jJgy^gSRgg^gfr^^,: - .■:^F•.^^^ BV 2766 .P6 M67 1917 Morris, Samuel Leslie, 1854- 1937. The task that challenges i;f)e tKasife i;f)at Cfjallengeg Home iliJisiion tiext Jlook S. L. MORRIS, D. D. Executive Sccrctari/ of Home Missions, Presbylrri' there is some chaff among the wheat, and perhaps in most sections the chaff predominates. This necessarily makes the scope of Home Missions co-extensive with the bounds of the continent. The most superficial consideration cannot fail to show the Home Mission task in large dimensions, and even at the risk of rehearsing some things as familiar as twice-told tales, there are certain elements entering into it, w-hich magnify not simply its proportions, but its transcendent importance in its vital relation to the Kingdom of God. Area. Only by comparisons can there be any adequate appre- ciation of the area of our country. It is a land of magnifi- cent distances and limitless bounds. China proper could easily be accommodated in our great West, with sufficient territory left to include several of the great world powers. Japan could be laid down on the map of California, and still leave room for Korea. Texas could include the Ger- 4 The Task That ChaUeufjes man Emjjire and England, and perhaps furnish abundance of additional ground for their gigantic battle fields. Leav- ing out Russia, nearly all Europe could be hidden in the eighteen states occupied by the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, in a very striking wa\', empha- sizes these same startling facts: "So vast is our country that many of us who haN'C lived here a lifetime ceinnot compre- hend its extent, because we ha^'e not traveled oxer it. Think of the achievements of Germany, the history of France, the glories of Italy. Here we have a single state named Texas into which the greater part of Germany, France and Italy could be swept. Simply to understand that vast state, you must take the cars and tra\el all day long through wide forests. Then take the cars and travel another day through the rich rice fields. The third day will carry you across the pastures and meadows, co\-ered with herds and flocks. Yet that state but faintly images the country as a whole. Why, you can put all France into New York, New England and Ohio. You can drop Ger- many, Austria, Italy and Spain, with Switzerland and Portugal, into the states east of the Mississippi. Then \<)U can put China into the states north of the Red River and west of the Mississippi. Texas will swallow Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Holland and Belgium. Now drop Japan into California, like a stone splashing in a lake. Oregon and Washington will be left for any chance nation in Christendom that we may have forgotten; and then Alaska will open her capacious arms and offer to take them all in again." Confining our study to the area embraced in the South, it aggregates 1,205,720 square miles. Texas, an empire within itself, contains 265,780 square miles. W. E. Doughty, Educational Secretary of the Laymen's Mis- sionary Movement, asserts: "If France were an island and Texas a sea, and the island were in the midst of the sea, Tltc M(i[/)iifu(le of the Task I -f / "a. 6 TJte Task That ChaUenyea the people of the island would be out of sight of land in every direction." The distance between El Paso and Texarkana in the state of Texas is as great as from Rome to London, and it takes a fast train twenty-four hours to make this journey across the state. Arizona is about the size of Italy, and New Mexico but slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the distance across these two states is as far as from New York to Chicago. Unoccupied Land. In connection with the meeting of the Commercial Con- gress in Mobile, Ala., during 1913, the statement appeared in the public press that the South contained 400,000,000 acres of fertile but uncultivated land, practically one-half of its total area. Arizona has the largest untouched forest in the United States. Is it any wonder that Clarence Hamilton Poe declares in the World's Work: "The last fifty years have seen the making of a dozen new common- wealths beyond the Mississippi; the next fifty years will see the remaking of a dozen old commonwealths below Mason and Dixon's line. From 1900 to 1950 the South will be the land of opportunity. As our epic of the Nine- teenth Century was "The Winning of the West," so our epic of the Twentieth Century will be "The Development of the South." Population. The Census Bureau of Washington estimated that the United States passed the 100,000,000 mark in population April 1, 1915, and it must be several millions beyond that figure by the present time. As the United States has regularly doubled itself every twenty-five years during the past one hundred years, should the same rate of increase continue for the next hundred years, it will reach the enormous number of 1,600,000,000, equal to the present population of the globe. Even if the same rate of increase The Magnitude of the Task 7 does not continue, it will still be sufficient to make the population enormous. If this seems incredible, consider the calculation of W. E. Doughty: "If the United States, including Alaska and the island possessions, were as densely populated as is the Island of Java, we would have in this country one and one-half times the present population of the globe, and yet the United States would not then be more denseh* populated than Belgium." The same au- thority states: "If we add together the eighteen provinces of China proper, Japan, European Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Great Britain, they equal about the same geographical area as the United States, exclusive of Alaska and our island possessions. In the countries named, the census shows a population of more than 700,000,000 people." Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico are equal in area to France, Germany and Austria-Hungary, which have a population of 150,000,000. According to the last census, the South contained 33,- 200,000 souls, but that was seven years ago, and it is in- creasing at the rate of a half million a year. Statistics indicate that the South and West are growing faster than any section of our rapidly developing country, and destined to increase beyond all calculation as the tide of immigra- tion turns more and more southward. A conservative estimate gives the South in this year, 1917, at least 36,- 000,000. Perhaps we already have about as many people as the British Isles or France; and in all probability the next census will show that we have left these two great European powers far behind in numbers. Texas is abun- dantly able to support the present population of the United States. If it were as densely populated as Rhode Island, Texas would contain 135,487,800 people. If the entire population of the earth should migrate to Texas, it would contain only nine people to the acre. In view of the fact 8 The Task That ChalUnges that the South embraces the larger part of the Mississi()pi Valley, the Atlantic coast and the fertile jilains of the Southwest, it is not beyond reason to suppose that the time is coming when it will number w'ithin its bounds 500,000,000 people. Unreached Masses. Classifying the population of the Ihiited States, now o\er 102,000,000, Dr. H. K. Carroll, who revises the religious statistics each year, assigns in round numbers twenty- four millions to the Protestant churches, fourteen millions to the Roman Catholic, and one million to the Mormon, Christian Scientist and other non-evangelical bodies. This would leave sixty-three millions unreached by any branch of the Church, whether Christian or non-evangelical. If we allow one-third for children under ten years of age, this would lea\e 42,000,000 of adults who have never even made profession of faith in Christ. If we reckon one-half of the church membership of the United States, including the non-evangelical, as regenerate, and then add the other half to the unsaved who make no profession of faith in Christ, there can be no escaping the startling conclusion that the most Christian country of the globe faces the enormous task of yet reaching more than 60,000," 000 of its adult people. Does it shock our Christian con- sciousness that these figures indicate the undisputed fact that there are more unsaved people in the United States than the entire population of the German nation, or of the great Japanese Empire, including Korea! Allowing to the South one-third of the population of the country, it follows that at least 20,000,000 of unsaved souls is our responsibility. It must be recognized, how- ever, that this is simply a calculation reached by careful though fallible human estimates; and that none except "the Judge of all the earth" can determine what propor- tion of these are saved and the vast numl)er lK)th within The Ma(juUv(h of fhc Task 9 and without the Church who are yet to be reached In- the gos])el of Christ. The ]]'ork Before Us. There are within our bounds more than 19,000,000 i)er- sons not members of any church, Protestant Roman Cathohc or Jewish, according to the official United States census. These are distributed in round numbers as follows: Alabama 1,211,000 or .59^ c of ])oi)ulation .Vrkansas 996,000 or TO^c- of population Florida 408,000 or 65% of population Georgia '. 1,415,000 or 57% of population Kentucky : . . 1,4()2,()00 or 63% of population Louisiana 751,000 or 49% of population Maryland 804,000 or 63% of population Mississippi. 1,051,000 or 62% of population Missouri 2,164,000 or 64% of population New Mexico. 80,000 or 36% of population North Carolina 1,236,000 or 60% of population ( )klahoina 1,157,000 or 82% of population South Carolina 788,000 or 54% of population Tennessee 1,465,000 or 68% of ])opulation Texas 2,410,000 or 65% of population Virginia 1,180,000 or 60% of ])opulation West Virginia 776,000 or 72% of population One of the most conservative Home Mission chairmen in Arkansas insists that a new denomination could be or- ganized in that state, outnumbering all the present com- bined membership of the churches without taking one indi- vidual from anv other denomination, which statement would hold true of most of the other states. W. H. Roberts, D. D., American Secretary of the Pan Presby- terian Alliance, announced that 60 per cent, of the voters of this country are not identified with any branch of the Church. One hundred years ago, at the beginning of the Nine- teenth Century, when the population of the United States 10 The Task That Challenges was three and one-half million, it is claimed that one in fourteen was a church communicant. During the Nine- teenth Century population increased about 1,500 per cent., but church membership increased in the same period over 10,000 per cent. These were encouraging figures, indi- cating that Christianity was winning and that the Home Mission task, in spite of its enormous proportions, was being accomplished. What a rude shock was the census of 1910, showing that while population increased during the first decade of the Twentieth Century 21 per cent., church membership also increased exactly 21 per cent. In other words, during the first decade of this century, the Church had only been marking time in the United States. It raises the question whether it is not actually falling be- hind in the procession, while everything else in this mar- velous century is making enormous strides. If the Church does not increase infinitely faster than population, what is the outlook for the Home Mission task? What the conse- quences to the Kingdom for "the evangelization of the world in this generation"? What the hope of the world even for the Twentieth Century? In "The Frontier," by Dr. Ward Piatt, occur such state- ments as the following: "Throughout Washington and Oregon may be found scores of narrow valleys teeming with people. No one is doing anything for them re- ligiously, as but little is attempted by any Church for Washington or Oregon outside the towns. In southwestern Oregon is a county of about 1,500 square miles, in which live at least 2,500 people, mostly Americans; and no de- nomination, according to report made last year, is doing any work whatever in that whole country. They are ab- solutely without church privileges." As to Washington, he cites a Missionary Superintendent, who declares "the religious destitution of western Washington to be appall- ing; that outside the larger towns very little religious work is being done by any denomination. In his division only 2 2 ^ H I" ^ ^ > r: ID rn ^ (n ' ~ ^ ? c ^ ^ ' _ /V to Ij L > c/^ < O ^ > S > i: ^ - ^ > D X u) p n > o X Z > 5? 12 The Task 'ihat ChaUeiKjes 209 towns out of 1,146 have church organizations, lea\ing 93/ towns and villages without any reHgious privileges whatever." Probably such extensive areas of destitution exist nowhere in the South, except possibly in certain sec- tions of the Appalachian Mountains, or in the thinly settled territory of Western Texas and New Mexico; but whether it exists in large areas or not, it certainly can be duplicated in numerous smaller communities, making a vast region in the aggregate. Perplexing Problems. In Home Missionary enterprise the simple life is a thing of the past. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, less than two decades ago, there was really but one supreme problem. It consisted chiefly in camping on the trail of the emigrant drifting ever westward, organizing and build- ing new churches in new communities, to accommodate the shifting centers of population. It was pioneering on the ever-expanding frontier. To-day the entire situation is changed, and the Church faces a new world of thought and action. The frontier returns from circumference back to center. It is no longer in the great West simply, far beyond the Mississippi, but shifts to the overcrowded cities or our disintegrating rural communities. The problems of the South are now complicated by their complexity and in- tensified by their perplexity. Rural communities are com- mitting suicide by emigration, under the magnetic influence of our great cities, or else in the hope of purchasing more productive lands in the West, and the once vigorous country church becomes a Home Mission burden. The mountaineers are afflicted with hopeless poverty and much of the missionary effort expended in their behalf promises instead of self-support a never-ending expenditure of money commensurate with their dire need. Nine million Negroes in the Sotith bring the Frontier The Maguitudc <,f the Task IS into every man's back yard and kitchen; and the helping hand extended to them in their pathetic need can nexer be withdrawn without the possibiht\' of their relapsing speedily into heathenism. Mill populations are so migratory as to make them the despair alike of Christian philanthropists and ecclesiastical statesmen. Mining towns and lumber camps, isolated from home influences of mothers and sisters, ha\e always been well-nigh hopeless from a religious standpoint, and the problem is still further complicated by the admixture of alien people and the introduction of national jealousies flaring up at times into actual warfare and bloodshed. This suggests the furl her problem of the incoming ot heterogeneous masses of immigrants into the South, which was until quite recently the purest Anglo-Saxon section of America. It would also be a debatable question whether the city slums, with their awful degradation and hoj)eless wretchedness; or the fashionable suburbs, with automobiles and golf links practicall\' abrogating the Christian Sabbath, is the more perplexing prol)lem. Perhaps there is no sec- tion of the globe that presents such an admixture of white and colored, nati\e and alien, urban and rural, factory and aristocracy, as does the South. Is it an\' wonder at the Southern Baptist Conven- tion in Baltimore, as Rew F'. B. Meyer stepped from the platform and a reporter on the daily paper asked him: "Mr. Meyer, you have just traveled around the world studying Foreign Missions; tell me, what in your \'iew is the greatest mission field in the world"; that cpiick as a flash came the answer: "The laiited States, because here >'ou ha\'e all nationalities of the world centered." C ;/ // id i n <^ Fo rces . If evangelical Christianity- were unhindered in its mis- sionary purpose to make "our country God's country," the magnitude of the task q\qw then might stagger any except 14 The Task That Challenges men of gigantic faith; but, as in apostolic times, "there are many adversaries." Roman Catholicism is sparing neither pains nor means to fasten its tentacles like a huge octopus upon our country. Already it has the largest membership in sixteen states, and controls such cities as Boston and New York, maintains a lobby at Washington to influence legislation in the interests of its schemes, and practically owns the great daily pajjers. Mormonism is a menace to home, society, church and the government. It has 2,300 missionaries, with the characteristic zeal of fanaticism, making a house-to-house canvass of the whole country but especially of the South. Christian Science spreads its net for the unwary, and entangles in its share the idle rich, the superficial thinking, the unbalanced crank, and entraps and preys upon the suffering by holding out de- lusive hopes of health. The Theosophist, the Spiritualist, the Socialist, the Atheist and Russellite are all in the field, opposing and withstanding Christianity as Jannes and Jambres disputed Moses 3,500 years ago. In the early days of Christianity the conflict was with Judaism and Paganism. In the Dark Ages it was with a corrupt and apostate church. In the Eighteenth Century the foe was deism and infidelity. In the Nineteenth Cen- tury it was Materialism and Commercialism; but seeing his time is short, Satan seems to have marshaled all the foes and forces of the past to assault the citadel of faith in this Twentieth Century. The greatest conflict of the ages is raging in Europe at the date of this writing. To a certain extent the whole world is more or less involved. France, Belgium, Poland, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey are a sea of blood, and Europe is a house of tears. Yet this material physical conflict, which has been raging for three years, though it shocks our sensibilities till reason almost staggers, is not the real world battle. The Armageddon of the world is the eternal Tlie Magnitude of the Task 15 spiritual struggle, which was never so fierce, so uncompro- mising, so gigantic, so momentous as to-day. America, the Key to the Situation. Mr. \V. T. Ellis, who has toured the world in the interest of Foreign Missions and has done so much to arouse the United States to the necessity of a forward movement, if the world is to be speedily evangelized, yet did not lose sight of the magnitude of the Home Mission task, and ga\e utterance to a sentiment which has crystallized in the Christian consciousness of the country: "The entire Christianization of North America is the greatest single enterprise confronting the churches of the whole world." This coincides with the statement of Dr. Josiah Strong: "He does most to Christianize the world and to hasten the coming of the Kingdom who does most to make thoroughly Christian the United States." John R. Mott, Secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement, clearly understood the necessity of a strong base of supplies for evangelizing the world when he gave forth the statement, "The greatest problem of Foreign Missions is not on the foreign field, but on the home field." Dr. Homer McMillan, Secretary of Home Missions, is in thorough accord with these posi- tions in the statement that "America is the fulcrum and the gospel of Christ is the lever that is to lift mankind out of the darkness of superstition into the light of truth." Surely these quotations from men of profound thought, large vision, and world-wide observation, should serve to focus the attention of the whole Church, not only on the magnitude, but the vital importance of the unfinished and ever-expanding Home Mission task. If the Home Mission slogan is true, "As goes America, so goes the world," it follows inevitably that he who does most to evangelize America does most to evangelize the world; and the con- verse of the proposition is equally true, that if we cannot evangelize America, we cannot evangelize the world. 16 The Task That Challenges Defin ite Respo n s ihility . In Missionary Con\'entions and Board Conferences, there is a growing tendency to di^'ide and limit the responsibility of each board and denomination in the task of evangelizing the world. The field has been surveyed and the world partitioned. It has a noble purpose, the elimination of waste forces, and it seeks to unite Christendom in co- operative rather than competitive efforts. The ideal is worth while, even though practical difficulties and the sectarian spirit of certain denominations prevent the full realization of this most Christian goal. "The Home Missions Council," composed of twenty- seven boards and agencies, aided by twelve women's boards constituting an auxiliary Council of Women for Home Missions, is an effort to apply unselfish principles in the Christianization of America. The following resolu- tion states clearly the meaning and puri:)osc of the Home Missions Council: "It will be noted that our recommenda- tions are not in the direction of union of churches, mis- sionaries or missionary societies, but in the direction of practicable co-operation, involving increase rather than decrease of denominational acti\'ity. The course of the Home Missions Council is clear. Our one business is to push the Christianization of America through the estab- lished church agencies. Co-operation is essential in doing this. Keeping the issues clarified and simplified, so far as we are concerned, we should follow a steady policy and adopt \'igorous measures for accomplishing two ends: One is, the pre\'ention of wasting, 1)\ competition, mis- sionary funds, workers and interest ; the other and para- mount end is, the establishment of efficient co-operation among evangelical denominations so as to meet the unmet spiritual needs of America." The difficulties in the home field are intensely real and practical, but substantial progress has been made in the way of pre\enting both overlapping and o\erlooking. The Magnitude of the Task 17 In endorsing heartily the principle of comity, and honest- ly endeavoring to make effective these plans of co-operation, at the same time it must be recognized that there can be no arbitrary divisions of the unreached in the United States among Home Mission Boards. It is equally impossible to calculate the number of people that should be assigned to each denomination as its definite share of winning America. Such a suggestion is the well-meant thought of the superficial and visionary, or else a disguised attack on the legitimate denominational zeal of each branch of the Church. No individual, it matters not what his reputation for piety, nor all the combined wisdom of the Home Mis- sions Council, can justify, much less authorize any limita- tion of individual or denominational responsibility. If there were only one unsaved man in the United States, he could not be divided or assigned to any body of Christian people as a definite responsibility. Only the "Judge of all the earth" can either assign or limit responsibility. In reaching the unsaved masses of America, each denomina- tion, while recognizing the co-operation and respecting the rights of all others, must undertake its task with as much zeal as if the whole unsaved masses rested upon its heart and shoulders. In no other way can it measure up to its definite responsibility as determined by the Master, rather than assumed by itself or assigned by some extraneous advisers, even though actuated by the noblest intentions. Presbyterian Obligation . Presbyterianism must meet its denominational share of the responsibility of winning our country for Christ, and its Christian obligation of ministering to human need. It must inquire of the Master himself the extent of obliga- tion, and not of Synods and Councils whose liability to err is confessed in their constitution. There is never any need, however, to limit responsibility. It is not even remotely probable that an individual or denomination will exceed 18 The Task That Challenges its obligation, if measured by the cross of Christ and the expectation of the Master himself. Among the millions of the unsaved in the United States, there are perhaps 25,000,000 to be taught in Sunday school and trained for Christ and the Church; 9,000,000 Negroes whose ethical standards must be elevated above mere emotional nominal Christianity; 3,000,000 mountaineers to be reached in their isolation, and relieved in their destitution; 15,000,000 foreigners among us, and increasing at the rate of 1,000,000 a year, to be assimilated and evangelized; and perhaps 10,000,000 adults, uncounted in any of these classes, with- out God, without Christ and without hope, "aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise." II. THE EQUIPMENT FOR THE TASK. Though the magnitude of the unfinished Home Mission Task looms large, it does not warrant the paralyzing sug- gestion of pessimism. If the eleven disciples — without learning, without influence, without power, without means, did not stagger at the great commission involving world- wide conquest, why should the Christian forces of America, backed by the strength of the mighty God of Jacob, yield to discouragement? Of all institutions, the Church of God should be the most optimistic. Its perpetuity and ultimate triumph are guaranteed by the promise of its divine Head, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." For its task of conquest, the Church can command unlimited resources. Material Resources. According to figures recently made public, the wealth of the United States has doubled during the past sixteen years. The nation's wealth, as announced by the Census Bureau, is now s$188,000,000,000. About $94,000,000,000 has been acquired since 1900. The following are given as some of the items of the national wealth: Real property and improvements, $110,000,000,000; railroads and equip- ment, $16,000,000,000; manufactured products, $15,000,- 000,000; furniture, carriages and automobiles, $8,000,000,- 000; live stock, $6,000,000,000; street railways, $4,000,000,- 000; agricultural products, $5,000,000,000; clothing and personal adornments, $4,205,008,593. New York is the richest state, with over $25,000,000,000; Illinois and Penn- sylvania are close rivals for second place, each with $15,- 500,000,000. The important fact in connection with these figures is that the wealth increase comes largely from the 20 The Task That Challenges increase in the value of land. Land is now cheapest in the Southern States, and in the next ten or fifteen years, its increase in the South will be greatest. The national wealth is twice that of Great Britain, the richest nation of the globe, next to the United States. It is about equal to that of Great Britain, France and Ger- many, the three richest countries of the world. It is groM'- ing at the rate of nearly ten billions each year; and within a few decades, at the present rate, will exceed that of the world combined. Surely, "He hath not dealt so with any nation." Agricultural Products. Recently the Secretary of Agriculture published the statistics of our farm interests, which are so enormous as to paralyze comprehension, reaching in round numbers $8,000,000,000 annually, being four times the value of the products of mines, including oil and precious metals. The gain each year over the previous in farm products averages $300,000,000. The greatest of all crops is corn, now ap- proaching $2,000,000,000 annually, which the Secretary says would cancel the interest-bearing debt of the United States, pay for the Panama Canal, and buy fifty battle- ships. Hay and cotton contend with each other for the second place, amounting to one billion each, according to the fluctuating price of the product. Sixty billion dollars of increased wealth from agriculture alone in one decade is a specimen of our accumulating riches. In "The Call of the World," by W. E. Doughty, occurs this striking comparison of figures: "The value of the farm products in the United States in 1909, according to the report of the Department of Agri- culture, was $8,760,000,000. The farm products ha\'e con- siderably more than doubled in ten years, equaling in value eighteen times the world's output of gold. In comment- ing on these figures, a writer in the Literary Digest, gives The Equipment for the Task 21 the following concrete illustration of what they mean: If the money were all in twenty-dollar gold pieces, it would make a pile 720 miles high, and if the gold pieces were laid on the earth touching one another, the value of the farm products of that one year would make a line of twenty- dollar gold pieces reaching across Alaska, Canada, the United States and Mexico to the Isthmus of Panama, and there would then be enough of these coins left to make a line of gold from New York to San Francisco, and some pieces would fall off into the Pacific Ocean before they were all used." During the last decade of the Nineteenth Century we added in farms an area in extent nearly equal to that of France and Germany. Is it any wonder than a European tourist who sat one da>' in the National Capitol at Wash- ington listening to Congress voting, without debate, every few minutes during the day, appropriations by the millions for internal improvements, exclaimed: "My fathers! What a country!" Exports. The growth of our trade with trans-Atlantic nations is the marvel of the commercial world, and it is destined to grow by leaps and bounds as the result of the disastrous European war. For the twelve months ending September 1, 1915, the exports of the United States amounted to $3,035,033,250, the balance of trade in our favor being more than $1,000,000,000. Imagination itself can scarce- ly compute the enormous increase this one item is destined to produce in our national wealth during the coming years. Natural and Strategic Advantages. W. E. Doughty, Educational Secretary of the Laymen's Missionary Movement, asserts: "The six great naval powers of the world, in the order of their strength, are Great Britain, Germany, the United States, France, Jaj^an and 22 The Task That Challenges Russia. The coast line of the United States exceeds the coast Hnes of any five of them added together. It is sure- ly significant that God has given America control of so much coast line on both oceans, and so many harbors for commerce and as distributing centers for the gospel. The most significant thing about our past is that we grew out of the best life of Europe and inherit the intellectual and moral fiber of the Anglo-Saxon." Economic Equipment. In "The Fortune of the Republic," Dr. Hillis grows elo- quent in describing the natural resources of our marvelous country: "Other people are proud of their country and its principal river. Englishmen are very proud of their lovely little Thames. The Italians are also proud of their little yellow Tiber, which could be dropped into the yellow Missouri without making a splash or raising the 'Big Muddy' a half-inch in flood tide. The Seine is a long stream, that is, measured by a Frenchman's yardstick. But we have a river named the Yukon, that would stretch from Hudson Bay on the north to New Orleans on the south. What treasures in this land as yet undeveloped! Four-fifths of all the fresh water on the globe are in our lake system. A country with a v'wqv and canal system in the Mississippi Valley running out to the right and the left, like the keel and the ribs of a ship, turning the whole interior into a system of canals and waterways for com- merce; wood enough to house the world; coal enough to warm the world ; iron enough to tool the world ; wheat enough to feed the world; cotton enough to clothe the world; gold and siher enough to finance the world." Of this great Valley of the Mississippi, Mr. Gladstone said: "It will be the home of many a Leeds and Manchester, many a Sheffield and Birmingham, and when some time has passed, will clothe, feed and supply the world." None of the great nations of Europe has harbors suf- The Equipment for the Task 23 ficient for its business. Russia, the largest country in the world, is practically shut out of the commercial world by its isolation; and Germany, the most powerful single nation, is absolutely dependent upon the River Elbe and the Kiel Canal for an outlet to the sea, which well-nigh paralyzes its commerce. The United States has the most magnificent harbors in the world — looking east, west and south. The Encyclopedia Britannica sa>'s the Mississippi River and branches affords 35,000 miles of navigable waterway. All Europe has but half the mileage of this one river. No wonder Napoleon Bonaparte said, "The nation which controls the Mississippi Valley will be the most powerful nation on earth." The other combined navigable streams of the United States doubtless exceed the Mississippi in extent. The railroad mileage of the United States is seven times that of any other country on the globe; and the time is fast approaching, perhaps in the next decade, when it will possess one-half of the railroads of the earth. Undeveloped Resources. Only a passing reference can be made to mineral wealth practicalh- untouched, and yet the United States furnishes the world two-thirds of its petroleum and copper, and three-fourths of its coal; while its gold mines are richer than an\' in the world, cxcejjt those of South Africa. Statistics for the South. Turning our attention exclusively southward, is it any wonder that Richard H. Edmunds, Editor of the Manu- facturers' Record, Baltimore, Md., declared recently: "We must learn to think in billions rather than millions, if we would so broaden our mental horizon as to be able to see with some degree of clearness the possibilities of material development in the South." 24 The Task That CJiallenges As justifying this statement, consider the significance of the following facts and figures of the South : Capital invested, manufacturing $3, 397, 000, 000 Annual product of the same 3,800,000.000 Farm lands and buildings 8.971 ,000.000 Annual cotton crop 1,000,000.000 Annual grain crop 1 ,000,000.000 Other farm products 1 ,000,000.000 Lumber cut and sold 450 ,000 , 000 Mine products 370,000,000 Capital invested in fisheries 13,000.000 Products of the same 20,000,000 Total annual income 7,300,000,000 National bank capital 236,853.850 Individual deposits 2,000,000,000 The SontJis Wealth. Dr. John M. Moore, in "The South To-day," furnishes this estimate of the increasing wealth of the South: "The South's wealth is not far from $50,000,000,000, while the wealth of the United States in 1880 was only $43,642,000,000. Between 1880 and 1912 the estimated true wealth of all property in the South increased from $9,177,000,000 to $43,473,000,000, or 378.8 per cent., the increase in the rest of the country being 317.6 per cent. The average wealth for each inhabitant increased in these thirty-two years from $493 to $1,264 in the South, and that in the entire country from $866 to $1,965. In the South, as in the rest of the country, the greatest increase in the value of property has taken place since 1900, but the rate of increase is proportionately greater in the South. In the twenty years between 1880 and 1900 the average rate of increase in the rest of the country was four times that in the South, but in the twelve years between 1900 and 1912 the ratio was only three to one. The increase in the true value of all property in the South between 1900 and 1904 was from $17,919,000,000 to $21,519,000,000, or at the Tlie Equipment for tJie Task 25 average rate of $2,466,000 a da>'. The increase between 1904 and 1912 was from $21,519,000,000 to $43,473,000,000 or at the average rate of $7,518,000 a day, an amount more than seven times the daily increase in England." .4 Striking Comparison. In "The Home Mission Task," the brilHant editor of tiie Manufacturers' Record furnishes these significant figures: "In 1860 the assessed value of property in the Southern States was greater by nearly $1,017,000,000 than the assessed value of property in the Middle and New England States combined. Between 1850 and 1860 the value of Southern property increased over $3,843,000,000 against an increase during the same period in New England and the Middle States of $2,460,000,000. Thus in that period the South showed a gain in wealth greater by $1,380,000,- 000 than the united gain of the New England and the Middle States. In 1860, 45 per cent, of the assessed value of the property in the United States was in the South. "While the assessed value of the South's property ex- ceeded by $1,017,000,000 the assessed value of property in the New England and the Middle States in 1860, the change in the decade between 1860 and 1870 was so stu- pendous that in the latter year the assessed value of property in the New England and the Middle States ex- ceeded that of the South by $10,244,000,000. Much of this enormous advance in wealth in the North was due to the industrial era w'hich was developing during that period, stimulated in part as it was by the w^ar." Undeveloped, Resources of the South. The increasing wealth of the South justifies the predic- tion, freely made on all sides, that it will, beyond all ques- tion, be the richest section of the United States, considering that its vast undeveloped resources as yet are practically untouched. President Woodrow Wilson voiced the con- 26 The Task That Challenges sen.sus of opinion on this subject: "No one who knows the South can look forward to her future without the most confident expectation of an extraordinary development. The character of her people, of her resources, and of her cHmate assure a development which will be one of the most notable features of the growth of America in the Twentieth Century. The past thirty years will be but an imperfect indication of what the next thirty will bring forth." As evidence, a few illustrations will suffice: Great Britain, Germany, France and Austria combined have 17,000 square miles of coal area; the South has 99,166 square miles of coal, and 84,300 of lignite. If Europe had collected every ounce of gold produced in 1910, it would have lacked $122,700,000 of paying Europe's cotton bill to the South that year. In thirty years the cotton crops of the South have yielded in money value $15,000,000,000. All the gold and silver of the world mined in the same period yielded but $10,000,000,000. The South still furnishes three-fourths of the world's supply of cotton; and it is an asset which no other country- can take away, as cotton requires certain peculiar conditions which exist nowhere else in the world. While there arc 135,000,000 cotton spindles in the world, only 12,000,000 are in the South, and the latter consume only 3,000,000 bales of its cotton. The time must soon come when the South itself will require for its own mills the present crop, and it will necessitate perhaps 20,000,000 bales to supply the world. Space forbids detail of statistics as to iron, phosphates and timber; and yet these alone, if the South possessed nothing else, would constitute an untold mine of wealth. The South has water power enough "to run every wheel that turns on rail or factory in America"; and it has 88,903 miles of railroads alone. Ex pede Herculem. Prophecy must be evoked to forecast the future of the South when the Panama Canal is in full operation. More The Equipment for the Task 27 than fifty years ago Commodore Maury, in a proj^hetic report on the Isthmian Canal, said: "When the Pacific and Atlantic are united, in the Gulf of Mexico will center the commerce of the world." Permit but this suggestive hint: For five thousand miles the w-est coast of South Amer- ica is washed by the Pacific Ocean. That entire coast is in about the same condition that the Pacific coast of North America was in fifty years ago. What the trans-conti- nental railroads did for our Pacific coast, the Panama Canal will do for the South American coast. The public press announced recently that South America proposes to deliver beef in this country by way of the Panama Canal at 10c a pound. When the great cattle ranches of the West are converted into farms, possibl\- the western coast of South America will pour its supplies through the Panama Canal into Galveston, New Orleans and Mobile; and Texas, which has been supplying the United States and Europe, may yet get its meats from South America. The great nitrate beds of the world are in Chili, exactly what the farms of the South need; but distance hitherto has made it prohibitive. Hereafter the farmer will be able to secure it at our Gult ports; and this vast stream of commerce will pour through the arteries of the South. Wealth, a Means or an End. The object of this recital of the vast wealth of our favored country is to demonstrate that we have abundant material resources for the accomplishment of our Home Mission task of Christianizing America. Shall we conse- crate it as a means to this noble purpose? Or shall we selfishly squander it on ourselves, in the gratification of our luxurious tastes and pleasures? W^ill this vast wealth count for or against the Kingdom of Christ in the evan- gelization of the world at home and abroad? In a great battle for supremacy, the terrible guns frowned 28 The Task That ChalUnujes upon the approaching enemy, who, nothing daunted, rushed on till the position was captured, and their own guns were then turned against the fleeing men who had but late- ly manned them. If our vast wealth is not consecrated to the advance- ment of the Kingdom, it will react on us and demoralize and destroy both us and our posterity. The Carthagen- ians could not destroy Rome. Neither could the Goths and Vandals overthrow its liberties. Rome perished chiefly through the corrupting influences of its great wealth. The powerful Empire of Spain, which proudly boasted that the sun never set on its domains, perished not by its enemies, but through the enervating influences of its luxurious indulgences, made possible by riches. Will our people lose their \irile character and sink in the scale of civilization through similar corrupting influences of our enormous wealth? Spiritual Forces. No material resources, however limitless, will avail un- less in co-operation with even more powerful spiritual forces. It is "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." Fortunately, the South possesses a rare combination of spiritual assets. No- where on earth has any people enjoyed more manifest h' "the blessing of God which maketh rich." The genius of the Anglo-Saxon is the spirit of missionary propaganda. No section of earth to-day can compete with the South in the purity of its Anglo-Saxon heritage and blood, not e\en Great Britain itself. This is due largely to the fact that immigration, which has mingled a cosmopolitan strain in the blood of the North and West, has not yet turned southward in great numbers, is con- fined exclusively to our largest cities, and is halted by the l)arriers of our Appalachian Mountains. The South also occupies a unique place in the religious The Equipment for the Task 29 life of the nation. It is the unassailable stronghold of Protestantism, as official figures abundantly demonstrate. The last religious census published by the United States shows that the largest percentage of church membership is in the South; South Carolina leading with 45 per cent, of its population in Protestant churches, while only one and one-half per cent, is Roman Catholic. Georgia is a close second with 42 per cent. Protestant; North Carolina has 39 per cent.; Alalmma, 38 per cent.; and Mississippi, 37 per cent. In striking contrast. New Jersey has only 19 per cent. Protestant and the same per cent. Roman Catho- lic. New York has 15 per cent. Protestant and double that per cent. Roman Catholic; Vermont, 18 per cent. Protestant; New Hampshire, 14 per cent., and Massachu- setts, 13 per cent. The presence of the Negro in the South may be regarded as an obstacle to progress in some directions, but he is by no means an unmitigated evil. Possibly he is a blessing in disguise, an obstacle to unlimited and promiscuous immigration, a safeguard to the purity of our Anglo-Saxon blood, and a protection against the aggression of Roman Catholic ecclesiasticism and political machinations. The South is waging apparently the only winning fight for prohibition ; for while Maine, its home, is trembling in the balance, nearly all the Southern States are driving out liquor by legal enactment. In the South 99 per cent, of the people still believe in the Bible and are undisturbed by rationalism and the destructive criticism. They be- lieve as firmly in the Virgin birth and resurrection of Christ as historic events, as in the discovery of America or the Declaration of Independence. If the old-time religion holds sway anywhere on earth, it is in the South, where the Christian Sabbath is almost universally respected, and the family altar has not altogether fallen into decay. 30 The Task That Challenges The Supreme Need. Not on the material, but on the spiritual should emphasis be laid. Bigness is not greatness. Political economists are striving to increase our national wealth. Statesmen are seeking to enlarge our "sj^here of influence" in its international reach. Home Missions outlines for itself the task of creating a type of character which will eventu- ate in that "righteousness" which "exalteth a nation" — moral greatness and spiritual power. "This is a great country," said Bishop C. K. Nelson, "but its greatness consists not in its great population, highest mountains, richest valleys and largest rivers, but in the character and quality of its inhabitants. China is greater in the number of its people, India has higher moun- tains, and Egypt has richer plains." Emerson gave utter- ance to practically the same thought: "The true test of civilization is not the census, not the size of its cities, nor the crops; but the kind of men the country turns out." Perhaps it will not be over-emphasizing the importance of this contention to quote the same sentiment from Leroy Beaulieu: "The history of nations, like the history of indi- viduals, proves beyond peradventure that no economic strength, no material prosperity, is lasting unless it be sustained by real moral worth." The industrial awakening and material development of the South call for a corresponding spiritual awakening. How otherwise shall we contend with the spirit of com- mercialism threatening to engulf the whole country? Tides of population once rolling westward will soon be turned backward and sweep like an avalanche upon the South, attracted hither by this marvelous prosperity. It is the critical time with the South, the plastic age, when we are about to shape our destiny for all time. The South has stood the trial of adversity. Will she be able to stand the test of prosperity? Possibly we may be indulged The Equipment for the Task 31 in this questionable boasting of our wealth and resources; but we profoundly realize our need of something far better than these earthly and material things. The asset we crave now, above all things else, is manhood, a people worthy of our noble heritage of the past, and equal to the great responsibilities of the future; and the gathering and training of such a people for Christ are the worthy- aim and supreme purpose of Home Missions. "Not gold, but only man can make A people great and strong; Men who for truth and honor's sake Stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep, Who dare while others fly — They build a nation's pillars deep And lift them to the sky." The Assurance of Success. "All power in heaven and earth is given unto me," and "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." "If God be for us, who can be against us." He can make "the stars in their courses fight" against the forces of evil. "He holdeth the wealth of the world in his hands." The gold and silver of earth are His, and "the cattle upon a thousand hills." Unlimited resources are at the command of our faith, bringing within the range of possibility any task, however gigantic. Let the difficulties magnify themselves a hundred fold; let the enemies of truth and righteousness combine against the Lord and His anointed; let Satan rally his hosts in one gigantic campaign of evil; the issue is never in doubt for one moment. "Thrice blest is he to whom is given The instinct that can tell That God is on the field, when He Is most invisible. "For right is right, since God is God; And right the day must win; To doubt would be disloyalty, To falter would be sin!" III. THE SCOPE OF HOME MISSIONS. The history of the Church is a history of Missions. The ratio of its progress is measured by the degree of its activity. The dechne of the missionary spirit manifests itself in stagnation and marks the beginning of a retro- grade movement. The missionary spirit and aim are essentially one, whether manifested in ministering to human need "at our own door" or whether reaching in its labor of lo\e "unto the utter- most part of the earth." The difference is chiefly one of geography and of administration. There is no essential difference in the work. The need of a lost soul is the same anywhere on the globe; but there may be a great difference in privileges and opportunities by reason of differing en- vironments. Various Agencies. In the organization of the Home Mission Work of the Church there are different agencies, and a corresponding division of responsibility. It is important, therefore, that the sphere of each should be defined and clearly ap- prehended. The local church ministers to the peculiar need of its own community by establishing and conducting one or more missions within its bounds or in contiguous territory. This is distinctively Congregational Home Missions. The Presbytery, which is composed of a number of churches within a certain prescribed territory, ordinarily through its own Home Mission Committee, seeks to meet the re- ligious destitution in its bounds by establishing new sta- tions or organizing new churches, and such work is known as Preshyterial Home Missions. The Synod, which usually The Scope of Home Missions ^^ comprises the Prcsbylerics in a iiarticular slate, some- times inaugurates an evangelistic work by securing the voluntar\- co-operation of its Presbyteries for mutual assistance, though not all of the Synods are engaged in such organized work; but when undertaken it is designated Synodical Home Missions. The Executive Committee of Home Missions (Incor- porated) is the authorized agency of the General Assembly and represents the larger united work of every Synod, ever\- Presbytery, and e\ery congregation. Its special mission is to the dependent classes and newer sections of our country, a work which cannot be fully accomplished by any Presbytery or Synod, acting alone and separately, but which requires the co-operation of all the constituent parts of the General Assembly. The Executive Committee is, therefore, the channel through which the strength of the whole Church comes to the aid of those Presbyteries or sections which are unable to meet their own need. Distinctive Mission . The Assembly's Home Missions is distinctive, there- fore, in that it is the whole Church at work, bringing all the Presbyteries into a spirit of unity and harmony through the fellowship of a common service. It is the connecting link between the various branches of Local Home Missions on the one hand, and of Foreign Missions on the other. It partakes partly of the character of Local Home Missions, in that it assists the weaker Presbyteries in their inability to meet their own destitutions; and it as truly partakes of the character of Foreign Missions in its ministrations to the foreigners coming to us in ever-increasing multi- tudes, thus carrying on real Foreign Missions at home. Assembly's Home Missions exists for a threefold pur- pose : 34 The Task That Challenges 1. Church Extension. Just as Foreign Missions stands for the vast heathen world, and as Presbyterial Home Missions stands for each individual section with its peculiar needs; so the General Assembly's Work stands for the regions beyond our or- ganized bounds. Its first object being the extension of the Church at home, and its purpose the expansion of bounds, principles and influence, it is therefore the only provision for advancing into new territory, fulfilling the scriptural command, "lengthen thy cords"; and were it not for Assembly's Home Missions, there would be no ag- gressive m.ethod of occupying our whole country for Christ. 2. Unity of the Church. It stands for the essential unity of the Church, enforcing the obligations of the strong to extend helping hands to the weak; "and whether one member suffer, all the mem- bers suffer with it." If every section were equally strong, there would be no occasion or opportunity for an appeal of the weaker to the sympathy and support of the strong. As a matter of fact, the strength of the Church is ver\- unequally divided in the various Presbyteries and Synods. The bond of brotherhood, therefore, requires that the hand of sympathy be extended to the need)', and that arms of support be thrown around the weak. J. Unman Need. Assembly's Home Missions stands for spiritual need in its most wretched form and in its largest demands. It responds to the mute appeal of the Macedonian cry from the submerged tenth in our overcrowded cities, the stranded and lost in our darkest mountain ro\'es, the dependent and often despised Negro, the ignorant immigrants, "strangers within our gates," and the multitudes on the frontier, "scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." The Scope of Home Missions 35 Home Missions as a World Factor. In its ever-widening scope, it cannot confine itself to any Presbytery, Synod or Country. The Western Sec- tion of the Presbyterian AlHance in 1916 adopted the fol- lowing as part of its Home Mission report: "It is becoming more apparent every year that America cannot fulfil its fore-ordained mission among the nations of the world, un- less the evangelization of our country shall be carried for- ward more rapidly and sanely, and on a wider and a wiser plan than has marked its history hitherto. For a great nation to fail to fulfil its divinely appointed mission, and when confronted by such unprecedented opportuni- ties as are opening before the Church, would be a calamity beyond calculation." In its immediate and direct pur- pose. Home Missions sets for itself the task of winning the nation for Christ; but in its ultimate end it is neither pro- vincial in its aim nor circumscribed in sweep. It answers to a two-fold fulfilment of the great commission; first, in regarding our own country as a fundamental part of "the world" to be evangelized; and, second, in recognizing a Christianized America as an essential means of reaching with the gospel the other peoples of the world. In the fulfilment of its comprehensive task it co-operates with other denominations in making "our country God's coun- try," and equally with Foreign Mission agencies in trying to save the whole world. Home Missions — A Flying Goal. At a meeting of the Permanent Committee of Syste- matic Beneficence, as the Secretary of Home Missions was reading his report, suddenly Dr. Robert E. Vinson inter- rupted with the question: "Dr. Morris, is your Home Mis- sion Committee able to accomplish its task?" Instantly the reply was returned: "Home Missions is a flying goal." Every task accomplished and every ideal attained are but 36 The Task That Challenges "stepping stones to higher tilings." The goal reached to- day A\as a laudable aim last >'ear, or even yesterday, but the moment (he goal is within sight, it lifts itself higher and leads on to a nobler pursuit. The application of this principle is as true in the sphere of Home Missions as elsewhere. The revolving years mean more to-da>' than ever ]:)efore in the world's history. The critical rush of e\'ents, the increasing speed of travel, the impro\ed facilities for knowing the facts at the very moment achievement is crystalizing into history, the efficient means of seizing opportunities, the enlargement of spheres of serxice for ministering to need, these present new situations, new problems and new liabilities increasing constantly in geometrical progression. Only ten years ago the Church had but a contracted vision and a narrow horizon of its ojiportunities and obligations. The \ision of need and the corresponding growth of the work have so expanded the horizon of Home Mission possibilities as to demonstrate that they are practically limitless. It becomes exceedingly difficult, yet supremely import- ant, to impress the Church with the character and magni- tude of the work now conducted by the Executive Com- mittee. In its scope it covers departments embraced by five separate boards in some other denominations, such as the Board of Home Missions, the Board of Church Erec- tion, the Freedmen's Board, Evangelism, and the \\'oman's Board in its large support of Mountain Missions. All Causes in One. In its broad sphere of service, its operations partake of the character of all the executive agencies of our own Church. In its ministry to the increasing number of foreigners in our great cities and mining communities, it does as purely a foreign mission work as can i)e carried on in any heathen country. In the conduct of its mission schools for mountaineers, it contributes its share to the Tlie Scope of Home Missions M Christian education of our youth, and is recruiting in these schools the ranks of the ministry. In the organization of new churches which call for more Sabbath schools, it is conducting a work of Sabbath School Extension. It has its Theological Seminary for colored ministers and its orphanage for mountain children. This by no means implies that there is in any sense an overlapping of work, but the multiform activities of the Assembly's Home Missions grow out of the necessities of the case. Work for the foreigners among us can be under- taken only by the Executive Committee of Home Missions; and our Mission Schools are a necessar\' adjunct to our evangelistic task. Historic Development. In expounding the scope of the work, it becomes neces- sary to give a history of its development, now enlarged to such proportions as to necessitate eight departments, and we shall consider them in their logical as well as natural order of time. I. The Department of the Frontier. At the beginning of this Twentieth Century- the chief and almost the sole task of Home Missions was pioneer work — following the trail of our people in their western migrations, as the frontier expanded to accommodate these movements. Now, however, the frontier is a relative term. From the Atlantic coast it graduall>- stretched it- self in an ever-widening area, far out towards the Pacific. It is difficult to think of it at present except as beyond the Mississippi. The economic development of the country- in the older settlements. Ijy railroads and by modern methods, ha\'e created frontier conditions in developing new towns and leaving other sections partially depleted of people and somewhat destitute. Still, however, the frontier and the West must long re- 38 The Task That Challenges main synonymous terms by reason of the large factor of the equation, in which the West more than balances all other pioneer possibilities. Just as long as statistics indi- cate that one million new inhabitants cross the Mississippi annually and pour themselves into the Southwest, so long must the Church follow her sons and daughters to their new home, as she cannot afford, for her own sake nor for their sake, to allow her migrating children to drift beyond her reach and care. The Western Frontier. Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, according to an estimate based on the last census, contain over 10,- 000,000 people, which is more than one-fourth of the entire population of the South. Leaving out of calculation the colored people, these four states contain nearly one-half of the white population of the South. Their combined area amounts to 458,510 square miles, and if as densely populated as Rhode Island would contain 233,840,000; or even if as densely populated as the average of the entire country, would contain 14,000,000. They constitute a great opening for the expansion of the Church, and will remain for some time, from the standpoint of dividends, the best field for the investment of Home Mission funds. Other sections may be as needy, but the West makes the two-fold appeal of need and of oppor- tunity. Within this area the Presbyterian Church, U. S., has a membership of 60,000, which about equaled the Synod of Virginia, the largest in the Church, before it gave of its membership for the new Synod of West Virginia. If the membership in these four states were equally dis- tributed, there would be only one Presbyterian to each eight square miles. Counting the membership of other Presbyterian bodies in this same territory as almost equal to ours, the fact remains that its destitution is a powerful Macedonian cry for help. The Scope of Home Missions 39 There is often acKantage in Disacl\'antage; and the opportunities challenging the Church render the efforts and expenditures of Home Missions the most fruitful in results. The n.one}' expended on this department aver- ages scarceh' a dollar for each communicant in that sec- tion, and yet the Church is growing faster there than any- where else within our bounds. From the place of the weakest S^nod in the (liurch, Texas now contends with Virginia for the second place in point of numbers, and with- in a few years will doubtless pass North Carolina, at present the largest Synod. Within the past decade Mangum Presbytery, Oklahoma, has grown from un- occupied territory to an aggressive organization of twelve ministers, twenty-four churches, and 1.300 communicants. In this western section there is at work a missionary force of 110 laborers, occupying 400 churches and mission stations, costing annually $50,000, 25 per cent, of the in- come furnished by the Church for maintaining Assembly's Home Missions. The men and means are utterly inade- quate to the need or to the opportunity. Danger lurks in these growing centers of population. If not speedily evangelized, they will constitute a menace to the whole country. If we lose the West, we lose the United States. The issue at stake is tremendous. If the West fills up until it has no more unoccupied lands, what will be the con- sequence if it should roll back upon us a tide of ungodly people ! The Neii' Frontier. The Department of The Frontier is to-day not altogether a matter of geography, but represents certain conditions and environments — whether in Florida or Texas, whether in Georgia or Oklahoma, whether in West Virginia or Arkansas. The changing character of the country, like a kaleidoscope, reveals new combinations and scenes which 40 The Task That Challenges so fill the horizon of the Church's \ision as somewhat to divert attention from the West. West Virginia may be used as a specimen of the New Frontier, attracting attention in the East. This state, according to Dr. D. P. McGeachy, "presents the unusual combination of the needs of the isolated community, and the opportunities of the manufacturing section. The entire state is mountainous and almost all of it is rich in mineral deposits and hardwood forests. Owing to its location and its nature. West Virginia reproduces with in- finite variety the same conditions that are seen in 'Pitts- burgh the Polluted,' and in 'Breathitt the Bloody.' Her problems run easily from those of commercialism gone mad to those of secluded stagnation. The oldest and the newest are mingled — the North and the South have coalesced — the mountaineer and the staring immigrant have collided. "The percentage of colored people is almost negligible and there are no Indians, yet 72 per cent, of the popula- tion is out of an>' church. One county reports 97 per cent, out of the church, and it is claimed that nearly 80 per cent, of the j^eople in one of the Presb>teries are un- reached. The density of population is very great — over fifty-six people per square mile — and of this number over forty persons for every square mile in the State arc members of no church at all. It may be a startling statement, but it is one vouched for b\- the National Geographic Society, that there are o\er three times as many unsaved people per square mile in West Virginia as there are in Africa, and over fi\e times as many as there are per square mile in South America. "The population is increasing \"er>- rapidh'. Nearly fourteen are being added to each square mile of West Vir- ginia territory each ten years, a number not equaled by an}' state now occupied by our Church. It is encouraging to note that while the average Protestant church in West Virginia has increased 9 per cent, in membership in ten TJw Scope of IIoiHC M 'Lesions 41 >ears, the Southern Presbyterian Church has increased 41 per cent, in the same time. The average minister in this Synod reached twenty-one souls last )ear. and the Sunday-school records go to show that the field of interested but unreached people is absoluteh- unparalleled. It is little wonder that under conditions like these West Vir- ginia should report so few unfruitful churches. "A little visit from a faithful Bible teacher a year or so ago led in one case to an incjuiry for a minister who might preach in a lumber camp. Two months ago a church was organized in that lumber camp, and to-day over twenty men are found in that congregation who take public part in the mid-week prayer meeting. A church organized less than a year ago in a thriving village has now nearly one hundred members and is striving faithfully to build. Only one other church is found in this settlement of 1,500 people. No accurate count has as yet been completed of the number of places throughout the state with from three to five hundred population that have no religious service at all. Scores of little towns are springing up that can be reached only b\' rail — hidden away in the mountains and absoluteh' without religious privilege. Were men and means at hand, a dozen workers could l)e placed to-day in fields that are white indeed unto the harvest. This is the day of our Church in West \'irginia, and we will be wise if we enter while we are called." 2. The Department of Foreign-Speaking People. During the Nineteenth Century the church aw(^ke from her indifference, and with girded loins began anew her un- finished task of sending the gospel to the heathen; and, during this Twentieth Century, God in His jirovidence is sending foreigners in ever-increasing numbers to our own door. This is imparting a new significance to the (ireat Commission. Beyond the seas we must evangelize the heathen for their own sake and for Christ's sake; but in 42 The Task That Challenges America we have the added incenti\e to evangeHze these strangers within our gates for our own sake and for our children's sake, or else they will paganize our country. The fact that 250,000 people annually return whence they came furnishes a renewed motixe for reaching them with the gospel, in order that they may become missionaries of the cross for the evangelization of the world. The foreign-born population of the United States is 15,000,000, one in every seven, approximately equaling the combined population of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. Adding the children of these foreigners, though born in America, the two combined will compose one-third of our population, or nearly as many people as are contained in the entire South. Notwithstanding the contribution of 1,000,000 new inhabitants to our country- by the other nations of the earth, it was not until within recent years that this incoming tide turned Southward. A new situation now confronts the Southern Presbyterian Church. The demand for the enlargement of our opera- tions, by adding a new department for these foreign- speaking people, was sudden, but the Executive Com- mittee immediately adjusted itself to the situation; and missions sprang up almost spontaneously in the xarious Synods. The first in point of time, and the most prosperous, is the Texas- Mexican Mission among the 500,000 Mexicans in Texas. F'rom an humble origin, it has grown into a ^■igorous Presbytery, which is co-extensive with the state of Texas, and has already a communicant roll of 1,200 and property valued at $50,000. The following table gives a summary of our operations in this department: TJie Scope of Home Missions 43 MISSIONS AND CHURCHES AMONCi FOREIGNERS perty pment ?•' -a ^ >. o •- i- 3 •t^ o "3 ".2 'a 0H CT Annual Expenc 03 M C Mexican. . . 17 24 1306 21 1284 $ 50,000 $ 7,000 1892 French .... 4 11 380 10 565 3,000 2,000 Hungarian . 4 12 326 3 100 3,000 2,800 1909 Italian. . . . 16 9 275 9 350 22,500 7,200 1908 Cuban .... 2 1 20 2 225 2,000 2,000 1908 Syrian 2 2 2 80 600 Chinese. . . 1 1 1 30 Russian . . . 1 1 23 Bohemian 1 3 70 2 50 1,000 1,000 1910 Indians. . . . 32 21 500 13 766 20,000 4,000 1861 80 85 2900 63 3450 $101,500 $26,600 J. Department of Mountain Work. The Appalachian Range, running southwest from Penn- sylvania to Alabama, covering a section 500 by 300 miles, cuts through the heart of the territory of our Church east of the Mississippi, dividing it into almost equal parts. Leaving out the cities and larger towns, there remain about 3,000,000 distinctively mountain people, more or less destitute of gospel privileges. Descendants of the Scotch- Irish Covenanters, long neglected by the Presbyterian Church, it would seem that they are in a peculiar sense our responsibility. For destitution, perhaps our country furnishes no parallel equal to this great Appalachian section. It is a problem of isolation. There is destitution in the slums of the cities, but they are still in reach of gospel privileges, and 44 The Task That Challen(jes nuiltituclcs of them have heard the message and rejected the Hght. In great sections of the mountains, man\' have heard only a caricature of the gcspel; and some are so un- fortunate as to have grown to manhood even without having heard a gospel sermon. Notwithstanding the fact that feeble efforts at "sundry times and in divers manners" had been put forth by the various Presbyteries to minister to this destitution, it was Dr. Edward O. Guerrant who really discovered the moun- taineers, and laid the foundation for permanent and syste- matic work in their behalf. Unaided for a dozen years, he had carried lovingly the burden which required for its support about S14,000 a year. In 1911, bringing his missions and fifty missionaries, he committed them to the Presbyterian Church as a sacred trust, which was willingly accepted, and is now being faithfully executed. The work, howe\er, has grown to such large proportions as to require now nearly $50,000 annuall>" for its needs. With- out his wise counsel, sympathetic support and tireless toil when this responsibility was first assumed, the Executive Committee would ha\e been utterly unable to handle the problem. To unify the apjjeal and magnify the work, it became necessary to organize this mountain section into a separate Synod. To Dr. Homer McMillan belongs the credit of this suggestion, which was duh' recognized by the General Assembly in appointing him to l)ear its greetings to the new Synod of Appalachia. Without a dissenting voice and with marked enthusiasm, the General Assembly at Newi)ort News, Va., in May, 1915, created the Synod of Appalachia out of Presbyteries and parts of Presbyteries belonging to the four Synods of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. The Synod met and completed its organization November 2, 1915, in the First Presbyterian Church, Bristol, Tenn., there l)eing 102 representatives present at its first session. Tlte Scope of Ho)ne Missions 45 Xo S\nod e\er began its career witli greater enthusiasm and brighter prospects. Re\ . J. W. Tyler, I). D., was elected Superintendent of Home Missions, and Re\-. Frank D. Hunt, Synodical Evangelist. In reaching with the gospel the most destitute sections of our countr\ , in furnishing Christian education to thou- sands of young people who could never in any other way get a chance to rise above their environment, in recruiting the ranks of our depleted ministry, and in laying foundations for the future of our Church among a \irile race of people, there is nothing that can in the slightest approach the magnificent work being done in our Mountain Missions. In addition to schools and dormitories, there are two hospitals with resident physicians and trained nurses for these mountain people, one at Guerrant, Ky., in connec- tion with Highland College, and the other at Banner Elk, N. C, in connection with Lees McRae Institute. These physicians serve in the spirit of the Master, who carried in one hand healing for the bod\- and in the other healing for the soul. 4. Department of Colored Work. Of the ten millions of colored people in the United States, at least nine million \We within the territory embraced in our Assembly. While our Church has always expressed a sympathetic interest in the welfare of these dependent people, we are compelled to admit that our profession ot interest is discounted by its meagre expression in prac- tical effort. As the work, carried on for nearly twenty years under an Executive Committee of Colored Evan- gelization, failed to secure the substantial support of the Church, and in order to unif>- the Home Mission appeal, it was in 1911 transferred to the jurisdiction'of the Execu- tive Committee and made a special department of Home Missions. The only advantage, so far, has been a some- 46 The Task That Challenges whal larger appropriation for the cause and a better recog- nition of its claims. The colored churches grow but slowh-, and at some points the work is rather discouraging, but an investigation re- cently n^ade shows an increase of 6 per cent, on profession of faith, which is equal to the total gross average of the whole Church. During one year 235 have been received into our colored churches. The total enrollment of colored membership in our 70 churches is about 2,700. Stillman Institute at Tuscaloosa, Ala., for training a colored ministry is our most far-reaching work, as its benefits are not confined to our own denomination, a majority always of its students being Methodists and Baptists. It has had a successful year, enjoying the ministrations of the Superintendent and two other pro- fessors. The number of candidates for the ministry is on the increase, which is an encouraging feature. The students contribute to their own support b>' working so niany hours a week on the farm. At the close of the term in June, during commence- ment week, a conference of all colored ministers is held, the expenses of the ministers themselves and the lecturers being borne by the Executive Committee. Such gratifica- tion was expressed by the men and so many requests were made for a repetition, that this conference becomes now a permanent feature. The work under Rev. John Little and Rev. Wm. H. Sheppard at Louisville, Ky., with institutional features, continues to prosper. A number have been added to the church; and the Sabbath schools, taught by white teachers, have reached the largest enrollment in the history of the Mission, with total of 1,321 attending its clubs, classes and services and 87 teachers. Pla\-grounds have been oper- ated for the children; the girls are taught domestic science, and the bo\s trained in useful arts for becoming skilled workmen. TJie Scope of Home Missions 47 Similar work on a smaller scale at Richmond, Va., has been supported by the Executive Committee, under the care of Rev. Murray Gray, while local and voluntary work has been conducted at Atlanta, Ga.; at Jacksonville, Fla.; and at Tuscaloosa, Ala., Oxford, Miss., Ruston, La., Memphis, Tenn., Decatur, Ga., etc. A forward step was taken b\- the Committee in appoint- ing Rev. W. A. Young evangelist for colored people. He has devoted now two years to this important office, and we believe he has shown himself well qualified for the place, which is one of great opportunity for serving his people. The General Assembly of 1916 in session at Orlando, Pla., organized these colored ministers and churches into a Colored Synod, composed of four Presbyteries, 33 min- isters, 70 churches, and 2,700 communicants. In Presby- tery and Synod they are left exclusively to themselves for the development of their corporate life and character, un- trammeled by extraneous influences, but they will be repre- sented in the General Assembly on the same basis as any other Presbytery, and the>' will be a constituent part of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. Their ministers and churches will receive the same financial assistance from the Executive Committee of Home Missions as any other needy and dependent classes. 5. Department of Evangelism. The evangelistic purpose necessarily pervades all de- partments of our work, but second to nothing in import- ance is our specific Evangelistic Campaign. It is co- extensive with our territory, and cannot end until the very last man is reached. For some years the Executive Com- mittee has consistently engaged in an effort to arouse the spirit of evangelism throughout the entire Church, urging Presbyteries to insist upon at least one evangelistic meeting each year in every church. Rev. J. E. Thacker, D. D., was secured for General 48 The Task That Challenges Evangelist, and for seven years his e\'angelistic meetings have resulted not simply in large accessions to the Church, hut in kindling the spirit of soul-winning throughout the Church. The last Assembly with a rising vote recognized the value of his work, and expressed its appreciation of his services in arousing the spirit of e\-angelism in the Church. Rev. Geo. \A'. Crabtree was elected Prison Evangelist, and for three years has visited prisons and convict camps throughout the Ixnnids of the Church, carrying the Gospel message to thousands of these unfortunate and criminal classes. Dozens ha\e made profession of faith, and we trust many have been led to Christ and have entered upon a new life. Possessed of a sympathetic nature and a love of souls, he is specialh' ecjuipped for his work; and yet what is one man able to accomplish among the 25,000 prisoners who fill our jails and penitentiaries! For se\'eral \ears the Executi^•e Committee has invited men of exangelistic gifts and spirit to volunteer for special meetings; and the Secretaries of Home Missions have kept a list of such in the office, and acted as intermediary in bringing these \'olunteers to the attention of pastors and churches desiring their services for evangelistic meetings. As a specimen, the recent report of Rev. J. A. Bryan, one of the number, indicates that he held in twelve months 20 meetings, and received 289 into the church on profession of faith and 68 by letter. As the outcome of this Evangelistic Campaign, the Gen- eral Assembh' of 1914 authorized the election of a Superin- tendent of Evangelism, and Rev. \\\ H. Mile\', D. D., was called to this office, and November 1, 1914, entered vigor- ously upon his labors. His work consists in fostering the evangelistic spirit by correspondence with committees and indi\iduals, the use of the church papers, sending out literature, presenting the work before conferences, church courts, congregations and individuals, and holding such services as time will permit. He has thus followed the The Scope of Home Missions 49 policy outlined by the Executive Committee, and has en- deavored to put into effect the program adopted by the Assembly of 1915 for carrying out this policy. The number of Presbyteries having a definite evangelistic plan has increased from 21 per cent, to 42 per cent. The number of churches not reporting additions has in two years been reduced 23 per cent. The number of additions on profession of faith has increased from 16,149 in 1914 to 21,804 in 1916, or 35 per cent. The following objectives suggested by Dr. Miley have been adopted by the Assembh": 1. An efficient evangelistic committee and an evan- gelist in every Presbytery and Synod. 2. A definite aggressive evangelistic program for every Synod, every Presbytery and every church. 3. Every pastor his own evangelist, a personal worker, a volunteer evangelist. 4. Every Christian a zealous winner of souls. 6. Department of Sustentation . In the widest signification of the term, the Executive Committee is engaged in sustentation work within 40 of our 85 Presbyteries, not including the assistance given to colored ministers and churches where they belong to white Presbyteries. If individual assistance to colored min- isters in white Presbyteries, and aid extended to particular churches in the erection of their houses of worship should be taken into account, then the work of sustentation by the Executi\e Committee extends to more than half the Pres- byteries, and to every Synod in the Assembh*. In the strict sense of the word, sustentation includes financial support by the Executive Committee in supple- menting salaries of pastors in charge of weak churches or groups, during the period of their struggle to self-support. Even then, in most instances, ever\- dollar so gi\en is made 50 Tlie Task That Challenges to do double dut>'. At the same time it sustains the weak and growing church, it also constitutes a base of opera- tiors reaching out in an evangelistic effort to carry still further the gospel message to other comir. unities destitute of the means of grace. Every dollar spent in evangelistic effort perhaps requires at least ten, often much more, to maintain and make it effective, unless beginnings are to remain fruitless and foundations worse than useless. In the business world no thoughtful builder lays foundations only to let material and effort go to waste. "For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, w'hether he hath sufficient to finish it," etc. As great an Apostle as Paul "may plant," but his work will be in vain unless som.e Apollos shall "water." "I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon." It were better not to organize than withdraw assistance a moment short of self-support. It is the last link in the cable that con- nects two continents, and but for that last link, the ten thousand or more preceding it are useless. Sustentation may not be so spectacular, nor so visible in results, as the telling work of the evangelist, yet the men who plod quietly week after week are forging the essential links in the extension of the Kingdom. If superstructures had crowned all the foundations our Church has laid in the past, we would doubtless not only be the strongest denomi- nation in the United States, but the Kingdom would be visibly nearer than it now seems. Evangelistic and Sustentation Departments not only supplement each other and overlap, but in one sense are inseparable. Like the seamless robe of the Master, they are interwoven through- out as one complete indivisible whole. As the parent nurtures and supports his offspring till the child is al)le to care for itself, so the Church must main- tain each new and feeble organization until it in turn be- comes a center for propagating our faith into still more The Scope of Home Missions 51 remote territory of the regions beyond. There are weak Presbyteries as well as weak churches; and the Executive Committee, like a fostering parent, places its arms of sup- port around such as make appeal for sustenation funds. Frequenth parents who nurture children grow feeble themselves b\- reason of age and infirmity, and become a loving charge, needing the support of the child, now in the vigor and strength of manhood. So there are noble churches which have given their life and strength to others and must, like age leaning on a staff, receive the support of the children to whom they have given birth. Especially is this true of the country- church and the deserted village. If we pension the aged minister for past services, why should not we recognize our obligations to the aged and feeble churches, which have exhausted their strength in the Master's service. The whole Church should recognize the need, and contribute liberally to these two classes: the young church growing to manhood, and the aged church whose resources and strength are well-nigh ex- hausted. The greatest loss sustained by the Presbyterian Church has been through its inability to support its weak and struggling churches in the critical period of their existence. In some instances, through lack of sustentation, they lan- guish or die; and years afterward, when a new opportunity comes to such places, the work must be done over again on new foundations at much greater cost, and valuable ma- terial is irretrievably lost. If Presbyterianism Could re- cover such lost material and its natural increase, it would be doubtless by far the strongest denomination in this country. 7. Department of Church Erection. The erection of a house of worship is the first problem, ordinarily, which the pastor who is installed in a Home Mission field faces. The most tragic failures in the past 52 Tlie Task That Challenges have been precipitated by inability to secure a church home. In many instances a small donation from the Executive Committee, at the critical moment in the history of the church, has been the turning ])oint in the tide of its affairs which led on to success. In other cases, the lack of an adequate loan to build a house of worship in keeping with its environments, dwarfed the growth of a church and kept it indefinitch- on the list of dependent churches through needless years. The donation is for the feeble church; the loan is for the stronger church which has a prospect. The man who stands out pre-eminently wiser than his generation, and who had sufficient grace of liberality and faith in his vision to make the venture, was W. A. Moore, of Atlanta, who twenty-three years ago left a legacy of $5,000 to assist feeble churches in building, by means of a loan. As the result of his work, this fund has built eighty churches, and yet increased to $6,000. This suggested the advisability of accumulating a simi- lar fund to assist feeble churches in securing manses for their ministers. An appeal was made to a few friends, which secured $4,200 for the purpose. In the past ten years it has erected thirty manses and increased to $5,000. Generations yet unborn will doubtless be blessed through the instrumentality of this beneficence. The large benefits resulting from such small capital suggested the advisability of a more adequate fund for enlarged operations. Every prominent denomination co- operating with us in evangelizing our territory has splen- did endowments for building churches. This led Mont- gomery Presbytery, five years ago, to overture the General Assembly to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the separate existence of our Church by raising a sum of $100,000 for this purpose. The responsibility of securing this amount was entrusted to the Executive Committee and a vigorous campaign was undertaken, which, however, has been interrupted b}- various hindrances. \\'hilc not T]ie Scope of Home Missions S3 making sensational strides, yet substantial and steady pro- gress is the result. We have accumulated in cash about $20,000, most of which has already been loaned to churches. It has been our privilege to advise interested friends in the preparation of wills, and we estimate that at least $20,000 has been written in such wills in favor of this building fund. If we add the $15,000 promised by other friends in the form of gifts, to be paid as soon as convenient, we estimate that about one-half of the $100,000 is now provided. Of the total amount received in cash, $11,000 is in the form of memorial funds, $4,500 having been furnished dur- ing the past year by a valued friend who for many years has been a staunch supporter of our work. Any one con- tributing as much as $500 can establish a permanent me- morial to perpetuate the memory of some beloved relative or friend ; and we most cordially commend this plan to the consideration of generous indi\iduals. It may also take the form of annuities, a per cent, being paid the donors during their natural life. By reason of its limited amount, the Moore Fund can render aid to the feeble churches only. The object of this greater fund is to aid by larger loans the churches which need, but otherwise could not erect, creditable and attrac- tive houses of worship. 8. Department of Mission Schools. The influence of the Presbyterian Church on the world, as compared with other denominations, has been out of all proportion to its membership roll, and the explanation is due to its consistent polic}' of educating a trained leader- ship, accomplished largeh' through the instrumentality of its Mission Schools. Dr. J. W. Tyler, Superintendent of Mountain Missions, states in his report for 1916: "The General Assembly has 46 mountain schools and missions. Wherever possible our mission churches and 54 The Task That Challenges schools are turned ON'er to Synodical or Presbyterial con- trol and support. However, there are 18 of our smaller schools and 4 larger ones entirely dependent upon the sup- port and control of the Assembly's Committee. This report, therefore, covers only these 22 mission schools. "During the year they have had 48 workers for all of the time, and 22 for part of the time. They report 204 professions of faith and 40 additions by letter, with an en- rollment of 2,382 in the Sunday-schools, and 1,086 in the day schools. Visits made during the year by workers, 5,663; religious services held, 2,631. They report $1,- 546.35 collected and spent on the local work; $234.41 given to benevolences." In the field of general education of the Negroes, our Church has expended little, but some of the more energetic colored jjastors have developed fine parochial schools, as at Texarkana, Ark., Selma, Ala., Montgomery, Ala., Milton, N. C, Thomasville, Ga., Florence, S. C, North Wilkesboro, N. C, Abbeville, S. C, and others. This is a fruitful field of missionary effort, and if funds were avail- able, it would be a worthy act to give each of these pastors an assistant for teacher, and build a schoolhouse hard by the church. For many years we have been carrying on Mission Schools among the Indians; but the coming of statehood, with the public school system, has relieved us of the necessity for continuing these primary schools. Cioodland has developed into an Indian orphanage, as well as a boarding school. The Indians themselves have donated nearly 100 acres of land around the institution, and the Executive Committee has erected a girls' dormi- tory costing $5,000 and a boys' dormitory costing $2,500. There are perhaps o\er 150 students in attendance, most of them boarders. By far the most important institution of a missionary character for training a future leadership is the Oklahoma The Scope of Home Missions 55 Presbyterian College for Women, located at Durant, Okla..\vhich occupies a magnificent campus o thirty acres, the gift of friends, costing $27,000. The college buddmg, cost about 880,000, and the entire plant is easily worth ^"^'Tirnnmber of students has reached 138, including 69 Indians; and the boarding department last session contamed 88, reaching the limit of its full capacity. Each year from 90 to 30 of its students are received into the church, and it has flourishing missionary societies. Graduates o the college are teaching in various schools, and its moral ^.r^ «niritual influence Is felt throughout the entire south- er: section of the state. Men of --ns are continual y seeking an investment where their trust funds w... >ield the largest spiritual dividends. Why does not some C hns- tian philanthropist erect a memorial building in connection with this splendid institution, which will double the t^s - fulness of the plant and perpetuate not simply his name, but his work in all the generations to come. The Sin of Omission. In concluding this brief survey of the scope of Home Missions, it will not be inappropriate to emphasize the necessity of avoiding the mistakes of the past Ihe neg- lect of Home Missions is well-nigh universally adniitted, and lamented as the costliest mistake of the Churcii^ No other charge is brought against our Church except the sin of omission; but that is not a slight charge. I was for the sin of omission that the barren fig tree withered beneath the curse of the Master. It was not because it brought forth wild fruit or evil fruit, but withered under condemnation because it brought forth no fruit. t was for the sin of omission that the unprofitable servant wen out into outer darkness. There was no charge against him of squandering his Lord's money, or even of wasting it He returned it carefully wrapped in a napkin, without 56 The Task Tluii Challenges a penny missing; but himself went out into outer darkness for the sin of omission. It will be for the sin of omission that the vast mullilude will stand upon the left hand at the last day, to whom the Judge will say: "Depart, ye cursed." There will be no charge laid against them of specific crimes and dark deeds; but simply, "I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited me not." Every charge against them is a sin of omission. It was due to the sin of omission that Christianity has been practically swept from the face of the earth in the East — in all Bible lands. It was simply the neglect of Arabia, one single country, bordering upon the Holy Land; and largely as a result of that sin of omission, Mohammedanism sprang out of Arabia, and two hundred million people to-day obe\' its call and recognize its false prophet. All around the Mediterranean, where Chris- tianity had its earliest and grandest triumphs, Moham- medanism .has now made Christianity a stranger in the land of its birth. It was the sin of omission, just a hundred years ago, when the descendants of the "Covenanters" and Scotch- Irish landed upon this Western continent and moved backward into the interior and lost themselves amid the Alleghany mountains. The neglect of the Church, failing to follow her sons and daughters, has created the unique situation of three million mountaineers, themselves "the white man's burden," being practically without the gospel, so far as the Presbyterian Church is concerned. It was the sin of omission, just seventy-fiv^e years ago, the neglect of a small movement in the West in one single section, which allowed Mormonism to lay its l)lighting touch upon some of the fairest sections of our country; and that counterfeit of Christianity is now sending its two thousand missionaries into every nook and corner of TJie Scope of Home Missions 57 our land, with its spurious gospel. It was the sin of omis- sion which, forty years ago, lost our Church an empire in the West. The failure to support our work in a large sec- tion of the country compelled us to retire, until now the Presbyterian Church, U. S., has but few churches or min- isters in all that lost empire, which ought to be supporting a dozen missionaries on the foreign field. Now we face our grandest, and perhaps our last oppor- tunity of the twentieth century! All the public lands have been opened up, railroads cross the country in all direc- tions, towns and cities are springing up everywhere, and the populations are flowing in like a great floodtide into Oklahoma and Western Texas. Will history repeat it- self? Will the Church again be guilty of the sin of omis- sion; will she lose her last opportunity.-' If so, who can foretell the results? What prophet "hath vision so keen and strong" as to forecast the future, and foretell the con- sequences of such neglect? Will the Church know the day of her opportunity? There is a beautiful poem, which begins "Children of yesterday, heirs of tomorrow." "Children of yesterday" — we are the consequences of yesterday's policy, of yester- day's principles, of yesterday's deeds. There is no escap- ing the consequences of yesterday! "Heirs of tomorrow" — the policy and deeds of to-day will forecast our future of tomorrow. Coleridge has expressed the same thought in a single line, in which he says, "In to-day, walks to- morrow." The shadow of tomorrow is already upon us in the acts of to-day. Paul expressed the same thought in a solemn warning: "Whatsoever a man sow^eth, that shall he also reap." It is just as true of a Church as of an individual. If our policy to-day is narrow, selfish, con- tracted, just as sure as the sun shines tomorrow, it will shine upon a narrow, contracted, circumscribed Church. If our policy to-day is broad, liberal and expansive, just as sure as the sun shines tomorrow, it will shine upon a 58 The Task That Challenges broad, ever-expanding Church, moving onward to a larger and grander destiny. Napoleon Bonaparte said: "The army that remains al- ways behind its fortifications is doomed." It is ecjually true of a Church. Have we not been holding the fort long enough in the older sections of our country? Is it not time to awake and advance in an aggressive movement upon the unoccupied section, expanding with the resources and according to the needs of our great Southland.'^ IV. EVANGELISM PASTORAL AND PERSONAL. The (jreat Commission is the chief Mission of the Church. It has furnished the inspiration of the past; and the future promises no higher aspiration. The obscurmg of its Mission by the Church itself is a sufficient expLana- tiort of relaxed energy and consequent failure. The triumph of Christianity has ever been in direct ratio to the emphasis which has been placed on the promulgation of the Gospel. Human substitutes for the Gospel, and the modern program for renovating Society, are foredoomed to ultimate and utter failure. The world will never be saved by any means other than Evangelism, the preach- ing of the gospel of a crucified Christ— esteemed "the foolishness of preaching" b>- the wisdom of this world, whether of the Greek philosophy and Judaic formalism of Paul's day, or of modern rationalism. Evangelism — Its Relative Importance. Other things may be important and many can be made subservient, but Evangelism is \itally fundamental, the sine qua non of the world's salvation. "The good is the enemy of the best" has passed into a proverb. In questions of methods and policy, the substitution of the "good" for the "best" produces damage according to the comparative importance of the matter involved. In funda- mentals, the blunder is fatal. There is no more mis- chievous error than the magnifying of important truth at the expense, or to the exclusion, of fundamentals. In the natural world corn ground into grist and made into bread is nourishing food. Yet if one element be extracted to the exclusion of the rest, it becomes a violent alcoholic stimu- lant. In the spiritual realm, the same deadly error is 60 The Task That Challenges possible; and it is therefore vitally important to see things in the right perspective, and in their proper relations. It becomes almost impossible, therefore, to expound the prin- ciple of Evangelism and avoid the discussion of related subjects. Social Service — lis Value. Christianity undoubtedly has its social aspect; and the Gospel, its ethical sanctions. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, it was boldly proclaimed in eminent ecclesiastical circles that the new century must be char- acterized by an ethical revival of religion. This was a re- action against a type of evangelism, predominant in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, superficial in character, and having as its aim the ingathering of mere numbers, w^hich tended to lower the standard of Christian living. If this ethical awakening had confined itself with- in Scriptural bounds, it would no doubt have served the righteous purpose of its well-meaning advocates. The pendulum has swung, however, to the utmost opposite extreme, usurping the evangelistic function; and it is producing evils as undesirable as those it sought to cure. It has ushered in the age of indiscriminate social service. Men are giving free range to their own fancy and follow- ing the dictates of human reason and mere sentiment, unrestrained by the "infallible rule of faith and practice." Human device is taking the place of divine wisdom. Humanitarian programs are exalted above the inspired plan of redemption. In its extreme form. Socialism is the humanitarian gospel of the sceptic. In its modified form, Social Service is the gospel of the modern reformer. In its Scriptural aspect. Social Service is not the ante- cedent but the consequent of Christianity. It is there- fore well worth while to weigh its claims and assign it its proper function in the gospel scheme of redemption. Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 61 Social Service — Its Place and Limitations. Confusion of thought on this subject may result in serious damage either by over-emphasizing the sphere of Social Service, or else by failing to recognize its scriptural function. The crux of the whole matter is largely deter- mined by the viewpoint of its advocates. The wrong emphasis is partly due to the mistake of grounding it in the Old Testament economy rather than in the New Testa- ment dispensation. It had larger relative importance under the Jewnsh dispensation because at that time Israel was a Theocracy, there being no distinction between Church and State. Under the Christian dispensation, there is a complete separation between human go\-ernments and the Kingdom of Christ ; and their functions, once overlapping, are now absolutely distinct. "My kingdom is not of this world." "Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Economic and social questions in this age pertain chiefly to the state. The Old Testament prophet was essentially a moral reformer. The New Testament apostle is em- phatically an evangelist. A type of the former was Moses or Elijah; the spirit of the latter is Christ. The distinctive feature of the Old Testament dispensation was the law, with its ethical sanctions. The essential feature of the New Testament dispensation is the Gospel, with its spiritual functions. The Old Testament deals chiefly with the nation; the New Testament, almost exclusiveh' with the individual as a constituent element of the Kingdom. The modern program of Social Service sets for its task the curing of existing evils, with its ultimate goal the re- formation of society. Evangelical Christianity empha- sizes the guilt of sin and the necessity of regeneration as the only sovereign remedy. The one has the laudable aim of making men comfortable in this life; the other has 62 The Task That Challenges THE PROBLEM OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY. POPULATION, U.S., PROTESTANT MEMBERSHIP. CZI NON- PROTESTANT. [Z33 UNCHURCHED POPULATION, ■■ 102,000,000 2^,000,000 I 5,000,000 63.000,000 Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 63 as its chief concern the salvation of the soul for eternity, and incidentally the rewards of righteousness in the present life. Social Service would reform the drunkard in order to convert him. Christianity would convert him in order to reform him. The one would cut down the weeds of wickedness; the other would eradicate the roots. Social Service should be emphasized, therefore, not as a prepara- tion for the Gospel, or substitute, but as a resultant. Ilhisiraiion. At one time the Young Men's Christian Association was characterized by its fervent zeal in the Moody type of lay evangelism. The Sabbath afternoon service was the inevitable gospel meeting, and the keynote of each ad- dress was personal work in winning souls. At the present time its emphasis seems to be placed upon athletics, games, entertainment, reading rooms, baths and Bible Classes. So long as these things are made subservient to the evan- gelistic mission of the Church, they serve a useful purpose. Recently, however, a prominent social service reformer, addressing a group of Home Mission Secretaries, boldly announced that it was dishonest to "bait" men with these material things in order to secure an opportunity to make a personal offer of salvation; and he advocated Social Ser- vice, not as a means, but as an end in itself. The Commission of the United Presbyterian Church, on Soul Winning, through its Chairman, Dr. J. D. Rankin, sounds an additional timely note of warning on this sub- ject: "Social salvation is becoming the watchword of the day The banishment of disease and inhumanity, the purifica' tion of ci\'ic life, the securing of economic justice, the de" struction of the saloon, the prevention of war — in a word' the permeation of the whole social order with the spirit of- Christian brotherhood, is the goal toward which they 64 The Task That Challenges arc moving. They will succeed only as lhe>' follow the program of Jesus Christ. It is useless to talk to men about social service, the missionary program, or an>- other great movement for the uplift of men until \()u have first de- stroyed the selfishness of the human heart and awakened in them the love for fellow-men which is the result of the spirit of Christ in them. * * '■'" Religir:)n has always been the mightiest impulse bi'hincl e\ery movement for the uplift of men. There are man>- exceptions, but it is indisputable that nunements for ci\ ic betterment receixe their chief support from church people. lndi\idual re- generation must precede and underlie social reformation and missionary- effort. They who think to find a remed\- for social ills in some law or scheme of go\ernment ha\'e erred b}- the whole diameter of human nature. The ut- most that human effort can do is to reform and what the world needs is remnk'ni'^. "We hear nuich about institutional churches. The>' have a gymnasium, a kitchen, a sewing school, a kinder- garten, an employment agency, a reading room. (iood. The ])ity is they were so late in coming, but the greater pity is that their place is so sadly misunderstood. Too many regard theiu as the power instead of the machiner>-. The tendency is to get the kitchen ahead of the prater meeting, the gymnasium before the Christian Union, and the kindergarten in front of the Sabbath School. Too often the spiritual regeneration of the indi\idual is iov- gotten in the effort to improve his en\ ironment. We are trying to cure the diseases of the world !)>• con\'entions, social settlements, and neighborhood houses. We art' using printers' ink instead of prayer, and inxoking the en- gine instead of the engineer. We are trusting in might and power rather than in the IloK Spirit." EvangcUsm— Pastoral and Personal 65 Hnmaniiaria nism. Unquestionably the trend of this age is in the direction of a humanitarian Gospel as distinct from the evangelical. As evidence of this is the fact that more money and effort in proportion are being expended on eleemosynary institu- tions by some religious bodies than in direct evangelistic effort. Yet the inmates of these institutions are numbered by the hundred, while the unevangelized in the same area reach into hundreds of thousands. No Synod or Presby- tery is expending too much on the humanitarian side; but the argument is from the less to the greater, the a fortiori niethod being a favorite of Christ. If thousands of dollars are expended on the few, and on their temporal needs iii the interests of a common humanity, "how much more," to use the Master's phrase, should be expended upon the great masses in the interest of their eternal salvation! Humanitarianism appeals even to the unregenerate, utterly regardless of the Christian motive. Evangelism appeals to the most spiritual element in the number of the regenerate. Humanitarianism and evangelical Chris- tianity have a meeting point in the sphere of applied Chris- tianitv. They seem to coincide and join hands in good works and deeds of kindness; and yet thev are poles apart in the motive that prompts. The one is prompted soleh" by love of humanity; the other is actuated both by lo\e of our neighbor and by love of Christ, "for whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." It matters not whether it is by the indi- vidual Christian or by the Church in its organized capacity, the principle is exactly the same. The judgment test is not ethical, but evangelical. Is there no difference be- tween the barkeeper who contributes to the temporal re- lief of the family of his victim, and the Christian who min- isters to the same in the name and spirit of Christ.^ W ill 66 T]te Task That Challenges the purely humanitarian acts of the unregenerate entitle them to the commendation of the Master: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me"? Is there no difference between the unitarian and humanitarian gospel of salvation by works, and the e^•angelical gospel of salvation by grace? In a remarkably clear address, now published in tract form, Harriet Thompson enforces in striking terms the distinction between Humanitarian Betterment Work and Christian service for suffering humanity: "The natural human spirit which we inherit from Adam has in it two dis- tinct elements — the Morally-Good and the Morally-Bad. "Humanitarianism, of which humanitarian betterment work is the outward expression, is earth-born. Its source is in the Morally-Good element of the natural human heart. It is earthly in its aim. It has to do with things of tem- poral value. It concerns itself with food, clothing, environ- ment, recreation, ventilation, education, legislation, civiliza- tion — all necessary and excellent things in this earth-life of ours. It has much to say about man's relationships and duties to his fellow-men. As to character in those whom it serves, it seeks nothing beyond or above the Morally-Good in the natural human heart. Its stream rises no higher than its source. "Christianity, of which Christian service is the out- come, is heaven-born. It proceeds from the heart of God. It is heavenly in its aim. It has to do with eternal values. Its supreme purpose is to secure everlasting salvation to all who can be induced to receive it through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. It concerns itself primarily with man's relationship and duty to God — with the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation; with God's truth about sin and Satan, those two great destroyers of the happiness, temporal and eternal, of the souls of men; with the power of the Word of God to cleanse from sin and protect from Satan. Evditfjclis)))— Pastoral and Personal 67 "lis Ix'ttcnnent work is as effectual and as far-reaching as the humanitarian, but it is never divorced from the truth concernino eternal salvation or from Christ as Saviour." Illustrating the difference between the two, Miss Thomp- son takes "Hull House in Chicago, where it is not per- mitted that the name of Christ be mentioned, as an ex- cellent example of humanitarian betterment work," with Jane Addams, its leader, as taking "high rank among the naturally noble souled women of all the earth"; while "the Salvation Army affords an example of Christian better- ment work" where the e^•angelistic note is never divorced from social ser^•icc. "He preMclied of science — an attentive thronji; Admiring heard; The nation's weal — the Hsteninji muUitudo Api)roved his word; The social need — and thousands gave Assenting nod; He preached the Cross — and men wore won From sin to God." A Revival of Evangelical Revivals. This discussion is l)y no means apart from the subject. In \iew of the undue emphasis on the humanitarian ten- dency of the age, there must be a new and corresponding emphasis on evangelism as the chief and overmastering business of the Church. In intent it has a two-fold aim, the salvation of the individual and the ultimate extension of the Kingdom. In the content of its scope it involves primarily the spiritual regeneration of men, and incidentally the social reformation of societ>\ In extent it is world- wide in its Mission. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three meas- ures of meal till the whole was leavened." 68 The Task That Challenges The human evangel attempts its goal by human means calculated to cure existing evils. The divine plan applies the remedy to sin, as the root of evil. New emphasis must therefore be placed on evangelical themes and the cardinal doctrines of grace. The evangelism needtd to counteract modern thought must deal in no uncertain terms with such subjects as the guilt and conviction of sin, the soul's lost estate, the atonement, regeneration, repentance, holiness, heaven and hell. The growing in- difference to personal salvation, the claims of Christ and the church, is the outcome of an emasculated gospel. The watchmen of Zion must sound an alarm that will awaken this generation to the momentous issues involving the eternal destiny of immortal souls. The Need of Evangelism. 1. The need is as old as sin — the first evangelistic message was spoken in Eden by God Himself, to the first lost souls. It involved all the essential features of the gospel of every dispensation, Patriarchal, Jewish, and Christian — conviction of sin and the promise of salvation. The Son of God honored the office of evangelist by conse- crating his life to the ministry. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor — to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." " 'Tis not a cause of small import The pastor's care demands, liut what might fill an angel's heart, And filled a Saviom-'s hands." 2. The need is world-wide. "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." The Commis- sion has lost nothing of its force. After nineteen hundred years. Philosophy, Philanthropy, Science, Moral Culture and Education have alike failed to lift a lost world out of Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 6^) the filth of sin. The Gospel alone has pro\en the power of God unto sahation. It is effective alike for the untutored savage and the profoundest philosopher. Their need is the same and the remedy identical. No other method of bringing this spiritual dynamic to bear upon a lost soul has been devised than Evangelism. 3. The need is increasing with the multiplying popula- tions of the globe. This is universally accounted the great missionary age of the church. Never since the apostolic zeal which characterized the first century has the church been so conscious of her mission and so acti\e in missionary operations as in this Twentieth Centur\-. The fervor of ministerial zeal is duplicated by the La\- men's Missionary Movement. Yet the Church is confessed- ly making but little appreciative impression upon the heathen world. Heathen are not being converted as fast as they are being born. As a matter of fact, heathen- ism is gaining on Christianity. The statement is circu- lating in missionary periodicals that in China, for example, Protestant Mission work during the past one hundred and sixteen years, and Roman Catholic Missions for three hundred and sixty years, have won Chinese converts aggre- gating only 1,800,000; yet the annual increase of popula- tion in that country is 1,900,000. Men are blinding themselves to the awful fact, and at- tempting to find comfort as well as stimulate new mis- sionary effort, by false comparisons and misleading sta- tistics. The population of the earth is about 1,600,000,000. Only 500,000,000 are classified as Christians; and to make even so favorable a showing requires the counting of the entire population of Europe, America, Australia and the adherents in heathen lands as Christians, whether Catholic or Protestant, Coptic or Armenian, Christian Science or Mormon. The evangelization of the world in this genera- tion is the slogan of the Church; but if this worthy goal is reached, it will be by a church-wide evangelistic upheaval 70 TJte Tudk That Challenges which will recognize the fact that the Church in its greatest missionary age is as yet onl\- "playing at missions." The need is so appalling, so appealing, so compelling, as to make invidious comparisons and uncharitable jealousies between Home and Foreign Missions little short of criminal. 4. The need is personal and individualistic. The Great Commission stresses the universality twice. "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." The task cannot be accomplished by wholesale. A na- tion may be born in a day; but it will be as individuals. Evangelism is strictly a personal, equation — individual touch with individual soul. Statistics of church member- ship are often misleading and obscure the task by concealing the need. It is perhaps easier for the "shepherd" (pastor) to find the lost sheep in the "wilderness" of the world than for the "woman" (church) to recover by diligent search the lost jewel within the enclosure of her own "house." The unregenerate are unsa^'ed, whether hidden within the church or lost amid the world's masses. The supreme need is the evangelistic spirit of the Master, that shall fill the church "like a mighty rushing wnnd," as at Pentecost, whereby souls singly and by the thousands among all nations are transformed through the mighty power of the Gospel. Dr. J. D. Rankin, Chairman of the Commission on Soul Winning, in his report to the United Presbyterian Church, stresses the supreme need of emphasising the personal element in salvation: "Your Commission is asked to discuss with you the regeneration of the individual. The discussion is timely. In recent years the church has strangely forgotten this part of her work, and is now awakening to her mistake. * ''' "' It is asserted on what seems to be reliable figures that not a single denomination in i\merica is taking care of its natural increase, to sa>' nothing of those beyond its borders. Dr. Thomas Dixon said a few years ago that the growth of Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 71 the Protestant churches in New York in the past twenty- five years represented less than one-fourth of the birth rate of their membership; that the Baptists had not only failed to gain anything on the outside, but had lost two- thirds of the children born in their own homes; that the Methodists had lost one-half of their children and the Presbyterians one-third. Dr. Aked said, 'I am sure that Dr. Dixon is right about this.' There are fifty thousand fewer Protestant church members in New York than there were ten 3'ears ago. * * * ^ fairer view may be gained from a wider outlook. In 1906 the Congregational Church reported a net loss in its Sabbath schools, and a gain in church membership of only 12,000 — 3,000 of these came from other denominations, so that there was a net gain of only 9,000 from her membership of 700,000. Esti- mating that one child was born for every fourteen of the membership this would make a net loss of 40,000 of her own children. That is, they received into the church less than one-fifth of the children born in Congregational homes. We have 22,000,000 Protestant church members in this country. Last year (1912) we made a net gain of 450,000. One of the largest denominations had a net gain of only one-half of one per cent. The combined evangelical churches had a net gain of only one and four-fifths per cent., while the population of the United States increased more than two per cent. "\\'hat is the meaning of these figures? Clearly, that so far as winning souls is concerned the Church is not holding her own. Some explain it by the materialistic spirit of the age. Doubtless this is a strong factor, but the age is not more materialistic than the first century when the gospel swept the world. The secret lies deeper. It is the Church's failure to seek the spiritual regeneration of the individual. She seems to have forgotten that indi- vidual evangelism was the base of Jesus' work and must ever continue to be the condition of the Church's growth." 72 The Task That Challenges The Testimony of Dr. W. E. Beiderwolf. " 'Someone, in speaking of the mission and influence of the Church in the world, has said that while we can take off our hats to the past, we must take off our coats to the future.' About two per cent., and possibly a little more, this last year, is the story of our increase. We point to our magnificent temples of worship that lift their spires above the city's noise and strife, and to the cross-crowned spires of villages and country roads; we number with pride our renowned preachers, and confess to an intelligence and an equipment in the Church of Christ such as no other age has ever known. But we must not forget that all this may be true, and yet the Church may with all this slowly change into a sepulchre of death. It is well to meet in our mammoth conventions, appoint committees, organize new societies, revise our creeds, if they need it, and con- gratulate ourselves upon our increasing influence in other ways, but we must not blind ourselves to the plain, blunt truth, that the Church can do all this and yet, if it does not increase numerically, it will dwindle and die. Chris- tianity has never yet really come to its own in this land, and our country is yet awaiting to see what God can do when the Church gives to the sacred and divinely ap- pointed office of evangelism her best thought, her truest sympathy, and her most earnest attention, and the pastors and the evangelists whom the Church approves become united in a determined, well-conceived, untiring effort to win the people of this land for Christ." An Evangelistic Campaign. Already there are indications of a gracious awakening. Evangelistic Committees have been appointed by many Evangelical Christian bodies. Evangelistic policies have been outlined and programs adopted. In our own com- munion, a year of intercession led up to an E\'angelistic Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 73 Assembly, at which time the largest ingathering in our history was reported. A Superintendent of Evangelism has been elected and the following Evangelistic Policy adopted : 1. The Superintendent of Evangelism elected by the Executive Committee of Home Missions shall be a man of recognized gifts in soul winning, himself leading the field work as far as his time and official duties will permit. 2. Associated with him shall be a corps of evangelists elected by the Executive Committee of Home Missions, the number being determined by the providence of God, the Assembly having already authorized at least two addi- tional men. 3. The Superintendent of Evangelism, with the advice and assistance of the Executive Committee of Home Missions, shall direct ihe work, arranging as far as possible the details of appointments, taking such part in the con- duct of meetings as is consistent with his other responsi- bilities. 4. Synodical, Presbyterial, Local and other Evangelistic Conferences for educating and stimulating every part of the Church in a great evangelistic work, shall be conducted by the Superintendent himself, as far as possible, by his associates under his direction, and by such accredited leaders as shall be secured for this purpose. 5. A ^■oluntary force of pastors with special evangelistic gifts shall be secured for conducting such evangelistic ser^•ices as cannot be reached b)- the general evangelists secured by the Executive Committee. 6. The Superintendent shall be in close touch with the Executive Committees of Synods and Presbyteries for the purpose of rendering any assistance possible in the way of securing Presbyterial and Synodical evangelists and pro- moting evangelistic work. 74 The Task That Challenges 7. As far as possible, the Superintendent and associated Evangelists shall encourage evangelistic preaching and services by the pastors themselves, and special periods in individual churches of evangelistic efforts, in which the services of the entire membership as far as possible shall be enlisted. 8. The details of the work, such as the use of evan- gelistic literature, visitation of schools and colleges, etc., shall be left to the discretion of the Superintendent of Evangelism and the Sub-Committee of Evangelism. Pastoral Evangelism. In order to re-enforce with all possible emphasis the necessity and value of an earnest evangelistic ministr}', the following well authenticated experience of one of our pastors is recorded to induce others to adopt this or some similar campaign of work. While perhaps not the best for all soul winners, yet it may be suggestive and made the basis of some modified plan by which each individual may- work out for himself a program with improved evangelistic methods. I. Evangelistic Preaching. At the beginning of his ministry, the rule was adopted and rigidly practiced during its entire duration, of opening the doors of the church at the close of every preaching service, and extending a cordial invitation to accept Christ, or else to confer with the ambassador for Christ, on the subject of personal salvation. No matter what the sub- ject of the message, the preacher kept before his mind the fact that he faced some unconverted souls, which imparted an evangelistic tone to the service, and he laid the responsi- bility upon sinners for an immediate decision. The night service was almost invariably and emphatically evangelistic. It impressed the audience with the thought that "con- Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 75 venient seasons" were a delusion, and that "Now is (al- ways) the accepted time." To anticipate conversions at every service, both exercised the preacher's faith in his message and stimulated his efforts to secure immediate results. Often his faith and effort were weakened by some doubting Thomas, but in the main were rewarded. During one year which memory recalls, not a Sabbath passed be- tween January and April without some addition to the church. The pastor's register preserves the record. 2. Evangelistic Meetings. Regularly special services were planned, more or less frequent, according to providential indications; but no year was ever allowed to pass without an evangelistic meeting in each church served. Ordinarily diligent effort was made to secure the assistance of some man gifted with the' qualification of soul winning, but if providentially hindered in securing him, the pastor never called off the meeting, but acted on the theory and faith that in such cases God had called him to act the part of evangelist himself for the occasion. Once during his pastorate in a large city, at the Evan- gelical Ministers' Association on Monday morning, a reso- lution was introduced, and after prayerful consideration, adopted, requesting every pastor at the approaching Wed- nesday evening prayer service to begin special evangelistic services in a simultaneous city-wide campaign. It contro- verted and disproved the theory that simultaneous meetings hinder each other. With scant preparation and without assistance, services were begun immediately in the Presby- terian Church, conducted by the pastor for three weeks, and there was a relative larger number of additions to the membership than at any other church in the city. Under the inspiration of successful soul winning, while in the spirit of importunate and intercessory prayer, sermons spring 76 The Task That Challenges into being of their own accord and God's Spirit is con- sciously, almost visibly, felt by the preacher, which power- fully moves the people. On another occasion while serving a group, where pro- fessional evangelistic assistance failed, the pastor preached to his own people for forty days, which included the month of August, resting only each Saturday during the entire period, and was physically stronger at the close of the services than at the beginning. The results were simply marvelous, and the power of God was signally manifest in the salvation of men. The most unique experience was the conducting of two simultaneous meetings nearly ten miles apart. A visiting minister assisted the pastor in town, while the latter rode ten miles in the country, before the era of automobiles, preached twice each day with intermission of an hoiir between services, and returned to town in time to take part in the night service. These two simultaneous meetings lasted a week with remarkable features, and persons were baptized as the result of each meeting. Advantage in Disadvantage. Owing to lack of confidence in self and lack of faith in God, most pastors hesitate to undertake an evangelistic campaign in their own church, unassisted. As a matter of fact, there are distinct advantages in the plan. 1. It culti- vates a sense of dependence on God, the secret of spiritual power, and makes the personality of God more sensibly real than in any other way, except possibly in extreme illness or sore bereav^ement. 2. It throws a church on its own resources, which wins for the pastor such sympathetic co-operation of his people that instead of disappointing, they will put forth their best efforts, and before the meet- ing closes, they will assure him it was the most effective preaching they ever heard, and how profoundly grateful Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 77 they are that they had no special evangehst. In services of this character, pastor and people will know each other as never before. If any man is a doubting Thomas, let him accept the challenge to try the experiment. "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" "Come and see." 3. It brings the preacher in more direct touch with the unsaved. The crowds will probably not be so great, but the individuals will not thereby be hidden in the mass. Preacher and audience will each realize that the appeal is more personal and direct. 4. Continued services of this character are splendid physical exercise, and would be a good substitute for golf links. The feeling of fatigue is frequently due to auto-suggestion, and instead of getting some physician to prescribe "a much needed rest," let the pastor try the experiment, as an alternative, of con- ducting evangelistic ser\ices in his own church for two weeks. 5. It cultivates preaching ability. The best method of learning to preach is to preach. Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, sa>s it is easier to preach every day in the week than once on the Sabbath. There are failures in the ministry because they misapprehend the purpose of a sermon. Polished and logical sermons are beautiful works of art, but the most polished works of art are but lifeless stone, the imitation of life. After a seminary course, thus laying a good foundation, the minister who would improve his preaching power should undertake instead of a post graduate course, special services in his own church under the inspiration and tuition of the Holy Spirit, whose gracious infilling will speedily impress him that the purpose of a sermon is to win souls, and the direct object of preaching is to get an immediate verdict. He will be better instructed in the art of preaching in two weeks than in all the post graduate courses on earth. 6. It will produce the best results. There will be more genuine conversions if he places himself under the control of the Spirit than by all the galvanic revivals worked up by the 78 The Task That Challenges most ingenious expert. 7. Above all things, it Avili save the embarrassment of professionalism. He will not be embarrassed by being made a factor in questionable ma- chinery, or compelled to work up crowds to satisfy the professional evangelist or under the necessity of count- ing numbers to prevent the meeting being considered a tailure; or of using high pressure to increase the "free will offering" at the close, so mortifying to all concerned, and in many cases partaking of commercialism to such extent as to counterbalance the good accomplished. J. Personal Pastoral Evangelisyn. In addition to evangelistic preaching and evangelistic meetings conducted by the pastor himself, a third means must be mentioned to complete the chapter of this pastor's experience. To distinguish it from personal work shared b>- all Christian people, this is denominated personal pastoral evangelism. It or something equivalent should be employed b}- every pastor who has a passion to win souls. First of all, a complete prayer list should be kept of all the unchurched in the congregation and community. It will serxe the purpose of intercessory prayer, in itself calculated to kindle to intense heat the interest of the pastor in their individual cases. It will answer the objec- tion of the "Session" that there is no "material" for an evangelistic meeting. This objection is usually the first obstacle which confronts the pastor when special services are proposed. This prayer list is in^'aluable as a practical basis for "professional" visits in personal pastoral work. The plan pursued was very simple, but most effective. One by one, the persons on this list were selected for regular pastoral visits, after securing the consent of each part\-. Explaining carefully that the object of such visits is to con- verse freelv and informally on the subject of personal salva- tion, if consent was obtained, very seldom did the effort Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 79 fail to lead the individual to Christ and into the fold. It is doubtful whether more were M'on by this apostolic method of "House-to-house," or by the ministry of the pulpit. The following illustrations will serve to show the method used and the results obtained. In the congregation were four sisters whose ages ranged from twenty to thirty. The father attended no church, the mother was a com- municant of another denomination. The four sisters attended the Presbyterian Church as regularly as the a\erage church member. Selecting the youngest as the most approachable, it was explained that the pastor de- sired to make her a personal visit two or three times a month, to talk informally on personal religion. Assurance was given that it was to be friendly, and in a pleasant way, without embarrassment. Her consent was most cordialh' given. The first pastoral visit was naturally slightly embarrassing to both. Her conversation was somewhat constrained, and her objections to entering upon a Christian life were the usual stereotyped "excuses," and not candid reasons. By the time the second visit ended the reserve was broken down, her real feelings were re\ealed, and she was evidently interested, and according- ly they knelt and prayed together. After a few such visits, the pastor suggested that he did not w^ish to pursue her, and would discontinue whenever she so desired. Upon this she became the one to insist on the continuance, say- ing she was thoroughly interested, really desired to be a Christian, but had as yet experienced no special change and lacked "feeling." During the same time the pastor was talking in the same way to a young man, and they be- gan talking to each other. About two months after these visits began, one Sabbath night the pastor preached on "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God," and gave his usual invitation at the close of the service, and pro- nounced the benediction. The young woman came rush- ing up the aisle with tears rolling down her cheeks, ex- so The Task That Challenges claiming, "Oh, Dr., it's come, it's come!" At the same time the young man came up the other aisle, and neither had seen the other till they met before the pulpit. Exactly the same method was pursued with the other sisters, and one by one they were received into the Presby- terian Church except one, who for good reasons went into her mother's church. During a meeting in which Dr. Nathan Bachman assisted, the pastor went out in the afternoon for personal work, and stopped at a house where he found the family all away, except a young lady from another city visiting her sister. In order to give a natural religious turn to the conversa- tion, the sermon which Dr. Bachman had just preached was rehearsed. As she became interested, the claims of Christ were pressed upon her, and the interview was closed with prayer. She immediately and definitely accepted the offer of salvation, and was received into the church on the following Sabbath. Within less than a year she de- veloped tuberculosis and died in the faith. In one instance this method was pursued with an ex- ceptionally fine mother who had been brought up in the Primitive Baptist faith, and it required more than two years to bring her to a decision, but the remarkable triumph of her faith was worth the effort, and the development of Christian character led her finally to the presidency of the Woman's Aid Society. These are given as specimens of many won by this method. By wise and prudent use of such or similar methods, almost any pastor can have a fruitful ministry, and grow in the sanctified art of winning souls. Lay Evangelism and Personal Work. Influenced by a jealous regard for the ministry of Moses, one ran to him with the intelligence that "Eldad and Medad" were prophesying in the midst of the camp. His reply was both characteristic and creditable: "Would God Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 81 that all the Lord's people were prophets." God's manifest endorsement of the work of such men as Moody, influences the Church to encourage gifted and zealous men to conduct religious services by exhorting men to repentance and the acceptance of Christ, even though these laymen, for good and sufficient reasons, could not enter the ranks of the or- dained ministry. In the most comprehensive of all the invitations of the Gospel, provision is made and responsi- bility laid on all Christian people to join in the evangelistic campaign of soul winning: "The Spirit and the Bride say come." If any individual Christian excuses himself (though a member of the body of Christ, "the bride")'on the ground that this invitation means the official message by the Church, through its called representatives, the next statement so enlarges the responsibility as to include un- mistakably the individual: "Let him that heareth say come.'' The ministry is the official and ordained means of evan- gelizing the world, but the task is too tremendous, and will not be speedily accomplished until the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh, and there is a return to the apostolic methods of the primitive Church in the early days of Chris- tianity, wherein the whole body of believers joined the campaign of spreading the Gospel. "Personal Workers Legions" and "Win One Campaigns" are efforts of well meaning people to enlist individual Christians in the blessed work of soul winning. They are steps in the right direction, but are nevertheless inadequate to the need. Nothing short of a universal movement to awaken the entire Church to the consciousness that by its Commission and Constitu- tion, the Church itself is a "Personal Workers' League," will be adequate to meet the exigency of the world's need. If the Church could be aroused to the possibility and re- sponsibility of the matter, no man could say how easily and speedily the evangelization of the world could be accomplished. Rev. W. E. Beiderwolf , evangelist, has made the startling 82 The Task That Challenges calculation that if but one Christian existed in all the world, and he should win one man in a year, and each in turn should win another annually, by the law of geometrical progression it would require only thirty-two and one-half years to win the world. One of the most striking and helpful leaflets ever issued on this subject is entitled, "Suppose," published by the Great Commission Prayer League, of Chicago, 111. It is available for gratuitous distribution. The first sentence is given as an indication of its purpose and spirit: "Suppose some one were to offer me a thousand dollars for every soul that I might earnestly try to lead to Christ, would I endeavor to lead any more souls to him than I am endeavoring to do now? Is it possible that I would attempt to do for rnoney, even at the risk of blunders or ridicule, what I hesitate or shrink from doing now in obedience to (jod's command? Is my love of money stronger than my love of God, or of souls? How feeble, then, my love of God! Perhaps this explains why I am not a soul-winner." Who can forecast the consequences of winning one soul for Christ? "Andrew first findeth his own brother Simon . . , and he brought him to Jesus." His brother Simon Peter brought 3,000 to Christ on the day of Pentecost. These 3,000 won others, and in all probability both author and reader are Christians to-day as the result of a long line of antecedents and personal conversions as the direct result of Andrew's act in winning his brother for Christ. Wilberforce, in God's hands, was the instrument of con- verting Philip Doddridge, who in turn led Richard Baxter to Christ. Richard Baxter wrote "The Call to the Un- converted," which powerfulh' affected the author in the critical period of \outh and has led other hundreds and thousands to Christ. The stream will go on multiplying, and eternity alone will reveal the vast number of the saved through this instrumentalit>-. The highest tribute paid one of our pastors was the inno- Evangelism — Pastoral and Personal 83 cent remark of a child, who was alwa>s one of his most in- terested hearers. One day while playing with his children, she said to him, "Do you know why I always love to hear you preach?" "No, Fannie, won't you please tell me?" "Why," said she, "it is because you take such an interest in retioion." That guileless remark of a simple child made a tremendous impression. If the same effect were pro- duced on the entire audience by every sermon preached; and if every Christian took a profound interest in the salvation of other souls, in its highest significance, the "Kingdom of Heaven would be at hand," and the evan- gelization of the world, a speedily finished task. V. THE BLACK MAN'S BURDEN. "And hath made of one (blood) all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." In these emphatic terms Paul, standing in the midst of Mars Hill, declared to the race-proud Athenians the fact of the unity of the human race. Charles Darwin, in his "Origin of the Species," adds the weight of his authority. Religion and Science in their last analysis are never in contradiction. Upon the scientific fact of blood relationship. Philanthropy bases the brotherhood of man. Upon the revealed fact of redemption by the blood of Christ, Christianity grounds the brotherhood of believers. Race Prejudice. Unity of blood, however, does not prevent race pre- judice. Christianity itself is not able entirely to overcome prejudices which have a natural basis. The mutual antipathy between Caucasian and Negro is not more deep- rooted than between American and Oriental on the Pacific Coast. In the caste system of India it finds its extreme development in class antipathy, more exclusive and bitter than race prejudice. Pharisaic condemnation of those who will not accord to the Negro social equality does not serve to protect the Negro from more unsympathetic treatment by the critics themselves. The Discipline of Slavery. In the development of a nation, more than once divine Providence has utilized as a training school the institution of slavery. During a period of 400 years, God's chosen people were subject to the bitter bondage of Egypt until thev were solidified into a nation. History abounds in The Black Man's Burden 85 illustrations of inferior peoples being subjected to the up- lifting influences of superiors as masters. The same prin- ciple obtains in the apprenticeship of an artisan to a master mechanic. In his minority, the child is absolutely in the power of the parent. In all such relationships there has been the abuse of power. Cruel fathers are as much in evidence as cruel masters. If love ordinarily restrains the father from ill- treatment of the child, self-interest likewise served to pre- vent the abuse of the slave. In addition to this considera- tion, quite frequently there existed between master and slave genuine affection and a sincere friendship, honoring alike to both. The Simon Legree of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" finds a duplicate in many an unnatural father. The author in early childhood was reared in close touch with slavery. Among dozens of masters, he remembers but one recognized as cruel, and he was under the ban of ostracism by society for his offense. In the same community lived a father who was accustomed to horsewhip his own son so severely that when the latter was discovered hanging to the limb of a tree, it could not be ascertained whether it was suicide to escape a condition intolerable, or murder on the part of the father. Not an Unmitigated Evil. This is no apology for slavery. It can summon Scrip- tural sanctions and show divine regulations for master and slave. It was not the "sum of all villainies," and it was by no means an unmitigated evil. In manj' instances it was simply a question of masters, the difference between an irresponsible savage brute of a master in Africa, having the power of life and death, and a civilized master in America, ' restrained by law, by public opinion and by Christianity. The most serious fault laid to its charge was an occasional separation of husband and wife; but it compelled ten times as many husbands and wives to be faithful as it ever parted. 86 The Task That Challenges Negro marriages are not so sacred to-day as when slavery restrained the vicious. The author can recall but one in- stance of the severe whipping of an adult slave, and that was for interfering with the marital relations of another Negro. Beneficial Effects. It produced the happiest race of serfs the world has ever known. Slavery was not specialh- repulsive to the Negro. It relieved him of all responsibility and care for food and raiment, and guaranteed medical attention in sickness and protection from want in his declining years. Nowhere else on earth was such affection between master and slave. Booker T. Washington's remarkable showing of Negro progress in "Up from Slavery" should have dated further back and been entitled "Up from Savagery." Contact with the white man gave him his one chance. In his native land he had made no progress within historic times. The difference between the Afro-American and the African is a sufficient vindication of slavery. Slavery as a Missionary yi<^eNcy. Statistics show that it was the most successful mis- sionary agency ever owned and blessed of God. From 1829 to 1865 fifty million dollars were spent on Missions in foreign lands with scarcely any appreciable results comparatively. During that period there must have been at least a million Negro slaves in America won for Chris- tianity, since there were in 1864 at least 550,000 living Negro communicants on the roll of the various churches. It is claimed that 48 per cent, of the Negroes (four and one- half millions) to-day are identified with the church, which is almost twice as many as there are converts in all the heathen countries of the world. At least $25,000,000 are now annually expended on Foreign Missions, and it is mone}- well invested and fully justified by the facts; but TJie Black Man's Burden 87 it dwindles into insignificance in comparison with slavery as an indirect propaganda of Christianity. Abolition. The difficulties of abolishing slavery were greater than superficial people imagined. It was easy to cut the Gordian knot by extremists who boldly demanded "An anti- slavery Bible and anti-slavery God," but what provision could be made for the freedmen? The experiment of colonization in Liberia was tried, and after a few years of untold suffering, the survivors begged piteously for re- storation to the United States. Many masters were willing to manumit their slaves, but that the>' could not be judiciously managed in slave holding communities, and they were forbidden to emigrate North. When John Randolph freed 325, they were not allowed to remain three days in Mercer Count>', Ohio, on land purchased for them, although the>- were able to give bond for good behavior. In Illinois, the state of Abraham Lincoln, the Courts de- cided that they were not citizens and forbade their emigra- tion to any settlement in that state. Instead of peaceful legislation and Christian settlement of the perplexing question, the politicians of the South and the fanatics of the North plunged the whole country into a cruel civil war; and emancipation was employed as a war measure, and the institution was ended at an enormous cost of blood and treasure. Requiescat in Pace. The institution is forever dead. In the providence of God it has served its purpose in disciplining and developing an inferior race. Economic conditions and climate con- fined it to the South. That section which inherited it and defended it as a sacred trust is relieved of a tremendous responsibility- which could not again be thrust upon it even at the point of a bayonet. 88 The Task That Challenges Negro Progress in Fifty Years. Considering his environment, his handicap of ignorance and poverty, the subordination of his best interests by crafty politicians to their unscrupulous schemes, thereby alienating his truest friends, it must be admitted even by his most unsympathetic critics that no race has ever done better in the face of such formidable obstacles. Economic. Statistics collected for the Negro Year Book indicate that he owns 550,000 homes. In other words, counting men, women and children, about one in every twenty owns his own home. He operates 937,000 farms, at least 40 per cent, of the farmers in the South being Negroes. Businesses operated by Negroes amount to 40,000. The sum total of his wealth is $700,000,000, which is increasing at the rate of $25,000,000 annually. Much of this wealth is in the hands of the few, and millions of the race are in abject poverty, living from hand to mouth, without the slightest concern for the future. Robert E. Church, of Memphis, Tenn., died recently, leaving an estate valued at $2,000,000; and John McKec, of Phila- delphia, died a millionaire. The wealthiest Negro in America to-day is Sarah Rector, a ten-year-old Negro girl of Oklahoma, whose income is $112,000 a year, her share of oil wells operated on her allotment. Winham Bros., of Birmingham, Ala., general contractors, handle contracts aggregating $250,000.00 a year. A, F. Herndon, of At- lanta, Ga., is a wealthy Negro, who for over thirty years has owned and operated the finest barber shop in the city, and is President of the Atlanta Mutual Life Insurance Co., employing several hundred persons and doing business amounting to a quarter of a million dollars a year. Alex- ander D. Hamilton, of Atlanta, is a very reliable contractor in the city who built the residence of the author, and has the confidence of both races, The Black Man's Burden ,89 The Negro Business Directory and Commercial Guide of Atlanta, is the title of a volume compiled by W. B. Mat- thews. It shows that the Negroes of Atlanta are conduct- ing more than 100 different kinds of businesses; that there are more than 2,000 separate places owned and controlled b>' them; that Atlanta has 40 professional men among its Negro population; one old line insurance company and six industrial insurance companies are entirely under the management of Negroes; they run one bank, have twelve drug stores, 25 Negro doctors, four dentists, 60 tailor shops, 83 barbers, 85 grocers, 80 hacks, 125 draymen and many other places of business, including bakeries, markets, wood and coal yards, jewelers and undertakers. It fur- ther shows that in educational institutions, churches and secret societies and fraternal sociaties for and among Negroes Atlanta leads the whole country. Twenty-two life insurance companies are owned and operated by Negroes, as well as banks, silk factories, de- partment stores, and other forms of business and industr\\ Educational. Illiteracy has decreased from 95 per cent, to 30 per cent, among Negroes. Their colleges and normal schools number 500. Their students in the public schools are 1,700,000, and their teachers 35,000. Their school prop- erty for higher education is valued at $20,000,000; while the expenditures for their education amount to $13,600,000, of which amount they themselves raise $1,500,000. Religious. Their churches number 40,000; communicants, 4,300,000; Sabbath schools, 41,000; Sabbath school pupils, 2,200,000; and the value of their church property is $70,000,000. Population. The present population of the globe is estimated at nearly 1,600,000,000, of whom 703,000,000 are yellow, 560,000,000 90 The Task That Challenges white, and 258,112,000 are black. Ten million of the latter are now in the United States, being 10 per cent, of our entire population. These are probabl>- the most fortunately located of all the black people of the earth. Negro Characteristics. It must be admitted that an appreciable percentage of the race has developed traits of character, that for in- tegrity, fidelity and morality cannot be excelled by any people; and what is herein said of the general characteristics of the Negro has no reference to the individuals who have compelled meritorious recognition in spite of their heredity and environment. Our sympathetic attitude towards a dependent and inferior race, however, should not permit the sacrifice of truth in the interests of charit>- and senti- ment. Improvidence. As a race they are notoriously improvident for the future, and wasteful without regard to consequences. They literally "take no thought for the morrow." If they have a supply of food for to-day, they are utterly unconcerned for the next meal. Comparatively few have ambition to own a home or start a bank account. Wages may not be high, but work is plentiful, and having the bare necessi- ties of life, they are the happiest people on earth, though as a matter of fact, they have perhaps better and more abundant food than the peasantry of most European and Oriental countries. Indolence. The Negro is naturally laz>' and will do onl>- just suffi- cient work to supply present bodily needs. They must be driven by necessity or compelled by a master. They are capable of enduring hard work and are patient under heavy burdens; but their malingering method of handling The Black Man's Burden 91 their task will wear threadbare the patience of their em- ployers. Very few have sufficient pride of character to turn out well finished work. The majority will calculate the very least amount of exertion necessary* to render their work merely passable. Indulgence. Lack of self-control permits indulgence in w'hatever ex- cess tempts his appetite or passion. The gratification of the present moment outweighs all considerations of future rewards. He has no greater resisting power than a child in time of temptation. A Christian physician estimates that fully 98 per cent, of Negro men are impure. He falls victim to whiskey, tobacco or cocaine, according to which has once fired his appetite for gratification. Even his very religion is largely an indulgence of his highly emotional nature, in which he may be wrought up to the very highest pitch of frenzied feeling, and yet be lacking absolutely in ethical character. Balancing the Account. To these sad defects of character might be added a long list of racial faults, dishonesty, cruelty, fighting and super- stition; but to his credit, fairness cheerfulh' compels the admission that he has many redeeming qualities. He is generous to a fault. His last loaf is willingly shared with any unfortunate individual who needs his hospitality. His church dues will frequently supersede the needs of his family. In anger he may unmercifully beat wife or chil- dren or domestic animal, and yet in his better moods he cannot be surpassed in kindness. He may be utterly un- reliable in his W'Ork or his promised word, and yet he is capable of fidelity to a trust or to a member of his former master's family that is the puzzle of the psychologist. His vices and his virtues, paradoxical as it may seem, are often closely related. 92 The Task That Challenges Possibilities of Character. Not a few Negroes have risen by virtue of inherent abiHty, industrious toil, or persevering effort, to illustrious fame. Booker T. Washington, of Tuskegee, Ala., was one of the foremost educators of this country, a benefactor of his race, and one of the finest speakers of America. Wm. H. Sheppard, missionary to the Congo, by his pioneer explora- tions in the Dark Continent, won for himself membership in the Royal Geographical Society of England. Major Moton, of Hampton Institute, now successor to Booker T. Washington, and R. R. Wright, Savannah, Ga., have attained preeminence as teachers of their race. Paul Lawrence Dunbar has made himself immortal in poems that will rank with the best thought of America. Lack of space permits only one or two specimens: SLOW THROUGH THE DARK. "Slow moves the pageant of a climbing race; Their footsteps drag far, far below the height, And, unprevaihng by their utmost might. Seem faltering downward from each high won place. No strange, swift-sprung exception we; we trace A devious way thro' dim, uncertain light — Our hope, through the long-vistaed years, a sight Of that our Captain's soul sees face to face. Who, faithless, faltering that the road is steep, Now raiseth up his drear, insistent cry? Who stoppeth here to spend a while in sleej), Or curses that the storm obscures the sky? Heed not the darkness round you, dull and deej); The clouds grown thickest when the summit's high." RIGHT'S SECURITY. "Right arms and armors, too, that man Who will not compromise with wrong; Though single, he must front the throng. And wage the battle hard and long. Minorities, since time began, Have shown the better side of man ; And often in the lists of time One man has made a cause sublime!" The Black Man's Burden 93 RELIGION. "I am no priest of crooks nor creeds, For human wants and human needs Are more to me than prophets' deeds; And Imman tears and human cares Affect me more than human prayers. "Go, cease your wail, higubrious saint! You fret high heaven with your plaint. Is this the 'Christian's joy' you paint? Is this the Christian's boasted bhss? Avails your faith no more than this? "Take up your arms, come out with me. Let heav'n alone; humanity Needs more, and heaven less from thee. With pity for mankind look 'round; Help them to rise — and heaven is found!"' Other Negroes unknown to fame have yet attained nobility of character which deserves honorable recognition. In Oconee County, S. C, a Negro set aside a portion of his land for a church, cut the lumber from his own forests, built and painted the church with his own hands, where it still stands, a monument to his character. In the same community was a white congregation without house of worship. An elder assembled the membership and said : "If one Negro man built a church unaided, why can't nineteen white men build?" And they did. The author, who dedicated the white church, alluded to the case as "Two churches which a Negro built; one by his hands and the other by his influence." Charles Birthright, of Missouri, born a slave, by fru- gality, industry, and w^ise investments after the war, ac- cumulated a fortune, and dying recently willed his estate, valued at $50,000, to the Presbyterian Church U. S., for educating a colored ministry. The will of J. O. Connolly, of Atlanta, a retired Negro groceryman and a citizen highly respected by both races, 94 TJie Task That Challenges was probated quite recently in the ordinary's office, when it was found to be a document of much interest. By industry and sobriety Connolly had saved almost $lv3,- 000 in cash and several parcels of real estate. While his widow and two daughters share the bulk ot the estate, a number of bequests are made and directions are given concerning some few wishes. The will directs that the lot at Old Wheat and Howell streets be reserved for an apartment house or a sanitarium. Money was left for the erection of two public drinking fountains, one at Houston and Courtland streets and the other in front of the Big Bethel Church. In some respects the most remarkable work being done is through the agency of the Sam Daily Reformatory for colored youths at Ralph, Ala. Negro criminals in their "teens," instead of being sentenced to the chain gang, are sent to this school in the country, fifteen miles from town or railroad. It was begun by Sam Dail>', a colored elder in our Church, interrupted but slightly by his death, and is operated by his wife, assisted by Rev. W. M. Parham, teacher and preacher paid by the Executive Committee. A Committee appointed for the purpose visited and in- spected the work and reported to the Executive Committee that it had educated over 200 Negro boys, 90 per cent, of whom had made good. There are thirty-six at present in training. The farm consists of about 500 acres of rather poor land, owned by Mrs. Sam Daily, on which there is a mortgage of $1,800, which is being slowly reduced each year. The buildings, dormitory, barn and church are of the rudest kind, giving the poorest accommodations, and the boys were ragged beyond description, but good char- acters were being formed by the training received and many were being saved by the evangelistic work done. The Environments of the Negro. The average Negro home is uncomfortable, unhealthy, and anything but conducive to morality. Large families The Black Man's Burden 95 frequently occupy a one-room cabin, where they cook, eat and sleep, without being able to preserve even the decencies of life. Such surroundings necessarily have an influence on character. Flies swarm over their food and insects infest their wretched quarters. Disease preys upon them and carries myriads of their children to untimely graves. "None of us liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself," has special verification in his case. If we doom him to the haunts of typhoid fever and tuberculosis, he will not alone suffer. The law of compensation will get in its inevitable work, and he will spread the germs of dis- ease in the most elegant homes of the city. The cook, the butler, and the laundry woman will not take special pains to confine their troubles to their own abode. The North preaches social equality and miscegenation to the South, and loves the Negro at long range. The following story will illustrate the different attitudes of North and South towards the Negro. A colored man in Boston, out of work and in distress, begged from door to door, only to receive the same answer, "Sorry, Mister, but we can't help you." i\t last, knocking at a door and ask- ing for food, a man exclaimed: "You black rascal, what do you mean by coming to the front door? Go to the back door and tell the cook to feed you." Falling upon his knees, he cried, "Thank God, Fve found my own folks at last; dey scolds me at the front, but dey feeds me in de kitchen." In the South, a white man and a Negro will work side by side on the same wall, on the friendliest terms; but if the Negro goes North, he is driven out by Trades Unions, or ostracized by competitors. One man tried the experi- ment, and as he hastily retreated Southward, an acquaint- ance inquired the reason for his haste. To which he re- plied: "Bless God, if I'se got to be lynched, I wants to be lynched by my friends." 96 The Task That Challenges The Negro Problem. Politician, philosopher, statesman and churchman have racked their brain and vexed their soul over the solution of the Negro Problem — in vain. It seems to grow more com- plicated. The visionary fanatic of the North, the educated, embittered Negro himself, and the noisy demagogue of the South, have intensified the situation by driving farther apart the good Negro and the best type of Southern white man. Legislation has utterly failed. Segregation has been considered and pronounced impossible. Education is absolutely inadequate. Miscegenation is repulsive and illegal. Christianity has never been tried, except in a very feeble way. Booker T. Washington, by his industrial training; former Governor W. J. Northen, by his Christian philanthropy; Dr. W. D. Weatherford, by his sympathetic teaching, and Rev. John Little, by loving ministrations, are rendering both races valuable service, and perhaps as pioneers are leading the way. Tlie Obligation of the North. The Negro is an immigrant, but not an emigrant. He did not come to America of his own accord. New England is largely responsible for his presence among us. B>- a three-cornered trade in which molasses was imported from the West Indies to Boston, converted into rum, and traded for Negroes in Africa, who were sold to the West Indies and the South, the curse of slavery was foisted on our unfortunate country. This entails tremendous responsi- bility on those who imported him, to make amends for their wrong. The North is also responsible for his changed relations and conditions, which may be reckoned as a partial effort to undo the damage; but which also involves added re- sponsibility. The two best known Negro characters in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" are Uncle Tom, the hero, and Topsy. Tlie Black Man's Burden 97 Vnde Tom, the pious, faithful servant, the product and the victim of slavery, is a type forever gone. A Northern overseer killed him, and Northern armies ended the institu- tion which trained and developed such noble characters. "Topsy," the neglected Negro girl who "just growed," is still with us, not singly, but by the thousands. Abolition emancipated the Uncle Toms, but has devised no remedy for the Topsies who are increasingly in evidence among us. Emancipation has produced some good business men, developed some splendid Negro characters, better educated and equipped, but none more saintly than Uncle Tom. Emancipation is dumb with silence, and impotent as a means of abolishing the Topsies. To the kindly care and sympathetic help of the Christian women throughout the nation, Topsy is most tenderly commended. To its credit be it said, the North responded nobly to the call of the Negro in the South, and has expended millions in educating and evangelizing him, but does not seem great- ly concerned for the Negro in the North. The tendency is to aid him by long distance applications. England sent missionaries to the Negro in the United States during Colonial days. The North sends missionaries and teachers to the South, and the latter sends missionaries — to Africa The Obligation of the South. This is no suggestion of shifting responsibility to North- ern shoulders. Lay it on them as heavily as possible, and still the greater responsibility will always remain with us of the South, by many considerations. His Fidelity in the Past. Who tilled our fields; and by the sweat of whose brow have we been made rich? Whose gentle arms were our cradle once; and by whose guiding hands were our infant feet trained and protected in our first tottering steps? In whose guardian care were mothers and their helpless 98 The Task That Challenges children left in those awful days of fratricidal war? When our fathers fell on the field of battle, who mingled their tears with ours and swore new allegiance to their widows and orphans? Who ever heard of a Negro betraying his sacred trust in that dark period, which still in memory hangs like a pall over our hearts? At Our Own Door. In the providence of God, he is the poor we have always with us. He is the Lazarus lying at our gate. In the parable of Jesus, not a suggestion is hinted of any accusa- tion against the moral character of Dives. His was large- ly a sin of omission — just simply indifference to human need. In all that region there were thousands of others just as needy as Lazarus, and yet in eternity when he lifted up his eyes, he beheld none of these. Only Lazarus haunted him, and the thought of his case "tormented" him. It is the man next to us that constitutes our first and chief responsibility. Mr. John Randolph, riding through Virginia, stopped for entertainment in a home where a company of ladies were engaged in making garments, explaining to their distin- guished guest that they were making garments for the Greeks in their struggle for liberty. Mr. Randolph pointed to some ragged Negro children in the yard, and exclaimed: "Ladies, the Greeks are at your own door." Ministering to the Negro on the Congo in Africa meets a recognized obligation, but does not discharge the debt to the Negro on the Congaree in Carolina. For Our Oivn Sake. Every deed of kindness performed and every duty avoided has a reflex influence on the person himself. Either we must help the Negro up or he will drag us down. Booker T. Washington said very pertinently: "No man can hold another down in the gutter, except b>' keeping himself The Black Man's Burden 99 down with him." The treatment of an inferior is not only the test of character, but it is the development or the dwarfing of manhood. For His Own Sake. Statistics showing the growing wealth, advancing edu- cation and increasing church membership are indications of Negro progress for which we are profoundly grateful; and yet there is another side to the picture. Negro pro- gress is confined to a comparatively small per cent. The dire need, the moral degradation, the spiritual destitution, like the tentacles of some gigantic monster, embrace and strangle the great masses. In the slums of our crowded cities, in the miserable dives of wickedness, in the wretched shanties which cannot be dignified by the name of home, in the lonely cabin in the woods, these people are living debauched lives and dying as hopeless of the mercy of God as if they were with their kindred in the Dark Continent. Many will be able to complain justly, "No man cared for my soul." For Chrisfs Sake. Prof. DuBois, an educated Negro, wrote some painful truth doubtless in the "Souls of Black Folks," which might have made a profound impression, if he had not dipped his pen in gall and vented his spleen in bitter thoughts of his w^hite brethren. The souls of Black Folks are as precious to Christ as the souls of the fairest Caucasian. The Negro is the man for whom Christ died. As the shepherd left the ninety and nine in the wilderness and went after the sheep that was lost, and as the woman with lighted candle searched amid rubbish and filth for the missing coin, so the Church with the lighted candle of God's Word, through the haunts of wickedness, should search for the lost soul of the poorest and most wretched Negro, which by the power of divine grace can be transformed into a diadem for the casket of 100 The Task That ChaUenges Heaven. Is the spirit of Christ among men in the Church to-da>? Negro Religious Life. The Negro is intense in his rehgion. It fills the largest part of his life, but his religion is of the emotional type, almost entirely divorced from morality'. During slavery, his master, under the weight of responsibility for the souls of his servants, enforced outward conformity to the moral law and compelled attendance upon the services of the sanctuary. Master and servant belonged to the same church and enjoyed the instructions of the same minister, and sat at the same communion table. At the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presby- terian Church in Lexington, Ky., 1858, Rev. Jno. B. xAdger, owner of a large number of slaves, made a liberal offering to Foreign Missions, as an expression of his thank- fulness for the conversion of many of his slaves. Sabbath afternoons on many a plantation were occupied by the mistress gathering the younger Negroes around her, read- ing to them the Scriptures and teaching them the cate- chisms and familiar hymns. As the result, there was an increasing number of godly and devout Christians among the Negroes of the South. With freedom came liberty of choice, and most of them, led by those ambitious to be preachers, broke away from their old associations and seg- regated themselves in colored congregations with Negro officers and ministers. In some instances it was the blind leading the blind. Man>- of their preachers were notorious- ly immoral and sensual. They have to-da>' a larger per- centage of church membership in proportion to numbers than white people. Undoubtedly many of them are Christian. Many of their preachers are worthy men, the equal of their white brethren in eloquence and ability to expound the Word of God. The Black Man's Burden 101 The sad admission must he made, however, that the masses are destitute of the principles of Christian char- acter. As a class, their preachers have great influence, but not the confidence of their better element. Atlanta Universit}' made the experiment of inquiring of two hun- dred leading colored laymen their opinion of the char- acter of the Negro ministry. Only thirty-seven gave their approval. The others refused to give a vote of confidence. Much of their preaching is emotional, as they work them- selves and their susceptible people into a hysteria of ex- citement which both parties mistake for religion. The wildest excitement prevails, shouting and shrieking which terminates frequenth" in exhaustion and unconsciousness, resembling a religious trance. The futility and spurious character of it are evident from the fact that it has no in- fluence for righteousness over their life and conduct. All this constitutes a ground for genuine missionary effort in their behalf b>' Christian workers, and a reason for giving them an educated and godly ministry of their own race to instruct in righteousness and to teach by example. Presbyterian Ministrations. The Methodist and Baptist churches for obvious reasons have been most successful of all denominations in reaching Negroes; but the Presb\terians have rendered splendid service in their behalf and have a smaller but better trained constituencN'. As earl>- as 1816, the Presbyterian Church appointed Dr. Rice, of \^irginia, as missionary to the Negroes. Rev. Samuel Davies, of Virginia; Reverends Stiles and Jones, of Georgia; and Reverends Adger, Flinn Dickson and Girardeau, of South Carolina, being among the ablest ministers of the Church, devoted a large part of their ministry exclusively to the Negroes. Rev. Charles A. Stillman, of Alabama, founded a theo- logical school for them at Tuscaloosa, which is still ful- filling its benevolent mission of training a colored ministry, 102 The Task That Challenges CONSTRUCTIVE WORK AMONG THE NEGROES Stillman Institute. The Chapel at the Sam Daily School — Instead of the Penitentiary. The Black Man's Burden 103 although it has graduated more of the other denomina- tions than Presbyterians. Present Statistics. The Presbyterian Church numbers about 50,000 com- municants among them, most of whom belong to the Northern Church and the Independent Colored Cumber- land. Attached to the Southern Church are 33 ministers, 70 churches, and 2,700 communicants, 235 being added during 1914, the last report available. Ecclesiastical Errors. In attempting after the war to adjust its work, to the new order, it was to be expected that mistakes would be made in ecclesiastical circles. The Northern branch of the Presbyterian Church attempted mixed Presbyteries and Synods. This was foredoomed to failure; and the white ministers gradually refrained from attending the Colored Synod of Catawba. Provision has since been made for separate ecclesiastical courts. The Southern branch of the Church made an equally fundamental mistake by attempting to promote an Inde- pendent Afro-American Presbyterian Church, based upon the success of the Baptists and Methodists along that line of procedure. This plan failed by being too premature, as it lacked competent leadership, and the ministers and churches were too isolated for mutual counsel and assist- ance. Possibly the best solution for the present is the Colored Synod, erected in 1916, as a constituent part of the Gen- eral Assembly, and sustaining the same relation as other Synods, with its Presbyteries represented in the Assembly. The advantages in its favor are: 1. It avoids race pre- judices; 2. Develops self-government and initiative by throwing colored ministers upon their own responsibility in some of their meetings, without being restrained and 104 The Task That Challenges embarrassed by the presence of white ministers; 3. Culti- vates sympathy between the races, b>- the white furnish- ing financial assistance to their colored brethren; 4. Ele- vates their ideals by having their leadership meet in the General Assembly with their white brethren, on an equal ecclesiastical footing. Methods of Christian Service. In addition to financial assistance, many Christian people are burdened with a sense of responsibility, in view of the dire need of the Negro race and its spiritual destitution. They seem to hear God's voice inquiring, "Where is thy brother?" And conscience raises the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," is constraining many to volunteer for Christian service. Still the serious question arises, in what practical work can love manifest itself to the best ad- vantage by the investment of personal service in behalf of the needy Negro? The answer must be left largely to the Christian conscience to follow the leadings of providence, by regarding opportunity as the call of God. One sug- gestion perhaps will serve to point the way. Colored Sabbath Schoots. In many places Sabbath Schools have been (organized for colored children, taught exclusi\'eh- h\ white people. Those volunteering for such service are following the foot- steps of such illustrious examples as Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. The author personally conducted a Sab- bath school for colored children during his pastorate at Macon, Ga., until the work was interrupted by his election as Secretary of Home Missions. The most successful efforts of this character have been at Atlanta, Ga., Rich- mond, Va., Thomasville, Ga., and preeminently Louis- ville, Ky., which deserves more than a passing mention. The Black Man's Burden 105 Louisville Colored Mission. Rev. John Little stands out preeminently as one who has definitely volunteered for life service among col- ored people. He is the pioneer and the apostle of Negro Institutional Work, and gives this account of its origin: "The work of the Presbyterian Colored Missions has been an effort on the part of the people of Louisville to give to the Negroes of that community industrial training, and instruction in religious truth. Its founders had no theory to put into practice, but rather sought to minister to the needs of the people as these needs appeared. In the seventeen years that this work has been carried on, it has grown from a small Sunday school with six white teachers and twenty-three colored pupils to two large in- stitutional churches with thirteen hundred and twenty- one colored people attending its clubs, classes and ser- vices, which are carried on under the direction of eighty- seven white teachers and instructors, in two buildings, open seven days in the week. Industrial Features. "The first step was to organize a Sunday school where colored children would come for instruction by white teach- ers. Two colored girls asked for a sewing class, and the teachers at once saw that this was a needed supplement to the Sunday school. The boys, seeing the girls with extra classes, made application, and a class in basketry was organized for them. This later developed into a car- penter's shop. A cooking school was the next addition to the scheduled work, and has proved the most popular part of our course of instruction. A bath-house with five showers and two tubs is serving an increasing number. Later boys' and girls' clubs were organized, in which \arious lines of work have been undertaken for their moral improve- ment. During the summer months, playgrounds have 106 The Task That Challenges been operated, and in them hundreds of children have been made healthier and happier. A moving picture machine provides wholesome recreation for a community destitute of such privileges. From the first, the teachers visited the pupils regularly in their homes. The study of these homes and the condition of the people led us to call to our assistance able physicians and surgeons, and they have proved to be some of our most valuable helpers. Permanent Enlargement. "For the past two years, no new line of work has been undertaken, but there has been a steady, gradual enlarge- ment of the departments mentioned, because each year a larger number have sought admission in these clubs and classes. "For twelve years the work was conducted in two old dilapidated store rooms which were rented for the purpose. A few years ago the committee in charge purchased two substantial brick buildings, well lighted and well ventilated, and in every way suitable for the work. These buildings increased the confidence of the colored people in our desire to help them, and since the purchase of this property the work has increased in the numbers reached and in efficiency of the service rendered. Healing the Sick. "There has been a remarkable increase in the past few years in the number of our pupils who have received treat- ment at the hands of our best physicians and surgeons. Literally hundreds who have been suffering with diseases of the eyes have been treated and practically every one cured. Many with defective vision have been fitted with glasses, and in most instances the pupils themselves have paid for these glasses. In two instances we found girls in the sewing school who had lost one eye and were uncon- scious of their loss. The specialists who treated them told The Black Mmi's Burden 107 us had their cases been neglected longer it would have re- sulted in total blindness. One of these girls to-day stands at the head of our sewing school. A number of wonderful and successful surgical operations have been performed. The results of these operations have not been the physical relief alone, but it has also given us new spiritual power. Many who ha\e been treated by the physicians have later united with the church, and in one or two instances the parents of children thus treated ha\e also been brought into the church. Consecrated Workers. "The n:ost ren^arkai le thing in connection wilh the whole work is the fact that white people of this community have \olunteered as teachers. One by one, m.en and women from Presbyterian and other Evangelical Churches in the city have volunteered their services. Our sewing classes and cooking classes are taught by white women who have volunteered as instructors. Many of these people rarely see each other, because they come on different days, but their hearts and services are united in their ministry to needy people. A nobler group could not be found in the whole land than our group of eighty-sexen consecrated men and women who are cheerfully donating their services. Special Points of Interest. "(1) It is a local work done according to the ideas of the people of Louisville. Many institutions for Negroes have failed to attain the highest standard of usefulness because they have not the endorsement of the communit>- in which they have been established, but are maintained according to the ideas of a Board which resides in some distant state. The policy of this work is determined by the teachers who are residents in Louisville, and it is conducted in such a way as not to offend the white people. 108 The Task That Challenges "(2) It is supported largel>- l)y money contributed in Louisville. The most perplexing question in regard to the whole work is its financial support. At no period in its history has there been in the treasury a sufficient sum to pay one month's expenses. The Presbyterian churches in Louisville have, from time to time, taken collections, but the total amount recei^'ed from churches is only a small part of the amount necessary for its maintenance. Most of the money comes from indi\'iduals, and the larger part of it in very small sums. Several individuals contribute five cents a month. Occasionally a gift comes from another state and brings with it an inspiration which is always as valuable as the gift itself. The official Boards of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian and the German Re- formed Churches make small annual appropriations. "(3) It has been clearly demonstrated that our industrial work, our clubs and playgrounds have a strong spiritual influence. The first member to come forward to apply for baptism and admission to the church came from a class in cooking. In this cooking class I saw the sterling char- acter of this girl and saw an opportunity to speak to her of her personal salvation. That night she came forward to unite with the church. Many children have drifted into the playground, and there have become personally ac- quainted with our teachers and have been led into the Sun- day school, into the church services, and later to the foot of the cross. One summer I suggested to a theological student that he direct our playground. He objected, say- ing that he thought he could do m.ore good by visiting in the homes of the community and reading the Bible and talking to them personall) . I said to him then, 'Leave the moral responsibilit>- with me, and take the playground and use it.' At the close of the summer he was frank enough to admit that the playground had given him a wonderful influence over the pupils in the Sunday school and also when he ]ireached in the church. Most of the The Black Man's Burden 109 bo>s Avho ha\e united with the church ha\e come from our classes in carpentry and our bo>s' ckibs. Duplicates ]Va?ited. "What has been done in a number of other communities in the South? I am anxious to see the da\' when our force of Christian workers will be more zealous in their efforts for the salvation of the Negro, who needs our help, our sympathy-, and our instruction. In Atlanta a similar work has been organized by the Central Presbyterian church. They have purchased a suitable building, are conducting a Sunday school and a sewing school, boys' and girls' clubs, and last summer a Vacation Bible School, where hundreds of colored children were given religious instruc- tion and industrial training. In Richmond, Virginia, Rev. Murray Gra}' organized another similar work. I saw a picture of his Sunday school when it started, and another picture six months later. In the meantime, he had \ isited in the homes, had opened a playground, organized boys' and girls' clubs and a sewing school. May the day soon come when we have these institutions established in hun- dreds of other cities in the South. "Note. — The Presbyterian Colored Missions in Louis- \ille, Ky., are under the direction of a joint committee appointed by the Presbytery of Louisville, U. S.; the Pres- bytery of Louisville, U. S. A.; the Kentucky Classes of the Reformed Church, U. S., and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church." God and the Negro. In His inscrutable providence and beneficent wisdom, our heavenly Father made the distinctions among men, and determined the bounds of their habitations. By creation we are all His children. No race can preempt to itself the Fatherhood of God. The Negro can claim this relationship, saying, "Doubtless thou art our Father, though no The Task That Challenges Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not." Why He made the black skin, and how the differentiation began is an enigm.a as puzzling as the riddle of the Sphinx. "Hath not the potter power over the clay?" "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" "Judge not the Lord by feeble sense." "O Lord, how m.anifold are thy works; in wisdom hast thou made them all." God is sovereign in His ways, but not arbitrary. He has some deep design and some great purpose for the Negro. J. W. Johnson, Negro poet, in the Semi-Centennial Ode of Em.ancipation, sings courage to his dark comrades: "Far, far the way that we have trod, From heathen kraals and jungle dens, To freedmen, freemen, sons of God, Americans and citizens. "This hind is ours by right of birth, This hind is ours by right of toil; We helpt^d to turn its virgin earth, Our sweat is in its fruitful soil. "Courage! Look out, beyond, and see The far horizon's beckoning span! Faith in your God-known destiny! We are a part of some great plan." What is to be his destiny? No prophet yet hath suffi- ciently keen foresight to pierce the future and give the slightest hint ! Shall we co-operate with God in the un- folding of His plans? Shall we help the Negro in his un- fortunate handicap to work out his destiny? The Negro is on trial before the world's tribunal. Will he be able to justify himself and fulfil a noble mission? The white man, too, is on trial before the divine tribunal. Will he be able to measure up to his responsibility, accord- ing to the divine dictum: "P'or unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." "Inasmuch as ye The Black Man^s Burden 111 have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." If they be Christ's brethren, are they ours also? Will any of us knock at the gate of Heaven and hear the response, "Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you"? VI. CHURCH ERECTION. General Scope. In its widest scope, Church Erection includes appropria- tions to assist in building houses of worship, manses, academies, dormitories, and mission chapels for the equip- ment of the work, whether by special donation, or loans from trust funds bequeathed by the sainted dead, or con- tributed by the living for the purpose. In its restricted sense, it has more direct reference to the erection of houses of worship for feeble churches in destitute or frontier regions. As early as 1888 the General Assembly- created this as a separate department of Home Missions, and ordered a special collection in all the churches to aid in the erection of houses of worship. At a later date it consolidated this agency with Assembly's Home Missions, and made it one of the coordinate departments of the work. Church Bidlding a Problem. The erection of a church building is the first problem a Home missionary is compelled to face, when \olunteering as a pioneer for service in the frontier on the far-flung battle line. If he cannot stimulate the new organization to "arise and build" under his leadership within a reason- able time, his efforts in all probability are foredoomed to failure. It is likewise the first crisis in the life of the new church, and its future development will be determined largeh- b\- wise and courageous leadership. If the subtle suggestion prevails of "waiting till the church is strong enough to build ajiiore creditable edifice," in all probability the opportunity will pass forever. To succeed in building, howe\'er, will not guarantee success in all other respects, Church Erection 113 for there are always other breakers upon Avhich its young Hfe may be wrecked — but faikire to build will most assured- ly circumscribe and handicap its whole prospect. A colony of bees cannot sur\i\e, much less make honey, without a hive. Each church organization must have "a local habitation," or else it will e\entuall\' have onh' "a name to li\'e." The church home is a tie that binds an ecclesiastical family together. Many an organization has died simpl}- from the lack of it, while others survived and grew chiefh' because they had an investment which could not well be abandoned, and which served as a rally- ing point to hold the nucleus together, as well as to conserve new material that otherwise Mould have scattered. The growth of a new church depends, therefore, under the blessing of God, chiefh" upon two factors: first, the ser- vice of an active pastor, and next upon the erection of a house of worship suitable to its needs. The lack of either factor in the critical period of its organic life is ordinarily fatal. Borrowing the building of a sister denomination, the use of a schoolhouse, or renting a public hall, are tem- porary expedients which may be used to advantage for a reasonable period, but eventually the organisation faces the question of either building or else disbanding. Years ago Bishop McTyeire of the Methodist Church warned his denomination that its homeless churches could not afford to be "tenants at will," but must become freeholders in order to prosper. Mohammedanism Declining. It is claimed by competent investigators that Mo- hammedanism is dying, because it is no longer building additional mosques. The Editor of the London Times, a few years ago sent his leading correspondent to the Orient to study Islamism. He was to visit all their leading cities for five years. When this investigator returned to London the Lord Mayor gave him a great banquet to which the 114 The Task That Challenges Lords and Peers of England were invited, together with the business men, professional men, and churchmen of London. At the banquet this reporter was asked to respond to the toast, "Moslem ism." He began his address by saying, "Gentlemen, Moslemism is dying. If you want to know why I say this, let me tell you that in all my travels through- out the Orient -vvhere Moslems are most numerous, I found that they were building no new mosques, neither were they repairing their old ones. A religious body that does not build, dies." The Test of Denominational Aggressiveness. The ratio of church building is perhaps the best test of the aggressiveness and development of a denomination. It m.atters not what may have been its history or its rapid growth in the past, as soon as it ceases to promote church erection it sounds its own death knell, and it will require no prophetic hand to write "Ichabod" on its walls. The church fathers were wise in their day and generation in de- vising plans for encouraging church building schemes. A small investment of a few hundred dollars to-day will pay handsome dividends in the future. "Churches unassisted mean churches unassisting; but churches helped to-day mean churches helping tomorrow. Homeless churches mean Christless homes." The objection that occasionally some building is aban- doned, which once housed a promising organization, is superficial and unworthy. In the natural world not all the blooms of a tree come to perfection in ripened fruit. Not every healthy child develops into full grown manhood. Who can forecast the future of any new organization — whether promising or unpromising? God alone holds the future and guides the destinies of individuals and the growth of organizations. The individual or organization that hesitates at the psychological moment is lost. The philosophy of Solomon is as wise as it is ancient, Church Erect ion 115 and equalh- true in all ages, whieh is "summarily compre- hended" in the dictum of inspiration: "Cast thy bread upon the waters — for thou shalt find it after many days He that obser\eth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap . . . In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not th\- hand. For thou knowest not whether shall pros- per either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good . ' ' This truth obtains alike in the natural and in the spiritual realm. The Home Mission Committee builds the inex- pensive church to-day; and the congregation itself will per- haps rear its magnificent structure in the future, becoming the mother of churches and contributing to the erection of other edifices as the years go by. It may be that occa- sionally church erection funds will be scattered upon barren soil, but in most instances it will bear fruit, "some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold." Church Erection Loans. It is not always wise to assist a church building by dona- tion simply. Loans wisely bestowed will frequently yield better results than donations. The encouragement af- forded by means of a small donation, and the promise of a loan at a nominal rate of interest, will develop the life of the local church by stimulating to self-support. The strug- gle to pay a church loan is frequently a blessing in disguise. The gift of a handsome new building would be a curse to many a community. A loan both encourages and holds l)efore it a goal in the form of freeing itself from debt, which is often the very making of the church. The Avisdom and benefits of a Loan Fund are recognized by all the larger denominations. The Building Fund of the Presbyterian Church, \j . S. A., exceeds five million dollars, which enables that branch of the Presbyterian Church to enter and take possession of any strategic point. 116 The Task That Challenges in the interests of the Kingdom of Christ and in the prose- cution of its denominational plans. The Congregational Church has accumulated $4,600,000. The German Re- formed Church has a Building and Loan Fund of $500,000, consisting largely of "Memorials." The Dutch Reformed has accumulated a similar fund of $130,000. The Dis- ciples have a Permanent Loan Fund of $1,800,000; The Lutheran, $1,600,000; the Protestant Episcopal, $800,000; the Northern Methodists, $11,000,000; the Southern Meth- odists have expended $3,700,000 in building, and possess a permanent fund for the purpose amounting, as a working capital, to $804,629. The Southern Baptists have only within the past few years inaugurated a movement for acquiring a Building Fund of $1,000,000, and under the efficient leadership of their Secretary, Rev. L. B. Warren, have already secured $160,000 and are reasonably sure of their final goal. Presbyterian Church, U. S. In striking contrast, our own Church has but an in- significant fund, aggregating less than $30,000, which places it at great disadvantage in occupying strategic centers where church buildings are absolutely necessary, and yet where we are largely overshadowed and completely out- classed in generous rivalry with others. Small, however, as are our funds for church erection, under careful manage- ment they have accomplished such marvelous things as to read like a romance; and we are not ashamed to com- pare records as to results with any, in proportion to capital invested. The Moore Loan Fund. Twenty-three years ago Mr. W. A. Moore, an honored elder in the First Presbyterian church of Atlanta, and for years a valued member of the Executive Committee of Home Missions, left a legacy of $5,000 to be loaned in Church Erection 1 1 7 small sums at 3 per cent, interest, for the purpose of assist- ing feeble churches in building houses of worship. During this period it has aided 80 churches in building, and has been so carefully managed that not a dollar has been lost, but instead the principal has slowly increased until the fund is now valued at $6,000. If each church aided averaged $2,500 in value, it has promoted during these years the erection of church buildings whose united property aggre- gates at least $200,000. The end is not yet, for its useful- ness increases with age. If this $5,000 fund has promoted in 23 years the erection of 80 churches, how many will it likewise bless by the time its centennial is celebrated! What a noble monument honors his blessed memory! "He builded better than he knew." His true monument is not the stone that marks the resting place of his sacred dust among the dead, but these 80 churches among the living, scattered throughout our bounds from Maryland to New Mexico. The Manse Building Fund. This illustrious example suggested the advisability of accumulating a similar fund to assist weak congregations in securing manses for their pastors. An appeal was accordingly made to a few friends, which resulted in raising $4,200. In the past ten years this fund has aided in build- ing 30 manses and has increased in value to $5,000. Esti- mating the average value of each manse at $3,000, it repre- sents property to-day in the service of the Church worth at least $90,000. It is like bread cast upon the waters, which is continually returning to become a blessing to new communities. Like radium which continualls' gives off its beneficent influences without loss to itself, so this fund will go on forever, blessing others without diminishing the original amount. The possession of a manse has been the determining factor in many cases that enabled a weak church to obtain and hold the services of a pastor. Genera- 118 The Task That Challenges tions 3'et unborn will be blessed through the instrumentality of this splendid beneficence. Semi-Centenuial Building Fund. On December 4, 1911, the Presbyterian Church, U. S. reached the fiftieth anniversary of its separate existence. From 43 Presbyteries, 1,000 churches and 75,000 com- municants, it has increased during these fifty years to 87 Presbyteries, 1,725 ministers, 3,375 churches and 300,000 communicants. In the half century of its corporate life, it has contributed in round numbers $6,000,000 each to Home and Foreign Missions. Its annual contributions to all purposes reached the sum of $4,000,000 in 1911. which still further increased during the past six years, amounting now to $5,000,000 annually. Its Home Mis- sion operations are now co-extensive with its 1 7 Synods, and its Foreign Mission Work extends to sections of four continents, the annual income for these two causes alone amounting to $1,000,000. In order to commemorate in a worthy and substantial w^ay the semi-centennial and growth of the Church, the Presbytery of Montgomery, in the Synod of Virginia, over- tured the General Assembly to raise a Semi-Centennial Building and Loan Fund of $100,000. The Assembly heartily and unanimously approved, and authorized the Executive Committee of Home Missions to conduct a campaign for this purpose. During the six years which have elapsed since that time, notwithstanding various and unexpected obstacles, about $20,000 have been paid in and have alreeidy started on a career of church building. Subscriptions and legacies not yet available approximate $25,000, while one generous giver promises vS 10,000 eis soon as the task is completed, which is now nearly half accom- plished. In the meantime the urgency of the need is evi- dent from the fact that applications for loans now on file in the Home Mission office aggregate $100,000. Church Erection 119 Safeguards. In order to protect the Church against loss, the follow- ing safeguards adopted by the General Assembly have been thrown around these Trust Funds, so that it becomes al- most impossible for an>' part to be ever entirely lost. "Ordinarily no grant or loan for church erection shall be made to any congregation unless such congregation own in fee simple, and free from all encumbrance, the lot on which their house of worship is situated, or on which they propose to build; provided, however, that in case a church is building upon leased property, the Committee, at it discretion in extraordinary cases, may make such grant or loan, taking such precautions by the way of security or otherwise as will protect the Church therein. "The appropriation, whether grant or loan, is subject to the following conditions, to-wit: That in case the church or congregation shall cease to be connected with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, or their house of worship be alienated, except for the build- ing or purchase of a better house of worship, they shall re- fund to the Committee the amount they have so received- "When the appropriation is a loan (then unless other satisfactory security be accepted) a mortgage upon the church property, duly executed and acknowledged by the church, through their legally appointed representatives, and recorded in the county clerk's or recorder's office, shall be returned to the Committee with a certificate endorsed thereon by an attorney at law, designated by the Presby- tery or its Home Mission Committee, to the effect that the church has a valid title to the property and full power to mortgage the same, and that said mortgage is a first lien upon said property, and has been executed, acknowledged and recorded, according to law." 120 The Task That Challenges Memorial Funds. In order to encourage the completion of the Semi- centennial Fund, as well as to perpetuate the memory of good deeds, the Executive Committee of Home Missions consented to allow any donor contributing as much as $500 the privilege of naming a "Memorial Fund." The musk bean, which is said to be the basis of most perfumes, will exhale its pungent odor for a century, and yet is never diminished. In like manner the fragrance of a noble deed will perpetuate itself forever. Christ himself approved of perpetuating the memory of a good deed. Of the woman who anointed him with the precious spikenard, he said: "Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." Hers is a monument more precious than diamond, more enduring than brass, as imperishable as the everlasting Gospel. The Parthenon at Athens is destroyed, the Coli- seum at Rome is in ruins, the Alhambra in Spain is crumbling, but the monument of this woman will stand when the Pyramids of Egypt are scattered by the winds of the desert. Worthy Ambition. The Board of Church Erection of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, South, in eloquent language pleads the value of Memorial Loan Funds: "Next to the longing for immortalit>', which God Him- self has planted in every human breast, is a desire to per- petuate our own names or the names of those we love and honor. The pyramids of Egypt; the statues, arches and columns of Rome; the splendid temples of Greece; the in- comparable mausoleums of India, all testify to the strength and universality of this desire. But the efforts of men to defy the universal law of decay and forgetfulness have Church Erection 121 been in vain. Memorials of stone and brass enter upon a career of disintegration from the moment they are finished and set up. Wind and rain, the changing seasons, earth- quakes and storms, fire and vandal hands are the common enemies of all. The most sanguine builder of monuments has never yet produced a memorial, which would either withstand the ravages of time, or increase in strength and beauty as the years go by. Preservation is all that is ever hoped for, and that only wnth unremitting care and attention on the part of the generations following, and even then but in a partial sense. "It is the distinction and glory of our Memorial Loan Funds that they are strong at every point where other monuments are weak. Here is something of a material nature, that has in it the qualit}' of life. It is a perpetual source of benefaction, an active, perpetual and perpetuating force for good of the very highest type. The Loan Fund goes forth on errands of mercy and helpfulness, to serve mankind in such a wa>' as to bring humanity into com- munion with God and our Saviour, and returns with in- creased power for usefulness. "The activity and usefulness of these funds are beauti- fully illustrated by Bishop H. C Morrison: 'It never w^earies in well doing. Ever giving, yet never exhausted; toiling ever, yet never tired; a sort of everlasting benediction; an immortal Good Samaritan, with wine and oil and bandages for the bleeding and helpless churches of the land. Going to the West, it fortifies a point; returning to the East, it repairs a breach in the w'all. It leaves joy and gladness in its pathway. It is a sort of financial angel flying through mid-heaven preaching the everlasting Gospel. Every dollar that goes into its treasury becomes imperishable. It lives for all time, and lives for God. If you would make your money immortal, cast it here. It will work on and on after you have ceased to work, and will come to you with exceeding increase in eternity.' " 122 The Task That Challenges L it era ry A sp ira t ion . Horace boasted of his immortalit>': "I shall not entirely die. I have reared a monument more enduring than brass." Multitudes since, whether consciously or uncon- sciously, by literary achievement, scientific discovery, or heroic deed, have rendered their names immortal. Wh\- not accomplish the same honorable end by still worthier means. A Memorial Fund will live forever, and the monu- ment will grow in importance as church after church rears its spire heavenward and adds to the number of the noble benefactions. Everything else crumbles and decays, but this kind projects itself into eternity. What Kind of a Monument? A sculptor proposes, at the enormous cost of one million dollars, to carve Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, into a gigantic memorial in honor of the Confederacy. It is a noble cause, precious as life itself to many thousands of patriotic citizens, but it would be a magnificent monument to the dead. A Memorial Fund of $5,000, according to the estimate of Dr. L. B. Warren, Secretary of Church Ex- tension of the Southern Baptist Church, in one generation would build 60 churches, increase to $30,587, and pro- mote church extension work equivalent to $150,000. Which monument will please the Master better, living churches or silent stone? "There is more joy in heaven over one church builded in his name, than over ninety and nine marble monuments that need not to have been built." The stone discolors and disintegrates by the corroding tooth of time, but every church built will proclaim through- out the ages the Gospel of the blessed Son of God and the gracious love of God for a lost world. The dead stone points backward to the silent past. The living Church faces the momentous future with its eternal issues of achievement and glorious reward. Church Erection 123 A MEMORIAL LOAN FUND IS MORE THAN A MEMORIAL; IT WORKS FOREVER FOR GOD AND FOR HUMANITY. IS THIS THE KIND OF MONUMENT YOU DESIRE? OR THIS? "I have built a house of habitation for Thee. 124 The Task That Challenges Form of Subscription. For those who are wilhng to subscribe to a Memorial Fund or any part of one, the following form is suggested: In order to complete the $100,000 Semi-Centennial Building Loan Fund authorized by the General Assembly, and to be administered by tlie Executive Committee of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 1,000 per year years 500 per year years 400 per year years 1 will give -. As well expect the farm to be productive without proper agricultural implements. A Building Fund is a denominational necessity-; the great- est need of our Church to-day. It is impossible to do a successful missionary work without some means with which to assist our faithful missionaries in securing houses of worship for their feeble congregations. Church Erection 127 A prominent New York banker recently said: "I know something of investments, and in the whole range of benevo- lences I know nothing so definite, so sure, so permanently productive, as a gift which secures the erection of a church in the heart of this continent, where, with its renewals, it will stand for ages and be a blessing to thousands unborn." "The inadequate gift is a wasted gift." Will the Church expect our missionaries to "make brick without straw," or will she furnish the equipment that guarantees and renders effective its present investments of means and sacrificial lives? VII. MISSION SCHOOLS. One of our poets with penetrating vision emphasizes in a striking couplet the mutual benefit and intimate re- lation between church and school, saying of any country: "She dreads no skeptic's puny hands While near her school the church spire stands; Nor fears the blinded bigot's rule While near her church spire stands the school." Christ and the Child. "Is it well with the child?" This sympathetic inquiry of Israel's great prophet, addressed to an anxious mother, is the pertinent question of the ages. One greater than Elisha taught the world the worth of a child. He who gathered the children in his loving arms and placed his gentle hands in benediction upon them, saying, "Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven," laid eternal obliga- tion upon his church to transmit his blessing to future generations in the command, "Feed my lambs." He has no human arms with which to embrace the children to- day, except the arms of his church. Through the instru- mentality of Christian homes. Sabbath and Mission schools, Christ is still laying his hands in benediction upon the children of to-day, and will continue through the same agency to reach the generations >et unborn. The Kim^dom and the Child. "Of such is the kingdom of heaven," is capable of a a two-fold significance. Doubtless it does commend the Mission Schools 129 child-like character as a type pertaining to the heavenly Kingdom; but does it not also imply that children are the material out of which the Kingdom is builded? Statistics show that additions to the church increase in percentage till the age of sixteen is reached, and then decline after that period in the same proportion. Take heed to the child, and the Kingdom will take care of itself. The Presbyterian Church and the Child. It has been repeatedly said: "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." With equal propriety it might be affirmed, the Church that trains the child, holds the future. Oliver Wendell Holmes, being asked how early the training of a child should begin, an- swered, "One hundred years before it is born." David Hume boasted that if he were given the training of a child for the first seven years of its life, he could so implant the principles of skepticism in its mind as to be forever in- eradicable. The wisest of men, under the guidance of inspiration, advises, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Judaism to-day, practically without a Sabbath, without a sanctuary, and with but little influence of the rabbi, holds tenaciously to its faith, largely because it is a family religion, and dili- gently instructs the children in its peculiar ordinances and ceremonies. Rome knows the value of a child, and seeks by parochial school, by orphanage and by ceremonial observances, to get first possession of its youth. The substantial growth and world-wide influence of the Presbyterian Church in the past has been largely due to the emphasis which it has always placed upon the family and the school; and the unit in both factors is the child. The most distinctive feature characteristic of this Church has been the importance which it has always attached to child-training in the home, and to Christian education. 130 The Task That Challenges An Adjunct to Christianity. Education may be regarded in the light of a daughter of the Church ; or at least a handmaiden of religion. Evan- gelism must be recognized unquestionably as the chief business of the Church, but whatever is contributory to that end is more than legitimate; and the usefulness of education as such an adjunct cannot for a moment be called in question. In one sense it is not simply justifiable but essential. Evangelism may be somewhat evanescent and its larger benefits dissipated, if unaccompanied by the educational training calculated to conserve permanent re- sults. The command, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," is supplemented and elabo- rated by the injunction, "Go ye therefore and teach all Nations." Both at home and abroad, the Mission school has not simply been the most practical and efficient means of obeying this injunction, but has also been the "open sesame," to many homes and hearts which hitherto had been successfully and effectually closed to all approach. In the Boulac Museum at Cairo, Egypt, the tourist looks upon the stern features of Rameses II, the Pharaoh of the oppression, resting in his glass case, a shriveled mummy! Near him reposes another, labeled "Pharaoh's daughter." He overran the world with his armies, erected everywhere gigantic statues of himself and boastful monu- ments to commemorate his victories, and is identified by some as "Sesostris the Great," and by others as the builder of the Pyramids by means of Hebrew slave labor, under the lash of the Egyptian taskmasters. Egypt to-day is full of the broken fragments of his greatness; his statues are lying in the dust, or filling a place in the British Mu- seum, his crumbling tenement of clay an object of curiosity to the tourist and himself an enigma to the historian. His daughter, lying in the sarcophagus near-by, built no pyramid and left no monument to her memory, but with the generous instinct of a woman she rescued a castaway Mission Scliools 131 babe from the bulrushes of the Nile and trained him for his life work. That babe left his impress, as Jewish law- giver, not simply upon one nation and generation, but after more than three millenniums he still shapes the legis- lation of the world; and no parliament of earth in this Twentieth Century would dare enact a law contrary to the fundamental principles of justice embodied in the Penta- teuch; and Moses is rivaled only by Paul as the greatest of human school-masters. In Rome is exhibited the great statue of Moses by Michael Angelo, the sculptor's gift to the world as a masterpiece of art; but the original Moses, the masterpiece of scholarship, "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," is the gift to the world of Pharaoh's daughter. "He built a house; time laid it in the dust; He wrote a book; its title is forgot; He ruled a city; but his name is not On any tablet graven, or where rust Can gather from disuse, or marble bust. He took a child from out a wretched cot. Who on the State dishonor might have brought, And reared him to the Christian's hope and trust. The boy, to manhood grown, became a light To many souls, preached for human need The wondrous love of the Omnipotent. His work has multiplied like stars at night When darkness deepens. Every noble deed Lasts longer than a granite monument." Educational Leadership. Accomplished largely through the instrumentality of its Mission schools, the Presbyterian Church has been char- acterized by intelligent membership and trained leader- ship, which have made it the educative denomination of Christendom, a fact well-nigh universally admitted. Its rigid standards and uncompromising Calvinism have prevented it from securing popular hold upon the masses; 132 The Task That Challenges and its membership roll for this reason will not measure in length with some others, but it has gradually elevated the common standard of education and of Christian living. It has led most, if not all, denominations in the fight for constitutional liberty, in per capita for benevolences, in Foreign Missions, and in support of great undenomina- tional enterprises, such as the Bible cause, the Student Volunteer Movement and Y. M. C. A. No man in the Church is more qualified to speak on this subject than Dr. W. W. Moore, President of Union Theo- logical Seminary, Richmond, Va., who asserts: "The Pres- byterian Church was once the greatest educational force in this country. She is still a great educational factor, but she has lost her primacy. Other denominations have of late outstripped her. We rejoice in their progress, but it is to our discredit that latterly we have not shown equal wis- dom, zeal and enterprise. We have forfeited the leading place in education which was once indisputably ours. W^e have not kept abreast of some of our sister churches. We have made some progress, but relatively we have fallen be- hind. That the Presbyterian Church should bring up the rear of the procession in educational work is an anomah" not to be endured. Her place is at the head of the column. We therefore welcome the signs of the awakening of our people on this subject. Their thorough awakening is all that is needed to guarantee the recovery of our primacy in education. We believe that we still have the most thoroughly- educated ministry. \\'e believe that we have the most substantial and well-trained membership. We certainly have the financial resources. The gifts of our people to other causes show that we are far in the lead in the matter of liberality. Therefore we repeat that what is now needed to restore our Church to her rightful place in Christian education is to show our people their oppor- tunity and to formulate some broad-minded and far- reaching plans for harmonious, concerted, church-wide ef- fort." Mission Schools 133 In "The South To-day," Dr. John M. Moore, Secretary of Home Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, furnishes the following valuable information con- cerning Christian education in the South: "The Methodists and Baptists became as active as the Presbyterians, and by virtue of their later superior numbers have been able to found and maintain a larger number of schools. "The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, now has twenty-six colleges, nine junior colleges, twenty-four schools that bear the name of college but whose courses of study leave them in an unclassified list, and thirty first- class academies. The total value of the property is $12,- 332,539 and the endowment is $6,304,000. The total enrollment in the colleges is 7,033, of whom 4,857 are in college courses. "The Southern Baptists have twenty-eight colleges whose property value, counting grounds, buildings and libraries, is $7,500,000, and with large and growing endow- ments. These schools have an enrollment of 9,200, of whom 4,600 are in college courses. The Presbyterians have twenty-three colleges in the Southern States with a property value of $4,210,000 and an endowment of $3,- 091,000. The student enrollment is 5,200, of whom 2,700 are in college courses. The Church of the Disciples, or Christian Church, has seven colleges valued at $2,115,000 with an endowment of $1,115,000." Dr. Henry H. Sweets, Secretary of Christian Education and Ministerial Relief, gives the following classified list of schools and colleges under the oversight and control of the Presbyterian Church, U. S., which will convey some idea of the growing educational interest in the Church : "16 Elementary Schools with 830 students. These are all co-educational. 22 Preparatory Schools with 2,032 students. Four of 134 The Task That Challenges these schools are for boys. Three are for girls. Fifteen are co-educational. 2 Collegiate Institutes with 265 students. One is for girls. One is co-educational. 9 Junior Colleges with 989 students. Eight are for women. One is co-educational. 2 Affiliated Junior Colleges with 423 students. Both are for women. 16 Presbyterian Colleges with 2,556 students. Eight are for men. Five are for women. Three are co-educa- tional. 1 Affiliated Presbyterian College with 302 students, for women. 6 Theological Seminaries with 326 students. This in- cludes Stillman Institute in Tuscaloosa, Ala., for colored men. "Besides all these regular schools, there are 11 Orphans Homes and Schools with 1,032 children. All these are co- educational and all have the best of modern educational training, so that they may well be included in the list of schools. "All this means that last year, taking those of all ages, 8,453 men, women and children were in schools where the truth as contained in the Bible is made the foundation of all training, whether physical, mental or moral." At one time the Presbyterian Church led the world in educational institutions, but by some unaccountable short-sightedness, it has fallen somewhat behind in the race for preeminence in the chief thing which has made it great, and given it denominational leadership. How- ever, by means of its numerous Mission schools, this Church is beginning to recover lost ground, and at the same time propagate its faith and distinctive principles in communi- ties where otherwise it could scarcely hope to obtain a hearing and a foothold. Denominational advantage is by no means its chief consideration, for its Mission schools Mission Schools 135 are ministering most effectively to human need. In far distant mountain coves, and in other destitute communi- ties, these schools are rescuing the stranded and dependent classes, and giving them a fair chance for the survival of the fittest in the struggle for life. The Verdict of History. The histor}' of the Presbyterian Church in the United States indicates that it grew most rapidly and took firmer hold upon communities where it was re-enforced by the parochial school. The "Log College" of the Tennents in New Jersey developed into Princeton, and made New Jersey and Pennsylvania predominantly Presbyterian in the Colonial Period, and the stronghold of the denomina- tion to-day. In the South, Hampden-Sidney of Virginia, the Caldwell School of North Carolina, and the Willington School of Abbeville County, S. C, with similar institutions, gave such bias to the Atlantic Coast for Presbyterianism, as to make it a controlling influence for generations, and this section the most distinctively Presbyterian with the largest per cent, proportionately to population in the Na- tion. The Willington School, near the birthplace of the author, taught by Dr. Moses Waddell, afterwards Chan- cellor of the University of Georgia, educated such leading statesmen as John C. Calhoun, Vice-President of the United States; Geo. McDuffie and Edward Noble, both Governors of the State; Jas. L. Pettigrew, the most dis- tinguished lawyer of Charleston, S. C; Jno. T. Pressly, the eminent theologian, and General Longstreet, author of "Georgia Scenes." The public school system has rendered unnecessary, and largely supplanted, these parochial grammar schools in many sections of the country; but there are other frontier and destitute regions where the same need exists and the same opportunity invites the Presbyterian Church to dupli- cate its noble work and repeat its glorious traditions of the 136 The Task That Challenges past. Will she recognize her obligation, and in serving humanity make herself great as the benefactor of the race? Distinctive Features. If secular education were the sole purpose of schools, the Church would perhaps be hardly justified in entering the field, and might wisely leave the whole matter in the hands of the State; but Christian education, rising one de- gree higher than mere secular learning, finds its justifica- tion in nobler ideals and worthier aims. In the educa- tional sphere it claims for its Mission schools the same justi- fication which commends its limited and qualified social service program in the realm of the eleemosynary. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis eulogizes the commercial value of education in this striking language: "If by divine fiat, tomorrow you could quadruple the education and intelli- gence of the one hundred millions of people in this country, you would multiply by ten the wealth of the republic. Recently I was in the Patent Office at Washington, look- ing at the tools. Three out of four of the new tools are not yet practical. The people are not yet ready for them. As yet the workmen are too careless to handle the ex- quisitely fine tools and costly material. But we shall soon double the intelligence of the nation, and then all these in- ventions will come in, to increase the comfort and the happi- ness of the people. Wisdom is not only better than rubies, but it can now manufacture a thousand coins of gold. Ig- norance can turn Carthage into a heap and make New York a ruin, but knowledge can cover the desert lands of Idaho and Colorado and Nevada with houses and gardens by leading streams of water across the thirsty plains. Verily there is a cave of diamonds and an Aladdin's lamp. Knowledge finds the path to the cave and treasure-house, and wisdom holds the key. Therefore, with all thy getting, get wisdom, and with all thy having, have knowledge." Mission Schools 137 Then, recognizing the utter inadequacy of the mere secular, unaccompanied by the moral, he bears fine testi- mony to the latter: "The greatness of an individual and of a nation is threatened when the intellect is ahead of the conscience, and culture is ranked above morality. His- tory teaches that mental power and moral principle must journey forward side by side. Unfortunately, our genera- tion seems to know the right but to be losing the power of doing it. Among certain classes moral illiteracy prevails. The school has lent the intellect wings, but the conscience crawls. The reason moves swiftly along the highway with the speed of a palace car; the virtues follow slowly, as if moving in an oxcart. Unfortunately, a generation may be wise towards books and illiterate towards morals. Solo- mon was at once the 'wisest' and the 'meanest' of men. Daniel speaks of the image that was part gold and part mud — which is a portrait of the Hebrew king who had read and written many books, but who was profligate, drunken and personally indecent and vicious. At the very moment that the wise king's forehead was crowned with the flowers of wisdom, his feet were in the mire of passion. Witness also Lord Bacon's knowledge of science and his sale of judi- cial decisions and his acceptance of bribes! Witness Goethe's culture and Goethe's infidelity to. the women he loved! By common consent, ours is an educated era; those instruments for the diffusion of knowledge and wis- dom, the common schools, the press and the book, were ne\^r so strong nor so numerous. Would that our genera- tion could do all that it knows and obey every principle it has discovered ! The rulers of this nation would doubt- less be glad to exchange a part of the knowledge possessed by the reason to receive in return an increment of obedience for the mind and heart." This is the province of Christian education, as the state admits it has no constitutional warrant to inculcate re- ligion. The Mission school differs from the state institu- CO S I H I ea > fcd o .So 43^ II Q 2 "^ I ^ cc 5^ o -w '73 o re o 03 00 y >.| O O OS o c<: » OJ o3 o -N "^ nO o ih cr- .2 ^ = .2 2 U 03 s s s o o o Iri hi Wi fa ;s( |S( I. o .22 bc c r ^ O) '0* in o *J *- 00 u c o >o •« '^ S a^ SR S «« .2 "* oj "t; 'm ko > 4> g O C/5 Z ■^ ^ C a> c *^ u S Z ass - j< o o o O Iri k« ^ ^ fa b fa C/3 "^ s ^ cc 0^ 3 ;3 1— H o 03 I 0( u J'i m 00 fN a .. o3 :/} a> 3 03 r- ..s a> *5 ■2 a 3 O o cc cj S C3 S o> .S fo ^ 0!) ^ "O 01 '"^ U > 4> C C a> C3 D S 'S o h « o u ^ z •oe a a a o o o v« ;n ui fa fa fa H H a z p fa O cc ffl o a o H Z H CO S Ah ffi H hJ iJ <1 «; • w^ a 00 05 CO >-H a; -a -Hi CO (U tc w !h tn CS 3 « O >> m iH bC 3 C O r* <4-l is , o^ o 'o TJ O OJ 'S ^ a; -J '+3 a o3 3 a c u is '^ Si if^ - o u te CO a G O ce c £ C< 01 o o u CO ^ o 0) j^ .2 fi 2 •2 « g a a s o o .2 fa fa ^ Mission Schools 139 tion in three respects: In addition to the secular curriculum which is common to both, the church school lays emphasis on Biblical instruction and religious training. It intro- duces the industrial feature, and trains vocationally for the practical affairs of life. Indirectly it serves a still higher purpose by inspiring and training an elect number of young men for the gospel ministry, an object in itself a sufficient compensation for effort and expense. Out of such a Mission school came George Truitt, the great Baptist preacher of the South, sometimes designated the "Spurgeon" of his denomination. At the meeting of West Lexington Presbytery of Kentucky in April, 1915, at Highland College, three bright young men of that in- stitution offered themselves and were received as candi- dates for the gospel ministry. Dr. E. O. Guerrant, of sainted memory, who laid the foundations of our Moun- tain Mission school work in Kentucky, traveling one day in Letcher county, which holds the record for unchurched masses in the United States, 97 per cent, of its population being unidentified with any denomination, saw a boy sitting on a log by the roadside, and questioned him as to the matter of entering the ministry, and then forgot the inci- dent. The boy, however, did not forget, and Jonathan Day is now in charge of the great Labor Temple of the Presbyterian Church in New York City, where he ad- dresses great crowds every night in the week. He also has a brother to-day in one of our Mountain Mission schools. "O little, haggard, voiceless child, I would that I might speak for thee! That I might send thy message far To hearts of human sj'mpathy! "Alas! my crude and blundering speech Goes halting all the way; but then. Someone, sometime, shall speak for thee Such words as touch the hearts of men. 140 The Task That Challenges "And in that day, O little child, We'll build our monuments in thee, We'll coin our gold in perfect lives. And mould thee for eternity." Raison d'etre. Both Church and State, from equally strong though dissimilar motives, are alike under obligations to educate the youth of the land, destined to become the leadership of the future. The state must teach its future citizenship, and the church is entitled to train its leadership. The Constitution of the state may limit the instruction to the secular and prevent its entering the domain of religion. The church is not so limited and may teach the secular for the sake of the religious. Dr. W. H. P. Faunce, in speaking of this work, says: "Here, then, is our national peril — that the supremely important task of our generation will fall between Church and State and be ignored by both. The Church may say, 'Education is no longer in our hands.* The state may say, 'On all religious matters we are silent.' Thus millions may grow up — are actually growing up in America to-day — without any genuinely religious training. It is time, therefore, for church and school to co-operate, as Army and Navy co- operate, in defence of our common country." In the higher institutions of learning, the state is better prepared, perhaps, to furnish superior and technical ad- vantages. In the secondary schools at present, and espe- cially in the poorer mountain sections, the Church is better equipped for the task. Rev. W. E. Hudson, himself a mountaineer, and at one time Superintendent of Mountain Missions, thus de- scribes the need: "Being isolated, the Highlander has had practically no chance to receive an education. The Superintendent of public instruction in one mountain state, said that 75 per cent, of the schools were failures Mission Schools 141 on account of incompetent teachers. Often some of these teachers can do little more than read and write. Many school buildings in Kentucky are so open that it is im- possible to teach in them during the winter, so the school often closes in the middle of the term. "We can see the result of these poor school facilities in the following statement: At the last census 13.4 per cent, of the native white male voters in the seven mountain states were illiterate, while of the same class in the United States as a whole, only 4.9 were illiterate." Recognizing the insufficiency of the public school sys- tem in many communities, even for secular training, the Governor of Kentucky, James B. McCreary, and the State Superintendent of Education, Barksdale Hamlett, have generously endorsed our Mission schools and welcomed our Church as a valuable ally in this sphere of service. The following testimonial from the Governor should for- ever set at rest any suggestion that Kentucky's great men are jealous of the Mission schools of the Church as inter- fering in any way with the prerogative of the state, or that there is no necessity for such Christian schools: "I thought the occasion worthy of my attendance as Governor of this state, to speak at the dedication of Beech- wood Seminary, and accepted your invitation to do so. After seeing your school and meeting the people of Lee county, who have to-day shown their interest in this work by thronging here to assist in the dedication by their presence, I am more than ever certain that this is a needed and worthy effort to better the condition of our mountain people ; also that they appreciate what is being done. "There are no better people on earth than those in Lee county and adjoining counties, and the isolated conditions that have heretofore prevented their children from secur- ing an adequate education, should no longer prevent the development of the mountain people. I wish you all success in your work." 142 The Task That Challenges To the same effect is the statement of the State Super- intendent of Education: "When you asked me to come up to the dedication of Beechwood Seminary and to speak for you on that occa- sion, I gladly consented, feeHng that as State Superin- tendent of Public Instruction, I should be serving the edu- cational interests of the state by officially endorsing what your Society is doing for the mountain population of Kentucky. "I am glad that I came and exceedingly pleased to see how eager these mountain people are to show their appre- ciation of your efforts as they have done this day. "It has been shown me that many living too far back from Heidelberg to send their children daily from their homes, are unable to find board here for them, and that dormitories are much needed to extend your power to bring the school and the children in touch with each other. "I hope you will be able to find the funds soon. If anyone wishes to refer to me, as to whether money thus spent will be well spent, I am at any time ready to do what I can to satisfy them upon that point." If the Church can furnish better equipment, better teachers and better moral influences, who can forbid her entrance into this noble sphere of service? The period of adolescence when character is formed and the individual is most susceptible of religious influences, affords such a magnificent opportunity as to constitute a tremendous obligation upon Christianity. "I took a piece of plastic clay And idly fashioned it one day, And as my fingers pressed it still, It moved and yielded to my will. "I came again when days were past; The bit of clay was hard at last, The form I gave it, still it bore. But I could change that form no more. Mission Schools 143 "I took a piece of living clay, And gently formed it day by day And moulded with my power and art A young child's soft and yielding heart. "I came again when years were gone, It was a man I looked upon; He still that earthly impress wore. And I could change him never more." Objections Considered. In a recent address before the Home Missions Council in New York, Prof. John C. Campbell, of the Russell Sage Foundation, indulged in friendly criticism of the Church Mission School system, insisting that these institutions injure mountain communities by robbing them of their best material, and leave the rubbish without competent leadership. He compares the system to a dragnet drawing the largest fish out of their element and impoverishing the community to that extent. In his opinion it is a sys- tem for the favored few, training them away from their rural environments and encouraging them to chase after the rainbow end that touches the plain, instead of remain- ing where darkness and light battle for the supremacy. His contention is for schools which adapt themselves to life's problems, training for the environment in which the beneficiaries live; and that the future of the Church school will be determined by its aim, as outlined by this ideal. The Church should welcome friendly criticism and be reasonable enough to admit the force of whatever is just, profiting thereby. The fault, however, is not inherent in the system, but rather the result of false ideals and mis- taken zeal on the part of many well-meaning and splendid teachers. Why not hasten to admit that it is a mistaken sentiment which fires a mountain boy with the ambition to be a missionary to China or the pastor of a great city church, whereas he might be something greater as the 144 The Task That Challenges Apostle of his own people. Perhaps the Church itself is somewhat in error by creating a false halo for the brow of the foreign missionary and extolling his work as the high- est type of heroism. Possibly it would require more heroic self-sacrifice to avoid the limelight of publicity and bury one's self in the task of regenerating a mountain com- munity, especially when that community is composed of one's own kindred. "God's glory is a wondrous thing, Most otrange in all its waj's, And, of all things on earth, least like What men agree to praise." At the Judgment bar many will change places — and "The first shall be last; and the last shall be first." Years ago someone said, "It remains to be seen what God can do with one man who yields himself completely to the divine will"; and a young man named Dwight L. Moody exclaimed, "I will be the man." The world knows the result. It remains yet to be seen what God can do with some mountain boy who yields himself for the de- spised task of redeeming a mountain section. Michael Angelo once said he never saw a block of rough marble without feeling within himself the strong impulse to liberate the angel imprisoned within it; and his many masterpieces of art still live to show how well he fulfilled his purpose. The rough material of the mountains awaits the consecrated genius of some great soul, to liberate these men and wo- men and make them live forever, as evidence of w^hat God can do with a man entirely yielded to the divine will for a great purpose. Pathetic Incidents. Rev. Homer McMillan is responsible for the following complaint of a neglected mountain child: "Nobody never Mission Schools 145 comes in here and nobody never goes out. My paw just growed up and never knowed nothin', and so did his paw afore him. Sometimes when I be hoein' corn on the mountain side I looks up the crick and down the crick, and wonders if there ain't nobody never comin' to larn me nothin'." This is the real need expressed for thousands of boys and girls shut away in the narrow coves of the mountain regions. A half-intoxicated mountaineer, an old man, said to one of our teachers: "You can't do anything much for me; but you can educate and save my children." One of our teach- ers wrote the author the following true incident: Having tried in various ways to awaken and interest an incorrigi- ble mountain boy, she at last said, "Charles, don't you want to learn and improve yourself, so you can go to Heaven?" To which he replied, "No, Miss Jennie, I don't want to go to Heaven. I'd rather stay here where I am better acquainted." Another related to the writer that after teaching the children a prayer to be repeated each night on retiring, she would occasionally request each child to say whether he was keeping up the practice. At last a boy about fifteen suddenly asked before the whole school: "Miss Patsy, I want to know how long this thing has got to be kept up?" To which she replied, "As long as 3'ou live." Dr. Guerrant was fond of relating this amusing incident: At the opening of one of our large schools, an ungainly youth put in his appearance as a boarder. The principal said to him, "\\'here is your trunk?" "What do I want with a trunk?" "Why," said the teacher, "to put your clothes in." With a puzzled look he answered, "\\'hat would I be doing with my clothes in a trunk?" Need, the Criterion. No question is herein raised as to the practicability or advisability of extending the Church school system through- 146 The Task That Challenges out the country. The determining factor which has hitherto guided in the establishment of these Mission schools has been the sole consideration of need, and the financial ability of the Home Mission Committee to re- spond to the appeals which cry from many a cove and mountain valley. Whether such need has been fully met may be judged by the following figures in round numbers, furnished by an eminent authority in educational matters: Mountain population 5,000,000 Mountain rural population 4,500,000 Mountain school children 3,000,000 Mountain pupils in Mission schools 25,000 Mountain teachers, in Mission schools 1,000 For this reason our Mission schools are confined for the present almost exclusively to the dependent classes, such as Mountaineers, Indians, Foreigners and Negroes. Lack of space prevents any complete and adequate account of our system. Only such data need be given as to furnish a comprehensive survey of the field. The subject is still further embarrassed by the gradual shading off of the Mission school into the college, and the uncertainty whether an institution would be complimented or offended by in- clusion in the list. Indian. First in point of time came our Mission schools for the Indians, dating back seventy-five years. One of the most important was Spencer Academy, in the Choctaw Nation of the Indian Territory, where Sheldon Jackson once taught and did his first Home Mission work. It was here also that Rev. J. J. Read, of blessed memor>', labored so faith- fully and moulded the character of such native preachers as Henry Wilson, Silas L. Bacon, and others. Later Armstrong Academy, under the management of Rev. Mission Schools 147 W. J. B. Lloyd, Rev. C. J. Ralston and others, rendered splendid service to the Indian people and to the Presby- terian Church. Inadequate support by the Church is the same old story of neglect which necessitated withdrawal; and both of these historic institutions are now government or tribal schools, and are still giving good account of themselves in the sphere of secular education. Goodland. The oldest Indian school, which has had a continuous life, is Goodland, near Hugo, Okla., and it reaches back al;out seventy-five years. For many years it was strictly missionary and under the control of the Church. The altered situation in the management of Indian affairs necessitated changes in the conducting of Mission schools; and fifteen years ago the present Secretary of Home Missions found in existence a plan whereby the "tribal funds" were used at Goodland for paying teachers for the Indians, the Executive Committee of Home Missions furnishing and paying the salary of mission teachers in the school. This arrangement was soon abandoned, and the school was carried on entirely by means of "tribal funds," but the Indian school board ordinarily appointed Presbyterian teachers, in deference to the wishes of the community. Several years ago a legacy for Indian Missions supplied the need of a suitable dormitory, which enabled the friends of the school to take boarding pupils, and especially orphan Indian children. Rev. Silas Bacon, an Indian preacher, had been in charge for several years, and conducted the boarding department. Through his influence the Choctaw Legislature made an appropriation of $10,000 from "tribal funds" for the school, subject to the approval of Congress. As it would have embarrassed the Presbyterian Church to receive this appropriation. Rev-. Silas Bacon was ad- vised to withdraw the school from all connection with the 148 The Task That Challenges Home Mission Committee. This was accordingly done and the property is held by a local Board of Trustees, largely Indians, and independent, though all its members are Presbyterians. The school has three teachers and 150 pupils, most of them being boarders. It has a modern equipment of recitation halls, dormitories, auditoriums, etc., valued at $20,000. The Institution serves a noble purpose, and is commended to the kind benefactions of generous friends of Indian and Christian education. Oklahoma Preshyterian College. No institution in our Church fills a more unique and use- ful place than this college, which developed through suc- cessive stages from a small primary school to a prominent place among the colleges for the Christian education of women. It is our only Synodical institution in that great progressive state. It educates Indians and whites on equal footing, and ordinarily they are about equal in numbers. It is regarded by the general public as one of the best in the state, and it fills a sphere peculiarly its own. The campus of thirty acres, within the corporate limits of Durant, was given by friends, at a cost of $27,000. The building, which is school and dormitory combined, cost nearly $100,000. During its construction, overtaken by financial misfortunes, several times its friends and pro- moters lost hope and feared it was wrecked. Once the women of the Church saved it; and in the end a few mem- bers of the Board devised ways and means which rescued it from final collapse. Too much credit cannot be accorded President W. B. Morrison for his capable management and the heroic struggle by which he has operated it for seven years, gradually equipping it with apparatus and furniture. He has educated young women who are a credit to him and to the institution, and they are now scattered throughout a wide area. Mission Schools 149 ISO The Task That Challenges Inadequate equipment has so greatly handicapped its usefulness and so proportionately augmented expenses, that it becomes necessary to provide another dormitory which will double its usefulness, without adding to the expense of operation. By an arrangement of joint co- operation, the Synod undertook a campaign within its bounds, and the Executive Committee of Home Missions set aside the special gifts of Home Mission Week for a new dormitory and better equipment. Partial success has crowned these efforts. Mountains. By far the most important because of need, destitution, and the number of schools operated and pupils taught, are our institutions in the Appalachian Mountains. Leaving out the fertile valleys and towns containing more than 2,500 people each, it is calculated that there are at least three million mountaineers in the dependent class, whose partial destitution entitles them to special considera- tion at the hands of the Church. In addition to evan- gelistic work, a system of mission schools is maintained, not simply for purposes of secular education, but to im- plant in the minds and hearts of the children at the im- pressionable age, the precepts and principles of religion. "Including Presbyterian and Synodical Schools, our Church has in round numbers forty-six Mountain schools and Missions. The total annual budget of all these schools, including improvements, has been roughly estimated at $85,000. The fact that many of these are mission stations as well as schools, and that the work is carried on the year round increases the cost per capita of each pupil. In round numbers there are 3,250 pupils in these schools. The average amount charged for tuition and board in all these schools is about $8.00 per month, perhaps the cheap- est educational institutions in the land. Many of our schools are becoming community centers. Basket and Mission Schools 151 base ball, annual fair and field day exercises have been en- couraged. The teaching of the industrial arts has been emphasized, nameh', Domestic Science, Home-Making, Sewing, Basketry and Agriculture." Foreign-Speaking. The first in point of time and the most prosperous, is the Texas-Mexican Work. From an humble origin it has grown to a vigorous Presbytery, which coincides with the Synod of Texas. It now has 22 Mexican churches, 1,200 communicants, served by 4 American missionaries and 6 native Mexican pastors. The additions annually exceed the average number added to Presbyteries of the same size. By far the most important development has been the establishment of an Industrial school for young men at Kingsville, Texas. Rev. J. W. Skinner, D. D., has been placed in charge and is demonstrating that he is a work- man approved of God. Mrs. King donated 700 acres of land for the school and part of it has been brought under cultivation. Inexpensi^'e buildings have been erected at a cost of several thousand dollars, and the school has been conducted with good attendance. It has at present no endowment, poor equipment, and is largely dependent upon special gifts and voluntary contributions for its running expenses. If the Texas-Mexican Industrial Institute should fall heir to a reasonable endowment, it would enable the school to make a very large contribution toward the solu- tion of all the problems that confront our Texas-Mexican Mission. For the men who are really to save the situation and give definite solution to many of the most difficult problems are there receiving that which will fit them for serving the Church as well as serving their fellow-country- men in a manifold way. We should realize that the 152 The Task That Challenges Texas-Mexicans themselves must solve the Texas- Mexican problems and should be fitted for this great responsi- bility. Italians. The Italian Mission at Birmingham is so named because that is the predominant nationality, but there are as many as 12 nationalities represented in our Mission schools there, and 41 nationalities are enumerated in the census of the Birmingham District. Sabbath schools are main- tained at different places, while day schools, night schools, kindergartens, domestic science, etc., are taught by com- petent and devoted women who have the missionary spirit. One hundred and fifty attend the various schools, of whom 103 are gatheied into our Sabbath schools for these foreign peoples. The equipment for all this work is a two-story school building, a chapel, and several rented houses. The work is seriously crippled and hindered by lack of proper equipment. The Executive Committee makes an appropriation towards the current expenses, but has no funds with which to erect buildings having institu- tional features that are necessary to properly equip a work of this character. The Italian Mission at Kansas City is located in the midst of a population of 6,000 Italians, most of them from South- ern Italy. A large portion of the licensed saloons are lo- cated in this section of the city, which contains also the segregated vice district. As a result of mission effort by the Central Presbyterian church, about sixty have been added to the roll of this church, and a splendid plant erected valued at $16,000. In addition to the pastor in charge, two consecrated women are employed as teachers and helpers, while the Sabbath School superintendent and teachers give their services gladly. The people take part in the public ser- vices, giving their religious experiences, and asking ques- Mission Schools 153 tions. During the summer, worship is conducted in the open air, attended by large numbers, sometimes reaching 300 or more. The industrial and institutional features of the work con- sist of kindergartens, drills, classes in domestic science, etc. Bible classes are also conducted for women in the after- noon; and there are lectures with music for boys and men, and gymnasium exercises one evening in the week. Negroes. The Stillman Institute has had an enrollment of seventy- two, of whom forty are candidates for the ministry. Some academic students were turned away, to make room for theological students, for whom chiefly the Institute was founded. The present dormitory accommodates only forty-eight. Two other facts should be remembered, which distinguish this school from all other theological schools in the country: 1. It is a true Home Missionary contribution of the Presbyterian Church to the salvation and uplift of the Negro race. Students of approved character are received from all denominations and treated alike. The funda- mental fact before us is to train this immature and growing race in the great and plain doctrines of grace, and to give them a usable knowledge of the English Bible. 2. Simple industries are provided, such as gardening, carpentry, dairying and poultry raising, which afford a wise vehicle for education and a sensible means of exercise and recreation to the students. Credit is given them for all labor performed, thus enabling any student partly to pay his own way to an education. No dead languages are taught, and there is an effort made to train our gradu- ates to be self-reliant and enterprising. Of our graduates, thirty-three are serving seventy colored Presbyterian churches, many are also teaching 154 The Task That Challenges parochial schools. As many more are enlisted in the ministry of other churches. Three are useful missionaries in Africa. Abbeville {S. C.) School. For many years the Ferguson Williams School at Abbe- ville, S. C, has dragged itself slowly, embarrassed by debt, inadequate equipment and the inability of the Executive Committee to render very substantial aid. Plans are now being perfected for enlargement, and the establishment of a first class school with industrial features at this place, but the details are not sufficiently advanced or the enter- prise so definitely assured as to warrant the immediate fulfilment of our hopes. Primary and parochial schools are being taught by col- ored pastors and their assistants, in connection with their pastorates in different cities, and the Executive Com- mittee of Home Missions has financed Vacation Bible Schools in Atlanta at an average cost per pupil of $1. Giierrant Inland Mission. Sir Humphrey Davy, the eminent scientist, being asked on one occasion what he considered his greatest discovery, made an unexpected reply. Instead of naming his "Safety Lamp," "Sodium," "Potassium," or some other of his brilliant chemical achievements, he answered, "Michael Faraday." With little education and practically no train- ing, this boy had been employed by Sir Humphrey Davy as a utility man in the laboratory, but he was inspired by the influence of his great master to undertake independent investigation, which resulted in the demonstration of electricity as a practical motor power. In a certain sense, Michael Faraday's labors made possible the telegraph, telephone, and every electric motor that turns the million wheels of machinery. Robert Raikes discovered the poor Mission Schools 155 waifs of our great cities, and the result is the modern Sabbath school system, teaching 17,000,000 children throughout Christendom. In like manner the credit belongs to Dr. Edward O. Guerrant of discovering the isolated and neglected chil- dren of our Appalachian Mountains; and the hundreds of chapels and schools of the future, which are destined to spring up in unnumbered mountain communities to bless thousands of children yet unborn, will constitute his per- petual monument. Is it any wonder that the General Assembly, with a rising and unanimous vote, decided to perpetuate his name and influence, by naming all its Mountain Work in honor of its founder, "The Guerrant Inland Mission"? He has gone to his blessed reward, but his "works do follow" him, and he, "being dead yet speaketh." Could there be a more fitting close to this chapter than to allow that eloquent tongue, now silent in the tomb, to plead once more as a voice from out eternity in behalf of his beloved people: "If fifty years' experience among the Highlanders gives authority to speak of them, then I may be granted that privilege. For more than fifty years I have traveled among them, as soldier, physician and minister. I was brought up in a village of churches, and thought all people this side of China were equally blessed. Some older people are yet laboring under this same delusion. "When a young man, I went to Virginia, the land of my fathers, to join the army, and rode more than a hundred miles across the Cumberland mountains. Although not looking for churches or preachers, I do not remember seeing a single one. During the year I crossed those mountains several times, and still found no churches. "After the war I became a physician and frequently rode through those mountains visiting the sick, and still found only a church or two in many miles, though there were thousands of people with souls. 156 The Task That Challenges "When I became a minister, I naturally remembered that country where many of my old comrades lived, Christless and churchless, and determined to give them what little help I could. In the Synod of Kentucky I found a mighty champion for these long neglected people — the Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson, a man who believed the Gospel was for "every creature" in "all the world." Through his influence largely the rtiissions to the moun- tains were inaugurated by the Synod of Kentucky, over twenty years ago, and I was honored by being called from the First church of Louisville to serve the Synod as Evan- gelist. I thought I had some idea of the vast destitution of the mountain regions, but when I entered the work I was amazed to find a region as large as the German Em- pire, practically without churches, Sabbath schools or qualified teachers; whole counties with tens of thousands of people, who had never seen a church or heard a Gospel sermon they could understand ; and there are thousands of them yet. "They are not a degenerate people. They are a brave, independent, high-spirited people, whose poverty and loca- tion have isolated them from the advantages of education and religion. They have been simply passed by in the march of progress in this great age because they were out of the way. The world to-day — even our own people — know more of China and Japan than of these neighbors, our contemporaries of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- turies. "No railroads or any other kind of roads invited travelers, scholars or preachers into the solitudes of their mountain homes. The inevitable result has been the want of those blessings which education and religion bring, churches and schools. With the fewest exceptions, there are none of either. In the largest county in the Cumberlands, when I entered it, there was not a church in the whole county, and the only school in its capital was taught in the court- Mission Schools 157 house. One of our oldest evangelists and a mountain man, after a tour through a large section, said: 'Of all the destitutions I have ever seen, this excels all. Not a Bible or a Christian did I find.' "I have no hesitancy in saying that this is the largest body of white people on this continent who are practically without the Gospel. And I do not know any people who will make greater sacrifices to hear it. I have known them to walk from five to ten miles over their rough mountain roads to hear the Gospel, and sit on the ground and rough boards from 9 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon, with only a brief intermission at noon. Though without edu- cation, they are naturally bright, and easily comprehend and gladly receive the Gospel message; and when con- verted, are as faithful as any others under similar condi- tions. To their honor be it said, I have never seen an infidel among them. "We believe in Foreign Missions, but we also believe in 'beginning at Jerusalem.' These are the 'heathen at our doors.' Their souls are worth as much as others. They are more easily reached. It costs less than half to reach them. The results are quicker, because their language is our own. Their traditions, history and ancestors are the same as our own. The consequences of their conversion are greater. They will furnish teachers, ministers and missionaries to the heathen abroad. "After fifty years' knowledge of this people, and twenty- five years' labor among them as a minister, I was con- vinced that all agencies now employed or available by neighboring churches would never reach them in this gen- eration, or maybe in a dozen generations. So I appealed to all Christian people who loved their own countrymen to help save them. The response was such as only God could inspire. From every branch of the Church and every sec- tion of our country and beyond it, even from China and the 158 The Task That Challenges Sandwich Islands, God has raised up loving hearts and liberal hands to help. "In ten years 362 missionaries have labored exclusively in these wild mountains. They made 51,000 visits, held over 22,000 public services at 10,069 places, had 6,304 con- versions, taught 879 Bible schools, with 39,456 pupils, distributed over 250 boxes and barrels of clothing to the poor, over 10,000 Bibles and Testaments, and 125,000 tracts, built 56 churches, schools and mission houses, in- cluding three academies, an Orphan Asylum and two hos- pitals. "These people belong to the ruling race of the world, and are worthy to belong to it. They certainly should have an equal chance for the blessings of religion and education with the Asiatics and Africans. They have not had it in the past. For our Missions are but lighthouses yet, on the shores of a continent of darkness." VIII. AMERICA, THE MELTING POT. ■'Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great judgment seat; But there is neither East nor West, border, nor breed, nor birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the end of the earth." From a cosmopolitan standpoint. East and West have been during the ages past recognized as distinct and fixed types, justifying the sentiment of the poet; but modern transportation has annihilated space, blotted out the points of the compass, and made all the world neighbors, unto the uttermost parts of the earth; while modern migration, by pouring into America the blood of all nations, is reversing the confusion of Babel, and uniting once again the hitherto discordant dialects of earth into the speech of the Anglo- Saxon, and transforming these heterogeneous peoples into the composite and cosmopolitan American. America, the Product of Immigration. The history of the United States is largely a historv of immigration. It began with the landing of our forefathers at Jamestown, at New Amsterdam, at Plymouth Rock, and at Charleston, and from that date America has been the Mecca of all nations, the refuge of the oppressed, the asylum of religious liberty, the land of opportunity, the Melting Pot. "America's ports are like swinging doors. Through them is passing in and out an ever-increasing number of the earth's inhabitants." Allured by promises of plenty, the hungry hordes of the Old World sacrifice their scanty earthly possessions, actuated by one ambition — the desire to accumulate enough to pay their passage to 160 The Task That Challenges America. Disappointed in some of their expectations, or overcome with a longing desire to revisit the land of their nativity, many return, bearing the news of America's great- ness and golden harvests, incidentally spreading the con- tagion of the immigration spirit. Like the tidal wave roll- ing along the beach, it may at times recede, but only to re- turn with increasing volume and irresistible impetus, to reach a still higher water mark. Other nations, England leading the van, under the in- fluence of the colonizing habit, enter all open doors, by sending their sons and daughters to form new settlements, whose influence and trade relations glorify and enrich the fatherland. Not so, America; she has comparatively no over-crowded communities needing to swarm, no oppressed needing relief, no sons and daughters to spare; but, on the contrary throwing wide her portals, she invites the nations of the world to colonize in her midst, if they but swear allegiance to her flag, accept her institutions, and are willing to be transmuted into American citizens; and thus she draws into her veins the life-blood of the world. The Immigrant Tide. It was not until 1820 that any accurate record was kept of the incoming army of aliens; but since that time the number has been steadily increasing, until in 1907, it reached the zenith, when there came 1,285,349. During the past hundred years 30,000,000 have entered our open doors; and the recent census reveals the fact that there are living among us to-day 16,000,000 of foreign birth and as many more of foreign parentage, which accounts for about one-third our population, leaving out of calculation the 10,000,000 Negroes. If the inhabitants of the United States should pass a given point in line, every third man would be a foreigner or the son of a foreigner. The financial panic of 1907 turned backward the tide temporarily, but the current is again rising; and in 1910 America, The Melting Pot 161 it once more passed the million mark by 41,507, an immense multitude, representing all classes and conditions, and forty-one nationalities. Only by comparison can we ob- tain any comprehension of this vast army. Arizona and New Mexico, the two states last admitted to the Union, have a combined population of 531,655; and yet we added a contingent of foreign citizenship in one year of twice their population combined. If Boston and Baltimore were suddenly blotted out of existence, in twelve months our incoming immigrants could repopulate both cities. Of our forty-eight states, seventeen have a population less than the number we added by immigration in 1910; while Connecticut, Maryland, West Virginia, Nebraska and Washington have each less than the year 1907 gave us. If they should join hands, these immigrants each year would reach from Atlanta to Baltimore, or nearly across the great state of Texas. If they should stand within shouting distance of each other, they could easily deliver a message from the Atlantic to the Pacific. If they marched in single file by any given spot at the rate of five each minute, it would require six months for the procession to pass, travel- ing day and night. The Invading Army. History mentions the invasion of the Goths and the Vandals as one of the greatest movements of ancient or modern times. Yet the army that invaded America in 1907 was greater than the estimated number of those that swept over Southern Europe and devastated Rome. Speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, A. D. 70, Josephus estimates that the number who perished during the siege was 1,100,000; and this he adds "exceeded all the destruction that either men or God ever brought upon the world" — a vast multitude, but not so many as there were immigrants in this one year. It is said that forty-six nations marched beneath the ensign of the Persian 162 The Task That Challenges king, Xerxes, and his land and naval forces aggregated 2,315,000. Herodotus says that the Hellespont groaned for seven days and seven nights beneath the weight of the human tide that Asia was pouring into Europe. Yet these numbers are surpassed many thousands by the fifty nations represented in the multitude that entered our gates in the two 3'ears of 1906 and 1907. Why they come, and why the stream sometimes widens and sometimes narrows, though never ceasing, is largely determined by economic conditions here and abroad. The famine in Ireland, the industrial depression in Ger- many, the exorbitant taxation in Italy, the religious per- secution in Russia, the enforced military service, depriving families of their bread winners, and the overcrowded cities and low wages in most European countries, drive them out from their ancestral homes. On the other hand, the exaggerated reports of American abundance deepen the dissatisfaction of the Old World poor with their unbearable conditions, and cause them to turn their eyes longingly to our favored land, and sigh for its freedom and opportunity. In addition to these motives, the great steamship companies maintain hundreds of agents through- out Europe to circulate glowing accounts of American prosperity, under the necessity of packing their steerage decks like cattle, to increase their earnings. In the lan- guage of the Commissioner of Immigration, these millions "are drawn hither by the free institutions and marvelous prosperity of our country — the chance here afforded ever>' honest toiler to gain a livelihood by the sweat of his brow or the exercise of his intelligence." Oppression pushes, and opportunity pulls; so they come, 3,500 a day, 100,000 a month, and more than 1,000,000 a year. Careful students of this question tell us that there is every reason to believe that the immigration temporarily affected by the European war will at its close break all records in a flood tide which will perhaps pour upon our America, The Melting Pot 163 shores as many as two million people annually. The countries of the Old World are becoming more and more crowded, and are unable to support their population com- fortably; while America is a land of room and of plenty. It is said that Europe alone could send us 3,000,000 a year, 300,000,000 this century, and yet increase the source of supply; but this statement will perhaps hold true only after the continent has sufficiently recovered from the present devastating war. Who Are They, and Whence Do They Come'^ Until 1880 more than three-fifths of the immigration was from the British Isles and Northern Europe; but now 75 per cent, comes from Southern Europe. This is called the "new immigration," because the source, the motives, the customs, the character and the ideals of this stream are flooding our cities with an entireh' different type, and introducing a new problem for the solution of the thought- ful. Italy leads all the countries of the world, their con- tribution to our citizenship a\eraging 200,000 a >ear and occasionally exceeding that number. Russia and Aus- tria-Hungary furnish us each 160,000. To stand at our open ports and take account of the nationalities knocking for admittance would be to call the roll of all the countries of the world — a vast conglomeration, a confusion of tongues that w^ould drown the tower of Babel incident in this greater Bedlam : Bohemians, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Bel- gians, Magyars, Moravians, Montenegrins, Servians, Slovaks, Slovenes, Swiss, Swedes, Roumanians, Russians, Poles, Prussians, Ruthenians, Italians, Lithuanians, Her- zegovinians, Hungarians, Finns, Flemish, Croathians, Dalmatians, Dutch, Greeks and Jews — aliens from the Commonwealth of America and strangers from the cove- nants of our fathers. Are we able to digest and assimilate this heterogeneous mass, and transform them into Ameri- cans and Christians? Bevond the seas thev were con- 164 The Task Thai Challenges fronted with the problem of living; transplanted into our midst they have forced upon us the problem of our national and ecclesiastical life. "These peoples whom we are now so largely drawing constitute a real invading army. They bring with them standards and ideals which are vastly different from our own. Their habits, customs, institutions, ways of living, are altogether un-American. It is interesting to try to imagine what kind of a place the United States would now be if the Poles had founded Boston, if the Italians had settled Virginia, if the Slovaks had colonized Ncav York if the Lithuanians had established Philadelphia, and the Jews had been pioneers in the Great West. Such flights of fancy may help us to imagine what the United States is liable to become if the present order of affairs continues." — (The Incoming Millions.) ''Unguarded Gates.'' No wonder Thomas Bailey Aldrich rang the alarm: "Wide open and unguarded stand our gates, And through them press a wild, motley throng, Men from the Volga and the Tartan steppes, Featureless figures of the Hoang-Ho, Malayan, Scythian, Teuton, Kelt and Slav, Fleeing the Old World's poverty and scorn. "These, bringing with them unknown gods and rites; Those, tiger passions, here to stretch their claws. In street and alley what strange tongues are loud, Accents of malice alien to our air. Voices that once the Tower of Babel knew! "O, Liberty! White Goddess, i3 it well To leave thy gates unguarded! On thy breast Fold Sorrow's children, soothe the hurts of fate, Lift the down-trodden; but with hand of steel Stay those who to thy sacred portals come To waste the gifts of freedom. Aniericd. Tlir McJlhuj Pot 165 "Have a care Lest from thy brow the clustered stars lie torn And trampled in the dust. I'or so of old The thronging Goth and Vandal trampled Rome; And where the temples of the Caesars stood The lean wolf, unmolested, makes his lair." In view of these facts, consider the peril of immigration, a menace to our country, our children, and our Church. Either we must assimilate these multitudes, or they will still further corrupt our politics, already approaching the danger line. Either we must educate them, or they will destroy the foundations upon which our free institutions rest. Either we must evangelize them, or they will paganize our children and our children's children. The peril lies not so much in their number as in the character of this invasion. The danger is due to the quality rather than the quantity. In colonial times and until recent years, the incoming thousands were from Great Britain, Ger- many, and certain sections of Northern Europe. Since 1880 they have been coming from Southern and Eastern Europe, and from the depths of Asia. The former were of our own blood and tongue, the same in thought and training as the founders of our country. So long as the tide of immigration continues to be of the same stock as the original, all is well; but when Southern Europe and Asia open their flood gates and begin to pour forth their countless millions, it gives us pause and constrains us to look to the future with apprehension. In recent years 30 per cent, of the aliens admitted, over fourteen years old, could neither read nor write. During the year ending June 30, 1910, an army of 312,000 illiterates, not counting the children under fourteen years of age en- tered this land of the free. Just imagine a population of 312,000, with no use whatever for books, or paper, or print- ing press — a number that would make a city the size of Cincinnati or New Orleans. 166 The Task That Challenges The securit\' of a republic rests upon the intelligence of the people. "In every republic," says Dr. Strong, "there is a dead line of ignorance and immorality, and when the average citizen sinks below that line, free institutions perish." With an army of 312,000 representing the ignor- ance, the ideals, and the povert\' of the misgoverned coun- tries of the Old World, being annually added to the millions of the same kind already here, how long will it require for America to reach the danger line? Of the thirty-eight largest cities in the United States, thirty-three have a majority of foreigners or those of foreign parentage, being practically foreign cities on American soil. If one visits London, he finds English people; in Paris, he finds French people, and in Berlin, Germans; but New York, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, and other American cities contain everything else but Americans. The census of 1910 gave New York 1,926,900 of foreign birth, with perhaps as man\' of foreign parentage. If these aliens distributed themselves throughout the country, our problem would be comparatively easy, and our peril less; but segregated in our cities as "Little Italy," "Little Poland," etc., they resist assimilation into the body politic. "A mere glance at the statistics referring to the destina- tion of those who came last year tells the story of where most of them settled. Of the 1,000,000 admitted, 280,000 gave as their destination New York. Most of them will go no farther than greater New York City — another con- tribution to that heterogeneous mass of humanity already more than 5,000,000 strong. Four-fifths of the present population of that city are of foreign parentage or birth. Thirty-nine different languages are spoken on the streets every day, and newspapers are printed in eleven of them. More than a million of this number are Jews. It is said that more Jews land in New York City every five years than all the combined membership of its Protestant America, The Melting Pot 167 churches. There are 500,000 Itahans, and more Germans than in any city of German>- except BerHn. There are twice as many Irish as in Dubhn, and a large jiroportion of other nationahties. The ahen vote of the city pre- dominates. In fact, there are in the city 90,000 more foreign voters than native born." — (Modern Migration.) "A short ramble in New York's East Side takes you through various colonies. By crossing the Bowery you enter first the vast Jewish colony, and then walking on, find yourself in Italy; going northeast, you enter Ger- many; circling around to the south, you pass through a Negro settlement, and a section of Ireland, until you come to Syria; if >ou continue your tour you may visit Bohemia, China, and Greece. Nor have you exhausted the list. You will also find these colonies in our other large cities. As Jacob Riis said, the only colony you cannot find in New York is a distinctively American colony." — (Incoming Millions.) Peril to the Church. This is anything but reassuring, yet the greatest peril of all is that which threatens the Church. Crowding into down-town sections of our cities, where the religious struggle is already well-nigh hopeless, they force our evan- gelical churches to move out, leaving a larger population and yet fewer religious forces to cope with the powers of evil. The majority of these people have been brought up in beliefs that are either fundamentally erroneous and full of superstitions, or they are infidels and atheistic. At least 80 per cent, of our present immigration is non- Protestant, being largely Roman and Greek Catholics, and Jews, who have brought with them as their contribu- tion to our national life "the Continental idea of the Sabbath, the nihilist's idea of government, the communist's 168 The Task That Challenges idea of property, the socialist's idea of the family, and the Pagan's idea of religion." It is the Catholic and the Jew who have driven the Bible from our public schools, and forbid its being taught to your child and mine. It is the Jew who denies that this is a Christian country, either in fact or in purpose. It is this combination, helped on by indifferent and careless Protestants, that has broken down the Christian Sabbath, the hope of the American working man, and has given us instead the lawless Continental Sunday, changing God's holy day into a reckless, rioting holiday. The Christian Sabbath is the bulwark of Christian civilization, and the foundation of religious worship. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" During the past ten years, through immigration, the Catholic Church has grown twice as fast as all the Protest- ant churches combined; and the United States statistics covering a period of the past fifteen years reveal a Catholic increase of 61 per cent, to our Protestant growth of 39 per cent. There are twelve states in which the Roman Catholic outnumbers all the Protestant churches combined. This is true of every New England state. In Rhode Island, for example, the Roman Catholics have 74 per cent, of the total church membership. Protestants are in the minority in New York, New Jersey and other Northern and Western states. In San Francisco, out of a population of half a million, there are only 12,000 Protestant church members. In New York City, where a positive proportionate decrease of Protestant members in the past decade is revealed, the present percentage of church mem- bers is 8.55 per cent, of the population. Owing to the fact that immigration has not turned Southward in great streams, Louisiana is at present the only Southern state where Catholics outnumber Protestants; but the tide is now turning, and we shall soon be facing the peril which threatens the North. Auieyica, The Melting Pot 169 Rome has already proclaimed the conquest of America, and the Pope has taken the United States out of the cate- gory of missionary countries, and classified it as Christian, from a Catholic standpoint, along with Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Recently three new Cardinals for the United States have been created, and the return of one to New York after being made "a Prince of the Church" was the signal for an ovation, during which 50,000 people stood in line four miles long, a mark of honor which perhaps would not be accorded to any of the crowned heads of Europe. We speak of the bigotry and oppression of Spain and other Catholic countries, but do we realize that there are ten times as many convents in the United States as there are in Spain, and fifty times as many schools, conducted by friars, priests and nuns, in which millions of American children are being taught their pernicious doctrines! Rome makes no secret of her purpose and intention to control this stronghold of Protestantism, and immigration is placing the means in her hand to enable her to realize her ambition. If Rome could have held her emigrant children in the past; if we had not been able to evangelize multitudes of them ; long since the conquest would have been complete. Now the immigrant tide is bearing on its bosom Romanism in such force that we are unable to cope with it; and worst of all, the Church is either too blind or too indifferent to rally her strength and meet "the enemy that comes in like a flood." Who can forecast the tre- mendous struggle that will probably be waged in this coun- try for religious liberty? Who can estimate its influence upon the world? If Rome obtains possession of the United States, there will be no "evangelization of the world in this generation," nor for many generations to come; and it may postpone the final triumph of the truth indefinitely. "As goes America, so goes the world." 170 The Task That Challenges Compensations that Counterbalance. Others more optimistic insist that it is possible to over- estimate the danger; or at least that there are compensa- tions which counterbalance the peril. Multitudes of these immigrants are valuable material in the rough state, which may be shaped and polished for building substan- tially the fortunes of the future Republic. After due investigation, Charles Stelzle asserts: "Dr. Edward A. Steiner, who knows more about the human side of the immigration problem than any other man in America, recently declared that 5,000 strong-limbed, healthy-bodied immigrants landing at Ellis Island are more resourceful than as many average college graduates would be — and Steiner knows, for he is a college professor. They come to us, most of these immigrants, after their own countries have paid the cost of their education. Robert Watchorn, for several years Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, once remarked: 'If you give the Italian, the Hun- garian and the Russian Jew half a chance, he will make the English and the Irish look like thirty cents.' And pre- sumably Mr. Watchorn knew what he was talking about, for he handled literally millions of immigrants." It is not so much the immigrant himself as his child, which constitutes our greatest peril. He himself has been disciplined in the school of adversity-, and is accustomed to the role of contributing his share of the world's work in return for his daily bread. His child is being moulded by the environment of American life and example. Unless trained by public school and reached by Sabbath school or Church, he will drift into the ranks of the criminal classes. Are we to be more concerned about their peril to us or our responsibility for them? No man knows the conditions better than Stelzle, and he emphasizes this aspect of the case: "The children of immigrants of the first generation are America, The Melting Pot 171 a greater problem and menace than the immigrant him- self. Unrestrained and unrestricted on account of the ignorance of parents, and seeing unlawful pleasures abun- dant, they often find their way to the saloon, the cheap theatre, and even viler places, frequently ending with the penitentiary. The criminal classes are largely augmented from among these children of respectable, hard-working foreigners, and any movement which seeks to help them should be heartily supported. "Industrial classes and clubs for the boys and girls will give them better motives and higher incentives. The kindergarten is one of the greatest factors in helping the children. Trained to use head and hand and heart aright during the years between three and six, these lessons will go with them all through life. Incidentally, this ministry to the children will win the hearts of the parents, whose own lives are brightened by the cheer of the kindergarten trophies which are brought home by the child and displayed with pride by the older folks. But it is the personal in- fluence of the teacher or the leader — unconsciously ex- erted — which counts for most in children's work. Im- portant, then, to secure men and women of character, who may be entrusted with the destinies of those com- mitted to their charge." Opportunities Unparalleled. If there is ground for apprehension in the contempla- tion of these hordes invading our country, surely there is some compensation in the thought of the unparalleled opportunities they present of evangelizing the world through their instrumentality. "A million new inhabitants annually, means a million new opportunities." It means more than that; for each new inhabitant touches a dozen at least in some far distant land; and it suggests that God, who continually guides the destiny of nations and the move- ments of the people, is bringing them to us for some great 172 The Task That Challenges and wise purpose, connected with the advancement of His kingdom on earth. "Some years ago Dr. Arthur T. Pierson pubHshed a thrilling book, entitled 'The Crisis of Missions.' The Crisis of Missions of his day came with the opening of the nations to the Bible and the missionary. Were he writing that book to-day, he would doubtless present to us as the 'Modern Crisis of Missions,' this marvelous inrush of the nations to America — a land where already the Bible and the Church have been established. This great movement of foreign peoples to our country is indeed a much more wonderful providence than the opening of Oriental doors. It is another great step in world-wide evangelization, and carries with it to the Christian Church a mission of in- finite proportion, marked by an unequalled opportunity, an unavoidable obligation, and an unlimited outcome." — (Modern Migration.) Scattered among the heathen nations of earth we have a vast army of over 100,000 missionaries, including the native helpers engaged in their evangelization; and yet every time through their ministrations a heathen is con- verted, at least ten immigrants land at our ports. In the United States, we have over 170,000 ministers of the Gospel and over 200,000 churches; and yet every time a convert is added to any church at home, at least two aliens come from abroad, forever augmenting our task. It is true that this influx does not bring all heathen, but many are pagan at least in influence, and almost all, even if nominally Christian, are thoroughly irreligious. Only 18 per cent, of them belong to any evangelical church. Many nominal Catholics are overjoyed to throw off all religious restraint. Multitudes are worse than heathen, being avowed anar- chists, socialists, nihilists, infidels and atheists; but all have immortal souls; and their coming to America gives to many their first opportunity of coming in contact with Christianity and Christ. Is it any wonder that Dr. America, The Melting Pot 173 Robert Stuart MaeArthur, pastor of a great metropolitan Baptist church of New York, said: "In proportion to terri- tory, New York City is the greatest foreign mission field on the globe?" Heathenism is invading our country at all points. Hindoo temples, Chinese joss houses, Theoso- phist circles, and Babist philosophy are in evidence every- where; and the battle with heathenism is being transferred to America. All this constitutes a tremendous risk to our Christian life; but shall we admit that Christianity is unable to cope with the situation, or shall we lull ourselves to sleep in carnal security, fancying that there is no real danger ,■' Is not the opportunity of reaching these multitudes worth all the risk involved? During the nineteenth century, that which characterized the life of the Church was its zeal in sending the gospel to the heathen. It may be part of our punishment for not sending fast enough that the twentieth century is sending the heathen to us in ever increasing numbers. It is all too sudden, and the Church is too dazed to recognize the changed conditions, but the awakening must come. The issues at stake are too great to be ignored or neglected. The American Missionary Society states the case in language as strong as it is striking: "The greatest Foreign Mission land on the globe to-day is our own America. Here we do not go in search of the millions; the millions come to us. We are not compelled to learn their language; they are eager to learn ours. We are not obliged to conform to alien customs; they are here to adopt ours. We are not a little group engulfed in hun- dreds of millions of alien faith; we are the majority. Our faith is engrained in the very fibre of the government, established in the customs of the land. These strangers from all the shores of the world are here cut loose from their native governments and religious customs. A hiatus between the old and the new exists in both their political 174 The Task That Challenges and religious thinking. That hiatus, that pause in thought, is the open door for the entrance of new and better things. We are not compelled to uproot and displace old established beliefs. That process is already begun by the very fact of their migration. They are in the pioneering, adventur- ous mood. They expect new experiences, different condi- tions. This is the great open world-field for the Church. While she need not neglect her foreign markets, she must not forget hat the markets of the world are pressing to her doors, asking for her wares. In stable, office, mill and shop these millions are here — Americans in the making." This opportunity carries with it a tremendous responsi- bility. The Church is beginning to recognize that "oppor- tunity is but another way of spelling obligation." All the great Protestant churches, through their Home Mission Boards, are now entering this field, and Home and Foreign Missions have indeed become one in fact as well as in theory. To be a foreign missionary now it is no longer necessary to leave home. One need but go down town, or perhaps just across the street, to touch heathenism in its primitive essence. Missions of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. The limits of this chapter do not permit an extended account of the work carried on within the United States in well-nigh all the languages of earth, but we can scarcely avoid a passing glance at the work of our own Church among these foreign-speaking people. Our first Foreign Mission work at home, in point of time and in extent of operations, was in behalf of the Mexicans in Texas, at one time carried on exclusively within the bounds of one presbytery, but that one the largest in territory in our Assembly. The Presbytery of Western Texas embraces fifty large counties, covering an area of 70,740 square miles, and con- taining a population of nearly a half million people. It is America, The Melting Pot 175 as large in area as the states of Virginia and West Virginia together. Roughly estimated, it measures in straight lines three hundred miles north and south and five hundred miles from northwest to southeast. In fact, it can be said that it has no western boundary — it can take in the entire Republic of Mexico. Bordering on a foreign country- for the length of seven hundred miles, situated as it is at "the meeting of the waters," and with a heterogeneous population, the diffi- culties and the importance of its Home missionary work cannot be exaggerated. The distinction between Home and Foreign Missions cannot be consistently maintained where only a river separates the two. Beyond the Rio Grande, we call the work among the Mexicans "Foreign Missions," and on this side we classify it as "Home Mis- sions"; but the work, no matter how designated, is for the same people, speaking the same language, with the same human needs; and the effort is to give them the same gospel. Whether for our weal or woe, certainly for their intellectual benefit and temporal well-being, the Mexicans are coming into the United States in ever-increasing numbers, the number in Texas being estimated now at not less than 450,000. There are towns on the border where the English lan- guage is rarely spoken ; there are county schools where the children learn more Spanish than English. There are in the state more than a dozen newspapers published in Spanish. In San Antonio, the metropolis of Southwestern Texas, there are more than 30,000 Mexicans, with 30,000 more in the surrounding country immediately' adjacent. In one of the largest public schools of the city there are more Mexican pupils than American. Texas-Mexican Missions. The Mexican work was organized when the Presbytery of Western Texas ordained and installed an evangelist 176 The Task That Challenges in April, 1892. At that time we had but one church with fifty-nine members. This original church at San Marcos, Texas, has increased to four churches in the surrounding country, with a membership of nearly four hundred. Each church has its Sabbath School, Young People's Society, and Woman's Missionary Society. Services are held every Sabbath, conducted by elders in the absence of pastor. Each congregation has its own house of w^orship, the mem- bers themselves doing most of the w^ork in their construc- tion. As instances of the zeal and consecration of our Mexican elders, two illustrations will suffice: One elder goes nearly every Sabbath sixteen miles on horseback to church to conduct Sunday school and services, while an- other goes once a month seventy-five miles in his own con- veyance, at his own expense, and without any pecuniary remuneration, to hold services for a week or ten days. This work has been so marvelously blessed of God that in 1908 the Synod of Texas organized these Mexican churches into the Texas-Mexican Presbytery, which to- day contains twenty-two churches, has seventeen mis- sionaries, twelve hundred communicants, and sixteen chapels, with property valued at $50,000. Recently an industrial school has been erected at Kingsville, Texas, where Mrs. King donated several hundred acres of land for the purpose, and where a suitable plant must be erected at a cost of not less than $25,000 to educate the Mexican youth for future leadership in the Church and for intelligent citizenship in the state. The Texas-Mexican Presbytery conducts annually a camp-meeting attended by more than 1,000 Mexicans, resulting usually in the conversion of forty or fifty persons. Additions to its churches annually exceed the number added to the average American Presbytery. This is the most successful mission work undertaken by any denomina- tion for the Mexicans, and the credit is largely due to the faithful work of Rev. Walter S. Scott and Rev. R. D. America, The Melting Pot 177 Campbell and our native pastors. More recently Rev. C. R. Womeldorf has established a substantial mission for Mexicans at El Paso, Texas. French. Missionary work is conducted for foreign-speaking people in various other cities. In New Orleans there are two German churches, which began as missionary enterprises, but are now self-supporting. In the same city we have an Italian Mission with two Sabbath schools, a French church in the city, and several missions in the state among the 400,000 French-speaking people. But there are yet eight counties without a Protestant church, and several with only one. A Hungarian church has been organized at Arpadhon, La., which has its own building and a native Hungarian pastor. Mission Sabbath schools are conducted also for the Chinese and the Syrians, the latter in charge of Mrs. Mogobgob, principal of a public school in Louisiana, where the reading text-book is the Arabic Bible. Italian. In Kansas City, Mo., an Italian Mission was begun July 6, 1908. It has a plant valued at $16,000, a native Italian pastor, with an average attendance at Sabbath school of 125; kindergarten, 30; and a sewing school, boy's club, girl's club, cooking class, and English class. In the Birmingham District of Alabama we have an Italian Mission at Ensley and at Pratt City, with day school, kindergarten, night school for adults, Sabbath school, and preaching by a native Italian pastor. Cuban. In Tampa, Fla., among 20,000 Cubans, we have estab- lished a successful mission, in charge of the Rev. Eladio Hernandez, a nati\e Cuban pastor, with a Sabbath school 178 The Task That Challenges SAMPLES OF FOREIGN MISSIONS IN AMERICA Promising Mexican Young People. J^ \ ~M Little Foreigners in the Birmingham District. Playtime at the Cuban Mission, Ybor City, Fla. America, The Melting Pot 179 reaching at one time an enrollment of 247, a Christian Endeavor Society, and gospel ser\ices twice a week, largely attended. The services are conducted in cheap tempor- ary structure. Its great need for a successful prosecution of the work, at the present time, is a proper equipment. Bohemian and Others. In the state of Virginia we have a regularly organized church near Petersburg, for the Bohemians, and its nati\'e pastor is Rev. J. A. Kohout, who has established Missions at several other promising points. In his absence, con- ducting serA'ices at other mission stations, the elders very acceptably fill his place, conducting religious worship for the people. A Russian church has been organized at Hopewell, Va., where the work was started by Mr. Kohout, with Rev. George Philipsky as native pastor. Rev. Benjamin Csutoros is engaged in missionary work among the Hungarians at Norton, Va., and other nearby stations, where a good work has been built up. Rev. E. E. Von Pechy is laboring among the Hungarians in the camps in the vicinity of Holden, W. Va. As the men move from place to place, it is hard to conserve results, but a sub- stantial work is being maintained. A Syrian Mission is conducted in Atlanta, Ga., in care of Miss Helen Burbank, which has a flourishing Sunday school, and various week-day activities. Only within the past few years has the Executive Com- mittee in i\tlanta felt justified in enlarging its work among these foreign-speaking people, and yet at the present time it is supporting, in whole or in part, eighty missionaries among them, and preaching the gospel in eleven different languages — perhaps as many as were miraculously spoken by the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. It is very evident that, if the same amount of money were expended on these foreigners in our midst that we are expending on those beyond the seas, if the same num- 180 TJie Task That Challenges l)er of consecrated missionaries would but dedicate their life to this work, and if we would but meet them in the same spirit that characterized the attitude of Christ toward the needy, the world would be amazed at the results. The following is but a specimen of many similar cases: "In Italy and Sicily to-day there are no less than sixteen Protestant churches organized by people who have been taught the Word of God in America. Two of these churches are the direct results of United Presbyterian influences, one at Altavilla Topina, near Naples, the other at Castel del Piendice, about one hundred and fifty miles east of Rome. These churches were started by men con- verted in the United Presbyterian Missions of America. We are told that they are the means of beginning and fos- tering religious work and life in their respective communi- ties, and that their services are well attended and much in- terest shown. It has developed that the work being done in one of our cities by a sister denomination has been the means of establishing two Italian Protestant churches in Italy, which, in turn, have been instrumental in establish- ing two other Italian Missions in this country, through their members coming to America. All over Europe simi- lar results of American Christian Mission Work abound." — (Modern Migration.) Our Church has assumed a responsibility for twenty- five million heathen. Is there any reason why we should not find some of these among the thirty millions in the United States who are either of foreign birth or foreign parentage? In saving the heathen among us we are sav- ing our own Nation, which it is estimated will number 500,000,000 before the close of the present century. Returning as Foreign Missiofiaries. If the influx of these myriads challenge the Church by reason of the opportunity presented at our own door, how much grander is the opportunity to reach through America, The Melting Pot 181 them all the kindreds of earth, related to our Nation by reason of their incorporation into our body politic. The possibility of a reflex influence on the country from which they come is incalculable. E\ery year at least 20 per cent, return to their former home, and statistics show that in one year 450,000 returned, carrying impressions of America and of Christianity, or the lack of it. None of them returned exactly the same as when they came. Contact with Western civilization and Protestantism has changed them for better or for worse. They return carry- ing the new lessons learned, the new impressions received, and new thoughts stirring within them, to become mission- aries for good or for evil. In mountain villages far from seaport, or into the heart of the great throbbing centers of crowded cities, these returned immigrants carry the in- fluence of their residence in America, whether the paralyz- ing touch of saloon and gambling den, the inspiration of modern business methods and public schools, or the touch of a new and higher Christian life. It is said, "American ideals, like leaven, keep Europe in a turmoil." What is the explanation of the transforma- tion of Japan, with its great daily press, magnificent pub- lic school system, railroads, telegraph, electric cars, and every contrivance of modern civilization? The flower of Japanese youth, educated in America, has electrified that Nation. What is the meaning of China's revolution and republican ideals but the new inspiration from contact with Western life and thought? Sun Yet Sen, the first President of the Chinese Republic, makes the remarkable statement that of the seventeen leaders associated with him in China's Revolution, fifteen of them were educated in the United States or Great Britain; and China has com- plimented the United States by adopting the Constitution of Oklahoma, modified to suit the needs of this great East- ern Republic. What means the uprising in Turkey, Spain, Portugal, 182 The Task That Challenges and other European provinces but the spirit of American independence and ideals now beginning to pervade all classes? If the reflex of the American public school system can transform "the unchanging empire of the Orient" and the dead communities of Europe, why should not the Gospel of Christ leaven the mass of immigration, and by means of it realize the modern dream of missionary aspiration, "the evangelization of the world in this genera- tion?" From a human standpoint, it is the only feasible possibility. Edward Steiner, who aroused the country by his book, "On the Trail of the Immigrant," to the conditions sur- rounding him here in his new home, has startled the Church in the companion treatise, "The Immigrant Tide," as he permits us to see the conditions created in all European villages by the presence of these quondam Americans. He is authority for the statement that one can travel two thousand miles in Eastern Europe and Western Asia and not find a village in which there is not at least one Ameri- can citizen. "Baron Levy was about to address a political meeting in a little Slovak village. He had scarcely be- gun before he was requested to speak English, as the in- habitants did not know Magyar. Seeking an explanation, the baron found that 80 per cent, of the population of 3,000 were returned immigrants from America." Steiner describes the transformation of his native village in the Carpathian Mountains, once the most unprogressive, but now through the influence of returned immigrants throb- bing with American business methods and ideals. In some instances during his visit to this section, he heard men preaching the evangelical gospel with a fiery eloquence unsurpassed anywhere, as the result of their contact with Protestant Christianity in America. He challenges the churches of the United States to take advantage of their opportunity by evangelizing our foreigners, in order that as they scatter throughout all countries they may evan- gelize the world. America, The Melting Pot 183 One or two illustrations will serve to show the benefit of this reflex work. A convert in our Italian Mission in New Orleans has returned to his home in Sicily and opened a mission there. The lamented Dr. A. T. Graybill stated that his church at Linares, Mexico, was founded largely through the influence of a Mexican converted in one of our Mexican churches in Texas. Dr. Ward Piatt furnished a striking illustration: "Chinese Christians in one denomination in this country, at their own initiative and expense, opened and maintain a Chris- tian Mission in China. When we consider the future of Japan and China as related to the coming kingdom, is it not providential that on our own shores we may so deal with our Eastern brothers as to produce results more far- reaching than with the same number in China itself? Is not a fair gauge of how much we care about saving our brother across the sea, the interest we take in him when he is here?" The world-wide influence of Pentecost was due to the fact that "there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." The messages of the Apostle were repeated everywhere, and the seeds of divine truth were scattered to the four winds of heaven to germinate and bear fruit in every clime. These returning immigrants are all missionaries, per- haps not in our acceptance of the term, for no church authorizes them to speak for it, and no denomination would stand for their message to their kindred; but they are our messengers, whether we will or no. Few tell of the love of Christ that radiated in the lives of Christian people, who gave them the friendly grasp of hand, and echoed the words of Christ. What will the vast majority tell of the neglect of the church to touch them for good, of the sham and hypocrisy of formal Christianity, of the slums of our cities reeking with filth and saturated with wickedness! Is it any wonder that our foreign missionaries dread the American traveler and the returned immigrants? 184 The Task That Challenges How can we expect to evangelize the world if we send out at our expense comparatively few missionaries to other nations, while we are sending at their own expense thou- sands of others to contradict our missionaries and hinder them in their efforts to evangelize the world? Rev. Chas. E. Schaeffer, Secretary of Home Missions of the Reformed Church in the United States, in his ad- mirable treatise entitled, "Our Home Mission Work," furnishes this incident showing the neutralizing influence of unevangelized America on the heathen nations: "The impact of our American life upon the nations of the world is of tremendous significance. We preach a gospel not only by the missionaries we send into all the world, but by the forces of our civilization, by trade and commerce, by our attitude and temper, by the impact of our whole modern life. "Some years ago the Japanese Government, under the splendid influence of the missionaries of that country, was preparing to adopt Christianity as the national re- ligion of the Empire. Before doing so, however, it sent a commission of Japanese to this country to study Chris- tianity at first hand. They visited the various portions of our country. They studied life in our cities, in our places of business, in our great industries, as also in our schools, churches, and homes. They were deeply impressed, and reported to their Government that Christianity was ideal in theory, but that it did not work in practice. There- upon the Japanese Government declared that the time had not yet come to adopt Christianity as its national re- ligion. The attitude of the people in America thus tem- porarily counteracted the influence of the missionaries whom the American churches are supporting in that Oriental country. "America, therefore, holds the key to the world's Chris- tianization. America is the agent under God to bring the gospel to all the world. America is the golden goblet America, The Melting Pot 185 for the bringing of the water of life to the famishing na- tions of the world. America is the golden candlestick that is to carry the Light of Life to the people that sit in dark- ness." Why not take advantage of our opportunity, and recog- nize our responsibility for the messengers going out from America? Why not change the character of the messenger, and inspire their messages? The Christian church to- day has an opportunity to send to the people of these far- away lands messages of hope and faith and love. No such chance ever came to a church before. It has been said that the manner in which American Christianity deals with the religious problem of immigration will determine what part America is to have in the evangelization of the nations abroad. "It would not be possible in any other way for the Church of Christ to send to the world millions of mis- sionaries, especially qualified to reach the needy masses. These are thoroughly acquainted with the languages and temperament of the people of the different countries. They are versed in the most tactful way of approaching them, and have an open door into hearts and homes. The Church could not secure such valuable workers even were she able to bear the expense. But here are thousands and thousands of men and women thus fitted, and at their own expense, reaching unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Had they all the one essential — the love of Christ in their heart — what a mighty world uplift! We can send no missionaries equal in power and influence to the blood re- lation, with the love of God in his heart, and Christian principles in his head. By neglecting these people a mar- velous opportunity has been lost. Let us hasten to reach these millions with the gospel ere they return, and thev in turn will enlighten the world. Here is the God-given key to 'the evangelization of the world in this generation.' " — (Modern Migration.) 186 The Task That Challenges Transmitting Christ's Compassion. "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." Like a flashhght this language of inspiration reveals the attitude of Christ toward human need. The seething, surging, wretched, scattered multitudes "as sheep having no shep- herd" moved his compassion. It was the same compas- sion which influenced him in eternity past to disrobe him- self of his glory, step down from his throne, and enter the arena as the Champion of wrong, and for the relief of need, "bearing our sorrows and carrying our griefs." Now, seated on the throne of the universe, he looks down with the same compassion on still greater multitudes. Yet he has no hands to touch fevered brows, except your hands. He has no feet "to bring glad tidings of good things" except your feet. He has no voice except yours to express his love and utter the sweet invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden." Are we willing to be instruments, hands, feet, and voice, channels of blessing, that his compassion through us may touch these immigrants, strangers in a strange land, "scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd," in order that for us and for Christ, they may touch the life of the whole wide world? IX. THE COUNTRY CHURCH AND RURAL LIFE. At the request of the Permanent Committee of Sys- tematic Beneficence, the Executive Secretary of Home Missions prepared a pamphlet on the subject of the Coun- try Church, which was pubHshed by order of the General Assembly, with its quasi endorsement, for distribution and the use of its ministry. In the light of suggestion, friendly criticism, and further research, this pamphlet is hereby revised, greatly enlarged, and incorporated as a chapter in this treatise on Home Missions, in the hope that it may stimulate further interest in the subject as a contribution to the quickening of country church life. Changed conditions, economic, social, educational, moral, and religious, are from every angle tremendously affecting modern life. A new era, dominated by new thought, new problems, new environs, and new ideals has created a new world of thought and life. It is as if the old dispensation had passed away and a new dispensation had been ushered in. Strictly speaking, the law of evolution knows no "ar- rested development," because it cannot halt. Its opera- tions must result in the "survival of the fittest," or follow the line of least resistance along the down grade of de- generation. This is true alike of an individual and of a community. The Question Stated. Whether for better or for worse, leadership has passed from the country. Once it contained the mass of the people. Now, like a magnet, the city is attracting not simply the floating population, but the mechanical genius, the business skill and the intellectual talent of the coun- try. Only one class is left to the country; and the farmer 188 The Task That Challenges himself is being either crowded out, or being transformed into the tenant. Once the grammar school educated leaders whose statesmanship molded the thought and guided the destiny of the Nation. Now the public school system furnishes for the country only the primary and secondary grades. Once the country church, pastored by the highest type of intellectual and spiritual ministry, influenced the national life, setting the standard of morals and leading great revivals, which resulted in religious up- heavals reaching to the remotest nooks and corners of the country. Now the country church is disintegrating, and is ceasing to be a controlling factor in the religious life of the Nation. Its main effort is to perpetuate its existence. The sceptre of leadership, moral, intellectual and spiritual, is passing to the city. This admission is heard on every missionary rostrum, emphasized in Rural Surveys, and is re-echoed in the Home Mission literature of the day. Its full significance has not yet permeated the conscious- ness of the Church. Is it the survival of the fittest? The object of this inquiry is to arouse Presbyteries and Chris- tian leadership to the serious consequences threatened. The Importance of the Country. Its influence on life and character can be only partially apprehended, even after an array of facts and figures familiar to every reader of average information. Statistics indicate that perhaps seven-eighths of the ministers and six-sevenths of the college professors were reared in the country. At least three-fourths of the leadership of our city churches, and the majority of their members were country bred, and the same ratio exists as to lawyers, physicians, bankers, and other professional and influential men. It is claimed that twenty-six of our twenty-eight Presidents of the United States were country boys. Rural scenery and honest toil are calculated to make strong men physically, gigantic men intellectually, and clean men The Country Church and Rural Life 189 moralK- and spiritually. It is the ps>chological explana- tion of the recognized fact that the country church was formerly the mother of teachers, statesmen and theo- logians. The abnormal growth of our cities is at the expense of the country, and this degeneration of the rural com- munity will eventually react on the religious life of the city and the moral stamina of the nation. City churches are not only being recruited from the country in numbers, but in moral fibre. "What are you doing away out in the backwoods?" said a city pastor to a country minister. "I am engaged," replied he, "in the work of helping you to save your city." If the Church but appreciated the significance of this statement, it would recognize that the gifts of the rich city church to evangelize the country are in reality an indirect investment for its own salvation. In North Carolina a city church paid a percentage of the salary of a mission church. This rural pastorate resulted in the conversion of a prominent man who afterwards moved, with his church membership, to the city, and con- tributed annually to the city church more than the entire amount it had expended on the salary of the country pastor. Emerson is responsible for the statement that "if the cities were not re-enforced from the fields, they would have rotted, exploded, and disappeared long ago." If, however, country life degenerates, and the rural church disintegrates, where will come the moral force to counteract the degenerating influence of our increasingly corrupt cities? "If the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?" No wonder John R. Mott sounded the timely alarm: "The cities cannot be relied upon to furnish the Christian leaders of the future. The work of the church in the country districts must be carried on with efficiency and power in order to assure the raising up of sufficient Christian forces to cultivate the city fields." W. F. 190 The Task That Challenges Richardson, of Kansas City, asserts that 90 per cent, of the ministers and missionaries of the Church come from rural and village communities. Rural Surveys. "It was a condition and not a theory" which suddenh- confronted a startled church, and aroused thoughtful men to the necessity of swift and radical action. Surveys were instituted to ascertain the facts. Theodore Roosevelt's "Country Life Commission" sounded the keynote of the first great reform needed: "Any consideration of the prob- lem of rural life that leaves out of account the function and possibilities of the church and of related institutions would be grossly inadequate, * * * because from the purely sociological point of view, the church is fundamentally a necessary institution in country life. In a peculiar way the church is intimately related to agricultural industry. This gives the rural church a position of peculiar difficulty and one of unequalled opportunity. * * * Y\]q time has arrived when the church must take a larger leadership, both as an institution, and through its pastor, in the social reorganization of rural life." The Federal Council of Churches and the Home Mission Council each appointed a Commission on Rural Life. The Home Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., created a County Life Department, which conducted numerous surveys, upon which were based valuable re- ports, bristling with live information. The following statistics are furnished by the survey of three counties in Missouri: "In these three Missouri counties are 180 Protest- ant church buildings, 159 of which are used occasionally, while 21 have been totally abandoned. The in\'estiga- tion shows that 23 per cent, of the population is in the Protestant membership, about 5 per cent, in the Catholic, while at least 71 per cent, belong to no church whatever." Quotations are given from other surveys, to indicate The Country Church and Rural Life 191 something of conditions: "In 1890 five counties of New York state were exhaustively studied. Many Protestant churches were seen, falHng into decay, or abandoned long since to bats and brick-bats. In one village the investi- gators found two disused Protestant churches, one active Catholic church, and fourteen saloons, all within the dis- tance of a quarter of a mile. In one town they found a Presbyterian church used as a barn, a Baptist church aban- doned, and two Methodist churches almost extinct, and a Baptist Seminary used as a Catholic church; while on the Erie Canal for miles were found scattered hamlets containing altogether a considerable population, with no religious services of any kind from one year's end to an- other." Rev. Matthew B. McNutt reported 800 abandoned churches in Ohio and 1,500 in Illinois. Prof. E. C. Bran- son is responsible for the statement that one of the great religious denominations of the South, consisting of 3,500 churches, has 1,032 churches without pastors, mainly country churches. * * * Of a group of 41 churches in middle Georgia, 20 are without Sunday schools, 19 of them give nothing to Missions, 7 are without pastors, and 20 of these churches report no members by profession of faith. Eminent Authorities. At the Church and Country Life Convention held in Columbus, Ohio, December, 1915, under the authority and auspices of the Federal Council of Churches, attended by 800 delegates and addressed by Woodrow Wilson, Presi- dent of the United States, the following facts and statistics were furnished in reports of Committees and addresses by distinguished speakers. Rev. Charles O. Gill, secretary and organizer, announced: "The main work during the year in Ohio has been a state- wide survey supplementing the work of 1912 and 1913, 192 The Task That Challenges by the Presbyterian Church and the Ohio Rural Life Sur- vey. The attempt has been made to ascertain the loca- tion and denomination of every rural church, its present membership, whether it is gaining or losing in member- ship, and whether it ordinarily has a resident pastor, and what part of a minister's service it receives. * * * So far as the data have been tabulated, they indicate that nearly one-fourth of the townships of the state, comprising a territory of more than 9,000 square miles, are without resident ministers and that a very large proportion of the churches in this area are declining in membership; that on an average there are nearly 4 churches in each of these townships; that there is a church to every 286 persons, while there is one minister to about 800 persons." Governor Frank B. Willis in his address of welcome stated : "Carefully compiled figures seem to show beyond ques- tion that the rural churches in Ohio have come upon evil times — that they have ceased to grow, that eighty-three per cent, have a membership of less than 100, that one out of every 9 country churches has been abandoned in re- cent years, that only one-third are increasing in member- ship, and that two-thirds have either ceased to grow or are dying. It seems especially significant to me that the figures show that less than 40 per cent, of the rural popu- lation are church members." W. F. Richardson furnished the following facts: "A study of 91 rural churches in Indiana showed that 25 of them had not one male communicant under 21. In Illinois only 13 per cent, of the young people were found attending the Sunday school. In Maryland, 57 per cent, of the rural churches have no sort of organization for the young people of their communities. * * * jj^ ^j^g heart of Missouri, in one of its richest counties, there are 67 country churches, or one for every 46 farm families. There is but one resident pastor among the 67 churches. The Country Church and Rural Life 193 Many of them are ministered to by preachers who travel weary miles to bring them the monthly sermons upon which they try to live their feeble lives." In his report to the Convention, Edwin L. Earp, Chair- man of the Committee on the Country Church as a Commu- nity Center, inquires: "Why are we discussing so often in these days the problems of the country church ? Because in many sections of our country it presents to us one of the most difficult mission fields of the world to cultivate, be- cause, like the slums of the great cities, it is a lost home field. As one goes back to his home county in the rural sections of the Eastern, Southern, and some of the middle Western States, what does he discover? The splendid old circuit system broken up, and the fires of religious fervor gone out upon many abandoned church and family altars, and the message of the minister in the neglected pulpit of the dilapidated church building, about as effective in creating a community spirit as the noise of a lone wood- pecker on a dead tree in a swamp." What Is a Country Church'^ In the last census the United States Supervisor defined as such any church in the open country, or in towns not exceeding 2,500 in population. In the whole United States this standard consigned 53 per cent, of the people to the country, while in the South the ratio reached 75 per cent. Beyond all question, this arbitrary classification is so manifestly wrong as to render the statistics either mis- leading, or of small value. The average church in towns of 2,500 contains no appreciable percentage of farmers, and but few possessing in the remotest degree the agri- cultural instinct. Besides this fatal objection, such towns are rare exceptions, if they do not furnish graded schools, social advantages, and many of the attractions of the city. The Preslnterian Church, U. S. A., accepted the defini- 194 The Task That Challenges tion of the Census Supervisor, however, and undertook to ascertain the percentage of its country churches and their conditions. This condensed statement will give a fair idea of the result of their investigation: "Inquiry was made of each Presbytery. Reports were received from 269 Presbyteries. These reports show that 70.07 per cent, of all the churches in those 269 Presbyteries were country churches. Of the 6,751 country churches, 4,185, or 61.9 per cent., were in villages, and 2,261, or 33.6 per cent., are in the o])en country. The remaining 305, which constitute 4.5 per cent., have been abandoned. Of the 4,863 churches which had the services of a minister, 3,280 were in villages and 1,583 were in the open country. That is, 78.4 per cent, of the village churches have a min- ister, and 21.6 per cent, have none. Of the open country churches, 70 per cent. ha\'e a min- ister, 30 per cent, are vacant. Seventy-four and six- tenths per cent, of village churches that had a minister were so fortunate as to have him residing within the parish, whereas only 25.8 per cent, of the open country churches had a resident minister. Twenty-three and four-tenths ])er cent, have one-half of his time. Ten and four-tenths per cent, have one-third of his time, and four and five- tenths per cent, manage to exist with one-fourth or less of the minister's attention." Presbyterian Chiirch, U. S. In seeking to ascertain the facts relative to the country churches in the Presbyterian Church, U. S., we have classi- fied as such only those churches strictly in the open coun- try, and not located on any railroad. This ruling is ad- mittedly defective, and open to objections in some respects, but comprises the distinctively country church. By correspondence and questionnaire, we succeeded in getting replies from practically all the Presbyteries, con- taining in the aggregate 3,430 churches, and of this num- The Country Church and Rural Life 195 her 1,355 are located stricth' in the country, being 393^ per cent, of the whole. In estimating the spiritual condition and general status of these country churches, due allowance must be made for the fact that these reports reflect the views of 85 individuals, one Home Mission Chairman for each Presbytery. If the inquiry had been made of the Stated Clerks, the estimates would doubtless have varied somewhat. Men often differ as to whether a church is growing or dying, and as to the definition of an "abandoned" church, some applying the term to a deserted building and others to a dead organiza- tion. Upon the whole it is highly probable that this sum- mary of results based upon these reports furnishes a fair estimate of general conditions: Of these 1,355 churches in the open country-, 1,084 had pastors or temporary supplies, being 80 per cent., and 271 were vacant, being 20 per cent. This is rather a good showing, and doubtless above the average of most large denominations. Reports indicate that 867 were growing, being 64 per cent.; 170 were actually dying, being Xiy^ per cent.; and 49 were abandoned, being 3% per cent., which would leave 269, or practically 20 per cent., as merely holding their own. If all of the 867 were making decided ])rogress, 64 per cent, would be quite a remarkable record in comparison with many others; but it is doubtful whether many which seem to be growing at present have as large a membership as thirty years ago. Of the total, 464, or 3434 per cent., are served by absentee pastors, and 271, or 20 per cent., are vacant. These two conditions are un- favorable to growth, but cannot be taken into the account without "overlapping," and so each must discount for himself their effect upon the general status. Many ex- amples can be counted on both sides of the question. A .church which to-day numbers 100 members, having gained 20 in five years, would be credited with growth; and yet if it contained 200 thirty years ago, it would serve to illus- 196 The Task Thai Challenges trate the decline of the country church, according to the general consensus of opinion. Mecklenburg Presbytery. No man ever rendered more efficient service in a country pastorate than Rev. W. E. Mcllwain, D. D., and no man can speak from more intelligent knowledge of the subject than he. The following is his account of the country churches of Mecklenburg Presbytery of North Carolina, in an address at the Steele Creek church : "The country church in this part of our state was first in order of time. Where we stand to-day was a wilderness unbroken, except here and there a log cabin sheltering an humble family recently arrived from the north of Ireland. "Not only were country churches first in the order of time, but for many years after town churches were or- ganized they were easily first in the order of importance. In point of members, wealth, influence, political, social and ecclesiastical, the\' surpassed all the town churches of that day. "The 12 oldest country churches in Mecklenburg county have not only lived and taken care of themselves and helped to organize 7 new country churches and 5 town churches, but have been mighty factors in organizing and building up our twelve Presbyterian churches in the city of Char- lotte. When the Presbytery of Mecklenburg was organized in 1869, we had but one church in Charlotte, with 260 members. To-day we have 12 churches with a combined membership of almost 4,000 members. We have more Presbyterians to-day in Charlotte than we had in the whole Presbytery in 1869, which then embraced nineteen counties of the state. "These growing countr}- churches ha\e not onh- made Charlotte a great Presbyterian city, but they have made Mecklenburg county the greatest Presbyterian county south of Pennsylvania. The Couuiry Church (Did Rural Life 197 "To-day there are in the county 36 white Presbyterian churches, with a membership of nearly 7,000. hdd to these the 11 churches of the Associate Reformed Synod of the South, and we have 47 white Presbyterian churches wnth a membership of over 9,000. Here, then, in a single county in North Carolina is a Presbyterian membership not onlv larger than any other count\' in the Southern States, but more Southern Presbyterians than there are in the entire Synods of Arkansas, Florida or Louisiana." Per Contra. There is, however, only one Mecklenburg County. That record cannot be duplicated. Abbeville and York Counties in South Carolina, and certain others in North Carolina and the Valley of Virginia, as well as in a few other states, can still give good account of themselves; but they do not disprove the contention, that throughout the country there has been a lamentable decline in the strength and influence of the rural church. The author grew up in a section of South Carolina with great country churches, and has often seen, on ordinary Sabbath days, congregations varying from 500 to 700 people. To-day those splendid build- ings stand as relics of the past, and the voice of the preacher is as one crying in the wilderness. Decline of the Country Church — Reasons. One need not travel far afield to discover the causes re- sulting in the disintegration of the country church: 1. Shifting populations are perhaps the most potent factor in accounting for the decline. Cities do not grow phenomenally by means of their own natural increase. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, less than 4 per cent, of the population was urban; by the middle of the century, it was about 12 per cent.; but at present over 46 per cent, live in the cit)-. In fifteen states the majority 198 The Task That Challenges of the population is found in cities. In eight of these the urban population is more than two-thirds of the whole. The growth of the city is at the expense of the country, for while the rural population, during the first decade of the twentieth century increased only 11 per cent., the urban population increased 35 per cent. During this same period there was an actual decrease in the population of 795 counties in the United States. Nine great states decreased in rural population. The country is drained of its best blood and talent, and the social, educational and com- mercial advantages of the city lure to these more attractive fields. New and growing sections of the West compete with the city for the migratory element of the older settle- ments, with their exhausted lands. In many of the rural districts of the South, Negro ownership of the land is cir- cumscribing and drawing the lines closer around the struggling church. The magnitude of this adverse in- fluence is apparent considering the fact that 40 per cent, of the farmers of the South are Negroes. Objections Anticipated. The objection is sometimes urged that if population has gone to the cities, why manifest concern for abandoned houses of worship and disintegrating churches? The answer ought to occur to the objector himself, that urban and rural populations are relative terms. The neighbor- ing city may show five-fold relative growth, and yet the country may contain almost as many people as it ever had. The leadership, the cultured and the wealthy, may have removed to the city, leaving the poorer and the less pro- gressive. The population of the country may remain almost stationary, and yet destitution may exist and the country church disintegrate, because leadership and fin- ancial support are gone. In many cases a railroad cuts through a large country congregation, and a town is located within a few miles of the church. After agitating and The Country Church and Rural Life 199 dividing the congregation on the question, the organiza- tion is generally moved to the town, where it struggles for existence, as the country people gradually cease attendance upon services in town, while the old church is practically deserted and its glor>- departed. 2. The tenant system of farming is paralyzing the ener- gies of the religious forces. Men who do not own homes, who in all probability will be missing by another year, have no great incentive, either to build or maintain neighbor- hood churches. No wonder it has been said that greater than war, pestilence and famine, is the curse of landlordism. Statistics show that tenants are most irregular and uncer- tain in their church attendance. Forty-four per cent, of tenants never go near any church. At least 78 per cent, of hired men never attend religious worship of any kind. Of farmers owning only twenty acres of land, 65 per cent, never attend religious worship. The percentage of atten- dance increases as the farm grows, until the farmer owns 300 acres, and then declines again with increased acreage. Harry F. Ward of Boston, addressing the Church and Country Life Convention, gave the following personal experience : "Passing through Iowa the other day, I picked up a paper and found a statement by an agricultural authority estimating that one-half the population of Iowa was com- posed of either tenant farmers or hired men. The children of the tenant farmers have not an equal chance for develop- ment with those of the landlords. Even where their educa- tional privileges are the same, they are not as well able to take advantage of them. I was recently in a rural commun- ity where the retired farmers w^ere objecting strenuously to paying the tax required to make the rural school efficient, a school which was to serve, not their children, but the children of their tenants and hired men." Dr. Henry Wallace of Des Moines, la., stated: "Capitalists began to invest in lands as soon as the net 200 The Task That Challenges income would equal the interest on savings, and speculators began to bu^' land far in advance of its productive value, on the assumption that this ten per cent, per annum in- crease in price would continue. One result of this was an enormous increase in tenancy-, until about thirty-seven and one-half per cent, of the tillable lands in the United States was farmed b>' tenants. In the corn belt from forty to fifty per cent, of the land is farmed by tenants, and in the cotton belt from fift>' to seventy per cent." Steele Creek Church. The largest countr>' church in our communion is Steele Creek in Mecklenburg county, near Charlotte, N. C, whose parish is perhaps ten miles square, having a resident membership of 683, compared with 470 thirty years ago. After 100 years of splendid service to the Master in its own community, as well as contributing to the growth of Char- lotte, it is as vigorous as in its palmiest days. In all probability it will be even stronger when it rounds out another hundred years, especialh' if the wise polic>' of its present leadership prevails. It is said that its officers have formed a syndicate for the purpose of buying up any farm lands for sale within its bounds. This enables them to sell to any desirable young couple setting up housekeeping, and at the same time to keep out undesirable elements. This church has practicalh- solved for itself the problem of a rural communit>'. The prospect of the country church in general, however, is not. very reassuring when we are informed that in Geor- gia, at the beginning of the 20th century three out of every five farms were cultivated by tenants, while in 1910 the proportion had increased to two in every three. In one county in Georgia the ratio is as high as nine in ten. What is the outlook for farming interests or church development when nine out of ten farmers are houseless and landless? In 1900 only half the people of the United States were land The Country Church and Rural Life 201 owners, and the ratio of the landless increases with each decade. Is it any wonder that Isaiah condemned "the joining of house to house and the laying of field to field" till these landlords had preempted the entire country, a condition which the Jewish law attempted to prevent? 3. The decline of the country school drives men to edu- cational centers to seek advantages for their children; and as the school declines, the country church dwindles in proportion. Statistics show that, while rural sections spend only $12.50 on each child, the city expends S30.78 annually per pupil. Social and commercial advantages draw to the cit>', and sap the life of the rural community upon which the country church depends for support and growth. Economic con- ditions, such as good roads, must also be recognized as in- fluences which cannot be ignored. At one time its ministry was the glory and strength of the rural church. Fift\- years ago the country minister was the acknowledged leader, molding the thought of men as far as his influence reached. His education, culture, and spiritual atta'nments compelled recognition; and his sermons in their literary style inspired the more ambitious youth to seek the learned professions, many of whom en- tered the gospel ministry. Now the country gentleman and the country church ar» alike changed. The old type is gone, and seemingly never to return. 4. The spiritual interests of the rural districts are sub- jected to "absent treatment." The absentee pastor honors the church with his presence on Saturday evening, for once a month preaching, and takes his flight by the earliest train on Monda>'. The people know him only in the pulpit and in a professional wa\'. Only in the remotest degree does he touch the social or spiritual life of the community. In far too many instances he is an old man, crowded out ot growing charges, serving out his time as an hireling; or else a young man, serving his apprenticeship, with one eye 202 The Task That Challenges on his country charge and the other on a city pulpit, using his present field chiefly as a stepping stone to cit>' preferment. The tenant system of farming is no greater curse to the rural communities than the tenant ministry is to the country church, as may be judged by the following quotation from the Rural Survey in Missouri: "Of the country churches, 92 per cent, have preaching one-fourth the time, and only 8 per cent, have services as often as half the time. This means that 92 per cent, of the country churches have 'three hours a month ministers.' In these three Missouri counties there are but two ministers who reside in the county, and but three churches of the 83 can claim a resident pastor. One of these is a superannuated preacher who is almost illiterate. Taking all these churches in the three counties, covering a period of ten years, only 23 per cent, are growing, 8 per cent, stationary, 24 per cent, are losing, 19 per cent, dying, 11 per cent, dead, and 12 per cent, have been organized within the past ten }-ears." Prof. G. Walter Fiske of Oberlin College, Ohio, gives the benefit of his research : "In many parts of the country the majority of country pastors are not really pastors, but preachers onl}-, not living on the land with their people, but in near-by villages or even far-away towns. In Ohio only six per cent, of country churches have resident pastors, and the propor- tion is doubtless smaller than that in most Western and Southern states. Very many of these non-resident preach- ers are engaged six days in the week in other employment, as teachers, students, lawyers, insurance agents, real estate dealers, merchants, and in various other lines of business." Dr. Victor I. Masters, of the Southern Baptist Church, speaking of his denomination, says: "Of 18,000 country churches, less than one in fifty has a parsonage, and not more than one in twenty has a resident pastor." This criticism of the tenant system of the ministry has no reference whatever to the noble army of itinerant preach- The Country Church and Rural Life 203 ers who have served as pioneers in destitute regions, nor to the self-denying pastors of groups which could not in an>- other way secure the services of the sanctuary. Such men are making the supreme sacrifice of life, sharing the lot of their people, making the care of souls their chief concern, and not mercl\- a b>-product to augment their salary. The criticism of the absent treatment s>stem, as one explanation of the dying country- church, should be further modified by the recognition of the fact that a large part of the blame must be borne by the country church itself, on account of its notorious illiberalit>- in the support of its ministers. Many successful farmers raise everything at home, handling comparatively little money except once a year, and for this reason cannot appreciate the hardship entailed on their pastor, who is compelled to purchase his entire supplies, wardrobe, library, etc., as well as educate his children, at some remote educational center. The Rural Survey officially states: "Country people are contributing at the present time, instead of one-tenth of their income to the church in the country, only one-half of one per cent, of their income." In some systematic and prudent way, the country church should be made to realize that the entire obligation of self-denial should not be laid upon the minis- try. These influences and conditions are a sufficient ex- planation of the disintegration of the country church. It could scarcely be otherwise. The Remedy. The facts are easily ascertained, and the reasons for the disintegration of the country church will scarcely provoke debate. The chief consideration is the remedx'. "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there," who can diagnose the disease and prescribe a spiritual tonic which will restore "the health of the daughter of my people." 204 The Task That Challenges The most common, the very first suggestion, is doubtless Presbyterial oversight. What is the purpose and object of a Presbytery except "the care of all the churches?" Such should likewise be its aim. Unfortunately the Presbytery is burdened also with the responsibility of settling "points of order," "preparing overtures to the Assembly," "amend- ing the Book of Church Order," "financing schemes of benevolence," and must adjourn promptly to catch the homeward train. "As thy servant was busy here and there," the main business, the care and cure of souls, often escapes attention. Alike unfortunate is the tendency of the individual church to independency, and it refuses to be grouped against its wishes, tastes, and prejudices. It prefers under the circumstances to remain vacant. The Presbyter)' has the episcopal oversight and control, but rarely exercises it. Both Presbytery and the church itself agree that "something ought to be done," which however is rarely done — and the country church continues to decline. Special evanglistic services in many instances have proved efficacious. The Gospel is an unfailing remedy, if wisely administered and faithfully received, but in most cases the revival is spasmodic and the inevitable relapse follows. The effective remedy is the evangelistic pastor whose earnest messages are inspired by genuine love of souls, in- ducing a revival all the year round, and who not simply in the pulpit but "in every house ceases not to teach and preach Jesus Christ," rather than the "hail fellow" whose delight is to retail stale jokes and "court a grin when he should woo a soul." The absentee pastor must be discarded. The profes- sional preacher who comes once a month, chiefly to augment his salar)', is a mere makeshift, a hireling minister. If the country is to be resuscitated, the Church must produce a new order of ministry. The spirit of Christ must again become incarnate among men. Ministers who live where they do not preach, and preach where they do not live, The Country Church and Rural Life 205 should be barely tolerated. Men who consider themselves buried alive" in a country charge should be discharged. If college-bred and seminary-trained men are unwilling to serve except in a city charge, pra\er must be made to the Lord of the Harvest to raise up a new order of ministry "taught of the Spirit," and "filled with the Holy Ghost." Definite sacrifices must be made. The Rural Survey prescribes as a remedy- : "The preacher and his family must make their sacrifices as definitely as if they went to China or to Africa to preach the Gospel." Comparative Sacrifices. Is this implication and call upon country preachers to make the same sacrifices as foreign missionaries quite fair to the former? As to which class is making the greater sacr fices may be judged from the able report of Prof. G. Walter Fiske to the Convention at Columbus, Ohio. "The trite witticism that the rural ministry is 'trying to live on earth and board in heaven' is not far from the facts. How thousands of country ministers live is a mystery this Committee will not attempt to explain, for they are cer- tainly not paid a living salary, a salary sufficient to support a family. When it is true that the average salary of coun- try ministers is less than $600, it is seen at once that thous- ands of men must be receiving considerably less to bring the average so low. Hodcarriers in New York earn $900 a year; but in one large denomination in America the coun- try ministers are reported to receive on the average $325. It is obvious that these ministers must supplement their income by other work during the week, or else depend upon the labor of their wives and children. "Is it not reasonable to argue that the young man con- sidering the Home Mission field as a life-work should be respected as much as his brother who goes to the foreign field for life? Is it too much to expect that the Church should treat the home missionary as well as the foreign 206 The Ta.sk That Challenges missionary? Foreign Mission Boards guarantee the sup- port of their missionaries. The stipends which they pay them are not regarded as salaries but simply as support, and they usually are adequate. This Committee wishes to suggest the same consideration for the country minister who enters the rural work for life. If he is a thoroughly consecrated and well-equipped man, let us treat him as well as we treat the foreign missionary. "Yet the fact is we are sending many of our ablest college and seminary men to the foreign field and very few of them into the country ministry for life. This is partly because there is a decent support for an educated man and his family on the foreign field, whereas the financial struggle is twice as difficult in the average country parsonage. If this condition continues indefiniteh", how can we escape getting a peasant ministr>' in our own rural America, inferior in every respect to the leadership of the Church in foreign fields.'' "No one can accuse any Foreign Missionary Board of being too generous with the men and women who go into \oluntary exile for Christ's sake. The most generous stipends paid by any missionary board are none too gen- erous; but the fact remains that they are far beyond the salaries of the rural ministry. This Committee has courteously been furnished full statements by the leading Foreign Mission Boards of America as to their financial j^rovision for their missionaries on the field. We have also ascertained the salary status in every American Foreign Mission Board six years ago. In every instance, though differing in details, the policy is the same. A living salar>' is guaranteed the missionary. "The lowest foreign missionary salary we have been able to discover now paid b^■ any strong church board to an ordained married man is $900 in a station in Africa; but in addition to this "basal salary," he is given an extra allowance for rent, free medical attendance, and a chil- The Country Church and Rural Life 207 dren's allowance of $100 for each child under 10, and $150 for each child between ten and twenty. The average in- come of a foreign missionary is considerably above this. One prominent board reports "average total salary: "In Ceylon, $1,700; other parts of India, SI, 500 to $1,600; China, $1,200 to $1,600; South Africa, minimum $1,265, max'mum, $2,500; Japan, minimum, $1,665, maximum $2,500. "Another denomination, paying very low salaries to rural pastors at home, pays its foreign missionaries as fol- lows: In Japan, basal salary, $1,400 to $1,900; Korea, $1,200; China, $1,050; North China, $1,200; Africa, $1,000. In addition to the above basal salaries, an allowance of $100 to $150 is granted for each child, according to cir- cumstances." It is easier to die a martyr's death, than to endure the lifelong mart>rdom of a sacrificial life in an ob- scure pastorate. If "volunteers" wish to test the extent of their sacrifice and the realitv of their heroism, let them deny themselves the privilege of going to the foreign field, and yield themselves in real sacrifice for destitute country places, where the people "are scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd." Let the Church challenge her most promising men, and see how many will respond. If the Church can secure vo'unteers of this character, it would be comparatively easy to save the country church, and it would carry conviction to the world, if the greatest of all Christ's works were reproduced, "the preaching of the Gospel to the poor." Illustrious Example — Dr. C. IT'. Grafton. All denominations can furnish many worthy examples of such heroism and sacrificial service in obscure country pastorates, but their number is growing proportionately smaller with passing ^•ears. \Mthout invidious comparison, one conspicuous living illustration may be permitted, as a type of this "noble army of mart>TS." Rev. C. W. Graf- 208 The Task That Challenges REV. C. W. GRAFTON, D. D., Forty Years Pastor of a Country Charge Union Church, Miss. Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U. S., 1916. The Coiiutry Church and Rural Life 209 ton, D. D., of Union church, Miss., has served but one pastorate, going directh- from the Seminary to his present charge, forty-four years ago. Though Hving 12 miles from the railroad, he has refused prominent city pastorates. Such splendid sacrifice eventually receives due recognition and commensurate compensation. Is it any wonder that Dr. Grafton is by far the most influential man in his county, and was recently honored by his Church with the highest office in its gift, having been unanimously elected Moder- ator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States? Even where men in sufficient numbers are secured — countr>- pastors with consecration, energy and holy aims undertake the task — it must be admitted that difficulties almost insuperable confront them, and the Church should not only encourage by its warmest sympathy, but study to suggest methods by which to aid these men in their work. Inadequate salary handicaps and isolation separates from the sustaining fellowship and helpful counsel of city com- radeship. No ministerial Association serves as a clearing house for the country pastor's problems. Traditional customs and the ultra conservation of his "Aarons and Hurs," tie his hands or threaten his term of service. Lack of training for his peculiar problems and embarrassing tasks overwhelms and paralyzes his best efforts. In addition to a thorough knowledge of the Word of God acquired in the Theological Seminary, he must acquire the ability to bring his message in terms and language appre- ciated and understood by the backward classes,) illustrating after the manner of the Master by rural scenes, incidents, and Biblical reference, all of which must be learned in the school of experience and in contact with rural life. There are problems also which, though secular, economic and social, yet have a moral aspect, indirect it is true, but powerfully affecting the success of his ministry and the development of the country church. 210 The Task That Challenges Training for the Task. What assistance can the Church render the country pastor directly, and his rural pastorate indirectly, in the way of training for meeting his perplexing responsibilities? If any doubt the serious need of better training, let them ponder the following expert testimony of Prof. W. K. Tate of the Peabody Normal, Nashville, Tenn.: "Practical subjects should be included in the course, even if their inclusion should make necessary the elimina- tion of Greek, Hebrew, comparative religion, or other subjects which are now a part of the theological course. That the old course of training for ministers does not meet country needs, is evident from the fact that the churches which have insisted most strongly upon an educated min- istry have all but disappeared from the country. The type of education which the minister received really unfitted him for rural service, and left this field to denominations which are less exacting in their educational demand. The trouble has been not too much education, but the wrong kind." In view of all these considerations and the vital issues in- volved, the Church should appeal to its wealthy constituents to endow a chair in some Theological Seminary, well equip- ped in other respects, for special training of a volunteer class for attacking rural problems and saving the country church. In the meantime, scholarships at much less cost might be secured for promising individual men desiring to invest their life in saving rural America. Experiments are already being made in different sections, of conducting summer conferences and institutes for the special benefit of the country pastors. Doubtless any one of our Theo- logical Seminaries would lend its dormitory, recitation rooms, and perhaps its faculty might volunteer, or indiv- idual professors from various institutions, to devote their learning and skill to the vital task of resuscitating the coun- try church by fitting its pastor for his work. It would The Country Church and Rural Life 211 cost but little — traveling expenses and board being the chief item. A small outlay of $25 to $50 in this way on the part of the country pastor would perhaps be the wisest and best investment of his life. Many a benevolent church- man would consider it a privilege to contribute to such a noble purpose. The country church itself could send its pastor to a training school for a month's vacation, recrea- tion and study; and it would receive such returns in the way of indirect benefit itself as would more than compensate for the expenditure. It would be impossible to enumerate the subjects em- braced in the curriculum of such a summer school, much less undertake in this brief survey to develop the topics. To indicate and enforce mildly the benefits of this sugges- tion, the following incomplete scope of the training needs is hereby outlined: 1. Some acquaintance with the soil of the farm is needed, as well as with the soul of the farmer. The suggestion that the country preacher should be an expert, teaching his parishioners farming is not only supremely absurd, but would bring him into collision with traditional methods, handed down from grandfathers. At the same time he might be so trained as to enable him prudently to organize farmer's clubs, and wisely secure lecturers from agricultural colleges, or good literature for his parishioners, through the unstrumentality of the club. 2. Acquaintance with economic conditions, such as good roads, by means of the Congress organized to that end, would make attendance on the Sabbath services easier and so justify the prudent promotion of better roads, as well as remove the reproach that the Church devotes its entire energies to directing the way to heaven, and has no concern about the way to the sanctuary. 3. Training for securing better equipment for his parish plant. Many country churches, instead of attracting men to the house of worship, make such demands in the way of 212 The Task That Challenges self-denial, hardship, and discomforts, as to repel and dim- inish attendance, while penalizing those who are faithful, by causing weariness of the flesh not conducive to worship. Institutional features could be easih- secured and wiseh' used, as in the cit>" church, such as reading rooms, gym- nasiums, a meeting place for boys and girls clubs, and social gatherings. As there was no room for the infant Jesus in the inn, so infants are unwelcome today in public worship, which compels the mother to absent herself as well, and most frequently keeps the father away, because lacking the encouragement of being accompanied b\- his wife. A nursery where one or two mothers could alter- nately care for the wards of the church might make the "cradle roll" a help rather than a hindrance. 4. Training for co-operation in securing better school advantages would not only obviate the necessity of his par- ishioners moving to town, but would benefit the entire country, by educating its future leadership in the more healthy environs of rural life. Without being officious, he could render invaluable aid to the school board in se- curing better teachers and in incorporating high school features which would educate the community in mutual co-operation, as well as retain the children, who if sent away to school probably would be lost to the community. In some instances a parochial school might be founded whose beneficial effects would reach latitudinally in all directions, as well as longitudinally in the years to come. 5. Training that would enable him to organize his church to minister to human need. Too much emphasis ma>- possibly be pkiced on social service, especially' b>' a mistaken humanitarianism, which makes man the center rather than God, which confines its scope to the present life and its bodily needs to the exclusion largely of the soul and its eternal interests, thus making the church a social center rather than an evangelistic force. Yet it is also possible for the church to err in the opposite direction, and forget The Conufyij Church and Rural Life 213 the example of the Master, who carried in one hand healing for the soul and in the other healing for the body, as the Great Physician, and commanded the Apostles to "heal the sick." The physical and social needs of humanity both justify and require Christianity to meet such by giv- ing them a relative and subordinate place in the scope of Christian activities. If these social needs can be wisely used and made an adjunct to the Gospel of ministry, it would be criminal to lose the opportunity' and privilege. Sunday baseball and demoralizing dances lead many young people to ruin, because the good people are not providing better and higher social attractions and recreations. A speaker told recently of a young men's club in a hall just across the street from a country church, whose effects were so demoralizing that not a member ever entered the church. The writer saw a group of young men sitting on the fence near a country church and school, whittling idh', because there was no recreation nor attraction to engage their attention and stimulate their nobler impulses. A debating society, a literar>- club, even a healthy baseball game, attended occasional!}' by the pastor, might contri- bute to physical, social and intellectual natures, and es- tablish ties between them and the pastor which would constitute a means of approach with his gospel ministra- tions. The writer, during a city pastorate of twelve years, pro- moted a missionary society of young people which com- bined social features, games, etc. This society, of both sexes, met monthly, ordinarily in the pastor's home. It largely took the place of dances and card parties, and min- istered to their social natures. It drew other young people to these meetings, which had a religious feature, and gave the pastor a wider acquaintance beyond the circle of his membership, and was instrumental also in swelling his night congregation by making his >'oung people a recruit- ing force. Besides it led to matrimonial alliances under 214 The Task That Challenges the most favorable conditions. The \oung people of that quondam missionary society are today the leadership and strength of that growing congregation. It may be objected that this society was in a city pastorate. Yet it had no feature which could not be easily duplicated in a rural community, and would doubtless fill even a larger place in the life of a country parish. It may be further objected that it drew young people from other congregations; but that was merely incidental, and it attracted only such as were not interested in their own church activities, and thus saved them from being lured into worldly snares. In any event there is no patent on the scheme, and no reason why other denominations should not employ its beneficial features. This experiment is capable of endless variations and ap- plications. A missionary society of older people, with or without the social and recreational features, a mission study class with perhaps an occasional missionary address or lecture upon kindred topics, could be promoted in such a way by the pastor as to bring out and cultivate the best elements in the intellectual and religious life of the com- munity, as well as train leaders for the future demands of the kingdom. 6. Training in the best methods of financing a country- church. The backward church is perhaps in greater need of a wise guiding hand in the development of its finances than in any other aspect of its activities. It can no longer be financed by loose change, and a haphazard method of raising its pastor's salary. Farmers, who do not handle money except at harvest, and conduct their own business on a credit system, cannot appreciate the need or benefit of systematic giving. Lack of education and training along the line of church finance, on the part of rural people, con- stitutes a barrier in thought and co-operation between pas- tor and people Many a farmer of wealth does not realize his relative financial strength in the church at large, and The Country Church and Rural Life 215 does not know that many a clerk in the city, with nothing but a small salary, gives ten times as much to the cause, which they both equally love. Few people in a rural com- munity have adequate instruction in stewardship, and con- sequently are undeveloped in their benevolent sympathies and in their vision of the Kingdom's needs; and therefore have no adequate sense of personal responsibility and moral obligation. The country pastor is at great disadvantage in being compelled to deal with raw material, containing frequently many dangerous explosive elements. For the sake of his church's development and for his own official position, he needs special training in methods of introducing and conducting the Every Member Canvass, and in culti- vating the grace of benevolence for the making of Christian character, without being subject to the suspicion of pleading for his own salary. In this discussion no effort has been attempted to fur- nish a complete diagnosis of the disease of the tottering county church, much less an infallible remedy, but merely to gather the results of the investigations of expert and experienced men, with suggest ons which may be more or less worthy of the profound consideration of the Church. The key to the situation is the country pastor. Illus- trations are on record of marvelous results accomplished by such men as Matthew B. McNutt, C. O. Gill, Harlow S. Mills, and others. The same men with the same equip- ment, the same methods, would succeed in almost any com- munity or denomination. If we could secure a sufficient number of such men as to contribute a chain linking neigh- borhood to neighborhood, we can well imagine resusci- tated communities and revived churches, till the country church becomes once more a great moral standard and a spiritual force throughout the bounds of the Nation, while the thrill of its revived life and expanding activities would reach "unto the uttermost part of the earth." 216- Tlie Tasl- That Challenges Bailey's poem of the Rural Church may be somewhat overworked, but let it speak once more the message of its mission till every country church, in every community, shall join the anthem which shall be sung, and the music goes echoing around the world. THE RURAL CHURCH "In some great day Tlie Country Churcih Will find its voice And it will say: "I stand in the fields Where the wide earth yields Her beauties of fruit and grain . Where the furrows turn Till the plowshares burn, As they come round and round again: Where the workers pray With their tools all day, In sunshine and shadow and rain. "And I bid them tell Of the crops they sell And speak of the work they have done; I speed every man In his hope and plan, And follow his day with the sun ; And grasses and trees, The birds and the bees — I know and feel ev'ry one. "And out of it all As the seasons fall I build my great temple alway; I point to the skies, But my footstone lies In commonplace work of the day; For I preach the worth Of the nati\'e earth — To love and to work is to pray." The Conn fry Churcli and Rural Life 217 Program for the Rural Church. The Southern Conference on Education and Industry, at Chattanooga, Tenn., April, 1915, submitted for consid- eration the following program, as a means of resuscitating the countrv church : Program for Rural Church in the South. 1. Good management of the congregation according to its own form of government, with an official board, care- fully elected and well trained for its work, each officer con- fining himself to his powers and duties, and neglecting none of them. 2. Pastor resident in the community, fulfilling the con- dition — "Every minister in his field every week." 3. A church or other building and grounds centrally lo- cated and adapted for meeting all the needs of the com- munity; with comfort, for man in his religious, educational and social needs, and for the beast which brings him to church. 4. An annual season of revival meetings, to bring sinners to Christ and to lead the young to a decision for Christ, and to comfort and inspire the members. 5. A systematic survey of the w^hole communit)', that the church may neglect none, and have record of all, who live within a "team haul" of the church house. 6. Recreation, mental training, social life and spiritual culture through Sunday School and Young People's So- ciety. 7. The church and its allies, which are working for the community's general welfare, should meet at least once each year and confer in the common interest. These allies are the school, club, lodge, lecture, bureau, farmer's institute, demonstration service, good road promoters, and other agencies working for the good of all who live in the place. 218 The Task That Challenges 8. A systematic financial plan, as democratic as the method of governing, that through the participation of every member will produce mone>' enough to meet the re- quirements of permanence and progress. 9. A regular system of evangelizing neglected com- munities within a convenient drive of the church house, and of extending the activities of the church in a spirit of brotherhood to those country neighborhoods. 10. The, country church should have a share in giving the gospel to all men, to the ends of the earth, and should have a special connection and adequate information con- cerning some particular foreign mission field. X. THE HAND OF WOMAN. "And the Women Who Published the Tidings Were a Great Host." Bv Hallie Paxson Winsborough/ The Christian Church has ever had in its women earnest and devoted followers of the lowly Christ. Perhaps it is. because of what the Gospel of Christ has meant to the freedom and development of woman that she has felt an especial responsibility for promoting the cause of Chris- tianity. Woman s Work as Recorded in the New Testament. The New Testament records many examples of this re- sponse on the part of the women. It was a woman, Elizabeth, who first rejoiced in the prospective coming of the Lord; a woman was the first witness of the great resurrection; it was a woman who anointed his head with precious ointment and washed his feet with her tears. Women followed our Saviour weeping and wailing all that sad journey to the cross and at the crucifixion "many women were there . . . which followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him." Women anointed his body for burial, and, after his body was placed in the tomb, women watched there "sitting over against the sepulchre." Women were the first to reach that sacred tomb on the morning of his resurrection, coming there "while it was *Prepared at the request of the author. 220 Tlie Task Thai CliaUenges yet dark as it began to dawn." After his resurrection his first appearance was to the women whom he bade go and tell the disciples, "I ascend unto my Father." Women ministered unto him in life all along his thorny pathway, ever remaining^ "faithful unto death," even when his best beloved disciples deserted him. It is not strange, there- fore, that the Christian Church in modern times finds women still given to good works in all branches of mis- sionary activity. The Modern Missionary Activity of Women. The modern missionary movement is but little over a century in duration, and almost from its inception we find women uniting individual interests in an effort to hasten the solution of the great missionary problem. First the local missionary- societies were organized; later these were united in groups corresponding to the organization of the church proper, until to-day we find every evangelical de- nomination in Christendom with its organization of wo- men co-operating with the church in the promotion of its missionary propaganda. Interdenominational Organization of Women. The increased efficiency which accrued to the various denominations from the united efforts of its societies eventually led to the uniting of representatives of the various women's Home and Foreign Mission Boards into two great interdenominational organizations, the Council of Women for Home Missions and the Federation of Wo- men's Boards for Foreign Missions, which enroll in their membership practically all of the leading Women's Mis- sionary Boards of America. The most valuable practical result of these interdenominational Boards is the educa- tional work accomplished through the united study of the mission fields. The Hand of Woman 221 United Educational Work. The Central Committee for the united stuch' of Foreign Missions, which was realh' the mother of the Federation of Women's Boards for Foreign Missions, was an outgrowth of the great Ecumenical Conference held in New York City in 1900. Each year since that time a Foreign Mission Textbook has been prepared for the use of the Woman's Missionary Societies and the circulation of these books has increased from year to year until at the close of 1915 one million two hundred thousand (1,200,000) books had been sold. In 1906 this same Committee began the publica- tion of a Junior Foreign Mission Textbook, sales of which averaged about ten thousand copies a year. The Council of Women for Home Missions, which was organized in 1908, has published eight Home Mission Study Books, which have had a circulation of about two hundred and seventy thousand (270,000) volumes. Wr>- valuable educational work has also been accomplished l)>- this organization in promoting the teaching of English to the immigrants. Woman s Work in the Presbyterian Church, U. S. Notwithstanding the fact that the women of the South- ern Presl)yterian Church were among the first in America to organize local missionary societies, that denomination was the very last of all evangelical churches to perfect the organization of its woman's work into a systematic plan which should unify their entire work in the denomina- tion. Early Missionary Societies. The early missionary societies of the Presbyterian Church in the South, which were among the first organized in America, have a history that is most interesting. The first woman's organization in the South of which we 222 The Task That Challenges have an authentic record is the "Female Bible Society of Richmond and Manchester", which was organized in 1817 as an auxiliary to the Bible Society of Virginia. Miss Jane Rutherfoord, Historian of the Virginia Synodical Auxiliary, in a most interesting paper read before the East Hanover Presbyterial Auxiliary, said: "This Society was inter- denominational and held meetings annually at their re- spective churches, ministers of different denominations presiding. At the meeting in the Second Presbyterian church, over which Right Reverend Bishop Moore pre- sided, he recommended that the members should feel it a duty two or three weeks previous to the annual meeting to 'converse as much as possible on the importance of the Bible cause amongst ourselves and throughout the world.' On March 31st, 1834, after an address from Mrs. Graves, a missionary from Bombay, when the Spirit of the Lord seemed to rest with great power on the women, they de- cided to set aside the old Constitution and adopt a new one better adapted to the state of the Church and promised to raise $1,000 the same >'ear 'to send the sacred Scriptures for distribution among the heathen.' " The second society in our bounds of which we have any knowledge is the Ladies' Benevolent Society of New Providence church (Lexington Presbytery), Virginia. This Society, organized in 1819, is still in a flourishing con- dition and was even at that early date organized on the "circle plan" to meet the needs of a scattered country con- gregation. The following constitution, written in most beautiful script by the clerk of the session at that time, was given to the Society for its guidance. The organiza- tion has adopted some changes, but is still guided in the nuiin bv this constitution: The Hand of Woman 223 "Constitution of Female Benevolent Society of New Providence Church. "New Providence, November 24, 18 ig. Impressed with the behef that it is our duty to promote the Redeemer's kingdom by every means in our power, we the subscribers having met agreeable to notice and formed ourselves into a society for the aforesaid purpose do adopt the following constitution vvs. : 1st. The name of the association shall be the Female Benevolent Society of New Providence Church. 2nd. The object of the society is to raise money for the support of missionaries to aid pious young men to qualify for the ministry or any other benevolent cause said society may think best. 3rd. None but females shall be members of this society, but donations will be gratefully received from any one. 4th. Any female may become a member by paying fifty cents at the time of subscribing and continue a member so long as she pays fifty cents a year. 5th. There shall be a stated meeting of the society on the first Wednesday of September at the aforesaid church. At each meeting there shall be nine managers chosen to act for one year. 6th. Said managers shall appoint out of their own body a president and vice-president and also from their own body or from the members of the society a treasurer and secretary. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to receive all monies collected by the society and to pay away the same as directed by the managers. The secretary shall keep a fair record of the proceedings of the society. Said managers shall meet on their own adjournment, conduct the concerns of this association and make a report to the society at their annual meeting. 224 The Task That Challem/es ANCIENT MEMORIAL TABLET Monument in Cross Creek Cemetery which bears the following inscription: "Sacred to the memory of our Pastor, Rev. James Douglas," etc. Erected by the Female Juvenile Missionary Society of Fayetteville Presbyterian Church, in 1837. The Hand of Woman 225 7th. At each annual meeting there shall be a sermon delivered by a minister, if one can be procured, and every meeting shall be opened and concluded with prayer. 8th. Each member shall be entitled to one vote and the constitution may be amended at any annual meeting, two- thirds of the members concurring." Most interesting indeed is the following account by Mrs. Lauchlin Donald of two of the oldest missionary societies in the Presbyterian Church of North Carolina: "In the effort to honor their guests to the Presbyterial meeting, things new and old were brought out from their treasure house, and their precious heirlooms arranged for inspection. Near the pulpit was displayed a beautiful old communion service, consisting of the usual tankard and goblets, and two silver baskets of antique design. Two of these pieces bear the following inscription: 'Presented by a Society of Young Ladies to the Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville, September 20th, 1824.' The sessional record book has this entry for March 29th, 1828: 'A Society of Young Ladies have presented to our church for sacramental pur- poses, the following ^•essels of silver plate,' etc. That this Young Ladies' Society- was a Missionary Society is proven by the fact that it is referred to as the 'Young Ladies' Missionary Society' in a sessional record of 1831. This silver has been in continuous use by this congregation until the adoption of individual cups, the baskets still being retained as part of the present ser\'ice. But to ses- sional records and old silver is added the testimony of enduring marble. Across the creek from the church, in the old Cross Creek Cemetery, stands a monument bear- ing this inscription: 'Sacred to the memory of our Pastor, Rev. James Douglas, etc. Erected by the Female Juvenile Missionary Society of Fayetteville Presbyterian Church, in 1837.' Can it be wondered at that the descendants of this Young Ladies' Missionary Society of 1824 and this juvenile society of 1837 are enthusiastic missionary work- ers?" 226 The Task That Challenges Of peculiar interest is the history of the Woman's Mis- sionary Society of the First Presbyterian church of Augusta, since in that historic church was held the first General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church in 1861. The memorial volume of the centennial celebration of this church contains the following: "Almost as old as the century which nearly spans the modern missionary movement is the Ladies' Foreign Mis- sionary Society of our beloved church. In July, 1828, the 'Missionary Herald' of the Presbyterian Church records a contribution from the Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian church of Augusta. LIntil 1833 an annual acknowledgment of contributions from the same source was made by that paper. Annual meetings only were held, and the Sunday following a sermon on missions was preached to the congregation. Missions in Bogota, Armenia, Brazil and China were aided at various times by this society. The first meeting duly recorded occurred on February 3rd, 1845. The education of an Armenian girl, besides money given in other directions, then constituted the work of the society, which had a membership of fifty- eight and observed a monthly concert of prayer for all missions." Missionary societies in the local churches increased in number slowly as the years passed. Not until the year 1905 was a report of the Women's societies made to the General Assembly, at which time there were about 1,100 societies. Presbyterial Organizations. Twenty years before this, however, two consecrated women, Mrs. Josiah Sibley, a beloved "Mother in Israel," of Augusta, Georgia, and Miss Jennie Hanna, of Kansas City, Missouri, a young girl filled with the divine optimism of youth, had started a campaign among the societies of the church for the organization of Presbyterial PIONEERS IN WOMAN'S WORK %^^ ,9-,_^.^^=^ 228 The Ta^k That Challenges Unions. They met with a quick and general response from their sisters in the church, but not so cordial an ap- proval from the brethren. There were throughout the Assembly at that time ministers akin to the pastor in Michigan who, some fifty years ago said, "I am always present at the meetings of the women of my church, for no one knows what they would pray for if left alone." However, the women interested in better organization had the hearty support and sound counsel of the Secretary of Foreign Missions, Dr. M. H. Houston, and many other leading ministers, and in 1888 two Presbyterial Unions were organized, the first East Hanover, Virginia, with Mrs. Sarah Price as President, and the second, Wilmington, North Carolina, with Mrs. B. F. Hall President. These unions had the approval of their Presbyteries and were quickly followed by others until within a short time a score of unions were organized. Synodical Organization. Organization was now moving a little more rapidly. Seventy years and more had elapsed between the organiza- tion of the first local society and the first Presbyterial union. Sixteen years passed before the third step was taken — in uniting the Presbyterials into Synodicals. The first Synodical organization of the women of the Southern Presbyterian Church was perfected in Virginia, in 1904, with the approval of the Synod and as a direct result of the untiring efforts of Mrs. J. Calvin Stewart and her band of noble helpers. The Synodical of Texas was organized a few months later in the same year, and Alabama followed next in order. The Woman's Auxiliary Organized. The year 1911 found us with seventy-eight out oi eight>- four Presbyteries and five out of fourteen Synods organized for woman's work, but apparently no nearer than before The Hand of Woman 229 to any general organization. Miss Jennie Hanna, in her *"History of the Woman's AuxiHary," says: ''All over the South there were women of practical ability and faith who recognized the waste of power and opportunity because we were only scattered units, not utilizing one particle of the strength and inspiration of concentration of forces. When the Woman's Jubilee was celebrated from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1910 and 1911, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Woman's Organized Work, when the Woman's Boards of all denomi- nations shared the conferences of experienced workers, exchanging invaluable plans for larger efficiency and realizing the blessed fellowship, which is the bond of Christian unity, the Southern Presbyterian Church was the only evangelical denomination in this whole country which had no central organization of its women, no com- prehensive record, no accurate reports of their splendid work. . . . With women of zeal and consecration who had labored grandly for missions, we had not one word of history or achievement in proper shape to add to the glorious Jubilee records! Certainly the time was fully ripe for wiser conduct of our work. Mrs. W. C. Wins- borough grasped the full significance of the situation. All the spring and early summer of 1911 the necessity of uniform organization under the leadership of one efficient woman became more impressed upon her heart. Finally she wrote out 'Some Reasons Why a Woman Secretary of Woman's Work is Needed in the Southern Presbyterian Church,' and at once sent the paper to Mrs. D. A. Mc- Millan, President of Missouri Synodical, asking her co- operation". Mrs. McMillan vigorously set about to secure the approval of the women of the Church, with the result that in October, 1911, the Woman's Synodical of Missouri *History of the Woman's Auxiliary, by Jennie Hanna. Published by Woman's Auxiliary, Atlanta, Ga. — 10 cts. 230 Tlic Task Thai Challenges asked the Synod of Missouri for its approval of an overture to the General Assembly requesting the appointment of a woman secretary of woman's work, whose business should be the completing of the organization of the women of the Church, standardizing the activities of the various branches, and promoting missionary education in the various or- ganizations. Receiving the unanimous approval of the Synod, a committee was appointed to promote the cam- paign for better organization among the women through- out the Church. This committee consisted of Mrs. W. C. Winsborough and Miss Jennie Hanna, thus bringing again into the campaign the wise counsel of Miss Hanna who, though many years an invalid, had never lost her early interest in perfecting a general organization. So quickly did the missionary women rally to the plan of better organization that the overture went before the General Assembly with the approval of all of the five Synodicals then organized, forty-one Presbyterials, one Synod and four Presbyteries. The overture was granted without a dissenting voice by the General Assembly in session at Bristol, May, 1912, and a Supervisory Com- mittee, consisting of the four Executive Secretaries of the Church was appointed to guide and direct the work and to select the woman "Secretary," to be known hereafter as Superintendent of Woman's Work. In August, 1912, the supervisory committee met at Montreat in conference with the presidents of the five Synodicals and other lead- ing women of the Church and formally erected the organiza- tion known as the Woman's Auxiliary of the Southern Presbyterian Church. In addition to the steps already approved by the Church, viz.. Local Society, Presbyterial and Synodical, they added another, known at first as Woman's Council, afterwards the Woman's Advisory Com- mittee. This body consisted of the Synodical Presidents and was organized for the purpose of conferring with the Executive Secretaries and the Superintendent of Woman's The Hand of Wo7nan 231 Work. The\' selected at this time Mrs. W. C. Wins- borough to fill the office of Superintendent of Woman's Work. Thus, after almost one hundred years of organized work for missions, the women of the Southern Presbyterian Church secured an effective, logical, systematized organiza- tion for their missionary activities. The Plan of the Auxiliary. The accompanying diagram illustrates the form of or- ganization given to the women of the Church by our Gen- eral Assembly. This plan has some special features which are characteristic of our denomination. Auxiliary in Nature. First: The organization is entirely auxiliary in character. The executive unit of the organization is the mis- sionary society of the local church which acts under the control of its session in true Presbyterian style. The Presbyterials, Synodicals, Woman's Advisory Committee and Superintendent only recommend courses of action and have no authority inherent in them. The entire or- ganization is very closely allied with the organization of the Church proper through special committees appointed in Synods and Presbyteries for co-operating with the cor- responding woman's organization. The Supervisory Com- mittee appointed by the General Assembly assists and co- operates with the Woman's Advisory Committee and the Superintendent of the Woman's Auxiliary. Thus we have a harmonious, practical and thoroughly Presbyterian form of organization which grants to the woman's work the high- est efficiency and at the same time emphasizes the unity of the church membership. 232 The Task That Challenges THE WOMAN S AUXILIARY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH U.S. SUPT.'S /\ OFFICE TWENTY S(X HUNDRED LOCAL SOCIETIES - 70,000 MEMBERS ALL THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH (ABOUT 200.00Q) — PRAVE.R — OUR aim: ALL THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH THESE FIGURES ARE FOR YEAR I9l6 A I I THE CAUSES ^°"/\\ OF THE MLL CHURCH The Hand of Woman 233 Includes All the Causes of the Church. Second : The Woman's Auxiliary includes in its activities all departments of the work of the Church proper. The first missionary organizations of the Church were only for Foreign Missions, Home Missions being added to their ac- tivities later. At the time of the organization of the Auxili- ary, however, the women of the Church had come to see that all departments of the work of the Church are truly mis- sionary in character and that Christian Education and Ministerial Relief, Sunday School and Young People's Work are both necessary factors in the work of evangelizing the world and hence deserved their share of recognition in the study, prayers and gifts of the Woman's Missionary Societies. The effect of this feature of our work has be- come apparent during the short life of our organization in a broader education and deeper interest in all of the agencies of the Church on the part of the societies. Each Society, Presbyterial and Synodical conforming to the Assembly's plan has among its officers secretaries repre- senting the causes of the Church, and thus the Society re- ceives a well-rounded missionary education. Gifts Apportioned in the Assembly's Percentages. Third: A third characteristic of the organization of the Woman's Auxiliary is the approximate proportioning of our missionary gifts to the various causes of the Church in the percentages which are given the Church at large by the General Assembly each year. Until this plan was adopted, many of our missionary societies were very limited in their interests, information and gifts. A very large proportion of the Societies were working only for the needs of the local church; some Societies were studying and giving only to Foreign Missions; others to Home Missions only. With the request of the General Assembly that the gifts of the Society be distributed among the various activities of the 234 The Task That Challenges Chur'^h came a desire on the part of the women l(j better understand the causes to which their gifts were to be given. Without lessening the gifts or pledges which they had formerly been giving to any department of the Church, the societies are gradually approximating the percentages which the General Assembly recommends in the division of their gifts. Some Results. The wisdom of the action of the General Assembly in erecting the Woman's Auxiliary became speedily apparent. At the close of the first year the Auxiliary had every Pres- byterial and Synodical in the church uniformly organized, giving us eighty-two Presbyterials (Texas, Mexican, and two Negro Presbyteries were not yet ready for organiza- tion), and fifteen Synodicals through which to carry on the organized work. • Practical plans for increasing the number of local societies are being worked out in each of the Pres- byterials and the number of members gathered into the societies is being greatly increased. Educational Work. The completion of the organization of the Woman's Auxiliary made possible a plan of missionary education throughout the various divisions of the organization. A comprehensive plan to promote regular study was out- lined for the societies and a Year Book of Programs pre- pared for their use. From, a very small beginning in 1914 we find that the Year Book of Programs for 1916-17 has had a circulation of seven thousand. These programs in- clude during the year all the causes of the Church and are accompanied by the necessary literature for preparing the program as well as material f(^r a series of devotionals which sound the keynote of tiie entire program. Bible study and prayer life are thus emphasized in the societies The Hand of Woman 235 as never before and the result is already i)ec()ming apparent in the quickened interest in Bible classes throughout the organization. Mission Study. Mission Study classes are systematically promoted throughout the organization, November being the month for the study of Home Missions and February the time for the study of Foreign Missions. More than one thousand study classes were enrolled last \ear in our Societies. The Missionary Survey. Some pages of the Missionary Survey have been set aside for the use of the Auxiliary and it has proven a valuable educational medium through which to reach the reading public of the Church. The church papers have also estab- lished a woman's department in which they co-operate most cordially with the woman's organizations of the church. Summer Conference. The official summer conference of the Auxiliary occurs each summer at Montreat, N. C, and is an important factor in the missionary education of the women of the Church, especially of the leaders in our organized work. The pro- gram includes the teaching of the Bible, Home and Foreign Miss on Textbooks, Parliamentary Practice and Story Telling, while missionary addresses and group conferences of workers make up a practical and enjoyable course of study. Some of our Synods have summer conferences at which the Woman's Sy nodical has a part on the program. These are found in the Synods of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas, while Florida, Oklahoma and Missouri have interdenominational schools in which the Presby- terian women take a prominent part. 236 The Task That Challenges Financial. It is not possible to secure an adequate report of the gifts of the women in our organization because of the vari- ous plans of giving which are recommended to the societies by their sessions, many societies sending all gifts directly to the Church and receiving no record of them. Even with this discrepancy, how^ever, we find that in the first four years of the life of the Woman's Auxiliary the total gifts to all causes increased fifty-six thousand dollars, while the increase in membership was more than ten thousand. The extent of the activities of the Women's Societies and their interest in the Lord's work may be judged by the fact that during the year 1916, they contributed for all purposes the sum of $439,973. Our Young People s Work. Realizing the great importance of enlisting the interest of our young girls in our organization and of giving them an adequate missionary education, each organization in the Auxiliary has a Secretary of Young People's Work, whose business it is to organize the young people of the church into the societies approved by our Assembly and to aid them in the conduct of these Societies. They are assisting Sunday school teachers to organize their classes, urging the teaching of Missions in the Sunday school, aiding the chairman of the missionary committee in the Christian Endeavor Society, organizing Camp Fire Girls' Clubs and in whatever way seems best bringing to the young people of the church activities which will interest them as well as train them for future usefulness in the church. Our Rcspo}isibilily. The women of the Southern Presbyterian Church stand face to face with the greatest opportunity which has ever confronted them. The missionary call to-day is sounding The Hand of Woinan 237 louder than ever before in the histor>' of the world. Oppor- tunities, both at home and abroad, are unjiaralleled. The responsibiUty for carrying on the missionary propaganda rests primarily to-day on America. Three great depart- ments of work lie before us: First — To enlist in the Auxiliary the more than one hundred thousand women in our South- ern Presbyterian Church who, although Christians them- selves, have not caught the meaning of the Master's last great command, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to e\'ery creature." Were these thousands of women enrolled in missionary societies and giving in the same proportion as the members of these same societies are now giving, the financial problems of the Church would be solved. Second — ^^> face the great responsibility for more adequate missionary education on the part of our workers. The day is past when intelligent workers are willing to admit a partiality for any one of the arbitrary divisions of the great work of Missions. The oneness of the task is recognized by our leaders and this broad- ness of vision must be passed on until all of the members of our local missionary societies look upon the problem of Missions, whether at home or abroad, as one problem. The greatest factor in hastening this understanding is systematic study of the work both at home and abroad through Mission Study Classes. Third — The third and greatest need of the women of the Auxiliary is a better understanding of the prevailing power of intercessory prayer for the Mission work. Were every member of the missionary society a believer in intercessory prayer, the power of the mission work at home and abroad would be multiplied many times and the needed men and money would be quickly forthcoming. The first missionary com- mand of the Master was, "Pray, ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest"; and it has been from that day to this the greatest need and most important work of the Christian Church. XI. TRAINING FOR SERVICE. Through some unaccountable bhndness on her part, the task that challenges the faith and best efforts of the Church escapes observation. In perspective other things more l^lausible magnify themselves at the expense of this funda- mental task and dwarf its importance. To prophets of C.od endowed with spiritual vision, and leaders of thought and action, who have "understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do," the supreme task to-day is to Christia nize Christendom . Throughout the ages this one increasing purpose should increasingly run. Nominal Christianity, self-satisfied, resulted in that unspeakable European situation, which to-day makes Christianity a reproach and a byword in the mouth of heathenism, and justifies its foes in raising the (juery whether Christianity has broken down. The parable of the mustard seed so fires the mind of the Church with the idea of conspicuous visible results as to obscure the parable of the leavening influence of the Gospel. The Necessity of Trained Leadership. During the nineteenth century the ideal of Home Mis- sion operations expended itself almost exclusively in pioneer work as the frontier enlarged its ever-widening bounds. Its mission was extensive — entering new territory, or- ganizing new forces and building new churches. The twentieth century faces a new order of Home Missions. It is now not so much extensive as it is intensive. The old order of things regarded Home Missions as a "field" to be occupied and possessed by the Church, making "Our Country God's Country." The new order regards it as a "force," to be organized for Christ in Christianizing Training for Service 239 Christendom. The Church must adapt herself to this new conception and become obsessed with this new ideal and then shape her policies to this new purpose. She must awake to the fact that the frontier is no longer in the dis- tant and developing West, Init everywhere. Long rows of tenement houses partly reveal and partly conceal it. Every foreign settlement and each suburban town is now a new frontier. Many a rural community in the Eastern States, by emigration, is committing suicide; and every great city, by immigration, is overcrowding — each pre- senting alike new and peculiar frontier problems. Once the country church was the spiritual recruiting force of the nation. Now it languishes and disintegrates and be- comes an additional burden on the Home Mission Boards. Negroes with their emotional type of religious life almost devoid of any ethical basis; mountaineers, isolated and un- touched by the stimulating activities of modern life, stagnating in hopeless degeneracy; mining towns and mill populations utterly devoid of ambition; lumber camps bitterly antagonistic to the Church; cities with their strenuous life unnaturally stimulated by the commercial spirit, sapping the life of the Church as the worldly over- shadows the spiritual, are but an incomplete enumeration of conditions and considerations which demand unmis- takably a new and trained leadership for the Home Mis- sion task. The necessity of a trained Home Missionary Force is equally apparent from another consideration. The en- thusiasm of the intensive and extensive Foreign Mission propaganda is filling the whole horizon of Christianity with its impelling response to the claims of the heathen world. Its Student Volunteer Movement and its rallying cry, "The Evangelization of the World in this Genera- tion," awaken in the Christian heart all the chords of heroism, philanthropy, and Christianity, and sweep our most consecrated young men, eager to invest their life to 240 The Task That Challenges the best advantage, into the noble army of missionaries, attacking the strongholds of heathenism. As a consequence, the flower of our Christian homes is being transplanted to blossom and yield fruit on heathen soil. The talented young men of our seminaries and Chris- tian institutions who escape this alluring call for the best that Christianity can furnish, are eagerly sought and in- stantly conscripted by the wealthy churches and growing fields; and even then the demand far exceeds the supply. This leaves comparatively but few of the best qualified, and largely untrained material for aggressive Home Mis- sion effort. To the thoughtful the signs of the times are alarming. The churches of the United States have al- ways increased in membership faster than the population until quite recently; but the last census rudely shocked us by revealing an even break, population and Church membership during the first decade of the twentieth cen- tury gaining each 21 per cent. Will the next decade show the Church a laggard in the race? If Home Missions are the Life of the Church, the Defense of the Nation, and the Hope of the World, do we not face a startling situa- tion? In the mathematics of Heaven, what shall it profit the Kingdom to win Catholic Brazil and lose Protestant North America? From the standpoint of Christianity, what shall it profit the world to gain heathen China and lose Christian Britain? Rev. J. D. Rankin, D. D., Chairman of a Commission in the United Presbyterian Church to report on Soul Win- ning, has collected some facts and figures, which may well give the Church pause, and awaken serious inquiry as to the influences affecting the Church and modern life: "In 1800 seven persons out of every 100 were members of the church. In 1850, fifteen in every hundred; in 1870, seventeen; in 1880, twenty; in 1900, twenty-four. Since that time the Church has not kept pace with the increase of population. Last year our population increased more Training for Service 241 than 2 per cent., while the membership of the combined evangehcal churches increased 1 4-5 per cent. "There seems to be a crisis on. Is there a turn in the tide? Is the Church not a match for our twentieth cen- tury civiHzation? Is she inadequate to the demands of modern Hfe? Are we to witness the defeat of Christianity? Is the great and blessed mission of the Christ to be buried under the stony soil of this materialistic age? * * * Your Committee is optimistic in every drop of its blood, but it is folly to ignore our danger. A Christian unmoved is a sentinel asleep. '\A'atchman, what of the night?' " Cha}i;4ing Conditions Demand CJianged Methods. The Home missionar>-, who once needed but self-denial and willingness to endure the hardships of new and pioneer settlements, now finds himself helpless amid changed con- ditions and perplexing environments. As well resurrect the militia of the eighteenth century and expect its an- tiquated tactics to cope successfully with the machine guns and disciplined soldiery of modern warfare; as well ask the weavers trained in the handlooms of antiquity to contend with the complex machinery of our million-dollar plants; as well require the educator of the primitive gram- mar schools to match the equipment of the twentieth cen- tury university. The Home missionar}- of fifty years ago would be equally outclassed and handicapped by the prob- lems of the complicated and complex life of modern so- ciety. These considerations raise the question of methods, as well as reinforce the necessity of a trained leadership for Home Missions. What instrumentalities and forces has the Church created for the demands of the case? 1 . Doubtless nine-tenths of our Home missionaries are prepared for their life work in the Schools of the Pro- phets; but theological seminaries are giving the Church only a standard brand. Their one purpose, and rightls' 242 The Task That Challenges so, is to train ministers of the gospel. They have their eye on the churches, and are striving to produce an article that will fit the average pulpit. They are not organized and maintained to furnish "specialists" for peculiar needs. Incidentally they mould scholars, "apologists," teachers, and Foreign missionaries, largely perhaps because the material itself gives direction to the special product. Even where the seminary seeks to "specialize," it labors for other products than Home missionaries. 2. Most Home missionaries, ex necessitate rei, are edu- cated in the school of experience. The Home missionary at present best trained for his specialty is the product chiefly of his environment after volunteering; yet multi- tudes are fighting a noble fight against odds, tremendously handicapped from lack of special training, and without the encouragement furnished by the recognition which the Church accords its Foreign missionaries, or even that with which a secular corporation rewards its laborers. 3. Supply and demand are calling into existence prac- tical training schools, such as the Bible Training School of New York, under the guiding hand of W. W. White, and the Training School at Richmond, Va., operated under the jurisdiction of our General Assembly, and enjoying the best advantages of instruction by the able faculty of Union Theological Seminary. These are compelling the classical and theological to stand aside in favor of the prac- tical, and are furnishing trained workers whose lack of literary preparation would forever have excluded them from the average theological seminary. They are also giving to the work trained women for settlement homes, for the slums of our congested cities, and for the Mission schools of the neglected mountains. 4. Two other institutions of a slightly different type have entered the field, and are serving a useful and noble pur- pose. Bloomfield, New Jersey, and Dubuque, Iowa, were founded and are operated to educate and fit men of foreign Training for Service 243 speech to minister to their emigrating countrymen entering our ports in ever increasing numbers. These immigrants afford unparalleled opportunities for service to men of heroic consecration, trained in modern scientific method, in sociology, philanthropy, theology, and practical work, who by birth and experience have a sympathetic acquain- tance with the life, habits, and traditions of their country- men. 5. Along the same line, the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., is a pioneer in an ex- periment which gives great promise of service, by estab- lishing "Immigrant Fellowships" bearing one thousand dollars each, open to recent graduates of theological semi- naries, duly licensed or ordained by a Presbytery, and possessing exceptional gifts. "The Fellowship contem- plates residence and study abroad in Austro-Hungary, Italy, and at other sources of modern immigration, for eighteen months or more. The appointment carries with it a signed contract to serve the Board of Home Missions, upon returning, at least three years." Several young men of exceptional ability have enjoyed special training in Europe, having accepted these Fellowships, and dedicated themselves to specific work among immigrants, and are expected to infuse new life into the leadership of the or- ganized forces to meet the social and industrial problem confronting the Church. In our own Church the Executive Committee of Home Missions has been pursuing a similar plan by enlisting volunteers for life service and locating them in the midst of large foreign colonies in our own bounds, where they can learn the language and study the economic, social and religious condition of these foreigners, to whose spiritual welfare their entire life is to be consecrated in sacrificial service. This provision for trained workers applies, however, at present, to only one class. This beneficent work should 244 The Task That Challenges be enlarged to include the Negro, the slums, the frontier, and other phases of the work. Practical Suggestions. 1. Do not conditions, needs, problems, etc., warrant the enlargement of the typical theological school into the University of Theology, with the usual curriculum as a common basis, but providing for electric courses, special- izing for chosen spheres of service? Instead of Bloomfield operated solely and separateh' for foreign-speaking stu- dents, why should it not become a constituent part of Princeton, enlarged to include all departments of Missions, thus encouraging men to volunteer and specialize for the various phases of missionary service? 2. Professorships might be multiplied and chairs be filled by specialists to inspire and train men for specific work. Lectureships for Home Missions, on a basis similar to the Yale Lectures on Preaching, and the celebrated Bampton Lectures of England, should be founded and endowed, furnishing opportunities for secretaries, or distinguished men with the gifts of eloquence and learning, to create enthusiasm for the commonplace as well as the heroic and sentimental in Missions. Union Seminary at Richmond, Va., and Kentucky Theological Seminary at Louisville, Ky., have established Lectureships calculated to equip thoroughly their students for the practical work of preaching the Gospel to meet the needs of this exacting age, and have invited the most dis- tinguished scholars to fill these Lectureships; and Colum- bia Seminary, S. C, recently employed Rev. W. H. Mills to discuss in a series of lectures the subject of "The Country Church and Rural Life." These are steps in the right direction and will doubtless crystallize in some permanent course along the line of practical Home Mission equipment for life work. 3. The present plan of Fellowships to encourage and Training for Service 245 develop specialists in Hebrew is preparing scholars for theological chairs. If the number could be multiplied, and adapted to training men for Home Missions, they would serve the two-fold purposes; not only of developing specialists, but definitely committing men to Home Mis- sions as a life work by enlisting their sympathies as the result of the wealth of information acquired on the subject. The greatest difficult)- is in hold ng men in the Home Mission Fields. Foreign missionaries volunteer for life. Too often Home Missions are made simply "stepping stones to higher things," as the world estimates service. It would serve to win a place of honor in the Church for the Home missionary, whose heroic service and life of sacrifice receive no proper appreciation at present. 4. Perhaps nothing would be productive of better results than the rigid enforcement of the rule requiring several years of service in Home Missions in return for beneficiary education. The experience itself would furnish a training which possibly, in many instances, would eventuate in valuable lives being permanently laid on the altar of Home Mission sacrifice Above all other considerations, the Church should agitate till it results in a guarantee of such compensation and recognition as will justify and induce men of splendid mental and spiritual endowments in ever increasing numbers to volunteer for life in this worthy cause. It is said by scientists that if a new island should emerge an>'where in the sea, it would affect the temperature around the entire globe. In life the relationships are so interwoven that each trivial thing affects indirectly the whole of our religious life and thought. If, then, our Home mission- aries could be better trained for their task, our own land would as a consequence be more speedily and surely Christianized, and America becoming a stronger base of operations, would more swiftly speed the Gospel "unto the uttermost part of the earth." 246 The Task That Challenges Qualifications Required. Having directed attention to the urgent necessity for training leadership, and having discussed various methods of securing practical results, it remains to consider the qualifications and ideals demanded of the Home mission- ary. These must be kept well in mind, both b>- the Church in its training schools, and by the missionary himself who volunteers for service and seeks special fitness for this fundamental sphere of Christian activit\-. 1. Supremely important is a High Ideal of the Work Itself. The illustrious Apostle to the Gentiles led the missionary forces of the early church in zeal and efficiency, never since surpassed, not simply "in labors more abun- dant," but in his estimate of his call, saying, "I magnify my office," doubtless one explanation of his unapproached success. This is the secret of success in any avocation. The Home missionary who would lay substantial and broad foundations must be one who preeminently possesses such high ideals of his chosen task as to consider it the one thing above all others worth while. No other inducement will influence one to choose deliberately to invest his life in a cause which requires the greatest sacrifices of any sphere of service, and suffer long-drawn-out martyrdom, "endur- ing hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." He must "volunteer for the war" and not for a limited period. If merely forced into the service because of no other opening, he will be at best only a time-server, using his position for self-aggrandizement, ready at the first opportunity to de- sert the cause. It has been said that "God despises a quitter." It is largely a man's estimate of his work which determines his untiring perseverance amid hardship, self- denials and obstacles, or makes him in a cowardly way relinquish it at the first indication of danger or call for heroism. Is it worth the cost? Knowledge at this point Training for Service 247 will enable anyone to forecast the result without the aid of prophetic genius. The halo of glory which encircles the brow of the Foreign missionary is well earned, because he cannot be allured to a more inviting field. It would be a tremendous sustain- ing power to the sorely tried and unrecognized Home missionary if the Church itself should elevate its ideals of his despised task and make his work honorable among men. Till then, it is but common justice to extend charit>' to the deserter who abandons a cause which the Church itself does not make worth while either b>- compensation or by honor. David Livingston is always canonized as the highest type of missionary hero. Yet there are Home Mis- sion heroes like Sheldon Jackson, Gideon Blackburn, Daniel Baker, David Brainerd, Edward (). Guerrant, W. J. B. Lloyd, who have won the applause of men and the recognition of the Church, because they so magnified their office as to sacrifice honors and rewards, and devoted their great talents to a cause which they adjudged and made worth while by sacrificial service. 2. An essential element in the make-up of a man is a healthy optimism. No pessimist ever won eminence in war, in business, or in religion. Optimism is not within itself the guarantee of success, but is a highly determining factor, a sine qua non. Discouragement, in its last analysis, is essentially a lack of courage, a species of moral cowardice. It is every man's most insidious enemy, paralyzing his energies. The hopeful man is everywhere, other things being equal, the successful. In business, let "unmerciful disaster follow fast and follow faster," and he can ordi- narily cope with his difficulties and misfortunes so long as buoyed up by hope; but let him once yield to discourage- ment, and the financial waves and billows will overAvhelm and bur>' him in their flood. The discouraged soldier marches to certain defeat, and is whipped before a gun is fired. In religion, God refuses to honor a moral coward. Sunday School at Hell-fer-Sartin, In the Kentucky Cumberlands. Dr. Edward O. Guerrant, Founder of Schools and Churches in the Southern Mountain Region. The future pride of Breathitt County, Kentucky. Tralnnuj for Service 249 Gideon's band of 300 Avas stronger after the confessed cowards, though 32,000 in number, had thrown down their arms and turned their backs to the enemy. Gyps\- Smith says: "If God has some gigantic task to l)e performed, faith gets the contract." If church histor>- teaches any one great lesson, to which there arc absolutel>' no excep- tions, it is that the great l)attles of truth and achievement have ever been won by the heroes of faith. It seems to be the mission of some to discourage others. Ten spies discouraged the hearts of Israel's millions and from the very borders of the promised land sent them back to die in the wilderness. If their bones bleaching upon the sands of the desert could have been gathered into one gigantic heap, it would have been a monument to dis- couragement, taller than any structure erected by human hands. The minister in the pulpit, who above all others should inspire with hope and faith, is frequcntl\- so pessi- mistic in his message as to break the spirit of God's people and scatter them in the wilderness of despair at the very moment they stand on the border of noble achieve- ment. The successful Home missionary must have the spirit of Joshua and Caleb, affirming in the face of adverse opinion, "We are well able to overcome it." All others but lead a forlorn hope. The man who cannot be dis- couraged is one who has a firm hold on God, and stands un- daunted on the promises. Like Judson, who after seven years of failure in India, always answered the inquiry, "What is the prospect for India?" by saying, "Bright, sir; as bright as the promises of God," the man who sees God sees nothing else, neither obstacle nor opposition; neither hindrance nor suggestion of failure in God's campaign of conquest. 3. This obvioush' necessitates and invokes the perse- verance of the saints, not in the theological sense ot the term, but in practical experience of work. "Reuben, thou art my first born, my might, and the beginning of my 250 The Task That Challenges strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excet.'' Millions of fathers since Jacob's day have moaned in secret and wrung their hands in agony over fond hopes blighted through disappointment in the instability of their chil- dren. The bitterest of all is the disappointment of the Church over the failure of her sons, from no lack of ability but solely of stability. Tenacity — the simple quality of pertinacity — makes all the difference between failure and success. In every great battle, it is said, there is a psychological moment when the fight is lost or won. In one of Stone- wall Jackson's brilliant campaigns, he informs us he had actualh' issued orders to retreat when he observed the enemy beginning to yield. Rallying his forces, he sounded the call to advance, and the battle was won that decided the fate of the campaign. Many a Home Mission cam- paign has been lost because the leader failed, at the psycho- logical moment, where a little perseverance would have won the field for Christ. Restlessness is the bane of the ministry; it is the undoing of the grandest Home Mission prospects. In the contest between the States, the fortune of war had steadily gone against the North till the stoutest hearts grew faint. After another signal defeat the inquiry was asked, "Mr. Lincoln, what are you going to do next?" The historic answer was returned, without a moment's hesitation, "Keep hammering away." Nothing else could have subdued the South except that "hammering away" of Lincoln in the Cabinet, and of Grant on the field. If perseverance does not win, nothing will. In a great demon- stration office hangs a tremendous weight. By its side is suspended an insignificant cork. The demonstrator draws the cork back and lets it fall against the ponderous weight. The cork rebounds, and the iron is absolutely un- affected. Again and again the experiment is repeated, until Train'mg for Service 251 at length the great weight slowly sways and at last swings back and forth, an illustration of the power of persevering effort. If the Church could but secure volunteers for Home Mission fields, willing to expend their lives in continuous effort, it would be a demonstration of "faith removing mountains" in the spiritual realm. God is as powerful to-day as of old, and is as willing here as elsewhere, but he must needs wait for men of faith and perseverance. 4. "Add to your faith" — optimism, courage and perse- verance, but the great element of success is enthusiasm. There is no age limit, no "dead line" in the ministry', ex- cept the loss of youthful enthusiasm. Unfortunateh- youth itself sometimes lacks this "one thing needful," without which many other splendid gifts are hollow mock- eries. Spurgeon once related a dream in which he visited a church and saw dead men in the pews and dead men in officers' places, and worst of all a dead man in the pulpit. The latter is a sufficient explanation. The contagion of death in the pulpit will contaminate everything else. George Whitefield, Daniel Baker, Dwight L. Moody, and others who have attained the greatest success, were men who invariably made the impression that they were fear- fully in earnest. The world will excuse almost anything except half-heartedness. Blood earnestness is one secret of most men's preeminent success. 5. If anything else is worthy of mention, it is activity. "Be instant in season, out of season." Closelv' akin to earnestness is untiring toil. As a matter of fact, it is earnestness in action. Someone has defined genius as the capacity for unlimited hard work. Men with five talents wrapped carefully in the napkin of sloth will bury them- selves forever in the grave of obscurity, while the owner of one talent, if it be kept in perpetual motion, will win the highest encomium of the Master, "Well done, good and faithful servant." 252 The Task That Challenges "Time worketh; let me work, too. Time undoeth; let me do. Busy as time, my work I ply Till I rest in the rest of eternity. "Sin worketh; let me work, too. Sin undoeth; let me do. Busy as sin, my work I ply Till I rest in the rest of eternity. "God worketh; let me work, too. God doeth; let me do. Busy for God, my work I ply Till I rest in the life of eternity." The Home Mission fields are white to the harvest. The greatest need is men, trained for service, "workmen that need not to be ashamed"; but above all things, men en- dowed with the qualities of faith, perseverance and zeal for soul-winning; and "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. "It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees." "Say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." XII. THE CALL TO SERVICE. "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us. Then said I, Here am I; send me."— T/!' a clearer evangelistic note? The Call of Isaiah. In the sixth chapter, Isaiah records his call to the pro- phetic office, consisting of a series of supernatural visions. The first was a vision of God: "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up * * * Above it stood the seraphim * * * And one cried unto another and said. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." This is followed by a vision of self: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips * * * j-^j- ^lij^g eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." This prepares the way for a \ision of Grace: "Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal * * * jiud said, Lo this hath touched thy lips; and thine 'niquit\- is taken away and thy sin purged." The climax is reached in a vision of duty: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying. Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, here am The Call to Service 255 I; send me." These visions occur in a perfectly natural and logical order. A vis'on of God's holiness leads always to a sense of our unworthiness, which prepares the way for the application of divine grace; and the three focus upon a vision of duty. The Modem Call to Service. The ca'l of God to serv ce is the same in all ages. It matters not whether i~ was the call of Isaiah to the pro- phetic office two thousand, six hundred years ago, or whether t is a call to the ministry in this twentieth century. It matters not whether the ca'l comes from heathen China or is a Macedonian cry from the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. It matters not whether it is a call to s and in the pulpit and herald the glad tidings, or whether it is a call to serve as a lay worker in some humble sphere of service. It matters not whether heard in an audible voice from Heaven, or in the "still small voice" in the human soul; the call is the same, "Whom shall I send; and who will go for us?" And the response of the volun- teer is the same: "Here am I; send me." God is still calling, by divine providence, by His inspired Word and by His Holy Spirit. Conspiring together, they constitute the elements which enter into the modern call. On'y those with sp ritual ears hear and recognize the voice of God, though He speaks today in three different wa>'s: 1. Opportunity Beckons. The very analysis of the word opportunity is signifi- cant, being derived from two Latin terms, "ob," equivalent to "at," "before" or "over against," and "portus," the "gate." Opportunity, therefore, is whatsoever stands before our door challenging attention, or which confronts us in our path, demanding the hearing of its claims. The call of opportunity is as truly the call of God as if uttered in an audible voice from Heaven. Where opportunity 256 The Task That Challenges speaks emphatically, God speaks authoritatively. Ordi- narily it carries with it the suggestion of compensation as well as obligation. In the business world, opportunity is an investment which promises large dividends. In the religious realm, it is a challenge that suggests "fields white unto the harvest," which promises the reward of golden sheaves. Always and everywhere, opportunity contains within itself the inherent thought of obligation, with its alt rnative of rewards or punishments. In the Home Mission Sphere. The first suggestion, as a representative of the organized Home Mission Agency of the Church, to the call of oppor- tunity is along the line of denominational advantage. The effort has been made to interpret the calls of divine provi- dence and to give to each opportunity a voice: Wide open doors challenge the Church, inviting entrance with the promise of rich rewards, the indirect advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven by means of specific and im- mediate denominational gains. By Way of Illusli-ation. Illustrations are hereby cited from the sphere of Home Missions, to substantiate and enforce the premise that opportunity is the call of God, which carries with it the inherent suggestion of compensation. Only a few years ago Southwestern Oklahoma, just being opened to white settlers and rapidly developing in economic and social wealth, contained no official representative of the Presby- terian Church, U. S. The case was laid before the Woman's Missionary Society- of the Central Presbyterian church, Atlanta, C^a., which offered to furnish the salar\- for employing an evangelist. Rev. H. S. Davidson was engaged for this work, and the first result was the organ- ization of a church at Mangum, with 17 members. As the The Call to Service 257' outcome of entering this door of opportunit>-, the Presby- tery of Mangum sprang into existence, so named, not in honor of the largest city within its bounds, but of the first church organized. Its last report indicates that this Pres- bvtery now contains 12 ministers, 25 churches, 1,300 com- municants, and contributed in one year over $15,000. Was this opportunity the call of God, judged by the manifest favor of "The Lord of the Harvest?" Was there ever in- vestment rewarded with richer financial and spiritual dividends? The Argument Reenforced. In Southwest Texas, along the Rio Grande River, land which had never produced anything except mesquite bushes and sage brush, could have been bought by the county at one dollar per acre. At length came irrigation, and the same land sold readily at from v$]00 to $200 per acre, and often paid for itself the first season in truck farm- ing. Then followed railroads and prosperous towns, as population poured in. In all that splendid section, the Presbyterian Church was not represented until Rev. Samuel McPheeters Glasgow, of Union Theological Semi- nary, Virginia, heard the call of God, and answered, "Here am I; send me." In an incredibh' short time he had or- ganized and built churches at Mission, McAllen, Mercedes, Donna, Harlingen and San Benito, which further resulted in the building of mission chapels for the Mexicans in the same region. Rev. M. W. Doggett, the efficient and faith- ful evangelist, organized in the same general section fifteen churches in fifteen months. The development of the work is limited onl>' by the ability of the Executive Committee of Home Missions to furnish men and means proportionate to the opportunity. These churches will be a tremendous factor in the near future for propagating the faith in con- tiguous territory, and their influence will ultimateh' ex- tend unto the uttermost ends of the earth. 258 The Task That Challenges Our "Farthest West" Home Missionary, Rev. L. O. Cunningham, and Family. 'I'he Manse at l^ovinftton, New Mexico, built principally by his own labor. The Call to Service 259 At Random. Illustrations abound everywhere and press their claims for recognition. Among the neglected millions of the Appala- chian mountains, are communities "far from the world's madding strife," ready to prove the contention — Hazard, Ky., for example. In this mountain village, far from rail- road and modern conveniences of civilization, was gathered the nucleus of a small Presbyterian church. Unable to secure a minister, with the inadequate means at its com- mand, the Home Mission Committee at Atlanta sent a woman, Miss Adams, to represent Christ and His love. She kept alive the Sabbath school, stimulated the Woman's Society-, and acted as Bible woman and spiritual guide for months. Finally the railroad penetrated this mountain fastness, the church grew, and a pastor was secured. Afterward, in services lasting one week, conducted by Rev. J. A. Bryan of Birmingham, Ala., there were fifty-nine additions to the church, which is now practically self- supporting. The story of Highland School, at Guerrant, Ky.; Beechwood Seminary, at Heidelberg, Ky.,and Stuart Robinson School, at Blackey, Ky., are additional illustra- tions of opportunities that voiced the call of God and richly rewarded effort and expenditure. Opportunities Past and Passing. Among the multitudes of opportunities which have been calling insistently and persistently, only a few compara- tively could be seized. Many which once called loudly are gone forever. They will never come again. Their voice is now only a memory, and a part of the silent and irre- parable past. Men tell us that during the night following a sanguinary battle, cries of anguish are heard, piteously calling for water or relief from pain; and then, with the passing hours, one by one these voices are hushed by death. The next day an ominous silence prevails, where but lately 260 TJie Task That Challenges these opportunities to relieve suffering called so appealingly. They are but typical of urgent Home Mission calls that will never again be heard. They are only the ghosts of a dead past, which are still left to haunt us. Other opportunities more numerous and even greater perhaps, have arisen in their stead, and are today the new voice of God in human events, urging the Church to know its day of opportunity, "Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this th\' day * * ." Specimens. Katherine M. Barton in graphic language describes the greatest irrigation enterprise in the world: "One hundred and twenty miles north of El Paso, guarding the entrance to a series of rock-walled canons and gorges of the Rio Grande, stands an extinct volcano, Ele- phant Butte by name. Elephant Butte is today looking down on a bit of constructive work at his feet, which has plugged up the river and changed him from a mountain to an island. This piece of masonry is known as Elephant Butte Dam, and has created the biggest made-to-order water factory in the world, impounding more water than the great Roosevelt and Assouan Dams combined. "The Elephant Butte is about four thousand feet above the sea, and though for the most part unproductive, this desert condition is due solely to the lack of adequate irri- gation facilities. In reality there is no corner of the earth potentially richer than the Rincon, Mesilla, Las Palomas and El Paso valleys. "In 1904 the National Irrigation Congress held a session in El Paso. At this meeting a plan was projected for con- structing across the Rio Grande a concrete dam. Elephant Butte was chosen as the site of operations. Seven million two hundred thousand dollars was estimated as the total cost. It was necessary to go down eighty-five to one hun- dred feet before a sure foundation could be obtained for The Call to Service 261 the ponderous wall of masonry, which now rises two hun- dred and fifty feet above low water. This, the largest irrigation dam in the world, is twelve hundred feet long; the roadway on top is eighteen feet wide, while the maxi- mum width at the base is twelve times as great. "The reservoir behind this wall is forty-five miles long and has a shore line of two hundred miles. The storing of water began in February, 1915, and this artificial lake, now full, contains over eight hundred and sixty billion gallons, enough water to cover the state of Massachusetts to a depth of six inches; or again, enough to fill seven pipes four feet in diameter, reaching from the mountain island of Elephant Butte to the moon. "It will irrigate one hundred and eighty thousand acres of arable land, mostly in New Mexico and Texas, thereby increasing the present value of these farming lands two and four-fold, and when planted in bearing orchards, as high as ten and twelve fold; and will convert the rainless Elephant Butte country- into the most productive valley in all the world." A minister voluntarily traveled all the wa>' from Ala- bama to Atlanta to tell of the populations pouring into that region and to sound the call of opportunity in the ears of the Home Mission Secretary. Though the latter has been re-echoing the call in the ears of the Church, it is seemingly deaf to the appeal; and this opportunity is still calling. In the conservative old commonwealth of Virginia, where the James and Appomattox Rivers unite, ten miles from Petersburg, there sprang into existence recently the largest city in the shortest space of time ever known, even in our magic land of wonders. Within a few months it grew to 30,000 people, comprising in its cosmopolitan citizenship a dozen nationalities. The magnitude of this Home Mission opportunity temporarily paralyzed the Church in its unpreparedness. Daily services were held in a cheap, hastily-constructed tabernacle, and there were 262;: The Task Thai Challenges marvelous results, among others the organization of a Russian Presbyterian church. In all probabilits' these prospects will be dissipated owing to lack of means to con- serve results and solidify them into something large and permanent. Will the Church hear the voice of God calling in this opportunity? Recently a delegation from the S\ nod of West Virginia, officially commissioned, appeared before the Assembly's Home Mission Committee and startled it with the call of opportunity from that mountain state, rich in resources and buoyant with hope. The call of God voiced by these representatives of this young and vigorous Synod bases its appeal upon three facts: (1) Of the total population of West Virginia, three-fourths are not identified with any branch of the Church; (2) Larger gains in additions to the Presbyterian Church, for the money invested, than in any other Synod of the South; (3) More unsaved people to the square mile in West Virginia than in the whole continent of Africa! The Committee of Home Missions, being at the limit of its resources, could only timidly promise adequate response, provided the Church authorizes it by hearing this call of God in the opportunity that challenges. Listen to the warning voice of Opportunity, that speaks: "Master of human destinies am I, Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait, Cities and fields I walk, I penetrate Deserts and seas remote, and passing by Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late I knock unbidden once at every gate! If sleeping, wake; if feasting, rise before I turn away. It is the hour of fate. And they who follow me reach every state Mortals desire, and conquer every foe Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate. Condemned to failure, penury and woe, Seek me in vain, and uselessly implore — I answer not, and I return no more!'' The Call to Service 263 2. Human Need Appeals. The cry of human need is the voice of God calHng to service. It is just the opposite of opportunity, for it promises no speedy compensation. This new sphere of Home Missions counts no cost. It expects no substantial tangible results. It demands no visible rewards. It is exactly the opposite of the commercial spirit of investment and dividend. It asks loving sacrificial service in response, to the Macedonian cry for help. It is the "New Home Missions"; or as styled by Warren H. Wilson, "The Second Missionary Adventure," the Student Volunteer Move- ment being regarded as the first. The Macedonian Cry. In all ages this "Man of Macedonia" has stood as typical of a call to minister to human need. Do we appreciate the significance of the fact that it was a "vision" of need as seen by the apostle, and not the conscious and personal appeal of the needy themselves? The man of Macedonia was not a real person of flesh and blood, but a fantasy of the Apostle's mind taking the concrete form of need. The Apostle soon discovered the difference, to his infinite sorrow. The "vision" representing lost souls was a mute appeal, impersonal to the last degree. The Macedonian people themselves, repudiated the ministrations of the Apostle, and instead of a generous reception, gave Paul "stripes and imprisonment." The vision was an altruistic conception of the unrecognized spiritual needs of the people who consciously refused to acknowledge their own needs. The Cry, Whence It Comes. The wail of a castaway babe among the bulrushes of the Nile touched the heart of Pharaoh's daughter; and shall the cry of destitution make a less potent appeal to the Church of Christ than to the sympathy of a heathen 264 The Task That Challenges princess? If we had spiritual vision, delicate and sensitive, we could see the man of Macedonia beckoning. If we had "ears to hear" we could interpret the cry of the desti- tute, even though it be "dumb with silence." As the million immigrants annually push their way among us, even though each man cried in his native tongue more appealingly than the man of Macedonia, it would neverthe- less be utterly meaningless to us, being uttered in an un- known tongue. Yet their sad countenances speak louder than words; and their wretched environment is a pathetic appeal, though mute, more touching than spoken language, as these "strangers in a strange land," with no medium of communication and no avenue of approach for Gospel light, helpless and lonely, in destitution and despair, seemingly lodge their complaint against Christendom, "No man careth for our soul." Immigrants But Not Emigrants. Most pathetic is the cry of need that comes from the wretched destitution of those who are immigrants Init not emigrants. They are immigrants because they come from benighted Africa; but they are not emigrants, because they did not voluntarily forsake their fatherland. "Like dumb driven cattle," bought or stolen, they were trans- ported to America in slave ships; and their children and children's children have ever since been "hewers of wood and drawers of water." In the midst of Gospel privileges, many are as "far from the kingdom of God" as their brethren in the heart of the Dark Continent. The favored few enjoy the services of a native ministr)- which will compare favorably with the average of any people or race; but the vast multitude are at the tender mercies of "blind leaders of the blind," exploited and fleeced by immoral shepherds, or else passed by in utter neglect. Their cruel wrongs, their silent sufferings, their neglected claims, unite in a mute appeal: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that The Call to Service 265 pass b\"? Behold and see if there be an\- sorrow hke unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath affhcted me in the day of his fierce anger." The Cry of the Mountains . This is just the opposite of the immigrant. The moun- taineer is the purest Anglo-Saxon in America, descendant of the Scotch-Irish and Covenanter, kept pure by his isola- tion, which is also the cause of his destitution. The Mis- sion at the mouth of the Canoe Creek on Kentucky River must suffice to serve as an illustration of need in the Appalachian Mountains. Its history reads like a romance, and is stranger than fiction. Some years ago it was famous for its fighting, its rowdyism, and was the home of the feudists. Two brothers had built rival stores on oppo- site sides of the road, and were threatening to kill each other. To save bloodshed, as well as to start a needed work of grace. Dr. Guerrant bought one of these stores and turned it into a Mission, thanks to the liberality of an Atlanta woman. Over the door to-day the traveler reads "Brooks Memorial Institute." Some time ago Rev. \V. E. Hudson conducted a meeting here, which was void of results up to the last day. At the beginning of the last service, a terrible row was started by drunken men at the church door. The whole congrega- tion rushed out, .but finally quiet was restored. After much persuasion the men were induced to come in to the service. Miss Bratton, our missionary, sat in the rear among them, to prevent a disturbance. The Spirit of God mightily touched the hearts of the audience. One of the ringleaders went forward and professed conversion, and as the result sixteen young people joined the church. They formed a Christian Endeavor Society, and now these young men lead in i:)ublic prayer. There is a waiting list at this place of forty-one professing Christians, ready for organiza- tion as soon as the Presbytery deems it advisable. At one 266 The Task That Challenges time there were three barrooms within sight of our Mis- sion, one in the United States post office. Now they are all closed. One morning there was nailed up near the mis- sion a sign which had twenty-four signatures, stating that whiskey and gambling would no longer be tolerated; and this did the work! Our two women missionaries at this place also conduct a Sabbath school in the afternoon three miles away, and they are called upon by the community for every kind of loving service. On one occasion they nursed a typhoid fever patient night and day till she recovered. One nursed the other through smallpox, and believes that she was immune in answer to prayer. One family sent for them to pull the teeth of a suffering child, another man insisted upon their doctoring the sore foot of his mule, and rewarded them in apples for their successful cure. Drs. Tyler, Superintendent, and Morris, Secretary, making an official visit to this Mission, agreed it was worth the long, fatiguing ride to see these happy women, and to see twelve young men stand up at the night service as a choir and lead the congregational singing, and also render a voluntary. These missionaries are teaching by day, walking in the afternoons all over that section, ministering to the sick, and praying with the people. Some day a great stream of mountain boys will pour into our theologi- cal seminaries and fill our pulpits, as the result of such pioneer work now being done by these consecrated teachers, and scores like them. Our Emigrating Children. Leaving ancestral abodes to make for themselves new homes on the expanding frontier in untried environments, severing church relationships which cannot be easily or entirely duplicated, a million move out annually from the eastern slopes of the Atlantic into the great Southwest, actuated chiefly by a purpose to retrieve broken fortunes, The Call to Service 267 or to get rich quick by means of promising business ven- tures. Dominated so completely by the commercial spirit of the age and the reckless abandon of the uncon- ventional frontier, they are conscious of no spiritual need. Is the Church to become as deaf to the appeal of their desperate condition, and as blind to their danger, as they themsehes are indifferent to their spiritual degeneration? J. Humanity' s Commanding Call. The claims of humanity are the imperative call of God to service. This is not entirely synonymous with the ap- peal of human need. The latter is individualistic, and limited by class or condition. The call of humanity is unlimited by time, circumstances, geography, race or nationality. It is as wide as the world, as extensive as the race, as eternal as the generations of mankind yet un- born. Ministering to need is benevolent; responding to the claims of humanity is altruistic, while its plea is en- forced primarily for the sake of the individual, it is ulti- mately for the broader and more compelling cause of man. Its nation-wide slogan is: "Save America primarily for America's sake, but ultimately for the world's sake." At the time the German submarine warfare claimed its victims, not solely from the ranks of armed soldiers, but of innocent babes, defenceless women and inoffensive neutrals, Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States, delivered his ultimatum, not simply in the interest of the comparatively few individuals affected, but for a far more wide-reaching purpose, as he demanded: "This outrage must stop for humanity's sake." It was the grow- ing spirit of a Nation which refused China's indemnity in compensation for the damage of the Boxer Mo\'ement; which intervened in behalf of Cuba's liberation and the Philippine oppression, with no selfish gain to itself — the first token of the coming era of the brotherhood of Nations. In a higher sense and with a nobler impulse the Church of 268 The Task That Challenges God must respond to humanity's claims, not solely for the relief of destitution among mountaineers, pioneers or Negroes, but chiefly to heal the world's sore and remedy humanity's ills, supplanting wrongs by the application of the active principles of Christianity. The Situation Changes. One of the favorite epigrams heard repeatedly in mis- sionary addresses is, that, "while the nineteenth century made the world a neighborhood, the twentieth century is making it a l)rotherhood." The rush of events, the rapidly changing world currents of thought and life, the sympathetic attitude of nations toward new ideals, are forcing the Church to readjust itself to the new age which is facing and discussing world crises, world problems, a world situation, etc. Suddenly the thought startles us that we must begin to assign new meanings to these terms. Here in America itself is being enacted a world crisis, here must be solved a world problem, and here must be staged a world conflict. It has long been recognized that Ameri- can conditions and ideals have been keeping the world in a turmoil. The conclusion is insistent that in this new world relation it is imperative for America to secure a better grasp upon herself for the world's sake. This idea is beginning to impart new emphasis as well as world im- portance to the Home Mission purpose and issue. In the minds of the most far-sighted and profound thinkers of to- day, the opinion is rapidly crystallizing into conviction, that the spiritual conquest of America looms larger now than any other task of the Church. It has not yet taken possession of the rank and file, but it will assuredly fire the heart of the Church, as the thought develops mo- mentum. The Christianizing of not less than seventy- five niillions in the United States is a task in itself of large dimensions, considering the fact that many of this number are already nominal Christians, and for that reason more The Call to Service 269 difficult to reach; and the salvation of all is beset by the fiercest conflict which can be org;anized b>' the forces of evil. But that which dwarfs all other considerations is the growing conviction of the Church that the winning of these seventy-five millions is more essential to the world's welfare than any other equal number of people anywhere on earth. The CosmopoUtan Purpose. The effort for the evangelization of almost any other nation is largely local, terminating with itself. The Christianizing of America is cosmopolitan in its scope, having for its objective the whole wide world. The win- ning of Africa, India, or China, and the saving of America have a common purpose — that of ministering to the spiritual need of the individual and the Christianizing of the Nation; but the Christianizing of America furnishes the additional motive of world evangelization, in sohing the problem of humanity's redemption. In other words, the plea is. Save China for China's sake; but save America, not only for America's sake, but more important still, for the world's sake. If China or Africa could be evangelized to-day, though at the enormous cost of the combined wealth of the world, it would be worth while. Not a dollar devoted to the evan- gelization of the heathen is wasted. Still, Christian China and evangelized Africa would be powerless to evangelize the world, both from financial and ethnological considera- tions. In their abject poverty they are doubtless making greater sacrifices to-day than Christian America; but they are so hopelessly poor, the majority struggling continualh' with starvation, they could not meet the world's demands; and the world cannot wait, in its sore distress, until China and Africa are financially prepared for a world propaganda. From an ethnological standpoint, race antipathies render it impossible for the African or the Chinaman to find an 270 The Task That Challenges avenue of reproach to the other nations of the earth. No inferior race has ever been utilized in the Providence of God to upHft a superior. On the other hand, God has given to America the wealth of the world, and endowed the Anglo-Saxon with the very genius for and spirit of evangelization. To the same effect, in "The Mission of Our Nation," Dr. John F. Love, Secretary of Foreign Missions of the Southern Baptist Church, bears testimony that the Anglo- Saxon, and not the Chinaman or the African, is equipped of God for the task, and therefore charged with the re- sponsibility of evangelizing the world : "The Anglo-Saxon race has the distinctive capacity for introducing its policies, its civilization, its ideals and its institutions among other peoples. There is not a colored race in the world which could evangelize the white race. Instinctively the white man feels that he is the colored man's teacher, while at the same time his humanity impels a solicitude for every race. * * * jf ^|| Chij^g. were Christian, the Chinese race very probably could not evan- gelize a single American state. All of Africa could not evangelize one county of American white people. If the Apostles had turned into Asia they might, in the evan- gelistic zeal kindled at Pentecost, have established Chris- tianity in China. They might have done the same had they turned into Africa, but an cA'angelized Africa, nor China, nor both combined, could have evangelized America. Indeed, Christianity perished in those parts of these lands where it was planted. The Anglo-Saxon people have a great capacity for Anglo-Saxonizing other races, that is to say, raising them to the standard of their own ideals of government, society and religion. * * * "The Chinaman is a persistent sort of mortal, but his is a persistence against progress. Constitutionally he lacks the elements necessary to missionary achievement. The Anglo-Saxon civilization has made a steady advance The Call to Service 271 of the world's barbarism and the effete civihzations of other nations. What changes have taken place in Asia and Africa these two millenniums, except such as the white man has instituted? How much better to-day is interior ("hina and Africa than on that day when Paul heard the cry, "Come over, and help us," and turned away from Asia to answer the call to Europe? What lands have Chinamen and Africans subdued? What nations uplifted? What literature have they created? What art, what music, what poetry have they produced? What sciences have they developed? What human benefits ha\e the>' be- stowed? * * * "It is plain enough that God should covet a race with such powers and such a future for the ends He seeks to pro- mote in the world. It is His will that in the day of Anglo- Saxon power the testimony, the fame, the influence of the race shall be for righteousness and the founding of His Kingdom in the world. It is now becoming plain to all intelligent men that unless the Anglo-Saxons themselves throw away their opportunity, America is to be the seat of empire for this race." The gifts and calling of God are never aimless; and wherever abused or even unused, the)' are subject to the warning: "Therefore I say unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." If divine providence can be interpreted with any degree of certainty, it indicates that for humanity's sake the interests of the Kingdom are largely entrusted to America. The e^■angelization of Africa and America being placed on the same footing in this discussion, as of equal importance from the standpoint of their own salvation, surely the intelligent Christian may without subjecting himself to the criticism of selfishness or narrowness, be allowed to urge this additional motive — Save America for humanity's sake. Was not this the suggestion and meaning of Ralph 272 The Task That Challenges Waldo Emerson, who insisted: "America is but another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last supreme effort of divine providence in behalf of the human race".-^ To the same purport, Prof. Park argued, "Should America fail, the world will fail," for the hopes of humanity are involved in its destiny. In the lan- guage of Alexander Hamilton: "It is ours to be either the grave in which the hopes of the world shall be entombed, or the pillar of cloud that shall pilot the race onward." "Here beats the fevered heart of modern civilization, and he who wins that heart holds the key to the centuries." No man ever had keener perception of the mission of our Nation, nor rendered greater service in awakening it to the consciousness of its immense possibilities than Dr. Josiah Strong, who asserted: "If this generation is faithful to its trust, the United States is to become God's right arm in His battle with the world's ignorance, oppression and sin." Years ago Cressy wrote "The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World." The record of the decisive spiritual battle in the gigantic struggle for world supremacy has not and cannot yet be written, because that battle is now being waged with consummate skill and terrific force. The powers of evil have resurrected and called into action all the weapons of ages past. In addition to the conflict with commercialism, materialism, agnosticism, the battle with civilized and cultured paganism has been transferred to this country. The battlefield is America; and the stake is Anglo-Saxon Christian supremacy. The fierce struggle w^hich to-day makes Central Europe a field of blood and the whole continent a house of tears, exacting its annual toll of blood and treasure reaching into the millions, is insignificant compared with the sacrifice of human souls and the issues at stake in the conflict with evil. If we lose the fight in America, it will affect the destiny of the world for generations untold. The Call to Service 273 The Cost of Preparedness. Germany astonished the world by her achievements in the face of tremendous odds. The secret of her well- earned success was her preparedness in the matter of trained men, and her abundant supply of the munitions of war. The initial failures of the Allies, with greater potential re- sources and superior numbers, were pathetic and humiliat- ing, due almost exclusively to lack of the immediate weapons of war. Then came the patriotic appeal for sacri- fice, and the world has never witnessed such prompt re- sponse, at such infinite cost of treasure and life laid on war's gory altar. The rich yielded up their great for- tunes and the poor denied themselves the necessaries of life, in order that $108,000,000 might be consumed daily in supplying the sinews of war. Mothers who had lost as many as four sons on the battlefield did not clasp their last and only ones to their bosom in the desperation of parental love, but thrust them to the front in the service of their country. All this vast expenditure of treasure and this shedding of precious blood were willingly offered to make more widows and more orphans, to exact more tears and more blood, to wring from bleeding hearts more agony and from suffering humanity more dying groans! Even if this priceless treasure be credited to patriotism, what sacrifice and service can the Church exhibit to match this frightful holocaust of death? Shall the altars of war and of patriotism exact more treasure than is yielded for humanity and for God? Church of Christ in America, do you realize your world-wide mission in an age on ages telling? The impassioned language of Longfellow, ad- dressed to the American Republic, could with far greater propriety be applied to the Christian Church of America: "Humanity with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Hangs breathless on thv fate." 274 TJte Task That Challenges The Response to Respoiislhilify. Now the practical, the fundamental consideration is what shall be the response of Christianity to the call of God for service? Each individual Christian faces the un- avoidable issue. There can be no escaping the responsi- bility of a response. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, as applicable in this twentieth century as when first spoken nineteen hundred years ago, Christ himself suggested three alternatives. They are mutually exclusive and they ex- haust the possibilities of the case. The final word has been said on the subject of attitude towards human need. And every individual must recognize himself as enrolled in one of the three typical classes, sharply distinguished from each other, in the attitude toward the man fallen "among thieves," "stripped," "wounded," and "half dead," repre- senting humanity fallen in the streets and writhing in its agony of wretchedness. The Attitude of the Priest. "And by chance there came down a certain priest that way ; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side." Is there any special significance in Christ's selecting and pillorying in history a minister of religion, as a type of man who could pass by human suffering, in supreme in- difference, utterly unconcerned? Are ministers of re- ligion so theoretical and professional as to make them un- sympathetic with the real ills of a suffering world? Was he hastening to meet a public engagement, and exalted re- ligious service above the claims of humanity? Whatever the cause, for some reason human need failed to secure his attention, and so he is typical of multitudes so absorbed in business, whether religious or secular, as to render it impossible to give personal attention or even a passing thought to human suffering. Such will sometimes con- tribute thousands to public charity, but not themselves The Call to Service 275 to the distasteful task of "visiting widows and orphans in their affliction." Many are so preoccupied, that it becomes impossible to induce them to consider the claims of real need. Personal appeals by the Secretary of Home Mis- sions to Christian millionaires have been rewarded some- times with the impatient reply: "My charity is already pledged in other directions; I have nothing for the cause you represent." Is this priest who "passed by on the other side" the exponent of your attitude towards the fallen and the needy? The Attitude of the Levite. "And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him." He was not a minister of religion, but he was an assistant to the priest, representing the religious activities of the official layman. He was not so indifferent as the priest. At least he paused a moment, for he "came and looked on him.'" He investigated the case, and ascertained something of the extent of his wounds and the nature of his sufferings; and then deliberately he, too, "passed by on the other side." He was more culpable if possible than the priest, for he turned his back on need after at least partial investigation, and hence greater knowledge. Investigation always superimposes additional responsibility. The Levite is typical of man>- who will listen to cases of suffering, attend missionary conventions "to hear the needs presented," or study some mission text- book "to learn the conditions prevalent," and flatter them- selves that they are "greatly interested in missions," not- withstanding the fact that they take no practical part in the work and render no sacrifical service. Are you con- tent to add to your responsibility by pausing long enough to "look" on the needs of the destitute? I- 276 The Task That Challenges The Attitude of the Samaritan . "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him" — If ever man had a good excuse to imitate Priest and Levite, it was this Samaritan, for "the Jews and Samaritans have no deaHngs with each other." Race prejudice between white and black and the caste system of India, was not more pronounced than anti- pathy between the Jew and the Samaritan. No Jew would have recognized the existence of a wounded Samaritan. The woman of Samaria was amazed that a Jew would accept even a drink of water from a religious rival ; so this Samaritan might justly have said: "Let the Jews take care of their own cases." Instead, how^ever, "he had compas- sion on him," placed his heart throbbing with sympathy next to that of the sufferer ebbing out its life blood, ex- hibiting the very spirit of Christ himself, who in this Good Samaritan but thinly disguises himself in his sympathetic ministrations in behalf of fallen and wretched humanity. Compassion and the relief of suffering come frequently from most unexpected sources. Fraternal orders and voluntary societies sometimes put the Church to blush by readier response to the calls of humanity. He who imitates the Good Samaritan is following the steps of the Master himself. What is your attitude toward the Cause of Humanity? The most gigantic disaster which has shocked the world in this twentieth century was the sinking of the White Star Liner, the Titanic, in the North Atlantic, April, 1912. Imagination can scarcely picture the scene, when sixteen hundred human beings stood on the deck of that ill-fated vessel in the blackness of midnight darkness, with the frozen iceberg waters awaiting them. W'ringing their hands in the agony of despair, they appealed to heaven for help, and sent out their wireless messages in all directions over the face of the deep, "Save Our Souls". But seemingly The Call to Service 277 there was no ear in the heavens above that heard, and no response from human hand or heart, as sixteen hundred souls went down in darkness into those icy waters; and yet a ship passed so near that survivors reported that they saw the hghts of the "CaHfornian" as she hurried on her way. Whether not understanding the signals, or else afraid to venture into those dangerous iceberg waters, the CaH- fornian "passed them by" and left them to their awful fate. Shall we hear the mute appeal of dying souls, while shall we see in a vision of need, hands frantically beckoning for help and hear the wail of the lost, and turning our back upon their appeal, quietly pass them by in our indifference, deliberately leaving them to their wretched fate? "The time is .-hort. IF thou wouldst work for God, it must Ix' now: If thou wouldst win the garland for thy l)row. Redeem the time." When in death's darkness all alone. Thy feet can ccme and go no more, The Lord preserve thy going out From this dark world of grief and .?in. While angels standing round about Sing "God preserve thy coming in." APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE. CHAPTER I. 1. What are the two greatest enterprises confronting the Church of the present day? 2. How are Home and Foreign Missions inter-related? 3. Define Home Missions. 4. Show, by comparison, the territorial greatness of America; of our Southern Field? 5. Estimate the proportion of unsaved in the country at large, and in the South, who challenge the Church of Christ. 6. How has this proportion changed with the years? 7. How have general religious conditions changed? S. What did Rev. F. B. Meyer say of America as a Home Mission Field? 9. Mention some foes of pure Christianitj\ 10. What do you think of the importance of the Home Mission task? 11. Clive some reasons why it is impossible to divide the Home Mission field among the various Protestant denominations, as has been attempted in the Foreign Fields. 12. Is the Presbyterian Church U. S. measiu'ing up to its full respon- sibility to the unsaved millions in our midst? 13. What is the individual responsibility of all Christians in the South? CHAPTER II. 1. On what does the work of Home Missions base its assurance of ultimate success? 2. Give several instances of our staggering national wealth, and ex- plain why the South is destined to early financial prosperity. 3. What is the relation between the geographical position of the United States, and its world influence? 4. How is material development in the South keeping pace with de- velopment in the country at large? 5. As compared with New England and the Middle States? 6. What do you think of the financial future of the South? 7. ^Vhat responsibility do these things entail upon Christians? Appendix 279 8. How is the South specially fitted to conserve and advance the Protestant faith? 9. What is the first thing needed? 10. What is the relation between Christian giving and living, and the extension of the Kingdom of God upon earth? CHAPTER III. 1. Name the Home Mission Agencie,^ in tlio Presbyterian Church, U. S. 2. Define the spheres of service of Congregational, Presbyterial, and Synodical Home Missions. 3. What is the scope of Assembly's Home Missions? 4. In what way is Home Missions both "a flying goal," and an all- in-one cause? 5. Give some reasons for the statement that the present missionary force of our Church in the West is entirely inadequate to the needs of today. 6. How has the term ''The P>ontier" changed in its application, and tell about some of the new "P>ontiers"? 7. What work among foreign-speaking people in the South is being fostered by the Assembly's Home Mission Committee? 8. What is the call of the mountains, and how is it being answered? 9. How are we meeting the religious needs of the Negro in the South? 10. Describe the departments of Evangehsm and Sustentation, and show how they are correlated. 11. What are some of the accomplishments of the Departments of Church and Manse Erection? 12. In what way is the Department of Mission Schools one of the most important of the Assembly's Committee? 13. In a sentence, what do you think is your responsibility in connec- tion with the work of the Assembly's Home Mission Com- mittee? CHAPTER IV. 1. Why is Evangelism of fundamental importance? 2. What does God's Word say about soul winning? 3. What about "the foolishness of preaching?" 4. What is the relation between Christianity and Social Service? 5. How may "humanitarianisni" become a snare to the Christian? 6. How is this danger to be met by the sincere Christian? 7. What present-day conditions emphasize the need of personal evangelism? 280 Appendix 8. Give briefly the evangelistic plan of the Assembly's Committee. 9. What field is there for personal pastoral evangelism? 10. How may the individual Christian fulfil his duty as a winner of souls? 11. What did Andrew do after he had "found the Messias?" CHAPTER V. 1. Why are race antipathies sinful? 2. In what ways was slavery a blessing to the Negro? 3. Give some instances of Negro progress since emancipation? 4. Mention some outstanding Negro characteristics, both good and bad. 5. Describe some disadvantages under which the Negro labors. 6. How has misunderstanding frequently hindered his real advance- ment? 7. Tell about some worthy Negroes whom you personally know. 8. Why should Southern people specially concern themselves about the bodies and souls of the Negroes, as "those who must give account"? 9. Give a brief account of Pres))yterian work among the Negroes. 10. Debate: Resolved — That the presence of the Negro in the South has been as much of a blessing to the white man as to the black. (Do not confine the discussion of this subject to the material in the text-book. Consult other good books, and bring to bear upon it your own knowledge and experience.) CHAPTER VI. 1. What is meant by "Church Erection." 2. Why is this cause of fundamental importance to the life and growth of a denomination? 3. How is it a gauge of denominational loyalty? 4. Compare the "Church Erection Fund" of the Presbyterian Church, IT. S., with that of other denominations. 5. How have certain of our special funds proved the truth of Prov. 11:24? G. Did our Lord's commendation of the widow's "two mites" in Mark 12:41-44, lessen the obligation of those who have more to "cast in much" into his treasury? 7. What is the "Semi-Centennial Building Fund," and what has been accomplished so far? Appendix 281 8. How is such a Fund the best "Memorial?" 9. Describe another important Fund established by the Executive Committee of Home Missions for the benefit of living donors? 10. What i.:; the special call to us to devise "liberal things" for this foundational cause of our Church? CHAPTER VII. 1. What well known sayings emphasize the value of the child? 2. In what way is education the handmaid of religion? 3. Compare the educational standing of the larger denominations in the South. 4. How may the Presbyterian Church U. S. regain its former primacy in education? 5. What is the place of the Christian school in the life of the Nation? 6. Show^ by figures the importance of the denominational school in the life of the Church. 7. Mention some incidents that show the need and the value of Mis- sion schools. 8. Among what peoples is the Presbyterian Church U. S. conducting Mission schools? 9. Give two items concerning each. 10. Give a brief summary of the appeal of Dr. E. O. Guerrant for the mountain people. 11. How has the Presbyterian Church honored it.5elf in honoring Dr. Guerrant? CHAPTER YIII. 1. In what way are all white Americans "children of immigrants?" 2. Show, by some striking illu.^ration, the volume of recent immigra- tion. 3. Tell how the character of immigration has changed during recent years. 4. What influence is this having upon the Nation; what upon the Church? 5. What have some students of immigrant conditions said about present conditions and prospects? 6. How does our attitude make this a peril or a God-given opportunity? 7. Describe briefly the missionary work carried on by the Presbyterian Church U. S., among the Mexicans in Texas and the Cubans in Florida. 8. Among the people in our midst speaking European languages. 9. Among Orientals? 282 Appendix 10. Mention some incidents of the reflex value of Christian missionary work among foreigners in America. 11. How is immigration affecting our understanding of world-wide missions? CHAPTER IX. 1. Ho\v have changing conditions affected the Country church? 2. In what way is the continuance and strength of the Country church one of the most important problems of the day? 3. How are Government, State and Church agencies seeking a solu- tion? 4. Describe some conditions revealed by Rural Surveys? 5. What contributions have the Steele Creek and other country churches of Mecklenburg Co., N. C, made to the religious life of that entire section? 6. How is the extension of "tenant farming" a peril? 7. What danger attends the "absentee pastorate?" 8. Why should not the Church be as considerate and as just toward its workers in weak or needy fields at Home, as in dark fields in Foreign lands? 9. How may the Country church itself help to improve conditions? 10. Mention some ways of meeting the needs of the Country church of the present day? 11. Can you suggest a better program for the Country church than that proposed? N. B. — Carefully compiled and instructive Reading Courses, planned by an expert, may be obtained from the United States Bureau of Education, Home Education Division, Washington, D. C. Helpful literature on agriculture and general rural subjects will be furnished free by the U. S. Government Department of Agriculture at Washing- ton, and the various State Departments of Agriculture and Agricultural Colleges. The general offices of the national Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A., New York City, also issue valuable literature on this subject. CHAPTER X. 1. Is woman's interest in Christian work a recent development? Cite instances recorded in the New Testament. 2. What are the two interdenominational organizations of women and what educational work have they accomplished? 3. What was the last evangelical denomination in the United States to complete the woman's organization of the Church? 4. Tell something of the first Missionary societies organized in the Southern Presbyterian Church? Appendix 283 0. What was the first Presljyterial Union organized, and what were the steps which led up to it? 6. When and where was the first Hynodical Unif)n organizofl in the Southern Presbyterian Church? 7. What can you tell of the work which preceded the organization of the Woman's Auxiliary, and when and where was it organized? 8. What are the various steps in the organization of the Woman's Auxiliary and what do they include? (See the Auxiliary as a Triangle). 9. Give the three characteristics of the plan of the Auxiliary and ex- plain each. 10. Give some results which have accrued from the life of the Auxiliary in the way of complete organization, educational work and financial increase. 11. What are the three great responsibilities facing the Organization? CHAPTER XI. 1. Why is the task of the Church a spiritual one? 2. In what way have changed conditions in our country altered the present ideal and scope of Home Missions? 3. Is the Church keeping pace with the growth of the country? 4. How is this age of "specializing" affecting the method of training workers for Home Mission fields? 5. Mention several ways in which theological seminaries are broad- ening their work, better to meet present needs. 6. How would the gift of several "Immigrant Fellowships" give sta- bility and impetus to the foreign-speaking work of the Church? 7. What are some of the qualifications demanded for successful Home Mission work? 8. Why is enthusiasm so preeminently a requisite? 9. Is any man or woman "sufficient for these things?" 10. What debt does the Church owe her Home missionaries? CHAPTER XII. 1. Why is the book of Isaiah sometimes called "The Gospel of Isaiah?" 2. In what respect are the messages of Isaiah and of the New Testa- ment writers identical? 3. Give several illustrations of an ojjjxjrtunity, "an open door," being a direct call of God. 4. How have changing physical or social conditions frequently brought moral responsibility? 284 Appendix 5. Is the fact that no special work is being urged upon us an evidence that God holds us responsible for none? Give reasons. t). Does ignorance of the Church's w^ork on the part of any members absolve them from obligation for that work? Give reasons. 7. In what sense is human need the call of God? 8. Mention some of the things that have made the world today, even closer than a neighborhood — a "Brotherhood?" 9. What obligation does this impose upon the Church of Christ in America? 10. What lesson may the Church learn from this terrible world-war? 11. Apply to our present-day conditions the lesson conveyed by Christ's parable of "The Good Samaritan." 12. Something to think about and answer silently: What would happen if we accepted as a direct call of God an opportunity to do a definite Christian service? BIBLIOGRAPHY GENERAL AND HISTORICAL. American Social and Religious Conditions, Charles Stelzle. Flem- ing H. Revell Co., New York. $L50. At Our Own Door, S. L. Morris. Presbyterian Committee of Pul)- lication. 50c. Christianity and the Social Crisis, Walter Rauschenbusch. The MacMillan Co., New York. SL50. Christianizing the Social Order, Walter Rauschenbusch. The MacMillan Co., New York. $1.50 Conservation of National Ideals, Various Authors. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 50c. Elemental Forces in Home Missions, Lemuel Call Barnes. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 75c. Heroes of the Cross in America, Don O. Shelton. Missionary Edu- cation Movement, New York. 50c. Home Missions in Action, Edith H. Allen. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 50c. Horizon of American Missions, I. H. McNash. Fleming H. Revell Co. $1.00. Leavening the Nation, Joseph B. Clark. Baker & Taylor Co., New York. $1.25. Missions Striking Home, Joseph Ernest McAfee. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 75c. Our Home Mission Work, Chas. E. Schaeffer. Publication and S. S. Board, Reformed Church in U. S., Philadelphia, Pa. 75c. Sheldon Jackson, Robt. L. Stewart. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $2.00. The Call of the Homeland, A. L. Phillips. Presbyterian Committee of Publication, Richmond, Va. 50c. The Christian Ministry and the Social Order, Chas. S. MacFarland. The Frontier, Ward Piatt. Missionary Education Movement, New York. 50c. The Home Mission Task, Victor I. Masters. The Blosser Co., Atlanta, Ga. The Mission of Our Nation, Jas. F. Love. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.00. The New Home Missions, H. Paul Douglass. Missionary Flduca- tion Movement, New York. 60c. 286 Bibliography The Social Task of Christianity, Samuel Zane Batten. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.25. The South Today, John M. Moore. Missionary Education Move- ment, New York. 60c. What Makes a Nation Great, Frederick Lynch. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 7.5c. World Missions from the Home Base, J. Ernest McAfee, Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 75c. COUNTRY CHURCH AND RURAL PROBLEMS. Chapters in Rural Progress, K. L. Butterfield. University of Chicago Press. $1.00. Our Southern Highlanders, Horace Kephart. Outing Publishing Co., New York. $2.50. The Challenge of the Country, Walter G. Fiske. Association Press, New York. 75c. The Church and Country life, Paul M. Voght. Missionary Pkluca- tion Movement, New York. $1.00. The Church at the Center, Warren H. Wilson. Missionary Educa- tion Movement, New York. 60c. The Church of the Open Country, Warren H. Wilson. Missionary Education Movement, New York. 60c. The Country Church, C. O. Gill and Gifford Pinchot. The Mac- Millan Co., New York. $1.25. The Country Church and the Rural Problem, K. L. Butterfield. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. $1.00. The Country Chm-ch Bulletins, Prof. E. C. Bran.-son. Chapel Hill, N. C. Free." The Country Life Movement in the United States, L. H. Bailey. The MacMillan Co., New York. $1.25. The Day of tlie Country Church, J. O. Ashenhurst. Funk A Wag- nails Co., New York City. $1.00. The Rural Life Problem in the ITnited States, Sir Horace Plunkett. The MacMillan Co., New York. $1.25. The Church's Mission to the Mountaineers of the South, Walter Hughson. Church Missions Publishing Co., Hartford, Conn. 75c. The Highlanders of the South, Samuel H. Thompson. Eaton & Mains, New York. 50c. The Southern Mountaineers, Samuel T. Wilson. Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, New York. 60c. Bibliography 287 THE CITY. Christianity's Storm Center, Charles Stelzle. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.00. The Battle with the Slum, Jacob A. Riis. The MacMillan Co., New York. $2.00. The Burden of the City, Isabelle Horton. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 50c. The Challenge of the City, Josiah Strong. Missionary Education Movement, New York. 60c. The Leaven in a Great City, Lillian W. Betts. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. SL50. The Redemption of the City, Chas. H. Sears. Griffith & Rowland Press, Philadelphia, Pa. 50c. IMMIGRATION. Against the Current, Edward A. Steiner. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $L50. Aliens or Americans, Howard B. Grose. Missionary Education Movement, New York. 50c. From Alien to Citizen, Edward A. Steiner. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $L75. Immigrant Forces, W. P. Shriver. Missionary Education Move- ment, New York. 60c. Immigrant Races of North America, Peter Roberts. Association Press, New York. 50c. On the Trail of the Immigrant, Edward A. Steiner. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.75. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, Emily G. Balch. Charities Publication Committee, New York. $2.50. Races and Immigrants in America, J. E. Commons. The MacMil- lan Co., New York. $1.50. The Broken Wall, Edward A. Steiner. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.15. The Immigrant, Frederick J. Haskin. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.25. The Immigrant Invasion, Frank J. Warne. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York. .$2.50. The Immigration Problem, Jenks & Lauck. Funk & Wagnalls Co., New York. $1.75. 288 Bibliography The Immigrant Tide, Its Ebb and Plow, Edward A. Steiner. Flem- ing H. Revell Co. $1.75. The Making of an American, Jacob Riis. The MacMiUan Co., New York. $1.50. The New America, M. C. and L. C. Barnes. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 50c. The New Immigration, Peter Roberts. The MacMiUan Co., New York. $1.50. The Promised Land, Mary Antin. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. $1.75. They Who Knock at Our Gates, Mary Antin. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York. $1.00. THE INDIAN. Goodbird, The Indian, Gilbert L. Wilson. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 25c. In Camp and Tepee, Elizabeth M. Page. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.00. In Red Man's Land, Francis E. Leupp. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. 50c. Kiowa, Isabel Crawford. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.25. The American Indian on the New Trail, Thomas C. Moffett. Mis- sionary Education Movement, New York. 60c. The Indian and His Problem, Francis E. Leupp. Chas. Scribner's Sons, New York. $2.00. The Indian Dispossessed, Seth K. Humphrey. Little Brown & Co., Boston. $1.50. The Story of the Indian, Geo. B. Grinnell. D. Appleton & Co., New York. $1.50. THE NEGRO. Christian Reconstruction in the South, H. Paul Douglass. Pilgrim Press, Boston. $1.50. Following the Color Line, Ray S. Baker. Doubleday, Page & Co., New York. $2.00. From Darkness to Light, Mary Helm. Missionary Education Move- ment, New York. 50c. In Black and White, L. H. Hanunond. Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.25. Bibliography 289 Negro Life in the South, W. D. Weatherford. Association Press, New York. 50c. Present Forces in Negro Progress, W. D. Weatherford. Association Press, New York. 50c. The Negro Year Book, Marvin N. \\'ork. Negro Year liook Puh- Hshing Co., Tuskegee, Ala. 25c. The Upward Path, Mary Hehn. Missionary Education Move- ment, New York. 60c. Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington. Doubleday, Page A: Co., New York. iSl.SO. 3nbex A Aljbeville School 154 Advantages of U. S 21 Agricultural Products 20 Agencies of Home. Missions 32 Aldrich, T. B., quoted 164 America, Key to Situation 15 Annuity Plan 125 Appalachia 44 Area of Territory 3-4-5 Arguments 257 Assurances 31 Auxiliary's Work 231ff Attitudes 274ff B Beiderwolf, Dr. W. E., quoted 72 Bohemian Mission 17'.l Barton, Katherine M., quoted 200 C Call to Service 253 Catholicism 14 Causes United 30 Christian Science 14 Church Erection Loans 115 Conflicting Forces 13 Comparisons in South 25 Comparisons of Salaries 200 Colored Work 45f f Country Church 187ff Cosmopolitan Purpose 209 Cost of Preparedness 273 Cry of Mountains 265 Cuban Mission 177 Index 291 D Decline of Country Church 197 Doughty, W. E., quoted 4, 7, 20 E Early Missionary Societies 223 Ecclesiastical Errors 103 Economic Ecjuipment 22 Educational Leadershij) 131 Ellis, Mr. W. T., cjuoted 15 Erection of Churches o 1 , 11 2 Equipment needed " 12() Evangehsm 47ff , "jO, (iS, SO Evane,elistic Campaigns 72ff F Features of Mission Schools 136 French Missions 177 Foreigners in U. S 41ff Foreign-Speaking Schools 151 G Goodland 147 Grafton, Dr. C. W 207 Guerrant, Dr. E. < )., ciuoted 155 Guerrant Inland Mission 154 H Hillis, Dr. N. D., quoted 4, 22 Historic Development 37ff History of School Influence 135 Humanitarianism 65 Humanity's Call 267 I Illustrations 256ff Immigrant Tide 160 Immigrant vs. Emigrant 264 Imi)ortance of Country 188 Indian 146 292 Index. Influence on Foreigners 180 Interdenominational Women's Work 220 Italian Mission Schools 177 L Lay Evangelism , 80 Love, Dr. Jno. F., quoted 2 M Macedonian Cry 263 Manse Building Fund 117 Mecklenburg Presbytery 196 McMillan, Dr. Homer, quoted 15, 144 Mission Schools 128 Mission Study 235 Missionary Survey 235 Modern Call 255 Moore Loan Fund 116 Mormonism 14 Mott, John R., quoted 2, 15 Mountain Work 43 Mountain Schools 150 Mutual Dejiendence of Home and Foreign Missions 1, 2, 3 N Need of Schools 1 46 New Methods 241 New Frontier 40 Negro Progress 88 Negro Problem ; 96 Negro Religion 100 Negro Missions 101-108 O ( )bjections to Mission Schools 143 ( )])portunities 57, 255, 260 ( )klahoma Presbyterian College 148 < )mission 55 Index 293 P Pastoral Evangelism ' "*" Percentage of Church Members 9 Personal Work ^^ Perils of Immigration Piatt, Dr. ^Yard, quoted ^>^^ Population Presbyterian Obligation Presbyterian Rural Work ^^^ Presbyterian Organization -'^" D ui" .- 12,62 Problems ' Program for Rural Church -l"^ Purpose of Home Mission Committee 34 Q Qualifications of Home Missionary 246 R Race Prejudice ^ Rankin, Dr. J. D., quoted 63, 70 x^ 19 23 25 Resources i», -o, ...j Results of Auxiliary -'^'* Revivals ^^ Responsibility ^ Resolution of Home Mission Council 16 Rural Situation ^*^-^' -^6 Rural Surveys ^^^ S Sacrifice of Rural Workers 205 Safeguards lis Semi-Centennial Building Fund ^^° Schools ^ Slavery 84ff 9fiS Situation Changes ^"° Source of Supply Social Service 28 Spiritual Forces Steele Creek Church 200 Stillman Institute ^^'^ Statistics in South 294 Index Strong, Dr. Josiah, quoted 15 Subscription Forms 124 Suggestions 244 Summer Conference 235 Synodical Organization 228 T Texas-Mexican Missions 175 Thompson, Harriet, quoted 66 Trained Leadership 2;5.S Training for Country Work 210 Tyler, Dr. J. W. quoted 53 U Unoccupied Ivands 6 Unreached Masses ,S W Western Frontier 3.S Wilson, Woodrow, ((uoted 2() World's Greatest Mission Field 13 World P'actor 35 Woman's Work 219- 221 Woman's Responsibility 236 Y Young People's Work 236 DATE DUE .mmsssmm. ' ' DEMCO 38- 297 BW4059.P6M872 The task that challenges; home mission Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 1 1012 00017 1167