BV S3Z m S"^ i Ill ?•• THE CHURCH IN THE FORT. The oldest place of -JJorship of the Reformed Church in America — in the fort on Manhattan Islaiid, near "Bowling Green," New York City. Its first minister, Jonas Mich- aeliiis, li'as installed in 162S. Our Home Mission Work An Outline Study of the Home Mission Work of the Reformed Church in the United States CHARLES E. SCHAEFFER, D. D. General Secretary of the Board of Home Missions PHILADELPHIA PUBLICATION AND SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 1914 To OUR Home Missionaries THE Devoted Men and their Wives Who Labor Earnestly in Building THE Kingdom of God into the Life of the Nation THIS Book Is Affectionately Dedicated BY THE Author CONTENTS Chapter Page Preface 7 I Otjr History 11 II Our Territory 37 III City and Country 69 IV Our Immigrant Work 99 V Our German Work 131 VI Our Church-building Funds 151 VII An Adequate Support of the Work 177 VIII The Larger Meaning of Home Missions. . . . 209 Appendix 1 235 Appendix II 243 Index 251 PREFACE In November 1863 the General Synod of the Reformed Chm*ch in the United States was organized. Along with other Boards intended to carry forward the general work of the Church, the Board of Home Missions was elected. These fifty years are characterized by a steady growth of oui denominational life. The Home Mission enterprise lies at the foundation of this splendid work. A com- plete and comprehensive account thereof has never been written. Nmnerous histories of our Church in the Old World and in the New have from time to time appeared, which have done much to keep fresh in our mem- ories the heritage of the fathers. We have, however, been making new history in these latter days, and some of these facts need to be chronicled. In the year 1896, when the Eastern Synod observed its sesqui-centennial. Superintend- ent A. C. Whitmer published a valuable compendium of Home Mission data under 7 8 Preface the title of "One Hundred and Fifty Years of Home Missionary Activity," gleaned from the proceedings of the Synods and from other reliable som'ces. The arrangement of his material is chronological, and consequently does not lend itself so readily to our modern purposes of Mission Study. Besides, during this intervening period some progress in the work of Home Missions has been made, and a new volume, approaching the subject from a somewhat different angle, made necessary by changed conditions and by a new purpose, is needed. The material here is arranged topically and is intended for Mission Study purposes. Many of our people are engaged in Mis- sion Study. Summer conferences in various sections of the Church, with a view of promoting such study, are conducted an- nually. The author indulges the hope that this course of studies on our denominational work in the homeland, may furnish our young people, and our church workers in general, with a fund of material which will enable them to form a clearer conception of our Home Mission task and will call forth a steadier loyalty and a stronger interest in the work. Preface 9 In the preparation of this volume I have drawn from many sources. Within the last decade the literature on Home Missions has greatly multiplied. At the end of each chapter are indicated certain books and pamphlets which have been found helpful and to which the reader is referred for more advanced study. During the past year four Commissions, under the auspices of the Laymen's Mission- ary Movement, made a comprehensive sur- vey of the Reformed Church in the United States and published their findings in pam- phlet form. The Survey and this Outline Study of our Home Mission Work run along parallel lines in many places. It is, there- fore, proper to state that fully half of this volume was in print and was used at the summer conferences during 1913, while the commissions on the Survey were not ap- pointed till afterwards. I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. John H. Poorman, Secretary of the Mission Study Department, for valuable assistance in pre- paring the illustrations, and to Superinten- dent A. C. Whitmer for reading the manu- script and for many helpful suggestions. Charles E. Schaeffer, Philadelphia, Pa., June, 1914. OUR HISTORY THE PRESSING DEMAND A Church big enough to overspread a big land; broad enough in its sympathies to appeal to and be appealed to by all the classes of our society; eager enough to carry the message of a saving gospel that all our polyglot people shall hear and understand; homely enough to make itself at home among the lowliest; confident enough of the dignity of its mission to press its claims upon the loftiest; sure enough of its truth to commend the wisdom of God's salvation to the wise; simple enough in interpreta- tion of the truth that the simplest- minded may not faO of comprehending; hopeful enough of its triumph to be the worthy minister of God who would have all men saved; sagacious enough to adjust itself to its delicate task; human enough to be all things to all men and touch the common human chord ; divine enough to hallow hmnan life at every turn of its ministry. — McAfee. Our Home Mission Work OUR HISTORY 1. Early History Two branches of Protestant- To trace the history of any organization or movement we must find a suitable start- ism ing point. The Reformation during the second decade of the sixteenth century forms the watershed of modern ecclesiastical history. Two distinct branches of Prot- estantism emerged, which Dr. PhiUp Schaff, the great church historian, designates as the Lutheran and the Reformed. Both of these branches subdivided into numerous denom- inations. "The Reformed movement spread over The Reformed Europe and became an organized Church in '^^^^ many countries. In Holland we have the Dutch Reformed; in Germany, the German Reformed; in France, the Huguenots; in Scotland, the 13 14 Our Home Mission Work Presbyterians. The Churches of the Reformed type, unlike the Lutheran, did not keep one name or one confession to bind them together. They are, however, animated by a common spirit which appears in their cultus, polity and doctrine, and which makes them members of one spiritual household. The names given to the various Reformed Churches were taken from the land in which they were established, or from their form of government, or from some other prominent characteristic. In the broad- est sense, then, the Reformed Churches are all those Protestant denominations which are not Lutheran and Anabaptist. Their membership throughout the world is, according to Professor Kattenbusch, 100,000,000 — 57,000,000 in America. Our Official "The Reformed Church in the United States Name is a member of the Reformed family of Churches and is composed mainly of the descendants of German, Swiss and French Reformed people who settled in this country. The prevailing national elements are German and Swiss, but these, in the last one hundred and seventy-five years have been so thoroughly Americanized and Anglicised that the official name was changed from 'The German Reformed Church' to 'The Reformed Church in the United States.' Historically its nearest kin are the Dutch Re- formed, the Presbyterians and the Congrega- tionalists. "In point of time the Reformed Church in the United States is among the oldest Prot- estant Churches. In point of its past history Our History 15 it is the martyr Church of Protestantism. In point of its genius it is the most liberal and yet the most Protestant of all Churches in Christen- dom. Owing to its German origin, it has not advanced as rapidly as the English denomina- tions. Yet it has taken a noble part from colonial times, in the education, civilization and christianization of a substantial portion of our great Republic."* After the discovery of America almost a '^"^^^ Protest- , . , lie J 1 ant Church in century and a quarter elapsed bet ore the America first Protestant Chiu-ch was established in this country. The oldest church with a con- tinuous history in America is the Collegiate Reformed church of New York. Its first pastor was the Rev. Jonas Michaelius, who organized the congregation during the sum- mer of 1628. It is significant that the first church bell in America hung in the steeple of this church. The first organ in America was likewise first used in this church. Peter Minuit, the first Governor of New York, then called New Amsterdam, was an elder in this church. Another hundred years passed by before German the German Reformed Church was planted ^'°°®^* here. At the close of the seventeenth cen- *Quoted from an address by Prof. George W. Rich- ards, Theological Seminary, Lancaster, Penna. 16 Our Home Mission Work tury and the beginning of the eighteenth, a tidal wave of German Reformed immigra- tion to this country set in, due largely to religious persecution and to desolation wTought by frequent wars in the German fatherland. Many German families thus settled in New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania and in the other colonies. "They built their church and beside the church their schools, and there they grew and produced men worth producing." ''Amid the storm they sang and the stars heard and the sea, And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang to the anthem of the free." Many of these early pioneers of the faith must in course of time have identified them- selves with the Dutch Reformed, the Presby- terian and other Churches. In various localities, however, they met and organized congregations without a regular minister. Usually the school-master or some other intelligent man of the community would conduct services which ''generally consisted in reading prayers from a European liturgy, and a sermon from some approved collec- tion."* *Dubb's Historic Manual, p. 166. Our History 17 The earliest congregations of which we ^^^ Earnest ■, • Congrega- have any authentic records are three, viz.: tions Falkner Swamp, Skippack and Whitemarsh. These are located within fifty miles north of Philadelphia, and are still in existence. They were served by John Philip Boehm, who was a school-master prior to his coming to this country in 1720. For five years he served them as "lay reader," but was sub- sequently ordained by the Dutch Reformed Churches of New York City. We thus trace the beginning of om- denominational history in this country to the year 1720. WTiat a feeble beginning it was! The three congregations served by Boehm in 1728 reported 24, 20 and 14 members respectively. Our Church was then a foreign mission we were a under the care of the Church of Holland, ^"'"^'s'^ ^'^- from which it received aid in the form of ministers and money.* Without this assist- ance from abroad it is doubtful whether the newly established congregations could have survived. "The condition of our people during this period was extremely sad. Or- ganized congregations were few and very * Every year from fifteen hundred to three thousand guilders were sent from Holland in aid of the German Reformed churches. 2 18 Our Home Mission Work scattered, the people were poor, pastors were scarce, wolves were many, children grew up without baptism and without schools, and the mother Church was three thousand miles away."* In 1734 Boehm made the following interesting statistical report! to the Synods in Holland: Congregations Communicants At Falkner Swamp were found Sept. 22, 1734 63 At Skippack were found Sept. 29, 1734 41 At VlTiitemarsli were found Oct. 6, 1734 22 At Philadelphia were found Sept. 15, 1734 88 At Germantown were found (according to the state- ment of two elders, named Minck and Bentzel) in the month of September, 1734 30 At Conestoga were found May 31, 1730 75 At Tulpehocken were found June 28, 1728 27 At Goshenhoppen (according to the statement of some members) about 40 386 Besides these eight congregations he calls attention to certain preaching points such as Oley, Saucon, Macungie, Maxatawny and Great Swamp. * Whitmer — ' ' 150 Years of Home Missionary Activity, " p. 11. t Minutes of the Coetus, p. 1. FALKXER SWAMP REFcjk.\l|-.l) LllLKLll. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA. This Church zvas erected in 1790, the steeple was added later. The original building 7vas a frame structure which stood for at least forty- seven rears. Our History 19 In the year 1746 a new day began to dawn. First Mission- Rev. Michael Schlatter arrived in this coun- Zldent'^'"'" try to look after the scattered interests of the Reformed Church. He was sent by ''the Reverend Deputies of the Synod of South and North Holland." He was the first Missionary Superintendent of our Chiu-ch. He found a number of congrega- tions scattered all the way from New York to the Carolinas. He called a meeting of the ministers in his own house in Philadel- phia, and subsequently, in 1747, organized them into a Coetus. Four ministers and twenty-seven elders Earnest or- comprised the organization. Its functions ^'^"'^^ '°° were purely advisory. It had to send its minutes to Holland for approval. It was not allowed to ordain its candidates for the ministry. But in the face of these condi- tions the infant Church grew and developed. In 1750 we had 46 regularly organized con- gregations, and a total estimated member- ship of from ten to fifteen thousand. In 1770 we had fifteen pastors, and in 1776 about twenty. In 1793 the Coetus declared itself inde- spirit of in. pendent of the Synod of HoUand, and be- ^^^^^^^^^^ came ''the Synod of the German Reformed Church in the United States." It was a 20 Our Home Mission Work A slow Awak- ening Lengthening of the cords great step forward. It was doubtless prompted by a number of concurrent fac- tors. The Church had outgrown its limita- tions. The spirit of independence was rife among the colonies, and the Church came to be dominated by the same spirit of free- dom. Throwing off the yoke of dependence the Church but slowly awoke to a conscious- ness of its mission as a denomination in this country. *'In a weak, spasmodic way the Synod attempted to respond to the earnest appeals of the infant churches on the front- iers, and several ministers were at an early date commissioned to visit the vacant congregations of the South and West, re- ceiving for their services a small stipend from the treasmy of the Synod."* Thus, Rev. John William Weber as early as 1783 went into Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and established the Reformed Church beyond the Alleghanies. Churches were founded at an early date in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, also in Maine, and as far north as Nova Scotia. If proper missionary efforts had been put forth, our Church might have been estab- * Historic Manual, p. 315. Our History 21 lished in practicall}'' every one of the colonies. From lack of pastoral oversight many of these newborn congregations in com'se of time disbanded, or affiliated themselves with other denominations. In the year 1812 the Synod took its first First formal formal action on the subject of Missions, Missions" when it resolved to send several ministers to the *' western country" and directed each congregation to lift a collection for this work. From various parts of the country numerous calls for ministers came before the Synod, which in 1813 resulted in sending Rev. James R. Reily as visiting missionary to North Carolina, and in the resolution that ''all licentiates before settling in charges should give two or three months to mission- ary tours under the direction of Synod, and that all pastors must take up collections to pay the traveling expenses of these men." The year 1819 marks a great change in Division of the administration of the work when the ^°^ '°^° Classes Synod divided itself into eight Classes as follows: Philadelphia, Northampton, Leb- anon, Susquehanna, West Pennsylvania, Zion, Maryland and Ohio. Maryland Classis then included all the territory that lay south of Pennsylvania; and Ohio Classis included all the territory that lay west of 22 Our Home Mission Work Foreshadow- ings ol a Board A Board Con- stituted Pennsylvania. Subsequently, in 1824, Philadelphia and Northampton Classes were united by Sjmod into a single Classis. It wiU be observed that hitherto the Synod endeavored to carry forward its mis- sionary work without proper organization for this purpose, and without literature for informing the Church, and educating her members in benevolent giving. The nearest approach was reached when, in 1819, the Synod appointed a Missionary Committee ''to examine into the fitness of those who wanted to be missionaries, to direct them w^here to work, to pay their necessary traveling expenses, and to give Synod a summary of their reports;" and when, in 1821, Synod ordered ''every pastor not only to take up a collection for Missions, but also to explain to the people the object and necessity of the offering and the duty of every member to give it." But evidently the hoiu- had come when more definite organization became not only desirable, but imperative. The Missionary Committee in 1826 recommended to Synod the establishment of a Board of Home Missions. "The necessity for it," said they, "is as clear as day. Cries and calls are everywhere, and no help is at hand." Our History 23 The name of the new organization was, "The American Missionary Society of the German Reformed Chm-ch. " It was or- ganized in Frederick, Maryland, September 28th, 1826. Any person on payment of one dollar or more was entitled to membership, and it was expected that the whole Chm-ch might be enrolled. From its number this body elected annually a Board of Missions, composed of twenty-four persons, who at- tended to practically all the work of the Society. Besides the work of Home Mis- sions, there was committed to this Society also the work of beneficiary education and the publication interests* of the Church. Its support was to come from congrega- tions and from local auxiliary societies, of which there were two, one at Frederick, Md., and the other at Germantown, Pa., both composed of women. In 1832 Susque- hanna Classis organized itself into an auxil- iary society, and Sjniod directed all the Classes to do so. But prejudices soon developed against the American Missionary Society, and the Classes, refusing lo work with the Board, kept their work and their funds in their own hands. Local Auxil- iary Societies *The history of our missionary publications will be treated in a subsequent chapter. 24 Our Home Mission Work Synod's 'pj^g Sviiod Consequently resolved to effect Board of , • ^ i • . • i • ^ r^^^ Missions a Change in the organization, and m 1832 elected a Board of Missions composed of eighteen members, two from each of the seven Classes and four from the Church at large. But even this change did not secure the desired results. Thus it happened that in 1835 the Board reported receipts for the previous year of only $97,203/^, and expendi- tures of $54.31. In 1841 it had only three missionaries and received only $306, but had an outlay of $736. In 1834 a representative of the American Home Missionary Society explained to the Synod the advantages of cooperation in Home Mission work with that body, and our Church entered into an agreement which continued for a number of years. Movings From 1828 to 1844 the Board of Missions had its seat in Chambersburg, Pa., in con- nection with the Printing Establishment there; but when Synod in 1844 elected a Board of Publication, the headquarters of the Board of Missions were transferred to Harrisburg, Pa., and for twenty years there- after it as wknown as "The Board of Do- mestic Missions." In 1854 Lancaster, Pa., became its headquarters. Our History 25 II. Early History in Ohio In the year 1800 Ohio had a population Rapid Growth of 45,000. In 1810 the number had risen to 230,000, and in 1820 to 581,000. Many of these had emigrated from Eastern Penn- sylvania as well as from the fatherland, and among them were many adherents of the Reformed faith. The first Reformed min- ister to visit Ohio was Rev. Jacob Christ- man, who in 1803 went to Warren county and organized a Reformed congregation at Springboro. In 1820, when Ohio Classis was organized, it had five ministers, fifty congregations and eighteen hundred mem- bers. In 1824 the Classis became a Synod with eleven ministers, eighty-four congrega- tions and twenty-five hundred members. "At the first meeting came calls from fifteen congregations for pastors; and again and again in after years came appeals from shepherdless Reformed people in Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri." Rev. John Pence and Rev. Henry Hiestand were appointed traveling missionaries at $15 and $18 per month respectively. In 1833 Ohio Synod appointed a ''Com- owo synod mittee on Missions," which was also the orM^issionr Committee on Examination and Licensure. 26 Our Home Mission Work In 1839 the first steps were taken toward creating a Board of Missions, which how- ever was not formally constituted until 1844. It was patterned somewhat after the Board of the Eastern Synod. It re- ceived very little money for its work, and the western missions were supported in large part by the Eastern Board. Thus there were now two Boards, the Eastern and the Western. III. History of General Synod's Board Tercentenary rpj^^ j. -j^ggg marks auother epoch in our denommational history. The Tercen- tenary Celebration of the Heidelberg Cate- chism was one of its distinguishing features. Over $100,000 was raised for benevolence during the year. As a direct outcome of this celebration came the organization of the General Synod in November of the same year, and the election of a Board of Home Missions. The following resolution was adopted: ''That General Synod create a Board of Home Missions, to begin work as soon as the existing Boards be dissolved by their Synods. " Ohio Synod acted promptly, but the Eastern Synod postponed action until 1865. Our History 27 The consolidation was effected in Phila- organization of General delphia, in November 1865. The Eastern synod-s Board transferred 52 Missions, the Western ^°^''*^ 15, and the General Board added 14 new ones, dropped 10 old ones, and thus started out with a roll of 71, thu'ty of which were German. The officers of the General Board were: Rev. Dr. J. H. A. Bomberger, Presi- dent; Rev. Dr. S. H. Giesy, Secretary; Elder Charles Santee, Treasurer; Elder John Wiest, Treasurer of Church-building mon- eys. All of these men lived in Philadelphia. The Board entered upon its work in good Bright hopes. It appeared as if, at last, the Church ■'""p*'*^*^ had come out of its wanderings in the wilder- ness. Rev. L. D. Leberman was promptly elected Corresponding Secretary. Synod asked each Classis to appoint a committee on missions for cooperation with the Board, and urged every congregation to appoint a special committee to secure from individ- uals quarterly or at least yearly con- tributions for missions. The organization seemed to be complete. But alas! the machinery did not work. The Classes again failed to co-operate with the General Board. Rev. Mr. Leberman in 1868 resigned sa Corresponding Secretary, and Synod re- quested the Classes to elect Superintendents or Missionary Committees. 28 Our Home Mission Work IJe^'^^'^'^ Great disappointment and dissatisfaction prevailed throughout the Church. In 1870 Ohio Synod again elected its own Board of Missions as auxiliary to the General Board. The Eastern Synod in 1871 followed by electing its own Board. The whole Church was excited and harassed by bitter theolog- ical and liturgical controversies. General Synod's Board then transferred all its Mis- sions back to their respective synodical Boards, 80 of them in 17 States, and 41 of them west of the Alleghany mountains. It was the ''Dark Ages" for our Church. We lost immeasurably and irretrievably through our divisions, and the follies of the past ought to teach us a lesson for the future. Formation of In February 1873 a special meeting of the compTct^'^ Eastern Synod was held to discuss coopera- tion in the work of Missions with the Pitts- burgh Synod and the proposed Synod of the Potomac, resulting in the Tri-Synodic Com- pact, which continued for nearly twenty years. Each Synod was to have its own Board ; but for managing the work they were to form one corporate body, "The Board of Missions of the Reformed Church in the United States." This compact was effected September 3, 1875. At first the work of this Board was confined to the bounds of the Our History 29 three Synods which constituted it, and the Pacific Coast; but in 1882 it started work in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Owing to these changes, the Board of Efforts to re- General Synod was for some years com- ^^^.^ paratively inactive. The missionary work of the Church was done by the District Synods* and the Classes. The Constitu- tion of the Church, however, clearly pro- vided that the General Synod should engage diligently in Missions, and so, as early as 1884, a special Committee was appointed to prepare a plan whereby the whole work might be carried forward under the General Board. In 1887 the General Synod requested the Again under District Synods to place all their Home synod's Mission work under the General Board once Board more. The Ohio Synod, which in 1870 was the first to create its own Board, was now * The Synod Organized The Board The Eastern 1793 1826 The Ohio 1824 1845 ' The Northwestern 1867 1868 The Pittsburgh 1870 1873 The Potomac 1873 1873 The German Sjiiod of the East 1875 1875 S The Central 1882 1882 The Interior 1887 1887 tU a.otVwt 5.A 30 Our Home Mission Work again the first to respond in transferring its 15 missions back .to the General Board, April 1, 1889. Pittsbm-gh Synod withdrew its seven missions from the care of the Board of Missions and on January 1, 1890, gave them to the General Board. Philadelphia Classis brought its four missions April 1, 1890. The Eastern and the Potomac Synods, on April 1, 1892, transferred their 41 missions; and the five missions under the Board of the Interior Synod were trans- ferred at the same time. Thus the entire work* of Home Missions in the English Synods was once more unified under the con- trol of the General Synod's Board, f IV. Summary of our History 1720-1747 congregational period, to the organization of the Coetus. 1747-1793 coetal period, to the organiza- tion of the Synod. *"The Ursinus Union," organized 1873 in the interests of Ursinus College, conducted Home Mission work for a number of years. From 1883 to 1888 it raised over $10,000 for Home Missions. It discontinued its mission- ary operations in 1889. t The German missions continue under their Synodical Boards. Our History 31 1793-1826 to the organization of the Board of Domestic Missions. 1826-1863 to the organization of General Synod and the election of its Board of Home Missions. 1863-1890 partly under District Synod's Boards and partly under General Synod's Board. 1890- under General Synod's Board with District Synods advisory. V. Missionary Superintendents The first mention of a Superintendent of Missions was made in 1847. Originally there were travehng missionaries, exploring missionaries, who visited frontier sections for several weeks or months, and then returned to tell of their experiences and of the needs of the field. Among them were such men as Rev. George Leidy, Rev. James R. Reily, Rev. John Rudy, Rev. John Pence, Rev. Henry Hiestand, Rev. Joel L. Reber, Rev. Reuben Good and others. The first Gen- eral Exploring Agent sent forth by the Eastern and Western Boards was Rev. Sam- uel Miller. Afterwards, in 1850, Rev. Maximilian Stern explored the western part of New York and located four ministers in 32 Our Home Mission Work and near Buffalo and laid the foundation for a new Classis. Rev. Emanuel V. Gerhart for several years labored in the West as General Agent of the Board. In 1857 Rev. W. K. Zieber* of Tiffin, Ohio, was appointed by the Eastern Board as Superintendent of Missions in the West. He was in office only two years when he accepted a call to Hanover, Pa. Rev. L. D. Leberman was made Corre- sponding Secretary of General Synod's Board in 1865, but resigned in 1868. Dr. Max Stern was Superintendent 1870- 1871; the Ohio and Northwest Synods paid one-half his salary and the General Board the other half. For years the General Board had no Superintendent, until October 1, 1889, when Rev. Dewalt S. Fouse, D. D., entered upon office and remained as its head until 1905, when he was succeeded by Rev. Thomas M. Yundt. Mr. Yundt died in 1907, after a year and a half of service. He was succeeded by Rev. Charles E. Schaeffer, D. D., who began his work June 1st, 1908. The Superintendents of the Tri-synodic * For an interesting account of hia work see ' 150 Years of Home Missionaiy Activity," p. 59 et sq. Our History 33 Board were: Rev. F. K. Levan, D. D., 1874-1877; Rev. Theodore Appel, D. D., 1878-1885; Rev. A. C. Whitmer, 1886- The Synods have had various District Superintendents. Pittsburgh Synod — Rev. F. K. Levan, D. D., 1870-1871; Rev. George H. Johnston, D. D., 1871-1872; Rev. F. K. Levan, D. D., 1872-1874. Ohio Stjnod—Rev. J. M. Kendig, D. D., 1878-1879; Rev. S. P. Myers, 1880-1882. Pittsburgh and Ohio Synods — Rev. Dewalt S. Fouse, D. D., 1889-1905; Rev. David A. Souders, D. D., 1905- Interior Synod— Rev. D. B. Shuey, 1882- 1896; Rev. Abner S. Dechant, 1898-1905; Rev. Dewalt S. Fouse, D. D., 1905-1909; Rev. John C. Horning, 1909- German Synods — Rev. G. D. ElUker, 1909- Field Secretaries under General Board. Rev. Charles E. Creitz, D. D., 1899-1900; Rev. David N. Dittmar, 1900-1905. General Synod's Board is constituted as follows: Rev. Charles E. Miller, D. D., LL. D., President; Rev. William C. Schaef- fer, D. D., Vice-president; Rev. Paul S. Leinbach, D. D.*; Rev. J. Harvey Mickley, * Resigned January, 1913. 3 34 Our Home Mission Work Recording Secretary; Elder C. M. Boush, Attorney for the Board; Rev. I. C. Fisher, D. D.; Elder F. C. Brunhouse; Rev. Edwin R. Wniiard; Rev. G. D. Elliker; Rev. P. H. Dippell, D. D.; Rev. C. B. Schneder, D. D.; Elder Phihp H. Bridenbaugh; Elder George W. Stein; Elder Joseph S. Wise, Treasurer; Rev. Charles E. Schaeffer, D. D., General Secretary. Headquarters — Fifteenth and Race Streets Philadelphia, Pa. QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER 1 These questions are intended to evoke discussion in the Mission Study Class. They may enable the leader to bring to the attention of the Class certain facts and state- ments which might otherwise be overlooked. They are not exhaustive, but simply suggestive. Aim: To familiakize oitrselves with the early HISTORY OP THE REFORMED ChURCH IN THE UNITED States, and to realize the struggles of our fathers IN this country in behalf of their faith. 1. Early History 1 What are the two main branches of Protestantism? 2 What Protestant denominations belong to the Reformed type? 3 Which is the oldest Protestant Church in the country?" 4 Which are the earliest German Reformed con- gregations in America? 5 From what foreign som'ce did our early churches receive help? Our History 35 6 What was the mission of Rev. Michael Schlatter? 7 Why was the "Synod" organized and what was its significance? 8 Who was the first Reformed minister west of the Alleghanies? 9 When was Synod divided into Classes? Why? 10 When and how was the first Board of Missions constituted and what was its official name? //. Early History in Ohio 11 Who was the first Reformed minister to visit Ohio? 12 How do you account for the rapid growi;h of the Church in Ohio? 13 What led to the organization of Ohio SjTiod's Board of Missions? III. History of the General Synod's Board of Home Missio7is 14 What was the Tercentenary Celebration and what effect had it upon the Church? 15 When was General Synod's Board of Home Missions organized and what did it represent? 16 With what prospects did General Synod's Board enter upon its work? 17 What hindered the weKare of the Board's work? 18 What do you understand by the Tri-synodic Compact? 19 Why and under what circumstances was the Missionary work again imified imder the Gen- eral Board? 20 Summarize the history of our Home Mission work. 21 Mention some of the Missionary Superintendents. 36 Our Home Mission Work REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY Historic Manual — Dubbs. History of the Reformed Church in Pennsylvania — Dubbs. History of the Reformed Church in the United States — Good. 150 Years of Home Missionary Activity — Whitmer. Minutes of the Coetus. Minutes of the District Synods. Minutes of the General Sjiiod. Minutes of the Board of Home Missions. OUR TERRITORY O America, America, stretching be- tween the two great seas, in whose heart flows the rich blood of many nations, into whose mountain safes God has put riches of fabulous amount, in whose plains the Almighty has planted the magic genius that blossoms into har- vests w^ith which to feed the hungiy mul- titudes of earth, nursed by Puritan and Pilgrim, defended by patriot and mis- sionary, guided by the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, sanctified by a faith as pure as looks up to heaven from any land, O America, let thy Master make thee a savior of the na- tions; let thy God flood thee with a resistless passion for conquest; let thy Father lead thee over mountains and seas, through fire and flood, through sickness and pain, out to that great hour when all men shall hear the call of Christ, and the last lonely soul shall see the uplifted cross, and the whole round world be bound back to the heart of God! — Doughty. II OUR TERRITORY I. A General View When, in 1869, the official name of the re^JT^ denomination was changed, by synodical authority, from "German Reformed Chm"ch" to "The Reformed Chm"ch in tlie United States," the change served not only to dif- ferentiate the American from the European Chm-ch, but also to define the territory in which its lot had been cast. The Church in this country had attained a new con- sciousness of its work and mission. The new name, however, no longer adequately defines the field of our operations. We have enlarged the borders of our tent, so as to include portions of the Dominion of Canada, of China and of Japan. 1. Territorial Expansion. When the Expansion framers of the American Constitution began that document with the words, "We, the people of the United States," the term in- cluded far less than it does today. Then it meant a narrow fringe of colonies, thirteen 39 40 Our Home Mission Work in number, along the Atlantic seaboard. The census of 1790 showed that the newly constituted republic numbered less than four million inhabitants, scattered over an area of 900,000 square miles. The acquisi- tion of the Northwest Territory in 1787 added a tract of 250,000 square miles, lying, wedge-shaped, between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. At the opening of the nineteenth century, the western boundary was the Mississippi river. Then followed, in 1803, the Louisiana purchase which increased the national do- main by 1,000,000 square miles. The boundary line had been pushed westward to the Rocky Mountains. Other portions were added from time to time, until at the middle of the past century the United States covered the continent from ocean to ocean, from the Lakes to the Gulf, and formed the "natural base for the greatest continuous empire ever established by mankind." Since then it has reached out still farther and includes within its boundary lines Alaska to the north, Porto Rico to the south, the Hawaiian Islands to the west, and the Philippines to the far east. The United States in area and Our Territory 41 Advantages of Position population is one of the five great world powers.* 2. Position. Its geographical position, ex- cluding its dependencies, is wholly in the Temperate Zone, in the middle of the con- tinent. Its coast line exceeds the coast lines of the other world powers put together. Its harbors are unsiu-passed. Its navigable rivers are among the longest in the world. Its railroad mileage is thirty-eight per cent. Railroads of the world's total. ''The United States could duplicate all the railroad mileage in Asia, Africa, South .America and Australia, and then have enough left to build a single track line three and three-fourths times around the globe!" 3. Material Resources. Its resources are Resources immeasurable. Its wealth is well nigh incal- culable. Its farm products for a single year, 1909, were valued at $8,760,000,000. *The five great world powers are: Area in sq. miles Population 1 The British Empire 11,500,000 400,000,000 2 Russia 8,500,000 150,000,000 3 Greater France 4,500,000 95,000,000 4 The United States 3,700,000 93,000,000 5 Greater Germany 1,250,000 75,000,000 CooUdge "The United States as a World Power," p. 9 et seq. 42 Our Home Mission Work Population Number of Church Members ''If this money were all in twenty-dollar gold pieces, it would make a pile 720 miles high, and if the gold pieces were laid on the earth touching one another, the value of the farm products of that one year would make a line of twenty dollar gold pieces reaching across Alaska, Canada, the United States and Mexico, to the Isthmus of Panama, and there would then be enough of these coins left to make a line of gold from New York to San Francisco, and some pieces would fall off into the Pacific Ocean before they were all used."* 4. Populatiqn. According to the census of 1910 the population of the United States, not including Alaska, and our insular pos- sessions, is 91,972,266. This is a composite of many nationalities, although the United States has a larger white population than any other country. 5. Religious Condition. The communicant membership of all Christian churches in the United States, Protestant and Catholic, but omitting the Christian Scientists and Mor- mons, is 35,207,444, of which 22,208,350 are Protestants and 12,999,085 Roman and Greek Catholics. There are thus 56,764,822 •Doughty "CaU of the World," p. 80. REFORMED CHURCH IN THE U.S. 1913 SYNODS NO. or CONGREGATIONS NO. OF COMMUNICANTS 1 EASTERN 564 1 27. 633 2 OHIO 225 31.098 3 NORTHWEST 269 28,639 4 PITTSBURGH 164 23,704 5 POTOMAC 327 47, 436 6 GERMAN EAST 59 18,501 7 CENTRAL 107 24,699 8 INTERIOR 61 4.427 ■;•:•. ENGLISH AND ^;t GERMAN SYNODS TOTAL 1776 306,337 APPROXIMATE DISTRIBUTION OF REFORMED CHURCHES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA MISSIONS 1 ENGLISH 130 2 GERMAN 94 3 HUNGARIAN 11 4 BOHEMIAN 3 5 HARBOR 1 6 JAPANESE 1 I SYNODS EASTERN, POTOMAC, PITTSBURGH ^UD NORTHWEST JBERMAN OF THE EAST, CENTRAL , INTERIOR AND SOUTHWEST. Our Territory 43 men, women, and children in the United States who are not full members of any Christian Church. II. The Reformed Church in this Ter- ritory As a Christian denomination we occupy no inconsiderable part of this great country. ''Upon our church buildings beams the light of the rising sun on the Atlantic coast and fall the rays of the setting sun on the Pacific slope. From Canada beyond, on the north, houses, wherein our people congregate, dot the land throughout its length to the Gulf on the South." The Reformed Church is estabhshed in the J^^^^^^^^ following States: Massachusetts, Connect!- church is cut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Represented Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Vir- ginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Illi- nois, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Ten- nessee, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Washing- ton, California, District of Columbia, and in the Dominion of Canada. The denomina- tional force that is at work for Christ is represented in the following statistics: Denomina- tional Sta- tistics 44 Our Home Mission Work Ministers 1,210 Congregations 1,776 Members 306,337 Sunday-schools 1,750 Sunday-school Members 308,910 The Home Mission force is as follows: Missionaries 175 Missions 239 Members 23,339 Sunday-schools 220 Sunday-school Members 31,602 Making due allowance for duplication, the entire force of the Reformed Church in the United States, church and Sunday-school, may be conservatively estimated at 500,000 members. To obtain a clearer apprehension of how our Church has distributed itself over this territory, and to appreciate more fully some of the claims that are upon us, we will divide the field into certain well defined sections. 1. The East This section includes all the territory east of Ohio and north of Virginia. Naturally, it divides itself into two parts, with the Alleghany mountains as the dividing line. Our Territory 45 The section east of the Alleghany moun- Eastern ,. , c T-T /■ 1 Pennsylvania tarns was the earliest home oi our Keiormed and its ancestors in this country. They were a People sturdy, pious, thrifty type of people. The rich agricultural lands of eastern Pennsyl- vania attracted them to this section. Many of them were farmers. Their agricultural ability was early recognized. Governor Thomas in 1747, wrote of them to England: "They have by their industry been the prin- cipal instruments of raising the State to its present flourishing condition beyond any of his Majesty's colonies in North America." They loved education and founded schools and colleges. They were patriotic, law- abiding citizens. During the revolution they were on the side of liberty, and furnished whole regiments of soldiers. They loved their Church and brought up their children in the faith. They laid foundations, broad and deep, in church and state, upon which their descendants are building superstruc- tures. The present generation is the fourth or fifth in the line. Our present church buildings are the third or fourth that mark our history. The Reformed Church is a tower of The Reformed strength throughout this whole section. Eastern penn- Many of the leading citizens, merchants, syivania 46 Our Home Mission Work lawyers, judges, physicians, farmers, labor- ers and others, are included among its membership. There is scarcely a city of any size or a to\vn or rural community throughout this section of the Keystone State, where the Reformed Church is not represented by one or more congregations. Some of the most stately and costly church edifices belong to this denomination. Its rural churches, many of which are "union" (the building owned jointly by Reformed and Lutheran congregations and the time of service divided between them), are, ac- cording to an eminent authority, better constructed and more largely attended than is the case anywhere else in the whole country. Large Con- This sectiou has some of our largest con- gregations. Salem, Allentown, Pa., the largest in the denomination, has an enrolled membership of over 2,000. In that city of over fifty thousand one out of every seven of its citizens belongs to the Reformed Church. In Reading, Pa., a city of one hundred thousand, the Reformed Church claims one out of every ten persons. In some smaller towns the proportion is still larger. This is all the more remarkable when it is remembered that in Boston only gregations Our Territory 47 one out of every eleven is a member of the Christian Church, and in San Francisco only one out of every thirty-eight. Turning our eyes southward for a moment Fertile fleWs and then westward beyond the Alleghanies, l^^ western we see the Reformed Church well established Pennsylvania in the State of Maryland and to a large ex- tent also in the western portion* of Penn- sylvania. A vast foreign population, attracted by numerous industries, lives in this part of the State. Western Pennsylvania is a great manufacturing section. Its oil and coal and coke and steel have already enriched many of its citizens and have made it one of the chief industrial centers of the nation. Taking now the section as a whole, we ^i'^°^^ find here the Eastern Synod, the German Synod of the East, the Pittsburgh Synod, and also the larger part of the Synod of the Potomac. The Eastern Synod, whose western boundary is the Susquehanna river, has a membership of 125,000. The entire section ^^ ^^ contains 1,022 Reformed churches with a membership of 205,341 conamunicants. Many of our institutions are located in institutions *It is said that the jBrst sermon ever preached where the city of Pittsburgh now stands, was preached by a minister of the Reformed Church. 48 Our Home Mission Work this section, viz.: Franklin and Marshall College, the Academy, and the Eastern Theological Seminary, at Lancaster, Pa.; Ursinus College, at Collegeville, Pa.; Mer- cersburg Academy, at Mercersbm-g, Pa. ; The College for Women, at Allentown, Pa. ; Hood College, at Frederick, Md. This section contains the following Orphanages : Bethany, Womelsdorf, Pa.; the George W. and Agnes Hoffman Orphanage, near Gettysburg, Pa.; St. Paul's, Greenville, Pa. At Allentown, Pa., is located the Phoebe Deaconess and Old Folks' Home. In Philadelphia, Pa., are located also our English Publication and Sunday-school Board and the headquarters of the Board of Home Missions and the Board of Foreign Missions. Missions Eighty-five of the Board's missions are found in this section, and more than thirty other congregations receive sustentation from their respective Classes. Many of our flourishing and influential churches at some time or other received aid through the Board of Home Missions or from the Church at large. One of the best arguments for the work of Home Missions is found in the history of these churches. The chai- There is a challenge of the East. This old East^ ° * ^ eastern section has more population than the Churches Our Territory 49 following eleven States in the far west: Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado and New Mexico. Many of these multitudes are still outside of the church. For years the larger quota of men and money for our work at home and abroad must continue to come from this agricul- tural and manufacturing section. Hence there must be earnest development along two lines, viz.: (a) Extensive. The number of our More churches ought to be judiciously multiplied. Our towns and cities are growing and we need to conserve oiu- constituency and to make our contribution to the solution of the problems of human society. There is phe- nomenal development in material things, and if the church would be true to her trust she must endeavor to keep pace with this prog- ress in establishing the Kingdom of God. (b) Intensive. Many of our congrega- 2lf^*^J" tions are not developed to the highest degree of efficiency. They need to be vitalized. Some of them are too large for effective personal work. They need to swarm. The east is sometimes sneeringly spoken of as "a sleeping giant." The giant has strength and is beginning to arouse himself; he is 4 Efficiency 50 Our Home Mission Work shaking his locks, and when he has once fully girded himself for service, he will do right mightily. 2. The West 1. The Near West. For many years it was supposed that the Mississippi river divided the nation, east and west, into almost equal areas. We now know that the geographical center is some forty miles west of the city of Omaha, Nebraska; so that if a person has been as far west as Omaha he has not been, strictly speaking, west at all. He has still been east. Yet our forefathers, when they trekked out into the plains of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, went west. Western Immediately after the Revolutionary war. Migration ^j^^ spirit of freedom, asserting itself vic- toriously in the hearts of the colonists, im- pelled many to cross the mountains and to establish homes in the frontier section of the nation. It was well for the colonies that they did not scatter abroad prior to the time of their independence from England, for if they had been widely scattered over a vast area, they would never have come forth victorious from that struggle with England. But one day, after the war was Our Territory 51 over, on top of the Alleghany mountains, a traveler on horseback halted, and putting his hand back of his ear, said to his comrade, ''Listen! I hear them coming!" ''What do you hear? Some wild beasts?" his com- panion asked. "No," he replied, "I hear the tread of coming millions." And they did come — filling up the great middle west with homes and churches. Among them were the flower of New i^^^^^^ ° . Earlier England and Pennsylvama manhood and settlers womanhood and youth. They were aggres- sive, strong of body, of mind and of purpose. They were reinforced by the best type of immigration from the Old World. "Cer- tainly it means very much, in the light of events, that the northern section of the Northwest Territory, including Southern Michigan and Wisconsin, Northern Indiana and Illinois, and Northern and Eastern Ohio, were preempted by a class of men and women inured to hardships, enlightened by the best traditions of New England and New York, imbued with patriotism, and believers in the future of the American nation."* This territory has been called "the Key- J^fJ"^!""^ stone of the American Commonwealth." monweaith *Clark's "Leavening the Nation," p. 49. 52 Our Home Mission Work For forty years it has been the center of oui' population, and contains one-fifth of all the people of the United States. For half a century it has been the center of our Amer- ican manufactures. Since 1860 seven of our Presidents have come from this region. It furnished some of the most prominent leaders of the Civil War, and a million soldiers. "Take away from our national arch this Keystone with its Yankees from the east, its Hoosiers from the south, its Teutons from middle Europe, its wealth, manufactures and commerce, and above all, its men and women, with what they have done and what they stand for, and the Union would crumble of its own weight."* Reformed As has been previously stated, the first resented '^^' Reformed minister to go into Ohio was Rev. Jacob Christman. This was in 1803. Then we had almost nothing; now the Ohio Synod, Central Synod, part of the Synod of the Interior, and part of the Synod of the North- west cover this section. That one little church of a century ago has multiplied into four hundred and ten, with a membership of 66,591. Many of our churches are strong and influential. At Canton, Ohio, we have *'' Leavening the Nation," p. 52. Our Territory 53 the second largest congregation in the denomination. Akron, Dayton, Cleveland and Tiffin, Ohio; Louisville, Ky.; Indian- apolis, Ind. all are leading centers where the Reformed Church is well represented. Here was fertile mission soU. Much of the growth and development of institutions the Church in this section must be at- tributed to Heidelberg University, founded in 1850 and located at Tiffin, Ohio. Many of our ministers received their collegiate training within its walls. It is co-educa- tional and has had a moulding influence upon the womanhood of this part of the country. At Dayton, Ohio, is located our Central Theological Seminary. The In- terior Academy is at Dakota, Illinois ; Calvin College is at Cleveland, Ohio; the Central Publishing House, where "The Christian World" and "Die Kirchenzeitung " are published, is also at Cleveland. At Ply- mouth, Wisconsin, is located the Mission House where most of our German ministers receive their theological training. At Fort Wayne, Indiana, we have an Orphanage. What is the Home Mission problem in Home Mis- this part of the country? The Reformed ^^^^^ P^^iems Church is supporting 49 Missions in this section; and there are seven other congre- 54 Our Home JMission Work gations which receive sustentation from the Classes to the amount of $1,000 a year. The problem is two-fold. First, as it pertains to the larger towns and cities. There is abundant opportunity for the establishing of new churches in these growing centers of population. Especially is this the case where we have strong German congregations, whose young people have already made or are making the transition to English. These young people need to be conserved for the Reformed Church. We must therefore establish more EngUsh Mis- sions for some of these people. In other places German Missions must be started for our foreign speaking Germans. Second, as it pertains to the country church. The survey of portions of this territory, recently made by the Department of Church and Country Life of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, discloses some interesting and instructive facts. Many of these rural churches are not merely standing still but are actually losing ground. Within the last ten years, in the State of Illinois, over 1,600 rural churches were abandoned! Three hundred were closed in the State of Ohio. Doubtless there is some explanation for this condition Our Territory 55 of affairs; but evidently here is a mighty challenge to the Church to exercise the wisest leadership and to plan for the best possible outcome of a difficult situation. 2. The Far West. Fully five-sevenths of the territory of the United States lies west of the Mississippi river. What was once considered an arid or semi-arid region has within recent years become a veritable garden. By the process of irrigation and of dry farming the region has been made fertile and productive. The hardy sons and daughters of the east and the middle west are peopling the region. ''Iowa, Kansas and the Pacific coast have received about a million sons of Ohio and their descendants who migrated from the home missionary communities of the Buckeye State, to re- plant, in the younger west, the moral ideals which had elevated their own life and character. " The Reformed Church followed these First Prot- -P . • 1 J.1 J. estant Sermon migrants at an early day. it is said that the first Protestant sermon ever preached beyond the Mississippi was by a Reformed minister.* This was as early as 1803. In *Rev. Samuel Weyberg. He came from North Caro- lina. It is interesting to note also that Rev. Jacob Christman, the pioneer Reformed minister in Ohio, came from North Carolina. See — ^"The Reformed Church in North CaroUna," p. 34. 56 Our Home Mission Work 1853 Rev. Frederick C. Bauman* was sent to Iowa to minister to a colony of Reformed families who had settled near Dubuque. He founded the town of Zwingli, Iowa, built there the first church of his denomination, west of the Mississippi, and was instrumental in organizing a number of other congrega- tions throughout the State. In 1859 Iowa Classis was organized with four small con- gregations. Seven years later there were in all that region 400 members belonging to the Reformed Chiu"ch. In 1887 a Synod was Synod of tiie formed, known as the Synod of the Interior. Intenor ^ . 'L In the meantmie many Germans had pom'ed into that region and the Synod of the North- west organized them into congregations and Classes. Twenty-five years ago we had a nimiber of outposts along the Pacific Coast, the support of which involved an outlay of approximately $30,000. Because of a lack of ministers and proper personal super- vision they had to be abandoned. A few of these congregations are still in the Port- land-Oregon Classis, while some identified themselves with other denominations. *See an^interesting account of his life in the Penn- Gertnania, January, 1913. -1 < o ^D o> O vO '^ CO lO t/3 z Ul po o CM CM 't K 00 (O CO VO CO oo o 00 o CO 00 o < bJ >- o 0£ O ■ ^" CM OJ CM CO '^ ^ lO s. < H -^ CJ UJ UJ >- 3 u N. GO UJ 1- CSJ o ^^ ^^ 1- Z o a z m CM 00 N- O ^ ^ lO CM ^_ ^ o —I CM f— t 0^ '^ O) 00 CO O s ^ o ^ 0) N 0) lO rO OO lO 0) ^ 2 K^ z UJ 00 CM CM CM fO "^ CO lO o 0> Ul 55 Of ^ o o ^ s CM t vD '^ ^ O) CM CO CO oO i UJ z to p \D ^ h- 00 CO (D Tf o E ^" 1 3 s. O S CM 00 oD ^ 5t u> H- 1^ o o o CM CO CO ^ ^ lO '^ vO iO (O 1^ O a. r to z to >- (/> t/) UJ u q: 00 CO CM CM ^ ^ N lO lO K 1 1 n^ LJ r^ 0) o ^ (O CO CM 00 CJ Z C OG lO 1^ 00 N. CM CM ^ O) CM ^ LJ z z CM CM CVI CM fO fO CO CO ^ T^ cr u L- u. UJ z O O H- UJ UJ Z N O CO CO 0) CM lO 00 ,. ^ < tO < UJ ■*■■ 00 O) (J) O) o O o O *"■ •~ 00 CO 00 00 CO 2 CD OC Z OC Our Territory 57 The Reformed Church west of the Mis- ^^^'^'''^^l, , nnn j_- Church West sissippi river has today 232 congregations of the mis- with a membership of 20,700. The denom- ^issippi ination through its Boards of Home Missions, Enghsh and German, is supporting 67 Mis- sions in the same territory. In the far west, the Reformed Church has dearth of not developed as rapidly as it has in some other sections of the country. Its name has not been known, its history and genius have not been understood. Of course this is not its fault, but its misfortune. Other forces, as well, have militated against our growth. There has always been a dearth of ministers for this field. With a few notable excep- tions, these brethren never stayed long enough to impress the community with their mission. The Reformed Church never invested sufficient men and money in thi.s work so as to make large results possible. The restlessness of our western people may also in part be accountable for our slow growth. Westerners are not tied down Frequent re- by any long-standing family or traditional °^°^^'^ ties. People move readily from place to place, and thus large congregations of men and women have, through a course of years, passed in and out of our western missions. To be sure, the Church did them good while 58 Our Home Mission Work Neglected fields Influences of West they tarried, but their brief stay often delayed and even prevented the estabhsh- ment of strong and influential congrega- tions. What is the challenge of the far west? We may rest assured that the church is greatly needed in the west. "The Neglected Fields Survey," under the auspices of the Home Missions Council,* in January, 1912, re- ported that there were entire counties without religious services, and that children were growing up without a Sunday-school or a church home. Those who have carefully examined into the matter express the conviction that the west shall yet wield the scepter of influence and power in this country. The Pacific coast is coming to be the new Mediterranean of the world. Here the Orient and the Occident meet. Here the great problems of life will have to be solved. ''The geography of two hemispheres, and the history of four or five millenniums are involved in the re- Hgious problem of the Pacific. " This is the strongest missionary appeal possible. The teeming, throbbing, tumultuous life of the west must be permeated and pervaded by the life and spirit of Jesus Christ. *See printed Minutes of the Council, 1912. Our Territory 59 3. The South At a very early date in the history of this Reformed country, German settlers migrated into the viJ^fa^"^ Southland. In 1711 a German settlement was formed in Rockingham county, Virginia, and in 1736 Samuel Jenner, of Berne, Switzerland, built the village called '^Eden" on the Roanoke. Many of these German pioneers were members of the Reformed Chiu-ch, for in 1750 we read of Reformed congregations in Virginia, though it is doubtful whether they were served by regular pastors. In 1791 Coetus received a request from Augusta county, Va., for several pastors, and one was promised. Doubtless many of these people, because of lack of ministers and proper oversight, were lost to the Reformed Church. The Prot- estant Episcopal Church was the established Church in the ''Old Dominion" and some of our early Reformed congregations went over to that denomination. Today, however, we have a Classis covering the State of Virginia, composed of 30 congregations with a mem- bership of 2,776. Massanutten Academy at Woodstock, Va., is a preparatory school ^mder the care of this Classis. 60 Our Home Mission Work Reformed The Reformed Chm-ch was likewise early Konh^caro- established in North Carolina. The first lina Reformed people came thither from Vir- ginia in 1690. They were Huguenots, mem- bers of the Reformed Church in France. In 1710 a colony of Palatines and Swiss, under Christopher Graffem'eid, came to North Carolina. After the Indians had besieged their town and murdered some of the people, Graffenreid returned to Switzer- land, and the rest of the colony went into the Presbyterian Church. From 1745 to 1755 many Germans came and settled in the most fertile sections of North Carolina and South Carolina. They were members of the Reformed, the Lutheran and the Moravian Churches. The Re- formed and the Lutherans built ''union" churches, a few of which still remain. Rev. Mr. Martin, a Swiss Reformed minister, preached for these people from 1759 to 1764. A number of other ministers visited among these people at various times. In 1798 a request came from six congregations in North Carolina asking Synod to supply them with ministers of the gospel. In 1812 Capt. William Albright appeared before the Synod and made such a strong plea for pastors that the Synod in 1813 commis- Our Territory 61 sioned Rev. James R. Riley as visiting mis- sionary among these people. In 1814 Rev. William Hauck went South. He was fol- lowed in 1817 by Rev. John S. Ebaugh. In 1819 Rev. George Leidy was appointed a traveling missionary for Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. After spending six months he visited 30 congregations and confirmed 84 persons. In 1824 Rev. John Rudy visited among these people and encouraged them. A new day dawned in 1828 when Rev. John H. Crawford went to North Carolina and labored there for nearly thirty years. His labors were reinforced by Rev. John G. Fritchey who spent twelve years in the same State. In 1830 Rev. D. B. Lerch went to North Carolina. These brethren in 1831 organized North Carolina Classis with 16 congregations. The Classis now comprises 56 congregations with a membership of 5,514. It has under its care two educa- tional institutions, — Catawba College at Newton, and Claremont College at Hickory; Nazareth Orphans' Home at Crescent also lies within its territory. At an early day the Reformed Church was Reformed established in South Carolina. One of the J^q^^;"^^ ^aro- early ministers to labor in that section was una 62 Our Home Mission Work Rev. Christian Theus. He was a true martyr to the faith. An old stone in a cotton plantation marks his resting place. It bears this inscription: "This stone points out where the remains of Rev. Christian Theus lie. This faithful divine labored through a long life as a faithful servant in his Master's vinej^ard and the reward he received from many for his labors, was ingrati- tude." The Reformed Church in South Carolina has been altogether lost. If we would have had men and money at an early day for this State we might have a different story to tell. strength in In Virginia and North Carolina Classes the South ^-^^ Reformed Church has 86 congregations, with a membership of 8,290. Sixteen of these congregations are Missions, receiving support from the Board. Most of them are located in what is called the Piedmont section, a very rich and fertile part of the Southland. They are principally found in rapidly developing towns and cities along the Une of the Southern Railroad. Land of Op- I^ many respects the South is the most portunity favorod scctiou of our country. It is a land of sunshine. ''Eternal spring abides and never withering flowers." Roses bloom in December. The South is rapidly develop- Our Territory 63 ing. The Civil war gave it a tremendous blow from which it is just now recovering. It enjoys many favorable conditions. It is better fitted to cultivate the staples of life than any other section of the Union. The greatest cotton fields of the world are found here. This one commodity may bring to the South immeasurable wealth. Clarence Hamilton Poe, in ''The World's Work," says: "The last fifty years have seen the making of a dozen new commonwealths beyond the Mississippi; the next fifty years will see the remaking of a dozen old common- wealths below Mason and Dixon's line. The energies of these people, for a genera- tion tragically pent up or misdirected, are now turned at last into their natural channels of development. From 1900 to 1950 the South will be the land of opportunity. As our epic of the Nineteenth Century was the 'Winning of the West,' so our epic of the Twentieth Century will be the 'Develop- ment of the South.'" The South is the stronghold of Protes- stronghold of ° Protestantism tantism m this country. Only a small percentage of Roman CathoUcs live here. It has less foreigners than any other section. Its church membership is larger in propor- tion to the population than in any other 64 Our Home Mission Work section of the Union. It is remarkable that in every charter granted to the southern colonies, the propagation of the gospel was mentioned as one of the reasons for estab- lishing the same. In the observance of the Lord's Day and in regular attendance upon religious services, the South furnishes an ex- ample that may well rebuke the looser prac- tices of the North and West. Says Dr. S. L. Morris: "The indus- trial awakening and material develop- ment of the South call for a corresponding spiritual awakening. How otherwise shall we contend with the spirit of commercialism, threatening to engulf the whole country? Tides of population, once rolling westward, will soon be turned backward and sweep like an avalanche upon the South, attracted Religious hither by this marvellous prosperity. It is the critical time with the South, the plastic age, when we are about to shape our destiny for all time. The South has stood the trial of adversity. Will she be able to stand the test of prosperity? Possibly we may be indulged our pardonable boasting of our wealth, resources, etc., but we profoundly realize our need of something far better than these earthly and material things. The asset which we crave now above all things Problem Our Territory 65 else is manhood — a people worthy of our noble heritage of the past, and equal to the great responsibility of the future." QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER II Aim: To obtain a bird's-eye view op the territory OCCUPIED BY the REFORMED ChURCH AND TO REALIZE SOME OP THE Home Mission problems which each SECTION OF THE COUNTRY FURNISHES. 1. A General View 1 Does the title "Reformed Church in the United States" adequately define our field? 2 What was the significance of the Louisiana pur- chase? 3 What relation does the geographical position of the United States sustain to the Home Mission problem? 4 How does the United States compare in size, popu- lation and resources with other countries? 5 What is the religious status of the United States so far as church membership is concerned? 2. The Reformed Church in this Terrifory 6 In what States is the Reformed Church established? 7 What is our denominational force in terms of statistics? What is our Home Mission force? 8 Describe the type of Pennsylvania German people. 9 Where is the numeral strength of the Reformed Church? Why? 10 What institutions are located in the eastern sec- tion of the Church? 11 How many Missions does the Board support in the eastern section? 5 66 Our Home Mission Work 12 What is the Home Mission problem of the east? 13 What class of people were the early settlers of the middle west? 14 Who was the first Reformed minister in Ohio? 15 What is the strength of the Reformed Church in the territory west of Pennsylvania and east of the Mississippi River? 16 What Reformed institutions are located in the middle west? 17 What is the Home Mission problem of the middle west? 18 How does the trans-Mississippi section compare in size and population with the rest of the country? 19 What is the strength of the Reformed Church in the far west? 20 How do you account for the slow growth of the Reformed Chm-ch in the far west? 21 What is the Home Mission problem of the far west? 22 How did the Reformed Church come to be estab- lished in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina? 23 What is the strength of the Reformed Church in the south? 24 Why is the south an inviting and promising Home Mission field? 25 What is the Home Mission problem of the south? REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY The United States as a World Power — Coohdge. Our Country — Strong. The Frontier— Piatt. The Last Frontier — Paxson. The Reformed Church in North Carolina. Our Territory 67 PAMPHLETS The Parish of the Reformed Church — Lampe. The Reformed Chm-ch Beyond the Mississippi — Fouse. The Program of Missions — Horning. The Conservation of Our Rehgious Resources — Schaeflfer. CITY AND COUNTRY The modern city has the characteristics of adolescence. It has grown big and has become awkward; it is self-suf- ficient, yet restless; arrogant, yet craves guidance; in- dividualistic, yet profoundly social; anti-religious in ex- pression, but fundamentally reUgious at heart. Its ap- preciation of social wrongs, its awakening moral sense, its passion for justice, its thirst for righteousness and its love of the beautiful are all manifestations of a new surging life. Its heart throbs and its blood is red. There is courage, but none to spare, in the Ufe-and-death struggle that is on. Shall the brute nature dominate, or shall conscience and wiU assent and maintain their God-given right to be supreme? Charles H. Sears. Any consideration of the problem of rural Ufe that leaves out of account the function and possibilities of the Church, and of related institutions would be grossly in- adequate. This is not because in the last analysis the country-Ufe problem is a moral problem, or that in the best development of the individual the great motives and results are rehgious and spiritual, but because from the pure sociological point of view the Church is fundament- ally a necessary institution in country life. In a pecuhar way the Church is intimately related to the agricultural industry. The work and the life of the farm are closely bovmd together, and the institutions of the country react on that life and on one another more intimately than they do in the city. This gives the rural Church a position of pecuhar difficulty and one of unequaled opportunity. The time has arrived when the Chm-ch must take a large leadership, both as an institution and through its pastors, in the social organization of rural life. Report of the Country Life Commission. Ill CITY AND COUNTRY I. The City There was a time when there were no The Rise of cities. Everybody lived in the country, in ^*^®*^'*y in God's large out-of-doors. But sooner or later certain feelings and common interests drew men together and the city took its rise. The origin and growth of the city have been attributed to the following four causes: fear of enemies, political considerations, the social instinct and commerce. The ancient city was a military strong-hold. The mediaeval city was principally a seat of government and of a few household industries. The modern city is a vast, throbbing, congested center of trade and commerce. While the city has always been a leading factor in the social, political, industrial and moral life of the world, it has become in- creasingly such within the last century. 71 72 Our Home Mission Work "The city is superlative. In it the new civi- lization is at its best, and at its worst. There is our Christianitj'', most aggressively Christian, and there is our paganism, most frankly pagan. There is life most strenuous, and there is death busiest. There are the greatest prizes of suc- cess, and there are the uttermost failures. There are the excessively rich and there are the most miserably poor. Dives and Lazarus are there separated by an impassable gulf, but within easy seeing distance; and it seems to some careless observers that Dives is in heaven and Lazarus in hell. The city is the source of the influences, best and worst, which permeate the land. In its future are the greatest possibili- ties of blessing and of cursing to mankind."* The relative growth of the modern city, its problems, its power and its perils have enlisted the most serious attention not only of the sociologist and the economist, but also of every thoughtful man and especially of every moral and religious leader. The Growth Que hundred years ago we had in this country only six cities with a population of 8,000 and over, viz.: Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Boston, Charleston and Salem. Their combined population was 200,000. In 1910, there were in the United States 2,405 places of 2,500 inhabitants or of the City 'Josiah Strong, "Our World"— p. 228. City and Country 73 more with a combined population of 42,- 623,383. Nearly one-tenth of the total population in 1910 resided in three of our largest cities, viz.: New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. The United States has fifty cities of 100,000 and over. In fifteen States a majority of the population live in the cities. In New England, nearly 5,500,000 people are in cities while only 1,000,000 live in rural regions. In the Middle Atlantic States 13,700,000 live in cities as over against 5, 600,000 in the country. In the Pacific coast States 2,400,000 are found in cities and 1,800,000 in the country. The combined population of 229 cities constitute thirty-one per cent, of the entire population of the United States. One-fourth of the population lives on one-four-hundredths of the total land area. While the total population of the United Growing States increased 20.7 per cent, from 1890 to country 1900, the city population increased 37 per cent. Only three . cities show a slight de- crease in population during the last ten years. In 1829, Chicago had half a dozen families. The first white child born in Chicago died in 1907. He saw the city grow from less than 100 to more than 2,000,000. In 1846, Des Moines had twenty persons. 74 Our Home Mission Work A World Phenomenon No Stop to City Growth Causes In 1854, Omaha had one log house. Now these are among om* large and influential cities of the Middle West. Nor is this urban movement confined to the United States. It is a world-wide move- ment. In one century the total population of the five principal cities in Europe in- creased over 700 per cent., London alone now having more than three times the popu- lation of all five one hundred years ago. This gravitation of the people toward the cities will continue with accelerated speed. The causes are permanent, and every effort to arrest the same will prove fruitless. Aristotle limited the ideal city to 10,000; Plutarch and Cicero sought by persuasion to turn back the current of emigration from the country; Justinian tried to stop it by legal measures; Queen Elizabeth issued a proclamation against the further growth of London; but despite all these measures and efforts the city is larger today than ever and will continue to enlarge during the years to come. A number of causes contribute to this phenomenal growth of the modern city. Dr. Josiah Strong mentions three, viz.: (a) the application of machinery to agriculture; (b) the substitution of mechanical for muscular City and Country 75 power; (c) the railway which makes trans- portation of population and food to the city easy. Additional reasons have been sug- gested, such as: excess of births, rural-born moving to town and foreign-born flocking there. While a vast number of immigrants concentrate in our cities, the unprecedented growth of our cities is not determined by this fact; for the cities in those countries from which emigration has been the largest have increased almost as rapidly as have those in this country. It is manifest that the principal causes are economic and social. Says Rev. Charles Stelzle: "No doubt economic causes have had most Economic and to do with the growth of the city. The develop- social causes ment of industrial life was the principal factor in bringing together large numbers of laborers. The invention of machinery compelled the work- ing man to surrender his handicraft and go to the factory which was controlled by the men who alone could afford to purchase the costly machines. One industry naturally attracted another, especially when it was related in some way in the production of a given article. Thus there were grouped a force of workers and pro- prietors with somewhat mutual interests. This was a perfectly natural evolution and it seems likely that it will continue indefinitely."* *" American Social and Religious Conditions," p. 19. 76 Our Home Mission Work Wealth Political Power The Press Center of Life Likewise the social instinct is a compelling factor. The educational facilities are better, opportunities for social life are superior to those in the country, and then there is always a vast army of men and women who cannot live elsewhere; they are shiftless and thriftless, and sooner or later find their level in the slums. With this massing of population in the great centers of industry, there follows a corresponding concentration of the world's wealth in the city. In 1850, half of our wealth was rural; in 1910, three-fourths of it was urban. In like manner the cities are gradually gaining in political influence and power. In the nineteenth century the coun- try controlled the city politically. In the twentieth the city will control the country. The city sways the scepter of the public press, and thus occupies the vantage ground in moulding the thought-life of the nation. A quarter of a century ago Austin Phelps said : ''As go our cities, so will go the nation. " We are realizing the truth of this assertion with increasing force. Our cities are gan- glion centers of influence and power that vitally affect every phase of human life. Here the extremes of human society meet. Here virtue and vice, knowledge and ig- City and Country 77 norance, riches and poverty dwell side by side. Congestion of population brings wicked- ness and crime. In Philadelphia, there is seven and one-half times as much crime to the given population as in the country. Pittsburgh and Allegheny have nearly nine times as much as the average rural community of Pennsylvania. Overcrowding in the city breeds suffering and death. The death rate there is con- siderably higher than in the country. The city has been called ''the grave of the phy- sique of our race." How does the Church fare in the modern TiieChurcii city? Strange to say, ''the Church is weak- est in members where population is greatest, where controlling national power is strongest, and where the fortified forces of vice and iniquity are most menacing." In 1900, there was for the whole United States one Protestant church for every 441 of the popu- andCathoiic lation. In the cities there was one to every 4,000. In the country as a whole, the Pro- testant church membership is growing faster than the population, but in the city the re- verse is true. Only 19.8 per cent, of the Protestant membership is in the cities of 25,000 and over, while 52.2 per cent, of the 78 Our Home Mission Work Roman Catholic membership is found in such cities. This is very significant and must have a bearing upon the future of Christianity in this country. In two score and more of our largest cities the Church has grown less than two-thirds as rapidly as the population, and the larger the city the fewer are the proportionate number of churches. New York « If every church of every kind in New York City were crowded to the doors on Sabbath morning, and all the people had started to church, there would be three million of people on the street who could not secure an entrance to a house of religious worship. "If you take all the Protestant population of New York City and add to it all the Roman CathoHcs, the Greeks and the Christians of every nation in it, you have less than one-third of the entire population. Nearly one-third is Hebrew and more than one-third is atheist, in- fidel or nothing at all. There are 100,000 nominal Protestants in the city with no church connection whatever. Only about eight per cent, of the population are members of Pro- testant churches." To quote again from Mr. Stelzle: The City's "The greatest peril of the city is not the Greatest tenement dwellers. The greatest peril is the Peril smug, sclf-satisficd middle class which is quite content with itself and with things as they are. City and Country 79 These are the people who must be aroused to a sense of their personal responsibility. The Church is in peril in the city mostly because the great middle class, of whom the Church is principally composed, has no hearty interest in the conditions which have developed in the city in recent years. The Church is slowly, but surely, losing ground in the city. If the city is to dominate the nation — and it will — and if the Church continues to lose in the city, it does not require a prophet to foretell the inevitable result."* 1. The Reformed Church in the City If we adopt the standard of the late Census Commission and count as rural everything in towns and villages of less than 2,500, and as urban everything beyond that number, the Reformed Church has probably one-half of Many her congregations and members in the city Reformed and the other half in the country. But if the city we were thinking only of large cities of 100,- 000 or more, then the proportion of congre- gations and members of the Reformed Church in our cities would be comparatively small. In all the leading cities of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio strong, influential Re- formed congregations are found. In most of them the Reformed Church was among 'American Social and Religious Conditions," p. 24. 80 Our Home Mission Work the earliest to be established. In not a few of them the Reformed Church holds a lead- ing position and proves herself a worthy- factor in the life and character of the people. Missions in Most of our Missions are located in large and growing cities, in at least one hundred of them. Some of our most hopeful and prosperous Missions are in these places. Thus it will be observed also that the larger proportion of the appropriations of the Board of Home Missions goes into our city work, and by far the greater amount of Church-building Fund money is loaned to our city Missions. 2. The Nature of the Work "Rescue" Work Not This, strictly speaking, is not '' rescue" work. In the mind of many people city mission work connotes work in the slums, in the tenement districts, among the lower stratum of society. This is exceedingly important work. It is a phase of Home Mission work which some denominations conduct through special departments. But most of it is done today by organizations that are either extra or wfer-denominational. Not "institu- Nor is our work "institutional" in char- acter. We have no soup houses, no lodging tional" VELARS MEMBtRSMIP I&63 1666 1B69 1672 1675 1678 16&1 1664 1887 1690 1693 1896 1699 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914- 1 310,000 30b lJ3 7 300,000 ,' 297, 629 290,000 /^B9, 326 260,000 270,000 I 264.9 J, 260,000 , ,' 250,000 ,' 406 240,000 'i42,2 99 2 30,000 rm!'. 72 220,000 ,' 210,000 , '^1^,6 30 200,000 /ioo,4 9« 1 90,000 , ,' 160.000 ■163.96 I 70,000 , '169,53 3 160,000 ^161,00 Z 150,000 T^fTi 8 140,000 , •t*Z^T z 1 30,000 '130,29 9 120,000 • nr.9i 1 10,000 r' 10832 5 100,000 »6.7' 5 90,000 TWELVE LARGEST REFORMED CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. NAME OF CITY. Reading, Pa. Philadelphia, Pa. Allentown, Pa. Baltimore, Md. Buffalo N. Y. Cleveland, O York, Pa Lancaster Pa. Canton O. Easton. Pa Dayton, O. Lebanon. Pa. ~ MEMBERS. PROPORTION OF POPULATION 12,217 I out of 8 persons 10.21 I I " ' 152 " 6'53« I " ' 8 " 4969 I *' ' 112 " 3«53 I *' no " 3-570 I " ^ 157 " 3.342 I " 13 " 2993 I ^* 16 " 2625 I ■' ' 19 " 2 214 I '* 13 " 2,156 I " .54 " 2 142 '* 9 " City and Country 81 stations for the poor, the waifs and the out- casts of society. The modern institutional church in spite of its Umitations, has some excellent and commendable features, and has already done much for the social and religious welfare of our cities. But institu- tional churches to be successful and really helpful must be adequately financed, which involves an expenditure of money far beyond the reach of our Board. Our city mission work consists rather in organizing . . 1 , 1 T 1 . 1 Congregations orgamzmg and establishmg regular congrega- tions. Consequently om* primary aim is to bring the people and the gospel together through the channel of the Church. The Board of Home Missions through its repre- sentatives goes into a city, gathers and or- ganizes a congregation, sometimes through a Sunday-school or from a swarm out of another congregation, places a pastor over the little flock, helps in his support, selects an available site, buys the lot, assists in the erection of a building, and thus fosters the new and struggling interest until it reaches self-support. Within the last half century our Boards (German and English) have established 500 congregations, almost 400 of which were brought into existence during the last two decades. From fouj-fifths to 82 Our Home Mission Work nine-tenths of all the Protestant churches in this country owe their origin to this same method. Transient Population Apartment Houses 3. The Difficulties of the Work (a). Transient population In many of our larger cities comparatively few families own their homes. They are renters and readily move from one city to another, or from one section to another of the same city. The great majority of them are wage- earners, and industrial conditions often de- termine the time of their residence in a given place. Sometimes business enterprises crowd out whole blocks of residences, and the little Mission finds it necessary to relocate. Foreigners may encroach and colonize in a given section, forcing out the native Ameri- cans and the Mission. (b). Apartment houses. The success of city mission work depends largely on per- sonal contact with the people. The apart- ment houses offer the most difficult avenue of approach to people in the interests of the Church. They are practically ''preacher- proof." It is almost a physical impossibil- ity to gain entrance and get into personal touch with families who live in them. Their ment City and Country 83 occupants barricade themselves behind Speaking tubes and telephones and never allow the preacher to come near them. No wonder that large cities are sometimes spoken of as ''the graveyard of preachers." (c). Lack of proper equipment. City ^'^°^^^^"^^" mission work is expensive work. It demands a large outlay of money. Suitable building lots are costly. The erection of an at- tractive and adequate building, such as the environment of a city generally requires, calls for large money. One of the crying sins of our Church has been that we have been sending missionaries into our large cities and have failed to supply them with adequate resources. People there are not readily attracted to halls and store rooms for worship. Many of them have come from the country where they were accustomed to suitable church buildings. The very ele- ment that is to become the main stay, the moral and financial strength of the Mission, is very apt to stand aloof. Thus the Mis- sion is handicapped from its very beginning. It must have a suitable, comfortable, invit- ing, but not extravagant building. It is a great misfortune if the Mission finds itself too heavily encumbered by debt. This serves to keep some people away who other- 84 Our Home Mission Work wise might come. It obliges a Mission to expend too much of its thought and energy upon itself and interferes with its larger ministry to the conmaunity and with its development into the life and work of the Church in general. Church and other Institu- tions Old Methods Obsolete 4. The Demands of the Work The city must be saved. The Church is the only organization that can effectively and satisfactorily accomplish this task. Other institutions may prove themselves helpful, but without the Church these cannot be ultimately successful. The continuous growth of our cities, their strategic influence, their manifold and ever increasing problems, demand that the Church of Jesus Christ gird herself for a far more aggressive campaign than she has ever waged before. Many of the old methods are obsolete. They are no longer adequate for the modern conditions. The new wine has burst the old wine-skins. A new civilization is form- ing. The old was predominatingly agri- cultural, the new is industrial; the old was individualistic, the new is social. The Church therefore has a new mission in this age. Its approach must be along new lines. City and Country 85 Its methods must be adapted to the new conditions. Its message must apply to the new problems. The gospel of Jesus Christ offers the only solution to the social questions of the day, and the Church must seek to apply this gospel to the social and economic needs of the present generation. The city can be won only by earnest and ^ unmed cordial cooperation of all the Churches of Christendom. A unified program of ad- vance is imperatively needed. Om' task then is not to seek to establish one or more churches of our denomination in each of the cities of our land, but to have a real, vital part in the solution of the pressing problems that are upon us in our cities. We should fail in our mission as a Church if we could and did not make a substantial contribu- tion to this large program of city redemption. If we cannot help to touch life where it beats the mightiest, where its problems are the fiercest, we have no right to exist at all. The city will be saved. "The crown and a Holy city consummation of our civilization — the full coming of the kingdom of God on earth — is typified not by a garden, but by a city — a Holy City — into which shall enter nothing unclean, and nothing that maketh a lie — Paradise lost was a garden; Paradise regained will be a city."* "Strong, "Our World"— p. 283. 86 Our Home Mission Work Country Problems Disintegra- tion II. The Country The country, as well as the city, has its problems. Fundamentally they are the same, since in both cases they are the out- growth mainly of our modern social and industrial conditions. Of late there has been a general awakening of interest in the rural life of America. A vast amount of literature has been created, setting forth the problem in its various relations. The Country Life Commission in 1908 gave some illuminating facts and made the problem a national issue. The religious survey of a number of rural communities under the auspices of the Department of Church and Country Life of the Presbyterian Church has revealed many interesting and startling discoveries. Country life and country con- ditions are made the subject of thorough scientific investigation. There is manifest in our Country commun- ities a gradual disintegration, and modern sociologists and religious leaders are making a scientific study of conditions with a view of correcting the same. 1. The Church in the Country By this process of disintegration no insti- tution is more vitally and more seriously City and Country 87 affected than the Church. Many of the rural churches can scarcely be said to be holding their own. Some are dying, others are dead. In three counties in Northeastern Missouri there are 185 church buildings, 159 of which are used only occasionally and 21 Abandoned are wholly abandoned. Only 26 per cent. of the churches are growing; 8 per cent are stationary; 24 per cent, are losing; 19 per cent, are dying, and 11 per cent, are already dead. In the entire State of Missouri there are 1,000 country church buildings which have recently been abandoned. Other States report similar conditions. These abandoned buildings are spoken of as "an abomination of desolation — windows broken, organ broken, pulpit broken, seats in con- fusion, a bird's nest or two up near the ceil- ing, and in a corner a tramp's bed made out of the folded carpet." Doubtless many of them should never have been built. Some of them sprang up out of a fanatical denom- inational zeal. Too many rival churches were reared side by side. Some could hardly be dignified by the name of church. In other instances the old country church standing in close proximity to the town or city was abandoned when the congregation erected a new one in town. 88 Our Home Mission Work Shifting Population Tenant Farmers The country church has greatly suffered from the following causes: (a). The Redistribution of our population. In 1790, 97 per cent, of the people lived in the country; today just about 50 per cent, live there. Since 1880 there has been a gradual decline in the percentage of our rural population. WTiile the population of the United States as a whole increased 21 per cent, during the first decade of the present century, the riu"al population increased only 11.2 per cent. (b). Tenant farmers. According to the census of 1910 there were 6,361,502 farms in the United States, containing 878,798,000 acres. This represents less than one-half of our total land area. Only one-half of this is what may be called ''improved" land. In 1910, 37.1 per cent, of our farms were tenant farms. One-half of those who till the soil do not own it. The tenant farmer whose lease runs for only a single year is not deeply interested in keeping up the standard of efficiency. He robs the soil and does not keep the buildings in repair. The tenant farmer seldom becomes a strong and influential factor in the community and in the Church. He is usually under economic pressure and has little or no use for the Church. City and Country 89 (c). A low estimate of religion. Some ^^f^^ ^ ■' 111' Religion deny that the status of our rural churches is due to social and economic conditions. They insist that spiritual forces likewise are oper- ative in closing country churches. Much might be said on this point. The country church suffers tremendously from the fact that most of the country pastors are not living among their people. They live in neighboring towns and cities, quite out of sympathetic touch with their people, and have reduced their labors among them to an occasional preaching service. No congrega- tion will develop as it should under such conditions. From surveys of rural communities re- cently made, it has been ascertained that the "average church — rural and village — spends ninety-two cents out of every dollar collected to keep itself alive, seven cents for missions and Church Boards, and only one cent for local benevolence." 2. The Reformed Church in the Country As before stated, fully one-half of our Good churches are in the country. Many of them ch^chL are ''union" churches. Some of the finest country church buildings in the land belong to our denomination. Our people take an 90 Our Home Mission Work Backward Chvirches Few Missions in Country honest pride in them. They are kept in the best condition. Every Lord's Day they are well filled with worshippers who come for miles around. In a goodly number of them the German language is still used (although in many sections this is fast dying out) and the old German Chorals give expression to the praise which ascends from the hearts of the people. Hard by the church is the cemetery where sleep the dead who once worshipped there. A number of our country churches, how- ever, are quite backward, and are sharing the fate of a gradual disintegration. They are at the lowest ebb of efficiency. Domin- ated by a spu'it of ultra conservatism and provincialism, they have not caught the larger vision and are not rendering the larger service. These need to be vitalized and energized. Only a few of our Missions are located in the country. A quarter of a century ago the Board of Home Missions adopted the policy of planting Missions in large and growing centers of population rather than at the country crossroads. While we would scarcely be justified in establishing new Missions in those rural conmaunities in the East and Middle West City and Country 91 which are already well supplied, and in some places overcrowded, with churches, there are vast country stretches in the far West which are destitute of church privileges. The re- Religious port of the Neglected Fields Survey states that in Montana 60,000 to 70,000 of the population are residing five miles or more from a church. "A section in the northern part of the State 40 by 100 miles has been homsteaded during the last two years and has but few religious opportunities. One rich valley of the State, 54 miles from a railroad, with a population of 5,000, capable of supporting 50,000, has but one church. In North Dakota 14 counties have but three permanent places in each for worship. One county in Idaho has a rural population of 9,000 with no preaching service. Another county of the same State has a purely rural population of 18,000, yet only two or three of its sixty-five school districts have regular preach- ing services." There are 1,000 places in Idaho, large enough for a post-office, without any church. In Colorado there are 500 such. In Wyom- ing persons residing forty-two miles from any church go without religious privileges. The country church is called upon to make a large contribution to the cause of Home Missions. 92 Our Home Mission Work (a). Furnish members and workers for our city churches. A large part of the membership of our city churches already comes from the country. Many of our leaders in religious activities in the city are country-born and received their early re- woikers from ligious training in country homes and coun- the Country ^^^ churchcs. Our city churches could not long survive if it were not for the rich red blood which the country continually pours into them. "Whatever there is today of virtue, right- eousness, human brotherhood and the fear and love of God in American life is largely the fruit of the labors of country preachers and country churches." Join City Churches Recruits for Ministry Young people and others who move from the country into the city should be encour- aged to unite v/ith som.e city church. Many of our Missions in the cities might thus be strengthened, new ones might be formed, and the work of the denomination and of the kingdom be greatly extended. (b). Recruit the ranks of the ministry. By far the largest number of our ministers come from the country. One of our oldest congregations, Tulpehocken, near Myers- town, Pa., has given fifty young men to the City and Country 93 ministry. One of our country pastors has sent twenty-five men into the ministry. At a time when the supply of our ministers is so small and the call so loud, there comes the strongest kind of a challenge to the country church to give its men of vision and of initiative, of strong brawn and brain, to the work of the Christian ministry. The problem of the country church is P^'o^iem urgent. Too much of the future welfare of the nation and of the kingdom is dependent upon it to allow it to deteriorate. Home Mission work means the vitaliz'ng vitalizing of these decaying churches quite as much as churcii it does the planting of new churches on the frontier. ^'It is at least as essential to save what we already have as to save that which is lost." This cannot be done in a day. One denomination cannot do it single-handed and alone. All the forces and factors of our religious, moral, social and industrial life must conspire and cooperate in making the country life and the country church what God intended they should be. 94 Our Home Mission Work In some great day The country church Will find its voice And it will say: "I stand in the fields Where the wide earth yields Her bounties of fruit and of grain; Where the furrows turn Till the plowshares burn As they circle again and again; Where the workers pray With their tools all day In sunshine and shadow and rain. 'And I bid them tell Of the crops they sell And speak of the work they have done; I speed every man In his hope and plan And follow his day with the sun; And grasses and trees The birds and the bees I know and I feel every one. "And out of it all As the seasons fall I build my great temple alway; I point to the skies But my footstone hes In commonplace work of the day; For I preach the worth Of the native earth — To love and to work is to pray." Liberty H. Bailet. City and Country 95 QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER III Aim: To study the social, economic and religious conditions of the modern city and of the country, AND TO REALIZE THE POSITION OF THE REFORMED ChURCH AND HER RESPONSIBILITY IN WINNING THE CITY AND THE COUNTRY FOR ChRIST. I. The City 1 What principal causes led to the origin of the city? 2 In what respect does the modern city differ from the ancient? 3 How many large cities were there in America a century ago? Name them. Give their com- bined population. 4 How does the percentage of increase in the city compare with that in the country? 5 Is there any way by which city growth can be stopped? 6 What are the leading causes for the unprecedented growth of our cities? 7 What does the massing of population in our cities produce? 8 What proportion of the population in the city belongs to the Church? 9 What is the proportion of the Protestant and Roman CathoUc membership in the city? What is its significance? 10 What do you regard the city's greatest peril? 1. The Reformed Church in the City 11 What percentage of Reformed churches are in the city? 12 What proportion of our Home Missons are located in cities? 96 Our Home Mission Work 2. The Nature of (he Work 13 What is the nature of our city mission work? S. The Difficullies of the Work 14 How does a floating population make mission work in the city difficult? How do apartment houses? 15 What handicap to a mission is an inadequate or a heavily encumbered church building? 4- The Demands of the Work 16 Why are old methods of church work in the city no longer adequate? 17 What is demanded for the complete redemption of the city? II. The Country 18 How do you account for the awakening of inter- est in country hfe? 1. The Church in the Country 19 What effect has rural disintegration upon the Church? 20 How do tenant farmers affect the welfare of the Church? 21 To what causes do you attribute the low estimate of rehgion which often prevails in the countrj^? 2. The Reformed Church in the Country 22 What is the condition of most of the Reformed churches in the country? To what do you attribute this? City and Country 97 23 In what respect can the country church do large things for the kingdom? 24 Why is the vitaUzing of the country church so urgent? How can it be done? REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY The Challenge of the City — Strong. The Redemption of the City — Sears. Our World— The New World Life— Strong. America's Social and Religious Problems — Stelzle. The Church and the Open Country — Wilson. The Evolution of the Country Community — Wilson, PAMPHLETS The Task of the Church in the City — Swartz. Why the Country Should Help the City— Whitmer. The Country Commxmity — Foght. Modern Methods in the Country Church — McNutt. OUR IMMIGRANT WORK In the immigrant problem Protestant America is to be tested as never before. It is a problem which embraces all problems that have ever faced the Church. Problems physical — for the immigrant must be assimilated, — prob- lems educational, for the immigrant must become an intelligent citizen — problems social, for the immigrant must find a larger, fuller life amongst us — problems economic, for the immigrant must be taught the doc- trines which are fundamentally in harmony with our American spirit and life — problems patriotic, for the immigrant must be led to see that upon him depends the future of his adopted country — problems rehgious, for the immigrant must learn that his spiritual interests are of the utmost importance. In the solution of this ques- tion the Church in America needs all the wisdom which is given to the Church universal as the result of her experience in other generations. The task that lies before us requires a deeper study and a greater devotion than is found in mere sentiment, romance or sociological interest. The enterprise demands a statesmanship of the highest order. — Stelzle. IV OUR IMMIGRANT WORK I. The Immigeant Problem From the very beginning of our national life the problem of immigration confronted our statesmen. Washington, Jefferson and Franklin in their day wrestled with the problem and discussed measures whereby it F""st state might be regulated. The first State law restricting immigration was passed in 1824, although the total number of immigrants for that year was only 7,912. Since then the problem has become intensely compli- cated and is vitally affecting every interest and every institution in this country. It is well nigh impossible to form an ade- quate conception of the number of foreign- speaking peoples in America. The total Number of number of aliens admitted since 1820 is immigrants 27,894,293. Every year brings us in round figures, 1,000,000 in addition. During the 101 102 Our Home Mission Work fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, 838,172 aliens were admitted. There are two foreign- ers coming for every minute of every hour of every day of every month of the year. There are as many coming in a single year as there are people living in the States of Maryland and Delaware combined; twice as many as there are in the State of Oregon. The foreigners of a year would repopulate with their present number the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland. In four years they would repopulate New York City, and in less than seven years, the whole Dominion of Canada. There are enough foreigners in America to populate 19 of our States and to elect 38 of our representatives to Congress. "If you were to divide these people into Groups groups and put them into cities by themselves you would have an Italian city as large as Minneapolis, containing 220,000; an Austro- Hungarian city the size of Detroit, 270,000; a Jewish city as large as Providence, R. I., with 180,000; and you would have one hundred cities from 2,000 to 22,000 people without an English speaking person in them. If you should sep- arate the illiterates and put them in a city by themselves, you would have a city larger than Los Angeles, in which not a single person could read or write a word of any language, and, there- Our Immigrant Work 103 fore, would have no use for books, newspapers or magazines. If you should group them ac- cording to occupation, you would have a city of 430,000, or nearly as large as Cincinnati, in which not one person would have a trade or profession. The immigration of a single year exceeds the combined population of Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah." 1. Where they come from. Fully 95 per oidandNew - T-i 1 1.1 • • Immigration cent, come from Europe and the remammg five per cent, from Asiatic and other coun- tries. Prior to the year 1883, most of the immigrants came from Northern Europe, from Germany, Holland and the British Isles. They were readily assimilated into national life and became the founders of many of our American institutions. But the new immigration of the present day is prin- cipally from Southern Europe, from Italy, Austro-Hungary, Russia and the Balkan States. Fully 75 per cent, of our recent immigrants come from Southern and Eastern Europe. They belong to a different class of people. "These people are ignorant of our ideals of government, of social life, of commercial life, of educational life, and have no idea of the Prot- estant conceptions of religion. These people are coming to us with all their Old World ways 104 Our Home Mission Work of thinking. They come to us with their pre- judices, their superstitions, their ignorance. They are coming to us with anarchistic and socialistic ideas of government and property, and they are coming with Roman CathoUc, Greek Catholic and heathen ideas of religion, or what is worse, no religion at all." Illiteracy The great majority of the present-day immigrants are strong, stm-dy peasants, 85 per cent, being between the ages of fourteen and forty-five. While in a single year 125,000 skilled laborers and 10,000 profes- sional men entered the country as immi- grants, more than 250,000 above the age of fourteen were admitted who were unable to read or write their own or any other language. More than 35 per cent, are illiterate, as com- pared with three per cent, of the old immi- gration. Oppressed 2. Why they come, (a) Because of op- pressive conditions at home. They are under economic pressure. Wages are low, taxes are heavy, opportunities for relief are small, military service is forced upon them, and in many respects life is made burdensome. (6) Because of attractive conditions in America. Here is freedom and fortune. Attracted "They are drawn hither by the free institu- tions and the marvelous prosperity of our Our Immigrant Work 105 country — the chance here afforded every honest toiler to gain a livehhood by the sweat of his brow or the exercise of his intelHgence. " (c) Because of solicitations on the part of those solicited who seek to profit by them. Steamship companies have their agents in every prin- cipal town and city from which immigrants come whose business it is to persuade as many as possible to emigrate. Contract- labor companies likewise have their repre- sentatives abroad who secure as many as they can to come to America and engage in certain kinds of hard labor at comparatively low wages, (d) Because of solicitations on the part of friends. Usually the husband or retched big brother comes first. After a brief stay he returns to his home with his pockets full of money, wearing good clothing; but he does not stay at home. He brings the rest of his family with him. Letters to the folks at home help to bring others here. 3. Where they go. If we draw a line from The immi- the northwest corner of Minnesota to the grant zone southwest corner of Illinois and then due eastward to the Atlantic Ocean we have what may be called the Immigrant Zone. It covers less than one-fifth of the area of the United States, yet 80 per cent, of the 106 Our Home Mission Work Industrial Zone immigrants are found here. A little more than three per cent, are found in the South, and a fraction over 13 per cent, in the Pacific slope and in the western and Rocky mountain States. Six States, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio last year received 571,000, or two-thirds of the entire number. New York alone received 31 per cent, and Penn- sylvania 20 per cent. It will be observed that this immigrant zone is also the industrial zone. About 80 per cent, of all the coal in the United States is mined here. More than 90 per cent, of all the iron and steel products of the country are produced here. The United States has 50 cities of 100,000 and over, 32 of which are found in this zone.* Into these congested industrial centers the immigrants come and form little colonies of their own, reproducing upon American soil their foreign customs, habits and faiths. Principal Occupations 4. What they do. By far the larger num- ber of immigrants before coming to America were tillers of the soil, but upon their arrival they immediately seek employment in our *Roberts: The New Immigration, p. 158. Our Immigrant Work 107 industrial plants, where their labor brings them the quickest cash returns, and where, if dissatisfied, they can in a day pack up and go elsewhere. Of the 890,000 employed in our coal mines 630,000 are foreigners. Of the 580,000 steel and iron workers throughout the United States 69 per cent, are foreign- ers. Of the many thousands employed in the building and repairing of our railroads ^0 per cent are foreigners. The marvelous industrial development of America, its trans- continental railroads, its coal and iron in- dustries, its furnaces and factories would doubtless not exist today if Europe had not furnished the labor force.* 5. What they believe. The Rev. William P. Shriver, Superintendent of the Depart- ment of Immigration of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, in discussing the religion of the immigrant, says: "These recent immigrants in greater part are from nominally Catholic countries. Perhaps two per cent, of the Bohemians are Protestant, while from fifteen to twenty per cent, in this country are reckoned as free-thinking; among the *For table of thirty-seven industries see Jenks and Xauck — Immigrant Problem, p. 437. 108 Our Home Mission Work Slovaks it is estimated twenty per cent, are Protestant Lutherans; of the Magyars prob- ably forty per cent, are Protestant coming from . affiliation with the Reformed Church of Hun- Affljfation g^ry. The Russians, Bulgarians and Servians taken as a whole are Greek Orthodox. The Italians, Poles and Croatians are Roman Catholics; the Ruthenians, originally Greek Orthodox, through the influence of the Jesuits accepted allegiance to the pope and are known as Uniates, United Catholics or Greek Catholics, though a considerable number still remain Orthodox. But to infer from the foregoing that the peasant immigrant from Europe has always a vital religion or is adequately cared for by his Church in this country, is wide of the mark. The Southern Italian peasant is gifted with a deep religious consciousness; he has a primitive religion; and while many retain a pro- found respect for the Church and its ceremonies, a trained Itahan observer writes: 'I do not suppose that over ten per cent, have a clear idea of what exactly the Christian religion is, what it stands for and what it wants to do in the world. Unfortunately they have not learned the necessary connection between re- ligion and morality.'" Moreover, many of these people after they have been in America for some time, drift away from the faith of their childhood and become unbelievers. Our Immigrant Work 109 6. What the Churches are doing for them. Almost every Christian denomination in this country is interesting itself in behalf of the immigrants. Since nearly two-thirds of the new immigration is Roman Catholic there rests a tremendous responsibility with this religious organization in caring for the spiritual welfare of the millions who adhere to this faith. Among Protestant bodies the following force* in missionaries and money is at work in the behalf of the foreigner. Missionaries Amt. Expended Lutheran bodies 1,991 $ 106,570.00 Missionary Boards 2,620 1,137,667.00 Kindred bodies 514 325,314.00 5,125 $1,700,000.00 II. The Refoemed Church and the Im- migrant Being of European origin, the Reformed Church in the United States would natur- ally be expected to be interested in behalf of those immigrants who come from the coun- w^yinter- tries where the Reformed faith is well known, ested Moreover, the immigrant zone in America includes precisely the territory where the Reformed Church is strongest and where her *Bame3' "The New America," p. 153, et seq. 110 Our Home Mission Work mission is most clearly defined. She sus- tains a direct relation to the Germans, the Dutch, the Swiss, of the older immigration; also to the Hungarians, the Bohemians, the Poles, the Ruthenians of the newer immigra- tion; and to the Japanese and Chinese among Number of ^j^g Orientals. The Reformed Church has Missionaries , -, r, • • • i i • at present 16 missionaries laboring among foreigners, not including the Germans,* and the General Synod has apportioned the sum of $15,000 annually for this work. Let us now study our immigrant work more in detail. 1. The Harbor Mission. The first point of direct contact with the immigrant is im- mediately when he lands on our shores. It may have been comparatively easy for him to secure passage to America, but he finds it more difficult to land than he had antic- ipated. He must undergo a series of rigid exammations. At the principal ports of entrance the United States Government has stationed officials to examine into the condi- tion of the immigrant and to determine upon his admission into this country. This is a wise precaution, but the experience is not always agreeable to the foreigner. He may *For our German Work see Chapter V. Examinations Our Immigrant Work 111 be detained at the port for some time. He Detained finds himself among strangers. He can not speak nor understand their language. He needs a friend, a counsellor. A number of Christian denominations have stationed one or more missionaries at these ports of entry to minister to these newly-arrived people. The Reformed Church has a missionary on Ellis Island, the port of entry at New York, ^ms . . . Island Most of the immigrants land there. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, 605,151 persons or 72 per cent, of the total immigra- tion passed through its gates. As early as 1855 Dr. Philip Schaff pre- sented a letter to the Sjniod from the German Evangelical Diet directing the attention of our Church to this work. The Synod di- rected its Eastern Board of Missions to make provision for the reception of immi- grants at our principal seaports. It also established a Church Directory in our sea- port cities for the benefit of the immigrants. In 1881 the General Synod again called the attention of its Board of Home Missions to the importance of the work, but three years later the Board reported that it had failed to enlist the interest and help of the District Boards and that nothing had been done. The General Synod then directed its Board 112 Our Home Mission Work Harbor Missionary Work of Mis- sionary of Home Missions to appoint a Harbor Mis- sionary and apportioned $2,000 annually for the work. Rev. C. H. Ebert was ap- pointed in 1884 as our first Harbor mis- sionary. He was succeeded by Elder, (now Rev.) Paul Sommerlatte, who in turn was followed by our present missionary. Rev. Paul H. Land, Ph. D. The work which is supported by all the Synods, English and German, is a very important one. It consists in ministering to the immigrants on the Island in every possible way. The missionary supplies them with clothing, literature, counsel; he pro- tects them from the harm that may befall them at the hands of evil men; he brings them into communication with friends in this country; he ministers to them in times of illness, and comforts them in sorrow and despair. He proves himself a very present help in time of trouble. "Der Einwanderer Freund'^ is a little paper published by the missionary in the interest of this work. The work costs the Reformed Church less than $2,000 a year. Who they are 2. Hungarian. The population of Hun- gary numbers about 20,000,000, divided as follows: Slavs and Slovaks, 5,000,000; Ger. Our Immigrant Work 113 mans, 3,000,000; Roumanians, Croatians, Serbs, etc., 3,000,000; Magyars, 9,000,000. The Magyars, ordinarily spoken of as Hun- garians, are the ruling, dominant race. They are of Asiatic origin and speak a dif- ficult non- Aryan language. More than 3,000,000 of them are Protestants, the larger number belonging to the Reformed Church. About a quarter of a century ago Emigra- tion from Hungary to the United States set in. Probably 40,000 Hungarians come an- nually to this country, and the number dumber in 111 • • 1 • p America already here is variously estimated at irom one and a-half to two and a-half millions. They are scattered through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. More than 100,000 Hungarians in the United States are members of the Reformed Church. Our attention was first called to them origin of when they came to our Reformed pastors ^^^^^^^^ for the ministrations of the Church. The Rev. Dr. John H. Prugh, of Pittsburgh, Pa., made a careful study of the situation and his information aroused the Church to a sense of its obligation. In 1890 the General Sjmod directed its Board of Home Missions to take up the work, and forthwith, in re- 8 114 Our Home Mission Work sponse to a request for missionaries Rev. Gustave Jurany was sent from Hungary as our first missionary among these people. He began his work in Cleveland, Ohio, Jan- uary 1, 1891. Erie Classis organized at Cleveland, the first Hungarian Mission in this country. On July 1, 1891, Rev. John Kovacs, our second missionary, arrived and started the Hungarian congregation at Pitts- biu-gh. Pa. In 1892 a commodious church edifice was erected with a parsonage at- FirstHun- tachcd, "the first church ever buUt in the United States for the compatriots of the noble Louis Kossuth with whom in his life- time America so deeply sympathized and whom we delighted to honor. " Growth So rapidly did the work progress that within a few years we had 18 Missions in the principal centers where these people were located. Up to 1900 the Reformed Church was the only Protestant body that inter- ested itself in behalf of them, but in that year the Presbyterians began to work among them. These two denominations jointly have been publishing a weekly church paper and a monthly Sunday-school periodical in the interests of this work. Missions Our Immigrant Work 115 "The Church of Hungary now has an Ameri- interference can branch, the chief aim of which is said to be to inculcate Magyar ideas, Magyar customs and loyalty to Magyar aspirations into the minds of the children of Magyar families, in the hope that they may return and help establish a Magyar State in Hungary." This fact has somewhat interfered with the progress of our w^ork, but we are able to report nine pastors and eleven congregations among them with a membership of almost 2,000. They are located as follows: Bridgeport, Conn., Rev. A. Ludman; Hungarian South Norwalk, Conn., Rev. Gabriel Dokus; Johnstown, Pa., Rev. Ernest Porzsolt; Homestead, Pa., Rev. Alex. Harsanyi; Lo- rain, Ohio, Rev. Stephen Virag; Dillonvale, Ohio, Uniontown, Pa., Rev. Alex. Radacsi; Dayton, Ohio, Rev. Andrew Kovacs; Toledo, Ohio, Rev. Eugene Boros; East Chicago, Ind., Rev. L. Gerenday. There are 623 pupils in their Sunday- schools. It will be observed that their Sunday-schools are very small, but they conduct parochial schools for their children during the week, and thus do not emphasize the Sunday-school as they might. The Board of Home Missions expends about $8,000 a year on this work and the Missions themselves raise over $20,000. 116 Our Home Mission Work Lack of Ministers Learning English Bohemians in America The greatest drawback to the progress of the work is the lack of ministers. It is expensive and unsatisfactory to import min- isters from Hungary. The Board is at present supporting three students in our Reformed institutions who will in due time be ready for effective work among these people. While practically all the services of the sanctuary are in the Hungarian language, the children are fast learning English. In several congregations the pastors catechize in English, and within a decade or two most of those who are now in this country will be able to speak and understand the English better than their native tongue. 3. Bohemian. The Bohemians have been coming to this country since 1850. About 500,000 are here, scattered over Iowa, Wis- consin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Illinois, Ohio and New York. More than 115,000 are in Chicago. The total number of Protestant Church members does not exceed 6,000. There are about 45,000 Roman Catholics and the rest are unbelievers. Much of their literature is of an infidel character. Our Immigrant Work 117 The earliest mission work among them was started in 1859 by Rev. Frank Klin, a Re- formed minister, in Iowa and Wisconsin. This work however was done independently of the Reformed Church in the United States. The Board of Home Missions began its work First Mission among these people in 1896 when it com- ^ cwcago missioned Rev. Charles V. Molnar, a native of Bohemia, as our first missionary in Chi- cago. The congregation was organized August 1, 1897, with 51 members. Rev. James Dudycha is the present pastor. The city of Cleveland, Ohio, has approxi- Cleveland mately 50,000 Bohemians. Here in 1898 ^^'''°°' our second Mission was organized. Rev. Anton Korbel is the pastor. Many of the Bohemians are farmers and occupy the fertile plains of Iowa. A large number of them are found in Cedar Rapids, cedar Iowa, where our third congregation was Rapids organized, with Rev. Joseph Balcar as pastor. These three congregations have a mem- Memberships bership of 206 families, with 148 in their Sunday-schools. The Board is annually ex- pending $2,600 for this work and the con- gregations themselves are raising $1,500. Our missionary, Rev. James Dudycha, writes : 118 Our Home Mission Work Benevolent Orders Turner Hall "The great majority of the Bohemian people care nothing for churches, Bibles, ministers or Christianity. Most of their papers are un- friendly to the Christian religion, and they never lose an opportunity for unfavorable criticism. Thousands of Bohemian men and women belong to the Bohemian benevolent orders, the spirit of which, if not the constitutions, are against all religious teaching. The Turner Society also is dominated by this spirit. Bo- hemian free-thinking halls are to be found in every Bohemian community with a free-think- ing population. Here in Chicago there are several such halls. The Turner hall, equipped with a fine gymnasium and natatorium, cost $35,000. Here lives the greatest Boehmian infidel in this country. For more than forty years he has been poisoning the minds of Bohemians with infidelity. He is the editor of several papers, also an infidel monthly maga- zine. As speaker of the Free-thinking Con- gregation he officiates at the marriages and burials of the free thinking Bohemians of the city, names children (this takes the place of Christian baptism), and during Lent he delivers what he calls a series of ''Lenten sermons" in one of the halls. Another free thinker residing here, in the past few years has delivered lectures in almost every, if not in every, Bohemian community in this country. Of course, the lectures deal with free thought. I might say that as a rule the free- thinking societies bury their own dead with- out the help of any minister. Our Immigrant Work 119 Notwithstanding these unfavorable elements Elements of among them it may be said that the Bohemians strength are a progressive and industrious people. Of all the Slavonic peoples they stand at the head in culture and progressiveness. There are no slums among them. They come to this country poor, but by their industry and intelligence they soon build homes for themselves in cities and on farms. They naturally take to agriculture, but they may be found in all professions and walks of life." 4. Japanese. At its annual meeting in July, 1910, the Board of Home Missions turned a favorable ear to repeated appeals from different sections of the Church for the inauguration of missionary work among the Japanese along the Pacific coast. It is estimated that there are 100,000 Japanese J^p^^^^ff^ in this country, 500 of whom it is stated, were identified with our mission in Japan. Most of these ''Yankees from the Orient" as they are called are students or agricultu- rists, although a goodly number are to be found in the various trades and occupations of the average American. Dr. Ward Piatt says: "The Japanese are easily the best class of immigrants among recent arrivals. They represent the highest intelligence, the broadest outlook, and the most successful initiative of Asiatics coming to us. The the United states 120 Our Home Mission Work Missions Among Them Eev. J. Mori upheaval of Christianity and western civil- ization divorce the Japanese from dead tradition and leave them hospitable to all that humanity has to offer." Several Protestant denominations have been at work among these people during the last twenty-five years. The Methodist Episcopal Church has been doing the most extensive work in this direction. There are possibly fifty different stations supported by nine different denominations. The Re- formed Church in America has a missionary at work in New York City, where it is said there are found about 30,000 Japanese. It was felt that there was a work to be done among these people by the Reformed Church in the United States, and so Rev. J. Mori, a student in the Heidelberg Univer- sity, Tiffin, Ohio, and a native of Japan was commissioned to perform this work. Rev. Mr. Mori is a man full of zeal and of the Holy Ghost. He is deeply consecrated to the work of the Lord. He has had excellent preparation for work of this kind. He is aflame with a passion for the souls of his native brethren who are sojourning in America. In September, 1910, he arrived at San Francisco, where most of the Japanese re- Our Immigrant Work 121 side. The first Sunday after his arrival there he gathered a number of Japanese brethren and held a prayer service. Thus the work was started in the spirit of prayer. In fact the whole history of the work was a response to prayer. Brother Mori soon gathered a nucleus of his brethren around him. A congregation was started. A local church was rented for the purpose, and there on October 30, 1910, the first Japanese Re- First japan- formed congregation in the United States ^'^^^'^"'^^^ was duly organized. Elaborate prepara- tions had been made for the occasion. A large concourse of people had assembled and in connection with these interesting services, Rev. Mr. Mori officiated at his first wedding. Thus on the same day was started among the Japanese a Christian congregation and a Christian family. A three-story dwelling house was rented in the Japanese quarter of the city, 1619 Laguna Street, San Fran- cisco. The first floor has been so arranged that it can be used for reUgious services, the second for educational and social purposes, and the third as quarters for the missionary himself. Recently the Board purchased the prop- erty of Plymouth Congregational Church for the use of the Mission, This will enable 122 Our Home Mission Work it to carry forward its work more satisfac- torily than ever before. The Mission has a membership of 55, with 42 in the Sunday- school. The Board and the Mission each put about $1,600 a year into the work. Statistics of Oue Immigrant Work Annual Expense Nationality Churches Members Sunday School By Mis- sions By Board Hungarian 1890 11 1910 623 $20,089 $4,775 Bohemian 1896 3 206 Families 148 1,562 2,600 Japanese 1911 1 55 42 1,682 1,600 Our Immigrant Work 123 Protestant Bodies Engaged in Work Among These Nationalities Jap- Annual Denomination Hungarian Bohemian anese Expenses Baptist 19 8 2 S25,511 Congregation- alist 28 10 S17,564 Disciples 1 1 Meth. Epis. . . . 41 35 M. E. South . . 7 4 Presbyterian . . 34 41 9 $37,000 Presbyterians. 5 1 Ref.Ch.ofAm. 3 Ref.Ch.inU.S. 11 3 1 8,000 5. Colored. The Negro is not, strictly The Negro la speaking, an immigrant. He did not come into this country of his own accord, but was brought here by the Americans themselves. There are 12,000,000 of them in the United States. Most of them are south of Mason and Dixon's line. They constitute a real problem in our national, social and religious life. Even though the Negro is naturally religious, it is estimated that only about 3,500,000 are members of the Christian Church. This proportion is about the same as that of the entire population in this country. 124 Our Home Mission Work Kentucky Classis Council of Reformed Chiirches Needs It is only within the last year that the Reformed Church has come to show a real interest in these people. From time to time individual members of the denomina- tion carried on a small work in their behalf, and Kentucky Classis, in affiliation with the Presbyterians, has been co-operating in an extensive and encouraging work among the colored people of Louisville, Ky. The General Synod of 1911 authorized the Board of Home Missions to engage actively in this work, and apportioned $3,000 annually. The Board realized that it could ac- complish most with the amount of money available if it carried forward the work through certain existing agencies. The Council of Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System had in the meanwhile provided a Permanent Committee on Col- ored Work with a view of properly co-or- dinating the work among the constituent bodies. The Board of Home Missions availed itself of this opportunity and thus far has rendered its service through this Permanent Committee. The greatest need among the colored people is that of a trained ministry. Nu- merous colleges and industrial institutes have been established for the education of a Our Immigrant Work 125 colored ministry and the training of an in- dustrious and efficient laity. The Reformed Church through its Board of Home Missions during the last year contributed $1000 to the work at Louisville, Ky., and $1000 to the school at Bowling Green, Ky. III. Our Opportunity and our Obligation ''A million immigrants means a million opportunities, and a million opportunities means a million obligations." The Church of Jesus Christ never faced such a wonderful opportunity for the spread of the gospel. At oiu- Door It seems as if God had been sending these millions to our shores that with our equip- ment, our churches, our men, our money, with the impact of our Christian civiliza- tion, we might win these multitudes for Christ, and thus hasten the evangelization of the world. Moreover, a great many of the foreigners after they have been in this country for some time, return to their native land and each one becomes an unofficial unofficial missionary for weal or woe among his coun- ^^i^s^o^^"®^ try men. We must evangelize the foreigners or they will heathenize us, we must Americanize them 126 Our Home ^Mission Work A Conquering Invasion Appeal or they will foreignize us. There never was any invasion in history, but it was a con- quering invasion. Will history repeat itself in our present foreign invasion? We shall have nothing to fear if this vast army of immigrants be imbued with the principles of the religion of Jesus Christ. "This is our Lord's latest and greatest appeal to His Church. To all who believe in the power of the gospel to save, to all who believe in the coming of God's Kingdom on earth, to all to whom the Lord's Prayer is a delight, to all who love to have a part in the carrying out of the great Commission, the coming of these peoples spells opportunity and privilege. Their com- ing is but another step in the fulfillment of God's plans for the evangelization of the whole world. Let us thank God for this magnificent opportunity. Let us resolve to have a personal part in this great work. Let us make it pos- sible for our great Home Mission Board to enter this field with equipment adequate to the needs of the work." QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER IV Aim: To understand the immigrant problem in THE United States, and to realize the part which THE Reformed Church has in its solution. I, The Immigrant Problem 1 When was the first State law passed restricting immigration? Our Immigrant Work 127 2 What is the present rate of increase through im- migration? 3 What do you understand by the old immigration? 4 What is the new immigration? How does it differ from the old? 5 What proportion of illiteracy exists among immi- grants? 6 What are the four principal motives of immigra- tion? Which, in your opinion, is the strongest? 7 Describe the Immigrant Zone. 8 What are the principal occupations of the immi- grants? What effect does this have upon their character, and what upon the nation? 9 What proportion of the immigrants are CathoUc? What, Protestant? 10 What are the Christian denominations doing for the immigrant? II. The Reformed Church and the Immigrant 11 Why should the Reformed Church be interested in the immigrant? 12 How many missionaries does the Reformed Church. have among immigrants? 1. The Harbor Mission 13 What are the experiences of the immigrant on landing on our shores? 14 Where is EUis Island, and what is it noted for? 15 Who is our Harbor Missionary and what is his work? S. Hungarian 16 How many Hungarians are there in this covmtry? 17 When and where was the first Hungarian Church in this country organized? 18 How do you account for the rapid growi^h of our Hungarian Mission work? 128 Our Home JNIission Work 19 What causes led to the retarding of the work among the Hungarians? 20 What is the present number of our Hungarian Missions and where are they located? 5. Bohemian 21 What is the total number of Bohemians in America and over what part of the country are they dis- tributed? 22 W'hat is the rehgious condition of the Bohemians? 23 How many Missions has the Reformed Church among the Bohemians and where are they? 4. Japanese 24 Where is our Japanese Mission in this country and when was it opened? 25 Why should the Reformed Church engage in mission work among the Japanese in America? 6. Colored 26 To what extent is the Reformed Church engaged in mission work among the colored people in this country? III. Our Opportunity and Our Obligation 27 What is the greatest appeal for mission work among immigrants? REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY Aliens or Americans? — Grose. The Immigration Problem — Jenlcs and Lauck. The New Immigration — Roberts. The New America — Barnes and Barnes. Immigrant Forces — Shriver. America, God's Melting Pot — Craig. The Upward Path— Helm. Our Immigrant Work 129 PAMPHLETS The American Home Mission Problem of Today — Bailey. Modern Migration — A Menace — A Mission — Hutch- inson. Our Work Among the Hungarians and Bohemians. Our Japanese Ward. Our Colored Brethren. OUR GERMAN WORK In America, German immigrants have been welcome. They have been pre- eminently steady, hard-working folk, who have minded their owti business, and have formed a valuable part of the popu- lation wherever they have settled. In the Civil War they played a creditable part, and they have shown themselves ready to support their adopted country on aU occasions, even — if necessary — against their native one. The small interest they have taken in pohtics, as compared, for instance, with the Irish, has prevented one possible cause of dis- like; indeed, the general feeling toward them has always been cordial. — COOLIDGE. The Germans have always been among the best of our immigrant popu- lation in inteUigence, thrift and other quahties that make the German nation strong and stable. They have Germanized us more than we have Americanized them. All these North- of-Europe peoples belong to a common inheritance of principles and ideas, and all have found it natural to assimilate into American life. America owes a large debt to them as they do to the land that has become their own by adoption. — Grose. OUR GERMAN WORK Professor Julius Goebel, of Leland Stan- ford University, asserts that one-third of the present white population of the United States has German blood in its veins. Fully 25,000,000 of our American citizens are of direct German extraction. The significance of this will become all the more apparent when we bear in mind that the English ele- ment in America numbers only 20,000,000, and the Scotch-Irish but 14,000,000. I. German Immigration German immigration began at an early Reasons date. Three principal causes contributed to this, viz.: religious, economic, political. The religious persecutions and the devastating wars in the Fatherland formerly induced many Germans to seek refuge in America. In recent years, however, the causes have been purely economic. Wishing to escape the burdens of a compulsory military service 133 Settle 134 Our Home Mission Work and to improve their temporal condition, thousands of Germans come annually to this country. In the near future German immigration will likely assume larger pro- portions than ever. In Germany the popu- lation increases at the rate of 800,000 a year. Its present population is 65,000,000, but its soil, 208,000 square miles, is calculated to support only 50,000,000 people. Where They ^^ i\^q fipg^ the German immigrants settled in largest numbers in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and certain por- tions of the South. Many towns and cities still bear the impress of their life and spirit. After the opening of the Northwest Territory, the tide of German immigration began to flow into it. Wisconsin in its State Con- stitution made specially liberal terms for foreigners, and so rapidly did the Germans come to occupy it that the dream of a ''Ger- man State ' ' among our commonwealths was at one time quite popular. From Wisconsin they have crossed the border into Canada and are occupying in large numbers the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. They have scattered themselves over the entire North and Middle West, and a fringe of German colonies stretches along the entire Pacific Coast. Our German Work 135 II. Chakacteristics of the Germans ''Had America in 1800 been given the S^''^^" choice of foreign elements to settle in the Northwest, it could not have made a better selection than the Germans. They have proved thrifty and conservative, peaceful and patriotic, loyal to the American theory of government, and responsive to the calls of public duty and danger."* By tempera- ment and training the Germans as a rule are industrious, economical, thorough, method- ical, conservative, loyal, prosperous. It has been said ''the Germans dive down deeper, stay under longer, and come up muddier than any other people." While there is an element among them which is strongly tinged with unbelief, the great majority are possessed of high moral, re- ligious, and social ideals. They love their homes, their music, their societies. They strongly believe in the principle of education, and in systematic Bible and catechetical in- struction. "The history of the Germans in America demonstrates the truth of the as- sertion that no other non-English-speaking race is of greater importance to the country than the German, and the results of the mis- *Clark's "Leavening the Nation," p. 50. ^ .^ 136 Our Home Mission Work sionary efforts among them prove that no other race is more susceptible to the influence of personal vital Christianity and yields richer fruit."* Three Leaders Their FieMs of Labor III. The Reformed Church and the Ger- mans It seems but natural that a denomination whose foundations rest in German soil should be interested in the German population of this country. To three men belongs the honor of organizing and developing this work : Dr. Max Stern, the pastor and missionary; Dr. H. A. Muehlmeier, the founder of the Mission House; Dr. H. J. Ruetenik,t the originator of the German Publishing House at Cleveland, Ohio. In 1853 these three men met at a meeting of Classis in TiflOn, Ohio, and from there each one went forth to his distinctive work. Dr. Stern went into Southwestern New York, established con- gregations in and around Buffalo and founded Western New York Classis; Dr. Muehl- meier went to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and feeling the need of a school for the training *Nuelson'8 "The Germans in America." p. 20. tDr. Ruetenik died February 22nd, 1914, at Cleveland, Ohio. DR. MAX STERN. Our German Work 137 of ministers, founded the Mission House near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where the majority of our German pastors have been educated. Dr. Ruetenik went to Toledo, Ohio, started the First Reformed Church there, filled a professorship at Tiffin, became the editor of the "Evangelist," and subse- quently founded Calvin College and the Pub- lishing House at Cleveland, Ohio. The work which these men and others associated with them began, has developed into three Synods, the Synod of the Northwest, the Central, and the German Synod of the East. The Synod of the Northwest, which cov- If^'lt °^ f « , . c /-M • r 1 • Northwest ers the territory west of Ohio, was formed m 1867. It comprises 196 ministers, 269 con- gregations, and 28,839 communicant mem- bers. For benevolence the Synod raised during 1912-13, $46,538, and for congrega- tional purposes, $197,455. The Central Synod, which is practically g^°*^^^ coterminous with the State of Ohio, was constituted in 1882 and consists of 101 min- isters, 107 congregations, and 24,699 com- municant members. For benevolence the Synod raised $32,538, and for congregational purposes, $162,547. The German Synod of the East comprises g^!^^^oftiie all the territory east of Ohio; it includes four East Classes, 71 ministers, 59 congregations, and 138 Our Home Mission Work Summary Other Benevolence 18,501 communicant members. It raised for benevolence $15,903, and for congrega- tional pm-poses, $141,126. German Synods Congre- Ministers gations Members Synod of the Northwest 196 269 28,839 Central S>Tiod 101 107 24,699 German Synod of the East 71 59 18,501 Totals 368 435 72,039 Congre- Benevo- gational lence Purposes Synod of the Northwest $46,538 197,455 Central Synod 32,538 162,547 German Synod of the East 15,903 141,126 Totals $94,979 $501,128 These three Synods are supporting the Mission House near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and the Orphanage at Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Synod of the Northwest has for many years been carrying forward a very success- ful Ministerial Relief work. The work among the Winnebago Indians at Black River Falls, Wisconsin, has been in charge of the Sheboygan Classis of the Synod of the Northwest. Our German Work 139 IV. German Mission Boards Our Home Mission work among the Ger- Two German mans is carried forward by two distinct Boards known as the Eastern and the Western. The former is under the care of the German Synod of the East, the latter under the Synod of the Northwest and the Central Synod. The Eastern Board, organized in 1875, g^^^"""" has ten Missions under its care. Its field is somewhat limited. Its policy has been to establish missions in large cities in the East, like Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, where there are considerable numbers of foreign-speaking Germans. Its charter provides that a Mission under its care and entitled to its support must use the its Poiicy German language in at least some of the services. The Board has done a commend- able work and has been instrumental in es- tablishing a number of Missions which have grown into strong self-supporting congrega- tions. Our Harbor Mission work, now in charge of General Synod's Board, was in- augurated by this body. 140 Our Home Mission Work The Western Board Territory Statistics of German Missions Under the Eastern Board Congregations 10 Members 1413 Sunday-school enrollment 1584 For congregational purposes $13,387 For benevolence 923 Value of Mission property 116,400 Appropriation by the Board 5,487 Contributed by Missions 5,543 The Western Board has had a far more extensive and encouraging history. Formed in 1868 under the Synod of the Northwest, this Board in 1882, at the organization of the Central Synod, became the missionary agent of these two Synods. "Under its watchful care and economical management the German work of Home Missions in the West has been successfully carried forward ever since. With an immense field and small resources, this Board has nevertheless done a great work."* Its territory covers practically three- fourths of the entire United States. It has eighty-five Missions under its care. Rev. Frederick Mayer, D. D., President, reports: "The field of the Board of Home Missions of *Whitmer's "150 Years," etc., p. 104. Our German Work 141 the Synod of the Northwest and Central Synod is very large. "The Central portion comprises Ohio, Michi- gan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Today there is only a small immigration of Germans into these States, and what there is settles mostly in the cities. In large cities there is often a removal of Reformed members from one section to another. These form the nucleus of a Mission. Hence, our seventeen Missions in this district, mostly German-English, are principally in cities. ''The West. In Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma, we have one Mission respectively, and several preaching stations. The stream of German settlers tends toward the north today, which partly accounts for the small number of Missions in this district. "The Northwest comprises the States of Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota. Here we have twenty-one Missions, consisting of 36 congregations , besides a number of preach- ing stations. It is a very promising field for our Church and challenges our best efforts. "The Pacific District, Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho. Here we have seven mis- sions and several preaching points. The rapid in- crease of the population in these States, the re- moval of not a few of our members of German con- gregations in the East to that section of our country, the zeal of our brethren there for our Church, is a loud IMacedonian call to help. The opening of the Panama Canal will unquestionably greatly develop the Pacific Coast. The Reformed Church dare not neglect this opportunity. A 142 Oiir Home Mission Work missionary-at-large is urgently needed for this field. " In Canada we have Missions in the Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Eight missionaries labor here under great self-denial, serving twenty-one congregations and preaching places. The extensive field, the extremely cold weather in winter, the straitened circumstances of new settlers coming from Europe, make the work for our mission- aries rather arduous." Pioneer Work Rev. C. Hassel, formerly President of the Board, writes: "Our work of Home Missions is a pioneer work. It is conducted under peculiar difficulties, and it is no wonder that some of the missionaries at times almost lose courage. No class of ministers stand more faithfully at their posts than these pioneers of our Church. They must prac- tice many self-denials, are often so far distant that they can seldom enjoy the spiritual and social intercourse of their min- isterial brethren and must often practice the greatest economy in order to make their small support reach." ?^^a ^""'^ The policy of the Board has been to follow German settlers of our household of faith and supply them with the ministrations of the gospel. A number of years ago Rev. William Hansen followed a colony of Ger- Our German Work 143 mans into Canada. He labored among these people with much heroism and self- sacrifice. He associated others with him- self and before he died, several years ago, he had been instrumental in organizing a Re- formed Classis in the Dominion with nine congregations and 661 members. The Board* made very commendable ^^^gress progress during the last half decade under the leadership of its General Secretary, Rev. G. D. Elliker, with headquarters at LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Under his inspiration and man- agement the work was greatly extended and the income of the Board considerably increased. Failing health, however, con- strained him to resign the office September 1, 1913. Statistics of German Missions Under the Western Board Congregations 85 Members 4,852 Sunday-school enrollment 4,085 For congregational piirposes $82,580 For benevolence 4,928 Value of Mission property 262,150 Appropriated by. the Board 19,200 Contributed by Missions 15,433 *Its Church-building work is carried forward by a separate Board, known as the Board of Church Erection. Its work will be considered in the chapter, "Our Chiirch- building Funds. " 144 Our Home Mission Work V. Relation to General Synod's Board Relation to The two German Boards sustain simply syvM'l ^ nominal relation to General Synod's Board Board of Home Missions. Their members are elected by their respective Synods and to them alone they are amenable, but their reports to the General Synod are incorporated in the report of General Synod's Board. Two members from the German portion of the Church hold membership on General Synod's Board and thus have a part in determining its policy. In consideration of the mission- ary work which the German Boards are doing, General Synod lays no apportionment for Home Missions upon the German Synods, except for Harbor, Hungarian, Bohemian, and Colored Work. In order to further en- courage the German Boards, the General Synod has ordered its Board of Home Mis- sions to pay them one dollar out of every fifteen which it receives. The Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of General Synod likewise is giving liberal sup- port to this German work. VI. The Future Prospects of the Work Adherence to xhe assertion is frequently made that the Language Hiost fruitful Home Missiou field for our denomination is found among our German brethren. By right of language, as also by Our German Work 145 loyalty to oiir doctrine and cultus, the Ger- mans constitute a vital and essential part of our denomination. They are thoroughly familiar with our history and genius, and breathe a native air in our fellowship. In many quarters, however, their unwillingness to surrender the German language in their worship has militated against their progress. Many of their young people have drifted away into other churches and into the world because of the language. Wherever our German churches are accommodating them- selves to the demand for more frequent English services, there, as a rule, large and growing congregations may be found. The missionary work among these people a pioneer appeals more strongly to the imagination than does that among our English speaking brethren. It seems to be more of a pioneer work, and is conducted along somewhat more conservative lines. The spirit of self- help is very commendable, and frequently missions go to self-support after they have been on the Board only a few years. Beyond a doubt the territory in which our ^®5*\^® German Boards are operating is most fertile Fidd°° soil for mission work. A recent survey by a Committee of the Home Missions Council, of fifteen States in the West and the North- 10 146 Our Home Mission Work west, discloses some interesting and sug- gestive facts. The district covered showed an entire population of 13,448,752. Its percentage of increase during the decade was twice that of the entire country. During the year 1911, 11,371 foreign Ger- mans entered the region, the largest number settling in California, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Washington. Over five per cent, of the churches reported in Oregon use the German language. It is estimated that there are 33,000 school children in Oregon without organized re- ligious care. Someone writes: "I have lived here eleven years and I think there have not been more than seven sermons preached in this district in that time." Another writes: ''There has not been a religious service in the community for over a year." Washington, Oregon, and California offer peculiar opportunities for work among the Germans. The entire Church should come to the support of this work with a far larger force of men and money. These German brethren are our near kin in the flesh as well as in the spirit. The investment of men and money in the work at this opportune time will mean large returns for the denomin- ation and will materially aid in bringing the Our German Work 147 kingdom more speedily into the life of the nation. QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER V Aim: To obtain an insight into the German popu- lation OF THIS COUNTRY, TO OBSERVE THE PART THEY PERFORM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR RELIGIOUS LIFE, AND TO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUOTTY AND RESPONSI- BILITY OF THE Reformed Church in behalf of these PEOPLE. /. German Immigration 1. What principal causes led to early German immi- gration? 2. Why is it likely that German immigration will increase in the near future? 3. Where did the first German immigrants settle in this country? 4. Where do most of the Germans settle who come to this country at present? //. Characteristics of the Germans 1. What are some of the outstanding traits of the Germans? 2. In what way do the characteristics of the Germans make it comparatively easy to estabUsh churches among them? 3. Are there any elements in the German nationaUty that would serve as a basis for rehgion among them? III. The Reformed Church and the Germans 1. Mention three pioneers among the Germans in this country and designate the fields of their work. 148 Our Home Mission Work 2. Define the territory covered by the Synod of the Northwest and give its statistics. 3. Define the territory covered by the Central Synod, and give its statistics. 4. Define the territory covered by the German Synod of the East, and give its statistics. 5. What benevolent work is done by the three Ger- man Synods? IV. German Mission Boards 1. How many Mission Boards in the German Synods are there? 2. How many Missions imder the care of the Eastern Board and where are they principally located? 3. How many Missions under the care of the Western Board and where are they principally located? 4. Describe the nature and extent of the work among the Germans in Canada. V. Relation to General Synod's Board 1. What relation do the German Home Mission Boards sustain to General Sj^nod's Board? 2. What support does General Synod's Board give the German work? VI. The Future Prospects of the Work 1. How does the unwillingness to relinquish the German language, on the part of some congre- gations, mihtate against the growth of the work? 2. In what way does the work among the Germans appeal more strongly to the imagination? 3. State some facts and conditions as pertaining to the Germans disclosed in a religous siu-vey of the West and Northwest. 4. What hope is there of ultimate success if the Re- formed Church invests a larger force of men and money into this work? Our German Work 149 REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY The Germans in America — Nuelson. The German Element in the United States — Faust. The German Pioneers in Pennsylvania — Richards. Minutes of the German SjTiods. Annual Reports of the German Boards of Home Missions. Historic Manual, 321-327— Dubbs. OUR CHURCH-BUILDING FUNDS Is it worth while to put $500 into a Church-building Fund? Yes, is the answer that comes with a strong empha- sis from scores of those who years ago c|id so and who have lived to see the result; and yes, is the tender answer that comes from scores of the happy dead who gave Funds in lifetime or by will, dear hearts now looking down upon us from the heavenly world. If they could give our mortal ears a message they would say: "Yes, a thousand times, yes, it is worth while to put large money into this form of Church work." Earthly investments, no matter how good, will sooner or later perish, but these Funds wiU abide. They will last for ages; at least they will serve the Lord imtil something higher and better may take their place. It is always worth while to take a hearty interest in what the Church is doing and so turn our prayers into effort, for only so wiU the Kingdom come. — Whitmer. VI OUR CHURCH-BUILDING FUNDS I. Housing a Mission In the life and growth of a Mission an Adequate J . ° Equipment adequate equipment becomes an early and Necessity indispensable necessity. A houseless con- gregation finds itself seriously handicapped in its work. It is poor policy for the Church to bring Missions into existence and then lay them helpless on the doorstep of the community with the hope that they may be taken up and cared for by the very people whom they are intended to serve. A building is not always an absolute guar- antee to spiritual success in a Mission, never- theless it is a most important factor, par- ticularly in the initial stage of the work. The Southern Methodists lost 60 per cent, of their converts for lack of church buildings early in their history. The survey of the Home Missions Council in Washington shows that only 69.3 per cent, of the organizations 153 154 Our Home Mission Work have church buildings. The Southern Bap- tist Convention reports over 3,500 houseless churches. True, some of the greatest revivals the Church ever witnessed were conducted under the open sky, or in a temporary tent or tabernacle. There were no elaborate fur- nishings, no artistic decorations, no stained glass windows, but a Mission is not a parallel case with a revival, for into a revival usually enter a number of established congregations, and the work is avowedly of a temporary character to meet a specific local situation. Locauzes the 1, ^ Suitable buildiug at once challenges the attention of the community. It localizes the work of the Mission. It gives it definite- ness. It crystallizes sentiment at one point. It fixes the place for worship. The build- ing is not the Church, but it indicates the place where the Church may be found. It is the meeting ground of God's people. Permanency 2. It couvcys the idea of permanency. ''It makes the passing permanent, the evan- escent everlasting," In the estimation of the community a Mission at the first, is usually on probation. People stand aloof from it until they recognize that it has actually come to stay. Into a temporary organization suggested by tent or hall they Our Church-Building Funds 155 are loathe to enter. The building declares in emphatic language that the project is a permanent one. The psychological effect of this upon a community is frequently under- estimated. 3. It constitutes the rallying center of the J^^^^^J^^ social and religious life of the people. Re- ligion expresses itself in social terms and social relationships. The spiritual fires of the heart are kept alive by fellowship and com- munion. The social solidarity of Chris- tians is an essential element in their spiritual development. It is with all saints that we are able to apprehend what is the length and breadth and height and depth and to know the love of God which passeth knowl- edge. Without a place where these religious fires may be fed, and from which they may radiate, they would be in danger of soon dying out. 4. It materializes the spiritual. Certain sacrament ideas and ideals are wrought into the build- ing. They find their expression in wood and stone, in material form and formation. The building thus becomes a sacrament to the people, the visible embodiment of an invisible truth. Just as the principles of education, business or government embody themselves in school houses, factories, and 156 Our Home Mission Work Spiritual Force Location Weighed Down by Debt government buildings, so must religion em- body and express itself in suitable church edifices. 5. It spiritualizes the material. This is the principal purpose of the Church. It is a spiritual force making for the uplift, the vitalizing and christianizing of the entire com- munity in which it is established. From the Church as a spiritual center there is to emanate an influence that shall permeate and pervade every phase of social, industrial, commercial, political, national, and religious life. A church building that is to fulfill its mission properly must be well located, and in external appearance conform somewhat to its immediate surroundings. To put a church in a city on an obscure side street or into an alley would never do. To build it of wood while the people of the same neighborhood live in marble houses would be as incongruous as it was when David set out to build the House of the Lord. Moreover, a Mission Church must not be too heavily encumbered by debt lest it be obliged to expend its efforts upon itself rather than in service to the community. The purpose of a Mission is not simply to gather unto itself a large congregation but, Our Church-Building Funds 157 also to develop in its members true religion which expresses itself in unselfish service and in liberality in the general work of the Kingdom. Consequently, if a Mission, throughout an entire generation must center its financial eJBforts upon itself, its spiritual life is in danger of arrest, and its primary purpose apt to be deflected. It is plain, therefore, that a Mission, if it is to render its best and highest service to the community, must be properly housed. It is, however, precisely at this point where it finds itself most frequently embarrassed. Its membership is small; its financial re- sources limited; its credit in banking institu- tions meager. If a suitable house of worship is to be built it is manifest that substantial assistance must be provided from some other source. II. Early Efforts Conscious of this fact, the Reformed Groping Church found itself groping after some prac- tical method long before our present plan of Church-building Funds crystallized into definite and systematic shape. Early in our history the missionary or some one specially commissioned, would visit congre- gations and individuals and solicit money for special Missions. In this way a number 158 Our Home Mission Work of our churches were built and paid for. But this method was too sporadic; it lacked system and permanency. Something that would assure a more permanent arrange- ment was desirable. Consequently, in the year 1853, the Eastern Synod appointed a Special Committee to consider the expediency of creating a Church Extension Society. Several leading denominations in this coun- try already had such an organization, but the matter ended simply in discussion. In 1855 the subject was again urged, and in 1856 the Synod, feeling that its Board of Missions had been created for just such a purpose, directed this organization to es- tablish a Church Erection Fund, the same to be kept distinct from the current mis- sionary income and no use be made thereof until it had reached the capital sum of $10,- 000. But this well intended action on the part of the Synod again failed to be carried into practical effect. Two _^ ^ The Ohio Synod, likewise, in 1856 instruct- ed its Board of Missions to consider church building as a distinct part of its work. In 1863 the Eastern Synod again took definite action designating its Board of Missions as a Church-building Board and directing that its finances should be kept in two depart- Departments REVEREND A. CARL WHITAIER. Sl'PERINTENDKNT OF MISSIONS SIN'CE I886. Our Church-Building Funds 159 ments, or funds — a current fund to be used at the discretion of the Board, and a per- manent fund whose interest alone should be available. Weak congregations were to be helped by loan or by gift — the loan always to be secured by first mortgage. In 1881, the Board asked the Synod for yearly col- lections for Church-building and in 1886 Synod for the first time made an apportion- ment for Church-building. Thus it will be observed that while the ^"^f ^*^°' importance of this phase of Home Mission wiiitmer-s work was generally recognized throughout ^^^" the Church, no clearly defined or workable plan had as yet been fully developed. To Superintendent A. C. Whitmer belongs the credit of perfecting the plan of our Church- building Funds. In 1886, when he entered upon office as Superintendent of Missions in the three Synods, the Eastern Synod, the Synod of the Potomac, and the Pittsburgh Synod, he wrought out a plan which at once commended itself to the entire Church. This plan, which is still in vogue, has meant so much for our Home Mission work. The plan as it was finally submitted to the Synods and adopted in 1886 covered the following points: 160 Our Home Mission Work 1. Each Fund shall be at least $500. 2. It shall bear a distinct name, that of the giver or any other name he shall choose, approved by the Board of Missions. 3. It shall be under the care and control of the Board of Missions. 4. It shall be held as a distinct Fund; but interest paid on it from time to time shall be used as the Board may see fit. 5. It shall be used only for the building of churches or Missions imder this Board. 6. No Fund and no part of any Fund shall be a gift to the Mission; but the money shall always be loaned on first mortgage, payable within ten years in such in- stallments and at such rate of interest as may be agreed upon by the Board and the Missions. The simplicity of the plan was one of its features which particularly commended it to the Church. There was nothing com- plicated or involved about it. Everybody could understand it, and so carefully had it been wrought out before it was finally sub- mitted to the Church that no marked modi- fications since then have been deemed neces- sary. III. Funds Under the Different Boards I. The Tri-Synodic Board The plan, it will be noted, originated in the Tri-Synodic Board, officially known as the Board of Missions, which represented Our Church-Building Funds 161 the Eastern, the Potomac, and the Pitts- burgh Synods. In 1892, the Missions under this Board were transferred to General Synod's Board, but the Eastern and Potomac Synods continued as the Board of Missions and exercised supervision of their trust moneys, including the Church-building Funds. At first the securing of these Funds was a The First Fund very slow process. The first Fund was raised in response to an appeal for $500 which was to be loaned to a Mission in Kansas. The contributors to this Fund were as follows: Missionary Society of Martinsburg, W. Va., per Rev. J. A. Hoffheins, D.D $50.00 Missionary Society of Hellertown, Pa., per Rev. A. B. Koplin, D.D 47.50 Missionary Society of Lower Saucon, per Rev. A. B. KopUn, D.D 25.00 Reformed Church of Frederick, Md., per Rev. E. R. Eschbach, D.D 50.00 Schlatter Missionary Society of Third St. Church, Easton, Pa., per Rev. H. M. Ivieffer, D.D 50.00 Elder Jacob Bausman, Lancaster, Pa 50.00 Rev. B. Bausman, D. D., Reading, Pa 50.00 St. John's Reformed Simday-school of Allentown, Pa., per Rev. S. G. Wagner, D.D 50.00 St. Paul's Missionary Society of Rockingham Charge, Virginia, per Rev. B. R. Carnahan 50.00 Missionary Society of Trinity Reformed Church, St. Clairsville, Pa., per Elder Henry Beckley 27.50 Elder S. H. Lenhart, West Leesport, Pa 50.00 11 162 Our Home Mission Work Second and Third Funds The second Fund came from Virginia Classis and bears its name. The third came from the Missionary Society of Emanuel's Re- formed Church, Hanover, through the pas- tor. Rev. J. C. Bowman, D. D. After that they came in ever increasing numbers. When the Board of Missions in November, 1913, transferred all its assets, aggregating $83,828, to the General Synod's Board, there were included 61 Church-building Funds, amounting to $41,916.67. Two Methods 2. General Synod's Board In the year 1890, when the General Synod's Board began its active work west of the Alleghany Mountains, it also raised money for church-building purposes, but called the same Church Extension Funds. It was not until 1899* that the uniform name of Church-building Funds was adopted by both of these Boards. This was done in order to avoid confusion throughout the Church. The General Synod's Board for a number of years bought the lot, erected the building for the Mission and held the same in trust until such a time as the Mission was *The Minutes of the General Synod since 1899 give a complete list of the Funds tmder the English Boards. Our Church-Building Funds 163 able to pay for it. The Board of Missions pursued another policy and asked the Mis- sion to take title to the property, and give a mortgage to the Board. Since 1910 the General Synod's Board has been piu-suing the same policy with the thought that such an arrangement would develop greater inter- est and zeal on the part of its Missions. The General Board has at the present time 377 Funds aggregating $241,005.28. 3. The German Boards Dr. C. F. Kriete, of Louisville, Kentucky, ^^J^^^ the President of the Board of Church Erec- synods tion of the Synod of the Northwest and of the Central Synod, writes as follows: ''The Board of Church Erection Funds of the Synod of the Northwest and Central Synod was founded in 1873. At that time the Central Synod had not been organized. When the new Synod was formed out of two Classes of the Synod of the Northwest and two of the Ohio Synod, this new Synod was given two members on this Board, and the Synod of the Northwest retained three, which is the proportion prevailing today. The assets of this Board amount to $81,314. Most of this money has been raised through 164 Our Home Mission Work individual contributions, a few bequests, but mostly by the annual collection on Whit Sunday, as also by the offering on Home Mission Day which has lately been intro- duced among the German churches. There are now thirty-seven $500 Funds, all of which have been secured during the last four years. During the first twenty-five years of its history, this Board aided 50 congregations and during the forty years of its existence it assisted more than 100. It supports congregations from Tennessee to Canada, and from Cleveland to the Pacific Coast, together with a dozen churches in Canada." The Board of the German Synod of the East has also been carrying forward the work of Church-building and has a Fund of $3,785. Most of this amount was raised by freewill offerings by the congregations of the Synod. Summary Funds Amovmt Tri-Synodic Board 61 $ 41,916.67 General Synod's Board 377 241,005.28 Western German Board 37 81,314.00 Eastern German Board 3,785.00 Total 475 $448,020.95 A conservative estimate warrants the statement that during the last fifty years fin K<^** I *M ■ ui^: \]% \ ///,■/,/> III!/. I. [/: ii ■twmmitmmj rfT^=iigii«8B^siwap»'" .- J upon a receipt of $300 or more the Board issues a certijicalc of loliich the above is a reduced fac-siniile. Our Church-Building Funds 165 more than 500 congregations* have been aided by the Boards in the erection of their church buildings. IV. How They Are Provided 1. By Apportionment. For a number of Apportion- ment years the General Synod has laid an appor- tionment of six cents per member for Church- building purposes. This has enabled the Board to carry the expenses of the depart- ment and also to make certain appropria- tions in the form of outright gifts to Missions which could not otherwise have been done. Over $13,000 was realized in this way during the last triennium. 2. By Special Home Mission Day Offer- Home Mission ings. Since 1906 the Church has annually during the month of November, observed a special Home Mission Day in the congrega- tions and Sunday-schools. The offerings realized on this day are usually applied to a Mission or Missions engaged in erecting a building, or in liquidating a debt incurred by building. The following Missions have been helped in this manner: *For a partial list see Minutes of General Synod, 1911, p. 113 et sq. 166 Our Home Mission Work Mission Amount 1906. Grace, Chicago, lU- [Received the offerings 1907. Grace, Chicago, lU-V^^ <^^'« successive [years $13,366.23 1908. St. Paul's Kansas City, Mo 6,687.09 1909. Christ, Pittsburgh, Pa., and Trinity, Lew- istown, Pa 6,153.16 1910. First, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 9,150.00 1911. First Enghsh, Louisville, Ky 6,062 21 1912. Denver, Colo.; Springfield, Ohio; Lincoln- ton, N. C 10,649 87 1913. The General Church-building Fund 10,142 13 3. By Direct Contribution. Most of the Church-building Funds come to the Board in this way. Memorials (^^^ ^g memorials. Persons wishing to erect memorials to their loved ones contribute a Fund or more. They find comfort and satisfaction in so doing. Hereby they per- petuate the names of their deceased, they embalm them in the records of the Church and forever associate them with the en- larging work of the Kingdom. Beautiful and lasting are the memorials which are thus set up. When the children of Rev. Dr. Charles F. and Maria Hoke McCauley sent the money for this Fund, they said: "We have chosen this as the most enduring mem- orial to our sainted parents, believing it to be the best monument we could erect to their saintly lives and holy characters." Our Church-Building Funds 167 WUling Service (b) As tokens of appreciation. In this Appreciation way congregations honor their pastors, and Sunday-schools and Missionary Societies their leading workers. Many of these Funds bear the names of pastors and congregations. Not long since at a dinner table, the head of the house signified his willingness to give a Church-building Fund of $500, bearing his own name. His wife, at the other end of the table, responded: ''I will not allow my husband to outdo me in generosity. I also will give a Fund and it shall bear the name of my pastor." (c) As expressions of willing service. The Elders' Funds of the Pittsburgh and the Ohio Synods came to the Board in this way. The forty-one Funds contributed by the Woman's Missionary Society of General Synod are largely of this character. The twenty Funds from the Evangelical Church of Frederick, Maryland, comprise all of the above phases of giving. The catechumens of the Church from year to year have been making offerings and have a number of Funds to their credit. (d) As evidences of gratitude. Some of the Funds come from humble sources, yet out of truly grateful hearts. An aged couple, who are making a living by hard and honest Gratitude 168 Our Home Mission Work Installment Plan Bequest toil, wished to render their gratitude to God for many blessings received. So they pro- vided a Lord's box into which they regularly deposited a proportion of whatever money came into their hands. At the end of ten months, curious to know the amount which the box contained, they opened it and were surprised to find more than $500. Immedi- ately they established a Church-building Fund bearing their own names. Another servant conscientiously sets aside one-tenth of his income to the Lord. When he purchased an automobile for his own pleasure and convenience, he at once estab- lished a Church-building Fund to bear the names of his parents who sleep in the ceme- tery hard by the old church where he still worships. A goodly number of these Funds are paid on the installment plan. Sometimes indi- vidual donors require from three to five years to complete a Fund. Congregations and other organizations adopt the same method. 4. By Bequest. A person reasons rightly as follows: "During my lifetime I was ac- customed to give a certain amount of money annually to Home Missions. After I am here no more my contributions will naturally Our Church-Building Funds 169 cease, and my influence in the building up of the Kingdom on earth be nullified. But by bequeathing a certain amount of money to the Board of Home Missions, my contri- bution and my influence may go forward perpetually even though my physical presence be here no more." Thus quite a number of people are remembering these Church-build- ing Funds in their wills. It has almost be- come a disgrace for a person of means to pass out of the world without making some provision for the continuance of his work after he is gone. It is a mistake to leave large fortunes to one's offspring without making adequate provision for the King- dom. The rich man's child generally finds himself handicapped and is unable to cope with the child who has to fight his own way through life. In making a bequest it is important to use the correct title of the Board, and to state definitely that the money is for a Church-building Fund. The following form will be found to be correct: I give and bequeath to the Board of Home Missions of the Reformed Church in the United States, the sum of hundred dollars for a Church-building Fimd. Such a will, however, must be made at least thirty days before death and must be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 170 Our Home Mission Work ^os^ 5. By Post Mortuary Note. There are Note some persons who do not want to make a will, or having made a will they do not care to change it, and yet want to provide for one or more Church-building Funds. A safe and suitable method has been provided by giving a note payable one year after death. The Board is an incorporated body; it is accustomed to handling trust funds; it has never lost any money in its Church-building Fund department, for it takes the greatest precaution in all its investments and pro- tects them by mortgage or other approved security. The following form is commended for this kind of giving: In consideration of benefits received by me as a member of tlie Reformed Church in the United States, I hereby promise to pay to the Treasurer of the Board of Home Missions of the Reformed Church in the United States, the sum of dollars for a Church- building Fund, said sum to be due and payable in one year from date of my death, without interest. Witness my hand and seal this day of A.D., 19.... Signed in the presence of Our Church-Building Funds 171 This note, however, must be delivered to some officer or member of the Board or to some person in trust for the Board. 6. By Annuity. There are some persons Annuity who need the income of their investment during their natural life. Provision has been made in such instances to pay a certain percentage as interest. V. How They Work 1. Loan Funds. For many years all the Loan Funds Funds received by the Board were of the nature of Loan Funds; that is, as the name indicates, they are loaned to Missions at a nominal rate of interest for a specified period of time, with the understanding that they are to be refunded and then are to be loaned out again to another Mission, and so on perpetually. It is in this way that these Funds are rendering perpetual service in the Church. 2. Gift Funds. In order to encourage the Gift Funds Missions in their efforts to diminish their debts, the Board introduced the plan of Gift Church-building Funds. Any person or organization contributing a Church-build- ing Fund can state whether it is to be used as a Loan Fund or as a Gift Fund. The 172 Our Home IMission Work donors likewise have the privilege of specify- ing where such Gift Funds are to be ap- plied. This privilege applies to the Missions themselves as well as to other congregations or individuals. The only condition is that the Funds thus raised by the Missions must be applied to the debt owing to the Board of Home Missions. A Gift Fund is not ex- pected to be returned to the Board. It is a direct investment into the Mission itself. Because of the heavy indebtedness resting upon a great many of our Missions, these Gift Funds have not only stimulated the Missions to help themselves, but they have also proven a great blessing in sending timely relief to these struggling interests. VI. What Others Are Doing. others do Practically every leading Protestant de- nomination in the land is actively engaged in raising a large sum for Church-building purposes. The following figures may indi- cate what some others are doing along this line: Our Church-Building Funds 173 Amoxint in Denomination Fund Presbyterian U. S. A $ 5,881,511 Congregational 4,603,570 Lutheran 1,681,823 Methodist Episcopal North 10,997,961 Methodist Episcopal South 3,121,525 Disciples of Christ 1,500,000 Protestant Episcopal 837,685 If the Reformed Church is to march in this company it is necessary to raise more than half a million for this purpose. VII. The Jubilee Fund. A Thousand In recognition of its Fiftieth Anniversary ^™^^ under the General Synod, the Board of Home Missions has entered upon a campaign to raise a thousand Church-building Funds as speedily as possible, so as to relieve the Mis- sions of their excessive burdens, to furnish them with adequate equipment, to bring them to speedy self-support, and enable the Board to enter upon a period of constructive Home Mission work. This challenge should find an earnest re- sponse in every individual and in every con- gregation that may be vitally interested in the affairs of the Kingdom. Nothing should give Church members greater joy or satis- 174 Our Home Mission Work faction than to co-operate in extending to others the spiritual blessings which they themselves enjoy. QUESTIONS Aim: To understand the meaning and method of Church-building Funds and to appreciate their VALUE in the work OF HOME MISSIONS AS A CONSERVING AND INSPIRING FACTOR. 1. Housing a Mission 1. In what way does a houseless Mission find itself handicapped in its work? 2. What per cent, of church organizations are without buildings? How does this apply to the Reformed Church? 3. In what way does a church building impart the idea of permanency? 4. How does the social life as centered in the Church affect the spiritual life of the people? 5. Explain how a building materiahzes the spiritual and spiritualizes the material. 6. How do location and debt affect the progress of a Mission? 2. Early Efforts 1. How did the Reformed Church develop its plan of Church-building Fvmds? 2. How old is the present plan and who originated it? 3. What are the outstanding conditions of the plan as finally adopted? 3. Funds Under the Different Boards 1. Where did the first three Fimds come from? 2. When was the uniform name of Church-building Funds adopted? Our Church-Building Funds 175 3. When was the Board of Church Erection in the German Synods estabhshed? 4. Give the number and value of the Funds in the respective Synods of the Church. 5. How many churches have been assisted in the erection of their buildings by these Funds? 4- How They are Provided 1. What amoimt is reahzed through the apportion- ment for Church-building? 2. Of what practical value is Home Mission Day to the Church? 3. How do Church-building Fimds serve as memorials ? 4. How may one's devotion to the Church be recog- nized through a Church-building Fund? 5. Name some congregations that have raised large numbers of Church-building Funds. 6. What provision is there for paying Church-building Funds on the instaUment plan? 7. Is it proper to remember the work of Home Mis- sions in one's will ? 8. What do you understand by a Post Mortuary Note? 9. What is an annuity? 6. How They Work 1. What is the difference between a Loan Fund and a Gift Fund? 6. What Others are Doing 1. With what success have other denominations car- ried forward the work of Chiirch-building? 7. The Jubilee Fund 1. What is the meaning of the Jubilee Fund and what is it supposed to accomplish? 2. In what should Church members find their highest joy? 176 Our Home Mission Work REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY Our Church-building Funds — WTiitmer, 1891. Our Church-building Funds, 2nd Edition, 1894. The Church Extension Work— Fouse, 1896. Tract— Whitmer, 1897. The Story of our Church-building Funds — Whitmer, 1902. Another Story of Our Church-building Fvmds — Whitmer, 1908. Minutes of the General Ssmod from 1890. The Forward Movement in Home Missions, 1911. Honor the Lord With Thy Substance — Whitmer. AN ADEQUATE SUPPORT OF THE WORK 12 "Money is not the thing ultimately or even actually aimed at. Money is not what really coimts, though it must be counted. Money signifies, that is, it is a sign. It is not the thing signified. There is mystery in money. Money is life, put up in paper, condensed in coin, available anywhere, for anything, at any time. There Ues the secret of its mystery and mischief. That is why it is so mighty as a means and so miser- able as an end. That is why it is one of the best of servants and the very worst of masters. Money can never take first place or the very Gospel is denied. No work that can be done merely by money is Christian work. No aim that can be given a cash value is a Christian aim. It is only the sign, never the substance, of the gift. The very machinery for collecting copper coin rouses and releases spiritual energy. The little ugly perforated envelope be- comes an instrument by which devotion, prayer, brotherhood and sacrifice may enter in and take possession." — Rhine- lander. VII AN ADEQUATE SUPPORT OF THE WORK I. The Policy of the Board The following program of work was adopted as the Policy of the Board : 1. To occupy and hold fields where the Re- The Policy formed Church can be and ought to be estab- lished. a. In the growing centers of population in the East and West. 6. In the unoccupied fields of the West and Northwest and the South. 2. To adequately provide for the people of German nationality in the United States and the Dominion of Canada, among whom we have ninety-four Missions at the present time with a membership of 6,265. The Reformed Church is responsible for at least a double number of congregations and members among these people. 3. To Christianize a definite number of foreigners who come to this country. a. Hungarians, of whom there are approxi- mately one million in this country. The Re- formed Church is responsible for at least 250,000 of these. 179 180 Our Home Mission Work 6. Bohemians, of whom there are 500,000 in America. The Reformed Church is responsible for at least 125,000. c. Japanese, of whom there are about 75,000 — 50,000 of them in California. The Reformed Church is responsible for 15,000 of them, d. Negroes, of whom there are 12,000,000, with 9,000,000 outside of the Church. The Reformed Church, in association with the Council of Reformed Churches Holding the Presbyterian System, is responsible for 4,000,- 000. 4. To develop its Church-building work so as to form an endowment of at least $500,000, to assist in the purchase of ground and the erec- tion of buildings for its Mission congregations. 5. To make its quota of contribution to the Christianizing of the social conscience of the age. 6. To educate and enlighten the entire mem- bership of the Reformed Church with the view of greater interest and support in the work of the Kingdom. 7. To co-operate with other Christian bodies in the Christianization of a strong home base with a view of accomplishing the evangeliza- tion of the world. The work on its present basis demands ap- proximately $200,000 a year. The adequate support of the work in the future as outlined in the terms of this policy will ultimately call for $750,000 a year. Recognizing that we have a distinctive work among those of our own household of faith and others by historical and national traits allied An Adequate Support of the Work 181 with us, we beheve that, being one of the oldest Protestant bodies in America, we have a nation- wide mission, and to this task we challenge the earnest support and co-operation of the entire Church. From the foregoing pages of this study, as Reasons"for also from the program of work as outlined support^ in the terms of this Policy, it will be observed that the expenditures of the Board are directed into a number of different channels. 1. The Support of the Missionaries. The Missionaries employed by the Board must be paid every month. Regularity in the receipt of their salaries is essential for efficient work on their part. They need an adequate support. They cannot render the fullest and freest service if they constantly find themselves in financial straits. Many of them are making great sacrifices in serving Mission congregations. In the nature of the case, they must confine their effort largely to beginnings, to organization, to the erection of church buildings, to the gath- ering of a congregation. They do not have the inspiration of large numbers. Usually they have but a few faithful souls who gather about them. They are obliged to forego many of the attractive features which usually attend a strong, self-supporting con- 182 Our Home Mission Work gregation. As a rule, they have an inade- quate equipment; no big building, no elabor- ate decorations, no pipe organ or vested choir. Besides, they can never expect a large or ever-increasing salary. There are no five or ten thousand dollar pulpits among our Home Missions. They have to deny themselves many comforts, not to speak of luxuries of life. They can not build up their libraries so as to keep abreast with the age, nor are they in a position to travel and broaden their vision and experience. These are some of the real sacrifices which our Home Missionaries make and consequently their support should be adequate and regular, so that their minds and hearts may be re- lieved from temporal cares, and they be enabled to render the service to which they have given themselves and which is expected of them, ^j^ ■'^ 2. Assistance in Church Building. Large Building demands are constantly made on the Board for help along this line. It is absolutely impossible for a great majority of our Mis- sions to come to anything like an adequate equipment without substantial help on the part of the Board. The Chapter on Our Church-Building Funds gives the data and An Adequate Support of the Work 183 the methods of help on the part of the Board in this field of missionary activity. 3. Missionary Education. The Church Education needs to be informed and enlightened con- cerning the work of Missions. Consequently, a certain percentage of the receipts of the Board must be expended in this direction. During the Triennium 1911-1914, the Board devoted two and one-half per cent, of its receipts in educating the Church at large on the subject of Missions. 4. Administration. The work of Home Running Missions is a vast business enterprise. Its executive officers and its office equipment must be supported and maintained; the Board and Executive Committee Meetings must be regularly held; Superintendents and Secretaries and other representatives of the Board, must travel through the Church in the interests of the work, and all this de- mands an outlay of money. During the last Triennium seven and two-thirds per cent, of the receipts of the Board were ap- plied to the administrative and field work. The following table from the report of the Treasurer to the General Synod at Lancaster, 1914, shows the percentage of expenditures on the part of the Board: 184 Our Home Mission Work For Missions, including Missionaries' salaries, Ger- man Boards, Student Work, Colored Missions, Harbor Missions, Special Work, Church-building, and Japanese Mission 88 %% For Executive and Office expenses, including salaries, traveling, office help, legal expenses. Board Meet- ings, etc 7% % For Education, including literature. Mission Study Department, Home Mission Day Service, etc. ... 23^% For General Expenses — interest on General Fund Loans, Home Missions Council dues, etc 1%+ Miscellaneous — Funds distributed through the Board 3^%— 100% II. A Campaign of Education An adequate support of the work is condi- tioned upon an enlightened, interested and consecrated constituency. Education along the lines of missionary endeavor is a primary requisite. This is accomplished through the following factors : The Pastor 1, Tlw PastoT. ''The most important an Inspira- • i r , • ^ • • • tionai Factor smglo lactor lu produciug a missionary church is of necessity the pastor." If the pastor is on fire with missionary enthusiasm the victory is in sight, provided the laymen of his church will back him up and co-oper- ate with him. He holds the key to the situation. His spirit and influence is vital An Adequate Support of the Work 185 as an educational factor and force. Through the pulpit and its ministrations, through a wise and aggressive leadership in organizing and marshalling the forces of his congrega- tion, in keeping the missionary idea con- stantly before his people, he becomes a potent and an indispensable factor in this educ'ational process. The object of his mis- sionary preaching and praying and planning, says John R. Mott, "is to ground Christians in the principles underlying the missionary enterprise; to inform them concerning the facts; to educate them as to their duty in their particular day and generation; and to inspire them to action."* 2. Missionary Literature. 'Tacts are the vaiueof fuel with which missionary fervor is fired and fed." From the very beginning of our Home Mission work the importance of mis- sionary literature was recognized. The first publication issued by the Reformed Church in the United States was in the interests of Home Missions. The Board of Domestic Missions was established in the year 1826. It was immediately felt that if the Board was to carry forward its work with any de- gree of success, it would have to have an 'The Pastor and Modern Missions," p. 66. 186 Our Home Mission Work Earliest Missionary Publication The Mission- ary Herald organ through which to speak to the entire Church. Consequently in 1828 ''The Re- ligious and Missionary Magazine of the Ger- man Reformed Church" was established. Dr. Lewis Mayer was its first editor. Its subscription price was $1.50 per year. Later this magazine developed into "The Reformed Church Messenger," which is the weekly church paper for the three Synods in the East. The Western section of the Church in Ohio likewise felt the need of a Missionary paper, and in 1847 there was published ''The Western Missionary." It was a semi- weekly paper. In the year 1868 this was changed to "The Christian World," which is the leading weekly church paper for the Ohio Synod. It will thus be observed that both "The Messenger" and "The Christian World" are the outgrowth of Missionary publications. In the year 1880 "The Reformed Mission- ary Herald" was published under the aus- pices of the Tri-Synodic Board. For a period of five years it was an eight-page monthly, when the size was reduced to four pages. In the year 1879 the Rev. S. P. Meyers, of Tiffin, Ohio, edited "The Missionary An Adequate Support of the Work 187 Sentinel," which in 1882 was consolidated with ''The Missionary Herald." In 1890 ''The Herald" was merged with ''The Guardian" and was then known as "The Missionary Guardian." This was con- ducted in the interests of Home and Foreign Missions and continued until 1896. The German section of the Church since 1885 has been publishing "Der Missions Bote." In 1896 the Board of Home Missions, the '^^^ "^^^'^s^ Board of Foreign Missions and the Sunday School Board began the publishing of "The Reformed Church Tidings," which took the place of "The Reformed Missionary Herald." Its first editor was Rev. Dr. Rufus W. Mil- ler. He was succeeded by Rev. Dr. C. E. Schaeffer, who in turn was followed by Rev. Dr. G. A. Schwedes, when the publication was discontinued in 1899. "The Home Missionary Bulletin" made The Bulletin its appearance in September, 1903, and continued until December, 1909, when it was merged with" The Outlook of Missions." The Woman's Missionary Society of Gen- eral Synod for a number of years had been publishing "The Woman's Journal" and also "The Mission Helper," which was edited by Miss Rebecca C. Shively, of Chambersburg. 188 Our Home Mission Work The Outlook of Missions Congrega- tional Mis- sionary Com- mittee In 1910, ''The Outlook of Missions," which had been started the previous year by the Board of Foreign Missions, became the only missionary publication issued by the various Missionary organizations of the Reformed Church. As such it deserves the hearty support of every one interested in the extension of the Kingdom at home and abroad. It should be found in as many of our families as possible. Every congrega- tion should be a subscriber to this monthly missionary publication. It should annually bind its volumes and keep them for the use of missionary leaders and others who may wish to refer to them. Every congregation, likewise, should have a missionary library of choice books and periodicals. There should be mission charts, maps, and mottoes, photographs, and stere- opticon slides. All these can be secured from the Board of Home Missions. A judicious use of leaflets and pamphlets issued by the Board should be made. Some of these publications convey the richest and ripest facts of missionary activity. 3. The Missionary Committee. A congre- gation, in order to conserve and co-ordinate its missionary life, and project itself in its endeavor to fulfill its missionary obligation, An Adequate Support of the Work 189 must organize along the Hues of modern missionary efficiency. The mission of the Church is Missions. This should be the dominant, controlling, governing principle of all its plans and purposes. The various efforts along missionary lines should head up in a congregational Missionary Commit- tee. This Committee may be composed of the presidents of the Missionary Societies, the Chairmen of the Missionary Commit- tees of the organizations, the leaders of Mission Study Classes, the pastor of the church and the superintendent of the Sun- day-school. Its duty is to lead the entire congregation into an intelligent and growing appreciation of the work of Missions. Be- sides other duties, it should have charge of the distribution of missionary literature and of organizing the church for the collecting of benevolent moneys. 4. Mission Study. The value of system- atic, scientific study of Missions is quite apparent. It widens the horizon of those who engage in it, lifts them out of their provincialism and gives a comprehensive and minute survey of the needs, the prob- lems and the opportunities of the task. Usually this study is carried forward by groups of individuals numbering from eight Value of Mis- sion Study 190 Our Home Mission Work to twelve. As many classes as practicable, under the supervision of the Missionary Committee, may be organized in the local congregation. Sometimes Adult Bible Classes, or Christian Endeavor Societies re- solve themselves into Mission Study groups. The objects of the Mission Study Class are: ''To create among its members missionary convictions, to help them form the habit of independent study of Missions, to train them so far as practicable for advocating the cause of Missions and for teaching Study Classes, and to inspire them to earnest efforts on behalf of the world's evangeliza- tion." Splendid text books for this purpose are available. Summer Conferences in vari- ous sections of the Church are held annually, where leaders are trained for this specific work. III. The Resources The sources whence flows the Mission support are found in the membership of the Church and in the various organizations which comprise its working force, weajth^'*^ 1. Individuals. The per capita wealth in the United States is $1,310.11.* The mem- *Siirvey of the Reformed Church, p. 203. An Adequate Support of the Work 191 bership of the Reformed Church shares in this average. The number of individual givers and the amount of their contribution should be greatly increased. If every one of the 306,000 members in the Reformed Church were to give on an average of two cents a week for Home Missions the total amount reahzed would be more than $300,- Possibiuties _ of Enlarged 000 annually; if every one were to give live Giving cents, the price of a street car fare, the amount would aggregate $750,000; the price of a plate of ice cream a week would net $1,500,000; and if all the men were to give on an average of one cigar a day the total realized in one year would be approximately $1,000,000. It is useless to waste sympathy over the common excuse that people do not have the money that is required. They have it and prove it by spending it on themselves, on things that minister to their own profit or pleasure. There should be individuals throughout the Church who would support this work by large and liberal contributions. The cause is of sufficient importance to appeal mightily to men and women possessed of large means. Other denominations find their benevolent work greatly advanced by munificent gifts on the part of individual givers. The 192 Our Home Mission Work Value of Reformed Church Property Large Givers Among Missions Reformed Church is as rich in men and money as some others, and all that is necessary is for some of them to come forward and lay their offerings on God's altar. 2. Congregations. The value of the prop- erty of the Reformed Church in the United States exceeds twenty million dollars. Many of our congregations are just arriving at a point in their history when they can begin to do large things for the cause of Missions. They are just emerging from the period when they had to build new churches for themselves. These being erected, in many places the present generation will be free to apply their contributions to the general work of the Kingdom rather than to their own local needs. Some of our congregations are giving quite liberally. This is especially true of most of the Missions. The question is sometimes raised whether a Mission should be expected to give to the general work of the Church. There is only one answer to be given and that is that it would be a great injustice to deprive a Mission of the blessing that comes through the exercise of the grace of giving. But all of our congregations can do far more than they are doing. The motto that should characterize their giving should be ''more for others than for ourselves." A An Adequate Support of the Work 193 truly efficient congregation will not be satisfied with anything less than this stand- ard. 3. Organizations. a. Sunday-schools. A large source of mis- ^^^^ ^ *^® . - J ? o J Sunday sionary revenue is found m our bunday- school schools. The boys and girls who comprise the bulk of our Sunday-school membership should be taught the principles and the prac- tice of giving to the cause of Missions. b. Christian Endeavor Societies. Here is J*^^^, a great undeveloped field. The young men societies and women, numbering approximately 30,000 in the various Young People's Organizations of the Church, furnish large opportunities for fruitful service in the Kingdom. For many years they have been challenged with the support of a Missionary. The Mission at Omaha, Nebraska, has been assigned to them. The amounts which they contribute annually do not nearly support the mission- ary. Every society should have a distinct part in this special work, and every effort should be put forth to meet the full obliga- tion. c. Missionary Societies. Missionary socie- women's ties in the local congregation have been in societies existence from the very beginning of our 13 194 Our Home Mission Work organized Home Mission work. The Wom- an's Missionary Society of General S3^od was founded at Akron, Ohio, in 1887. It is an organized body reaching through the Synods and the Classes to the individual congregations. It has been a strong factor in the development of the missionary life in the Church. The Board annually realizes from this source an amount approximating $10,000. The Society has included in its budget for the present triennium the annual Support ^^^ ^^ $9,218.40 for Home Missions. Individual 4. Relating Donors to Iiidividual Missions. The plan of having individuals or self-sup- porting congregations assume financial re- sponsibility for one or more Missions is strongly commended. Such an arrangement serves to establish closer personal relations, and fosters deeper mutual interest between the established congregation and the Mis- sion. It makes possible an exchange of pulpits between the regular pastor and the Missionary, and puts new life and confidence in the Mission as well as a quickening mis- sionary spirit into the self-supporting church. The time is at hand when many of our strong and influential congregations should support their Mission and Missionary in some other section of the Church. In other denomina- Missions An Adequate Support of the Work 195 tions they are doing this with splendid re- sults, and the plan is worthy of trial in ours. Total Financial Income op the Board From 1826 to 1863 (Organization of General SjTiod's Board) S50,000 From 1863 to 1890 (Reconsolidation under Gen- eral Synod's Board) 598,253 From 1890 to 1914 2,099,277 Total $2,747,530 Arranged by Triennittms 1863 to 1866 $25,780 1866 to 1869 57,844 1869 to 1872 42,761 1872 to 1875 44,000 1875 to 1878 46,039 1878 to 1881 55,039 1881 to 1884 77,990 1884 to 1887 105,039 1887 to 1890 142,761 $598,253 1890 to 1893 149,793 1893 to 1896 172,476 1896 to 1899 229,918 1899 to 1902 195,245 1902 to 1905 233,722 1905 to 1908 297,370 1908 to 1911 317,029 1911 to 1914 503,724 2,099,277 Total in Fifty Years $2,697,530 196 Our Home Mission Work IV. The Methods The Apportionment History of the ^his of ten abused and misunderstood term meat needs a word of explanation. Every three years the General Synod fixes the amount which the Boards should have to carry for- ward their work. This sum is divided among the District Synods, who in turn divide it among the Classes, and the Classes among the Congregations. In 1844 we have the first trace of an apportionment when the sum of S700 was laid on ten Classes, but in 1845 the Board reported that only six pastors had obeyed the order. Subsequently it became the accepted financial method of the Church in its Home and Foreign Mission work. While the General Synod has never made any apportionment except for Home and Foreign Missions, the District Synods and the Classes have apportioned various other items of benevolence among the charges and congregations. 1. Advantages of the Apportionment System. Advantages a. It is Something definite. b. It has gotten many congregations to do something which otherwise would have done little or nothing. An Adequate Support of the Work 197 c. It throws the regular missionary agen- cies in the denomination into clear relief. d. It gives pastor and congregation a fresh lever to raise a given amount. 2. Disadvantages of the Apportionment Sys- tem.* a. It is inadequate to the real needs. It Disadvan- marks the minimum and not the maximum *^^^ of the Church's real needs. b. It is impossible to make it equitable. ''To make a mathematical apportionment on the basis of membership or of local ex- penses or of past beneficence or of the value of church property or a combination of these elements, must of necessity ignore some of the most vital factors of the case." c. It may easily produce a false concep- tion of the Church's task. d. It carries the atmosphere of a tax, and this is fatal. e. It exalts the wrong objective — the money rather than the work. /. It creates frictions criticism instead of enthusiasm for the causes. It might, however, be inadvisable because of any or all of these reasons, to abandon *For a strong discussion of the Apportionment Plan Bee Minutes of Honae Missions Council, 1914, pp. 155 et sq. 198 Our Home Mission Work the Apportionment System altogether, at least not until a better and more adequate method can be substituted. The Budget DeflnitioQ T^is has been defined* as '^a statement of financial policy presented to or passed by a legislative body. Such a statement includes three distinct features: '' (a) An estimate of the probable or neces- sary expenditures for a given period. "(6) A similar estimate of the probable income under existing conditions. "(c) A statement of financial proposals for adjusting the income to the expenditures whether by the reduction or abolition of existing som-ces of revenue or the establish- ment of new ones." Missionary^^^ The General Synod, at its meeting in ship Commit- Laucaster, 1914, made provision for the ^^^ appointment of a Missionary and Steward- ship Committee to whom shall be entrusted the financial program of the Church. At the beginning of each fiscal year the various Church Boards shall submit an estunate of their proposed expenditures to this Com- mittee in accordance with appropriations *See Survey of Reformed Church, p. 190. An Adequate Support of the Work 199 made and the present growing need of theu* work. This Committee shall then tabulate these estimates and assign to those churches making an Every Member Canvass the ap- proximate amount that would be expected of them, making it possible for such congrega- tions, if they so desire, to include this amount in their congregational budget.* The Every Member Canvass Experience has shown that the Every Member Canvass is the most effective financial method now being employed by the Churches. There are at least eight arguments that have been advanced in its favor. 1. It is Scriptural. Arguments 2. It is educational. 3. It enlists more givers. 4. It secures much larger aggregate offer- ings. 5. It replenishes the Mission Boards' treasuries regularly, preventing indebted- ness and financial loss through interest pay- ments. 6. It does not decrease but actually in- creases the offerings to current expenses. *See Report of Special Finance Conunittee — Minutes of General Synod, 1914. 200 Our Home Mission Work Forerunners A Bit of Scripture 7. It is fair. ''Love thy neighbor as thyself." 8. It promotes . prayer. Each weekly of- fering becomes an act of worship. While the Every Member Canvass is ap- parently a recent method to be introduced into our ecclesiastical life, it is interesting to note that in 1851 ''the Synod directed every pastor either himself or through others to canvass his charge for subscriptions for benevolence to be paid yearly or oftener and to report this work to his Classis, each Classis then reporting to the Synod, so that the Synod's Committee on the State of Religion might in their report give a definite state- ment of the outcome." In 1855 Synod directed every Classis to black list charges failing to take up a collection for Missions. In 1857 Dr. Henry Harbaugh published "The Lord's Portion," and at various times both Synods urged the congregations to adopt the Apostolic plan of benevolence, the bringing of offerings at every service. In 1867 the General Synod again urged the Apostolic plan of benevolence. The Apostolic or Scriptural Plan 1 Cor. 16:2: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store An Adequate Support of the Work 201 as the Lord has prospered him." Three things are to be noted: 1. Individually — ''Let every one of you." 2. Systematically — "Upon the first day of the week." 3. Proportionately — ''As the Lord has prospered him." In 1851, Dr. Philip Schaff preached a sermon before the Synod on "Systematic Benevolence," which was published and distributed in pamphlet form, and in which regular, stated giving on the part of individual Christians was urged. Christian Stewardship The principles of Stewardship are these: Principles 1. God is the giver and is the absolute owner of all things. 2. Under grace man is a steward, and the steward holds and administers that which he has as a sacred trust. 3. God's ownership and man's steward- ship are best evidenced by the systematic application of a portion of income to the advancement of the Kingdom. 4. Biblical and extra-Biblical history points to the setting aside of the tenth of the income as a minimum, and indicates divine sanction of the practice and the amount. 202 Our Home Mission Work Methods Giving Men- tioned in the Bible 5. There should be careful, intelligent, personal, and prayerful consideration of the uses to be made of the money thus regularly set aside. This will require study not only of the local situation, but also of the mis- sionary and benevolent work of the Church. 6. Consistent use of the balance of the income not set aside. The methods of Stewardship are the fol- lowing: 1. Actual or constructive separation of the proportion of income which complies with the foregoing principles. 2. A pledge in writing, in advance, of the amounts to be applied to the regular work of the church (current expenses, missions, and other benevolences). 3. A weekly payment of the amount so subscribed, deposited as an act of worship at a public service. 4. Payments from time to time, out of the sums set aside, but not previously pledged, to special causes as may be desired. 5. A plan of keeping a separate ''Lord's Treasury" is recommended for those who cannot attend the services of the chiu-ch. 6. Free-will or thank-offering. Giving is mentioned 1,565 times in the Bible. It is not enough for a man to be An Adequate Support of the Work 203 simply sentimentally interested in Missions. "God expects cash and consecration, gold and goodness, riches and righteousness to increase together." "Give, give, be always giving, Who gives not is not living. The more you give The more you live, Give strength, give thoughts, give deeds, give self, Give love, give tears and give thyself. Give, give, be always giving. Who gives not is not living. The more you give, the more you live. " V. The Means These are of a two-fold character: 1. Financial — material. These are repre- Money sented by money. Money, as Dr. Schauffler says, is stored-up personal power. It is the medium of exchange. If anything else were accepted as an exchange medium this would at once be substituted for money in the ex- tension of the Kingdom. Until then money is required. Money enables a man to multi- ply himself manifold. He can do a thousand things at one time with his money that represents him. We need to give in ever larger amounts. We have become accus- tomed to think in large figures in the busi- ness enterprises of the world; the extension 204 Our Home Mission Work of the Kingdom is the biggest business on earth and it ought to be financed in a cor- respondingly big manner. 2. Moral — spiritual. Money constitutes only one of the means by which the work must be supported. No man can give money enough to discharge his full obliga- tion in extending the Kingdom of Christ. The challenge is not ''your money or your life — it is emphatically ''your money and Life your life." There must be a stewardship of life as well as of money. There must be a consecration of personality as well as of purse. Money alone will never convert the world. If money alone could save the world it would speedily be forthcoming. God might make bare His holy arm, and call in the riches of the earth, the gold and the silver, for they are His, and the cattle upon a thousand hills are His, and all might bring their treasure unto Him, but only as these gifts of earth are in the hands of a truly consecrated man or woman can the work of a world's redemption go forward. Behold the Kingdom is waiting for the Man! It has ever been so, and when he finally appears with a full consecration of life and service is the Kingdom truly at hand. An Adequate Support of the Work 205 What a wonderful support the work re- Player ceives through a praying constituency! There is no power on earth comparable with that of prayer. It has pried loose continents and lifted them bodily up to Christ; it has removed barriers and burdens that seemed insurmountable. The Laymen's Missionary Movement put itself on record on this sub- ject in the following language: "Prayer is the only element which can quicken informa- tion into inspiration, transmute interest into passion, crystallize emotion into consecra- tion, and coin enthusiasm into dollars and lives. Resolved, That we seek by every means to convince every man that whatever may be his contribution of money or service, he has not exercised his highest influences, performed his whole duty, nor enjoyed his highest privilege until he has made definite, believing prayer for Missions a part of his daily life." QUESTIONS Aim: To understand the ways and means whereby the work of home missions is supported and to inspire individuals, congregations and societies to greater liberality. /. The Policy of the Board 1. Mention the seven main points in the Policy of the Board. 206 Our Home Mission Work 2. How much money will the work of the Board ultimately call for? 3. What are the main channels into which the ex- penditures of the Board are directed? 4. What are some of the reasons why the Missionaries should be well and promptly paid? 5. WTiat is the percentage of cost of the administra- tive work of the Board? 6. What per cent, of the total income is expended in the direct support of the Missionaries? for education? II. A Campaign of Education 1. How does the Pastor figure as a factor in the de- velopment of missionary education? 2. What is the value of missionary Uterature? 3. What literature would you regard as essential in a congregation that would become efficient along missionary lines? 4. What is the nature and purpose of the Missionary Committee? 5. Of what significance is Mission Study in developing the missionary spirit? ///. The Resources 1. What is the average wealth of the American citizen? 2. What would you regard as a worthy per capita contribution for Missions? 3. Should a Mission congregation be excused from contributing to the general work of the Church? Why not? 4. What are our Sunday-schools and Christian En- deavor Societies doing for Home Missions? What might they do? 5. How does the Woman's Missionary Society serve as a factor in our Home Mission work? An Adequate Support of the Work 207 6. What is your impression of the idea of relating donors to individual Missions? 7. What is the total income of the Board since its very beginning? What during the last fifty years? IV. The Methods 1. What do you understand by the Apportionment? 2. What are its advantages? What its disadvantages ? 3. What is the budget system? 4. What do you understand by an Every Member Canvass? 5. What are the arguments in favor of an Every Mem- ber Canvass? 6. What is the ApostoHc Plan of Benevolence? 7. What are the principles of Christian Stewardship? 8. Define the methods of Stewardship. V. The Means 1. What part does money play in the work of the Ivingdom? 2. What are the spiritual means by which the work of the Kingdom is supported? 3. How does prayer relate itself to the work of Missions? REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY Stewardship and Missions — Cook. Missions in the Sunday-school — Trull. Honor the Lord with thy Substance — Whitmer. The Pastor and Modern Missions — Mott. A Survey of the Reformed Church — Laymen's Mission- ary Movement. 208 Our Home Mission Work Pamphlets Money: Its Nature and Power — Schauffler. The New Testament Conception of the Disciple and His Money — Bosworth. Money and the Kingdom — Strong. Mission Study: Its Value and Power — Sutherland. Mission Study Class Manual — -Millikin. The Life of Prayer — Doughty. THE LARGER MEANING OF HOME MISSIONS 14 "The people under God are the strength and glory of the land. A mighty land — to glimpse whose future is to share a mission with the stars; to control whose destinies is to stand with- in the grip of the right hand of the om- nipotent God. What then lovingly and faithfully to follow and to serve all the strange and complicated paths of social duty into the furthest recesses, the uttermost nooks and crannies of human relationship; to control their inner qual- ities and apphcations as well as their outer exhibitions and forms! What then to occupy this land for Christ, not fragmentarily as the field has won upon the forest, nor fitfully, as the wind sweeps over the prairies, but search- ingly, engulfingly, as the waters cover the sea! What then to share in thy social reaUzation of Christianity, O coimtry of our love! "And crown thy good with brotherhood, From sea to shining sea!" — Douglass. VIII THE LARGER MEANING OF HOME MISSIONS Dr. Joseph B. Clark, one time Secretary Expanding ^ • 1 TT -14 /r- • Horizon of the Congregational Home Missionary- Society, in his illuminating book, ''The Leavening of the Nation," says: ''Few thoughtful Americans need enlightening as to the theory of Home Missions." This statement, in the light of experience and actual fact, can be accepted only with a reasonable degree of modification. There still prevail some very crude and contracted notions about this right arm of the Church's activity. The fact is that the conception of Home Missions is constantly enlarging. Its horizon is expanding. A definition that at one time fully expressed its meaning is no longer adequate. Within the last few de- cades Home Mission leaders have been obliged to recast their program and to change their methods. "The new wine has burst the old wine skins." Conditions in America, in church and state, are changing. 211 212 Our Home Mission Work New problems are upon us, demanding new obligations, new methods of approach. The Church in this new age must know how to adjust itself to its new task. Home Mis- sions, which is the Church in its outreaching and expanding life, must likewise conform to this new spirit and demand. It, therefore, merits the largest possible interpretation and the widest application. In the study of the evolution of the mean- ing of Home Missions we begin with its elementary and fundamental sense. I. The Founding and Fostering of New Congregations Colonial This may be called the Colonial concep- onception ^.^^ ^^ Home Missious. It was the pre- vailing conception when America was young, when men and women ventured forth to carve out fortunes for themselves, to build up new communities on the frontier, or in the growing centers of population. It was the day of the circuit rider, and of the pioneer missionary. A nucleus of people of a given denomination desiring the ministrations of their own church, and feeling unable out of their own limited resources to pay for the same, appealed to the church bodies, Larger Meaning of Home Missions 213 who in turn supplied them with pastors and buildings. 1. Its Imvortance. We must not mini- importance of 1 T 1 1 • 1 (• TT HT- • Denomina- mize nor behttle this phase oi Home Mission tionai work work. Home Missions primarily means the extension of organized Christianity in this country. Its avowed purpose and object is to establish the Kingdom through and by means of the Church as the visible institu- tion of Christ among men. Every denomina- tion in the land owes its present standing and strength to its Home Mission opera- tions. From four-fifths to nine-tenths of all the Evangelical Protestant Churches in the United States owe their origin to Home Missions. Their buildings were erected wholly or in part by Home Mission money. Of the first 119 colleges in this country, 104 were Christian colleges, and of the 415 colleges in the United States, 316 belong to Christian denominations. There is not a college in the Mississippi Valley over fifty years old that does not owe its origin to the Home Missionary. In the Reformed Church during the last Recruiting fifty years, over 500 congregations have been ^^^^ founded through our Home Mission work. If it had not been for the recruiting activity of the Board of Home Missions the Reformed 214 Our Home Mission Work Vital Factor Ohiirchless Gommunities Limitations Church today would have fewer congrega- tions than a quarter of a century ago. The Home Missionary has been a vital and indispensable factor in the development of the religious, educational, social, and political life of the nation. He has laid broad and substantial foundations, and the country and society are under lasting obliga- tions to him. But his work and his contri- bution to our national welfare are made possible in the main by and through the Church which he establishes. There is still need of emphasis on this phase of Home Mission work. There are many communities which are practically churchless. They are in need of the gospel message. In our Western plateau section there are thousands of places that have no Christian Church. There are vast areas in some of our large cities that are spiritually desolate and where churches ought to be established. There are multitudes of our brethren from other lands in our midst who go without gospel privileges. We must not blindfold our eyes to the great spiritual needs that still exist in many portions of our land. 2. Its Limitation. After all, mere de- nominational zeal is not a motive or incen- Larger Meaning of Home Missions 215 tive of the highest type. Denominational development may be a very good thing or it may be a very bad thing. Many ecclesi- astical errors, if not crimes, have been com- mitted by an unwise and circumscribed zeal for one's own denomination. What, if we awake to the fact that there are 210,250 churches in the United States, that there is a church to every 425 persons in this coun- try! The argument of establishing new churches loses some of its force. Besides, there is an overlapping of churches in many communities. While vast regions are being overlooked there are many other sections where there is a senseless overlapping and a woeful waste of men and money. Thought- ful men and women today will not close their eyes to a situation of this character. They will not be willing to think in large, broad, and inclusive terms in their business and social relations, and then move in narrow and circumscribed grooves in their religious life. Home Missions, appreciating its denom- inational value, must nevertheless, if it shall enlist the full sympathy, the interest and co-operation of high thinking men and women, move into a larger and ampler field of activity. 216 Our Home Mission Work Congrega- tional Con- ception IneflBcieicy Yitalization II. Vitalizing the Self-Supporting Con- gregation This may be called the Congregational conception of Home Missions. To hold what we possess is quite as important as to acquire new points. The inefficiency of the average modern congregation is a matter of frequent comment. The irmnediate prac- tical results of the local congregations are not as a general thing commensurate with the investment of men and money in them. They do not obtain the spiritual results they might. Many of them are smitten with the spirit of apathy and indifference. A feel- ing of self-complacency and self-satisfaction has stolen over them. They are in their winter quarters. They are not on the march. Evidently something is wrong with many of the churches today. They have either struck an iceberg or are sinking of dry rot. They have a struggle to keep them- selves from going under. The lowering of life boats, the reaching out for life preservers, the modern methods of acute stimulation, and the almost frantic resorting to artificial respiration are symptomatic. The local self-supporting congregation needs to be vitalized. It must come to a Larger Meaning of Home Missions 217 realizing consciousness of its object and mission in a community. It is not a self- centered institution. It is a spiritual power house, a vital force, a fountain of life in the community. It must be sensitized to an appreciation of its nation-wide, its world- wide relationship. It must be vitalized and spiritualized to an adequate expression of its life, in the form of service, of life, of money. The average congregation has lat- ent possibilities that have never been touched. When all available farming land has been taken up the scientific agriculturist betakes himself to intensive farming, and makes his limited acres produce from four to forty times as much as before. When the ex- tensive fields for Home Mission enterprise become less numerous it is the part of wis- dom to apply some efforts to the intensive development of the self-supporting, but too often inefficient, congregation. Home Mis- sions, therefore, properly relates itself to the toning up and the training of the unit of the denomination. III. Evangelism This constitutes the Conservationalcou- ^^^^j""^' ception of Home Missions. The doctrine of conception conservation is proclaimed from the house- 218 Our Home Mission Work tops today. It is applied to almost every- thing. It is a good thing to conserve our natural and national resources, but it is of still greater importance to conserve our re- ligious and spiritual resources. Jesus Christ was the greatest conservationalist in history. He said: "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Evangelism is the doc- trine of religious conservation reduced to practice. The fact that there are two out of every three persons in America outside of covenant relation with Jesus Christ re- veals something of the urgency of this task. The number of persons who drop their church membership and drift back into the world is appalling. ^^p^^ In three years the Reformed Church loses by "erasure of names" almost as many members as she confirms in two years. In 1913, there were 7,054 members reported as "erased," as over against 12,868 received by confirmation. And this was the result of an exceptional year on the part of our Church. The Reformed Church in this particular is not a sinner above the rest of the denomina- tions. The net increase in church member- ship for 1911 was less than 1.7 per cent. Larger Meaning of Home Missions 219 The average net increase of the Methodist Episcopal Church was that year less than two for each of its congregations; and of the leakages Presbyterian Church it was a Uttle better than one member for each congregation. Through the combined efforts of all the Christian forces in this country the net in- crease for the last decade has been less than a million a year — only 786,000 members. The seriousness of this condition is accentu- ated by the fact that a round million of foreigners crowd in upon us annually, not to speak of the rapid increase of our native born. To the Church of Jesus Christ in this ^"^'''^^^ country is committed the stupendous task of evangelizing the multitudes who are out- side of Christ's fold. Mere rescue work, however important and helpful it may be, can never take the place of organized Christi- anity. The Report of the Commission on Evangelism of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America in 1913, says: ''The purpose of evangelistic effort is spiritual rescue and the relief of spiritual needs by means of the preached word, and by the power of the love begotten of faith in Christ, which seeks to bring about the internal renewal of those who have fallen 220 Our Home Mission Work under the dominion and rule of sin, as well as the removal of the outward evils that spring directly and indirectly from sin. The fundamental error to be overcome is sin, and external need can best be relieved by beginning with the internal necessity. In this we have the precept and example of Christ. We believe in works of Christian mercy, but there must be the faithful preach- ing and teaching of the word as the spiritual means of redemption. Only those people animated by a living faith in Clu"ist have ever successfully engaged in evangelism or proven to be great spiritual and moral forces in the Church." AJsSd to '^^^ General Synod, at its meeting in Board Laucaster, 1914, assigned the work of Evan- gelism in the Reformed Church to its Board of Home Missions with instructions that it create a special department whereby this work can be properly and effectively carried forward in the Church. Every congrega- tion needs to become an evangelistic force. There is need of men and women who are aglow with the spirit of Christ and who go forth with a passion for souls. This is a distinctive phase of Home Mission work. Larger Meaning of Home Missions 221 IV. Social Service This, for convenience, may be denomin- community . r TT Conception ated the Community conception oi Home Missions. By concurrent conditions we have drifted into this wider appHcation of Home Missions. The organizing thought of our age is the principle of democracy. We can- not escape it. It colors all our thought and actions, theological, social, industrial, polit- ical, national, international. It has brought God down from the clouds and has lifted man up on a level with his brother. The conditions of modern society have projected a number of problems, the solution of which devolves upon the Church. These prob- Modem lems are (1) racial. Forty different tongues are spoken in our country, a dozen colors of skin appear among the people; (2) creedal. There is the Christian and the Jew, the Romanist and the Protestant; and Protest- tantism presents a ''ragged front;" (3) social. There is the upper class, and the submerged section, the rich and the poor; (4) industrial. Here we have the capitalist and the wage earner, the employer and the employee. There is a concensus of opinion that solutions society in all its manifold phases must be 222 Our Home Mission Work spiritualized and saved. And there are those who offer their services for the aecom- phshment of this great task. The editor comes forward and offers his solution. Through the press he would enlighten the intelligence of the people and get them to think in constructive and statesmanlike fashion. The school teacher offers his con- tribution. "Give me," says he, "the child and in a single generation I will produce a new type of humanity." The politician says: "Elect the representative of my party to office and he will usher in the golden age." The socialist cries, "Away with government, overthrow the existing order of things and begin on a new platform of equality." Then comes the preacher, the man with the living gospel in his hand and in his heart, and he proclaims: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God Gospel for xiuto salvatiou to every one that believeth." Every Life ^ and for And he is right. For this salvation which Au of Life ^Yie gospel brings is not for the soul only, but also for the body, not for the individual alone, but for society as well. It is salva- tion, industrial, political, social, national, moral as well as spiritual. The gospel is for every life and for all of life. Robert E. Speer says: "The Kingdom of Larger Meaning of Home Missions 223 God cannot come save as the winning of individual souls to Christ is accompanied by the transformation of human institutions according to the mind of Christ. Home Mission effort will halt and fail except as it is filled with social passion." The ultimate purpose of Home Missions is to start a new spiritual force for the spiritualizing and the Christianizing of all the phases and aspects of human society and life. Home Missions will not have exhausted its purpose until every common bush shall be aflame with God, untn holiness shall be inscribed upon the bells of the horses, and every kitchen utensil shall be holy unto the Lord; until over factory and workshop shall be written: ''We are laborers together with God," until the streets of our cities shall be transparent, of pure gold, like unto the City of God. V. A National Issue Here we enter upon the Continental Theconti- conception of Home Missions. Our task is conception nation-wide. Everything that pertains to the welfare of the nation legitimately comes within the scope of Home Missions. Dr. Henry Van Dyke said: ''Religion and pa- triotism are the two great passions of man / 224 Our Home Mission Work and both unite in Home Missions." America must be saved for America's sake. The work of Home Missions becomes as import- ant and large as the destiny and mission of the nation. America occupies a strategic place in history. It is the chosen nation of God. The fingers of Providence point in this direction. Just as Palestine and Greece and Rome in their turn were the representa- tive nations of the world and God used them mightily in the accomplishment of His piu"- chosen pose, SO America today with its gigantic resources, its geographical location, its great men and women, is the chosen nation of God. But God never had a chosen people save as that people fulfilled His will and purpose. If America is to accomplish its divine mis- sion it must be permeated and pervaded by the spirit of Jesus Christ. It must be a Christian nation. The name of God must be not only on its minted coin, but be em- balmed in the life and character of its people. Supreme America is twice over the richest republic in the world, and it is destined to become still greater with coming years. The future development of the country, in population, in property, in power is well nigh boundless. How to head up this material gain into moral and spiritual power is the supreme Larger Meaning of Home Missions 225 question of American Christianity. How- to turn the current of Christianity over this mighty power of the nation and harness it for the Kingdom of God is the paramount issue. Great forces are marshalHng themselves two Great m . .,. . Forces m this country, iwo great civnizations are meeting on the Pacific Coast, which is destined to be the Mediterranean of the World — one is the civilization of the West, the other of the East. Occident and Orient meet each other in deadly combat. Which shall prevail? The issue depends upon the answer which the Christian forces of America give. VI. An International Issue There is a Cosmopolitan conception of cosmopoutan , 1 /. TT Ti r- ' -r, • 1 Conception the work of Home Missions. It is not a matter of geography. Not with mountain or sea has God divided His work. The dif- ference between Home Missions and Foreign Missions is not that the one is world-wide and the other provincial or nation-wide. It is possible for Foreign Missions to become quite as provincial as Home Missions is sometimes said to be, and Home Missions may be as international and world-wide as the claims of Foreign Missions. ''The 226 Our Home Mission Work The Ameri- canization of the World Impact of Civilization Japanese Embassy Americanization of the World" is a current phrase coined by the late W. T. Stead. ''The EvangeHzation of the World" is the cry of modern Missions. America is to be saved not only for America's sake, but for the world's sake. Lyman Beecher said "The world's hope and destiny depend on the United States." Professor Phelps as- serted ''As goes America so goes the world in all that is vital to its moral welfare." Mathew Arnold said "America holds the future." Alexander Hamilton prophesied: "It is om's to be either the grave in which the hope of the world shall be entombed or the pillar of cloud which shall pilot the race onward to millenial glory." William Kin- caid declared "The planting and nurturing of churches in America is our first and best work for the world.'' The testimony of these far-visioned men is worth regarding. The impact of our American life upon the nations of the world is of tremendous sig- nificance. We preach a gospel not only by the Missionaries we send into all the world but by the forces of our civilization, by trade and commerce, by our attitude and temper, by the impact of our whole modern life. Some years ago the Japanese government, under the splendid influence of the Mission- Larger Meaning of Home Missions 227 aries of that country, was preparing to adopt Christianity as the national rehgion of the Empire. Before doing so, however, it sent a commission of Japanese to this country to study Christianity at first hand. They visited the various portions of our country. They studied life in our cities, in our places of business, in our great industries, as also in our schools, churches, and homes. They were deeply impressed and reported to their government that Christianity was ideal in theory, but that it did not work in practice. Thereupon the Japanese government de- clared that the time had not yet come to adopt Christianity as its national religion. The attitude of the people in America thus temporarily counteracted the influence of the Missionaries whom the American churches are supporting in that oriental country. America, therefore, holds the key to the America, world's Christianization. America is the instrument agent under God to bring the gospel to all the world. America is the golden goblet for the bringing of the water of life to the famishing nations of the world. America is the golden candlestick that is to carry the Light of Life to the people that sit in dark- ness. ''Ours is the elect nation for the ages 228 Our Home Mission Work to come. We are the chosen people. Oiirs are the promises, promises great and sm'e, because the emergency is great. We cannot afford to wait. If we cannot, the world cannot afford to wait. The plans of God will not wait. These plans seem to have brought us to one of the closing stages in this world's career, in which we can no longer drift with safety to our destiny. We are shut up to a perilous alternative. Im- measiu-able opportunities surround and over- shadow us. Such, as I read it, is the central fact in the philosophy of American Home Missions."* VII. An Interdenominational Issue Co-operative Here we come finally into the Co-opera- Conception '' tive conception of Home Missions. It is plain that these gigantic problems, these stupendous tasks, cannot be adequately met by a single denomination, however large or influential it may be. The united, co-opera- tive effort on the part of all the churches is required. The united churches of America are equal to the task. It is a hopeful and healthy sign that the churches are co-opera- ating in a common task. The dream of the ♦Clark, "Leavening of the Nation." Larger Meaning of Home Missions 229 ages is strangely coming to be realized and our times are big with promise for the future. In this nation-wide, nay in this world- wide task the Reformed Church through its Board of Home Missions co-operates in a unified program of advance: 1. With the Federal Council of the co-operating Churches of Christ in America. 2. With the Home Missions Council. 3. With the Alliance of Reformed Churches throughout the world. 4. With the Reformed Churches in Amer- ica holding the Presbyterian System. Through these various bodies it has be- come possible to obtain a larger vision of the work, as also to enter into a fuller service of the same. The problems of Home Missions are thus being handled with greater effici- ency and economy. The time is coming when the smaller denominations will have to do a large part of their Home Mission work through these federated and co-operating bodies. These bodies are now dividing up different foreign nationalities among the various Home Mission agencies, and are looking forward to a mutual exchange of churches so as to prevent future overlapping and waste. The United Fields' Surveys which have been made under the auspices 230 Our Home Mission Work of the Home Missions Comicil have dis- closed valuable information which otherwise would have remained hidden for many years to come. The words of Rudyard KipUng fitly express our sentiments along the line of Home Mis- sion co-operation: "Now this is the law of the jungle — As old and as true as the sky — And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, But the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk — The Law rimneth forward and back — For the strength of the Pack is the woK And the strength of the wolf is the Pack." The growing conception of Home Missions may thus be indicated in the following order: 1. The Colonial. 2. The Congregational. 3. The Conservational. 4. The Community. 5. The Continental. 6. The Cosmopolitan. 7. The Co-operative. We are told that in one of the Napoleonic wars, the Emperor had commanded the army in charge of Marshal Lannes to take Larger Meaning of Home Missions 231 the city of Ratisbon. On the inside of the wall were the Austrians with musketry and cannon. Lannes ordered his men to scale the wall. They responded and were cut down by the Austrians on the inside. Again Marshall Lannes commanded: ''The city of Ratisbon must be taken. Scale the walls." Again the soldiers responded and were cut down. The third time Marshal Lannes commanded: "The city of Ratisbon must be taken. Scale the wall." The soldiers saw the dead and dying and wounded and heard their groans and saw their blood, and they stepped back and said: ''We will not scale the wall." Then Marshal Lannes dis- mounted, seized a ladder, turned to his men and said: "This city must be taken. The Emperor has commanded it. Follow me and I will show you that the Marshal of France is not afraid of Austrian bullets." They scaled the wall and took the city in the name of their Emperor! America must be taken for Christ. The Emperor of the Universe has commanded it. Let us rally! 232 Our Home Mission Work QUESTIONS Aim: To realize the growing conception of the WORK OF Home Missions, to relate it to the work of Evangelism, Social Service, as well as to our na- tional AND international LIFE. 7. The Founding and Fostering of New Congregations 1. What do 5'ou understand by the Colonial concep- tion of Home Missions? 2. What is the purpose and object of Home Missions so far as the denomination is concerned? 3. What does the Refonned Church owe to the work of Home Missions? 4. What are the Umitations of denominational de- velopment? 5. Is there a special need for the estabUshing of many new Churches? 6. How do thoughtful men and women look at this problem today? II. Vitalizing the Self-supporting Congregation 1. What do you understand by the Congregational conception of Home Missions? 2. To what causes do you attribute the present in- efficiency of many congregations? 3. In what respects must the local congregation be vitahzed? III. Evangelis m 1. What do you understand by the Conservational conception of Home Missions? 2. In what respect can Jesus be spoken of as a Con- servationist? 3. To what do you attribute the lapses in the present church membership? Larger Meaning of Home Missions 233 4. Can the Church rest satisfied with its proportion- ate rate of increase in membership? 6. What is the chief purpose of Evangehsm? 6. How can the Board of Home Missions make the work of Evangehsm effective in the Reformed Church? IV. Social Service 1. What do you understand by the Community con- ception of Home Missions? 2. What are some of the modem social problems pressing for solution? 3. What remedies are being offered to solve our modem problems? 4. In what respect is the gospel of Jesus Christ the adequate remedy for the social and moral iUs? V. A National Issue 1. What do you understand by the Continental con- ception of Home Missions? 2. In what respect is America the chosen nation of God? 3. What is the supreme question of American Christi- anity? VI. An International Issue 1. What do you understand by the Cosmopolitan conception of Home Missions? 2. In what sense is the Americanization of the World true? 3. What do you understand by the impact of our civihzation upon the world? 4. How does the status of Christianity in America affect our Foreign Mission work? 234 Our Home Mission Work VII. An Interdenominational Issue 1. What do you understand by the Co-operative con- ception of Home Missions? 2. With what bodies does the Board of Home Mis- sions at present co-operate? 3. What effect does the spirit of co-operation have in winning the nation for Christ? REFERENCES FOR ADVANCED STUDY Missions Striking Home — McAfee. World Missions from the Home Base — McAfee. Elementary Forces in Home Missions — Barnes. The Horizon of American Missions — McCash. The New Home Missions — Douglass. Democracy and the Church — Smith. The Mission of Our Nation — Love. Messages of the Men and ReUgion Forward Movement, Volume IV. APPENDIX I The following persons served as members of the Board of Home Missions from 1863 to 1914. The dates mark the meetings of the General Synod. The term of service was for six years; haK the number of members were elected at each meeting of General Synod. 186S Revs. J. H. A. BoMBERGER, D.D., President, N. Gehr, I yj^g Presidents, P. C. Prugh, [ Samuel H. Giesy, D.D., Secretary, J. G. Wiehle, D. Winters, G. W. WiLLIARD, J. Lichtenstein, Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, John Wiest, Treasurer Church Extension, A. H. Baughman, G. G. Prugh. 1866 Revs. J. H. A. Bomberger, D.D., President, Samuel H. Giesy, Secretary, Benjamin Bausman, Theodore P. Bucher, Nicholas Gehr, George W. Williard, D.D., Isaac H. Reiter, 235 236 Appendix Peter C. Prugh, J. G. WiEHLE. Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, John Wiest, Treasurer of Church Extension, Andrew H. Baughman, Gideon G. Prugh. 1869 Revs. Benjamin Bausman, President, Samuel H. Giesy, Secretary, George B. Russell, Nicholas Gehr, Daniel Gans, D.D., George W. Aughinbaugh, Daniel Zacharias, D.D., James Bossard, D.D. Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, George Gelbach, Treasurer of Church Extension, William D. Gross, Jacob Dietz. 1S72 Revs. G. B. Russell, President, John Vogt, Nicholas Gehr, Daniel Zacharias, D.D.,* Franklin K. Levan, Charles F. McCauley, D.D., Henry Hilbish, LuciAN J. Mayer. Elders William D. Gross, George Gelbach, Treasurer of Church Extension, Henry Leonard, William E. Schmerz. * Died while in oflace. Appendix 237 1875 Bevs. G. B. Russell, D.D., President, W. K. ZlEBER, D.D., Edmund R. Eschbach, J. Spangler Kiefper, John B. Kniest, D. E. Klopp, George H. Johnston, Secretary, William H. H. Snyder. Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, Daniel W. Gross, William H. Siebert, Christian M. Boush. 1878 Revs. Jacob O. Miller, D.D., President, John A. Peters, Secretary, George B. Russell, D.D., George H. Johnston, William H. H. Snyder, John M. Titzel, John Kuelling, D.D., Cyrus R. Dieffenbacher. Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, William D. Gross, Daniel W. Gross, Christian M. Boush. 1881 RevB. Jacob O. Miller, D.D., President, George Wolff, D.D., Secretary, George W. Williard, D.D., John H. Klein, D.D., Jacob Dahlman, D.D., 238 Appendix Calvin W. Heilman, Frederick Pilgram, John M. Kendig. Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, William D. Gross, Abraham Moyer, Christian M. Boush. 188Jt Revs. Jacob O. Miller, D.D., George Wolff, D.D., George W. Williard, D.D., John H. Klein, D.D., Franklin W. Kremer, D.D., President, 1885, Edmund R. Eschbach, D.D., Secretary, John A. Peters, President after Dr. Kremer's resignation. John W. Love. Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, William D. Gross, Hiram C. Hoover, Christian M. Boush. IS 87 Revs. John A. Peters, D.D., President, E. R. Eschbach, D.D., Secretary, F. W. Kremer, D.D., John W. Love, John H. Klein, D.D., John M. Kendig, Dewalt S. Fouse, John J. Leberman. Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, John S. Zimmerman, Appencix 239 Hiram C. Hoover, Christian M. Boush. 1890 Revs. John A. Peters, D.D., President, E. R. EscHBACH, D.D., Secretary, John H. Sechler, Charles F. Kriete, John Bachman, John M. Kendig, Dewalt S. Fouse, John J. Leberman, D.D., Elders Charles Santee, Treasurer, John S. Zimmerman, Hiram C. Hoover, Christian M. Boush. 1893 Revs. John A. Peters, D.D., President, John J. Leberman, D.D., Vice President, Thomas J. Barkley, Secretary, E. R. Eschbach, D.D., John H. Sechler, D.D., Charles F. Kriete, John Bachman, D.D., Samuel B. Yockey, D.D., Elders James T. Reber, Treasurer, Horace Ankeney, Hiram C. Hoover, Christian M. Boush. 1896 Revs. John A. Peters, D.D., President, John J. Leberman, D.D., Vice President, Thomas J. Barkley, D.D., Secretary, 240 Appendix E. R. ESCHBACH, D.D., John H. Sechler, D.D., John Bachman, D.D., Charles F. Kriete, Samuel B. Yockey, D.D. Elders James T. Reber, Treasurer, Horace Ankeney, F. G. HoBSON, Christian M. Boush. 1899 Revs. John A. Peters, D.D.,* E. R. Eschbach, D.D., President, John J. Leberman, D.D., Vice President, Thomas J. Barkley, D.D,, Secretary, Charles F. Kriete, John H. Sechler, D.D., Jacob Bachman, D.D., Samuel R. Bridenbaugh, D.D. Elders George W. Stein, Treasurer, F. G. HoBsoN, Christian M. Boush, Treasurer of Church-build- ing Fund. 1902 Revs. E. R. Eschbach, D.D., President, John J. Leberman, D.D., Vice President, Thomas J. Barkley, D.D., Secretary, P. H. Dippell, D.D., John H. Sechler, D.D.,t C. E. Miller, D.D., *Died 1901. fDied 1905. Appendix 241 Samuel R. Bridenbaugh, D.D., John Bachman, D.D. Elders George W. Stein, Treasurer, James T. Reber, F. G. HoBSON, Christian M. Boush, Treasurer of Church-build- ing Funds. 1905 Revs. E. R. EscHBACH, D.D., President, C. E. Miller, D.D., Vice President, Paul S. Leinbach, Secretary, P. H. Dippell, D.D., D. W. Ebbert — unexpired term of Dr. Sechler, M. O. Nace* — William C. Schaefper, D.D., L. B. C. LAHRt— E. R. Williard, D.D., E. VORNHOLT. Elders George W. Stein, Treasurer, H. F. Texter, F. G. HoBSONt — John W. Bickel, Christian M. Boush, Treasurer of Church-build- ing Fund. 1908 Revs. C. E. Miller, D.D., President, William C. Schaeffer, D.D., Vice President, Paul S. Leinbach, Secretary, E. R. Williard, D.D., H. H. Apple, I. C. Fisher, D.D., P. H. Dippell, D.D., E. Vornholt. *Died 1905. tDied 1906. 16 242 Appendix Elders George W. Stein, Treasurer, F. C. Brunhouse, H. F. Texter, Christian M. Boush, Treasurer of Church-build- ing Fund. 1911 Revs. C. E. Miller, D.D., President, William C. Schaeffer, D.D., Vice President, Paul S. Leinbach, D.D.,* Secretary, E. R. WiLLIARD, D.D., I. C. Fisher, D.D., J. Harvey Mickley, P. H. DipPELL, D.D., G. D. Elliker. Elders George W. Stein, F. C. Brunhouse, P. H. Bridenbaugh, Christian M. Boush, J. S. Wise, Treasurer. 1914 Revs. C. E. Miller, D.D., LL.D., President, William C. Schaeffer, D.D., Vice President, J. Harvey Mickley, Recording Secretary, I. C. Fisher, D.D., C. B. Schneder, D.D., P. H. DippELL, D.D., E. R. WiLLIARD, D.D., G. D. Elliker. Elders George W. Stein, F. C. Brunhouse, P. H. Bridenbaugh, Christian M. Boush, J. S. Wise, Treasurer. *Resigned January, 1913. Rev. C. B. Schneder, D.D., ap- pointed. Appendix II 243 X Q Ph I— I o CO o Q 12; W « O (^ cc o K W O H P3 O o H C/3 ■GI6T->T6T pj'Eoa Xq uotiBudojddv uoissip^ JO iiqaa •92BnOSJB 6- m t-oo .-H c ) CO u:5 -^ ^ ,-( lO lO ai ■^ CO t> c t* «D M <-( CO <© C NroooitsosoooooQ tOi-HQinSrHBoQOO »05^cooe>jcot-OiOco >H i-< r-< M Tjl CO (O 00 0> i-l OOOOOcdOOsOO CO •* -"i* CO CO t- CD I- lOi-ioc-eot-i-iooc-cDt- iHCMfH 10tJ< CO "-It- I i-hSSco liHiH t- M r-l00.-(r-l COf-HOiWOOrHrHCSCO'i* •-(i-lrH N "-l OJ CO >H CO a :oa . 2 ^ ^rv'.iS'O 1-'^ c« .a - . r>a O Oq' . _ a a :•£ 02*31 a • 3"!K3, cS c« - - O tn c g .-s P P (^ 03 ■2^^^. ■3 V O ciOo -■a . ago Q, W ® 03 ® P w = fl? g5-s5.a£^'ggg hJi-^t-loQQoE-iE-iE-i^tx 244 Our Home Mission Work •SI6I-tT6T patjog ^q nowBudojddv *noissip>i JO iqea •aSBUosj'Bd: JO asfl. S§ S,JO!»SBJ -OAeoaa •(>ii9Tirnojna looqDs-jfBpung •sa8qui3];^[ 8<5 O Q mm Q Qc ISS8SI > lO Q < ) c-in < I ICI CM t Sq;ooooq •OQOMOiini O i-i CO Q o • o o g ■^ O CM < m t~ •-< 00 S l> ■ i-t m ^ CO C* rH c t-E-CO ^00 •I-H0JC050 r-l < Tl« C^ iZj rH W W «) W W W M Ocya)©H >^ >K >H >. >H IS Is >. ^ >. ^ ^ >, >H jz; ;? 12; Is >H ;? >- >H ^ >H >. ;z; ojoinisocooinowioc toojtocoiONeO"*(Mt-cocoi SSSE J Q CO Q Q Q »o in liB O O OiS M c- 1 00 to ■<* t- ■-1 ■* > t- CO 3 CO 00 ■-" Q c- • in in in t- in o T)< o CO ^ ■H (M CO oj CD t- Q ■ t- Irt CO 00 it5 IM ^ ^ 03 • lO N t> rH cvj ^ t- CO CO ^rHlQO>'>*Wt <»cDcoininM'j am Q Q • o ■ go t. 13 S ■ t* • . *= 2 .SO U 01 o i> ;«W • O c3 <5'1 c 5 fH _i_i .alz;o2feH:iHa ® . •^. . .w; §mj »-j>-;s Qm ^fr-s M 246 Our Home Mission Work ST6T-^T6T pjBog Xq uoiiBuclojddv •noissij^ JO fjqoQ •aS'Bnosj'Bd; jo osfi •".2 •Xj'BI'Bg S.JOIJS'BJ saonai -OAauag •4U9UIllOJTia looqos-jCBpuns •sJ8qTn9p\[ ^COOJIOCDO ■ t^ iO <0 lO 00 t- CVJ ^ O CO OT 00 N CD lO o t- < 1-) I- • lO i-H 88 : :8S88S 00(Ba>ooajooooO(BOOOOo©Ooa) 12; ^ >H >H 2; z >H ;2 ^ ^ ^ ;z; >H iz ^ ;?; ;z: ;z; >. ^ >< >H lOOCOlOi-ltOFHTjICO" "Ci5 00(2lO«0'^NOJQ'«dJfc-tM3> > r-l rH 04 i-l i-H CO iH Cl IH rH 1-4 iH 9 CO TH "H 1-4 iH > 00 »* ^ CO C» M O rH i-l CO r-1 i-H ■^ i-l CM CO iH CO CM N Cvj i-l i-H C^l N rHOOMQOC^WCO^COOt-Ot-t-COlC5COTj O aj O 40 CO '-I in lO Ol t- •* O CM N (MCO CO Tl< CD lOOO >H lO OOOOOojOOO CMOOOinOQQO CDWtOOCMCOOQO N^OJlMCOOOOJOtO iHioooeooiOoot-w OOO^MCDOOCOOCO rH ^ lO 00 lO CD-^ COlOmiOt>C3500iO t-oisDi-it-ii-inoocvj r-itOCXSCDlOrHiOCO lOCBIMCOrHCO^QCO a c« • CM . «^ S5 m S 0} a tj ©■« m ti m tj a © tn O O 0)^ ioCjQj .n, PU| "^cS^^ S o 3 c ^ a t, TO ® oj ^ as o o .2.2|2p^ -.. cSfSiS(«e3i*c6c8 . ??" cf of cS c€ 03* o3 cs" of 2anrt:«cScSt*c«o3o3 ;5Scsaj3^^5j3ja^ ,< 2 Ph fL| Ml, Ml, |i( 0* 111 < d;g^ HOI? c3 a o o o o oco in o M MtC CO CO CM --I ■^ lo CO rogo rji -i< CO O :C ^ -•a W cob ■g^a § Nc* o.s c iiQin c ig3c6( ) t- Q in Q QM c ) r-t S TJi ^ a TJl C ooiOi-iajcMc-t-i-icorHoo coioc-i-i-HiotoeO' l-il5t-i-ltHiO^NeO'^^0>Tl(t-NiBi-l-*(M'<#'S«iOCOW^ il>t-COCOi-l0505lOCOlO ooNcoiooevio c-'-i;2;a!M^H??oQi§^«m^i3 Appendix II 249 •ST6T-*t6T pJBog Xq uoi^^Budojddv •nopssij\[ JO (jqaa •eSBUOSJBJ JO 0S£1. pmS S.J04SBH 12; >H >< >H >. ^ ^ >H ^ >H ;?; >^ 1^ J?; ;z; ^ Iz; Iz Z ?H ^ >H >^ tx •fjnaraxiojng looqDs-X'Bpung •sj9qtn9pv[ 8 m Q Q o Q in c- o in in o in CO »H ^ CO r-l t3* CM 'So 1 8' O t- t- CO 00 ^SSg=g^? 88S •HfHN 88SS OJ ■* rH lO JS2SS88 •CM •»(» 00O»eOCM0JlO«Ot-CMTjit-tOiB00^O5t- 5B'JOc!S^°'>W'^Q»"*incMcomj-Or-iQwt>toc-r-(CD^ •*tDt-'>a<'*toiiot-cowa3cooJiO'#cDOO'*!oSr-ii»r)ii-imi>a) *H iH iH iH i-H CM iH So 2S^ rt'a da O O C HS S ^ a □ „ . 5 <«rK g 3 C« Oj SO s 9 §2 J-a'^ a^5 ^ a a ^ : S-a ^«s S » fe 2o352^;5£t.:>'ass5,-o®='3. aSsl-au-S'§2'^2 ®5 ce.?-^ o d OO: 250 Our Home Mission Work coinmioO'*oOQ< Xq aopeudojddv "* "^ ' noissji^ JO ^qaa -sSeaosjej jo asji s.Jo^sBj; f^'^ W o D O ;? ■S3DII9I -OAaaag ■jnaranojua looqos-^Bpuns araqraapv >-Hmc>JO00 rHWrH rH goa>eoooooocD( t-t-oot-orat-tooe Iflrt rH tOOOC h : •s^ • ei .2 ■ •S- E ■a ■ i© >■.(!>>> 2 01 Off)— S'^S'^SS'O CJ>-(M>HiHr-(rH I- f-f CM CO in >-! £- 00 "# m lO o -r .-H •rH CD in C5 oi Ci m in o -^ OS , _ EOi-ifH ■-! ! in ScD (Sin CO CO t- r-l t- Til I 0> i-l CO CO O 1 CO CO •^)i o O) oj in Si-H rH iH lO CO 00 CO O CO in t- o> CO 00 S t> Ss ^ CO in Ti* CD 00 OS I J CM -^ii I CO i-H in r-i 00 f-H 00 c CO OS rH O CO CO in < '^ -^ CO in t^ in ft ' CO ■* CM CO ^ _; 32 a 5. d SSa O cS « . INDEX A Abandoned churches, 87 Administration, 183 Akron, Ohio,. 194 America, 40, 41, 42, 224, 227 American Home Missionary Society, 24 American Missionary Society of the German Reformed Chm-ch, 23 Americanization of the World, 226 Annuity Plan, 171 Apartment Houses, 82 Apportionment, for Church-building, 165 Apportionment, General, 196 Apportionment, Advantages, 196 Apportionment, Disadvantages, 197 ApostoUc Plan of Benevolence, 201 Auxiliary Societies, 23 Average Church, 89 B Bailey, L. H., quoted, 94 Bauman, Rev. F. C, 56 Bell, First church, 15 Bequest, Form of, 169 Board of Home Missions recommended, 22 Board of Missions, 24, 28 Board of Missions, assets transferred, 162 Boehm, John Philip, 17 251 252 Our Home Mission Work Bohemians, Number in America, 116 Bohemian Missions, Origin of, 117 Bohemian Missions, Statistics of, 117 Bohemian Missions, Work, 116-119 Bowling Green, Ky., Colored Work in, 124 Budget, The, 198 C Canada, Dominion of, 39 Canada, Missions in, 134, 143 Canton, Ohio, 53 Catechetical Instruction, 135 Cathohcs, Roman and Greek, 42 Central Sjmod, Statistics of, 139 Central Theological Seminary, 53 Chambersbm-g, 24 Change of Name of Denomination, 39 Chicago, First wliite child in, 73 Christian Endeavor Mission, 193 Christian Endeavor Societies, 193 Christman, Rev. Jacob, 25 Church-building Funds, Our, 153-176 Church-building Funds, Plan of, 160 Church-building Funds, Summary of, 164 Church-building Fund, First, 161 Church Extension Funds, 162 Church Erection Funds, 163 Church Membership in U. S., 42 Churches, Number of, in America, 215 Church of Holland, 17 Church, Oldest Protestant, 15 Church Property, Value of, 192 City and Country, 71-97 City Growth, Causes of, 74, 75 City, The, 71, 72 Index 253 City Mission Work, 81 City, The Church in the, 77 City, Reformed Church in, 79, 80 City, Missions in the, 80 Clark, Dr. Joseph, quoted, 227, 228 Classes, Original eight, 21 Coetal period, 30 Coetus, 19 Colleges founded by Home Missionaries, 213 Collection for Missions, 22 Colored Work, 123 Colored Work, Permanent Committee on, 124 Committee, Missionary, First, 22 Congregations, EarUest, 17 Congregational period, 30 Congregationalists, 14 Conquering invasion, 126 Consohdation, 27 CooUdge, quoted, 132 Cooperative Bodies, 229 Corresponding Secretary, 27 Country Church, 54, 86 Country Church, Mission of, 92 Country Life Commission, 86 Country Life Commission, quotation from Report, 70 Country Church, Contribution of, 92, 93 Coimtry, Reformed Church in, 89 Country pastors, 89 Crawford, Rev. John H., 61 D Dakota, North, places of worship in, 91 Dark Ages, 28 Debt, Burdened by, 156 254 Our Home Mission Work Debts, Evils of, 156, 157 Democracy, Principle of, 221 Denominational development, 215 Domestic Missions, Board of, 24 Doughty, quoted, 38 Douglass, quoted, 210 Dudycha, Rev. James, 117 Dutch Reformed, 13, 14 E Early, Settlers, Type of, in West, 51 Earliest Congregations, 17 East, The, 44-50 East, Challenge of, 49 Eastern Board, German, Statistics of, 140 Eastern Pennsylvania, 45 Eastern Section, Reformed Church in, 47 Eastern Synod, 47 Eden, 59 EUiker, Rev. G. D., 143 EUis Island, 111 Epic of Twentieth Century, 63 Equipment, Lack of proper, 83 Erasure of names, 218 EvangeUsm, 217 Evangelism, Report of Federal Council's Commission on, quoted, 219 Evangelism, assigned to Board, 220 EvangeUzation of the World, 226 Every Member Canvass, The, 199 Expenditures, Percentages of, 184 Falkner Swamp, 17 Frederick, Md., 23 Index 255 Frederick, Md., Evangelical Church, 167 Freund, dor Einwanderer, 112 First General Exploring Agent, 31 First Protestant Sermon beyond Mississippi, 55 First Reformed Minister in Ohio, 52 Foreign Missions, 225 Foreigners in coal mines, 107 Foreigners in steel and iron works, 107 Foreigners on railroads, 107 Fouse, Dewalt S., 32 Fritchey, Rev. John G., 61 G Geographical Center, 50 Geographical Position, 41 General Synod's Board, History of, 26-30 General Synod's Board organized, 27 Gerhart, Rev. E. V., 32 German Boards, 139 German Boards, Relation to General Synod's Board, 144 German Immigration, 133-134 German Immigration, Causes of, 133 German Synod of the East, Statistics of, 138 Germans, Immigration of, 133 Germans, Characteristics of, 135 Germans, Reformed Church and the, 136 German work, Our, 133-149 Gift Funds explained, 171 Giving mentioned in Bible, 202 Goebel, Prof. Julius, 133 Gospel, Power of, 222 Governor Thomas, 45 Grose, quoted, 132 Graflfenreid, Christopher, 60 256 Our Home Mission Work H Hamilton, Alexander, quoted, 226 Hansen, Rev. William, 142 Harbaugh, Dr. Henry, 200 Harbor Mission, The, 110, 139 Hassel, Rev. C, quoted, 142 Headquarters, 34 Heidelberg University, 53 Hiestand, Henry, 25 History, Our, 13-36 Home Missions, Community Conception of, 221 Home Missions, A National Issue, 223 Home Missions, Continental Conception of, 223 Home Missions, Cosmopolitan Conception of, 225 Home Missions, Co-operative Conception of, 228 Home Missions, Larger Meaning of, 211-234 Home Missions, Colonial Conception of, 212 Home Missions, Congregational Conception of, 216 Home Missions, Conservational Conception of, 217 Home Missions Council, 58, 145, 146, 153, 229 Home Mission Day, 165 Home Mission Day, Amounts contributed on, 166 Houseless Churches, 153 Huguenots, 13 Hungarian Missions, Origin of 113 Hungarian Missions, Location of, 115 Hungarian Missions, Statistics of, 115 Hungarians, Nmnber in America, 113 Hungarian Students, 116 Idaho, Places without Church in, 91 lUiterates, 102, 103, 104 Immigrant Work, Our, 101-129 Index 257 Immigrant, First law, 101 Immigrant Zone, 105 Immigrant, Religion of the, 107 Immigrant, The Reformed Church and the, 109 Immigrants, Total number of, 101 Immigrants, Ilhteracy of, 104 Immigrants, Principal occupation of, 106 Immigration, New, 103 Income of Board, 195 Institutions in Eastern Portion, 48 Institutional Work, 80, 81 Intensive farming, 217 ItaUan, Southern peasant, 108 Interior Academy, 53 Interior, Synod of the, 56 J Japanese Embassy, 226 Japanese, Number in America, 119 Japanese Mission, Origin of, 121 Jenner, Samuel, 59 Jubilee Fund, 173 K Keystone of American Commonwealth, 51 Kipling, Rudyard, quoted, 230 Kossuth, Louis, 114 Kovacs, John, 114 Kriete, Dr. C. F., quoted, 163 Kun, Rev. Frank, 117 L Lancaster, General Synod at, 198, 220 Land, Dr. Paul H., 112 Large Congregations, 16 Layman's Missionary Movement, 9, 205 17 258 Our Home Mission Work Leberman, L. D., 27 -' Leidy, Rev. George, 61 Lerch, Rev. D. B., 61 Licentiates, 21 Loan Funds explained, 171 Lord's Portion, The, 200 Louisiana Purchase, 40 Louisville, Ky., Colored Work in, 124, 125 Lutheran, 13, 14, 109 M Maine, 20 Material Resources, 41 Marshal Lannes, 231 Martin, Rev. Mr., 60 Mayer, Dr. Frederick, quoted, 140-142 Maryland, 47 McAfee, quoted, 12 Members, Net increase of, 219 Methods, Old, obsolete, 84 MichaeUus, Jonas, 15 Miller, Rev. Samuel, 31 Missions, First formal action on, 21 Mission House, 53 Mission House founded, 137 Mission Study, 189 Mission Study, Objects of, 190 Missionary and Stewardship Committee, 198 Missionary Committee, 188 Missionary Education, 183 Missionary Library, 188 Missionary Literature, 185 Missionary Literature, History of, 186, 187 Missionary Societies, 193 Missionaries, Support of, 181 Index 259 Missionaries, Sacrifices of, 182 Missionary Superintendents, 31, 32, 33, 34 Missouri, Abandoned Churches in, 87 Molnar, Rev. Charles V., 117 Money, personal power, 203 Montana, Conditions in, 91 Moral Resources, 204 Mori, Rev. J., 120, 121 Morris, S. L., quoted, 64 Mott, John R., quoted, 185 Muehlmeier, H. A., 136 N Names, Erasure of, 218 Neglected Fields' Survey, 91 Negro in America, The, 123 Northwest, Synod of. Statistics, 138 New Mediterranean, The, 58 Non-Church Members, 42, 43 North CaroUna Classis organized, 61 North Carolina Classis, Institutions under, 61 North Carolina, Reformed Church in, 60 Northwest Territory, 40 Nova Scotia, 20 O Officers of first Board, 27 Official Name, 14, 39 Ohio, Early history in, 25, 26 Ohio, Population of, 25 Ohio Classis, Origin of, 25 Ohio Synod organized, 25 Ohio Synod's Board constituted, 26 Omaha, 193 Organ, First chiu-ch, 15 Outlook of Missions, 188 260 Our Home Mission Work P Pacific Coast, 56 Pastor, Educational factor, 184 Pastoral oversight, Lack of, 21 Pence, John, 25 Permanent Committee on Colored Work, 124 Permanency of Mission, 154 Piatt, Dr. Ward, quoted, 119 Plymouth Congregational Church, 121 Poorman, John H., 9 Pohcy of Board, 179-181 Population of U. S., 42 Post Mortuary Note, Form of, 170 Prayer, 205 Presbyterians, 14 Protestant bodies engaged in work among Immigrants, 123 Prugh, Dr. John H., 113 Pubhcation, Board of, 24 Publications, Missionary, 185-187 R Railroad mileage, 41 Reading, Pa., 46 Redistribution of population, 88 Reformed ancestors, 45 Reformed Church estabUshed in, 43 Reformed Churches, 14 Reily, James, 21 Relating Donors to Missions, 194 Religion, Low estimate of, 89 Rehgious Condition, 42 Rescue work, 80 Resolution by General Synod, 26 Reverend Deputies of the Synod of South and North HoUand, 19 Index 261 Rhinelander, quoted 178 Richards, Prof. George W., quoted, 14, 15 Rudy, Rev. John, 61 Ruetenik, H. J., 136 S Sacrament, Building a, 155 Salem Church, Allentown, 46 Schaff, PhiUp, quoted, 13 Schaff, Phihp, 111, 201 Schlatter, Michael, 19 Sears, Charles H., quoted, 70 Sermon Beyond the Mississippi, First, 55 Sesqui-Centennial, 7 Shively, Miss Rebecca, 187 Sleeping giant, A, 49 Skippack, 17 Social Service, 221-223 Social SoUdarity, 155 South, Early history, 59-65 South, TraveUng Missionaries in, 61 South, Stronghold of Protestantism, 63 South, Opportunity, 62 South Carohna, 20 South CaroUna, Reformed Church in, 61, 62 Special Finance Committee, 198, 199 Speer, Robert E., quoted, 223 Springboro, 25 Statistics, Denominational, 44 Statistics, Home Mission, 44 Steamship Companies, 105 Stelzle, Charles, quoted, 75, 78, 100 Stern, Max, 136 Stewardship, Principles of, 201 Stewardship, Methods of, 202 262 Our Home Mission Work Summary of History, 30 Summer Conferences, 8 Survey of the Reformed Church, A, 9 Susquehanna Classis, 23 Synods, organized, 29 Systematic Benevolence, 201 T Tenant Farmers, 88 Territorial Expansion, 39 Territory, Our, 39-67 Theus, Christian, 62 Tidings, Reformed Church, 187 Transient population, 82 Traveling Missionaries, 25, 31 Tri-Synodic Compact, 28 Tulpehocken Church, 92 Turner HaU, 118 Twenty Dollar gold pieces, line of, 42 U Union Churches, 46, 60, 89 V Virginia, Reformed Church in, 69 W Wealth, per capita, in U. S., 190 Weber, John William, 20 West, The, 50-58 West, the Near, 50-54 West, Reformed Church in, 52 West, The Far, 54-58 Index 263 West, Influence of, 58 Western Country, 21 Western Board, German, 140 Western Board, German, Statistics of, 143 Western Pennsylvania, 47 Western Work Obstacles, 57 White Marsh, 17 Whitmer, A. C, 152, 159 Winebago Indians, 138 Wisconsin, German State, 134 Woman's Journal, The, 187 Woman's Missionary Society Funds, 167 World Powers, Five Great, 41 Y Yundt, Rev. Thomas M., 32 Zone, The Immigrant, 105, 106 Zone, Industrial, 106 Pnnceion Throioqi l.cJl Sem.narif-Spter L.bf.vy 1 1012 01116 2841 DATE DUE =*l^ ,^.#«»<**VSi9»»^'" HIGHSMITH »' ^5230 Prinled In USA