m ■ — — ' =j^“" n<^r«^/C;n~ 1 1 1 S Making Good in 3 the Local Church s-j K R S By Ernest Eugene Elliott Il«^£*a/^tl J c4 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY ClGl Ef 5m JDj. '6^ / y^y~T MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHURCH Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/makinggoodinlocaOOelli o^/vv/ae. MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHURCH By ERNEST EUGENE ELLIOTT New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1913, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York : 158 Fifth Avenue Chicago: 125 North Wabash A ve. Toronto; 25 Richmond Street, W. London : 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh : 100 Princes Street ^PP.22-36 PREFACE 2,U>\ /I IHE aim of these studies and the Writer’s conception of the tasks to be accomplished are pretty fully set forth in the introduc- tory paragraphs, and that discussion need not be repeated here. It is with considerable hesitancy that one un- dertakes to point out the method of a practical application of modern principles to the work of the Church. Religious workers as a rule have a natural prejudice against attempts to apply world- ly methods, though modern, to the work of the Church, and this feeling is so strong on the part of many that one almost seems to proclaim him- self a reformer indeed when he attempts to draw practical inferences as in these studies and to make these inferences generally and quickly ap- plicable. What is written here is based soberly upon the whole broad range of religious activities though making no appeal to the ideal, but contrarily hopes to set forth in practical fashion suggestions that may be immediately effective in every local church. There is no intent on the writer’s part to be tech- nical in any regard, nor profess to embody the re- sults of far reaching original investigation. This treatment does distinctly aim to make immediately available the most valuable suggestions for local 5 940384 6 PEEFACE church operation that can be drawn from the re- sults of the best workers in the religious world. The term ‘‘making good” is so expressive and so popular that the author could not refrain from using it. My plan of handling the subject as I have makes my indebtedness to others very large, and yet it would be very difficult for me to recog- nize in each case, or by special reference, such in- debtedness. What I have tried to keep constantly in mind has been the practical application of all that is herein contained to the work of the individual con- gregation, and this is the one problem of the en- tire treatment. The three topics under which the general theme has been divided — I. Spiritual Efficiency ; II. Business Efficiency; III. Soul Winning Efficien- cy, are the outgrowth of a series of jLddresses de- livered before Ministerial Associations, in college centers and a number of our principal cities, and this problem was constantly in mind in a number of years of travel and study; while much of the substance was given in these addresses, the ma- terial herein presented has been entirely restudied and the treatment much extended in order to deal somewhat more adequately with the wide range of questions necessarily raised. I can but hope that I have not quite failed to do justice to the impor- tance of my theme and that what is here said crudely may impel Church Officers, Brotherhood PKEFACE 1 and Bible Class Officers, Men in the Pew, and Min- isters, to a more thoughtful appreciation of the complexities of the local congregation and the ne- cessity for an adequate handling of its duties and responsibilities on the part of every member, in order to “make good” in the local church. Ernest Eugene Elliott. CONTENTS I. Spiritual Efficiency, • . 11 II. Business Efficiency, • CO III. Soul Winning Efficiency, . 67 I SPIRITUAL EFFICIENCY I T is the writer’s purpose to show that the church is spiritually ineflftcient, but may be- come spiritually efficient by returning to the primitive methods employed by Christ. One of my good friends, in an advance criticism of these ad- dresses, said : “A good physician spends very little time in telling a patient how sick he is. A phy- sician’s success is in talking health.” However, causes of illness must be avoided if we hope for lasting recovery, hence I have dealt with the causes, as well as conditions, leading up to spirit- ual inefficiency in the local church. The church is spiritually inef- ficient ; in the first place, because of the way in which many of the of- ficers of the churches are selected. A survey of the ordinary board of officers would show a group of a dozen men selected from among their fellows to preside over the destinies of the congregation because of peculiar qualifications, some of which are as follows: Mr. A. was selected as an elder because he is past sixty years old, has gray hair, and carries himself with dignity. Mr. B. is a brother-in-law of Mr. A., and is se- ll 12 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHLTICH lected to please Mr. A. (The latter being one of the largest contributors.) Mr. C. has not been taking much interest in the church, and is chosen a deacon to “stimulate his interest.” And so on throughout the list. Only inciden- tally has a man been chosen because he answers the scriptural requirements of an elder or a deacon. In some cases, church officers have inherited their offices, which fit them much like inherited clothes. Let us cease selecting officers for such reasons only and begin to follow the scriptures first, and con- sider other reasons later. The church will then begin to prosper. Official Boards of churches should plan for, co-ordinate, and oversee all the work of the congregation. That is their business chiefly and exclusively. Because of their neglect to do so, the church is sick, and the work of the congregation is limping alone without adequate executive direction and in many churches this is due to the way in which officers have been selected. In the matter of the selection of officers of our churches, there is often a mistaken understanding. In the Jerusalem church lack of organization was supplied in the beginning by the Apostles. Theo- retically the Apostles were chosen as representa- tives of the church because they were fitted to be- come the leaders and teachers of the church, and so were authorized at first to discharge these func- WHT HAVE OFFZCEES SPIRITUAL EFFICIENCY 18 tions. In this case, especially before the church itself was established, the Apostles did not affect its permanent organization. Seven were chosen to superintend the benevolent work of the church. It is significant that no title is applied to their of- fice. Many interpreters hold that they were Dea- cons, others that they were Elders, and still others, that they were neither Elders nor Deacons but a committee chosen to attend to a work that could be administered neither by the individual member nor by the entire church. Thus the precedent for officers of congregations was established in apostolic times. Later accord- ing to our historians, when the Apostles were ban- ished, Elders were selected, but it should be noted that Elders are not mentioned until at the end of fifteen years of prosperous history. The book of Acts refers many times to the Elders but does not even mention Deacons and all through the New Testament the work of Elders is very clearly defined, especially in the writings of Paul, the El- ders are mentioned frequently and at times are called Bishops. The infrequent mention of of- ficers in the primitive church is not to be taken as indicating that the church held the matter of of- ficers of little importance for as time passed there is an increase in the frequency of their mention showing a growirg sense of the need of them in the church. D the early church neither the na- ture of the oiiice nor the method of selecting the 14 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL OHUKCH oflacers were rigidly fixed. But as time passed a settled policy was adopted and from that day to this it became usual if not a uniform custom for each church to have both Elders and Deacons. All through the Jewish dispensation every Jew- ish community had its Elders, both for the syna- gogues and for the communities themselves. The same title was given to the rulers of Egyptian vil- lages and to the priests of the Egyptian religion, and the name Elder was familiar as an oflScial title - in every region where Christianity was carried during its early years. During the first century of the Christian era in all parts of the Roman Em- pire there were societies or guilds innumerable, and for almost every conceivable purpose, and one of a variety of names given their ofl&cers was the one of Elder. THE DEACONS We have no clear light upon tfie reason for the choice of Deacons and their connection with any pre- vious oflSce cannot be traced. It is reasonably cer- tain however that this was a new creation of the church to meet some actual need. The New Tes- tament does not make clear the division of labor between tihe Elder and the Deacon and the two are so closely related that they are usually mentioned in conjunction. It is evident that the Elders were entrusted with the administra’we work of the church and the Deacons were the ."es who did the work of ministering. The Deacon was therefore a SPIKITUAL EFFICIENCY 15 sort of junior elder, and as years and experience came to him he was promoted to that office. The eldership was therefore the primary office. So long as the tribe was the unit of society the elder had no difficulty in discharging his functions. The structure of modern society however is not according to the tribal plan and in almost every civilized nation there has been a complete drift away from the ancient order and with this the eldership has suffered. In the strict meaning of the term the elder has no place in modern society and as for the church the present day elder is but a shadow of his predecessor of Antioch and Jeru- salem times. In other words our elders today are not really elders at all, and we have adjusted our church affairs to this fact although the church at large is not conscious of it. In a few cases coming to the writers attention in some recent investiga- tions the name “elder” has been retained but the office has been divested of its dignity and power. This is the case in the majority of our American churches. It is true that in the Christian Church our elders preside at the Lord’s table and sit with others in a meeting to transact the business of the church. They are in fact simply members of a Committee that directs the affairs of the congre- gation, and it is argued that there remains at the present time little reason why we should have two ranks in our official board. We learn that in the Disciples’ Churches in Australia they have almost 16 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH ceased to elect elders for the reason that when elec- ted these men have attempted to be elders in fact as well as in name. The church that chooses elders follows the Di- vine Pattern and this is no argument against the official position or title of the eldership. What I am attempting to say however is that a great many American Churches are paying so little attention to the question of choice of officers that the offi- ciary of our churches has degenerated until at the present time were it not for the struggling minis- try hundreds of our Protestant Churches would really close their doors for lack of leadership. We need to call our people to a return to the Divine Pattern for the selection of church officers used in the early days of the church when men were sought after and set aside to be real leaders of the thought and effort of the local congregation and conse- crated through ordination to the work. However, the secret of the trouble TiTTTTES OF OFEICEKS always in the way the officers are chosen. The officers of a church may be selected with the utmost scriptural care, and still unhealthy conditions of life and activity within the church will prevail. Boards of Officers should study their congregational work with as much care as the directors of a railway corpora- tion give to the management of their great pro- perty, and should place at their own doors all re- sponsibility for lethargy and inaction. The first SPIKITUAL EFFICIENCY ' 17 anxiety of the ofilcers should he an efficient con- gregation. So long as the congregation is not ef- ficient, it is valueless. The example the Board sets before the congregation often leads the congrega- tion into activity and inspires its members for their life work. The congregation is thus spirit- ually dependent upon the Board of Officers in a larger degree than upon the minister. Wherever you find a spiritually aggressive, broad-visioned Official Board, made up of men who love God and man, and consecrated to Christian Service, you can look for a congregation of similar character. On the other hand, where you find the Official Board worldly, inconsistent, indifferent, with no love for God or man, the congregation will be found to be of the same sort. A sick church gen- erally has sickness in the official family. Congre- gational cures, like spiritual revivals, generally begin in the meetings of the officers of the church. To change the figure, if the fuel there is water- soaked, the flame is very apt to be checked. What I am attempting to say is, that the Board of Of- ficers of the Church, as the united head of the con- gregation, largely determines the life, spirit, and efficiency of the whole congregation. Spiritual leadership always has a spiritual following. Neither the leadership nor the following is ac- quired quickly. Time is necessary for the growth of spiritual things. Great obstacles have to be overcome, but if our Churches are to be more effi- 18 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH CHTTKCH attendance cient God must be in the lives and hearts of our of- ficers more abundantly. The second place for the church to increase spiritual efficiency is in the matter of attendance upon church services. It is said that in America, the country over, less than forty per cent, of the mem- bers of Prostestant congregations will be found at any one service of the church. Some attend through prejudice, superstition or habit, while others (and I verily believe the larger portion are these) attend the services of the church because it is a delight and a privilege to be there. We ought to train our members to feel that the visit to ‘‘God’s House” carries with it an affection and re- spect which pays an obligation of kinship. Whenever church attendance degenerates into a mere habit, without any spiritual significance, it might as well be given up altogether. This may be the real “reason why” only forty per cent, of the members attend the services. In my judgment it is much worse to go to church with an insincere motive than not to go to church at all. The re- lationship to God should be a mutual one, and a thing to rejoice in, but the relationship of many a regular church-goer to God is anything but that. While many of us go to church with a great deal of spiritual desire, many others go half-heartedly; some go unwillingly, some from a sense of duty; some from fear — fear of God’s displeasure or of SPIRITUAL EFFICIENCY 19 their neighbor’s ill opinion if they remain away; while a large number go to church purely from habit. And I would call your attention to the fact that, all told, those who regularly attend church from whatever motive, represent only forty per cent, of the membership of the congregation. Some say it is because the age is materialistic. To this it may be replied that the age is no more materialistic than the first century when the Gos- pel stirred the world. They say the church has ceased to thrill, while the theater is stirring the hearts of thousands. It is a common complaint that the pews are becoming more and more vacant, while both young and old are developing tastes for the play-house. Is it because the soul satisfies its spiritual cravings at the theater, and does not satisfy this great desire at the church? Some say this is so, and some of our churches evi- dently think so, because they are adopting theatri- cal methods and devices in their services in an at- tempt to turn the tide. The preachers of such churches put on theatri- cal airs, and adopt modes of speech of an enter- taining character. Operatic music, sometimes good but oftener poor, and a sort of “stage oratory” complete the equipment. All this is more or less common in the so-called “up-to-date” churches. But these devices, however clever, are not turning the stream of spiritually hungry humanity into the doors of our churches. The secret lies deeper 20 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHTJECH than the character of the services. It lies in the spiritual development of the individual Christian. When Christians are truly converted they real- ize that they are called to serve the Master, instead of being invited to attach themselves to a society, the formality of which means little or nothing to the life of the individual. Through the develop- ment of Christian character, then, and through that alone, can the church hope for an improve- ment in the matter of attendance upon the serv- ices of the church. A well know charity worker recently said : 'Per- sons who stop going to church very soon stop giv- ing to charity.” I would like to parapharse that statement in this wise : “People who stop going to church very soon cease to be Christians.” There is now great need of a revival of church attend- ance, but the place to begin with is not with the masses, but rather with the professed Christian who is absenting himself from the services of the King. KEED or PEATEK The third lack in the efficiency of the church is that of prayer. I am persuaded that a careful inquiry would reveal the startling condition that many Christians never pray, either in public or in private. Our Prayer Meetings are often almost devoid of prayer. Many officers of the church cannot, or do not, pray in public, and to call upon them for pub- lic prayer would visibly embarrass them. Most of SPIEITTJAL EFFICIENCY 21 our homes do not have family worship, and many of them even fail to have “Grace before meat.’’ Prayer circles in our churches are practically un- known, and many Christians will not obligate themselves to pray daily for the progress of the Kingdom. Some say they do not believe in prayer. They might just as well say they do not believe in the tide, for the tide will continue to flow whether they believe in it or not, and prayer is the eter- nal turning of the tide of man toward God. There needs to be a return to prayer, both pri- vate and public, on the part of professed followers of Christ, before any improvement in the spirit- uality of the church will manifest itself. When we begin to pray about the affairs of the Kingdom of Christ in real, “dead” earnest, we will begin to take off our coats and go to work to bring an an- swer to our prayers. We will not utter real prayer for a thing we will not work to bring about. When every Christian is a praying Christian, when every Christian home has Bible readings and prayer in it daily, the church cannot but grow in spiritual zeal and power. The fourth improvement that the INCIIEASS IN CONFESSIONS might profitably make is an increase in men and women confess- ing Christ. All over America comparatively few men have confessed his name. Recent statistics show the church is actually standing still, so far as accessions are concerned. The population of 22 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH America increased two per cent, last year, while the membership in Evangelical churches increased one and four fifths per cent. The Prostestant Church membership in America is approximately twenty-two million, while the net increase last year was only four hundred and fifty thousand. The Southern Baptists at their 1912 Convention held in Oklahoma City reported a membership of 2,420,203 and baptisms administered during the year 132,936, an increase of barely 6%. The 1913 Year Book of the Disciples of Christ shows a net increase in membership for the three years end- ing with their 1912 Convention held in Louisville 18,656 from 9,905 congregations or an average of less than one addition per congregation per year for the past three years. The Methodist Episcopal Church with 28,458 churches and 18,988 ministers and 3,543,589 communicants (including foreign field) had a net increase in 1911 of only 48,000. This was accomplished by the use of church pro- perty valued at $183,542,603.00 They also report 35,445 Sunday Schools and 3,567,548 scholars. The British Wesleyan Church, the mother of all Methodism, has been experiencing in company with many other denominations, a decline in its numerical strength. Beginning with 1907 it has had six successive decreases in membership, aver- aging about 2,000 a year. Of its 781 circuits and stations, 361 show a net increase, 365 a net de- crease, and 55 no change. Emigration to Amer- SPIKITUAL EFFICIENCY 23 ica, Australia, and other countries probably ac- counts in part for the diminution in numbers. The Southern Presbyterian Church at its May Assem- bly, 1912, reports an increase of 5,070 communi- cants making a total membership of 202,845. The Northern Presbyterian Church had an in- crease of 25,605 members bringing their total mem- bership to 1,380,058 the increase being less than 2%. Of 9,935 churches reporting to the General Assembly 3,739 reported no net additions, 4,086 reported additions 1 to 10, and 1,500 of 11 to 25. The Committee on Evangelistic Work regarded this condition as very unsatisfactory. The Church has 9,274 ministers with 10,030 churches, and 1,232,847 scholars in their Sunday Schools. The Protestant Episcopal Church is said to be growing steadily although figures in substantiation of this claim are lacking. The present membership in America is stated to be 947,320 in 7,621 churches, served by 5,359 ministers. Were it not for being accused of making an invidious comparison it might be well here to mention the COST OP CHTJBOHES fact of cost of buildings and equipment of some of our modern church edifices. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, located on Morningside Heights, New York City, now progressing toward comple- tion is to cost in the aggregate for chapels alone above $1,000,000. Other Church Edifices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and in almost every 24 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH leading city of America cost six figures alone to build, and the upkeep and maintenance of an or- ganization in these expensive institutions is of suf- ficient proportions to at least invite thought from the discriminating minds who are making a study of the problem of the church especially with regard to its units of cost as compared to its units of effi- ciency. jgji The Eoman Catholic Church is CATHOiiC said to be growing by reason of im- CHUB.CH migration and otherwise. It re- ports at the beginning of 1912, the date of the latest statistics, 15,015,569 population (population includes all baptized persons who have not been excummunicated). According to the rule adopted many years ago for estimating the ‘‘population” the net gain for 1911 was 337,287. They report 13,939 churches and missions with 17,491 clergy. The average number of communicants per clergy- man in the Catholic Church is nearly 730 while in the largest Prostestant Church, the Methodist Epis- copal, it is only 168. There are in America more than 221,000 churches Protestant and Catholic served by 172,500 ministry. What a tremendous force for Evangelism if properly inspired and di- rected. The particular feature of soul-winning is treated separately in the third chapter entitled “Soul- Winning,” hence the treatment in this paper will be brief. Suffice it to say that the church must SPIEITUAL EFFICIENCY 25 A FREE MINISTRY hold its own with the march of human progress in America by a return to individual evangelism, which was the basis of Christ’s work when he was here upon earth, and must ever continue to be the condition governing the spiritual growth of the church. In other words, the church must begin the spiritual regeneration of the individual, for its delay in this regard is the basic cause of all the ineffectiveness we are deploring today. Another highly important lack of the church in the attainment of spiritual efficiency is that of min- isters unhampered with business affairs. Their time and talents should be free for the assuming of aggressive, spiritual leadership. The minister should not be the general manager of the congre- gation, or, as my little boy very aptly says, ‘‘the boss of the church,” as he often is today. He must not be held responsible for the physical condition of the building. If the plant is not in proper order when the time for services arrives, if the seats are dusty, the floor soiled, the room too hot or too cold, the ven- tilation bad, or the lights not trimmed and burning, or if anything else in the janitor’s realm is wrong, the preacher is often the one to bear the blame. And if the clerk, the treasurer, the Sunday School Superintendent, and other officers of the various agencies of the church fail to do their duty, nine times out of ten the minister is expected to take the responsibility. 26 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH Whenever committees ‘‘fall down” the poor min- ister is usually charged with the fault and cen- sured accordingly. He is expected to visit regu- larly and systematically all members of the congre- gation, sick or well, instead of merely doing his legitimate service of ministering to the sick and the sorrowing, burying the dead, and marrying the young folks. Brethren, these things ought not so to be. The church must learn to care for its ma- terial welfare without calling upon the minister to do that work. Let that pack be shouldered by the deacons. Let the men of the church take hold and make the material affairs of the church go, but let us hold our ministers responsible for leadership in its spiritual affairs. To be a great spiritual leader, a minister must spend time with God as well as with man; and as the first great requisite of a minister is that he be a preacher first of all, it is essential that he should be relieved of the round of social and business duties that tie the hand of many ministers at pre- sent. When this is done, as outlined in the second paper on “Business Efl&ciency,” we may look for a spiritual leadership in the ministry, the like of which we have not had since the days of the Apos- tles. MISSIONS AND The condition of the Missionary BENEVOLENCES Benevolent enterprises of the church is a pretty good spiritual thermometer for the local congregation. Nothing SPIRITUAL EFPICIENCY 27 SO weakens the spiritual life of the local church as failure to have fellowship in sending the gospel of peace, mercy, and helpfulness to those who have it not. Just what is the situation as regards the Mis- sionary and Benevolent Enterprise of the Protest- ant Church? The Southern Baptist at their An- nual Convention held in Oklahoma City, in 1912, reported Home Mission Receipts |366,050, and for Foreign Missions $580,408, or a total $946,458 from a membership claimed to be 2,421,203, or an aver- age of forty cents per member for both Home and Foreign Missions. The Disciples of Christ 1913 Year Book reports offerings for Missions during 1912 of $1,281,908 from 1,347,212 communicants, a little less than one dollar per member. Others could be given but this is sufficient for the purposes desired. Some few Protestant denominations have higher aver- ages but their membership is decidedly smaller than the two communions quoted above. Some denominations are not large enough to support a society of their own but almost every important denomination has missions and missionaries in foreign fields and likewise carry on a mission prop- aganda upon the frontier and in the rural com- munities and in the larger cities of the Homeland. At the close of 1911 the Protestant Foreign Mis- sionary Work, according to the American Year Book for 1912, required for its support $25,297,000. 28 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH This annual expenditure is for the support of more than 22,000 missionaries and upwards of 88,500 native preachers and helpers. Of the an- nual budget of more than $25,000,000 only a little more than one half is raised by the United States and Canada, or an average of about 50 cents per member from the Protestant Church at large for the support of the work abroad. An extended dis- cussion of the situation abroad would require more space than is available and is likewise entitled to a larger consideration, but the immensity of the task will I am sure be gathered from the brief statement above. With all our membership, with all our magnifi- cient church edifices, with all our 172,500 min- isters in 221,000 churches, with all our Sunday Schools, with all our Sunday School Officers and Teachers, we have been so busy with the machinery of our local congregations that we have failed to adequately extend the Kingdom abroad. The idea of Missionary Committees in Churches, Sunday Schools, and Sunday School Classes, the establish- ment of Mission Study Classes and Groups, the en- listment of Men’s Brotherhoods, and the ‘‘every member canvass” in local churches gives great promise of a change along missionary and benevo- lent lines. Such movements as the Missionary Education Movement, the Payments Missionary Movement, and the United Missionary Educational Campaign SPIEITUAL EFFICIENCY 29 of the Denominational Boards which is being or- ganized as these lines are written, are all doing much to give the local church a missionary vision and with this vision will come missionary life. These movements are sowing the local churches deep with missionary literature and are fast de- veloping congregations with a desire to live not for themselves but for others. Some churches like some people are lop-sided in a missionary way. Some are enthusiasts for For- eign Missions while Home Missions are neglected. Some otherwise good Christians support Home Missions but not Foreign. In my judgment neither the mission of the church at home nor abroad has been sufficiently stressed. This has been especially true of mission work in the great cities. In the cities we must do mission work in a way that will appeal both to the minds and to the pocketbooks of serious Christian people. The churches must stop moving out of the congested portions of the cities, leaving these teeming thousands without the Gospel, a prey to wickedness. Hardly a city of any importance in America but has such districts, and the church must open its eyes to the situation and spend more money for equipment in such dis- tricts, and less money for churches in residence sections. The spirit of loyality to the individual congregation must not stifle our responsibility for the extension of the Kingdom elsewhere in the CITY MISSIONS 30 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH Homeland. The work of Home Missions must not be curtailed year after year, nor should our churches at home cease to buy lots and build churches to care for our congregations. But I am pleading that while we are caring for the home church we should not fail to co-operate with our sister churches in planting and maintain- ing churches out upon the frontier and in our great cities. Such churches are the children of the home churches and should be supported as chil- dren are supported, from the home base, until they arrive at maturity and become self supporting. We can hope to extend the Kingdom abroad when we more adequately extend it in the Home- land. We must bring about, somehow, a spiritual regeneration of the individual Christian here at home by a return to prayer and personal evan- gelism, and begin adequately to extend the King- dom into the ‘‘uttermost parts.” This has to do with more than money, for money is the cheapest thing we can give. More persons, it is true, must be willing to give money, but the need of those who will give service is the greatest need. The example of’ men and women of wealth and refinement who are engaging in charitable, eleemosynary, and mis- sionary work at home and abroad is worthy of comment. If only this same spirit would seize the heart of every man, woman, and child who claims the name of Jesus Christ, the whole world would be evangelized in this generation. We must get SPIRITUAL EFFICIENCY 31 down upon our knees about this proposition and make a material increase in the amount of money we give, and also an increase in the number of young men and women giving themselves to the ministry of Christ at home and abroad. The report of some of the Prot* estant bodies shows very slight gains in the number of Foreign Mis- sionaries during the last ten years and so far as America is concerned the situation as regards the ministry in many Protestant Churches is startling if not indeed alarming. The Northern Presbyter- ian Assembly at Atlanta, 1913, received a report to the effect that 1,000 more ministers are needed to man the churches of that denomination alone in the United States at the present time. The Disciples of Christ report 6,016 ministers to serve 9,905 congregations, and a loss of 680 preachers in three years. Similar shortage exists in nearly all other Protestant communions so that it is well within the lithit to say that there is need in the ministerial field of at least 10,000 more min- isters than are at present at work, in order to keep the churches supplied, to say nothing of the in- creasing mission work upon the frontier and in the cities which is being taken up by practically all communions. Figures regarding the work abroad are not so readily obtainable but one Protestant body we know of is asking its Colleges for 1,000 young men 32 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH and young women during the next five years for the foreign field, and this number is in excess of the anticipated graduate student body of about Forty Colleges belonging to that particular reli- gious body for that period of years. There is a reason why less and less proportions of young men and young women of the churches devote them- selves to the ministry. It is advanced as a reason that the church has not had sufficient evangelistic zeal, has not suffi- ciently tried to keep itself in touch with the masses, but that reason does not hold now for any one who has been in a position to observe the spirit of the churches the past two or three years cannot but have observed a wonderful revival of evangel- ism, especially of the professional sort. There is getting to be a more systematic organization zeal- ously supported for extending the influence of the Gospel and reaching out in helpfulness to the non- church element. There has also been a great stimu- lation of the mission spirit both for home work and work abroad which is having its effect on the churches and doubtless in time there will be an in- crease in the number of young people who offer themselves for mission and ministerial work. The often repeated explanation of the present shortage that young men are lured from the reli- gious field by the greater rewards offered by a com- mercial or professional life is not a satisfactory one. If the right spirit prevailed they could not SPIKITUAL EFFICIENCY 33 be tempted by such earthly rewards. If they have been so won away (and truths compels the state- ment that many promising young people have been led into commercial life because the church failed to lead them the other way), the fault primarily has been that the church itself is letting the spirit- ual life of the congregation reach a very low ebb. The problem of the ministry and mission field de- pends entirely upon these local congregations and its spirit whether it is able to supply these vacant pulpits and the insistent demand for workers in the Mission Field at home and in foreign lands. These figures should cause every Christian to get upon his knees and pray to God for means to help remedy the situation. The Missionary Societies are help- ing to awaken the churches’ con- science by making easy the observ- vance of special days through the furnishing of literature for sermons and exercises. The churches should increasingly observe these days. By means of such educational infiuences a change in the mis- sionary attitude and an increase of missionary spirit will certainly be brought about. There are hundreds of Church Schools and Colleges distributed over these United States and others in process of formation. Many of them have splen- did facilities and some of them have endowment in six figures or more but there is hardly a Church SPECIAL DAYS CHURCH COLLEGES 34 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH School or College in this country that has its full quota of students. Not only should these Schools be filled with students from our homes but money and equipment should be supplied by our church people at large. There is not a Protestant com- munion that would not do well to largely increase its financial appropriation for the support of Church Schools and Colleges for this reason, these Colleges have supplied the churches with ministers and the world with successful business men; have taken young men with a zeal to become ministers and have supplied the knowledge that turned that zeal into power. Many of the present day Church Colleges were widely known by reason of their graduates long before the establishment of any of our great uni- versities, in fact the first presidents of a number of America’s largest and best Universities were ministers and it was the Church College that first inspired the state to provide the splendid literary and technical schools we now enjoy. Some argue that the Church College has outlived its usefulness and is doomed to die. They say that non-support and non-attendance is but the psychological result of present day tendencies in education. That this argument is not well founded will be readily seen by reference to the April, 1913, num- ber of Religious Education, the journal of the Re- ligious Education Association which has reference to the Church College in several of its very splen- SPIRITUAL EFFICIENCY 36 did articles by experts on Religious Education. I am not attempting to bolster up the cause of the Church College because in the first place I do not believe that it needs any bolstering up, and second, an extended treatment of the Church College idea is entirely out of the question at this time. From my personal investigations of Church Col- leges and looking at the matter from a standpoint of the need of a particular religious body, I am firmly of the opinion that the Church College and the Church College alone must supply the min- isters and missionaries for the service of the church and humanity. This does not say that our State Universities could not do much to over- come the present ministerial deficiency and I am glad to note the attitude toward the Church and Religion in general now being held by our edu- cators in these great Universities. If Religion is to progress it will be with the as- sistance and co-operation of education, and vice versa. In some States Bible Chairs and Bible Col- leges have been planted alongside the State Insti- tutions, to furnish religious atmosphere and in- struction. The Bible Chairs and Bible Colleges are doing their work well, but it should be stated that eighty per cent, of the Protestant leadership still has come out of Church Colleges. One of the lately recognized func- tions of the church is the teaching of Social Service. Conditions of SOCIAL SERVICE 36 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH life ewry where are far from what they should be; a readjustment in living conditions is sadly needed, that rich and poor may enjoy equal rights to pro- perty and liberty. I do not agree that it is the busi- ness of the church to deal first hand with these con- ditions — a philosophy toward which many social workers lean, I take the position that the church is an agency for making Christian character, and that it is the province of the church to make men and women of character and worth that will in- spire the State and Society in general to do its Christian duty by all mankind. The great social subjects — health, pure food, housing, sanitation, public recreation, hours and conditions of labor, wages, etc., etc., should receive the attention of every thinking Christian and such a strong infiuence should be brought to bear upon intolerable conditions that they shall be righted, to stay righted. No question is ever settled until it is settled right, and this is just as true of social subjects as of other subjects which are being forced upon the consideration of the church today. A betterment in the spiritual conditions within the church will go far toward an adjustment of social conditions without the church and toward remov- ing the criticism that the church is not concerning itself with social service. As a single illustration of the need of social bet- terment, take the subject of divorce. The rapid growth of the divorce evil is one of the gravest con- SPIEITUAL EFFICIENCY 8Y ditions confronting the church in America at the present time. Let me quote from a report made at the University of Missouri in April, 1913. “Family life in the United States is more un- stable than in any country or nation of the Chris- tian world,” said Prof. Charles Ellwood in his lec- ture on the divorce evil to his sociology students of the University of Missouri. “The number of divorces granted in this country, according to the latest statistics which sociologists have at their dis- posal, is sixty-eight thousand in 1905, when the population was 85 million. In the whole of Can- ada in the same period of time, only thirty-three divorces were granted. In France the rate is one divorce in every thirty marriages; in Germany one divorce to every forty- four marriages; in Switzerland, where the worst conditions of any European country prevail, there is one divorce to every twenty-two marriages. Eng- land shows the smallest number of legal separations after marriage, one divorce to every four hundred marriages. “The conditions on which reason for divorce is conceded and granted, however, are so severe in England that it might seem unjust to judge the high rate of divorce in this country too harshly. “The statement that the United States is far in the lead in the matter of legal separations should not be accredited to me unvarnished. In my dis- 38 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH cussion I shall amend the statement with a consid- eration of the divorce problem by states. “The State of Washington has the highest rate in the United States, one divorce to each five mar- riages. Oregon and Montana grant divorces at the rate of one to every five and a half marriages. In Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri, the states having the next highest rate, the average is one out of every eight marriages. And so the rate decreases as we move toward the Eastern States, until we have as the average for the United States, one divorce to every twelve marriages in 1905. The rate probably does not vary much from that now, but there are no later authentic statistics just now ready for consideration. “Some cities have even higher divorce rates than that of the State of Washington. Kansas City, Mo., had an average of one in four marriages and San Francisco, Cal., had one in every three mar- riages, according to the United States Census Bul- letin of 1903. ^‘But conditions in the Kansas City divorc.e mill are gradually growing better, thanks to the work of W. W. Wright, a young lawyer of that city. In 1911, the rate was one divorce to every three and a half marriages. Since the divorce proctor has been at work trying to solve the evil, the divorce rate has dropped to one legal separation out of every eight marriages. “Such conditions in Kansas City are hardly SPIRITUAL EFFICIENCY 39 traceable to the existence of the so-called “divorce colony.’’ As a matter of fact, the number of di- vorces increases three times as fast as the popu- lation and has done so for the last twenty years. There have been almost one million divorces grant- ed in that time. It has been estimated by Profes- sor Wilcox that, if the present rate increases, one- fourth of all marriages will end in divorce by 1950, and at the end of the century, or beginning of the twenty-first century, half the marriages in the United States will result in legal separations. “There is no reason for believing EDUCATION such Conditions can be overcome or even present conditions checked and bettered. Divorce and instability of the family characterize the American people more than any other civilized Christian nation. We must look to education for betterment of the conditions.” This is one of the great fields for social service, and one into which the church should not fail to go, and go quickly. The united church must utter its loud protest against the legalized divorce, plac- ing the same restrictions upon the granting of a divorce decree that Jesus placed upon it, and must pray for a divine appreciation of the home and the family. The effect of such a united protest would be that the legislature and courts would revamp their code and unnecesary divorces would not be granted. Instead of the court room, judge and jury, let us advocate the church, the minister and 40 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH prayer, I believe this prescription will relieve more cases of strained domestic relations than all the legal antidotes in the land. In support of this position I wish to quote Mr, W, W, Wright, Kansas City’s capable and efficient divorce proctor; ‘‘Married persons who attend church do not fig- ure in divorce court proceedings,” The records of the divorce proctor, W, W, Wright, show few cases in which church attendants have filed proceedings in the court. And each time that they have, a reconciliation has been effected, and the applica- tion for the divorce was withdrawn, Mr, Wright told that to a men’s Sunday school class of the Mellier Place Presbyterian Church, of Kansas City, recently. He had traced the basic causes of divorces to two grounds, immorality and economic problems. Almost 80 per cent, of them, he said, were caused by immorality, “The church and its allied interests offers the only remedy for the divorce evil,” he continued, “The court of law cannot solve it — it is not a moral agent,” To sum it all up, if the church is to SUMMARY ijggQjjjg, spiritually efficient, the officers of our congregations must do their Christian duty in the matter of oversight and leadership, and there must be a return to prayer, both in the church and in the home, on the part of professing Christians, an increase in church attendance SPIRITUAL EFFICIENCY 41 among professing Christians, more people profess- ing their faith in Christ, an increased support of the missionary and benevolent enterprises of the church, attention to social conditions, a recruited ministry at home and abroad, a loud and continued protest at the divorce evil, and adequate support of Christian Education. These, with all their attending influences for good, appear to me to be at the foundation of the structure called the church, and when the evils are eradicated, and the omissions supplied, success will attend our endeavors. The spiritually ef- flcient church is the one that calls its people to prayer about the affairs of the Kingdom and in- spires its members to prayer daily. It is the church that calls the people to attach themselves to Jesus Christ and to be His disciples ; that teaches its people to love the services of the church, be- cause there they receive spiritual power. The spiritually efficient church is the one that prays for and works with the members of its own families, and the men and women and children of the community, to confess their faith in Jesus Christ. It is the church that has officers who love God and man and are willing to give time and money toward the realization of the aims of the Gospel. It is the church that lifts from the shoulders of the minister all business affairs, giving him time for study, and for prayer, money for books, and 42 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH music, and travel, so that he may indeed become the great spiritual leader the minister always should be; it is the church that realizes the mis- sion of the congregation in its own community, the city, the state, the nation, and the world, and goes about that mission with zeal and determination to- ward its accomplishment; it is the church that is vitally concerned in making conditions of life everywhere more tolerable, the church that believes that every man, woman and child has a right to the free and unrestricted pursuit of happiness, and that everyone should have at least an opportunity to enjoy life in the way God intended His children should here upon earth. When this day is ushered in, the day of doubt about the church being the greatest institution upon earth will disappear, and in its place will come the confident acclaim that the church of Jesus Christ is the only institution that can salve the sore hearts and consciences of suffering humanity, and then will it be universally accepted that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. II BUSINESS EFFICIENCY I N this treatment I take the position that the church is inefficient in the handling of its busi- ness enterprises, and I shall hope to show just wherein the failure lies. It is my purpose to show also that the church can he efficient in the han- dling of its business affairs, and that it will be ef- ficient if modern commercial methods are applied to the business transactions of the church. In the beginning let us have an understanding of the term ‘‘ef- ficiency.” Efficiency may be said DEFINITION OF “EFFICIENCY” to be the effective and economical application of power to the accomplishment of a given work. Ef- ficiency is the watchword of our new century. It is a matter of common knowledge that during re- cent years commercial organizations have been carefully studying the problem of higher efficiency ; as a result they are eliminating waste and lost mo- tion and preventing overlapping and interference. But those of us who have been charged with the operation of the church’s business have not been applying these principles thereto, and so the church finds itself at this moment inefficient, meas- ured by the business standards of the twentieth century. The church is the loosest business or- ganization that we know of to-day. It has so many 43 44 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH valuable facilities that are not used to the fullest possible extent, so much valuable material that is constantly wasted, so many loose connections and imperfect adjustments, that its energy has been largely dissipated in a great noise and sputter, pro- ducing little of what the world calls “real goods.” It is peculiar that in such an age as this we should find in the average congregation men who are financially successful, who have system and dispatch in every department of their own busi- ness, who yet allow the financial and business af- fairs of the church to drift along with very little plan or organization, and no effort at system. These men do not compose the 90 per cent, of man- kind that die insolvent — not they. They are the 10 per cent, of mankind that are sufficiently solvent to pay their honest debts. They are the men whose energy and devotion to business have brought them success. They may even realize that 60 per cent. of the failures are caused by lack of capital and incompetence, and that neglect of business causes more failures than competition. Yet these same men, even when officially responsible for the affairs of the congregation, let the religious enterprise fail in a business way. How few realize that failure at the business end of the church is largely CAUSES OF FAIIUEE due to neglect? All other causes com- bined do not outweigh this source of such failure. Some churches, like some mercantile houses, fail BUSINESS EEEICIENCY 45 because of competition. Once in a while a church fails because of extravagance. I have seen a few such in my travels. But the main cause of failure in the church, I repeat, is neglect of its business side. Here is the business of the church carried on by men who are supposedly directed by God, and failing for lack of method. I am told by those who can speak with authority upon “church troubles” that these are more often due to some failure in the business management of the church than to all other causes combined. I am of the opinion that many of our churches need a good “row” if thereby their business affairs could be shaken up. But how and where, you ask, is neglect found to be the cause of failure? First, there is neg- THE OVERWORKED MINISTER lect on the minister’s part. He is neglecting his spiritual leadership. Upon investigation we fin d that his time is taken up with the business manage- ment of the church; in many instances his time is employed at clerical work and pounding a type- writer. Imagine, if you can, a business corporation that keeps its head men doing the work of clerks and stenographers ! Such is honorable and requires its own high standard of ability (which as a rule these head men cannot reach) ; but they are hired for larger work. So, too, is the minister employed for higher service than a mere clerk’s, and it is in the 46 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL OHUECH interest of efficiency that he be supplied with need* ed clerical assistance. Neither should he handle the church finances or call upon the members to secure pledges for the support of the church and its benevolences. This is the rightful duty of the deacons of the church, and I am convinced that the minister ought never to have taken this duty from the shoulders of these church officers. God hasten the day when the minister will con- sider his sojourn upon earth so short, and his min- utes so valuable, that he cannot spare thirty sec- onds for any business duty that can and should be done by another. Let our ministers demand that the officers of our churches care for the finances, the heating, ventilating, ushering, printing, and the ordinances of the church as well, setting him free for study and for leadership, turning aside from these only long enough to minister to the sick and afflicted, marry the young, and bury the dead. For only then will our business men take seriously the handling of the business enterprises of the church. I realize that the inauguration of this change will not be an easy task, for it is as hard to teach and old congregation new methods as to instruct an ancient canine in the art of performing an untried caper. But the former will be worth the effort, even if the latter may not be. Second, neglect may be charged church. In the ordinary church BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 47 there is the clerk, whose duty it is to keep the mem- bership roll and record the transactions of the of- ficers and the business meetings of the congrega- tion. He is also the custodian of the records. Not much comment is necessary upon the position of clerk, you think ; perhaps you will doubt the truth of the current report that hundreds of our churches have not revised their membership roll in a dozen years. In such a church it is possible to ascertain the membership of the congregation only by means of the historical memories of some of the older members of the church. We should look to the clerks of our churches to keep accurate records of the members, dismissing those who have gone, away, eliminating those who have died, and changing names where marriages occur. There is no call for the pastor to do this work for the clerk; if the clerk has not the necessary comple- ment of brains to man the job, get a new clerk. Often, however, the clerk’s work is not performed with diligence and precision; the cause is purely neglect on his part, or failure to revise the roll may be to him only a matter of following precedent, and he may be awaiting a legislative enactment of the oflScers authorizing a revision. If this be the case, pass the necessary resolution. The church membership should be kept purged of the names of persons who are known to have gone away, died, or otherwise been withdrawn from the 48 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHHKCH THE CHURCH TREASURER fellowship of the congregation, in order that the numerical strength of the congregation will not be overestimated at any time. The treasurer of the church is con- sidered one of the most responsible officers of the congregation. He usu- ally works with the finance committee, collects the money and keeps the financial records of the con- gregation. Here, as with the previous officer, any failure in duty will be found to be largely that of neglect. We know of a banker in one of our churches, six days in the week, he is methodical and accurate, every account showing its true condition every night. He is also treasurer of the church. Recently, when he was required to make a financial report, he had to ask the organist, the janitor and the coal man when he paid them and how much. Think of a man working scientifically at his own business six days in the week, yet forgetting all methods and dropping all system when he took up the King’s business on the one day left. The banker’s knowledge of business method should have been his recommendation for the office of church treasurer. But he was probably chosen because he was able to put up the money when collections failed. This, I believe, to be a grave mistake. So far from approving such a method, I contend that the treasurer should be paid a salary, not because he needs the money nor because he is unwilling to do BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 49 the work without pay, but because if he is paid the congregation is able to demand of him a proper ac- counting. The treasurer himself should, perhaps, not be bothered with the details of the accounting, but his salary, though small, should be sufficient to employ a clerk for a few hours a week to do the accounting under his direction. Church treasurers may not be incompetent, but many of them are slothful in handling the business of the Lord be- cause of the exactions of their own affairs, or for other purely personal reasons. Putting the Church Treasurer upon a salary puts the King’s business upon a business basis. We must begin to reform our accounting by tak- ing the Church Treasurer just where we find him. We may train him to love his work and to feel with every entry in his accounts that he is serving the Lord. A majority of present day Church Treas- urers, however, do not feel this way about it. They regard it as drudgery to keep church accounts. This, in itself, puts the whole financial system of the church upon an improper basis. The local church expenses will not be met, the preacher’s salary will continue to be a disgrace, there will be little missionary and benevolent work done, and the church as a whole will fail in its missionary duty so long as the accounting of the finances of the congregation are burdensome to the church treasurer. 50 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH NEED VNIFOKM; SYSTEH There should be a uniform sys- tem of accounting among the churches. As it is now, every church has its own system, or, rather, lack of sys- tem. Of course, any uniform method adopted would be subject to alterations necessary to meet local conditions, but a form of record book ap- proved by an expert accountant, who should ana- lyze the subject thoroughly, should be adopted by all our congregations. There is also need for some one to whom all church treasurers could refer for advice and suggestion regarding their problems. It may take a year or two to develop such a system and get it to working, but it should be started at once. Among the committees usually THE CHURCH found upon the Boards of church of- COMMITTEE ^cers is the Finance Committee. To this committee, more than to any oth- er, falls the burden of responsibility for keeping the wheels of the church in operation. With the cessa- tion of work on the part of the Finance Committee, all wheels come to a standstill. It is generally the business of the Finance Committee to figure the budget of the congregation, which, in the ordinary congregation, would include the following items: Pastor’s salary Janitor Heat, light and water Financial Secretary BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 61 Organist and music Printing Repairs Interest Sinking Fund or Building Fund. These expenses of the congre- curately in advance. Every mem- ber is a stockholder. At the beginning of the year he should know his proportionate share of the running expenses for the ensuing year, including all these items. This, too, can be figured annually in advance. He should know at the beginning of every year the condition of affairs for the previous year as well. The income can be figured very close- ly by the pledges and the average of the previous year’s collections. In addition, at the beginning of each year every member should know his propor- tion of the deficit, if there is one, and there usually is. He should be made to feel an individual re- sponsibility for his proportionate share of the defi- cit and the running expenses of the church. It may be argued that if this is done the larger con- tributors will fall back on the average, but this will not be the case. The larger contributors al- ready realize that they must bear more than their proportionate share of the expenses, and expect to do so. In fact, they are already in the habit of do- ing that. 62 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL OHUKCH The mistake that many churches make is in al- lowing a few liberal-hearted people to finance the whole business. No one has any right to bear my share of the financial burden of the church, and no one can bear it any more than he can bear my share of the work of the church. The fact is, unless I care for my share of the finances of the church, it will not be cared for, any more than my share of the work of the church will be done by another. That thing simply cannot be done. I am the only person that can live my life, and the service of the individual to the church, financially or otherwise, is a personal act that cannot be transferred to an- other. It is not to relieve the liberal or wealthy member of the church of any obligation of his own that the expense of the church should be distributed over the entire membership of the church, but to develop the talents of the general membership of the church. The equal apportioning of the running expenses to each member would not, in most churches, be too burdensome for the majority of the members if they were all to contribute, and if the contributions were regularly and systematically made. If re- sponsibility for financing the church can be more evenly divided than it is at present, it will lessen the criticism that the leading men and women of the church so generally receive. When the major- ity of the members sit back and let the few finance the church, it is generally with the sting of criti- BUSINESS EEEICIENCY 58 cism of “wanting to run the church,” that they let them do it. Most of these leading members do not want to run the church, but the fact that they are the largest contributors throws them open to sus- picion that they will unduly use the power which they naturally hold. The church must be financed much as a municipality. Receipts must be esti- mated and expenditures figured out in proportion to these estimates. The municipality must have its taxes and the church must have its pledges, and the church must see that the pledges are met with as much diligence and system as a city gives to the collection of taxes. A city issues bonds for permanent improvements, by which coming generations will profit, but no well managed city issues bonds to meet current ex- penses. The expenses of a church as well as of a city must be kept within the natural income. The church should avoid, if at all possible, the securing of large contributions from individual members for running expenses. This is wrong in principle and almost suicidal in practice, for large contributors may die, or cease to support the church in a large way by reason of business reverses, or other rea- sons, leaving the congregation without the ability to make up the contribution by the enlisting of new ones, or the increasing of some old ones, as is the case when an ordinary contribution is discontinued. By far the best plan, and the one which has been 64 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH found most equitable and free from objection, is for the expenses to be distributed as nearly as pos- sible over the entire congregation, large contribu- tions being asked only for permanent improve- ments. Oftentimes the men of the church CANVASS either have automobiles or can com- mand them, A definite piece of business, such as the every member canvass, need not require much time if alert business men, ac- customed to rapid transit, telephones, and wireless telegraphy, will employ the same business dispatch in connection with the activities of the church. In some places the Brotherhoods are taking on the EVERY-MEMBER-CANVASS as one of their activities. They so carefully plan it, and employ so effectively the principle of division of labor, that a large membership is quickly seen and signed for the church budget and benevolences. We recommend this service to the Brotherhoods, The matter of collection of sub- suBSCRiriiONS ®criptions should be carried on with the same system used by up- to-date business houses. We must get over the idea that people may be asked for subscriptions but never asked to pay them. The expenses of the year’s work must be based largely upon these sub- scriptions, and the execution of the work of the church depends upon the systematic collection of them in full. This refers to the local expenses of DftNVlLLE JUNIOR GOUfcGR BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 65 the individual congregation, but the same rule of practice should apply to the missions and benevo- lences of the church, which constitute the exten- sion work of the church, or the enterprises of the church at large, and these must count upon the support of the local congregation, just as the con- gregation counts upon the payment of individual subscriptions for support, and it is only right and just to the larger work that the same methodical basis of collection of mission pledges be used. The majority of the members of our PUBLICITY congregations know little if anything about the condition of the finances of the church. Possibly they are informed if the finances are in difficulty, but the policy of publicity in handling the affairs in which a number of peo- ple are interested has not as yet sifted through into the church. We demand publicity in the conduct of public business, and this is as it should be. We should also have publicity in the conduct of the affairs of the church, and especially its finances. Every member should know exactly what the church is doing financially, the amount pledged, the amount paid, the average of the collections, and the running expenses of the church. Nothing should be kept under cover. The members should know the amount of the debt, the interest on the mortgage and when it is due. Every member should be kept thoroughly posted on all these de- 56 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH tails, for only in that way can the member feel his full individual responsibility. In distributing the expenses among the membership, each one should be made to feel that reg- ularity in the payment of pledges REGULARITY BEATS OCCASIONAL LIBERALITY is the only proper way to meet the member’s obli- gation; that a dollar a week is very much better than $52 per year. The expenses go on every week and the man who contributes once a month, or once a quarter, or once a year, even though he is paying his proportionate share of the running expenses, is not bearing his share of the responsibility. This is especially noticeable in the periods of vacation, when the members forget that the treasurer still has bills to meet; and they should be kindly but firmly given to understand that the Lord’s portion of the income has no right to be spent upon their vacations. It should be impressed upon members that in case of long absence their contributions should either be paid in advance or sent in weekly during their absence. A school of business methods should be established in many local churches. Such a school A SCHOOL OF BUSINESS METHODS should meet weekly and every officer of the church and its societies shonld attend. A suggested pro- gram herewith has been undertaken with success in a number of local churches and at the Cen- BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 67 tral Y. M. C. A. in Buffalo, under the leadership of the General Secretary of the Association. Suggested Peogram for School op Business Methods Based on Weekly Meetings. First Week Subject — a. Value of an Adequate Church Finan- cial Policy — the Spiritual Reaction — the Attitude of the Neighborhood. h. Pew Rental Versus Free-will Offering. c. Institutional Efficiency. Second Week Subject — a. Knowing your Parish. Application of Scientific Survey Methods. (Illus- trated by charts secured through your Home Missionary Society.) b. Arousing a Giving Interest. Third Week Subject — Enlarging the Financial Constituency. Promotion of a Church Canvass: Set- ting up the Policy, its Adoption, Nec- essary Elements for Successful Han- dling of the Canvess. Fourth Week Subject — a. Budget of Church Expenses — The Classified Expenditures. The Sources of Revenue. How to Prepare, Propose, and Adhere to a Budget. b. Endowment Funds — How to Secure and Administer. 68 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH Fifth Week Subject — Financial Records and Printed Mat- ter — Efficiency in use of Advertising. Church Bulletin, Envelopes, Cards, Collection Notices, etc. Bystem of Re- ceiving and Disbursing Funds. Mak- ing and Auditing of Records. Sixth Week Subject — Benevolent Funds — Foreign Missions, Home Missions and General Benevc^ lences. Seventh Week Subject — a. Undesirable Financial Methods — Plans that have Failed. Unscriptural Schemes. Inadequate Methods. b. Opening of the Question Box. As demonstrating the great advan- CASE NO 1 o o tage of the adoption of a good busi- ness system of church finance and “the double budget system,” we give the experience of a church which reports in and Missions.^’ The congregation raised, the way in previous to the adoption of these methods by all means, including some envelope subscriptions, special col- lections, “pay socials,” etc., for current expenses f2,098, and for benevolences $173, or a total of $2,271, and at the close of the year employed a man to take special subscriptions to escape a deficit of several hundred dollars. BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 69 The officers in general meeting in- WAY OUT troduced a radical change. The double system with weekly duplex envelopes was adopted and applied to the entire congrega- tion, including the Sunday school, the Christian Endeavor Society, the Ladies’ Aid Society, and the Missionary Society. All treasuries were abolished except the treasury of the congregation for current expenses and the treasury for benevolence. This was done with the approval of all the organiza- tions. Every member of each auxiliary organiza- tion was asked for a definite subscription for the current expenses and for benevolences. With a roll of only 203, the financial secretary has per- sonal accounts with 235 persons. The following rules were adopted: 1st. All bills of expense incurred by auxiliary organizations shall be O. K.’d by the proper offi- cers and transmitted to the secretary of the Board within fifteen days after the time they are incurred. 2nd. All regular expenses of the congregation and of all auxiliary organizations, together with all regular benevolences having been provided for in the annual budget, no person or organization shall solicit subscriptions or raise money by any direct or indirect methods among the members of the congregation for any purpose except by the special permission of the Board. 3rd. All bills shall be paid within thirty days. 60 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH even if money must be borrowed at the bank to pay them. For current expenses the sum of |3,391 EESTjiTS raised, leaving a balance of $127.50 in the bank after all bills were paid. For benevolences $530 was contributed, making a total of $4,048 against $2,271, for the year pre- vious, or an advance of $1,777. All old bills were paid, the church edifice was repaired, and pastor’s salary was increased by $500 over any amount paid before, and there was not a month, even in mid- summer, when there was not sufficient money in the bank to pay all bills due. Though this is called ‘‘the double budget sys- tem,” because in securing subscriptions and in col- lecting them a difference is made between current expenses and benevolences and a pledge is asked for each, this really is a unified budget system. There is only one offering and that is received every Sunday and for every cause of the Church. The only special collection was for China famine relief. This totaled $56. There are only two treas- urers instead of many. A deduction of 10 per cent, is made from the benevolent collections for the emergency fund to be disposed of by the Board to meet special calls. The balance is divided among the Boards on the basis suggested by the National Assembly. The increase this year with only slight special effort was over 200 per cent. To every subscriber to the benevolent budget of BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 61 ten cents a week, the missionary magazine of the church is sent free. By this method, fifty copies are taken where before there were none. To each subscriber of thirty-five cents a week one of the weekly church papers is sent, thus giving a larger subscription list to the church weeklies than at any previous time in the history of the church. The midweek service is increased threefold in aver- age attendance. The increased attendance at the regular Sunday services is taken as a mark of con- fidence on the part of the general public in the solid worth of the church’s work. Through the blessing of God upon strictly busi- ness methods this church has entered upon a new era in its life and work. The following is the report of Kev. oAbi no. / g Miller, Pastor of the Richmond Avenue Church of Christ (Disciples) of Buffalo, covering the first term of the Church School of that congregation. Church School at Buffalo, N. Y. At the graduating exercises eighty members of the church received diplomas and twenty others were conditioned and will receive certificates on completing the course. The school was conducted on successive Wednesday evenings during October and November. It was a school of practice and efficiency. The course consisted of sixteen lectures on subjects pertaining to practical church life and 62 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH work. The school proposed to give the members of the church an opportunity to become acquainted with all the methods of work promoted by the church. It was a “technical” school to prepare the members for intelligent co-operation in all depart- ments of church activity. The following courses were offered : Church Finance. This included instruction in the development of methods in the local church ; an exhibit of the sys- tems employed by the Finance Committee and the church treasurer ; the method of finance in the Bi- ble School ; the history and methods for the financ- ing of church building and enlargement; the pro- vision for meeting deficit and interest; the reduc- tion of mortgage, etc. Church Evangelism. A study of the distinctive beliefs of the church and the best methods of propagating them. The duty of the church to the unsaved of the commun- ity. Personal evangelism in the city and through the Bible School. Missions. A study of the missionary enterprises of the local church. The support of the church’s missionaries at home and abroad. The Local Charity District of the church and the case of the poor. Community Service. A study of the adaptation of the church to the BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 63 local community. The use of the Community House. The open church and gymnasium. Sur- vey of the religious and social conditions in the neighborhood. Pastoral aid and neighborliness. The duty of the family church to the family com- munity. The Bible School. The Graded System and department plan. Training of teachers. Organized classes. Associ- ated organizations. Social life of the children. Scouts and Camp Fire Girls. Church Polity. The administration of the church through its officers. The duties of elders and deacons. The duties of pastor. Co-operation of members with officers. Keligious life of the church. Importance of public services, Christianity in the home, society and business. The average attendance upon the school was one hundred and twenty. The Preparatory Course will be followed by the Church College in which ad- vanced work will be taken and persons enrolled will be trained for specific work within the church and community. It is expected that every graduate of the Church College will be prepared to do well some definite thing. The Preparatory Course will be given each year to the new members and these in turn will be taken into the Church College for training for specific service. 64 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH The following graphic plan of finance is y ATTT*^ S recommended by the Lo.ymen’s Missionary Movement, and is here inserted for use of ministers and laymen who desire to prepare to dis- cuss the scheme of finance in public. Paulas Plan of Church Finance. (1 Cor. xvi:2) P P P P P EEIODIC Worshipful ‘‘Upon the first Habitual day of the week Prayerful Cheerful EESONAL Each Man let each one of you Each Woman Each Boy Each Girl No Proxies No Merging EOVIDENT Forehanded lay by him Deliberate in store Thoughtful Intelligent EOPOETIONATE Generous as he may Careful prosper Eesponsible Faithful EEVENTIVE No Deficit that no collections be No Interest made when I come” on Loans No Worry No Eetrenchment BUSINESS EFFICIENCY 65 SUMMARY Nothing succeeds like success. The church that always meets its bills when due never has difficulty in obtaining credit when desired. Bankers tell me that a church note is gen- erally considered undesirable, as it is seldom taken up when it falls due. On this account many banks refuse to loan churches money for any purpose. With the application of good business principles and practices in local congregations, this unsavory financial reputation of the church will be lived down. The church that succeeds in its business affairs in general will be found to be the church that is projecting itself into the community. It is the church that has no financial load bearing heavily upon it, causing discouragement and heartache, but released from these discomforts, it goes about the Master’s business. It is the church which is having additions by confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be found more than the average ‘‘forty per cent.” of its members in attendance at the services. Its doors will be open to humanity more than one day in seven and its windows will be open toward heaven. Its officers will love God and Man, and believe in prayer and practice it in public and private. Men and women will find there the church home they have so long craved, and it will not be neces- sary for them to go to the lodge or the theatre to obtain spiritual sympathy, for they will find it here. 66 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH Business affairs will not hamper the pastor of this church. He will be too busy about the affairs of the Kingdom, and the business affairs will be cared for by the deacons. This church will have a mission to the world, beginning at its very door and extend- ing to the “uttermost parts.” Its members will take an active interest in the bettering of social conditions, striving to make the chances for life and the pursuit of happiness equal to all mankind. This church will be seeking out its best young men and starting them toward the ministry as a life work. Young men and young women will be chosen from among its homes to represent the con- gregation in heathen lands. Children from its homes will go away to the Christian College to prepare for life and citizenship, while money that the parents have in abundance will endow and equip Educational Institutions. In brief, the mem- bers of this church have time to take their religion seriously, and realizing that the Master called them to become fishers of men, they go about doing good continually. Ill SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY SOTTl- WINNING STATISTICS I N this, as in the two previous papers, I am at- tempting to show wherein the local church is inefficient, and I shall endeavor in this treat- ment to show wherein this inefficiency may he turned to efficiency by a “right-about-face” in the methods of evangelism, pursued by the local church. In the beginning, let us inquire whether the local church is ineffi- cient in Soul- Winning. The avail- able statistics upon this feature published in the early pages of this treatment say in substance that the Presbyterians reported at their Louisville As- sembly in July, 1912, that 36 per cent, of their con- gregations had not a single addition by confession during the previous year. The figures for the Bap- tist body show a smaller net increase in their mem- bership than in births in the homes of their mem- bers, while the Methodist and Congregational bod- ies report a loss of more than one-half of the chil- dren in the very homes of their members. Other religious bodies might be mentioned but this will be sufficient for the present purpose. While I am neither enthusiastic nor pessimistic over the situation, the prevailing opinion at pres- ent is that a remedy is needed, and needed at once. 67 68 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKOH. Here is a statement made by Rev. Lathan A. Cran- dall, a prominent Baptist Clergyman of Minne- apolis, at the Northern Baptist Convention in De- troit, May 25, 1913, and widely quoted in the press, which is the authority in this instance. “A study of twelve large American cities shows that in only one of the number, do the communicants of Chris- tian bodies — Protestant and Catholic combined — equal the non-Christian population.” Dr. John Clifford, an incurable optimist, is re- ported as saying in his annual review of Christian work for 1912, “The outlook is dark and threaten- ing fcr organized Christianity. According to the most reliable data obtainable, only 2 per cent, of the rural population of Minnesota is found in the membership of Protestant bodies, exclusive of Luth- erans, and only 15 per cent, of the population is identified with the churches of all Christian faiths.” All over America comparatively few men have ever confessed Christ. This statement in itself is appalling. With 22,000,000 Protestant communi- cants in America, there was an increase of only 450,000 reported last year, which is less than the net increase in our population. In one of the larg- est churches in Kansas City recently the minister made the statement in a sermon, that there had been less than thirty confessions of faith in his church of several thousand members during the last year. I repeated this statement to the minister of another of Kansas City’s large churches with a SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 69 membership of nearly a thousand, and he took down his record and found only eleven confessions in the six months of his pastorate. I am of the opinion that the two records cited are above the average. If we were permitted to have annual reports from our churches, many of them would read something like this : PROFESSIONAL EVANGELISM ‘^Sermons preached, 104; additions, none; dis- missals, none; marriages, none; deaths, 20; loss in membership, 20.” We have been largely relying upon the professional revival meeting for conversions, and have built up a sys- tem of professional evangelism, which, in too many instances, flourishes on noise, sensationalism, and morbid excitement, and publishes long lists of con- verts, while the facts seem to indicate that the methods employed and results obtained are often not such as to advance the cause of real religion. Indeed, it is sometimes argued that these methods do actual harm to the Kingdom. I have no quarrel to pick with professional evan- gelists. If it were not for them it is likely the church would be still worse off in the matter of converts. What I am attempting to say is that the principle of professional evangelism as an exclu- sive soul-winning propaganda is wrong, and that we are using improperly these valuable persons and methods. It was never intended that the church should have conversions only during pro- 70 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL OHUECH PERSONAL EVANGELISU fessional evangelistic rallies, (which is the case with many churches at the present time) but these rallies and the evangelists should be used as a means of teaching our members how to do personal work. Our congregations are filled with professed Christians and presided over by ministers who preach the Gospel of repentance. Why should not preacher and, people convert the unconverted? The figures quoted in the beginning show what a tremendous work there is to do in the individual evangeliza- tion of America. It is also true that while there has been great increase in our population, Protes- tant America is practically standing still, if indeed she is not going backwards. Though we all know that numerical strength is not everything, yet it is a pretty good index of the condition of affairs within the church. That something is wrong, I think hardly will be doubted. Evidently the methods of the recent past are not efficient, else this dearth in confessions would not exist. That the time for a change has arrived, T am firmly convinced. But to what method shall the change revert? The conduct of the early dis- ciples is significant. The personal element entered into their ministry from the beginning. No sooner did they find Christ for themselves, than they went after others. Witness, Andrew and John had been with him but a day until they went after their THE rERSONAI UETHOD SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENOY 71 brothers, Philip had been with him but an hour until he went after Nathaniel. The woman at the well listened but a few minutes and went to tell her neighbors. This is the kind of Evangelism the world is willing to receive, and the kind our pro- fessional evangelists should teach the local congre- gations to employ. The main difficulty in the adoption of such a plan will be that our members were not enlisted to that kind of work when they came into the church and will balk at any such proposal. Now that they have attached themselves to the congre- gation, they will rule that we should not change the order and give them a ‘^preacher’s job.” Prob- ably so. The fact that we have been wrong in our practice in the past is no reason why we should continue in the wrong one minute after we are convinced of that fact. We have been long asking ourselves, “Can we win men without distinct per- sonal work/^ and the answer has been given by the statistics I have quoted. It simply cannot be done. We can continue to hold any number of meet- ings, invent any number of schemes, and pay out any amount of money, but we will only fail to at- tain our object. The only thing that can win men is personal work. Nothing less will do it. The pulpit has a large place, of course, but the personal word will clinch the preacher’s message and secure the final decision. Y2 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH EXAMPLE personal method will OF DKUMMERS ^in has long since been recognized by wholesale merchants in the dis- posal of goods. Time was when manufacturers stored their goods in warehouses and waited for the retail dealer to journey to the city to buy what was needed. This condition no longer prevails. Competition demanded that salesmen be sent out on the road to personally press the claims of their goods upon each merchant. Out in our part of the country you can hardly get a seat in a railway coach for the presence of these ‘‘drummers,” who are going out in the highways and hedges and compelling the store keepers to buy. Politicians are not behind the merchants. They are supplementing public meetings and the public press with the element of personal work. During the policical struggle between the late President McKinley and Mr. Bryan, it is said there was not a doubtful voter in the whole country who was not seen in person on behalf of the Republican com- mittee. It was personal work that elected Mr. Mc- Kinley to the Presidency of the United States, and it is personal work that will bring sinners to re- pentance in the church of Jesus Christ. The idea that the duty of soul-win- ning is the task of the preacher only jjoj j } is widely held. Nothing was ever further from the truth. The duty of soul-winning is as binding upon the lay-member as SOUL-WINNING EFriOIENCY 73 upon the minister. In the Apostolic church the laymen who were scattered abroad “went preach- ing the word.” Pentecost will never come to the modern church until, as in that first Pentecost, the business men unite with the minister in prayer and service. Our English brethren have long since rec- ognized this, and for years many business men there have been engrossed with the duty of soul- winning. In the Methodist church in England there are said to be more sermons preached by business men than by professional ministers. Even the Church of England itself has thousands of lay-readers. Thousands of gospel sermons are preached through- out the whole of the British Isles each week by business men. Neither England, nor America, nor any other part of the world will ever be saved, if the duty of soul-winning is left to the professional minister. The 1912 American Year Book MINISTRY places the number of churches at 221,000 and the number of minis- ters at 172,500, or an excess of churches over min- isters of 48,500. Included in the number of preach- ers are hundreds who are temporarily or perman- ently out of the pastorate by reason of age, in- firmity, sickness, being in business or engaged in evangelistic, secretarial, or other forms of church work ; hence it is probable that there are less than 150,000 ministers who are devoting themselves ex- 74 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHURCH clusively to the pastorate. What does this mean? It means that there are approximately 71,000 churches which either have no regular preaching, or only an occasional preaching service. Take it any way you like, and the situation is disheartening. A thorough discussion of the pas- torless church matter involves more time and space than we have for this brief paper. But let us see what prospect there is of a change. We will turn to the 193 Church Colleges (including profes- sional departments of Universities) and see what the Church Schools are able to do to remedy the situation. During 1911 there were in all Church Schools and Colleges combined 10,834 ministerial students, including men and women preparing for work abroad. If all these ministerial students are persistent, and pursue their studies throughout the full term of four years, the Colleges at best could only hope to turn out 2,700 preachers per year, and this is less than the average loss sustained by rea- son of death and withdrawal from the pastorate. The 1913 American Year Book shows a loss of 178 Ministerial Students in Schools as compared with 1910, hence it must be admitted that the situation is getting no better. There needs to be a change in method, or reports will show a larger loss in min- isters, churches and confessions in future years than has been the case in the past. Individual evangelism was the basis of Christ’s work when he was here upon earth, and must ever SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 75 continue to be the basis of the growth of the church. That we have forgotten this is everywhere appar- ent. Why not, then, without parley, return to the method Christ employed when he was with us? Why not re-adopt the practice he pursued, and which the Apostles employed during that first cen- tury when the Gospel swept the world? The chief hindrance to the inaugu- TKADITION* A ^ HINDRANCE ^^tion of any plan that deviates from recent custom among us, is to be found in the traditions and prejudices of the local con- gregation. To many a church member it is posi- tive pain to part with an old method or to intro- duce a new one. There are Christians who would rather die than give up an ancient established cus- tom, such as the ‘‘annual revival’^ with an evan- gelist to gather in the converts, after which the con- gregation settles back into its “easy chair” to sleep until the time for the next revival comes around again. In my opinion every church should have, at least once a year, special evangelistic services with a “John the Baptist” to rally the people and inspire them to talk conversion to their neighbors, but, I repeat, we should not expect the evangelist and his singer to do all the soul saving. Slavery to yes- terday’s ideas is the curse of hundreds of our con- gregations, especially in the line of soul-winning. Many of our brethren are continually demanding that church affairs move along in the same grooves. Y6 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH PERSONAL WORK— HOW { and that we fight with the same old weapons our fathers fought with. Such a demand is as fool- ish as the demand that the farmer of to-day use the same old wooden plow of his father, or the sickle of his grandfather, or as foolish as to send an army into the field carrying muskets with flint- locks or a navy into battle with wooden battleships. But how is this era of personal work to be ushered in? It is not an easy thing to get men and women to do personal work. In the first place, it seems such a “small’’ thing. Get up “something big,” and we will have volunteers by the score. But one who is truly a Christian should be just as willing to do the simple things as to do the great things. Yet is it not true that there are preachers willing to preach to the multitudes, and glory in it, who are not willing to speak to an individual. Some of us have been Christians these many years and have never spoken to a soul about his salvation during that time. Ministers and Sunday school teachers, elders and deacons there are who have never spoken to those in their own homes about be- coming Christians. Very few Sunday school teach- ers speak to the members of their classes regard- ing this great decision. Husbands are Christians whose wives are not; wives who are Christians have husbands without Christ. These relatives of the church attend the services year in and year SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 17 out, and no one speaks to them personally about be- coming Christians. At a dinner in Kansas City early in 1913 the statement was made by one of our ministers in an address, that a certain man of prominence in a neighboring town had joined the Church, although his life was pronouncedly wicked. An acquain- tance speaking with him a few days later men- tioned the fact of his becoming a member of the church and he retorted, “Yes, I joined the church to get rid of them. They have been on my back for months, until I could hardly attend to business for the interference with my personal affairs.” We deceive ourselves into thinking that asking peo- ple to “join the church,” is doing personal Chris- tian work. We are wrong. That kind of “per- sonal work” may be and often is a positive detri- ment to the real work of making Christians. Many would do effective personal work, but do not know how. We have been so neglectful of the study of personal evangelism and of prayer for the success of the Kingdom that the church is sadly lacking in able personal workers. Few, if any, churches have classes in personal evangelism. Pub- lic and private prayer for the extension of the Kingdom is not largely practiced. Personal work- ers’ leagues are almost unknown. The weekly church papers print little about personal work, and leaflet literature is not distributed or read by our workers to a wide extent. Our failure in this re- 78 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH gard is appalling. We can not hope to start a never-ending campaign of personal evangelism in our churches until we begin to train our members in methods of personal work. We must learn that in order to convict sinners and turn them toward Christ we must have trained workers, and the time is ripe to lay strong emphasis upon the training of Christians for personal service. Before a soldier can know how to fight he must be trained. Before the battle is fought the armies must be assembled. Our ministers are not unlike officers in an army. They are the leaders to plan the campaign and carry it into execution. Our difficulty has been that we had no army to follow the officers into the fray, and hence no victory has been won. Many of our ministers have been asleep to this proposition, and the church has been headed toward the breakers. It is high time our ministers were awakened, and asked, “Watchman, what of the night?” Let us then bring our people together into classes for the study of personal evangelism. The Brotherhood and the Adult Bible Class movement present a way of easy access to the church for work of this character. The Men’s movement and the Women’s department have been laying emphasis upon personal service, but the congregation and ministers have not very heartily entered into the suggestion. We all know that personal work is hard, and that it is difficult SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 19 to enlist Christians in it. This is all the more rea- son why we should lay it heavily upon our hearts and consciences and keep it there until we act. The Brotherhoods, the Bible Classes, and the or- ganizations of women are bound to the church through the ties of the Bible School and the Women’s Missionary Society, but there remains the difficult task of giving these strong, red-blooded Christians a program of Christian Service that will bring them out upon the broad highway of Chris- tian usefulness in the affairs of the Kingdom. Thousands of our men and women need converting from nominal, inactive Christians into real, active^ once. It is useless to talk to men about Social Service or Missions or any other great movement for the uplift of humanity until you have first awakened within them a love for their fellowmen through Jesus Christ, and a hatred of selfishness in the human heart. We learn to love men by first loving God. Those who do not love God soon grow cold toward humanity. Our men and women need to be instructed in their relations to God and Man, but we have no opportunity to give most of them this sort of instruction because sixty per cent, of the people do not come to church with any regu- larity. At no one service do we have over 40 per cent, of our church members, taking the country over, and the percentage of men is much less than that. The Men’s Movement and the Women’s Movement are 80 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH reaching the men and women better than the church services are reaching them, and" it is therefore pro- posed that these movements be the agencies through which this new era of personal service should find an expression. The women have carried on mis- sionary and temperance crusades that have added glory to their name and cause, and our men are awakening to the fact that more is demanded of them than attending services and obeying the ordi- nances of the church. Genuine Christian men and women respond to the appeal for personal evan- gelism when they are shown how. John E. Crowther, Missionary Expert, is author of this epigram, “To know is to Glow, and to Glow is to Go.’’ In churches that have classes in personal evangelism, the truth of this couplet is readily manifested. The church ought to have a re- sponsibility beginning at its very CONTINUOUSIY doo^s and extending into the “utter- most” parts. That our congrega- tions have not had this feeling of responsibility may in some measure account for the method we have employed in our evangelism. Large flour mills, in order to be profitable, must run 24 hours a day, six day a week ; yet our churches have large investments in their plants, and expect to make them successful with an operating time of less than seven hours a week. We know of no business enterprise that could SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 81 pay expenses on a similar investment, with an operating time of less than one hour a day. An average of a few minutes a week would dubtless be sufficient for the large flour mills to run in order to feed their employees, and as long as the church figures on furnishing the spiritual food for its own members only, an hour a day may be considered sufficient. But the responsibility of the flour mill owner is not solely to his own employees, neither can the responsibility of the church be confined to its members only ; therefore to work the plant to its greatest efficiency and to accomplish the end for which the church is designed, longer running time is necessary. The disaster which would befall the flour mill that would undertake to feed its employees only is no greater than the disaster which has befallen the Christian Church in confining its work to its own members. The church is either standing still or go- ing backwards, and how could it be otherwise with the members unconcerned about the King’s busi- ness and the plant shut down 95 per cent, of the time, and only about one per cent, of its members on the job seven days in the week. INSTITUTIONAL would come if the church was CHUECHES open all the time, someone asks? Let me answer, that in the ordinary church people would not come unless there is some- thing going on — a meeting, a conference, or some- thing to attract. To do this attracting, we are at 82 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH last providing for Institutional Churches, and the pity is that we have been so long coming to this. The failures of the Institutional Church (and I am told there have been failures) have been in the con- ception of the place of the Institutional features, such as the gymnasium, the cooking school, the sewing school, the mothers’ meetings, the Vacation Bible Schools, and the other features of such a Church. Too many have regarded them as the prod- uct instead of the machinery. The tendency has been to put the kitchen ahead of the prayer meeting, the gymnasium ahead of the Sunday school. The spiritual significance has been lost sight of. The Institutional Church, if properly utilized, will be found to be but one of the avenues to men’s hearts. The Institutional Church which does not have for its motto, ‘‘The salvation of men through the blood of Jesus Christ” ought to, and in many cases does, close its doors. The failures are due to invoking the engine instead of the engineer, putting red paint and printer’s ink ahead of prayer and Christian Service. No church has any right to be satisfied unless every last man, woman and child in its membership is busy about the Master’s business. The projecting of the teachings of Christ through his church into the community ought to be the highest aim of the local congregation. No church that is studying the problems of Christianity will SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 83 fail to use every means at hand for projecting the message of Christ, and the Men’s Movement and the Women’s Movement, and other recognized agencies of the congregation, are the logical outlets for the church’s call to personal service. The church must get back to the fundamental thought that it stands for the program of Jesus Christ, and should put the regeneration of the individual ahead of all so- cial betterment. The method of Jesus was twofold. Pub- METHOD lie Preaching and Personal Effort. We are not advocating that the ordinary church member be turned into a public exhorter, although we would call attention to the fact that Christ gave in his sermon his qualification for preaching by saying “The Spirit of God is upon me.” Personal workers’ crusades often give the workers the inspiration to become public preachers, which further and thorough preparation in a Christian College will complete. In a recent communication a good preacher said to me “Preachers are born, not made,” to which a voice within me replied, “Preachers are found, not born.” The fact is, they are born, then found, and then made. Our churches are full of them, waiting to be found. Turn to the Acts and you will find that the ac- count of every great saying or work of the Apostles is prefaced with “And being filled with the Holy Spirit,” they spoke or did these things. The Spirit 84 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH is offered to us as it was to them. The Apostolic Church as compared with that of to-day was poorly equipped. They had no church buildings, but somehow the synagogues were filled with seekers after truth. They had no money, but somehow the Gospel was preached in every land. Most of the preachers were uneducated, but somehow wicked- ness was overcome. This is the power that will conquer the world. The church needs more schol- ars, more schools, more money, of course, but more than all these combined, it needs the “Spirit of God resting upon it.’’ One of the satisfactions of this per- THE BOOK sonal workers’ crusade is in the fact that the two movements, the one among the men, the other among the women, are founded upon The Book. Their message was “The Word of God.” Matthew continually states that Jesus said that this and that happened, “that the Word of God might be fulfilled” which was written in the Old Testament. There are no revivals in Bibleless churches. The church never needed to hear this truth more than to-day. The blind can- not lead the blind. Those who have not had the sat- isfying experience of familiarity with the Word of God cannot hope to be able to point others to this experience. If a man tells me that Kansas City is not an interesting place, and I discover he has never been there, his words have no effect. I want the testimony of one who has enjoyed the thrill of SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 85 climbing the bills and coasting into the valleys of that pretty city. If a man tells me that the Bible is not essential to salvation, and knowledge of the Word of God is not fundamental to personal work, I always find he has no knowledge of what the Book of books contains. This contact with the Bible through Men’s classes and Women’s classes in the Bible Schools is a distinct advantage to this crusade. Not only is a knowledge of the Bible essential to soul-winning, but a knowledge of men’s hearts as well. A knowledge of the motives, doubts, fears, passions, ambitions and aspirations that sway men’s hearts, may be gained in a personal workers’ group. These two forms of knowledge must be so correlated as to bring the living word and the dead soul into vital contact. The soul-winner must have a real passion for souls. How much real concern do we ordinary church members have for the souls of the lost? I am afraid not very much. When the condition of our beloved unconverted friends becomes a matter of real vital concern to us, we will then begin to look for channels for their salvation. Engrossed with pleasures, they do not realize the importance of this matter and never will until they see that Christian people are concerned about them. We Christians must put religion to the PP A VPP DAILY fj’ont and keep it there. Until we do, the unconverted cannot be expected to be im- pressed. We must place great dependence in 86 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUKCH prayer. The history of the church’s progress is the history of prayer. However perfect the church organization, however business-like her financial methods, however eloquent her minister, however infiuential her people, her success depends prima- rily and ultimately on prayer. Therefore these men’s groups and these women’s groups should be taught how to pray and be encouraged in the prac- tice of both public and private devotions. From Pentecost until now, no great forward step has been taken in the history of the church, save as it grew out of prayer. Behind all inactivity, behind the lack of enthusiasm, behind all failure, there lies one lack more essential than anything else, the lack of belief in prayer. In personal work, it is necessary that our NEBBED efforts be directed by well ordered plans. Spirituality is essential, but not the only essential to constructive statesmanship, in the win- ning of souls. Spirituality is what power is to ma- chinery, and methods and plans are what machin- ery is to power. Machinery is helpless without power to drive it and power is helpless without machinery. There must first of all be an evangelis- tic church life. The way of salvation should be ex- plained in every sermon and men and women urged to make decision for Christ. Special evangelistic efforts should be made, but soul-winning can never be limited to those special efforts. Soul-winning should have a permanent place in SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 87 every agency in the church, the Brotherhood, the Women’s work, the Bible School Classes, the Young People’s meetings and the pastoral visits. Not only should the church have an evangelistic pastor, but the officers of the church should cor- dially second his efforts in evangelism. As to a time for discussion of personal work, this varies with the locality, the character of the people, and general conditions surrounding the work of the con- gregation. It has been found undesirable to at- tempt to discuss personal work during the sessions of the Men’s Bible Class, or the Women’s Mission- ary Meeting, because that would interfere with the regular program. Personal work is something that will not bear ‘^sandwiching” in with something else. It is so important that it should be discussed at a session strictly its own. In England the Men’s service on Sunday after- noon has proven highly satisfactory. In our Amer- ican Churches, Sunday evening for an hour preced- ing the evening preaching service has proven to be one of the most profitable seasons for m,eetings of a personal workers’ league. This meeting, for men, or women, either combined or in separate session, where the physical arangements of the building will permit, are proving the salvation of the dreaded “Sunday evening service” in many a church. Some churches have such small attendance on Sunday evenings that the regular service has been entirely abandoned. The use of the Sunday evening service 88 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHUECH. as an evangelistic agency following an “upper room” meeting of personal workers, deserves the attention of every minister and Christian Layman among ns. The evening service, preceded by the personal workers’ meeting, furnishes an atmos- phere conducive to evangelistic effort. No one can estimate the loss in TH£ XTPPER EOOM conversion of souls and development of spiritual power by reason of our failure to make this service intensely evangelistic,. The evening is an appropriate time to gather your workers together into the “upper room” where they will be altogether, and by themselves, and feel the tuggings of the Spirit of God at their hearts. And the evening is a desirable time to look back upon the work of the week just closed and forecast the work for the week just opening. At this meeting, men can plan to invite others, and on Sunday morn- ing or afternoon accompany them to the meeting of the Bible Class, and on Sunday evening bring them to the evangelistic service. In some of the most successful men’s meetings, every Christian man is asked to bring with him a non-Christian. Why can we not follow this plan? After the plain, direct gospel sermon, closing with an earnest per- sonal appeal to the unconverted, and an oppor- tunity for confession of Christ, some churches have a very reverent “After meeting,” for prayer, testi- mony and confession. The tendency to haste is the main objection to the after-meeting. SOUL-WINNING EFFICIENCY 89 The church has been slow to learn the lesson, but wherever the methods of the '‘upper room” have prevailed there Pentecost has been repeated. These frequent meetings of personal workers for prayer and conference and relation of experiences are the best methods yet discovered for strengthening faith and sustaining enthusiasm. This meeting in itself, without the study of a text hook, or a reading course will prove to be a training school for Chris- tian workers, for, by comparison of methods, and rehearsal of experiences, mistaken methods may be eliminated. Such a personal workers’ league may represent the entire congregation, or there may be a number of leagues, representing the Brotherhood, the Women’s work, the Young People, or on the other hand, it may represent the entire community of several churches, or an entire city as the case may be. For our own use we advocate a personal workers’ league for the congregation, the Brother- hood, the Bible Class, or the Women’s work, one or all, that will meet for a study of method. Out of it grows a comradeship in service that strengthens the hearts of men to do more valiant and aggressive service in this important business of the King. The pastor ought to have the names of a number who, even without an added organization in the congre- tion, are willing to do this kind of work. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this training for personal evangelism. There should be such an organization in every church in 90 MAKING GOOD IN THE LOCAL CHURCH the land. If the world is to be won to Christ through individual evangelism, it is at once evident that such a training class is necessary. Such a class in every church would engender a tremendous sentiment for evangelistic effort. The present con- dition of our country constitutes a call upon every minister among us to organize his church for defi- nite evangelistic service. Let us begin now to pray for the consecration of men and women for per- sonal evangelism. Speak often publicly and pri- vately concerning it. In many places it has been found profitable to have a ‘‘week of prayer” at the inauguration of a soul-winning campaign. Let us organize the men and women of our churches for definite Christian service. Where we already have them organized into Brotherhoods, Adult Bible Classes and Women’s Societies, let us set to work to give them a task that is worthy of a congregation of Christian people. Let us have our people praying about the affairs of the Kingdom, speaking to their neighbors, their sons and daugh- ters, sisters and brothers, about their soul’s salva- tion. Let us set to work with a will, with the “power of the spirit,” determined that in another ten years no such history could be written as cir- cumstances compel in the year of our Lord, 1913. Let us pray back into our churches the 60 per cent, of our members who absent themselves from the services ; let us pray into spiritual grace and power the indifferent officers of our churches ; let us pray SOTJL-WINNINQ EFFICIENCY 91 into the hearts and consciences of professing Chris- tians, the great commission, ‘‘Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation/^ Then men will rise up and call the church blessed. Her principles will be welcomed as the panacea for all the ills of the individual and of society. Her doors will never close, and she will have a respon- sibility for the moral, social, physical and spiritual welfare of all persons within the reach of her min- istrations. The sun will never set upon her ac- tivities, for although her parish be small, her work extends unto the “uttermost parts’' of the earth. BIBLIOGRAPHY I. Spiritual Efficiency a. Prayer and Worship. b. Bible Study. c. Missions and Social Service. II. Business Efficiency a. Stewardship. b. Business Methods. c. Church Operation. III. Soul-Winning Efficiency a. Evangelism. b. Personal Work. c. Group Co-operation. 92 BIBLIOGKAPHY 93 I. Spiritual Efficiency a. Prayer and Worship. Life Worth While. Atkins, 75c. A Help to Family Worship. $1.00. Wireless Messages. Broadhurst, $1.00. The Spiritual Life. Coe, $1.00. New Life in the Old Prayer Meeting. Cowan, 50c. The Church and Young Men. Cressey, $1.25. The Greatest Thing in the World. Drummond, 30c. The School in the Home. Hillis, 50c. The Practice of Prayer. Morgan, 75c. The Book of Family Worship. Nicoll, $1.50. The Eldership. Davis, 50c. Can the Modem Man Pray? Bayley, lOc. Devotional Use of the Scriptures. Gibson, 50c. Claims and Opportunities of the Ministry. Mott, 50c. Future Leadership of the Church. Mott, 50c. More than Men. Parkhurst, 40c. Marks of a Man. Speer, 50c. The Spirit Filled Life. MacNeil, 30c. My Brother and I. Ainslie, 25c. God and Me. Ainslie, 25c. b. Bible Study. Bible Difficulties. Atkins, 50c. Hints on Bible Study. 50c. Topical Outline of Bible Themes. Bowers, $1.50. How to Teach a Sunday School Lesson. Carmack, 75c. Education in Religion and Morals. Coe, $1.35. All About the Bible. Collett, $1.00. Modern Sunday School in Principle and Practice. Cope, $1.00. Through the Bible with a Guide. Holbrook, $1.00. How to Conduct a Sunday School. Lawrence, $1.25. Is My Bible True? Leach, 30c. Our Big Boys and the Sunday School. McKinney, 50c. The Homeland of the Bible. MacPhie, $1.25. How to Mark Your Bible. Menzies, 75c. How to Study the English Bible. Girdlestone, 75c. How to Study the Bible. Torrey, 75c. The Gist of the Lesson. Torrey, 25c. Who Wrote the Bible. Gladden, $1.25. The Bible in the World To-day. Barlow, 75e. Educational Evangelism. McKinley, 50c. Training for Service. Monninger, 25c. 94 BIBLIOGEAPHT c. Missions an^d Social Service. Christian Missions and Social Progress. Dennis (3 vols.), $7.50. The Social Work of Christian Missions. Taylor, 50c. Dr. GrenfePs Parish. Duncan, $1.00. Echoes from Edinburgh. $1.00. The Missionary Expansion Since the Kefonnation. Graham, $1.25. Down North on the Labrador. Grenfel, $1.00. The Incoming Millions. Grose, 50c. Citizens of To-morrow. Guernsey. 50c. The Modern Missionary Challenge. Jones, $1.50. A Message from Batang. Loftus, 75c. Missions Striking Home. McAfee, 75c. Where the Book Speaks. McLean, $1.0i0. Breaking Down Chinese Walls. Ogden, $li.00. Missionary Methods for Missionary Committees. Park, 25c. With the Tibetans in Tent and Temple. Eijnhart, $1.50. Christianity and the Nations. Speer, $2.00. On the Trail of the Immigrant. Steiner, $1.50. Missionary Achievements During Nineteen Cen- turies, Whitley, $1.00. The Bible a Missionary Book. Tait, $1.50. Men and Missions. Elfis, $1.00. Over Against the Treasury. Fenn, 60c. Decisive Hour of Christian Missions. Mott, $1.00. The Challenge of the Country. Piske, 75c. The Call of the World. Doughty, 25c. Manual of Missionary Methods. White, 5c. The Social Task of Christianity. Batten, $1.25. Selfhood and Service. Beaton, $1.00. Waifs of the Slums and their Way Out. Benedict, $ 1 . 00 . An Open Letter to Society — Convict No. 1776. Booth, 75c. The Burden of the City. Horton, 50c. Christianity’s Storm Center. Stelzle, $1.00. The Working Man and Social Problems. Stelzle, 75c. A New Conscience on an Ancient Evil. Addams, $1.25. Misery and its Causes. Devine, $1.25. The Immigrant Problem. Jenks, $1.75. The Challenge of the City. Strong, 50c. Social Significance Teachings of Jesus. Jenks, 75c. BIBLIOGRAPHY 95 Problems of the Town Church. Miller, 75c. The Country Church and the Eural Problem. But- terfield, $1.00. Daybreak in Korea. Baird, 60c. The Missionary and His Critics. Barton, $1.00. The Missionary Enterprise. Bliss, $1.25. Fifty Missionary Stories. Brain, 60c. Missionary Eeadings for Missionary Programs. Brain, 60c. The Foreign Missionary. Brown, $1.50. New Forces in Old China. Brown, $1.50. The Fruits of the Tree. W. J. Bryan, 35c. Laymen ^s Missionary Library. (10 vols.), $5.00. Missions in the Plan of the Ages. Carver, $1.25. n. Business Efficiency Stewardship — Business Methods — Church Operation. Eules of Order for Eeligious Assemblies. Barton, 50c. Building a Working Church. Black, $1.25. The Teaching of Jesus Concerning Wealth. Heu- ver, $1.00. Eevell’s Eecord for Church Treasurers. $1.50 and $ 2 . 00 . Principles of Successful Church Advertising. Stelzle, $1.25. Institutional Work for the Country Church Mayn- ard, 50c. The Church in the Open Country. Wilson, 50c. Community Studies for Cities. 35c. *A Comprehensive Scheme of Church Finance. Mc- Garrah. ^Successfully Financing a Church. McGarrah. *Modern Methods in the Country Church. McNutt. *The Subscription Method of Eaising Missionary and Benevolent Funds. McGarrah. III. Soul- Winning Efficiency Evangelism — Personal Work — Group Co-operation. Winning the Boy. Merrill, 75c. Hints for Lay Preachers. Meyer, 50c. What Every Christian Needs to Know. Pope, 75c. For Christ and the Church. Sheldon, 30c. The Soul Winner. Spurgeon, 50c. Boys of the Street. Stelzle, 50c. ^Secured from Pres. Board of Home Missions, 156 Fifth Ave., New York City. 96 BIBLIOGEAPHY Becruiting for Christ. Stone, $1.00. How to Work for Christ. Torrey (8 vols.), $2.50. How to Bring Men to Christ. Torrey, 75c. Mshin^ for Men. Clark, $1.00. The Efficient Layman. Cope, $1.00. Evangelism Through Bible Study. Goodman, 25c. How to Beach Men. Hudson, 50c. Men and Eeligion Messages (7 vols.), $4.00. Taking Men AHve, Trumbull, 60c. Every Day Evangelism. Leete, $1.00. Studies for Personal Workers. 65c. Methods in Soul Winning. Mabie, 75c. Introducing Men to Christ. Weatherford, 50c. Men Wanted. Smith, 75e. First Battles. Atkins, 35c. Moral Muscle. Atkins, 35c. Twice-Born Men. Begbie, 50c. The Growing Christian. Bredenwolf, 50e. Christianity as Taught by Christ. Bradley, $li.25. The Soul Winning Church. Broughton, 50c. The Bevival of a Dead Church. Broughton, 30c. After Pentecost, What? Campbell, 75c. The King^s Greatest Business. Gilbert, 75e. Pastoral and Personal Evangelism. Goodell, $1.00. Quiet Talks with World Winners. Gordon, 75c. Non Church Going — Its Beasons and Bemedies. Gray, $1.00. Normal Evangelism. Green, $1.00. Ways to Win. Hague, 50c. The Passion for Men. Hallenback, 40c. Victorious Manhood. Johnson, 75c. Modern Church Brotherhoods. Patterson, $1.00. The Passion for Souls. Jowett, 50c. The Open Church for the Unchurched. McCulloch, 50c, Printed in the United States of America. (