proportions in the presentation of the needs of each organ- ization. 3. When requested by the Student Volunteer Movement the boards should allocate certain missionaries, if possible, to cooperate with the Movement. 4. Candidates whose services cannot be utilized or who can- not be appointed to the form of work for which they are specially prepared, should be recommended by the board con- sidering the application to some other board that can use them to advantage. 5. The candidate departments of the boards might arrange for the services of highly qualified men for short term appoint- ments or for lecture tours in the fields, and the Committee of Reference and Counsel should be requested to facilitate this matter in so far as possible. VT Candidates and War Conditions 1. There are great numbers of qualified men and women, but the need for recruits eclipses all other needs, and this is the opportune time to organize unitedly for the securing of life for missionary service. 2. The following call for recruits, framed by Dr. Stanley Wliite. should be submitted to the Committee of Reference and Counsel as the appeal of this Conference: "The Call of the Conference on Foreign Mission Candidates to the Young Men and Women of To-day. "The War is over! The battle for the ideals of righteousness, jus- tice and truth has been won. The Victory has cost enormously in money, suffering, sorrow and life-blood. Men have willingly sacrificed everything, including life, rather than yield their principles. They have left a legacy of heroic service that must be neither forgotten nor lost. The banner thev have carried forward in war must be held Fin<1iii;;>i of the Coiiferoiu-o high in the days of peace. This privilege belongs peculiarly to the young manhood and womanhood of this generation. The new task will be harder than the old for it will be shorn of the glamour, the excitement and the pageantry of War. The War was won with armies. It will need more than armies to keep it won. It will require men who have the power to see and follow ideals when the world has lost sight of them; men who have the capacity to draw their motives from unseen and hidden sources; men who have wills strong enough to remain faithful and patient when God is working in his ordinary and more deliberate ways. The Christian Church must accept this challenge. Upon the ministers at home and missionaries abroad will devolve the leadership. Our appeal is to those who have heard the call of War. The call of Peace is even more arresting. The War must be interpreted to the Nations of the World. They must realize that spiritual forces are more powerful than material, that righteous- ness exalts a Nation, that Brotherhood and not rivalry must deter- mine international relationships and that sacrificial service is essential to the World's well-being. These truths are at the heart of the mis- sionary message. They must be carried to the ends of the world. The welfare of the world will depend upon men who have incarnated these truths' in their lives and are willing ito live for them. The Mission Boards of all the Churches in the United States and Canada have con- secrated themselves to this task. They need men and women in larger numbers than ever before. Every phase of the work needs strengthen- ing. The strongest and finest qualities of brain, heart and hand are required. The demand is for ministers, teachers, doctors, agriculturists, technical workers, businessmen. God can use every talent a man pos- sesses. This appeal is to you. We are face to face with a great crisis. It is the day of opportunity for young men and women. Again can it be said Christ has gathered his disciples about him and with greater intensity than ever before is saying: " 'Go ye therefore, to all nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' " 3. There is urgent need of getting the missionary call before young men and women before demobilization has been com- pleted, so we recommend that the Committee of Reference and Counsel immediately issue a strong call for recruits for missionary service, having it endorsed by some leading states- men and military men. Respectfully submitted, W. B. Anderson, Chairman. Helen B. Calder, William I. Chamberlain, John F. Goucher, Margaret E, Hodge, Helen K. Hunt, P. H. J. Lerrigo, Florence L. Nichols, Coiiiiiiitfcc on Findings. PERSONNEL Aitchison, Rev. John Y., D.D., Amtrican Baptist. Allen, Miss Belle J., M.D., Student A'olunteer Movement. Alsop, Mrs. David G., Friends of Philadelphia. Anderson, Rev. W. B., D.D., United Presbyterian. Andrews, Miss Susan M., Universalist, Women's. Baldwin, Mrs. Frederick A., Reformed in America, ^^'oraan's. Barton, Rev. James L., D.D.. American Board. Beede, B. Willis, American Friends. Bender, Miss Elizabeth R., Methodist Episcopal, Woman's. Bratcher, Rev. Lewis M., Southern Baptist. Brown, Rev. Arthur J.. D.D., Presbyterian, U.S.A. Brown, Frank L., World's Sunday School Association. Calder, Miss Helen B., American Board, Woman's. Carver, Rev. W. Owen. D.D., Southern Baptist. Chamberlain, Rev. Lewis Birge, American Bible Society. Chamberlain, Rev. William I., Ph.D., Reformed in America. Chamberlin, Mrs. H. A., American Baptist, Woman's. Cobb, Miss Eliza P., Reformed in America, Woman's. Colburn. Miss Grace T., American Baptist. Woman's. Conde, Miss Bertha, Y. W. C. A., National Board. Corey, Rev. Stephen J., LL.D., Christian (Disciples). Coultas, Rev. A. J.. Methodist Episcopal. Crane, Miss Helen Bond, Student Volunteer Movement. Crosby, Mrs. F. W., Presbyterian, U. S. A., Woman's. Cutting, Churchill H., American Bible Society. Demarest, Rev. W. H. S., D.D., Reformed in America. de Schweinitz, Rev. Paul, D.D., Moravian. Donohugh, Rev. Thomas S., Methodist Episcopal. Drach, Rev. George, United Lutheran. Eddy, Rev. D. Brewer, American Board. Endicott, Rev. James, D.D., Methodist, Canada. Farmer, Mrs. W. H., American Baptist, Woman's. Fenner, Miss Lena S., Free Baptist, Woman's. Frost, Rev. Henry W., China Inland. Good, Rev. James I., D.D., Reformed, U. S. Goucher, Rev. John F., D.D., Methodist Episcopal. Grant, W. Henry, Canton Christian College. Guthrie, Mrs. Katharine M., American Friends. Hal ford, Colonel E. W., Methodist Episcopal. Halliday, Miss Vernon, Student V^olunteer Movement. Helmer, Miss Edith, Y. W. C. A., National Board. Hicks, Harry Wade, New York Sunday School Association. Hill, Rev. E. Munson, D.D.. Canadian Congregational. Hodge, Miss Margaret E., Presbyterian, U. S. A., Woman's. Howell, Mrs. J. Beatty. Presbyterian, U. S. A., Woman's. Hughes, Miss Frances L., Presbyterian, U. S. A., Woman's. Hunt, Miss Helen K.. American Baptist, Woman's. Huntington, George B., American Baptist. Inman, Rev. Samuel G., Committee on Cooperation in Latin America. Johnson, Rev. George, Evangelical Association. Jones, Rev. George Heber, D.D., Secretary, Foreign MissionG Conference. Jordan, Rev. L. G., D.D., National Baptist. Knox, Mrs. DeWitt, Reformed in America, Woman's. Kugler, Miss Anna S., M.D., United Lutheran. Lampe, Rev. William E., Ph.D., Reformed, U. S. Lamson, Miss Kate G.. American Board, Woman's. Lawrence, Miss O. H., Reformed in America, Woman's. 13 Personnel Lerrigo, Rev. P. H. J., M.D., American Baptist. Levy, Rev. Maurice A., American Baptist. Lewis, Rev. James H., Methodist Episcopal. Lingle, Rev. Walter L., D.D., Presbyterian, U. .S. (South). Lloyd, Rt. Rev. Arthur S., D.D., Protestant K])iscopal. Lobenstine, Rev. E. C, Secretary, China Continuation Committee. Lockwood, W. W., Y. M. C. A., International Committee. Longstreth, Mrs. Charles A., Friends of I'hiladelphia. MacGillivray, Rev. Donald, D.D., Presbyterian, Canada. MacMullen, Rev. Wallace, D.D., Methodist Episcopal. Marston, Mrs. 'Frank H., Woman's Union Missionary Society. Masters, Miss Clara E., Woman's Union Missionary Society. McClain, Rev. Alva J., Brethren Church. McDowell, Mrs. William Fraser, Methodist Episcopal, Woman's. Menzcl. Rev. Paul A., Evangelical Synod of N. A. Merle-Smith, Mrs. Wilton, Presbyterian, U. S. A., Woman's. Murray, J. Lovell, Student Volunteer Movement. Niebel, Rev. B. H., D.D., United Evangelical. North, Rev. Frank Mason, D.D., Methodist Episcopal. Olcott, Mrs. E. E., Reformed in America, Woman's. Padelford, Rev. Frank W., D.D., Baptist Board of Education. Patton, Rev. Cornelius H., D.D., American Board. Peabody, Mrs. Henry W., American Baptist, Woman's. Potter, Francis M., Reformed in America. Prentice, Mrs. W. Packer, Presbyterian, U. S. A., Woman's. Prescott, Miss Nellie G., American Baptist, Woman's. Reed, Rev. Orville, Ph.D., Presbyterian, U. S. A. Ross, Mrs. Robert, Presbyterian, Canada, Woman's. Sailer, Prof. T. H. P.. Ph.D.. Presbyterian, U. S. A. St. John, Rev. Burton, Student Volunteer Movement. Sala, Rev. John P., Christian (Disciples). Samson, Rev. Arthur A., D.D., Reformed Presbyterian. Sanders, Rev. Frank K.. Ph.D., Board of Missionary Preparation. Sarvis, Rev. Guy W., Christian (Disciples). Schaffer, Rev. J. R., Inland-South America Missionary Union. Schauffler, Mrs. /\. F., Presbyterian, U. S. A., Woman's. Seager, Mrs. L. H., Evangelical Association, Woman's. Sharp, Thomas S., Student Volunteer Movement. Shaw, Rev. Edwin, Seventh Day Baptist. Shepard, Rev. J. W., Southern Baptist. Speer, Robert E., D.D., Presbyterian, U. S. A. Super, Paul, V. M. C. A., International Committee. Taylor, Rev. Mills J., LTnited Presbyterian. Trout, Miss Daisy June, Christian (Disciples), Woman's. Turner, Fennell P., Student Volunteer Movement. Van Nest, Miss Katharine, Reformed in America, Woman's. Vaughan, J. G., M.D., Methodist Episcopal. "Watson, Rev. Charles R.. D.D., United Presbyterian. White, Rev. Stanley, D.D., Presbyterian, U. S. A. Whittlesey. Roger B., China Inland. Wilkins, Mrs. Marietta P.., Universali-st, Women's. Williams, Rev. John E., D.D., Presbyterian, U. S. A. Wilson, Rev. Findley M., D.D., Reformed Presbyterian. Wolf, Rev. L. B., D.D., United Lutheran. Young, Mrs. Charles S., American Baptist, Woman's, 14 PAPERS, ADDRESSES AND DISCUSSION THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CANDIDATE DEPARTMENT Rev. John F. Gouciier, D.D., Baltimore I shall not attempt to discuss this problem because of in- sufficient time and because of the expectation that the discus- sion will come from persons in this goodly company. I will, if I may, read a few notes which I have jotted down as sugges- tions to open the discussion. 1. The missionary is the chosen and commissioned agent of the Church, sent and maintained to interpret God as revealed in Jesus Christ, to the non-Christian world. His supreme obliga- tion is to live and teach the Christ life. He is and should be specially commissioned by the Church as its agent ; for he will need its authority in fact and in his consciousness to meet the varied and serious responsibilities which will confront him. Whatever may be the relation of any one person to his discov- ery and to the assembling of the facts concerning him upon which must be based the judgment as to his fitness, the selec- tion of the candidate should be the function of a carefully chosen, widely experienced and deeply consecrated Candidate Committee, who personally know God, know men and know Missions. The aggregate wisdom of such a Committee, trained for its work, should be appealed to and secured before his appointment, because of the serious responsibilities and far- reaching issues involved in selecting and commissioning each missionary. 2. The missionary is sent out and maintained with conse- crated money. The bulk of the money which comes into the missionary treasury is not through large gifts, but represents organized poverty. It is real blood money. In many cases it represents as devoted a spirit and as real personal sacrifice as characterize the missionary himself. The money thus conse- crated inter])rets supreme love for Christ with its passion for service, which make it s])ccially dear to God. He is jealous that it shall not be wasted, but that it shall bring forth much fruit. To use such consecrated money for sending out or for the maintenance of an incompetent agent, when proper care might have secured an efficient one, is taking the sacrifice from off the altar and using it for unholy purposes. 3. The nu'ssionary is to be the rei^rcsentative of God to the 16 The Importniire of the Cantlidate Department non-Christian peoples, as though God spoke to them through him. The Divine Commission is "to be His witnesses." No man can witness to that which he does not personally know. The people to whom the missionary is to minister must believe the messenger before they will believe the message. They can- not understand the infinite love of God, the Divine Sympathy, the Fatherhood of God, nor brotherhood in Christ, except as His representatives interpret them in terms of human living. 4. The missionary has a personal right to the most inquisi- tive, comprehensive and thorough consideration of himself, his aptitudes, his acquirements and his adaptation to the work pro- posed. In his zeal to serve, the candidate considers himself called to missionary work and assumes that in a foreign field he can invest his life with largest outcome for the Kingdom. Inexperienced and desiring to be directed, he places himself, his life, his future in the hands of the Mission Board, relying upon its judgment for his opportunity. To direct such a spirit without the most consecrated, comprehensive, careful con- sideration is to handle that which is holy with unholy hands. 5. The missionary's assignment is not a casual affair, nor possibly only a mistake which may be rectified. If it prove to be a mistake at all, it is a disaster. If it is a mistake which could have been avoided, it is a criminal disaster, a. Because the Church may be seriously compromised by his misinterpretation of its sanctity and its mission ; b. Because consecrated, sacred money would be misapplied and squandered in the sending and maintenance of an incom- petent agent ; c. 'Because the spiritually destitute would be deceived if they looked to the missionary for an egg and he gave them a scorpion ; d. Because by such a mistake the providing of an adequate ministry would be delayed until another and a proper agent could be secured, prepared and sent to take his place ; thus the opportunity for that generation at least may have passed forever, or the substitute may be called upon to face indififer- ence or organized opposition ; e. Because of the candidate's misadjustment, he who might hav-e been eminently successful under other conditions has been placed where he will register' failure instead of efficiency and his life be blighted, for he may have passed the age of possible adaptation to other work, or have become discouraged because of the unwise treatment he received from those in whom he had placed his confidence ; f. Because in his relation to the missionaries already in the field, the missionary who is a misfit becomes a liability instead of an asset, and instead of proving to be a reenforcement he 17 The Tiii|><>r<:iiico of ilie Caiulidate Departmettt becomes a hindrance. It is a serious thing- to mar the "esprit- de-corps" of a devoted company, or to undermine its morale. In the face of inherited, entrenched, organized opposition, that spells defeat. g. Because if it be necessary to refuse a candidate and this be done without tact, in an indifferent, perfunctory or unsym- pathetic manner, he may become embittered toward foreign mission work. This is not a gratuitous assumption concerning disappointed candidates. Such a possible result is known to those who are familiar with the number of enthusiastic young people who at some time in their lives thought themselves called to foreign mission work, but were not accepted. A few years since, I had free access to the Candidate Committee records of a representative mission board, and I found in the card catalogue the names of 127 who said they would be availal)le for appointment within that year, 103 for the following year, 82 others who were under consideration, 139 more inquiring about service, and 128 others who seemed on the face of their applications not to be qualified for the work they sought. That is, the Committee had before it during that year the names of 579 }0ung people who thought it would be their duty to offer themselves for work in the foreign field. These had to be dealt with individually by the Committee which was in- structed to recommend somewhat less than one hundred can- didates for appointment during those two years. If this half a thousand appHcants who could not be accepted had not been treated with the tenderest consideration and given a vision of such other fields of service as interpreted the sympathy of the Church with their aspirations and its intense desire to aid them to the best investment of their lives for Christ, many of them might have been wrecked as to their faith and turned away from Christian service. In its final analysis success depends upon personality — per- sonality properly adjusted, or the proper man in the right place, i. e., success is the result of exact adjustment of agents and agencies to the objects sought. This is accepted as a truism in secular business, there are manufacturers who employ experts to select their employees and to reassign them as they reveal their aptitudes or want of adjustment to the work as- signed. Some of these experts are considered a paying in- vestment at a salary of $10,000 a year. Other companies maintain expensive training facilities to test and qualify their agents before assigning them. The King's business requires tiie wisest methods of procedure. In a thorough 18 The Orgraiilzaliou sumI AiIiiiiiiiMlraUou c(f tlio Caiidulate Ueparlinent organization each unit is so consequentially related to every other unit that success is dependent upon the efficiency of each, therefore we may not say one unit is of superior im- portance to another. But if, in the efficient administration of a Board of Missions, the value of a unit is to be measured by the difficulties, complexity and opportunities confront- ing it, it is safe to say no imit is of more crucial importance than the Committee on Candidates, which represents the vital point of contact between the home Church and its foreign interpretation. THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRA- TION OF THE CANDIDATE DEPARTMENT Rev. Stanley White, D.D., New York I have been asked to open the discussion on the Organiza- tion and Administration of the Candidate Department. I glad- ly do so, with a slight hesitancy, however, born of the fact that I realize that suggestions along this line must be recog- nized as in a measure ideal and in the future so far as their realization is concerned. What ought to be done is so far ahead of what is being done and what will probably seem practicable that a consider- ation of this topic must be regarded as the agitation which must always precede radical changes. The suggestions which I make are not theoretical, but the result of more than ten years' experience, during which time I have conducted the correspondence of the Candidate Department of our own Board. They are also made with the full realization that while a measure of success has been attained, in the con- duct of the Department, there are many respects in which the results are very unsatisfactory. Certain convictions seem to stand out clearly : I. Any Board that would carry on the correspondence which is necessarily involved in the proper conduct of the Candidate Department will find that it cannot be conducted if the Board be of even moderate size, without developing a volume of correspondence that will necessitate the most careful handling and its consideration by some one who does not deal with it incidentally but who can carry it as practically the primary work of his office. Candidate correspondence is not limited to receiving ap- 19 'J'lie (>i-K':iiii/,iiM<>ii :iihI A)liiiiiii.slr:i(ioii ol' (lie Candidate Doiiiirtiiient plications and sending out application blanks, hunting refer- ences and ])assing upon the applicants. There is a constant tendency in this correspondence to become more and more minute so far as the details are concerned. In our own office we are carrying the names of more than three hundred cor- respondents. It covers people of all grades and of all ages. It begins at the time that some of the young people are enter- ing High School and it continues until they are through the Seminary or other form of specialized preparation. It even deals with men and women in mature life who, for one reason or another, are facing the fact of the possibility of their going to the mission field. At times some of this correspondence is of a routine char- acter and might be provided for by regular form-letters and under the direction of a competent clerk; but a large part of it is personal and it can only be dealt with adequately by some one who is able to enter into the personal problem of the candidate, to sympathize with him and in a sense put him- self in his place. More than that, it is correspondence which will not l)e satisfactory unless the candidate feels that it is conducted by one who is in final authority in the Board and who can speak with definiteness and certainty as to the questions which are asked. There is a large place for the assistant in a Candidate Department but in much of the correspondence the signature must be from the head of the department and it must not be affixed to a letter written by some one else but must mani- festly be the evidence that the whole question is understood and has been carefully thought out by the head of the Depart- ment himself. One has only to ask himself what he would like to have done with his own son in a matter affecting his life-work to realize the point that- I am trying to make. It is very evident, therefore, that the kind of correspondence which is involved cannot be carried on the mind of an indi- vidual, a large part of whose thought is occupied with other interests. It must be so organized and correlated in an office in the care of those who understand the details that the facts can easily and frequently if necessary be put in proper sequence and grasped by one in authority very much as a lawyer would grasp his problem when his clerks bring him all the factors in the case. There is a still further reason why this correspondence requires more adequate handling than at present because of the development in these last few years of the specific prepara- tion for specific work on the part of the candidate. Formerly when the candidate offered himself for general missionary service it was comi)arative]y simple to direct him along a few The Organization anrt A<1iniuisii of the C'niididatc Deptirtiiieiit partments and also the qualifications of the missionaries, so that all Boards would be working along the same lines. To do this there should be at least an annual conference of Candi- date Department secretaries such as we are holding here at this time. There is vital need in my judgment that the young men in the schools and colleges should have a far clearer idea than they have of the high standard which ought to be at- tained if they are to sei've the missions boards and the King- dom of Christ as they ought. At present the vision which a candidate has is largely dependent upon the attitude of the individual secretary who happens to talk with him. That sec- retary's opinion is often determined by a tremendovis need or an especial vacancy and urgent plea from the Mission so that he is tempted to relax in his standards and judgment. While this may sometimes be necessary, there is room for a general standardization of qualifications which all the mission boards can endeavor to attain. 8. In addition to the development of a Candidate Depart- ment and adequate equipment I have come to the conclusion that every Board should have a Candidate Committee of its members. The medical examiner of the Board should, if pos- sible, be on that Committee. This Committee should meet at stated times. Not only should the papers be read by individ- uals but they should be talked over in the Committee. Special meetings of the Committee should be held if necessary. The Committee should pass not only upon the qualifications but it should suggest assignments through the Candidate Secretary who is in his turn in correspondence with the Field. This is in brief compass and for the purpose of opening our discussion and indicating the line along which my thoughts have been developing. No one realizes more than I do the many difficulties that will present themselves and the problems which must be solved. III. One or two points which stand out in my mind as un- questionable are : 1. We owe it to the Candidate to give him far more con- sideration and counsel than at the present time. 2. We owe it to the foreign mission work to send to the field men specially prepared for the tasks. 3. We owe it to the Kingdom of God that, in the New Era toward which we are moving so rapidly, a new and better pre- pared type of missionary candidate should be discovered. Early in the War I came across a circular which was sent out calling for candidates for the aeroplane sei'vice. Some sentences from that circular will interest you: ?5 Tlio rnndidiile l)oi»!ir(inont YOU CAN FLY IF YOU MEFT TUFSE REQUIREMENTS A flying officer must be between 19 and 30 years of age, preferably under 25. He must represent the very cream of young American manliood. He must be really a superman, for it costs the Government $25,000 to put an aviator over the German lines. He must be mentally alert, well educated, physically perfect, quick in thought and — cool in action. Tliink of the best varsity quarter- backs you know ; they are the right type. He has been correctly defined as "A Twentieth Century cavalry officer mounted on Pegasus." He must be mentally, morally and physically qualified to become an officer of the United States Army. For more information, etc. Ought we not as those who have been called to deal with the spiritualizing of life throughout the world to have at least as high ideals as those who are selecting men for the material conflicts? Above all, ought we not to settle this whole c|uestion on the basis of efficiency and the aims which we are trying to accom- plish rather than to be held back or determine our course by financial considerations ? Tt is poor policy to save money at the expense of efficiency and thoroughness. DISCUSSION Dr. Frank K. Sanders: During my very recent tour in the far East I asked many questions of young missionaries, not very far away from their first year in the field, concerning their experiences, and what they would have to say out of that experience about the methods of gaining, of discovering and of training candidates. Almost uni- formly they emphasize the idea of the personalisation, of the process, feeling that the one experience which was too largely omitted during their own first contact with tlie problems of the mission field was a direct and continuous contact with the responsible secretary. They felt that it would have meant so much to them, in most cases, could they have come into early contact with the secretary of their Board who was to follow their development during the years of preparation. If it is possible for us to follow the recommendations of these papers, l)oth with regard to the more careful organization of a special Candidate Committee, charged in the last analysis with final decisions, and even more especially with the setting apart of a responsible secre- tary, whose whole attention is to be .given to the general subject of the discovery, the selection and the management of candidates, and who will be enabled by the conditions under which he works actually to give his own {)ersonal attention to them one by one, we will go far in solving the proI)lems of the selection and training of candidates. Mr. George B. Huntington: Dr. White referred to the possible sav- ing to the Board by the more carefid selection of candidates. I made a study of that for our own Board last year and was surprised, I must confess, at the facts which came to the surface. Wiiile they are 26 The Candidate beimrtineiit not absolutely accurate, tlicy throw light on this very point. The American Baptist Foreign Mission Society sent out in a period of twenty years 233 new missionaries. When I made this investigation about a year ago, 154 of these were in active service on the field. Between 50 and 55 had served less than one full term. Out of 45 cases which I looked up carefully only 12 had served one full term, and the average length of service of those who had been on the held less than one term was 3 years and 8 months. As I studied the records of the cases, it became evident in as many as ten or fifteen cases that a more thorough process in the selection of the candidate (from a medical point of view, or from the point of view of his general preparation), would have prevented sending out most of those who served only a limited period. The saving as a result of having the machinery for a more careful study of can- didates would have been from sixty to seventy thousand dollars. This is not in criticism of what was done. With the methods and machinery in use then, no other results could have been secured. With the adequate machinery wliicli Dr. White has suggested and which we ought by all means to have in the missionary boards, I am confident that there would have been a large saving in actual cash. The other point which I wish to emphasize is the importance of giving to the Candidate Department a sufficient staff of helpers, so that the head of the department can give his personal attention to the questions that are raised, in the major part of the correspondence with the individual candidates. In the few years that I had the candidate correspondence for our Board, I became fully persuaded that a man with other things as his chief responsibility simply could not give the necessary attention to the candidate correspondence. I am glad to say that our Board has seen light in the matter and has recently appointed Dr. Lerrigo, one of our former missionaries in the Philippine Islands, as our Candidate Secretary. Dr. John F. Goucher: I would like to make three suggestions, r. The most difficult problem, possibly, that the Secretary will find will be to educate the Committee. There is nothing more vitally important. 1 have known of a Committee being partially educated by a person selecting publications and marking certain passages in them which he thought would be particularly helpful to the individual, and sending to him personal notes, simply stating that he had met this recently and thought it would interest him. That was done unostentatiously at various times, with satisfactory results. 2. I think it would be eminently wise for every candidate com- mittee to have a standing engagement with a "Vocational Council." There are men who give their whole time to this work. At consid- erable inconvenience I put myself in touch with one who has more than a national reputation. I told him I had reached a point in life where I desired to know if there was anything which I might do that was worth while and I desired him to tell me what such em- ployment might be. I had a very interesting talk with him. And I only suggest that I was convinced that this man knew a great many things which would seem uncanny to a person who didn't know how he interpreted facial indications. On careful inquiry I found a great many officers of important institutions who might not care to confess it, but they do this very thing. At very moderate expense, every candidate could be stirred to have an interview with a special Voca- tional Council, who would give him suggestions as to his aptitudes. 3. The time has come when we must have selective draft, and I think nothing more wise than to have a secretary, or assistant secre- tary, a traveling secretary, whatever you wish to call him, preferably a returned missionary, wise, sympathetic, full of information, one 27 The Candidnte Department who can give the reason for the faith that is in him, and let him go into the institutions and through grace, wisdom and prayer discover men who have leadership in tliem, born to achieve. Go to the president of an institution and ask him who arc the plus men, find from the pro- fessors their characteristics, then go to them and tell them their en- dowment is a special call from God to His service, appeal to the heroic in them. We must have a selective draft. I would not send them out if they were not earnest, devout Christian men. But that is one direct way of securing their consecration to God, when they know that God who gave them the endowments, is now asking them to invest their lives in His service. Dr. Cornelius H. Patton: When it comes to a final decision as to whether a candidate should be encouraged or discouraged, there is something to be said in favor of placing the responsibility with a general officer of the board, rather than one who is exclusively a Candidate Secretary. It is my observation that correct judgment of men rests more with those who have broad and varied experiences with men rather than with specialists. Two men are preeminently qualified to make wise .choices of leaders because their success de- pends absolutely upon such wisdom. They are the college president, and the head of a big business corporation. I can hardly conceive of a college president delegating the selection of his faculty to a bureau or official designated for that purpose. Mr. Carnegie frankly states that he considers his success to be due largely to his ability to choose men, to gather around him able leaders as heads of departments. I doubt if he could be persuaded to commit the matter to any one else. The reason to my mind, is that the person who makes a final decision of this kind, needs the broad training which comes from being a man of affairs. I am inclined to think that the Secretary who is in the administration of the Board, in the very center of it, who knows all the problems, knows the work on the field, who comes in contact with the men there, whose experience is the broadest possible to any officer of the Board, is likely to have more sound wisdom than one who is set apart exclusively for candidate work. Some of the best judges of our missionaries are not secretaries at all ; they are business men on our Committees, who know nothing about the technique of the matter; but because they are men of broad experience, and know men, their judgment is invaluable. I have in mind one particular man, whose instinct in judging men was almost uncanny. I have lirought before him candidates whom I have known for years, and followed along with very great care, and he in five minutes would be able to give a judgment which I would feel to be sound. Now, it was because of his broad training, and it had be- come almost an instinct with him. I am not ready to admit that all the arguments are on the side of exclusive candidate secretaries. I would go this far and say that I think there should be at least one person on the Board who does nothing else but attend to that depart- ment, and who may be on the job every day in the year, so that everything shall be attended to promptly and efficiently. Dr. Stanley White: I am wondering if in writing my paper hur- riedly I opened myself to the interpretation of the candidate secretary's office and work that Dr. Patton has put upon it. I thought I had made it clear that the candidate secretary should he a full-time secretary of the Board, that he siiould be in correspondence with the foreign field, that he should sit with full power of voting with the Executive Staff of the Board, and as far as having the slightest thought that he would not be one of the head secretaries of that Board and have a position that would give him that broad vision which Dr. Patton has described 28 Tlic C'lindidiite Deimrtiiicut as necessary for final decision, nothing was further from my thought. I would not belittle him, I would magnify him. and bring him up to the very point which Dr. Patton has spoken of, where he would be the man who would be qualified by his broad vision, knowledge and study, to make those decisions. He should be in the place of the head man of the business, and the head man in the college so far as selecting men is concerned. Dr. Charles R. Watson: During the past year, through the request of Dr. Mott that I cooperate on some of the Y. M. C. A. activities, I have been very much engaged in some of the problems of the Y. M. C. A. war work, and in the beginning of this year of cooperation there, I was very closely related to the personnel division of the Y. M. C. A. war work ; in other words, the machinery that had to do with the selecting of secretaries to go overseas. Some of these secretaries were for the American Army, some of them were for the French Army, some for the Italian, some for the Russian, and some for smaller areas of work, and, as I was seated here listening to the discussion of our candidate problems in the missionary sphere, it seemed to me that I had learned some lessons, or at least had received some suggestions out of this almost unique experience, to me altogether unique, of dealing with the personnel problem of the Y. M. C. A. war work. I do not know that I have really Jiad time to lay hold of my deepest impressions, but I thought it might be interesting just to emphasize a few. In the first place, one lesson we learned was that we could only secure the secretaries we needed in quantity and in quality by a process of decentralization. The effort to discover from one single office the secretaries that were needed proved to be absolutely impossible. You could not get the numbers that way and you could not come near enough to the candidate to be able truly to estimate his character and his worth. When we were in the middle of the year of the war, it was found to be necessary, therefore, to scrap the old machinery for recruiting that was planned on a centralized basis, and to get up new recruiting machinery on a decentralized basis. At each of these centers there was set up a fully organized office with- the Candidate Secretaries necessary to handle the large number of applicants from that District. Keep in mind the fact that we had to secure nearly 300 men each week. It had to be done quickly. There was no time for delay. The men had to get to these great armies overseas. Now, I have wondered whether our missionary candidate depart- ments are not too greatly centralized ; whether really from New York or from Philadelphia, without very marked aid of committees or at least of individuals throughout the country, we can really discover an adequate number of men and women, and whether discovering men and women in numbers, we can estimate their worth as we should. The second lesson learned was the need of a trained recruiting agent or agency. There was the greatest difference in the quality of the men that were sent up to New York, when you compared the output of different areas, the output of different recruiting committees. There were certain committees that had discovered what we wanted, that had set up standards that were worth while, and the material that came from these committees, or from these areas could almost be accepted without further examination, while there were pretty good chances that you would need to reject a large proportion of the material that came from other areas. Now, if we are going to adopt a decentralized plan, if we are going to have throughout the country those who will recruit for us along missionary lines, we will need not _ simply to appoint them or write letters and ask them to serve us in this capacity, 29 Tlie r:iiif (lif ( 'iinilidiite Uepsirdneut to the Candidnte some way for presentint^ the call for Christian social service, to young women especially, in order that we may gain the college women who are wanting to do that sort of thing. There is the big opportunity before the candidate secretary to guide the general reading of candidates. It is hoped that students who do not take a theological course may have some theological and much special biblical training, but not all of them will be able to get such special training, and it is im- portant that through this reading, which we can direct, they may get some idea of the theological problems of the day, so that they will not be untrained in that very important sub- ject. At every stage of our contact with the candidate, we have the opportunity to guide in the physical preparation, to bring before the candidate the physical standards of the Board, and to advise as to ways in which the standard may be achieved. As we are facing to-day the great new task which is the same old task, only with larger significance, we are finding young men and young women who have a new conception of service. We are dealing with young people who want to do big things, and who want to do hard things. One of the most important tasks before not only the candidate secretary, but all the officers and workers in our Board administration, is to bring this same old task into the large place which it ought to have, which it has had in our minds, which it has to-day for the first time in tlie minds of many people. We must make students see that reconstruction and world brotherhood are simply new names for this great task, and that we are asking them to give themselves to that, and that no preparation is too difficult to make them fit to achieve their share in that big task. 2. SELECTING THE CANDIDATES Bv Rev. Thomas S. Donohugh. New York To insure the selection of satisfactory candidates it is essential that there should be ( i ) close cooperation between the Boards and the forces on the field, (2) a careful study of the candidates who are available or an adequate search for those required, and (3) sufficient time in which to make selections upon whose appropriateness we may rely. Our difTficulties come very largely from our lack of knowl- edge of the exact need on the one hand and of our candidates on the other, together with an urgency of demand and a shortness of time with which we are all too familiar. The 35 The I{<-I:i(i4>ii of Hic Cnndidiilo Dcpiirtiiioiit oard is very desirable. 7. Training conferences for candidates should be held each year, providing opportunity for close personal acquaintance with Secretaries, missionaries, and other candidates and for the necessary inspiration, instruction and personal guidance so necessary before going to the field. Methods such as these should lead to a marked increase in the efficiency and degree of satisfaction to be obtained from our candidate work. It should be possible to fill every opening on the foreign field with a man or woman of the highest grade. If we fail to do so it is because we do not make the necessary efl^ort, not because the candidates are not available. The finest young men and women in the world are waiting for us, ready for the Master's service. DISCUSSION Mr. Frank L. Brown: I have been a superintendent of a Sun- day School for thirty-three years. In all that time, I have never re- ceived from any missionary board a request that I should, as superin- tendent, be on the lookout for young people in our school with qualities of leadership ability who might be steered toward mis- sionary service, and yet I have had a large number of young people in our school who might easily have been directed into those chan- nels. I have wondered at it, wondered why our missionary boards do not go into the Sunday Schools and get that rich material, at the time of life when these young people are l)eing molded by teachers for the very objective of Church Community and World service. I did get the other day from the Y. M. C. A. a request that I should appoint several of the young men of our school as delegates to a conference at which there were to be presented the Christian ministry, the mission field, a Y. M. C. A. secretaryship, and social service leadership. I think we should present to these young peo])le in the Sunday Schools a coordinated appeal that would be administered as to its presentation by some one who has the ability of a Hoover, who could do for the Christian Church what he is doing for food conservation. Some one, selected by various interests, should direct this whole enterprise from a business standpoint, so that the Missionary Boards and Sunday School and these other organizations would have a fair chance at Christian leadership. These young people, too, are entitled to know the whole field and reach of Christian service in order to wisely choose their life vocation. Dr. Orville Reed: In connection with the point in regard to the guiding of the candidates, may I report that we are trying the experiment of putting our candidates in touch with an expert in education, who is a teacher in Teachers College. He advises with them in regard to the courses that they are to take, and gives the advice of an expert. We hope we shall have good results from that experiment. Miss Kate G. Lamson: There is one very practical aspect of this whole subject that would perhaps come in more fittingly at another time, and this is the physical preparation and selection of mission- 41 The Relation of the Candidate Department to the Candidate aries. From ,my experience it is a most critical and difficult matter, to make sure that the physical preparation is what it should be, and that the physical stamina is sufficient to warrant sending out the missionary to the field. Our medical examiners as a rule are not especially intelligent regarding the climatic or the physical demands upon the candidate after he has reached the field. It is a great problem to know how we shall get around this difficulty, and form wise and far reaching decisions regarding the physical appropriate- ness of the candidate for the work. Mr. Fennell P. Turner: May I offer two suggestions? Many of the difficulties to which our attention has been called will be solved if we begin early enough with these prospective candidates. I put that down as point number one in answer to several of these questions. Take the matter of directed reading : if we begin early enough there will be no difficulty about the questions which are brought to us by mail, and in personal conversation, which will enable us to direct the reading of the prospective candidate. Take the matter of physical qualifications : one of the questions which always comes in the correspondence which we at this office have with student volunteers, almost as soon as they indicate their desire to become foreign mis- sionaries is, "What are the physical qualifications," "Ought I to get a physical examination at this time?" The points that have been brought out here all tend in the direction of laying hold of these young men and women as soon as they have indicated their desire to become missionaries. By following each prospective candidate these difficulties will be solved during the period of preparation. May I also emphasize the contribution which the candidate who is not accepted for foreign missionary service can make toward the spiritual welfare of the Church and to the progress of the missionary enterprise within the Church. Rut if this is done great care must be used in dealing with those young men and women who are not qualified to go abroad. In some boards about one in four of the applicants is selected, in some boards there may not be so large a proportion rejected — but take this for illustration. That leaves three out of the four who are going to remain at home, and if those three are dealt with properly, their inspiration and desire and devotion to the problem of world-wide evangelization will deepen because they have had this desire to become foreign missionaries and their influence will mean much to the Church. I will venture to say that the great progress which has been made in the last few years in our missionary work in all the churches has been led largely by these men and women who have desired to go abroad, but who have been prevented by reasons beyond their own control from going abroad. Time spent on the candidate who cannot be accepted is not lost. We are inclined to deprecate the fact that persons who cannot go abroad ever trouble our offices with calls or with letters. Instead of regretting this, we should welcome every such person and thank God for the opportunity. Every applicant who cannot be ac- cepted should be looked upon as an asset to the work in the home Church — and our Candidate Departments should be organized to deal sympathetically with every applicant. He is an asset to the Church — whether lie go abroad or stay at home. Dr. Frank K. Sanders: We must remember that the specialization wliich is really demanded for a new missionary is not the kind of specialization as a ndc that would be required of a missionary in the course of his first furlough, when he was getting ready for his permanent place on the field. Consequently if a young candidate was urged to [>reparc, let us say for educational service, and if even at the last minute the particular task that candidate hail in mind should 42 The Relation of the Cnndidnte Department to the Candidate happen to be altered slightly, the outcome might not be fatal. Nine- tenths of the training acquired would be entirely available to the can- didate in the slightly different educational position that he or she might be asked to take up. We are not looking as a rule in the gen- eral missionary service for doctors of philosophy. There is need for a few of them — very few, but such stand out prominently amidst the great number of missionary experts. This larger number is rather composed of men who know their tasks, but are not yet trained into that kind of expertness which makes it difficult for one to think along other than a very narrow line of experience. I feel sure that few, if any, of that sort are wanted on the m.ission field. The danger, then, we have in mind, when we talk about the training of specialists need not be over-magnified. There is a chance in most cases for the reparation of mistakes, if mistakes are made. One other thought comes to me, suggested by Miss Calder's re- marks, regarding the different kinds of training that should be urged upon candidates. I was greatly interested very recently, in conferences held in the Far East with missionaries, where they discussed this very subject, to have them say repeatedly that if they had anything to do with the training of yoimg candidates, they would recommend to them to use their spare time, as far as feasible, in looking up the way in which Christian work was carried on in our country; to study methods of evangelization as tliey happen to come across them, to study ways of handling a Sunday School and of directing all kinds of practical work. They thought that would be a wonderfully good training for any young missionary, and that it was available to any alert young candidate incidentally. They hoped that our candidate secretaries would call it to the attention of those candidates with whom tliey were in touch. Dr. Stanley White: Apropos of the question of the selection and volunteering, perhaps I might pass on something which came to me the other day, and which has giyen m.e a good deal of thought be- cause it indicates what has happened through this wartime with reference to this matter of volunteering and drafting. I was told that at one time at Chateau Thierry it was necessary to reenforce a regi- ment which was hard pressed at the front by another regiment. Word was sent that a new regiment had been ordered to go forward. It happened to be a drafted regiment and its colonel expressed the fear that the men at the front who were volunteers might be tempted to greet them with jibes. Within ten days after they had gone up there, it was discovered that the drafted regiment was the offender and was chiding the volunteers as draft slackers because they had chosen their work while the others had put themselves vmreservedly at the disposal of the Government. The significance of that to me is that it indicates that we have reached a time when young people have gotten a totally new idea of. 'the obligation of service. It is only within a week that I have been at an institution where not only the men who had been thinking about these things before, but every man in a whole class, and some men who had been opposed to foreign missions, opened themselves deliberately to having the whole matter outlined before them again from the point of view of duty ; and I think we have reached a time when we, as those who represent foreign missions, have a large opportunity along a line, which would be equivalent to drafting, so far as we can use that method in a place where we have no absolute authority — drafting men rather than waiting for the volunteers seems to be the suggestion of the hour. Dr. E. Munson Hill: I have been impressed with a phase of this work which gives a meaning larger even than the matter of choos- 43 The Relation of tlie C'niitlidnte Departnieut the Cauilidate spend a number of years in educational institutions given to theory especially when from sixteen to twenty years have already been given to theoretical training. Dr. Frank K. Sanders: Questions, constantly raised by candi- dates regarding courses to be taken and by missionaries in regard to the wise use of their furloughs, are very technical. They can only be helpfully answered by some one fully in touch with the existing educational situation as expressed in specific courses available at dif- ferent institutions in Canada and the United States, who also knows the working of the candidate and missionary mind. The Board of Missionary Preparation will be very glad to serve the Boards in ways like this through its office which is organized to furnish just such information promptly and with reasonable ade- quacy. To answer such questions as earnest candidates and mis- sionaries ask to their satisfaction requires a great deal of experi- ence. The Board of Missionary Preparation has gained much of this experience and would be very glad to put it at the disposal of any Secretary. If a Secretary who receives a letter which raises ques- tions so technical tliat he does not feel wholly competent to answer them would refer such a letter to the Board of Missionary Prepara- tion, it will take all necessary pains to determine the adequate reply, formulating that and returning it to the office of the Secre- tary in question for him to use as he may choose. The Board is in receipt of quite a good deal of correspondence of this sort originating directly in institutions in this country from candidates and on the mission field frcpm missionaries. It is our practise invariably to notify the responsible Secretary of the Board in question with reference to queries of any real importance, and to indicate the proposed reply before actually sending any answer. The Board regards such action as primarily of administrative interest and wishes to take no steps which Mission Secretaries do not fully approve. Chairman Corey: I would like to just call attention to the point that Dr. White made a moment ago, and reenforce it a little if I may, with regard to the necessity of really selecting candidates, talking with them concerning some selected task for them. I had a little experience this last year which taught me considerable with regard to the appeal in putting up a special task to a person. We had two emergencies in the field, and I went to two men who, it seemed to me, had had experience fitting them for this work. Neither of these men had decided for the mission field, although they had thought of it seriously in the past years, and I sat down beside those men and told them we needed them for a specific work in the field, and that we had no one else. In both cases it appealed very strongly to them. They are both preparing to go. I believe we must study the conditions in the field so that we can put up a particular kind of work to these men as we talk to them. 45 THE SELECTION OF CANDIDATES FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF MISSION- ARIES ON THE FIELD By Professor Guy W. Sarvis University of Nanking I have been going over the history of our mission in China for the last few years, and have noted that the term of service is shortening, and the frequency of withdrawals is on the whole increasing, and I have been trying to discover the reasons for these facts. I think that the following state- ments are probably true. In about fifty per cent, of the cases, being personally erratic was an important factor in the withdrawal. I use the word "erratic"; you may say eccentric, cranky, etc. I think in fifty per cent, of the cases, incompatibility with fellow missionaries has been an important factor in the withdrawal of these mis- sionaries, and I think in about the same number of cases the refusal to accept a decision of the mission with reference to the work of the particular missionary, or with reference to a certain policy, has been an important factor in the situation. Of course, these factors would not all apply to any one indi- vidual, but they all imply the inability of the person in question to do team work. Health has probably been the factor next in importance in causing withdrawal from the field. Now, these situations have arisen, I suppose, in many cases partly through lack of tact in the dealing of the other missionaries with the particular individual, but in practically every case there has been some fundamental twist in the make-up of the individual concerned. The missionaries, I believe, are on the whole long-sufifering in their dealing with the person who is unable for some reason or other to fit in. I am not competent to discuss the methods used at home in selecting candidates, but I am impressed with the fact that in too many cases tlie selection of candidates is under artificial conditions. That is to say we don't get at the candidates where they are. We ask them questions about their beliefs and fail to do other important things, e. g., talk to them about their wives and babies and their problems in their local churches. That is to say, if you want to get at a man's char- 46 The Seloction ttt Candidates acter, you must get at him in his ]ilain, everyday activities. Somehow or other we must get at the candidate in his normal relations and over a period of time. I don't think that it is possible to decide on a man's fitness in a short interval of time, or by correspondence. We find it very difificult in the foreign field to deal with a certain type of so-called "pious people." Now, you under- stand what I mean by that. I sometimes feel like saying we are more troubled by "flagrant piety" than we are by flagrant sin in the foreign field. In other words, balance, normality, and just common sense are the things that we want, and we must find them by studying the candidates as they are under ordinary everyday conditions. The question of health, of course, is a question for the doctors. I am curious to know how many doctors there are here representing the Mission Boards this afternoon. I have a suspicion that there aren't any. If there are, they are cer- tainly very few. Well, it seems to me the characteristics of the doctors who examine the candidates are absolutely as im- portant as the characteristics of the Candidate Secretary. It isn't a question of physical examination only, but it is a ques- tion of going with the candidate into the whole physical health situation in which he is to be placed. We can't avoid break- downs, of course, and we can't predict breakdowns in every case, but there have been many cases where people have been sent out who were not physically equipped as they should be. I think it is necessary to go into the family health history in a thorough way. That is to say, we can't take the candidate just as we find him physically, but must make a study of him. There is another thing I would like to emphasize from our experience in the Nanking Language School. I hope that the Board Secretaries will use all their power to see that people are fit when they go out, that is to say, that they are not nervously exhausted, that they don't go to the field after months of overwork. I believe that perhaps half of the people who come home during that first year from the language school have come largely because they weren't in fit physical condition when they arrived — simply because they were run- down. There is another matter which I would not mention if we were not a serious gathering and concerned with exceedingly serious problems, and so I think we can talk frankly. I think the missionary doctor ought to take up with married people who are going out to the field the special questions that con- cern them. The efficiency of missionary families, their happi- ness and usefulness, would be greatly enhanced if the Board doctor, in a sympathetic and intelligent way, would take up 47 The Selection of Cnndidntcs with them the particular problems involved in life on the mission field.^ Board doctors ought to consult with doctors from the dif- ferent fields and gather information and data with reference to the particular conditions in each, and then they ought to take up with the candidates in conference the whole question of their health. The health of married w.omen and of children should be specially emphasized. There is another thing — and that is the question of whether or not we should ask the candidate to commit himself for life service. I believe that missionary work is on a par with all other Christian work, — I don't think it is different in char- acter. Therefore I raise the question whether you have a right or whether it is wise always to say, "This is a life propo- sition." It isn't necessarily a life proposition from the Board's side. No business firm makes that kind of a proposi- tion, no church makes that kind of a proposition. I think in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, after a man or woman gets into the mission field and serves his first term, if he has been a success, he is just as likely to go back if you don't talk about life service as if you do. I raise that point simply for your consideration, not to insist upon it. A point which Miss Calder brought up this morning I had thought of in the same terms — and that is the use of the term "evangelistic missionary." It is like talking about a flying aeroplane to talk about an evangelistic missionary. It is re- dundant, for one thing, and it is misleading. The thing that comes to the mind of the college student when you talk about an evangelistic missionary is a sort of Billy Sunday activity, and that is as far from describing the activity of the mis- sionai-y as anything could be. I liked the suggestion of Miss Calder this morning: I had thought of some such phrase as "pastoral social worker," something which implies that he comes to live among men, mix with them and exert his in- fluence as a leader among men. I think the term is most misleading, and those of us who have to do with college students particularly should be very careful in talking about this line of work to indicate that it is, after all, the funda- mental work in missions. All of our mission schools depend on the evangelistic work, and so does the church. So I hope we may discover some term which may describe those activities and will take away that invidious sound which comes from a wrong interpreta- tion of the word evangelistic. ' There is a valuable paper on this subject in a small book issued by the Pres- byterian Board, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, under tlie title "Counsel to New Missionaries." 48 The Selection of C'nn«1idnte.s In the next place, especially in China and Japan, we need men who have the modern outlook in life. I mean men who think of religion in terms of life rather than in formulae, men to whom religion is a normal thing, men who, therefore, are sympathetic with the people to whom they go. I have thought of it in this way : we need men who do not think that there is a conflict between the God of- chemistry and the God of Israel. Now that is a very fundamental distinction and there are missionaries going into the field to-day who take the attitude implied in that antithesis toward the work, toward life, toward religion — men who think of religion as apart from life and as expressed in theology. These men are prac- tically useless in China and Japan and among the educated classes anywhere. Another question I want to make a suggestion about : the question of the age limit. In the University of Nanking we have had one or two conspicuous experiences with older people going out and doing very efficient service, and there is an increasing number of openings in the field for people of this class with personality and training to get into the missionary work in places where they don't have to learn the language. May I say here that I think we have emphasized training too much and personality too little. The fundamental quali- fication of a missionary is personality. Training is im- portant, but you cannot train a person who doesn't have per- sonality ; furthermore, personal relationships are the most im- portant relationships — not only in China, but everywhere in the world. I want to second what Mr. Lockwood said, that experience in life is an essential qualification of any missionary candi- date. I believe in training but I don't think anybody should go to the mission field until he has demonstrated his ability to meet a concrete situation in which his own initiative and ability are demonstrated. Therefore I would advocate for any young volunteer a year of teaching, or in some other sort of a situation where he has ta meet problems and work them out himself. I think that experience with life is more im- portant in many cases than a year in a special training school. A special training school is apt to be a sort of cloister. This is not necessarily true and the people who run them try to pre- vent it, but there is that tendency. I would like to emphasize the importance of candidates being interested in all sorts of practical things, making records of useful information of all sorts, and when they meet men of all kinds to talk with them and find out about their line of business, and all that sort of thing. That ought to be emphasized to the volunteers. It is not only in Africa, where 49 The Selection <>f Cnndidates you have to be a doctor and nurse and teacher all in one, that this is desirable, but even in highly specialized work it is also needed. If I were to sum up all I have said I would say that we ought to recognize personality — ability, and character — as the fundamental, the first and last characteristic of the mis- sionary. THE SELECTION OF CANDIDATES FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF MISSION- ARIES ON THE FIELD By J. G. Vaughan, M.D., Suterintendent Methodist Hospital, Nancliaiig, China It is a privilege to present to this group a few facts con- cerning the missionary candidate from the missionary's point of view. With the tremendous program for candidate train- ing that the Board of Missionary Preparation is setting up, it seems almost 'presumptuous to add anything. But there are a few facts that impress me as I think of the field, that I gladly present for consideration. May I group them imder the general subject of "The Deficiencies of Missionary Can- didates" ? As a physician the outstanding defect that appeals to me is the physical. True, it is found only occasionally, but still more frequently than it should be found. When one thinks of the methods that our Boards have as a rule followed in the past in examining their candidates, it is no wonder that one on the field frequently meets with instances of breakdown that are pathetic indeed. Failure at this point is generally due to incompetent and hasty examinations. Frequently they are made by busy physicians who think half an hour of their valuable time is ample for the jiurpose. lUit in these days of accurate methods of diagnosis and of measuring physical efficiency, no satisfactory physical examination can be made in such a brief time. Again, the method of determining physi- cal examiners is often unsatisfactory. He is generally chosen, not on a purely business basis of efficiency but because he is a member of the church in question. I believe the time has fully come when we should abolish such inade(|nate methods. Some boards have already taken steps in lliat direclion. My first suggestion for better physi- 50 The Scleciiuu of Csiiitlidate.s cal examination of our candidates is unification. Let all of the boards concentrate their examining work in the hands of a few examiners located at the chief geographical centers of the country. There should be in New York a chief examiner for the boards who would select these ten or twelve local examiners. These men would then be receiving enough work from the boards to make it interesting and remunerative to them. They would naturally give more study to the effect of Oriental conditions on the American physicjue. Besides unification, there should be better organization of the examining work. lietter and more complete examining questionnaires should be draw^i up, and all records should be carefully filed and used to check back those candidates who, after approval, turn out to be physical failures on the field. I believe there is at present no established custom of carrying back to an examiner his error in passing any candidate who later proves to be physically disqualified for the field. Physi- cians will be glad to learn of their mistakes in order that they may profit by them. Together with this file showing accurately the health of our candidates, there should be accumulated data showing health on the field. We would then soon have a store of scientific information that would not only be of great service to the boards, but would have a wide value to the medical profession at large. As an illustration of one of these candidates who was a physical failure, allow me to cite the following: Miss M., a young woman, nurse, graduate from a good hospital, and also a college graduate. She was, therefore, apparently well trained. In temperament she was sentimental, poetic, hyster- ical, sometimes morbid. She had written several poems which had been accepted for publication. Several times she had shown slight suicidal tendencies. When she presented herself to the Board as a candidate her appointment was definitely opposed by one of her nurs- ing supervisors who knew her psychic make-up. She suc- ceeded, however, in passing a physical examination, by a good member of the denomination, a benevolent, kindly physician, who knew the candidate personally and wanted to see her ac- complish her ambition. This candidate was sent to the field and in two weeks she was taken very ill from conditions that existed before she left the homeland, and not improving, two months later it was necessary to have a consultation re- quiring that a busy missionary physician be brought a day's journey for consultation. From then on for a year she suffered a series of acute illnesses with lingering convales- cence and constant invalidism. At one time she had a re- 51 The .Solerfion at Candidates volver under her pillow, contemplating suicide. Of course she was incapacitated completely, as far as any missionary work was concerned. Not only was she inactive herself but a great part of the time she required the 'nursing attention of busy missionaries. Finally, at the end of a year, she was sent home and several years later was sent to an asylum, an almost hopeless mental and physical wreck. Other similar cases could easily be cited but this one is suffi- cient to illustrate the point that I wish to urge, namely, that we must give thorough physical examinations to our candi- dates before they go to the field. As far as mental qualifications and defects are concerned, may I say that it seems to me that brilliant scholarship is not as essential as level-headedness, common sense, adaptability, and sweet reasonableness. A capacity for mental industry is necessary but there is no need that one be a special genius. We should distinguish between mental dullness and mental stagnation. A certain degree of mental dullness is permis- sible but a spirit of mental stagnation is dangerous on the field. Allow me to cite a case of mental disqualification that came to the field. This case was a nurse. She came out designated as a trained nurse but she was not even a sensible practical nurse. Her inefficiency in nursing and matters of medical care were so striking that missionaries on the field could never understand how her Board could have made such a blunder as to send her out. In manners she was rather loud and coarse and was constantly embarrassing the missionaries by her peculiar mannerisms. She had very low grade mental qualifications, very inefficient training, and manners that were startling both to the natives and to her fellow-missionaries. In the third place, w'e frequently ignore a thorough study of our candidates along lines of psychic and social qualifi- cations. We frequently see on the fields the hysterical type who is easily ofifended or deficient in calm judgment, or given to making and executing poorly considered decisions. Then again we see others who under the ])eculiar strain of field conditions become easily discouraged and disappointed be- cause of their peculiar temperament — the morbid, taciturn type. Then again we have the careless or inconsiderate type, frequently seen, who fit in very poorly with the Oriental ideas of courtesy, deference and consideration for others. Es- pecially do we Americans need to guard against this, our national fault, of abrupt, outspoken, sometimes crude ill man- ners, for with the Orientals courtesy and gentle manners rank high. In the fourth place, as to theological qualifications, we S3 The Selection of Candidates should not in my judgment be overcautious or exacting in. our requirements. It is essential that there should be a deep interest and thorough knowledge of church life and work, but as to the exact theological distinction for most of our mis- sionary workers, in my judgment, a careful exactness is not essential. If one is willing to go to the foreign field for an entirely unselfish and altruistic purpose, and if he has the love of God and his fellow man in his heart, his theology will not likely be any cause of complaint. A strong religious experience is most desirable but we know splendid characters who do not have that outstanding type of religious experience, and yet who have given proof by the unselfish devotion of their lives and the high grade of their service in foreign lands that they had all the fundamental requirements that Jesus puts upon His servants. Instances could be cited of candidates who have been re- jected on theological grounds to the great detriment of the work. I remember one schoolmate of mine, a splendid fel- low, a medical graduate who applied to his Board and in the correspondence that followed he was asked as to his attitude on the inspiration of the Scriptures. Naturally an overcon- scientious fellow, he overemphasized in his reply his liberal ideas and he was promptly rejected without further inquiry. But he was a man who by his life in the medical school and active work as Bible Class leader and teacher had shown that he thoroughly loved the Book and knew how to teach it ac- ceptably. So may I summarize in closing, urging that our Missionary Boards raise the standard of medical examinations for our candidates, that in the question of mental efficiency we rely upon the fundamental qualifications of common sense and good training rather than brilliant scholarship ; and that we take carefully under our study the psychic and social tempera- ment ; and that on the moral and religious side we be not overcautious but hold rigidly to high moral ideals, loyalty to the spirit of Christ and unselfish devotion to the life of service. DISCUSSION Bishop A. S- Lloyd: Will some missionary enlarge a little on that psychopathic question ? It happens in my organization I am the last man that has to pass on those papers, and it is heart-breaking. 1 want to know if the missionaries can give me any token by which we can know the signs that mean disaster on the psychopathic side. All the rest of it we can take care of, but that thing which we call temperament causes more distress in my experience than all the rest of the things put together. Prof. Guy W. Sarvis: At least a preliminary medical examination 53 I'he Selection of CandiilatelS at the time of volunteering, as the Board of Preparation has sug- gested, is important. I have known a good many people who have been if not embittered, at least greatly disappointed because they have gone ahead with the idea of becoming missionaries, when a physi- cal examination would have shown that that was impossible. May I say this, that a person of unprepossessing appearance and of boorish manners will practically never make a good missionary? I think that ought to be considered an important qualification. Of course, the Orient is the politest part of the world, and the matter of personal appearance is taken into consideration by all classes in the Orient, and a person who has that sort of manners, whether they are to blame or not, reveals that sort of personality. In practically every case, a person of that type is lacking in tact, and in a conscious- ness of the point of view of the person with whom he is dealing. Rev. E. C. Lobenstine; The topic we are discussing here to-day is of the keenest interest to us in China. During the past five years a Committee in China has been devoting itself to the study of ques- tions connected with the training of missionaries. We were much helped by the recent visit of Dr. F. K. Sanders, who came on behalf of the Board of Missionary Preparation to see the missionary at work and to confer with those on the field as to how missionaries can best be fitted for their work. In China we regard it as of supreme importance that missionaries before coming to the field should understand what Christianity really is, what it is that differentiates it from other religions and makes it the universal religion. We regard it as far more important that missionaries should have a clear grasp of the history of the Christian church, of its contribution to human prog- ress and its message to the world to-day than that they should acquire a large amount of information regarding conditions in the country to which they are to go. Most of this latter kind of knowl- edge may be acquired after they reach the field, but it is of funda- mental importance that before they go out they should understand what it is that we are commissioned to do in the world. In the matter of specialized training, our Committee in China is of the opinion that one of the most practical, and simple things that could be done here would be to have the Boards agree that edu- cation shall rank with theology and with medicine, as a distinct department of missionary work, and that any young man or young woman in college, who volunteers for service on the foreign mission field should have before him or her at that time the choice of at least these three main professions. We are concerned that when mission- aries come out they shall be well trained along one of the main lines of missionary activity, so that they may be able to enter upon their work with a fair degree of specialized preparation. It is also most desirable that they should, if possible, have some practical experience, before going to the field. We rejoice in the large amount of thought which is being given to the securing of a better trained staff of missionaries and are pre- pared to cooperate with you in helping young missionaries acquire that part of their preparation that can best be acquired after they reach the field. Dr. Anna S. Kugler: The kind of material we need in the Orient is the kind of material that would make a success of life in the Occident. We don't want people sent to India and China and Japan that cannot make a success of life at home. We want the best that America has. We do not want missionaries who have taken short- cut preparation. \Vc do not want medical missionaries who have 54 The Selection of Candidate!^ been trained at second-rate medical schools. We want them to get their training at medical colleges of the first rank. Rev. S. G. Inman: We of Latin America feel just as those from the Orient have expressed it, the value of personality. One char- acteristic of the Latin is the value that he places upon the indi- vidual. Presidents of countries are elected not because of what they represent in the platform, but because of what they are themselves, individually, and so on down to the smallest office. So a man with- out personality can really get no following. It is around his person- ality that institutions are built. So I hope that the Boards will always keep that in mind, in sending missionaries to Latin America. I wonder if I might say too, that the missionary secretaries ought to carry out their convictions in regard to the fitness of the candidates. The description of one missionary sent to the field given here this after- noon tallies exactly with other missionaries that I know have been sent to the field and the missionary secretaries knew that they had those characteristics. But because of certain promises that they might have made or some friends might have made, or because of some family connections or for some other reason, those missionaries are now on the field. But it will be necessary in six months or a year or two years, according to how long-sufifering are the mission and the Board, to return those missionaries to the United States. Now it would have saved broken hearts and broken purposes and a number of other things if missionary boards would have just simply had, may I say, the nerve to speak the word at first that they will finally have to speak. Concerning training, a method has been tried in our Latin American field recently that seems to me worth while to think about, and that is missionaries going into the government universities in these coun- tries after they have gotten to the field, for special courses. One of our men went to Buenos Ayres and after struggling with the lan- guage for some little time, decided that he would take a course in the university. That has straightened out his language question and it has given him contact with the educated classes and friend- ship with some of the leading people of the city. So I believe we ought to look further into the value of certain missionaries taking advanced courses in the state educational institutions of the country to which they go. Dr. John E. Williams: I wondered whether the Boards might not develop a Medical Committee in New York, where they could have the association of experts in all lines, who would serve all the Boards. The candidates might spend some time, without being rushed or anxious, under the observation and examination of such a Board, trying to determine particularly their fitness on the psychopathic side for the work. One recognizes how difficult it is to forecast the development of young missionaries after they get to the field. It is somewhat like the artist's work on pottery before it is fired ; the stress and strain of the furnace often bring out very different results from those an- ticipated. Going to a dififerent climate, under different racial condi- tions, undertaking to learn a language with no roots of association, proves often to be too difficult a test. Then with the missionary it is like being ushered by board decree into a large family where you must like very much your newly provided sisters and brothers. The first requisite is a personality and temperament that can adjust these complex relations, as well as the specialized training which is now required to meet the specialized needs. I should think there would be great advantage in having the nervous and tempera- mental examination under the medical men. 55 SELECTING AND TRAINING LEADERS IN INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS By Mr. Paul Super, New York I am going to speak briefly about some of the things that industry and the army are doing in the selecting and in the training of their leaders. A medieval writer said that in the house of God some pray, some work, and some fight, and by that classification divided men into three divisions, those who are professionally engaged in religion, those who are working men, and those who are soldiers. Let us divide the house of God into three this after- noon, and see what we who belong to that section of the house that prays can learn from the section that fights and the section that works. A great manufacturer recently said that for fifty years America has specialized on manufacturing processes and on production, to the neglect of personnel, and the result of this is that there is in industry a very large turnover, to use the industrial term. In industry turnover refers to the number of men you employ, to fill a specific position. If you have an average staff of ten men, and you employ ten new men in the course of a year to keep ten positions filled, your turnover is a hundred per cent. If you have eight positions and you employ no new men throughout the year, you have no turn- over. Now turnover in industry has been one of the most expensive phases of the manufacturing processes. Industrial leaders say that there are forty million workers in America, and that the turnover is fifty million, that is, that the country engages each year fifty million people to keep forty million on the staff. They figure that seventy-five per cent, of this turn- over is unnecessai*y, and only twenty-five per cent, of it is justifiable. They figure the turnover costs from eight dollars for a common working-man to a thousand dollars for a fore- man and that the whole loss in the country each year, largely through turnover, misplaced and untrained workers, is thir- teen billions of dollars. Those are the figures of the industrial experts of the country. Therefore, industry is now coming to divide its processes into five sections, instead of the old four sections : the five sections being, in the first place, production ; in the second place, finance and accounting ; in the third place, marketing ; 56 Selecting and Training Leaders in Industrial Elstabllshnients in the fourth place, transportation ; and in the fifth place, per- sonal relations. Personnel is the thing that is receiving atten- tion in industry to-day. The problems that are handled by a Personnel Department of a large industry are the problems of employment, the prob- lems of education and training, the problems of safety and health, the problems of thrift and benefits, and the problems of welfare. In the selecting of men, four or five lines of guidance are followed. In the first place, physical examination, examina- tion as to whether a person is physically fit to engage in the industrial process that industry is contemplating employing that person for. In the second place, psychological tests to indicate aptitude for certain things, psychological tests of an objective nature to indicate ability along certain lines. Dr. Hugo Miinsterberg carried this too far a few years ago ; the reaction from the extreme to which Miinsterberg carried this is now taking place, so that while some people regard psychological tests as valueless, industry is regarding them as valuable. In a report issued a few weeks ago by Dr. Mann, of the Carnegie Foundation, he advocates that men looking forward to being engineers take psychological tests. Here is an illus- tration of objective tests : Here is a box, containing six unas- sembled pieces of machinery, such as a door-knob unassem- bled, an electric battery, etc. You take the box and pass it over to a man and see how long it will take him to assemble each one of those six unassembled pieces of machinery. If he can assemble them in an hour, for instance, he is a man of average mechanical ability. If he assembles them in half an hour, he has tmusual mechanical ability. By that simple test you can find out whether a man has the makings of a mechanic or not. Walter Dill Scott, another psychologist, Thorndike, and other men are working on this problem of psychological tests. This is not something that is being done merely in the college laboratory. It has passed beyond that academic sphere and is now a practical process that the industries are apply- ing as a basis of choosing men. The third guide in the choosing of candidates is the careful analysis of the requirements of a specific task. What qualities must a person have in order to work at a loom? Well, a nervous, irritable, highly intelligent girl would not do ; in fact, any one of those three qualities would almost unfit a girl to be a loom-worker; but a girl of low intelligence, phlegmatic in character would make a better loom-worker than a bright, quick girl. They ar€ analyzing the kind of people necessary 57 Selecting and Training Leaders in Industrial Kstnhlislinients for specific tasks. They are making that analysis twofold, to find the kind of person that should do this task, and analyzing the individual to find the kind of task that this person should perform. The turnover in industry falls into two classes, the newer employees and the untrained employees. I dare say you will find each of these conditions reproduced in missionary work. I know we find them reproduced in Y. M. C. A. work. Our great turnover falls into two classes, the newer employees and untrained employees. The solution of turnover in new em- ployees is found in scientific processes of choosing and select- ing those who are to be engaged in certain lines of work. The solution of the problem of untrained employees is found in distinct, well-thought-out processes of training the men for these specific tasks. I returned to the United States a few years ago to take charge of the training of Y. M. C A. secretaries for the International Committee. I had previous to that time been guided in my own work in training men by the experience of engineering corporations, so when I came to America I at once made a tour, visiting big engineering corporations and interviewing the leaders in those corporations as to how they choose their employees. I can only speak of one or two things, because I am going to keep very carefully to my time limit. I will take first the Western Electric Co. of Chicago. A man named J. W. Dietz heads the work of training employees. He is a univer- sity graduate, an expert engineer. He is one of the men that the Government has recently asked to take charge of similar work, the proper training and placing of mechanics in the army. They have scouts in the various colleges. They carry on an extensive system of recruiting and very carefully an- alyze the men whom they contemplate employing. I have brought along some of the material used by the Western Electric, by the Pennsylvania Railroad, by Westing- house, by Commonwealth Edison of Chicago, by th-e National City Bank, etc. They have definite blanks that men fill out. They seek information on such ])oints as honesty, scholarship, personal appearance, personal habits, ambition, refinement, approach, health, perseverance, cheerfulness, a long list of qualities carefully studied out. When men make applica- tion the corporations go into these various qualities, and they are very carefully sifted, so that when a man has been finally engaged by a corporation he is very likely a man who is going to be a future executive. I am talking about executives only at the present time. 1 went down to the Westinghouse in Pittsburg. They em- 58 Selecting and Training Tut they have not been taught why it is worth while to render this service. They are ready to help people and they are essentially Christian, but they do not un- derstand why Christianity must of necessity be received be- fore learning is effectual. They go to teach with conscien- tious fidelity what they have been instructed in, and without intending it, they lead astray those whom they instruct. They leave the impression that the gift which God gave us can be developed apart from the truth which makes it worth while. I am sure that when people go to serve as missionaries they ought to go having their heart set on showing to others the wonderful revelation that gave them their liberty and made their life worth having and living, and when people do that they do not desire to be short term missionaries. This is the impulse which has driven all the people who have come under my observation desiring to give themselves to the foreign field and who have carried blessing to the people. They have been showed by our Lord in themselves what human nature is capable of learning and what human life can grow into, and by some means they have wanted to show these things to other people. This seems to me to be the compelling argu- ment against short terms. As to whether it is economical seems to be entirely unim- portant. I have seen the finest sort of young men and women go into foreign work for short terms, but I do not recall one who did not return without seeming to have lost something. They have been confronted by a problem they did not under- stand, they had gone as if to work in the atmosphere they had grown in and they came back feeling their time had been wasted, unable to understand why their effort had been futile. I do not wish in what I have said to seem to oppose what I believe must come. It is exceedingly costly, but necessary, and the day will come when men and women who stand for the very best in their particular department of culture must go to the ends of the earth for short terms to deliver series of lectures. For instance, I would like to send two or three men every year to St. John's University, Shanghai, for six weeks, not only to let the young men who are learning get a glimpse of what it means to be a scholar, but in order that the faculty The Selection of Candidates in that university might have the tremendous inspiration oi coming into contact with those who Hve on the heights, where they would like to be, but from which they are held back by the conditions under which they work. I would like it if wom- en, selected just because they are the best expression of the development of a woman and of a woman's work, might go to St. Mary's Hall and deliver lectures to the young women work- ing there to show them what the West is beginning to find out about the share that women have in solving the problems of civilization. DISCUSSION Prof. Guy W. Sarvis: While Bisliop Lloyd was speaking I have been thinking over the cases that I could call to mind. We have two members in the faculty of the university who went out for short term services, one in the Government schools and the other in Nanking University — they are there permanently now. My sister- in-law who went out for a short term service after four years wants to go back if she possibly can. Every one considers her to be a very efficient worker. I also remember Dr. and Mrs. Hargrove of Kaifengfu, who did a remarkable work in bringing Government stu- dents into a rich spiritual life. I know of nobody in China in any kind of work who has been more effective. Two or three others in Japan, a number who have gone out into Government school service, come to mind. In a good many cases it is a good plan, especially in schools like the University of Nanking, where it is possible to work in English. May I refer to two others : Dr. John F. Downey, for twenty-five years the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Minnesota, was so pleased with his work at the University of Nanking during the year he had arranged to spend with us that he stayed two years. The other is Dr. C. I. Woodworth, Head of the Department of Entomology at the University of California, who came out for a short term. Can we have more men like these? They were able to render most valuable help and we want other men of experience to come to us. Rev. E. C. Lobenstine: Bishop Lloyd has called our attention to a problem that undoubtedly exists. My personal observation would, however, lead me to agree with Mr. Sarvis, for a large pro- portion of the young men I have met, who came to China for short term service, made good and some of them were a strong spiritual force in the institutions to which they were sent. I have known of a few cases where the results were not so happy. I would like to add a word to what Bishop Lloyd said about the possibility of using on the foreign field, for certain types of work, persons who have already had some years of professional experience at home. Nanking University has had two most successful instances of short term service by American college professors, who have spent a year or more in China. We are convinced that the oppor- tunities for using on the mission field the services of experienced workers from the home lands is constantly increasing, and efforts are being made to arrange for the sending out of college professors to spend their Sabliatical year in connection with one or more of our higher educational institutions. We believe that not only will they 76 The Selection of Candidates be able to do a great deal of good to those in the country to which they go, but that they will also help the people in this country to understand better conditions as they exist in the Far East. Dr. Cornelius H. Patton: Our experience has been quite different from that reported by Bishop Lloyd. It has been a very happy one, and we are committed to sending out carefully chosen, consecrated young men, particularly for tutorships in our educational institu- tions. They take charge of the athletics and social work of the schools. Of course they must be assigned to places where they can use the English' language. Almost without exception they become so enamored of the work that they return home, take a theological training, and then go back to the field on a regular missionary ap- pointment. As I review the lists I think of only two who were in any sense failures. We have secured some first-rate missionaries by this method. The experience is a try-out for them and for the Board. I heartily recommend the short term service for instructors and tutors. Bishop A. S. Lloyd: What Dr. Patton says, I thank God for. I have seen exactly the same thing happen, but I have seen the other thing happen also, and to turn one young man away from the ideal that he is trying to realize because he is under misapprehension, seems to me too great a risk, even though the other nine might be able to understand and make good. I would rather be certain before they go that they have given themselves to the people they are going to serve, and then they are safe. As to older men there is no such risk and the work needs their training and experience to help demon- strate to people who are reaching up for high things, if only to show them what it is like for a man to be absolutely master of his own intellect. Dr. W. B. Anderson: As the discussion has gone on this after- noon I have been asking myself if we are not to gain from this meet- ing the study of the science of the selections of candidates, and I have been wondering if the Board of Missionary Preparation could not un- dertake an exhaustive study of the failures and successes of mission- aries. We have the data in our board offices to make possible such a study. We have the record of the persons who have gone out, the examinations that were taken at the beginning, we have the record of those who have failed, and from the fields we could get a reasonable record of their successes or failures, and I do not see why from such a study there might not be compiled a statement of what makes a suc- cessful missionary. I hope the Board of Missionary Preparation can undertake such a study. n THE USE OF THE FINDINGS, REPORTS AND LITERATURE OF THE BOARD OF MISSIONARY PREPARATION By Mr. George B. Huntington, Boston The findings, reports and literature issued by the Board of Missionary Preparation embody tlie results of the most sys- tematic and thoroughgoing attempt to study the problem of the selection and preparation of the candidate for foreign mis- sion service that has yet been undertaken. A considerable vol- ume of material has been gathered, covering in a most com- prehensive manner the entire field of candidate qualifications and preparation. In producing this material the Board has performed a threefold' service. First, it has brought into strong relief, so that we can no longer ignore it if we would, the supreme importance of the Candidate Department in every missionary Society or Board. Second, it has set forth in clear and suggestive manner the fundamental qualifications essential in every missionary candidate and the type and degree of preparation required for the most effective service in each of the several spheres of missionary activity. Third, it has given most valuable suggestions as to how and where this prepara- tion can be secured. If the candidate secretary to-day fails to supply his Board with the needed missionary candidates, prop- erly trained and equipped for their work, he cannot charge his non-success to a lack of munitions. The Board of Missionary Preparation has supplied abundant and excellent material. It remains for the Mission Boards to make the best use of it. /. For the Education of the Boards. One very important use of this material is in the education of the Boards themselves. How many of us, I wonder, repre- sent Boards which until within a very few years have con- ducted their candidate work upon a "hand to mouth" policy, accepting the best of the candidates who ofifered themselves and assigning them to the most pressing places of need, leaving to a beneficent Providence the task of enabling men, with in most cases nothing but the most general sort of training, to adapt themselves to places of service which demand most thorough and often s])ccialized jireparation. It is probably well within the truth to say that few if any of the Mission 78 Itonrd f>f i>li»4siouary Preparation T.iU'rntiire Boards in past years have given adequate recognition to the importance of the candidate department. The Board of Mis- sionary Preparation through its hterature has done and is doing more than any other agency, I beHeve, to impress upon our Mission Boards the prime necessity of giving vastly more attention to their missionary candidates and to lead the Boards to take the requisite action and incur the necessary expense for organizing a candidate department. I do not know whether our Board is typical of others, but the process of evolution through which we have been passing in this regard may be of some interest. 1. The first step taken by our Board was to transfer the candidate correspondence, which had been for many years in the Home Department, to the Foreign Department, thus bring- ing the Foreign Secretaries into touch at an early stage with all candidates for the foreign field and putting upon the For- eign Secretaries the responsibility for the selection and train- ing of candidates. This correspondence and this respon- sibility, however, had to be carried by men who already had other duties sufficient to require all their time. A second step has now been taken in the appointment of a Candidate Secre- tary, a Secretary in the h\)reign Department who will have the candidate work as his chief responsibility. 2. The material supplied by the Board of Missionary Prep- aration has been helpful and suggestive to our Board in work- ing out its own definite policy with regard to the quahfications and preparation required in the men and women to be ap- pointed to the foreign field. For example, even before the ap- pearance of the last two series of reports our Candidate Com- mittee began a careful study and analysis of the reports and findings as to the preparation for the various types and field of missionary service and is formulating a brief but comprehen- sive ''standard for missionary candidates" which we can put into the hands of students in our colleges and seminaries who are considering foreign mission service, together with informa- tion concerning our mission fields and suggestions as to cor- respondence. 3. A third result of the consideration of the findings and reports of the fjoard of Missionary Preparation has been to center more attention upon the importance of giving special training to missionaries appointed to special forms of work. Many candidates now are given advance appointment and are advised to take special training at one or another institution where what they need can best be secured and if necessary financial help is extended to enable such candidates to pursue the desired subjects. What was formerly done in a few sporadic cases has now become the settled policy of the Board. 19 nonrd of I>Ii.s.sioiiiiry Proi»arn].s for Candidates (i) The distinct missionary emphasis and the immediate reference to the problems of non-Christian countries, which can be placed on every course given in the institution. Such subjects as sociology, international relations, phonetics and even the Bible, require for the foreign candidate a different presentation and application from that which obtains in the average university or seminary course. (2) The spiritual atmosphere in which all of the training proceeds. Conditions conduce to the more intensive culti- vation of this in the special school than elsewhere. Particu- larly is this possible in a residential institution. Is anything more important than the enrichment of the candidate's per- sonal Christian experience, his culture in the deep things of God? The education of the heart, the burnishing of the true "missionary spirit," is the one adequate proof against the tendency to professionalism or mere intellectualism. (3) The practical tasks, usually participation in some sort of actual mission work, to which students are assigned. This prevents the training from becoming too theoretical. (4) The opportunity of dealing correctively and construct- ively with matters of personal habit, custom, attitude and deportment, which have such important bearings on all of the candidate's future relations in a foreign country. (5) The advantage of a p'ace of testing. In the residential special school there is virtually a missionary community which soon reveals the ability of each of its members to adjust him- self to other personalities and to do harmonious team work. Many are sifted out because "queer," "non-cooperative" or unable to work with others. (6) The close friendships established, the mutual and last- ing acquaintance of men and women who are going out to be Christian leaders in different parts of the world, constitute another possibility richly realized in the special school. (7) Again, there is the advantage on the part of the Board of the opportunity of establishing an intimate personal ac- quaintance with the missionaries who will work under its appointment, and, on the part of the candidates, of similar acquaintance with the members of the Board. Experience shows this to be of the very highest value. (8) Finally, the special school with its concentrated and specialized activities, tends to become a center of missionary enlistment. It can assist the Boards in effectively bringing before the Churches the great needs and opportunities of foreign missionary service. Attendance at a special graduate school is particularly ad- vantageous to the following: ( I ) Women candidates in general, who are not encouraged 87 Siiceial Traiuiiig Seho4»Is for Cundidntcs to attend theological schools. (2) Nurses, doctors, teachers, men and women, who are too often sent out without any dis- tinctively missionary training. A period in a special school, after the completion of their professional training, would be of great benefit. Much has been urged against the advisability of perpetuat- ing any separate institutions for foreign missionary training, on the general ground that adequate and superior advantages are already available, and will be increasingly so, at universities and seminaries. Among the more specific criticisms and ob- jections are the following: (i) The segregation of candidates in a foreign missionary institution tends to produce a single type, or particular brand of missionary, with some loss of individuality and breadth of outlook. It is urged that the future foreign missionary should have wider opportunity to mix with students of varied interests and purposes, and should take even his special train- ing in association with people who are preparing for the widest diversity of Christian service, or life calling. (2) Special schools are objected to on account of their cost. Why not eliminate this or greatly reduce it by developing facilities at the larger established institutions? (3) It is held that a candidate can save time by taking all of his missionary training in connection with graduate work at a university, and specialization in a theological seminary or professional school. Furthermore he can get considerable advanced training in countries like India, China and Japan in the language schools now being developed in those lands. Why then waste a year or more in an isolated institution? All of which suggests that the ideal training school for foreign service should be located in juxtaposition to seminary and university. DISCUSSION Rev. S. G. Inman: I am sure that Mrs. Atwater in preparing this paper had in mind a special institution and is speaking not from theory, hut from practice. The Christian Woman's Board of Missions, of which Mrs. Atwater is President, has been developing for several years a College of Missions at Indianapolis along the lines outlined by the Commission on Missionary Preparation of the Edinburgh Con- ference. That College of Missions has done graduate work and its high standards have been continually maintained. The results from the standpoint of the Board and from the standpoint of the mission- aries on the field have been magnificent. Any one who has been a missionary before such an institution was opened, and then afterwards has gone out into the field visiting others and seeing what advantages come to the missionaries who have had that training, must be con- vinced of the advisability of such an institution. Particularly advan- tageous it seems to me is the fact of the. close cooperation between 88 S|M><-i]iI 'l'r:iiiiiiiK' Neliool.H for C:iii<1iclates the candidate and the Board before they go to the field, so that they know one another and understand any possible "kinks"" in char- acter. 1'hose relations lieing worked out more or less before the candidate goes to the field is a tremendous advantage. Many illus- trations of this could be given from the experience of the College of Missions at Indianapolis. Chairman Corey: We had up yesterdcfy for discussion those many problems of the selection of candidates and sending out of candidates before they were really tested as to compatibility. The special train- ing school, especially when it is in close connection with the mission- ary boards, gives you an opportunity for testing the candidate. Do you think that is worth while? Prof. Guy W. Sarvis: 1 would like to ask is it fair to the candi- date to wait until he gets into a special institution to do this testing? It seems to me it is far better — and I would say necessary — to test his fitness for foreign mission work before he gets to the stage of special training. Miss Helen K. Hunt: The Baptist Board has something of this sort, not as elaborate as the Christian Woman's Board, ours is more on the line of a dormitory near Boston. The girls take special train- ing, each one according to what we think she needs for the work she is to do ; but we have the home life there and we feel that it is of almost inestimable value to the Board and also to the girls. By this personal touch, we come into close contact with them, and learn to know the girls. When the time comes that certain girls seem to be the ones whom we shall want, then we do feel there is a good deal that can be given them in the way of special instruction for our work that really can't be given anyv/here else, — special information about our own fields and in our own type and methods of work. It also is true that, in spite of our very best efiforts, almost every year brings us at least one whom we decide, after having her under observation, is not the woman we want. We feel a good deal of disappointment is saved by eliminating such a candidate before she is accepted and sent to the field. Dr. James I. Good: I have never been clear in my mind about the training schools in this country. I can see their use for those who have no other opportunity for their preparation, but I am not clear about schools of this kind for those who are college or university graduates. One argument against them that Mrs. Atwater refers to has always greatly impressed me, that these people ought to go to the country to which they are appointed for language study where they can make more rapid progress when they are surrounded by the language. I want to throw out this suggestion, that it is better to utilize these training schools for the present, but as we look to the future there should be an attempt made in the foreign field (just as we are making the attempt now for union efforts for the schools for the training of the children), in China or India or Japan, to organize schools to which our missionaries can go and get special training in the surroundings of the country where they are to work. Dr. James Endicott: I would like to hear testimony showing more specifically the success of the training done in these institutions. The mere matter of the school being a place for the weeding out of candidates does not appeal to me very much. These institutions must be judged by the character of the actual training that takes place in them. It must be that the average university and theological school is not equipped to give the intellectual training necessary for those who are to take a place of leadership in the foreign fields. That can be the only reason for founding fresh institutions. May we have to-day testimony concerning the superior advantages to candidates Special Trsiiiiiiim; S«'liools for Caii«li«I:ilo.s who have already a broad culture, of going and spending a year in such institutions. Such testimony would be of value to me. Rev. E. C- Lobenstine: This is a question on which the Com- mittee of the 'iraining uf Missionaries in China has been giving a great deal of thought during the past two years. We have, as you know, two training schools for missionaries, one in Peking and one in Nanking. A year ago each of these institutions had seventy-live young missionaries learning the language and preparing in other ways also for their life work in China. In addition there is a school at Chengtu, another smaller school at Foochow, and one in Canton. It is the conviction of, I think, the great majority of the mission- aries in China that after a student has received a good intellectual preparation for the field and has a grasp of what the Christian mis- sionary enterprise is undertaking to do, he should get out to the foreign field without undue delay, as each year's delay is apt to prove a handicap in acquiring a good working knowledge of the language. Our Training Schools in Peking and Nanking are at this time trying to add to their faculties two professorships, one a chair of Chinese re- ligions, and the other a chair of Chinese History and Sociology. Lec- tures are already being given to the students in each of these schools, but it is proposed to develop this work further as soon as possible, and to continue to assist the young missionary after he leaves the Training School and proceeds to his station. The addition oi these two professorships will make it possible to ofifer courses regularly not only at these schools, but also at the different summer resorts where large numbers of missionaries gather each year. Under the guidance of their own mission committees, which are working in close cooperation with the directors of these training schools, young mis- sionaries to China are to-day being offered facilities undreamed of a few years ago. After the faculties of these schools have been strengthened it will be possible to extend greatly their usefulness, and many missionaries from all parts of the country will seek their help in connection with their private studies. Rev. Thomas S. Donohugh: What we want is training which will really prepare the candidates for the field. Where schools are organized on the foreign field as they are in China, I am inclined to think that it is a mistake to duplicate that training here. Where there are no training schools on the field, as in Africa and some other parts, I think we should, by all means, send our students to those schools which will best prepare them for the work. The difficulty we find is that almost every seminary or other institution is putting in a course or two of lectures and is calling it training for mis- sionaries. For women who have not had the benefit of theological training, the special schools in this country are probably essential, but I am very doubtful whether we ought to send candidates to these train- ing schools if they have had their full college and theological courses, and are then to go to a field where another course of study would be required in a Language School located there. It means too much study before they get down to work. Our problem is to avoid un- necessary duplication, to secure an amount of concentration in one institution which will give a really adequate course either here or on the field, and I don't care wdiether it is here or there, just so the candidates get the training needed. Prof. T. H. P. Sailer: On a recent visit to a training school I went to several recitations, and it seems to me that they are giving things that are not ordinarily had in a university. I happen to be connected with Columbia University, and I am constantly reminded of the analogy of a gentleman who goes to buy a razor, and is handed out over the counter an umbrella and a pair of suspenders ; he says, go Spet'iiil Training .Sclutol.s for Cnndidates "I don't care for those things, I want only a razor." They say, "We do not sell these separately." A few years ago speaking with Dean Marshall of the University of Chicago, I said, "My son, I am per- fectly certain, does not want to be an ^engineer, but I think he does want mathematics that he can use in connection with social subjects. Now isn't there some way in which he can get a course in mathe- matics that does give him the mathematics of statistics, and doesn't give him a lot of mathematics for engineering for which he will never have any use whatever?" And the Dean said, "Not only is no such course given, but any mathematics teacher would lose his reputa- tion if he pretended to give it." I know that missionaries want courses on the teaching of English to non-English-speaking people, but it is very difficult to get a course on teaching English to adults that isn't full of subways and sky- scrapers and elevators and a lot of things that are not needed on the foreign field. Up at Hartford they were giving a good course well adapted to missionary use. A course of sociology was given by Dr. Capen, whose experience on the foreign field enabled him to do it very well. They were working on phonetics needed by missionaries. In a university it is very hard to find a course of phonetics that isn't based on Indo-Gcrmanic languages. That is the particular advantage of a training scliool, it cuts out dead wood as nearly as possible, and gets down to things that are necessary. It is difficult, of course, to get the really strong scholar to give those courses. My opinion is that it is rather unfortunate for a candidate to go to one of the train- ing schools with a small faculty which, in order to keep its head above water, has to be as optimistic as possible and think that "our Mr. Smith" is ideal, when every one else knows he isn't. I am con- vinced that as yet the courses in even our large universities usually contain a great deal of material unnecessary for candidates. Dr. Frank K. Sanders: I was thinking again of what Mr. Dono- hugh said about tlie reports of the Board of Missionary Preparation. I thought I would like to say one word which would fit into those re- marks. I think what he said was absolutely true about the ideal character of the reports that we have prepared to be used by mis- sionary candidates. It ought, however, to be kept in mind that any formulation of wide missionary experience has to deal, to a certain extent, from the standpoint of a certain particular candidate. Noth- ing else could possibly be true. And I would like to make this addi- tional remark that right at that point comes in a wise candidate secre- tary — that is_ what he is for — it is his privilege and responsibility to make the adjustment. 91 THE EFFECT OF tHE WAR ON SECURING MISSIONARY CANDIDATES IN CANADA By Dr. Frederick C. Stephenson^ Toronto In Canada the immediate effect of the war upon securing candidates for the foreign field was to cut off the supply, or to state it in another way, to divert the stream to the battle- fields of Europe. Candidates under appointment, as well as undergraduate Student Volunteers enlisted together with the whole student body of all our colleges and universities, in- cluding theological colleges and seminaries. Vei"y few men who were physically fit were left in any of our schools. The call of the Empire for men to save civilization and Christianity from the domination of the Hun appealed strongly to the type of young man who volunteers for foreign missionary work. When I was invited to make this statement on the subject assigned, I at once communicated with our educational insti- tutions and our Mission Boards asking for latest information. I have not had time to hear from all, but to hear from one is to hear from all. I submit this statement, not as being com- plete so far as the data are concerned, but as fairly represent- ing the situation in Canada. Of the students in Toronto University, 5,308 enlisted ; there are only 1,643 ^^^^ i" attendance this year. From McGill University, Montreal, out of 1,900 male students who attended it at some time or other during the four years of the war, 760 enlisted. Of the 1,900 who attended, 20 per cent were not British citizens. The attendance at McCill in 1913-14, before the war, was 2,060. This year there are less than 1,000, of whom nearly 200 are women. The Theological Colleges also contributed loyally to the army. In A^ictoria College, Toronto, when the war began, there were 225 students registered in Theology ; whereas, this year, there are only 75 students, and of these 35 are taking their work extra-murally on account of the need of preachers. These are but examples. I have not had time to gather statistics from all the universities and colleges in Canada. Not only have our men from the colleges and universities enhsted, but out of a Methodist ministry in the active work of a little over 2,000, 450 have enlisted ; so that there are scarcely any candidates available in college or among our ministers. Practically all our young doctors and dentists and edu- 92 Efft'C't of War on Sccnriiig: Minsioiinry Candidates in Canada cationalists have enlisted. Our Sunday schools and young people's societies have been depleted of young men. Bible classes have enlisted en masse. The effect upon all young men nearing military age is unsettling. It is hard for them to study in High School or College, and difficult for them to prepare themselves for the mission field. Thought has been concen- trated upon preparation for war. The war has dominated conversation in the home ; family prayers have been for the soldiers ; the sermons in the church and prayer-meetings have been saturated with war ; many of the young peoples societies have become practically patriotic societies ; so that the mind and thought of all who are near the military age have been fully occupied with the war. What we have said above applies to the young women. Many of our young women went to the front as nurses. Those who stayed at home took the places of their brothers, — on the farm, in the shop and in the factory. Many yovmg women of independent means have devoted themselves energetically to the manufacture of munitions and to the production of food. Word from the office of the Church of England was brief, namely : "Our men all disappeared. We have not sent out any since the war began. We are about to appoint one who is now freed for service in the foreign field." Dr. Mackay of the Presbyterian Church says that very few have been sent out since the war began. The Methodist Church is in a similar position. All our Mission Boards have known that men were not to be had. They look forward, however, to the future, with hope. The younger boys and girls in our high schools, in our Sunday Schools, and who attend our summer schools, are ambitious to serve. They take a deep interest in world-wide missions and there is promise of many lives being olTered to the Church for service in the foreign fields. Just what the effect of the war will be upon the student class who have enlisted, even upon the probationers for the ministry and candidates for the foreign fields, is a question which very few will attempt to answer at the present time. It is, however, our hope that many who return from army service will ofi^er themselves for all branches of work in the foreign field. 93 THE EFFECT OF THE WAR ON SECUR- ING MISSIONARY CANDIDATES IN THE UNITED STATES By Dr. Charles R. Watson, Philadelphia I am asked to speak on the missionary candidate problem in the United States as affected by the war. I have found it necessary to make a very sharp distinction between certain general impressions that prevail as to the effect of the war and the situation as we discover it in our investigations. Let us look at the problem on the numerical side. 1. The war has not decreased very seriously the number of outgoing missionaries. The reason is obvious. The United States has been in the war but a very short period. War was declared so close to the time of the sailing of missionaries in 1 91 7 that practically all those under appointment that year adhered to their plans for sailing. The ordained men were allowed exemption and felt that since they were so far along with their plans they should go forward without hesitation. As a matter of fact, therefore, you will not find any great falling off in the number of those who have sailed. For ex- ample, for the United Presbyterian Board, the totals of sail- ings during the last three years are : 11, 10, 18. For the Baptist Board: 25, 27, 28. For the Congregational Board the figures for 1914 to 1917 are: 52, 44, 55. W^e see, therefore, that as regards the number actually sailing, the war had no serious adverse effects. 2. The effect of the war is more marked as regards men than as regards women. Examining the details, you generally find that it is by an increase in the number of women who hav€ sailed that you arrive at a total that is either ecjual to or more favorable than the figures of a i)revious year. 3. The effect of the war is more marked in connection with the earHer periods of the candidate's life. In olher words, the war has not seriously affected the plans of those who were on the verge of sailing ; but it has seriously affected the plans of those who were in the j^eriod of voHmteering. The Student Volunteer Movement reports during the last three years a decided falling off in the number of men who have volunteered — especially during the first part of the aca- demic year 1917-18. 4. It may be worth while observing, although it does not deal with the cjuestion of candidates, that the war has in- 94 Effect of War on Seoiirins missionary Candidates in ITnitod States fluenced most directly the forces actually in service on the field. For example, the statistics show that, for the United States and Canada, we had a year ago a foreign missionary staff of 9,358, whereas in 1918 we have 9,563. When these figures are analyzed, it is discovered that there was actually a falling off of almost two hundred in the number of men avail- able for the work. Out of this, I draw the general conclusion that the effect of the war is more likely to be felt a few years hence ; in other words, a few years hence we shall feel the shortage created by the war by the temporary or permanent withdrawal of men during the years of their training. 5. The shortage that shouU normally be experienced a few years hence may, however, be entirely overcome by in- fluences which will operate in a most powerful fashion to in- crease the number of missionary recruits. It is our firm be- lief that this will be the case. There has been a broadening of the horizon of our thinking and our sympathy. As United States citizens, I believe we have been particularly provincial in the past. It is a disability under which we have lived as compared with the advantage belonging to our friends in Great Britain. Their political relationships with a world em- pire tended to give to their people a world outlook which we of the United States have never enjoyed. This war has, therefore, been a God-send to us in broadening our horizon. 6. The war has had its effect in creating a deep interest in foreign lands. Our boys who have been overseas have seen at first hand, not merely the peoples of Europe, the French, the Italians and the Portuguese, but they have seen legions of non-Christians fighting alongside of them, such as the Algerians, the Senegalese and others, and also the labor battalions working behind them, the Chinese, the Indians and those drawn from the great colonies of France and Africa. Their memory of the fellowship of these races with us in this great struggle will undoubtedly be an asset as we appeal to them for the investment of life in the service of these same lands and these same peoples through Foreign Missions. 7. Surely we should note the tremendous asset that we have and whose results we shall see in the sacrificial spirit that has been developed and revealed by this great war. Noth- ing can rob us of our priceless possession of the spirit of sacri- fice in this war. Henceforth, it will not seem an unreasonable thing to ask not simply for one life, but for every life in a family for tlie service of Christ, because such demands have been made of families again and again in this great struggle and they were responded to. Now in closing, just a word as to the possible eff'ect of 95 Women C'nndiilntcs and the ^V:^^ this war upon the attitude of the candidate toward the type of work that has been mainly represented by the Foreign Mis- sionary Movement. Personally, I am inclined to believe that there is going to be a modification of the interest m Foreign Missions. There will be a broader interest than formerly. The candidate will realize that after all the aim of the foreign missionary enterprise is to usher in the Kingdom of God and the conditions which belong to it. But he will realize that while the evangelistic work is directly related to that great aim, there are other great agencies that God is using in this common task. It is the lesson that comes out of the consecration of armies to the service of liberty and to the service of the King- dom of God. So the missionary candidate will henceforth regard other ag-encies and other activities as working with him, and it may even be that he will feel called to lend a hand to these other agencies and forces that are working along educational lines and governmental lines, just as he felt justi- fied in turning aside from his missionary calling to serve under arms because at that moment the Kingdom of God called for that service and because that service was closely and vitally re- lated to all the possibilities of future missionary work through- out the world. WOMEN CANDIDATES AND THE WAR By Mrs. Henry W. Peabody, Beverly, Mass. The war has made it easier to present foreign missions since the war was itself a foreign mission with a noble motive of redemption. The war has rediscovered or reemphasized cer- tain lost truths and reinstated some vanishing ideals. It has convinced the world of sin and wrath and of a Day of Judg- ment. It has shown how essential is a Savior of the world. It has restated the law of sacrifice ; for without shedding blood there was no remission. It has revealed the angel in man and woman and has shown us the beast. We have seen young lads meet death with a cheer and enter with a serene con- viction upon immortality. We have known fathers and moth- ers suddenly strong to send their sons and daughters to death for the sake of the freedom of humanity. We are now watch- ing the birth of world democracy and are realizing a new universal sympathy. We are bound by duty to Allies. We are caught and held in the new internationalism. How has the war especially affected women? It has helped them to drop games and pettiness and points 96 Women Cnndidatcs and the War of precedence and to forget themselves in a great cause. They have knit and made comfort bags and done Red Cross work. They have conducted campaigns and built hostess's houses and gone into camps and have fought liquor and vice and temptation. They have donned uniforms and marched in pro- cessions. They have worked in munitions factories and on street cars and in elevators. They have made awful concoc- tions in the way of war foods, and have compelled their fami- lies to consume them cheerfully. They have been under the strict military discipline of Mr. Hoover and have not failed in obedience. They have served on Councils of Defense and Liberty Loan Committees. They have talked on street corners to men collectively with the authority reserved hitherto for their husbands at home. All these things women have done and more. They have gone overseas as nurses and canteen work- ers, as ambulance drivers and servants. They have written wonderful messages in magazines and books ; and, last but not least, they have stayed at home, most of them, without uniform or parade — the great rank and file — they of the order of the gingham apron, and have let go out of their sight with a smile that God somehow made possible the sons they bore, the hus- bands on whom they leaned. They have written letters with cheerful camouflage, and have kept up the morale of the men in the trenches. These are the visible results. The spiritual achievements may not be recorded. How will this war experience affect our women's mission- ary work in th-e world? Shall we see repeated the history of the Civil War, when after the years of service for the army, women turned their attention, their own hearts breaking with sorrow and loss, to the bitter sorrows of the women of the world who had no Comforter? Then the great foreign mis- sionary societies of women were born and developed. These societies are to-day celebrating their jubilee anniversary. But there is the danger always that the good may be the enemy of the best, and the very fact that women have much to their credit in this department of service during fifty years may cause failure to-day to meet the present greater world crisis. There is danger that the missionary societies themselves with conservatism and timidity will be content to go on along their beaten path without the new and larger vision which the war has brought. How shall the heroism and the efficiency developed in the war be captured for great spiritual ends? How shall women be fitted for the new world democracy? It will be necessary to restate our appeal in ter-ms that women can understand. We have succeeded in fifty years in commanding the atten- tion of only one-fifth of the Christian women of our country 97 iv«niieu < aii An address given at the Foreign Missions Conference in January, 1918. 124 Dottrd ot Missionary Preparation Results employed by the boards all over the world. The third endeavor was a series of investigations into the different fields of the world in so far as that investigation would throw light upon the question of preparation, — how to prepare for China, for India, for Africa. And then the last series was the study of the different religions of the world in order to discover how men and women may be prepared to take the Gospel to those who are under the sway of those religions. Now, that is a great program of work that has been done, with the assistance of hundreds of men and women all over the world, by the successive committees appointed under this Board, and which is now embodied or about to be completely embodied in printed reports. It is only just to say that Mr. Turner and Dr. Sanders have done the wheel-horse work in this from the beginning, and we have been most fortunate as a Board, and you as a conference of foreign boards, in having men like that, whose past training, scholarship, equipment and inter- est fitted them to map out, and whose energy enabled them to carry through this extensive program. I do not think that anywhere there exists a body of literature on this specific subject of the preparation of the missionary equal to that which this Board of Missionary Preparation has now printed, or is about to complete. In addition to that, we have held a series of conferences with those responsible for the preparation of people for dif- ferent callings. We had a conference of theological semi- naries and colleges, to discuss the theological preparation of missionaries; of leaders in women's work, to study the prepa- ration of women for their fields of labor; of educators, spe- cialists in the field of training for educational careers, to find out what they could contribute to our knowledge ; and we have had a conference of medical men, to consider the prepa- ration of medical missionaries for their career. The reports of all these conferences have been embodied in our annual volumes. Now, what is the result of this series of conferences and reports? What is the next thing we must expect as the result of the labors of the Board of Missionary Preparation? Am I right in saying that those who have studied in any measure these successive reports and understand the breadth and significance of the work of this Board, are convinced that there is imperative necessity for a more severe, a more care- fully considered, and a more prolonged training of the mis- sionary? Is it not proved that for a Hfe work which is in these reports proved to be so difficult, so intricate, so respon- ■sible, a much longer time of preparation is required? When one thinks of what people are going through in order 125 Board of Missionary Preparation Results to prepare for work in the medical world, or in the legal world, and then remembers what is implied in carrying Christianity to the Hindus or the Chinese or the Japanese, or the Africans, I am appalled at the fact that we should be unwilling to con- sider more than two and a half years of special preparation in a theological seminary (we gloss over the littleness of it by saying three years ; it is only two and a half years at the best) and that we should be content to send out a great many other workers into the field who have had far less than two and a half years of specific preparation, for so tremendous an undertaking. I do not believe that there is any undertak- ing in the world so great as this, making such demands on th'C discipline of the mind, on the culture of the moral nature, that really is carried on so small a basis of educational prepa- ration. That is a very heavy indictment, I know, against our present methods. I believe that our reports have only to be read intelligently and by a fair mind to bring that fact home to every man or women who reads them. We have now a wider and deeper view of the work of the missionary. We have a work that reaches out into every part of the life of the communities in which our missionaries ar€ laboring, and we have a situation created in which the conditions of the field are undergoing alterations at an increas- ingly rapid rate. All over the world progress is being made with great swiftness. Who could have imagined when our first missionaries went to Japan, at the opening of that empire to western civilization, that in the year 1918 we should be receiving, as I received in Hartford the other day, a group of Japanese headed by a brigadier-general who are going over to France as Christian leaders to find out if they can be of any service to the British and Americans in the conduct of the moral and religious welfare of their armies in Europe? Who could have dreamed in 1870 that that would have been pos- sible to-day? I spoke with that General, introduced him to the Governor of Connecticut, so as to show him all the cour- tesies within my small reach, and was proud of the fact that a general of the Japanese army had actually come with cre- dentials from the Young Men's Christian Association in Japan, with his son and two other companions on an errand like that; and I thought to myself. Well, now, what are we doing or what are we going to do in the preparation of the men and women who are to labor in Japan among people like our visitors? When one remembers how ra[)idly the universities in Japan have developed since the government established its imperial university at Tokyo; how rapidly things will go in China pnce China is awake and creates her own national system of 126 Boni'd «(f Missionary Proii:ir:i(ion KeMiilt.s education ; when one remembers the educational problems that obtain in India, that have been hampering the educational work of our missionaries there for two or three generations ; how rapidly in Africa the governments will have things worked out as they take hold of the education of the natives — we may find we ar€ running behind and trying to catch our breath to keep within sight of the education of the Negro in Africa — I say what are we doing to prepare young men and women adequately to meet that situation? Everywhere •else intellectual training is becoming more severe and prolonged. The result of the war is going to increase the demand for severe education. The days of easy- going preparation for life at home are in America very nearly coming to an end. It will not be possible very much longer to find young men of twenty-one approaching the end of their college course without the least idea of what they are going to do in life after they get through the senior year. We are getting past that stage. We are going to be forced to begin the training of young men and women earlier for specific careers. The whole tendency of pedagogical investigation is leading up to that. And now the history of the world is going to force America to begin the training of its young men and women for specific careers, and to train them more severely than they have ever been trained for anything except in the best and highest of our institutions of learning — train them for whatever lies before them. The missionary must be in- cluded in that program of the new world. Moreover, another result of our reports is the discovery that the period of preparation must be, in our idea at any rate, prolonged. It looks as if our missionaries were beginning to suspect that the full status of a missionary, to stand equal with the leaders of the work in any field, were conferred too soon upon young men and women who are entering upon their career. The whole tendency of our discussions has been to say that a man's or a woman's preparation, for full responsi- bility in missionary labor, does not seem to be reached until the end of the first furlough. The first five years ought to be regarded as a process of learning, and even the first fur- lough as an opportunity for more thorough specialization in that field, which each missionary has discovered now, as it could not be discovered before, to be his or her own peculiar field of labor for the future. And let me say that one argu- ment in favor of this is the discovery I have made as an edu- cationalist that you cannot put up to a young man or a young woman a stronger argument for a long severe course of study than to suggest it to them in this way : You say you are twenty-seven or twenty-eight years of age, and you think it is 127 Board of Missionary Preparation Results too late to begin a three years' theological course. You think it will be much better to go out now and begin to build up the kingdom of God than to be spending those three years in preparation. Now, here is my answer: You expect to serve God from about the age of thirty until seventy. That is forty years, if you are spared and in good health until you are seventy. Suppose you go out now. You will have forty-three years. You are a nice, good fellow ; you talk well, you mean well ; you can read and write and you can do a few more things ; and you have got all the education you think sufficient. Very well ; your ministi-y for forty-three years will be on this level. Now, suppose you take three years off the forty- three and put them into strenuous training of your mind — not merely the acquisition of knowledge, but the discipline of the mind to think in certain ways, and the heart to feel in certain ways, and the life to move in certain directions. Sup- pose that you concentrate three years upon that task of shaping your personality and instructing it and disciplining it for that career of forty years. It will be on that much higher level the whole forty years. Which does God want ? Forty-three years, very useful, more or less happy on an easy level, or forty years on the highest levels? Which does God want? I have never had a student resist that plea for three more years of study. My plea is that the boards of foreign mis- sions do not resist it. That argtnnent applies not merely to the man who is fumbling towards his career and does not know what the steps to a great career are, but to the board which must help him to see the standard of efihciency at which he must aim. It is a great task and the most solemn responsi- bility to see whether that man's life and the average life of all the men the boards are going to train henceforth shall be on this level (indicating a low level) or shall be on that level (indicating a higher level) ; and whether a year, or two years, or three years spent here at sacrifice just now will not ulti- mately raise the level of the whole field, if you are putting peo- ple like that into the field year after year. As the result of our investigations, it is quite clear that we must begin missionary preparation earlier. Every student volunteer in the countiy has somewhere on the dim horizon of his imagination a Board of Foreign Missions. He occasionally sees a board secretary's face at a meeting, is addressed by him, and he makes distinct and real for a moment that vague some- thing, a Board on the horizon, and he knows that that 15oard on the horizon is the institution that ought to command him, take charge of him at once, take him by the hand and lead him. He ought to be in touch with the Board, from the time he first begins to decide upon the direction of his career, not X28 Board of Misi^iouary Preparntioii Results while he is closing his college course ; still less, God knows, when he is closing his theological course. He ought to be guided in his whole course of study after making his mission- ary decision and disciplined for it in the plastic years when his nature yields to every suggestion and to every determination of his will and of his purpose. And it seems to me that we cannot ask anything less, or anything more or greater, than that so early the grip of the Board on the young boy or girl should be a real grip and a directive agency, and as long as possible. Now, what does that mean for you secretaries and members of the Boards? Will you forgive me for saying that it seems to me as Chairman of the Board of Missionary Preparation that is reporting to you, very humbly, of course, that the next step would be a conference that is not managed by the Board of Missionary Preparation, but a conference that is managed by the Foreign Missions Conference, for the sok purpose of working out the problems of administration, of organization, and of the expenditure of money, bearing upon the selec- tion and preparation of missionary candidates. That is my message to you to-day, brethren. I came longing to be able just to put the facts, as I have put them, before you, and then to say as I say now, it looks to me as if the hour had come when the Boards should not feel as if we were just pushing them on, and they were taking a little step as they felt the push irri- tating them. I feel as if we ought now to take another great step, and that will be taken if the Boards will say to them- selves : here is all this literature; here is all this minute and exhaustive study of the problems. Now, what are w€ going to do about it ? We certainly cannot go on selecting and deal- ing with our candidates and sending them out as we have been doing to this hour. I could give you illustrations of what seem to me to be exceedingly dangerous ways of handling the young people who are going out next year into missionary fields, actual illustrations that have come under my own observation and that I have had to handle. I feel as if the great boards that are represented here are now in the presence of an actual task for which they have a supreme responsi- bility, and that is of reconsidering and revising, of their own motion, the whole system of selecting and training and appoint^ ing their young missionaries. Mr. Chairman, I do not think I have ever said anything to this Conference with more conviction. I have never said any-^ thing about missionary preparation with more evidence behind me. I trust if I seem too urgent — I hope none will be dis- posed to say too arrogant — I hope I may be forgiven. It is simply because in the present hour of the world's history an4 129 Making: Effective Board of I'reparaUon Idrals the Church's needs, in the development of educational ideals and professional training, I think it is no longer in the hands of just a board of studies like ours, but in the hands of the men and women such as those who are here administering the affairs of the kingdom of Christ all over the world, — this work of carrying out the task which, however imperfectly, yet I think not altogether without some success, we have tried to study, outline, and lay before you. CAN THE IDEALS OF THE BOARD OF MIS- SIONARY PREPARATION AS TO THE PREPARATION OF MISSIONARY CANDI- DATES BE MADE EFFECTIVE?^ By Mr. Fennell P. Turner The purpose of the Board of Missionary Preparation, as stated in the first article of its Constitution, is "to secure the most adequate kind and quality of preparation for those who are in training for foreign missionary service." When the Board was organized, its course was far from clear. The first year, therefore, was devoted to the study of the problem of its policy. This led the members of the Board to the conviction that the proi>er execution of its pur- pose involved, first, ascertaining what is the "most adequate kind and quality of preparation." Committees were ap- pointed, therefore, to investigate and report on this subject. Men and women whose experience placed them in position to make the most valuable contribution to the problem were asked to serve on these committees. Among the committees which have already reported are the following: "The Committee on the Fundamental and Essential Qualifications for Foreign Missionary Service," of which President W. Douglas Mackenzie was the Chairman; "The Committee on the Preparation of Ordained and Evangelistic Missionaries," Dr. Robert E. Speer, Chairman ; "The Committee on the Preparation of Medical Mission- aries," Dr. Fred P. Haggard, Chairman ; "The Committee on the Preparation of Educational Missionaries," Dr. T. H. P. Sailer, Chairman ; "The Committee on the Preparation of Women Mis- sionaries," Miss Helen P>. Calder, Chairman. The Special Preparation Necessary for Missionaries Appointed to Japan, to China, to India, to the Near East, to Pagan Africa and to Latin-America. ' A paper read at a conference of the Board of Missionary Preparation held in JvTew York in January, 19 15. 130 nisikiiig KA'ecU^e Bonrd of I'roitariitioii Idonln The Special Preparation Necessary for Missionaries Who Are to Work Among Peoples of Different Religions. There will he Com- mittees on the Preparation Necessary to Work Among Mohammedans, Among Buddhists, Among Confucianists, Among Hindus, Among Animists. Through tliese rei)orts the Board of Missionafy Prepara- tion has not aimed to create new ideals of missionary prepara- tion. It has simply attempted to collect, systematize, and make available what the experiences of missionaries and other authorities have proven to be essential in the preparation of candidates for foreign missionary service. But something more is necessary. It is not sufficient to bring together in systematic fashion this body of experience, valuable though it be. These ideals of missionary preparation must in some way be put into practise. If this is done, the following fac- tors are to be considered : 1. The foreign missionary candidate; 2. The schools which undertake to train the candidates; 3. The foreign missionary Boards. Ideals of missionary preparation which arc to become ef- fective must be accepted as a working basis by all these classes. Let me speak of each, beginning with the missionary can- didate. I. The Foreign Missionary Candidate Experience proves that earnest young men and women look- ing forward to any profession have never hesitated to take, whatever preparation is required to equip them for the pro- fession chosen. In civilized countries the State has estab- lished and published standards for admission to the professions of law and medicine. Since beginning the study of this ques- tion, I have collected documents issued by different states of the United States and Provinces of Canada, which set forth the requirements for these professions. Young men and women raise no question in regard to these requireinents. Furthermore, in recent years, raising the standards for ad- mission to the bar and to the medical profession has brought about no dearth of candidates. The number qualifying has de- creased, but the country is still amply supplied with physi- cians and lawyers. Each denomination has established its own standards for admission to the ministry. Candidates are not left in doubt as to what is required of them if they are to be admitted to the ranks of the Christian ministry. Not so in regard to candidates for foreign missionary serv- ice. The question which has been asked me constantly dur- ing the past seventeen years of my service as General Sec- 131 Mnking^ KITec-H^e l(o:irliMli<-:il lOxniiiiiialiou «>1' iMi.sHiuiiaries least three should be physicians. One might well he an institutional nurse and one a hospital superintendent. 2. The Committee should hold meetings lii-weekly, or more fre- quently if necessary, to discuss field plans and problems and to take action on matters referred to it by the Board or the Secretaries. 3. There should be special office room granted to this Committee for their work and their tiles. They should have the services of a stenographer several afternoons a week as needed. 4. If the Board has a salaried Director or Consultant on medical work, he should be the leader of this Committee. Such a Director would be advisable. With offices in the building and with a modest X-ray equipment, he could probably build up a contract practise with neighboring down town firms sufficient to keep him alive in his profession and to cover fully half of his salary. If he could also direct the center for examination of candidates for most of the missionary Boards another considerable source of revenue would be obtained. Medical Examinations of Missionary Force /. Purpose. 1. Make the examinations of candidates and furlough mission- aries more complete and better systematized than under the present system. 2. Examiners should be selected who have some appreciation of field conditions. 3. In doubtful cases, rather than reject or accept a doubtful case on one man's opinion, secure a broader judgment through the use of referees. 4. There should be a checking back of examiners' errors so as to avoid similar errors in the future. Such a checking can only be done by maintaining a complete file of the health of missionaries. 5.' There should be a more constant and continuous observation of our missionary workers on the field by their physicians with a full knowledge on the part of such local physicians of their past history and its liabilities. Such information should be furnished from the examining physician's data by the office of the Board. 6. There should be a centralized general supervision of mission- aries on sick leave. They should feel that they are under the com- petent advice and orders of a central medical authority which should be regularly informed as to the progress of their condition. Public speaking campaigns, travel, and return to the field should be con- trolled by the Board's central medical authority. Possibly there should also be some similar advisory regulation of all of our mis- sionaries during furlough. 7. The various mission boards and Christian associations should unite in a common system of organization and health records, and use the same examiners and referee committees when possible. These examiners could then afiford to make a more intensive study of this work, and their interest and competence in it would be much enhanced. 8. To summarize the object of the above suggestions — To make our medical supervisory system (a) More educative for the examiner and thereby make him more competent. {b) More protective for the missionary — as candidate, as field worker, and as furloughed invalid. (c) More helpful to the field physician, 141 The Ali.sNiomiry C'liuiliilatv »iid the Cnutliilatc Scerelary //. Some Methods. 1. Let as many Boards and Societies as can be induced to do so cooperate using the same examiners, and the same forms. 2. The physical examination should be complete using all the modern metliods of completely testing physical and psychical effi- ciency. Always make X-ray studies of teeth, sinuses, chest, ab- domen, and vertebrae ; and complete studies of kidneys and vascular system. 3. Follow up from the central office all cases going to the field, securing a routine health report from the local field physician at the end of one year, and again at tlie end of three years, and just before furlough for new missionaries, and for old missionaries as conditions would make advisable. 4. Have a comprehensive and accurate file system. Make exam- ination forms in triplicate — one for the central office, one for the exam- iner, and one to be forwarded to the field physician. The field physician will then know from the start any latent disabilities feared by the examiner. 5. To avoid expense of travel on the part of candidates, there could be three or four centers of examination, but all should be correlated under a general Director so as to unify and check up the work. THE MISSIONARY CANDIDATE AND THE CANDIDATE SECRETARY^ By Fen NELL P. Turner The most important factor in the foreign missionary enter- prise is the missionary. This is a truism of which w€ need to remind ourselves from time to time. As officers of missionary organizations we become so engrossed in raising annual bud- gets, in providing needed equipment and in other problems of administration which press upon us, that this fact is often obscured — if not sometimes lost sight of. Given the right kind of a missionary and the work prospers. Take away the mis- sionary, or send out weak, poorly qualified, inefficient men, devoid of qualities of spiritual leadership, and the work languishes and dies^even though there be ideal equip- ment. Even the direction of work on the field and the de- termination of policies in regard to problems of administration are not more important ; for however sound and wise the plans or far-reaching the policies, they cannot be put into operation unless there be qualified men and women to make them ef- fective on the mission field. Furthermore, the history of the Foreign Missionary enterprise shows that most of the policies of lasting value have been conceived and developed and made realities by the missionaries themselves. A lloard cannot af- ' A paper read at llie Foreign Missions Conferenee in Garden City in January, 1917. 142 The Missioiiiiry Cnucli<1:iuiiry Cnndidntc and llie Caudidate Seorelary With that conception the methods of training then in use were satisfactory. The foreign missionary candidate was be- ing trained for his work in accordance with the ideals as to what was best for In'm. Men were examined as to their fit- ness for the gospel ministry l:)y the proper ecclesiastical body, and their training was carried out under the direction of this same ecclesiastical authority. . If they decided to become for- eign missionaries, all that was necessary was for the Foreign Mission Board to examine them, as to health, ability to learn language, etc., and send them out without regard to their need of special training which might be required by the work and the field to which they were assigned. In discussing this subject at a meeting of the F>oard of Mis- sionary Preparation in igi2. Dr. James L. Barton said: Pardon a reference to my own case. When I went into the mission field in the Turkish Empire I never had a word said to me by the mis- sionary society in regard to my preparation — not a word. I had never heard a lecture or read a book on Mohammedanism, and I was sent to Turkey. I knew nothing of missionary work in Turkey except as I hunted for and found some books on Turkey after I had been appointed. And I think that if we should investigate the missionaries that went out up to ten or fifteen years ago, we should find, that, apart from the work of the Student Volunteer Movement, as far as the mission board was concerned they had received no equipment for their work and but little suggestion except as they asked for it from the missionary societies as to what equipment was required for the work in the field. But if we are to trust the judgment of the missionaries now in active service, and the conclusions which have been reached by the Commission on Preparation of Missionaries of the Edinburgh Conference, by the Board of Missionary Prepara- tion, and the reports of conferences which come to us from the mission field, the most notable of which are expressed in the findings of the Continuation Committee Conferences held in Asia in 1912-13, these methods do not meet the present requirements. The work has now reached a stage where more specific training is required. To say this is not. to disparage the missionaries or the work which has gone before. Rather it is a commendation of their wonderful success under God as wise and successful master-builders. What greater tribure can be paid tO' a missionary than to say that his successor must have better preparation than he himself had. For the ordained man, no longer will the training for the pastorate at home suflfice ; there are calls for teachers, who must be prepared to do work in various branches ; there are foal's for medical men who must be prepared to do different kinds of medical work, and other lay workers are called for, 147 Tlie >lisHioii:iry ('iiiMliilalo iind the C'niiiliilsitc Sooretary who have been .s|)ecifically trained for the task to which they are to be assigned.^ The insistent demand for specialists makes the i)roblem of selecting the candidate more difiicull. We must look not only for the same qualities of piety, personal knowledge of Christ, and adequate motive, but we must also find -candidates who have specialized in a way to fit themselves for the s])ecific work which they are to do. It is more difficult to be sure of these essential fundamental (jualities when we are on the con- stant lookout for the highly si)ccialized workers. Has not the problem to a large extent resolved itself into one of keeping up the great institution which has been created on the mission field ? The tendency in all institutions is to demand the worker who can do the work necessary to keep the machinery going. The machine must be kept moving. Therefore, the I'oards find themselves laboring under the pressure to send out workers who can do the professional work required to keep the insti- tution in running order. This demand puts pressure on the Boards to waive to some extent the importance of certain fundamental qualifications of motive and earnestness of pur])ose to become active, ag- gressive spiritual leaders, provided the candidates have the professional qualifications. Our Boards have not created this situation — the very success of the work on the field has created it. And it is from the mission fields thai this demand for highly trained "workers has come. Another tendency of this emphasis on specialization inevi- tably results in pressure on the candidate to secure profes- sional cjualifications even at the expense of his growth in the spiritual qualifications. The danger is that he lose sight of the missionary preparation in attempting to meet the require- ments of the professional qualifications. And some of the openings for service on the mission field look so attractive from the professional point of view that men who do not have the fundamental motive for foreign missionary service apply for appointment. This is seen in its worst form in edu- cational work, and there is increasing danger of it in other forms of work — notably the medical. I am not one of those who believe that we can work out a system of dealing with candidates which will solve all our problems. The foreign missionary enterprise is a "going con- cern," and a "going concern'' is never stable or fixed. In all living, growing movements there are inevitable expansions and contractions ; and methods must be varied in order to meet ' Sec "Preparation of Missionaries," Vol. V, World Missionary Conference, igio; ihc Kcports of the Board of .Missionary Preparation especially Volumes JII, IV, V and VI; and the Reports of the Continuation Committee Conferences in Asia, 1912-13. 148 The MisHumary ('anditlnfc an«l the Canilirtaie Soorefary ever-changing concHlions. luirlhermore, missionary organiza- tions are dealing with men and women. Living personalities cannot be handled like machines. The ideal toward which we look should result : 1. In a supply of qualified candidates which will be ade- quate not only for the demand of the Board on the basis of their present income, but which will serve also as an incen- tive and a spur to the Church to make greater efforts and larger sacrifices year after year in order to meet the growing needs on the mission field. 2. In an adequate i)re])aration for all candidates who are accepted and commissioned as foreign missionaries. 3. In saving for foreign mission work many yoimg men and women now lost to the work because of our methods of dealing with candidates. 4. In turning into other forms of Christian activity ap|)li- cants who in the judgment of the Board will not render their best service on the foreign mission field. This should l)e done before they have wasted time in their attempt to fit themselves for the work for which they will never be accepted. Such an ideal cannot even be a])proached unless the Uoards adopt a more adequate method of dealing with all young men and women who believe that (iod has called them to the for- eign mission field. I propose the following suggestions to thi.s end : 1. A Board should adopt a clear-cut standard as to the qualifications and preparation, which ■mill be required of can- didates. This should be so carefully worked out and put into such form that there will be no reason for uncertainty on the part of the young men and young women as to the conditions they must comply with if they are to be accepted and sent out by the Board. In working out such a standard of requirements the re- sults of the studies and investigations made by the Board of Missionary Preparation will be available. In fact, the Board of Preparation will fail in one of the objects for which it was called into existence if the Mission Boards do not translate into realities the ideals which the Board of Preparation has put at the disposal of the Mission Boards. 2. After the adoption of such a standard, the Board should deifise methods of inakinc/ it effective in the training of its candidates. If this be done, the following seems to me to be necessary : a. The investigation and study of all applicants should be begtm as soon as their names come to the attention of the Boards, regardless of stage of advancement in preparation. b. These investigations will show in due time whether or 149 i'iie liissioiinry rnii(li«inte nnd the Caiulidale Seet'etnrj' not the applicants have the essential native qualifications for foreign missionary service. If they have not they should be eliminated from the list of possible candidates. If they seem to have the qualifications, then a study of each person should be made, so that he may be directed to the courses of study and preparation which will prepare him for the kind of work for which he has the native capacities. In our efi^ort to secure an adequate supply of qualified candidates it should never be forgotten that we have a responsibility to the individual men and women who come before the Boards. They should under- stand that the Boards are not preventing them from going to the mission field, but are seeking not only to secure the work- ers needed for the mission field, but to help all applicants to find that place in God's kingdom where they are best fitted to serve Him. Approached in this way, there should be fewer so-called "disappointed candidates." This should be done as soon as possible after the candidate comes to the attention of the Board, and should be regarded as one of the primary func- tions of the candidate department of the Board. c. Reports should be required from the applicants from time to time during each year they are under the care of the Board. Reports also should be secured from the instructors under whom they are working. d. This process continued throughout the period of prep- aration will give the Board a knowledge of the men and women who in due time will come up for appointment, which the present method cannot possibly yield. It will prove to be a most efifective method of testing their fitness for the work and will result in adequate and specific preparation for the work to which they will be assigned. The work to be done should determine the training. We accept this principle for the work in the homeland: if a man is to become a lawyer, we expect him to be trained for the law ; if he is to become a drug- gist, he should be trained for the drug business, etc. Why not apply the same principle to the work in the mission field? If he is to work in the heart of Africa, manifestly the train- ing should dififer in many respects from that which is necessary for work in centers like Calcutta, or Peking — not less thor- ough, but adapted to the needs of his field. 3. The Boards should knozu thoroughly the schools where missioTiaries are trained and the courses ztrhich are offered in those schools in order to advise their candidates intelligently where they may secure the training which will best fit them for the field and work to which they have been assigned. Some institutions, which are admirably adapted for some candidates, are very unsatisfactory for others. And some candidates will find it necessary to take courses in more than one institution. ISO The miNSiioniir.v f':iiiiii«lii(«> :iiilisMioiinry rnndhlntc ami tlie Candidate Seeretary which will fit thein for different j^hases of work, for work in dift'erent countries; and the special preparation required for work among people of different religions. e. He should be familiar with the schools at which mission- aries are to be trained. Not only the theological seminaries and colleges and training schools of his own denomination, but other institutions which are equipped to train missionaries for dift'erent kinds of work. He must know where the best courses on different subjects are being offered, and the charac- teristics of different institutions. /. He should be familiar with the supply of candidates and in due time should become personally acquainted with the men and women in process of training. This knowledge will help to prevent many of the mistakes which are made in put- ting square men into round holes, and will enable him to know where to find candidates when emergencies arise on the field. g. He should become an exjiert on vocational guidance, helping applicants to decide for what kind of work they should prei)are — evangelistic, medical, educational, etc. He will also develop the capacity of turning men and women into active Christian service at home who are not fitted and can never be fitted for foreign missionary service. h. It goes without saying that such a secretary should recognize in this work a God-given opportunity to serve the Kingdom through the men and women with whose training for missionary service he will have so much to do. It may be objected that I have ])resented an impossible ideal. It is my conviction, however, that when our Boards" set them- selves to the solution of this problem, it will be found that what I have said is far from adequate. Then it will be seen how great the work and wonderful the opportunity for service which the office of Candidate Secretary holds for the men and women who enter upon it with a sense of mission and refuse to be turned aside from it. Some may object to the proposal because of the expense — and to do properly what I have suggested will increase the ex- pense of administration. But it should be kept in mind that money expended in securing, training and testing missionary candidates before they are sent to the field will save money later. If we can reduce the number of misfits and conse- quently the number obliged to return home, and produce greater and more satisfactory results on the mission field, the money spent in maintaining an efficiently conducted work for candidates will be wisely used. 153 Chart I NEW MISSIONARIES SENT OUT, 1903-1916 ^ *" ^" "~ "■ ^ ^"~ " 11 Bi j J .„ ^ 'o ii ■ ii,, o &^ •o t, ^ s^ ^ L. J 1 ,j, i. j 1. ^ i^ .il k_ - q <}{l fl in Pi 99 pi \ \ /r^ \ / 7 <}(? i ^ L 7 \ , / \ / 1 \a.< / (n Q? ^ ur \ / bOI '/\ 5 ^l r \ / / s /' V s / V / A o4 4 \ ^i!i / s-iS \ / S °9 X __ 4 /i. ^ / /' s s / ^ 00 N 207 :a "* i,t ^ 1£ — 'u IJ 1 1' 1 0 7 ■0 a ■o q ■1 ■' 1 ■< I ■1 5 1 <» 1 i —J A. Entire Total. B. Total Women. C. Total Men. 154 Chart II MEN MISSIONARIES SENT OUT, 1903-1916 ~ ■" 1 "P ^ ^" ■^ ^ '"" "" ^^ ■^ ^ ■^ ^ "" I'^OJ ■f. 'U, ,', 6_ iB ^ U .& £- V, ^ 'i j J^ ^ i j J •J ill. j, c ,J \i 1-1 ^^ JS 3 <;' ? f V y J 3| 08 / ^ 1 y ( 1 / \ ' L^ 25? A ^ r- ^H > ^; / \ \ y / \ i / \, \ ^,1 s ^ ?y -, 2n 2 Z^ / ^ "v ?;^ 1 — C ^ 40 ; i*. — ,165 1 B ^1 \ 1 15 _J ?5 / 1 N, s ^ s ,/ o'l-. ,-' A I ^>. zu i\. 4, ^ .^ a_ _2 L. A S~ ~ 9^ , -»■ ^ '^ ? ^ J ^ i sE ;^- 1 < ■f " '"i b a = 1 >*- 1 -■ X oD E j-_ - i l" — 9 H 03 '0 + OS '0 *<. ■0 7 '0 8 '0 S 1 ■| 1 '1 2. '1 ? '1 ri '1 b '1 L __ _ ^ J ^ __ _ |_J U _ __ ii_i . Scale two times that of Chart I. A. Total Men. B. Ordained Men. C. Total Laymen. D. Doctors. E. Y. M. C. A. Secretaries. 155 Chart III WOiMEN MISSIONARIES SENT OUT, 1903-1916 ~1 11 ^ J t. 'o s L^ u 'o L. 'o L. 'o ^ pj £. J Jl 1 J ^ ■J t.. ,,',t i ,1 ij_ - 4 ^ \ 477 '»(, X 1 Y t \ 1 \ i 4 Qff / U— / ? '"IP / ^, ,■,-, ^1,3 / / / ^ 5 lii- — s. / / \ \ B ifcO 1 11,0 s. / / \ 1 \A / i5T / \ S 1 ^5 ^ 45. ^ (4^ / C 1^1 ^. «3 / 1 ■w ^ i 1 ^T — (2^ 1 r^ _1 og . D y 3- u. 5— u_ IS. P. E •- ,^ ...■ .. .. — 4_ s - i_ ■rrs s_ T. ^ ^ ^ TTz b ?= — 4- o 5 J 4 5 5 4 - ^ i ' + J ^ ,^2 ^ L 5_ 'o L. ^ r _o^ S_J •o ^ ^ 9I \ t__ _!J L- -i i_ 1 ^ -i s_ 1 u Scale two times that of Cha.rt I. A. Total Women. B. Unmarried Women (not Including Doctors and Y. W. C. A. Secretaries). C. Married Women. D. Doctors. E. Y. W. C. A. Secretaries. IS6 Chart IV Total Missionariks Sent Out i;v thk VaivMoi:s Denominational American and Canadian Boards and Societies, 1903-1916 Men 190,3 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 Ordained 129 140 109 107 125 125 105 Laymen 68 70 63 42 66 71 68 Doctors 37 26 21 31 18 29 27 Y. M. C. A..... s 8 14 II 8 14 16 Total 239 244 207 191 217 239 216 IVomcn Unmarried 160 t68 171 145 176 182 186 Married 127 160 129 124 122 148 .140 Doctors 14 9 12 10 4 5 4 Y. W. C. A 4 o 3 3 o 4 3 Total 305 T,T,7 315 ^^^ 302 339 333 Grand Total .. 544 581 522 473 519 578 549 iMcii 1910 T911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 Ordained 93 159 '55 85 89 88 103 Laymen 100 104 116 91 92 81 160 Doctors 28 28 25 31 17 30 20 Y. M. C. A T,s 30 39 SO -5 i'"^ 25 Total 254 321 ~ 335 257 223 217 308 ll'oincii Unmarried 20S 277 269 225 164 213 238 Married 145 207 197 118 136 159 210 Doctors 5 9 -^ II 5 10 4 Y. W. C. A 5 4 9 9 3 TO 12 Total 3,63 497 477 363 308 392 464 Grand Total .. 617 818 812 620 531 609 772 157 CHINA INLAND MISSION'S METHOD OF DEALING WITH CANDIDATES ' By Rev. Henry W. Frost, Director In this paper are set forth the methods which the China Inland Mission has adopted for use in dealing with its candi- dates. Much of what is stated has no application apart from our own work. The China Inland Mission, being interde- nominational in character and believing in the use of not only ordained men, but also of those who are not ordained, occupies a unique position, and, hence, some of its methods are peculiar and non-applicable to Missions otherwise situated. The pur- pose of this paper, therefore, is not to erect an ideal which is supposed to constitute a general standard or to hold up a pattern which is believed should be universally copied ; it is simply to describe a system which has proved valuable to this Mission and which may prove at least suggestive to those interested in the subject of missionary methods. The China Inland Mission, in seeking for candidates, rarely makes direct solicitation for offers of service. It takes this course, first, because it does not desire to divert from the regu- lar denominational channels any men or women who should naturally and rightfully offer to the IWjards; and, second, be- cause it prefers to deal only with those with whom the Lord has especially dealt in respect to the Mission in order to make sure that those who offer to us are such as God Himself would have united with us. The Mission holds public meetings and circulates literature, and by these means it presents in a general way the need of sei'vice in China ; but here it stops, waiting for individuals to take the first step in offering to it. This procedure, so far as we are concerned, seems to have received the divine blessing, for the Mission in past years has received a large number of applications from both men and women, and has been permitted to select from these a consider- able number of well-qualified missionaries, our existing mem- bership at home and abroad numbering now a total of 1,050 persons. Among these missionaries there have been some who hav-e passed through colleges and seminaries, a lesser number who have had medical training, and more who have had a high school education, together with a thorough training in the English Bible. A candidate having offered to the Mission either in person or in writing, is requested to read — in order to inform himself ^ A paper read at a conference of candidate secretaries held in New York by tlie Student Volunteer Movement. China Inland Mission's ]>le(liod o£ Dealing willi Caudidates concerning the Mission — the following books : "The Hand- book of the China Inland Mission" ; "A Retrospect," by Rev. J. Hudson Taylor; "The History of the China Inland Mis- sion," by Marshall Broomhall, " M.A., and "The Spiritual Condition of the Heathen," by Henry W. Frost. At the same time the applicant is asked to prepare a letter in his own handwriting and phraseology, which will give the following information: name, address, age, occupation, general physical condition, degree and kind of education, time and manner of conversion, opportunities realized for systematic Bible vStudy and for active Christian service, length of time that service abroad has been in mind, motive for offering for work in China, any obstacles which may exist, and such further ])ar- ticular information as may help to give a full and clear view of the case. When this letter is received, if the case is prom- ising, two papers are sent to the candidate ; first, the "Prin- ciples and Practise of the China Inland Mission" — which sets forth under fourteen articles what the Mission represents and requires — and second, "The Question Paper," which enquires fully and particularly concerning the details of the applicant's lif€ and service. When these papers have been returned, duly filled out, they are carefully studied by the Mission Officials in order that it may be determined, up to this point, if any obstacles exist. In the event of the case being considered favorable, a "Physical Examination Paper" is sent to the can- didate, a part of which he fills out and the rest of which is filled in by a physical examiner of the applicant's own choos- ing. This paper is then returned to us, and, if it presents any doubtful aspects, it is presented to the Mission's examining physician for his advice. In case the correspondence is still favorable, a "Doctrinal Paper" is sent to the candidate, with the request that he fill out the answers to its seven leading questions in his own phraseolog}^ with proof texts attached. As the Mission is interdenominational, the cpestions asked do not touch upon the subjects of the ordinances or of church government; but, as the Mission is strictly evangelical, they require replies in respect to all of the fundamentals of the Christian faith. This paper, when it is received, is given very careful and prayerful consideration, the Mission deem- ing it highly important that only those should be accepted for sei-vice who will present to the Chinese the Gospel of Christ in its fulness and purity. In the event of the "Doctrinal Paper" proving satisfactory, there is sent to the candidate a "Referee Paper," which asks for the names of five referees, inclusive of the applicant's pastor. When this paper has been received, "Referee Blanks" are sent to the persons whose names have been given. In due course, these papers being 159 China Iiil:iiii1 >lisNioii'.s ]\lo