_ PARTNERS © ee u | Conquering — Cause ne “BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION | United Brethren in Christ 4 oe We U. 'B. Building - - Dayton, Ohio. Library of The Theological Seminary — PRINCETON * NEW JERSEY Cb PRESENTED BY Rufus H, LeFevfe BXKV87S 5 HOA 9 3 lnGor . ” . h God ing Lord wit Our Conquer “We are laborers together nue s WVELGCEASS EVO in the Conquering Cause Ue “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.’’— Paul. BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION United Brethren in Christ U.B. Building - - Dayton, Ohio Copyright, 1924, by THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION United Brethren in Christ A WORD IN ADVANCE This little book has been prepared at the di- rection of the Conference Superintendents and the Board of Administration for the purpose of ceiving a better understanding of the United Brethren Church’s share in the conquering world-wide cause of Christ. The undersigned, who were asked to prepare this narrative, acknowledge their indebtedness to the executive heads of departments and in- stitutions for valuable material and hearty co- operation. ‘It is hoped that through the reading and study ofthe chapters of this book in family circles, discussion groups, and mid-week and Sunday meetings there may come to every member of the Church an increased apprecia- tion of the magnitude of the work our denomin- ation is doing, and of the privilege of having a share in promoting it. Sree, tL.) LG EL Pie hs HCL RE nov Chapter Page A Word-ainsAdwance: wii Wate a I.) Christianity 's Conquering March ieee II) United. Brethren, Partners“in> Ghire Hianizinge-AMericas yeaa ke vane ee zy. III. Evangelizing our Share of the World 60 TV... Christian .Education=i3.0 ews eee 87 V. United Brethren in Philanthropic Work ir ea a, woe oe 115 VI. Discovering our Possibilities as Part- TELS Oe She ALG ie tesa ne ee 135 CONTENTS GLARE Re, CHRISTIANITY’S CONQUERING MARCH. MID the great number of rich and poor aN who gathered in the city of Bethlehem to be taxed during the reign of Caesar Augustus there arrived one for whom there was no room save ina stable. The multitude at that time seemed not to have given him a passing notice; yet his coming changed the course of history—it began a new era for the world. He was God’s Son, sent to save his Father’s world from the ruin of sin. He lived on earth but thirty-three years, and was then put to death on the cross; but on the third day, by the power of God, he came forth as the living, conquering Christ. Only afew of the “lost ‘ones’ he came “to save’ had been found when Christ returned to his Father; but with them and with all those who thereafter would believe on him, he estab- lished a blessed partnership by which his cause should transform: the whole world. On the day he went away Christ assembled his partners, and said, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” “Lo, Iam with you always.” 8 Partners in the Conquering Cause “And they went forth, and preached every- where, the Lord working with them.’ Ten days later this little company in Jerusalem had increased to more than three thousand, then five thousand, and in a short time “multitudes both of men and women” were added. Within ten years this Conquering Cause, had broken the barrier between Jew and Gentile, and thus gave to us and all others who are not Jews the privilege of receiving life through Christ, and of becoming partners with him in passing on the good news. Jerusalem to Europe and Rome. Within a year after Christ had commissioned his partners the persecution which followed the martyrdom of Stephen scattered all of them save the apostles; but “they went everywhere preaching the Word.” We find them three hun- dred miles north of Jerusalem in the gireat hea- then city, Antioch, with its population of half a million. Here laymen won the first converts. It was a memorable day for Christianity when Barnabas found Paul and brought him to An- tioch to assist in evangelizing that great center. Doubtless no one who jostled these men on the crowded streets of the city realized the significance of the coming of this man of God, and that henceforth he would become the outstanding leader in the spread of Christianity. Much less did they realize that the abiding glory Christianity's Conquering March 9 of their own city lay not in the magnificent marble-paved streets, lined with luxurious pal- aces and theatres, but that long after these shall have crumbled to dust, millions in all parts of the world will glory in the name “Chris- tian”, which they sneeringly gave to the de- spised followers of Jesus; for “the disciples were first called Chiristians in Antioch.” This city was the birth place not only of the Christian name but also of Christian missions. It was during a period of fasting and prayer that the church of Antioch was commanded of God to set apart Barnabas and Paul for special missionary service. Never did a ship carry more precious cargo than on that epochal day when these first missionaries sailed westward, out in- to the Gentile world with the Gospel of Christ. For twenty years’ Paul traveled throughout Asia Minor winning disciples. Then, crossing into Europe, he preached the Gospel in the coast cities, won. first converts, and _ established churches. At last we find him entering Rome, weighed down with prison chains, but in spite of them “preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence.” Rome became a great radiating center for the Gospel. Faithful witnesses carried the good news throughout Italy, Greece, Spain, and France. 10 Partners in the Conquering Cause Rome to England. The significant day for the English speaking world came in the spring of 597 when a little ship dropped anchor off the coast of England and the first missionaries began work among our pagan English ancestors. Some years before this date a merchant vessel from Rome had visited this land and had taken a number of fair-haired boys to be sold as slaves. In the crowd gathered at the Roman market place, was Gregory, a Christian man, who, on beholding the fair skinned slaves about to be sold, had compassion on them and on the coun- try from which they came. He inquired if the people of England had the Gospel, and was told that they were barbarians, worshipping heathen gods. His heart was deeply stirred and he then vowed to. do everything possible to send the Gospel to England. | Gregory himself was not permitted to go asa missionary, but he sent Augustine and forty others to England. This was the party that stepped from the lttle.ship on that eventful spring day. God had prepared the way for his messengers, for Ethelbert, the King of Southern England, had married a princess from France, who wor- shipped the true and living God. The influence of the queen doubtless made the king tolerant toward the new missionaries. Christianity’s Conquering March 11 On a memorable day the king and many others met under a great oak tree, when Augustine preached Christ to them. The king was so ini- pressed that he told Augustine: “Your words and promises are fair, but because they are new to us, I cannot consent to them so far as to forsake that which I have so long observed. You have come from a far country to tell us what you believed as the truth. We desire not to harm you and so you may stay and preach to my people, and if any of them will believe, I will hinder him not.” The missionaries were greatly encouraged. and it was not long before ten thousand converts had been baptized, the king himself being one of them. Then the old temple in which the king had worshipped heathen gods was changed irito a Christian church. Schools were opened and Christianity gradually became firmly established in the British Isles. England to Germany. The hearts of the early Christians in England glowed with zeal to pass on to others the good news they had received. Messengers were sent to different parts of Northern Europe. In 715, one of the Christian homes in England gave Germany her great missionary apostle— Boniface. He had been offered many positions of honor in England, upon all of which he turned his back and went forth to a life of forty years of sacrificial service for the evangelization of Germany, and finally to a martyr’s death. 12 Partners in the Conquering Cause On account of persecution and the destruction of property, for a brief time he was forced to return to England. His appeal on behalf of our Teutonic forefathers brought a great response, and “many earnest and scholarly” men and women went to Germany as missionaries. They established churches and schools, and in the face of hardships won thousands to Christ. Henry van ‘Dyke in his book, “The Blue Flower”, gives a thrilling incident connected with the preaching of Boniface and the over- throw of human sacrifices in Germany. It reads like the contest on Mount Carmel between Eli- jah and Baal worshippers. The death of Boniface at the hands of a sav- age tribe, to which he had gone with the message of life when he was above seventy years of age, added another martyr to the illustrious army of men and women in all ages who counted not their lives dear unto themselves, that they might, by an unbroken chain, encircle the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Protestant Christianity Planted in America. The material and spiritual comforts of Amer- ica, and the rapid changes which are taking place, make it easy to forget the self-sacrificing labors. of the early Christians of our country, and the debt we owe to the churches of other lands which sent scores of missionaries to the United States from 1700 to 1775, thus making _Christianity’s Conquering March 13 possible the uninterrupted advance of Christian- ity till it reached our own land. Men with an unquenchable love for God, and seeking only to promote His cause, came on their own initiative; and others were sent and financially supported by the churches of Holland, Germany, Scotland and England. They came to plant the princples of vital Christianity in the New World, and to help lay the founda- oe PROSAKE a e The Gospel’s journey from Jerusalem to America. tion of a new commonwealth in which equal civil and religious aa ies were to be en- joyed by all. Spiritual Destitution. While the Pilgrims, Puritans, Huguenots, Walloons, Quakers and others came for religious purposes, hundreds of other settlements were formed without any re- gard for spiritual things; and some who had lofty aims when they landed, in their struggle 14 Partners in the Conquering Cause to develop and possess the vast physical re- sources about them, utterly neglected to estab- lish churches and schools. In many places there were gracious revivals, but in many other places things went speedily from bad to worse A trustworthy observer wrote: | “The spiritual state of the people is so wretched as to cause us to shed tears in abundance. The young people have grown up without any knowledge of reli- gion.” Missionaries Sent to America. The Chris- tian leaders of England saw that something must be done to help evangelize America, so in 1701 they formed “The Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.’ This society raised funds, and in 1702 sent George Keith and John Talbott to the United States as its first missionaries. Keith traveled from Maine to South Carolina on a tour of inspec- tion, and reported, “Many never so much as heard a sermon preached before we came.” The English churches continued to send more and more workers until the Revolution, when they were supporting seventy-seven missionar- ies in the United States. Irish Presbyterians, the churches of Scotland, and the Moravians sent workers also. David Brainard, in his heroic work for the Indians, was supported in part by funds from the churches of Scotland. The Christians of Holland sent Christianity’s Conquering March 15 and supported thirty-nine missionaries in Am- erica during the eighteenth century. Otterbein and Five Others Volunteer. The appalling need for missionary work among Dutch and German settlements of the New World was presented to the churches and schools of Germany and Switzerland by Michael Schlatter, who had investigated conditions in Pennsylvania and New York. A committee in Holland had’ authorized Schlatter to secure six missionaries At one time he thought he had found the men, but, when the test came for them to leave their country, they failed. After months of vain search, Schlatter made a second visit to the University of Herborn. Six of the ablest young men then volunteered, the leader of this band being none other than Philip William Otterbein, later founder of the United Brethren Church. We can imagine that there was a great stir among the students, neighbors, and friends of these young men. The mother of Otterbein, on hearing the news, hastened to a quiet place in prayer and thanksgiving. She then came forth strengthened, and, taking William by the hand, said: “Go, and the Lord bless thee and keep thee, and with much grace direct thy steps. On earth I may not see thy face again, but go!” 16 Partners in the Conquering Cause -Philip William Otterbein, missionary, pastor, founder and first Bishop of the United Brethren Church. Christianity’s Conquering March TA The churches of Holland had formed a so- ciety to support these new recruits in America. They agreed to pay their traveling expenses, and to give each a salary of one hundred and eighty dollars a year until the churches in the New World could assume their full support. After a voyage of three and a half months, these missionaries arrived in New York, July 27, 1752. They then began to invest their lives in Eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland for the transformation and uplift of the sturdy German settlers. Thus, because of the faithful partnership and help of the churches of England, Scotland, Hol- land, Germany and other lands, America has been put under everlasting obligations to God, and to the needy wherever found. Chaotic Conditions Follow War. Alarming conditions followed the Revolutionary War. The war had reduced the strength of the peo- ple, and there was a marked decline in the spiritual life of the churches. No extensive re- vivals had taken place in the forty years from 1757 to 1797. To make matters worse, infidelity, begotten in France chiefly on account of an impotent, corrupt church, aided also by the French revol- ution, became aggressive in the United States. Many infidel clubs were formed. Large sums were raised in France to produce infidel books 18 Partners in the Conquering Cause and leaflets for circulation in America. The avowed purpose of the movement was to stamp out Christianity. Some of the leading statesmen and scholars were among its advocates. The movement was taken into colleges, and ere long but few stu- dents could be found in Yale, Harvard, Wil- liams, and Princeton, who would publicly con- fess faith in God. It was a corrupt, lawless, appalling time. A spirit of revolt prevailed widely, on account of the spread of French ideas, which declared “moral obligations to be a shackle imposed by bigotry and priest-craft.’ The revolutionary spirit, which was of service during the war, be- came a imenace in the years that followed. With our lofty conception of Washington, it is difficult to believe how he was then maligned and abused, and his administration criticized. Washington himself said he was “misrepresen- ted in such exaggerated and indecent terms as could scarcely be applied to Nero, or even to a common pickpocket.” In 1796 a statesman and personal friend wrote to Washington: “Our affairs seem to lead to some crisis. I am more uncertain than during the war. Washington replied: “Your sentiments, that we are drawing rapidly to a crisis, accord with mine. What the event will be is beyond my foresight.” Christianity's Conquering March 19 The general assembly of the Presbyterian church which convened in 1798, took a survey of the situation, and sent to its pastors the fol- lowing: “We desire to direct your awakened attention to that bursting storm which threatens to sweep before it the religious principles, institutions, and morals of our peo- ple. “We perceive with pain and fearful apprehension a visible and prevailing impiety, and contempt for the laws and the institutions of religion, and an abounding infidelity.” Dark and discouraging was the outlook. Some predicted that Christianity itself would altogether disappear within two generations. Man’s Extremity, God’s Opportunity. The work before the Christian leaders was.extreme- ly difficult. The population of the United States in 1800 was 5,308,483. The entire Protestant church membership then numbered but 365,000, or less than seven percent of the population. The churches were small, widely separated, and without equipment. They were even short of Bibles, for the British had refused to allow the English Bible to be printed in the United States up to the time of the Revolution. Religious books and tracts were very scarce. What could be done under such circum- stances to head off the tidal wave of infidelity, and establish righteousness, confidence, peace and prosperity ? 20 Partners in the Conquering Cause Man’s extremity became God’s opportunity. Christian leaders, inspired of God, came to the front from unlooked-for quarters in different States. The unsettled condition of the whole country appealed to them as an opportunity to preach the living Christ, and to start a new cru- sade in behalf of vital Christianity. Awakened Christians summoned all to fast- ing and prayer—to fast once every week, or once a month, or once a quarter, or at least an- nually. In localities widely separated, “a half hour at sundown on Saturday night, and a half hour at sunrise on Sunday morning, were devoted to special prayers for divine blessing.” Powerful Revivals Sweep Over the Country. God heard and answered. Scores of pastors and young people were baptized with an evan- gelistic passion. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, presented Christ and his claims to the students with such clearness and power that many were converted, and infidel clubs were abandoned. One of the first “springs” of the powerful streams of salvation which flowed through the country from 1798 to 1810, was opened by the young people of Torringford, Conn., in 1798. “These young people met weekly at the various farmhouses to sing and pray and talk about their religious life. Soon the attendance in- Christianity’s Conquering March eal creased so that the commodious living rooms of that day would not hold all the young people who came. So the meeting-house was opened to them, and this ‘event so extraordinary’ soon caught the elders with its contagion, and a powerful revival resulted.” Revivals broke out in a score or more places throughout New England, New York, and New Jersey. Samuel J. Mills, the hero of the hay- stack prayer meeting, the originator of the world-wide missionary movement of America, and a score of other young men who became fa- mous Christian leaders were converted in these meetings, and they carried the evangelist fires into the colleges. Probably the greatest impetus to this mighty quickening from God, known as “the revival of 1800 began win, Kentucky; “a remote “frontier, where the severest hardships had been experi- enced. Here, the latter part of the year 1799, and during 1800, two brothers, William McGee, a Presbyterian minister, and John McGee, a Methodist minister, joined hands in holding meetings at Red River, Muddy River, Gaspee River, Cambridge, and Cobbin. These meet- ings, held in the open air, lasted as a rule less than a week. They were the first religious “camp meetings” held in America. At Cam- bridge, the meeting continued one week and “hundreds fell to earth as dead men under the 22 Partners in the Conquering Cause preaching.” Awakened Christians and sinners came from all over the state of Kentucky, and from other states to Cobbin.. As many as twenty thousand were said to be present, and “thousands fell as if slain in battle.” During the years from 1800 to 1810, the revi- val wave moved through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Penn- sylvania, Ohio and into Indiana. United Brethren Strong Promoters. Pioneer United Brethren. preachers had a large share in the revival. Otterbein, Boehm, Geeting, Newcomer, Zeller, Troyer, Pfrimmer, Benedum, Draksel, Mayer, Berger, Crum, and other United Brethren ministers did much, both in preparing the churches for this revival and in winning large numbers to Christ in Mary- land, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Otterbein, Draksel and others held a great meeting at Samuel Baker’s in Maryland, June 3-5, 1797, concerning which one present wrote, “The congregation was uncommonly large. We had an exceedingly glorious time; a great num- ber, both males and females, young people and hoary-headed sinners, were convicted, and some happily converted to God.” The Fathers of our church prayed for, worked for, expected conversions constantly and God rewarded their expectation. Christianity s Conquering March 23 At a sacramental meeting held at Antietam, Otterbein preached the sermon and conducted the communion service. ‘The historian says: “At the close Otterbein invited all who desired the prayers of God’s people to come forward and give him their hands. Many responded weeping.” Among those converted that day was Daniel Troyer who was one of the first missionaries to enter Ohio. Christian Newcomer, who later became a great Bishop of the United Brethren Church, was one of the strongest promoters of the revi- val. Wherever he journeyed over vast areas, the power of God was present. Concerning a meeting he held at John Bonnet’s in Westmore- land County, Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1803, Newcomer wrote in his journal: “T had not spoken long before. some of my hearers fell to the floor. Others stood trembling, and cried so loud that my voice could not well be heard.” Of another meeting at Swopes, he wrote: “Here the power of God was displayed in a most marvelous manner. The whole congregation was moved and seemed to wave like corn before a mighty wind. Most stubborn sinners fell instantly before the power of God. The meeting continued the whole night.” Thus, during the opening years of the past century, Christians, acting as partners with Christ, through prayer, fasting and courageous witnessing, experienced a powerful revival. !n- 24 Partners in the Conquering Cause fidelity and lawlessness were driven back. Christ and His cause were exalted. Vast Areas Providentially Opened. Through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the vast terri- tory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains was opened for the first time to Protestant missions. The explorations of Lewis and Clark brought to light the Oregon country in 1805; and, chiefly through the labors of home missionaries, this great Northwest became a part of the United States. Protestant missions thus had an open door from the Atlantic to the Pacific. A stream of emigrants ever increasing began to move’ westward. In 1800 there were but five hundred thousand persons west of the Alleghe- nies; in 1812 there were a million, and in 1830, four million. Planning for an Immediate Advance. ‘These Christian leaders did not exhaust themselves by defending the Bible against infidelity, nor even in soul-winning as an end in itself. In this, they were far-sighted. They saw that the best way to meet infidelity was to get the church constantly to show forth the miracle-working power of Christ in regener- ating lives, and in applying the principles of the gospel to all relationships. They saw that, if the new recruits were to grow, and not back- Christianity's Conquering March eo slide, they must at once become actual partners in the work of the Lord. As an immediate outgrowth of the great revi- val, the spirit of missionary activity took a firm hold on the churches of the East, and they did three notable things: First, they organized seven State missionary societies. Second, they sent Samuel J. Mills, the hero of the haystack prayer-meeting, on a tour of survey and in- spection west of the Alleghenies. They desired to know the exact facts. Third, they formed three national reinforcing agen- cies: The American Bible Society in 1816, the Ameri- can Sunday School Union in 1817, and the American Tract Society in 1825. Survey and Inspection. During the years from 1812 to 1815, Mills journeyed through what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and Alabama. As he went, he preached and formed Bible and tract societies, counseled with gover- nors and other leading men, and gathered ac- curate data of the moral and religious condi- tions of the people. Mills then made the first official report to the churches of the East on spiritual conditions west of the Allegheny Mountains. It gave many details and made a profound impression, not only in this country, but also in Great Britain. “The whole country from Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico is as the valley of the shadow of death. Dark- ness rests upon it. Only here and there a few rays of 26 Partners in the Conquering Cause gospel light pierce through the awful gloom. This vast country contains more than a million inhabitants, and their number is increasing every year by a mighty flood of emigrants.” ‘ Twelve preachers from Massachusetts volun- teered at once, and they were sent immediately into the West. The Connecticut Missionary Society sent out 200 missionaries within the next ten years. “The American Home Mis- The compass used by Samuel J. Mills on his missionary journeys. sionary Society,” an interdenominational agen- cy, was formed to raise money and to send out workers. This society, in 1829, sent sixty-two missionaries to Ohio, eighteen to Indiana, twelve to Illinois, ten to Michigan, and nine- teen to other Western States and ‘Territories. Others followed from year to year. Severai de- nominations then began to form Home Mission- ary societies. COAL LHR UNITED BRETHREN PARTNERS IN CHRISTIANIZING AMERICA. HE United Brethren Church was born at the same time that the nation itself was established. It has the distinction of being the first native American Church. Strong leaders in the German Reformed, Men- nonite, and other communions, who had experi- enced a deep work of grace in their own hearts, were drawn together in conducting large evan- gelistic meetings. These men—Otterbein, Geeting, Newcomer, Zeller, and others—and the thousands they won to Christ, felt called of God to band together to pray for and work for a church membership that would be spiritual, evangelistic, and practi- cal, as the only way to save individual souls, and to lay the foundations of righteousness, peace, and prosperity for the nation. The inspiring story of their self-sacrificing labors in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, from 1760 to the time of the first General Con- ference, in 1815, will never be fully told. Advance Westward. Far-sighted United Brethren preachers, with a passion for souls, early caught the vision and heard the call from the West. A number of them, having oN Partners in the Conquering Cause crossed the Alleghenies into the wilderness of the Ohio Valley, had unfurled the United Breth- ren Banner in Ohio and Indiana before Mills arrived on his famous missionary tours. They were at work, without pledged support from any source. Andrew Zeller, later a Bishop in the United Brethren Church, planted the seeds of the king- dom in the Miami Valley at Germantown in 1806. About the same time, George Benedum began preaching in the Scioto Valley. Jacob Baulus and Alexander Biddle were the heroic pioneers in Northern and Eastern Ohio. Henry Kumler, Sr., Joseph Hoffman and others fol- lowed. The region west of Ohio was entered in 1808 by John G. Pfrimmer. John C. McNamar, Wil- liam Davis, Walton C. Smith, and John Dun- ham, and others helped to lay the foundations of United Brethren Churches in different parts of Indiana and Illinois. Among the first from the United Brethren Church to preach the Gospel in the new empire west of the Mississippi River were John Burns, A. A. Sellers, John Everhart and Henry Kum- _ ler, Jr. : Thus, hundreds of preaching places were established in the West, and ten new annual conferences sprang into existence before 1850, chiefly as the result of this individual missionary work—the Miami, in 1810; the Muskingum, in 1818; the Scioto, in 1825; the Indiana, Christianizing America 29 in 1830; the Sandusky, in 1834; the Wabash, in 1835; the Illinois and the Iowa, in 1845; the St. Joseph, in 1846, and the White River, in 1847. Proclaiming the Gospel by the Printed Page. From the days of Moses to Paul messages of God were written and published. In every new advance of the church, the truth in print has accompanied the preaching of the Gospel. The United Brethren Church, in 1834, through its General Conference, resolved, ‘“‘to establish a religious paper, to be controlled by a board of trustees, appointed by the General Confer- ences, The first issue of the Religious Telescope ‘was sent forth from a United Brethren printing press in December, 1834. All the conferences and members of the church became partners in the proclamation of the truth by printer’s ink. The increasing power of this agency will be set forth in a subsequent chapter. First Missionary Offerings. The first mis- sionary gift on record was made by Mathias Kessler, of Frederick, Maryland. He gave to Bishop Newcomer thirty dollars in 1813 for the preachers in Ohio. Collections began to be lifted during the an- nual conference sessions. A little later it dawned on the leaders that all church members ought to be given the priv- 30 Partners in the Conquering Cause ilege of contributing for the extension of this cause. Accordingly, in 1816 the Miami Con- ference started a missionary .fund, and in 1818 the original Hagerstown Conference, which at that time represented nearly all the churches of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, took ac- tion “to raise a fund to supplement the small salaries of poor preachers who preach in the frontier and western countries.” | Conference Organization and Activity. It became apparent, as the years passed, that, without a better plan for placing missionaries and a better method of enlisting all for their support, the churches could neither develop as © they should, nor meet the growing needs and opportunities about them. . Accordingly, from 1838 to 1850, fourteen annual conferences organ- ized what they called “Conference Missionary Societies.” Missionary sermons were to be preached, and offerings lifted to aid the weaker charges and to send missionaries to new settle- ments. Some of the churches began to give system- atically to missions. The Otterbein church, the mother congregation in Baltimore, was paying, $8 a month for missionary purposes as early as 1846. In addition to supporting work within their own territory, the representatives of the churches Christianizing America St of Pennsylvania and Maryland, in annual session in 1836, sent and supported Jacob Erb on a mission to Canada; and the Sandusky Conference, in 1849, sent Stephen Lee as its representative to Michigan. The work kept growing. In 1853 there were eighty-seven conference missionaries at work. During that year they received 3293 new mem- bers into the mission churches and had a net gain above all losses of 2394 for the year. There has been a rapid growth in conference missions right through the years up to the present time. Many of the strongest churches of the denomination were at some time aided by a conference missionary society. This work has been a strong factor in building our denomi- nation. Three hundred and twelve conference missionaries are now at their tasks’ in thirty- one annual conferences. All who contribute to meet the benevolent budget in local churches are partners in this good work. Courage and Achievements of the Pioneers. Of the unselfish helpfulness, power in prayer, passion for souls, hardships, heroism and achieve- ments of the pioneer preachers, let One para- graph from Edward Eggleston, famous as the author of “The Hoosier School Master” and “The Circuit Rider,’ who grew up in the midst of the wild scenes, suffice: 32 Partners in the Conquering Cause “More than any one else, the early circuit preachers brought order out of this chaos. In no other class was the real heroic element so finely displayed. How do I remember the forms and weather-beaten visages of the old preachers, whose constitutions had conquered star- vation and exposure—who had survived swamps, alli- gators, Indians, highway robbers and bilious fevers! How was my boyish soul tickled with their anecdotes of rude experience! How was my imagination wrought upon by the recital of their hair-breadth escapes! How was my heart set afire by their contagious religious en- thusiasm, so that at eighteen years of age I bestrode the saddle-bags myself and laid upon a feeble frame the heavy burden of emulating their toils!” Splendid Progress Through Fifty Years. Soul-winning was the outstanding feature of United Brethren preachers from the beginning. From the days of Otterbein down to 1850, in their zeal for evangelism, many preachers gave scant attention to organizing and training the new recruits. The transition from the German to English was slow. Chiefly as a result of these things, thousands’ who were won to Christ by United Brethren workers found their way into other churches. Notwithstanding this, the membership of the United Brethren Church increased eight fold from 1800 to 1850, | growing during that time from approximately 5,000 to. 40,000. The population of the United States increased about four and one-half fold from 1800 to 1850, grow- ing from 5,308,483 to 23,192,000. The entire Protestant Church membership in the United States multiplied nearly ten fold during the same time, increasing from 365,000 in 1800 to 3,530,000 in 1850. Christianizing America 38 New Tasks and Problems. A double task confronted the churches about the middle of the past century: first, the training of its min- isters, and the organizing, training, and equip- ping of the churches; second, the necessity of increasing evangelistic efforts, and starting ac- tive missionary. work on the frontier and in for- eign lands. They heard the call, “Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes.” Denominational Societies Formed. The situation could not be met by the con- ferences acting independently. It called ior concerted denomination-wide action. After prayerful, earnest study of the problem of intensive training, men of God launched into the difficult and far-reaching work of starting our schools of higher education, and of forming a general agency for the promotion of Sunday School work, and later Christian Endeavor work. The significance of all these training agencies will be set forth in a subsequent chap- teks As for evangelism and active missionary work, the pastors and bishops were distressed on account of the unreached multitudes about them. While the Protestant membership had increased ten-fold from 1800 to 1850, the num- ber of persons not identified with any church, 34 Partners in the Conquering Cause Catholic or Protestant, had increased from ap- proximately 4,000,000 to 18,000,000. Then, too, nothing as yet. had been done by United Brethren to give the Gospel to millions in pagan lands. These arresting facts brought an irresistible appeal to the ministers and laymen, and they began to move on ¢heir own initiative. The Lancaster Circuit, East Pennsylvania Confer- ence, J. Fohl, pastor, was the first to take de- cisive action. In 1852 this circuit reported a’ ‘cash offering to start a mission in the Oregon country. One member gave $1; one $3; four each $5; six each $10; one $15; five each $25; one family $40; the pastor and five others each $50; and one named Jacob Strickler $65? total $629... J : : This practical demonstration of interest aroused other churches, so that during the open- ing months of 1853, T. J. Connor and Jeremiah Kenoyer were sent as the first United Breth- ren missionaries to Oregon. Local and conference Foreign Missionary Societies began to be organized also, and strong appeals were made to the delegates of the ap- proaching General Conference to provide an effective missionary agency through which churches might establish missions on the fron-— tier and in the foreign field. The Home, Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society Formed. The delegates to the General Cyt Christiamzing America 5 Conference which convened in May, 1853, were ready for action. “The Home, Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society,” was then formed. Its constitution, aims, and methods were so wise and comprehensive that, without change, it served the local churches for aggressive mission- ary work for fifty-two years, until 1905, when “The Home Missionary Society” and “The For- eign Missionary Society” were formed as sepa- rate agencies. The ablest leaders of the church devoted their best thought and energies in promoting both Home and Foreign Missions. John C. Bright, whose zeal and wise planning had done much to produce the conviction throughout the Church that a general mission- ary society should be formed, was elected its general secretary. Secretary Bright first made a survey of what the annual conference mis- sionary societies were accomplishing, and he reported the statistics to the church at large. He made a careful study of the needs of the frontier fields in order to place wisely the mis- sionary forces. Secretary Bright then threw his whole soul into the task of inspiring and informing the whole church in behalf of extending the Con- quering Cause of Christ on the frontier and in foreign lands. As he went from annual confer- ence to annual conference, and from local 36 Partners in the Conquering Cause church to local church, he mightily stirred the entire denomination. A new era in soul win- ning and in missions began to dawn. Mr. Bright strongly emphasized the fact that instead of multiplying paid agents to collect money for this cause, missions should be re- & A The Life Giving Tree for Ff : Our Land, Z | == ram 4| THE CHURCH IN AMERICA NOURISHED BY THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES, THE HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY, AND THE CHURCH ERECTION SOCIETY. garded as the essential business of every pastor and every church. A denominational mission- ary consciousness began to take hold of the members of the church. | New Mission Fields Entered. In 1853 Henry Kum- ler, Jr. and J. Terrell were sent to start a mission in the southwestern part of Missouri. Christianizsing America 37 W. A. Cardwell was the first United Brethren preacher to enter Kansas. He began work on his own initiative. ; In June, 1854, the Home, Frontier and Foreign Mis- sionary Society sent to Kansas, S. S. Snyder, as its first representative to the “Sun Flower State.” Six months later the Board employed W. A. Cardwell, who through many years, did a remarkable work in starting mission churches. Missionary work was started in Nebraska in 1855 by Henry Kumler, Jr., and J. P. Landon, followed by J. M. Dosh and G. Swain. Min- nesota and Tennessee were entered in 1855, J. W. Ful- kerson and E. Clow being -sent as the first missionaries to Minnesota, and John Reubush as the first ambassa- dor to Tennessee. United Brethren preachers from Illinois made evangel- istic tours into Wisconsin during the early 50’s. In 1857 G. G. Nickey was sent to Wisconsin by the Board, to organize the scattered churches into a, conference. During that year 554 members were received. Missionary work was opened in California in 1858 by israck oloanvs ), Lroxel,.D. ‘Thompson, »J..Dallarhide, and later Bishop D. Shuck followed. Colorado was entered in 1869—St. Clair Ross being the first messenger sent by the Board. Others who ‘entered early were E. J. Lamb, W. H. McCormick and A. Hartzell. J. M. Linsey was the United Brethren pioneer mes- senger, who entered Oklahoma in 1889, the year the territory was opened for occupancy. He was followed hie wei Doub. ss LH." Darr and others.? ~ Later. the Home Board followed United Brethren members to Florida where a home mission conference has been organized. Thus, the seeds of United Brethren missionary work were planted over a wide area. The Church Erection Society Organized. The dominating impulse for many years was to open 38 Partners in the Conquering Cause new missions and to preach, and win as many souls. as possible, without serious thought of building aggressive, spiritual, well-trained local churches as propagating centers. In some places the efforts of the home mis- sionary, unaided by a fund to help secure a church building, proved abortive. In starting a new mission, the leaders learned from experience that attention must be given early to secure a suitable building and facilities for teaching and training, or permanent results would not follow. To meet the imperative need for a building fund, the Church Erection Society was organ- ized in 1869, and from that time forward Home Missions and Church Erection have worked hand-in-hand the one helping to provide the missionary pastor and the other the church building. Through the active work of these agencies a decided impetus was given to enlarg- ing and making permanent the work. The Women’s Missionary Association Form- ed. The women of the church caught the vi- sion of the need in this and other lands and be- gan organizing their forces in 1872. The Women’s Missionary Association was formed in 1875. The work of this Association has been conducted with increasing . success right through the years. It has been a strong educa- tional and promotional agency, giving mission- Christianizing America 39 ary vision and training to women, girls, and children, and increasing financial support to all the missionary activities of the church. For many years this Association sent out and directed its own missionaries, but later, for the unity and efficiency of the entire work, it merged with the Home Board and the Foreign Board, in the administration of missions. The Women’s Missionary Association has thus been a splendid partner in extending the cause of Christ, and it is ready to cooperate in any comprehensive plan that will make the United Brethren Church more efficient in con- fronting lost souls with the living Christ. Another League Forward. During the years from 1850 to 1880 our country passed through the controversy on slavery, the Civil War, and thesireconstruction “period, “For “the ‘United Brethren Church, as we have seen, this was made a time of aggressive, church-wide, organ- ized activity. The denomination was begin- ning to act as a unit in extending the cause of Christ. The population of the United States increased dur- ing the period 1850 to 1880 from 23,191,876 to 50,155,- 783, a gain of 116 percent. The entire Protestant membership increased from 3,530,000 to 10,066,000, a gain of 185 percent. The United Brethren Church increased ‘during the same period from 40,000 to 157,835, a gain of 295 per- cent. 40 Partners m the Conquering Cause Enlarged Demands for Home Missions and Church Erection. Conditions became more complex. Startling changes took place during the decades from 1880 to 1920. Encouraging as was the growth of the Protestant Churches from 1850 to 1880, the fact that the number of persons not mem- bers of any church had increased during the thirty years from 18,000,000 to approximately 34,000,000 called for serious thinking, earnest praying, and better action. Other factors, in addition to the large num- bers unreached, entered, and made the problem more complex. Millions of immigrants from many different lands with different tongues, found their way into the United States; the rapid growth of the cities; the transition in the rural districts; the migrations of the colored people to the North and the Spanish speaking people to the Northeast; and the unsettled con- ditions following the World War, all combined to make the tasks of Home Missions, Church Frection, and Evangelism more difficult, and vastly more urgent. The Situation Surveyed. To learn the exact status a competent interdenominatignal com- mittee made a careful study of many phases of life and work. : Christianizing America 4] This committee made its report in 1920, two paragraphs of which show the menacing situa- tion: “The United States of America has been invaded by three enemy armies which threaten our national exist- ence: First, there is within our borders an army of five and one-half million illiterates above nine years of age; second, there is an army of more than fifty mil- lion people above nine years of age who are not identi- filed with any church—Jewish, Catholic or Protestant; third, there is an army of twenty-seven million Protestant children and youth, under twenty-five years of age, who are not enrolled in any Sunday School or other institution of religious training. “These three interlocking armies constitute a triple alliance which threatens the life of our democracy. Patriotism demands that every loyal American enlist for service and wage three great campaigns—a cam- paign of Americanization, a campaign of Adult Evangel- ism, andacampaign for the Spiritual Nurture of Child- hood.” Home Missions Standardizes Its Work. ‘To meet the diversified needs a tremendous respon- sibility came to the churches, and especially to the Home Missionary and the Church Erection societies. Representatives of the various denom- inations sought to divide up the work in certain areas so as to avoid duplication. Our Home Missionary Society cooperated in this united effort. In addition to enlarging the work in places already occupied, the Society took a share of the state of Montana as ours to evangelize. Mission work was opened at Carlyle, Montana, in 1910, and was soon extended to other centers. 42 Partners im the Conquering Cause We now have in this field twenty-five organ- ized, growing churches. The directors of our Home Missionary So- ciety saw that something more definite and com- prehensive must be done than was hitherto un- dertaken to cope with the situation. Accord- Home Mission church at Great Falls, Montana, made possible by the City Standard Plan. It has out- grown its quarters and awaits the arrival of Church Erection. ingly, the Society adopted a plan to advance along four lines: to cooperate with Conference leaders in developing mission work within their bounds; to put into operation a_ standard plan for city missions; to strengthen the rural churches; and to start Spanish American mis- sionary work in New Mexico. _ } Christianizing America 43 First. To Cooperate with Conference Lead- ers. By this cooperative plan the work con- ducted by the General Board and the work con- ducted by the conference agencies in the same conference have been unified and developed along approved lines. This has resulted in speeding up self-support, and increasing the ef- ficiency of the missionary pastors and churches. Second. The Standard Plan for City Mis- sions. The girowth of the cities in the United States has been phenomenal. They now con- tain over half the population of the country. Their poverty and their luxury; their sins and wicked organizations, and their opportunity for service and for leadership, present a challeng- ing call to the Protestant churches to give them the pure Word of Life. The spirit and message of the United Brethren Church are needed in the cities. In order to enter with expectation of success the Board requires: (1) An approved location. There must be a real field for Church work with the prospect of the mis- sion, when established, becoming a radiating center. (2) Suitable church building and equipment. Unless the community or the Church Erection Society are willing to provide the bui'ding, the Home Board will not enter. (3) An efficient pastor. It is recognized that a wise, tactful, constructive leader is necessary for the development of a successful church in the complex life of the modern city. 4 Partners in the Conquering Cause The Home Missionary Society will enlarge its important city work as rapidly as _ the church will furnish the men and money to do the work on a winning basis. Operating this standard plan for city muis- sions, the Board entered upon work in Great Falls, Montana; Rockford, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Fairmount, West Virginia; Greenville, Tennessee; Evansville, Indiana; Lincoln, Nebraska; Indianapolis, In- diana; Canton, Ohio; and Long Beach, Califor- nia. Many of these churches have had inspir- ing success. This city work ought to be multi- plied speedily. Third. To Strengthen the Rural Churches. Forty-four percent of the population of the United States is rural. At least two-thirds of the membership of the United Brethren Church live in country places and in towns of less than five thousand. The welfare of our country churches is of first importance. The rural churches have supplied the world with the great majority of ministers and missionaries. Doubt- less seventy-five percent of the dependable strong laymen in city churches came from rural places. A discerning statesman correctly says: “The virtue, righteousness, human brotherhood, and the fear and love of ‘God in American life, is largely the fruit of the labors of country preachers and coun- try churches.” Christianising America 45 Probably the greatest contribution the Uni- ted Brethren Church can make to the Kingdom during the next ten years will be to strengthen and enlarge its country churches. This for at least four reasons: That the rural churches may thoroughly evangelize their own communities; that the constant stream of life from the country to the city may continue pure and evangelistic; that these churches may supply the large number of able ministers and missionaries needed, and through gifts and prayer be a strong factor in ex- ‘tending the Cause of Christ throughout America and the world. ~The Board is cooperating with © country churches to carry out this four-fold purpose. TMceinew ebooks. Weveloping Our > Rural Churches,” published by the Home Missionary Society, will be found helpful. Fourth. Spanish-American Work. To evan- gelize our share of the Spanish speaking people of the Southwest, the Home Mission Board opened work at Velarde, New Mexico, in 1912, which has been extended to Alcalde, Santa Cruz, and recently to Espanola. Churches with growing Sunday Schools and Christian En- deavor Societies are in operation. Three mod- ern, well-equipped schools are now being con- ducted with an enrollment of 200. Fifteen workers are employed. The property value is $80,000. 46 Partners in the Conquering Cause United Brethren Mission compound One of four United Brethren mission stations One of the schools gives a two-year high school course. Emphasis is placed on the study of the; Bible: As a part ot their scouitsemiie girls are instructed in all forms of house work, and the boys receive industrial training. From these schools young men and women who have found the Savior are going forth with correct American ideals to establish Christian homes, and some of them to teach and carry the message of life to other groups of their own people. One hundred thirty-nine United Brethren mis- sionaries, supported entirely or in part by the Board, are now at their tasks in twenty-five states, — from Pennsylvania to California. Home Mis- sion churches won to Christ during the last seventeen years, 45,890 persons. Hundreds of congregations have come to self-support and to Christianizing America 47 at Santa Cruz, New Mexico. among the Spanish Americans of New Mexico aggressive spiritual service, through the aid of Home Missions. Church Erection a Many Sided Partner. Not many years ago lots and materials for church buildings, being comparatively cheap, were of- ten donated. With the passing of the years, and the cohditions brought on by the war, great changes have taken place. The cost of land, es- pecially in larger towns and cities, has multi- pled many times, and materials and labor have doubled in cost. These advances came when Conference leaders were calling to Home Mis- sions and Church Erection to open city missions in promising centers; they came when hundreds of United Brethren churches had to pass from temporary into permanent buildings, or lose their opportunity. In*-addition; to the higher prices, church workers were confronted with the necessity of 48 Partners in the Conquering Cause providing church buildings with separate de- partments, for worship, teaching, and training. This’ has meant larger and more costly build- ings. HOW A CHURCH WITH THE HELP OF CHURCH ERECTION. Old and New Buildings, Breden Memorial Church, - Terre Haute, Indiana. Christianizing America 49 ltmeuis not strprisino.. therefore,’ that “the Church Erection Society has been besieged with challenging appeals for help— many more calls than its limited funds could meet. To be of the greatest possible assistance in building a bigger and better denomination, the Church Erection Society has become a many sided helper. It serves churches through a Loan Fund, and through a Gift Fund; it fur- nishes plans and specifications for new church buildings ; and its services are available for Debt. Paying Campaigns and for Cash Days. Service Through the Loan Fund, and Through the Gift Fund. The Loan Fund is placed with- out interest, to be returned by installments to the Society at specified times. The Gift Fund is a new plan to supplement the Loan Fund with outright gifts to a few important centers where building enterprises must have prompt aid to insure success. The Church Erection Society has now a Loan Fund of approximately $450,000. This money, as it is returned to the Society is reloaned, aud it keeps on working through generation after generation. To double and quadruple this Loan Fund is of vital importance to the growth and power of our denomination. Through the wise placing of loans, 746 churches have received aid to the amount of 50 Partners m the Conquering Cause $1°106,125: >The Society. has: -helpedstiwereer sixty-six parsonages, with loans which totai $53,800. | Church: Erection” has»thus *helpédy to. ereet more than one-fourth of all the church build- ings of the denomination, in which are now housed at least one-third of the entire member- ship. | Better Type of Church Building, and Better Methods of Finance. The’ Church! (Breeton Society is rendering a helpful service to many congregations by making available a variety of plans for new church buildings at lowest cost. As a result a new type of church house, well suited for worship, and also for religious educa- tion, is being erected. The Society is helping churches to promote a better system of finance, especially in the pay- ment of debts and for special needs. A. Cy Siddall, the Church Erection’ secretary, has prepared an excellent “Manual of Aids and Suggestions’ which is available for the use of pastors. To assist in securing a convenient permanent church plant, and to help develop a spiritual, — aggressive congregation, strong in evangelizing its community, America, and the world, is the ultimate aim of Church Erection, rather than to help erect a “fine” church building as an end in itself. | Christianizing America 51 Appealing Opportunities. United Brethren throughout the denomination have thus been using Home Missions and Church Erection as agencies to win souls in destitute places, organ- ize the recruits and help the new congregations to become, as early as possible, self-supporting, propagating center for the further extension of the Great Cause. There are many other destitute places calling for help but these societies cannot extend their work without more funds. Some churches, started from five to ten years ago by the Home Missionary Society, have reached their limit of growth until church build- ings can be provided for them. Second Church, Chicago, illustrates the situation which now ob- tains in a number of places. The Home Mission- ary Society has been aiding Second Church for some years. It is still worshipping in a chapel 22x40 feet. Into this small room are crowded every Sabbath two hundred Sunday School scholars; forty-one little tots are packed into a Spacewext2 weet. Lhe pastor has: had to’ limit the attendance of the Sunday School to chil- dren whose parents are members of the church. A great unreaped harvest is all about this school, but it cannot be gathered until some agency cooperates in helping to secure a perma- 3p Partners in the. Conquering Cause nent church building that will seat at least five hundred persons. Sunday school, Second United Brethren Church, Chicago, Illinois. P,. M: Camp, the Home Missionary secretary, well says, “We have scores of other home mis- sions with splendid prospects, but with similar handicaps. There can be no further advance in these places until more adequate buildings are provided.” United Brethren can double the number of converts in many conferences and greatly strengthen our denominational life and work by speeding up the work of Home Missions and Church Erection during the next ten years. Christianizing America 35 The Situation Reviewed. During the decades from 1880 to 1923 new and difficult were the tasks which confronted the Protestant Churches of America the enor- mous immigration; the menace of the rapidly growing cities; the large migratory movements; the dangers of commercialism; the perils of lux- uries and intemperance, and the chaotic condi- tions following the war. Evangelism and missionary extension were the dominant notes sounded by the churches. With the increasing number within the church, and the complex and diversified needs without, much more attention was given to teaching and training; to organizing the forces, and to specialized service. The churches took up the work of providing homes for their orphaned children and aged and desolate members, and the work of pen- sioning their disabled and retired ministers. By concerted effort the traffic in strong drink was outlawed, and a movement started for a saloonless world. The problem of substituting “right” for “might” in the settling of international ques- tions, and of disarmament and world peace are now claiming the attention of the Christian Church. The population of the United States increased 121 percent from 1880 to 1923, growing from 50,155,783 to 54 Partners in the Conquering Cause 110,663,502. The members of the Protestant Churches increased 186 percent during the same period, grow- ing from 10,066,000 to 28,808,000. The members of the United Brethren Church, in spite of the separation of the Radical element, increased 134 percent, growing {fOM vlo7,500s towo09./ 20. The following will show at a glance the zrowth of the Protestant Churches in the United States since 1800: 7 out of every 100 were church members in 1800. 15 out of every 100 were church members in 1850. 20 out of every 100 were church members in 1880. 26 out of every 100 were church members in 1923. The growth of United Brethren Membership in the United States was as follows: 1800 5,000 a 1850 40,000 =o 1880 157,833 = 1923 369,725 = Everything considered, the growth of the Protestant Churches in the United States prob- ably stands without a parallel in the history of Christianity. It calls for devout thanksgiving to God whose hand won the victories. It presents to our gen- eration a tremendous responsibility. We have inherited rich and costly blessings. We can trace Christ’s bleeding feet through the centur- ies by the vision, courage and self-sacrifice of a long list of heroes of faith which connects the eleventh chapter of Hebrews with our own day. Sal cn Christianizing America Every Member Summoned to Enlist. Many are asking “what can we do?” Thou- sands are ready to join hands with Christ for the next advance in his Conquering Cause. He would have us lift up our eyes and look on the fields. Glorious as have been the achievements of the past, we are now challenged with the serious fact that the number of men, women and children, not members of any *church— Protestant, Jewish or Catholic—increased in the United States since 1880 from 34,000,000 to 61,702,502. | 4%0@ GH POPULATION IN US 5.308.483 (_] PROTESTANT KEY} Z CATHOLIC- JEWISH ETC, PROTESTANTS 7% OF POPULATION POPULATION IN U.S. 23.191.876 1830 | 7a Gd NON -CHURCHED PROTESTANTS 15% OF POPULATION POPULATION IN THE U. S. 50.155.783 1830 CL _#Z PROTESTANTS 20% OF POPULATION POPULATION IN THE V.8. 110,663,502 (aovmr estimate) 1933: 2 PROTESTANTS 28808000 -CATHOLIKS ETC 20.153.000 = NOT IN ANY CHURCH 61,702,502 PROTESTANTS 26% OF POPULATION How must Christ, who when on earth wept over the thousands who crowded round him, regard these unshepherded millions of Amer- ica? At least 800,000 of them are in places ad- jacent to where United Brethren Churches and Sunday Schools are now organized and at work. If every member of the United Brethren Church 56 Partners in the Conquering Cause will win three, our full share of the lost ones in America will be brought into the fold, and new joy and power enter not only their lives but the lives of those of us who will win them. Surely within a few years this ought to be ac- complished. Two arresting facts now press heavily ape the hearts of Christian leaders: (1) Of the vast number of unsaved: fellow be- ings in our country, millions of them are young people ready to respond to a tactful earnest appeal, while about one-third of the entire number are nearing the end of their course in life and are still without God and with- out hope. (2) That of the 28,808,00 Protestant Church mem- bers probably 15,000,000 of them profess to have he- lieved in Christ for their own salvation, but as yet they have not become active partners with Christ in obey- ing) his commands, “Follow me, and I will make vou fishers of men.” “As my father hath sent ine, even so send I you.” They seem to believe that Christ saved them when they called upon him by faith, but they lack faith to believe that Christ will work with them for the salvation of others as they witness for him. Right here is the deadly missing link of the Christian Church. To a group of his early followers who had fallen into this grievous error, Jesus said, “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say.” Well did Bishop Thoburn say, “A thousand Inger- solls would not do so much to create disbelief of the truth among men, as this spectacle of a church inherit- ing promises which she seems unable to believe, and receiving commandments which she seems unwilling to execute.” The: winning of the unreached in America will be but food for the church when by faith Christianizing America 57 its members link up with Christ as partners to carry out his purpose to seek and to save the lost. Evangelism Central and Universal. No Christian can experience the fullness of life in Christ without working with him for the lost. No Christian is “safe” until he is “saving.” While many United Brethren Churches dur- ing recent years received larger numbers on confession of faith than for some years before, yet the net gain in membership, in three years ending 1923 aggregated only 28,307, or an aver- age annual increase.of but 9,436. It has re- quired on an average about twelve United Brethren working a whole year to win one soul to Christ and the church. With such a large unreaped harvest all about us, earnest praying and whole hearted work should bring an increase in our membership, above all losses, of from 50,000 to 100,000 a year until America is fully evangelized. Many have been startled to learn that on an average, about one-third of the United Brethren Churches have been receiving no one on confession of faith year by year. At least 150,000 unconverted persons reside within three miles of these fruitless churches and yet the 60,000 or more who hold membership in these places seem content to pass through twelve months without winning one soul to Christ and the church. 58 Partners in the Conquering Cause The delegates to the General Conference of 1921, after considering the whole situation, re- solved that a new emphasis must be placed by all our churches on soul winning. The General Conference created a “Board of Evangelism,” and recommended that a committee be formed in every local church to cooperate with the pas- tor in getting the members of the church to re- gard soul winning as their primary work. The General Conference provided for an evangelistic committee in every annual conference. It au- thorized the Board of Evangelism andits General Secretary, J. E. Shannon, to standardize the effi- ciency of all general and conference evangelists and to cooperate with the Bishops, Conference Superintendents and pastors in a sustained ef- fort to get every church, and every Sunday School to become powerful evangelistic agencies. A genuine, sustained, spiritual quickening of the church itself is the basic need—a revival that shall result in the reaffirmation of the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the lives of all the members, and their unquestioned loyalty and obedience to Christ in every relation of life. — Then will soul winning be the natural expres- sion of their abounding love for God, and we shall witness in the normal life of all the churches that which now characterizes a few—the win- ning of souls at every service. Christianizing America 39 As we think of the dark days following the American Revolution and the mighty spiritual victories won by the Christian churches at that time under adverse conditions, the conviction deepens that if the members of the Protestant churches of America will at this time conse- crate themselves to God and incarnate his cause as their chief business, a new era of marvelous soul winning and spiritual achievement will come not only to America, but to the whole world. Will we do it? “Oh! America, America, in whose heart flows the rich blood of many nations; nursed by Purt- tan and Pilgrim; defended by patriot and mis- sionary. Oh! America, let thy God flood thee with a resistless passion for divine conquest; let thy Father lead thee over mountains and seas, through fire and flood, through sickness and pain, and out to that great hour when all men shall hear the call of Christ, and the last lonely soul shall see the uplifted cross.” CHAPTER III. ? EVANGELIZING OUR SHARE OF THE WORLD HE privilege of receiving the Gospel al- ways carries with it the obligation of giving it to others.. This was recognized by the Christians in each succeeding country to — which the Gospel was taken. God has often used times of war and distress- ing moral conditions as a challenge to the church for a new advance in extending the Gos- pel. It was during the dark days which fol- lowed the martyrdom of Stephen, when Chris- tians were driven out of Jerusalem, that God used his followers to start the first missionary work of the Christian church. Birth of the Modern Foreign Missionary Movement. When the French Revolution and French infidelity threatened the civil, social, and moral dissolution not only of France and Eng- land but of all Ewrope, Christians heard the call of God, and the modern missionary movement was born in England. | We find William Carey, the young cobbler and school teacher linked in counsel and prayer with Andrew Fuller, a young minister. Though baffled at first by gigantic difficulties, ‘this united effort led to the formation of a For- Evangelizing Our Share 61 eign Missionary Society in 1792. William Carey and others were sent to India. World-Wide Missions Started in America. In the dawn of the spiritual rebirth which followed the night of infidelity and moral darkness in the United States, the vision of the “regions be- yond” and the Church’s obligation, to “carry on’ came to Samuel J. Mills and a small group of young men at Williams College in 1806. These students met regularly to pray and coun- sel with a view to getting an agency formed in America by means of which they themselves might be sent to preach the Gospel to other lands. Immediate results were the awakening of a dozen or more pastors and churches to their op- portunity) and privilege in world-wide service; and, the formation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in 181¢. The Massachusetts Legislature refused at first to grant a charter to this organization, say- ing, “America has no religion to export.” It is not surprising that many hesitate? to en- courage this movement, when but a beginning had been made in evangelizing the settlements west of the Allegheny Mountains, and when not a single Protestant church had yet been organ- ized west of the Mississippi River. But the American churches had received a precious heritage by the coming of the Gospel, 62 Partners m the Conquering Cause and the good news had to be passed on to others. Moreover, it was the conviction of many that it required the combined appeal of both home and foreign missions fully to en- list the members of the church in the extension of the Kingdom. The charter was granted and’ the first foreign missionaries from the United States were con- secrated to their work at Salem, Massachusetts, February 6, 1812. They went forth to India and Burma. United Brethren Start Foreign Missionary Work. We have seen that William Otterbein, the founder of the United Brethren Church, caught the vision of America as a mission field while at the university at Herborn, Germany, in Loe. It is a significant fact that in 1852, exactly one hundred years later, the students of Otter- bein College, which was named in honor of William Otterbein, were the first to catch the vision of foreign missions’ for the United Breth- ren Church. These students then organized the first local foreign missionary society of the de- nomination. This action stimulated the churches of San-- dusky, Allegheny and Sciota Conferences to form local and conference foreign missionary societies, and to petition the General Conference Evangelizing Our Share 63 to form a denominational agency through which local churches could promote foreign missions. The delegates of the General Conference of 1853, as stated in a previous chapter, formed the Home, Frontier and Foreign Missionary So- ciety through which the local churches did ef- fective work until 1905, when, as already stated, the Home Missionary Society and the Foreign Missionary Society became separate agencies. The Seed of the Kingdom Planted Wisely. The directors of the new society began to study the world field to decide ‘on the best places in which to plant the good seed; of the Kingdom. Africa the First Field. The leaders in this work were men of faith and courage. They were not looking for an easy task. They chose Africa as. the first field, “because,” as they said, “it is the most needy field, and the one most dif- ficult to cultivate.” Our first missionaries landed at Freetown, West Africa, February 26, 1855. Difficulties Encountered. The difficulties en- countered by our pioneer missionaries, and all who have served since in Africa, have been stu- pendous. They found many different tribes, each with its own language, customs and jealousies; they found that polygamy was an integral factor in 64 Partners m the Conquering Cause society, and that woman was degraded and but little better than a slave. They discovered that practically all the peo- ple were possessed with a strange fear of evil spirits and a dominating belief in witch-craft, fetiches and charms. Pagan Africa is not passive, but intensely ac- tive in the works of darkness, even to the sacri- fice of human lives to anoint charms, which they believe will deliver them from their enemies. The missionaries were confronted with the problem of illiteracy. The spoken languages had not been reduced to writing. There were no dictionaries, no Bibles and no literature, and, of course, no schools. The First Converts. The first converts, Thomas Tucker and Lucy Caulker, came after the missionaries had been laboring three years. Lucy Caulker, a girl of fourteen, daughter of Chief Caulker, because of her consistent Chris- tian life and firm stand for Christ, suffered great persecutions, but proved faithful, and lived and wrought mightily for God for over fifty years. Thomas Tucker, a youth of twenty, became | a steadfast partner in the work. The Women’s Missionary Association Sends > Workers. In 1876 the newly formed Women’s Missionary Association sent their first, mission- aries to Rotifunk to help evangelize Sierra Evangelizing Our Share 65 Leone. An interesting free-will offering was brought by the people when the first chapel was dedicated. It consisted of sixty acres of land, five binkes of rice, one cow, one country cloth and $27.14 in cash: Massacre and Reconstruction. The mission- aries planted their forces in different centers and more and more native converts were being won, when suddenly in 1898, like a hurricane, a mighty uprising swept down over Sierra Leone because of the hut tax required by the British Government. Seven of our missionaries were slain, and the native Christians were put to death or scattered, and all mission property was destroyed save that at Bonthe. The work of reconstruction was promptly be- gun. The Board sent a larger number of mission- aries who opened work in important centers throughout the protectorate. More day schools were opened. Training schools, dispensaries, and industrial work were started, and a brighter day for Sierra Leone was at hand. China Entered. The first United Brethren missionaries to plant the seeds of the Kingdom in China were sent in 1889. They located 11 Canton, the largest city in South China. The Chinese in those days did not fully understand the purpose of missionaries. The bubonic plague was raging. In their efforts to relieve 66 Partners m the Conquering Cause suffering the missionaries were mobbed and nearly killed. China is a nation with one-fourth of the earth’s population, whose history began three thousand years before the birth of Christ. Its language, without an alphabet, is most difficult to acquire. Her ancient civilization has made China conservative and slow to accept new ideas. With her natural resources largely un- developed, millions of Chinese are constantly facing starvation. There are 100,000,000 chil- dren of school age in China, but not more than ten percent of them have school privileges. In many districts sanitation is unknown. Leprosy and .smallpox are abroad with no attempt to quarantine. For thousands of years China has been held in the grip of ancestral worship, and the fear of the great dragon. These constitute serious ob- stacles to the spread of Christianity. Our mis- sionaries 1n China have won many converts, organized churches and day schools, and, started schools for the higher education of girls and boys;. and a large service is being rendered throughout hospitals and dispensaries. China, the giant nation, is awakening, and United Brethren are having a share in shaping the des- tiny of this wonderful country. Missionary Work Started in Japan. The at- tention of the world was centered'on Japan after Evangelizing Our Share 67 her victory over China. The United Brethren Church opened a mission in the “Empire of the Rising Sun” in 1895. . As Japan already had well organized day schools and efficient hospitals and dispensaries, our missionaries gave chief attention to soul- winning, organizing and developing native churches, and training native leaders. The missionaries found that in Japan a pan- theistic atmosphere prevailed, which made it dificult for the Japanese to grasp the reality of a personal God. Where there is no God there is no conscious transgression, no adequate sense of sin. Extreme filial loyalty, an outgrowth of ances- tral worship, constitutes a serious barrier to the Papi spascamnoL, Christianitycin */Japan, . Itvis considered an almost unforgivable act for one to give up the worship of ancestors and become a Christian. Banishment from the family is frequently the result. One of our pastors said: “When I became a Christian my father was greatly grieved. He said, ‘If you will give up the religion of your ancestors and embrace Christ, from now on you are no longer my son.’ ”’ About seventy-five percent of the people of Japan are farmers and live in rural places. Thus far Christian missions have confined much of their work to the cities. There ate 700 towns each with a population of over 5,000 where no missionary work has been done. 68 Partners in the Conquering Cause Some of our strongest churches and native leaders abroad are found in Japan, where our forces are cooperating with other Christian workers to evangelize this aggressive nation as speedily as possible. ° Porto Rico and the Philippines. The United Brethren Church followed the American flag to Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands. Our first missionaries landed in Porto Rico in 1899, and in the Philippines in 1901. The United States Government gave to these islands, which for centuries had been under the bondage of Spain, religious freedom, a first-class public school system, good roads and sanitation. The missionaries found the people in gtreat ignorance and poverty. Eighty-five percent could neither read nor write. Many living as husband and wife had never been married. Im- morality and gambling were practiced openly. Representatives from all the mission boards which desired to conduct missionary work in these islands held a council and divided up the territory to prevent overlapping. United Brethren established mission head- quarters for Porto Rico at Ponce, and for the Philippine Islands at San Fernando. ‘The lead- ing towns in both fields were soon entered and — some of the most enthusiastic native churches and Sunday schools found in any foreign field are now at work for the evangelization of these Evangelising Our Share 69 islands. Probably no other mission fields in the world today present a more hopeful outlook than Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands. Growing Victorious Native Churches. The goal and glory of foreign missions are spiritual, well-trained, native churches. No one acquainted with the millions to be reached by United Brethren Sunday School at Juana Diaz, Porto Rico. One of our 135 Sunday Schools abroad. In foreign lands as at home the Sunday School is the church’s best asset. the Gospel, and the difficulties involved, will ever think of the missionaries being able to evangelize the world. ‘That is not God’s way. Every country must be evangelized ultimately by its own churches. The missionaries go to non-Christian lands, master the language, study the conditions of 70 Partners in the Conquering Cause the people, win the first converts, organize them into churches, call out and train the first preachers and teachers, and then gradually turn over the responsibility to them. A mission is successful in proportion to the number of efficient native churches it trains and sets to work. The United Brethren Church already has achieved signal success in its foreign missionary work, as shown by the fact that its missionaries and native associates have established 121 na- tive churches in important centers in our five fields- abroad—13 in China; 19 in Porto Rico 20 in Japan; 30 in Africa; and 39 in the Philip- pines. From these churches as centers messengers of the Gospel go out to 987 other preaching places, many of which will soon become organ- ized churches. These churches are the light » and salt of their communities. Native Christians Winning Souls. The mem- bers of the churches are taught to regard soul- winning as their first business. It is inspiring to see these native Christians at work winning their friends to Christ. A man in one of our fields who was fleeing from the officers of the law heard the message of Christ from one of our workers, and he at once surrendered to the Lord and confessed his crime. He was sent to prison but was soon pardoned. With a passion ‘ EE ee Evangelising Our Share Wak Wong Sun Shan, China. Kioshi Yabe, Japan. Stephen Caulker, Africa. - Juan Abellera, Philippines. g such men as these are the f foreign missions. Rafael Rodriguez, Porto Rico. Discovering and developin great achievements 0 72 Partners in the Conquering Cause for souls he began at once to win his friends, and soon, forty-one of them confessed Christ and were baptized. He was then sent as an evangelistic messenger into an entirely new district, and within two years he won 234 per- sons to Christ. In making his report to the an- nual conference he said: “T do not remember a single day of the past year during which I did not talk with some one about his soul’s welfare.” These native Christians win souls through tactful testimonies here and there; through Bible classes, at the regular preaching services; in Sunday-school classes, and at Christian En- deavor meetings; and by going forth in evan- gelistic bands. In one of our missions they have adopted the following standard for the reception of new members: “That those who seek admission into the church shall be made to feel that a test of their sincerity in accept- ing Christ is a passion on their part to make him known to others.” Every pastor is expected to be an evangelist, and to make soul-winning the dominant factor of his work. Recent reports from the fields show encour- aging results. In China and Africa an increas- © ing number of persons are being led to make the decision for Christ through the regular ac- tivities of the church from month to month. Evangelizing Our Share 73 In Porto Rico during the past year the in- dividual churches were organized for soul-win- ning. Each pastor directed the work in his own parish but was assisted by a neighbor pastor. This plan resulted in more than 400 confessions of faith. An evangelistic band in the Philippines, con- sisting of our own trained workers, has been Filipino evangelistic team. They have all been won and trained by our mission. cooperating with pastors and churches. In ad- dition to strengthening and enlarging the churches visited, this band recently gained a foothold in Luna, the only municipality in our district without an organized church. 74 Partners in the Conquering Cause Our churches in Japan have had the privilege of a series of evangelistic meetings conducted by Mr. Paul Kanamori, one of the leading na- tive evangelists of Japan. He held meetings in practically all of the United Brethren churches. The houses were packed and there were more than one thousand inquirers. When the report was given soon after the meetings closed, 350 persons had already been baptized. Weeks before these meetings were held, the Japanese churches organized their members for personal service. The growth of the memberhip of our churches abroad is shown by the following: 1875 241 1885 250 mm 1895 400 om 1905 1429 oem 1915 6432 oom 1922 9490 Mission Churches Develop Self-Support. To win souls to Christ is but the first step. The missionaries and native pastors are teaching the members of the churches the principles of Chris- tian stewardship, and that the privilege of re-— ceiving the Gospel carries with it the obligation of self-support and of sending the Gospel to others. There has been a rapid growth in the practive of the principles of stewardship. Many of the cn Evangelizing Our Share 7 Christians are finding it a joy and blessing to pay at least a tithe of their income in acknow- ledging God’s ownership. Several churches already have attained self- support. Others are nearing the goal. Congregation and Christian workers at First United Brethren Church, Kyoto, Japan. One of our aggressive, self-supporting churches abroad. Teaching and Training. The great awaken- ing in non-Christian lands makes it necessary to secure able, native leaders in order that the churches may be developed as rapidly as pos- sible. In Africa and China it is necessary to conduct day schools, as well as schools of higher learn- ing for the training of leaders. 70 Partners im the Conquering Cause In our missions abroad there are sixty-two day and boarding schools with an enrollment of 3,013. Some of the schools are self-supporting. Included in the total are the Rufus Clark and Wife Training School for boys and the Lillian R. Harford School for girls in Africa; in China, the Miller Seminary for girls and young women and the Boys’ Grammar School; and in the Albert Academy, West Africa, is one of our nine. de- nom national and union schools abroad for training Christian leaders. Philippines the Young Woman’s Bible Training School. For the higher education and training of native pastors the Albert Academy has been established in Africa. In Porto Rico, the Philippines, China, and Japan our missions are cooperating with other missionary agencies in institutions of higher Evangelising Our ‘Share aes education for the training of leaders. Large numbers of our young people abroad are now preparing for whole time Christian work. Our mission schools, as now constituted, can- not meet the urgent requirements for education and training. . Creating Christian Literature. One of the strongest agencies for the development of na- tive Christians and for the spread of the Gospel is the printing press. In the midst of the great supply of Christian periodicals, books, tracts, and magazines in America, it is difficult to imagine the hunger of the native Christians for literature in their own tongue. Christian missions have had to create this Christian literature in all the fields. In Japan and China interdenominational! agencies are rendering splendid service to meet the increasing demand for helpful literature. In the Philippines our printing presses 1Ssue annually hundreds of thousands of pages of tracts, small books, and our mission paper, the “Naimbag a Damag,” which is the only Chris- tian paper published in the Ilocano, and has a large circulation. In Africa the printing press is operated as part of the training in connection with Albert Academy. Here are printed tracts, leaflets, booklets, and the “Sierra Leone Outlook,” a 78 Partners im the Conquering Cause strong monthly periodical—the only religious paper in ‘Sierra - Leone. The printing press has been a large factor in the growth of our work in Porto Rico from the very beginning. Other denominations early recognized the high standard of Christian liter- ature issued by the United Brethren mission. Some years ago the Presbyterian, Baptist, Dis- ciples, and Congregational missions conferred with ours and joined in making our religious paper the periodical for all their missions. It is issued under the direction of one of our own missionaries in Porto Rico. ‘This: union print- ing plant has been made a depository for the best evangelical books and publications in Spanish. This cooperative work in Porto Rico is an inspiring example for other mission fields. Missionary Extension. The new church on the mission field is like the new convert, its first concern and desire being the salvation of everybody. From the beginning the workers seek to develop the missionary spirit and pas- sion on the part of the native churches. Missionary instruction and giving is a regular part of the work of the churches of Jape and China. In Africa great strides fies been made by the native churches in supporting their own workers in new districts. se Evangelizing Our Share HTD Chapels are being built and missionary workers supported by the churches of the Philippines. They gave last year $533 for mis- sionary work in the mountains. In Porto Rico ten chapels have been erected in outlying sections with funds contributed by their churches. This missionary impulse speaks much for the healthy growth of the churches, and the speedy extension of the cause of Christ. Hospitals and Dispensaries. The power of medical missions is increasing with the years. When we remember that in America there is one doctor for every 5/77 persons while in some great mission fields. there is but one medical missionary to 2,500,000 persons, nothing more need be said in favor of a great advance in medical missionary work. In 1895 the United Brethren missions minis- tered to 1,322 persons through two dispensaries. In 1905 they ministered to 16,362 persons. In the year 1915 the dispensaries had increased to e‘ght and the number of patients treated to 30,- 229. In 1922 there were nine dispensaries in operation and four hospitals, one of the latter in Africa, another in the Philippines and two in China. Through these thirteen hospitals and dispensaries our missionaries and their native associates treated 70,987 patients last year. 80 Partners in the Conquering Cause Coover Dispensary, Canton, China. This is one of thirteen hospitals and dispensaries that in 1922 ministered to over 70,000 patients in our fields abroad. Who can conceive of the pain relieved, the sicknesses cured, the successful operations per- formed, and the souls saved as the direct result Evangelizing Our Share 81 of this work? The opportunity for human kindness and soul-winning in medical missions is boundless. Evangelistic Spirit to Permeate All Activities. The dominating purpose of mission work, namely, soul-winning and soul-building, is kept constantly before the Christians and native churches in every department of the work. In one of the fields abroad the missionaries and native pastors voted the following: “That we ask the Spirit of God to guide us in mak- ing soul-winners of every man, woman, and child now within the fold. “That we will place no value upon any work we do, whether it be in the pulpit, schoolroom, workshop, or dispensary, unless it be done with a view to the glory of God in the salvation of precious souls.” Growth of Different Phases of Work. A summarized statement of the growth of each phase of our foreign missionary work is shown in the following tables: 1875 1885 1895 1905 1915 1922 MisslomaxiGg Weroe card sicts'e cee 6 12 16 ou 64 74 Ordained Native Workers.. 0 0 0 4 AR 46 Total Native Workers....... 0 24 21 81 174 222 Organize@ Churches......... 2 9 10 8 102 121 Communicant Members...... 24 250 400 1,429 6,432 9,490 Sunday Schools..........2... 0 3 10 38 116 135 Sunday School Enrollment. 0 508 696 2,243 7,199 9,691 Young People’s Societies. . 0 0 1 6 3 42 Members, Y. P. Societies. ... 0 0 35 239 765 1,251 Day and Boarding Schools.. 0 12 9 14 RS 62 Pupils in D. and B. Schools 0 426 594 901 1,669 3,013 Hospitals and Dispensaries. 0 0 2 2 8 13 Cases Treated (One Year).. 0 0 1.372 16,362 30,229 70.978 Value of Mission Property. . $25,000 $30,000 $76,927 $259, 678 $681,709 Specialized Service. Some of our foreign missionaries and native leaders have rendered noteworthy service, the influence of which 82 Partners in the Conquering Cause reaches beyond the bounds of our own mis- sions. One of our foreign missionaries in the Philip- pines, at the request of the American Bible So- ciety assisted in translating portions of the Bible into the Ilocano language, which makes available for the first time the word of God to the thousands who speak this language. At the request of the British and Foreign Bi- ble Society one of our missionaries, who has spent many years in service in Africa, translated the four gospels into Kono language. The Gos- pel of Matthew has already been printed and is being circulated as the first message of life and light to the people of Kono country. One of our Japanese pastors who has special- ized in Sunday-school work was recently elected by the Japanese Sunday School association as one of five to represent Japan at the world’s Sunday School Convention at Glasgow, Scot- land. A United Brethren layman in the Philippines is now president of the National university of the islands, and editor of the National Forum. He is one of the men who was interviewed by | leaders of America in deputation work to the Philippines. A native member of our West Africa Confer- ence has been employed by the British Govern- ment to prepare a dictionary and grammar, or Evangelizing Our Share 83 hand book, of the chief languages spoken in the protectorate. This is difficult, pioneer work. Already the task for the Mende and the Sher- bro languages has been completed. Far-reach- ing results! will follow. Ten years ago two United Brethren mission- aries in Porto Rico made a survey of Santo Domingo as a prospective mission field. One of these missionaries has become the Executive Secretary of the entire missionary work in Porto Rico, and the other the Superintendent of the joint work now carried on in Santo Domingo — by the Presbyterians, Methodists and United Brethren. Hour of Opportunity for America. The Gospel has been taken to the leading centers of all the nations chiefly by the Prot- estant churches of America and England. The preliminary work for the world’s evan- gelization has been accomplished. Conditions to- day on every field seem favorable for a great advance in vital Christianity throughout the world. Just when the Christian churches should double and quadruple their efforts to hasten the work of evangelization in all the earth, the World War broke up, the nations, baffled the forces, and prostrated the world-wide evangel- izing agencies in Europe. 84 Partners in the Conquering Cause In this hour of supreme need to what other country can the struggling churches abroad surrounded by the powers of darkness, look for cooperation and aid but to the United States? To the churches of what other country than ours can the six hundred million souls as’ yet untouched with Gospel privileges, turn for the first messengers of God? | Will the American churches do it, or shall the future record the tragedy of a lost oppor- tunity? Germany had her opportunity but she griev- ously failed. One hundred years before Carey started the modern foreign missionary move- ment, Baron von Weltz, one of Germany’s noblest sons, saw Germany’s opportunity to be- come the pioneer nation in attempting to evan- gelize the world. He enlisted others to join him in earnest effort to arouse the Protestant churches of Germany to their duty. But they denounced him as a dreamer and a fanatic. Broken hearted, he turned from his country, ‘saying in spirit, ‘behold your house is left desolate,’ and he went forth to fill a solitary missionary grave in a foreign field.” * Following her rejected opportunity rational- ism swept over Germany like a flood and led to the exaltation of “might” above “right.” 1. Adoniram Judson Gordon, a Biography by his son, page 249. Evangelizing Our Share 85 “Times and opportunities pass. The church must use them or lose them.” Such a time is now upon the churches of America, and in a very real sense upon the United. Brethren Churches. What will we do with it? Our Uncompleted Task. Fifteen. years ago the ‘United’ Brethren Church with other denominations assumed a definite share of the non-Christian world to evangelize. We agreed to take the message of the Savior to at least five millions in our alloted fields abroad. That was a definite, business- like proposition, and it appealed strongly to the United Brethren everywhere. More mission- aries were sent out, and more funds raised for buildings and equipment. Aggressive churches were organized in nearly all the large towns of our entire territory, and training schools were started. Butenow.comes the test. .Because many failed to raise in full their benevolence budgets a serious shortage has come for the regular work abroad. Then too of the sixty churches organized during the last ten years, at least thirty are still compelled to worship in halls or small temporary buildings, some of which were crowded to the doors five years ago. This equipment should be provided soon. Then, has not the time arrived for the 86 Partners in the Conquering Cause United Brethren Church to provide a foreign missionary for every 40,000 in our territory and thus fully occupy the regions allotted to us for evangelization? To do this we shall need to increase our missionary staff from 74 to at least 125, and this is easily possible, for it would re- quire but one missionary for every three thou- sand of our members. Will United Brethren link themselves in part- nership with God and with our missionaries and native workers abroad in meeting these im- perative needs? Well does Secretary S. G. Ziegler say: “We do not want simply a missionary constituency, a few in each church interested. That will never evangelize the world. Every member with a mission- ary passion and purpose is our objective.” In this inspiring partnership laymen will find their chief joy and a sure way to enlarged erowth and service. One who had been reared in a church that did not have a vision of Christ’s purpose to evangelize the world, when nearing the close of his life, caught the vision from a friend to whom he then wrote, “T would gladly die for this cause now when it is too late. Perhaps I might have done so had some- body taken me in hand early enough. I don’t blame any mortal. I am simply saying that something is wrong with the scheme of things which fails to put Christ for the whole world right on the forefront as the battle cry of the Christian church.” Cry ERAN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. HE name most commonly applied to Jesus by his early followers was “Teach- er,’ and they were considered “disci- Ties; selearneérs. ”, When Christ commissioned his followers to witness for him in all the world, he made “‘teach- inp them a distinct’ part of the work, to be done. Teaching has gone hand in hand with preaching from the beginning. The chief agency to carry out the teaching function of the church is the Sunday school. The Sunday School. The modern Sunday school had its origin in England in 1780 when Robert Raikes gathered neglected children into a school, and taught them the Bible and other subjects. Newcomer, that great pioneer builder of the United Brethren Church, recorded in his Jour- nal on May 21, 1800, this: “Today I came to Brother Pfrimmer’s. About thirty children had assembled at his house to whom he was giving religious instruction; some were under convic- tion. I also spoke to them; their hearts were sensibly touched.” The first reported Sunday school in the Unit- ed Brethren. Church was the one organized by 88 Partners in the Conquering Cause John George Pfrimmer in a little log church at Corydon, Indiana, in 1820. Sunday school work in our denomination has always been popular and highly successtul. There are now in our communion 3,011 Sun- day schools, with 40,672 teachers and officers, and a total enrollment of 433,710. During 1923 on ios NP, he ob VE aS In a house like this J. G. Pfrimmer organized the first United Brethren Sunday School in 1820. there were added to our churches on confession of faith from the Sunday schools 13,520 boys, eirls, and adults. What is the Sunday School? The Sunday school is an educational institution, meeting once a week, under the direction of the church, engaging in teaching religious truth, in develop- Christian Education 89 ing Christian character, and in training for Christian service. A shorter and more dynamic definition is, “The Sunday school is the church ‘teaching the Word of God, for the purpose of bringing souls to Christ and building up souls iy ee hrist.” The Sunday School’s Challenging Opportun- ity. More people accept Christ between the ages of twelve and sixteen than in any other like period of life. The Sunday school has an un- equalled opportunity for winning converts, yet from sixty to seventy percent of the Sunday school pupils pass out of the school without be- ing won to confession of faith in Christ. How- ever, the forty percent of the Sunday school scholars who accept Christ furnish about eighty percent of the accessions to the church. About one-third of the Sunday school pupils of the country do not hold church membership. This brings to the very door of the Church a waiting multitude, and the Sunday school has the best opportunity and the greatest responsi- bility for winning them. There are in the United States about 61,000,- O00 persons not connected with any church; there are more than 27,000,000 under twenty- five years of age classed as Protestants who are not receiving any religious instruction, and not enrolled in any religious school, and there are 90 Partners im the Conquering Cause 8,000,000 nominally Protestant children growing up in non-church homes. This untouched field calls for partnership with all the religious educational agencies. A few of the 27,000,000 that are destitute of any religious training. In addition to this field in the United States there is the inescapable responsibility for shar- ing in the work of giving to the children and young people of pagan lands the knowledge of Christ. Christian Education 91 The Sunday School’s Program. Teaching the Bible and the truths of religion to the people is at the heart of the Sunday school’s program. Recognition of the normal characteristics of va- rious age groups, and the adaptation of the in- struction and the employment of methods suit- able to the different ages are important factors of the Sunday school’s program. The Children’s Division, including all under the age of twelve, with the cradle roll, the beginners, the primary and the junior pupils, is under the supervision of the Children’s Division superintendent. The Young People’s Division, for the twelve to twenty-four year old folks, with three distinct groups, the intermediate, the senior, and the young people, calls for the supervision of a Young People’s Division superintendent, who will direct them in their fourfold program, which is physical, intellectual, social, and spirit- ual. The Adult Division provides for all from twenty-four years old and upward, with adult classes, parent’s classes, and the home and ex- tension departments for those who are unable to attend the session of the school. In the Young People’s and Adult Divisions, the organization of classes is an important fac- tor in providing for expressional activity, as well as preparing for instruction. In the grades of all divisions the work is centered around the pupil, building upon the foundation laid in the Q? et Partners in the Conquering Cause preceding grades. From the Young People’s Division come most of the converts and future Christian leaders. In the organized adult classes "service isatne keynote: Standards. The following gives briefly the aims, means, and tests of the general standard for United Brethren Sunday schools: i Aims. (1) To win every available member of the community to the Sunday school. (2) To win the members of the Sunday school to Christ and the church. (3) To win them for intelli- gent and effective Christian life and service. Means. (1) Graded organization. (2) Graded lessons and graded methods of instruction. (3) Regular missionary instruction. (4) Temperance instruction. (5) Sunday school evangelism and church attendance. (6) A training department. (7) A worker’s council and library. (8) Chil- dren’s Day observed and an offering for the General Sunday School Board. Tests. The efficiency of a Sunday school is meas- ured by the character of its product. The foilow- ing tests need constantly to be applied: (1) Is the school making such increase in enrollment and average attendance as may be reasonably ex- pected from a careful survey of its community? (2) Is the knowledge of the Bible growing? (3) Is the devotional life steadily developing? (4) Are the pupils dedicating their lives to Christ and the Church? (5) Are the pupils showing - increasing interest and efficiency in Christian service? The Otterbein Brotherhood. This distinct phase of the work centers about the men of the church and Sunday school, and is closely related to the Adult Division of the school. Christian Education 93 The men’s Brotherhood may consist of a men’s organized Bible class, or may be a feder- ation of different men’s classes and other men’s organizations of the church, all combining and constituting a chapter in the Otterbein Brother- hood. The purpose is to put proper emphasis upon the responsibility and opportunity of the men in promoting the work of the church. The Brotherhood objectives of service include the winning of men and boys to Jesus Christ, the promotion of brotherliness, the magnifying of the church as a spiritual agency, cooperating with denominational boards, and participation in worthy movements for social, civic, and in- dustrial betterment. The last Sunday in January of each year is designated as Brotherhood Day. Sunday School Evangelism. The Sunday School is recognized as the greatest field and force for evangelism. An important factor in the program of United Brethren Sunday School is the activity of the school and its teachers and officers in winning the pupils to faith in Christ, and leading them to publicly confess Christ as their Lord. Special stress is laid upon the ob- servance of Passion Week, emphasizing Palm Sunday as Decision or Forward Step Day, ‘and Easter Sunday as Join the Church and Visitor’s Day. Every school is urged to observe at least one decision day during the school year. The 94 Partners in the Conquering Cause Sunday School Board provides special helps for making the school effective in evangelism. Missionary Instruction. To have a mission- ary church, missionary instruction and mission- ary giving must be a part of the program of the Sunday school under the direction of a mis- sionary superintendent. A monthly missionary program in each school, giving information con- cerning the needs of the world, and providing for an offering for the benevolences of the church is coming to be widely observed. The school also cooperates with the general mis-. sionary societies, and with the other religious organizations in promoting mission reading and study. Training Teachers and Workers. The glory of the Sunday school is in the voluntary service rendered by officers and teachers. The crying need everywhere is for trained officers and teachers. Because of the growing interest in Week Day schools and Summer Vacation Bi- ble schools there is an increasing demand on the part of the children for qualified leaders and teachers. The Sunday School Department. of- fers Standard Training Courses, enrolls classes. gives credits, issues certificates and diplomas. Our standard course is recognized by the Inter- national Sunday School Council of Religious Education. The department promotes these Christian Education 95 courses at Summer Bible and Training schools, and at institutes and conventions. The Creed of our Sunday School Department. in the language of Secretary C. W. Brewbaker: “Our Sunday School Department in all of its work exalts God as heavenly Father, Jesus Christ as divine Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit as guide and helper, the Bible as the Word of God, and the church as the agency through which the lost world is to be saved. It aims to connect the Christian religion and education in a vital way in order that the great commission given to the disciples may be carried out—‘Go ye there- foré’and teach.’ ” Christian Endeavor. A glimpse of Christ as a youth shows him in training in self-expression while learning—he was both hearing the teachers and asking them questions. The synagogue services provided training in self-expression, as revealed in the incident when Christ went to the services on the Sabbath, as was his custom, and he read the Scripture and was given the opportunity to speak. The Youth Movement. God gives a vision of what he wants done during a generation to the young people who are to live and work dur- ing that generation. When God plans to put a new emphasis in the promotion of his kingdom, the Spirit, operating everywhere, puts the idea into the minds of different people in different places. In the youth movement of the latter part of the nineteenth century, it was given to wet Partners in the Conquering Cause a young pastor, Francis I. Clark, to put in form ideas that have, in the providence of God, be- come world-wide. Those ideas gather about the name “Young People’s Society of Christian En- deavor.” They embody the recognition of youth in the church, the nurture of the Christian life through expression, training for Christian serv- ice through action, and the voluntary assump- tion of responsibility, all centered about Christ and the church. | Training in Action. To train is to form by instruction, practice, and guidance. The Chris-_ tian Endeavor idea centers about training. A distinctive feature is that it puts emphasis on personal initiative and responsibility coupled with cooperative activity. During the few years of the young Christian’s membership in the Christian Endeavor society he is trained to give expression to his experiences in testimony, to lead meetings, to plan and promote the activi- ties of his organization, and to work with others through committees. In addition, Christian Endeavor, in harmony with the present trend of Christian activity, trains the young people of the church for effec- tive cooperation with the Christians,.of all de- nominations, through its interdenominational and international conventions. | United Brethren Christian Endeavor. J h e organization of the young people’s Christian Christian Education 97 Endeavor movement of our denomination was effected June 4, 1890, in a convention held at Dayton, Ohio, attended by two hundred repre- sentatives from different parts of the Church. The denominational organization took the name Young People’s Christian Union, which included societies of various names. For eighteen years the work was carried on under that name, when, in 1908, the Christian Endeavar name was adopted, and at the ensuing General Con- ference the work was placed under the Board of Control of Sunday school and Young Peo- pies Work, -In 1893, the General Conference established a weekly paper, the Watchword, for the promotion of young people’s work. The Christian Endeavor societies, after thirty- four years, number 2610, including 1590 Senior, 1020 Intermediate and Junior societies. The membership in all these societies numbers 96,- 585. Graded Training Activities. Christian En- deavor adapts its training to the requirements of different ages, represented by the names of the three societies, Junior, Intermediate, and Senior. In the Junior society provision is made also for the younger children who cannot read ‘in a closely connected group called Junior Jewels. To promote the Junior and Intermediate work a superintendent of those divisions is provided. 98 Partners in the Conquering Cause The Women’s Missionary Association cooper- ates in the missionary training of the Juniors. Christian Endeavor Activities. The program of Christian Endeavor has increased in its out-- reach during the third of a century it has been in operation. 1. “Win-a-soul” activities. Christian En- deavor has been evangelistie from the first. The motto of the United Brethren young peo- ple’s societies, adopted thirty-four years ago, was “For the glory of God and the salvation of men.” ‘Win-a-soul” efforts have been features of the program for years. The most recent slogan of Christian Endeavor is, “Friends of Christ, to win friends for Christ, to be friends in Christ.” 2. Comrades of the Quiet Hour. -There'are about 10,000 of our young people enrolled as Comrades of the Quiet Hour, those who plan to devote a period of every day, if practical .at least fifteen minutes, to the reading of God’s word, meditation, and prayer. ) 3. The stewardship principle. About one- ‘half of all the tithers in the United Brethren Church are Endeavorers, or have been in- fluenced to become Christian stewards through Christian Endeavor. | 4. Mission study. The mission study idea now employed so widely throughout the church, had its practical beginning in the Golden Rule mission studies of Christian Endeavor. Christian Education 99 5. Religious reading. The nurture of the Christian life is promoted by religious reading. Our Christian Endeavor organization, through what is called Supplemental Personal Efficiency reading, has been instrumental in wonderfully promoting the reading of good books. The plan includes the reading of books on missions, Chris- tian stewardship, evangelism, the devotional life, and church life. Started in 1917, with the awarding of certificates for books read, in seven years the number of certificates issued increased Increase in Religious Books Read Under the Christian Endeavor Supplemental Personal Efficiency Plan Thousands 1917. 2a 1919 § = 1921 3°) == 1923 5 ESTE EP LAELIA EE from 750 a year to 9841, a total of 14,211, repre- senting the number of persons who have been reading. Seals:representing the books read are placed on the certificates, the number increasing from 2000 the first year to 65,000 last year, a total of 100,000, representing the number of dif- ferent books and pamphlets read. This reading also includes the “Reading Through the Bible Plan,’ which was started in 1923, when 12,000 persons, reported their pur- 100 Partners im the Conquering Cause pose to read through the Bible in a year. Sev- eral thousand certificates for the Bible reading have been issued, and many seals are going out constantly in recognition of this reading. 6. Life service. The Life Work Recruit movement began a little more than a decade ago, having been promoted in the United Breth- ren Church before it became a feature of the general Christian Endeavor movement. The movement as fostered in the Christian Endeavor societies, was greatly stimulated during the United Enlistment Movement, when the Church went on its knees praying for workers. Christian Endeavor has rendered an impor- tant service in offering in its conventions the channel for enlisting recruits, and in inspiring them and other young people to go to college. A Challenging Field. Although there are nearly 100,000 members in the Endeavor socie- ties of the Church, there is an army of young people of Christian Endeavor age who are not receiving the special training afforded by the Endeavor activities. There are about 250 Inter- mediate societies in the denomination, which leaves over 3000 churches without such an ~ organization to help stop the leakage at the in- termediate age. With 750 Junior societies, there are 2,500 churches that are depriving the boys and girls of this helpful training in self-expres- Christian Education 101 sion. Approximately one-half of our churches do not have Senior Christian Endeavor organ- izations. Unfortunately, too many of these churches not only do not have the benefit of the young people’s society, but they give little attention to the organized young people’s Sun- day school class. “There remaineth much land to be possessed,” says Secretary O. T. Deever. The Board of Control. The two outstanding agencies of religious education and training, the Sunday school and the Christian Endeavor society, are directed by one board, the Board of Control of Sunday School, Brotherhood, and Young People’s Work. An executive committee and a secretary for each general department promote these impor- tant agencies by directing their activities, pro- viding information, giving publicity to plans, and by holding institutes and conventions. Summer schools are conducted in different parts of the Church, and conventions, local and conference, touch many thousands of our peo- ple. An important factor in conducting these conventions is the conference organization. For the Sunday school work each annual con- ference is asked to elect a Sunday School Board, the duties of which are to organize and proper- ly officer the work within the bounds of the an- 102 Partners in the Conquering Cause nual conference, in cooperation with the general department. The Conference Christian Endeavor Union performs a similar service in its field. About 5000 people annually attend the Conference Christian Endeavor Conventions. Our Colleges. | Christ in the life vitalizes the mind. ‘This is characteristic of Christianity. Mohammedanism finds a desert or makes one; Confucianism chains the mind to the past; the conversion of the soul to Christ liber- ates and stimulates the mind. Hence, the Chris- tian church has been the mother of education. [t was the Christian impulse that founded the institu- tions of higher education in England and the Uni- ted States. Universal education is necessary in a democ- racy. If all the people rule, all the people must be educated to the end that impulse and passion may be subjected to de- Otterbein College liberation and reason. Christian Education 103 This means Christian education. If it is es- sential that education be Christian, then the church cannot escape the responsibility of pro- moting education. Great as has been the contribution of the church college in the preparation of Christian leaders, no less has been its service in Sendinomuottes an army of educated Christian laymen. Founding Chris- tian Colleges. The United Brethren | Cobar ce hin’ 13845 first had up for consideration in its General Con- ference the subject of higher education, when a resolution was passed, “That proper methods be adopted to establish an institution of learn- ing.’ The matter was referred to the annual conferences witha cau- tion against “irredeem- able debts.” The widespread in- terest in higher educa- tion is seen in the ac- tivity of the annual conferences in propos- York College Philomath College 104 Partners in the Conquering Cause ing to establish colleges. The Miami was the first to act, with a proposition to cooperate with Indiana conferences. St. Joseph favored the proposal. Scioto, now Southeast Ohio, later the same year, 1846 secured the Blendon Seminary property at Westerville, Ohio, and invited other confer- ences t0.@.0 0 'piGy aac The next year Indiana conference took up the proposal to establish a school in its territory, and about the same Shenandoah Collegiate time Allegheny con- POEL ference authorized the establishing of a college at Mt. Pleasant, Pennsyl- vania. The full story of the founding of our colleges cannot be told here. Otterbein College at West- erville was opened in 1847, and Mt. Pleasant College in 1850, the latter merging with Otter- bein eight years later. During the years fol- lowing other colleges and academies were founded by the various conferences. The Gen- eral Conference in 1869 authorized the estab- lishment of a Biblical school, and in 1871 Union Christian Education 105 Biblical Seminary, now Bonebrake Theological Seminary, opened its doors at Dayton, Ohio. Our Educational Institutions. At the present time, the ~United Brethren Church has one theologi- cal seminary, Sie ecu lleres and one junior college. The at- Wee teat Guat thiese institu- ons jin 13923 was 2,/84, an Inerease of avb'O-U.t) Ssixty- eight percent in ten years. The number in these in- stitutions studying for the ministry and mission- ary work at the last report was 410, twice as many as ten years ago. These eight institutions last Lebanon Valley College, year had net assets of more than $5,000,000, three times what they were ten years ago. About Our Colleges. Full information about our colleges may be secured from. the re- spective institutions. Our schools are: Kansas City University, 106 Partners in the Conquering Cause Otterbein. College, Westerville, Ohio, founded in 1847, has given such a large percent of its students to Christian callings as to win national renown, while it has trained thousands of lay- men for the church and state. Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pennsyl- vania, opened its doors in 1866, and has been sending forth its unceasing output of Christian leaders and useful and influential citizens all these years. Kansas City University, founded by the Meth- odist Protestants in 1896, has been operated jointly by the Methodist Protestant and United Brethren churches since 1913. It is close by a a city of 500,000 people, at the gateway of im- portant United Brethren territory. Philomath College, Philomath, Oregon, our only institution on the Pacific Coast, was founded in 1865. It is supplying the Coast with Chris- tian leaders in every profession as well as pro- viding ministers and missionaries. Shenandoah Collegiate Institute, founded in 1876, in Dayton, Virginia, is our only United Brethren school south of the Mason and Dixon line. Ministers and trained laymen have gone. from its halls in an unbroken line since its founding. . York College, York, Nebraska, began its ca- reer of service in 1890. It stands in the center of our mid-western territory, and has made a no- Christian Education 107 table contribution in prepared leaders for the region it serves. Indiana Central College, Indianapolis, Indiana, the youngest of our educational institutions, was founded in 1905. It is located in a popu- Indiana Central College, Indianapolis, Ind‘ana. lous United Brethren area, and has the record of haying made more rapid progress than any other college in the State. The Board of Education. This board has its aims: 1. To create a de- nomination-wide interest in Christian educa- tion and in our United Brethren schools. 2. To strengthen our institutions of learning as train- ing agencies for Christian service, by securing for them better equipment and more adequate endowment. 3.’ To enlist and -train larger numbers of our young people for leadership in Christian service, and especially for the gospel ministry. In the attainment of these aims it 1s the policy of the board: 1. To maintain our exist‘ng schools. The patron- age of a college is largely local. This is true of the 108 Partners im the Conquering Cause nationally-known institutions. Harvard University draws sixty-one percent of its students from within a hundred miles. The smaller colleges draw from sixty to eighty percent of their students from within a hun- dred miles. To reduce the number of colleges would be to lessen services to the Church and the world. 2. It is the policy of the board to make our Church schools standard institutions at the earliest possible date. The minimum conditions for a standard institu- tion requires fifteen units for admission; four-year courses, with 120 semester hours for graduation; li- brary of 5,000 volumes; laboratory equipment to the value of $8,000; eight professors of accredited scholastic attainment, teaching no more than sixteen to eighteen hours a week, and giving full time to college work; and an endowment fund of $200,000. In some states the endowment required is $500,000. 3. oys: iriends and — Phe Girls’ Friend:” The importance of cultivating the reading habit in early youth, and of giving to the little boys and girls ireligious instruction, led in 1876 to the formation of a paper now called “Our Little Folks.” To provide for the reading of a large group above the age of boys and girls “The Watch- word” was authorized and first published in 1893. A missionary publication, “The Evangel,” is- sued by the Women’s Missionary Association, has been cultivating the missionary spirit of United Blrethren for more than forty-two years. To aid the Sunday schools in Bible instruc- tion excellent helps began to be issued in 1873. These have been multiplied and adapted to meet the need from the Primary to the Adult Departments. The “Otterbein Teacher” is our 114 Partners in the Conquering Cause splendid magazine for the Sunday-school teach- ers. Thus, the United Brethren Church periodicals have increased from one to fourteen, and have reached an aggregate circulation of approxi- mately 536,000 copies. Book Literature. The United Brethren print- ing house has been issuing an increasingly large number of helpful Christian books in the fields of biography, missions, stewardship, Sunday school and Young People’s work, Christian edu- cation, and other departments of church activ- ity. Through these much has been accomplish- ed in moulding the thinking and actions of both ministers and laymen. Partners in Christian Education. The Church’s chief educational agencies de- scribed in this chapter, the Sunday school, the Christian Endeavor society, the Colleges, the Theological Seminary, and the Publishing in- terests, all have had much to do in informing, training, and inspiring our United Brethren peo- ple. They hold a fundamental place in the Church’s life and mission in the world. Every member of the church should be an active part- ner in making these agencies effective by giv- ing through the benevolent budget and by co- operation in every way possible. GrAP BR Vv United Brethren in Philanthropic Work HE church has two doors, one to go in to worship and one to go out to serve. The heart of the religious life is “faith active in love.’ The parable of the Good Sa- maritan on the Jericho road and the judgment scene in which the social application of Chris- tianity is visualized, are the church’s charter for eleemosynary work. The Good Samaritan spirit must be exempli- fied by the church in a positive way. While it is ridding the Jericho road of its robbers—dis- ease, intemperance, ignorance, injustice, oppres- sion of childhood, poverty, and war—it must sympathetically bind the wounds of those who have fallen from any cause whatsoever, and pay the bill for the care of the needy. Philanthropic Activities. Two important de- partments of the United Brethren Church ex- press the Good Samaritan phase of the Christian religion, the homes for the orphans and depend- ent aged people, and the fund for retired minis- ters and ministers’ widows and orphans. The United Brethren Publishing House, though not primarily a philanthropic institution, by devoting its profits to the worn out itinerant preachers and preachers’ widows, according to 116 Partners in the Conquering Cause its charter, is contributing to an important philanthropic end. Homes and Orphanages. Quincy Orphanage and Home. This institu- tion was founded out of gratitude for a home provided two orphans. J. H. Kitzmiller and his wife had been left orphans in childhood. Both had been adopted into the home of a farmer, who lived at Quincy, Pennsylvania. When United Brethren Orphanage and Home, Quincy, Pa. they grew up these orphans married. Later, they inherited the farm on which they had been reared. In memory of. the kindness shown them in childhood, and out of gratitude, they dedicated the farm and themselves to the founding of a home for orphans, in the name of the United Brethren Church. More than Twenty Years of Service. The home at Quincy was opened for the admission of children in 1903, under the superintendency Philanthropic Work 117 of the founders. The farm, 163 acres of good land, with the usual buildings, all dedicated to the purpose of providing a home for orphans, was the foundation of the institution, which has increased to embrace 255 acres, with twelve buildings, and having assets in grounds, build- ings, machinery, stock, and equipment, of $270,- Q0O. This acreage includes the addition of twelve acres, purchased some years ago, and an adjoining farm, purchased more recently by Peter Newcomer, for $10,400, and donated to the home, known as the Peter Newcomer Memo- rial Farm. During the twenty years of the beneficent work of this orphanage, 350 children have been admitted, and of these, eighty, having reached the age of eighteen, have been sent out—grad- uated would not be an inappropriate word to make their way in the world. They have been fed, clothed, sheltered, educated, and trained for useful occupations. Their character and useful- ness are such as to gratify the founders and supporters of the home. Of the 350 children received, ninety-five were released before they had reached the age limit of eighteen, satisfac- tory homes having been provided for them by relatives. Training the Children. At the end of the twenty years, 120 boys and girls are being cared for. These children are given religious train- 118 Partners in the Conquering Cause ing, educated in a well-equipped school, and trained industrially. Training for useful occupa- tions requires varied industries, and entails an expense that the Church should cheerfully pro- vide. On-a farm of several hundred acres, soil tillage, stock raising, fruit growing, dairying, poultry raising, and other phases of farming, give training for many boys in the basic indus- try of the land. In addition, the home at Quincy has a bakery which in one year sold over $15,000 worth of bread. In this, under expert direction, members of the home family learn the baking trade. In the industrial building, man- ual training is given in varied lines. Every phase of housekeeping is learned by the chil- dren. A band affords training for its members, and provides appreciated music. Regular church services, with Sunday school and other training societies, minister to the religious needs of all in the home. Colestock Home for Old People. A number of years ago a home for aged people was estab- lished at Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, by Z. A. Colestock. This institution, known as the Colestock Old People’s Home, was removed to Quincy, and merged with the’ orphanage, con- stituting the United Brethren Orphanage and Home. The Colestock old people’s building, erected at a cost of $28,000, was occupied first in March, 1915, when eleven persons found a Philanthropic Work 119 home there. Seven years later, this number ‘had increased to forty-two, including the found- er, who went to glory from the home in his ninety-ninth year. Additional room for the old people is greatly needed, and a number of cot- tages are to be erected. The orphanage and home at Quincy was rec- ognized as an institution of the United Breth- rene@hurchsby «the General Conference in 1909, and the East Bishop’s district was designated as 1ts cooperating territory. The institution is maintained by the gifts of the people. The Otterbein Home. On a tract of land embracing 4,005 acres, with nearly two score buildings, some of large proportions, is the Ot- terbein Home, of the United Brethren Church, a home for orphans and dependent aged people. This large landed estate was the property of the Shakers, a religious body whose members lived as one large family, all working and hold- ing the property in common. This family of Shakers, known as the Union Village Family, near Lebanon, Ohio, at one time numbered about seven hundred members, and the farm and buildings were on a scale to support such a family. A Vision. In 1909, J.M.Phillippi, then associate editor of the Religious Telescope, accompanied Granville Hixson, foreman of the printing de- 120 Partners in the Conquering Cause partment of the United Brethren Publishing House, to the Shaker village to visit Mr. Hix- son’s aunt. The Shaker family had decreased at that time to twenty-six. Editor Phillippi saw the commodiots buildings, suitable for homing many people, and saw the extensive farm of fertile soil and large pasturage facilities, and he saw how all these could be made to pro- vide a home for orphans and old people. The vision possessed him. He enlisted others, not- ably W. R. Funk. Others were added to the list of those who believed the United Brethren Church should here establish an orphanage and home. The proposition to buy the estate was entered into by the United Brethren Church at the ex- ceptionally favorable price of $325,000, the pur- pose to make it a philanthropic institution hav- ing the sympathetic interest of the Shaker peo- ple. The property came into the possession of the United Brethren Church on March 5, 1913. Ten Years of Beneficent Work. The first admissions to the Otterbein Home were in April and May, 1913, when one woman and six children became members of the family. Dur- | ing the first ten years of its’ history, 300 boys and girls have found a home within its build- ings and in the hearts of its managers, with J. R. King and Mrs. King as superintendent and matron. Philanthropic Work 121 Of the three hundred, sixteen have been honorably discharged, having reached the age of eighteen; fourteen of the sixteen have had a full high-school course. At the end of the ten years, 172 children are in the home. Glimpses of Life at the Otterbein Home. Aged People Cared For. During the first ten years of the existence of this home, 140 aged persons, including twelve ministers and seven ministers’ wives, from thirteen states, found refuge in its comfortable rooms. More than fifty have ended their days at the home, and 122 Partners in the Conquering Cause from its consecrated buildings and beds have gone to occupy a building not made with hands, where old age, sickness, and death are unknown. At the end of ten years, the family of aged peo- ple numbers seventy. The home has not had one-tenth the money necessary to answer all the calls for care of aged people. Training the Children. The children of the Otterbein Home are given religious training in family worship, and in Sunday school, Chris- tian Endeavor, and other training agencies of the church at the home. The school, conducted in a well-equipped building which cost $80,000, provides the grade and high-school courses. Of those who have graduated from the high school and gone out from the institution, a majority entered Otterbein College, with the purpose of working their way in obtaining a college educa- tion. In interscholastic oratorical and athletic contests, the Otterbein Home pupils have won a high percent and a name for good sportsman- ship. The training of the girls and boys for useful industry is provided in the household work of the big family and in conducting the extensive farm operations. The boys are given valuable training in the development, of high records in the pure-bred cattle on the farm. To provide a wider range of industrial training the home needs a school of arts and crafts, Philanthropic Work 123 This home, as a United Brethren philanthrop- ic institution, was started without a dollar. Faith in the cause and in the people of the United Brethren Church was its only asset. At the end of ten years, the institution has net as- sets amounting to $450,000. The Baker Home for Retired Ministers. The Colonel R. M. Baker Home for Retired Minis- ters owes its existence to the munificent gener- Views of the Baker Home, Puente California. osity of Colonel R. M. Baker and his wife, Mrs. Sarah A. Baker, Monrovia, California. Having been prospered, and desiring to assist worthy ministers in old age, they provided for establish- ing this home, which was incorporated in 1911. It is located in the Puente Valley, twenty-six miles east of Los Angeles, California, on a 124 Partners in the Conquering Cause twenty-acre. site. Colonel Baker gave a check for $4,500 to Bishop W. M. Bell, then the Bishop on the Pacific coast, with instructions to buy fifteen acres, on condition that the owners, Messrs. Rowland and Foster, should donate five | acres for the purpose of establishing a home. The tract of land, called Otterbein, occupies a commanding position. Colonel and Mrs. Baker began this work with a donation of $10,000, which was later in- creased by the gift of a valuable property in the city of Los Angeles. Thus far this property has been the home’s principal source of income, and the institution stands as a monument to the thoughtful generosity of the donors. Of the twenty-acre plat, one-half is planted in oranges. ‘Ten acres of the site are reserved for buildings, small gardens, -deciduous trees, and vines. Already six inexpensive cottages have been built, and two substantial modern flats, each with two three-room apartments. Seventeen people find here homes in their old age. The conferences directly cooperating with this home are those of the Pacific Coast District. - Several years ago plans were adopted looking to the establishing of an orphanage in connec- tion with the home. A campaign has_ been started to provide a fund of at least $100,000 with which to establish and operate a dormitory Philanthropic Work 125 and an orphanage. At the end of twelve years of the institution’s existence, it has assets of over $107,000. The ministers enjoying the bless- ings of this home are from Kansas, Nebraska, Wrevon, -and -Galifornias* Mrcand Mrs, L. .O. Moon are in charge of the home. Support of the Benevolent Homes. ‘The three benevolent homes of the United Brethren Church are dependent upon the gifts of the people for adequate maintenance and enlargement. The land owned by each is a valuable asset, and will yield food for the increasing families. But much in ad- dition to food must be provided—shelter, clothing, schooling, and religious privileges. Each home is filled to the limit, and additional buildings must be provided. The erection of buildings will require large sums. A building at any one of the homes is a worthy objective for gifts and bequests. The United Brethren people must become actual partners in providing money for the sup- port of the people in the different homes in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, who did not hesi- tate to. pay out money at the hotel for the care of a needy person. Through the Christmas offerings, every mem- ber of the United Brethren Church, throughout all its borders, may enter into partnership with Christ and with one another in actualizing the Good Samaritan phase of religion. 126 Partners in the Conquering Cause Ministerial Pension and Annuity. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth; And hitherto I have declared thy wondrous works. Yea, even when I am old and-~gray-headed, O-. God, forsake me not.—Psa. 71:17, 18. “The forgotten man” is a term often applied to the preacher who through age or incapacity is retired from active ministerial service. “Laid on the shelf” is a grim expression for a situa- tion which every preacher faces—put up on the shelf, out of the way, and largely forgotten. Proper provision for the disabled and aged servants of the Church is but the application of the. ‘gospek.. H.-H Baish,. secretany greene Teachers’ Pension organization of Pennsylvan- ia, a layman who has. given -expert service in developing the Pension and Annuity Plan for United Brethren preachers, says: “It is difficult to explain why the Christian Church, which has always proclaimed the gospel of social jus- tice, and has always been ready to commend employers who provide for the care of their employees in case of disability and old age, should be among the last to put into practice its own preaching in this respect. Aside from the question of social just’ce employers have | learned that it pays in dollars and cents to relieve the © workers in any industry of the fear of want in disabil- ity or old age. No employee can render the most effi- cient service if he is constantly harassed by the thought that he and his dependents will be left without an income when he is deprived of his earn‘ng power by reason of disability or advancing age.” Philanthropic Work The United Brethren Building, Dayton, Ohio. Income to be Devoted to Preachers’ Aid. 128 Partners m the Conquering Cause Providing for the old age of ministers is not a matter of charity; it is justice. . “Religion is the one essential industry in the world.” ‘The direction of that industry is in the hands of ministers. A community without the minister would be without worship, without sacraments, without the sacred marriage ceremony, without a message. of hope at the grave. How are the men who conduct this essential industry cared for? The chairman of the Presbyterian Com- mittee which is raising a $15,000,000 pension fund, says: “We give them hand to mouth living. We give them what amounts in many cases to grinding poverty. -We give them exhausting labor without making adequate provision when the labor shall have exhausted then. We hang the dread of old age like a millstone about their necks. Making a just and charitable provision for the disability period of ministers on a-service basis 1s one of the last undertakings of the Pro- testant Church, and the United Brethren denom- ination, is somewhat behind most of the other great churches. Other denominations have al- ready provided endowment funds ranging from $160,000 to $17,000,000, and pay an average pension ranging from $183 to $500. The preachers have led heroically in carrying to success various necessary financial cam- paigns in the Church and the next great under- taking should be for the Ministerial Pension Philanthropic Work 129 Fund. Perhaps this has been neglected until now because its benefits are designed for the preachers, who, by the nature of their occupa- tion, are accustomed to looking out for others rather than for themselves. It is time for the laymen to see that justice is done. Preachers’ Aid Funds. Some of the stronger conferences years ago established Conference Preachers’ Aid funds for the help of their own members. This worthy effort in the conferences, however, left unprotected the majority of the ministers of the denomination, those who serve in the smaller conferences, which have been un- able to create aid funds. The profits of the United Brethren Printing Establishment, by the terms of its incorporation, are applied to the benefit of traveling and worn- out itinerant preachers and their widows and orphans. Pension and Annuity Plan. Plans for minis- erial aid of Church-wide scope had been con- sidered by several General Conferences. ‘The General Conference of 1917, in a resolution pre- sented by A. R. Ayers, took definite action look- ing to the creation of a fund that would afford relief for ministers anywhere in the denomina- tion, and that would be paid on the basis of service. Under the direction of the Board of Administration, a careful study was made of the ministerial relief plans of the other denom- 130 Partners in the Conquering Cause Retired United Brethren Itinerants. inations, and also of the schools, business cor- porations, and the Government. The results of the study of the committee appointed is the Ministerial Pension and Annuity Plan of the United Brethren Church, which was ap- proved by the General Conference of 1921, and now is in effect. Features of the Plan. All regularly ordained ministers and missionaries of the United Breth- ren Church are eligible in this plan, : A Church service annuity fund is to be pro- vided. This fund will be created primarily by endowment. The income of this endowment, together with the money raised for the pension fund through the benevolence budget of the Church, and such other money, gifts, and be- quests as shall be given for the support of the Pension and Annuity Plan, shall provide the Church service annuity, the maximum annuity being $400 a year. It is estimated that it will require the income of an endowment fund of Philanthropic Work 131 Retired United Brethren Itinerants. $1,000,000 to pay the Church’s share of the pen- sion proposed. There are two classes of members, contribu- tory and non-contributory. Non-contributory members are those who, by reason of age and service, are exempt from con- tributing to the fund. The maximum pension that may be paid to the non-contributory mem- ber is $400, and until an adequate amount is provided, it will be only such portion of the $400 as funds will permit. The contributory member is one who pays an- nually a sufficient amount to purchase an an- nuity of $100 at the age of superannuation re- tirement, which is sixty-eight years. The amount to be paid is actuarily computed, and guarantees to the contributing member an an- nuity of $100, which he receives in addition to the annuity provided through the Church serv- ice annuity fund. The maximum pension for a contributory member is $500. Loe Partners in the Conquering Cause A disability pension is paid a member who becomes incapacitated after he has served the Church at least five years. In the case of the death of a member a pen- sion is paid to his widow and minor child or children. Principles of the Pension Plan. The pension is based on. the recognition of two. principles, relationship and service. It is this basis that prevails in aid systems in the business, educa- tional, and ecclesiastical world. A pension is the recognition of service rendered, as by a soldier, an employee, a teacher, or a minister. Furthermore, the plan enables the minister to participate in the creation of a fund that will protect his widow or children, or himself in the case of his disability or retirement. As a con- -tributory member each minister is creating for himself an annuity of $100 a year. The Church service fund is paid to contributory and non- contributory members alike, on the basis of the income available for that purpose, but the con- tributory member is assured of his annuity of $100. | | The plan is Church-wide in its operations, providing for the preachers and missionaries in the smallest conferences as well as in the. larg- est, thus contributing to the unity of the de- nomination. A minister can transfer his mem. Philanthropic Work 1353 bership to a mission conference without Jeop- ardizing his protection. The pension plan provides for the payment of a certain amount annually for an indefinite number of years. This is the kind of aid the aged minister or the minister’s widow stands most in need of. Pension Plan in Operation. The Preachers’ Pension and Annuity Plan became operative January 1, 1924, at which time a permanent en- dowment of $30,000 had been raised as a step toward an adequate fund. The income from this is supplemented by contributions through the benevolence budget. The earnings of the permanent fund and the amount received through the benevolence budget determine the amount paid as pensions. This will increase as the funds increase until the maximum pension is reached. Financing the Fund. The immediate and urgent task before the United Brethren Churches is to raise in full the benevolent quota for the current operating work of all departments and institutions. The pension plan will then receive $25,000 with which to render immediate help. The next step must be the securing of $1,000,000 endowment for the Pension and Annuity Fund. The Church was late in starting a pension plan for its ministers. It now has a splendid oppor- 134 Partners in the Conquering Cause tunity to make amends for its delay by finish- ing this task with promptness, and thus provid- ing for the aged and needy ministers. This is conspicuously a matter for the laymen to take up in behalf of the old preachers. The laymen see that the church property is protect- ed by insurance; they will also see that the church’s greatest asset, its ministry, is protected against the fear of disability and old age, with resultant loss of efficiency, power, and service. Providing a proper pension for the old preacher by the Church and the creating of an annuity by his cooperation with his comrades in the laity, permits the aged preacher to accept superafinuation with the satisfaction of having earned a protected retirement. “And are we glad to have the burden lifted, That quiet by the river we may sit? Since He the load to younger shoulders shifted We've kept the faith—now let us rest a bit. “Yes, we are old, O Lord, but not forsaken, The twilight hour is fairest of the day; One glowing hope remains secure, unshaken— If sunset comes, can dawn be far away?” Sle Woe BSA ee DISCOVERING OUR POSSIBILITIES AS PARTNERS HERE are delightful surprises for those who enter the partnership with Christ. When the Seventy (Luke 10) entered into this partnership and began to give out the message of their Lord they made a wonderful discovery. They discovered that while they testified, Christ, though unseen by them, was empowering their message and casting out evil spirits. ieuwasea eiate, Satistyinge experience. . “The Seventy returned with joy,” and this is the only occasion mentioned in the Bible when Christ re- joiced. He saw much more than“did the Seven- ty. He saw “Satan fallen.” Christ’s plan to de- stroy the works of the devil through the testi- mony of his followers had been tried, and it worked. The victory would be complete when the testimony became universal. Jesus then gave this far-reaching promise to the Seventy, and to all who would enter this partnership: “Behold I give unto you power . over all the power of the enemy.” Secret of Growth and Service. Comradeship with Christ in the evangelization of the world is the only way to find and save the lost, and it 136 Partners in the Conquering Cause is the only way for the Christian to ‘reach his highest development and joy. The lives of Paul, Savonarola, Luther, John Kknox, Calvin, Wesley, Otterbein, Finney, Jerry McCauley, Spurgeon, Moody, and -a host of others speak of the miracle-working power of Christ, in taking men from every condition and station in life, and in making them channels of blessings for the world. Paul the Ideal Partner. When Paul accepted Christ as his Lord, and became a co-worker with him, a marvelous partnership followed. Christ put into it his atoning death, his resur- rected life, his intercessions, his all. Paul, who said he was not worthy to be called an apostle, after being changed by Christ, put into the partnership his abounding energy, trained mind, earnest praying, and a life-time of sacrificial service. Paul incarnated the cause of Christ. He could say, “For this cause I bow my knees,” and “for this cause I suffer.” In the midst of hunger, perils, and imprison- ments he declared triumphantly, “I can do all_ things in him that strengtheneth me.” He was ready to preach, to suffer, to die for Jesus and the Conquering Cause. The partnership was well nigh perfect. What Christ did for Paul is a pattern of what He is willing to do for us. Discovering Our Possibilities ba Some Results of our Partnership. Doubtless 1,200,000 persons have accepted Christ*as the result of the work of United Brethren ministers and laymen since that historic meeting when Otterbein embraced Boehm, saying “We are brethren.” Probably 800,000 of these have finished their course on earth and are now with the family of God in heaven. UNITED BRETHREN GROWTH IN MESMBERSHIP 375,000 370,000 365000 360,000 355,000 390,000 1545000 340,000 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 There are 3,351 United Brethren churches at work in thirty-one annual conferences in the United States, and in the five conferences abroad. The members of the United Brethren church are supporting 873 conference and home mis- sionaries, and 74 foreign missionaries, and 222 138 Partners in the Conquering Cause native leaders in our fields abroad. The sun never sets on United Brethren workers. By means of this combined work United Brethren during 1923, won to Christ and the church 22,735 persons; during 1922, they won 28,687, and in 1921, 31,658; a total for the three years of 83,080 souls. After deducting all losses there was a net increase in members of 28,307, bringing the membership for the denomination to 379,314. Increase in Gifts for All Purposes. ' $3,102,811 (GL) gagprasseree pene areca apes nearer eee RR eR ee ENS $6,315,993 United Brethren as partners contributed dur- ing 1923 for the support of their pastors, local church expenses, buildings, repairs, etc., $4,931,- 344; and for missions, Christian education and all other. benevolences, $1,384,649, making a total for all purposes of $6,315,993. In recent years great progress has been made in providing buildings and equipment. The value of church houses and _ parsonages in- creased, during the past eight years, from $14,- 736,076 to $23,790,593. The total net property value of our churches, parsonages, schools, homes, and printing establishment aggregates $25,820,670. In addition there are $2,142,548 in endowment and loan funds. Discovering Our Possibilities 139 A Summons to Full Enlistment. It will be apparent to all who have read the first five chapters of this little book that God led our ministers and laymen step by step through the past century in the expanding work of our de- 78 CENTS FOR vg OURSELVES CONGRE - GATIONAL 22. CENTS FO The Church Dollar. nomination in evangelism, creation, and publi- cation of Christian literature, conference mis- sions, home missions, church erection, foreign missions, our colleges and theological seminary, the Sunday School and Christian Endeavor work, the Women’s Missionary Association, the homes and orphanages, and the preachers’ pen- sion bureau. All these activities have been kept in oper- ation through gifts made in local churches to 140 Partners in the Conquering Cause meet the benevolent budget, and through special offerings for specific causes. By means of these agencies every member of the church can continue the work begun, and carry out literally for our generation the com- mands and teachings of Christ to evangelize, teach, and do the service of a good Samaritan. With our splendid organization, equipment, and trained leaders; with the experiences of the past as an asset, and the large unreaped har-_ vests all about us, the United Brethren church ought to advance by 1950 to at least one million members. Will anything short of this satisfy our Lord, any of us? The United Brethren church cannot have a million communicant members twenty-six years from now by keeping her eyes on “numbers,” “programs,’ and “budgets,” helpful as these may be; but more than a million can be attained if we all keep in mind Jesus Christ and fix as a goal, “every member an active partner with Christ in evangelizing the world.” Recruiting partners from among the inactive members now enrolled in the churches is one of our big tasks. Christ’s School for. Training Partners. Unit- ing with the church is not an end in itself. It is but admission into the school of Christ. “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed.” Discovering Our Possibiltties 141 The School of Witnessing. Every Christian is to make Jesus known as Savior and Lord. “Ye shall be my witnesses,” is as binding upon laymen as upon ministers. We witness through our personalities, our acts, and’ our words, and Christ works when we testify. Many souls are won as a direct result of testimony. An in- creasing number of ministers are training per- sonal witnessing groups in their churches, and like Otterbein, are expecting decisions for Christ at the reular church service, as well as in revival meetings. Am I finding my possibilities in Christ’s school of witnessing? Growth in Number of Tithing Stewards 1919 7,000 a 1923 21118 =a ROS See Leen ea The School of Stewardship. In accepting Christ we acknowledge that we are bought with a price and are not our own. Constantly our living, working, and giving should be an acknowledgement that Jesus is Lord, and that we are his stewards. This partnership with Christ, in the making and spending of money, breaks the power of self-indulgence and covet- . ousness, and opens rich fountains of life to the faithful steward. Many United Brethren are enrolling as tithing stewards. Have I entered into my privileges as a Christian steward? 142 Partners in the Conquering Cause The School of Prayer. Before going back to the Father, Jesus gave his disciples many les- sons in the school of prayer. He said to them, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do.’ Christ works when we pray as ke cannct work when we do not pray. All the great achievements of the Kingdom have been ac-. complished through prayer. It offers to every Christian a boundless field for world service. Christ ‘himself did much of his work through prayer. Intercession is his chief work today in heaven. Great is the privilege of being a part- ner with him in intercession. Is not God calling us, as he called the Christians before the great revival of 1800, to go apart with him, and through fasting and prayer claim another great awakening and advance for his Kingdom? Am I willing to work with Christ as a partner in prayer? | | The School of Obedience. Jesus said of his obedience to the Father, “My meat is to do the ~ will of him that sent me,” and “I do always those things that please him.” He linked ac- tion with instruction. “Ye are, my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” ‘There can be no real partnership without obedience. Does my obedience make me a helpful co-worker? Discovering Our Possibilities 143 What for the Future? Christian leaders rightly took advantage of the unsettled condi- tions following the Revolutionary War for a powerful, sustained advance of vital Christian- ity in the United States. Partnership with Him is Our Richest Privilege. 144 Partners in the Conquering Cause As we think of their marvelous achievements amid difficulties such as we never faced; as we think of the spiritual enrichment that has come to us through their faith and sacrifices; as we think of the vast increase of wealth and material comforts. which we enjoy today; as we think of the distressing spiritual and material needs of the peoples of many countries, and the exalted position of America among the nations, should not these things challenge every one of us to a whole-hearted, joyous dedication of .ourselves and our property to Christ, that his redeeming love and power may heal the open sores of the world, and that there may come to all mankind the priceless privileges and blessings which were brought to us by the faith and devotion of those who have gone before ust “OQ matchless hohdur, all aasolene High privilege surpassing thought, tip That thou shouldst call me, Lord, to be Linked in work-fellowship with thee; To carry out thy wondrous plan, | Si To bear thy message to man; a In trust with Christ’s own word of grace To every soul of human race.” We must work the OLS of hin that sent me while it is day: the night cometh.—Jesus.(R.V.)