BX 8 .F4 1917 Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in The manual of inter-church T.T/~>y Ir f Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/manualofinterchuOOfede THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK Introduction by MR. FRED B. SMITH Edited b^' REV. ROY B. GUILD Published by THE COMMISSION ON INTER-CHURCH FEDERATIONS OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERICA I os East Twenty-second Street New York City COPYRIGHT^ 1917, BY MISSIONARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA CONTENTS Preface - vii Introduction, Fred. B. Smith ix Report of the Committee on Observation AND Recommendations i I Comity 13 II Community Evangelism 33 III Home and Foreign Missions 59 IV Social Service 91 V Religious Education 121 VI Religious Publicity 149 VII International Justice and Goodwill 169 VIII Principles and Methods of Organization 193 Appendix : A Model Constitution 217 iii TO The Members of That New and Growing Order of Christian Workers: The Executive Secretaries of the Federations of Churches PREFACE The Manual of Inter-church Work is the result of the untiring efforts of a great body of Christian work- ers in all parts of the country to devise methods by which the church could hasten the answer to the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is a tribute to all who have believed and acted on the belief that the churches can cooperate effectively in the perform- ance of valuable community service which cannot otherwise be rendered. The Commission on Inter-church Federations wishes to express its great appreciation of the unselfish donation of time and thought made by those who served upon the sub-commissions. Some of the chair- men sacrificed their vacations that the reports might be prepared in time to be printed and mailed to the delegates a week before the opening of the Congress on the Purpose and Methods of Inter-church Federa- tions held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 1-4, 1917. It also expresses its gratitude to Mr. Harry Wade Hicks and Mr. Kenneth M. Gould, of the Missionary Education Movement, who served with the editor upon the Committee on Editing. This volume is so prepared that it can be used as a manual of principles and methods of interchurch work. Individual judgment must be used in the appli- cation of these methods to any particular community. Those wishing further counsel or assistance should write to the secretary of the Commission. Sugges- tions and criticisms are earnestly solicited that later editions may be made as helpful as possible. The Editor vii INTRODUCTION It was the belief of the Pittsburgh Congress and is the profound conviction of the Commission on Inter- church Federations of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America that in every commu- nity, large or small, where two or more Christian churches exist, in the interest of the truest Christian spirit and of highest efficiency, there ought to be some form of interchurch committee, council, leagtie, club, or federation to unite the Christian forces in the per- formance of their common tasks. Christian workers have longed for a reliable text- book which would serve to guide the increasing senti- ment for a closer unity in service among the various churches and Christian organizations. In presenting this manual added value may be given to it by a knowledge of a few of the salient facts connected with the Pittsburgh Congress and with the purposes of the Commission on Inter-church Federations on which a large degree of responsibility rests for the fulfilment of the ideals that have won approval. In the first place it is an important and significant fact that the Congress was the expression of the searching investigation, the earnest thought, the calm and deliberate judgment of the 105 persons who served upon the sub-commissions whose reports were the sole basis of consideration. Most of these sub-commissions were in existence nearly a year prior to the date of assembling at Pitts- burgh. Not only had these men and women, who had been carefully selected because they had expert knowledge upon the themes presented, been in the active work of preparation, but they in turn had con- sulted by personal interview and correspondence IX THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK scores of other leaders who seemed to have valuable contributions to make to the reports. Then in the sessions of the Congress there was brought to bear the illuminating discussion of 506 keen delegates who for three days gave critical suggestions which were carefully considered in the final editing of the reports. Beyond this there may be much interest in the fact that in April, 1912, at the close of the “Men and Relig- ion” conventions a group of Christian men agreed that in five years there ought to be a representative gathering to summarize the progress of cooperative Christian effort and to issue the Manual which is here submitted. These men have not been indifferent, during the intervening period, to the importance of producing at this time the wisest possible utterance upon this prob- lem. Then again there must be recognized the strength of the report of the Committee upon Obser- vation and Recommendation, of which the Rev. W. C. Bitting, D.D., of St. Louis, was chairman, which is included in this volume. This committee was not selected by the officers of the Congress but was named by the different denominational groups after the assembling of the delegates. It then approached its task with an open mind and a free heart. In view of these facts the Manual comes to those interested in Christian cooperation with augmented force and will be accepted as the first standard state- ment of the best-known principles and methods of church cooperation or federation. Surely no idle dreams are to be found in this book. In the second place the Manual is noteworthy for its patience and freedom from censure of any group of churches, individual churches, allied Christian organ- INTRODUCTION izations, or individual Christians who may not see their way clear to unite at once in such a program in part or in its entirety. The Congress was truly pro- phetic and progressive. Many who participated be- lieve strongly in a larger organic unity of the churches as an ultimate goal but while this was true not one word was spoken or not one line appears as an indict- ment of sincere denominational leaders. All believed that segregated sectarianism is dead and that its further exploitation is a menace to the kingdom of God. They also found sympathy with the expression in the address by the Rev. James E. Freeman, rector of St. Mark’s Church, Minneapolis, when he said, “An isolated church eventually becomes an insolent church.” The Manual leaves to others the wider considera- tion of organic revision and gives itself to suggestions as to the best methods by which the churches may immediately unite upon the tasks which must remain neglected unless there is such cooperation, believing, too, that whatever may be the future readjustments looking toward organic unity they must be based upon the practise of service together in the name of Jesus Christ rather than upon the efficiency of omnibus legislation. Widespread organic union may be possi- ble in the remote future ; cooperation is a present possibility. The same spirit of generous forbearance was mani- fested in the Congress and reflects itself in the book upon the scope of the program to be undertaken by such committees or federations. Here once more there can be no doubt of the pro- gressive character of the utterances. All believe that the church is in some fashion related to everything XI THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK that has to do with the weal of folk here as well as hereafter, but no sharp criticism is heard of those who are very solicitous for the protection of the funda- mental spiritual duty of the church. All welcome this form of cooperative Christian effort because it makes possible the accomplishment in the community of these more recently recognized responsibilities with- out violating any of the principles of those who hold the most sacred view of the function of the Church, This sentiment can perhaps best be summarized by saying that the consensus of opinion was that in every community such an organization ought to be created and sustained inviting all Christian churches and organizations to participate. Kindly feelings ought to be maintained toward any who may not at once unite, and the door should be kept open for others to join without embarrassment as they may be led by later developments. In the third place the Congress, the Manual, and the Commission upon Inter-church Federations owe much to other forms of Christian expression and expe- rience upon w'hich this advance step has been taken. Among these may be noted such organizations as the Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Women’s Christian Association, the International Sunday School Association, the Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations, the American Sunday School Union, the United Society of Christian En- deavor, the Laymen’s Missionary Movement, and the Missionary Education Movement. All have given convincing testimony to the possibility and added value of the results of common efforts on common and special tasks. They have taken away the last de- fense of close sectarianism. Added to these are the xii INTRODUCTION two supreme manifestations of cooperation in the For- eign Missions Conference of North America and the Home Missions Council. These national and world- wide methods of unity, comity, and cooperation are becoming the most powerful and convincing forces in Christendom to voice the imperative demand that the way to usher in the kingdom of God is by binding the interested organizations and agencies together. Then there is the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America itself, uniting thirty Protestant bodies in practical vital service. Added to these there is an un- answerable asset in the splendid results of the feder- ated work being done by the churches in many cities and several states. These are the dynamic by which the Congress moved, by which the Manual is written and released, and by which the Commission on Inter- church Federations goes forward with its task. In the fourth place, by far the most impressive element in the work of the various commissions pre- paring the reports and in the Congress itself was the overwhelming conviction that interchurch commit- tees, councils, or federations are an absolute necessity in the life of the churches in the communities, cities, and towns everywhere. Whatever differences there may have been about the details of the program to be recommended, not one voice has been heard in other than ringing declaration that notwithstanding all the committees now in the local church and all the kin- dred organizations for special tasks, a church federa- tion of some form is fundamental to the complete success of these. This is apparent in the name of goodwill. The church cannot afford to carry a handicap of any sort into the next ten years or quarter of a century. The xiii THE MANUAL OF INTER-OHURCH WORK man on the street takes delight in saying that the churches are divided and fighting one another. A fed- eration stops his caviling tongue. Such an organiza- tion and work is necessary because the acid test of success in modern times is not the growth in member- ship or property value of any church in any com- munity but rather the affirmative answer to the ques- tions: Is the kingdom of God advancing? Is the place becoming a better one in which to live? Is drunkenness decreasing? Are dishonesty and graft lessening? Is vice being eliminated? Are people liv- ing a better and a happier life? The world’s court, composed of those who love humanity, refuses to be befuddled longer by the denominational statistician and wants these major questions met and answered by the church. These questions point to what are in most part community tasks which can only be adequately dealt with by combined effort. Good is persistently crushed to earth ; it rises again. But evil is persistent too, and the devil never sleeps. The church needs a moral vigi- lance committee which is always on duty and ready for call on a few hours’ notice, when there appears to be a break in the morality of the community. A fed- eration may be this. Such a federation is indispensable if the church is to meet the spiritual and moral issues of the new world order. The great war will make everything different. There will be a new economic, political, and social order. This is everywhere conceded. And just so surely will there also be a new religious order. New questions are to be asked at the door of the church and most prominent among them will be this: “Have you a doctrine powerful enough to influence xiv INTRODUCTION international affairs?” If the answer is vagxie, eva- sive, indifferent, or negative, the church is doomed to a small place in the reconstruction of that world order. That the gospel has power in the individual life, there is ample evidence. Likewise its leaven in certain rela- tions of the community is fairly well vindicated. Out of it is to come the universal hope. It has now to prove that its compelling dynamic can sway the parlia- ments and the throne rooms. Unrelated denomina- tionalism will be worse than a joke in such an hour. It will be a tragedy and a crime. That the impact of Christianity may be felt in these great forums of the world’s search for a permanent peace and unbroken brotherhood, a federation of churches of some kind is necessary from the smallest village to the greatest city, and from these to the Christian bodies of the nations of the world. Thus we understand better the working of the mind of the great Gladstone, as he is quoted in Dr. Ashworth’s book. The Union of the Christian Forces: “To effect one real step in the direction of reunion, after the results of the last five centuries, would be enough to lead any man to die contentedly.” For the consummation of this task the Congress was held and this Manual is prayerfully sent forth. Fred B. Smith XV THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON OBSERVATION AND RECOM- MENDATIONS The Congress was composed of 506 delegates from 134 towns and cities in 36 states, representing 31 re- ligious bodies. The members of the Congress are con- nected with local federations, and with numerous general agencies for the promotion of the kingdom of God. The meetings were pervaded by the spirit of seriousness, fraternity, devotion, and enthusiasm for the triumph of Christian ideals. The sessions were characterized by dignity, businesslike procedure, frankness in the expression of opinion, and brotherly love. All these features of the Congress are evidences of the guidance and dominance of the Holy Spirit. Purposes of the Congress The delegates to this Congress represented the Commission on Inter-church Federations of the Fed- eral Council of the Churches of Christ in America and were from I. State, county, and local federations. II. Ministerial associations. III. Constituent Bodies of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. Editor’s Note — The Pittsburgh Congress marks a definite stage in the progress of Christian cooperation. At the opening session each of the denominational groups elected a committee- man from their number to carefully review the reports pre- sented, listen to the discussions, and interpret the purpose, spirit, and actions of the Congress. The accompanying statement conveys the deep impression which was made upon those who were present. Still more it points the way to the realization in every community of the splendid hopes which brought the delegates together from all parts of the United States. I 2 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK IV. Executive Committee of the Federal Council. V. Commissioners of the Federal Council. VI. Organizations engaged in interdenominational and undenominational Christian work. VII. Members of the Men and Religion Forward Movement teams. VIII. Individuals especially interested in interchurch work. The discussions were based upon reports of sub- commissions on the following topics Church Comity. Community Evangelism. Home and Foreign Missions. Social Service. Religious Education. International Justice and Goodwill. Religious Publicity. Principles and Methods of Organization. Special Report on War-time, Local, Inter-church Work. The purposes of the Congress were : I. To recognize the increasing need of cooperation, felt in all communities and denominations. II. To assemble the evidence that this cooperation is actually taking place, either with or without promo- tive or directive effort. Throughout the land ministers are meeting together, and Christians are praying and working together. Thirty-one cities now have feder- ations of churches with salaried executives. A new function has been created in the service of paid secre- taries of local federations. III. To interpret the relation of this spirit of co- operation to the outstanding activities of the churches OBSERVATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 3 locally and for the advancement of the kingdom of God throughout the world. IV. To consider seriously the opportunities and the duties which compel cooperation and the deepen- ing of the spirit of oneness in the tremendous emer- gency created by the war. The necessity for the union of all Christian energies, though it was felt in the vision of the normal tasks of the churches before the war, has been acutely emphasized by the colossal struggle in which we are now engaged. V. To assemble, digest, and put into accessible form for use everywhere, a record of the experiences of those who have been engaged in cooperative work in their several communities. Perspective of the Congress It should not be forgotten that the Congress was no new, sudden, nor hurried gathering made under stress of the needs and dangers brought to light by the war. Behind the meeting is a long history. For many years evangelical alliances, composed of pas- tors in many centers, have been considering their common problems. The church federation idea has been slowly but continuously unfolding until it has expressed itself in many ways, religious, philanthropic, educational, missionary, and civic. The unifying grace of love for our Lord Jesus Christ has been fusing hearts, bringing varieties of vision to a common focus, and organizing scattered energies for the achievement of purposes cherished with equal enthusiasm by all true followers of the Master. The Commissions whose reports have been pre- sented, with the exception of that on “War-time Inter- 4 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK church Work/’ were appointed nearly a year ago. The gathering was but a climax to a series of expres- sions of the desire of all who love the kingdom of God, and believe that its dominance in human affairs is the only salvation for the world, to join their resources in the mighty effort to enthrone Jesus Christ as King over human life. This movement has slowly extended into states, cities, counties, and rural districts. It has found it- self in the establishment of numerous local federa- tions, and where, because of financial limitations, their formation seemed impossible, it has appeared in the growth of the spirit of unity, and in efforts by neighboring churches to share their common tasks, as far as was possible under existing conditions. At this hour the war has stimulated the conscious- ness of the need keenly felt alike by all Christians. The Red Cross movement, the calls of hunger from lands across the sea, the cry of nakedness for cloth- ing, of sickness for ministration, of bereavement, pov- erty, and pain of many kinds for human sympathy, appeal to Christians with even more power than to those who make no profession of discipleship to our Lord. Again, from our homes and churches have gone thousands of the flower of our young manhood to fight, and hundreds of the most beautiful spirits of our 3''oung womanhood to serve in the sweet ministry of nursing. Moreover, the utter subversion of ideals of broth- erhood by the tragedy of war has served to develop keenly a new appreciation of the fraternity contem- plated by our Master. Thus the appeal of human need, the experience of sacrifice in the gift of our own youth to a great cause, and the quickened sense of fra- OBSERVATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5 ternity have conspired to stimulate in our churches the desire for unity in Christian service. With this has come the deepened conviction that hesitation in its practical expression would be sinful in the sight of God. Is the isolated church able to meet these demands? The answer is patent. Only the united resources of the churches can make adequate response. Furthermore, the program of the church for its future is vitally involved. Changed conditions are in- evitable after the war. Undoubtedly, in many re- spects, the altered situation will be startling. We must face the revolutionary nature of the forces that are now at work. Who dreams that the millions of young men and women who will unflinchingly face the struggle, who have answered the call for self-giving to the uttermost, who will grow wiser by virtue of inter- national contacts, who will catch world visions be- cause of their expanded experiences, can return to their homes unchanged by the tremendous events in which they are participating? Either the church must meet the issues of the times, or our transformed youth will bring back from their martial schooling contempt for an easy life of conventional religious activities that merely mark time, for energies without objective, and for a spirit that shrinks from gripping the mighti- est tasks in the full confidence of victory. These heroes and heroines will have spheres and places of influence all over our land, as with glad hearts we, who unfortunately have been prevented from sharing their activity, welcome those who may be permitted to return. It is inevitable that they will bring with them ideals, convictions, visions, and meth- ods which will either transform the communities to which they belong, or will force them to abandon 6 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK connection with communions and institutions that fail to respond to the development that they have experi- enced. It is a time for calm and hopeful consideration of the situation, for undisturbed confidence in the out- come, and for the wisest efforts to anticipate the in- escapable results of the war upon life throughout our land and the world. The Congress is to be congratulated upon its at- mosphere of serene faith in God and the finality of the ideals of Jesus. It was marked by the absence of any manifestation of fear or panic in facing the future. We belong to the church of the Living God, and where he leads through his providences, we dare to follow fearlessly. Ideals of Federation It is important that we keep clearly before us, without confusion, the ideals of federation. Without doubt there are many earnest Christians who fear the word and the idea. They imagine that its purpose is to annihilate denominations, to foster indifference to venerated church traditions, to slacken the grip of religious conviction upon the human heart, to com- promise adherence to standards of faith, or to cause the strong colors of church banners to fade into the neutral grey of indifference to truth. All these fears are groundless. Those who composed the Congress are learning the royal grace of love for one another, and the fraternal virtue of serving with one another, with no abatement whatsoever of attachment to the several groups of Christians with which they are con- nected. Neither the Congress nor any federation has au- OBSERVATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 7 thority of any kind over any denomination or local church. Federation is not a disturber of theological standards or church usages. We must all be free to express our convictions of truth. Federation does not set aside any activities now in use, nor would it modify such agencies as have been found efficient in Christian service. It does not propose to ignore any worthy Christian movement. It is comprehensive, not exclusive ; it is all-including, not selective. Every ecclesiastical, missionary, philanthropic, educational, and social agency that has demonstrated its worth- fulness, is gladly welcomed into the combination of forces that seek to glorify God by the enthronement of the spirit of Christ in human life. Federation must be honest, and has no wish to claim credit for work it does not do. It does not aim to create new instruments, nor to build institutions in rivalry of those now effective, nor will it violate Chris- tian economy by the attempt to duplicate existing ma- chinery. It seeks rather to promote the spirit of cooperation between organizations already existing, to correlate forces now productive, and to foster a con- servation that will prevent waste of time, energy, and money, and abolish frictions, jealousies, and unseemly strife. In short, federation aims to unify existing Chris- tian forces for the service of the kingdom of God. Therefore, the cause of federation is not to be ad- vanced by shallow denunciation of denominational loyalty, but by deepening the sense of loyalty to all that is best in denominational history and effort. No strong combination can be made of weak units. The body of Jesus Christ demands the full strength of 8 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK every part. It will be efficient by virtue of that which every joint supplies. What Federation is Doing The reports of all commissions were prepared by experts. The volume containing the proceedings of the Congress will contain the best experiences of effi- cient workers in their several spheres. It will give the results of federated service, and will make sug- gestions which each locality can use as its peculiar circumstances indicate. Experience has demonstrated that the most important activities of churches become more effective through federation. We call upon the members of the Congress and Christians everywhere to promote the distribution of the volume in the inter- est of Christian achievement. The reports agree in some important features: I. The necessity of intelligent and consecrated leadership. Never so much as now did the interests of the kingdom of God depend upon the vision, enthu- siasm, wide-mindedness, and sacrificial devotion of pastors. As never before we are experiencing and rejoicing in the increasing activity of devoted laymen, some of whom are known throughout the world be- cause of their remarkable service. II. The necessity of using all the resources of the local churches. Laymen with their acute sense of conditions, and their fruitful inventiveness in mas- tering these must be enlisted more generally than ever before. The limitless power of consecrated woman- hood is more appreciated than ever. Woman’s loving heart, her sacrificial spirit, her busy fingers, her tire- OBSERVATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 9 less body, her gracious influences, must be increas- ingly utilized. III. The vanity of isolated effort to meet the tre- mendous needs that are upon us. This will intensify the problems of the changed conditions we are shortly to face. Shall the church of God in a given territory be an archipelago, the shores of whose islands are beaten by the surf of a separating sea? Shall love for Christ, shown in the spirit of Christian service to men, build isthmuses that change this dividing ocean into peaceful lagoons over which the commerce of fra- ternity and united service shall ply, and realize the prophecy, “And the sea is no more”? Shall the conti- nental spirit of united loyalty to Christ displace the insular pride of separatism ? IV. The desirability of the cooperation of local churches and church federations with general public movements whose activities are related to the king- dom of God. So far as the spirit of service has been institutionalized by public agencies, we should cor- dially join with them. Local civic movements for community betterment, or for participation in nation- wide moral ideals often stand for the very things the churches should represent. When citizens of a com- munity unite to uplift localities and the world, those who belong to the Christian order of life should share their ideals. Our citizenship is in heaven, but this does not mean that we shall ignore the earth. It means that we shall heavenize the world. Recom m endations We recommend ; I. That all churches support more generously than 10 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK ever their own local work, and the missionary, philan- thropic, and educational interests with which they are identified. These normal and fundamental activities of Christianity must not suffer because of the unusual strain of war conditions. Strength here must be pre- served and increased if the churches are to meet the imperative needs that will exist when the war is over. II. That the widest possible publicity be given by the religious and secular press to this statement con- cerning the meeting and purposes of the Congress. III. That the proceedings of the Congress contain- ing the reports of the sub-commissions be placed in every community of our land. No Christian in the United States should be without the knowledge of the ideals and methods of work presented in the reports. IV. That the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America issue to such organizations as may desire them reprints of reports, at the expense of those organizations. V. That all communities that can form federations do so and, if there is financial ability, employ execu- tive secretaries who shall seek to promote the ideals of federation herein stated. If financial conditions do not permit salaried executive secretaries we advise that federation affairs be administered by councils composed of representatives of all participating churches, through administrative committees of a few carefully selected and competent men. VI. That state federations be formed, wherever they do not now exist, and that they, and strong city or town federations, shall seek to promote the partici- pation of the churches of all communities in the ideals pf federation. VI,I- Th^t in communities where there are as few OBSERVATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS n as only two churches, these give expression to their sense of loyalty to Jesus Christ by their united inter- est in the spiritual welfare of their neighborhood and of our country. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name” — unto the realization of my nature in its fellowship with God, and its redemptive service to men — “there am I in the midst of them.” The presence of Jesus is here socially conditioned upon our participation with others in aspiration to share his spirit. This is as true of unions of Christian groups as of individual disciples. May there be throughout our land this gathering together, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we may experi- ence the abiding presence of the Christ who has prom- ised to be with us always even unto the end. William C. Bitting, Chairman, Sanford N. Carpenter, William C. Covert, W. H. Fouke, W. R. Funk, Marion Lawrance, Charles F. Rice, Charles E. Tebbetts, Ed. S. Travers, Herbert L. Willett, M. P. Boynton, Secretary I REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION ON A DEPARTMENT OF INTER- CHURCH COMITY SUB-COMMISSION ON COMITY. Cleveland, Ohio Bomberger, Rev. J. H., Chairman Editor The Christian World Lervviston, Maine Toledo, Ohio Anthony, Prof. Alfred Williams Armstrong, Rev. A. H. Executive Secretary, Toledo Federation of Churches Covert, Rev. W. C. Chicago, 111. Pastor, First Presbyterian Churdi Green, David E. Cleveland, Ohio Myers, Green and Keough, Attorneys McAfee, J. E. New York City Secretary, Board of Home Missions, Presh3^eTian Church in the U. S. A. Rice, Rev. Charles F. ^ West Lynn, Mass. Pastor, South Street Methodist Episcopal Churdi Wright, Rev. E. R. Cleveland, Ohio Executive Secretary, Federated Churches of Cleveland I. Interchurch Comity Construed and Characterized I, The spirit of interchurch brotherliness is the essential prerequisite to all real cooperation. Con- fronted as the church of Christ is to-day by world problems of immeasurable complexity and signifi- cance, calling urgently for solution, there has come to prevail a feeling of almost contemptuous impatience with all inclination to thrust the petty and inconse- quential to the fore by undue insistence upon ques- tions of form and method and nomenclature. This 13 14 the manual of inter-church work rapidly spreading spirit of oneness finds expression in the increasing interdenominational mingling of Chris- tians for whom the conception of a world-wide, Christ- dominated brotherhood has come to have supreme attractiveness. 2. But interchurch comity is not merely a fraternal sentiment but also a constructive force. While in the one aspect it is the specific solvent for sectarian asper- ities, thus promoting fellowship among the members of the denominations, this is but the starting-point. It moves on and up from these first principles to the working out of a definite program of constructive achievement. And this cooperative concentration of the churches upon their common task promises to be the supremely effective human force, in the hands of Christ, for the saving of the nations and the recon- struction of society. .II. The Reaction of Applied Comity upon the Church 1. By no means the least valuable result of this spreading spirit of cordial cooperation among the de- nominations is its favorable reaction upon the churches themselves. To quote Professor Rauschen- busch : “The more we mingle on a basis of equality and goodwill and practical cooperation, the better will the assimilating forces of the common spirit of Christ be able to do their work, silently weeding out what is non-Christian and obsolete. Actual fellowship alone can furnish an enduring basis for any efforts at formal union which will be made by us or our children.” 2. Another important result of this more fully real- ized and more firmly established unity in spirit and INTER-CHURCH COMITY 15 in effort is the fact that churches in cordial agreement are more effective in their stand against entrenched evil. This finds confirmation in the outcome of their united efforts in the great reform movements and the work of civic and social uplift. 3. Considered from an economic point of view the application of the spirit of comity conserves the finan- cial resources and energy of the church by the avoid- ance of waste through duplication and overlapping of work. A bulletin issued by the Massachusetts Federation says: “An investigation of the one hundred smallest towns in Massachusetts, classified as one-, two-, and three-church towns, has demonstrated that the per capita cost to members and citizens increases out of proportion to the results. ... We found that the average ministerial salary in the town with one church was $874; in the two-church town, $687; and in the three-church town only $473. . . . The average mission board aid required in the one-churdh town was $15; in the three-church town, $155, or ten times as much. ... It has been said that rivalry is a stimulus, and that competing churches do more than the single church. Our own investigations indi- cate that the gain does not equal the loss. The average mem- bership of the single church was no; of the churches in the two-church town, 71 ; in the three-church town, 51.” 4. The denominations’ united efforts gain material- ly by the release of their forces from the petty neces- sity for vigilance against mutual aggression, thus leaving them free for concentration upon the great common task. To quote again from the bulletin referred to in the pre- ceding paragraph: “Ideally the church is the social unifier; practically, in many places, the churches, because they are several, are themselves the cause of faction and discord. They may not intend to compete, but when several try to maintain themselves in a field sufficient for only one, they become rivals in spite of better intentions. Christians are separated into i6 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK distinct if not jealous groups. Their very purpose to build up the church of Christ is vitiated by .party spirit and personal feeling. They are tempted to seek men as recruits for the institution.” Ill, The Impression on the Community Another invaluable by-product of comity exempli- fied in interdenominational life and activity is the happy impression made upon the outlying community. 1. The reciprocal influence of the church and its community is most marked and real. Dr. Washington Gladden has set this forth in the following striking sentences: “It is impossible to segregate the church from the community.” “The very function of the church is found in its relation to its community.” “You caimot save the church from decadence unless you can save the community from deterioration.” “If the churoh is not to the community a savor of life unto life the community will be to the church a savor of death unto death.” “If the church wishes to save itself from extinction it must send out its light and its truth into the community.” 2. As the churches confront the community their only irrefutable apologetic is their essential oneness in spirit and activity. The central thought of Christ’s prayer for the prevalence of unity was “that the world might believe.” When the community which, in the past, has seen the hands of the denominations stretched forth toward each other with questionable if not sinis- ter design, sees them clasped in brotherly greeting as they heartily cooperate in their work, it becomes approachable and responsive. Therefore, one most urgent obligation resting upon the churches is that of convincing their communities that in all sincerity and singleness of aim the denomi- nations are allies, bound closely together in most INTER-CHURCH COMITY 17 cordial agreement. The community will always be melted by the spectacle “of hearts fused together in the glow of a common passion for a living and conquering Redeemer; the inspiration of a common service for humanity,” And this is the very essence of inter- church comity. IV. The Principle of Comity as Applied in State Work Applied comity in the State Federation seeks, in an advisory way, to promote the spirit of interdenomina- tional cooperation, and to increase its effectiveness, by securing a mutually satisfactory distribution of respon- sibility and territory, thus eliminating overlapping and duplicated activities. 1. A department of comity is appointed composed of officially designated representatives of the cooperat- ing denominations. In some instances a minister and a layman are appointed from each denomination. De- nominational state missionary superintendents are usually members of this committee. “The California Federation’s Committee is made up of the denominational superintendents. This committee meets once a month, and each denominational superintendent brings before the committee any proposed new church enterprises. The field in which the new enterprise is to be located is then surveyed by a subcommittee, and at a subsequent meeting the findings of this subcommittee are acted on by the committee as a whole. All of the churches are abiding by the decisions reached. This method applies to all new work.” 2. A general policy should be adopted for the gui- dance of the Department of Comity in dealing with specific cases. The Maine Commission’s “Seven Principles” afford i8 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK an example of such a policy. They are in brief as follows : a. No community in which any denomination has any legitimate claim should be entered by any other denomination through its official agencies without con- ferring with the denominations having such claims. b. A feeble church should be revived if possible rather than a rival church be established. c. The preferences of the community should be re- garded. d. The denominations having churches nearest the community, other things being equal, should be given first claim. e. There should be no interference with a denomi- nation having already begun work in a community. f. Temporary suspension of work by a denomina- tion does not warrant the entrance into the field of other denominations. g. Questions of interpretation of these principles should be referred to the Commission. During the first thirteen years fifty-one cases of ad- justment or adjudication were disposed of. One of these cases so uniquely illustrates the possibilities in the application of this comity principle as to deserve a place here. “Two new settlements, opened in the wilderness by the development oif previously unused water-ipowers, were boom- ing like Western towns, and were attractive to the denominations for self-expansion and aggrandizement. Should they rush in to forestall one another and preempt advantages? The Com- mission set forth a better, a Christian way. By agreement one denomination, the Methodist, was given exclusive right in one of these new settlements, Rumford Falls, because it was seen to have at the outset the best prospects of immediate success, owing to the residence there of wealthy and influential mem- INTER-CHURCH COMITY 19 bers of that church. Later, when growth warranted, another denomination, the Baptist, was permitted to step in, subse- quently a third, the Congregational, and then the community was declared open ground for any, as its population was large enough and varied enough for all.” 3. The State Federation will find an important field for the application of comity in the consolidation of struggling small town, village, and rural churches. There are three outstanding types of this community church. a. The uniting of several congregations in a de- nominational church. “In the San Joaquin Valley in California, twenty Methodist Episcopal Churches and Methodist Episcopal Churches, South, have been brought together in this way within a recent twelve months. Weak, competing churches have become a strong spiritual force in the community. This has been true in every one of these cases.” The following “declaration” from Worcester, Massachusetts, tells its own story. Joint Declaration of Congregationalists and Methodists “Whereas it is for the good of the Kingdom that there be one strong church on Oak Hill instead of two or more weak ones, . . . Therefore, if the Covenant Church and the Coral Street Methodist Church vote to unite and become one Church, the Congregational City Missionary Society will then deed the property of the former without restrictions for the uses of the united congregation.” On March 9, 1913, the union was consummated, ninety members of the Congregational Church being received into 'the new “Covenant Methodist Church.” The Baptist City Missionary Society ^has followed by clos- ing its mission in the neighborhood with the following declara- tion: “Everywhere our denominational fields overlap. This is bad economy and wasteful religious policy. In our judgment a mission should be located only in a place where the com- munity lacks adequate church privileges. The Oak Hill Mis- sion is not so located. There are in the neighborhood better 20 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK equipped churches. . . . We therefore recommend immedi- ate steps to dispose of the Oak Hill property.” The Comity Department of one of the State Fed- erations says : ‘Tn deciding which of two or more churches should cease to exist as a distinct organiza- tion, various considerations may properly enter into the discussion ; such as the age of the churches, the number of members, the value of real estate and en- dowments w'hich they may hold, the situation and character of the church buildings, and various other conditions which may be even more important, though not capable of definite formulation. It is likely that, in the course of years, the number of churches of dif- ferent denominations which would thus be discon- tinued would be not very unequal, so that the propor- tional numbers of churches and members in different denominations would not be materially changed ; but in any individual case the welfare of the particular community is of more consequence than the equation of denominational statistics.” b. The uniting of the community’s churches in an undenominational body. This is the familiar “union church.” c. The combining of several churches in a “fed- erated church,” each congregation retaining its corpo- rate identity and denominational connection. This third type seems to be finding special favor in a num- ber of states. The special features of the federated church are these : (1) The local churches agree to unite as one con- gregation for all purposes of work and worship, under one pastor. (2) To carry out this purpose, each appoints a INTER-CHURCH COMITY 21 given number upon a joint committee of management. Sometimes members are added from the community. The pastor usually is chairman. (3) Each church meets by itself as an ecclesiastical body to transact business according to its usages, and reports to its denomination its work as a member of the federated church. (4) Each church keeps its own rolls, and new members are added to the church of their choice. All are members of the federated church. (5) The pastor must necessarily have ecclesiastical standing in some body. This, however, is found in practise to raise no difficulty. (6) If there is more than one usable house of worship they may be used in turn, or one devoted to institutional purposes, or some of them sold. (7) In some instances this agreement holds for a specified period. It may be considered as a step to organic union in a denominational church. Note these cases by way of concrete illustration: “Several years ago, in Northfield, Ohio, there were two weak churches, a Methodist Episcopal and a Presbyterian. In order to save the life of both, federation was proposed, and agreed upon. The plan has worked admirably. The local organization of each is continued. There is no cutting loose from anything by any one. No official in either church lost his position, but there was added to the regular organizations an executive com- mittee of which each church elected half the members and of which the pastor is chairman. This committee has charge of all business that affects the congregation as a whole. Persons desiring to unite with the church elect whether they will be Methodists or Presbyterians, and are received according to the rules of the denomination which they choose. The order of service is to some extent a combination of the two. Benevolent offerings are either divided or taken separately, as the people decide.” 22 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK The church at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, is an interesting illustration of ithis type of community church, as are a number of others scattered through that state, Connecticut, Maine, and other states. The Connecticut Federation secretary reports: “We held a conference with the Home Missionary Secretaries of 'the Congregationalists and Baptists, and the District Superin- tendents of the Methodist Episcopal Church in our territory, for the purpose of definite consideration of particular towns and villages in which there ought to be some union of churches effected. The conference was an exceedingly cordial and friendly one, and, after pretty full deliberation, we agreed upon a list of seven villages where the number of churches was obviously too large, and where some form of union ought to be effected. The representatives of the three denominations in question were in cordial sympathy with the views of the Com- mittee on Interdenominational Comity. Since then, in the vil- lage of West Hartland, two churches have been practically brought together by the emplo 3 mient of a single pastor, though each church retains its ecclesiastical organization. A young man who had just been called to the pastorate of the Congre- gjitional Church was admitted on trial to the New York East Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was ap- P(,iinted by the Bishop to West Hartland. There are in our stute already several examples of churches of two different denominations which have agreed to employ a single pastor. This mode of procedure seems likely to be in general the best plan for combining two or more churches, when the hardness of people’s hearts or the existence of some endowment funds makes it impossible to disband one of the churches and transfer its members to a church of a different denomination. Another interesting experiment, in a special form of comity application, has been made by the Home Missionary Secretary of the Baptist churches in the state. In one instance at least, a Baptist church has taken in two classes of members, one class of regular members of the Baptist Church, the other a class to which the name of federated members has been applied. These federated members do not submit 'to rebaptism, but are admitted to the communion and have all the privileges of INTER-CHURCH COMITY 23 church-membership. If they leave town, they receive certificates of their status as federated members, and any church which they may be disposed to join will use its own judgment as to the acceptance of such certificates. The plan is reported as working very satisfactorily in the place in which it has been tried.” State federations should prepare lists of ministers and theological students adapted to and available for this important work in community churches, and they should also make a careful study of the conditions prevailing in any community before introducing this plan. It is gratifying to note the rapid spread of com- munity churches, as this type of organization gives promise of enlarged church-membership, spiritual strength, and a new social vision to overchurched towns and villages. 4. The Department of Comity can in many in- stances secure excellent results by effecting a recipro- cal exchange of communities and locations by the denominations. Each agrees to relinquish its holdings in a certain locality with the understanding that it is to have exclusive occupancy, so far as the churches of the Federation are concerned, of some other commu- nity. The procedure in arranging this exchange is as follows : a. Denominations report to the department towns in which such union by exchange may be desirable and feasible. b. The department considers the local conditions, constituencies, and the changes proposed, and, where these are favorable, an equitable mutual surrender of 24 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK church interests in the several fields by the denomina- tions involved is arranged. c. Emphasis is laid upon the necessity for carefully safeguarding the interests of the denominations, and for avoiding the awakening of local prejudices. 5. By general agreement specific fields may be as- signed to certain of the cooperating denominations. The California Comity Commission proposes the following line of action in deciding which denomina- tion is to occupy any given unoccupied territory in southern California. a. The principle of proportionate representation is to operate as follows ; Each denomination will be as- signed to new places in number proportionate to its numerical denominational strength in southern Cali- fornia. b. Before each assignment of new territory a can- vass of the field is to be made and the Commission will take into consideration the denominational pref- erence of the community as a factor in making the assignment. c. The Commission will also consider, as a factor in making its decisions, the probable preparedness of any denomination to do the work in a given com- munity or for any special people. 6. Denominations may be influenced to refrain from taking up contemplated new work in over- churched communities. In Cliftondale, Massachusetts, a small town of 2,683, ^ Baptist church was disbanded some years ago, leaving the field to three other denominations. Later the Baptist Sunday School Association canvassed the community with a view to organizing a Baptist church. The other churches brought the matter to the attention of the State Federation, and after a conference INTER-CHURCH COMITY 25 with the Baptist Home Missionary Society and Sunday School Association representatives, the latter said: “We will leave the field to you for the present that you may show whether the present churches can meet the needs.” 7. Some federations urge the forming of a joint committee of the churches in every town and city in order that the spirit of comity may be strengthened and cooperation be cultivated. Massachusetts has a number of such community federations which, while independent, look to the State Federation as a clearing-house for the exchange of experience. 8. The so-called “country church problem” may often call for the intervention of the State Comity Committee, as its solution is frequently found in the merging of several neighborhood open-country churches into one large parish to which one pastor de- votes his whole time. 9. There is often opportunity for promoting comity and consolidation among the philanthropic organiza- tions of the state. Massachusetts cites the merging of the Anti-Saloon and No-license Leagues in illustra- tion of this. TO. State Federations may render a valuable ser- vice by investigating the legal aspects of the equity rights of local churches where the membership has scattered, or the body has become identified with an- other denomination. Maine has appointed a commis- sion to look into these questions. V. Interchurch Comity in City Federation Work Some of the most successful applications of the principle of comity are to be found in city federations. 26 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK In theory this should be a branch of state federation work. In actual experience a number of city federa- tions have been organized in states which have no state federation, and have secured notable results along comity lines. Many of the problems and methods of work of the city and state federations are similar. But the large city has problems peculiar to its special conditions which can be worked out best by local leaders. A study of the reports of methods in use in existing city federations in dealing with comity problems yields the following suggestions: 1. The Comity Department should be composed of representatives of all of the denominations in the Fed- eration. As in state work denominational city mis- sionary officials should be included in the membership. One Federation’s constitution provides that “The Comity Committee shall consist of not more than two officers each from the denominational organizations for city missions, and not more than two representatives each from denominations not so organized. It shall undertake to bring these organizations to- gether into permanent relation, for the purposes of comity in the establishment of new churches and in the evangelization of the foreign populations of the city. It shall also have super- vision of such other matters of comity as may come before the federation.” 2. Emphasis is laid upon the purely advisory char- acter of the deliverances of the department. Actual experience demonstrates that while these deliverances take the form of fraternal counsel rather than of au- thoritative enactments they come to have the weight of the latter because of the loss of prestige of denomi- nations or congregations disregarding them. 3. Community surveys by denominational church extension societies or city missionary organizations INTER-CHURCH COMITY 27 will provide data upon which systematic plans for relating the several denominations to this work can be based. 4. A basis of agreement with regard to overlapping parishes, the location of new churches, and the re- location of established ones, and similar questions, is marked out. One plan urges that no new churches be located within a third of a mile of established churches which are meeting the needs of the community. Another suggests five city blocks as the limit. In all cases the disposition is to allow a reasonable flexibility in interpreting and applying these rules. 5. Before a denomination or missionary organiza- tion commits itself to the choice of a new location, or a change in church location, the matter is submitted to the Comity Department for its consideration. Numerous instances are on record in which the original plans of a denomination or congregation have been abandoned when the Comity Department has withheld its endorsement, or advised against the selected location because of infringement upon the sphere of activity of some other church. For example, the Indianapolis Federation reports that no new church or mission has been established in that city in the last four years by denominations included in the Church Federation, without the endorsement of the Federation first being placed upon them. The following letter recently written to a city fed- eration secretary illustrates this readiness to accept the Comity Department’s deliverances. “Dear Brother : “The First Church, formerly located at Street and Avenue, has taken an option on a lot just west of Street and Avenue. We have decided that this is most 28 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK central for our people. I have talked with the pastors of the churches in the vicinity and personally they offer no objections to our locating on the above lot, as they consider that our work is already established in this part of the city and do not look upon it as a new church enterprise coming in. It is with a de- sire for the maintenance of friendly relations with the neigh- boring churches as well as with the Association of the Feder- ated Churches that we submit this matter for the consideration of your committee. (Signed by the Pastor.)” In line with this we quote the convincing testi- mony of the Massachusetts Federation, i “The Committee recently reviewed more than twenty cases that have been brought to its attention in past years, and wishes to bear testimony to the spirit of increasing cooperation among all the denominations connected with the Federation of Churches. A more sensitive conscience is developing in our churches, and there is a healthy response to the suggestions that may be made through the Secretary or others, in the interests of closer cooperation for the work of the Kingdom.” In concluding these gratifying testimonies to the short period required to bring about a general acceptance of this principle of comity on the part of the churches of a city one more report is quoted. The committee says, “So thoroughly has the plan [of considering the claims of other churches in locating new enterprises] been established that it is now prac- tically self-operative, and church extension societies are plan- ning their new enterprises in the light of its provisions, so as to guard against possible future difficulties. The committee has requested that all proposed new mission enterprises, whether among foreign-speaking people or in new residence communi- ties, he reported to the committee and laid on the table until a subsequent meeting, so as to allow ample time for objections from any one of the denominations.” INTER-CHURCH COMITY 29 6. The Department may assist congregations in re- ciprocal exchanges of location where this is desired because of the removal of constituencies. A St. Louis church of the family type found its constit- uency far removed from its down-town location. An arrange- ment was made through the Comity Committee between this and a Methodist church for the exchange of their buildings and equipment, and each established itself in what was formerly the other’s territory. 7. In the earlier stages of the Federation’s work the committee may be called upon to adjust conflict- ing interests arising from the rights of established congregations being threatened by the encroachment of new enterprises. The ease with which these threat- ened violations of the principle of ecclesiastical cour- tesy can be harmonized when Christian tact, blended with the pressure of public opinion, is applied to them, will prove reassuring. As the work progresses such experiences will be apt to become few and far between. A Cleveland committee report says : “When the Congre- gational Union recently took an option on a Cleveland Heights property the near-by Methodist and Presbyterian pastors made a vigorous protest to our committee on the ground that they had been diligently developing the field for some years, and had just come to a point of self-support, and that they needed the support of all the families in their parishes. In a fine spirit of Christian harmony the Congregationalists surrendered the option and made plans to secure a site elsewhere.” 8. Because the special work done among the city’s foreign populations by the denominations sometimes develops “overlapping” problems, intervention by the Department is occasionally called for. One Federation reports; “Out of the Comity Committee’s work has come a plan to hold monthly meetings of the denomi- national missionary superintendents, which has disposed of a number of questions that ordinarily would have been taken up 30 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK by the committee itself. A booklet has been prepared showing the composition and distribution of the population of the city which will be extensively used by the denominational mission- ary societies in planning new enterprises.” 9. The strengthening of interchurch bonds, by set- ting aside an annual Interchurch Sunday on which the churches of the Federation arrange for inter- denominational pulpit exchanges, is another of the gratifying results. Points for Special Emphasis 1. As all conditions indicate that the popular senti- ment of our times is cordially favorable to the applica- tion of comity principles to interchurch relations on an extensive scale, one most urgent need seems to be for the directing of this spreading spirit of inter- denominational fraternalism into practical channels by the organization of State, City, and Community Federations. 2. Systematic efforts for multiplying interdenomi- national gatherings, by arranging for frequent union church services and pulpit exchange, will help to create the atmosphere of interchurch intimacy and fel- lowship essential to the greatest success of all co- operative effort. The general use of the “Interchurch Sunday” plan of interdenominational pulpit exchanges will prove of value in this direction. 3. Because the spirit of Christian fraternalism is best promoted by the actual cooperation of the mem- bers of the various denominations in the prosecution of a common task, every opportunity for uniting in special forms of community welfare activities should be encouraged for the sake of this reflex result, as well INTER-CHURCH COMITY 31 as of the specially sought results secured through these cooperative labors. 4. The wider circulation of comity literature will prove of educational value. A volume devoted wholly to incidents illustrating comity in operation, similar to those cited in this report, would inspire and spur others to efforts in the same direction. 5. It may seem gratuitous to suggest the impor- tance of keeping all of these plans for the promotion and application of comity upon the highest spiritual plane lest they degenerate, on the one hand, into the barrenness of mere method multiplication, or, on the other, into a superficial good fellowship which has no spiritual value because it has no Christ-inspired con- victions. ADDENDUM The following statement was presented by dele- gates and adopted by the Congress ; This Congress rejoices in the rapid growth of community churches, and believes that to new communities and to older towns and villages where the church life has declined, this type of organization offers assurance of enlarged church-membership, spiritual strength, and a new social vision. Each and every evangelical denomination is urged to encourage the organiza- tion of these churches and to adjust its policies so as to admit them into its fellowship with recognition of their character as designed to serve the spiritual interests of the whole community. II REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION ON A DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY EVANGELISM SUB-COMMISSION ON COMMUNITY EVANGELISM Pearson, Rev. Morton C., Chairman Indianapolis, Ind. _ Executive Secretary, Church Federation of Indianapolis Fogg, James E. St. Louis, Mo. Real Estate and Financial Agent Freeman, Rev. James E. Minneapolis, Minn. Pastor, St. Mark’s Protestant Episcopal Qiurdh Gleiss, Rev. H. C. Detroit, Mich. Evangelistic Secretary, Detroit Baptist Association Goodell, Rev. C. L. New York City Pastor, St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church Latshaw, Rev. David New York City Secretary, International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Associations. Rice, Rev. M. E. Detroit, Mich. Pastor, Woodward Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church Smith, Rev. C. McLeod Buffalo, N. Y. Executive Secretary, Buffalo Federation of Churches Stauffer, Rev. C. R. Cincinnati, Ohio Pastor, Norwood Christian Church Waldorf, Rev. E. L. Cleveland, Ohio Pastor, First Methodist Episcopal Church The Opportunity of the Church The nations of the world have called their sons to arms. The church of the living God is calling her sons to a mighty campaign for men who will consecrate themselves to his service, to the increase of righteous- ness throughout the world. We are in the midst of changes of incomprehensible proportions and incal- 33 34 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK culable issues to the world. Foundations seem to be shifting. The older order changeth. A great hour has struck and the world crisis ushers in the church’s opportunity. These times call for a nation-wide evangelistic undertaking, designed to do more than to revive for a brief space a gospel ministry. If it is to be effective in the spiritual life of the church, and through it the spiritual life of the nation, it must not be spectacular or sporadic. It must not be a temporary movement but a reaffirmed principle of service. If there must be machinery, let it be so inconspicuous that it shall not disclose its presence. It must reach those great mul- titudes now untouched. There are gifted evangelists who will be available and who must carry burdens in this great undertaking, but the mission will fail of its purpose unless every pastor and every congregation is enlisted. To ac- knowledge incompetency is to deny our Lord and to hinder his claims. A greater and more vital fellowship among the clergy must grow out of this undertaking. No matter what our personal and peculiar points of view may be, we are common priests of a common household of faith. Ixt us banish distrust and abolish all rivalries. Let us silence all other voices that Christ’s voice may prevail. If the splendid heritage left us by him is to be handed on unimpaired, we, its custodians, must hold it as a common trust to-day. The Challenge to the Church Is there inherent power in the spiritual ideals cher- ished by Christianity to conquer this new world in COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 35 which we now live ? Are Christ and Christianity equal to the task of world mastery? This is the vital religious question of the hour. It comes to the modern Christian church as a challenge to provide both ideals and methods that will be ade- quate. No attempt merely to hark back to past condi- tions and methods and conceptions will prevail. Much less will it do any good to become carpingly critical of the present age and consign it to perdition because it does not heed our call. It is the task of the Chris- tian church to develop convictions that will compel respect and a program that will command confidence. One of the most effective ways to reach the indi- vidual conscience is to show the opportunity and the need of Christlike service. Perhaps no motive either is more needed or more effective in reaching individ- uals than to show them how to help in a mighty and worthy task. The task is essentially spiritual. It involves fundamentally a recognition of consciousness of God in personal spiritual experience. It involves with equal emphasis the rendering of personal helpful service to others and the enlistment for the service of life for ideals and for a Person. This challenge must be given not to limited groups but to all men. The universal reach of the message must be recognized with new emphasis, an emphasis arising from the complexity of new social relation- ships. A new solidarity is already coming, based upon a new and richer individualism. There are many venturesome spirits whose power of initiative and intellectual freedom the cause of re- ligion needs and who need the confidence and the comfort of a definite faith. The church must lay claim 36 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK to these and indeed to all classes and types and groups of men. The “free thinkers,” the dull and un- responsive, the alienated groups, all constitute the field of the church. A new missionary enthusiasm is growing. It ought to grow to a master passion. The churches of a city should know definitely who are not in the ranks of Christian service, should know why they are not, and should not be content until they are enlisted. This report deals primarily with the community task of evangelism, with the work which can be done through the cooperation of churches and other Chris- tian agencies. I. The Normal Method of Christian Culture The church’s greatest opportunity for the develop- ment of Christians lies among the children of our American homes. Here is the church of to-morrow, and through the natural, normal channels of Christian culture and training, the children of the nation may be led to accept Christ and to be worthy members of the church. If this work is conscientiously done by parents and Sunday-school teachers and day-school teachers, the future of the church is assured. The investment of time, effort, and money in the building of character is surely a wise one. The world can never be won for God by simply winning men and women. The children must be won or the case is hopeless. The accompanying report on religious edu- cation deals fully with this subject as it relates to the community task. COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 37 11. Pastoral, Personal Evangelism in the Local Church There are many forms of evangelism, but there can be no difference of opinion concerning the fact that the basis of a successful evangelistic effort must be the individual church and pastor. The normal evan- gelism is that which every pastor conducts with his own people throughout the year. Here is scope for the Christian culture of childhood, in which, by a law as unyielding as the law of physical growth, spir- itual development shall go forward from the bud and blossom to glorious fruitage. In order that there may be successful evangelistic campaigns by federated churches, there must be a spirit apparent which will make the individual church a vital and integral part of that campaign. No team is stronger than the individual players. Unquestion- ably, there are times when an evangelistic campaign with some accredited evangelist at the head of it is essential, but even then it will amount to little unless there is evangelistic efficiency in the local church. The crying need of the time is for more pastors and church officials who definitely plan for evangelis- tic work. It has been well said that the church needs to “agonize” quite as much as to “organize.” It is the church of the yearning heart in which young peo- ple and old will come into the kingdom of God. “To your tents, O Israel.” It is time for a new Pentecost. Let it begin by setting up the family altar in every individual home and in the consecration of every Christian pastor in the blessed task of winning the world to God. The Department of Evangelism can render a valu- 38 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK able service to the churches in the federation by secur- ing reports on methods that have been successful in local churches and furnishing them to pastors and church officials. No one method will be equally ac- ceptable to all leaders but from several methods sug- gestions can be adopted which will be very helpful. The First Baptist Church of Lowell, Massachusetts, has worked out a year-round program for evangelism. The success of such a plan depends upon a few essen- tial features. First: the pastor must believe in and be bold in evangelism. He must keep all organ- izations under his own hand. Reports must be made directly to him. Second : a survey of forces in the church and of the field about the church is funda- mental. The field must be known thoroughly in order to cultivate it. Third : constant pressure must be kept upon the workers during the height of the cam- paign. Fourth: there must be a definite goal and a definite time for work. III. Special Forms of Cooperative Evangelism I. Simultaneous Evangelistic Campaigns A new type of evangelistic movement has been in- augurated in a number of our large cities which has become exceedingly resultful and popular with pastors and churches where it has been tried out. It involves an agreement on the part of all the pastors to follow an all-year-round program of pastoral and personal evangelistic eflPorts. The plan makes necessary cen- tral leadership such as a local federation, or a thor- oughly representative evangelistic committee appoint- ed by the Ministerial Association. COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 39 It becomes the work of this federation or com- mittee to build a plan of work sufficiently compre- hensive and concrete unitedly to engage all the active religious forces of a city in efficient pastoral-personal evangelistic effort. The hub of the whole movement is usually found in a down-town theater meeting held each day at noon from twelve to one o’clock during the time the individual churches are engaged in intensive evangelistic work. In Indianapolis this noon meeting has been an outstanding feature and the attendance has ranged through a period of four years from 800 to 2,500 people daily. The meeting is thoroughly evangelistic in character. The speakers may be local ministers or ministers invited from the outside. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon these central mass-meetings. No evangelist is required in the execution of the simultaneous evangelistic campaign. In large cities, however, it is necessary to have a secretary who can practically give all of his time to this work. The expense involved is a very small item. The responsi- bility for the campaign rests equally upon every min- ister and layman. Each church is organized to a point of highest efficiency. The pastors are expected to be winning men, women, and children to Christ and the church throughout the entire period of the campaign. Each church is made responsible for a house-to-house canvass of its own parish through a plan that covers the entire city. No family in the city should be left untouched by these home canvasses. The movement is thoroughly interdenominational, the supreme object being the bringing in of the kingdom of God and the elevation of the moral and spiritual life of the entire city and community. 40 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK Much attention must be given to publicity. To have an entire community reading and talking and thinking about the same thing at the same time ac- counts in part for the success of a campaign con- ducted by Mr. Sunday. In. cities where this plan has been adopted and properly administered great success has attended the movement. Indianapolis has carried on such a cam- paign for four full years. The first year 3,500 people united with the churches; the second year 7,000; the third year 8,000, and the fourth year 8,000. Similar re- sults have been secured in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, and other cities conducting such cam- paigns. In addition to these large accessions to mem- bership, the religious life of the city has been unified and a splendid fellowship has been developed among both ministers and laymen. This form of evangelism has become the fertile soil in which other forms of cooperative efforts have been grown, namely : public recreation, social hy- giene, housing, religious education, wholesome legis- lation, law enforcement, suppression of vice, and the purification of the local election. The full apprecia- tion of the eternal value of a human life leads to the more careful safeguarding and development of that life. It should be the settled policy of the local Church Federation to keep the work of evangelism at the very forefront of its many activities. A definite goal should be fixed toward which the big drive is to be made. It is urged that the reports be of actual gains to the church-membership consisting of those received on confession of faith or by confirmation. The transferring of members does not denote real in- crease. COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 41 A, A Suggestive Plan In order that a concrete plan may be seen, there follows, largely in outline, the program of the evan- gelistic campaign adopted for the year 1917-18 by the Church Federation of Indianapolis. This plan will be filled in by special days and special services in the local churches by the evangelistic committee in charge of the work. The Indianapolis Campaign, 1917-18 “For September — The Y. M. C. A., through the Bible Work Department will conduct a course of five lectures on ‘Personal Work and Church Organization,’ beginning Wednesday evening, September 5, and closing the first Wednesday in October. These lectures will be open to the ministers of the city and will deal directly with personal-pastoral evangelism by the individual through the church. “The Committee recommends that October 7 be designated as Church-Going and Registration Sunday. The suggestion is also made that uniform cards of registration be prepared by the Federation and that those present during the services of that day be asked to sign cards, giving name and address and church relationship. “For October — October i will be the regular morning for the Union Ministers’ meeting. We recommend that an address be given on that morning by some outstanding minister on the subject of Evangelism. Also, that a noon luncheon be held for the ministers of the city in the Y. M. C. A., and that the luncheon be followed by a conference on the program of the churches for the winter, this program to be worked out in detail by the evangelistic committee. “We recommend that the churches of the city be divided into natural groups to the number of fifteen or more, and that on the first three Monday evenings of the month union meetings of each group of church workers be held in these various sec- tions of the city to be addressed by some minister selected by the evangelistic committee. It is our judgment that the meetings 42 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK in each group should be held in one central location and that the pastors of each group cooperate in making the meetings a suc- cess. It is also recommended that one speaker have charge of the services in each group for the entire series. “On the fourth Monday evening in October we recommend that all these groups be brought together in a central mass- meeting to be addressed by a selected speaker. “The month of October should be designated as the month for Rally days, special work in the Sunday-schools and Young People’s Societies, and should also mark the canvassing of homes in each community by the churches. “For November — We recommend .that a two weeks’ simul- taneous evangelistic campaign be held, beginning Sunday, November 4, each church to hold its meeting in its own way. Also that during these two weeks noon meetings at Keith’s Theatre be held as usual, to be addressed by some outstanding evangelistic preacher. The committee desires each church to pledge itself to begin special services on November 4, and to continue two weeks or longer. We recommend also that pre- ceding these meetings, home prayer meetings be held through- out the city in large numbers. “For December — The month of December is to be devoted to follow-up work and the preparation of Christmas celebrations. “For January — Wt recommend that the Week of Prayer be observed throughout the city during the the first week of Jan- uary, beginning January 6, and concluding January 13, 1918. During the Week of Prayer noon meetings to be held at Keith’s Theatre, with local ministers as speakers. “For February — The month of February to be devoted to the ingathering of members to the church and to the kingdom of God, through the organized effort of personal workers’ teams in all the city churches, following the Lowell Plan of Organiza- tion. “For March — We recommend that between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, March 23 and 31, Passion Week Services be held throughout the city, and during this time another week of Keith Meetings be held under the direction of the Federa- tion, with some outstanding man as speaker.’’ COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 43 B. We recommend this plan for the following reasons : (1) It furnishes all the churches of a community a comprehensive, simultaneous, all-the-year-round pro- gram of church activity. (2) It emphasizes evangelism as the fundamental interest of the churches during the entire year. (3) Converts who are won to Christ and the church by this plan are fully assimilated as they enter into church fellowship. (4) It employs to the fullest measure all the nat- ural and regular agencies of the church in its approach to the unconverted and unchurched persons of the community, such as the pastor, Sunday-school, and laymen’s personal work committee. (5) It recognizes and emphasizes the office of the pastor with his lay assistants as the legitimate leaders of the religious work in the community. (6) It greatly strengthens every department of the local churches. There are no considerable reactions or lapses in interest or membership. (7) By the use of this method the religious agencies of a community are naturally and easily uni- fied into a single unit of influence for righteousness and for the betterment of the moral, social, and relig- ious life of the community. This plan of evangelism has its limitations. It does not reach certain classes of people who are drawn to tabernacle meetings by the extraordinary forms of service conducted there. For this reason it is felt that an occasional tabernacle meeting, held under the aus- pices of the Church Federation and as a part of its all- year-program, can be helpful. 44 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK 2. Tabernacle Evangelism Tabernacle evangelism involves the organization of an evangelistic party with an evangelist at the head. This party is so equipped as to cover every phase of religious life of the community where a tabernacle evangelistic meeting is held. The community assumes the responsibility of erecting a large temporary taber- nacle seating from 5,000 to 20,000 people, the enter- tainment of the whole party, the paying of one half the salaries of all the party except the evangelist, whose compensation is covered by ail the offerings which are made for him on the last day of the meeting. The cost of a tabernacle campaign ranges from $6,000 to $150,000, according to the size of the community and the popularity of the evangelist. This method has been in use to a greater or less degree for fifteen or twenty years and therefore does not need to be de- scribed. A. For this method of evangelism we can state the following as elements of strength and value. (1) It promotes good fellowship among the churches and prepares the way for any cooperative work by the churches. (2) It advertises religion and the church because of the unusual publicity given to such a campaign by the press of the city. (3) It popularizes religion; it brings together the pastors and the people of the poor and wealthy churches; it draws in large numbers the non-church- going elements of the city. All mingle together and religion becomes genuinely democratic. (4) The sins of society and the church are usually denounced by the evangelist without fear of personal COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 45 offense. He is free to speak strongly and frankly from his tabernacle platform as the local pastor cannot do. (5) Such campaigns have aided greatly in driving out the saloons in the cities where campaigns have been held. It creates an atmosphere of evangelism throughout the country. (6) It leads many persons to become disciples of Jesus Christ who might not be won through the regu- lar work of the local churches. B. The Sub-commission has gathered from various sources certain features of the tabernacle system which are open to criticism and which should have serious consideration and should, if possible, be speed- ily remedied. (1) “Hitting the trail” is too often a very super- ficial matter. It is actuated too often by wrong mo- tives. Too many people come forward just to “shake hands” with the evangelist. Many come without evi- dence of penitence or a realization of the significant step being taken. For such people there is seldom any after meeting to clarify the mind, deepen the con- viction, or give assurance of the acceptance of Christ. (2) New converts are in danger of securing a dis- torted idea of church work, church services, and the ministers of Christ w’ho have charge of local churches. (3) Among the “trail hitters” distinction is not always made between new converts and reconsecra- tions. The figures reported in the daily papers are misleading and not very valuable. (4) The regular church services and offerings are so disarranged by a long omission of services that much loss is suffered and much time required for readjustment. (5) The commercial element is too prominent in 46 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH-WORK the tabernacle method of evangelism. The appeal for money, not only for local expenses, but for the com- pensation of the evangelist receives too large an em- phasis. The appeal most often used to encourage giving is “We must not fall behind other cities.” (6) The number of accessions to the churches is about twenty per cent, of the total number signing cards and reported to the press, thus demonstrating the need of great care in estimating the actual net results of such a campaign. (7) Objection is made that these tabernacle efforts are too sensational and too highly geared. They speed up a particular type of religious work to a point where it cannot be maintained by any possible effort. It is sure to slow down and seem tame and insipid to the people drawn together by the tabernacle method. Where communities desire a tabernacle evangel- istic campaign an endeavor should be put forth to in- crease the elements of strength and value which in- here in this form of union evangelistic effort and diminish as far as possible those features which have brought forth the largest criticism of the method. It is believed by this Commission that all these elements of disfavor might be reduced to the lowest terms and the method preserved and strengthened for a larger field of usefulness than it has ever yet had. 3. Evangelism in Shops and Factories While the church’s opportunity to evangelize the mass of men within her own walls seems to be limited under present conditions, the shop meeting offers a conspicuous example of quietly done evangelistic work on what might be called the “non-committal” ground COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 47 of industry. Through shop meetings the church reaches with her message every race and creed repre- sented on this continent. Taking figures from the year book of the Y. M. C. A. last year we find that 333 Associations reported 27,345 shop meetings held in 1,134 different shops with a total hearing by 2,004,946 men. The number of shops entered and the hearing given is the largest ever re- ported. While the figures are recorded in the report of one of the church’s lay agencies, the bulk of the speaking in these meetings was done by ordained min- isters. It is estimated that an average of ten clergy- men cooperated in each of the 333 Associations reporting, making a total of 3,300 ministers. The mes- sage was delivered by ministers, while the opportunity as a rule was secured, developed, and financed by the lay workers of the Y. M. C. A. The shop meeting is not only from and for the church but in a verv real sense is maintained by the church. A. Methods of Organization ( 1 ) Central Committee. A central committee upon which the working man, the employer, the Church Federation or ministerial organization and the Y. M. C. A. are represented. The majority of the committee should be made up of men directly connected with in- dustry. This committee usually meets at least once a month for reports on the work and plans for extension and betterment. (2) Shop Leaders. A layman leader from outside the shop. He serves in one shop for the entire season. His duties are to conduct the shop meetings, act as chairman of the shop committee, cooperate in securing 48 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK speakers, music, etc., for the shop. The leader keeps in close touch with the speaker and the employer and puts his life in close touch with the lives of the work- men. He is the spokesman for the men to the church and the Association. (3) Shop Speakers. The speaker on the other hand may be a clergyman or layman. In most cases he is a clergyman. His duty is to preach the gospel to as eager a body of men as he will ever find in his own church. He speaks in the name of the whole church. If he gains spiritual leadership, as he has every oppor- tunity to do, he will see large results from his work. There are some clergymen with a “shop pastorate” of as many as six years. It is the usual practise to call committeemen, lead- ers, and speakers together for conference at least once a month, (4) Shop Committee. Usually three to five men. In large shops a representative in each department has been found desirable. They may be elected in a regu- lar shop meeting by the men themselves, or may be appointed by the shop leader. B. How TO Relate the Work to the Church (1) Through an interchurch organization, such as the Church Federation, Ministerial Association, or the Y. M. C. A. To the local churches through the use of pastors as speakers and laymen as leaders, musicians, etc. An annual report to the local churches of all work done is also desirable. (2) Through the spiritual leadership of laymen and pastors in the shop. COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 49 (3) Through a demonstration of the spirit of brotherhood and the service by churchmen. (4) Through evangelistic meetings promoted by shop men outside the shop. (5) Personal interviews and “join the church” campaigns. C. Should the Federation or the Young Men’s Christian Association Conduct THE Work? The majority of federation secretaries and minis- ters answering this question agree that this work may best be conducted by the Y. M. C. A. with cooperation by the Church Federation or Ministerial Association. The following reasons support this opinion. 1. The successful cooperation of clergymen and laymen in carrying the evangelistic message of the church to the shops through the Association. 2. The long experience of the Association in this type of work. Some of the shop meetings have been in operation for over twenty years. 3. The ability of the Association as an outpost of the church to minister through experience and equip- ment to the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of working men. 4. The Association’s experience in securing support from both Catholic and Protestant workmen in con- ducting shop meetings. D, Thoroughness There are about 14,000,000 wage-earners in this country, and while there is a constant growth in the 50 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK church’s hearing through the shop meeting, it cannot be said that we have more than touched the fringe of the field. The industrial question has for a long time been admitted by thoughtful men to be the most pressing phase of the social problem. It will not be less a prob- lem in the days of reconstruction after the world war. If the problems of capital and labor are to be settled by the principles of Jesus, the rank and file as well as the leaders of industry in America must be taught what his principles are. There must be also a demonstra- tion by all Christian men of the spirit of Jesus in ser- vice, if his spirit is to mold the policies of this awaken- ing and plastic body of working men. A larger program of work among the men of industry, a better coopera- tion from every organization of Christians, more care- fully selected and trained leaders, and better methods of work, are all necessary if the church is thoroughly to meet her opportunity among the men of industry. IV. Evangelism in Open Air Meetings A. Opportunities. This is an era of outdoor enter- tainment and propaganda. Cities and towns have become the dwelling-place of the crowds, and the crowds are found on the streets and in the parks. Great pageants and operatic and theatrical perform- ances are elaborately staged in the open air. All sorts of amusement enterprises and propagandists of all kinds of “isms” may be found and seen and heard in every quarter of a crowded city. Whoso will get the gospel message to the crowd must go where the crowd is. Fifty-three per cent, of the population of St. Louis (400,000 souls) is not in communion with the church. COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 51 The masses are not to be found in the churches. Where can they be reached ? Opportunities are everywhere ; in all kinds of places; under all kinds of conditions, — in the better sections of the cities, in public plazas, in the American tenement districts, and in the distinctly foreign quarters among Italians, Lithuanians, Rus- sian Jews, German Jews, and Polish Jews. B. Difficulties. These are along several general lines : lack of adaptation in the places occupied ; lack of training and experience for this particular sort of work. The crowd is not one in quest of religious things. The difficulty is getting Protestant Christians to realize that they have a mission or a responsibility for this kind of work. But the greatest difficulty has always been to convince both the laymen and minis- ters that their duties lie outside of the immediate four walls of their church building or beyond their denomi- national group. In some cities opposition by antagon- istic groups — rationalists, socialists, I. W. W. organ- izers, freethinkers generally — must be combated. Often very capable men fail to diagnose the mind of the crowd. “One Y. M. C. A. secretary cites two instances of pastors who went to a street meeting in a foreign section and used creedal statements that aroused prejudice rather than secured the cooperating interest of the people of the community. But as against this the various communities have always received us kindly and attentively, and except when a speaker without proper experience has made ill-chosen remarks there has never been a murmur of opposition to the things that we have been trying to do.” St. Louis’ experience in dealing with the crowd is fairly well set forth in the Hoho News, the organ of the International Brotherhood Welfare Association. "The Church and Social Justice “Now that the open meetings on the court-house steps are 52 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK closing down on account of the chill in the weather, we think it advisable to look back and find out if we can, what good has been accomplished. “The meetings have been run in the main without friction in spite of the sharply divergent views of many of the speakers. The churches have had the first hour with their choirs and min- isters, and (the radicals the remainder of the time. On the whole it has worked very well, and we are proud of the fact that the speakers and friends of the International Brotherhood Welfare Association have taken a not inconspicuous part. “It does not look as if the church has made many converts from their evangelical point of view ; yet this has been gained — there is a spirit of fellowship in these meetings, churchmen, socialists, anarchists, I. W. W. and A. F. of L. men giving credit where credit was due, and when criticism seemed called for, giving it in all kindness and without malice or vituperative language. “This is a great gain, for if this method could be used with all classes and conditions of the people throughout the country, a great many misunderstandings would be cleared up and we should be a great deal nearer to the promised land.” C. Methods of Organization 1. Music. There must be music; “cornet or clear tone-carrying instrument.” A clear carrying voice will always get a hearing. A good male glee club will draw a crowd any time. A group of mixed voices singing selections with which the members are familiar also wins. Perhaps no other music is quite so helpful as a good soloist singing choice selections. In this respect the crowd outside is very like the crowd within church walls. 2. Speaker. It makes little difference whether the speaker is minister or layman if he has a message and can give it. The crowd will listen to almost any man with a good voice, earnest, and fairly capable of adapt- COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 53 ing content and expression to a promiscuous company more familiar with the style of the reporter than the preacher or the lecturer. The speaker should have the ability of a story-teller, be able to put his thoughts tersely in monosyllabic words, have a live, wide- awake, virile presence, and have absolute faith in the thing that he is saying. 3. Leadership. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the leadership in open-air meetings. Where it is possible the meetings in any locality should be under the continuous management of one man, who by experience has learned the ways of the crowd, and who has sympathy, courtesy, tact, fairness. If interruptions occur he will be able to direct them successfully where less experienced leadership would make a mess of the situation. A good leader, a good speaker, and good music will win out in any situation. A well-tested method to-day has been the illustrated lecture. The plan of doing this is to take a moving van, placing a lantern at one end and the screen at the other, and thus show the pictures as the speaker delivers his address. 4. Who Should Do the Work? By whatever group the meetings are held, they should be held in the name of the church ; and where there is a Church Fed- eration, there are obvious advantages in every way in doing this work under the auspices of the Church Fed- eration, or in cooperation with it. It seems to make a profound impression when a man inquires, “Who is holding these meetings?” to receive as an answer, “These meetings are supported by all the Protestant communions of the city. The speakers to whom you listen from night to night in this place are the same men who on Sunday occupy the pulpits of the city 54 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK churches.’’ When the senior Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States expresses his desire to be one of the speakers, it catches the imagination of the crowd. There are very great advantages in committing the management of a meeting in a particular locality largely to a group of churches in that community. This judgment is rapidly becoming practically unani- mous. These quotations from two Y. M. C. A. secretaries are representative: “One thing I would advise against, and that is, employing some men to come in from the outside and conduct a series of street meetings. It seems to me that this is dis- tinctly the work of the Christian church, and is a glorious oppor- tunity for the church, both pastor and people, to convince a community that it is interested in the spiritual welfare of the people of the community.” “I would advise against street preaching being done in the name of the Y. M. C. A. We have secured very splendid results by unselfishly serving the church and putting a sign on the wagon which states the fact that these meetings were com- munity meetings, for the people of the community, by the churches of the community. Only where the gatherings are exclusively for men and boys has the Association special respon- sibility.” But while the meetings are held in the name of the churches there should be the fullest cooperation with all existing organizations that are engaged in promoting the Kingdom, such as the Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., the accredited missions of the city, and like agencies. Laymen as Preachers We ought never to forget that some of the greatest spiritual awakenings that the world has experienced have been ushered in through lay preaching. Jesus COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 55 called men from their occupations and commanded them to go forth and preach the gospel everywhere. It is to the hurt of the church and to the limitation of its usefulness that the ministry of preaching the gos- pel of Christ has been so largely restricted and re- served to its ordained messengers. No layman wishes to usurp those peculiar functions that have been given to the clergy. On the other hand we cannot but be- lieve that the clergy themselves would hail with delight a great readiness and willingness on the part of the consecrated laymen, yes, or laywomen, to proclaim the message of the gospel. How can any man keep silent in such a critical time as this, when the world is clamoring for a fresh and positive statement of the gospel’s power? Is there not a crisis at hand and is there not a call that is well-nigh tragic that demands of each and every one of us a fearless and pronounced expression of our great faith? We do not have to have pulpits to pro- claim this faith, nor do we need the soft or dim relig- ious light of the sanctuary to declare it. Every count- ing-room, every mart of trade, every shop and factory, every drawing room, every home ; yes, the open streets and fields wherein we have intercourse with men, offer us abundant opportunity for the proclama- tion of the eternal truths of our faith. The best illustration of team work among laymen is to be found in Wichita, Kansas, where leading lay- men of all the churches have been organized into evan- gelistic teams and are directed in their services both in the city and throughout the state by a central com- mittee. These teams are called upon to take charge of Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening services throughout the entire year and have been marvelously 56 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK successful in bringing to the laymen of all denomina- tions a virile laymen’s message. It is estimated that hundreds of conversions and consecrations to service have been secured through the efforts of these lay preachers. This plan can be carried out in any city under the direction of a Church Federation. Other Suggestions Church Federations should plan to bring to the city from time to time men who have great messages for particular groups of people. Among those to be touched are the high school students, college men and women, business men who are not identified with the church, industrial workers who may be adverse to the church, and foreigners who have not yet caught the full vision of our Americanism. Careful attention should be given to the establishing of social centers, community houses, and rescue missions in those sec- tions of our cities where they may be needed. The church should have the responsibility of promoting all this work among these various groups in order to prove its interest and efficiency in the task of social redemption. The Sub-commission recommends that local church federations throughout the country see to it that public libraries are provided with the latest and best books on church federation movements and par- ticularhr on the subjects of community evangelism and home and foreign missions. Also, through church fed- eration committees on religious education attention should be given to songs which are generally used in the Sunday-school^ young people’s societies, and church services. COMMUNITY EVANGELISM 57 This report is submitted in the hope that it may be valuable to the churches of the country in showing the way to the great task of evangelism and revealing the best methods by which this great task may be accomplished. / Ill REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION ON A DEPARTMENT OF HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS SUB-COMMISSION ON HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS Hicks, Harry Wade, Chairman New York City General Secretary, Missionary Educaticm Movement of the United States and Canada Colton, E. T. New York City Secretary, Foreign Department of the International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Associations. Diffendorfer, R. E. New York City Joint Educational Secretary, Board of Foreign Missions and Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, Methodist Episcopal Church Fleming, Prof. D. J. New York City Department of Foreign Service, Union Theological Seminary Green, Rev. Justin N. Cincinnati, Ohio Pastor, Evanston Christian Church McAfee, J. E. New York City Secretary, Board of Home Missions, Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. McGaffin, Rev. Alexander Cleveland, Ohio Pastor, Euclid Avenue Presbyterian Church Millar, W. B. New York City General Secretary, Laymen’s Missionary Movement Moore, Rev. John M. Brooklyn, N. Y. Pastor, Marcy Avenue Baptist Church North, Rev. Frank Mason New York City Corresponding Secretary, Board of Foreign Missions, Methodist Episcopal Church Patton, Rev. C. H. Boston, Mass. Corresponding Secretary, American Board cxf Com- missioners for Foreign Missions in the U. S. A. Potter, Rev. Rockwell Harmon Hartford, Conn. Pastor, Center Congregational Church 59 6o THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK Rhoades, John D. Toledo, Ohio Rice, Rev. Charles _ West Lynn, Mass. Pastor, South Street Methodist Episcopal Church Russell, Winslow Hartford, Conn. Phoenix Life Insurance Company Swartz, Rev. H. F. New York City Secretary of Missions, Congregational Home Mission- ary Society Waltz, Rev. S. S. Louisville, Ky. Pastor, First English Lutheran Qiurch Wilson, Dr. Warren H. New York City Department of Church and Country Life, Board of Home Missions, Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. Winders, Rev. Charles H. Indianapolis, Ind. Pastor, Downey Avenue Christian Church WISHART, Rev. W. I. Pittsburgh, Pa. Pastor, Eighth United Presbyterian Church Woodrow, Rev. Samuel H. St. Louis, Mo. Pastor, Pilgrim Congregational Church Scope of the Report This report refers to the propagation of Christian- ity outside those towns and cities in this country in which the Christian church is already established and where interchurch relations are practicable. The scope of the report does not, therefore, include cooperative city missions and other interchurch activities relating to the social, moral, and religious welfare of communi- ties in which Christianity is or should be self-propaga- tive. It does include whatever activities are supported and administered by the established home and foreign missionary societies, whose field is outside these com- munities. This limitation of the scope of the report has been imposed by the Commission on Interchurch Federations, not because cooperative evangelism, social service, and kindred activities of a community HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 6i character and involving interchurch relations are not properly integral parts of the world mission of the churches, but because these cooperative activities dealing with near rather than distant service obvi- ously require special study and a separate treatment for their highest development. The Sub-commission recognizes that, for practical purposes, the community missions, which are a vital and integral part of the world missions of the church, should be separately treated though not thereby sep- arately favored or otherwise regarded by the churches. The field is the world, including near and far, and the missions of the churches in this field are a unity, calling for different types of service but for like sacrificial devotion and support. Missionary Responsibility of a Local Federation Does the propagation of missionary spirit and service belong properly to the program of a local church federation? An extensive inquiry has been made by the Sub-commission to secure expressions of judgment on this question from representative min- isters more or less familiar with the principles and work of federations, laymen of prominence in federa- tive effort, and executive secretaries of federations of churches. The entire membership of the executive committee of the Federal Council and a select list of home and foreign mission board secretaries and em- ployed officers of interdenominational missionary agencies were addressed or interviewed. The conclu- sions of this report are based in the main upon the replies received and upon recorded interviews of this investigation. 62 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK Seventy per cent, of those who rendered definite judgment stated unqualifiedly that the local federa- tions should undertake to foster the development of the missionary life of the churches of their respective communities. Several of the remainder qualified their affirmative reply in one way or another, chiefly due to their belief that at present few, if indeed any, local federations are provided with a large enough execu- tive staff to undertake any phase of work not limited strictly to needs within the boundaries of their respec- tive communities. Twenty per cent, of those who sent carefully prepared replies expressed either a well- formed conviction that federations of churches should not undertake to promote the work of missions other than that pertaining to the community, or a grave doubt whether such work should be attempted. The Sub-commission finds that but two or three of the existing local federations have had a missionary committee or have undertaken a work of a mission- ary character. Except for specific tasks, such as ar- ranging for a convention, lecture, or institute, involv- ing relatively brief effort, no local federation whose work was reported can be said to have undertaken the promotion of the spirit and service of world mis- sions in such a way as to have warranted establish- ment of a department therefor, or the regular employ- ment of either an executive officer or a representative group of strong, voluntary missionary leaders in pro- gressive execution of a continuous program of ser- vice. The majority of the correspondents confessed that there was little or no experience on which to base their judgment. It is important, therefore, to record the reasons given by those who favor including mis- sions as a regular activity for the promotion of which HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 63 the local federation should make provision, and then to review the similar statements of those who be- lieve that this form of cooperative work should not be attempted by the local federation. Reasons for a Committee on Missions In favor of including home and foreign missions, the following arguments are therefore presented by the Sub-commission: There is need among the churches for a vision of united world enterprise, best given by cooperative effort. The fact that the several missions abroad are work- ing more and more together accentuates the impor- tance of common thinking of the home churches on the task abroad, and of working out the best methods of achievement. It would foster the spirit of Christian unity. It would awaken a consciousness of common re- sponsibilities. It would be a great help to the backward churches in putting them in touch with the missionary spirit and methods of the foremost missionary churches of the community. The local federation should, for the sake of the community, take the point of view of the churches as a whole working for the world as a whole. It brings the ideals of one denomination helpfully into touch with those of the others. The best missionary leadership and the methods and experience of all the denominations represented in the community can be made available to all the churches in the community. 64 THE MANUAL OF INTER-OHURCH WORK By concerted action led by a local federation, some church people will be led into interdenominational mission study classes, who could not be reached at first through the appeal of the local church. By federation leadership the attention of the entire community can be concentrated on certain lines of missionary effort, such as mission study or particular methods of promotion of giving. Missionary publicity, the enlistment of strong leaders in the community, and securing the coopera- tion of the public library, the schools, and other civic agencies, will be accomplished more easily. To omit world missions would minimize its im- portance in the estimate of Christian people. A local federation should be a clearing-house for speakers, and in making local arrangements for union missionary meetings of all kinds. If the cooperative effort of the local churches is concentrated exclusively on local needs, it will tend to narrow their vision and usefulness, just as it is narrowing and disastrous for a congregation to cen- ter its thought and service upon its local field. The position of those whose judgment is expressed in the preceding statements may be summarized by a single sentence from each of two letters: “A local federation should include in the scope of its activi- ties the development of every service which the churches per- form alone.” “It will be expected that the objectives of the local federa- tion will include all the things really worth while in (local) church work.” Reasons against a Committee on Missions The Sub-commission recognizes at the outset that HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 6S if local federations should include missions as a standard department of organization, it would be done without justification in actual achievement in the past. It is apparent that the hesitation of those who do not favor including world missions in the pro- gram of the local federation is in the first place due in considerable measure to this fact, that as yet the spon- taneous effort of local federations has produced no satisfactory illustration of its naturalness and practi- cability. It should be stated that with but one possi- ble exception those who advise against the plan are favorable to the federative idea, and that several are men of national and international reputation and influ- ence by reason of their relationship to cooperative religious and missionary agencies. The second reason is that to do so would be con- trary to the nature of a community federation. The position is based upon the principle that the organiza- tions specifically formed to carry on home and foreign missionary work (the denominational societies) must in the nature of the case be responsible for cultivating the interest and cooperation of the local churches in its execution. One correspondent writes: “My main reason for giving a negative answer to the first question is the belief that missions is a business of the churches. They are suited to it. They are organized for carrjdng it on, and it had better be left to them. The pastor who works in a federation has to put five or ten times the patience and industry into the enterprise to get anything done in comparison to the demands upon his patience and industry in his own local church. My belief, therefore, would be that world missions had better be left to the denominational body.” Another correspondent of wide experience in both denominational and interdenominational missionary leadership says: 66 THE MANUAL OF INTER-OHURCH WORK “My mind is clear that this field (of cooperative missionary endeavor) should not be further complicated by agencies seek- ing to cultivate missionary enthusiasm in general unrelated to the performance of specific missionary tasks. . . . Until the time comes that federated movements shall have some specific missionary task assigned them, the missionary propaganda under their auspices will be limited.” A third missionary leader writes: “From the standpoint of the mission boards, it is question- able whether the local federation is likely to be very effective in this realm. After all, the organizations which are doing the work are the ones which can press its claims most effectively. The farther off we get from administering bodies, the weaker becomes the educational and financial appeal.” Executive Leadership Needed The Sub-commission finds that, underlying the judgment of those who believe that the work of pro- moting missions in a community through a local federation, is not desirable or practicable, is the conviction that successful interchurch effort requires (i) that it be expended in the main upon local or com- munity needs, and (2) that until the organization of a local federation is strong and efficient, and its em- ployed executive staff is large enough and is specially trained for the lines of leadership involved in execu- tion of a comprehensive plan of work, its energy should be expended upon a prograrh strictly limited in scope and bearing exclusively on local needs. The lines of effort suggested are local evangelism, social service, church extension, reform legislation, law en- forcement. Those who take this view believe that to promote missions “would require specialization and would project a program which would throw impos- HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 67 sible burdens upon one executive that would compro- mise the program and render less efficient his service in all lines.” Another who was intimately related to the only known long and successfully sustained com- munity missionary program yet brought to the atten- tion of the Sub-commission states that there is no limit to which a federation may not go in promoting the work of missions or any other line of work of com- mon concern to the churches, provided competent executive leadership is employed. He advises against undertaking such a program of missions without plac- ing a special executive of large capacity for leadership in continuous charge. In other words all these cor- respondents agree that the form of a missionary organ- ization without power equal to its chosen or possible task is worse than nothing. One correspondent puts it thus : “The chief danger in any federation is its strenuous but bloodless character. Nobody loves a federation. It is in the way of many interests that are dear to many people, and the chief danger, it seems to me, would be the going through of a form of words and motions without doing anything whatever.” The conviction has grown upon the Sub-commis- sion that through voluntary cooperation of pastors and members of churches in promotion of cooperative religious work of any kind, including home and for- eign missions, specific tasks of short duration, such as planning a simple union meeting, may be undertaken, but that for long, sustained efifort, such as must be adopted when the task is educational in character, or when conditions are difficult, interchurch work re- quires skilled employed leadership. If this conclusion is correct, then the outlook and activities of local fed- erations in the field of missions must for the present 68 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK be strictly limited. Cooperation with agencies capable of furnishing skilled executive leadership would seem to be the method necessary in the main, until enough competent trained executives can be employed by the local federation to conduct a progressive and sustained effort through the years, utilizing volunteer workers as much as may be possible for committee direction and in extension work, but providing for able organi- zation and direction of voluntary service by a secre- tarial agent. Assuming that this conclusion will meet with the approval of careful students of cooperative work, the Sub-commission now proceeds to outline the practi- cable lines of work in promotion of home and foreign missions open to a federation of churches capable financially and otherwise of employing and directing trained executives enough to make its supervision powerful, progressive, and permanent. For by deter- mining wisely what types of cooperative missionary effort can be undertaken by a federation and choosing those that will contribute directly to the efficiency of local churches as they fulfil their duty in proper rela- tion to their respective denominational missionary programs and administrative societies, some, if not all the objections offered by those who doubt the abil- ity of a federation to render effective service in this field will be removed. The Sub-commission believes that, if the conditions of leadership and proper rela- tionship to denominational ideals and agencies are complied with, there is a valuable missionary service to be rendered by federations of churches. For there are common needs not yet fully met by direct denomi- national cultivation which the federations can help the denominational agencies meet. HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 6g Common Missionary Needs of the Churches Whatever service in promotion of missions a feder- ation of churches may undertake to render must be justified by community of need in the local churches. It should be repeated that it is not the function of the federation to take the place of the denominational mis- sionary agencies in I heir eflfort to develop the mission- ary consciousness of the local church membership, to improve their missionary methods, perfect their mis- sionary organization, or increase their output in money and gift of life. The only opportunity before the federation is that of intelligent, devoted coopera- tion. Such cooperation must be true to the principle of denominational right and authority to control and direct the missionary service of the churches in the community which the federation seeks to serve. The federation can never have any right to the control of any local church activity in any community. The chief need of local churches in respect to missions is correct and compelling information con- cerning the needs of the fields of missionary service, and of the support they should give through prayer, gifts of money, life, and personal service. On this all consulted by the Sub-commission agree. This fact seems to determine that the chief method should be educational in character. All agree, further, that most of the churches are only beginning to understand the principles of stewardship, that the offering of life of young people for Christian service is largely undi- rected in home, church, and school, and that mission- ary intercession, the chief form of missionary service, is receiving vastly less attention than the promotion of knowledge and giving. Leadership of the churches in 70 THE MANUAL OF INTER-OHURCH WORK promoting gifts of money in proportion to ability and need and properly related to activities to promote knowledge and the gift of life, is recognized as an urgent need. Other needs mentioned by well-informed counsel- ors include that of maintaining a community bureau of missionary information on the status of the mis- sionary life of the churches, and of furnishing knowl- edge of coming conferences, conventions, institutes, lec- tures, and educational programs. Several mention the need of a sustained missionary publicity campaign in the community. Others dwell on the critical need for trained leaders for teaching missions and for commit- tee service in the local church. Several plead for a permanent local agency, unofficially but directly re- sponsible to the churches of the community, to enlist the laymen as a group, to secure the sympathy and intelligent cooperation of public libraries, to utilize the leaders of educational institutions, including the public schools, and other public servants and officials, in developing among all the people a consciousness of world-fellowship, social justice, and Christian inter- national relations, which lie at the foundation of all effort to Christianize the people of our own country and the peoples of the world. The churches particu- larly need to have a sense of their united obligation to the whole world. Furthermore, the entire community needs to know the point of view and the purpose of the Christian church in its effort to establish right- eousness in the world through pure Christianity ap- plied to every life and all of life. Special Organisation Required In order to provide churches with the stimulus in- HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 71 variably received from wholesome contact with lead- ers of other churches and from knowledge of their missionary ideals, methods, problems, and achieve- ments, and in order to utilize the community resources of leadership for the benefit of the weaker congrega- tions, an interchurch effort seems to be necessary. There is a like necessity for a competent federative agency through which, as a local committee of ar- rangements, national interdenominational missionary agencies, well established in the confidence of the leaders of the denominational missionary societies and of the Christian public at large, may more effectively and continuously serve the local churches. The Sub-commission concludes that these common needs provide opportunity for valuable and necessary service by the missionary department of a local fed- eration. Already communities here and there have undertaken to provide for themselves, in an unsys- tematic way, the benefits of interchurch cooperation in one or several of the ways suggested in the state- ment of need. An ably officered and financed federa- tion, in right adjustment to the local churches, the other departments of the federation, and the estab- lished interdenominational missionary agencies, should be able to give substantial aid to denomina- tional societies in meeting these needs. The Sub-com- mission reiterates the conclusion that a large program of this character calls for technically trained leader- ship made available for this purpose, and that without it the voluntary efforts of representatives of local churches should be limited in the scope and time re- quired, for their execution, 72 THE MANUAL OF INTER^HURCH WORK Missionary Methods for Federations of Churches Inquiry concerning the cooperative methods best designed to meet the needs of local churches elicited a rich variety of suggestions. These are here tabu- lated with little or no comment. 1. The conduct of institutes for the training of the different groups of local church missionary workers, including members of church missionary committees, teachers and officers of the Sunday-schools, leaders of societies of young people, women, men, and children, and every-member-canvass groups. 2. The organization and conduct at regular inter- vals of normal classes to train mission study class leaders. 3. The conduct of inspirational conventions to give vision to the rank and file of church-members and to provide popular instruction concerning the outstand- ing features of a successful local church missionary program. 4. Promotion of the organization of missionary education, prayer, and giving, on a community-wide scale, and of the actual conduct of such campaigns with this in view. When practicable each of these three all-important activities should be carried on simultaneously for the whole community, though always according to the need and desires of the local churches as represented by their chosen leaders in the missionary committee of the federation. 5. Helping to organize and develop local church missionary committees, and helping to outline their work and plans more successfully. 6. Recommending the courses of study officially adopted by the mission boards, and acting as a bureau HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 73 of information in distribution of literature, providing speakers and normal class leaders, and trainers for the groups of every-member canvassers. When desir- able, literature usually sent directly to the local church by denominational societies can be distributed to local churches in the effort to reach every one, but this should be undertaken only when it meets with the hearty approval of the local missionary leaders of the denomination represented. 7. Conducting a community campaign to commend Christian vocations to young people, and to help par- ents, pastors, and other local church leaders in their effort to qualify as wise counselors to life-work re- cruits, and to provide adequately for their training. 8. Aiding churches to enlist delegates to mission- ary summer conferences. 9. Providing good and growing collections of mis- sionary books in town, city, and church libraries. 10. Conducting a missionary publicity bureau, to furnish news of the movements and work of mission- aries who have entered service from the local churches, of local missionary activities, and of the mis- sionary standing and achievements of these churches. Occasional articles dealing with world conditions, giv- ing missionary facts of large significance to all de- nominations and to the general public, will find ready access to local newspapers. 11. Bringing to the community each year for a single lecture or a series of lectures or addresses out- standing missionary messengers of national and world influence. 12. Conducting missionary exhibits and pageants. 13. Acting as a clearing-house or depository for circulating interdenominational stereopticon lectures. 74 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK 14. Stimulating prayer for missions in local churches by the reestablishment of a monthly service for missionary intercession, and, if feasible, in the community by sectional interdenominational meetings for prayer. The introduction of visiting missionaries on furlough and other missionary workers can be made a valuable feature of all union meetings, whether for educational uses or exclusively for prayer. 15. Cooperation with pastors and church commit- tees in arranging for the presentation of subjects re- lated to home and foreign missions either by the pas- tors themselves or by other competent speakers resi- dent in the community or invited from the outside. Interchanges of pulpits for missionary addresses by all the pastors of a city on a chosen Sunday have been arranged successfully. 16. Making an annual missionary survey of the churches and publishing the results. An annual con- vention or conference of selected missionary represen- tatives of the churches has been found to be a most valuable aid to the development and maintenance of a community missionary consciousness and program. The chief subjects to be covered in such a survey are organization, education, prayer, giving, service, and recruiting. 17. One of the most important methods is that of hearty cooperation with such agencies as the Lay- men’s Missionary Movement and the Missionary Edu- cation Movement. The relationships between federa- tions of churches and these two organizations will be treated in a later section of this report. It is the judgment of the Sub-commission that the local federation should not undertake to raise or ad- minister missionary funds, unless possibly for purely HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 75 local or community missionary work. Its financial efforts should be limited in the local churches to activ- ities that produce funds for and through the estab- lished denominational channels and agencies. It should npt raise funds directly. Missionary Organization of a Local Federation By common agreement the supervising organiza- tion of a local federation for promotion of missions should be the same as for any other standard depart- ment. Usually this will be a department, representa- tive of the different denominational groups. It should include influential workers who are capable of developing suitable plans and policies in harmony with those of other departments of the federation and suitable to the denominational groups which the fed- eration exists to serve. Pastors, laymen, women, and young people should be included. The size of the department will be determined in each instance by the character of the efforts to be put forth and the agen- cies in the local church through which the plans of the federation are to be made effective. In small com- munities every congregation might be represented, but usually a relatively small department will be chosen. A department membership of fifteen, if care- fully chosen, will usually meet the need. One corre- spondent proposed that every church cooperating in the federation be represented by one member, and that in large communities with many churches, an execu- tive committee be chosen from the general department thus formed. The chairman of the department should be a member of the exceptive committee of the federa- tion. ;6 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK The department should be responsible to the gov- erning committee of the federation and should make an annual written report thereto. It should be financed by the federation as in the case of other departments. Its point of contact with the local church will ordinarily be the church missionary committee. In case comprehensive community cam- paigns require it, sectional committees may be formed, or a program may be executed by means of estab- lished or specially organized denominational com- mittees. In such cases the representatives on the committee of the federation will be members of their respective denominational committees, if not chair- men. It is important that in the membership of the department should be found capable representatives of Sunday-schools, young people’s, women’s and men’s organizations, and also of such agencies as Sunday- school superintendents’ unions, federations of women’s missionary societies, local unions of young people’s societies, and kindred community agencies vitally re- lated to the missionary propaganda. Every effort should be made to give the committee a worthy place in the regard of the federation and the community. It must not be a side issue. The missionary interests cannot be satisfactorily represented and conserved by an overloaded general committee of the federation, or by a single overloaded executive. Relationships of the Department of Home and Foreign Missions The investigations of the Sub-commission on the matter of relationships were explicit and extensive. In HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 77 part the results of the inquiry have been given in the sections on missionary responsibility, methods, and organization. There is remarkable unanimity of judgment in the matter of desirable relationships, though some correspondents evidently have not fore- seen the largeness of the possible task nor observed the need of discussing relationships at all. The local federation, through its missionary depart- ment, must adjust its plans and activities to the fol- lowing working units : 1. The local church. 2. The several denominational organizations of the churches within the community where there are such. 3. The department of the federation on religious education. 4. The existing local federative agencies, such as the Sunday-school Superintendents’ Union, the Sun- day-school Graded Union, the Inter-Sunday-school, Older Boys’ and Girls’, and Young People’s Councils, the Organized Adult Bible Class Federations (Men and Women), the Women’s Missionary Federation, and the Christian Endeavor Union. 5. The denominational mission boards. 6. The established interdenominational missionary agencies, such as the Home Missions Council, the Missionary Education Movement, the Laymen’s Mis- sionary Movement, the Council of Women for Home Missions, the Federation of Woman’s Boards of For- eign Missions, and the Foreign Missions Conference of North America. Local Denominational Forces In relation to the local church (item i) the rela- 78 THE MANUAL OF INTER-OHURCH WORK tionship is purely advisory. It is the same with refer- ence to the several denominational organizations of communities large enough to have them (item 2), ex- cept where the department is made up of representa- tives elected by these organizations, when it must in the nature of the case be cooperative in a more or less responsible character, reporting to these bodies. Usually, however, the committee will be independent of these bodies. Committee on Religious Education In relation to the department on religious educa- tion (item 3) there will be need for harmony of educa- tional plan at every point. This will require constant consultation between chairmen and thorough coordi- nation of effort, so as to present a united scheme for training leaders. In so far as possible the training of teachers for systematic missionary instruction should be given, by arrangement of the two departments, in connection with the program of any existing commu- nity school of religion or institute covering the broad field of local church work. Care must be taken in these general institutes or schools of methods that the scope of the missionary educational plans for the churches of a community be not that of a single, elective, un- graded course. It has become plain that every teacher and officer of every grade in Sunday-schools and many leaders of other local church agencies require specific graded instruction. It rarely happens, however, that all of the teachers employed for the program of a com- munity “school of religion” are competent to give mis- sionary instruction its proper place in the training offered. There will often be need, therefore, of train- HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 79 ing institutes purely missionary in character, even in the few communities where the more elaborate schools of methods are successfully conducted. In communi- ties where such schools are not held regularly, special missionary institutes will be required. The depart- ment on missions should, however, foster every effort to bring the training of religious teachers under one unified administration through which its importance may be magnified and its success largely extended. Local Federative Agencies In the case of existing federative agencies (item 4) it should be the policy of the department to encourage the introduction of missionary instruction and to pro- mote all other forms of missionary activity in the local churches through them. It is always better to energize and utilize the services of a successful existing agency than to duplicate or compete with it through a separ- ate organization. To facilitate this cooperation it will usually be wise to invite a representative from each such agency to membership in the department. In the matter of relationship to the mission boards (item 5) all are agreed, the Sub-commission included, that there should be very little, if any connection. If the department is properly formed in relation to the local churches and denominational groups of the com- munity to which it sustains a purely advisory relation- ship, the local church missionary leaders may be ex- pected to reflect the denominational needs and ideals sufficiently to guide the department without confusing the situation through correspondence and other con- tact between the department and the boards. In the main the local churches should be undisturbed in 8o THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK their relationship to their national missionary societies on the one hand, and their community denominational agencies on the other. If a federation succeeds, how- ever, in launching and maintaining a progressive mis- sionary policy of any kind requiring information that board secretaries alone can furnish accurately and ef- fectively, the department should make it a point to approach the boards directly, provided there is not some existing interdenominational agency through which the information can be secured without exten- sive effort. National Federative Agencies In the case of established and recognized inter- denominational national cooperative agencies (item 6) clear judgment was expressed by all correspon- dents that the relationship should be that of closest cooperation. It is clear that unless a federation is thor- oughly organized, well financed, and ably led by ex- ecutive officers specially qualified to conduct the varied activities of a cooperative character likely to be un- dertaken in a community, and unless such officers have freedom to give the time and energy required to co- operate with these missionary agencies, it would be prejudicial to the interests of the churches and the de- nominations of which they are a part and to these agencies to commit their interests to the federation for local leadership. On the other hand wherever and whenever such agencies have plans of value to the communities in which federations exist, and when the leaders of the federations consider it to be their func- tion to place their missionary organization at the dis- posal of such agencies for the accomplishment of their purpose, it should be the policy of such agencies to HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 8i join forces with the federation in heartiest goodwill and for the common good. The replies of correspondents harmonize in general with this position. One states that the local federa- tion should be the “local arm” of these interdenomina- tional agencies. Several assert that the federation should work only along those lines on which the de- nominational boards agree, as represented by such agencies as are generally endorsed by the boards. All agree that the relationship should be unofficial. One suggests that the federation should “articulate” the missionary activities of national cooperative agencies. Still another gives the judgment that the local federa- tion, generally unable to undertake a highly special- ized missionary program under its own employed leadership, should seek and honor the advice of these agencies. Authority of Local Federation The Sub-commission concludes that the local fed- eration has no right to attempt to exercise authority over any agency not organically related to it. The agencies enumerated (item 6) are in no wise under the official supervision of the Federal Council, or its Commission on Interchurch Federations, or of local federations. They are differently constituted in rela- tion to the mission boards, but all exist to foster the influence of the boards as they cultivate the churches of their respective communions. Should the local fed- eration seek to govern the activities of these agencies in their usual service, they would not only be assum- ing an authority not naturally belonging to them, but would be in danger of becoming involved in contro- versy as a result of which the service of the local fed- 82 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK eration to the community would be impaired, and the constitutional basis of the Federal Council itself be questioned. The principle involved is of first impor- tance. It applies not alone to the discussion of rela- tionships to national interdenominational missionary agencies, but to a large number of interdenomina- tional, undenominational, and independent societies that are non-missionary in character. If the service of all such agencies is to have continued free course, some other theory of relationship to the community than through and by consent or authority of the local federation must be found. The investigations of the Sub-commission have re- vealed the fact that in a number of cities the leaders of local federations have assumed the authority to decide whether and when an activity intended to foster the missionary efficiency of the local churches should be undertaken by national interdenominational agencies. In some cities investigation by one or more of these national agencies has led their responsible agents to decline to undertake their usual forms of work because, while no missionary organization was provided by the local federation, its leaders declined to cooperate, or because, if provided, it was not qualified to promote the plans in question. In some cases the local federa- tion has prevented or discouraged effort of a coopera- tive missionary character when proposed, on the ground that the federation could foster only one or a limited number of activities in a given year, and there- fore the missionary program must wait until others had been executed. It is gratifying to report that in several cases local federations have united their forces gladly and effectively with such agencies and have accomplished large results thereby. HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 83 Cooperation the Natural Basis The Sub-commission states these conditions frank- ly in order to aid, if possible, in choosing a theory of relationship which will work out to the utmost advan- tage of the local churches, the local federation, and the national interdenominational missionary agencies alike. Furthermore, the Sub-commission holds that the fullest measure of cooperation possible should be sought mutually by the local federation and the inter- denominational agencies in arranging for missionary activities for the community as a whole. By consul- tation favorable seasons for special missionary pro- grams or gatherings can be selected, and the largest possible measure of coordination and unification of eflfort be guaranteed. It would seem to be the duty and privilege of national agencies to seek cooperation and counsel of the local federation and to help in the effort to unify and articulate the community-wide interdenominational religious efforts by avoiding con- flicts. When the organization and executive leader- ship of the local federation are found to be satisfac- tory for the execution of a contemplated plan of action proposed by a national cooperative missionary agency there should be no hesitation in placing large execu- tive responsibility upon the federation, in working harmony with the leadership of the agency proposing such cooperation. Aid of National Federative Agencies Essential Where local conditions are such that acceptable leadership is not available, the Sub-commission holds that the local federation should seek and welcome 84 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK whatever leadership the national agencies can furnish. Such an attitude would confirm the theory of relation- ship that the local federation exists to serve the churches and that one effective way of doing this is to help them secure the service of these national agencies when local conditions of missionary interest can be improved thereby. The Sub-commission holds that, while the local federation practically may be unequal to constant and progressive promotion of home and foreign missions, the fact does not warrant the policy of rotation of effort, i.e., that local evangelism shall have right of way in one year, law enforcement in a second, and social service in a third, and that in the distant future a missionary effort will be scheduled. The scope and urgency of the work of the churches in their mainte- nance of world-wide missions require unceasing effort to cultivate the devotion of the supporting constitu- ency. As long as the catalog of common missionary needs of the churches remains what it is, there can be no acceptance of the theory that missionary stimulus should not be provided regularly. This fact enforces the claim that when local federations are unable to maintain a reasonably constant and progressive mis- sionary program, into which the interdenominational agencies may gear whenever their resources of leader- ship will permit, it should be the policy of the federa- tion to seek by positive and whole-hearted measures to enlist the aid of these agencies. Could such a theory of relationship prevail, instead of the present hesitating and defensive attitude of some of these agencies toward local federations, the way would appear greatly to fortify the local federations in their service to the community. It would also strik- HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 85 ingly simplify the problem of organization for these national agencies which in the main need only an efficient local cooperative committee as a point of contact in order to release their vital ener- gies. Such a committee should be flexible as a nucleus around which could be gathered specialists from the community from time to time to manage par- ticular and temporary forms of work, while remain- ing constant in its membership of those who are sur- veying the entire missionary life of the churches, and acting for them in securing aid whenever and wher- ever it is reliably available. It is safe to say that such agencies as the Laymen’s Missionary Movement and the Missionary Education Movement would, under these conditions, gladly join forces with federations so desiring it, in an effort to inaugurate and maintain a program of missionary activity progressively adapted to local conditions. Such a policy would guarantee cooperative study of the problems of local federative missionary effort. It would provide for continuity in training of leaders. It would make available the rich experience of such agencies, and also the personal co- operation of their most experienced executive officers. The Sub-commission feels that only upon some such foundation can the two types of organizations unite successfully in cultivation of the local fields, and that failure thus to cooperate would be most detrimental to the cause of missions. !:i. Creating a Community Missionary Consciousness The development of a community religious con- sciousness and the direction of that united conscious- 86 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK ness toward common ends constitute the primary duty of a local federation. Successful Stewardship Campaign With the exception of the city of Toronto, the commission has been unable to find any community in which a sustained missionary financial effort on a community basis has been made successfully. In To- ronto the activity which so profoundly stirred and so highly developed the missionary efficiency of the churches was under the leadership of the executive secretary of the Laymen’s Missionary Movement of Canada, and the intelligent and highly organized cooperation of an able body of Christian laymen and the entire official staff of the Canadian mission boards located in that city. For a period of five years steady and rapid advance in the benevolent offerings for all purposes was made. This effort was directed almost exclusively toward financial ends. When the campaign of the Laymen’s Movement was extended throughout the Dominion, and the concentrated atten- tion of the leaders was in large measure withdrawn, the progress was halted and in some cases decline of gifts resulted. In a number of cities and towns in the United States similar efforts, though not so long ex- tended, have shown the possibilities of a simultaneous financial activity on behalf of missions at home and abroad. Successful Educational Campaigns In a large number of towns and cities in both the United States and Canada, by annual efforts of repre- sentative missionary leaders of diflferent denomina- HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 87 tions, variously organized and related, the work of missionary education has been promoted and the training of leaders fostered. The Missionary Educa- tion Movement exists in large measure to promote such activities. The Federation of Woman’s Boards of Foreign Missions and the Council of Women for Home Missions have directly and indirectly been in- strumental in the formation of large numbers of com- munity federative committees to promote the study of missions by women. These efforts indicate the prac- ticability of service by a community department on home and foreign missions whenever the conditions of efficient organization and service are fulfilled. The Sub-commission finds that by the use of sev- eral or all of the methods heretofore noted it is practi- cable to increase missionary knowledge, improve methods of organization, instruction, and giving, and greatly to multiply missionary intercession, and that by accomplishing this through the use of cooperative activities the missionary consciousness of the Chris- tian community will be correspondingly intensified and developed. In fact, the beneficial results of inspi- rational conventions and conferences are usually lost in large part because efforts to conserve them by more normal and by continuous methods are not employed. It is at this point that the justification for the exist- ence of a department on missions is demonstrated. The failure of many congregations to understand the very missionary character of the churches which they com- pose, and the necessarily distant, infrequent, and rela- tively ineffective contact of many churches with the national missionary agencies to which they owe their allegiance, emphasize the necessity of local stimulus not always to be found within the local churches 88 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK themselves, but surely to be discovered if the re- sources in leadership of the entire Christian commu- nity are utilized on behalf of all. As a local church is profited by a consciousness of denominational posi- tion and power, so the churches of a community, be- cause of proximity, and bound together by the kinship of common conditions and needs, may by cooperation be made to feel themselves a part of the church uni- versal which it is the common purpose of all Christian churches and communions to establish through the process of world evangelism. It is obvious, however, that this effect in relation to home and foreign mis- sions will be developed more slowly than in connec- tion with other phases of cooperative service. The Sub-commission agrees with the judgment of one of its members who wrote: “I believe cooperative mis- sionary effort should not be forced upon the local federations. They will naturally come to an effective organization for the purpose indicated, but they can- not do this effectively without a larger organization than most of them now have or are likely to gain at the start. These federations have grown out of the desire to overcome duplication and conflicts in the lo- cal field, and the sense of efficiency in conducting mis- sionary propaganda on the same basis must be a mat- ter of growth.” Dangers to be Avoided The Sub-commission calls attention to the follow- ing dangers that should be avoided in any community where the local federation desires to undertake the development of the missionary spirit and the efficiency of missionary service : Attempting too much at the beginning. HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS 89 Placing disproportionate emphasis on either home or foreign phases of the work of world missions. Attempting missionary administration or interfer- ing with the established mission boards in the per- formance of their rightfully appointed task. Actually collecting funds. Undue alliance with the churches of one denomi- nation. Too intensive cultivation of the local churches, as contrasted with the training of leaders and emphasiz- ing ideals. Attempts arbitrarily to change methods of local churches. Failure to cooperate equally with all interdenomi- national agencies. Creating a federation self-consciousness, by mak- ing the organization an end in itself. Desire for self- glorification. Doing superficial work. Failure to urge church-members to function through their own churches. Failure to select as members of the department those who are actually qualified to lead the coopera- tive work for which the program adopted calls. Summary The Sub-commission has made no attempt to out- line the details of organization and promotion of spe- cific forms of cooperative missionary effort in a com- munity. Any well-organized department will be able to discover experienced workers enough in the local churches to develop successful plans, especially if close relationships are maintained with the leaders of the national interdenominational missionary agencies. 90 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK The whole matter may be summarized by stating that the local federations should adopt and use whatever cooperative methods will help to fulfil the following primary objectives: (i) to improve the missionary organization of the churches; (2) to foster mission- ary education; (3) to increase the volume of mission- ary intercession ; (4) to promote giving according to New Testament principles; (5) to organize and direct personal missionary service in and near the commu- nity; (6) to enlist and provide for the training of recruits for missionary life service; and (7) that these may become a reality, to train leaders competent to inspire and guide the entire membership of the churches in ever-expanding effort to extend and estab- lish Christianity in the whole earth. IV REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION ON A DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICE SUB-COMMISSION ON SOCIAL SERVICE Tippy, Rev. Worth M., Chairman New York City Executive Secretary, Commission on the Church and Social Service, Federal Council of Churches Atkinson, Rev. Henry A. Boston, Mass. Secretary, Social Service Department, Congregational Education Society Batten, Rev. Samuel Z. Philadelphia, Pa. Secretary, Department of Social Service and Brother- hood, American Baptist Publication Society Beardsley, H. M. Kansas City, Mo. Attorney Bellamy, George A. Cleveland, Ohio Head Worker, Hiram House Crouch, Rev. Frank M. New York City Evecutive Secretary, Joint Commission on Social Ser- vice, Protestant Episcopal Church Eagan, J. J. Atlanta, Ga. Gregg, Frank M. Cleveland, Ohio President, Cleveland Macaroni Company Mangold, Prof. George B. St. Louis, Mo. Director, Missouri School of Social Economy Meddis, C. j. Louisville, Ky. Executive Secretary, Men’s Federation of Louisville Ward, Rev. Harry F. Boston, Mass. Secretary, Methodist Federation for Social Service Zahniser, Rev. Charles R. Pittsburgh, Pa. Executive Secretary, Pittsburgh Council of the Churches of Christ The field of social service includes all the varied efforts and agencies by which men are working to- gether for the welfare and progress of humanity. 91 92 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK There can be here no sharply defined line where so- cial service leaves off and the ministry to the soul be- gins, but in every large community, and increasingly in small communities, a variety of agencies and move- ments have arisen which are clearly defined as social service. The problem of the Department of Social Service is to lead the churches into cooperation with these agencies, and, as an independent force, into the fields of social effort. I. Departmental Organization In going over the reports of social work being done by federations now in existence, it is apparent that most of them have a series of independent and discon- nected welfare departments. One gets an impression of departments organized on an opportunist basis in- stead of according to a concerted plan. The Sub-Commission recommends that each fed- eration organize one comprehensive Department of Social Service ; and that under this department there be created committees covering such forms of social service as appear desirable to undertake. The Sub-Commission suggests that the Department of Social Service be managed by a Committee of Di- rection, consisting of its chairman and the chairmen of the subcommittees of the department; also with the president of the federation and its general secre- tary as members ex-officio. The Committee of Direction should meet regularly at least every month, and preferably every week, and subcommittees likewise should have regular and fre- quent meetings. The closer and more continuous their SOCIAL SERVICE 93 contact with the work in hand, the more effective it will be. The subcommittees of the department are as im- portant in their way as the Committee of Direction, and the selection of their personnel should be scru- tinized with the greatest care. As a rule all members of committees should be considered in advance, and their promise of service secured, before nomination or appointment. If members of committees can be induced to con- centrate their services mainly upon the work of the department, instead of accepting membership on dif- ferent committees and organizations, it will add greatly to their joy in the work and to the influence of the department. I. Initial Organization The Sub-Commission recommends a simple initial organization of a Department of Social Service, addi- tional organization to be undertaken only after a con- siderable period of experience. For cities it suggests three committees: a. Social Betterment To include: charities and welfare work; coopera- tion with community agencies and departments of the local government dealing with such problems as pub- lic recreation, public health, and juvenile courts. b. Civic Relations To include: law enforcement, temperance, social hygiene, legislation, education in citizenship, munici- pal efficiency, relations to the local government other than its welfare departments. c. Industrial Relations 94 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK To include : one day of rest in seven, the short hour day in long- hour trades, unemployment, the living wage, industrial welfare of women and girls, health and safety of workers, legislation affecting industrial conditions, cooperation between employers and em- ployees, the promotion of industrial democracy. These committees are sufficiently comprehensive and fundamental to allow a high development of the Department of Social Service, while at the same time they simplify organization and administration. It is important to establish permanently what is under- taken and to undertake new work only when that which is in hand is firmly established. In villages and small towns simpler organization is preferable. Instead of three subcommittees, one gen- eral Department of Social Service without permanent subdivisions is advisable. It is easy to create commit- tees when they are manifestly needed. 2. Leadership The success of a 'Department of Social Service will depend finally upon its leadership. If the general sec- retary of the federation has not had experience as a social worker, it will be difficult for him to direct the federation as a social force. If he has not had this training, the need of experienced direction in the social work of the federation will be met if one of the out- standing social workers of the community is secured for the chairmanship of the department. Modern social service has come to be so highly technical and departmentalized that churches cannot get far unless they recognize these facts in their own work. Not only the chairman but the other members SOCIAL SERVICE 95 of the committees directing the work of the depart- ment, whenever possible, should be specialists in par- ticular fields. Federations that finally succeed in a large way will find it advisable to organize on the basis of a salaried staff. It is difficult for a federation of churches in a large city to lead so many and such strong churches effectively and to develop their united community power, unless it is able to do intensive work on a basis of high technical efficiency. This requires an expert handling of religious education, social service, comity, and religious work. The field of social service, includ- ing as it does relations to so many influential social agencies, to the local government, to legislation, and to difficult industrial problems, should have, whenever possible, the full time of an experienced secretary as assistant to the general secretary. This, however, must not be at the expense of the fullest possible de- velopment of voluntary service. 3. Importance of Cooperation Certain dangers beset churches when they enter the field of social service. The first is the crusading method. This is vicious except as it is used to initiate or establish permanent work or as an educational device coupled with permanent activity. Heavy drives that continue for a brief period are desirable if they are used by permanent organizations which fall back at once upon their normal work. As a rule, plans that work steadily as part of a program of wide cooperation are most effectual. The second danger is that of independent action. Churches are strongly tempted to go by themselves 96 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK and to undertake ambitious pieces of work that have not been properly forecasted and organized. Indepen- dent action by churches is better held in reserve and used when necessary. When something needs to be done, as, for example, the elimination of a red light district, and no other agencies will act or cooperate, the church should be willing to act alone. But as soon as possible it should get the other forces around it, and the best strategy is to get them in advance. The principle applies, not only to social service agencies, but to the relations of federations to non- Protestant religious bodies, such as the Roman Catho- lic, the Greek Catholic, and the Jewish communions. It is inadvisable, at least at the present time, to attempt organic federation with these bodies. But social ser- vice is largely outside the field of religious controversy, and if each of the groups represented is organized in- dependently for social work, then it is possible for them to cooperate through a general committee or by informal conference on specific movements. To secure such cooperation is highly desirable and might well be a definite policy of the social service departments of local federations of churches. II. Forms of Social Work Recommended to Departments of Social Service Forms of social work to be undertaken by Depart- ments of Social Service will depend very largely upon local needs and conditions. The more original the work of a department, the more it has local color and adjustment, the better. The suggestions which follow are mainly collated from work being done in various church federations. SOaAL SERVICE 97 It is not assumed that any one Department of So- cial Service will undertake all of these suggestions. It is always safer at the start to undertake two or three vital lines of work and then to enlarge upon these ac- cording to a program. It is not possible to determine here what social service should be undertaken by the church and what left to the community or to other social agencies; or where social work, carried on for purposes of propa- ganda, should after a time be turned over to other com- munity agencies. The most that can be said as a work- ing principle is that federations should not as a rule promote work which is being done adequately by other organizations, but should then cooperate, and that work undertaken should be given over when it can manifestly be better done by other agencies. I. Joint Service with Social Agencies This involves organized cooperation by the Depart- ment of Social Service with the social agencies of its community, including outdoor relief and allied depart- ments of the city government. All of these agencies require the cooperation of the churches, and the churches are in a position to give them great assis- tance, especially by educating the members of their congregations to their support, by lending them work- ers, and by participating in public campaigns in their behalf. Churches also rightfully belong in the united action of community agencies by which in the future useless agencies are eliminated, new agencies set up, imperfect agencies reconstructed, and duplicating agen- cies combined. This work has been highly developed by the Federations of Cleveland and St. Louis. 98 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK But churches which undertake case work will re- quire the assistance of the charities of their community even more than they are able to give them assistance in return. A Department of Social Service will dis- cover this as soon as it undertakes to put through im- portant social work. 2. Civic Relations These include : Law enforcement, to secure and protect public morality, public health, public safety, and public wel- fare in multiplied forms. Civic action, to secure honest and efficient public administration, especially municipal administration, and usually by joint effort with civic organizations; to participate in the education of the people for citizen- ship ; to participate in civic movements which require the action of the municipal authorities; to make the church a force for clean politics. Legislation, having to do with all kinds of forward- looking measures, local, state, and national. The state-wide and nation-wide struggle for pro- hibition until the entire country is dry, and perma- nently dry. Federations will find the civic work of the Pitts- burgh Council worthy of study. An important thing to be said in regard to civic relations is that in no other field of its work is it so essential for a church to be cooperative, patient, and constructive. Criticism of public officials has become a vice with churches and ministers. Ministers’ asso- ciations have been accustomed to pass resolutions of censure without proper investigation and without SOCIAL ^SERVICE 99 giving public ofbcials a chance to explain them- selves or to correct mistakes or to change policies. This attitude is no longer justified by the present mu- nicipal movement, which is introducing efficiency and honesty into the government of cities. 3. Industrial Conditions and Relations The items to be covered under industrial condi- tions are : local conditions as to hours of labor, wages, seven-day work; the health and moral safety of the workers, particularly women ; the protection of workmen against accidents and occupational diseases ; legislation affecting the welfare of workers ; conditions in the unorganized trades; the industrial status of women in the community; the study, relief, and pre- vention of unemployment. Industrial relations include friendly contact of the churches with organized labor, the sending of minis- terial delegates to central labor bodies, action by churches in industrial conflicts, observance of Labor Sunday, advocacy of arbitration, conciliation, and con- ference, the promotion of industrial democracy. It will be found at last that above the question of wages will arise the right of the workers to a fair share in the control and management of industry where it directly affects their own welfare, such as the disci- pline of the shop, security of position, wages, hours, and conditions of labor. Everything they possess is here at stake. While such collective action has its grave dangers, it is as essential to the workers as to employers, and the church should exert its influence and direct its teaching to its maintenance. Depart- ments of social service will perform a public service 100 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK if they promote the discussion of this question by study groups, in public meetings, in forums and men’s clubs, and by conferences between employers and workers, which the churches are able to bring about, since both are represented in their memberships. Each of these subjects opens an important field for investigation and effort, a field vitally affecting the welfare of large numbers of people, and, since it is frequently controversial, one in which it is necessary for the department to act only with thorough informa- tion, Speaking generally, it is best to take up one thing at a time and to persist in it until something is really accomplished. The thing to be desired is per- manent work and permanent contacts. It is neither just nor expedient that the church should be partisan except when the situation mani- festly demands it. To inform the public, to stimulate higher wages, to bring employer and worker together, to promote conciliation, conference, cooperation, profit-sharing, and other joint relations in ownership and management — these are its natural tasks. But while it should not be partisan, it is expected of the church that it shall maintain a primary and unshakable interest in the rights and well-being of the masses of the people. 4. Public Recreation The field of public recreation includes the develop- ment of churches as social centers; the larger use of church parish houses for recreational purposes ; education of the people in the use of leisure time ; the promotion of safe and abundant recreation by commu- nities through popularized parks; supervised play- grounds, and social centers; the use of school build- SOCIAL SERVICE lOI ings and grounds and also of church buildings for neighborhood purposes; the encouragement of com- mercial recreation of a wholesome character, the con- trol of dance halls, theaters, motion picture theaters, pool-rooms, summer resorts, and especially of vicious forms of recreation; the coordination of public, pri- vate, and commercial recreation in a program which aims to meet fully the need of a community. The importance of public recreation is growing with the density of population, especially of urban population, with the increasing tension of modern life, and with the coming of the shorter work-day and the prohibition of saloons. The church, because of its es- pousal of the prohibition movement and the short hour day, is doubly obligated to a recreational program. It has a rare opportunity to use its buildings for these purposes, and, because of its organization and its power as an educational institution, to educate the people in the right use of leisure time. The Department of Social Service should lead the churches into this work. It should also lead the local churches to see that a generous program of recreation will fill their congregations with young life, and will give them their opportunity for evangelism and Chris- tian teaching. The churches cannot act narrowly when they touch public recreation. They will be obliged to work on broad lines of policy, keeping in mind conditions as they exist and the public need for rest and recreation, and also the things which the people care to do. For example, it is impossible, in a city, to eliminate public dance halls, but it is possible to reconstruct the build- ings, to separate them from saloons and houses of assignation, to regulate hours, to police them, to deter- 102 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK mine under what auspices they shall be run. It is not possible in most cities to eliminate public recrea- tion, such as baseball, lawn tennis, golf, and boating, on Sunday ; but it is possible, by an understanding be- tween the churches and the authorities, to confine it to afternoons in public parks and play centers. 5. Prison Reform and Juvenile Delinquents The movement for prison reform, for the proper care of juvenile delinquents, and for the prevention of crime, is one of the finest expressions of the Chris- tian spirit in modern times. It is also one department in which governments have gone the length of the program of Christianity. To relate the churches to juvenile courts, jails, prisons, farm colonies, and workhouses, and to enter heartily into movements for the prevention of crime, is an ideal function of a department of social service. The forms which this takes or may take are varied and instructive. In St. Louis and Louisville, for ex- ample, the federations are in close relations with the juvenile courts and are providing large numbers of probation officers and big brothers for youthful delin- quents. This is an admirable thing for the churches to do, only they must be dependable. Federated churches should see that services of pub- lic worship, religious and biblical instruction, and visi- tation by clergymen, are provided systematically for all these public institutions. In a large city some one responsible salaried person should direct the work. The Buffalo federation employs a man for this pur- pose. The movement for prison reform has gone a long SOCIAL SERVICE 103 way, but there is still a vast amount to be done. Poli- ticians are generally opposed to the new methods, and but little has yet been done in county institutions. Since churches are firmly entrenched in every commu- nity, they have it within their power to render in- valuable service in placing all penal institutions on the reformatory basis. 6. Social Hygiene In approaching the social evil churches should not forget that the greatest factor in social hygiene is per- sonal education ; the education of children with regard to sex, its function and control ; the education of young men and women looking to continence and mar- riage, and in the personal and social dangers of vene- real diseases, and the loss of efficiency incident thereto. That education has its greatest power when it is based upon the love of God, the spiritual sanctity of the body, the sacredness of the sex relations, and when the associations and ideals of religion are thrown as a shield about young people. It is here that the church has its greatest field of opportunity. Nor should the church forget that the social evil is vitally related to the hours and wages of women and girls, especially of girls, and to the protection which is thrown around girls in factories, stores, and offices. Every increment in wages, all lessened fatigue by shorter hours, everything that is done to safeguard women who are engaged in industry or in domestic service in homes, is a blow against prostitution. The control of the social evil is a most difficult and baffling problem. We shall not reach ideal condi- tions under any methods that can now be foreseen. 104 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK but the experience of many communities in many lands is indicating a fairly definite method of proce- dure. This includes: first, the abolition of the so-called red light districts and a rigorous policy of repression by the constituted authorities; second, watchfulness against the dissemination of the evil in residential neighborhoods; third, earnest efforts for the reforma- tion of the unfortunate women who are victims of this evil; fourth, measures to protect communities against the ravages of venereal diseases. Kansas City and Cleveland have done notable work in this field. The problem is so difficult and so lends itself to graft that the authorities of cities are slow to under- take a thoroughgoing program. They prefer to fall back upon regulated districts, or upon a segregated district, which, while not authoritative, exists by po- lice sanction. The experience obtained through notable studies of the social evil, such as those made by the Chicago and Minneapolis Vice Commissions and the Rockefel- ler Foundation, are available to federations which de- sire to enter this field; as is also the experience of federations, like that of Cleveland, which have been working on the problem for an extended period. In no other field of social work are careful methods and thoroughness of approach more necessary, and crusad- ing methods more dangerous and undesirable. 7. Public Health The movement for public health is rapidly gaining force and is of extreme importance. Children were not meant to die. Hundreds of thousands of people SOCIAL SERVICE 105 who perish annually and unnecessarily from prevent- able diseases, such as typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, typhus, alcoholism, venereal diseases, and pneumonia, constitute a waste of life, a menace to health, a bur- den of poverty, and a weight of sorrow, which handicaps the nation and indicts its civilization. When pure water, clean and uninfected milk, sanitary and unadulterated food, adequate sewage disposal, clean streets and houses, pure air and abundance of light, medical inspection and care, and scientific handling of contagion, are possible to all citizens and to every community, those who care for the well-being of the people should not rest day or night until they are made effective. An effective department of public health, free from political influence, managed by public-spirited officials who know their field, is a matter for deter- mined effort in every community which does not have such a department. What is needed is not simply offi- cials who will enforce public health regulations but who have the educational idea and method, who will not only keep back-alleys clean, but teach careless citizens why and how to keep them clean. The movement for public health offers to churches rare opportunities of effective service. This is due, first, to the fact that the church is a great educational institution, and may include in its educational work the fundamental ideas and problems involved in pub- lic health. It is due, secondly, to the power which the church has, through its organization, to assist in community and state-wide campaigns against disease and in behalf of organizations combating disease. Churches and religious organizations should give themselves to campaigns like the institutes for public io6 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK health conducted by the Southern Sociological Con- gress in 1916, and the state-wide agitation in Arkan- sas, conducted by Dr. Alexander Johnson of the Training School at Vineland, New Jersey, which cul- minated in the spring of 1917 in legislation creating state provision for the feeble-minded. The nation- wide campaign for public health, which is being organ- ized by Mr. Charles Stelzle, of the Federal Council of Churches, offers a rare opportunity for these purposes. 8. Housing The organization of many communities for housing is now well advanced, and most states have standard- ized their housing regulations, but large sections of the nation, especially in newer communities and in the South, are but in the beginning of housing reform. To secure housing legislation and organization is one thing; to make them effective is another. It requires efficient administration, the enforcement of codes in the construction of new buildings and in the recon- struction or demolition of improper buildings. This in turn is dependent upon an adequate number of inspectors. While the movements for housing are now firmly established in older communities, the problem is ever present in new and rapidly growing cities. It is vital that housing regulations be established early in the growth of cities before living conditions become bad and before it becomes necessary to enforce difficult and expensive alterations of streets, open spaces, and buildings. The problem of housing is complicated. It is one in which intrusion is resented, one which cannot be SOCIAL SERVICE 107 met alone but which requires the concerted action of citizens and public officials. The first effort is to dis- cover the agencies already in the field and to work with them. Most communities have housing associations. Those which do not may secure guidance and help from the National Housing Association, 105 East 226. St., New York City. Individual churches may act directly upon the problem : first, upon owners of tenements who are members of churches; second, upon homes which the churches are working to uplift; third, by educating their congregations in the principles of housing and upon local conditions. Bad housing, particularly un- sanitary conditions, is partly a matter of low ideals of tenants. In such homes the church may have large educational influence. Bad housing is also directly related to low wages and irregular employment, so that in working for a living wage and against seasonal employment churches are at the same time dealing with the prob- lems of housing. 9. Community Forums The community forum is so well established that it has long since passed the stage of experimentation and has become an effective method of social education. It is suited not only to institutional churches and to united meetings in public auditoriums such as halls and theaters, but in modified forms to any congrega- tion. Its principles may be carried into the men’s organizations and Bible classes. The idea of the forum does not necessarily require free discussion from the floor, although that is its io8 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK best form. In conservative churches where this would be impractical, it is possible to devote the evening services to addresses on such public questions and issues as are clearly related to the religious move- ment and to allow written questions from the audi- ence. It is also possible in such churches to maintain the element of worship, although shortened to meet the requirements of the service. Churches which have introduced this form of ser- vice discover that it adds greatly to the power and value of the church’s ministry when one service each Sunday functions on the more personal side of the re- ligious life, and the other on the social applications of the teachings of Christ. It gives a balanced teach- ing of the gospel and a sense of contact with reality. It also lifts up the second great commandment to a place beside the first. If the message to the two ser- vices is reversed occasionally, so that the problems of the spiritual life are brought into the evening forum service, and the problem of social service into the morning worship, it will be for the good of each. Responsibility for the organization of an indepen- dent forum in each community, in which discussion shall be unrestricted, falls naturally to a Department of Social Service ; but, important as this must be rec- ognized to be, the committee is convinced that the greater work is to secure a wider application of the principles of the open forum to evening services, Bible classes, and brotherhoods. Information with regard to open forums may be secured by writing to Mr. George W. Coleman, Ford Hall. Boston, Mass. A wealth of experience is avail- able for federations which desire to enter the field. SOCIAL SERVICE 109 10. Institutional Churches Every church will ultimately be highly socialized ; that is, it will be public-spirited. It will be organized to participate in common movements; it will become more and more a neighborhood center. It will organ- ize its people, particularly its children and youth, for religious instruction and the service of humanity ac- cording to natural age groups. But in industrial and immigrant neighborhoods the importance of institutional features is greatly in- creased. We shall never preach the gospel to the poor in the sense which our Lord had in mind until city missionary societies, acting together in definite com- ity, arrange to plant systematically attractive and completely housed churches in the tenement neigh- borhoods and in industrial centers. The day of the small and unattractive mission is past, if Protestant- ism is to mean anything in the future to congested populations. It is in such environments that the great Sunday-school, the evangelistic service, visitation from house to house, organization of the recrea- tional and social life of young people, the gymnasium, swimming pool, and summer camp, are most neces- sary. Responsibility for the creation of such churches rests finally upon city missionary societies and the de- partments of comity, but their ministries are so largely social, and they are so vitally related to the work of departments of social service, as to require their study and promotion. This is so manifestly true that the creation of such churches should rest jointly upon the Department of Comity and the Department of Social Service. Or, if the Department of Comity confines no THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK itself to securing comity between denominations in planting new churches, then the Department of Social Service should work directly with city missionary societies to stimulate the creation of such churches, and to assist in organization and methods. II. Other Forms of Social Work The lines of activity suggested in this chapter are fundamental, but they do not by any means cover the fields of service into which departments of social service may enter. The problem of immigration has not been considered, except incidentally, nor specifical- ly that of child welfare. It is apparent also that the work upon which churches within certain areas should be engaged must be determined in part by local or sec- tional needs. The race question belongs to many sec- tions, but is especially urgent in some Southern states and a number of Northern industrial centers. The presence of large numbers of immigrants, massed in cities, creates a serious problem which rural neigh- borhoods do not often face. In the country the prob- lems of overcrowding are not acute. In the city they are immensely important and difficult. The Sub-commission therefore emphasizes initia- tive and originality, the study of local conditions and the development of work based thereon, and urges that local federations keep in touch with one another and with the Commission on the Church and Social Ser- vice of the Federal Council. The vital matters in this chapter are the forms of organization and the methods of approach. SOCIAL SERVICE III III. Additional Recommendations I, Social Education Probably the greatest social work the church can ever do will be to pour into the life of the nation a constant stream of socially-minded young people, trained in the principles and practise of social service, ready to take their place in the fight for a better world. Twenty-five million children pass under our religious education every generation, and several millions are under training in young people’s societies. To give them the view-point of the Gospels, to awaken within them the love of humanity, to prepare them for citi- zenship in our democracy, is a supreme task. The problem of social education falls in large part to the report of the Sub-commission on Religious Education, and its promotion by a local federation of churches to a corresponding department. But its rela- tion to social service is so fundamental as to require at least integration with this department. It will like- wise require promotion by a Department of Social Service, and will certainly demand cooperation. Social education will also require consideration by a Department of Social Service in three other respects : first, in so far as it is related to the curricula of our high schools, normal schools, and colleges, where the social sciences should receive increasing emphasis ; second, in the encouragement of our young people to study these sciences, that they may be better equipped for service in the church, community, and state ; third, in the correlation of the social service activities of the church with the social science work in educational in- stitutions, on the one hand, and, on the other, with the 1 12 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK social service activities of the community that are under expert direction. But in the large fields of community service, educa- tional work is a necessary part of social action. Cam- paigns for public health are largely educational, as is all social evangelism. The social work of local churches and of all community movements must be based on anticipatory or simultaneous educational effort. The citizenship campaign of the Civic Com- mittee of the Cleveland Federation in 1916, all com- munity surveys, the complete studies of cities made jointly with the Missionary Education Movement, as in Cleveland and St. Louis and notably in the Chal- lenge of Pittsburgh Campaign, are at bottom educa- tional, but educational in the sense of looking to imme- diate social action; and therefore under the initiative and probably under the direct promotion of the De- partment of Social Service. The line between the two departments is not and cannot be clearly defined, and should therefore be the subject of frequent conference. They will often find it advisable to work together, as in the instance just mentioned, in promoting social service activities with young people’s societies, brotherhoods, and adult Bible classes, and in the expressional work of religious education with the young. The more this last is made real work at actual and necessary tasks the greater will be its educational value. 2. Principles of the Survey A fundamental principle in modern social work is thoroughness of information and preparation before action. Churches are strongly tempted to violate this SOCIAL SERVICE 113 principle and to engage in precipitate movements. Ministers in particular are under the pressure of ne- cessity in their pulpits, whereas in social work there is need of extended and quiet investigation and of self- control in the matter of publicity. Effective religious and social work, especially com- munity work, must be based on careful studies of local conditions and needs. The want of this is a funda- mental weakness with churches, and accounts for the lack of consecutiveness in much that is undertaken. An executive officer of a state organization, reporting on a visit to thirty cities in twenty-eight states, has this to say; “In every city I entered on this trip I tried to find out some fundamental facts regarding the religious re- sources and religious needs of the community, and in only one city was I able to secure accurate data re- garding these things. Everywhere else where there had been no survey, there were only hazy ideas as to the actual religious and social needs of the commu- nity. I know from practical experience that surveys can be made that will show in a scientific way just what the religious resources are and what the needs are.” Surveys of the right kind are serious pieces of work and, if they cover a large population or a range of subjects, expensive. Complete surveys of cities should seldom be undertaken by churches, and, when they are undertaken, should be organized cooperative- ly with other social agencies and after consultation with the experienced survey agencies. In small communities and in rural neighborhoods it is possible to make thoroughgoing studies of con- ditions. Such surveys are extremely desirable and 1 14 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK necessary for constructive work. In larger communi- ties neighborhood studies, or studies of particular fields, as, for example, the social evil, social agencies and needs in a restricted area, or some phase of public recreation, such as dance halls or moving pictures, can be made to advantage by the Department of Social Service. The Pittsburgh Council of Churches observes two principles in survey work which are fundamental: (1) Every community should make its own sur- vey. This does not preclude the securing of expert guidance from the outside. (2) No metropolitan community can study its whole self at one time. The task is too great. A series of studies must be made by districts, or covering spe- cific subjects of investigation. The desire of the Sub-commission is not to advo- cate a survey which is so difficult that for practical purposes it is prohibitive, but a working survey such as local churches can make and require for their work, and which gives promise of reasonable accuracy with- out being too voluminous. When churches undertake surveys it is important to work out the questionnaires with particular care, and to devise methods and organize the workers with initial thoroughness. The denominational secretaries on social service, the Commission on the Church and Social Service of the Federal Council, or when exten- sive surveys are to be undertaken, the Department of Surveys of the Russell Sage Foundation, 130 East 22d Street, New York City, will render assistance to churches and federations desiring more extended in- formation. SOCIAL SERVICE 115 3. Socialization of Local Churches A primary effort of the Department of Social Ser- vice of a local federation of churches must always be a systematic and continuous effort to socialize the un- awakened local churches, and to coordinate all of them for social efforts in the community. This will be accomplished partly by a continuous campaign of education, including conferences, dinners, public meetings, and drives like that of Mr. Stelzle’s; and partly by definite organization in social work. An ounce of actual social effort is worth a pound of discus- sion, although the two go together. It is well to have the churches begin where they are ready to work at a given time; as, for example, with juvenile delinquents, in charities, in legislative effort, in neighborhood movements, and in the development of their churches as social centers. Many churches will not enter into a radical pro- gram, at least not at once. Some of them will be very slow to enter upon cooperative movements. It will be only by gradual processes, by not scorning coopera- tion which seems unduly elementary, that they will be finally induced to unite in common efforts. Fed- erations of churches, being continuous bodies, are in a position to take the necessary time to secure such co- operation. It is well worth the labor and patience required. As the work of a federation of churches enlarges through the development of each of its departments, it faces constantly more seriously the multiplicity of appeals to its constituent churches. If this is not safe- guarded it will produce unfavorable results and will cause inefficiency. ii6 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK The whole matter of approach to the local church must be calendared by the Executive Committee and Executive Secretary of the Federation. This will force more careful study of methods by which the Depart- ment of Social Service may keep its contacts with the churches and yet not weary them with appeals. Probably the best method for the Department of Social Service is to plan ahead and calendar its own work through its Committee of Direction. Its more regular contacts may be secured through committees in the local churches corresponding to the committees of the Department of Social Service. These commit- tees m.ay work quietly without requiring the action or attention of the whole church. To illustrate : if the Department of Social Service organizes a committee on Prison Reform, that com- mittee, in addition to whatever it may undertake in the community, will find it necessary to appoint a like committee on Prison Reform in each constituent local church. This local committee in turn may work without publicity. It may secure voluntary proba- tion officers and big brothers. It may secure the con- sideration of prison reform in Bible classes, brother- hoods, and young people’s societies. It may arrange for an annual Prison Sunday, or for an annual week- day mass-meeting and address under the direction of one of the regular societies of a church. It may assume responsibility for visitation in a near-by prison, jail, or workhouse. It may help to arouse the interest of the local church in a community-wide meeting or effort. All this may be done in the main without agi- tation or observation, and with the fullest concurrence of the pastor. A further step in coordination in the local church SOCIAL SERVICE 117 would be for the pastor to arrange that the chairmen of the comittees having to do with social work in the parish, as, for example, those on Charities, Prison Re- form, Woman’s Social Service Committee, etc., be organized to constitute the Social Service Committee of the church. 4. Social Service and Evangelism Social evangelism has a twofold meaning, “The development of the social values in evangelism and of the evangelistic values in social service.” These are closely interrelated. The whole of modern evangel- ism, whether the evangelism of Christian nurture or of the big meeting for adults, will finally be inspired by the social outlook and task. To bring this about and to hasten the transformation is extremely impor- tant both to social work and to the power of evangel- ism itself. We have come upon a day when evangel- ism without social vision makes little appeal, and we approach a day when an intensely personal evangel- ism, but with the task of a Christian society before it, will develop unprecedented power and influence. On the other hand, the need is equally great for a social service which has the fervor and method of evangelistic campaigns for its own great causes, and which is so charged with spiritual feeling that it be- comes in effect a powerful personal evangelism. Social evangelism is jointly a function of the De- partments of Social Service, Community Evangelism, and Religious Education. The Sub-commission rec- ommends that Departments of Social Service watch the point of view of evangelists who are brought to a community, and that they undertake, by conferences ii8 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK with pastors and evangelists and by other methods, to socialize all evangelistic efforts. It would call atten- tion also to the importance of community-wide cam- paigns for public health, for citizenship, for industrial causes, and in behalf of local social agencies, and to the importance of conducting them with an earnestness which shall awaken men to the higher spiritual realities. 5. The Women of the Churches and Community Social Service The women of the churches have had as yet very little influence in local social service movements, ex- cept as they are individually members on boards and committees of charitable societies. Their activities have been connected largely with missionary societies and with aid societies. They have entered the field of social service mainly in distant communities through their home and foreign missionary work. Here is a great latent force which must be awak- ened and for which instruments of effective expression are to be formed. A city federation which can accom- plish this effectively will perform a most important kind of experimentation. The women themselves must work out the problem with such assistance, especially initial assistance, as the federation may render. The most obvious thing to do is to ask the auxilia- ries of home missionary societies to create a committee to deal with local community movements, such as those affecting the welfare of women and girls. This is the method of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. But if this is done it should be organized on a sufficiently broad basis to allow all the women of the SOCIAL SERVICE 119 churches who are or can be interested, to participate. It is probable that it will be found advisable to recom- mend a separate women’s committee for each church, with representatives from the different women’s or- ganizations ; this committee to constitute not so much another organization in the church as a common or- ganizing and directing committee. The natural method to pursue would then be for the Department of Social Service of the Federation to secure a federation of these local groups, so that their influence may be brought to bear upon commu- nity problems, especially upon those involving the welfare of women and girls, and upon the whole prob- lem of the freedom of opportunity and equal status of women with men. 6. A Rural Department of Social Service As the organization and cooperation of rural churches advances, and neighborhood, township, and count}'- federations of churches are formed, or in vil- lages and small towns where there are two or more churches and joint action is secured by a simple form of committee organization, the necessity of a rural department of Social Service or a Committee on Social Service will at once arise. The principles to be applied are not essentially dif- ferent from those used in urban centers. The prob- lems involved, such as cooperation with social agen- cies, relations to the local and state authorities, indus- trial and labor problems, recreation, public health, social hygiene, crime and delinquency, are all present but in different forms. They require the same study. 120 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK the same principles of the survey, the same collective action. In the country most social conditions are not so acute as in the city; but in other regards the need is greater because of the lack of organization and the comparative poverty of social life. Rural areas offer, therefore, fascinating fields for service, and they put a premium upon ministers and laymen who have social vision and organizing skill, and who will consecrate themselves to the enrichment of rural life. IV. The Churches’ Distinctive Function The churches have a distinctive function in social work, which is to endeavor to lift all social effort to the plane of spiritual ministry. Social service is love in action guided by social experience, and in its high- est form, where love for God and love for human- ity are one strong passion, it all becomes spiritual service. Social service tends to become mechanical and lifeless unless it is thus quickened. To make it such is the church’s inspiring opportunity. V REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION ON A DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION SUB-COMMISSION ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Winchester, Rev. B. S. Chairman New Haven, Conn. Assistant Professor of Religious Education, Yale School of Religion Athearn, Prof. Walter S. Boston, Mass. Professor of Religious Education, Boston University Boocock, Rev. William H. Buffalo, N. Y. Director of Religious Education, First Presbyterian Church Brown, Arlo A. Chicago, 111. Department of Teacher Training, Board of Sunday Schools, Methodist Episcopal Church Chalmers, Rev. W. E. Philadelphia, Pa. Educational Secretary, American Baptist Publication Society Cope, Rev. Henry F. Chicago, 111. General Secretary, Religious Education Association Davies, Rev. J. W. F. Winnetka, 111. Pastor, First Congregational Church Diffendorfer, R. E. New York City Joint Educational Secretary, Board of Foreign Missions and Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, Methodist Episcopal Church Fergusson, Rev. E. Morris Baltimore, Md. General Secretary, Maryland Sunday School Associa- tion Fisher, Dr. George J. New York City Secretary, Physical Department, International Commit- tee of Young Men’s Christian Associations Gates, Rev. Herbert W. Rochester, N. Y. Superintendent, Brick Church Institute Gilkey, Rev. Charles Chicago, 111. Pastor, Hyde Park Baptist Church Hartshorne, Prof. Hugh New York City Assistant Professor of Religious Education, Union Theological Seminary I2I 122 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK Hopkins^ Rev. R. M. Cincinnati, Ohio Bible School Secretary, American Christian Missionary Society Hubbell, Rev. H. H. Buffalo, N. Y, Director of Religious Education, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church Meyer, Rev. Henry H. Cincinnati, Ohio Editor, Sunday-school Publications, Methodist Episco- pal Church Moxcey, Miss Mary E. Boston, Mass. Professor of Religious Education, Department of Re- ligious Education, Boston University Pearce, W. C. Chicago, 111. Field and Adult Superintendent, International Sunday School Association Raffety, Rev. W. E. Philadelphia, Pa. Editor-in-chief, American Baptist Publication Society Rice, Miss Anna V. New York City Secretary, Religious Work Department, National Board of Young Woman’s Christian Associations Richardson, Prof. Norman E. Boston, Mass. Professor of the Psychology of Religion, Boston Uni- versity Shackpord, Rev. John W. Nashville, Tenn. Superintendent, Department of Teacher Training, Gen- eral Sunday School Board, Methodist Episcopal Qburch, South Veach, Rev. Robert W. Philadelphia, Pa. Secretary of Religious Education, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work Weigle, Prof. Luther A. New Haven, Conn. Professor of Christian Nurture, Yale School of Re- ligion A Department of Religious Education for an Interchurch Federation The business of the Christian church is construc- tive. It is to build the king-dom of God on earth. Its methods are many ; its faith is in the grace of God ; its strength, in the power of his Spirit. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 123 Of the church’s methods none are more vital than the educative. No part of its work is more important than that of religious education. Education is direct- ly constructive ; it prevents sin and failure, it makes men and women. Through evangelistic preaching the church reclaims the sinner; through Christian nur- ture it prevents the child from wandering into indiffer- ence or vice. Through revival or personal effort it wins men to decision and leads them to experience conversion ; but if decision is to result in service and conversion to issue in its full and permanent fruitage, there must be instruction and training. Without full use of the methods of nurture and education the work of the church lacks substance and perpetuity; instead of growing by the vital powers God has given it as its own it condemns itself to an unending battle for new conquests from without. It is equally true that education without religion is incomplete and abortive. It fails to put the child into touch with life’s truest ideals and most fundamen- tal forces. It may teach about character, but lacks dynamic to create it. It cultivates intelligence and skill, but cannot beget the goodwill without which no community can achieve the fullest happiness and suc- cess. The church owes it to the community to main- tain such methods of Christian education as may crown and complete the necessarily partial work of the public schools. I. What Community Needs in Religious Education MAY Best be Met by an Interchurch Federa- tion, Rather than by the Churches Individually? The normal unit of work in religious education is 124 the manual of inter-church work the individual church. This is primarily responsible for providing program, equipment, and teaching force, as well as for actually imparting those truths which it regards as distinctively Christian. Probably the major part of the work of religious education will continue to be done by the individual church and this will con- stitute a large and important part of its activity. There are, however, certain community needs in religious education which can never be adequately met by the individual church, nor by all the churches act- ing in their individual capacities, but only through co- operative effort. Among the ways of meeting such needs the following may be mentioned: 1. The Taking of a Community Census, with a view to reaching all the children of a community with relig- ious education. If the Christian churches are to work for the evangelization of the whole community, they must know definitely just what children are as yet untouched by the Sunday-school and other religious influences. 2. The Providing of a Program of Week-day Relig- ious Education, involving, as it does, a close adjustment between the public school program and the program of religious education provided by the churches. Church and school must work together to provide a complete education; either alone is insufficient and partial. 3. The Making of a Survey of Educational Agencies of the Community, with reference to the possible contri- bution of each to a community program of religious education and to their cooperation in its realization. Besides church and public school, other agencies have their important place in the program of religious edu- cation, such as the playground, the public library, etc. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 125 4. The Formulating of Constructive Community Pro- grams of Religious Education. Community programs imply community cooperation and planning. 5. The Training of Leaders in Religious Education and in All Phases of Religious Activity, both for the local church and for the community at large. This is a task generally beyond the resources of the individual church. 6. The Creating of an Intelligent Public Conscience, with respect to community conditions and influences, both good and bad. The effectiveness of any system of education, religious or otherwise, rests, in the last analysis, upon the support of public opinion. More- over the character of the community itself is one of the chief determinative factors in shaping the lives of children and youth. The informal, indirect influences of community life are as potent as the direct and for- mal effort of school and church. 7. The Education of the Public in Federation Activi- ties. Intelligent cooperation in the work of a local federa- tion means constant and systematic education of the public regarding community needs and church meth- ods and agencies. 8. The Correlating of the Educational Programs of the Various Departments of the Federation. Every De- partment of a local federation has certain educational programs which are essential to the successful prose- cution of its work. It is the task of the Department of Religious Education to see that these are all prop- erly correlated with one another as well as embodied in the community program of religious education. 126 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK II. With What Organization and Program may THE Federation of Churches Seek to Meet THESE Community Needs? It should be borne constantly in mind that churches differ and communities differ. It is there- fore not wise to attempt to prepare in detail a stand- ardized program or scheme of organization. The fol- lowing suggestions touch upon fundamental needs in all communities and may be adapted in their applica- tion to existing conditions. I. The Department of Religious Education in the Federation of Churches The Executive Committee of the Federation of Churches may form a Federation Department of Re- ligious Education, by appointing one representative from each denomination composing the Federation. The persons selected should be those who are specially qualified, both by training and experience, for dealing with matters pertaining to religious education. The functions of this department are: a. To take the initiative in community or coopera- tive enterprises in religious education. b. To plan and correlate the educational policies of the Federation of Churches. 2. The Community Council of Religious Education In taking the initiative in community or coopera- tive enterprises in religious education, the Federation Department of Religious Education may, wherever it seems wise and conditions favor, act directly as a RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 127 Community Council of Religious Education, either for its own constituency, as represented in the churches composing the Federation, or for a limited geographical section of the community in large cities having such areas with homogeneous population. In most cases the Federation Department of Re- ligious Education will create a Community Council of Religious Education, in accordance with some one of the following plans : A. The Federation Department of Religious Educa- tion may create a Community Council of Religious Educa- tion, out of its own membership, with the addition of such other representatives of the constituent denomina- tions as may be desired or deemed wise. B. The Federation Department of Religious Educa- tion may call upon the several churches of the community, regardless of their connection with the Church Fed- eration, to elect two or three representatives each who shall, with the members of the Federation De- partment of Religious Education, constitute a Com- munity Council of Religious Education. C. The Federation Department of Religious Educa- tion may call into existence a Community Council of Re- ligious Education, consisting of, say, three representatives of each of the educational agencies at work in the com- munity, such as the Federation of Churches (through its Department of Religious Education) the several denominations (through their Educational Commit- tees), the Christian Associations (Y. M. and Y. W. C. A.), the International Sunday School Association (through County or City Association), the Young People’s Societies (through the Local Union), the Playground Association, the Juvenile Court Associa- tion, the Public Education Association, the Charity 128 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK Org-anization Society, the Boy Scout and Camp Fire Girls’ Councils, etc. D. The Federation Department of Religious Educa- tion may create a Community Council of Religious Edu- cation consisting of one hundred or more members chosen from the community at large. It will be seen that the above plans are intended to suit different types of communities. Plan A is adapted to a community of homogeneous population, where the influence of the Protestant churches is strong and united, and other religious bodies are practically un- represented. Plan B is adapted to communities in which are churches keenly interested in religious edu- cation and ready to cooperate in a community relig- ious education program, though for one reason or another not officially included in the Federation of Churches. Plan C is intended for larger communities, already well supplied with effective, though not well correlated, educational agencies. Plan D will serve best in those communities which desire to attack the problem of religious education de novo, as a distinc- tively community problem. (As an illustration of a method of community organization similar to that out- lined in Plan D, see the Malden, Mass., Plan, described in the “Malden Leaflets,” Pilgrim Press, Boston.) The Community Council of Religious Education, as outlined in Plans C and D, is the large, responsible, democratic body which determines the policies of the community with respect to religious education. Its members represent the community as a whole, and should consider themselves responsible to the entire community for the religious welfare of all its children and youth. This Community Council will elect a Community RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 129 Board of Religious Education of three, five, seven, or nine members, according to the size of the community, whose duties will be similar to those of the board of education in a system of public schools. It will, in turn, elect a Community Superintendent of Religious Education, as the executive head of the community system of religious schools, consisting of the Sunday- schools of the various churches (over which the Coun- cil will not attempt to exercise control except as its assistance may be requested by individual churches) ; vacation schools of religion; week-day schools of re- ligion; and a community institute for the training of teachers and leaders. This scheme of community organization for relig- ious education, given here in bare outline, may be elab- orated or simplified according to the needs of the com- munity, It is believed, however, that the principles of administration which are here suggested are essen- tial to the successful conduct of community enter- prises in religious education. Details concerning the work of the Council, the Board, the Superintendent, and the various constituent schools, may be found in the Appendix to this Report. III. What can the Department of Religious Edu- cation Do TO Correlate the Educational Programs of the Various Depart- ments OF THE Federation of Churches? The departments of activity into which the work of a Federation of Churches is organized must all make use of educational methods, in order to train a constituency which will be keenly alive to the great 130 THE MANUAL OF INTER-OHURCH WORK ends for which the church exists, and loyal and in- telligent in its support of the churches’ evangelistic, social, and missionary enterprises. It is the duty of the Federation Department of Re- ligious Education to study the educational, as distinct from the merely promotional, aspects of the work of the other Church Federation Departments, and to see that these needs are completely served by educational programs which are all correlated with and compre- hended in the Community Program of Religious Edu- cation. I. Evangelism Every live church will seek to secure the commit- ment of the members of the community to the Chris- tian ideal. Evangelism has its educative aspects which are both preparatory to and consequent upon the pres- entation of the evangelistic appeal. Every revival, we are accustomed to say, should be followed by a definite program of conservation. True; but that is the wrong word. Merely to conserve is not enough, is not indeed possible; there must be progress, develop- ment, growth in the knowledge and grace of God, in short, Christian education. The work of evangelism through Christian educa- tion is to be accomplished by taking advantage of the opportunities offered in connection with the regular community and church programs of religious educa- tion, and by providing at critical points the proper in- fluences for securing decision and for giving it ex- pression in appropriate action. The Department of Religious Education will work in the closest harmony and cooperation with the Department of Evangelism, supplying such agencies and methods as are necessary RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 131 to the full accomplishment of the educational work involved in a thoroughgoing evangelism. 2. Social Service Among the forms of work recommended to the De- partments of Social Service in the Church Federa- tions are many which may be regarded as remedial and reconstructive, to be accomplished through the coopera- tive effort of the adult membership in the churches. Such matters as concern the closer cooperation of the churches with the charity organizations; the cam- paigns for new legislation touching the conditions of housing and sanitation, hours of labor, employment of women and children, industrial relations, prison re- form, organized vice, intemperance, and commercial- ized amusement, as well as for the enforcement of ex- isting laws, and constructive parish work with individuals and families often in the form of “case work,” are properly matters requiring the intelligent action of adults. Many desirable social results, however, can only be accomplished through educational methods. The prob- lem of juvenile delinquency is partly a problem of proper community education of defectives and partly a problem of effective moral and religious instruction ; the vice problem is partly a problem of community control of commercial agencies and of commercialized recreation and partly a problem of living wages, proper physical training, wholesome social compan- ionships, a rational program of community recreation, and of cooperation in worth-while enterprises of a civic, social, and missionary character. Moreover, the socializing of the church and of the \ 132 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK community are themselves ends to be attained through education and social action. The entire program of re- ligious education for churches and community must be so shaped as to awaken the growing child to the significance of all his social relationships and to train him for the prompt discharge of his responsibilities as a member of a Christian society. It is the duty of the Department of Religious Education to see that the Federation programs of instruction in social subjects are so framed as to attain these ends. 3. Home and Foreign Missions What the church desires for its own community it must desire also for the world at large. This calls for the cordial support of the missionary enterprise, for the enlistment of recruits for missionary service, for their training and their support upon the field, for the promotion of evangelism, education, medical and relief work, and moral reforms throughout the world. Cam- paigns for such support, financial and otherwise, are continually demanded, and call for abundant informa- tion which is educational in its nature. The response to such campaigns will also depend, in large measure, upon constant and systematic edu- cation of the young ; an education which is coextensive with and is integrally comprehended in the whole pro- gram of Christian education. It involves the develop- ment of a missionary attitude and the missionary spirit, a spirit of interest in other individuals, com- munities, and peoples, near or remote, a spirit of broth- erhood and cooperation and service. It involves also a comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the con- ditions under which other peoples live — their needs. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 133 their hopes, their ideals. It involves practise in vari- ous forms of ministry, in intelligent missionary giv- ing, and in cooperation in missionary enterprises of various kinds. The Department of Religious Educa- tion will utilize and adapt the material provided by denominational and interchurch agencies, incorporat- ing it in the program of religious education so as to meet the needs of the young people in the local church and community. And through all these educational methods it will seek to develop a church and commu- nity consciousness of responsibility for home and for- eign missions and will labor to enlist recruits for life service at home and abroad. 4. International Justice and Goodwill The consciousness of responsibility for world-wide missions involves also the Christianizing of inter- national relationships. These are matters of diplo- macy and of national legislation, oftentimes. Never- theless, the forms of legislation and diplomacy will de- pend increasingly upon the state of public opinion, and this is determined largely in the local community. There will be times when the Christian sentiment of the community must be mobilized in the interest of international justice, and when it will demand that the diplomacy of its representatives in the national government shall express internationally a spirit of goodwill. At such times much can be done through educational campaigns, lecture courses, pageants, photo-plays, and debates to shape and to formulate the thinking of adults. The effectiveness of these campaigns, moreover, will depend upon the thoroughness with which the 134 the manual of INTER-OHURCH work young have been previously taught, upon the degree in which the whole educational program has been re- lated to questions of international and interracial relationship so as to produce in each individual a sensitiveness of conscience regarding every form of race discrimination and injustice, and on the other hand, an attitude of appreciation, sympathy, and fel- low-feeling toward the representatives of every race, whether in this or in other lands. The Department of Religious Education will see that the educational pro- gram makes adequate provision for these needs. 5. The Educational Function Fundamental Thus the performance of any of the great func- tions of the church is dependent upon and conditioned by the effectiveness with which the educational func- tion is discharged. It is not a question of choice be- tween the educational and the other functions; the educational function is fundamental to all others; other things being equal, the more completely and thoroughly this is provided for the more effective will all the work of the church become. 6. A Comprehensive Educational Program is Necessary a. The Educational Program Should Be Inclusive The content of the educational program is determined by the needs of the situation. If it is desirable that young people should grow up conscious of their re- sponsibilities as members of the community ; con- scious of their duty to help in its evangelization, in the solving of community problems, in extending Chris- tian conditions and in promoting ideals throughout RELIGIOUS EDUCATION I3S the world, and in securing between all nations a Chris- tian treatment of each other — all these and whatever else is deemed necessary should be included within the educational program. b. The Educational Program Should Be a Unity The form of the educational program is determined by the nature of the person to be educated. We may think of ourselves now as evangelists, or again as en- gaged in social service, or as devoted to the mission- ary enterprise, or as seeking international justice and goodwill. But these various forms of Christian effort are interdependent and interrelated, and we labor most effectively when we throw our whole selves into any of them. For convenience of administration it is often expedient to work through organizations which deal with one or another specific aspect of Christian ser- vice, but for educational purposes it is wasteful and hazardous to attempt to provide distinct and un- related programs for each phase of the educational process. The educational program should be so for- mulated as not only to include all that belongs in the Christian life, but each part should be so adjusted to every other part that the whole effect will be cumula- tive, each reenforcing the other. c. The Educational Program Should Embrace the Whole of Life The program must be planned for life as a whole. The church is concerned with the development of life. The educational program, therefore, should present the educational material in such manner, and at such times, as will best serve that development. Whatever organization or agency within the local church is to concern itself with education should become so related to other agencies as to enhance the effectiveness of the 136 THE MANUAL OF INTER-OHURCH WORK whole educational process. This means that the edu- cational program should be planned for the church as a whole, rather than by the various agencies of the church acting individually and independently. d. The Educational Program Should Be a Community Program The church is not the only educational force in the community. The home, the school, the playground, the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the organizations of Scouts and Camp Fires, the public library, as well as the spontaneous social groupings of boys and girls, men and women, share with the church the educa- tional task. Many of these, consciously or uncon- sciously — and often the more effectively because un- consciously — are working for ends similar to those for which the church is striving. It is important that all these efforts be conserved, that all possible waste from overlapping, or overlooking, be eliminated. Rarely can a single church secure, unaided, the coordination of effort so necessary to the highest results. More- over, such coordination and community planning de- mands expert leadership of a type which few individ- ual churches possess. Hence, the necessity of some form of federated organization which will make pos- sible the securing of such leadership. APPENDIX One Type of Community Organization (The following detailed statement, drawn largely from Malden Leaflet, No. 3,^ may be regarded as an il- ‘By Professor Walter S. Athearn, Pilgrim Press, Boston, Mass. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 137 lustration of the manner in which the details of organ- ization may be worked out in any given community, though adapted, of course, to the requirements of the local situation.) I, The duties of the Community Council may be summed up as follows: a. Constant and serious study of the local community problem of religious education. The members of the Community Council will be guided in this study by the educational director or superintendent who will be employed to outline and administer the community program of religious education. Every month or two the Council will meet for open discussion of local con- ditions in their relation to religious education. Public libraries will gladly provide books for such commu- nity study and magazine articles, pamphlets, reprints, and bibliographies may be purchased at a nominal cost for wide distribution among the members of the Council. b. The creating of a community consciousness with respect to moral and religious education. This may be done through mass-meetings, newspaper publicity, the distribution of pamphlets and books, participation in community pageants, and such other ways as the ingenuity of the Council may devise. In the last anal- ysis the effectiveness of the plan for community edu- cation in religion will depend upon the intensity of the public demand which springs from a conscious- ness of community need. c. The direction of community surveys to determine the exact nature of the conditions which must be met by the community through religious education. d. The development of a community or city system of religious education. 138 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK e. The election of the Community Board of Religious Education. 2. The Community Council of Religious Education sustains the following important relationships: z. To the local church schools. The Covmcil has its field of authority within the community; it claims no rights within the local churches. It has no desire to interfere with the doctrines, ideals, methods, text- books, etc., of the local Sunday-school. These are fam- ily, denominational matters, and community special- ist will enter this field only upon invitation, and then only as counselors and friendly advisers, not as dicta- tors. The services of the community experts will be freely given to all churches asking for help and advice. h. To public schools. The public schools and the church schools belong to the same community. The Council will seek for the proper division of the child’s time between the two systems and use its influence in securing harmonious relations between the two systems. c. To parochial and synagog schools. The Cotmcil will seek the most harmonious relations among the schools maintained by all religious bodies. It will strive to remove sources of misunderstanding and bit- terness and develop a community confidence which will make citizenship synonymous with brotherhood. d. To community welfare movements. The Council will not attempt to take over the duties of community welfare organizations. It will endeavor to create the public sentiment to sustain community welfare move- ments, it will furnish a religious motive for social service, and it will develop the ideals which inspire apd guide all social welfare agencies. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 139 3. The budget of the Council will increase as the sys- tem of religious education develops. When the work of the Council is done by the Federation Department of Religious Education, the chief source of income is naturally the Federation of Churches. The following are other legitimate sources of revenue for community religious education: a. Endowment. The present situation demands mil- lions of dollars for the adequate support of religious education. There is no more patriotic service which public-spirited citizens may render than to provide for the permanent endowment of community programs of religious education. b. Church Budget. Increasingly churches are add- ing to their regular budget the expenses of the local church school. It should become the policy of churches to include in the regular budget of the year a contribution for community religious education, either directly or through the Federation Department of Religious Education. c. Personal contributions. There are many citizens who will be glad to contribute largely to a thorough- going program of religious education. d. Tuition fees. Students in the community school of religious education should pay an enrolment fee of from two to five dollars each. 4. The Community Board of Religious Education This board consists of three, five, seven, or nine members depending upon the size of the community. The board sustains substantially the same relation- ship to the community system of religious education 140 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK that a board of education holds to the administration of a system of public schools. This board will elect a city superintendent of religious education who may also be the director of the community training-school for religious leaders. It will approve the faculty, cur- riculum, and text-books recommended by the superin- tendent, formulate suitable rules and regulations for all schools operated by the board, secure suitable quarters for all schools, and have general supervision over the educational work undertaken by the Commu- nity Council of Religious Education. This board will select its own chairman and secretary. It will make an annual report to the Community Council of Relig- ious Education and submit a detailed requisition for the budget for the ensuing year. 5 . The Community Superintendent of Religious Education The development of a community system of relig- ious education demands professional leadership. There are technical educational problems involved which require the highly trained expert. There are also problems of organization and administration which demand the attention of a skilful executive. This type of service should be performed by a com- munity superintendent of religious education, whose duties are analogous to those of a city superintendent of schools. a. Qualifications. This officer should have unques- tioned Christian character and large sympathies. He should have a broad general education, a knowledge of community problems, sociology, and psychology. In addition to this training a community superintendent RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 141 of religious education should have special training in the field of religion and Biblical history and literature, and an extended technical training in the field of relig- ious education. Beyond this he should have rare judgment, tact, and executive ability. b. Duties. Among the duties of this officer the fol- lowing may be enumerated : (a) Directing the development of the community system of religious education, as its executive head. (b) Directing the reading and study of the mem- bers of the Community Council of Religious Educa- tion. This involves the preparation or selection of study material, bibliographies, etc. (c) Directing the Community Institute of Relig- ious Education. This involves the building of the cur- riculum, selection, training, and supervising of the fac- ulty of the Institute, and the direction of the studies of the student body. The curriculum should be unified and adapted to the needs of the community. (d) The supervision of week-day religious schools operated under the Community Board of Religious Education. This will involve building the courses of study, supervising instruction, and relating these schools to the programs of the public schools and the Sunday sessions of the church schools, as well as to those of the Institute, which may have certain classes for purposes of demonstration, practise teaching, and experiment. (e) The coordinating of all religious educational agencies of the community. This will involve sur- veys, and the compilation of facts upon which the Community Council of Religious Education can base a constructive program. Gradually all overlapping 142 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK and conflicts will be eliminated, and neglected work will be given attention. (f) The gathering of statistics, and the mainte- nance of a central office where information of interest to all the church schools and to educational leaders may be had upon application. Uniform records for the community are desirable. (g) The supervision of pageants, festivals, and dramas in which the pupils and the community co- operate. c. Authority. The superintendent of religious edu- cation should exercise undisputed authority over the schools and activities which are under the direction of the Community Board of Religious Education. He will have only an advisory relationship to the local church schools. Upon invitation he will give direc- tion to the work of local churches. The smaller schools, unable to employ trained directors of religious education, will be able to get expert assistance from the community superintendent. The tactful superin- tendent will be able to go from church to church as an expert adviser without interfering with denomina- tional authority over the local church. The superin- tendent of religious education should rank with the community superintendent of public schools. The most harmonious relations should exist between these two educators. d. Methods of Supervision. The superintendent and his assistants (for in large city systems there will be specialized supervision) will use a variety of methods of supervision. The following may be enumerated: (a) The erection of common standards as a basis of inspection and classification. (b) The gathering and interpretation of statistics RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 143 in individual schools and for the community as a whole. (c) Observation work and practise teaching. The students in training may observe good teachers under direction, and actual lesson-plan writing and practise teaching under supervision may be arranged in the week-day schools, and in the various Sunday sessions of the church schools. For this purpose special classes or departments may be developed as demonstration centers. The best talent in the schools of the com- munity may soon be developed into satisfactory lead- ership for these centers under direction of a trained superintendent. (d) Exemplary classes. Expert teachers may con- duct classes in different grades or subjects in the pres- ence of teachers who have been called together to see concrete illustrations of the methods advocated by the superintendent. (e) Personal conference with teachers and officers. (f) The formation of professional associations, such as an Association of Supervising Officers, the Association of Primary Grade Teachers, etc. (g) The stimulation of professional reading. (h) Mass-meetings of citizens for discussion of vital community problems, thus creating public senti- ment to sustain the advanced methods. (i) Mass-meetings of teachers and officers in the religious schools of the community for the purpose of creating common ideals. (j) Group meetings for the discussion of specific topics. (k) Exhibits of the work of the school to create community cooperation. 144 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK (1) Exhibits for the information of special classes or groups of teachers, 6. The Community System of Religious Schools The following types of schools may be regarded as constituting a community system of religious schools : A. The Sunday Schools of the Various Churches. These schools will be at the heart of the system of religious education for the community. While abso- lutely under the control of the local church, they should be regarded as integral parts of a community’s system of religious education. These schools should be raised to the highest degree of efficiency. Their courses of study and programs should be coordinated with those of the week-day schools and the Commu- nity Training School of Religious Education, All community programs should reenforce and strength- en the schools maintained by the local churches. It is at this point that the influence of the city, county, and state or provincial Sunday School Association sys- tem can be most profitably employed. Part of the pro- gram of advance here set forth will consist in move- ments for sustaining and enforcing this organization, giving it the highest possible type of leadership, and insisting on its fulfilment of the functions entrusted to it in the community system. B. Vacation Schools of Religion. In many communi- ties the vacation may be used for religious training. All church vacation schools operated in a community should be under the direction of the Community Board of Religious Education. C. Week-day Schools of Religion. An adequate com- munity program of Christian education will involve more RELIGIOUS EDUCATION US time than is available in the ordinary Sunday-school ses- sion. Just how soon a given community should under- take to establish a week-day school of religion will de- pend upon a variety of considerations, such as the supply of skilled teachers, the strength of community sentiment demanding such a school, the financial resources of the community, etc. A community clearly ought not to un- dertake such a responsibility until all its possibilities for success or failure have been thoroughly canvassed and a complete plan has been carefully worked out in detail under skilled leadership with capable instruc- tors for carrying it into effect. A church which contemplates week-day religious instruction has no right to ask for the time of children on week-days unless it is already doing all that is pos- sible for them on Sundays. Church schools should not ask the public schools to readjust their program until their equipment and their teaching force compare favorably with those of the public schools. All these conditions demand thoroughgoing community pro- grams of teacher training. Teacher training is serious business. Upon its success depends the future of the church. Pastors and church boards should demand trained intelligence on the part of religious teachers. They should be willing to lead their teachers to heroic efforts and financial sacrifices to the end that the chil- dren may be nurtured in the knowledge and admoni- tion of the Lord. These schools will reenforce the church Sunday- schools and should be correlated with the curriculum and time schedule of the public schools. There are many problems involved in the development of this system of schools. Their success involves : a. An adequate supply of trained lay teachers. 146 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK b. A curriculum suited to the need of the various grades and related to the programs of Sunday and public school instruction. c. An enlightened public sentiment which will in- sure the necessary moral and financial support and pre- vent misunderstandings and partisan controversies. D. The Community Institute of Religious Education. The first essential to success in any educational enter- prise is an adequate supply of skilled teachers. It is the purpose of the Institute to provide such teachers. The community institute of religious education is a high-grade day or evening training school. It will attempt to do for the training of religious educa- tors what a city or state normal college does for the training of secular teachers. The curriculum of the school will cover all phases of the educational work of the local church and the community. The two distin- guishing features of this school are: a. A unified educational program in which all courses will harmonize with an educational policy which the entire faculty is expected to promote. This means supervision and direction of all work by the Community Board of Religious Education through the Community Superintendent of Religious Education. b. The courses offered by the school will contrib- ute to a community-wide program of religious educa- tion. The lectures delivered, the literature distributed, and the bulletins issued should contribute to the build- ing of a community ideal which will give common con- ceptions and unity of purpose, so that an adequate system of religious education may be established. E. Lecture Courses of a Popular Character may prop- erly be included as a part of the community system of religious education. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 147 In most communities one or more of these types of schools is already to be found, in addition to the Sun- day-schools. In such instances it is not intended, of course, to duplicate these agencies, but rather to seek their cooperation in and unification with the commu- nity system of religious education. The same is true of other educational agencies not specifically men- tioned, but whose programs need also to be coordi- nated with the general community program. VI REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON A DEPARTMENT OF RELIG- IOUS PUBLICITY SUB-COMMISSION ON RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY Stelzle, Rev. Charles, Chairman New York City Field Secretary, Federal Council of Churches Ashley, W. B. New York City Managing Editor, Boys’ Life Grose, Rev. Howard B. Boston, Mass. Editor, Missions, American Baptist Publication Society Innes, George Pittsburgh, Pa. Secretary, Board of Trustees, Cairo University Jenkins, Rev. Paul B. Milwaukee, Wis. Pastor. Immanuel Presbyterian Church McClure, W. F. Evanston, 111. Manager, Publicity Department, Redpath Bureau Montague, Rev. J. Y. Toledo, Ohio Former Executive Secretary, Toledo Federation of Churches Norton, Rev. W. B. Chicago, 111. Religious Editor, Chicago Tribune Reisner, Rev. Christian F. New York City Pastor, Grace Methodist Episcopal Church Schermerhorn, James Detroit, Mich. Editor, Detroit Times Smith, Rev. Roy L. Chicago, 111. Pastor, St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church Stone, H. W. Portland, Ore. General Secretary, Young Men’s Christian Association Weigle, Rev. D. E. Philadelphia, Pa. Pastor, Messiah Lutheran Church Williams, Talcott New York City Director, School of Journalism, Columbia University Williamson, Oliver R. Chicago, 111. Publisher, The Continent 149 150 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK It is a serious question as to how large a place the church will have in the reorganization of world forces. This is a time above all others when the church should proclaim the principles which are to dominate in the new world democracy for which the nations are fight- ing. While it may be important for the church to invite men to invest their money in the enterprises in which the church is engaged, it is still more important for the church to persuade them to invest their lives in the work that the church is doing. This may be ac- complished only as the tasks of the church are pre- sented in the biggest fashion possible. Men these days are not attracted by petty enterprises nor are they won by easy tasks. The greatest appeal of the church should be to "come and suffer.” Men will respond to this heroic appeal. This is being demonstrated the world over in the war in which we are now engaged. Again and again it is proved by the type of men who are going to their work in foreign fields among the submerged peoples of the world. Relatively the church’s task in every local com- munity is equally important and if the work of the church can be presented with a masterful passion, de- manding great things of its followers and of the world, the church will conquer in the hearts of the people. Religious publicity will help to accomplish this task. I. Principles of Religious Publicity The fundamental idea in religious publicity should be to promote religion — not the church, not the preacher, but the religion of Jesus Christ. This is the RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY I5I greatest thing in the world. It is so big and broad that every man who catches its spirit and is honestly try- ing to bring in the kingdom of God should feel that he will be made welcome in the church which promotes this gospel. The church is simply a means to an end. It can have its being only as it makes Christianity vital to men, and it will become attractive only as it makes men see that it is the best and truest exponent of Christianity — for there are other agencies which insist that they too express the principles of Jesus. And let it be remembered that the burden of this matter rests upon the church, not upon the man out- side the church. For be it known to all churchmen that there is no specific command in the Scripture for the non-Christian to attend the churches. The com- mands in the Bible referring to church attendance are addressed to those who are already -within the church. Religious publicity is a science. It is founded upon the laws of psychology, sociology, theology, and all the laws which apply to ordinary advertising. There is no hocus-pocus method whereby the church may be brought to the favorable attention of the peo- ple. The same painstaking efforts are required in religious publicity that are demanded in commercial advertising. It is because the church has been un- - willing to observe these fundamental principles that it has often failed. But let us beware of the unintel- ligent enthusiasm of some ministers and some adver- tising men who know so little practically of the church and of advertising that they think impossible things can be done by merely buying space and filling it with words. The mere fact that one advertises does not neces- IS2 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK sarily spell success. Some preachers who use common sense get results without paying any attention to or- ganized publicity or advertising campaigns. There is no doubt that if they had used common sense plus publicity the results would have been even greater, but let us hold no illusion as to what printers’ ink will accomplish for the church. Afer all, it is not primarily printers’ ink or the printed page that produce results. It is brain power put into the printed page plus the organization and the method whereby the church’s program is presented to the people. The fact that the method of presenting this program to men is unusual does not necessarily make it objectionable. It should be remembered that all kinds of people are to be reached and it is perfectly obvious that the ordinary method has failed to reach some outsiders. Whatever will do this effectively should be employed. However, nothing that is coarse or undignified should be permitted. Jesus did many things which in his day were counted “sensational.” Even a cursory reading of the Gospels will indicate this fact. There is no doubt that Jesus would adapt himself to twentieth century condi- tions were he here to-day. But Jesus was never coarse. He was always a gentleman both in his lan- guage and in his methods of work. The final test as to whether or not a certain method is to be employed by the church is not only whether it will succeed in securing larger attendances but whether while doing so it will not also drive away other sincere persons who should be held by the church. RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY 153 II, Planning an Advertising Campaign Back of every advertising campaign there should be certain elements which will permeate the entire task — enthusiasm, optimism, expectancy, persuasive- ness, sincerity, definiteness — and it should always have a positive note. Never was there a successful adver- tising campaign built upon negatives. The campaign should be planned for an entire year in advance, the expense being listed in the regular budget for the year’s work. The group of churches cooperating in the Federa- tion should regard the Federation’s advertising de- partment as their own, so that there may be harmony of effort and so that each organization may have the benefit of expert opinion and practise. The campaign should be in direct charge of a competent advertising manager to whom the churches and those responsible for various organizations and departments may look for counsel. While groups of churches should carry on a united advertising propaganda, this should be supplemented by advertising of a special character by each individ- ual church. The best thing that will come of a gen- eral campaign is the creation of an atmosphere favor- able to the church. The individual church must make the most of this atmosphere by directing men to par- ticular religious enterprises. III. Preparing Advertising Material In preparing a sermon the preacher begins with a text, presents his introduction, outlines his arguments, and ends with a climax. He can do this because his 154 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK audience will usually stay by him until he has finished his address. In preparing an advertisement this proc- ess is reversed. The climax is put into the headline, then follows the argument, the least important item usually being placed at the end so that in case inter- est is lost the main facts will have been absorbed. The advertising man’s methods should usually be followed in publicity work, especially in preparing a story for the newspapers, because there are a hundred other headlines calling for attention. Try to tell the principal facts in the first paragraph. Then develop these ideas in so far as space will permit. In preparing a poster or card advertising a meeting there are ordinarily four items — the speaker, the sub- ject, the place of meeting, and the time. Which one of these is to be placed at the head of the advertisement will depend upon its importance or popularity. The advertisement must not be loaded down with facts which every one knows, nor with superfluous lan- guage. Employ the old Anglo-Saxon words which workmen understand — and other folks will understand them too. Martin Luther always preached to the serv- ant-girls in the back seat. IV. Newspaper Publicity The value of the daily newspaper as a publicity medium is that it gets into the homes of the people every day and it is not looked upon with suspicion as some other kinds of publicity methods might be. The newspaper reaches more people than can be reached in any other way with the expenditure of the same amount of money. Churchmen sometimes complain about the inaccur- RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY 155 acies of newspapers but they rarely give the news- papers the slightest assistance in getting the story ^straight. Reporters are looked upon as intruders in- stead of friends. Editors are often bluntly told by min- isters that if they want copies of their sermons they will have to send a reporter to take them in shorthand, forgetting that the newspaper can better afford to do without the minister’s sermon than the minister can afford not to have it printed. Brief synopses written by the preacher would greatly assist the editor and the reporter in giving the address the best kind of publicity. There are certain kinds of news which editors pre- fer to print. First, that which affects the largest num- ber of people, and second, that which refers to people of prominence. Church publicity, therefore, may be secured by linking church news with well-known names. Statistics and resolutions, if briefly stated, will also secure the attention of the editor. Typewritten copies of such material should be made readily avail- able for the use of the press. Stories of human interest usually have the right of way. For instance, — the story of the minister who climbed out on the roof and strung a wire so that an old lady could have a telephone put into her room where she could sit with the receiver to her ear and hear the choir sing was not only church news but news with a human appeal. Church news related to current events will secure publicity. For example, — the atti- tude of the church on the liquor question, on food con- servation, on social conditions in soldiers’ camps. Newspapers want news written in a certain form. This requires practise although not necessarily profes- sional experience, but the best forms of newspaper IS6 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK writing should be carefully studied by the one who is responsible for religious publicity. No doubt local editors will assist in instructing such a one in the prep- aration of copy. Things done have more value than things said un- less the person quoted has in himself the highest news value. Usually the newspaper story should be a plain statement of facts without editorial comment. If churchmen would write editors more frequently show- ing their interest in the religious department of the newspaper, they would secure more space. If the church does not secure the amount of space in the newspaper which it thinks it should have, it is usually the fault of the church rather than of the newspaper. Church federations, especially in the larger cities, could well afford to pay for the services of a publicity man. He could make himself of great value to all of the churches. But the newspapers themselves will designate competent members of their staff for such work if it is proved to the editors and publishers that the people actually demand it. In conventions and im- portant religious gatherings a trained newspaper man should have charge of the publicity. It might be desirable to make special arrangements with one of the local newspapers to print on Monday mornings reports of sermons, the churches cooperating in the distribution of this edition through special sub- scriptions. V. Paid Advertising in Daily Newspapers Why should a daily newspaper give publicity to church work, unless it were to furnish real news to its readers? And it is only to this extent that the church RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY 157 is justified in expecting the daily newspapers to print stories about its work. It must not be forgotten that, after all, the daily newspaper is a commercial enter- prise and that in order to succeed it must have a stated income and that a very considerable percentage of its income is derived from paid advertising. The church usually pays regular rates for every other commodity required in the maintenance of its work — coal, gas, fur- niture, literature — why should it not pay for advertis- ing space, the commodity which the newspaper has to sell? Federations of churches may combine in a weekly full-page appeal in the advertising columns of the newspaper, the upper half of the page presenting great arguments for Christianity, and the lower half pre- senting the announcements of the individual churches. The latter should be fairly well standardized and set up in such a manner as to present a united appeal. The expense of a weekly page of advertising need not be very large for any particular church, and each church will receive the full benefit of the full-page advertise- ment. It may be desirable in some communities to have a short “editorial paragraph” run on the editorial page as advertising matter and marked as such. This para- graph, dealing with broad religious themes, might be used once a week, perhaps in the Saturday editions of the newspaper. However, newspapers are giving more and more attention to religion from the editorial stand- point. Indeed, some of the finest religious editorials printed to-day are those used by the secular press. To make a campaign of paid advertising really effective it should be continued for a considerable period of time — at least a year, if possible. No busi- 158 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK ness man expects to obtain results from the insertion of a single advertisement. It must not be expected that the churches will immediately be crowded as the result of a single full-page advertisement in the daily newspapers. It requires time to create an atmosphere favorable to the church. When once created, it will serve as the background of future publicity campaigns. VI. Recommendations, Publicity Commission, Men AND Religion Forward Movement An exhaustive study of the church and the press was made by the publicity commission of the Men and Religion Forward Movement a few years ago. In a series of recommendations made by the commission it was suggested that every daily newspaper should con- tain an organized religious department in charge of a member of its staff, just as it maintains various other departments. This department should cover local re- ligious news as promptly and adequately as any other form of news. It was suggested that provision be made for the publication of important general religious news from all parts of the world, and that some good religious feature, readable to anybody, but especially prized by all interested in Christianity, be run regularly. The commission suggested that the ministers and laymen of the churches keep in close relationship with the makers of newspapers, affording all the help possi- ble in the gathering of the news of the churches, and that announcements regarding their hours of service, location, etc., be made public through the newspapers as paid advertisements. The principal recommendation of the commission RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY 150 was that a central publicity bureau be maintained by a competent national religious agency, preferably the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, to which news agencies and newspapers may apply by day or by night for the latest information upon news affecting any of the American religious organiza- tions in North America or abroad. It was thought that such a publicity bureau would represent equally all the denominations, which would insure its freedom from sectarian bias. The statistics of all religious organizations, the names and home addresses of all foreign missionaries, the essen- tial facts concerning important religious developments should be on file with this bureau and be accessible to all who may wish to use them. Occasional bulletins of information should be issued to the press if necessary. This proposal, with some limitations, may be car- ried out by local federations of churches. Such local federations might cooperate with the Religious Pub- licity Service of the Federal Council which has already been organized. VII. General Publicity Methods^ I. The religious census has an important part in an advertising campaign. Such a census should be taken periodically by the local Federation of Churches, possibly in cooperation with the managers of the Sun- day-schools and various other religious organizations in the city. A census should be taken annually either ‘The items in this section are not intended to be exhaus- tive. They are merely suggestive of the great variety of methods the church may employ in the field of publicity. i6o THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK of the entire city or of such sections of it as may re- quire special attention by the churches. If, for example, it seems desirable to organize a special form of Christian work in a certain communi- ty the facts regarding this community should be read- ily available. The tendency of the population throughout the city should be constantly studied. This will not only furnish important items for publicity but will give the churches a background of information which will permit them to direct their work and organize new work with some degree of certainty as to what will happen in these com- munities, say ten years hence. At any rate it is impor- tant that all the facts with regard to a local community should be well in hand before engaging in an advertis- ing campaign. This is one of the most important fundamental things to be insisted upon in a publicity campaign which is to cover a period of time. 2. Every local Federation of Churches should have a statistical department. Such a department might as- semble the most up-to-date facts and figures regarding social and religious conditions throughout the entire city, and this data should be made available for every church desiring such information. Careful analyses of the government census returns, as they appear from time to time, should be made. If these analyses are made promptly and while the public is still thinking about the figures issued by the census bureau, it will give the Federation an unusual opportunity to secure valuable and worth-while publicity. The statistical department should keep in closest touch with the various civic departments, especially the Health De- partment, the Police Department, the Department of Vital Statistics, the Board of Education, the Excise RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY i6i Department, the Licensing Bureau, and all other de- partments that have to do with the every-day life of the people. Many interesting stories may be secured from the annual reports of these organizations and naturally the Federation would deal with them from the religious standpoint. The statistical department should become the authority in the city on religious conditions. 3. An art department is equally valuable. Car- toons, posters, photographs, diagrams, and drawings of various kinds may be produced by such a depart- ment for use in the daily newspapers and in various other ways, the chief function of such a department naturally being the presentation of religious news and facts from the pictorial standpoint. The department may also become useful to individual churches in the preparation of bulletin-boards, poster work, and simi- lar features. It is not necessary to use grotesque pic- tures in order to attract attention. The ordinary ad- vertiser uses the finest art obtainable. Surely the churches should not do less than this. An illustration should be used only when it strengthens the text. Very frequently illustrations display what cannot be told in type. 4. Permanent exhibits set up originally by an ex- pert and placed where a large number of people may see them will make men think well of the church. Not only should there be this permanent exhibit, but there should be an annual “church week,” when all the churches in the city unite in presenting Chris- tianity to the public, using the most up-to-date adver- tising methods but principally the exhibit idea. It will be a comparatively easy matter to secure the co- operation of all the daily newspapers and the various i 62 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK public and semi-public organizations in town. Frater- nal organizations, labor unions, women’s organiza- tions, clubs, etc., should cooperate in such a move- ment. This will give an unusual opportunity to say some things which cannot be said under ordinary cir- cumstances. 5. If a considerable number of people regularly pass the church doors or a certain locality in the city, the bulletin-board is a most effective method. The bulletin-board should be artistic. It must never be crude or coarse. Care should be taken not to use too many words on the bulletin-board. Ordinarily the let- tering should be read at a glance by one passing in a street-car, for example. It may be worth while to bor- der the bulletin-board with electric lights so that the sign may be read at night. When the bulletin-board is not being used to announce the regular church ser- vices, it may be utilized for the display of posters of an interesting character such as those used in a temper- ance propaganda, child welfare work, anti- tuberculosis crusades, etc. The bulletin-board gives the impression of aggressiveness, of alertness, and if the textual mat- ter is of the right kind it is sure to have distinct advertising value. 6. The mails should be used in a publicity cam- paign. Indeed, the use of letters, circular or personal, to specific groups of people pulls down the atmosphere which has been created through general publicity and makes it immediately applicable to the individual. The right kind of letters have strong pulling power in win- ning men to the church. If they are sent at stated in- tervals and have “punch” they are sure to produce results. Such letters should be studied very care- fully and as a rule should be written by men who RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY 163 know how to use the mails for advertising purposes. 7. An active mailing list should be kept up to date by the Federation and should be available for the local churches. A thoroughly organized follow-up system should be employed, set up by some one who under- stands this kind of a job. Under ordinary circum- stances the city directory and the election sheets post- ed in polling places will serve as a good basis for a mailing campaign. 8. The Federation of Churches might regularly print a bulletin with great profit. This would serve not only as a bond to tie together the various churches and religious organizations affiliated with the Federation but it may become valuable propaganda material among outsiders. This monthly bulletin might serve the churches as a “house organ” serves the average commercial enterprise. 9. The function of the religious newspaper of the right type is to inspire, to educate, to inform, to unify. It inspires by keeping a broad vision before the people who are dealing primarily with local tasks which tend to make them narrow in their outlook. It edu- cates by constantly presenting the essential facts of religion, by the example of successful methods, and by familiarizing the individual with the methods un- der which the church at large is operated. It informs by presenting from week to week developments of the Christian propaganda in America and abroad. It uni- fies by the very simple means of bringing people of many types in many environments to an understand- ing of or an interest in a common undertaking. No local federation can succeed in the fullest measure which neglects to furnish information of the larger work of the church or which does not believe its con- i 64 the manual OF INTER-CHURCH WORK stituency would be made more efficient by a knowl- edge of the world’s tasks through the reading of the religious press. The Federation should do everything within its power to interest the churches and their members in their denominational and general relig- ious newspapers. 10. Great care should be taken to select the right kind of general printed matter to be sent out by the Moderation. It should be high grade in every particu- lar. Literature may be employed especially in a long time educational campaign. Literature is valuable be- cause it sticks to the point. It never gets side-tracked in an argument. It never loses its temper. It will be read by people who are prone to scoff at religion and frequently it will tell the story far better than we can tell it because it was probably written by a specialist. Furthermore, it never gets rattled. It has other obvi- ous points of advantage worth considering. Carefully written literature on various questions dealing with the church and concerning which there is a vast amount of misinformation in the minds of the people will be productive of great good, as, for example, the terms of admission to the church, the constituency of the church, the form of government of the church, the doc- trines of the church, and similar questions. This material may be sent out to the people through the mails or in such other ways as may seem best. 11. It is worth while occasionally to get out a high-grade booklet. Such a booklet costs very little more than a cheaply printed one. In the first place, the postage and the addressing cost as much for the poorly printed booklet. The cuts used cost as much. A high-grade booklet may cost twice as much as a RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY 165 poorly printed one but it will be worth many times more. 12. Post-cards may be used in an advertising prop- aganda. A series of pictures of the different aspects of the work of the Federation and its constituent bodies which convey a definite idea of what is being done may be printed upon cards and mailed regularly to the people of the community, but these photographs or other illustrative matter should be high-grade or they will be worse than useless. 13. Calendars with live material printed upon them have advertising value. They will be kept in the homes during the entire year. It will, therefore, pay to spend considerable time in getting out the best kind of a product. 14. Notices placed in an attractive frame and changed frequently enough to keep them up to date should be hung in hotels and boarding-houses. Some hotels will permit churches to place notices of church services upon their desks, or in letter boxes of the guests, and sometimes they will permit them to be slipped under the doors of the guests’ rooms on Sun- day morning. In order to be fair to all near-by churches in the hotel district, the Federation might work out a united appeal or announcement. 15. Combinations of the stereopticon and the mo- tion picture may be used to give publicity to the church, this method being employed in the streets of crowded down-town sections. Motion picture men will often cooperate by permitting churches to adver- tise their services on the screen. They will more readily advertise nonsectarian religion or announce- ments regarding union meetings or church plans. 16. The electric sign locates a building impressive- i66 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK ly and speaks out startlingly a strong message, and can be appropriated by the church in a dignified and valu- able way. A steeple-placed electric cross, a near-by corner with a lighted direction-pointing sign, an elec- tric-lettered invitation or church-naming sign may all be used. 17. A “Go to Church” campaign naturally lends it- self to unlimited publicity plans. The churches should frequently engage in some form of special appeal to create in men a desire to go to church. The “Go to Church” campaign is one of the best of these appeals. 18. A union advertising campaign engaged in by the Federation, if properly conducted, may have as much value as the ordinary evangelistic campaign. If the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented through bulle- tin-boards, literature, newspaper advertising, posters, and other methods which may be suggested by adver- tising experts, it is sure to make a decided impression upon the entire community. If at the same time the right kind of church services are conducted by the local ministers, large numbers of outsiders will be won to Christianity and to the church. 19. Handbills and dodgers have a questionable value and should be used only in cases of great emer- gency. They litter up the front steps, the letter-boxes, the street, and ordinarily they are so poorly printed that people do not pay much attention to them. Ad- vertising novelties should rarely be used for church advertising purposes. It is much better to adhere to standardized methods, studying them thoroughly, ap- plying them scientifically, and pushing them with vigor. 20. Advertising conferences for ministers and lay- men should be conducted by the Federation. Such RELIGIOUS PUBLICITY 167 conferences will bring out the value of advertising, and the principles of advertising may be discussed by experts who have had wide experience. They should not be led exclusively by professional advertising men but also by pastors of large experience in advertising methods. It is true that the ordinary pastor does not know the scientific principles of advertising, but he does know some things which the professional adver- tising man can never know, and he must be the final judge as to whether or not a particular method is to be employed. And yet advertising experts may make a valuable contribution toward such a conference. It is gratifying that experts of the finest ability are eagerly awaiting opportunities to teach the church how to advertise. Care should be taken in such con- ferences not to be misled by the exploitation of meth- ods of work which may have been successful in some communities but which are not at all practicable for others. Chief consideration should be given to the fundamental principles of advertising which are ap- plicable to every field. 21. Whether proposed advertising be for the benefit of a particular congregation or by a central agency for the good of all the churches in a city, a publicity com- mittee can well be charged with the responsibility for initiating the copy. This committee may be composed, in the local church, of the pastor, or his assistant, and two or three advertising or newspaper men who are members of the congregation. If advertising for a city is contemplated, the employment of an advertising agency may be wise, but care should be taken to select men to handle the copy who have Christianity in- grained in them. If pastors write their own advertise- ments, they can usually make them more forceful by i68 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK consulting with some one who has long studied the peculiar psychology of moving crowds by printed words. VII REPORT OF SUB-COMMISSION ON A DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL SUB-COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL Gulick, Rev. Sidney L., Chairman New York City- Secretary, Commission on International Justice and Goodwill, Federal Council of Churches Allen, Mrs. John S. 'New York City Corresponding Secretary, Women’s Board of Domestic Missions, Reformed Church in America Andrews, Mrs. Fannie Fern Boston, Mass. Secretary, American School Peace League Boole, Mrs. Ella A. Brookl3m, N. Y. National Vice-president-at-large, Woman’s Christian Temperance Union Brooks, Miss Louise New York City Secretary, National Board of Young Women’s Chris- tian Associations Brown, Rev. Charles R. New Haven, Conn. Dean, School of Religion, Yale University Delk, Rev. Edwin Heyl Philadelphia, Pa. Pastor, Evangelical Lutheran Church Faunce, Pres. W. H. P. Providence, R. I. President, Brown University Laflamme, Rev. H. F. New York City Secretary, New York and New Jersey Division, Lay- men’s Missionary Movement Lawrence, The Rt. Rev. William Boston, Mass. Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts Lynch, Rev. Frederick , New York City Secretary, Church Peace Union Merrill, Rev. William P. New York City Pastor, Brick Presbyterian Church 169 170 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK Montgomery, Mrs. W. A. Rochester, N. Y. President, Women’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society Myers, Harry S. New York City Secretary, Missionary Education Movement Vance, Rev. James I. _ Nashville, Tenn. Pastor, First Preshyterian Church Wilson, Bishop Luther B. New York City Resident Bishop of the New York Area, Methodist Episcopal Church The Fundamental Purpose The purpose of this Sub-commission is to promote the establishment of a Christian world order. Every church should share in this task. This commission ac- cordingly seeks to aid the churches of every com- munion in finding the most effective methods for doing their work in this respect. It is a task to which the local church, or even an entire communion, work- ing alone, can make but little contribution. Only the cooperation of tens of thousands of churches of all communions, and of millions of intelligent Christians will be able to Christianize America’s international re- lations and thus do their part in the great world enter- prise. The Abhiing Task of the Church This Sub-commission recognizes the importance of the work of the other commissions. Evangelization of Individuals, of communities, of the nation, and of for- eign peoples, is the unique and abiding task of the church. The reconciling of sinful children to their Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ and the trans- mission to, them of newriess a,nd fullness of life — this INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 171 is the supreme work of the church. Whatever else the church may or may not do, this is essential. Fail- ure here is fatal everywhere. This part of the pro- gram of the church is the special subject-matter for the Sub-commissions on Christian Education and on Evangelism. Relation to the Sub-commission on Social Service But thoroughgoing evangelization includes the es- tablishment of the kingdom of God — that social order whose members love to do his will fully, here on earth as it is done in heaven. Right relations must be set up between men in society. Not only must personal vice be cast out but vicious conditions must be cor- rected. Justice must be secured for the weak, the helpless, and the down-trodden. Wholesome homes, adequate laws dealing with the problems of intemper- ance, and hygienic conditions of labor must be pro- vided and proper hours of work and proper wages. This is the subject-matter dealt with by the Sub-com- mission on Social Service. The Kingdom of God is Supra-national But just as evangelism must reach out to all the world, so the kingdom of God, the Christian social order, includes all the world. It transcends, recon- ciles, and unites all nations and all races. God’s kingdom requires universal right relations. Truth and honesty, righteousness and square dealing, honor and goodwill must be established and observed be- tween nations no less than between individuals and between classes in a single nation. Too long have 172 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK these relations been thought to be outside the range of Christian responsibility. We have learned with sud- den dismay our failures of the past. The tragedy of so-called Christian Europe discloses the frightful con- sequences of national selfishness and disregard of moral laws in international relations. So long as these relations are unchristian, so long as bare national might is accepted by any large and powerful nation as the proper ground for national right, so long as any nation and race is taught and be- lieves that it may rightly regard its own selfish inter- ests and ambitions as the sole guides of action, so long will military preparations and establishments grow from more to more among all the nations. But with the growth of vast military establishments among all the powerful nations effective evangelism will become increasingly difficult, whether local, national, or for- eign. The Christian program for individual and for social salvation cannot be carried to real and perma- nent success until the kingdom of God is firmly estab- lished in international and interracial relations. The New Task of American Churches The new task, accordingly, of American churches is to Christianize America’s international relations. Easy it is for a nation to see the motes in the eyes of other nations and to ignore utterly the beam in its own eye. It is easy but it is dangerous. Relations between America and Japan should be set right. Our treaties with China should no longer be ignored. Our pledges to protect aliens should be kept. Suitable legislation to make this possible should INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 173 be passed. Mexican suspicion should be overcome. The full confidence of South Americans should be won. Comprehensive immigration legislation, free from race discrimination, should be enacted. Ade- quate relief and reconstruction funds should be raised for the sufferers from the World War. America should take her part in setting up adequate world organiza- tion for the establishment of durable peace, based upon justice. There are ways of doing all these things and they are Christian ways. They should be known to all American Christians, who should cooperate effec- tively for their attainment. America now has unique opportunity and respon- sibility for bringing in the new world order. The American government and all its people should be as active in promoting world organization and interna- tional goodwill as they are in providing for national safety and prosperity. Fundamental Principles of a Christian World Order Permanent world peace can come only as the fruit and product of international goodwill and sense of brotherhood expressing itself in righteousness. Peace is the outcome of justice, justice is secured through law, law depends upon organization. The political or- ganization of the world, therefore, is an essential step toward durable peace. Nations, as individuals, should Recognize the rights of others. Render justice rather than demand rights, and Find their greatness in goodwill and service. 174 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK The estabiishment of this Christian world order requires : (1) The abandonment of pagan nationalism, with its distorted patriotism, its secret diplomacy, its double morality, its demoralizing spy system, and its frank and brutal assertion of selfishness, of unlimited sovereignty, and of the right to override and destroy weak neighbors; and (2) The adoption of a Christian nationalism, a Christian patriotism, and a Christian internationalism, which assert the familyhood of nations, the limitation of local and of national sovereignty, and the right of all nations and races, small and great, to share in the world’s resources and in opportunity for self-direct- ing development and expanding life. The establish- ment of the new world order implies the substitution of economic cooperation in the place of competition between nations. The churches of America should now vigorously promote nation-wide education in Christian interna- tionalism, unparalleled international benevolence, right legislation dealing with interracial relations, and suitable international organization. Conditions of Achievement This great task — Christianizing international rela- tions — can be achieved only as the expression of moral character of a high order. It must set up and guide the political machinery of the nations through intelli- gent understanding of world problems and also of the way to solve them. This achievement, however, is possi- ble only as millions of men and women of faith and prayer, in tens of thousands of churches, unite for nation- INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 175 wide education and for collective action. Emotionalism, however idealistic, that is not directed by practical intel- ligence, persistent patience, and readiness to take one step at a time, will avail little or nothing. Not by guerrilla warfare but only by the largest and sanest continuing Christian strategy, can the war upon war be won. There are enormous latent forces in our land and especially in our churches, demanding international justice and goodwill. The problem is, how to mass and harness this power so as to make it effective for action. It must be put into action and at the same time directed. It must be geared up to our political machinery in ways that will make the Christian ideals and convictions effective in directing America’s inter- national policies. This must, however, be done in ways that conform to the principle that the churches as ecclesiastical bodies should not enter into politics. Christian citizens should nevertheless be able to act collectively and simultaneously as Christian citizens. Necessity for a Distinct Commission The task is perfectly distinct and enormously vast. A separate commission of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America has been needed for the work. Neither the Commission on Christian Educa- tion, nor that on Social Service, nor the Committee on Foreign Missions, with their distinctive problems and pressing duties, could possibly give the steady atten- tion and the strong accentuation that are essential if a Christian world order is really to be set up. The local churches, also, must grapple energetical- 176 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK ly with these problems and cooperate earnestly in the program, if results are to be secured. Not only should every Federation of Churches have its own Depart- ment of International Justice and Goodwill, but also each local church should have its own committee and make its own contribution. No local church and no Federation of Churches can be regarded as working for the full program of the kingdom of God that does not provide for suitable cooperation with Christians in other churches and denominations in the accomplishment of this task. The success, moreover, of every other part of the Christian program is most intimately connected with the success of this part. No church that has mission- aries in Japan or China should feel that it is doing its full share in Christianizing those lands if it fails to cooperate in establishing Christian political relations with them. How Church Federations May Cooperate IN THE Program for a Christian World Order Each Church Federation should establish an appro- priate department composed of suitable persons and undertake as an integral and essential part of its regu- lar work an active campaign for enlisting all Chris- tian citizens in the community in intelligent and effective cooperation for the establishment of Chris- tian internationalism. Suggestions for the formation and work of this department fall into three groups: the committee itself, the forms of its activities, and the content of the message which this committee is to de- liver to the churches. INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL I. The Department of International Friendship of THE Federation of Churches I. The Membership of the Department Suggestions : (a) There should be, so far as practicable, at least one representative from each denomination. (b) The members should be men and women who believe in constructive policies, both educational and practical. (c) The members should be outstanding and influ- ential laymen, women, and a few pastors who know how to work and how to do team-work. (d) The Executive Secretary of the Federation of Churches should doubtless be a member, ex-officio, of the Department of International Friendship, but prob- ably should not be its chairman or secretary. Remarks : (a) The Federation of Churches as a rule includes only the evangelical churches of a community and sometimes not all of them. This task of Christian- izing international relations, however, is one that does not depend on matters of doctrine or on theories of ecclesiastical order or legitimacy. It is a task, there- fore, in which all denominations and communions can and should unite. It accordingly follows that the Fed- eration, in setting up its committee, should at the out- set approach those bodies that are not constituent members of the Federation, tell them of the plans and invite their cooperation by appointment of suitable persons for membership in the Federation Department. Such members might be either associate, regular or co-opted, as convenience and efficiency may direct. 178 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK (b) The relation of the American Branch of the World Alliance for Promoting International Friend- ship through the Churches to the Commission on International Justice and Goodwill of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America throws important light on this subject. The former body has come into existence in order that the great task of Christianizing international relations may be more effectively and promptly accomplished by bringing into the fullest cooperation all the Christian forces, regardless of the questions of doctrine or ecclesiasti- cism. The Federal Council is composed of thirty con- stituent bodies; the American Branch of the World Alliance seeks to unite all denominations. At present forty-one are cooperating. The Board of Directors of the World Alliance includes all the members of the Federal Council Commission on International Justice and Goodwill, with others. Its Executive Committee is also the Executive Committee of the Commission. Thus the activities of the World Alliance, so far as they come within the constituent bodies of the Fed- eral Council of the Churches of Christ in America, are the activities of its Commission on International Justice and Goodwill, while so far as they fall among other bodies, are exclusively the work of the World Alliance. (c) Emphasis should be laid on the importance of securing on committees and especially as class leaders men and women who are primarily interested in con- structive principles. The American Branch of the World Alliance and the Federal Council Commission on International Justice and Goodwill stand for those great positive policies and principles which will secure INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 179 international justice through world organization. They urge nation-wide education, domestic legislation, and international organization, productive of justice, brotherhood, and goodwill. Upon these policies all good citizens can unite. Only those persons should be class leaders and members of committees, who avoid fruitless discussions of abstract theories as to the pros and cons of non-resistance, or of the use of force. We need to concentrate discussion and efforts on con- structive proposals and programs. 2. Organization and Preparation of the Department (a) The meetings should not be many. (b) The committee should study the World Alli- ance literature and understand its proposals and pro- gram. (c) The committee should know accurately what the churches of the city are doing in the education of their membership in Christian internationalism. (d) It should consider methods of approach to those which are doing nothing, and also how it can best aid those which are at work. (e) Suitable subcommittees on visitation should be appointed. (f) The committee should have an executive sec- retary, perhaps some young man or woman, who could give some time and thought to its work. He should investigate conditions (cf. (c) above), keep records, guide the subcommittees on visitation, and coordinate the interchurch activities of International Friendship Committees. I i8o THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK II. The Work of the Federation Department on International Friendship I. Literature Needed The Federation Department should, first of all, se- cure from the World Alliance (105 East 22d Street, New York City) all the literature dealing with the formation and work of community and local church , committees on International Friendship. This literature should be studied by the members : of the committee, separately, and then together, with a view to the general program proposed and to its ap- . plicability to their own community. It is to be re- ’ membered that the proposals of the World Alliance : are not mandatory but suggestive. There are no hard and fast rules. The forms of activity, the programs, ! and the study courses are to be adapted by each com- ; mittee to the conditions and needs of its own locality. \ Suggestions : (a) Probably the first step would be to present i the matter to the regular ministers’ meeting, in order i to secure their understanding of the proposals and i program, and their enthusiastic endorsement of the \ general plan. (b) The subcommittees on visitation should then \ arrange to present the proposals to the pastor and i officers of each local church. 2. A Committee or Department on International Friend- I ship in Each Local Church The object is twofold, first, the education of all ! Christian citizens in each local church in the princi- \ INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL i8i pies of Christian internationalism, and, second, such organization of this educated citizenship as to make possible, when the time comes for nation-wide, collec- tive action, their effective cooperation with Christians throughout the country. In order to secure both these ends it is believed that each local church should have its own Committee on International Friendship. A real difficulty, how- ever, is encountered at this point. The tasks of the church are many and important, and for each of them committees and systematic education is called for. The danger is lest one or two good causes absorb the attention and interest of the church to the complete neglect of other causes no less important. The already established causes are naturally more or less jealous of new causes and resent their efforts to secure time, attention, or funds for fear the old causes suffer. Moreover, there is proper solicitude lest the multipli- . cation of societies and committees distract attention and divide the membership into competing groups. To meet these difficulties the following suggestion ( is offered. Let the Church Federation and also the I local church establish one general Committee on Edu- ► cational Courses, with subcommittees, such as those I on Home Missions, Foreign Missions, Social Service, Temperance, International Friendship, etc. Each de- partment might be allowed from three to six weeks each winter for its series of meetings and classes. Thus the entire church-membership would receive the needful education in the full program of the church militant and all the members be prepared to do their share in each great task. In churches where committees or groups already exist, these should, of course, be recognized and i 82 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK brought into the general plan. In some places it might seem wise to entrust to the Committee on For- eign Missions or Social Service the duty of promoting education on International Friendship. Should this, however, result in side-tracking either interest, real efficiency will have been sacrificed for the sake of sim- plified machinery. The important thing is that each church should provide for the proper education of all its members in the full program of the church v universal. But whichever of the above methods may be adopted, those in the local churches who are responsi- ble for the courses dealing with international friend- | ship should be regarded as the church committee on i that matter and be so recorded in the New York office ; of the World Alliance for Promoting International - Friendship through the Churches. Only in this way can the nation-wide, collective, and simultaneous ; action of millions of Christian citizens be secured when needed. When the Church Federation has decided which 1 of the above methods is best for its own field, the • next problem will be to secure the active cooperation ’ of the local churches. Provision should also be made for “follow-up” work till each local church actually establishes its com- mittee or department. 3. A Community Normal Class on Christian Inter- nationalism Suggestions : (a) Secure a competent leader who is an experi- enced teacher. INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 183 (b) The object of the normal class is not to give lectures on internationalism in general but to train teachers in Christian internationalism and in methods of instruction and organization, who can conduct the work in the individual churches. (c) The leader should be thoroughly acquainted with the World Alliance literature and its program. (d) Each church committee should have at least two of its members attend the normal class. (e) The normal class course should be limited to six or eight weeks at most and should have a regular enrolment fee of from $i to $2 to provide for text- books and other necessary expenses. 4. Popular Education in Christian Internationalism In addition to the community normal class, ar- rangements should be made from time to time by the Federation Department for education of the commu- nity by means of popular gatherings of various kinds. (a) Lecture courses might well be provided for in the forums, Chautauquas, and lyceums. Special lec- tures might also be secured in the churches by speak- ers of national repute. (b) A pageant at some time during the year would be highly interesting to the young people and also profitable for the general public. Care should, however, be taken that the pageant selected should be really educative and not merely spectacular and senti- mental. Many pageants fail to show that peace comes through attainment of justice. Every pageant should in some way make justice, arbitration, world organi- zation, and a world court essential foundations for the peace that is finally established. i 84 the manual OF INTER-CHURCH WORK (c) Photo-plays should be secured, calculated to promote understanding of the problem of world peace through world organization. Few photo-plays as yet present the essentials of the peacemakers’ program. (d) Debates between high schools, church groups, or different sections of the city could be made at once interesting, stimulating, and highly educational. 5. An Intensive Community Campaign At some time during the autumn or winter con- duct a two-day campaign consisting of four or five meetings. The general topic might be, “The New Task of the Church.” Suggestions : (a) Cooperation of all the denominations and churches (b) Local speakers, as far as possible (c) One or two speakers of national repute (d) A splendid chorus of young people (e) A pageant (f) Suitable literature for sale (g) Decorations of all national flags with the Christian flag the unifying center of all (h) Lectures on the League of Nations, the Ade- quate Protection of Aliens, Comprehensive Immigra- tion Legislation Free from Race Discrimination, and the Oriental Problem and Its Solution. 6. A Representative on State or City Photo-Play Boards of Censors All photo-plays arousing race prejudice or inter- INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 185 national hostility should be condemned by state and city boards of censors. This is as important as con- demnation of photo-plays that are sexually immoral. Federations of Churches constitute the only suitable and effective body of Christians for securing the adop- tion of right standards in these matters. The Feder- ation should have one or more representatives on such boards of censors. 7. A Member to Specialize on Publicity Some suitable member of the Federation Depart- ment should get acquainted with the editors of the local papers, should provide “news” of the right kind as to local and national activities, and secure publica- tion of discussions and reports of addresses and lec- tures of value to the entire community. The report of the Sub-commission on Church Publicity should be mastered by him. When the papers publish material that stirs up national selfishness or race prejudice, counteracting influence should be set in motion. III. The Content of the Message of the Federation Department The content of the message to be imparted by the Federation Department to the churches and the com- munity falls into two sections: (1) That dealing with the principles and ideals of Christian internationalism, with their applications to the concrete national and international situation, and (2) That dealing with the practical methods of education and organization for securing results. i86 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK I. Principles and Ideals of Christian Internationalism The fundamental conception of Christian inter- nationalism is that of brotherhood expressing itself in justice. This ideal must be applied to the varied con- crete situations that confront us. International good- will must find expression in unceasing and insistent efforts to secure: (1) Justice for immigrants. (a) With reference to laws affecting their status and opportunities. (b) With reference to their treatment by our peo- ple and by employers. (2) Justice for aliens as industrial workers — their economic place in our social and industrial order. This topic encroaches on the realm of the Depart- ment of Social Service. Here the general facts, ideals, and principles may be studied ; there the more minute details and the legal and social remedies. (3) Justice for foreign nations as nations. (a) Making treaties that conserve the interests of others no less than our own. (b) Faithful observance of treaty obligations, in their spirit no less than in their letter. (c) Providing for new international agreements making practicable world organization and a league of nations. (d) Progressive adjustment of economic legisla- tion providing for international economic cooperation to take the place of mutually destructive economic rivalry. (4) Helpfulness beyond bare justice. In times of special distress by famine, flood, fire. INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 187 earthquake, plague, or war, nations should enter on vast enterprises of generous benevolence. Remarks : The study of all these suggested themes might easily become pedantic, abstract, and unprofitable. Those who select the courses of study should secure text-beoks and teachers suited to their particular classes. As a rule the courses should be short, from four to eight weeks, and the text-books simple and concrete. As courses are continuously improved from year to year, those contemplating the study of Chris- tian Internationalism should secure from headquarters (105 East 22d Street, New York City) the latest infor- mation as to the courses available. 2. Practical Methods for Securing Results (a) Educational Each member of the normal class should be taught not only the content of the ideals and principles of world organization and the needed domestic legislation, but also how to impart his knowledge to others and how to get groups in his own church to study these questions effectively. (b) Collective Action Collective action should take two forms — that of the community in expressing goodwill to aliens in its midst, and that of Congress enacting laws for the protection and uplift of all aliens. The normal class leader should show how these two forms of ac- tivity may be instituted. For the latter, millions of citizens must be so united as to make possible their collective action. This is the second important duty of federation and of church committees on Interna- i88 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK tional Friendship. When from fifty to sixty thousand committees are formed in all parts of the country, and millions of Christian citizens are ready at a given time to write to the representatives in Congress in re- gard to moral issues involved in international affairs, the pressure of their moral ideals and convictions can be brought to bear effectively upon Congress. Suggestions for Communities which Lack Church Federations The foregoing program is not, of course, practica- ble for communities where no Church Federation exists or where the number of churches is quite small. In such communities the procedure would have to be modified in important respects. The initial steps would probably have to be taken by some single pastor or experienced layman. An International Friendship Committee should be started in an individual church without waiting for others to cooperate, and under its guidance a short study course should be undertaken in some one of the groups. An individual church is not dependent on, and need not wait for, community action. A committee that has already started successful work in its own church might well approach its neigh- bors, tell what is happening locally, nationally, and internationally, and invite them to enter into the movement. When two or three churches have established their committees, they might well arrange for cooperation unitedly, inviting other churches to share in the great work. This would in fact become the Community Committee on International Friendship. With the INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND GOODWILL 189 establishment of this, larger plans could then be en- tered upon. At every stage common sense should be exercised. Only so much of the program given above should be undertaken as seems adapted to the situation. Conclusion The embodiment in international relations of the spirit and the teachings of Jesus is the great new task of the church of Christ. All experience shows that his principles and spirit are complete and effective whenever and wherever they have been honestly tried. There is no home like the Christian home, no city like a Christian city, no business like a Christian busi- ness, no country like a Christian nation. For in them brotherly love, mutual forbearance, patience, help- fulness, sobriety, purity, honesty, and sincerity char- acterize all the relations of man with man. Experience also shows that unless we carry these principles through and up to the very highest and widest relations of human life, up to the conduct of nations and races, we cannot carry them completely through anywhere in the narrower circles of life. Christians are also loyal citizens, and however sincere and thoroughgoing in their personal life they may be, they perforce share in the wrong-doing of their people in its relation to other nations when that relation is wrong and brings conflict. We must embody Chris- tian principles in the relations of nations or we shall not be able to realize it completely in the lives of individuals. The tragedy of Europe, spreading to the entire world, discloses the inefficiency and bankruptcy of a iQO THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK national diplomacy that is guided by egotism and selfishness and that bases its primary reliance on mili- tary and naval force. These inevitably violate the principles of international justice and fair play, dis- regard the needs and outrage the feelings of neigh- bors, and create those suspicions, fears, and enmities which necessarily lead to rivalry in armaments and finally end in war. Commercial and financial interests uncontrolled by Christian principles, moreover, are not sufficiently unselfish and powerful to secure world justice, the necessary condition for world peace. No political system, old or new, that is not Christian, can save the world from the great conflict of the races already looming up before us. A non-Christian civi- lization is foredoomed to destruction, more certain and dreadful as it advances in the mastery of nature’s titanic forces. The world is weary of war, shocked and appalled by its horrors, disgusted at its prodigal waste of life and property, and aghast at the frightful consequences to follow for decades. It most earnestly desires a world where these things shall be no more. There is, however, only one kind of a world where that can be. It is a Christian world — a world in which classes and nations and races shall learn of Christ, shall look upon each other as brethren, shall be just and sincere and honest and truthful and helpful in their mutual rela- tions, and shall insist that these principles be followed by those who are placed in posts of official respon- sibility and national power. The attainment in practise of this ideal of a Chris- tian world depends, however, upon the vision, conse- cration, and determination of the Christian church — primarily of the pastors and through them of millions PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 191 of Christian laymen. Forty million professed Chris- tians in America can make America’s international relations Christian, if they will. This can be accom- plished only by the cordial cooperation of individuals, churches, and denominations in city, state, and national federations. If the Christians of America will make America’s international relations thoroughly Christian, a great step forward will have been taken toward making all international relations Christian. Had the Christians of the world, during the past thirty years, devoted to the study and solution of international problems, by the application of Chris- tian principles, one per cent, of the time and energy, thought and money, loyalty, consecration, and sacrifice which they are now devoting to the prosecution of the war, this world tragedy would not have come upon us. Have Christians learned the lesson? The wages of sin is death, international no less than individual. Jesus is the Savior and the sufficient Savior from sin, whether national or individual. This international salvation can come only as millions of individual disciples unite their hearts, their minds, and their wills to incarnate the spirit of Jesus and to make it supreme in all the relations of life, inter- national and national as well as individual. When the Christians of the world make up their minds and also their hearts to practise the principles and to live by the spirit given us by Jesus, the proph- ecy of Isaiah will come to pass, for the nations will then walk in the paths of the Lord. Then will come “the day’’ — not the wrathful day of judgment and destruction, but the joyful day of disarmament and prosperity when nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Not 192 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK only will they cease to fight, learning war no more, but they will also cease to fear one another. For justice will prevail, goodwill will flourish, and right- eousness will be established throughout the earth. VIII REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION ON PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION SUB-COMMISSION ON PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION Holton, Rev. Horace F., Chairman St. Louis, Mo. Pastor, First Congregational Church Ames, Ret. Clair R Chicago, 111. Former Executive Secretary, St. Louis Federation of Churches Chamberlin, Rev. Roy B. Saranac Lake, N. Y. Pastor, First Presbyterian Church Eldredge, Hermon Erie, Pa. Executive Secretary, Erie Men’s Inter-Church Federa- tion Fagley, F. L. Cincinnati, Ohio Exwutive Secretary, Federation of Churches of Cincin- nati Mudge, Rev. William L. Chambersburg, Pa. Pastor, Falling Springs Presb 3 rterian Church Root, Ret. R T. Boston, Mass. Secretary, Massachusetts State Federation of Churches Talbott, Rev. E. Guy Los Angeles, Cal. Secretary, California State Federation of Churches The Need and Scope of this Report I. In the year 1883 appeared that prophetic story. The Christian League of Connecticut, by the Rev. Wash- ington Gladden. It depicted accurately and impres- sively the conditions and needs which have compelled the movement for interchurch federation, both those of overlapping and those of overlooking. The cooper- 193 194 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK ation required to overcome them was anticipated to a surprising degree. It is only in the line of organization that the experience of these thirty-four years corrects his bold sketch. For example, the original League was composed of the pastors of the churches and lay- men from each, named by the pastors of the other churches ; no votes were permitted, and committees to carry out the views of the League were to be ap- pointed by the chairman, only with unanimous con- sent. Such an organization would work only in a group aroused and agreed upon the tasks to be done to- gether. In a story it was easy to represent the differ- ences and difficulties as readily overcome, and the re- sults as so great that the plan quickly spread over the state and the nation. But it is precisely at this point that the ideal has proved difficult to realize. Now, the failures and successes of a generation give data for the formulation of the basic principles of organization. Such formulation is the first task of this Sub-com- mission. 2. The problem is complicated by the existence of numerous religious and philanthropic organizations. As each social need has arisen, it has been apparent that it could be met only by united action, and Chris- tians have formed an organization independent of the churches in order to meet on neutral ground. Because the churches were not prepared to cooperate wholesale, their members have been compelled to cooperate piece- meal. But the advantage and the need of church sup- port is increasingly leading these organizations to seek recognition by the churches. Some are thus approxi- mating to church federations for special ends, e.g., one claims to be the Church against the Saloon. The rela- tions of these organizations to each other and to the PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 195 churches must be defined and adjusted. This consti- tutes the second element in the task before us. 3. While practical methods of organization, finance, and work must be developed by each federation for it- self, and may be safely left to experience to determine, provided that the basic principle and purpose be firm- ly grasped, yet even here the Sub-commission may save every one time and expense by putting into con- cise and definite form the lessons of the best experi- ence. These three purposes determine the scope of this report. I. The Basic Principle of Interchurch Federation By a federation of churches is meant the churches themselves as churches, consulting and cooperating offi- cially, through accredited delegates, for all accepted com- mon tasks. Corollaries 1. No association of individuals, or of organizations of individuals, or of church departments, or of repre- sentative church-members not accredited, constitutes a federation of churches. 2. The word “church” is used in many senses. Ec- clesiastically it may mean a local congregation, or the whole of a communion. Polities differ; some making the congregation, some, the whole communion the source of ecclesiastical authority. But all recognize that such authority, either original or derived, and to some degree, is vested in both local and national bod- ies and in the judicatories between them. Hence there is no practical difficulty. A federation of churches 196 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK may be formed alike in a community, a state, or the na- tion, in each case consisting of representatives of the churches in the corresponding sense. 3. The churches, independent and differing in pol- ity, ritual, and creeds, cannot recognize in the organi- zation, or in the combined membership of a federation, any superior ecclesiastical authority. Membership in- volves only the maximum cooperation which the prin- ciples, polity, and policy of each communion permit. 4. The only force possible in a federation, and the only force necessary to secure practical results, is “that force which comes from frequent discussion and consequent united opinion.” 5. A church federation is not another outside organization, but a clearing-house of the churches themselves, where they consult together and then work in .cooperation on common tasks. 6. A church federation is not a machine to be kept running, but one always ready for use. It does not need to find something to do to justify its existence, but existing, it may do anything. 7. Interchurch federation is, therefore, the only remedy for our obvious over-organization, affording the simplest and most economical machinery to ac- complish our common Christian aims. It renders fur- ther multiplication of organizations unnecessary; it makes possible the elimination of some now existing. It stands for Christian conservation and cooperation. 8. Specific tasks may furnish the occasion for the organization of a federation of churches, but they do not constitute its limit, end, or significance. That sig- nificance lies in the fact that a federation of churches reveals and makes effective the unity of the churches as the great church of Christ, so far as such unity is PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 197 possible under our present denominational organiza- tion. 9. In proportion to its efficiency, a church federa- tion restores to the church its true place and function as the center and inspirer of society. II. The Principle Applied in Organization 1. The principles set forth above have been well applied in a national way, in the organization and the wonderful development of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. But if the Federal Council is to go on doing effective work, it must be supplemented by the organization of state, county, and city federations. It is the promotion of these organi- zations which is the special object of this Congress. 2. Inasmuch as the same basic principles of or- ganization can be made to apply to all three of these divisions, with such modifications as the local situation may demand, this report will not go into the detail of each organization. It will rather give the broad outline of an organization suited to all three, state, county, or city.^ ^“But there is evidently a marked difference between a State and a City or Township Federation, both in its relation to the churches and its work. In both respects it more closely resembles the national organization than the local ones. It is a smaller Federal Council rather than a larger Church Federation. It consists of delegates from the denominational conferences or conventions. Its work is that of comity, read- justments, study and information, and inspiration in all matters demanding common action, influence on legislation, and includes the functions of local federations only as it organizes, fosters, and acts as a clearing-house for their interchange of experi- ence.” 198 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK A. The Name 1. At present there is a great variety. In a pam- phlet published a few years ago by the Commission on State and Local Federations, we find the following: “League” occurs twice, “Union” twice, “Associa- tion” once, “Commission” three times, “Council” sev- enteen times, and “Federation” one hundred and one times, while seven times the simple word “Churches” is used preceded by a qualifying adjective such as “Federated,” as “The Federated Churches of .” The following adjectives and nouns used as adjectives, are employed: “comity,” “social service,” “general,” “Protestant,” “united,” “provisional state,” “civic and cooperative” once each ; “Christian” three times ; the qualifying phrase “of churches and Christian work- ers” three times; and “religious organizations” three times ; “of churches” is used fifty-two times ; “church,” qualifying some other noun, is used twenty-two times ; “interchurch” occurs thirty-eight times ; “interdenomi- national” four times; and “federated” ten times. The adjective and noun of most frequent occurrence, there- fore, are “Interchurch” and “Federation.” 2. A greater uniformity would certainly make for unity and efficiency in the federation movement. The Model Constitutions of Cities, Counties, and States published by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, are worded, “Federation of Churches.” This nomenclature would seem to be the most advisable, or what is practically the same, only with the order of words somewhat altered. The Church Federation of a City or County or State. 3. It will probably be inadvisable at the present time to advocate the changing of the names of the PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 199 church federations already established, as that would tend to confusion in the minds of the local supporters of the movement. This commission would therefore recommend that federations already established re- tain their present nomenclature. But in the case of federations that are organized in the future, we recom- mend that they adopt a common name, which will tend to uniformity. We suggest that to this end the Congress adopt the term. The Federation of Churches of (state, county, or city). B. Preliminary Steps 1. Since the movement represented by interchurch federation is a comparatively new one, and is still practically unknown to the great mass of church- members, it will be well to have a campaign of educa- tion before anything is attempted. The pastors should come together and discuss the proposition to federate, and their leading men should be informed as thor- oughly as possible of the aims and possibilities of the organization. In this way a real demand will be cre- ated. Where possible, one of the secretaries of the Commission, or where there is a state organization, the State Secretary should be secured to tell what other communities are accomplishing in federated work. If this is not feasible, some layman or pastor from a neighboring church federation may be secured to address a public meeting or an informal conference. The more carefully this preliminary work of education is conducted the better prospect will the new organi- zation have for success. 2. With the demand created and the general princi- ples understood, it will then be possible to proceed to 200 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK the actual work of organization. Three meetings are customary for the work. 3. The first of these is the Preliminary Conference at which the needs of the community and churches and the purpose and the plan of organization are thor- oughly discussed. A committee is appointed to draw up a constitution to be reported at the next meeting. 4. The second meeting is known as the Organizing Conference. At this it is well to have present, as far as possible, persons from all the denominations or con- gregations which it is proposed to federate. The call should mention the number of persons to represent each denomination or congregation. These should set- tle upon the constitution which they wish to have adopted. Those who meet in response to this call should not hesitate to proceed with the organization because all invited may not have responded. 5. It is the business of this Organizing Conference to send for adoption to the various congregations, con- ferences, conventions, synods, or other church meet- ings, the constitution which has been formed. This Conference should also ask the same to elect official delegates to the next meeting which is to complete the organization of the Federation. ; i I C. The Structure of the Organization I. The Basis of Representation. At this stage in the federation movement it will be well not to be too dogmatic. Generally speaking the following method will prove best : (a) In state federations the basis of representation must be that of the denomination. (b) In county and metropolitan districts, where PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 201 there are larg^e groups of churches, the denominational basis will be most effective. But it will sometimes be possible to make the local church the unit of represen- tation. (c) In the average local federation the basis of representation should be the local church. But in some cases the denominational basis will be adopted. (d) The activity and usefulness of women in church life and community service will naturally raise the question as to their representation in local federa- tions. From the fact that both men and women make up the membership of the churches, it is quite clear that a federation should not be exclusively made up of either. It will be wise to divide the representa- tion of the individual church in the Council between the two. Laymen and laywomen should be chosen as officers and appointed to serve on committees when- ever possible, so that federations may have a perma- nence which the changing of ministers would impair, and the men and women themselves may have their talents developed in the larger spheres of Christian activity. 2. Details of Organization. (a) It has been found that the most effective or- ganization of a federation of churches proceeds along the following general lines. (b) The Council. The accredited delegates from these bodies constitute the Council of the Federation, which is its deliberative body, electing its officers and determining its programs and policies. This Council should be more than a mere formal body, meeting at infrequent intervals and taking but little interest in its work. It should be composed of the strongest and 202 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK wisest men and women of the churches, who are really representative of the bodies from which they come. Failure to guard this point, or neglect of the Council, will spell defeat for the organization. (c) The Executive Committee. As it is manifestly impossible for a large number of people such as con- stitutes the Council to give careful attention to the details of the work, it is necessary for the Council to appoint an Executive Committee, to which may be entrusted the active direction of the Federation. The Executive Committee should be representative of all denominations and districts, so that its actions may have the support of all. While representative in char- acter, care should be taken to have it composed of people who can get things done, and who are willing and ready to work. This committee is no place for figureheads, however ornamental they may be. The committee should hold regular meetings, at least as often as once a month, and should be kept closely in touch with all the departments of its work. (d) The Executive Secretary. He should be an employed officer, giving his entire time to the Federa- tion, cultivating the unity of the churches, and carry- ing out the program and policies of the Council, work- ing through the Executive Committee. He should have an office, or at least some headquarters, where the Federation can be localized. Such office assistance as is needful should be supplied. In some places, of course, where the work is undeveloped, or where it will not probably take all of a man’s time, arrange- ments may be made to employ the Y. M. C. A. Secre- tary, or one of the ministers, for part-time service. The personality of the Executive Secretary will have much to do with the success of the organization. PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 203 He must be a man who, with fine tact and intense en- thusiasm, in a truly Christian spirit, will be able to in- spire Christian men and women of all creeds with a passion for unity in service. He must be a man who will be a welcome visitor in any pulpit of the city or state, not because he is an orator, but because he has a practical message on Christian cooperation. He must above all things else have good executive ability. (e) Dividing the work under departments. It is now generally recognized that the Executive Commit- tee can do its work best by dividing it up under the heads of different departments. Experience has shown that there are seven of these departments which are generally found to be useful in every federation : The Department of Comity The Department of Community Evangelism The Department of Home and Foreign Missions The Department of International Justice and Goodwill The Department of Religious Education The Department of Social Service The Department of Publicity While all of these departments may be found in a well-established federation, it may be necessary at the start to establish only one or two of them, as the local needs may dictate, letting the others wait until the need for them appears or the opportunity for their cre- ation develops. In the Cincinnati Federation of Churches the work is grouped under two departments, namely: (i) Re- ligious Work; (2) Community Service. These departments in turn are divided into subcommittees. The director of each department and the chairman of subcommittees form a cabinet, which meets monthly 204 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK to bring the work of the committees into closest coop- eration. Each committee chairman is permitted to secure such a committee as he needs to carry through his program. The president of the Federation, the secretary, and the directors of the two departments form a general committee of directors. This commit- tee meets as a rule once a week. 3. Practical Suggestions. (a) Great care should be exercised not to have the organization become cumbersome. There should be no departments established, or standing committees appointed, unless there is some definite thing to be done. Pastors and laymen are busy and will soon de- cline to work for the federation if they feel that it is multiplying committee meetings unnecessarily. In- terchurch federation should stand in every community for the greatest possible efficiency. Simplification of or- ganization and elimination of useless motion should be its constant aim. (b) Heads of departments and chairmen of stand- ing committees should be ex-officio members of the Executive Committee. They should be expected to make brief reports of the progress of their work at each meeting of the committee. (c) It will sometimes happen that the work of a department, such, for example, as that of Social Ser- vice or Community Evangelism, will become of such importance that it will be necessary to employ a paid executive officer for that branch of the service. In any case, each department should have a budget, approved by the Executive Committee, and under no circum- stances should it be allowed to exceed its appropria- tion without the consent of the Executive Committee. (d) The officers and committees of the new PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 205 church federation will do well to keep in mind that, while they have the churches or communions thus or- ganized for interchurch work, there is still a great deal of work to be done to develop an intelligent and united constituency among all the individual church-members involved. There should be constant reports made to the churches. Every possible means of education should be employed, so that in time the church federation shall be in fact, what at the start it is in name, the united churches in council and in action. In many federations this end is being accomplished through the publication, at intervals, of a federation paper, which has a wide circulation among all the co- operating churches. (e) A practical, definite program should always be formulated by every church federation just as soon after its organization as possible. From year to year the program should be revised and extended, as the Federation grows, and as the need of state, county, or city becomes evident. It should be the consistent endeavor of all the leaders of the movement to work unitedly for the accomplishment of this program. It is better to have a small program and carry it through than to be continually starting out after new achieve- ments and never getting any of them accomplished. The development of the Christian forces of a com- munity will reach its highest level when the Depart- ment of Religious Education, in cooperation with the other departments of a federation, has worked out one comprehensive plan of religious education. It is not possible to emphasize too strongly the need of keeping this ideal constantly to the front. Until this depart- ment can be properly organized it may be necessary for other departments to have some educational pro- 2o6 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK gram, but this should be regarded as only a temporary expedient, a step toward the merging of all such efforts into one. This is especially true where a fed- eration may have only two or three departments organized. The federation which goes from strength to strength will be the one that early in its history adequately deals with this task. The suggestions in the Report of the Sub-commission on a Department of Religious Education and the references to the educa- tional problems in other reports are based on present conditions but point to the conditions that must pre- vail. The federation of churches which works out this problem will render a service of incalculable value. III. Relation to Kindred Religious and Philan- thropic Organizations I. Interchurch federation should never enter the field as the competitor of other kindred religious and philanthropic organizations. These organizations have come into being to meet real needs and may be doing splendid work. It is not the purpose of inter- church federation to attempt to do work that is already being efficiently carried on. But, at the same time, it should be clearly understood that interchurch federa- tion occupies a different place from any of these. They are independent organizations which are doing work for the churches and looking to them for support. The church federation is the churches themselves organized for counsel and for action. There are some functions which it can perform in the name of the churches better than can these other agencies. On the other hand, there are functions that these other bodies are peculiarly fitted to carry on. For example, PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 20J- the Y. M. C. A., at the present time, is doing a splen- did work for the soldiers and sailors. It should be the plan of the federations of churches everywhere to give to the Association whole-hearted support in this work, nor should they, except as they seek to secure chap- lains for the army, attempt to do independent Chris- tian work in the camps or on shipboard. 2. The mutual relationship of the local federation and other local federative agencies, on the one hand, and national and international cooperative agencies, on the other, call for careful study and statement, in order to facilitate the service of both forms of agencies for the benefit of the local churches. In the community where the local federation is or may yet be organized, there are existing interdenomi- national religious agencies of long standing and rec- ognized authority and influence. To such the local federation may not sustain a direct official relationship through membership in its council, for it is directly representative of the churches as such. It may, and generally should include representatives of those com- munity cooperative agencies in the departments or standing committees. Such a relationship will make easy and natural the eflFort to coordinate plans for the highest good of the local churches. The principle of working through existing agencies, without seeking to exercise or without claim- ing authority to control them, is clearly recognized as essential to the existence and highest efficiency of the local federation. In like manner, the principle that the highest welfare of the local churches requires consul- tation between local cooperative agencies and the local federation should be recognized. This relationship is based on mutuality of interest and goodwill. 2o8 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK In the field outside the community also are co- operative agencies, well organized and established in the confidence of the Christian and general public. Some are national, some international in character. Some are interdenominational, while others are un- denominational in their form of organization. In some cases the organization extends from the national agency down to the local churches, through state or provincial, county, district, township, and community units. In other cases no organization is in existence aside from the national, whose purpose is to promote certain causes or movements directly in contact with the local churches, or through existing federative or denominational agencies. A third class is composed of national denominational agencies extending their organization and service to the local churches of the community through state or other district agencies. The matter of adjustment of working relationships between these many cooperative agencies, within and without the community, and the local federation is important, for it would manifestly be unwise for the local federation to seek to control or hamper such agencies through duplication of organization and effort, or through unwillingness or inability to join with them in carrying out their plans in the com- munity. It is recognized that such agencies are independent in organization of each other, of the Federal Council itself, and of the local federation. They bear the same relationship to the local churches of a community as obtains in the case of the local federation, — that is, advisory. It will be seen therefore that no assumption of right PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 209 can satisfactorily , serve as the basis of coordination of effort between such agencies and the local federation. The Federal Council recognizes this fact in its forma- tion of the Commission on Interchurch Federations in whose membership are found workers prominently identified with these national agencies, serving in an unofficial capacity. Such agencies require freedom of expression of their life in every community. It would seem, therefore, that the local federation and such agencies should seek, by frequent, sympathetic, and purposeful consultation of their leaders, so to guide the local organization of the federation, and these other agencies as to secure unity of objective and thorough coordination of effort. Here again mutuality of inter- ests is recognized as the basis of such efforts to coordi- nate activities for the benefit of the local churches. Such cooperation should be sought by the local federation and the other cooperative agencies, both within and without the community, each approaching the other with open mind and determined purpose to develop together wise plans for aiding the local churches in their work, and for developing a powerful community religious consciousness. If the local fed- eration is ready with effective organization to join forces with such a national organization, or if by con- sultation an efficient organization needs to be brought into existence for the purpose, it is recognized as desirable that the local federation should assume as large responsibility as it will, in carrying out plans of the national agency for the benefit of the local churches and the community. If the local federation finds itself unable to place a satisfactory organization at the disposal of the national agency, for a service which the national agency is organized to meet, and 210 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK which is not being rendered by some existing local agency, the local federation should welcome whatever service the national or local agency can give. 3. The interchurch federation movement must in all this recognize that it is comparatively a newcomer in the field of religious and social activity, while many of these other organizations are well established, with clearly defined programs. Interchurch federa- tion, then, will not command that it be recognized as the agency through which these organizations are to work. It will rather offer itself in the interests of efficiency and conservation. Then it must demonstrate its claims. It will remember that the basis of coopera- tion here lies, not in organization, but in mutual under- standing and sympathetic counsel. 4. In all matters involving the use of federation office and machinery in behalf of important objects of public interest, for which funds are sought, such as the Red Cross and the Syrian and Armenian Relief Commissions, a wide latitude of action must be left to the local organizations. Conditions differ in various localities and the local executives are the best judges of the wise procedure. In general, however, it seems a safe policy to confine the activities of the federation in such cases to cordial approval, leaving the specific promoters of the given enterprises to undertake their financial campaign in their own way. This would limit the financial activities of the federation to its essential needs and the support of causes rightfully falling to the care of united Protestants in local com- munities. PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 21 1 IV. Practical Methods and Suggestions I A. Finances I. The Principle toward Which to Work (a) There is no cause that can be made more effectively to appeal to the pocketbooks of consecra- ted Christian business men than this cause, which in- volves Christian conservation and cooperation. But at the present time the ideal is in the process of being established in the minds of Christian men and women. It will, therefore, need constant and careful cultiva- tion. (b) It is vitally important at the start to establish the principle of support and the grounds for appeal. In answ'er to the complaint that here is another “cause” which must be supported, another charity to be maintained, let it be said that his complaint indi- cates an absolute misapprehension of the whole ideal of interchurch federation. It is not another “cause.” It is the churches themselves united for counsel and action. It is in the interests of economy; for success- ful interchurch federation involves the elimination and the consolidation of many of the organizations that are now appealing to business men for support. It is not a “charity” in any sense of the word, any more than the maintaining of the church is a charity. The expenses of the federation stand exactly in the same relation to the local church as does its budget for run- ning expenses. The Executive Secretary ought to be regarded as the associate pastor of every church in the community. The office of the federation is the church’s down-town office. Through it the church ministers to its citv-wide parish. The ideal, then, is to have each 212 THE MANUAL OF INTER-CHURCH WORK church assume its just proportion of the federation budget, and pay it out of its running expense account regularly, just as it pays the minister, the choir, or the janitor. (c) At the present time it must be frankly recog- nized that this ideal can be realized only in a few com- munities where the idea of interchurch federation has a strong hold. So it becomes necessary to adopt such methods as will secure adequate financial support. 2. Methods Now in Operation (a) Apportionment among the different commun- ions. In state federations and in some large city federa- tions, like Pittsburgh, the financial problem has been solved by having the budget assumed by the various cooperating communions, each of which puts up its pro rata share. Where the organization is an organi- zation of communions this is a practical and an easy way of solving the financial plan. However, many church federations are made up of local church units rather than communions. For them this plan will not be practicable. (b) Funds secured from individuals. The plan of raising the budget by a canvass of individuals who have become interested in the movement and who will support it, is often adopted in the beginning. In places where the communions do not underwrite the federation, and where the local units are not yet edu- cated to the ideal, this is the only practical way to ini- tiate the work. This Sub-commission believes this should be regarded as only a temporary expedient. (c) The budget apportioned to the individual church units. There are two methods suggested for this plan. One is to make a small budget covering sim- PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 213 ply the overhead charges, salaries of paid officers, office rent and expenses, on the ground that these are the ab- solute essentials of federated organization, and appor- tion this out among the churches, for each to raise in whatever way is practicable. Then the expenses of the various departments of the work may be main- tained by individuals who are interested in each. This plan has been attempted, without, it must be said, com- plete success, in the St. Louis Federation. The other method suggested is to apportion the whole budget among the churches, taking care to see to it that the budget decided upon by the council, upon the recommendation of the finance and executive com- mittees, shall keep within amounts reasonably to be counted upon. As the friends of federation increase in number and as the churches are educated in the ideal, this budget may be steadily increased from year to year. It is understood that any apportionment thus made can be collected only with the fullest consent of the church for which it is made. No ecclesiastical authority may command its payment. In this plan also there will, of course, be left room for the contri- bution of individual friends without any church con- nection. But it will be well to give credit always, so far as possible, to the churches with which individual contributors are connected. (d) To the Sub-commission it seems, therefore, that the best plans for financing a federation of churches are either the first or the last mentioned, namely: through the cooperating communion, where that is possible, or by apportionment, among the dif- ferent church units, of the whole budget that has been determined upon by the council for any given year. 214 the manual of inter-church work B. Mistakes in Interchurch Federation to be Avoided Mistakes have been made in the organization of federations against which a word of warning should be given. An ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure, but in no direction is this more true than in federation work. Some of the outstanding causes of failure in the past should be carefully re- membered and avoided, and they are, therefore, men- tioned. (1) Original organization by outside appeal with- out local responsibility and leadership. (2) Imitation of an ideal organization, with num- erous committees, successful in some other places, but not adapted to the local community. (3) The adoption of a plan too elaborate and of objects too numerous for the numbers and resources available. (4) An effort to absorb or to supplant organiza- tions and agencies already usefully active. (5) A too heavy budget of expenses, involving the salary of an executive secretary or other paid offi- cers before the federation is financed to support them. (6) The attempt to get along without any needed executive service. This is as fatal a mistake as the pre- ceding. Both should be carefully avoided. C. The Promotion of Federations I. The Commission on Interchurch Federations of the Federal Council has as its primary function the promotion of federations of churches, state and local. The Commission gathers literature from all of the fed- PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 215 erations and in every way acts as a clearing-house in the field of interchurch cooperation. The Commis- sion, through its Chairman and Executive Secretary, has promoted the organization of federations in a num- ber of cities during the past year, especially at Duluth, St. Paul, Denver, San Francisco, and Tacoma. 2. The primary purpose of the Pittsburgh Con- gress is the promotion of federations in the various cities and states that are represented in the member- ship of the Congress. The Congress is to give inspi- ration and knowledge of the methods and programs of interchurch activity to these delegates. They in turn will return to their various cities and organize church federations, — in many cases without the direct help of the Commission on Interchurch Federations. The executive secretaries or other officials of the ex- isting federations have helped promote federations in near-by cities. Cities desiring organized federations should secure, if possible, some representatives from a successful city federation to help them in their pre- liminary organization, or in an educational campaign leading up to organization. 3. It should also be the function of the State Fed- eration to promote the organization of county and city federations within its own state. This has been the case in Massachusetts and California, the two states having State Federations with Executive Secretaries. In promoting federations it is of primary importance that the field first be carefully cultivated until condi- tions are ripe before organization is attempted. So far as possible all the local churches should be in har- mony. The representatives of the Commission on In- terchurch Federations of the Federal Council, as well as other Federal Council representatives, are ready at 2i6 the manual of INTER-CHURCH WORK any time to help promote church federations in cities, counties, and states. 4. There is no organic connection between the local federations and the Federal Council, owing to the fact that the Federal Council itself is composed of affil- iated denominations. However, the Federal Council is closely related to the local federations and through the Commission on Interchurch Federations this rela- tion is being more closely cemented. The executive secretaries of the local federations meet at the time of the annual and quadrennial meetings of the Fed- eral Council and its Executive Committee and com- missions, and are accorded the privilege of the floor as corresponding members of the Council and its Execu- tive Committee. APPENDIX A CONSTITUTION Introduction A federation must fit its environment. Local leaders must discover their own local conditions, needs, limitations, and some of the possibilities. Then the constitution should smply phrase the accepted modes and methods to which all parties agree, as adapted to the local conditions. While suggestions come from without, and much can be learned from plans which have been tried elsewhere, yet the communities must be thrown upon their own initiative, their own inventiveness, and their own_ re- sponsibility. The more originality that can be awakened in a community of Christians, the more vital is their Christianity. The relation between the local, county, and state federations and the Federal Council is of a purely voluntary and cooperative nature, as the Federal Council consists of delegated representa- tives appointed by the national denominational or church bodies. In the interest of the spirit of unity and effective cooperation, it is deemed appropriate that federations should give expression to their appropriate relation to the Federal Council in some such way as follows: RELATION TO FEDERAL COUNCIL The Constitution of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, organized at Philadelphia, Pa., in December, 1008, is hereby recognized, subject to the superior authority of the respective supervising synods, conferences, conventions, dio- ceses, associations, and other superior church bodies, as the basis of this Church Federation in cooperation with the said Federal Council, includine the following principle as expressed in the Preamble and Plan of Federation of the Federal Council, to wit: “In the providence of God, the time has come more fully to manifest the essential oneness of the Christian Churches of America in Jesus Christ as their Divine Lord and Savior, and to promote the spirit of fellowship, service, and cooperation among them.” PLAN OF FEDERATION “To express the fellowship and catholic unity of the Chris- tian Church. “To bring the Christian bodies of America into united service for Christ and the world. “To encourage devotional fellowship and mutual counsel concerning the spiritual life and religious activities of the churches. “To secure a larger and combined influence for the churches of Christ in all matters affecting the moral and social condition of the people, so as to promote the application of the law of Christ to every relation of human life. 217 2I8 APPENDIX “To assist in the organization of local federations and to promote the aims of the Federal Council in their communities.” This advisory and cooperative relation with the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America shall be for the purpose of effecting cooperation, and annual reports shall be sent to the Federal Council. This Federation may also be associated with the State Fed- eration of Churches, if one exists. CONSTITUTION OF A LOCAL OR STATE FEDERATION Article I Name The name of this organization shall be the “Church Federa- tion of Article II. Object The object of this Federation shall be to promote the wel- fare, comity, and cooperation of the churches and to foster re- ligious movements and community betterment. Article III Membership Section i. This Federation shall be composed of those churches (in a state federation, denominations) in that shall, by vote, agree by their respective authorized methods, to unite with this organization. Section 2. Any natural group of churches in the Federation may, by action of the Council, be constituted a local branch of the Federation for the purpose of more effective neighborhood work, but they shall still individually be members of the Federa- tion. Section 3. Any church in the Federation unwilling to co- operate in a movement determined upon by the Council shall be excused therefrom upon its request to that effect in writing, duly presented to the Council. Section 4. Any church (or denomination) that shall vote operate in a movement determined upon by the Council shall be Federation shall duly certify in writing such action to the Council. Article IV Council Section i. There shall be a governing body, to be known as the “Council of the Church Federation of APPENDIX 2IQ coini>osed of officially appointed representatives of the churches or denominations in its membership, of whom shall be lay members (see note), together with the officers of the Federation and ithe chairmen of standing com- mittees. It shall also be competent for the Council to admit_ to its meetings by two-^thirds vote any member as a corresponding member with the right to debate, but not the right to vote. Note — The basis of representation must obviously vary ac- cording to the size and nature of the organization. In a federa- tion of denominations the ratio is usually one clergyman and one layman for a given number of communicants or churches. In a federation of local churches each church is usually repre- sented by pastor and two or more lay members from each church, or pastor and one lay member for each loo members. Section 2. The Council shall hold annual meetings or such other meetings as are provided for in the by-laws of this Federation. Section 3. Special meetings of the Council may be called by the President or the Executive Committee. Article V OMcers Section i. The officers of the Federation shall be a Presi- dent, two or more Vice-presidents, a Corresponding or Ex- ecutive Secretary, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, and such other officers as shall be found necessary, all of whom shall be elected by the Council at its annual meeting and shall serve until the next annual meeting, or until their successors are qualified. Section 2. The President, or, in his absence, the Vice-presi- dent, shall preside at all meetings of the Council. He shall appoint all committees not otherwise provided for and shall be ex-officio member of all committees except where otherwise pro- vided by the Council. Section 3. The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Council and shall attend to other matters pertaining to notice of meetings, notifications of appointments, and care of records. He may also, at the discretion of the Council, be appointed Recording Secretary of the Executive Committee. Section 4. The Corresponding or Executive Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Federation and administrate its general affairs as the Council and Executive Committee shall determine. Section 5. The Treasurer shall receive all funds of the Federation, giving receipts therefor, and shall under his official title of "Treasurer of the Oiurch Federation of ” 220 APPENDIX deposit and keep all such money in a convenient bank and pay out the same upon properly certified orders as hereinafter pro- vided, and shall make a detailed report of such matters at the regular meetings, or whenever reauested to do so. Section 6. The Recording Secretary and the Treasurer shall each keep his records and accounts in permanent form in suitable books which shall be the property of the Council, and to be turned over on demand of their successors in office. Article VI Committees Section i. There shall be an Executive Committee to act for the Federation in the interim between the meetings of the Council, and carry out its policies, to consist of the President, Recording or Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, and Chair- men of Departments, ex-officiis, and other persons, selected by the Council with proper regard for denominational repre- sentation. The Executive Committee may elect its own chairman. Section 2 . The Executive Committee may appoint such other committees or establish such departments as the work of the Federation may demand. (See note.) Note — The following are the committees or departments sug- gested by the experience of successful Federations; First, a Committee on Finance to assist the Executive Committee in raising funds. Departments : First, on Comity, to make denom- inational relations harmonious, Christian, and cooperative. Second, Community Evangelism, to strengthen all the churches and reach the unenlisted and unchurched. Third, Home and Foreign Missions. Fourth, Religious Education, including Bible Schools. Young People’s Societies, Special Work for Girls and Boys. Fifth, Social Service, including Temperance, Social Hygiene, Industrial Goodwill, Legislation, and Law Enforce- ment. Sixth, International Justice and Goodwill to promote application of the Golden Rule to nations and world justice by world organization. Seventh, Publicitv, to keep the whole pro- gram of the churches and the federation before the public. Article VII Finances Section I. The Council shall annually decide upon a budget of expenditures and shall request the churches or denominations which belong to the Federation to share in the same on some apportionment basis. (See note.) Note — It is understood that a Federation has no power of taxation, and that denominational contributions must be volun- tary. Until the churches are educated to the ideal, it is often APPENDIX 221 necessary to raise the funds needed by the contributions of individuals. Section 2. No bill exceeding $ shall be incurred by any officer or committee or department, except upon the approval of the Executive Committee, and all bills, before payment, shall be countersigned by the Chairman of the Executive or Finance Committee. Article VIII Quorum Section 1. A quorum of any meeting of the Council shall consist of members, representing at least of the churches or denominations belonging; and at any meeting of a committee, a majority of its members; or, if any commit- tee shall consist of more than nine members, a quorum shall be five. Article IX Elections All elections shall be by ballot. Article X Amendments Section i. This Constitution may be amended at any meeting of the Council by two-thirds vote of the members present, pro- vided that due notice of any proposed amendment shall be giv- en in writing at a preceding meeting of the Council, or the request of any five members of the Council representing at least of the denominations represented, shall be inserted in the notice of the time at which the amendment is to be acted upon. ■y ? ,3 ti ( 1 I Theological Sen^mary-Speef L 1 1012 01091 DATE DUE DEMCO 38-297 ‘ r-