* DEC15 1S08 BV 4010 ,M4 1906 Mead, George Whitefield, 1865- Modern methods in church TtTrvr-lr "A MODERN METHODS IN CHUECH WORK MODERN METHODS m CHURCH WORK BY y REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD MEAD WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY REV. CHARLES L. THOMPSON, D.D. PRESIDENT OF THE OPEN AND INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH LEAGUE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The contribution that this age is to make to Christian thought is that practical Christianity is Christianity" NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1906 Copyright, 1896, By Dodd, Mead and Company. All rights reserved. John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. IN CARISSIMAM MEMORIAM OF Mu iFatfjer nxia Moiizx, WHOSE LIVES OF PRAYER, LOVE OF GOD, AND SERVICE TO MAN, HAVE BEEN LIFE'S RICHEST LEGACY AND AN ABIDING INSPIRATION IN THE WORK OF THfi KINGDOM. PKBFACE. In the preparation of this work my thought has not been to magnify works above grace, but my theme has been limited largely to that which bears upon the former subject. Yet even in the review of this part of the work of the Church, in the light of the new movement, it must appear, I am sure, that the spiritual mission of the Church instead of being minimized is magnified, made supreme, and ex- tended even to the influence of all things through the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. I wish to express my obligation to those ministers and Y. M. C. A. Secretaries and other Christian workers who have aided me with addresses and information relative to churches and denominations and to the many ministers who have favored me with documents and information relative to their Free Pew System, men's clubs, and other depart- ments of church work, the review of whose work, though not mentioned for want of space, has been an inspiration in the presentation of this work. To the pastors of churches whose names appear, PREFACE. I am indebted for the information which has made possible the helpful mention of their church work. I only regret that it has been necessary so often to condense the reference to their work and methods employed. To the Eev. Walter Laidlaw, Ph.D., and the Eev. Winthrop Hageman, Ph.D., who kindly placed before me the manuscript copy of the report of the Sociological Canvass of the Fifteenth Assembly District, New York, I have to offer my special thanks. I would also make grate- ful acknowledgment of the helpful assistance of Mrs. Laura C. Dunlap, in matters of tabulation and the arrangement of certain material. It is with regret that I find myself unable to make such mention as I should like to make of the painstaking favors which I have received from Christian workers, and I can only make this general acknowledgment, and express my deep obligation. G. W. M. New York, December, 1896. V* CONTENTS. Chapter Page Introduction xvii I. Cardinal Principles 1 1. New era in church and Christian work, 2. Influence of Christianity, 3. Distinguishing marks of the new era in church life and methods. 4, The Free, the Open, and the Institutional Churches illustrative of the new movement, 5. The principles : (1) Evangelism, (2) Consecration, (3) Ministration, (4) Adaptability, (5) Extension, (6) Organization. 6. The recovery of gospel teaching. II, The Free, the Open, and the Institutional Church 15 1. Discussion of the name Eree, a. Does not give com- prehensive view of the work, 6, Misleading in con- veying the idea of free pews only. c. Misleading as suggesting no financial obligation. 2, Discussion of the name Institutional, a. Cumbersome, b. Suggests undue emphasis on organization, c. Eliminates the per- sonal idea. d. Awakens prejudice and necessitates explanation, e. Stands for the opposite of what it sug- gests, 3, Discussion of the name Open, a. Lays stress on the spirit of the church, h. Expresses figuratively the true idea. c. Calls attention to the importance of daily church opening, d. Some characteristics of the Open Church, 4. Summary, — no one name entirely satisfactory. This not a misfortune. m. The Church-Members, — Where are they? — what are they ? 22 1. The church should be concerted in work. 2, Knowl- edge of members necessary. 3, Church rolls and rec- ords, 4. Card catalogue explained, 5, Communion cards, 6, Annual roll-caU. 7. Visiting staff, different plans in several churches. 8. Teachers' reports. vii CONTENTS. Chapteb Pagh IV. Reaching People outside the Church . , 29 1. Need of knowledge of people about the church. 2. Means of getting such knowledge. I. House-lo-house canvass, a. Facts to be secured, b. How inaugurated, c. Records and directions, d. Disposition of the results of the canvass, e. Remarks. II. House-to-house visi- tation, a. Some methods of. b. Results of, in differ- ent places, c. Means of engaging the personal interest of church-members. 3. Sociological canvass in the City of New York. 4. Value of such canvass. V. Personal Work 40 1. Need for. 2. List of non-church-members. 3. Statis- tics of growth of churches, a. Average cost of converts in leading denominations in the United States, b. Average number of converts to a church, c. Average number of church-members to a convert, d. The num- ber of churches reporting no converts after a whole year's work. 4. Workers' training-class. 5. Win One Circles. 6. Workers' Handbook. 7. Enlistment card. 8. Silent evangelism. 9. Evangelistic Sunday-school work. VI. Reaching Strangers at the Services . . 58 1. Number of strangers. 2. Need of welcome. 3. Pas- tor's welcome. 4. Officers' welcome, 5. Pew cards. 6. Letters and calls to follow signatures to pew cards. 7. Pulpit reception. 8. Reception in rear of church. 9. Reception committee. 10. Vestibule committee. VII. Ushers' Association 68 L Importance of the usher. 2. Importance of ushers' associations. 3. Plan of the Ushers' Association of Grace Baptist Church and of the Hollond Memorial Church, Philadelphia 4- Testimony as to value. Vm. The Choir 71 1. Different kinds of church music. 2. Some choirs in different churches. 3. Character of church musicians, 4. Prayer for the choir. viii CONTENTS. Chapteb Paok IX. The Men's Sunday-Evening Club .... 76 1. The problem of using and interesting the men of the church. 2. The Men's Sunday-Evening Club solves that problem. 3. Model constitution. 4. Elements of strength in the Club. a. Stands for a definite object. h. Equalization of labor and responsibility, c. Develops the feeling of fraternity, d. Emphasizes the social side. 5. Work in the Sunday-evening services. 6. Organi- zation of. 7. Results of, 8. Extracts from testimonials. X. The Sunday-Evening Service 91 1. Failure of. 2. Some variations in. a. Musical ser- vice. 6. Liturgical service, c. Brookfield service, d. Special night service, e. Special series of sermons. / Illustrated service, (a) Object, {h) Pictures, (c) Stereopticon views, g. Special features, (a) The Sun- day-evening service in Rochester, N. Y. (6) The Prel- ude, (c) Sunday-evening service in Dr. Chapman's Church, Philadelphia. XL The After Meeting 104 L Value of. 2. Successful features, a. Held in adjoin- ing room. h. Invitation to. c. Music. 3. Different kinds of, and hints for conducting, a. General partici- pation, h. Spiritual quickening of Christians, c. Ap- peal to the unconverted, d. Formal people, e. Char- acter of leader. /. Close on time. 4. Intermitting the after meeting. XII. The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon . . . Ill 1. Leisure hour of working-men. 2. How conducted in England, a. Programmes, h. Music, c. Leader, d. Committees, e. Prizes. 3. Salient features of. 4. Prin- ciples of. 5. Movement in this country. XIII. Young People's Societies 118 L Importance of. 2. Future work of. 3. The three principal Young People's Societies. 4. Committees of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. 5. Departments of the Epworth League and the Baptist Young People's Union. 6. Reading-Circles of the CONTENTS. Chaptee Paqb Epworth League. 7. Christian-culture courses in the Baptist Young People's Union. 8. Work of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. 9. Dr. Clark's " Ways and Means." XIV. The Prayer Meeting 122 1. A much-discussed subject. 2. Welcome for new ideas. 3. Plans of different pastors to secure attendance and participation. 4. The family idea of. 5. Special points. a. Music. 6. Topics, c. Missionary concerts, d. Shall women take part ? e Leader. 6. Social gathering at the close. 7. Concluding remarks, a. Commencing on time. b. Preparation of the leader, c. Plainness of dress. XV. The Cottage Prayer Meeting 130 1. Reasons for holding such meetings. 2. A cottage prayer meeting in New York. Results of. .3. How carried on. 4. The plan of the churches of Oberlin, 0. 5. A return to the ways of the early Church. XVI. Open-Air Preaching 133 L Early examples of. 2. Work in England. 3. Work in this country. 4. Tent meetings. 5. Gospel wagons. 6. Gospel push-carts, 7. Work of this kind by the country church. XVII. Chapels and Missions 138 1. Need for. 2. Religious services of. a. Speakers, h. Methods of conducting, c. Enrolment cards. 3. Ex- penses of. a. Lay speakers, h. Officers of the home church, c. Societies. 4. The Buffalo plan. 5. Must make use of lay workers. XVni. Country Evangelization 147 L Value of the institutions of the country. 2. Need of Christian work in the country. 3. " Stations." a. Out- line of work. h. How organized. 4. Home department of the Sunday-school. 5. How begin the work of country evangelization, a. Revival meetings, h. Or- ganization of stations, c. House-to-house canvass. 6. The missionary spirit a condition of spiritual blessing X CONTENTS. Chapteb Fagb XIX. Men's Clubs 154 I. Comprehensive society. 1. Need of. 2. Westminster Club of Buffalo, N. Y. a. Plan of. b. Results. 3. Men's Society of the Church of the Covenant, Wash- ington, D. C. II. Laboring-men's clubs. 1. Need for. 2. Examples of, and features of. 3. The Christian In- dustrial League. XX. Reaching and Holding Young Men ... 162 1. Increasing interest of young men in church work. 2. Means of reaching them. I. Brotlierhood of St. Andrew. a. Organization, b. Work. II. Brotherhood of An- drew and Philip, a. Committees, b. Work. III. Ailing Class, a. Duties of officers, b. Work of class, c. Mr. Wanamaker's record plan. d. Other like classes. IV. Young men's clubs, a. Need of. b. How to conduct. V. Annual Suppers. XXI. Athletics 177 L Interest in. 2. Value of. 3. Purifying effects of Chris- tianity on athletics. 4. Need for physical improvement. 5. Gymnastics. 6. Athletics as an amusement. 7, Bi- cycle-riding a source of Sabbath-breaking. 8. The opportunity of the Church. XXII. Church Libraries, Reading-Eooms, Lit- erary Societies, and Entertainment Courses 184 XXin. Teaching by Means of Classes . . . 194 1. Need of. 2. Way to be undertaken by the church. 3. How carried on. a. Educational classes, b. Night schools, c. Colleges under the charge of the church. 4. Winter-night college, a. How inaugurated, b. How conducted. 5. The church in relation to culture. XXIV. Women's Work 200 1. Value of. 2. Branches of. 3. Some examples of com- prehensive women's societies. 4. Missionary societies. 5. Aid societies. 6. A model Women's Society. 7. The Helping Hand. 8. Work in country churches. Mrs. Frost's work in Berea, Ky. 9. Self-denial the basis of women's work. CONTENTS. ChAPTEB Pj^qjI XXV. Work with Girls and Young Women . 207 1. Work of Rev. F. B. Meyer, B. A., London, with young women. 2 Young Women's Aid Society. 3. Young Women's Missionary Societies. 4. Fresh-air work by young women. 5. Some societies of young women, a. Young Women's Temperance Union, b. Daughters of the King. c. King's Daughters and Sons, (a) The work of the different circles. XXVI. The Social Problem of the Church . 216 1. Mary and Martha League, a. Necessity for such a society, b. Constitution of. c. Work of its committees. d. Monthly meeting, e. Special features of. /. The president of. 2. Church socials, a. How to make attrac- tive, b. Some special forms of. 3. The " Shawmut Church Evenings at Home," plan of. 4. The real value of social life. XXVIL The Children of the Church .... 226 1. Great importance of education of the youth. 2. Agen- cies. for working with children, a. The Sunday-school special days. b. Sermons to children, outlines of sermons. c. Children's societies, children's service of song. d. Missionary work for children, stamp albums, temperance cards. XXVm. The Sunday-School 235 L Dr. A. F. Schauffler's " Ways of Working." 2. Rev- Carlos Tracy Chester's " Sunday-school Ways of Work- ing." 3. Ways of securing attendance employed by dif- ferent churches. 4. Reports of Sunday-schools, a. Used to indicate the spiritual condition of the classes. 5. Used to find facts about the children's families. 5. Home de- partment of the Sunday-school. 6. Teachers' meeting. 7. Normal classes. 8. Suggestions of Rev. E. P. Armstrong. XXIX. Lectures to Boys only 242 L Need of, not realized. 2. Lectures to men only, come too late in life. 3. Objections to, answered. 4. Reasons for. a. To counteract evil influences, b. To keep them from being entrapped, c. To restrain them through the xii CONTENTS. Chapter ^a«» knowledge of the consequences of transgression. 5. The White Cross Society and the Silver Cross Society, a. Pledges of. XXX. The Boys' Club 249 1. Anecdote of twin brothers. 2. Need of work for boys. 3. The Boys' Club. 4. Plan of conducting. 5. Outings. 6. Membership ticket. 7. Results of. 8. Other kinds of clubs, a. Military. 6. Temperance, c. Harry Wadsworth, or Lend-a-hand clubs. XXXI. The Boys' Brigade 255 1. When organized. 2. Meetings of. 3. Special points. . a. Headquarters, h. Officers, c. Uniforms. 4. Benefit to the boy. a. Mental and Moral, h. Physical. 5. Ob- jections to, answered. 6. The boys for Christ. XXXII. Industrial Classes 261 1. Importance of industrial training as an educator. 2. Some things that may be undertaken by the church. I. Carpentering-classes. a. Leader, h. Use of simple materials, c. Sloyd system. 11. Kitchen-garden, a. Outline of plan. h. What is taught, c. Value of. d. How carried on. III. Cooking-classes, a. Bad cooking a promoter of intemperance, of waste, of extravagance. 6. Remedy found in cooking-classes for women, for chil- dren, c. Expenses of. d. How carried on. IV. Sewing- classes, a. Value to all classes of a knowledge of sewing. h. Requisites for a sewing-class, c. Outline of work. d. Benefit of sewing-classes. XXXIII. Day Nurseries and Kindergartens . 273 1. Day nurseries, a. Necessity for. h. Working plan, c. Sunday nurseries. 2. Kindergartens, a. Value of. h. Some points concerning, c. Applied to Sunday-school teaching. XXXIV. Temperance Work 278 1. Knotty problem of. 2. Three kinds of temperance work. I. Educational, a. Temperance Society of the Brick Church of Rochester, N. Y. h. Work in other churches, c. Scientific instruction, cooking-classes, etc. xiii CONTENTS. Chaptee Pagb II. Prevention. (1) Substitute for the saloon, a. So- cial amusements, b. Temperance refreshments, coffee- houses, drinking-houses, etc. (2) Temperance legislation. III. Rescue, a. Need for. b. Work in St. Bartholo- mew's Mission, New York. c. How to organize and carry on rescue work. d. Co-operative Rescue Mission. 3. Influence of temperance upon the church. XXXV. Healing 286 1. Duty of the church to care for the sick. 2. Medical missionaries. 3. Free dispensaries. 4. Church hospi- tals. 5. Sick committees. 6. Order of deaconesses and private deaconesses. 7. Diet kitchens. 8. Unoffi- cial care of the sick by the church. XXXVI. Relief Work 292 1. This work binding on the church. 2. Need for dis- crimination. 3. Church laundries, wood-yards, and tailor- shops. 4. Employment bureaus. 5. Boarding-houses. 6. Coal Club. 7. Legal and medical advice. XXXVII. Beneficiary and Loan Associations, AND THE Penny Provident Fund . 296 a. Shall the church undertake ? 1. Beneficiary Associa- tion, o. Churches in Philadelphia, testimonials of pas- tors as to value. 2. Loan Association of the Church of St. Bartholomew, New York, and the Provident Loan Society, New York. 3. The Penny Provident Fund. a. Working of. 6. Value of. XXXVm. The Plural Pastorate 303 1. Need for, the Scriptural idea. 2. Co-pastorates unsuc- cessful. 3. Different plans for plural pastorates. 4. The relationship of the pastors. 5. Lay assistant. 6. Strength in numbers. XXXIX. The Free-Pew and Voluntary-Offering System 307 1. Advantages of the pew-rental system. 2. Meaning of the free-pew plan. 3. The pew-rental system not the supplanted system, but the supplanter. 4. Advantages xiv CONTENTS. Chatteb Paob of the free-pew system. (1) Claims all the advantages without any of the disadvantages of the pew-rental sys- tem. (2) Claims advantages over the pew-rental system. a. More in accord with Scriptural ideal. 6. Increases revenue of the church, c. Avoids social distinctions. 5. Eesults of. 6. Growth of. 7. Voluntary offering. a. How conducted, b. Vestibule record card. 6, How to substitute the free-pew plan for the pew-rental system. XL. Church Programmes, Year-Books, Bulletins, Vestibule Cards, Papers, Letters, and Advertising 317 XLL Church Architecture 326 1. New Methods of. 2. The Pilgrim Congregational Church of Cleveland, O. 3. Arrangement of other churches. 4. Parish-houses. 5. Roof-gardens. 6. At- tention to details. 7. Need of the best that art can give. XLII. Mobilizing the Work 330 1. The individual church. 1. Danger in the multiplica- tion of societies in. 2. Pastor's council or cabinet. a. How carried on. b. Value of. 3. Reference to women's work. II. Mobilizing the work of the churches in the community, a. Need of, 6. The plan of the Evangelical Alliance, c. Importance of. XLin. Results of the New Methods 336 1. Success of the new methods. 2. Different conditions demand different methods, 3, Testimonials as to success. 4. Comparative statistics, a. A church compared with itself, under the old and the new methods, b. Several Congregational churches compared with the whole Congregational Church in the United States. 5. The results commend the methods. XLIV. The Inspiration of the New Movement and the Realization of the King- dom 345 XV INTEODUCTION. By CHARLES L. THOMPSON, D.D. This book, is timely. It speaks to an opportunity. An intelligent discussion of the best methods of church work is one of the strongest needs of the times. It is often said that what the Church needs, to secure her purity and progress, is to get back to Christ. There is a truth in this, although it is some- times over-stated. We have some inheritance of mis- takes in the theology of the fathers, and it would doubtless advance the simplicity of theological state- ment and conduce to the unity and harmony of the Church, if we would be content to express truth in the divine simplicity which marked his words. But we have departed from the simplicity of the early Church quite as much in the principles and methods of church work as in the forms of theological statement. The simple ways of apostolic times have very much been lost sight of in the modern administration of church affairs. Both in the principles of Christian life and in our ways of expressing them, we have gone a long way from the early Church, and without any sharp sense of our departure. Christ himself organized no church. From him we get the foundations of religious belief, for he was a religious teacher. But we cannot get from his words or example an illustration of the divine order of Chris- xvii INTRODUCTION. tian service as developed in an organization. To be sure, the germs of Christian life are all to be found in what he said and did. But we must look to the lives of the apostles and of Christ for an exemplification of the principles they received from the Master. Their hands had touched the hand of Jesus Christ, and in considering the life and ways of the early Church, we are as near to Chi-ist in organic church life as it is possible to get. Christ promised to his disciples the guidance of the Holy Spirit in organizing the Church. They sought that guidance and yielded themselves to the promised direction and control. The Acts of the Apostles is, therefore, a hand-book of Christian life and work, to which we must look as expressing the mind of Christ himself. At the same time we must not forget that it was also a develop- ment. Its essential principles were immutable ; but its methods easily took form and color from their sur- roundings. In general, we may say the Apostolic Church consisted less in definite forms of thought or systems of administration than in a certain great spirit which enabled its members to mould it to the necessities of the times and to give themselves without stint to its service, and die without hesitation for its extension. In the second chapter of that book, four great characteristics of the Apostolic Church are given to us in the familiar words, " They continued stead- fastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayer." Here are four great truths on which as on four piUars the early Church rested : love of truth, love of one another, fre- quent remembrance of Christ, and constant prayer. These are the changeless factors of the church life. Now when we think how the primitive Church lived on these truths with joy and gladness, and died for them xviii INTRODUCTION. in triumph, and when by contrast we consider how formal and spiritless a thing modern church life fre- quently is, we cannot but be impressed that there has been a departure from the divine ideal, and that it will be only by a struggle that the Church will get back to the power of those truths as they inspired those lowly disciples. The power of the truth is measured by its effects. So measured, these truths are seen to be almighty. It was a time when all God's people were God's priests, when there was no proxy service of one for another, when all men, women, and children held themselves, as under personal obligations, to give themselves for Jesus Christ. The spirit of sacrifice was not the privilege of the few, but was for a time the common heritage of all the people of the Lord. It is the purpose of this book to hold these cardinal principles in strong light and to show how the Church of to-day has peculiar opportunity for translating them into a service somewhat akin to the noble service of the Apostolic Church. Thus, for example, this book lays stress on church co-operation or the unity of the Church, in that it carries our thought back to the unity of the early Church, one of whose first articles was this, " the people were together." That should be as true to-day as it was eighteen centuries ago. The distin- guishing mark of the Church of Christ is found in the simple fact that her members are believers in the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. The Church, therefore, is not a company of people organized on congenial social lines ; it is not a school compacted on theolo- gical lines; it is not a club banded together to do benevolent work. The bond that binds them is the bond of Christian faith ; it is communion of faith, and it is as strong as the power of Him on whom that faith rests. Recent studies in church history have disclosed xix INTRODUCTION. the fact that the unity of the churches of the first cen- tury consisted not in the^identity of the organization, but in a common faith and love. The germs of the different organizations of to-day may all be found in apostolic or sub-apostolic times. Varying forms of government did not then prevent unity of life and service. They should not do so now. Another characteristic of the early Church was, that they had all things in common. That does not mean communism. It only means that believers held all possessions as the stewards of Christ, ever ready to distribute according to the necessities of his people and his kingdom. In harmony with this idea it is one purpose of this book to declare that the commercial spirit should not rule in the house of God, and that distinctions between rich and poor are not in harmony with the mind of the Master or the practice of the early disciples. The right use of money is one of the living questions in the administration of church affairs. In these days, when tremendous wealth is in the hands of God's people, what results might be anticipated if the spirit of the consecration of property ruled them as it ruled the early Church ! The chapters of this book which insist that the prop- erty of the church should be in daily and common use for church work illustrates that article of the Apostolic Church which says that they ' ' continued daily with one accord in the temple." The temple then was a far more sacred building than any of our modern churches are, but at the descent of the Holy Ghost the temple doors were flung open. Henceforth it was not to be a place of occasional resort, but an every-day home, its doors open every day, and every day thronged by those who gathered there to meet each other and meet the Lord. That does not mean that there should be public INTRODUCTION". services constantly; but it means that Christianity should be so active that its central gathering-place should manifest that activity, as closed doors and darkened windows cannot do. If the Church is a light- house, its light should be burning every day ; if a rescue iBtation, its boats should be manned every day; if a school, its classes should be open every day; if a temple, its altar should be accessible every day. The church building should be the centre, but it should not be the circumference, of Christian activity. The diffusion of Christian activity throughout the com- munity is expressed in that article of the early Church which says, the disciples " were breaking bread from house to house. " Their life was an evidence of Christ's words of commission to his people, " I send you forth." If the Church has healing power, let her go to the sick ; if comforting power, let her be as an angel to the sor- rowing ; if lifting power, let her find those who have fallen. The Church must not stand and beckon ; she must "go." Her ministry should be as penetrating as human misery and as comprehensive as the pity of God ; and her members should be swift to seek and to save that which is lost, — lost anywhere and in any sense. The church which would be true to the princi- ples which Christ announced and the example he set must ferret out human sin, sorrow, and ignorance and bring them to the light of the truth which she possesses. Considering now the divine model of what the Church should be, it must be evident that in some things we have departed a long way from that noble example. We have gone away from the simplicity, from the personal devotion, from the self-sacrifice of the Apostolic Church. The Church is rich and power- ful and has the eye of the nations ; but we have lost something to secure which we could well afford to give INTRODUCTION. up some of the visible signs of our greatness and power. And whatever we may think of particular forms and methods of church work, the conviction is getting hold on the conscience of Christendom, that if we would be equal to the tremendous obligations of these times, some of that simple faith and that cheer- ful consecration of the primitive Church must come back to us. We talk of the dangers of scepticism, and that Christianity to be secure must meet it ; and so it must, but the cogency of the argument which Christianity presents depends at last upon the vigor of Christian life that is back of the argument. We speak of the social trials that surround the community, the alienation of class from class, and the conflicts these conditions render inevitable. We must meet these trials and engage in these conflicts, not in a lifeless round of merely respectable and nominal Christianity, but in a certain intensity of Christian truth and senti- ment, in the union of believers panoplied in the old doctrine, locking arms across the dividing lines, in the old fellowship of the apostles, living every day and everywhere the great truths that we profess. All great ages of church history have been adventu- rous, from the days when Joshua claimed Canaan to the day when the Wesleys left the Church that they might dwell among and uplift the people. We are coming upon the most adventurous times now, — a cru- sade not for the dead Christ's tomb, but for the living Christ's cross. To be a Christian is to be a cross- bearer, to enter into the sacrificial spirit of the Master, like Paul to be the slave of Jesus Christ ; and all this that the Kingdom of Heaven may take its place on the earth, that all life may be divine, and that the blessings of society, education, and government may be inbreathed with the spirit of the living God. To secure this result xxii INTRODUCTION. there need be nothing new, but the old Gospel in the full measure of its power applied to individuals and to the whole structure of society. There must be the preaching of the Gospel: ''As ye go, preach." Every great work has begun there, — Paul at Ephesus, Augustine at Rome, Savonarola in Florence, Luther at Erfurth, Wesley and Whitfield among the colliers and peasants in England. There must be continuous evangelistic work, by which is not meant continuous revival service, but such personal work as will bring people at all times to personal commitment to Christ. There must be a purpose to apply the whole Gospel to the whole man, to meet the people at every point of need, physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual. Surrounding all church work there must be a spiritual atmosphere, secured by the character of the workers, by religious exercises connected with all the depart- ments of the work, and by keeping always supreme the principle that we do it all in His Name and for the supreme end of saving souls. There will then be no danger in any kind of institutional work. Above all and sanctifying all, we must get nearer to Christ. We must recall the words of the Master to his disciples when they were striving for pre-eminence, " I, your lord and master, am among you as he that serveth." Then we shall see the divine dignity and glory of the service committed to us. This book deals chiefly with methods of church work ; but it suggests methods and pleads for activity on no ground lower than the top of Calvary. Christ sacri- ficed for us necessitates a sacrificial church, whose ways of working are flexible to every new occasion, but whose spirit is as changeless as the spirit of Christ. xxiii MODEEN METHODS IN CHUECH WOEK. CHAPTEE I. CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. It would be strange indeed if the closing years of this century, which stand so signally for progress, for invention, for unparalleled industrial and commercial achievement, . for material and political development and attainment, when philosophers are writing of the "Evolution of Evolution" and a decade marks greater results than a century was wont to do, — it would be strange if these closing years recorded that all other departments of life had moved forward with acceler- ated energy and power, but that the Church alone in its great mission had stood still. And the Church, we are wont to say, has before it infinite possibilities ! Whatever may be suggested by a superficial glance at the religious world, a careful study of the facts shows that the Christian Church has entered upon a new era, — an era of fast spreading the Kingdom. The prophecy ' ' Greater works than these shall he do ; be- cause I go unto my Father," ^ is being fulfilled. More souls are being reached daily in this dawn of the twen- tieth century than ever before in the history of the 1 John xiv. 12. 1 1 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. Church. New methods have been adopted. Work is aggressive. There is a " sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees." True, this era has not fully come, but it has come as day has come when " doth the morning starre appeare Out of the East, with flaming locks bedight." i The growth of Christianity is shown "in that In 1800 there was one Evangelical communicant in every 14.50 inhabitants in the whole country. In 1850 there was one in every 6.57 inhabitants. In 1870 there was one in every 5.78 inhabitants. In 1880 there was one in every 5 inhabitants. In 1890 there was one in every 4.53 inhabitants. These figures indicate a very large relative gain upon the population, — three com- municants in the same number of inhabitants where there was one in 1800. . . . Where the population since 1800 has increased twelve fold the communi- cants of these churches increased thirty-eight fold, or over three times as fast relatively." ^ The wide and increasing influence of Christianity on the thought and life of the world is shown in many ways : a few j^ears ago any consideration of the Gospel principles in the study of sociology was regarded as unscientific ; now the commandment Love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU is the basis of our sociology. The influence of Christianity is further seen in its raising the tone of citizenship ; creating a regard for the rights of others; imposing obligations upon the wealthy to share their abundance with those less fortu- nate ; inculcating the principles of justice ; emphasiz- ing the duty of humanity to childre-n, to the poor, to prisoners, and to all suffering classes ; inciting to con- 1 Spenser's Faerie Queene, canto viii. 2 Problem of Religious Progress, by Rev. Daniel Dorchester, D.D., pp. 594, 595. CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. stant endeavor in the interests of peace and the arbi* tration of grievances between men and nations. Along with this increasing influence and extended power of Christianity, a great change has been coming over our churches. The indications of a return to the Christianity of Christ lie open to our sight on every side. A new and more strenuous spirit of helpfulness characterizes the inner and outer life of the churches ; they are becoming more humanitarian. And in the larger and more vital appreciation of the gospel of ser- vice, of love, and of human brotherhood, they are becoming more practical, — going into the fuller life of human relationships, in which the capabilities of fel- lowship, love, and sympathetic helpfulness are liber- ated, expanded, and enriched, — and are seeking that the spirit of Christ may be realized in the life of the family, the community, the church, and the nation, and become wholly the informing life of the world. In other words, that which marks the new era in church life and methods is the recovery of the full teaching of the early Church, — that the office of the church is to heal and to teach as well as to preach. If we call such work " new," it is only because we have lost sight of it for several hundred years ; for the work is as old as the Apostles, and bases its claim upon the teachings of the Son of Man. Those unfamiliar with the nature of the new move- ment which stands for the realization of this Gospel idea of healing, teaching, and preaching, erroneously suppose that it finds expression only in churches work- ing with what is called the '^ mission element," and therefore not adapted to the wealthier churches, and of such colossal undertaking as to be impracticable for the poorer, country and \'illage parishes. This popu- lar impression has its rise, no doubt, in the attention 3 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. which the signal success of the Institutional church has attracted to itself, especially in the mission districts. But the forward Christian movement of our day is in the avenues of our city and in the suburban and country churches no less than in the mission " down- town " districts. Considering the environment of each church, the number of people within its reach, the results of the new methods in the avenue, village, and country churches have been as large proportionately as have those of the mission churches. For churches illustrative of the forward Christian movement, I would mention the Open, the Free, and the Institutional church.^ Though different in name, they are one in spirit and aim, the detail work of the church being worked out according to the environment of each church. It is in the principles which underlie their work, therefore, that we are to find the idea for which the movement stands. A study of the movement reveals six cardinal principles : — 1. Evangelism is the first principle to be mentioned. By this is meant especially the saving of souls and the training and nurturing of Christian character ; the same emphasis being placed on the sacraments and preach- ing as has been done heretofore. The only reason for speaking of this is to present all the underlying prin- ciples of the new movement. This seems necessary, since there has been some confusion of thought, on the part of those who know the work only at a distance, as to just what the new movement means and represents. Those persons are wide of the truth who think the sen- sationalist its representative, or who attribute to it any new doctrines. That this is the spirit of the movement is evidenced 1 For conveuience tlie term " Open church " will be used through- out this chapter as a comprehensive term for the new movement. 4 CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. by the following quotations from two of its leaders and well-known men in the church. The Rev. Charles L. Thompson, D.D., President of the Open and Institu- tional Church League, in speaking of the Open church says : "It believes there is no other name but the name of Christ whereby men must be saved. It be- lieves it will profit us nothing to gain the world and lose our soul, or life. It holds firmly to the supremacy of eternal life. Its ultimate is to bring men to the knowledge, faith, and service of the Redeemer. It would count church work a failure that did not result in lives renewed by the power of the Holy Ghost. More than this, it is willing to have its work tested and judged by its fealty to and success in the supreme work of bringing men to Christ." ^ Unmistakable, too, are the words of the Rev. Russell H. Conwell, D.D., pastor of the Baptist Temple, Phil- adelphia, one of the largest and most successful Insti- tutional churches in the country. Dr. Conwell says : ' ' The mission of the Church is to save the souls of men. That is its true mission. It is the only mission of the Church. That should be its only thought. The moment any church admits a singer who does not sing to save souls ; the moment a church calls a pastor who does not preach to save souls ; the moment a church elects a deacon who does not work to save souls ; the moment a church gives a supper or an entertainment of any kind not for the purpose of saving souls, — it ceases in so much to be a church, and to fulfil the magnificent mission G-od gave to it. Every concert, every choir service, every preaching service, every Lord's Supper, every agency used in the church must have the great mission plainly before its eyes. We are here to save the souls of dying sinners ; we are here for 1 The Sacredness of the Secular, p. 5. 5 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. no other purpose ; and, the mission of the Church being so clear, that is the only test of a real church." But it will be helpful not only to have the statement of leaders in this work, but also the judgment of men outside the movement who have investigated the work. Said the Congregationalist, in an editorial a short time ago : ' ' To the query so often put. Is the Institutional church secularizing religion? this much at least can be said : It certainly has not had that effect upon the pastors and their fellow-laborers. It would be hard to find a set of men more ardent in their devotion to Christ than the men who are identified with Institutional work. Moreover, as respects the body of the membership, if the prayer-meeting be taken as the thermometer of spiritual life, or if a visitor comes in contact with the rank and file, he gains the impression that a strong and constant desire to save men permeates the entire church." 2. Consecration is the second cardinal principle; and a consecration too that is electric in its very thought. Not the consecration merely of one day in the seven, or of a part of a man, or a part of his in- come, but the consecration of all of the man, all of his income, and all of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. The spirit of the new movement is all-in- clusive in its claims, claiming not only that all of the man — body, soul, and spirit — and all that he has — time, talents, and possessions — are God's, but also claiming that all society — its business, labor, commerce, laws, institutions, everj^thing — is His also. The Open church, therefore, believes in " sanctifying all days and all means to the end of sa%ang the world for Christ." And this emphasis on the sacredness of all things and of all the man is one of the principles which differenti- ates the new movement from the work of the past. Dr. 6 CARDIiNTAL PRINCIPLES. Josiah Strong recognized this when he said: ''This broader conception of the mission of the Church, while it has been held by individuals, has never been grasped by the Church herself. She has deemed the world a hopeless wreck, and herself commissioned to save out of it as many as possible, whom she is to land on the heavenly shore. It has not yet dawned on her that she is to save the wreck itself. She has sought to fit men to do God's perfect will in heaven instead of consciously aiming to hasten the answer to her Lord's prayer, ' Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.' She does not seem to have perceived that God had the world in his heart and plan. ' God so loved the world ' that he gave his Son for its redemption. Christ came into the world, not to condemn it, ' but that the world through him might be saved.' " ^ 3. Ministration is the third cardinal principle of the Open church. It aims, as Christ's body, to furnish the material environment through which his spirit can be practically expressed to the age in which it exists.^ It seeks to reach all sides of a man, — not only the spir- itual side, but also the physical, intellectual, and social nature of man. It therefore " seeks to become the centre and source of all beneficent and philanthropic effort, and to take part in every movement which has for its end the alleviation of all human suffering, the elevation of man, and the betterment of the world." ^ This is simply following the example of Him who came not to be ministered unto but to minister ; who went about doing good, healing the sick, comforting the afflicted, feeding the hungry, and sitting with the sin- ner that he might show him the way of Life. The 1 The New Era, p. 236. 2 Platform of the Open and Institutional Church League, United States of America. 7 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. welcome of Jesus Christ was a gracious welcome, his ministry was for «7Z, and the common people heard him gladly. '' The men who are active in the new reli- gious movement are not foolish enough to suppose that they can literally imitate Christ under the conditions of modern life and have any good grow out of it ; but they endeavor in all ways to put his spirit into the life of to-day, so that the churches may be to the men of the present time what he was to the men of his time." ^ Therefore the Open church seeks to minister unto others so freely and nobly that the plainest people will gladly come ; and ministers, with the church open seven days in the week, with provision for helpful amuse- ments and recreation removed from temptation, with libraries and reading-rooms and means for social inter- course, and ever ready and helping hands in time of misfortune, loss, sorrow, disaster, and affliction. This ministering unto the whole man means too, where needed, kindergartens for children, club-rooms for men, training-classes for young men and young women, the Helping Hand for mothers, and nurseries where mothers who are compelled to work out for the day may leave their children knowing that their care and education will be provided for. It is in this work, at least in a part of this work, that the new movement has been criticised ; it being urged that such beneficent and philanthropic efforts should be left to charitable societies instituted for that purpose. It may be answered that if the Church dele- gates such work to outside societies it loses a great blessing. The good of doing is reactive upon the doer, is not alone felt by the recipient. The curse of men has been their content to do for others by proxy. Let ^ The Institutional Church, by George Willis Cooke, " The New England Magazine," August, 1896, p. 647. CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. the Church go and do as the very hands and feet of God, and it will soon jBnd that loving deeds are as potent as ever, that hard hearts are melted by the Christ spirit of love. God committed the poor to the care of the Church. It is the doing of beneficent and philanthropic work — precisely this kind of work — which Jesus declared is the test that is to determine eternal destiny.^ The Duke of Argyle, speaking of Dr. Chalmers, says : *' He obeyed the call of the Psalmist in considering the poor. And the result of his consideration was that the relief of and care for unavoidable poverty is the spe- cial duty and function of the Christian Church in its fullest and highest organization of combined laity and clergy. . . . He was not content with holding this view in theory. He undertook to show how it could be worked out in practice in one of the parishes of the great city of Glasgow with a population of more than one hundred thousand. He undertook to show that the free-will offering of his own parochial congregation could be made adequate to the discharge of this great duty. He desired to show that the Christian Church, if it only knew how to drill and marshal its spiritual forces in facing and dealing with the causes of secular suffering and distress, could be and would be the great- est and best of all agencies in the world. And he did show it." =* Those who attack the new movement must do it along different lines from that of ministration, for here it is too close to the Christ principle, — not to be min- istered unto, but to minister. It is at once apparent that the nature and extent of 1 Matthew xxv. 31-46. 2 Christian Socialism, " Eclectic Magazine," 1895, p. 20. Reprint from the " Nineteenth Century." 9 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. ministration must vary as the need varies. This leads to the mention of the fourth cardinal principle under- lying the new movement, which is — 4. Adaptability. He who fails to grasp the signifi- cance of this principle will never understand the Open church. It is an institutional organism varying its features according to local needs. If upon the wealthy avenue, or in a village of homes, the church must adopt means suited to its environment for bringing the people to Christ and keeping them there. Methods essential in the tenement district might prove ruin- ous in a community of homes. Because new methods succeed in one locality is not always reason for in- augurating them in another. We must not make our appeal to the poor alone, any more than to the rich alone. This principle of adaptability has not always been remembered in Christian work. It was said by the Rev. A. F. Schauffler, D.D., in 1888, that during the twenty years preceding, nearly two hundred thou- sand people had moved in below Fourteenth Street, New York, and seventeen Protestant churches had moved out.^ This " uptown " movement has been go- ing on in all our larger cities ; and why ? Because the Church could not, or would not, adjust its methods to meet the conditions of its new environment. But it is not the ' ' uptown " movement that best shows the want of adaptation to local need. In fact, this moving may be proof of adaptability to changed conditions. We owe a duty to the well-to-do and to the rich as well as to the artisan and the poor, and the Church must keep her hold on the people on whose gifts the support of missions depends; but the loss of I The New Era, bj Dr. Josiah Strong, p. 200. 10 CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. flexibility and adaptation has been apparent in the Church in its want of large persuasive appeal to the people of aU classes. The principle of adaptability, therefore, is seen to be a most important one, and the pastor who fails to recognize its claims is sure to fail of truest success. Methods suitable to-day may require large modification to-morrow. We cannot, therefore, hold to cold, me- chanical methods. Eternal verities will stand, but the application of gospel principles must vary with the ever-varying, ever-changing conditions of human life and the changing circumstances of society. 5. Extension is the fifth cardinal principle. The Church has always, I believe, recognized that its pur- pose is to multiply itself, to reproduce itself in new churches. Like young birds that mature in strength and then fly away from the mother home to build nests of their own, — nests which in turn send out other young to build other nests, — so the Church should multiply itself, reproduce itself, till the world over there shall be churches of the living God. The extension idea of the new movement, however, in- cludes not only giving to missions and the estab- lished boards of the Church, and sustaining some little adjunct church or mission, and building new churches, but also emphasizes that the Church is to multiply itself through all its individual members, — that wherever there is a human heart there is the temple of God and opportunity for service, and also emphasizes the importance of regular systematic and personal effort for extending the Kingdom throughout the community. 6. Organization is the sixth principle. The prin- ciples already mentioned give rise to certain forms of organization, to certain definite, distinct lines ot 11 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. activity, — such organization as shall give to the " builders every one his sword," and shall put into battle line every one within the pale of the church. We are in an age of organization. It is a necessary condition of success in any enterprise whatsoever. Dr. Lyman Abbott once said, "Neither a mob of brave men nor an organized body of cowards ever made an army." Yet thousands of our churches are literally falling to pieces because of loose, haphazard, unbusinesslike ways; falling to pieces, too, when there is infinite power in a willing people. We need to utilize that power, as the power of Niagara is being utilized. For centuries the water-fall of Niagara had gone on into its great plunge only to break into mad- dening fury where its waves are tossed in grandeur and lashed into spray at the whirlpool two miles below. Then men thought to make use of that power. Now it supplies the force which generates the electricity for lighting the Empire State and for running the machinery of its great manufactories. " To organize is not to create opportunities," but to use those which already exist, to utilize the powers already flowing through the Church. It is but bringing the people together in right relations to one another and in right relations to God ; and the result is that they are as lights upon a thousand hills, and a moving power in the great work of the Kingdom. General Von Moltke was asked what was the pivotal hour between Prussia and France and the consummation of the German Empire. He replied, " The hour when I completed the maps of Alsace-Lorraine, and put the armies face to face on paper." Most Christians long to do something to advance God's Kingdom, but many of them do not know how or what to do. There is no more stupendous blunder than the assumption that 12 CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. the}'' are not willing, or that they know just how and where to begin. Some are too timid to express their willingness. Others check and freeze the fountain of aspiration by minimizing their powers. But people are put to doing, work for the church is practically accomplished, when some capable mind maps out the work to be done, — completed, as was Prussia's victory with Moltke's maps of Alsace-Lorraine. The organ- ized church not only shows to every man his work, but maps it out for him when necessary, so that a way- faring man cannot err therein. And a value of having different societies is to appeal by ' ' all means " to all people. If one society will not appeal to a member, perhaps another will. There are so many counter-atti'actions to the church at the present time, that a successful minister must not only be a good preacher and a faithful pastor but also a good organizer. Such are the cardinal principles which underlie the Forward Christian movement of this closing century. We see that these principles are not new, but, now applied in their simplicity and business-like directness, they bear the breath of omnipotence and are as exhila- rating as on the morn when first proclaimed on the Galilean hills. Rev. James Roscoe Day, D.D., Chancellor of Syracuse University, and former pastor of Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, in speaking of this new movement, said: ''The whole matter re- solves itself into this, — an attempt to get the Christian Church back to Christ, and to have it stand for Christ among men. ... I think the day has passed and will never be recovered when that old-time church will have any power over the men and women of this world. They want something to enter into their lives, to help 13 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. them and to bless them ; and they want it done in a natural kind of way too." ^ One remark must be made before closing this chapter. The churches representing the new move- ment do not claim to be perfect, nor to have made no •mistakes. If one plan fails, they believe in trying another. "He is not the best Christian nor the best general who makes the fewest false steps," said the Rev. F. W. Robertson, " but he is*'the best who makes the most splendid victories by the retrieval of false steps. Forget mistakes ; organize victory out of mis- takes." Certainly no greater mistake could be made than has long been made by the Church of the past, — not to try new methods when the old methods have failed to advance the Kingdom of God among men, and have left the roadway stained with the blood of the impenitent, and this sad world ringing with the cries of the hopeless dying. 1 Address before the Open or Institutional Church League, New York, 1894. 14 THE FREE CHURCH. CHAPTER II. THE FREE, THE OPEN, AND THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH. Churches standing for the principles enumerated in the preceding chapter — namely, evangelism, consecra- tion, ministration, adaptability, extension, and organi- zation — have experienced great difficulty in finding a name "broad and distinctive enough to cover the idea." The names, "Free," "Open," and "Institu- tional " have been used most commonly, and sometimes interchangeably. But not one of these terms fully meets the need, and the first and last names mentioned are open to the serious objection of being positively misleading. The term " Free church " has sometimes been applied to churches that have undertaken a broad Christian work. But the popular impression of a free church is one with free pews ; therefore the term " Free," instead of being an expression and setting forth of great un- derlying principles, suggests that free sittings are the terminus ad quern. In fact, the term was originally applied to churches only that had abolished pew rentals. It is true that a large number of churches that have engaged in aggressive work have deemed it best to have free pews, but there are notable exceptions to the rule. And where the free-pew idea is concurred in, it is but a single phenomenon of a great underlying prin- ciple ; otherwise free pews in a church may mean very 16 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. little. It is possible to conduct the system on as low a mercantile basis as any other system. Again, it is painfully evident that a church which has free pews yet is closed six days out of seven is farther from the Apostolic idea than is the church which sells its sittings and holds them for the owners at certain services, but has other services which are free to the public and doors that are open all the time during the week. This latter modification of the free-pew system is justi- fied even by so strong an advocate as the Hon. Silas McBee, when the church is so popular that, unless pro- tected, the members on whom the church is dependent for support would only now and then find opportunity to worship at its services. But the term " Free church " is otherwise misleading. It is suggestive of a church which places little or no emphasis on financial support. But, as a matter of fact, all free churches do emphasize financial obligation, though they may emphasize it under the gentler term of " voluntary offering." A church cannot be con- ducted without expense, and church boards must be supported. The only free thing about giving in the Free church is the freedom of giving as each man is able or as each man will. It is not strange that there is an increasing tendency to drop the term " Free" and to use the term " Open," or only the old denominational name. The term "Institutional," as applied to the church, is also open to serious objection. It is a cumbersome and ill-suited word. " An institution," as one has happily put it, "is an organization for the realization of an idea." The true church does stand for organiza- tion, that is to say, for " a due construction of parts ; " but organization is but one of the underlying cardinal principles. Therefore, to call the church " Institu- X6 THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH. tional" is to magnify organization unduly, and to suggest the doing of Christian work by machinery, handling the masses by cold mechanical methods, — which is the very opposite of what is meant. In the true church societies and departments are but open doors by which we may enter in and win the people personally, and organization is but the orderly ar- rangement of affairs and the preparation for personal work. This is far different from delegating that per- sonal work to something that is impersonal. We have had quite enough of that! Dr. Josiah Strong has well said: "The average Christian to-day is hiring his Christian work done by proxy, — by societies, institu- tions, the minister, the city missionary. He is so very busy that he would rather give his money than his time. His interest in his fellow-men, therefore, is ex- pressed through various organizations which make a | f business of philanthropy. Thus our Christian work I \ has become largely institutional instead of personal^ \^ \ and therefore largely mechanical instead of vital ! " ^ j ^ It is not surprising that the term "Institutional," as applied to the church, meets with cordial prejudice. The term savors of the secular and the mechanical, and is void of inspiration or aught that suggests Christian kindness, personal interest, and self-sacrificing love. The term will necessitate continuous explanation, or else it must continue to awaken prejudice and opposi- tion, and bring the new movement under suspicion and into disfavor. In either event it defeats the very pur- pose for which it was chosen, and militates against the coming of the Kingdom. I would prefer to speak of a church carrying on Institutional work rather than call it an Institutional church. It must be said, however, that the term "Insti- 1 The New Era, p. 218. 2 17 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. tutional " has not been satisfactory, for the most part, even to the leaders of the work which has borne that name. Let us forget, then, the unfortunate christen- ing, and hope for a better name or none at all. What shall we say of the term ' ' Open " ? This term, too, has come about naturally. It was used in the first place to distinguish those churches with doors open every day in the week from the churches which stand locked and bolted from Sunday to Sunday. The word '' Open" is far less objectionable than the terms '' Free " and " Institutional." No one principle is em- phasized so much as a great spirit back of the open house is suggested. Figuratively, the term "Open" is beautiful in its thought, implying open pews, open hearts, open opportunities, and is a suggestive symbol of the open arms of Everlasting Love. The term arouses no prejudice, but rather awakens interest and sympathy, and excites investigation. The word " Open" is otherwise of service. It calls attention to the importance of having church doors open day and evening, and seven days in the week. The Chicago Mail has estimated the net capital value represented by the churches of Chicago at $22,500,000. After reference to the estimate, and the proposition of some of the Chicago papers that the returns on the part of the churches were inadequate, Mr. W. T. Stead says : — " Considering that London is more than twice the size of Chicago, and that the churches are far more costly structures than those built on the shores of Lake Michigan, it would not be out of the way to put the money locked up in church buildings and sites at nearer $100,000,000 than $75,000,000. Every penny of that immense sum is trust-money for God Almighty. Is it well invested ? la THE OPEN CHURCH. "The first principle of investing money is that it should bear interest all the time it is invested. Rain or shine, week in, week out, all the days of the week, the man of the world expects his money to bear inter- est. At present the rate of interest is low. He counts himself lucky if he can get a safe three per cent per annum. But what business man would lock up his capital in any undertaking that only yielded a return one day in seven? If he invests it in a public house, Boniface earns his dividend seven days a week ; if he puts it in any other business, the investment bears harvest six days a week. But if the saints invest it for God Almighty, it bears fruit only one day in seven. This is not very good business for the children of light, who in this respect have much to learn from children of the world." ^ But there are other reasons for the churches being open all the time. The Psalmist said that his desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.^ Can we inquire in his temple only when the choir and the preacher are present? Can we come to him only through the priest? True, the streets are open, so are the saloons ; but the church is quiet and restful and precious through association. Here our thoughts, like the Psalmist's, must be of His loving kindness. What a help, what an object lesson, what a beautiful privilege, " to daily inquire in His temple " ! Such a church would also be a blessing to strangers. Thousands of people are every day passing idle hours in the cities and towns, w^aiting some errand, and would gladly accept the hospitality of the open church. Thus living streams of blessing would flow out from all our churches and from community to community as the Very rivers of our God. 1 The Independent, April 11, 1895, p. 5. 2 Psalms xxvii. 4. 19 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. The Episcopal churches have largely taken the lead in keeping some part of the church open daily, with an inscription on the outside of the church inviting stran- gers and others to come in at any time " for medita- tion and prayer." I can but feel that a church which will not do so much as that is in a lamentable condition. It remains to be said, however, that few people, com- paratively, would avail themselves of the open temple. Therefore it is not enough that we merely open the church doors. We must meet the varied needs of the commu- nity, stand as in the place of Jesus Christ, the friend of man, — body, soul and spirit, — and minister in His name. I recognize, however, that there are a few church constituencies which have little need of a church out- side its spiritual ministry. But for the most part the needs of every community are many, and these needs cannot be met by one large, barren, empty room. For instance, if a church is to meet the social and educa- tional needs of the community, there must be rooms where the people can read, study, or pass a leisure hour in pleasant social intercourse, or find diversion amid ennobling surroundings. The children and young people too need to be provided for by play-rooms and halls where they can have entertainments and social gather- ings. There is dire need for such arrangements in almost every community. What a shame, then, for the church to stand bolted and barred as though its sacred courts would be desecrated by helpful ministries to suffering humanity ! If the church is to reach society on all its sides, come into touch with all classes of people, — touch them where their needs are real and help them in ways which they must appreciate and so gain a lasting influ- ence upon them, — it must recognize that man has more than one side to his being ; and when the church recog- 20 THE OPEN CHURCH. nizes this fact, we can expect her courts to be open always with provision for meeting the varied needs of the community and freely giving her loving ministries to all. Such is the idea of the Open church. It is evident that even this word is not adequately descriptive. Yet it is by far the best of any that has been suggested. It may not altogether be regarded as a misfortune, however, that no one name fully meets the need. De- nominational preferences promise to exist, and churches are already known by theu' individual names. Let us hope that the time may come when every church will stand for the salvation of, and ministration to, the whole man and for the redemption of the whole world, and stand with as large a welcome as the welcome of the Father, " Whosoever will may come;" and go, as did Jesus, " teaching . . . and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." ^ 1 Matthew iv. 23. 21 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER III. THE CHURCH-MEMBEKS, — WHERE ARE THEY ? — WHAT ARE THEY ? The logical starting-point of church work is with the church itself. Xerxes, when at the Hellespont with his army of a million and a half of men, cried patheti- cally, ' ' I would I had as many soldiers as men ! " That army is little prepared for war which goes with scattered, broken, or wavering lines. As a matter of fact, many church-members are not in battle line, some are never there. But the fault is not altogether that of the people. vSome are waiting to be drafted; others do not know how to enlist. One of the first steps for marshalling people, mak- ing concerted action possible, is personal knowledge of the church-members, — knowing who they are, and where they are, whether in line or out of it. For this purpose it is necessary to keep a church roll. But a church roll is more than the old-time notion, *' a history of important dates." It is not our purpose to speak of church records and roll-books, which are as numerous as they are varied in their nature. There have been some new record books in this line, providing for a record of dates, of reception into church-membership, marriage, dismissal, or death. But these record books are sometimes cumbersome, and cannot be kept in alphabetical order with such convenience as a card cat- alogue of the members ; nor have the books the advan- tage of blanks to be filled in with a cross, indicating 22 THE CHURCH-MEMBERS. the several societies to which the member may belong. The following card is used by the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York City : — M S S LB A M M FM S HM S YL AS w s A& P c E X X G W X M c X E X Street, Madison Ave. No. 506. 2,4, '95 X Smith, Mr. H. L. 2,4, '95 X X X X X X X — X X X " Mrs. H. L. 2,4, '95 Dismissed to Central Ch. Rochester, 4,4, '96. X " Charles W. X " Bertha Louise. - " Gertrude. (See Miller, Mrs.R.B.) The letters at the head of the card stand for the several societies of the church. The crosses opposite the name indicate the societies of which the person is a member. The figures, 2, 4, '95, indicate that on the second day of the fourth month of 1895 the person was received into active membership of the church. It should also be noticed that the letters indicating the various societies which are to the right of this card represent the societies of the men, and the letters to the left, those of the women. This gives space, in the event of marriage, dismissal, or death, for making such record. The name Miller, in parenthesis at the bottom of the card, refers us to the M cards, and in- dicates that there is some close relationship between the families represented by the two cards. Sometimes this relationship is indicated by a brief note upon the back of the card. If members of the church be given access to the card catalogue, then the notes must be colorless. The above card is valuable, not only because it shows ut a glance just what the member of the church is 23 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. doing or is not doing, but also because it is a family card. It contains the names of the members of the family. It will be an unusual church where the record does not show a goodly number of non-church-goers in the families represented by membership in the church. It is for such non-church-goers that the individual church is especially and directly responsible. Another system of cataloguing the church-member- ship is by different colored cards. It practically incorpo- rates the ideas of the above card, but uses one colored card for the church-members, and a card of different color for the attendants of the church. Some churches have a system by which the roll of the communicants is checked at each communion Sunday so as to ascertain the absentees. Absence from communion is a very great evil. This system is suggestive to the pastor of those members who are becoming lax in the discharge of their church duties, and who possibly may be losing interest in the great work of the Kingdom. If followed more closely, we doubt if some churches would suffer annually so many "lost sheep." The following simple card is used by the Ruggles Street Baptist Church of Boston : — COMMUNION CARD. Ruggles Street Baptist Church. Name, Residence^ Remarks f... Each Communicant is requested to write his name and address legibly, that the attendance may be accurately kept. Strangers will kindly record the church of which they are members. Any information of cases of sickness or need will be gladly received by the Deacons. 24 THE CHURCH-MEMBERS. The Bethany Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, uses the communicants' card system. The following is a copy of the communication and card coupons which are mailed to every member at the commence- ment of the year : — Bethany Communion CardNo- Name, Residence, . JANUARY COMMUNION Bethany Communion CardNo Name, Residence,. MAECH COMMUNION Bethany Communion CardNo. Name, Residence,. MAT COMMUNION Bethany Communion CardNo Name, Residence,. JULY COMMUNION Bethany Communion CardNo Name, Residence,. SEPTEMBER COMMUNION Bethany Communion Card No Name, Residence,. NOVEMBER COMMUNION 25 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. It of course takes considerable time to enter the returns of these cards, but it is one way of proving a faithful shepherd and bishop of souls. Another system of keeping in close touch with the members and of obtaining information as to change in the family address, and a plan which also magnifies their relation to the church, is that of an annual roll- call of the members of the church. Such annual roll- call is an established thing with some denominations, and is growing in favor with others. But good as these plans are, they are not enough to keep the pastor informed as to the needs of his people. The sick and other sufferers, absentees and back- sliders, would not, without systematic assistance, always be known to the minister, at least until the time of truest assistance is past. The wise pastor, therefore, surrounds himself by a good visiting-staff, which is of value in many ways ; not only to acquaint the minister with the needs of the parish, but also to help him meet them; to bring the people through acquaintance into closer sympathy, and promote that fellowship which should be a distinguishing feature of every community of worshipping Christians. Several different plans are being pursued in parish visitation. The Rev. John L. Scudder, D.D., pastor of the Tabernacle, Jersey City, N. J., has a band of sixty helpers for visiting, whom he calls "sub- pastors." The staff is made up of both men and women ; each has a list of names of persons belonging to the Tabernacle Constituency who are kept track of, and of whom reports are made at the time of the meeting of the committee with the pastor at the hour preceding the preparatory lecture. In this way the needs of the people are known; in case of absence they realize that they have been remembered, and are 26 THE CHURCH-MEMBERS. led to feel that, in some measure at least, they are a part of, and are important to, the work. Another system of parish visitation may be called the " block "or " district" plan. The membership of the congregation is divided geographically into a con- venient number of districts, and the districts into sections ; over each district is placed an officer of the church, or a deaconess, who is supposed to interest himself or herself in the spiritual or material welfare of the people, as the need may be. That the most available person may be obtained, the leaders of these districts are sometimes appointed from the member- ship of the church at large. Such leaders are usually appointed by the pastor, who also suggests the names of a committee to work with them. In other churches the district leaders choose theu' own committee. Re- ports are made by the members of the visiting staff to the leader, who in turn reports to the pastor ; urgent cases being reported at once. The parish of the Presbyterian Church of Austin, EL, is divided into four districts, with three deacon- esses over each, and with two deacons to assist in a general way as they may be able. I take the follow- ing from a leaflet by the pastor. Rev. John Clark Hill, D.D., bearing suggestions on the work of the deaconesses : — ' ' The committee designated will call to their aid any of the ladies (and men too) to the work that demands attention, and to distribute the ' calling lists ' as fui-nished by the pastor for the general benefit of all. . . . The work should be done in the most quiet and unobtrusive manner. We should say nothing about it in a public way ; the less its organized char- acter appears on the surface, the more influential it will be in its working." 27 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. Teachers' reports in the Sunday-school are also valuable for keeping the pastor acquainted with the needs of his people. Names and addresses of scholars absent for two or more successive Sundays are re- ported not only to the superintendent, but also to the minister. The people of a parish are a precious charge, and every effort should be made to shepherd them closely. 26 REACHING PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. CHAPTEE IV. REACHING PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. *' The parish priest of austerity climbed into the high church steeple, That he might be near to God, to hand His word dowTi to the people ; Every day in sermon script, he wrote what he thought came from heaven, And threw it down on the people's heads two times one day in seven. In his age God called him down to die, and he cried from out the steeple, ' Where art thou, Lord ? ' and the Lord replied, ' Down here, among my people.' " It is not enough that the pastor know the people of his church ; he should also know the people about his church. One thing absolutely essential to thorough work on the part of the church is a personal knowl- edge of the country and people whose business it is to conquer. Previous to the Japo-Chinese war, the Japanese knew thoroughly every harbor, river, and hill of their enemy's territories. The Japanese had sounded the waters, and surveyed the lands of the Chinese. When the time for fighting came, the Mikado's people knew how advantageously to face their enemy. The Japa- nese, too, did not wait for the enemy to come to them, but went out to the enemy. The true church does not wait for the people to come to it ; it goes to the people, following the com- mandment of Jesus Christ : "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in." ^ Can it be 1 Luke xiv. 23. 29 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. gainsaid that the Church has not, comparatively speak- ing, followed this method in working for souls ? Pas- tors have been content to preach from the pulpit. In the face of a well-nigh empty church, a decreasing membership, and a depleted treasury, some of them have asserted by practice — if not by word — that two services on the Sabbath and one in mid-week are suffi- cient to evangelize the world. When we awaken to the fact that he who preaches only from the pulpit preaches only in part, we shall have taken one step toward the Christ ideal, — going after the people, and working for them by such painstaking persistency as will make applicable the golden metaphor, "fishers of men ; " doing anything and everything that will bring the gospel to bear upon the hearts of the people. I. A successful and systematic method in reaching people outside the church is a house-to-house canvass. The purpose of such a canvass is to learn who and where the people are; what have been, if any, their church affiliations ; and what are their church prefer- ences, — in a word, what is the religious and social status of the community. Much may be said in favor of such a canvass. "If it is useful to the Federal Government to accumulate, every decade, facts con- cerning the population living beneath the Stars and Stripes, it cannot but be useful to the associated Christianity of our country to accumulate facts to di- rect its policy. . . . ShaU the Church of Christ be willing to allow the State to surpass her in care and culture of the individual?"^ In the city a number of churches usually co-operate in making such canvass. In the country or smaller city the canvass may include all the churches of the 1 Manuscript Report of the Sociological Canvass of the Fifteenth Aissembly District, New York, 1896. 30 REACHING PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. community. These churches come together through their pastors or delegates, and apportion sections of the district to be canvassed to each church for the purpose of learning the church status of each person within the district. Each church utilizes such working force as the pastor or person in charge may determine. Some churches have two or three paid canvassers for taking the census. Other churches work on the prin- ciple that the visiting-staff should consist largely of the lay-members of the chui'ch, believing that it is a work which the Christian has no right to delegate to another. A careful record is kept of every visit by the can- vasser in a blank form provided for that purpose. The following form is that which was used by some of the churches of Philadelphia : — Visitor, Territory, Address, Street. o 6 7k Name of Family (or Individual). i s to 1 1 1 ill "Sag i 1 Church attended. Church Preference (if non- attendants). Remarks. The following are a part of the directions which were given to the canvassers : — 31 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. TO VISITORS. Be careful to see that each blank contains your name and address, and the territory assigned you, as called for at the top of the form. Get information as complete as possible from every house, not neglecting boarders and servants. Indicate by the abbreviation " Indl." after the name, when it is that of an individual not the head of the family. Entries are to be made in the column headed "Lan- guage" only when divine service conducted in a foreign tongue is preferred. Indicate in this column, also, by the abbreviation "Col." the names of people of color. In the column of "Remarks" state in a word any cu'- cumstance worthy of special notice; for example, "sick," "destitute," "intemperate," "call immediately." As the blanks are filled, tear them out at the line of per- foration, and send them promptly to your District Chak- man. When your work is finished, note the fact on the last blank. Please write legibly. State your errand plainly and briefly at each house, and be particular to let the parties know that the visitation is general. Avoid, as far as possible, the appearance of formal questioning, and taking notes in the presence of the parties visited. Remember that the persons visited are under no obligation to answer your inquiries. Ask the information courteously and as a favor. Ascertain, if possible, the name of the family residing in the house, before calling. Prepare yourself by meditation and prayer for your work, and, with God's help, make it as spiritual as you can. The several churches making the canvass have weekly or bi-weekly meetings, as may seem advisable, presided over by the chairman elected at the first meeting. Re- ports from each church are given at this time. The names of those persons who have expressed a pref- 3§ REACHING PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. erence for the Episcopal church are handed over to the Episcopalians, those who have expressed a pref- erence for the Methodist church are handed over to the Methodists, the Congregationalist to the Congre- gationalists, the Presbyterian to the Presbyterians, and so on through the list. This is the end of the canvassing. Its purpose is simply to locate non- church-goers, and acquaint the churches so far as possible with the conditions of the people about them. It is to be remembered in this canvass that people will frequently claim church relations and will theo- retically have them, when practically they sustain no definite church relationship. Because they were mar- ried in, or many years ago the gi-andmother was a member of, a certain church, they have come to regard that church, in an indefinite way, as theirs. Or it may be that the children recurrently with holiday times attend the Sunday-school, and so the parents will make claim to a church home. Dr. Paden, of the Hol- lond Memorial Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, said that in a house-to-house canvass of a considerable district about his church, hardly ten per cent of the people visited were, from their own accounts, without a church home, while practically he believed that a much larger per cent were of the non-church-going classes. II. The canvass is followed up by everything within the church's power for winning the people to Christ and to his service. One of the most successful means, and one that prepares for other influences, is the house- to-house visitation. This method has been attended with blessed results. It is the way the disciples worked, — ' ' breaking bread from house to house." The people are called upon by one of the pastors, again by some members of the visiting-staff, and again by 8 33 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. other members of the church. Acquaintance is com- menced, a cordial invitation to the church services and an assurance of welcome to all the church privileges is given. Visits are repeated, letters are written, church notices are mailed, and little attentions are shown in every way. By and by the door of the heart stands ajar. These little things, by the interpreting power of a Christ-like personality, have accomplished the end : the people are won to Jesus Christ and to his service. In a community of about twenty-four thousand pop- ulation, the nineteenth monthly report of such visi- tation " started into the beginnings of church life thirty-eight families." ^ This ought to teach us the lesson of patience and perseverance. It takes time for thoughts to mature and for new purposes to form. Other results of this canvassing and systematic visi- tation may be mentioned. In the city of Rochester, N. Y. , recently about forty families were anchored within the fellowship of the church, as a result of a house-to- house canvass by two churches of that city. This is the more significant when we remember what a church- going community Rochester is, and that the canvass was made by the Brick Church, which has a membership of 1,935, and by the Central Church, which has a member- ship of 1,712. It is stirring to see pastors of such large churches with feelings of responsibility even for ''sheep not of their fold." In Buffalo, N. Y., 387 families were started into the beginnings of church life in one month's time, — not into active membership, but into definite church connections ; children in the Sun- day-school, and older people in some department of the chui-ch. In the town of Montclair, N. J., at the first monthly report, the churches gave a classified 1 Rev. Frank KusseU, D.D., Report of the Christian Conference^ Chickermg Hall, New York, 1888, p. 172. u REACHING PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. list of an aggregate of 614 names and addresses of young men and young women who were not connected with any evangelical church. One of the pastors present said, " My brethren, would you have guessed a hundred such persons in our little community of less than five thousand population ? The fact that we have them is worth twenty times as much as all these con- ferences that led the way to such lists and classifica- tions have cost us." ^ "When Rev. G. R. Pike assumed the pastorate of the Greenstone Presbyterian Church at Pullman, 111., in 1894, he at once made a study of his new field. A canvass of the town was organized, and the name, residence, and church relationship of every person (at that time some eight thousand) was ascertained. ]Mi\ Pike says: "The striking discovery was made that there was a body of from twelve to fifteen hundred unmarried men scattered about in pri- vate families and lodging-houses ; obviously, here was a class needing special attention." Dr. Thomas Chal- mers had his whole parish in Glasgow divided into dis- tricts, containing about twenty-five families in each. He assigned two visitors to each of these little fields, and kept himself informed as to the work by monthly reports. His canvass showed eight hundred families who were without church connections, but through the efforts of the church six hundred families were devel- oped into regular attendants of the church. The Hanson Street Baptist Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., con- ducted a house-to-house canvass in the immediate vicinity of the church. Although this church is located at the heart of the church-going population of Brook- lyn, out of the forty thousand people canvassed eight thousand were found to be without a church home. 1 Rev. Frank Russell, D.D., Report of the Christian ConferencCj Chickering Hall, New York, 1888, p. 171. a5 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. But it is not necessary to multiply these illustrations. Out of the many who wrote me of their work in this line, only one reported discouragements. A pastor in New York City, while acknowledging that his church through the house-to-house canvass came into possession of the addresses of a goodly number of non-church- going people, said that he did not know of "one per- son who had come into the church as a result of the canvass." Is not this a humiliating confession? A list of non-church-goers is of no value unless it is used. When Elijah raised the dead boy to life, it was necessary to do more than find the corpse, he had to spread himself upon it. We must keep in close touch with the non-church-going community, follow them up constantly, cling to them, never let go. There is no larger field for the personal activity of the members of the church than that offered by house- to-house visitation, and it is a comparatively easy thing to go with at least a personal invitation to the church service, when the entree has been given by the house-to- house canvass. Let there be a heart interest born of Christ love, and there will be blessed results. Bishop Andrews has well said : " It will be a new reformation, the proper enlargement and completion of the Lutheran Reformation, when somehow or other it shall come to be understood that all the Lord's people are prophets. When, not out of a mere sense of duty, not because they feel that they must do it, but out of a great sense of the good which Christ offers and the natural desire of loving hearts to give that good to others, all the young men and the young women of the world, and the older men and women, all these shall use this won- drous gift of speech to persuade others to be reconciled to the Lord Jesus Christ. The fault of the churches 36 REACHING PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH is this, that we are doing but very little personal labor for the Kingdom of Christ." ^ Much is accomplished in this personal work, though the people visited are not brought within church affili- ations. The various visits in the community are as fountains of water upon an arid desert. Every family visited is another sti-eam of gospel blessing. Thus religious sentiments and ideas percolate the commu- nity, and inevitably its whole moral and religious tone is raised and society is uplifted. We should keep in mind, therefore, that the object of oui* per- sonal work and visitation is for society as well as the individual. A canvass with a view of ascertaining more than the religious status of the community was undertaken dur- ing the past winter by the Federation of the Churches and Christian Workers of New York City. They made a sociological canvass of the Fifteenth Assembly District, and gave their visitors the following instructions : "To ascertain rents from the janitor ; to preserve only the surname of each family; to register nationality accord- ing to mothers ; to enter the age of each child ; to as- certain for the Y. M. C. A. the number of male boarders between sixteen and twenty years of age ; to specify the church attended by the family and the Sun- day-school attended by the children ; and on the line * Water on Floor ' to register every family possessing a private bathtub and sanitary conveniences. Visi- tors were also instructed to make notes concerning cleanliness and thrift, and to inquire, whenever feasible, in what way the church can be most useful to the families visited." ^ 1 Report of the Christian Convention, Chickeriug Hall, New York, 1888, p. 181. 2 Manuscript Report of the Sociological Canvass. 37 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. What a field for thought, what an opening for ac- tivity, such a canvass affords ! The Church by this means comes into intimate relationship with the inner life of the community. She finds where the dangers that environ the people lie, where oppression touches them, where sanitation is neglected, where law is vio- lated. She gathers facts that point to the remedy for existing evils. She comes into personal touch with the life of the working man and woman, learns their amusements and their need of amusement, their social as well as their spiritual needs, and, looking at society from this standpoint, understands many things that will prove invaluable in her great work for the regener- ation of society. The Sociological Canvass referred to revealed the fact that within the district covered by it 1,579 fami- lies have only seventeen bathtubs, and 1,079 of these families in the poorest part of this district have but five bathtubs. Also that there were one hundred and thirty-one places where liquor is sold to only eight churches, and that these churches had within their ter- ritory 5,807 non-church-members and 8,397 non- attendants. The fact is, these non-church-members and non-church-attendants are closely allied to the non-bathtubs, non-playgrounds, and non-healthy con- ditions, and lastly and chiefly to the non-realization among Christians that we are to work for the salvation of society as well as the salvation of the individual, and that ' ' to put the Lord Jesus Christ into an individ- ual, we must put the Lord Jesus Christ into society."^ It is of little avail to bring families into church two hours in the week and send them to " Hell's Kitchen " to live one hundred and sixty-six hours in the week, where 1 Rev. Lymau Abbott, D.D., Second Convention of Christian Workers, New York, 1887, p. I2l. 38 REACHING PEOPLE OUtSIDE THE CH:URCH. vice, vulgarity, profanity, filth, and crime poison and debase, and where every influence breeds moral leprosy and ''the spirits of the air" drag to perdition. We must have society Christian from centre to circumfer- ence, must seek not only to fortify against temptation but also to remove temptation ; instead of now and then reclaiming our boys, saving a drunkard, or rescuing a fallen woman, we must make efforts to kill the saloon, shut up the gambling-dens, and wipe out the brothel. True, we must continue to work for the individual ; but society is the aggi-egate of the individuals, and what- ever therefore affects their organic relations demands our time and thought. Professor Richard T. Ely well says : " It is as truly a religious work to pass good laws as it is to preach sermons ; as holy a work to lead a crusade against filth, vice, and disease in slums of cities, and to seek the abolition of the disgraceful ten- ement'houses of American cities, as it is to send mis- sionaries to the heathen." ^ Only as the Church comes into personal touch with the people, will it know what is best to do for them and how best to do it. The great mistake of the past, I believe, has been the divorcing of work for society from work for the individual. This has given rise to what is popularly known, on the one hand, as the " religion of humanity " and on the other, what has been too narrowly called *' Christianity." Neither position alone is right. Both are fractional. The truth is only in the union of the two. Only as we seek the salvation of men and the redemption of the WORLD are we worthy the name of followers of the Lord Jesus Chiist. ^ Social Aspects of Christianity, p. 73. 39 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTEE V. PERSONAL WORK. To win men, one by one, to personal allegiance to Christ is finally the whole problem of the kingdom of God on earth ; and to learn to do this is the precise aim of training-class work. A mechanical learning of methods is here, therefore, utterly beside the mark ; since a man's re- lation to Christ must be vital and personal, and there can be no me- chanical production of life. In general we may not hope to bring an- other into any closer relation to Christ than we ourselves hold ; for the sake of others, therefore, as well as for ourselves, we need first and most of all to come under the direct impression and influence of Christ ; to ripen that acquaintance with God in Christ which is eternal life. Henry Churchill King. If all the people who inwardly say, as King Agrippa said to Paul, ''Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian," should stand up, they would, I believe, be like the stars for number ! There are various ways of dealing with these ' ' al- mosts " and with the non-Christian community. Systematic personal effort for winning souls is the practice of many churches, and there is an increasing disposition to return to this Apostolic way of working. How often Jesus preached to an audience of one ! It was the Rev. Dr. Cumming, of Glasgow, who said, " If I take the last few years of my ministry, I can trace far more decided fruit from personal dealing with indi- vidual souls than from all my preaching besides. You cannot tell how it is with a man's heart about religious difficulties, about his understanding of how and what to do when he comes to Christ, till you get side by side with him and get him to tell you what the diflQculty is.** 40 PERSONAL WORK. It is " only a step " between many a soul and Jesus ; and it is not always indifference that restrains from taking that step. There are oftentimes real difliculties, and it is not always known that difficulties and doubts can be put down at the Saviour's feet. As JVIr. Moody has said, the devil places a straw in the way and mag- nifies it into a mountain. The real hindrance might not be met by sermons in years. There is a simple and systematic plan of getting at the basis of the trou- ble. In the chapter on "Church-Members, Who are They and What are They ? " the card system suggested gives the religious status of those even distantly con- nected with the church. From these cards a list may be made, bearing the names and addresses of all who are not Christians, and another list of all who are Christians but not church-members. The list is added to, as new names are obtained. The people should be encouraged to report their interest in the spiritual wel- fare of others. To this end the Ruggles Street Bap- tist Church, Boston, uses the following card : — Dear Pastor, — I am personally and prayerfully interested in the conversion of the folloiving persons : NAME. ADDRESS. Yours very truly, 1 Addre. JS, The lists of names are before the pastor constantly, and he either calls personally on these people or assigns 41 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. some one to call, that tlie question of their relation to Jesus Christ and to the church may be brought to them, face to face. Such calls, when prompted by sincere interest, are almost always welcome ! But if not welcome, why be discouraged? A minister in an East- ern city called on a man of his congregation with view to his soul's interest. The man listened attentively, though he appeared somewhat displeased. The pastor knelt in prayer, but the man kept his seat. The next prayer-meeting night, however, this man came to the meeting, and at its close, when opportunity was given for confessing Jesus Christ, he was the first one to his feet, — much to the joy and comfort of his pastor and family. Another interesting case is that of a young woman who rudely repelled the personal interest of a friend. The two separated and did not meet for si number of years. The young woman with shining face then told her story. ''You annoyed me," she said, " but your words were as good seed. I had no rest from the hour you spoke to me till I gave myself to Christ, but I have been happy in his service ever since." Three things are to be remembered in this per- sonal work : prayer, patience, and persistence. Never let go of any one. Never show impatience. An earnest church-worker told me of writing to a lady friend, ask- ing the privilege of talking with her of her relation to Jesus Christ. The women were of the same social standing ; but the letter was never answered, although the woman addressed would not, under other circum- stances, have suffered herself to appear discourteous. The friend who wrote the letter was not so foolish, however, as to be offended, but, meeting the woman in public a few days later, took especial pains to shake hands cordially, to show a bright face and friendly interest. Thus she won her friend's heart and pre- 42 PERSONAL WORK. pared the way for winning her to Christ. One church has come before me where pastor and people have worked and prayed for certain families and individuals for a number of years before results were realized. That two-thirds of the earth's people have not even heard of the name of Jesus is due to the fact, I believe, that Christian people have done little jpersoyial work, though they may have liberally supported the general church work. Can it be gainsaid that the Christian Church has not been reaching the people as she should ? Let us consider this question from four different standpoints : the average cost of a convert, the aver- age number of converts to a church, the average num- ber of church-members to a convert, and the number of churches that report no converts after a whole year's work. First, as to the cost of a convert. While it is true that no money value can be placed upon a soul, yet financial matters are hard facts and must be con- sidered whether we want to or not, and in the spirit of honest inquiry we may ask if the money expended annually by the churches is represented by such results as reasonably might be expected. This reason- ing does not overlook the varied activities of the church, and the fact that much energy, time, and money must be spent for those gracious ministries whose immediate end is other than reaching the unconverted ; does not overlook, because the resultant of all minis- try — hearts comforted, sufferings alleviated, persons helped, benevolences given, and all Christian activi- ties — should be the training and placing of Chris- tian soldiers, soid-winners^ in our Church militant, that the number "added to the Church daily" may increase. The following tables show the average number of additions by letter and confession (or confirmation), and 43 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. the average number by confession only, to each church, together with the amount of money expended for paro- chial purposes, in the United States during the past five years in four different denominations. The amount of money that each convert cost (that is, each church addition by confession or confirmation) is computed from these figures. 1891. 1 1 a 6 Total No. Addi- tions. Average No. Addi- tions to each Church. Total Addi- tions on Con- fession. Average No. Additions by Confession or Confirmation. Congre- gational Expenses. n H < « Episcopal 5,398 41,261 7.6 41,261 7.6 $11,210,095 $271 Presbyterian, N. 6,819 95,909 14 58,102 8.5 9,550,501 164 Congregational 4,985 52,086 10.4 30,614 6.1 6,791,607 222 Baptist 35,860 280,150 7.8 172,261 4.7 7,740,091 44 1893. Episcopal 5,546 43,575 7.8 43,575 7.8 1111,210,095 $257 Preabyterian,N. 6,946 93,714 13.4 55,310 7.9 11,032,126 181 Congregational 5,140 54,576 11.2 31,582 6.1 7,140,092 226 Baptist 36,793 288,891 7.8 177,676 5.9 9,999,859 58 1893. Episcopal 5,570 42,466 7.6 42,466 7.6 $10,544,737 $248 Presbyterian, N. 7,038 96,483 13.7 57,506 8.1 10,502,208 182 Congregational 5,236 57,561 10.9 34,444 6.5 7,005,338 226 Baptist 38,122 303,344 7.1 189,734 4.9 7,986,668 42 44 PERSONAL WORK. 1894. Episcopal Presbyterian, N. Congregational Baptist 5,803 7,112 5,342 37,910 Total No. Addi- tions. 42,971 114,353 62,946 338,865 Average No. Addi- tions to each Church. 7.4 16 11.7 Total Addi- tions on Con- fession. 42,970 72,967 38,853 220,340 s.isa t-'d o o 7.4 10.2 7.2 5.8 Congre- gational Expenses. II $10,644,737 $245 10,285,083 7,035,307 8,046,668 1895. Episcopal 5,885 45,261 7.6 45,261 7.6 $10,544,737 Presbyterian, N. 7,202 104,146 14.4 65,639 9.1 9,899,691 Congregational 5,347 57,932 10.8 35,327 6.6 6,707,613 Baptist 40,064 299,109 7.4 188,728 2.1 8,202,985 $232 150 189 431 To look at the matter from another standpoint, what has been the harvest of souls resulting from the per- sonal, or the combined personal and general, efforts of church-members ? The following table shows the average number of church-members to a convert for each of the past five years in four leading denomi- nations in the United States. No account is made in this reckoning of the ministers; and yet who has 1 a. The amount of money expended by the Episcopal Church is estimated from the triennial reports of the conventions of that church. j8. No estimate of accessions to the Episcopal Church hy letter could be obtained, y. The figures for the Baptist Church include all different branches of that church in the United States. 5. No estimate could be given of other leading denominations in the United States because of the want of accurate figures of those denominations as to their increase on confession. «. The figures for the Presbyterian Church are for the Presbyterian Church, North, 45 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. done most in bringing about these conversions, — the ministers or the people? If the former, then the table would make a far more humiliating showing than it does. 1891. Churches. Ministers. Members. Converts. Average No. Church- members to a Convert. Congregational . 4,886 595,397 30,614 19.44 Presbyterian, N. 5,991 790,827 58,112 13.60 Episcopal . . . 4,088 526,276 41,261 12.75 Baptist .... 23,800 3,269,806 172,262 18.98 1892. Congregational . 5,003 615,757 31,582 19.49 Presbyterian, N. 6,061 813,327 55,310 14.70 Episcopal . . . 4,261 543,275 43,575 12.46 Baptist .... 24,798 3,383,100 177,676 19.04 1893. Congregational . 5,138 637,008 34,444 18.49 Presbyterian, N. 6,236 837,984 57,506 14.57 Episcopal . . . 4,348 561,957 42,466 13.23 Baptist .... 25,354 3,496,988 189,734 18.43 1894. Congregational . 5,287 660,339 38,853 16.99 Presbyterian, N. 6,348 877,896 72,967 12.03 Episcopal . . . 4,384 591,317 42,971 13.76 Baptist .... 27,091 3,63Y,421 220,340 16.50 46 PERSONAL WORK. 1895. Churches. Ministers. Members. Converts. Average No. Church- members to a Convert. Congregational . 5,347 680,518 35,327 19.26 Presbyterian, N. 6,506 903,648 65,039 13.76 Episcopal . . . 4,487 616,843 45,261 13.62 Baptist .... 27,774 3,720,235 188,778 19.76 According to these figures, in 1895 for example, it took 19.26 church-members to one convert in the Congregational Church, to say nothing of the work of the 5,347 ministers of that denomination; in the Presbyterian Church it took 13.76 members to one convert, in addition to her 6,506 ministers ; in the Episcopal Church 13.62 members to every one received by confirmation, not mentioning her 4,487 clergymen ; and in the Baptist Church it took 19.76 members to every addition by confession, in addition to the 27,774 ministers of that denomination. As seen by the above table, also, the average cost of every addition by confession (or confirmation) during each of the past five years, — averaging the cost to the Congrega- tional, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Episcopal Churches, — is $167.04; and it has taken on an average 16.04 church-members to one convert during each of the past five years, again averaging the same denomina- tions, to say nothing of the work of their thousands of ministers, while the average number of annual additions on confession (or confirmation) to each church of these denominations has been but 6.89 members. There are yet other facts appalling in their revela- tion. In the United States there aro 7,469 Presby- 47 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. terian churches, and of this number about one-fifth, or 1,509 churches, accordmg to the minutes of the General Assembly for 1896, reported that they had received no members on confession of their faith during all the months of the preceding year. In the North Central States, out of a total of 2,971 churches, 661 churches, or one church out of every four and one-half churches, reported that they had not one convert after twelve months of work. In California one church out of every three reported no converts. Even in New York State, where the Presbyterian Church is so strongly organized and has the prestige of years, one church out of every eight reported that they had not one convert to show for the work of the entire year. Turning now to another leading denomination, we find that out of the 5,482 Congregational churches in the United States, according to the Year Book for 1896, 1,438 churches, or, in other words, more than one-fourth of all the churches, reported that they had not so much as 07ie convert to show for the year's work. In the New England States 470 churches out of the 1,582 reported no additions on confession of their faith, and 580 of the 2,188 churches in the North Central States, or one church out of every four, reported no converts after twelve months of toil. In the Rocky Mountain and the Pacific States the record is raised by a fraction, one church out of about every four and one- half reporting no additions by confession.^ It is to be acknowledged that many of these churches are the smaller churches, but this is by no means true with all. 1 In preparing these statistics for the Presbyterian and Congre- gational denominations, I have, when the report of a church was largely incomplete, given the church the benefit of the doubt. These statistics therefore are conservative. 48 PERSONAL WORK. Many have close to one hundred members, some over two hundred members, still others over three hundred members. Yet, with all their working forces, — preachers, teachers, officers, Sunday-schools, and or- ganized societies, — there is not one convert to show for all the year's work. What a record ! While statistics of this kind are not so accessible for other denomi- nations, there is reason for believing that the Presby- terian and Congregational churches are not exceptions in the record of church work. Dr. Josiah Strong has shown that, taking 80,000 churches together in the United States, their annual additions on confession of faith are only five per cent of their membership, and significantly adds that at this rate it 'would take these churches twenty years — even though they suuered no losses by death — to make an increase of one-fold, to say nothing of an increase of thirty or sixty or a hundred fold of which our Master talked ! ^ If Christians had been faithful in personal work, could the results have been so small ? At this rate, how long will it take to win the world for Christ? When may we hope that his Kingdom will come? But that so little personal work is done is not always the fault of the church-members. The sins of their neglect will be upon many a minister ; or must we go a step farther back, to their training in our theological seminaries, to find the real source of this neglect? The people must be told how to work personally ! The pastor, who makes the business of the Kingdom his one business, ought to be fruitful of suggestions to his people for ways of working. To unfold the Word of God and to find ways for its practical application, have been his one study. To this end he labors and 1 The New Era, p. 357. 4 49 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. toils and plans, only to find himself perplexed often- times as to what is wisest to do. If the best way of working, then, is not always patent to the pastor, much less must it be to the people ! The minister must come to their aid, — make suggestions out of his larger experience and more thoughtful study. Should not more time be given to the study of ways of win- ning souls ? There are many Christians who would be glad to do the work and hunger for it, but they do not know how, and when they try make a sad failure of it. This need is being met by many pastors in having a Workers' Training-Class. The object of the class is to give practical suggestions as to how to deal with inquirers and the unsaved. Professor Henry C. King, of Oberlin, Ohio, who teaches such a class, takes up six typical cases which practically cover the various conditions of mind and heart with which one is likely to meet. They are as follows: "The willing but ignorant, those lacking conviction, the wilfully indif- ferent, the doubter, the young Christian, and those turning back." In instructing his class how to deal with these cases. Professor King gives the following plain directions: "State the condition of the person to yourself in different forms. Get it clearly and in- dividually before you, — the precise point to be met, the man's attitude and need. Ask, in dealing with just such a person, what dangers must be guarded against. Now ask what exactly is involved in the position of this person, — naturally, necessarily involved. And this necessary implication means that some truth is set aside, overlooked, left out of account. What exactly is that needed truth? Now search for the passages (maybe whole books or trend of Scripture) enforcing and emphasizing the points brought out in the truth needed." 50 PERSONAL WORK. These classes, as conducted by various churches, are composed of both sexes and of all ages. Some of the classes are called " Win-One Circles." The re- quirement of membership in these circles is that at least one soul shall be selected, prayed for, worked for, and, if possible, by the blessing of God, won. The pastor meets the society as a whole or in divisions at such times as the needs and local conditions render practicable. Instruction is then given and reports heard of work done. The Rev. Arthur Leonard Wads- worth, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Rock- land, Mass., in speaking of his "Win-One Circle," says: "Furthermore, my aim is to have a body of Christian workers who shall do whatever is asked of them in time of special services, be able to lead prayer- meetings in cottages and school-houses and to point inquirers to the Lamb of God." This is, I believe, one of the first circles with which a pastor should be surrounded. What a feeling of strength it would give ! What a spiritual force in the church and community it would be! A company of people banded together to study God's W^ord, — to pray and to plan for the salvation of souls ! The ' ' win- one " idea, however, need not be confined to the members of that circle. Why should not the plan of assigning individuals to individuals be carried out in every society and with every church-member? This would mean the ingathering of many who are without the church fold. But those who do this work should realize that it must be done quietly and wisely as well as prayerfully. For those members of the church who are not able to attend the " Win-One Circle" or the training-class, if not for all, many of the precepts and principles in these workers' classes should be put into definite 51 MODERN METHODS IN CHUliCH WORK. directions for aiding in the general work of the church. To this end Rev. Russell H. Conwell, D.D., pastor of the Baptist Temple, Philadelphia, has a printed pamphlet for the members of the church which is called the "Workers' Handbook," containing specific directions to members of all the different societies in the church and other church workers as to how they may best advance the interests of their society or otherwise help in church work. The following directions to the Business Men's Union is an example of the painstaking care with which these duties are outlined : — THE BUSINESS MEN'S UNION. Each member can personally invite each business man who joins the Church to unite with the Society. He can make it his special duty to welcome to the Church, to the Society, or to the prayer-meetings, each business man he can find present by active searching. He can look after travelling business men at hotels, and bring them to the Temple. He can cultivate a fraternal spirit among the business men of the Church. He can bring in new ideas, and suggest new plans of Christian work. He can discuss business measures with reference to fraternity and religion. He can use his influence to put honest and successful business meth- ods into all branches of church work. He can push enterprises for the payment of church debts, and for the strengthening of the financial, moral, and religious work. He can interest the Society and his friends in hospital, mission, rescue, temperance, evangelistic, benevolent, and fraternal efforts. He can cheerfully work with the majority on any useful plans. He can be punctual and persistent in his attendance on the religious and business meetings of the Union. He can use his business experience and common-sense on public and private occasions to keep the business of the Church in a prosperous condition. He can win sincere, influential, enjoyable Christian friends, to whom his own manly Christian character will be a continual blessing. 52 PERSONAL WORIt. Every person received into the membership of the Baptist Temple receives a ' ' Workers' Handbook " at the time of his reception. Is this not suggestive of what could helpfully be done always when persons are received into the membership of a church? It is a memorable day in the life of those who plight their faith to that body which is the bride of Christ, and we should show in every way possible that we recog- nize the solemnity and import of the step taken. In appreciation of this, some churches give certificates of membership (not transferable) at the time persons are received into the membership of the church. Another help in securing the personal interest and of gaining a permanent hold upon the endeavors of the members of the church in Christian work is the enlistment card system. The following is an example of such an enlistment card : — "LORD, WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO?" 1 wish to work in some definite icay for Christ and the Church, and would like to have my name proposed as a worker in the following. Check those you wish to work in. 1. Church Prayer Meeting. 11. Visiting among the Sick and 2. Young People's Society of Chris- Needy. tian Endeavor. 12. Calling on Strangers. 3. Home Sunday School. 13. Temperance work. 4. Whatsoever Society. 14. District Visitation. 5. Ladies' Home Missionary So- 15. Distributing Christian Liter- ciety. ature. 6. Ladies' Foreign Missionary So- 16. Cottage Prayer Meeting. ciety. 17. Men's Club. 7. Ladies' Helping Hand. 18. Brotherhood of Andrew and 8. Ladies' Prayer Meeting. Philip. 9. Young Ladies' Society. 19. Sustaining after Meeting, 10. King's Daughters. 20. Work at the Mission. Name, Address, 53 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. The Jefferson Park Presbyterian Church, Chicago, m., has a similar system, but with the following sig- nificant addition : — IF SICK OR AGED, PLEASE MARK THE FOLLOWING. Praying for each service at the hour when it is held. Praying daily for the church, its pastor, and its work. Praying for others who are sick or aged. Writing letters to such when requested by the pastor. Remarks : Every member of the church should do something personally to proclaim the gospel of salvation. This is further made possible, even to the most timid, through the system of Silent Evayigelism. Silent Evangelism is the use of a series of cards, neatly printed in colors and different tints, for the purpose of personal work ; the bringing to another's mind in a delicate and direct way the truth of God and the ques- tion of one's relation to Jesus Christ. The system is highly endorsed and commended by the leading clergy, bishops. Christian workers, and college presidents throughout the country. Time and circumstances do not always give oppor- tunity for conversation as to another's spiritual wel- fare ; again one may be too timid, or may be in doubt as to what is best to say. But it is an easy thing to hand to another a card like the following : — 54 PERSONAL WORK. map fcienb, / was Just wondering if you have found the secret of the blessed life. It 's a queer and quiet way to ask a question, is n't it, but have you pondered earnestly the Saviour's words, "J©itbout Mt pe can tio not|)in0"? and Paul's triumphant saying, "f can bo aH tbing^ tbrougb Cftrijst, tuljicl^ ?trEnott)enett) me"? Oh, this companionship with Jesus ! What joys it brings! How it lightens care and helps one toil and win! May "the peace of God, wMch passeth understanding, keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus." The card is given. A silent prayer goes with it, and the results are left with God, who has promised that " his word shall not return unto him void." The following instance is told which shows the splendid results with which the plan has been blessed : ' ' A young man approached a stranger in the streets of Boston, and gave him a Silent Evangelism card. The stranger happened to be a resident of Philadel- phia and a Christian. He took the card home, and gave it to a person for whom it bore an appropriate message. As a direct result, union and peace came to a broken family, and eleven persons were brought into relation with the Church of Christ." The beautifully printed cards of Silent Evangelism bear different messages of sympathy and personal in- terest, and so are adapted to different people, that is to say, to different ages and conditions. The cost is very little : the use of one card a day will make an average cost of but three and one half cents a week, and the use 55 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. of one card a week, a cost of but twenty-six cents a year.^ Another real service, and one that leads to and en- courages personal work, is to place a number of tracts or leaflets in the hands of Christians, and urge them to enclose a suitable one in their various letters. Such a message is often blessed to great good ; and as great a blessing and inspiration, I believe, comes to the sender. But there is yet another way of working to the end of spiritual conviction in our churches. It is the sug- gestion of the Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, D.D., Evan- gelist and pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, that the teaching of the lesson and usual exercises of the Sunday-school occasionally give way to an evangelistic service. The general plan suggested is about as follows : A preliminary conference and prayer-meeting of officers and teachers on the Sabbath, for one-half hour before the opening of the School. The school is opened with the singing of appropriate and familiar hymns and with prayers. The Pastor and Superintendent then make short evangelistic ad- dresses. After this the teachers take their classes in general conference, and heart to heart talk with schol- ars as to their personal relation to Jesus Christ. The teacher then hands the following card to the several members of the class : — / have an honest desire henceforth to live a Christian life. I am willing to follow any light God may give me. 1 ask the people of God to pray for me. Name^ Residence^ Name of Teacher, 1 Address : The Silent Evangelism Association, 30 Lafayette JPlace, New York City. 56 PERSONAL WORK. Wonderful results have been obtained in this way. A school in Newark, N. J. , out of a membership of fifteen hundred had three hundred cards signed, and almost the entire number were received into the church- membership. A school in Burlington, Iowa, out of a membership of two hundred and fifty had fifty cards signed, and forty were received into the church. A small school in New York City out of a membership of one hundred and sixty-four received seventeen cards, another school of two hundred and seventy received sixty cards, and many other schools have obtained like proportionate results. It is worth while to ' ' suf- fer the little children to come ! " There is a growing conviction that in work for children lies the hope of the Church. By far the majority of Christians are those who became such before reaching the age of twenty- one. A little girl came to her mother with the query, *' Am I old enough to become a Christian? '* '' Are you old enough to love mamma? " was the reply. " Yes," said the child ; ' ' but am I old enough to become a Chris- tian? " The mother then asked, " Are you old enough to trust mamma ? " As the little girl gave assent, a third question was asked, "Are you old enough to obey mamma ? " Light came to the little face as the fond mother said, "If you are old enough to love, trust, and obey mamma, you are old enough to love, trust, and obey Jesus ; and that is what it is to be a Christian." Here is a lesson for Christian workers ! " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteous- ness as the stars for ever and ever." ^ 1 Daniel xii. 3. 67 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER VI. KEACHING STRANGERS AT THE SERVICES. At every church service of every church there are usually present a number of strangers. Some of them are new-comers in the neighborhood, others are those who are " never at home" or whose butler would not admit the church canvasser. Many of these strangers once sustained creditable relationships with a church in some other place, but since moving they have ne- glected to assume any church responsibilities. They attend one church once, and then in a few weeks at- tend another, thus becoming church tramps. This class of people is not inconsiderable. Take New York, for instance. The greater part of its English population has come from the country, where the major- ity of them were a church-going people. If the nominal Christians in that city, those who once happily testified to their faith in some church, would now assume defi- nite church connection and come fully into the Master's service, Manhattan Island would witness a revival of religion that would shake the continent. What is true of New York is true of every large city, and in some degree is true of the smaller city. Occasionally these sometime-Christians drift into the church services, as do also the occasional church- goers. Now the question arises, How shall we reach these strangers ? There is a very simple and satisfac- tory answer. 58 REACrimG STRANGERS AT THE SERVICES. The thing to do is to learn who these people are, and where they live, that they may be followed up and persuaded, if possible, to assume Christian respon- sibilities. The church, therefore, seeks to obtain the names and addresses of strangers when they come into the sanctuary. Several simple methods are employed. The first method may be called the " Pastor's Welcome." Be- fore the service begins, the pastor or one of the pastors (where there is a plural pastorate) takes his position at the audience room door where the greatest number of strangers enter, and at the place where they wait for ushers to seat them. For these few minutes pre- ceding the service, the pastor really acts in the capa- city of head usher. No one is seated on this aisle until he hands the people over to the ushers. Let us see how it works. Several strangers enter : they come in groups of twos and threes and fives ; some are alone. The time is brief ; it will not do to keep them waiting. The pastor is the first to speak. " Will you have seats? " he asks. " The usher will be here in a mo- ment. I am the pastor ; we are glad to welcome you. " In introducing himself the minister usually gives his name, and in reply, in most instances, strangers give theirs; if not, he says, "May I ask your name?" Here the name is given, and the pastor writes it down, saying, as he does so, "I should be glad to mail you one of our weekly calendars, if you will give me your address." Or, "I shall be glad to send you notices sometimes of our special meetings ; what address will reach you ? " The people are found ready and willing to give their names under such circumstances; but un- less some excuse, such as the sending of the church cal- endar or the notices of some meeting, be given before their address is asked, the questioner is almost certain d9 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. to give offence. Ministers who have not tried this simple plan will be surprised to find how many persons they can thus welcome in a very short time. One of the pastors of the Marble Collegiate Church, New York, told me that he had obtained as many as seventy-five names and addresses in one morning. Such a kindly greeting is always well received. Human na- ture is the same the world over. A sincere welcome and courteous treatment are appreciated. This wel- come by the pastor not only secures the stranger's name and address, but it also gives the latter a home feeling iyi that church, and makes him receptive of the gospel message. But most churches have more than one entrance, and sometimes lay members, usually officers of the church, stand at such entrance-ways and welcome strangers in the same manner as that described above. It is easy for a man to introduce himself as an officer of the church. Where the congregation is large, it is im- portant that such officer know the people, that he may not make the mistake which a new pastor made in ask- ing an elderly man if he was a stranger. '' No, not exactly," said the patriarch; *'I have been a member of this church well-nigh forty years." The officer who welcomes strangers should also be able to read them. Some persons will not receive pleasantly even the asking of their names, but all appreciate the reception at the door and provision for being seated without embarrassment. Notwithstanding such earnest efforts to obtain the names of strangers as they enter the church, many addresses cannot be obtained in this way. The people may have come in too rapidly, or some may have come in late. Other methods must be employed. In the pews or in the hymn-books, — some place where it 60 REACHING STRANGERS AT THE SERVICES. cannot escape the eye, — pew cards are placed. Many pew cards have been before me. The following is fairly illustrative of them all : — THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF OSWEGO, N. Y. Cordially invites you to make it your Church home and to join in its work and worship. Sign your name and address below, and deposit this card when the plate is passed; it will be understood that you wish to be called upon by the pastor as a regular parishioner, and to be assigned a permanent sitting. Seats are free on application, the expenses of the Church being met exclusively by volimtary weekly offerings, and all privileges of the Church will be open to you whether your offerings be large or small or wholly wanting. It is presumed, however, that all will wish to give something. Kindly indicate by an X before the figure on the back of this card whatever amount you are willing to pledge as your weekly contribution. [Beverse.] Mark an X in front of the amount you will give, and drop this card on the plate. The treasurer will imderstand that until further notification you will give this amount weekly, and will keep you informed of the state of your accounts. The contribution should of course be enclosed in an envelope signed with your name, else it cannot be credited. .01 .06 .15 .30 .75 .02 .08 .18 .35 1.00 .03 .10 .20 .40 2.00 .05 .12 .25 .50 5.00 An X here ( ) will indicate that you wish to see a copy of the chart of pews, with the vacant sittings marked. Any unoccupied seat is at your disposal. 61 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. It appears to have been a common experience that strangers have not in great numbers signed these cards. Pastors have acknowledged to me that they believe the failure partly due to an attempt to put too much on one card. In this work we ought to bear in mind that we can lead the people only one step at a time. The object of the stranger's pew card should be one ; namely, to obtain his name and address. If the church is faithful, other things will follow. Again, these pew cards, as shown above, are too much in the form of a pledge, in that they appear to commit the signer to the expression of a church preference. The result is that few strangers sign the cards, as their thoughts and desires for a church home have not matured. A card which is entirely free from the objections given above, and one which has proven very success- ful, is the following : — THE MADISON AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Will be glad to send you special notices, from time to time, of special meetings, if you will write your name and address below. Name, Address, A cordial welcome always to all. Seats free. Please leave this Card in tJie Pew or hand to one of the Ushers. This card has several advantages. It is brief. The first visit of a stranger is not the time to acquaint him with the whole system of the workings of the church, or to say that possibly it is his duty to go as 62 REACHING STRANGERS AT THE SERVICES. a foreign missionary. This card, too, does not com- mit the signer to any obligation. On the other hand, it will likely be to his pleasure to sign it. Many feel that this is just what they want. They do not care to go to church all the time, but if there is anything special going on, they are glad to go. So the card is signed, — its purpose is accomplished : the name and address is obtained. The ensuing week the pastor writes a letter some- what as follows : — My dear Mr. Smith, — We were glad to receive the card signed by you last Sunday in our church. It will give us pleasure to send you notices of our special meetings, and we believe that you will find them interesting and enjoyable. We cordially welcome you to any and all of our meetings ; and we shall be pleased to meet you personally, and hope to have the privilege of calling on you soon. Trusting that you will always feel at home with us when able to attend our services, Believe me, sincerely, A call is made as soon as possible. This is fol- lowed, from time to time, by notices of special relig- ious and social meetings. Invitations to church socials, to the ladies' receptions, the young men's club, or men's league, the debating society, or young people's society, as the case may be, are sent. When a person comes, he is cordially received, and is shown every attention. His heart is won by that people and church, and it will be strange, indeed, if it is not soon won to Jesus Christ. Some churches instead of using cards in the pews have the ushers hand them to strangers, as the fol- lowing card illustrates : — 63 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. You are cordially welcomed. It would afford me pleasure to meet you at the close of the service^ and introduce you to our pastor and other members. Usher. [Reverse.] Please fill the lines below and drop this card in the collection basket^ if you desire the pastor to call on you. Name, Address. There is a personal touch about the signature of the usher that commends this card to the stranger and gives the feeling of an individual welcome to the church. There will be other strangers in the church, doubt- less, whose names are not obtained as they enter, and who will not place their addresses on any kind of a card. The method used to reach such persons is also one which pleasantly emphasizes the welcome and hospitality to all. This method is called the "Pastor's Pulpit Reception." At the conclusion of the church notices, or before the offertory, where notices are not read, the pastor says: "It is a pleasure to meet stran- gers worshipping with us. I shall be in front of the pulpit for this purpose immediately after the service, and will appreciate meeting those of you who will honor me by coming forward." The invitation is given in different forms. The form matters little when coming from the heart. To such invitations the people respond; and there are churches which have obtained large numbers of names and addresses in this way. 64 REACHING STRANGERS AT THE SERVICES. Some pastors, instead of having the pulpit recep- tion, go to the rear of the room at the close of the services, and meet the people as they come out. Announcement of the pastor's presence at the door is given from the pulpit. Such ministers are careful to explain, as they extend the invitation to strangers to meet them, that the meeting and the giving of their names entails no obligation, but simply means mutual acquaintance. The value of such explanation from the pulpit is twofold : it prepares the way for an easy approach to the stranger, and emphasizes the hospi- tality of the church. It also is a delicate suggestion to the church-members that the pastor is at the door at the conclusion of the service especially to express their welcome to the new-comers. In the Central Congregational Church of Jamaica Plain, Boston, the following notice appears in the calendar for the even- ing service, which is conducted by the Young Men's Club: — Note. — During the Gloria Patri, the Pastor and Invita- tion Committee will pass to the vestibule, where they will be glad to greet as many as possible. The Gloria Patri is sung immediately after the benediction, and is followed by the usual postlude. But it is impossible for the pastor to meet all the strangers at the door, and with the pulpit reception it is found that some people are too timid or have no special desire to come forward to meet the ministers. Therefore still other means may be employed for obtaining the names and addresses of strangers pres- ent. Some ministers have the church mapped out in sections, a certain number of sittings being appor- tioned to individuals whose business it is to look out for strangers and to invite them forward to meet the 5 65 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. pastor. This work is usually in charge of some one of the church societies. Whatever society it is under, each individual in charge of a section sends in a written report every week of the previous Sabbath's work. The following is a copy of a blank used for that purpose : — REPORT ON WELCOMING STRANGERS. Church. Number of strangers in my section, Of these icere men, were women. Number to lohom greeting was given, , Names and Addresses, Date, A.M. or p.m. Signed, — A written report should always be required. It im- mediately places within the pastor's hand any new names that may have been received, and it keeps the committee "up to time " in their work of welcoming strangers. Other churches also have a Vestibule Committee, which works to the same end of meeting strangers. For some of the Sabbath services at Grace Church, New York, there is always a committee of young men upon the sidewalk, in waiting to give passers-by an invitation into the services. This is done by printed card of invitation (which is important) and personal word. In addition to these definite plans for welcoming and reaching strangers at the church services, every 66 REACHING STRANGERS AT THE SERVICES. member of the church should be made to feel that to look out for strangers, which is looking out for souls, is a part of true worship. Many persons hesitate to speak to others of their soul's welfare, but surely the most timid can say to the stranger, "I hope you are going to accept the pastor's invitation to meet him, — will you not let me introduce you to him ? " When there is an ear- nest longing for souls, and the people are filled with the Holy Spirit, how can they refrain from extending a welcome, and giving a stranger to feel that he is in his Father's house and with the Israel of his God! This is the spirit which ought to prevail throughout the Church. When it does, we may expect Pente- costal blessings. 67 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER VII. ushers' association. The ushers at one end of the room are as important as the minister at the other end of the church. The first impression which strangers receive on coming into a church is usually from the ushers. The cour- teous welcome and ready attention and the prompt seating of visitors, as well as the regular attendants, when necessary, is no small factor in the success of winning the people. Upon entering the better and larger retail stores in our cities, and even in the smaller villages, the door is not only opened for us, but some one stands ready to check our umbrella, to take our coat, and some one else is prompt in attention to direct us to any part of the building. Is it true that even here the children of this world are wiser than the children of light? If there is any body of men who need to be prayed for, who ought to pray for themselves, that they may at once realize the importance, delicacy, and dignity of their office, it is the ushers of a church. I am led to believe that the ushering is most suc- cessfully done in those churches which have an Ushers' Association, — where members are stimu- lated by coming together in an organized society. It is then that there is developed an espiit de corps, that they are inspired with the importance of their work, and fall to their places with military precision. 68 USHERS' ASSOCIATION Grace Temple, Philadelphia, has an Ushers' Asso- ciation. I take the following significant paragraphs from the resolutions which govern this Society : — Resolution 4. Resolved: That every usher being absent from duty shall pay the Secretary the sum of twenty-five cents, and for being late, the sum of ten cents. These fines may be remitted for sickness, or when said delinquent shall have given the Head Usher two days' notice. Resolution 6. Resolved : That when any usher shall be absent from his post of duty four Sundays in succession without cause, the position shall be declared vacant, and filled by the Head Usher. The ushers of Grace Temple are also charged twenty-five cents each month to pay for such expenses as may arise from time to time. Those who know of Grace Temple know that it has one of the most efficient bodies of ushers of any church in this country. The business-like way in which they take hold of things is positively refreshing. What pastor has not been exasperated by sleepy officers, nominally in charge of this important work, stumbling into their pews, the latest attendants in the congregation! The Ushers' Association of the Hollond Memorial Church, Philadelphia, is also deserving of mention. This Society has published in neat attractive form its Constitution and by-laws, together with the names of officers and members of the Association. The sug- gestions to ushers contained in this little book are so capital that a copy of them should be in the hands of every usher in the country whether he belong to an Ushers' Association or not: — 1. Be at your post thirty minutes before time for service. 2. Be careful to reserve seats when requested to do so. 3. Fill your front seats Jirst. 4. Know how many each pew wiU seat, and see that it is filled when the house is crowded. 69 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. 5. Make an effort to seat friends together. 6. Give strangers the best seats, and see that they have a hymn-book or programme. (Read Hebrews xiii. 2.) 7. The head usher should make it his business to direct tlie ushering. He should see that the house is evenly seated, axid that collectors do their work properly. 8. Never seat any one claiming prayer or the rendering oj special music. 9. Be prompt in starting the collection, but go slow when taking it, and be careful that you slight no one. 10. Keep the air good. If it becomes close, open windows during the singing. 11. Be quiet in all your icork. 12. Do not permit groups to assemble in the back part of the church and talk before and dui'ing service. Once a year this Society gives a supper and enter- tainment to the men of the church. The work of the Association is then briefly reviewed, other short ad- dresses are made, and a general good time is realized. In speaking of this Association, Rev. J. R. Miller, D.D., one of the pastors of the Hollond Church, says: "It has worked admirably. It is a good thing for the young men themselves, and we have no more pleasant and happy Association about the church. It has trained them to thoughtfulness and helpfulness in many ways. They have learned to greet people cor- dially and take an interest in strangers, the old peo- ple, and poor people. Besides, it has been of great advantage to the church, assuring system and order in the seating of people, taking up collections, etc." There are but few of these Ushers' Associations in the country at present; but a movement so happily conceived is sure to grow, and in time to come it will be a source of wonder to us that for so long we failed to appreciate the magnitude of the office of the "door-keeper in the house of our God." 70 THE CHOIK. CHAPTER VIIL THE CHOIR. The power of music over the human heart is something before which we pause in mute admiration, — so clearly does it show God's wondrous plan in keeping for himself one tender spot in the soul on which his voice may fall without rejection. Mrs. Laura C. Dunlap. There are various things to be said in favor of dif- ferent kinds of music: chorus, quartette, vested choir, or congregational singing. One would have the music of the great congregation led simply by a pre- centor; another, the quartette to lead the congregation and render selections, as duets, trios, and quartettes ; but let not any one think that a change of personnel without a change of spirit will give new life to the music of the church. Rev. Dr. Rainsford well states this truth when he says: "A man writes that his church has failed as a pew church and with a quar- tette choir; do I think it will succeed as a free church and with a boy choir? . . . One man can put life-blood into one set of methods, and another into another, but what we want is blood." ^ There are various plans for conducting church music. Between the extremes of poor congregational sing- ing and the professional or paid quartette only, lies the middle ground, which is outlined by the Rev. ^ Christianity Practically Applied, p. 179. 71 MODERN METHODS IN CHUKCH WORK. Charles A. Dickinson, D.D., pastor of Berkeley Tem- ple, Boston, in the introduction to his admirable book, "The Temple Service." He says: "In order to draw upon all the treasures of sacred music, and to make the service of song in the house of God most effective, three things are necessary, — a quartette which is not only competent, but disposed to sing the simplest hymn as well as the most elaborate anthem, a well-trained chorus, and a singing congregation. With this combination it is possible to meet the varied tastes of the people and to secure the most delicate as well as the grandest effects in church service." Grace Baptist Temple of Philadelphia has the lar- gest permanent choir in the United States, numbering two hundred and eighty singers. They are trained to sing without the baton. Attendance at church and at rehearsals is maintained by the advantages of the musical drill, secured by membership in the choir, and by a fine of twenty-five cents for absence, while absence from a concert subjects the delinquent to a fine of one dollar. There are also associate members who pay five dollars annually, and are entitled to three tickets for each of the concerts of the season. The money that is collected is used in paying for music and other expenses. The choir is assisted by piano, organ, and an orchestra composed mainly of young people from the Sunday-school. This church has excellent facilities for training musicians, as there is a department of music in connection with Temple College, which is under the direction of the church. In the Temple chorus there are several minor musical organizations, such as quartettes of men and women whose services are in demand in the city. All the money these singers make they devote to some 72 THE CHOIR. branch of the Temple work. One year they contrib- uted 11,200. In the Clarendon Street Church, Boston, of which the late Rev. A. J. Gordon, D.D., was pastor, there is a large volunteer choir, which consists entirely of church-members. Nothing is paid for music except to the organist. This choir believes that "it is more blessed to give than to receive," and at one time gave $400 to a missionary in Mexico. The First Congregational Church, Jersey City, has tried the experiment of dispensing with its paid quar- tette, and devoting the money to paying a chorus. Special singers are engaged for occasional services, but the talent of the chorus is equal to nearly every demand. This plan is working well, and is resulting in binding a large number of families to the church in a very special way. The Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, has a large chorus choir which is doing excel- lent work. The director of the choir, who is also the organist, is a salaried man. The nominal salary of about f 100 each is paid the quartette. This latter ex- pense, and the cost of the music, are met by a winter concert given by the choir. No salary is paid to members of the chorus, but they are amply compen- sated by private singing-lessons given them by the director, for which they agree to sing regularly in the choir. The arrangement is as strictly a business one as that which engages the director of the music. This plan has also met with gratifying success in other churches. A somewhat different choir is that of St. George's Church, New York. This is a choir of ninetv voices. It includes men, women, and boys. The boys are trained for this work by singing in a surpliced choir 73 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. in the Sunday-school. The Sunday-school choir serve as choristers at the Sunday evening and Wednesday niglit services, and are promoted to the regular choir on showing proficiency. Quite different is the method in Grace Episcopal Church, in the same city. This choir consists of men and boys. There is a day school held in the church building for the choir boys. They are thus available at all times for special services, weddings, and funerals. The boys receive private music les- sons during the intervals of their classes. The school is an excellent one, having two women instructors and military drill, and boys are counted fortunate who are enrolled on its lists. In the Congregational Church of Sparta, Wis., they are engaged in what may be called choir-build- ing. The Men's Club of the church has engaged a salaried music-teacher to instruct the young people in music, giving them twenty lessons in twenty weeks. These young people, twenty to forty in number, come into the evening choir as needed, in a body, or in fewer numbers. The pastor. Rev. William Crawford, says, "This is providing good church music for the future as well as for the present." Whatever the nature of the choir, one thing is need- ful: let those who lead our worshipping congrega- tions in song be those who can sing with spirit and with a conscious appreciation of their sacred posi- tion! True, we want good music, the best possible; none can be too good for such great and sacred themes, nor too good for the humblest people. If the congregation is largely made up of those who are not able to cultivate or gratify their desire for artistic song, so much more the reason for the best that art can give at our church services. But singing which 74 THE CHOIR. is purely artistic will not do. We have no more right "to put an unconsecrated singer into the choir than we have to put an unconsecrated preacher iuto the pulpit. " ^ Let us be careful how we touch the ark of God! Dangers beset that church in which the aesthetic taste is paramount. It is not a question of money. The Church cannot afford to be sparing of her funds if she will attain the desired result. But here lies the danger, that by engaging musicians of ability the demand may be created in the congregation for a finished musical skill, which may not at all times be obtainable combined with the spiritual requisites, which far outweigh the merely artistic ones. A sen- timent should be developed in the choir and the con- gregation that the singers are the ministers of God, no less than he who addresses the people from the pulpit; and to this end let the preacher pray for the choir frequently, and in public, as he has prayed for all those who share the services with him. Would we breathe a consecration prayer, let us include that beau- tiful verse-petition of Frances Ridley Havergal : — " Take my voice, and let me siug Always, only, for my King. Take my lips, and let them be Filled with messages from Thee." 1 Rev. Dr. A. P. Pierson, Report of Second Convention of Christian Workers, New York, 1887, p. 60. 73 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER IX. THE men's SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. ** The joy of life for strong natures lies in a noble activity : a work adequate to the aspirations of the soul ; a work that brings calm by its magnitude, and by its very demands evokes the best and greatest in us." Not until recently has the executive and business abil- ity represented by the men of the Church been turned to large account. Outside of the few officers and prayer-meeting pillars men have done little or nothing in church work. Here for the most part has been a Niagara of unused power. The problem of how to use and interest the men in the Church, and how to reach men outside of the Church, is one of the greatest that ever faced a pastor. The minister who first started a men's Sunday Evening Club is deserving the gratitude of his fellow-laborers in the field of church work, for he cut the Gordian knot. One of the greatest movements of modern times, a movement that must stand prominent in the history of the Church, is that of the Sunday Evening Club. The work of these clubs has already passed the experimental stage, and is one of the recognized forces in evangelistic work. The great object of the organi- zation is to increase in every appropriate and legiti- mate way the attractiveness and effectiveness of the Sunday evening service, and to interest the non- church-goiug men in church work, that they may 76 THE MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. become useful members of the Church and faithful followers of Jesus Christ. The organization and the plan of the Men's Club are best indicated by the fol- lowing constitution, which is practically that of all the clubs doing this work. The constitution, and nine of the committees indicated, are taken from the Club of the Presbyterian Church of Austin, 111. The first, second, ninth, tenth, and eleventh committees are copied from the Club of the First Congregational Church, Applet on. Wis. Article I. Name. — The name of this Association shall be " The Men's Club of the Church." Article II. Object. — The object of this Club shall be to interest in the . . . Church the men of the community who are not connected with any other congregation, es- pecially by increasing the attractiveness of the evening services. Article III. Officers. — The officers of this Club shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot, by a majority, and hold their office for . . . months, or until their successors are elected. Article IV. Membership. — Men who are interested in the purpose of the Club, and willing to co-operate in carrying out its plans, are eligible to membership, and shall become members when accepted by the Membership Committee. It is understood that all who join the Club will, when called upon, serve on committees. Article V. Committees. — The Officers, together with the Pastor, shall appoint the following Committees, who shall serve for three months, namely, — A Committee on Worship, who, with the Pastor, shaU furnish the general plan for each evening service by way of sermon, responsive service, and hymns. Second : A Committee on Music, who, with the Organist, shall see that the evening service is provided with appro- priate vocal and instrumental music. Third: A Committee on Printing and Advertising, tha 77 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCPI WORK. duty of -which shall be to see that the church and its work is sufficiently advertised. Fourth : A Committee on Ushers, which shall see that the church services are provided with these oifiicers. Fifth: A Committee on Invitation, the duty of which shall be to invite strangers and non-attendants of any church, and which shall act also as a hand-shaking or general welcome committee. Sixth : A Social and Entertainment Committee, the busi- ness of which shall be to plan for the social interests of the Club, and provide such entertainments, of a popular char- acter, as may best advance the object of the Club. Seventh : A Finance Committee, of which the Treasurer shall be chairman, the duty of which shall be to provide the funds necessary for carrying on the work. Eighth : A Committee on Membership, the duty of which shall be to secure and admit new members. Ninth : A Committee on Decoration, who shall assist in the decoration of the church whenever such decoration may be desired. Tenth : A Coat and Hat Committee, who shall take charge of those articles in the vestibule. Eleventh : A Committee of Choristers, who shall take their places in the choir and assist in leading the congre- gation in singing. Twelfth : A Census Committee, the duty of which shall be to canvass the neighborhood and ascertain the names of those who do not attend any place of worship regularly. Thirteenth : An Executive Committee, which shall con- sist of the Pastor, the Officers of the Club, and the Chair- man of the Committees, the duty of which shall be to look after the general interests of the Club. Article VI. Amendments. — This constitution shall be amended by a two-thirds vote of those present at any regular meeting. Article VII. Meetings. — A Business and Social Meet- ing, with banquet, shall be held on the first Friday evening of each month at eight p. m., in the Church parlors. Special meetings may be called by the President when necessary. 78 THE MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. It is at ODce apparent that this association of men has elements of real strength. In the first place it stands for a definite object, one that is worth the while : in- teresting the non-church-going men of the community and increasing the attractiveness of the Sunday ser- vices, especially the evening service. Men m the Church, as in business, must have something large enough to take hold of, something that will interest and occupy them. Give them a work worth doing, and a regular time in which to do it, and almost all men will respond and do their best. Another vital element in the association is the equalization of labor and responsibility with the indi- vidual members. New officers are elected and com- mittees appointed every three months, thus making provision for the distribution of places of responsibil- ity. Every member of the club is, at some time of the year, given with others the responsibility for advertis- ing and caring for some one Sunday evening service, and at all times is made to feel that he is responsible for his share in the work, and that he should do his best to make some non-church-goer realize that a warm welcome awaits him at any of the church services when- ever he cares to claim it. Another factor which plays an important part in the work is the nature of the organization. The feeling of fraternity is divinely implanted in men. "What could more completely fill the want than a men's club? Here is something which belongs to them. It was made for them, and one element in its success is that men naturally take to the idea of a club. They want to be associated in a definite and distinct organization. They like the regulation of the idea, and the discipline appeals to them. If some church-members object to the term " club " as having a tone of " worldly uugodli 79 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. ness," it will be weU to point out that its real meaning "is an organization in which each one bears his full share of the work or burden of expenses." ^ Several churches use the term ''Men's League," but out of the two hundred or more clubs with which I have corre- sponded, only four have taken that name. The clubs place emphasis on the social life, and aim to produce a kindly acquaintance and goodly fellowship, not only among the members of the society, but also between the men of the church and the community. Provision is made for monthly or quarterly socials. Supper is served, and music, speeches, recitations, and other pleasant features are i)rovided, as in the judgment of the Social Committee may seem best. Each member is usually permitted to invite one or two of his men friends. Most clubs have anniversary banquets, for which unusual provision is made, and members invite their families and friends. Still other clubs have these social gatherings when they have invited guests some two or three times a year. This social feature is de- serving the stress placed upon it; it is important. Not only does it foster and develop an espi^it de corps, but it meets one of man's deepest needs. He was ordained to be a social creature, and the Christian worker who will not recognize this either does not understand or else defies the nature of man and the laws of God. But the work of the club centres largely upon the Sunday evening service ; thus the social and club feat- ures are a means to the great end of bringing men within hearing of the Gospel. The nature of the Sun- day evening service is determined by the Devotional Committee, together with the pastor. The evening 1 "The Fishiu' Jimmy Club," by Rev. John Clark Hill, D-D., p. 15. 80 THE MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. meeting is a devotional service, with such pleasurable and helpful features as recover it from the unimpor- tant service and render it a drawing power instead of a drag. The pastor presides, and usually gives a short, stirring address, — the very best he can put into twelve or fifteen minutes of time. The programme is bright, spirited, and varied with a considerable part for the people to share in by way of responsive readings, creed, prayers in unison, and singing. Not only is variety sought in each programme, but in the different programmes from week to week. The clubs have printed programmes giving the order of service and bearing the names of the officers and chairmen of the committees of the club ; some clubs print the names of all the members as well as the chairmen of the commit- tees, thus magnifying the importance of the individual member. The order of the morning service of worship is frequently indicated in the same bulletin, thus mak- ing the programme serve for both services. The make-up of the programme is frequently changed for the sake of variety. Sometimes the programme has only one page, but usually it has four pages, including notes relative to church and club news, and notes briefly stating the object of the club, its method of work by committees, the nature of membership, and other helpful inforaiation. The club also has charge of the advertising of the evening service.^ In starting a club the pastor must be willing to undertake it with small beginnings. Possibly only a few will be attracted at first by the idea. It may be possible that the board of ruling officers of the church will not take kindly to the new plan. There are al- ways those who decry anything new, and stand in jealous fear lest some little place of prominence be 1 For methods in advertising see Chapter XL 6 81 MODERN METHODS IN CHUKCH WORK. usurped. It will be helpful in the organization to tell what work has been accomplished by clubs elsewhere, discuss the needs of the community, and emphasize the importance of men working for men; and having presented the matter from the pulpit and worked personally, then announce the evening for the organi- zation, and commence with those who are willing to begin. Many most successful clubs have had very small beginnings. One thing that speaks strongly for the Sunday evening club is that it is a stepping-stone into the membership of the church. Many men in sympathy with the Gospel and the church are without its pale, feeling that they cannot (though it be for a poor reason) take the stand naturally expected of regular attendants of the church ; but when a place is made for them in some auxiliary society they gladly fall into line. Must we not be willing to lead men one step at a time? Dr. Strong, in his " New Era," shows that a large proportion of those who have sat under the hear- ing of the Gospel have come into the membership of the church, and that little headway has been made towards bringing non-church-goers into the fold of Christ. Should we not make every effort possible, then, to bring men where they needs must hear the Gospel? — the word shall not return unto Him void.^ One pastor writes me that the work of the club and the music attracted large audiences, but said that he preferred to have his regular services to preach to three hundred or so who came to hear the Gospel. Is that a broad-minded or right position? Eatlier should we not rejoice in any means which draws the people where they must hear the Gospel whether they want to or not? It is possible even for a minister to de- 1 Isaiah Iv. 11. 82 THE MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. ceive himself and have jealous fear lest the people come to hear the music rather than to hear him. It is again the ' * capital ' I ' crowned and enthroned in the place that belongs to Jesus Christ ! " Most encoui-aging reports are given by pastors rela- tive to the work of the Sunday Evening Club. In my correspondence with over two hundred pastors who have such associations, but eleven reported failures. One of these ministers let the club drop because, as he wrote, ' ' it required too much time on my part to look after it." It was a failure in another instance, the pastor writes, " because the officers of the club began to incur heavy expenses before any provision was made to meet them, and a radical difference of view as to what the club should attempt, with the presence of two or three Scotchmen who objected to almost everj^thing. " Three other clubs reported suc- cessful work for the first year, but did not continue the club thereafter, one feeling it not adapted to his community, another because the men " grew weary of working," another because too expensive. Another club did not continue because never resurrected by the pastor and officers after a summer's vacation. Such in general are the reasons given for the disband- ing of the Sunday Evening Clubs. Regarding these reasons I would make but two comments : first, it is too much to expect of any organization that it will run itself; and, secondly, we may expect a certain per- centage of failures here as in any enterprise, as all men are not gifted with business ability. The following are extracts from letters received from ministers, telling of the success of their Club. I only regret that space does not permit the printing of all the letters written me relative to this work. The Rev. William Carter, Sterling, 111., pastor of the 83 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. First Presbyterian Church, among other things writes : *'The Men's League has been an unqualified success with us. It was organized the 4th of November, 1894, and interested the men immediately. Its first year was marked by great enthusiasm, and its second year is starting out better than the first. Our charter mem- bership was thii'ty-five ; the second year we doubled it, and before the year closed we had almost one hundred members, and the list continually growing. Our Sab- bath evening congregations have increased over one hundred per cent, and many are now in attendance that were not interested in any church before. As for practical results, we have a Missionary Society within the League, which is really constituted of all the League members, and a few Sundays ago a missionary programme was given in which all who took part were men. Certainly this shows an interest in spiritual things, and is drawing men nearer the Kingdom than ever they were before." Rev. Frank Newhall White, associate pastor of the Congregational Church of Burlington, Iowa, writes: " We feel that the service has been very successful. A permanent congregation has thus been secured, and often we are privileged to minister to congregations varying from six hundred to a thousand. Scores of people, before habitually indifferent to the church, have been aroused to active attendance, interest, and co-operation. The willingness to be known publicly as members of such an organization is such an improve- ment on previous conditions, for a large number of men, that we feel much has been gained. The organi- zation is now recognized as one of the positive forces making for the elevation and salvation of the city." " Rightly used, the Club is an evangel," writes Rev. Dr. James A. Chamberlain, pastor of the First Con- 84 THE MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. gregational Church of Owatonna, Minn. Dr. Cham* berlain says that three things are needed for a success- ful club. " Fn-st, a minister who can command the situation. A weak man should never have a club. Second, singers of sense, singers who will sing and let sing. Here we meet the greatest obstacle of the Sunday night service. Some singers want a ' holy opera;* some won't sing 'if so and so does.' Third, a Board of Deacons or Elders, who have been con- verted and have common-sense, to stand by the preacher and let him convert men with fiddle, trom- bone, flute, flageolet, etc., etc. Any instrument that will please men may and ought to be used for the glory of God.'* Rev. J. H. Reynard, pastor of the Sprague Me- morial Presbyterian Church of Tacoma, Washington, writes of his Ciub : " It is a good success, — no trou- ble to fill the seats and raise money to run the business end of it. The services are always evangelistic." Rev. Joseph H. Selden, pastor of the First Congre- gational Church of Elgin, 111., writes: "Our League, well on in its third year, has proved from the first very helpful. The Sunday evening service has doubled in size under the work of the League, is larger than our morning audience, has averaged for over a year about five hundred in attendance, and a half-dozen times in the season will reach nine hundred. The League has reached and interested men in the church, and has made for itself an established place." From the Presbyterian Church of Three Rivers, Mich., the pastor. Rev. J. H. McPherson, writes : " My primary object in organizing the Club was to feel that I had around me a band of level-headed, practical business men to whom I might go for advice, and also call upon for aid to bring many of our men into closer 85 MODERN METHODS IN CHUUCH WORK. touch with the church and religious things. Towards this end the club has succeeded nobly. Our evening audiences when I came to the church, about sixteen months ago, had dwindled down to an average attend- ance of thirty. The evening audiences average to-day over three hundred (on special or extra occasions we have over six hundred), and the interest is still kept up." Rev. Charles S. Hoyt, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Oak Park, 111., writes : " The evening audi- ence has doubled, and much has been done to unify the church work, and to increase a spirit of pride in the church, and loyalty to its interests. We have succeeded in attaching to the church men who were indifferent." Rev. C. A. Wight, pastor of the Congregational Church of Platte^ille, Wis., writes: "The audiences have filled the house from the start, and there is no decline of interest. Many people have been regular in attendance who did not go to church before. The financial cost is almost nothing in our case, and is met by the evening collections. Some have united with the church through the influence of the Club. Many men have gone to work for the success of the services who were doing nothing before, perhaps not even attending the services. For fifty years the evening congregation was a drag. A crowded house in the evening gives an Impetus to all departments of work." Rev. G. James Jones, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Maywood, HI., writes : "It has enlisted about one half of the men members of our congregation in practical work, visitation, and inviting and planning for the Sabbath evening service, which has increased in attendance very largely. It is the best help of a human kind that a pastor can have." 86 THE MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. Rev. Archibald Haddan, pastor of the First Congre- gational Church of Muskegon, Mich., writes: "We maintain a Vesper Service at 5 p. m. Sunday. The Club has charge of it, and it has become a feature of our church and of the city. A chorus of thirty or forty voices, accompanied by organ and orchestra, renders good music and leads in the hymns. The good results of the Club are: First, the creation of this service ; second, giving the men a distinctive work to do ; third, drawing into closer relations to the church a considerable number of men and women." Rev. R. D. Scott, pastor of the Belden Avenue Presbyterian Church of Chicago, has a Men's Associa- tion which is carrying on various lines of church work. One result of this Association, the pastor writes, is " that the evening congregations fill the house so that extra chairs are needed. The music is attractive, and a deeper spiritual interest prevails. The Club is a pre- eminently good thing, and is capable of indefinite ex- pansion. Making men know each other intimately is a great point gained, and one which we magnify." Rev. Willis E. Parsons, pastor of the First Presby- terian Church of Danville, III., writes of his Club as follows : " There has been a large increase in attend- ance, and a growing interest on the part of the men of the League in the evening service, brighter and more helpful services, and the cheering of the heart of the pastor. The men of the League too are more inter- ested in the general work of the church. In their meetings they consult concerning the church as a whole, and are willing to do work that hitherto they did not do. As I look at the Men's League in this church, I feel that there is no limiting its possibilities for useful- ness if it be wisely directed." Rev. E. L. Smith, pastor of the Congregational 87 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. Church of Walla Walla, Washington, writes: "Our Sunday Evening Club is now two years old, and has been of great practical service in enlisting the active co-operation of many young men for the church and in filling the church on Sunday evenings. The danger has been to drift too much toward entertainment in the evening music, but this has been bravely met and over- come. The result is more people hearing the Gospel and more at work for Christ and the Church." Rev. Edward F. Goff, pastor of the First Congrega- tional Church of Aurora, 111. : " We have no difficulty in filling our audience-room every Sunday evening. We frequently need to place chairs in the aisles. Non- church-goers begin to cultivate a habit of church attendance, and place themselves within the sphere of pastoral influence." Mr. Goff adds : " I try to remem- ber that the object of the evening service is spiritual and saving, — that whatever leads the people to the church, when I get them there, I must do them good. The most varied and attractive service may also be the most spiritual." Rev. J. Monroe Markley, pastor of the First Con- gregational Church of Lee Center, 111., writes in the following encouraging way about the work of a men's club in a small town. Lee Center is a country place of between two hundred and fifty and three hundred inhabitants, and Mr. Markley's church is composed mainly of country people, but he says : " I have proven most conclusively that the methods of the Men's Sun- day Evening Club can be utilized successfully in the country church. Our church is crowded at every even- ing service, and often chairs are placed in the aisle; all available standing room is occupied. During the warmest weather last summer we turned people away by scores who were not able to gain admittance, 88 THE MEN'S SUNDAY EVENING CLUB. and this matter of attendance is only one indication of an increased interest manifested in every line of church work. It has far surpassed my most sanguine expectations." One of the most successful cluT^s in the country, and one that has done much to extend the movement, is that in the Presbyterian Church of Austin, 111., of which the Rev. John Clark Hill, D.D., is pastor. He gives the following account of the results of the work of the Men's Club in his church : ' ' The work of the Men's Club in our parish has forced the church and its work for the good of men and the glory of God upon the attention of the community in such a way that it has resulted in gathering a congregation on Sunday even- iugs that is limited only by the size of our building. It has done this without in any way affecting the audi- ences of other churches. It has brought together con- gregations at these services in which nearly seventy- five per cent are males ; it has brought these men week after week under the influence of the preaching of the Holy Scriptures, read, preached, and sung ; it has stim- ulated every department of our church work to greater zeal ; it has brought the men of the congregation, and very many outside of it, into a closer sympathy with evangelistic work ; it has brought these men into social contact that is a help to them and to the church. It has done this by persistent advertising, a great variety of good music, short discourses ; and by giving the people a large share in the service, in congregational prayers, as well as in praise and responsive reading ; and by the willingness to be led in all details by the Holy Spirit, that Christ may be glorified." From the report rendered at the Fourth Anniversary of the Young Men's Sunday Evening Club of the First Congregational Church of Appleton, Wis., Rev. Jehu 89 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. Faville, D.D., pastor, I take the following extracts, which show how the work has fared in one of the pioneer churches in this movement : — " The results have more than justified the movement. The Club enters to-day upon its fifth year of work. It has grown in strength and usefulness each year. The membership of twenty at its organization has increased to five hundred and sixty. The average attendance at the evening service has increased from one hundred and fifty to six hundred and fifty. The Club has as- sisted in the morning service, increased the size of the parish, helped meet the financial demands, carried on for three years a successful lecture course, developed a better social life, identified itself with the local chari- ties of the city, and in other ways has helped to make the church a house of life. Not the least of the many surprises in this movement has been the readiness with which so many men have responded when given some- thing to do for the evening service." The anniversary programme of this club also bore the following large- hearted message: ''The Club extends fraternal greet- ings to all similar associations, of which there are many, and is glad to give all the information and as- sistance possible." Pastors purposing to organize a Sunday Evening Club will find, I am sure, that all clubs are glad to help and co-operate in extending the movement. A glance at the different Sunday evening programmes of different clubs will be found most helpful and suggestive. 90 THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. CHAPTEK X. THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. The Church was founded by Christ as his great instrument in sav- ing the world, and its great purpose should be to reach men and save them. . . . Teach the Church that it has a commission from the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach it that unless it puts forth every effort to reach men with the Gospel it cannot retain that commission, and it will learn that it must pay attention to the Sunday evening service, for with this definition at its heart and its spirit kindled with what it means, it will soon find that the Sabbath evening is the time of all others when the people can and must be reached. For instance, it will find that the laborer . . . having no religious principles to draw him to church re- mains at home, but in the evening it is otherwise. The long hours of the day have given a surfeit of mere rest, and the man and his family are on the lookout for some place to which they may go. They want to forget their work and their trials. They go out upon the street. They find one church with its doors barred. They find another with a few score of people assembled where there is room for thousands. Into the first they could not go if they would, and into the second they will not go if they can. They want to be where men are, and where they can feel the warm touch and glow of life, and so they pass by these doors and go to houses of entertainment that bid for their patronage. Rev. Charles S. Mills. Many an anxious pastor has asked, "What shall we do with the Sunday evening service ? " This has long been a serious question. Some have dropped this second service, others have shifted it to the afternoon, and others have permitted it ' ' to struggle under the incubus of being a second-rate affair, holding it in the basement or back chapel. " ^ Many churches which are filled in the morning are weU-nigh empty at night. 1 Eev. Charles S. Mills, Report of the Fifth Convention of Christian Workers, Hartford, Conn., 1890, p. 59. n MODERN METHODS IN CHUKCH WORK. The complaint has been a lack of interest on the part of church-members and no inclination on the part of non-church-goers to attend the evening meeting. But this state of affairs has not been looked upon, for the most part, with complacency, nor regarded as a finality by earnest ministers ; they have faced the perplex- ing problem, and already beginnings have been made toward a satisfactory solution. In the chapter on the Men's Sunday Evening Club, testimonies are given of most successful Sabbath even- ing services, showing a several-fold increase in attend- ance, and proportionate results in reaching the unsaved. This work of the Club is, I believe, one of the greatest helps as yet called to the assistance of the evening service. But there are many ways in which the second service of worship may be made helpful and interesting. 1. The Musical Service is always an acceptable va- riation from the usual formal preaching service. It is more than a pleasant change, — it is a change afford- ing unusual possibilities for good. Many who will not come to hear the Word preached will come to hear the Word sung, and others who seemingly are not touched by anything else are reached by the sweet message of song. It was Henry Ward Beecher who said, " You are conscious when you go to an earnest meeting that while hymns are being sung and you listen to them, your heart is, as it were, loosened, and there comes out of those hymns to you a realization of the truth as you never heard it before." Ever since the morning stars first sang together, music has played a large part in worship. The musical service, when wisely conducted, has proven to be a most impressive service. A prominent church in New York City, at the suggestion of the 92 THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. chorister, commenced giving a musical service once a month, and at once the attendance on the evening ser- vice increased from two hundred and fifty to an aver- age attendance of over six hundred, and mth an attendance of nine and eleven hundred at the musical service. It is to be remembered that in a meeting of this kind there should be perfect harmony between the service and the pastor's own soul. Prayerful, spiritual, painstaking preparation is just as essential here as in any other service. The programmes of such services are varied according to the ability of the choir to ren- der music, and the taste of the pastor who directs the service. The music which is the most spiritual, such as Gounod's " Sauctus " and selections from Handel's " Messiah," has always proven not only the most help- ful, but also the most attractive to the people. This music is an uplift, presents the truth in a persuasive way, and also increases the interest of the choir, mag- nifying their importance and giving them music that readily commands their best effort. In addition to anthems, solos, quartettes, and duets, there is a pro- gramme of congregational singing, scriptural lessons or responsive readings, and such varied exercises as the pastor may arrange. The minister usually gives a short sermon of twelve or fifteen minutes, — the best that he can do in that time without one unnecessary or irrelevant word. Some ministers vary these services by an occasional brief lecture on music, again by having the burden of the programme consist of hymns by the congregation, the preacher giving a brief history of the hymns, — the occasion of the writing, and possibly some anecdote in the life of the writer, before the singing of each selection. For such information the busy pastor wUl find some good work on hymnology invaluable. MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. For worship in Berkeley Temple, Boston, the Rev. Dr. Dickinson prepared a series of Sunday evening services, which are somewhat different from those de- scribed. They are more in the nature of a liturgical service, and the readings and responses alternate by minister, people, and choir. It is interesting to state, in this connection, that the audiences of Berkeley Temple usually take every foot of available space. 2. This leads me to say a word as to the use of liturgy. Rev. John Clark Hill, D.D., pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Austin, HI., recently, as a test, made a morning service somewhat liturgical in form. He says : "I found the people are in most hearty ac- cord with this style of service. ... I believe we have gotten out of touch with the people during the past generation, partly because they had so very little to do In church services. There is no reason why the people should not unite in a prose prayer in concert when there is no objection whatever to their singing a prayer in verse written by another." In the rebound from the formalism of the Catholic Church and other ritual- istic churches, the Church generally has fallen into a different phase of formalism in allowing our worship to receive verbal expression only by the lips of another. There is a growing tendency with many ministers of nearly all denominations to bring more liturgy into the service, — at least enough to give the people to feel that they have a share in and are important to the ser- vice. And so far as I have learned, on careful in- quiry, this tendency has been well received by the people and has been attended with most gratifying re- sults. But again, let pastor and people expect nothing from mere method. "Wheels" are all right, but we must have the " living Spirit in the midst of the wheels." 94 THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. 3. Another method which has met with good results in drawing the masses and in bringing the Gospel to bear on the hearts of the people is what is called the Brookfield Service. It originated with a number of neighboring pastors in Massachusetts, in 1889, as a result of a conference of Congregational ministers for devising ways of reaching the people with the Gospel. Opportunity appealed to them in the Sunday evening meeting. Accordingly a new order of service was carefully prepared, consisting of responsive readings, — interspersed throughout the programmes, — readings in concert, prayers, a varied programme of music, Scripture reading, and a short gospel sermon. A series of programmes were prepared on such funda- mental gospel subjects as, 1. The Law of God (Its character and man's relation to it); 2. Penitence and Confession (On account of sin) ; 3. The Cross of Christ (The remedy for sin), and like themes. Every part of each programme bears directly and in a logical and forcible way upon the theme subject, and there is painstaking attention to detail, with ample provision for variation as may be demanded by the need of each church. The programmes are simply and comprehen- sively arranged, so that congregations not accustomed to liturgy can use them wkh enjoyment. The music, the evangelistic tone of the whole programme, and the large part given the people make the service attractive and helpful.^ 4. Another way of varying the Sunday evening meeting, and one which the most conservative cannot question, is by having a Special Night Service. For instance, a temperance night, a young people's night, a business men's night, a women's night, a good-citizen- 1 Further information can he ohtained by addressing Hartford Seminary Press, Hartford, Conn. 95 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. ship night, a public-school night; and like important subjects. Our national as well as church calendar will also suggest timely themes, such as the anniver- sary of oui- national flag, victory at Yorktown, Land- ing of the Pilgrims, and so forth. The presence of the stars and stripes and other appropriate decora- tions at such times is helpful. "Timely" subjects always come to people with unusual appeal and in- terest, and afford opportunity for making deep and lasting impressions. It is not enough, however, that the simple announcement of a Special Service be given. It should be made special by the strongest programme within the resources of the minister. Let every wheel that will add an ounce of influence or power be set in motion. Advertise thoroughly. One thiDg should be guarded against: promise should never be made or implied through announcement or advertisement of more than an evening will give. If there is any disappointment, it is far better that it be a happy one, — for instance that more music and better music be given than was announced ; that the service throughout be found brighter, pleasanter, and more helpful than had been anticipated. This does not preclude strong announcements, but com- pels strong services. Awaken high anticipation and meet it ! 5. A series of special Sunday evening sermons is an old and ever-new attraction. The subjects of many such series, from pastors who have been especially successful in drawing large evening congregations, have come into my hands. I have been impressed that such series are usually on practical topics, such as "Christianity and a Life of Business," "Chris- tianity and the Professions," "Christianity and the Teacher," " Religion and the Public Schools," " Chris- 96 THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. tianity and the Home ; " ^ and on such evangelistic subjects as "Salvation — Man Needs It," "Salvation — God Provides it," "Salvation — Faith Secures It," * ' Salvation — Christ Assures it. " ^ In the Fu'st Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, Cal., during the pastorate of the Rev. J. L. Russell, D.D., a series of Sunday evening lectures on sacred subjects was given by prominent laymen of that church and other evangelical churches in the city. Sometimes there were two brief addresses given dur- ing the same evening. The speakers were lawyers, teachers, and cultivated business men, and the series was received with great interest by large audiences. The special ser\ace and the series of sermons have the advantage also of commanding, usually, the atten- tion of the press. The reporting of sermons should be encouraged; it draws attention to the services, mag- nifies the work, and preaches the Gospel over again. This is not seeking notoriety ; it is seeking to spread the Gospel. 6. The Illustrated Service. The Sunday evening meeting has also been improved in many churches by drawing spiritual lessons from objects of nature and by illustrating religious truth by use of pictures. This has proven an effective way of attracting the people and of appealing through eye and ear to the heart. These illustrated services are not given with the thought that "a substitute is needed for the old Gospel, or that pictures can take the place of preaching," but they are used as a means of preaching. This method is not new. It is as old as God's rain- ^ Rev. Elijah Horr, D.D., pastor of the Piedmont Congregational Church, Worcester, Mass. 2 Rev. John Clark Hill, D.D., pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Austin, 111. 7 97 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. bow covenant. Again, when God made covenant with Abraham, He addressed him through the eye as well as the ear. The covenant was consummated by the symbol of fire, and the " Friend of God " knew that he was under Divine favor. From the beginning this has been the Divine way of teaching. In the Old Testament there are upwards of seven hundred and fifty allusions to Christ in types, ceremonies, and symbols. The whole sacrificial system of the Jewish economy is on the principle of teaching the spiritual by things material. What but this was the meaning of the Passover, the Feasts, the Offerings, and the Sacri- fices? Even the several parts of the Tabernacle had some special spiritual meaning. In like manner God taught Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and others. Our blessed Lord used natural objects for illustrating the truth which he preached, — not merely alluding to the objects, but drawing lessons from their visible presence. What is more forcible than his illustration to the woman at the well? Or his taking little chil- dren in his arms and talking to the people about receiving " the Kingdom of God as a little child "? Jesus, too, drew lessons from nature, the field, the flower, thus making simple and clear his meaning, and reaching hearts through eye and ear! Why fear and hesitate to follow his example? The science of the mind has shown us much in recent years of the power of teaching through the eye as well as the ear. Teaching by illustration arrests the attention at once, concentrates thought, excites interest, and awakens imagination. When John B. Gough was appealing for aid in the building of the Five Points Mission, to a large audience in New York, after telling the sad story of a fallen woman, he called to his side a little girl from the front of the audience, 98 THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. and, lifting the child so that all could see her sweet face and tossing curls, said, *'Now, how much will you give to save this child and hundreds like her?" The money was raised. No one thought him sacri- legious, and every week now hundreds of children gather in the Five Points Mission and sing of Won- drous Love. The Rev. C. H. Tyndall, former pastor of the Broome Street Tabernacle, New York, was very successful in drawing spiritual lessons from objects of nature, giving an object sermon about once a month. It was his experience that it increased the attendance at the service and crystallized the truth in the minds of his hearers by the association of ideas. In his book entitled " Object Sermons in Outline," he very clearly shows how such sermons may be undertaken. He gives numerous subjects that may be profitably illus- trated, indicates the objects to be used, the lessons to be drawn from them, and shows in a very practical way how to arrange both the objects and the ideas of the sermons. There are other kinds of illustrated services which have been used to advantage. The next to be men- tioned is the Pulpit Paintings of Edwin M. Long and Son.^ These paintings for the purpose of illustrating sermons had their origin, it is said, in the great revival of 1858. Since that time pastors have increasingly used these paintings, and strongest testimonies are given of their help in getting and holding Sabbath evening congregations, and of their educational and evangelizing force. The paintings are illustrations of Bible history and teachings, and are arranged in series, with three paintings for one sermon and four rolls (twelve paintings) for a month's course. The 1 Address Edwin M. Long & Son, S. E. corner 12th and Berks Streets, Pliiladelpliia, Pa. 99 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. subjects covered include Scenes in the Life of Christ, Great Questions of the Bible, Scenes in the Lives of the Apostles, Old Testament Biography, and the Gospel of the Pentateuch. The paintings are rented. Illustrated cliart sermons (engravings), said to be copies of the pulpit paintings, are considerably cheaper. Another method of illustrating sermons is by use of the stereopticon. Like the innovation of the Sunday- school, Mission Societies, and the Young People's Movement, this new method of presenting the Gospel has received severest criticism. I fear that some share the prejudice against the stereopticon for the preaching service without a careful canvass of the situ- ation and the work it has accomplished, or without having ever been eye-witness to such services. Is such a judgment a considerate one ? Preaching by means of stereopticon pictures is no longer an experi- ment. And from every quarter there come testimonies that the new method is successful in bringing the un- churched masses into the church, and is being blessed of God in preaching the Gospel with converting power. Many come, doubtless, through curiosity or interest in the pictures rather than the Gospel. Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached, even '' of contention, not sincerely,"^ as well as of love. Let us rejoice that people come where Christ is preached, though not con- strained by the motive of love. God has promised to bless his Word. The stereopticon service, when taken hold of with painstaking care and prayerful preparation, is a deeply impressive, spiritual, and beautiful service. The heart is reached through the eye, the Gospel is simply told, and many are brought into saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Rev. W. A. Mason, D.D., Baptist, Minneapo- 1 Phih"ppians i. 16, 18. 100 THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. lis, Minn., is authority for saying that sixty con- versions attended a minister's illustrated lectures on the life of Christ, and that ' ' there are in the world to- day thousands who associate the stereopticon with their most precious religious hopes." ^ We must ad- mit that the method of preaching is somewhat unusual. But when we remember that one-half our country's population is estranged from the church, that every two persons out of three of the world's population have never heard of the Gospel, it seems time for something " unusual." Mr. Moody has said : " When God works, many things will be done ' out of the regular order.' " ^ When some way of working, though unusual, has been blessed of God in winning souls to Christ, is it not time that we question our prejudices rather than the methods? In many parishes, no doubt, such illustrated Sabbath evening services would not be advisable. We must be governed by the law of adaptability. In other parishes the best way to begin is by first using the stere- opticon in the prayer meeting or a lecture on Missions, or by giving a series of three or four lectures, week- evenings, on such subjects as " The Life of Christ," "Pilgrim's Progress," "The Story of Ruth," "The Holy Land." Views illustrative of some of the popular and standard hymns, such as " Rock of Ages," "Nearer my God to Thee," or "Onward, Christian Soldiers," should also be given; while these views are being presented, the hymn may be sung as a solo, or in concert by the congregation. In addition to this, other hymns with words in full may be thrown upon the screen from time to time for congregational singing. 1 Eeprint from " Open Church/' in pamphlet, by Riley Brothers, on " Solved : The Sunday Evening Service," p. 29. 2 To the Work, p. 14. 101 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. For the Sabbath evening service, in addition to the hymns and views illustrating the sermon, other things, giving variety to the service, may be thrown on the screen, such as the Apostles' Creed and Psalms for unison and responsive reading. Stereopticon views and lantern can be rented from any one of a number of opticians in our various cities. Where the lantern is owned, the cost is, of course, much less. The increase in collections ought to cover the increase in expense. 7. Special features. The Rev. Henry H. Stebbins, D.D., pastor of the Central Church, Rochester, N.Y., regards the following as among the features of the successful evening service in Rochester : — 1. Personal work at hotels, through letters and calls. 2. The provision of a bright, attractive Order of Wor- ship, circulated at the door, and in sufficient quantities to allow every attendant to have one. 3. Singing, — popular, rather than artistic. 4. Sermons, — evangelistic in tone, but addressed to men where they live. 5. Amiable and vigorous competition among the churches, stimulated by what some had done, that fed the conviction that the same could be done elsewhere. The prelude is another feature employed by some pastors, and questioned by as many more. The pre- lude is a five or eight minute address before the sermon, on some popular subject or issue of the day. In speak- ing of it, Dr. Stebbins said : " I am bound to say that I think the prelude has perhaps attracted some. I am not in sympathy with that sort of thing, for various reasons. I do think, however, it has attracted people who would not otherwise have attended the service. I do not employ it myself, and it is a question whether it will serve permanently as a magnet." 102 THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE. In Bethany Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, it is the custom from time to time to place the advertising of the Sunday evening service in the hands of some one of the societies of the church, as the Christian Endeavor, Andrew and Philip, or Sunday-school. The society chosen uses every effort, by cards and personal work and through friends and supporters, to advertise this service. At times the work of the various organi- zations of the church is magnified and brought promi- nently forward by having the officers of such society sit on the platform, reference being made to the work of the society during the exercises of the evening. This church aims always to have something special for the Sunday evening services, but never aims to be sensational. Occasionally the church uses the stere- opticon for the opening song service, then following with a sermon. 108 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER XL THE AFTER MEETING. The after meeting, held at the close of the last preachiDg-service of the Sabbath, is for various pur- poses : To ask God's blessing as a seal to deepen and quicken the spiritual impressions of the day, to hear requests for prayer, and to make appeal to the impeni- tent and the wanderer to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. The dominant purpose of the meet- ing must, of course, be determined by the circumstances of the time and the prevailing conditions of the church and the community. The after meeting is not merely for large congrega- tions. Wherever there is a church, there is reason for this service. It gives opportunity for the people of the church to come together informally when their hearts are warm and aglow with Divine truth, and when in- evitably they must come closer together in sympathy and Christian feeling, and closer to Him who is the Great Head of the Church. There are several features of the successful after- meeting which through experience have come to be recognized as essential to it. That the meeting may be informal and a marked change from the preaching service which has preceded, it' is usually held in some smaller, adjoining room, such as the Sunday-school room or chapel. When no such room is available, the need is met by the pastor 104 THE AFTER MEETING. coming from the pulpit and taking a chair on the floor in front of the pulpit. There are several ways of giving the invitation to the after meeting. It is frequently given thus : " After the benediction we will pass to the closing service of the day, held in the adjoining room for fifteen minutes, to ask God's blessing upon the labors of the day, and for general conference, testimony, and prayer. We invite you all to come to this service. It is fre- quently the best one of the day, gathering up the bless- ings of them all." The doors opening to the room should be clearly indicated, always, that any stranger present may not suffer any excuse to turn him away. The invitation at another time may be to different classes of people, as, first, to all those who desire to draw nearer to God and to unite in prayer for his abiding blessing upon the services of this day ; second, any one who desires to request the prayers of Christian people for himself or friends ; and third, all who are personally interested, and feel that the Holy Spirit is urging them to a decision for Jesus Christ. When the meeting is held in a room contiguous to the main auditorium, arrange with the organist and two or three singers to open the after meeting, just as soon as the preaching service closes, with some familiar, heart-stirring hymn. The singing will do much toward drawing the people in. This plan presumes that the congregation will largely pass to the second service. Another simple way is to ask all who will to pass into the after-meeting room during the singing of the last hymn, it being understood that the benediction will be pronounced for those who cannot stay to the after service. A familiar hymn is then announced. If but few pass out, it will be well to stop at the close of the first verse, and again urge people to pass into the 105 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. meeting while the hymn is being sung, but adding, " If you prefer to wait here for the benediction, you, of course, are privileged to do so." There is no difficulty in getting the people to attend the after meeting. It is one of the sweetest and most helpful services of the day when wisely conducted, — and to this end the leader needs well to pray for the controlling and guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. Many an after meeting has been shorn of blessing for the want of prayerful preparation. Much depends upon the leader. He may open the meeting, after the singing of a hymn or two, by some single heart thought, or by prayer, or illustration, or "exhortation," for which the Rev. B. Fay Mills says, " a wise preacher has kept one of his best illustrations or strongest en- treaties." The leader should especially remember that this is no place for a talk or address, not even a short talk. The leader, as all others, should be brief in what he says. Many an after meeting has been talked to death. Great care should be exercised in the selection of hymns. Under no circumstances should new ones be selected. So far as possible the hymns should be appropriate and familiar, although it is better to sac- rifice appropriateness to familiarity. There is little time for music in the after service, but there should be a hymn or two, or a stanza from each of two or three hymns. The singing may be varied by asking the women to sing the verse and all to come in on the chorus . Again , if a good soloist is present, it can be made effective to have the soloist sing the lines and all join in the singing of the refrain and chorus. Repeating the singing of the chorus is always spiritually helpful and suggestive. The meaning is emphasized by sometimes reading the verse in concert before singing it. Most effective 106 THE AFTER MEETING. appeals can be made at times between the singing of the verses of a hymn. A common way of conducting the after service is to say that the meeting is open for testimony, conference, and prayer, and invite all to take part, as moved to do so by the Holy Spirit. To relate occasionally the cir- cumstances which suggested the waiting of a hymn, or to give some experience or conversion connected with a hymn, is always helpful and of interest. Should any one make request for prayer, when the thought of the meeting has been on other lines, it is well, usually, to call on some one immediately to pray for that partic- ular case. The after meeting, at other times, may be held especially for the spiritual quickening of Christians. Opportunity is then given for confession of failures and shortcomings, by word or by rising. Prayers, of course, will follow. It is helpful at the close of a service to take some consecration hymn, like that of Frances Ridley Havergal, "Take my life and let it be," and urge all who desire to make the hymn the prayer of their hearts to sing. A bright and helpful feature of any meeting is the reciting in concert of some verse of Scripture. Silent prayer, too, is always solemnly impressive. This, varied by short sentence prayers, can be used with frequency and helpfulness in any after meeting. Until the people come to understand that prayers are only sentence prayers, it may be well to arrange pre- viously with a number of younger and older people for them. Sentence prayers encourage many to take part who would otherwise not do so. All heads are bowed, no one is conspicuous, a sentence does not appear to be a large effort ; and so the people gladly share in this part of the service, are helped and warmed 107 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. by so doing, and others are awakened and quickened by the interest which seems to pervade all. Another way of leading the meeting is to open with requests for prayer and then have several pray for these requests. After a prayer or two, an appeal may be made to the unsaved. It is a simple way, and appropriate, to stop and say, "Now, before the next prayer, is there some one who desires to take Christ as a personal Saviour, and by raising the hand will say, ' Include my name in your prayer, pray for me'?" Whether the appeal be made briefly at this time, or the after meeting as a whole be given to it, there are several ways of making openings to penitents for confession and of drawing the net for the unsaved. After short prayers, testimonies, and an earnest appeal, as the case may be, the penitents may be urged to come forward and kneel during the singing of a verse of some hymn. This is a method quite common to one of the leading denominations. Another way, used by other denominations, is to invite those who have manifested a personal interest to come forward and stand in a circle about the pastor. At the con- clusion of the singing of the hymn he joins hands with them, and offers prayer. With a more formal people other plans may be necessary. Christians may be asked to bow in silent prayer; then the leader says : " Now, while all heads are bowed in prayer, is there one here who will say, ' I desire to lead a Christian life, pray for me ' ? — raise your hand." But some people have honest doubts and difficulties. They need encouragement to make some kind of a start, though a small one. One of the lead- ing evangelists of to-day frequently gives an invitation as follows : " How many of you will say, ' I am willing 108 THE AFTER MEETING. to be made willing to lead a Christian life ' ? — will you raise yom* hand ? " Again the leader of the meeting, after opening by illustration or entreaty, may ask all who are church- members to rise ; then all who are not church-members but are trying to live a Christian life ; and third, all who have an honest desire to live a Christian life. This may be varied, at another time, by first asking all men who are church-members to rise, then all women who are church-members to rise, and proceeding as before. It is hardly necessary to say that the leader in making the appeal should be warmly sympathetic and tender, patient and persistent, and with a divine confidence and supreme faith in God. Such a minister will meet with great victories where another would only find a losing cause. But the results of the appeal should be gathered into real and tangible form. The names and addresses of the inquirers should be obtained, that they may be followed up promptly and helped as there may be need. For this purpose the following card may be passed by ushers : 189.. 1 desire henceforth to lead a Christian life. Namey Address, Street and No., Church Preference, The ushers, men capable of doing personal work, should be on the lookout for all who in any way manifest personal interest. There too should be a number of personal helpers, — the wisest men and women of the congregation. The above card is that used by the Rev. B. Fay Mills. In speaking of this 109 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. card, the evangelist in the " Independent" for March 14, 1895, said: "I do not think it well to print a theological formula on the card, nor to make its expression more positive in determination. The reason for this is that while this simple card will be very helpful in aiding those who are clearly decided, and are ready to ' subscribe with their hands to be the Lord's,' it will also develop interest in those who are not theologically educated, and will give to you the addresses of those who are somewhat impressed, but who might not be sufficiently interested to sign a state- ment of a more unequivocally decided expression. The helpers should write on the back of each card some little statement about the individual signing it, such as, ' Young man, very much in earnest,' or, ' A middle-aged woman, almost but not quite persuaded.' This will be very helpful in assigning proper people to follow up these inquirers later." The last thing to be remembered by the leader of the after meeting is to close on time. Do not pro- long the meeting. The preaching service should close promptly, and sufficiently early to encourage attend- ance upon the after service, and the closing time of this meeting should be guarded with jealous care. It is better to send the people away hungry, and when the meeting is at its height, that they may desire to come again. At this last service people are tired from attendance upon the services of the day, — more so than they usually realize, — and unduly adding to the service, even by two or three minutes, may make the after meeting a burden rather than a mount of privilege. It is the opinion of some pastors that to hold the after meeting for three or four weeks and then to drop it for a similar period increases its attractiveness. 110 THE PLEASANT SUNDAY AFTERNOON. CHAPTER XII. THE PLEASA.NT SUNDAY AFTERNOON. After hearing so much of the estrangement of work- ing-men from the church, it is refreshing and encourag- ing to learn of successful efforts in bringing them within the fellowship of the church. And this has been the result of that movement known as the "Pleasant Sunday Afternoon." That working-men have not attended church has, I believe, been more from failure of adaptation of method to condition than from the want of heart welcome on the part of the church. Sunday morning the working-man has chosen for rest. At other hours of the Sabbath, the concert, amusement hall, beer- garden, and the socialist or the labor agitator have re- currently claimed his attention. The counter-attrac- tions to the church are always strong. To provide an elevating hour for laboring-men, with sufficient attractiveness to draw them in, to win their hearts by these means to Christ, is the object of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon. The movement which bears this name was started in England about four years ago. The character of the meeting is indicated by its name. It is simply a very bright gospel service, with high-class instrumental and chorus music, solo singing, and a talk which " deals directly with gospel topics." The following are two sample programmes : — lU MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. 1. 3.30 Hymn. 2. 3.35 Prayer. 3. 3.38 Instrumental Music. 4. 3.43 Reading Scriptures. 5. 3.-15 Hymn Solo. G. 3.50 Instrumental Music. 7. 3.53 Hj-mn. 8. 3.58 Address. !). 4.20 Instrumental Music. 10. 4.25 Hymn. 11. 4.30 Benediction. 1. 3.30 Hymn. 2. 3.35 Reading Scriptures. 3. 3.38 Anthem, or hymn, with chorus. 4. 3.43 Prayer and Lord's Prayer. 5. 3.45 The' First Solo. 6. 3.50 Notices by Secretary. 7. 3.53 The Chairman. 8. 4 Hymn. 9. 4.05 Speaker for afternoon. 10. 4.25 Second Solo. 11. 4.30 Exhortation to sign Pledge. 12. 4.35 Short Prayer. The music is always in charge of a director who is a thorough Christian, so that the choice of pieces may safely be left entirely to him. He, too, is one who can gather musical helpers around him, those who will not fail to appear on Sunday and who will give time to practice during the week. There is usually an orches- tra or band, which gives instrumental selections of a sacred character, and also plays the accompaniment to the hymns. Sometimes the music is rendered by a prize choir consisting of men who have been especially trained, and they lead in the singing or give special selections. The address for the afternoon is a matter of deep moment. Platitudes and religious cant will not suc- ceed here, though they are sometimes tolerated in churches. What the men demand is a " bright, broth- erly talk on things spiritual." Different speakers are obtained for different Sabbath afternoons. Represen- tatives of the various professions, business men, and other available laymen who are fairly good speakers are drawn on for this service. The members enjoy seeing new faces and hearing new voices. This plan is adopted by so gifted a preacher as the Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A., pastor of Christ's Church, London, who as president of his Pleasant Sunday Afternoon presides at all meet- 112 THE PLEASANT SUNDAY AFTERNOON. ings. And this is the usual custom : different speakers, but the president to preside always. Here, as in other departments of Christian work, success depends in a measure on the personality of the leader. He should be a man of strong character, popular and winning, bent on saving souls, and " able to fill the gap on every emergency and to pull the meeting through if the speaker fail or the address be unfortunate." The time for the address is limited to twenty minutes, and is, as are all the other exercises, strictly confined to the time allotted to it. This is very satisfactory to the men, and prerents all dragging and dulness. The Rev. F. B. Meyer says, at the first meeting of his Pleasant Sunday Afternoon he determined that five committees were necessary : '' Visitation, es- pecially of the sick ; the promotion of teetotalism ; of stewards; and markers; and benefit societies."^ He then pointed out certain parts of the hall where those interested in each should gather. He says: "The whole group of men immediately broke up into five large groups, each making for his own special hobby, and found himself surrounded by those like-minded. Each group then elected their chairman and secretary, in which selection I confess to have had a great deal to do, as the men were strange to one another and I was very anxious that suitable ones should be chosen at the outset. These two from each group, together with myself, a few Vice-Presidents, and the Treasurer and Secretary of the society, formed a first Council. These five groups dwindled as time went on, but the residuum became the committee in each case, with power to add to its number and with full warrant* to carry forward its own work, subject to the general approval of the Council. " ^ Mr. Meyer has two 1 Christian Treasury, February, 1895, p. 37. ^ jbid. 8 113 MODERN METHODS IN CHUllCH WORK. corners in the church which are respectively named the Teetotal and Consecration corner. Those who want to sign the pledge are invited to one, whilst those who are willing to help in any special work or desire to become Christians are exhorted to the other.^ As the men go out after the Sunday afternoon meeting, they put contributions into boxes for the Benevolent Fund, which is administered by a special committee and devoted to the relief of the needy and the sick in the brotherhood. All who become members of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon subscribe an English penny a Sunday; it has been suggested that in America probably a nickel would be best. This is put into the Book Fund. At the end of the quarter this money is spent in books to be given as prizes to those who make a good record in attendance. Those who are present thirteen Sundays get a first prize; those who are present ten or more Sundays, a second prize. As only the money subscribed is spent in this way, the value of the prizes varies according to the money in the fund and the number who win prizes. The books are bought at a low price from some bookseller interested iu the movement, and are a great incentive to regular attendance. The prizes are distributed at some week- day gathering, the next week after the quarter ends, by some influential lady. The men are asked to bring both their men and women friends to this entertain- ment, and the new men who come are urged to join at once, so as to begin the quarter with the others. The sight of the book prizes and the pleasant gather- ing" induces many of the visitors to join the society. A part of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon plan is to have a Registrar to every hundred members. The 1 Christian Treasury, April, 1895, p. 90. THE PLEASANT SUNDAY AFTERNOON. Registrars sit in the vestibule at little tables, each with a rubber stamp, prepared to stamp the cards of members and also the attendance sheet which is before them, and to receive the pennies of those who are members of the Book Club. This record enables the Visitation Committee to tell who is not present; and if a member is absent without explanation for two weeks, he is visited with a view of seeing what brotherly kindness can do for him. It is from this record that the list of those who are entitled to prizes is made up. Certain exempt classes, as local preachers, railroad men, postmen, and policemen when on duty, are allowed to send their penny for registration. In any other case that has special features, the Council de- cides as to what allowance shall be made. In fact, the men are made to feel in every way that it is their meeting. The Council is consulted as to the speaker, and about any other matter that affects the welfare of the Club. Some Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Societies conduct various other lines of work during the week and year, — educational classes, an ambulance corps, a band or singing practice, annual excursions, walks and teas on holidays, a Benefit Society, a Working-Men's Institute, a midweek prayer meeting, and a men's Bible-class on Sunday. Two things have been emphasized in this move- ment. The first is that the work shall be absolutely self-supporting. The men must raise their own funds, if money is needed. The other principle emphasized is that " the first and last object of the P. S. A. is to win working-men for Christ." The success of this institution is unquestioned. In Hanley, England, there is a branch numbering 1,680, of whom not more than three hundred were found in any 115 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. other place of worship when they joined. At Liverpool, St. George's Chapel, Congregational, there is a branch of between three thousand and four thousand members.^ A work similar to this was begun in 1887 by the Baptist Church which worshipped in Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass., until the work was arrested by fire in 1893. This service, however, was open both to men and women. There was an orchestra of twelve pieces, but no chorus except the great congregation. At every service solos, quartettes, and so forth were given. It was customary to have an after meeting, and in the fifth year of the movement as many as 491 rose for prayers during the year. The meetings were also very helpful to the church. The evening services were better attended, and large numbers were brought into the Sunday-school. In addition to the spiritual results mentioned, that the movement was satisfactory from a financial standpoint the following figures will show : — Receipts. Expenses. Net Gain. 1888 $ 820.09 $ 550.35 $ 263.74 1889 1977.45 1012.36 9G5.09 1890 2141. C3 791.37 1350.26 1891 22G9.G7 1007. S7 1361.80 1893 2923.23 1017.78 1905.45 The Reformed Church of Harlem, New York, has an afternoon Bible-class which it calls the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon. This organization meets separately at the time of the Sunday-school, has appropriate opening exercises, and then an exposition of the lesson 1 Rev. H. N. Kinney, Report of Christian Workers' Serenth Convention, Boston, 1892, p. 137. 116 THE PLEASAJ^T SUNDAY AFTERNOON. of the day. It is attended by both men and women, and enrols large numbers of young people and also parents who bring their children to Sunday-school. It has several social features, among which are social meetings during the year, an annual excursion, and other gatherings which increase the acquaintance and good-fellowship of the members. In the Central Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church of New York, there is an organization of this kind called the Pleasant Hour Bible Class. It is sim- ilar to the one in Harlem, but holds its sessions immediately after the Sunday-school in the afternoon, and studies the lesson for the following Sunday. This is done for the benefit of Sunday-school teachers. This class has been in existence for three years, and has increased from an attendance of eleven at its first meeting to an average attendance of about five hundred. The entire collection goes to the church funds, as there are no expenses. The exercises are opened by a varied musical programme which is fur- nished voluntarily by the musical friends of the movement, and consists of both instrumental and vo- cal selections. This is followed by a short exposition of the lesson, studying directly from the Bible. Then there are ten minutes allowed for questions on the lesson only. On Review Sunday the class studies the subject of temperance. There is an evangelistic side to the work, and there are professed conversions every Sunday. Thus we see that on both sides of the sea new efforts have been made to improve the hours of the Sabbath afternoon. It is to be hoped that the movement will be more and more general, until the churches shall vie with the Young Men's Christian Association in the efforts they make to "redeem the time" in these fruitful hours of the week. 117 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER XIII. YOUNG people's SOCIETIES. In considering the subject of Young People's Socie- ties, it is not necessary to mention their mode of work- ing. Many and valuable works have been written, abounding in accounts of work already done, and helpful suggestions for future effort in this great field of Christian usefulness. The movement comprehensively known as the Young People's Society is the miracle of modern times. What has been done in the past by this powerful engine for good, what is being done by it, fills us with won- der and awe. What will be accomplished by it in the future opens up a vista so far-reaching, an avenue so crossed and intersected with branching paths to every field of Christian duty, that imagination cannot follow. What will be the effect on the Church when all these trained workers assume the full responsibility of mature manhood and womanhood? How cordial- ity and hospitality will reign in the churches when the social committees of the present become the owners of homes and possessors of influence and ability to welcome in a practical way the stranger of the future ! How missions will thrive when the cultivated intelli- gence of men and women trained from youth in the spirit of giving and going becomes the ruling genius of the churches! How the prayer meetings of the future will differ from those of the present, when free- 118 YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES. dom of speech, enthusiasm of endeavor, and a high spirit of consecration take the place of the formalism and half-heartedness that too often characterize the midweek meeting of to-day! How the Church will grow in numbers and efficiency when loving hands are stretched out to gather souls into the kingdom, and the look-out spirit prevails with all the Church, to keep and guard and cherish those who come into her sheltering fold ! The Young People's movement is carried on by the undenominational organization, the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor,^ the Epworth League ^ of the Methodist Church, the Baptist Young People's Union, ^ and other denominational societies. The membership of the Christian Endeavor Society is about 2,500,000; that of the Epworth League about 1,250,000. In the Baptist churches, the Young Peo- ple's Union have about 4,000 societies, while there are about 3,511 Baptist Christian Endeavor Societies. A glance at the principal committees and depart- ments of the three leading societies shows the scope of the work undertaken by each respectively. The Christian Endeavor Society works through several committees. The principal ones are the Look-out, Devotional, and Social, to which are added in most cases Temperance, Missionary, Sunday-school, Visit- ing, Flower, Good Citizenship, and Literature. In the Epworth League there are the following departments : the Department of Spiritual Work, of Mercy and Help, 1 Mr. John Willis Baer, Secretary, 646 Washington Street, Bos- ton, Mass. 2 Rev. Edwin A. Schell, Secretary, 57 Washington Street, Chicago, m. 3 Rev. Frank L. Wilkins, D.D., Secretary, 122 Wabash Ave- nue, Chicago, 111. 119 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. of Literary Work, of Social Work, of Correspondence, and of Finance. The Baptist Young People's Union, in many of their societies, group their work into Devo- tional, Social, and Educational Departments. W^ithin these societies are often found working branches organized to meet special needs. In connec- tion with the Epworth League there are Reading Cir- cles formed for the study of religious topics. On com- pletion of a given series of readings a certificate is given, to which seals are attached from time to time as the prescribed courses of reading are completed. In the Baptist Young People's Union there are Christian Culture Courses which cover in the main missionary topics. The subjects are discussed at monthly meet- ings called Conquest Meetings. The course extends over four years. At the close of each year an exami- nation is held covering the ground gone over, and on completion of the course a diploma is awarded. The Society of Christian Endeavor in addition to the regu- lar work of the committees does a vast amount of mis- sionary and philanthropic work. Among the sailors and light-house keepers, Bibles, helpful literature, and comfort bags are annually distributed. Some societies have opened parlors for men and boys ; others do active work in the hotels in distributing invitations to the meetings of the Society and other services of the church; others have instituted savings-banks; still others have opened newspaper exchanges for the in- terchange of religious reading. Some societies band themselves into " working circles" to help on the gen- eral work of the church. Accounts of different work undertaken by the societies may be found in the pages of the " Golden Rule," the official organ of the United Society. A book that gives many practical suggestions as to 120 YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES. the methods of Young People's Societies is "Ways and Means," edited by Rev. F. E. Clark, D.D., Presi- dent of the United Society of Christian Endeavor. It fully describes the organization of Young People's Societies, speaks of the best manner of conducting devotional, business, and consecration meetings, and treats of the work of the committees. It also gives many practical suggestions as to maintaining and arousing interest in the Society, and in every way is a perfect handbook of information. The chief value of the suggestions lies in the fact that they are experi- mental. Every plan commended has been successfully tried in some individual society. An important factor in the work of young people's societies is the monthly, or bi-monthly social, held in the parlors or Sabbath-school rooms of the church, or, as sometimes, at a private residence. These social gatherings meet the need of young people for a social good time, promote Christian fellowship, and ought to be encouraged. The brightest minds should be placed upon the Social Committee, and a programme of enter- tainment should be carefully prepared for each social. A book invaluable for its descriptions of games and ways of entertainment for socials is " Social Even- ings," by Amos R. Wells. A great deal more might be said of Young People's Societies, but a knowledge of the scope of the methods of this endeavor for humanity has already been widely disseminated through the reports of the great conven- tions held yearly, and still more through the personal efforts of individual members of this vast body of workers " for Christ and the Chnrch." 121 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER XIV. THE PRAYER MEETING. Can anything new and helpful be said in the interest of the midweek meeting ? Probably no one church ser- vice has received so large attention from writers and workers as the weekly prayer meeting. Yet all has not been said. Certainly, the combined experiences of ear- nest and thoughtful pastors each year ought to be fruit- ful of many helpful suggestions for the weekly prayer meeting. This does not imply that we shall outgrow all the old ideas of the prayer meeting, or all the old ways of working. The idea, for instance, that the prayer meeting is the family gathering of the church is constantly emphasized, and is a principle that must always prevail. When, as a church, we realize that ideal, our prayer meetings will be shorn of stiffness, long stereotyped prayers, and stilted formal addresses ; rather there will be the brief, simply worded petition, the tender or practical remarks, or the bit of helpful experience or counsel. But in addition to holding " fast that which is good," in conducting our midweek service, we welcome all that is helpful, though new. The Rev. J. M. Patterson, pastor of the Westmin- ster Presbyterian Church of Detroit, Mich., issues a little card to his people, in which he first urges their prompt and regular attendance on the prayer meeting, and asks the following questions, after each of which there is left a space for reply: — 122 THE PRAYER MEETING. 1. May I regard you as an attendant upon one or both of the weekly prayer meetings (General and Young People's) (if but one specify it), and place youi' name on the list of such which at present I am making out ? 2. May I occasionally call upon you to read passages from the Bible? 3. May I occasionally call upon you to speak in prayer meeting ? 4. May I occasionally call upon you to offer prayer in public ? These cards are returned to the pastor, and from them he gathers helpful ideas about his prayer-meeting force, if one may so put it. The Rev. J. M. Meeker, D.D., pastor of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, Cincinnati, O. , circulates a pledge card embracing the following points : — 1 . I wiU pray for the meeting every Wednesday evening. 2. I will attend the prayer meeting at least twice each month if possible. 3. I will occupy a seat nearest the pulpit. 4. I will, if opportunity is given, take a brief part in the service. 5. I will tell others of our prayer meeting and invite them to attend. This simple system in St. Paul's Church has proven very helpful. Some of the features of the above plans could, if desired, easily be incorporated in the enlist- ment card mentioned in Chapter V. The Rev. Frank Russell, D.D., pastor of Bridge- port, Conn., Congregational Church, addresses a cir- cular letter to his people urging them to come with special preparation, also to come early and occupy front seats on their own part, and to encourage the attendance of others. Another pastor, in a similar let- ter, which, however, is more personal, as it is addressed 123 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. to but one or two at a time, invites the person to whom the letter is sent to take part in the meeting without being called upon, tells him that a similar request has been made of others, and that the prayer or remarks may be brief, and that too close adherence to the scheduled subject is not necessary. The Rev. Abbott E. Kittridge, D.D., pastor of the Madison Avenue Reformed Church, New York, has a very large and interesting prayer meeting. He has some original methods. For instance, there is no instrumental accompaniment to the hymns, but they are started by the pastor himself, while the congrega- tion is turning to the hymn announced. In advance of every meeting the pastor speaks privately to two or three members and obtains their promise to speak on the topic of the evening. It is the practice of Dr. Kit- tridge to merely open the meeting without extended remarks or by giving only a brief exposition of Scrip- ture. At the close of the service he sums up the points that have been brought out, and makes the con- cluding remarks. The Rev. Washington Gladden, D.D., tells of a pastor who arranges the theme of the meeting under several heads, putting the subdivisions into the form of questions. He then selects answers from the Bible and distributes them among the people. The pastor, having asked the question and received the answer, briefly comments on it, proceeds to the next question, and the meeting is thus pleasantly opened.^ The Rev. H. M. Scudder, D.D., makes the follow- ing suggestions : that the pastor make several lists, in- cluding all the persons in the church who can speak and pray in public ; that he select a leader from each list and ask him with his fellow-members on the list to 1 Parish Problems, p. 265. 124 THE PRAYER MEETING. be responsible for one meeting. This will secure several participants at every meeting.^ A somewhat simpler method, and one that has proven very successful in encouraging the attendants to take part in the meeting, is to give out slips of paper bear- ing Scripture references and to ask the persons to whom they are given to read the passage (without be- ing called on), and if they will, to comment on the pas- sage in its relation to the subject of the evening. The Rev. Thomas S. Hastings, D.D., President of Union Theological Seminary, when pastor of the West Presbyterian Church, New York, had most successful and largely attended prayer meetings. Among other features. Dr. Hastings occasionally had Question Box Meetings. The meetings were always announced in advance, and the congregation urged to hand in ques- tions ; it being understood that all questions must reach the pastor before the day of the service. To encourage personal interest in the service, the pastor, as questions were asked of him when making pastoral calls or at other times, frequently said, " Won't you please hand in this question in writing for our Question Box Meeting? " In the Metropolitan Methodist Temple, New York, Rev. S. P. Cadman, pastor, the people are divided into prayer cu'cles, which meet for prayer and testimony in the class rooms before the regular prayer meeting. Afterwards, they assemble in the main room for a twenty-minute exposition of the Scripture. The Rev. Elijah Horr, D.D., pastor of the Piedmont Congregational Church of Worcester, Mass., scores a very good point when he invites people " to come in at any time during the meeting." He adds that " no one is asked to take any part. All are invited to do so, but 1 Dr. Gladden's Parish Problems, p. 256. 1.25 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. all know that there will be no constraint or restraint." This last plan emphasizes the family idea. The inti- mate fellowship that appreciates the fact that Mr. A. has to be at the store late and cannot get to prayer meeting at the beginning, or that Mrs. B. must get the children settled for the night before she can come, and that makes it possible for these and other tired people to slip into their seats at any time during the service without shame or confusion, is one of the things that makes the prayer meeting the home gathering-place of the church. Then the informal speech without being called upon is suggestive of the home life. Music is one of the best aids to make the prayer meeting attractive, but it is too much neglected even in those churches which have excellent music at other services. The minister is afraid to give out an un- familiar hymn, and so the old hymns are droned out month after month. To improve the music, it may be well to get a precentor and occasionally have the meet- ing convene a little earlier and the time be devoted to singing new, bright tunes. It will increase the attend- ance and put new life into the service. The prayer-meeting topic is also a matter for thought. Groups of subjects unfolding different phases of the same theme may be studied on successive evenings, or consecutive portions of the Bible may be subjects for study. Whatever the plan, it is always best to have the topic of the evening and the Scripture reference understood in advance. In the preparation of these topics, a variety may be introduced by invit- ing the congregation to hand in subjects that they would like to have taken under prayerful consideration. From the topics handed in, the pastor selects the list for the quarter, announcing that it was impossible to include all. 126 THE PRAYER MEETING. In former times, it was customary in several denomi- nations to devote one evening in the month to a mis- sionary concert, and it is a pity that so excellent a practice should be abandoned. With care in arran- ging the programme, with some special music, these evenings may be made attractive and most helpful. Oftentimes persons who will not ordinarily take part in the weekly meeting may be induced to do so by hav- ing papers assigned to them on missionary subjects, and thus a knowledge of this great work spreads among the congregation, genuine interest is elicited in missions, and new voices are heard in the prayer meeting. The question of participation in the prayer meeting by both sexes may seem to Western readers one set- tled long ago ; but it is still very seriously believed in some Eastern churches that Paul's injunction to women to "keep silent" is to be literally taken. Such churches are great losers. Personally, I believe this to be a form of that ignorance that God in former times winked at, but now coramandeth all men everywhere to repent of.^ In the large formal gatherings of the church, there may be two opinions as to the advisabil- ity of woman's voice being heard; but in the family meeting, she should be at liberty to take such part as her conscience dictates. The practice of having the pastor lead the mid- week meeting seems to be most satisfactory to the majority of churches, but the plan of having it con- ducted by officers of the church and gifted laymen in rotation has been successfully tried in others. But whoever leads, whoever takes part, or whatever adjuncts or methods be employed, the prayer meeting will not fill up the measure of its usefulness unless it is the place where "friend holds fellowship with 1 Acts xvii. 30, 127 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. friend." In some churches arrangement is made for a pleasant tarrying on the part of the attendants. There is a convenient grouping of chairs or arrange- ment of settees, and everything possible is done to encourage sociability and to suggest an informal re- union at the close of the meeting. There are other things that ought to be remembered of the prayer meeting. Though the suggestions may not be new, they are vitally important. First, every prayer meeting should commence promptly on time, though no one is present but the pastor, and should close promptly on time. A careful observation of this principle always encourages attendance, and is other- wise helpful. Second, the meeting is deserving of the most pains- taking and prayerful preparation on the part of the pastor. Is this preparation always given? The people, I believe, will come when they find the spirit- ual help which their souls crave. Having made care- ful preparation, another danger confronts the minister, — and one which, according to common fame, is often yielded to, — that of taking up too much time. The meeting then gives way to a lecture, and the nature of the service as a prayer meeting and as a people's meeting is lost sight of. Third, the prayer meeting should be the place where plainness of dress is the rule, where there is no haste to go away, and where the humblest church- member is met and greeted with heartfelt interest in his welfare, where the story of trouble is heard with . sympathy, and where the news of good fortune awakens sincerest joy. No formality can exist where such feel- ing reigns. The heart of the toiling and sorrowing will then turn to the prayer meeting as the child to its mother. No effort will be needed to draw the people 128 THE PRAYER MEETING. together, and stormy nights will see the room well filled. Here the burdened pastor will find the reward of his labor, and the stranger the green spot in all the arid week, and each succeeding gathering will slip away into eternity only to bring nearer the glad reunion of the household of God. 129 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH AVORK. CHAPTER XV. THE COTTAGE PRAYER MEETING. When Peter had been released from prison by the angel of the Lord, he went straight to a cottage prayer meeting in the house of Mary, the mother of John. The homes of many Christians have been glorified by such gatherings for prayer ; meetings that have ever been a means of grace. The informality of the gathering appeals to the heart, and many of those who will not attend the regular midweek meeting of the church may be won to the neighbor's fireside and thus be brought under spiritual influences. There are two reasons why these prayer meetings should be held : first, on account of their influence on the church. Such meetings increase the heart acquaintance of the church-members with each other and with those whom they would reach, and deepen the common interest in the spiritual life of the church. Then, by means of the cottage gatherings, the prayer service may be taken to those members who are unable to attend the regular midweek prayer meeting. There are in every congre- gation those who through age or infirmity are unable to get to church. And there are others who have the care of invalids and young children and consequently cannot attend the usual services of worship. With many churches the cottage prayer meetings are not held twice in the same place, but are carried to differ- ent parts of the parish in succeeding weeks. Second, 130 THE COTTAGE PRAYER MEETING. cottage prayer meetings should be held on account of the influence on the outside world. These meetings stand to the people around the church as the social settlement does to the community. Such meetings attract attention, and from them flow streams of influ- ence which permeate the remotest parts of the commu- nity. A woman in New York City gathers into a prayer meeting held weekly at her home from thirty to forty working men and women, to whom the prayer circle would otherwise be unknown. She obtains the help of some of the members of her church in carrying on the meetings, and their work has been wonderfully blessed : many of the people who come to the meetings have been brought through its influence into the fellow- ship of the church ; others have been brought into the Sunday-school and church attendance. If such a meet- ing could not be conveniently held continuously in one home, it might be held for a month or three months at one house, and then for a like period in another. A similar plan should be in operation in every church in addition to the work done in the churches and mis- sions. Besides the fraternal and spiritual benefits which accrue from such gatherings, they have the merit of being inexpensive. When we read of the tremendous average cost of each convert in this coun- try, and on the other hand read the pitiful appeals for money and men from fields where the millions have never once heard the Gospel story, we realize that there is something wrong in our methods, and that we ought by all means to do this thing also and not to leave the other undone. Cottage prayer meetings have been successfully con- ducted for many years by the churches of Oberlin, O., that centre of religious activity, where the life-work of the sainted Finney still goes on. The congrega- 131 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. tions of the principal churches of Oberliii are divided into prayer circles somewhat after the plan of the " classes " in the Methodist Church. Cottage prayer meetings are also being carried on by many other churches throughout our country. This return to the simple ways of the early Church has a wonderful hold upon the heart. It was the custom of the early Church to meet for prayer at the homes of the adherents to the new faith. The seventy, as they went out two by two, must have gathered the families to whom they brought the message of life into many an hour of quiet prayer. And this home prayer service was hallowed also by the presence and prayers of our blessed Lord. 132 OPEN-AIR PREACHING. CHAPTEE XYL OPEN-AIR PREACHING. Open-air preaching is not a new thing. It is as old as the Garden of Eden. Scripture abounds with allu- sions to open-air preaching, and records many such a sermon. The holy prophets of old, on the streets, or wherever they found the people, lifted up their voices in warning. We associate John the Baptist with great sermons and the open skies of the wilderness. There was the open-air sermon of Pentecost, the ring- ing open-air messages of the seventy, and Paul's address on Mars' Hill. Our blessed Lord went out through the dusty highways and taught the crowd that followed him, or spoke to them from the little craft anchored off the shore. He preached to the one woman at the well, preached in the streets of Jericho, Jerusalem, and Capernaum, and preached the great Sermon on the Mount under the open skies and from the commanding heights of the hills. The most of his preaching was out of doors. Coming down through the years, we find that some of the great- est teachers of the centuries, John Knox, Roland Hill, Spurgeon and Moody, Whitefield and the Wes- leys, have preached in the open air. In England services have been carried on out of doors to an extent that has never been undertaken in this country. There are one thousand open-air preachers in London, and they are not only of the Salvation Army and the City Mission, but the lead- 133 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. ing ministers of the city, numbering such men as the Bishop of Bedford and Lord Rodstock. St. Mary's Church, Whitechapel, the scene of so many murders, has a pulpit built into its outer wall, and clergymen preach every Sunday to the people that crowd to hear them in that district renowned for wickedness. The Presbyterians in Loudon have a committee devoted to this special work. The famous preacher, Rev. John McNeil, D.D., when a pastor in London, often preached in the park. Rev. Newman Hall, D.D., had a service in front of his church every Sun- day night in summer. Rev. Mr. Woffendale, a Pres- byterian minister, goes out with a company of young people to some distance from his church. There they pause and sing, while others distribute hand-bills containing invitations to the services; a few words are spoken, and the company passes on. Another minister in London sends out his young men in dif- ferent directions. They bring in all they can gather, and go out again. The service begins at half-past seven, and continues for two hours and a half, and it is estimated that of the thousand members of the church two thirds were converts from open-air preaching. Rev. Mr. Stewart, a rector of London, sends four bands of young men to occupy different stations. The next Sunday they occupy four others, so that he has the Gospel preached to every man in his parish during a month. The Christian Evidence Society conducts Gospel services from a platform erected in one of the parks. Numerous cases are recorded of the triumphs of the Cross and the silencing of those who came to scoff. ^ Rev. E. P. Hammond says, "The rule or law of the 1 Edwin H. Byington, Fifth Convention of Christian Workers, Hartford, Conn., 1890, pp. 357-360. 134 ope:n^-air preaching. Presbytery of Glasgow is that every minister shall once a month, at least, preach in the open air." ^ Open-air services have been conducted with great success in this country. Rev. Frederick Campbell, pastor of Jefferson Park Presbyterian Church, Chicago, says that during the summer of 1895 he conducted outdoor services for three months with marked suc- cess. In each case an after-service inside the church was held, and a large per cent of the crowd, of the very class he most wanted to reach, followed him into the meeting. They were attentive, respectful, and evidently deeply impressed. The Broome Street Tabernacle, New York, has an out-of-door meeting, notice of which is placed in the (jiiurch bulletin, and which is as permanent as any other service of the church. This meeting is usually held some distance from the church. When the work- ers at the meeting return, bringing with them such as are impressed, a pleasant tea is served them by the ladies. After tea a prayer meeting is held in special interest of those who have asked for prayer in the out- door meeting. In this way the church holds together the workers, who are converts from the class which the church is trying to reach. The Fourth Congregational Church of Hartford, Conn., has preaching from its church porch. After this service the people are invited to go to church. Their attention is called to the different churches in the neighborhood, and the}^ are assured of a hearty welcome from any of them. For this work there is a band of four pieces, and they hold, in addition to the service mentioned above, another at the base- ball grounds, and yet another in the rougher part ^ Second Convention of Christian Workers, New York, 1887, p. 154. 135 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. of the city. The Bethany Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia has open-air services, conducted by a brotherhood of young men. In St. George's Episco- pal Church, New York, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew holds open-air services in front of the mission on Sunday afternoon. The Boston Baptist Tabernacle holds a variety of open-air meetings, — at the wharves, among Sunday workers, and at many points where men congregate in idleness. The most familiar example of outdoor worship was, in the past, the camp or tent meeting. This has, in later years, been adapted to the town by the erec- tion of tents for holding religious services on some vacant lot. Here the people may be gathered night after night, during the heated term, when it would be impossible to get them to go into a hot, close hall. Then, too, those who would not go to a reli- gious meeting may, perchance, in passing, pause to hear a sweet Gospel song, or may catch some word of entreaty that will strike home to the conscience. In the summer of 1896, tent meetings were successfully held in New York, and resulted in many conversions. Still more effective in reaching the masses, who w^ill not go to the place where the Word is preached, is the Gospel wagon, since it may be moved into densely populated neighborhoods, where there is no chance to 13ut up a tent. Two or three audiences may be ad- dressed on the same night, and a large number of people reached. Besides the crowd that gathers around the wagon, there is an invisible audience within the houses in the vicinity. In Washington, D. C, they have a Gospel push- cart, which can get still closer to the people, as it can be moved by hand into narrow alleys where a wagon could not be drawn. The Gospel wagon is manned 136 OPEN-AIR PREACHING. by a corps of earnest workers who are able to sing or speak in the power of the Holy Spirit. A portable organ is of great assistance in the music. In some cases a number of volunteer workers accompany the wagon on foot. The office of these is to notice those who seem affected by the talk, and to enter into con- versation with them and strive to bring them to Christ. After the speaking and singing, opportunity is given to signify the desire for a better life, and an after-meeting is held, when personal work is done. The wagons also distribute tracts and sell or give away Bibles and Testaments. The Gospel wagon may very profitably be used in the village or city park, by the beach or common outing-place, and services conducted for the benefit of those who throng such places during the hot even- ings of summer. By Gospel wagon I do not mean any particular wagon, although wagons are made for that distinct purpose. Gospel wagons are impro- vised. Any vehicle serving the purpose of elevation and transportation is made use of every year by many ministers for this purpose. There is never want for a congregation. People are attentive, and there are reports of many conversions. The work spoken of above has been largely that of the city church ; but let it be remembered that the coun- try church has as large opportunity for successful out- door preaching. The country church, too, may carry its aggressive work into its outlying districts in the summer time, and thus the busy farmer will not have too far to go to reach and enjoy the privilege of Gos- pel services. Whether, then, the message be told in the city, by the restless sea, or in the quiet country, it shall be told, and the summer days be no less filled with work for God than the working months of the winter. 137 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER XVII. CHAPELS AND MISSIONS. I AM persuaded that the religious worl^ of chapels and missions can be less expensively, if not more successfully, conducted than is usual in such branch- work of churches. There has been room for improve- ment. The Gospel services of some chapels and missions have suffered a dragging existence, and the spiritual results have not been, according to the confession of men in charge, as large as they be- lieved that they had reason to expect. On the other hand, while the churches with institutional depart- ments have met with unusual spiritual results, yet the number of such expensive plants, until the wealth of Christians is more consecrated than now, must necessarily be limited. Therefore, instead of the parish-house displacing missions and chapels, there promises to be an increasing demand for them, es- pecially in the cities; for it is here that the great tide of population is coming, in high and mighty waves. '' In one century the population in cities of 8,000 or more has risen from one thirtieth to nearly one third of the whole, the rate of increase being much greater from 1880 to 1890 than ever before." ^ Not only is the population massing in cities, but those parts of the cities where the population is densest have the fewest churches. This fact is so 1 The New Era, by Dr. Strong, pp. 164, 165. 138 CHAPELS AND MISSIONS. proverbial that it is not necessary to give statis- tics proving the statement. All this goes to show that there will be an increasing demand for chapels and missions. There are simple, practicable ways of conducting such missions, reached by long and costly experience, which are being blessed to large increase in efficiency and results of the spiritual work. First, as to the religious services. How can these meetings be most successfully conducted? The plan of the McAll Mission, as that of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon in England and America, is marked by variety. Different speakers present the gospel mes- sage, though some one is recognized and is always present as permanent leader, known, possibly, as the superintendent of the mission. In the McAll Mis- sion two persons frequently give short talks the same evening. It is the genius of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon that some new face address the meeting at every service. It gives the o]}portunity for the use of a large number of lay ivorkers. The plan has been tried by some chapels and missions in the United States with the most gratifying results. It is true, almost without exception, that the most successful missions in our cities are those following the plan of frequently having different speakers. The plan of different speakers for short talks is the plan, too, advocated by so thoughtful a writer and experienced worker as the Rev. Dr. Josiah Strong. Care should be exercised, of course, to have the best available speakers. But the testimony or short talk from stammering lips is often used by the Spirit with great power. If there is loss in the flow of speech, there is gain in the endless stream of living witnesses. Not only should there be different speakers, 139 MODERN^ METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. but different meetings, also, should be differently con- ducted. It is a principle of Mr. Moody, I understand, so to conduct meetings as not to be anticipated in any part of the programme. Variety in music — quartette, vocal and instrumental solos, chorus, and responsive singing — will add to the brightness of the meetings. Dryness is not essential to orthodoxy, and truth that runs in ruts is not the most effective. Minds are kept alert by varying the programme from time to time: responsive readings, readings in concert, quot- ing individually verses of Scripture, quoting pas- sages in concert, give pleasant variety. Another successful plan is to assign some chapter, and pass little slips on which the members of the audience are to place the number of their favorite verse in the chapter; then the cards are collected by the ushers and classified ; all the verses chosen are read in order, when the number of persons selecting the verse is announced. The artisan classes, for the most part, think differently, feel differently, and are moved dif- ferently from their more "well-to-do" neighbors; and unless we can put down our formalism at the feet of Jesus Christ, and adapt ourselves to the con- ditions and methods that will prevail, an innumerable company will continue to live Christless lives and die Christless deaths. But it is not enough that the meetings be special and specially good; there must also be a personal interest. Some missions send, as often as once a month, a circular letter to the attendants of the gos- pel services. This makes the invitation special and individual. A mimeographed letter or a neatly printed circular can be sent. If a mimeographed letter is used, the expense will be but a trifle, save in the mailing of the letters. But the increase in attend- 140 CHAPELS AND MISSIONS. ance gained will, by an increase in the collections, usually more than cover the expense. The plan is an invaluable aid in gaining attendants and regular attendance on the gospel services. There is some- thing in the fact that Uncle Sam brings the letter that makes it appreciated. We all know that! It is a secret little pleasure that we never outgrow. It is to be said that one address will answer for a family, but such envelope address should be as inclusive as pos- sible. For example, if the family consists of father, mother, and children, address Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Smith and family. These little things are not more closely noticed or appreciated by the richer than by the poorer classes. All this is helpful, but there is still more that can be done to magnify the importance of the individual. It is desirable that each attendant feel that he is a part of the chapel ; that he is responsible for and in a measure essential to its success. Those who unite with the church, of course, will appreciate their privi- lege and duty, but others enjoy belonging to some- thing, and a gain of attendance and interest will be made by having an "attendants membership." The word "attendant" is used, that such enrolment may not be confused with membership of the church. To be enrolled as an attendant, application is made by sign- ing a little card which bears the simple statement, "I desire to be enrolled as a regular attendant on the gospel meetings of Chapel." The back of the card usually states the advantages of such enrolment and the duties which will be expected of the applicant, such as regular attendance as far as practicable upon the Chapel meetings, helping its interest in any way possible, also speaking well of the chapel and its mem- bers, and so forth. When the card is signed, a pass- MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. book is handed the applicant which may bear some thoughts similar to the following: "This book will admit the bearer to the socials, the annual supper, and special services at the chapel. This book will also insure the member all the privileges of the chapel and its several societies under the usual conditions." The pass-book is made of red leather, with gold let- tering on the outside, and containing a little leaflet of four pages within, bearing a list of the meetings, hints for helping in the work, and the following sig- nificant statement: "This pass is available so long as the superintendent of the chapel is kept informed as to your address. If you change your address, send word to the superintendent of Chapel." The pass-book idea was suggested by the pass-book of the Auxiliary League of the Salvation Army. When the expense of the book (about ten cents) may not be warranted, a neat card will serve the purpose. The same effort to reach strangers and obtain their names should, of course, be made in the chapel as is made in the churches. There is nothing complex about this system. All is very simple. I do not see how less could be done, save the whole work be conducted in a loose and haphazard way. But in addition to making much of the attendants, they should be made to do much. Every one enjoys being of use, enjoys realizing that he is of some aid in the work, is regarded as of sufficient worth to be used. To give all something to do must be one great study of the superintendent. Second, as to the expenses of conducting the gos- pel services of chapels and missions. For fear of being misunderstood, and at the risk of appearing to repeat, I wish to say that the practicability of any plan must be determined by local conditions. Th^ 142 CHAPELS AND MISSIONS. method of having lay speakers is a large saving of expense. The superintendent in charge, by this method, is spared the burden of preparing many addresses, and aside from the details of the work (about such as rest on the superintendent of a large Sunday-school), only presides at the meetings and acts in the capacity of pastor to the people. The labor is not so arduous as to demand all of the leader's time. A capable man, therefore, for a small compensation, can often be secured, and sometimes a volunteer leader can be obtained. Now let us see how this plan works. There is a gospel and testimony meeting one evening every week, in which the attendants and members of the mission take part. One prayer meeting a week means fifty-two prayer meetings a year. The superinten- dent, though a day laborer and an uneducated man, in addition to presiding at every gospel service, will address the meeting as many as four times a year. The pastor of the home church and the superintendent of the Mission Sunday-school will each address the meeting as many as four times during the year. This leaves forty meetings to be provided for by a board of ten officers of the home church. These officers, in alphabetical rotation, are present at the prayer meet- ing, and give the opening address, — each officer appearing four times during the year, and at the con- siderable interval of ten weeks. In addition to the interest awakened by the new faces and the helpful- ness to the people of the personal presence and inter- est of different men, there is a reflex influence upon the church which is felt for good in its every part. This work, in being an outlet for the energy of the members of the church, cannot be over-estimated. Our church work has lacked, in some measure, the H3 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. balance and support of the man influence and inter- est; but bring men into touch with great needs, poverty of spirit and life, and they will see that there is something practical and real that they can do, and will respond as steel to the magnet. This plan pro- vides for the weekly prayer meeting of the mission. The Sunday-evening services may be similarly con- ducted. There is always a goodly number in the church to draw upon for such meetings, such as mem- bers of the Young People's Societies, Missionary Societies, Men's Club, Sunday-school teachers, and others. Then, too, the community can be drawn upon ; addresses can be secured from lawyers, physicians, business men, and other laymen. This plan of developing and using lay forces by placing the chapel in the charge of lay workers is in successful opera- tion in the Ninth Street Baptist Church of Cincinnati, O., Rev. W. G- Partridge, pastor. This church has six chapels in different parts of the city, and the work has been greatly blessed; through the efforts of the missions many souls have been won to Jesus Christ, and brought into the membership of the church. By using many lay speakers, the McAU Mission "can conduct a hundred missions at a total expense for salaries of only $18,000. With us, a hundred city missions would mean more than a hundred paid mis- sionaries at the expense of not less than $200,000." ^ In commenting on this difference, Dr. Strong says: "Of course salaries are larger here than in France, but that is only an added reason for adopting cheaper methods."^ Should the demands for the services of an ordained minister at the church proper be so large that he could not meet them, why not place the several chapels under the control of one minister, giving him 1 The New Era, p. 336. 144 CHAPELS AND MISSIONS. the assistance of lay workers, as in the plan outlined above. It would soon be found, I believe, that vari- ous lines of work, in addition to the gospel services, could be carried on for the benefit of the residents and their associates. The foolish objection, often urged, by which many churches excuse themselves from assuming mission work, is that their church is in a fashionable part of town. So much more reason for such a church carry- ing on mission work! for it has both the means and the ability ; nor is that church which is less fortunate financially, exempt from such missionary work. A most comprehensive plan, and one but recently formulated, is known as the "Buffalo Plan," whereby many churches of Buffalo, including Congregational, Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Hebrew, Unitarian, and other denominations have blocked out the city, assigning a section to the care and supervision of each church, whose duty it is "to look after all needy persons in it who are not otherwise helped, and to aid them in any way possible, and in connection with the Charity Organization to keep close watch upon the condition of the people in the district. Sometimes the district assigned to a church is in its immediate vicinity; but if it is a strong church, and located in a well-to-do quarter of the city, it is more likely to receive a district in the poorer portion of the city."^ This scheme does not preclude the church working in districts other than the one assigned; it but insures that the church will look thoroughly to the interest of that district. As a result of this co- operative plan, a large work on institutional lines, such as classes, clubs, educational and social work, 1 The Independent, July 23, 1896, p. 13. 10 145 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. has already been commenced, and the plan gives great promise for the future. All this goes to show what a large work can be accomplished, and how the members of the church can be made of real service. We must make larger use of lay workers or suffer the world to be lost. It is all nonsense for any church to assume that it has not capable workers within its membership. All can do far more in the work for Christ than we usually think ; the thing that we as pastors need to do is to give the people a chance and encourage them to do. Neither pastors nor people have a right to stand on excuses. "It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." ^ 1 Zechariah iv. 6. 146 COUNTRY EVANGELIZATION. CHAPTEE XVIII. COUNTRY EVANGELIZATION. It is the farm and the village that yearly furnish our municipal and national life, civic and religious, with a great part of its new blood and best working force. Statistics show that the greater proportion of the young men who enter the ministry received their early religious instruction in some country parish, and it is well known that the greatest men of our nation have been, for the most part, those who came from the farm or smaller town. Dr. Mark Hopkins said, "You might sweep the whole of the city of New York into the ocean to-morrow, and the country would recover quicker and come out of it better than if you should destroy a similar number of men and an equivalent amount of property in the country towns." ^ If this be true, and the value to the nation of the men and institutions of the country is so great, it must also be true of the church, which is the very heart of any community, and indicates by its pulsations the ebb and flow of the life blood within. In view of the great importance of the rural church as a con- servator of our country's weal and of the principles of the Church at large, indifference to its welfare is greatly to be regretted. City evangelization, the home church, missions, and other worthy causes have 1 Quoted by Rev. S. W. Dike, D.D., Christianity Practically Applied, p. 417. 147 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. claimed our attention to the exclusion of country evangelization. Now, what are some of the opportunities for coun- try evangelization? It is said that one-half of the people of the State of Vermont never go to churcli;^ and when we remember that Vermont is essentially a rural State, with no great cities of large foreign population to swell the number of the unchurched, the statement is astounding. Here, then, right at the door of the country ministers of that State is a field which rivals that surrounding any church in the larger cities. The Rev. Samuel W. Dike, D.D., says that the non-church-goers in the fourteen northern States east of the Mississippi consist largely of those who live more than two miles from the nearest church, the proportion being fifty per cent greater outside that limit than within it.^ Is it not as clearly the duty of the country church to carry the Gospel outside the two-mile limit as it is incumbent on the city church to overflow into "tenement districts"? Dr. Josiah Strong, after careful investigation, estimates that more than one-half of our entire rural population are non-church-goers. He says: "A large propor- tion of those who do attend live in the villages, while probably seventy per cent of those who live two miles from church (which of course means farm- ers) do not attend. As two-thirds of our entire pop- ulation live in the country, it is evident that farmers constitute a large proportion of the non-church-going class." ^ Clearly, then, here is a great field, unworked, and within reach of the village and town churches. 1 Prof. G. Frederick Wright of Oberlin College, Interior, June 19, 1890. 2 Quoted by Professor Wright, Ibid. 8 The New' Era, p. 207. 148 COUNTKY EVANGELIZATION. And if this great country population is not reached, it is due to the criminal neglect of those churches, 'Go,' says Christ, 'and disciple the world, and I will give you the omnipotent power.' ^ It may not be possible to bring the people beyond a few miles' limit into the church, but it is possible to take the church to the people. The village church has the best of opportunities for doing a large mis- sionary work. Many churches conduct services regularly in school-houses of the out-lying country districts. These places of working are called "Sta- tions," and are regarded by the parent church as an organic part of its work, the meetings being con- ducted, and the largest part of the pastoral work done, by laymen under the direction of the minister. Rev. Newton W. Cadwell, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Westfield, N. J., has four such stations in districts outside his parish. Each is in charge of a superintendent, who, with most of the teachers in the station school, are members of the home church. The following excellent points give an outline of hia work in his own words : — " 1. Always a Sunday-school on Sabbath afternoon. 2. Always a Christian Endeavor meeting once a week. 3. Always a Christmas and Children's Anniversary. 4. Always invited to the home church festivals and special services. 5. Always invited to go with iis on our annual summer excursion to seashore, and share in the profits. 6. Always consult the Superintendents every few days. " Results : Many additions to the church. New people developed and trained for church workers. Most loyal adherents found in outside schools." A similar movement was started in Oberlin, O., in the fall of 1890. Meetings were held in sixteen out- 1 Matthew xxviii. 19, 20. 149 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. lying country districts, some of them several miles from the village. In less than a year one hundred and ninety conversions were reported. What has been done in one country parish may be accomplished in another. The plan of working is simple. In the home church some one usually is found living near the ob- jective centre of the new work who will act as super- intendent. If not, a little of the enthusiasm that sends a citizen out in that direction to hunt up voters in the fall may be aroused in the church-members by the minister who wants to see righteousness carry by a good large majority. The Christian Endeavor or other Young People's Society is of great aid in this work. Pledged to active Christian service, the mem- bers of this Society will lend themselves to carrying on aggressive work if the pastor co-operates with them and directs their energy. A committee of the Endeavor Society of the home church may have in charge the organization of branch societies in the stations, and may go out on Sunday afternoon to assist in carrying on the Sunday-school. The work of the station once well organized, the Christian Endeavor Society is naturally cared for by the attend- ants from the district; the same interest and readi- ness for prayer and testimony prevailing here as characterizes such meetings everywhere. The Chris- tian Endeavor meeting may be the weekly prayer meeting of the station. And when impossible to have a gospel address or sermon each week, the Chris- tian Endeavor meeting is, for the time being, the centre of their Christian work and worship. In this way a great many workers are developed. To reach those in the country who from ill health or lack of facilities to get to the station are kept away from the meetings, the Home Department of 150 COUNTRY EVANGELIZATIOlSr. the Sunday-school has been found to be of great ser- vice. When to this is added the invitation to help in such enterprises of the church as may be participated in at home, such as help with the missionary box or furnishing supplies for the picnic or church festival, so much interest and enthusiasm for the church is aroused that obstacles deemed at first insuperable are overcome, and the non-attendant developed into the regular church-goer. How shall this work of evangelizing the country be inaugurated? In the first place, the ministers of vil- lages and smaller cities must realize their responsi- bility for country evangelization. They must preach Christ, the Saviour of the world, and work for a MISSIONARY church. Is this possible with a church so feeble that it is barely holding its own, the number of yearly accessions scarcely counterbalancing those who pass away? If so, what is the first step? Organize the Christian Endeavor, Ep worth League, or a society with similar principles, but do not limit the membership to the very young. The prestige of these societies has penetrated to the remotest hamlet, and the people will be glad to join them. With this organization at the heart of the church, with the hearty co-operation of the officers of the church (which the pastor must by all means secure), with his personal influence and preaching, the smoulder- ing church may be made a "burning and a shining light." A series of revival meetings for the benefit of the church itself is always helpful. When there is an aroused interest and consciousness of spiritual bless- ing, then come with strongest message on the duty of the church to the unsaved around them. God's people will not prove unfaithful; but every church, 151 MODERN METHODS IN CHUKCH WORK. I believe, will cry out, "What can we do to help them? " Some one has said that the way to carry a reform is so to labor that people will say, "Why, this is our reform." That is the wise way of conducting every good movement. Guiding, but avoiding all appearance of driving, the pastor will lead his people to suggest the effort to gather in the people in the surrounding neighborhoods. A committee can then be appointed to see the trustees and obtain the use of a given school-house or to secure other suitable place for services, and get permission to announce in the day school a series of meetings. A week's meetings, with every effort being made to get all the people of the vicinity to attend, may close with the organiza- tion of a Sunday-school and a Christian Endeavor or other similar society, as may be practicable. The work of one station would then be strongly inaugu- rated. Let not the home church grudge the money to buy Gospel Hymns; it will come back in a harvest of treasure and souls. Other stations may be occu- pied as time goes on, and soon the church will be the centre of a large, aggressive work. All this presupposes hard work, — work that may be regarded as beyond reason by some members of the country church, though not exceeding that per- formed without question by workers in a city church, amid all the demands upon the time incident to life in town. It is a matter of education as well as spiritual fitness, but the pastor who himself yearns to extend the kingdom will best succeed with his people in this work. A house-to-house canvass of the field (as indicated in the chapter on "Reaching the People Outside the Church") will prove of incalculable aid in reaching the country people. 152 COUNTRY EVANGELIZATION. Efforts to evangelize the territory circumjacent to the country church is one of the conditions, I believe, of the spiritual growth of that church. Little wonder that rural churches dwindle away when many of them do no missionary work of this kind! "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." ^ So long as the country churches fail to go with the Gospel, so long will they be cursed with barrenness and suffer a struggling existence. *' Faith, simple faith, the promise sees, And looks to that alone ; Laughs at impossibilities, And cries, It shall be done." 1 John XV. 5. 153 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTER XIX. men's clubs. Grand as is the work of the Men's Sunday Evening Club, it is evident that this society is not adapted to all churches. The Sunday evening service may al- ready be under successful management, or the need of the field may demand a comprehensive society for various lines of work. 1. A society of men, organized for general church work, and one of the largest and most successful of its kind, is the Westminster Club, in the Westmin- ster Church, Buffalo, N. Y., of which Rev. Samuel Van Vranken Holmes is pastor. The Club holds monthly meetings at the private residences of members, when a literary programme is followed by refreshments and a social good time. The Constitution and By-Laws of this Club are model ones. According to the Constitution the object of the organization is to secure the associated services of the men of Westminster Church and Congregation in religious, philanthropic, and social work. The officers are a president, three vice-presidents, a treasurer, recording secretary, and corresponding secretary. These officers with the pastor ex officio constitute an executive board for the governing of the Club. There are three general standing committees, of each of which one of the vice-presidents of the Club is chair- man, viz.: 1. Committee on Religious Affairs; 2. 154 MEN'S CLUBS. Philanthropic Committee; 3. Social Committee. In addition to these, there is also a Topic Committee, Membership Committee, and provision for such other committees as the executive board may direct. The work of the Topic Committee is by no means a small one. It is their duty to provide topics for discussion and suitable speakers, at the regular meetings, and to furnish the Corresponding Secretary the material for his announcements at least two weeks in advance. While it is the special duty of the Social Committee to promote the social interests of the Church and of the Club by welcoming strangers and by providing suitable entertainments, yet it is the thought and purpose of the Club that this social spirit should prevail with all the members of the association. The annual dues of members are three dollars ; each member has the priv- ilege of inviting one gentleman to any regular meeting of the Club (except annual meetings) provided he se- cure the permission of the host at least three days in advance. In answer to an inquiry as to the result and influence of the work of this Club, Rev. Mr. Holmes writes : *' Two years of deepening interest and growing work have served to establish the Club as one of the most important factors in our church life. Men hitherto unidentified with any form of organized church effort are now enthusiastic workers ; men of different in- terests and from different relations in society have been brought into close and friendly contact ; and one detects a spirit of loyal attachment to Westminster Chui'ch, which before was lacking. The large success of the Club in these regards has been due, I think, to two causes. First, the care that has been taken by the Topic Committee to malie each meeting one of interest and profit to thoughtful and cultivated minds. 155 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. Prominent men, many of them specialists from out of the city, have been secured to speak at the monthly meetings ; and in no instance have we been disappointed. Men will attend the Club meetings only when they can be sure that the effort will be repaid; and without such regular and general attendance, a church club will quickly languish and die. In the second place, work of far-reaching importance has been undertaken, giving each member something to do. Westminster House, our Social Settlement, has been supported and managed entirely by the Club. In the past year $3,000 has been raised for its maintenance, and many of the men have given an evening each week to the care of the various clubs and classes incident to set- tlement work. The good thus accomplished can hardly be estimated, while its reflex influence upon the men of the parish has been enormous. Westmin- ster Club is just entering on its third year of life with membership of one hundred and fourteen, with pros- pects brighter than ever before, and with a philan- thropic fervor among the men of the church which could have been quickened in no other way. I can cordially commend the organization work of our Club to other churches. Especially to those churches which, like Westminster, have among their number men from different walks of life, and some wealth at their com- mand, I am convinced that our methods are suited to accomplish the largest and most lasting results." With organization almost identical with that of the Westminster Club, the Men's Society of the Church of the Covenant, Washington, D. C, is doing a large and aggressive work. Rev. Tennis S. Hamlin, D.D., the pastor of this church, writes : " The Men's Society of the Church of the Covenant has been very useful dur- ing its two and a half years of existence, in enlisting 156 MEN'S CLUBS. the interest and services of men not before actively identified with any form of the work. Our Religious Committee conducts evangelistic services from time to time at our mission, takes part in our midweek ser- vice, and is generally useful. The Philanthropic Committee does much good among the poor, maintains a reading-room at the mission, etc. The Social Com- mittee prepares our monthly programme, always ex- cellent, serves refreshments at each meeting, calls on strangers, etc. The total effect of the Society has been a marked accession of esprit de corps throughout the ranks of our men." 2. Laboring-Men's Clubs. When we come to pro- vide for, and aim to reach, working-men, it is evident that our plans must again be modified to meet the changed conditions and different personalities with which we have to do. Great masses of laboring men live in cramped apartments of one or two rooms that are gloomy, dirty, and filthy ; especially is this true of our tenement population. What is called " home " is a cheerless, depressing place. The men go to the street for diversion. But the policemen and lamp-posts are not companionable. What are they to do ? The church is closed. But the saloon is open, and for five cents they can find fellowship, be on a footing of equal- ity, have a mug of beer, smoke, talk, and share a room that is warm, lighted, and cheery. It is plain that the social side of the life of the laboring-man must be taken into account in our dealing with him. There are some churches that have appreciated this fact and have or- ganized men's week-day social clubs. These clubs, while not distinctly religious, have proven helpful to the men and to the church. In Pullman, 111., such a club was organized under the auspices of the Greenstone Presbyterian Church* 157 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. It is called the Young Men's Institute. There is no charge for membership, and the privileges afforded are very great. A reading-room, gymnasium, bowl- ing-alley, and large lecture hall are a part of the equipment, while lecture courses, scientific classes, and an ambulance corps are being arranged for the future. In connection with the Chapel Clergy House of Grace Church, New York, there is a Men's Social Club, which holds weekly meetings. The first meeting in the month is for business, the third is social, and a great variety of entertainment is given, comprising music, recitations, and lectures. On the other club nights, the men meet informally. Rev. Melville K. Bailey, assistant minis- ter, says, that while the club-room is supplied with newspapers and periodicals and has a fine library, the men make very little use of these things. In the main they come to meet each other, the clergy and lay helpers, so it is along this friendly line that the mem- bers of the Club are reached. No distinctly religious feature is introduced into the meetings of the Club, but the members are invited to attend the church services in general, and a special invitation is given on occasions of particular interest to them. Mr. Bailey further says that the Men's Club is found to be the most effectual means in the chapel for attracting mature men to the church, and that by the visits of the clergy to the men in their homes, the members of the Club and their fami- lies are often led to confirmation, the communion, and other services of the church. He sums up the benefits of the Club as follows : — ^' An advantage to the members in finding work. " A stimulus to their mental life. " A strengthening of the spirit of fraternity. " A deepening of their religious life." 158 MEN'S CLUBS. This social side of the working-man's nature, that part of him that wants companionship rather than culture, that prefers the plain room with his mates to the finely appointed one without them, is not taken into account always. And yet we ought to rejoice in it, for it is proof that he has a heart to reach, though he conceal it under much roughness of talk and uncouthness of behavior. In speaking of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon, Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A., of Christ Church, London, tells how he carried out a business social for the benefit of the members of that brotherhood. He says : " At the end of two months, so many had joined that I felt it desii'- able to apportion the work amongst them, and therefore invited them one evening to a meat tea. This was a great occasion. The ladies of my congregation cooked the joints, which disappeared with surprising swiftness; and after the tables were cleared, the men arranged themselves around the platform for business. Then there took place an episode which to my working broth- ers cemented our union as tenaciously as salt does the Bedouin and the traveller. Every one who knows me knows that I neither smoke nor enjoy smoke, much less tobacco-smoke. But I knew that to a working- man smoke is more than food, and that if they could not smoke in the hall, some of them would be itching to get out to the street or public house. So I had in- vested ten shillings in the purchase of tobacco of a special quality, highly recommended by a friend on whose judgment I could rely. This was handed round amid the cheers of the men, accompanied by my expla- nation that I had no wish to impose my feelings in the matter on them, and that I could forgive the smoke if they would renounce the beer. * To what purpose was this waste ? * says some critic. But I refuse to con- 159 MODERN" METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. sider that money wasted which enables you to weave a bond between another soul and yourself, forming a strand which will presently draw in the rope and that the cable and the twisted iron. " ^ Mr. Meyer certainly has had great success in welding the hearts of laboring-men to himself ; and if the Church at large can get hold of them on their social side, she also may draw them to her by the ' ' cable and the twisted iron " that had its origin in this simple strand. It is in appreciation of this fact, doubtless, that the 63d Street Mission of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York, Rev. John Hall, D.D., pastor, has a men's club-room with papers and periodicals, which is accessible at all hours of the day and evening, and where the men are permitted to smoke at any time. There is also a bowling-alley in connection with the club-room. St. Bartholomew Mission of the Church of St. Bartholomew, New York, also has such a club- room ; and many other churches make the same pro- vision for the laboring-man. A somewhat different organization from the above mentioned, and one that may now be called a move- ment, as it has been and is being adopted by a large number of churches, is the Christian Industrial League.^ This is a society within the church or mission, and its object is to organize the men of the church for the pur- pose of reaching men, especially those who are engaged in industrial pursuits, and train them to do personal Christian work among their fellows ; to promote the domestic, social, and spiritual life of its members ; to promote patriotism, and to give help in sickness by providing watchers, nurses, etc. In connection with 1 Christian Treasury, February, '95, p. 37. ^ For literature, constitution, and by-laws, etc., address, Chris- tian Industrial League, Springfield, Mass. 160 MEN'S CLUBS. the League is the Christian Industrial Benefit Associa- tion, the object of which is to provide for the temporal wants of its members and of family or friends in case of death. This association gives laboring-men the benefit of a society conducted on Christian and philan- thropic business principles, encourages providence, and meets the need of providing for one's family in case of sickness or of death. It should be remembered that the Benefit Association is a voluntary step open to the members of the Industrial League. Strongest testimo- nials have been given by ministers as to the value of the League in organizing the men of the church, de- veloping a spirit of Christian service, and winning men to Jesus Christ. II 161 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. CHAPTEK XX. REACHING AND HOLDING YOUNG MEN. In the progress of the kingdom, no one thing in recent years is more significant than the aroused conscience and increasing interest and activity of young men in Christian work. The tide has turned. It is beating at the doors of our churches. All that it asks is a chance, — the open door. Wherever entrance has been given, the flow of a new life has come surging through the church, and with irresistible power. The following, from a pastor of one of the largest churches in Buffalo, N. Y., is illustrative of many messages received by me : " It is my conviction that the move- ment of the young men of our country toward support- ing the Church at large and its interest has been marked of recent years ; and instead of fewer young men at- tending service, a larger number are attending than ever before. Certainly, if my congregation is any indication, there is a far greater proportion of young men than young women in attendance, and I believe such may be found to be the case in most centres of population." ^ A canvass of some of the colleges shows that the number of church communicants in the student body, Department of Liberal Arts, is as follows : — Northwestern University 75 % Yale University 66% Princeton University 64 % 1 Rev. Henry Elliott Mott, pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church. 162 REACHING AND HOLDING YOUNG MEN. Cornell University 37% University of Pennsylvania 50% Oberlin CoUege 85% Michigan University 45% Ohio Wesleyan University 85 % There is no doubt that the number of church com- municants in most of the western colleges is much larger. When we remember that a hundred years ago Yale University had but four or five Christians in its entire student body/ we at once perceive the increas- ing hold of Christianity on young men. In Young Men's Christian Associations and other societies there is evidence of the same Christian awakening and aggres- siveness. A church which is not reaching young men and holding them within its fellowship may well ques- tion the spirit and methods of its work. The purpose of this chapter is to speak of four or- ganized movements among young men of the church for aggressive Christian work. There are other soci- eties' doing a large and successful work, but their several methods are practically covered in one form or another by the following societies : the Brother- hood of St. Andrew,^ the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip,^ the Young Men's Sunday Class, and the Young Men's Club. I. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is an organiza- tion of young men in the Protestant Episcopal Church. It was the example of this society which inspired the organization of the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip for work among the non-Episcopal churches. A study of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, therefore, will not 1 Dorchester's Problem of Religious Progress, p. 107. 2 Mr. John W. Wood, General Secretary, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York. « Mr. Edgar M. Folsom, General Secretary, 93 West 103d Street, New York. 163 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. only inform us as to the work of that society, but will also help us to understand the work of the Brother- hood of Andrew and Philip. The following is from the Constitution of the St. Andrew Society : — " Object. The sole object of the Brotherhood of St. An- drew is the spread of Christ's Kingdom among young men, and to this end every man desirmg to become a member thereof must pledge himseK to obey the rules of the Brother- hood so long as he shall be a member. " Rules. These rules are two : The Rule of Prayer and the Rule of Service. The Rule of Prayer is to pray daily for the spread of Christ's Kingdom among young men and for God's blessing upon the labors of the Brotherhood. The Rule of Service is to make an earnest effort each week to bring at least one young man within the hearing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." The Brotherhood was organized in St. James Church, Chicago, on St. Andrew's Day, 1883. It takes its name from the apostle, who, when he had found the Messiah, went at once for his own brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. The work of the society from its inception was so successful in bringing non-church- going men into the services, that other chapters were soon started ha%ang the same object and two rules. Now, "by the influence of young men upon their fellows," and of one church upon another, the move- ment has grown until there are about fifteen hundred chapters with sixteen thousand and more members. There are one hundred and eighty-five chapters con- nected with the Church of England, forty in Australia ; also chapters in English and American churches in various parts of the world, — Germany, West Indies, Barbadoes, British Honduras, New Zealand, and other places. This is a wonderful showing when we remem- ber that the Brotherhood of St. Andrew is limited to 164 REACHING AND HOLDING YOUNG MEN. one denomination and to one sex. It is a society of young men working for young men. The members are under a solemn obligation to pray and to work, and to pray every day and to do something definite every week " to bring at least one young man within hearing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as set forth in the services of the Church." The effort of the society is not for numbers, but for efiicient workers. No drones are allowed within its busy hive. Those who join the Brotherhood do so not for what they can get, but for what they can give, as men whose minds and consciences are aflame with a holy desire to spread the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Every man is a pledged worker, a pledged personal worker, a pledged praying worker, and a pledged definite worker, to reach some new man each week. One thing that has long put off the millennium has been the shifting into the future what ought to be done to-day, instead of saying, "This one thing I do.'' It is only the men who are ready to do who are admitted to the membership of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. This qualifying for membership by heart communion with God, and passionate heart longing to reach the lost, gives the Brotherhood of St. Andrew a somewhat unique position. It is positively refreshing to know of such a society, and it is an object lesson to every Christian worker. Its influence in time ought so to rattle the bones of sleeping organizations as either to shake to the dust the " rest-easies " or awaken them to the consciousness of Christian privilege and responsibil- ity. Another good of the St. Andrew Society is the pre- vailing spirit of prayer which possesses the young men in their work and in their daily walk. The record of the chapters and their growth in numbers, and the deepen- ing spirit of consecration in the members, speaks of the *' quiet hour" and of the presence of the Holy Spirit. 165 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. Different lines of work are covered by the commit- tees of the various chapters. Last year 1,072 chapters reported that their members regularly invite to church services friends and acquaintances who are irregular church-goers; 966 chapters reported regular efforts to bring men to baptism, confirmation, and holy com- munion; 1,174 reported work in welcoming men to church services and Bible classes ; 725 reported Bible classes and a total membership in the neighborhood of 1,200; 350 distributed regularly, at houses and on the street, cards of invitation to service ; 825 made special efforts to visit men in their homes ; 540 did hotel work ; 360 did work at hospitals, prisons, and other public institutions; 627 men were reported as acting as licensed lay readers; 370 chapters maintained or assisted in maintaining mission services.^ II. In thus detailing the work of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, I have practically given the genesis of the Andrew and Philip Brotherhood, which was organized in 1888 by the Rev. Rufus W. Miller, D.D., of Read- ing, Penn., for churches of all denominations. It comprehends the essential features of the St. Andrew Society, but is inter-denominational. The Andrew and Philip Brotherhood, too, is not quite so stringent in requirements for membership. Some chapters, any- way, admit persons who have little more than a willing- ness to come. Such chapters argue that we must take young men as we find them, and lead them one step at a time into a larger and grander service. All that has been said in favor of the St. Andrew's Society is also to be said of the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip. The following connnittees are suggestive of the work which the chapters are covering in the several churches : Devotional, Social, Reading-Room, Adver- 1 Statistics furnished by Mr. John W. Wood, General Secretary. 166 REACHIKG AND HOLDING YOUNG MEN. tising, Invitation, Vestibule, Flower, Visitation, Res- cue, Strangers', Ushers', and Reception. The number and kind of these committees is determined, of course, by the needs of the chapter. The work of these brotherhoods has been far-reaching. But every soci- ety has its limitations, and no one plan avails for all. III. Another way of working for and reaching young men is organizing them into Sunday Classes. These classes have a twofold object : the study of the Bible and the cultivation of brotherly intercourse and mutual benefit. The class usually meets at the regular Sun- day-school hour and studies the appointed Sunday- school lesson, but the principles and methods of class organization and procedure at once distinguish it from the ordinary Bible class. A class which admirably sets forth the new methods is the Ailing Class, which was organized by Mr. Joseph T. Ailing in the Central Presbyterian Church of Rochester, N. Y. The growth of the Ailing Class is indicated by the following table. Note the rapid growth of the class from 1888, the time when the class was reorganized under the new methods. Tear. Total Number Average Largest Enrolled. Attendance. Attendance. 1884 8 6 1885 19 10 1886 19 llf 15 1887 20 11 17 1888 24 18 20 1889 66 26 70 1890 97 56 82 1891 276* 78 221 1893 363* 153 345 1893 575* 206 456 1894 872* 227 363 1895 246 425 This number includes registered visitors. 167 MODERN METHODS IN CHURCH WORK. By the permission of Mr. Ailing I take the following extracts from a pamphlet relative to his class : — " The first step towards building up a Young Men's Bible Class is to arouse a strong class spirit, an enthusiasm for their own organization, and pride in its success ; in short, that very effective something which the French call ei, \{'