tihtary of Che theological ^tminavy PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Edwin L. Schellina: o With Compliments of The Joint Commission on A Nation -Wide Preaching Mission The Manual \% A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION Issued by the Commission on a / Nation -Wide Preaching Mission Published for the Commission by The Young Churchman Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin COPYRIGHT BY THE YOUNG CHURCHMAN CO. 1915 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword - vii A Call to thk Whole Church ----- i A Crisis and an Opportunity. Eev. James E. Freeman, D.D. - 5 Preparation for the Mission. Rev. L. B. Richards . - - 14 Publicity. Allen D. Albert ------ 25 Preaching and Sermons. The Bishop of Springfield ----------- 33 The Missioner's Message. Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins, D.D. --------- 43 A Parish Programme. Rev. James E. Free- man, D.D. 54 Suggestions for a Mission. The Bishop of Fond du Lac . - . 72 The Mission as Related to Rural Conditions. The Bishop of Wyoming ------ 81 The Layman's Contribution. George Whar- ton Pepper ---- - 91 The Preaching Mission and Religious Educa- tion. Rev. William E. Gardner, D.D. - 104 Mission Music. Stanley R. Avery - - - - 126 Appendix. Prayers for the Nation-wide Preaching Mission 134 FOREW^ORD AN endeavor has been made in compiling this manual to have the chapters deal with the vital and practical questions that are related to the order and conduct of a preaching mission. Social Service and Religious education hold a conspicuous place in the modern programme of the Christian Church, hence any propaganda that con- templates a presentation of the Gospel call, must recognize their validity and importance. Several widely experienced missioners were asked to submit to the Church such practical methods as they them- selves had tested and tried, and the harmony of the general plan submitted is an evidence of its efficiency and large flexibility and adaptability. Each one sev- erally of these workers presents his own tested plan, together with practical suggestions as to themes, texts, etc.; the hope of the Commission being, that out of so varied and yet singularly coordinated views the clergy of our Church might develop a pro- gramme in consonance with their own individual and local conditions and needs. In submitting this manual, it is the Commission's earnest hope that it may prove of real value beyond the needs of the present hour. A CALL TO THE WHOLE CHURCH AT the General Convention of 1913, the fol- lowing resolution was adopted : Whereas, Our age calls in no uncertain way for a revival of the prophetic ministry, and a reemphasis upon the certain and unchanging words of eternal truth that pertain to salvation ; and Whereas, A new accent needs to be placed upon the essential solidarity, as well as the broad catho- licity of a Church that witnesses to and seeks to promote faith and order ; therefore be it Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That this Church in General Convention assembled registers its desire and will to undertake a preach- ing mission of nation-wide proportions, that in its scope shall be inclusive of the Church at large, and whose sole purpose and aim shall be the salvation of men through Him whose Name is above every name. Since the above action was taken, the grave conditions produced throughout the world by the general European war have made it more evi- dent to the Commission that at the earliest pos- sible moment the plan for a Nation-wide Preach- ing Mission should be put into effect. The psychological time for such a mission is the 2 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION approaching Advent.* The Commission recog- nizes the difficulty of creating, through a central agency, such machinery as would accomplish the largest results. It believes, however, that the Bishops, clergy, and laity of the Church in the dioceses throughout the country, might, without much difficulty, create local diocesan committees and, through a widespread system of exchanges, supplemented by such additional noonday and other special Advent preachers as are usually secured for the larger centres, to- gether with the cooperation of all the Bishops, effect simultaneously throughout the Church a preaching mission of incalculable value. If a period covering a portion of the Advent season could be given over to such a nation- wide preaching movement the unity of such an action would, we believe, result in a deep and far-reaching religious awakening within the Church. ;N'ow as never before we need to hear and heed the Master's call to a great service. ISTow as never before we need to accent the soli- darity and unity of our Church. In confidence that the hour for such action is imminent we beg to commend to the Bishops, clergy, and laity the following course of action, with such * Since this Call was issued the Commission has sug- gested the extension of the time to include the Epiphany and Lenten seasons. A CALL TO THE WHOLE CHURCH 3 modifications or adaptations as in their judg- ment and that of the local diocesan committees may seem wise: a — That a E'ation-wide Preaching Mission be undertaken for a period of two weeks at the beginning of the approaching Advent season."^ b — That the Bishops of the Church be re- quested to call together (at the earliest possible day) the clergy and laity of their respective dioceses and appoint local committees as follows: 1 — Mission preachers and stations. 2 — Publicity and advertising. 3 — Ways and means. 4 — Mission literature. c — That an effort be made through a general exchange of diocesan and extra-diocesan clergy to supply missioners at the stra- tegic points in each diocese, d — That provision be made for special services in every parish and that the local clergy (where exchanges are im- practicable) be requested to conduct daily preaching services, e — That pre-Advent retreats be conducted for the clergy and laity. * Since this Call was issued the Commission has sug- gested the extension of the time to include the Epiphany and Lenten seasons. 4 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION Believing that the urgency of the present situation together with the supreme importance of placing a "reemphasis upon the certain and unchanging words of eternal truth that pertain to salvation'' demand extraordinary action on the part of the Church at large, and praying God's richest blessing upon your efforts to aid us in effecting these important ends, we beg to remain, Fraternally yours, David H. Greer, Ernest M. Stires, Charles T. Olmsted, E. deE. Miel, Lewis W. Burton^, Roswell Page, R. H. Weller, Charles A. Pease, Floyd W. Tomkins, George F. Henry, James E. Freeman, Secretary, Commission on Nation-wide Preaching Mission. A CRISIS AND AN OPPORTUNITY* By the Rev. James E. Freemai^^ D.D. EUEOPE has called her sons to arms — the Church of the living God in America is calling her sons to a mighty campaign for the souls of men and the increase of righteousness throughout the nation. If ever the searching words of the Apostle Paul, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel/' had a peculiar signifi- cance and import, it is the present time. Crises not only develop men, they develop and re- affirm fundamental principles. A crisis of in- comprehensible proportions and incalculable issues is upon the world, there is a clarion call heard round the globe, "Watchman, what of the night?" and woe be to watchman and city if the watchman slumbers. The very foundations * The "Call to the Church" and this paper by Dr. Freeman are published together as an "Announcement Tract" of eight pages for distribution in parishes, the last page blank for local announcements. Price, $2.00 per hundred. To be obtained from The Young Church- man Co., publishers. 6 A NATION-WIDE PREACHINa MISSION themselves seem for the time to be shifting and the old order changeth. Where is the seer who can lift the curtain and give us visions of the morrow ? Upon what basis is society, restless society with all that it comprehends, to be reorganized and recon- stituted ? Mighty forces are contending for suprem- acy; even the faithful are asking with impris- oned John the great question: "Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?" For decades past there has been a growing world-restlessness. It has manifested itself in every place and under every condition of life: it has almost seemed to portend that day when men's hearts fail them for fear and for looking for those things which are coming on the earth. Is it the dawn of that greater day when all man- kind shall see the "Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven" ? Are we nearing the higher fulfilment of His promise when "The glory of the Lord shall cover the earth As the waters cover the sea" ? Of that day the Master admonishes us, "JSTo man knoweth," but if ever it behooved the serv- ants of the Lord to be ready for the advance of His Kingdom, it is now. A great hour has struck and a world-crisis ushers in the Church's opportunity-time. A CRISIS AND AN OPPORTUNITY 7 In all humility, let us realize our conspicu- ous deficiencies as well as our acknowledged limitations. This is no time for conceit or arrogance; it is a time for deep humility, ex- haustive self-examination, and a true conver- sion. ^^Behold, what manner of buildings and what stones are here," will not save us from the condemnation of Him who declared to a conceited age and people, "There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." Buildings and mechanisms, valuable as they are, must be transfigured by the revealed presence of Him who is "greater than the temple." There must come a mighty revival of His power, and that revival must proceed through the ancient channels of His Church. If out of the world's disorder is to be heard the clear voice of the prophet, challeng- ing it for its sins and calling it to "behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," the Church must revive immediately its prophetic ministry. A glorified altar must have as its essential complement an exalted pulpit. The proclamation of the gospel of Christ must be a chief concern of the ministry. Said a brilliant Scotch essayist : "God may have other words for other worlds, but for this world the Word of God is Christ." Our age is not and has not been distin- 8 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION guished for its preaching, and the Church has languished. The open vision of the prophet has suffered an impairment. Relegated to a place of unimportance has been this great office. We have looked askance at revivals as spectacular and sporadic attempts to produce artificial en- thusiasm. A teaching ministry that concerns itself with the basic and fundamental things of religion, upon which the whole fabric of our Christian social order rests, has been indiffer- ently acknowledged. The rush of a fitful age, the passion for new and sometimes fantastic in- novations, the prosecution of exhausting admin- istrative work, the active participation in so- called ^^secular enterprises," these, coupled with our personal and peculiar conceits, have ren- dered our "upper room'' habit of deep reflection and intimate intercourse with Jesus, together with the close and persistent study of His word, desultory and careless. The greater prophets, yes, and the lesser prophets, too, of every age, who have lifted the vision of men to behold the King in His beauty have been they who have lingered long in the silences with Him, yes, they who through storm and night have climbed "The world's great altar stairs That slope through darkness up to God." There must come speedily a revival of that prophetic ministry that has its certification and A CRISIS AND AN OPPORTUNITY 9 authority through a conscious indwelling of His Spirit's power. To quote again the Scotch preacher's word: ^^Let our prophet come with a new mandate for the soul upon his lips, and though his speech be in the dialect of the Gali- lean peasant, the whole world will hear him gladly." The voice that has received its power and authority not from men, but from Christ, however humble its gifts and adornments, has a message that an attentive world waits to hear. Such power and authority attend him who lingers long and devotionally in the presence of his Lord. Great preachers who have a pas- sion for souls have their audience-room wher- ever men are hungry for the bread of life. This nation must be saved for God. Prosperity will not do it — it may destroy it. The rust of our gold may cry out against us. The setting up of vast mechanisms, educa- tional, industrial, social and political, these all must be made efficient and worthy through the power of a deep, sincere, acknowledged religious faith. Let judgment begin at the house of God; yes, let it begin at the firesides and in the studies of those who bear His orders and ac- knowledge His sovereignty. The fires must be rekindled upon the altars, the ancient sacrifice proclaimed, a solemn as- sembly called, the priests clothed with humility 10 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION and righteousness; Jesus Christ must be lifted up above all the man-made symbols of greatness and the King in all His glory must come to His temple. We wait for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, and into an age pregnant with a new manifestation of spiritual power we believe we are entering now. A ISTation-wide Preaching Mission is de- signed not to revive for a brief space a Gospel ministry. It is designed to place a fresh and permanent accent upon the lofty ministry of the pulpit. If it is to be effective in reviving the spiritual life of the Church and through it the spiritual life of the nation, it must not be spectacular or sporadic. It is not a move- ment, it is a reaffirmed principle of service. If there must be machinery let it be so incon- spicuous that it shall not disclose its presence. There are doubtless gifted missioners who will be available and who must carry large burdens in this great undertaking, but the mission will wholly fail of its purpose unless every parish priest and every congregation is enlisted in so great and important a work. To acknowledge incompetency is to deny Him and to hinder His claims. A greater and more vital fellowship among the clergy must grow out of this undertaking. We are, no matter what our personal and peculiar points A CRISIS AND AN OPPORTUNITY 11 of view may be, common priests of a common household of faith. Let us banish distrust and abolish all rivalries. Let us silence all other voices that His voice may prevail. If our splendid heritage is to be handed on unim- paired, we, its custodians, must hold it as a common trust to-day. Standing as we do as exponents and promoters of faith and order, we are compelled to witness to them in our own body. What must accrue to this larger con- sciousness of fellowship, this strengthening of the ties of a common priesthood and prophet- hood, is beyond our conjecture. Finally, we must in this larger ministry remember that we are watchmen of God to de- tect and stay the threatening assaults of sin. Ours is a gospel, as Dr. Van Dyke puts it, not only for ^^an age of doubt," but for "an age of sin." A great secular daily in editorial com- ment maintains that there is a persistent call to-day for the prophet who will fearlessly com- bat sin. The righteousness of the Church is too insular, it has a broken or impaired contact with market-place and home. We are hearing much of social and industrial righteousness, of social justice and the relation of religion to economic questions. A new school of prophets is arising to declare, not a partial, but the "whole com- mandment of God," as that commandment is related to the things of common life. Behind 12 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION every form of unrighteousness, every wanton act of injustice, every mean advantage taken of the weak, every evidence of corruption, wherever disclosed, in high places or low; yes, behind all forms of vice from fireside to mart of trade, stands an unrebuked and unashamed human will that defies the laws of Grod and man. To save the home from the devasting blight of lightly esteemed marital vows and the curse of divorce; to save commerce from selfishness and the atrophy of every fine feeling of justice and fair play, to recover the purity of social habit, contaminated and debauched by indul- gences that are indecent and soul-destroying, to demand in every place of public trust the dis- charge of obligations in the interest of the whole people; in fine, to assault the entrenched and arrogant evils of our day and to cleanse, if need be with knotted cords, every precinct unhallowed by emboldened vice, this is the heroic task set for the prophet who carries his Lord's creden- tials. We are admonished by the apostle's words: "From whence come wars and fightings among you ? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members ?" If lasting peace is to come to a warring world it must come through the operation of righteousness and not through the cunning and skill of diplomacy; A CRISIS AND AN OPPORTUNITY 13 hence the supreme place of the prophet in an age of reckless daring and unbridled license. With outstretched hands stands the Saviour, calling to a world intoxicated with its own power, ^'Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life." The world is confronted by another Calvary, but it is not the Calvary of the Christ; it is the Calvary whereat men crucify each other because they know not Him. The Saviourhood of Jesus must be the dominant and supreme note of twentieth century preach- ing. It is a Saviourhood that reaches to the remotest concerns of men. We preach not a salvation that begins with the silence of the grave, but a salvation operative in human so- ciety now; yes, a salvation that underlies and guarantees Christian civilization. What a mighty and irresistible call it is that He utters to-day! Have we the courage and the consecration to answer its summons? PREPARATION FOR THE MISSION By the Rev. L. B. Richards Secretary of the Atlanta Diocesan Committee on the Nation-wide Preaching Mission [Reprinted from The Living Church'] AMISSI0:NT/' says Father Bull, ''is a spe- cial effort to convert souls to God. It is a concentration of spiritual effort upon one place for a short time." The general acceptance throughout the Church of the call of the Joint Commission for a nation-wide mission will mean the con- centration of spiritual effort for the conversion of souls to God for a specified short time, in the great majority of the parishes and missions of this whole Church. Obviously an enterprise of such high purpose, of such noble adventure, demands adequate preparation, and the time is short. The nation-wide mission is a call to the clergy of this Church to do work to which most of them are unaccustomed. The great majority PREPARATION FOR THE MISSION 15 of our clergy are earnest preachers, but only a small proportion of them have ever conducted a mission ; perhaps the majority of them have never thought they could. E'evertheless, the call has now come, with the high sanction of the General Convention, to the parish clergy, to become for a certain time missioners. They must, if the mission is to be nation-wide, do work that heretofore has been done by men of special gifts and special training. My purpose in this paper is to show that the clergy can prepare themselves and their parishes for the effective carrying out of the plan for a nation-wide mission, and so share in the blessings of the greatest movement (in my judgment) ever initiated in this Church. At the outset we are met with the question, who is to conduct the mission in my parish? The question must be answered, and satisfac- torily, or the mission will not be held. The trained missioners will be in demand for the great parishes and the great cities. The na- tion-wide mission must be conducted by the parish clergy. How shall the clergy be dis- tributed for this work? At first thought it would seem that such a detail could be arranged by a central authority, the Bishop of the diocese, or a special committee who might arrange a simultaneous exchange of parishes. This plan is open to two grave objec- 16 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION tions : first, that the parish priest might be un- willing to leave the selection of a missioner for the flock entrusted to his spiritual care to any other person; secondly, that a one-man mission is by no means so effective in spiritual result as a mission conducted by two. Our Lord sent His missioners by twos. Would some such plan as this solve the difiiculty ? Let the clergy of a diocese resolve that this mission shall be conducted by the diocesan clergy without outside assistance ex- cept as such assistance may be mutually re- ceived and given. Secondly, let the clergy group themselves into twos, or better, into threes. If into twos, let A and B spend half of the mission period in a mission in A's parish, and half in B's. If into threes, let A and B go to C's parish, B and C to A's, and A and C to B's. Either arrangment is open to the objection that each parish will be left for the period of one mission without pastoral care. I think the advantage of having the mission conducted by two men far outweighs the objection, and the careful preparation of the parish lay reader will so pro- vide for the services in the interim that the benefit of the mission will not be lost. The first step in the preparation of the par- ish priest to be a missioner is the acceptance of the call. Say, "God calls me, through His PREPARATION FOR THE MISSION 17 Churcli, to undertake the high and holy enter- prise of a mission for the definite purpose of converting souls to Him. I do not seek this mission, it is put upon me by authority that is from Him. Therefore I give myself to Him that He may use me as He will in this work.'' "Not by might nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." "Our sufficiency is of God, who also hath given us of His Spirit." "There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit." The nation-wide mission plans to use all the diverse gifts of all the clergy in a united effort, under the One Spirit, to convert souls to God. This work cannot be done without a definite campaign of prayer and study. (a) From now on, every clergyman should give himself to definite prayer that the Spirit of the Lord God may be upon him to make him a minister in the "Ministry of Conversion," and first of all in the conversion of himself. Father Bull says, "Conversion may be defined as that change, gradual or sudden, by which God becomes the center of our life." Con- versely, we shall say (shall we not?) that the unconverted life is that which is centered in self. How many and subtle are the temptations to a self-centered, rather than a God-centered life, every priest knows to his bitter sorrow. If the nation-wide mission converts the 18 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION clergy, its blessing will be beyond price. With a clergy supremely loving God, willing above all else what God wills, miracles of conversion can and doubtless will be wrought, as in a new Pentecost. (b) Supposing then the acceptance of the call to be a missioner, and the definite setting of himself to a work of prayer, one aim of which shall be his entire conversion to God, how shall the parish priest, who has never conducted a mission, equip himself for the task ? The problem is not that of the preparation of a course of sermons, but of equipment for a definite ministry. This mission has been de- scribed as a ^^!N'ation-wide Preaching Mission." If it is nothing more than a preaching mission, it may as well never be preached. Our purpose is not to draw crowds to hear us preach, nor will our aim be attained when people stand up to be counted, sign cards, or file by to grasp us by the hand. Our ministry will be directed to this sole purpose, viz., to bring each soul to "that change, gradual or sudden, by which God becomes the center of our life." In this Church, that purpose will not be fulfilled until each soul is brought to the sacraments and set squarely in the way of the sacramental and sacrificial life. Certain studies will help us greatly. In the Bible, those records narrating the great conver- PREPARATION FOR THE MISSION 19 sions, as in the cases of Moses, Jacob, David, Isaiah, the first disciples, Mary of Magdala, Saul of Tarsus, and the great appeals of Christ and His Apostles, whereby souls were won. Certain manuals (suggested below)* should be carefully studied. Preparation must also be made for minister- ing to individual souls and relieving burdened consciences. A good mission will result in the missioner being brought face to face with the tragedies, griefs, and sins of the community, and he must not fail any soul that comes to him for help. I am not speaking to the trained missioner; he will know what to do. Many of * Mason, The Ministry of Conversion, 90 cents, Long- mans. Bull, The Missioners' Handbook, $1.40, Clarendon Press. Trumbull, Taking Men Alive, 60 cts., Y. M. C. A. Fr. Huntington, O.H.C., Hoio to Conduct the Cate- chism, 5 cents, 0. H. C. Fr. Huntington, O.H.C., 100 Questions and Ansivers for the Catechism, 5 cents, O. H. C. Bp. Dupanloup, The Ministry of Preaching, and The Ministry of Catechizing. [These are out of print.] Several volumes of Sermons by Bishop Brent, Fr. Figgis, the Bishop of London, and Fr. Waggett. Jowett, Passion for Souls, 50 cents, Revell. Holden, Price of Power, 50 cents, Revell. Jones, Spencer, The Clergy and the Catechism, $1.00, Skefiington. 20 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION US, however, will not know and will shrink from this ministry, l^evertheless, it will be forced upon us and woe to us if we are not ready. The chapters dealing with this subject in Father Bull's and Canon Mason's volumes are very valuable. As Father Bull well says, ^'There is no room for ^schools of thought' on this subject." It is the case of the physician needing to be ready to use the means of healing. Bemember, there is no question as to the need of confession ; the only question is, as to an enforced and formal confessional. ^N'o such question arises here, but only the practical question of helping penitent souls to find their way home. If opportunity offers for the "Children's Mission," it should not be neglected. This will require most careful preparation in every par- ticular, and the missioner cannot afford to neg- lect any detail. The method described in Row to Conduct the Catechism (O.H.C), is prac- tical in every respect. Valuable works on the same method are Spencer Jones' old book. The Clergy and the Catechism (based on Bishop Dupanloup's The Ministry of Catechizing) and The Catechisfs Handbook. To a missioner who has sympathy with chil- dren, who will take the necessary pains in prep- aration, the hour of the Children's Mission will be an hour of refreshing joy. PREPARATION FOR THE MISSION 21 In preparing for the mission, the mission priests should meet and pray together, and lay ont the scheme of the mission on the line of a definite theme. The subjects for the sermons and instructions to be given at the mission service at night should be carefully planned with a view to unity in variety, and progress toward a climax, and all the exercises of the mission should contribute to the development of this theme, yet in such wise as to avoid rigidity, and afford sufficient flexibility that every circumstance arising in the course of the mission may instantly be taken advantage of. The missioner must be prepared for emergen- cies, for chances (to speak from the human view-point), for opportunities unforeseen and exigencies unprepared for, for empty churches or full churches, for a receptive or an apathetic audience, for all sorts and conditions of men, and always must he have the consciousness of mission, intense fervor, and a determined though alway Spirit-guided will. For, whoever else may come to the mission, two persons will surely come — Satan and the Holy Ghost. St. Paul's mission to Athens is instructive; some mocked, others said. We will hear thee again of this matter; but some be- lieved, among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite. 22 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION Preparation of If I hsive dwelt long upon the the Parish preparation of the missioner, it is because the nation-wide mission must for the most part be preached by inexperienced mis- sioners. The preparation of the parish for the mis- sion, though its importance is almost as great, need not detain us so long. Each parish priest must prepare his own parish. The preparation will be remote and proximate. The remote preparation should con- sist of at least reading to the congregation the call to a nation-wide mission issued by the Joint Commission, the announcement that, God willing, this mission will be held in the parish, a statement of the purpose and nature of the mission, and a call to the people to pray daily for God's blessing upon it. Every parish priest should plan the method whereby each person, each family, each parish organization, may take part in the preparation and in the mission itself. The people must feel that the. mission is their mission. "Unless the faithful laity realize that the mission is their great opportunity for saving souls, the mission is not likely to have much influence on the parish as a whole'' (Father Bull). Beginning at least a month or more before the mission, the active preparation should be PREPARATION FOR THE MISSION 23 pushed with vigor. Above all else, get every one praying for the mission. ^'The more prayer has gone before the Avork, the more blessing may be expected to follow'' (Canon Mason). Prayer circles should be formed to meet in different homes. Such organizations as are usual in our par- ishes should be especially instructed for per- sonal work, both before and during the mis- sion. Emphasize in every way the ministerial responsibility of the laity. Arouse a feeling of expectancy but do not preach an advance mis- sion. As the time draws near, advertise, create public interest, keep it before the mind of the people of the community. If a member of the "Ad Men's Club" is in your parish, make use of his experience and wisdom. Organize the workers so that every home in your community may be visited and personally invited to "Come to the mission." Use cards of announcement and invitation, and have them simple, direct, clear, and attractively printed. Take advantage of every situation and circum- stance. If prejudice exists against the Church, perhaps we can get our honest opponents to praying for the conversion of Episcopalians, a most suitable prayer if conversion be "that change, gradual or sudden, by which God be- comes the center of our life." We all need to 24 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION be converted and to be daily converted more and more. Beware of "playing up" the personality of the missioner or missioners. It is an almost fatal mistake to lay stress upon the eloquence or success or standing of the mission preacher. Let the people know who he is, but let expect- ancy wait upon the Spirit of the Lord. Train some tactful souls to be always alert during the mission for any opportunity of per- sonal work that may arise, cordial greeting, a word of sympathy, procuring a personal inter- view with the missioner, in short, to be soul winners. May I venture to suggest in closing, the theme for the nation-wide mission? Should it not be in every instance, a mission of the Love of God? In his chapter on "How Our Lord Worked," Charles G. Trumbull says: "Always His enduring purpose seemed to be to convince men and women that they were dear to Him and to the Father just as they stood; faulty, sinning, unworthy, discouraged, or hopeful, it mattered not if they would but let Him come close alongside." PUBLICITY By Allen D. Albert THE success of the Nation-wide Preaching Mission will depend largely — from the practical point of view — upon the publicity given it in each community. About two-thirds of the value of such publicity will depend upon the publicity given the new movement in ad- vance. In a community where the work is fully done the movement will call itself to the atten- tion of the layman — When he reads the newspaper. When he rides in the street car. When he looks in the show windows. When he goes to church. When his children return from Sunday school. When he gets a special letter on the subject from his rector. When he sees the electric sign down town. If he travels, when he finds a letter of invita- tion in his letter-box at the hotel. 26 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION And in some communities when lie looks at tlie sign-boards. The work of directing the details of such publicity in any city is too great for any one man. It can best be undertaken as follows: Organizing the The clergv^ of cach city should General Commit- give a particular session as early tee on Publicity ^g possible tO publicity. They should call into conference not less than -^ve laymen from each parish. They should choose as general chairman of the committee on publicity some layman who has had extended and practical experience in such matters, preferably as a newspaper pub- lisher or as a manager of advertising. The general committee on publicity should then organize four sub-committees. 1. On news notices and newspaper adver- tising. 2. On placard displays. 3. On church and Sunday school announce- ments. 4. On finance. Articles for the To the first of these sub-commit- Newspapers tecs should be named all news- paper publishers and editors who worship in the several parishes or, being members of other denominations, can be counted upon for interest PUBLICITY 27 in the mission. If it is at all feasible, the city editors of the several local newspapers should also be named to this committee and any newspaper reporters who are regular or occa- sional worshippers at any Episcopal church. A secretary should be chosen for this sub- committee who is a trained newspaper man and he and the chairman should do practically all the work, summoning the whole committee not more than twice. The news articles should begin with a gen- eral announcement of about a half column re- leased to all the newspapers simultaneously. This announcement should give only the general dates of the special services and the names of the speakers. A separate item should be made later of each speaker and the committee should obtain a photograph of each speaker for each newspaper. A separate item should also be made of the date upon which each speaker is to appear and of the subjects of his addresses. This committee should also prepare such advertisements as the means of the general com- mittee will permit, and with every advertise- ment should go to each newspaper a news notice. If the matter is taken up by a trained news- paper worker, arrangements for such news- paper items can be made by him at each news- paper office without difficulty. 28 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION Street Cars and A Committee on placard display Show Windows should have at its head the mana- ger of advertising of one of the stores, or an expert in advertising features, or the local man- ager of street-car advertising, or a representa- tive of the advertising department of one of the newspapers. He should prepare placards for the street cars and he can arrange usually for the display of such placards free of charge. If, however, the street car company cannot be brought to display such placards free of charge they should be paid for, as this form of advertising is of the largest practical value. Suitable placards for show windows should be prepared for distribution to the maximum number of stores down town, to the stores in the general vicinity of each church, and for the bulletins of a maximum number of factories and other institutions employing large numbers of men, such as street car companies, light com- panies, and railroads. If the object is to engage the attention of men and women not already organized into bodies of Christian workers, it is well to pass over such institutions as the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. These placards should also be put where they will be seen at each service of a Sunday PUBLICITY 29 school and at each church gathering not held in the main auditorium, of the church. Letters and The Committee on church and Sun- Announcements day school announcements should prepare in typewriting a series of announce- ments to be read from the chancel at the stated services of the parish and at all other meetings. It should prepare also a personal letter and not less than one "follow-up" letter to be sent to everyone on the church books. This letter should set forth the nature of the campaign, name the speakers, and give the hours of the services. The general chairman of the committee on publicity will nearly always desire to prepare these letters himself, as they constitute the one single means of reaching every person entered on the church registers directly and personally. Such letters are practically indispensable to the success of the mission and would best be printed in the form of typewriting, each one addressed separately, and signed with the name of the rector, written with a pen. Making the Air Such general advertising as elec- Electrlc with tric sigQs and bill-boards will de- Interest pend upon the means at the dis- posal of the committee. They are of less im- portance than the other forms of advertising, already described. Their chief value lies in 30 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION making the air electric with interest. Such advertising can be as dignified and unoffending as any other kind, and every dollar spent upon it with ordinary intelligence will produce large and creditable results. One good electric sign conspicuously located will arouse an entire city. It might read : ^^Nation-wide Pkeaching Mission — Episcopal Churches December 1st to December 15th.'' Displays for bill-boards might have either this terse form or the form of direct invitation thus: ^'You ARE Invited to Take Part with all America in a JNTation-wide Preaching Mission at any of Our Churches AND Hear the Gospel Taught. The services will be held every day from De- cember 1st to December 15th. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, St. Mark's Epis- copal Church, All Saints' Episco- pal Church." How to Reach "^^^ letters to guests at hotels the Strangers should be prepared with no less in the Hotels Q^^e than the letters to those on the church books. They should be addressed personally, and have such general form that each may seem to be written directly to the par- PUBLICITY 31 ticular guest who receives it. These should also be in the form of typewriting and signed with a pen. If a hotel record is published it will be possi- ble to obtain each day the name of each guest in each of the leading hotels. If there is no hotel record, each of the hotels should be allotted among the several mem- bers of the sub-committee on church and Sun- day school announcements, and the names taken from each hotel register after the arrival of the morning trains. A telephone conversation between the chairman of the general committee on publicity and the manager of each hotel will usually be found to be all that is required to obtain the full cooperation of the hotel clerical force. The Publicity Such advertising increases in ef- ShouM Grow fectiveness with geometrical ra- in Force pidity as it is repeated. But each repetition must correspond with all that has gone before ; and it is never well to assume that anyone has heard or read anything published or stated before. Hence each announcement must be complete in itself. N^ot less than a month will be required for this campaign in each city. This will provide for not less than four Sunday announcements from the chancel, four 32 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION statements from the Sunday school platform, and four general news stories in the papers. The placards should be on display not less than two weeks. The first letter should issue to those on the church books not less than two weeks before the first service of the mission. If there are two "follow-up" letters, one should be sent within a week before the first service and one so mailed as to be delivered on the day preceding the first service. If only one "folloAv-up" letter is issued it should be delivered about two days preceding the first service. The aim of the whole campaign of publicity should be to interest the whole population in the movement. This can be done only by an extremely vigorous campaign which grows steadily in breadth and power of appeal. The nation-wide movement will fail of one of its most important functions if it does not reach church folk who have become irregular in their attendance and arouse the interest of thousands who have ceased in their attendance. PREACHING AND SERMONS By the Kt. Rev. Edward W. Osborne, D.D. Bishop of Springfield IN all mission work, Preaching is the chief thing. This must never be forgotten. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach," "Then began Jesus to preach," "Go ye into all the world and preach," "Ordained a preacher." The preacher goes forth with a heart full of joy ; he is doing the work his Lord did; he is carrying out the work the Lord gave to His Church, he is anointed with the same Spirit as his Lord ; his joy is all the greater because he can speak from a full heart of what the preaching of the Gos- pel has been to him, what it has done for him, or what he has seen of its power in the lives of others. "God . . . has manifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto me, according to the commandment of God our Saviour." The Preaching is the chief thing in our 34 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION nation-wide mission. Everything else must pre- pare for it, be subordinated to it, be used to strengthen and deepen the effect of the preach- ing, to gather in its results. To Prepare There will be prayer meetings, ^°^ ^* and multitudes will pray for God's blessing on the mission. Pray for the preach- ers ceaselessly, not only the people, the sinners, but the missioners. Talk about the preaching, ask people to come and hear, create an expecta- tion of help, of learning; open all ears with a readiness to hear, a hope, undefined perhaps, that each will hear something to do him good. Subordinate Services and hymns, especially. Everything to It Jt is quite possible to spend too much time over them. Is not one reason why sermons are ineffective that the preacher and the people have had forty or perhaps sixty min- utes of prayers and music, and are mentally and perhaps spiritually tired when they sit down to listen to the sermon, or the preacher stands up to preach? This must never be in a mission. It might be a good thing in all places if, at times at least, sermons were separated from long services. Any service before the sermon should be short, and it is better not to make it liturgical. The people have come to hear a sermon, don't PREACHING AND SERMONS 35 give them cause to saj, ^'When is the sermon going to begin ?" In many years' experience the writer has found the following order best : A hymn, the Lord's Prayer, two collects, a prayer for missions. Scripture reading (10 to 15 verses), a short hymn, the sermon. Notices of services can come before the second hymn. Twelve to fifteen minutes is sufficient for all this, the late comers have got in, all are fresh and attentive for the voice of the preacher. To Help the T^® moments after the sermon Effectiveness of are most important. What is done the Sermon depends on the subject and man- ner of the sermon. As a rule a hymn will be used. (N. B. The preacher must select all the hymns.) The hymn after the sermon should not be a noisy, shout- ing one, but quiet, prayerful, an expression of the soul's need, an appeal to God for strength and help, or an utterance of penitence. After the hymn, prayer, suitable collects already chosen, the Confessions from the Prayer Book, the opening sentences of the Litany, fol- lowed by extempore prayer, a penitential psalm. All of these are suitable according to the sermon. At times, again, according to the sermon, it is well to end the sermon with the words, "Let us pray" ; "Let us all now kneel down before 36 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION God in silence," and let prayer follow. An earnest hymn may follow. All the above will take about one hour, the sermon being twenty-five to forty minutes, ac- cording to the capacity of the preacher, the in- terest in the subjects, the attention of the people. All interested in the mission will be ready to stay another half hour. How to Help Notices may be given out, or any the Sermon explanation of proposed plans. Then should follow an Instruction. This should have some connection with the subject of the sermon or follow naturally upon it. Thus : A sermon upon God might be followed by, "How to find God," or "Prayer." A sermon on the Judgment, by Self-examination. A sermon on Sin, by Repentance. A sermon on Kew Life, by Reparation. A sermon on the Passion, by instruction on the Holy Eucharist. Others on Saying your Prayers, Going to Church, Fight- ing Temptations, and similar subjects. A care- fully prepared public self-examination may be most useful, provided the preacher is sure of his control of the congregation. After the Instruction any who may wish to speak with the preacher may be invited to re- main. Then a hymn, collect, blessing, and quiet dismissal. Be very urgent on the quiet going away. PREACHING AND SERMONS 37 The congregation must be urged, entreated, com- pelled to this. They must not get up, shake hands, and visit all over the church. ^^Then Cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts." People may be asked to send written ques- tions. Such, if they seem to be in good faith, may be answered in the ten minutes before the service begins, or worked in with the Instruc- tion, provided they are not merely controversial. It may be well to ask the people not to dis- cuss the sermons but try and pray over them. The rector of the parish might do well to ask a few trusted, earnest souls to put themselves in the way of others who may need help, and either to answer their questions or bring them to the missioner or rector. The preacher may go down into the church and speak to any who seem to be moved to good and to make it easy for them to tell any need of their souls. "What must I do to be saved ? These are some few of the suggestions for deepening the effect of the sermon and securing the results. T,, o We may now consider the sermon, ihe bermon "^ i • i n i the great event to which all else is to minister. What should the sermons be about ? Do not try to preach the whole Gospel in 38 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION every sermon. Be content to leave many things unsaid. Do not begin by working on the emo- tions of the people — let them be moved by the Spirit. Sermons to be effective must be founded on doctrine. That this is so need not be formally stated, the people may never notice it, but in the preacher's mind it must be there; the foundation, the central purpose of each sermon to teach this truth, to make it clear, to apply it, to show its bearing on Christian life, to lead its hearers to desire or to do the thing that this truth requires of them, to lead their intellect to understand, their heart to accept, their wills to submit themselves to it, that is, to hear and obey the will of God. This implies that the sermons should follow some course of teaching. This must be so to avoid mere repetition and to avoid ^^running dry," as an unfortunate preacher who, when he had finished the third night, told the rector that he did not see how to go on, he had said all he had to say, what more was there to be said ? Of course a certain amount of repetition will be all right: a reference to "What I said last night," a picking up of the threads of former teaching and showing how they lead on to the subject of to-day; all this will not inter- fere with a course. In planning a course it is well to lay the PREACHING AND SERMONS 39 foundations on the first principles of religion, God, and man's relation to Him, what this in- volves in responsibility, what it brings as the motive and the joy of life. Man is a responsible being, and he has a right to ask to be shown a reason why he should serve God, why he should love God, why he should keep from sin, why he should resist temptation, why make the best of his life, physically, mentally, spiritually. Teaching like this will win the consent of his intelligence and then, if his affections re- spond, and his will is moved naturally, there is a good hope that his conversion will be perma- nent. If the appeal is only, or first of all, to the affections, or to the will, or merely to the emotions there is no reason in the mind why a certain thing should be believed or done, the personal appeal of the preacher fails for want of that reason, or his personal influence may move for the time, being soon followed by re- lapse, forgetfulness, and so the loss of any hope which may have been aroused. It may be well to add some suggestions for courses, leaving the manner of dealing with the subject to each preacher. Some of them have been used by the writer and been found useful : I — Amos 4 : 12. The will of God the end of man. Hag. 7 : 5-7. The unsatisfying character of all earthly things. Hag. 7 : 5-7. Sin leading away from God. 40 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION St. Luke 15 : 11-13. The beginning of sin. II Cor. 5 : 10. The judgment after death. St. John 11 : 28. The call of death. I John 4 : 9. The love of God in the Incarna- tion. I Cor. 6 : 20. The love of God in the Passion. I Cor. 4 : 5. The coming of Christ the time of approval. Rev. 4 : 1. The call to higher life. Phil. 1 : 21. Spiritual life in Christ. Rev. 21 : 1. Heaven. II — God — The object of worship, of life. Man's relation to God. Sin — Turning from God. Sin — Setting the will against God. The consequences of sin. Repentance. God's call to man in Christ. The call of the Cross. The life of Conversion. The following of Christ. Perseverance. Ill — The Sinfulness of Sin. a — Sin against God. b — Sin against the Incarnate Son. c — Sin against the Holy Ghost. d — Sin against myself. e — Sin against the Church, f — Sin against the great High Priest, g — True repentance for sin. h — The struggle against sin. There is no better course of sermons, or foundation for a course, than in our Lord's story of the son who returned home (commonly PREACHING AND SERMONS 41 called the ^Trodigal Son"). From eight to ten sermons may easily be founded on this story, care being taken to make no reference to the return for the first five or six. So also the story of the traveler who fell among thieves and the Samaritan who helped him. There is a long course of sermons on this. Both of these courses would follow the same lines suggested above, in fact the interpretation of each story suggests the course. It may be noticed that in all these sugges- tions for a course of sermons I have placed the Love of God, the Incarnation, the Passion late in the course. For this reason: These things are well known, so well that they have lost their power with many. They are by many treated as if meant for those who like them, not with- out any reason in the life of all men; the reasons are not recognized, not known. This is because so many know nothing of the need of redemp- tion, have no personal experience of the neces- sity of redemption. The foundation must be laid in God's rela- tion to and claims upon man, the nature and consequences of sin; and these things driven home that the soul may feel its failure, may fear for itself, so that the sense of responsibility and judgment to come will become real. When this has been accomplished and the soul aroused to desire God, or to cry out, "What must I do 42 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION to be saved?'' then the teaching of the love of God, and of the sacrifice for sin, will have a new and personal meaning, will come with new force. Preach sin, punishment, judgment in this life and the next. This is too little done in the Church. We are afraid of offending, afraid lest we make people unhappy, and yet this is exactly what they need, their souls' salvation may depend upon it. Sorrow must come be- fore joy. THE MISSIONER'S MESSAGE By the Eev. Floyd W. Tomkins, D.D. THE ^']^ation-wide Preaching Mission," as its name signifies, is designed to reach our people largely through the pulpit, and in this it differs somewhat from a regular "Mission," which emphasizes instruction as well as exhorta- tion. But as it is hoped that the rectors and those in charge of churches will supplement the work of the mission preacher in case he cannot give special attention to the day services, it may be well to outline the full course of a series of mission activities, and it is hoped that many churches can carry them out. Advertising Every parishioner should receive the Mission a printed notice of the mission services with a letter from the rector, giving the hours of service and urging private prayer for the mission and the mission preacher, and claim- ing a loyal attendance at the services. A prayer, which the Bishop of the diocese will doubtless authorize, should be used at all services before 44 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION and during the mission. Cottage prayer-meet- ings in rural districts and towns are most help- ful. And in small towns all the people — regard- less of Church affiliation — may well be invited, for, while there is no desire to bring them away from their own religious connections, it must be recognized that the Church owes a duty to the whole community. In some places posters, dis- played in conspicuous places, and the news- papers, can be profitably used in advertising. Mission The Church workers should be Workers Organized to help prepare for the mission. The following committees are sug- gested, and the title carries the outline of their duties : 1. Advertising. 2. Prayer meetings. 3. Volunteer choir. 4. Ushers. 5. Children's services. A mission ought to accomplish much in lead- ing Church people to work. A competent chair- man of each committee should be selected by the rector, and this chairman (or chairwoman) can select his assistants. Mission Where it is possible, the follow- Services ing services are suggested: 1. Holy Communion daily. Even if few can attend, this opportunity to plead Christ's THE MISSIONER'S MESSAGE 45 death on the Cross will be a great comfort and will bring a blessing. 2. Service for instruction in the Christian life. This may be held in the morning or after- noon, as circumstances permit. If in the after- noon, it should not interfere with the service for children, but may precede or follow that service. The use of a hymn and prayers before the instruction, and at its close the offering of intercessions (for which a box may be placed at the door, marked: ^'Requests for Prayer") will make this service most helpful and at- tractive. 3. Children s Service. This will come after school hours. Invitations may be given at the schools. Very bright hymns should be used. The address should be short and pointed with illustrations. And as the children go out a pic- ture-card, bearing upon the address, may well be given to each child. This card attracts the children, serves to advertise the mission at home, and helps to fasten the message in the child's mind. Generally, it is my experience, that chil- dren love this service and come in increasing numbers. 4. Night Service. This is the culmination of the day. It should have a large volunteer choir and a competent organist who will be regu- lar. Either the Church Hymnal or the Church Mission Hymnal will furnish suggestive hymns. 46 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION which should be sung with spirit. A hymn sung as a solo after the sermon has often proved help- ful. If possible, gather the choir and organist together before the service for a few earnest, loving words and a prayer. The service should be simple. I would suggest this order: 1. Hymn; 2. Creed and Prayers; 3. Hymn; 4. Notices; 5. Hymn; 6. One Lesson; 7. Hymn; 8. Sermon; 9. Prayer; 10. Hymn (while those who cannot remain to the after-meeting go out) ; 11. After-meeting. After-Meeting. While the choir and people are singing, the preacher retires to the vestry and removes his surplice, and then, in cas- sock, takes his place at the head of the cen- tral aisle. All should be urged to remain, and if the explanation is made clear, generally all will stay. The missioner's address now should be a direct and fearlessly personal application of the message from the pulpit. Exhortation, instruction, intercession, etc., should be as simple and forceful as possible. Sometimes a hymn, sung while all are kneeling, is helpful. Those who wish to speak to the missioner may be urged to remain after the benediction, or, if pos- sible, asked to come to an adjoining room. The missioner should go to the door and speak to the people as they leave the church. This is im- portant as bringing him near to the people so that they feel as if they knew him. If any re- THE MISSIONER'S MESSAGE 47 main and go into another room, then the mis- sioner has his God-given opportunity. Often careless or lapsed Christians and those "troubled in mind, body, or estate/' will wait to speak to him, as well as those who wish to give their hearts to God. It is well to make arrangements to meet such as these at a set time and place the following day. The missioner should always have an hour each day when people can find him in the church or vestry-room, ready to talk to them. We cannot count as too important this after-meeting as well as the whole night service. It is the ingathering time. To reprove, convict, convince, and help our people — Christians and non-Christians alike — is the real purpose of a mission. If the rector is present he should lead those, whose needs he knows or whose lives cause him sorrow, to meet with the missioner. Chris- tian men and women should also help in any and every way. The ordinary reserve should be laid aside. God gives us this opportunity — let us not slight it. Letters and visits from the rector should be constant to those who are not Church members or who have grown indifferent. At the mission- time God's Holy Spirit, in accord with the Master's promise, is pleading with souls, and it is the minister's golden opportunity. 48 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION _, . , , To erather, so far as may be, the The After-work °, ' ,, • • j results 01 the mission, cards should be distributed towards the end of the mission, to be signed with name and address, on w^hich certain facts should be noted. These cards should also state a positive determination on the part of the one who signs. It has been found helpful to gather these cards, not sepa- rately, but at the closing service when the only offering taken at the mission will be received — an offering not of money but of hearts and lives. Seldom has anything been found more impressive than the reverent gathering of these cards, pledges, expressions of desire, or what- ever they may be called, and the placing of them upon the altar. Christians who thus renew their vows, children who wish to express their love for Christ, sinners who wish to conquer sin, men and women who have neglected the Church, idlers in the vineyard who now wish to do something for the Master — they see the cards they have signed lifted before the King in the most Holy Place, and they know the King has accepted them. It is a relief to ask the people not for money but for themselves, their hearts and lives. It gives the missioner a chance to teach a lesson many will never forget. At this last service — a service of thanks- giving and consecration — the missioner may THE MISSIONER'S MESSAGE 49 well give a card signed by the rector and him- self, in memory of the mission. The signing of these is laborious but it is a splendid work of heart-love. I have seldom known — outside of the blessed services of the Sanctuary — such hours of spiritual exaltation as when I have signed Rve hundred or a thousand cards with a prayer for each as my pen moved. I cannot but believe that the cards thus prepared, signed and given by the missioner after the final serv- ice as he stands on the choir steps and the people come up to him and grasp his hand and receive them, form a link, not between the missioner and the people — he is only an instru- ment and goes away and is forgotten — ^but be- tween God and man that has a lasting power and blessing. Such cards placed in the Bible have brought back to many a man services never to be forgotten, pledges sacred and lasting, a consecration which marked an epoch in his hu- man life. The minister has enough work marked out for him in following up the people who signed cards. Faithful work here has its reward, and the rector knows the prayers and services were not held in vain. Many helpful suggestions will follow. Perhaps an added weekly service, a Bible class or lecture, communicants' classes, confirmation classes, etc. It will be strange indeed if new life does not come alike to min- 50 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION ister and people through this blessed preaching mission. SUGGESTED PLEDGE CARD* Thanking God for these Mission Services, I herewith give myself anew to the Master and ask His blessing upon my life. Name Address Baptized ? Confirmed ? A regular communicant? If not, will you now come ? Will you do some work in the Church? Will you read your Bible and pray daily? SUGGESTED MEMORIAL CARD "Who loved me, and gave Himself for me." In memory of a message from God received at the Mission held in (Picture of the church) St Church, December , 1915. Mission Preacher. Rector. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." * These Pledge Cards may be obtained from The Young Churchman Co. at 50 cts. per hundred. The Memorial Cards must be printed locally. THE MISSIONER'S MESSAGE 51 SUGGESTED CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL CARD OR RIBBON "Jesus called a little child unto Him." In memory of the Children's Mission held At St Church. "Jesus loves me." SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR INSTRUCTION IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 1. What is the Christian Life? St. John 15. 2. Its three parts: Towards God, Towards self. Towards the world. Rom. 8. 3. Means of Grace. Baptism, Confirmation, Holy- Communion, Prayer, Bible, Church worship. 4. Helps. The Ten Commandments. 5. Sorrow and joy. 6. Service for others. 7. Work. SUGGESTED HEADS FOR CHILDREN'S ADDRESSES 1. God is Love. 1 John 4 : 16. 2. My son, give Me thine heart. Prov. 23 : 26. 52 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION 3. Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. I Sam. 3:9. 4. A little child shall lead them. Isa. 11 : 6. 5. Jesus called a little child unto Him. St. Matt. 18:2. 6. Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? Acts 9 : 6. SUGGESTED HEADS FOR NIGHT SERMONS 1. Sin — as separation from God. "Adam, where art thou?" Gen. 3:9. 2. Sin — as alienation from God. "A far country." St. Luke 15 : 13. 3. Sin — as rebellion against God. '^e will not have this man to reign over us." St. Luke 19 : 14. 4. Kepentance — "I will arise and go." St. Luke 15 : 18. 5. Forgiveness — "There is forgiveness with Thee." Ps. 13:4. 6. The Cross — "I lay down My life for the sheep." St. John 10:15. 7. Need of God— "God be merciful to me." St. Luke 18 : 13. 8. Restoration— "Lovest thou Me?" St. John 21:16. 9. Safety and Peace — "My peace I give." St. John 14:27. 10. "Now is the accepted time." II Cor. 6 : 2. 11. Danger of delayed repentance — "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Jer. 8:20. THE MISSIONER'S MESSAGE 53 SUGGESTED HEADS FOR AFTER-MEETINGS 1. Do I realize my sin? 2. Am I really sorry? 3. Is there anything keeping me from God? 4. Have I confessed Christ? 5. Baptism. 6. Confirmation. 7. Holy Communion. 8. Social Service. A PARISH PROGRAMME By the Rev. James E. Freeman, D.D. THE success of a diocesan or nation-wide mission must, obviously, be determined by the efficiency of each local parochial mission. The adaptation of methods will largely be fixed by local needs and conditions and what may prove effective in one place may be wholly un- acceptable in another; it is therefore difficult to lay down an inflexible programme for uni- versal use. Experience and experiment are the only means by which we can determine the best plan, and the following programme for a parish is submitted out of experience and experiment in missions held both East and West, in 'New York and San Francisco, and in other cities of the East. The chief value of this experience and experiment is to be found in the fact that it was demonstrated in the parish of which I was rector in the city of Yonkers. The first and supremely impor- reparaion ^^^^ thing in effecting a mission is adequate and proper preparation. The pe- A PARISH PROGRAMME 55 riod of preparation should not be less than from four to six weeks and it might better occupy a period of several months. There is some danger in a too protracted preparation as it tends to dissipate and enervate energies that must have their largest exercise in the mission itself. The object of the mission being clearly defined in a circular letter sent to each individual member of the parish, the rector calls together a group of efficient men and women for the larger consideration of plans and the perfecting of details. These committees should comprise the following: Publicity, Mu- sic, Ushering, Consulting and Inquiry. The work of the publicity committee has to do with a thorough and painstaking canvass and cir- cularization of the whole parish, information furnished the newspapers, the issuance of no- tices and tracts artistically printed, and all other matters that concern the widest announce- ment of the mission's enterprise. It is needless to comment on the loss of power, the result of the indifference the Church shows to wise and legitimate and effective advertising methods. We commend most cordially Mr. Allen D. Albert's chapter dealing more fully with this subject. The music of the mission is a matter of large importance and we have found it necessary to exercise excep- 56 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION tional care in tlie selection of the hymns. In cooperation with a competent musician, a list of hymns was prepared to cover the various services of the mission, some of which are in- cluded in the Mission Hymnal (list appended). I beg to submit, however, that it has been my habit to employ no other hymns than those in our own hymnal. The music committee will undertake, with the cooperation of the rector, to effect a large volunteer choir. In several of the missions I have conducted I have found that a children's vested choir in the afternoon proved most valuable and that a full vested choir in the evening, with possibly one strong soloist to sing the Gospel hymns, was a dis- tinct aid and inspiration to the service. The work of the music committee in conjunction with the rector is so obvious that discussion of it is not needed here. The work of the ushering com- s ering mittee should take cognizance of the importance of hospitality and the value of a kindly greeting. A number of men engaged in this work at the door of the church is an aid to an effective mission not to be lightly esteemed. Mr. Beecher once said that the atti- tude of those who served in the back of the church was as important as the attitude of him who preached in the front of the church. The A PARISH PROGRAMME 57 ushers should also plan to look after the dis- tribution of literature and see that an ample supply of hymnals and service books is pro- vided. Consulting and This Committee, possibly, is the Inquiry qj^q of largest importance, as it has to do with the very vital matters to which the mission is committed. It should be so constituted as to be the missioner's or rector's cabinet; in other words, his executive commit- tee. It should have a sufficient number of men (and women too for that matter) to enable the missioner at the close of the service to have about him a staff of helpers to confer with those who are seeking information, instruction, or direction. It is our judgment that all the mem- bers of this committee, together with such others as may wish to attend, should come together for a brief period before each night service for prayer and consultation. One of the largest movements in our knowledge, not ephemeral but permanent in its results, grew out of such a conference as we have suggested, that was held unfailingly week by week in a great Eastern church. The foregoing committees having been carefully planned and the work clearly de- fined, a most important part of the preparation work remains, namely, the "cottage" or home meetings, as well as those held in the church 58 A NATION-WIDE PREACHINa MISSION or parish buildings, for prayer and conference, to which the people generally of the parish should be invited. It has been our experience that neighborhood meetings held in homes have proved more intimate and satisfactory in their results than those held in public places. There is no doubt about the spiritual power generated in gatherings of this kind. The reflex of these meetings will be felt in every avenue and de- partment of the mission itself. A village or town, well organized through these preparatory meetings, develops an enthusiasm and richness of spiritual experience that is of incalculable value. Even a mission with an inexperienced missioner, or one of ordinary ability, becomes an inspiration to a community or parish where the people, through both clerical and lay instru- mentalities, have been made to see the larger vision of a conquering Church. In this con- nection we lay much stress upon the part played by the laymen. There are men in parishes all over the land whom the Church regards as use- ful in some fiduciary or institutional capacity, who, if called into a distinctively religious serv- ice, would signally augment the pulpit mes- sage. ISTo parish, however well supplied with preaching ability in its pulpit, may be regarded as wholly successful unless it enlists its virile laymen in the exercise of a prophetic ministry. All too long the Church has ignored this lay A PARISH PROGRAMME 59 ministry. We accent it here, because a mission will fail, that is wholly dependent upon the missioner's ability, however great that ability may be. These meetings of preparation in which the whole subject under consideration is the spiritual enrichment and refreshment of the community and parish and an aggressive minis- try for the saving of souls, are of such strategic importance that we place them as the very Alpha of efficiency. In all that we say con- cerning preparation and committees, we urge the recognition of the efficiency of both men and women in the conduct and extension of the work. There might also be planned, with much profit, a children's committee to have large over- sight over the special children's services. The Use of Discounted as they have been for Tracts some time past, the well edited and wisely conceived tract has its distinct place of value in a carefully ordered mission; indeed it has a large place in the every-day conduct of a well ordered parish. Many of our rectors, if they applied themselves to it, would doubtless disclose a genius for putting in compact and popular tract form the great fundamental truths of our faith. Tracts enriched with illustrations drawn from personal experience or observation have proved of sui'passing value in our expe- rience. It has been our practice to write our 60 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION own tracts, having them vary day by day, and incorporating in them the order of services. We recall one instance where a commercial trav- eler purchased a thousand copies of a certain tract, ^^to use it," as he said, in ^^silently preach- ing the Gospel to men.'' Tracts that have a local color and that have certain intimate touches of parish interest are more valuable than those that are written for general use or distribution. The large value of the tract is to be found in its use in reaching those who are beyond the pale of the mission itself. Workers and attendants upon the mission become agents for disseminating not only information about the mission but the priceless truths of the faith itself. We have known fathers and mothers who, through the medium of a tract, have been able to approach rebellious or indifferent sons or daughters and to bring them through gentle persuasion back into the paths of rectitude and grace. Because it has not had wide use in our Church is no reason for dispensing with this very valuable instrumentality. It is our grow- ing conviction that the literature of any mis- sion is a large factor, possibly a determining one, in its usefulness and efficiency. The Order of We have found it a profitable Services practice to divide the services of the day as follows: An early celebration at A PARISH PROGRAMME 61 such hour as may seem convenient to the people. We have found 7 :30 the most satisfactory hour. Ten A. M., service for women, with intimate per- sonal talks on the great questions that relate to religion in the home and society. A soloist at this service helps much in leading the con- gregational singing and affords opportunity for the solo singing of one of the great Gospel hymns. In every service this practice should be recognized. We append suggested outline of addresses for the women's services. Four p. M., children's service with vested children's choir, this service informal in character, i. e., several hymns, creed. Lord's Prayer, and se- lected collects, a brief Bible lesson, hymn, ad- dress, as parabolic in form and as richly illus- trated as possible. Suggested addresses for chil- dren's services are appended. Eight p. m., even- ing service; informal in character, with large vested choir, carefully selected hymns in har- mony with the theme of the evening, a solo Gospel hymn at the close of the sermon, the service lasting not more than one hour, followed by a simple after-meeting, without choir. In our experience the after-meeting has proved of the greatest value. Earely have we known peo- ple to leave, the interest being intense and the desire evident to hear a more personal applica- tion of the theme of the sermon. The choir being dismissed, the rector, returning immedi- 62 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION ately habited in cassock, opens the meeting with a prayer or prayers as he deems wise, this to be followed by a hymn and a short intimate personal talk, as intimate and personal in its application as it can be made, from the theme suggested by the sermon. This may be followed by brief comments made by some of those pres- ent and possibly by prayer both silent and audi- ble. We must not forget that this after-meeting, no matter how great its attendance, if it is to have virtue, must be regarded as of the most intimate character, informal, a sort of family gathering, and a family gathering calls for a form of intimacy that is precluded in a large Church service. Conference with It is Well f or the missioner, if Missloner possible, to designate an office where he may be accessible to those who wish to see him privately. Our Lord did His greatest work with individuals. A modern worker has said, "The key to the mass is the individual," therefore if we are to follow the Master's method we must not despise or treat indiffer- ently our consultative work. We are not only preachers, we are diagnosticians, and diagnos- ticians must deal with individual cases. Mission Themes Morning Addresses to Women The Woman and her Family. Text: "Her children A PARISH PROGRAMME 63 arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Proverbs 31 : 28. (See also verses 11 to 27, inclusive.) The Woman in the World. Text: "Let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31 : 31. (See also verse 25) : Also, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." The Woman in her Conversation. Text: "In her tongue is the law of kindness." Proverbs 31 : 26. The Woman and her Need. Text: "If I may but touch His garment I shall be whole." Matthew 9:20. Other Themes suggested are: "The Woman in her Work," "The Woman and her Opportunity," "The Woman in her Influ- ence," etc. We have found the thirty-first chapter of Proverbs singularly suggestive in addresses on this general theme. Apart from the foregoing order we have pursued a course in which the great women of the Old and IsTew Testaments have figured, in whose characters were illus- trated some of the vital principles of life. These addresses should deal without fear or favor with the conspicuous weaknesses disclosed to-day in the home, society, and the world at large, and should gently but firmly indicate the importance of a return to the old ways and the old paths of simplicity and holiness. A candid and kindly presentation of conditions with which we are all familiar but which are commonly allowed to pass unnoticed and unre- 64 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION buked is most desirable in these morning meetings. Children's A general theme that we have Service found useful was one that dealt in a graphic recital of the great events in our Lord's life, especially of those events that relate Him to child life. His birth and childhood, Luke 2 : 1-20 ; His first visit to the Temple, Luke 2 : 41-52 ; His second visit to the Temple, John 2 : 13-17 ; His calling the disciples, creat- ing a Church, Matthew 9:9; John 1 : 37, etc. The design of these addresses should be, not only to inform the children as to the story of the Christ life but its intimate relation to their lives, especially to their happiness and largest and fullest development. Abundance of illus- trative material is needed here, and those pas- sages in the 'New Testament in which Jesus deals directly with child life as in His discus- sion with His disciples as to who should be greatest in the Kingdom prove valuable for these services. In one mission we had the chil- dren make notes as the mission progressed and as the theme developed, and at the close care- fully prepared papers were presented, some of them admirable. The Evening It is the Universal experience of Service missiouers that an evening service to be effective must be informal but dignified in A PARISH PROGRAMME 65 character. Obviously, if any part of our lit- urgy is used it must be abbreviated and selected with large judgment. One of the conspicuous features of the evening service is the singing of the hymns. It must be remembered that the primary purposes of the mission services are to teach, admonish, and inspire. Every great re- ligious awakening has proceeded through the exercise of the prophetic gift. .The mighty movements that have overturned human phi- losophy and recreated social conditions have come through the exercise of the ministry of the prophet, hence the supreme place of the night message. Suggested Themes First Series The Enlarged Vision. Text : "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be here- after." Kev. 4: part 1. The Great Call. Text: The Master is come and calleth for thee." John 11 : 28. Self -Conscious Weahness. Text: "Why could not we cast him out ?" Matt. 17 : 19. The Peril of Procrastination. Text: "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season I will send for thee." Acts 24 : 25. An Underwritten Life. Text : "Kept by the Power of God." I Peter 1:5. Transfiguring Prayer. Text: "As He prayed the fashion of His countenance was altered." Luke 9:29. 66 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION Costly Service. Text: "Neither will I offer unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." II Sam. 24 : 24. Second Series The Mission's Purpose and Power. Text: "If this work be of men it will come to nought." Acts 5: part 38. "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Acts 1 : part 8. The World's Need. Text: "Have mercy on me, O Lord; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." Matt. 15:22. Danger of Self -Satisfaction. Text: "I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease." Luke 12 : 19. Interrupted Faith. Text: "Ye did run well; who did hinder you?" Gal. 5:7. Responsibility for Others. Text: "No man cared for my soul." Ps. 142 : 4. "That I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary." Isaiah 50 : 4. The Inevitable Christ. Text: "Will ye also go away ? Lord, to whom shall we go ?" John 6 : 67, 68. The Call for Decision. Text: "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" Matt. 27 : 22. The New Life. Text : "Therefore, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature." II Cor. 5 : 17. The Sense of Direction. Text : "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." Luke 9 : 51. Permanence of Life. Text: "He that doeth the will of God abideth forever." I John 2 : 17. A PARISH PROGRAMME 67 Third Series — Eeligion and Life 1. The arrested life — "When God saw that he turned aside— God called unto him." Exodus 3 : 4. 2. The sacredness of life — "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." Exodus 3:5. 3. The preparation for life — a— "I will stand upon my watch"— Self-exami- nation. b — "And set me upon the tower" — The greater vision. c — "And will watch to see what He will say unto me" — The divine direction. Habakkuk 2 : 1. 4. The assurance of life — "Certainly I will be with thee." Exodus 3 : 10 to 12. 5. The sense of mission — "It was not you that sent me hither, but God." Genesis 45 : 8. 6. The conquering life — "Why could not we cast him out?" "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed," etc. Matt. 17 : 19, 20. Fourth Series— On Parable of "Benignant Father" Luke 15 1. Breaking home ties— "He gathered all together and took himself to a far country." 2. Life in the far country— "He sent him into his field to feed swine," etc. 3. Self-recovery— "He came to himself." 4. The new impulse — "I will arise and go to my father." 68 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION 5. The father's welcome — "When his father saw him," etc. 6. Back home. The above texts and themes are not neces- sarily in order of sequence. An opportunity should be made to instruct the people in the Church's ways and habits, but everything should be subordinated to the one supreme theme ; ^^there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" ; "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." A Sunday Mass There should be held on Sunday Meeting for Men afternoou at a convenient hour a mass meeting for men. Our experience bas demonstrated the large wisdom of such a meet- ing and the results accruing from it have been among the most valuable in the mission's enter- prise. Such a meeting should be quite informal in character, and the address should be exceed- ingly personal and bear directly upon those im- portant questions that are peculiarly related to masculine life. The meeting affords oppor- tunity for an intimate touch and fellowship be- tween missioner and men. Much should be made of the singing at this meeting, and it might be possible to have one or more laymen supplement the missioner's address with brief A PARISH PROGRAMME 69 remarks bearing upon the layman and his im- portant place in the Church's life. The Value of That the mission must lead up to Acknowledged an acknowledged conviction of the Conviction j^gg^^ ^f Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour seems too obvious to call for comment here; yet, there are those who feel that any open exhibition of a desire to lead a new life or a public acknowledgment of the supremacy of Christ is both undignified and unnecessary. This is disproved by the experience of every experienced and successful missioner. Someone has said, "We do not preach as though we sought a verdict/' hence the congregation, which is the jury, all too frequently fails to give acknowl- edgment to the claims we present. We submit it as our personal experience that a mission without its heart-searching and its open expres- sion of need, is little more than an artificial stimulant or tonic that serves the parish and community but for a brief period. Baptism and confirmation are the gateways of access to the larger things of our household of faith, and that they should be stressed definitely and firmly as means of grace through which the family of Christ is enlarged and enriched, we believe most strongly. Our mission preaching must have an end and aim, and while its pri- mary purpose is to present afresh the great 70 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION claims of Jesns Christ, there must (if it is to have permanent value) be a demand for an open recognition and acknowledgment and acceptance of these claims. Every missioner is conscious of the fact that the mission in itself is but a means to an end. If it be but a spectacular, sporadic, ephem- eral thing, it is of little worth, hence the failure of all ill-conceived, ill-administered re- vivals. The mission that is the most success- ful is the one that discloses the least machinery, and the missioner who is the most efficient is the man who abandons himself to the Spirit's power. The mission that simply stirs the sur- face of the parochial waters without touching the depths, that satisfies itself with great out- pourings of people, is unworthy of the endorse- ment and support of those who yearn for the permanent things of righteousness. What the tonic is to the jaded life the mission is to the tired and enervated soul. What fresh enthu- siasm is to the man or woman worn with life's battle, the mission is to the rector and parish that have grown "stale," whose springs of fresh- ness and enthusiasm have dried up. If the period of convalescence with the sick is of so great importance in restoring fulness of health, then we may say that the period following the mission in which the souls of men and women have been refreshed and renewed is one that A PARISH PROGRAMME 71 should be carefully considered and supervised. An awakened parish means new activities and a more intensive service; let us hope that it may mean greater definiteness and perseverance in the prosecution of the things of the Kingdom. The effects of a mission must continue long after the last note has subsided, and the whole aim of its work should be the strengthening and buttressing of the walls of God's Church. SUGGESTIONS FOR A MISSION By the Rt. Rev. Reginald H. Wellee, D.D. Bishop of Fond du Lac I_The First, be careful to secure the Preparation active cooperatiou of the most earnest members of the congregation. This is essential. After explaining to them exactly what the mission is intended to accomplish, the means to be employed, and their part in both prayer and active labor, organize them into a Mission band. Secure your missioner and fix the date. Preach a sermon with the purpose of arous- ing interest in and a personal desire on the part of all members of the congregation for the mis- sion, explaining definitely what the mission is, its purpose, and the means employed. Tell the people that all guild meetings and other paro- chial activities will be suspended during the mission and that only a great effort can produce the results desired, that all communicants and others who desire to take part in the mission SUGGESTIONS FOR A MISSION 73 should make its services a first and definite appointment so far as imperative business and household duties will pei^it. Impress upon them the fact that constant and general prayer is essential, and urge upon all earnest persons individual effort to arouse in others a desire for the mission. Have a brief, terse collect for the mission, approved by the Bishop, printed and distributed m the pews. From the beginning of the prep- aration use this prayer at all public services, and urge its general use in family and private prayers by all communicants and other inter- ested persons. The mission should consist of two essen- tial parts : a daily celebration of the Holy Eu- charist early (two on Sundays) and a mission service every evening. Prepare and have printed as many copies as necessary of a promise in the following, or similar, words: "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. I will make an earnest effort, with God s help, to attend the Holy Eucharist each morning during the Mission at Church'^ ^'°°^ (date) to .'.'. (date/ "^ on days. Signed Date The pastor and members of his Mission band should try to get every communicant to sign this promise either for every day in the mission or 74 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION for definite specified days during the mission. This is by no means a general practice at mis- sions, but in my own limited experience it is not only of great benefit, but the success of a mission has been proportionate to the number of these promises signed and kept. It may, of course, be explained that persons can attend a celebration of the Holy Eucharist for worship and prayer, even though they do not intend to receive Holy Communion at that time. Such a pledge and such attendance puts the emphasis of the mission in the right place, on God and not on the missioner. It will not only empha- size the Holy Eucharist as the great act of wor- ship and intercession but the value of the peo- ple's prayers and intercessions, and the effort to get these promises signed will emphasize the importance of the mission and individual in- terest and responsibility. It will also give the pastor and his Mission band a definite reason for calling on every communicant. Constant prayer with individual work on these lines should last from the first effort at preparation until the mission. It would be well also for the missioner and the pastor to prepare and print a brief outline of definite prayers and intercessions to be used privately by the people, not only in preparation for the mission, but privately at the daily Eucharists while the mission is in progress. SUGGESTIONS FOR A MISSION 75 These suggestions of prayers should be for the needs of the person praying, such as a deeper penitence, more regular and faithful self-exami- nation and confession of sin, greater devotion in private and in family prayers, more frequent and more regular attendance upon the Church's worship, especially on Sundays and the greater holy days, definite and regular active work in some form for our holy religion, etc. The in- tercessions will, of course, be for the conversion of others. ''When the Church sets itself to pray with the same seriousness and strength of purpose that it has devoted to other forms of Christian eifort, it will see the Kingdom of God come with power." 2— The There should be a daily Eucharist, Mission two on Sundays, and if there is more than one priest, there may be two or more Holy Eucharists on weekdays as well as Sun- days, but on weekdays they should all be at some early hours near together, but convenient for the people. There may be a Children's Mission, but if so, there should be two missioners, one of them especially qualified for that work. A missioner who could do that work successfully will give all the details which the pastor may need in advance. There may be one or more Bible classes at 76 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION convenient hours for men or women, or both, but this is not necessary, and where there is only one missioner the work is too heavy and long-sustained for this. Moreover, many serv- ices are sometimes distracting, and it may be better to lay the emphasis on two great services rather than on many. The Mission Service in the evening consists of two parts, an instruction and a sermon. The instruction in a mission of the nature proposed by the Commission on E'ation-wide Preaching should, I think, cover the funda- mentals of the Faith, following either the lines of the Creed, or the usual order in works on dogmatic theology. They should be very simple and practical, but they should also go deep into the heart of the matter. In preparation for those instructions I would suggest as text books such works as Darwell Stone's Outlines,'^ or Dr. Barry's Meditations on the Apostles' Greed.\ While the instructions are aimed primarily at the understanding, the sermon must reach the emotions and the will. They must be, in other words, what are ordinarily called evangelical or gospel sermons. There are many different lines which may be followed and each missioner * Outlines of Christian Dogma. Longmans, $1.50. t Meditations on the Apostles' Creed. Gorham, $2.00. SUGGESTIONS FOR A MISSION 77 will naturally choose his own line of thought, with very familiar subject matter. One might, for instance, choose a series cov- ering the ISTativity and the Passion, such as the following: (1) The I^ativity of St. John the Baptist, as the Answer to Prayer (Acts 1: 13), showing how God kept in His heart the prayer which Zacharias and his wife prayed when they were young and answered it long afterwards when they thought that it was impossible. (2) The E'ativity of our Lord, dwelling upon the Infinite Love expressed in the Incarnation. (3) The Announcement of our Lord's ^N'ativity to the Angels in the hill country of Judea, em- phasizing the whole supeiTiatural world. (4) The Epiphany. (5) The Calling of St. Andrew and St. John (St. John 1:35-41). (6) The Calling of St. Peter (St. John 1 : 41-43). (7) The Calling of SS. Philip and IsTathaniel (St. John 1 : 43 to end). (8) Our Lord's last effort to save Judas (St. Matthew 26:50), dwelling upon the address — ^Triend" — and the effort to get him to answer a question, which, if he had answered it, must have produced penitence and pardon. Judas lost his soul, not primarily for what he had done, which might have been for- given, but because he would not answer this question. (9) The Love of our Lord in the Great Sacrifice. (10) The Resurrection. (11) The Pirst Appearance to St. Peter (St. Luke 78 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION 24: 34), 1 Cor. 15: 5). The silence that sur- roTinds it. Considering St. Peter's sin, it could only have meant confession; and considering who our Lord is, it could only have meant abso- lution. (12) Heaven (St. Matt. 5, first half of verse 12; Rest, Heb. 4:9). J^ot the absence of toil but of all things which distress here: sin, poverty, pain, etc. Joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 St. Peter 1:8). Joy, not only of meeting our loved ones, but of seeing God, and glory, not only the "Well done, good and faithful servant," but the fulness of our union with God in Christ. These, of course, are merely suggestions of how a missioner can select a series of subjects in the Life of our Lord. Or one might intro- duce sermons on the Miracles of our Lord along lines like those used by Archbishop Lang of York, in his book. The Miracles of Jesus,^ but they should have a definite beginning and foun- dation, dwelling especially on the Love of God in Christ, and reaching a practical climax. The sermon usually precedes the instruction, on the theory that an evangelical sermon will prepare one for the reception of the dogmatic Faith. On the other hand, I have found it sometimes helpful in a mission of this nature to give the instruction first, that people may leave * The Miracles of Jesus. Button, $1.50. SUGGESTIONS FOR A MISSION 79 the church with the fixed purpose which the sermon is intended to inculcate, on the analogy of the seed planted first and growing afterwards. One may begin the mission service with a hymn, short chapter, not longer than one of the Gospels in the office of the Holy Eucharist, a hymn, the Lord's Prayer, and two or three brief, appropriate collects, the Grace of our Lord, etc., a hymn, sermon, hymn, instruction, hymn, col- lect, and blessing. Or (1) a hymn, (2) instruc- tion, (3) hymn, (4) short chapter, prayer, col- lects, and Lord's Prayer, (5) hymn, (6) ser- mon, (7) collect and blessing. This entire mis- sion service should not take longer than an hour and a half at most. 'No collection should ever be taken at the mission service in the evening, and in fact any necessary financial arrangements should entirely precede the mission. It is a great mistake to have appeals for money made while the mission is in progress. Of course a collection may be taken at any celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The missioner or missioners should never accept invitations to dinner, or to any social functions, during the mission, and each of them should always be accessible to everybody who wants to see him. To this end, he should have his regmlar daily and publicly-announced hours in the church, remembering always that one 80 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION gathers the fruit of a mission in the personal contact with individuals. There should be a Resolution Card printed, with suggested resolutions and with blank spaces for special resolutions; and every effort should be made to have people make at least one good resolution as a result of a thankoffering for the mission. It would be well for each person to consult the missioner, or, if that may not be, the pastor, or at least some priest, before definitely making his or her resolution. These resolutions gather up in a practical way the fruit of the mission, and they are sometimes gathered on the almsbasins as a special offering to God at the last service of the mission, which should be a celebration of the Holy Eucharist in thanksgiving for the blessings vouchsafed during the mission. This article is so long that I cannot deal with the after-work further than to say that it is a fatal mistake to imagine the work done when the missioner is gone, and that a mission involves a specially active pastoral work imme- diately afterwards to guide people whom God has moved, during the mission, into the Church's path of the spiritual life. For many details it would be well to get literature from the Holy Cross fathers, the Cowley fathers, or some parochial missionary society or recognized missioner. THE MISSION AS RELATED TO RURAL CONDITIONS By the Kt. Kev. I^^ATHANIEL S. Thomas, D.D. Bishop of Wyoming A S rural conditions are practically the condi- -^^ tions of the whole continental domestic missionary field, the difference being mainly one of population and in the distances between the preaching points, I shall deal with my sub- ject with particular reference to a frontier expe- rience. First let me note some of the conditions which a thorough-going prosecution of an ex- tended mission must consider. The clergy are far apart, the people are scat- tered; the clergyman is an itinerant; the ''ser- mon barrel" is small, for each sermon is put into requisition as many times at least as there are stations to serve. The people are consequently trained in a more or less haphazard way. Se- quential teaching becomes more difficult and well instructed Church people are rare. The 82 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION missionary, moreover, has not the leisure for study afforded the parish priest. His sermons are likely to lack adequate subject matter and analysis. They are likely to possess, strongly, human qualities, for this is the element most likely to improve by repetition. Both minister and people need an experience of analytical study and sequential teaching. Moreover, the city is full of stimulus of every sort, not so the country. Under rural conditions a clergyman should not be long away from his field of service. In the city when the rector is on his holiday of two or three months, his assistant takes his place. If he have no assistant, he knows that within ten squares the sick friend or dying pa- rishioner can call upon another man of God for comfort or assistance. He may thus prolong his holiday without loss to his work. Moreover, it is his filling time — a box of books invariably accompanies the industrious city rector on his holiday. The missionary, whether Bishop or deacon, finds study almost an impossibility. As to the distribution of clergymen, it is manifest that one-third to one-half of the paro- chial clergy list could be withdrawn from the activities of a city without loss save to sentiment and convenience. It is also manifest that in the country there are innumerable centers; churches, schools, and RUEAL CONDITIONS 83 court houses, where missions could be held most profitably if only the missioners were to be had. So let it be clearly understood at the outset, that if the frontier and the rural districts are to be included within a mission to be conducted within a well defined and restricted limit of time, every active clergyman of the Church should be put into requisition and the city overflow turned into the country. And this seems to be the only course to pursue, even were the programme less ambitious than a nation- wide mission. There are but three possible courses to fol- low: 1. To rely upon trained missioners. 2. To rely upon trainable missioners or those who appear as likely to develop into effect- ive missioners. 3. To rely upon the whole tody of the clergy. The Church has so few trained missioners that this alternative is to be at once rejected. The other has practical difficulties. Who will train or who will prophetically and with fine discrimination select the likely men for effect- ive work? Any attempt, however successful, is sure to result in serious mistakes and leave behind many heartburnings. Moreover, if the mission is to be as much for the benefit of the clergy as the people, all 84 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION the clergy should be pressed into service. Most of the clergy will feel their inadequacy and lack of equipment, particularly the rural clergy, and if the rural clergy as a whole are not pressed into service it will be difficult to weather the flood of declinations which will surely ensue on any selective basis. Thus it appears that, if the mission is to be conducted as a ISTation-wide Preaching Mis- sion, all the clergy of the Church must take part and the problem becomes one of distribu- tion rather than of selection. The question of distribution becomes more complicated on the frontier in that most of our clergy, and be it said even those in self-support- ing parishes, have more than one mission or preaching station. One of our clergy in Wyo- ming has seven regular preaching stations and another six. The missionary having six stations also travels weekly 125 miles by motor. Thus the problem becomes complicated not only by the number of places to be reached, but by the distances between them. Referring again to Wyoming: there are eighty-one reported stations regularly visited by twenty-four clergymen. Were each of our missionaries to undertake to preach a mission, he would, if he preached in all of his stations, be obliged to spend so short a time in each as to be ineifective. RURAL CONDITIONS 85 Some preaching stations where the need of stimulation and instruction is greatest, must therefore be omitted, unless the city clergy can be used in large numbers for this supply, and missioners hold more than one mission. We have neglected the country. To illustrate the importance of the neglected hamlet — one of our women workers this summer presented for con- firmation eight persons from two towns out of a population numbering respectively 28 and 25. The time: When then should the mission begin, when should it end ? For the current year, Christmas falls most fortunately on a Saturday, so that a whole week may be given for the necessary Christmas prep- arations which devolve on every clergyman, if the missions generally close on December 19th. A two weeks' mission would throw us back to the evening of December 5th, when the mission in Station B might begin. This would leave the morning of December 5th as the time when the mission in Station A might end. This would throw us back again to the morning of E'ovember 21st, the Sunday next before Advent, as the time when the mission in Station A should begin. To execute this plan, which enables the mis- sion to begin and close on a Sunday, it is neces- sary that each missioner should hold his two missions within a few hours distance of each 86 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION other. Assuming that there are far more places where a mission should be held, even though every active clergyman be pressed into service than the supply will cover, it seems necessary to conclude that every clergyman should prepare himself as best he may to be a missioner, and each missioner should prepare himself to hold a mission in at least two places. In Wyoming all of our men will serve as missioners, so that our problem is one merely of preparation and distribution. Mrs. Clinton Ogilvie of 'New York reparaion -^^^ made it possible for several years past for the clergy of some of our mis- sionary districts to meet for intellectual profit and social intercourse once a year — a provision but for which our clergy would see one another at no time save at convocation. This year our mornings of this Ogilvie Conference will be given up as usual to the reading and discussion of papers, but our afternoons will be turned into a school of the clergy, at which time the Bishop proposes to outline addresses suitable for mission purposes and to call our experiences from the clergy, illustrative of the themes. May I here venture my own opinion, that where it is possible for a missioner to develop sufficient fresh material so as to prepare four- teen or more virile addresses before the Advent RURAL CONDITIONS 87 season, without calling upon his reserve of ser- mon matter, out of which he has drawn the ser- mons preached before his present charge, there can be no doubt but that he would do well him- self to hold the mission or missions for his own people? Speaking out of my experience, this severe task, hard enough for a parish priest, when set in the midst of a missionary's arduous traveling, is practically impossible. On the con- trary, most missioners have sufficient reserve, out of which may be drawn the foundation at least of fourteen straightforward addresses on vital subjects which with slight modifications and rearrangements and with careful selection as to logical sequence will prove quite adequate for a successful mission, provided the hearers are not familiar with the matter. In the cities and more important Distribution , i i i • i towns, a purely selective plan may naturally be followed. Where clergymen select their own missioners, it should be done with the advice and consent of the central commit- tee, or confusion will result. No such extended effort as this nation-wide mission can be suc- cessful without the team spirit and a close organization. Suggestions for the Organization: In many places, no doubt, a specially created body will plan for the prosecution of the mis- 88 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION sion in each diocese and district. In Wyoming, advantage will be taken of the already estab- lished system of deaneries. Here there are six deaneries and twenty-one counties, giving each dean a territory to administer on the average of three and one-half counties, each county being, roughly, as large as the state of Connec- ticut, with three men beside himself to cover it. It is plain that in a region so far flung a central committee, if at all representative of the vari- ous sections of the state, can meet but once for general planning. It is probable that our com- mittee will arrange a plan somewhat as follows : The rectors of the larger parishes where pastoral requirements are likely to be more pressing may insist upon an exchange with each other. This should be for but one of the two missions involved; the other mission, how- ever, he should hold somewhere near at home. This will free him from the necessity of being out of reach of his parish for more than two weeks at a time, when parochial direction is much needed. As this mutual exchange will be confined to the Deans, it will also enable each Dean to spend a fortnight at some stra- tegic spot within his own deanery, which is obviously desirable. The other clergy will be assigned by the Deans to places within their own deanery. This will effect a great saving of expense and will RURAL CONDITIONS 89 bring the missionaries of each deanery into two other places beside their own, but within such striking distance as to be desirable for pastoral purposes. It is well for the people of a com- munity to know the clergyman nearest to their own, for pastoral needs are continuous and mis- sions are frequently without a missionary. I have ventured thus largely in the general presentation of my topic to refer to Wyoming, its condition and the manner in which the mis- sion is to be conducted here, for the reason that my experience of rural conditions has been con- fined to Wyoming and because Wyoming is typical of that most difficult phase of the rural problem, the sparsely settled frontier. Even those generally approving of the plan which I have presented as operative in Wyo- ming, may have to modify it in detail. In dioceses or districts where the deanery system does not prevail, a central committee consisting of representatives from all sections of the dio- cese, should be able to serve equally well, so far as the distribution of missioners is con- cerned, the main points being that missioners should be assigned by those who know person- ally both the missioner and the field, and that the assignment should be near the missioner' s field of labor. To recapitulate: (a) Generally, missioners should be as- 90 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION signed, the assignment being near the mis- sioner's field of labor. (b) Each mission should last not less than two weeks and each missioner should conduct two missions in two places. (c) Some provision should be made for the preparation of the missioners for their work. In this review I have purposely omitted considering the preparation for the mission itself, as not being peculiar to my subject; the central committee must, however, give the matter careful attention, as the success of this great venture of faith is dependent greatly upon the reenforcement received before, during and after the active conduct of the mission. THE LAYMAN'S CONTRIBUTION* By George Wjiarton Pepper THE !N'ation-wide Preaching Mission is an effort on the part of the Episcopal Church to express itself. The self-expression should not be formal or official. Anybody who has a message should have a hearing. This means that the voices of laymen may be raised as well as those of the clergy. There are several reasons why laymen should make their own peculiar contribution to the mission. In the first place, it is well to dispel the im- pression that the men in the pews are all merely perfunctory Christians and that they are not really in earnest in their profession. There is in fact much depth of feeling and conviction among them and this should be manifested to * This paper has also been published separately in booklet form, and may be obtained from tlie publishers at 5 cts. per copy or $4.00 per liundred. 92 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION offset the carelessness of the many who are in- different. It is also true that when a layman speaks he often makes an impression which a clergy- man fails to make. If, indeed, the speaker is merely indulging his taste for oratory or grati- fying a passion to be prominent, this is quickly perceived by his fellows and they at once shut their ears. But usually the utterance of a lay- man on a religious subject is an utterance to which other laymen give heed. When it comes to speaking on such a sub- ject, most laymen are stifled by self -conscious- ness. On the whole this is a lesser danger than the temptation of the clergymen to be official and unreal. But a man who has convictions on great subjects ought to realize that he is under a duty to bear his witness. He must conquer himself and speak out. 'Nor can he shun this duty by pleading that he is not a fluent speaker. The world needs not words that flow but words that stick. The fact that the man has genuine convic- tions gives sufficient assurance that if he makes up his mind to speak at all he will speak con- vincingly. The question is not whether a man can speak well but whether he is really in earnest. Brother Churchman, are there not some things about which you feel deeply and of which THE LAYMAN'S CONTRIBUTION 93 it would do other laymen good to hear ? If so, the E^ation-wide Preaching Mission is your op- portunity. Offer yourself to those who are in charge and they will see to it that your message gets a hearing. Almost unconsciously I am myself adopting the tone of an exhorter. I am assuming a re- luctance upon the part of the layman to make his contribution. I am seeking to anticipate his objections and to drive him to an admission that this particular piece of the Lord's business is his business as well. Sometimes it is easier for a man to perceive his friend's fitness to speak than to recognize his own. If so, let it be one layman's contribution to show to his neigh- bor that the neighbor should put his time and service at the disposal of the cause. Several people in a congregation might unite in ap- proaching one of their brethren and so give him a call to speak to which he could not well turn a deaf ear. It is not necessary that a man should be learned in theology in order to be a useful lay preacher. The message of the mission is to be the simplest as well as the most compelling of all messages. It is in fact nothing else but the Gospel — the Good "News — that God so loved the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son to the end that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The lay- 94 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION man's sins and the layman's Saviour are topics upon which the man of little learning and big faith can speak with resistless power. Many a man will say, however, that he would rather die than talk publicly upon sub- jects such as these. ^'I should feel like a fool and my friends would agree that I was one." Let me say in passing, that the man who is a reluctant witness is often the man whose testi- mony carries most weight. If it evidently costs you a struggle to speak of your religious con- victions every word will be heard with respect. The very people whose ridicule you anticipate are likely to be profoundly affected by the proof of your sincerity. I must admit, however, that you may be one of those who simply can not, or will not, bring themselves to talk about religious feelings and experiences. If this is your cate- gory, at least you can force yourself to talk about Christian character and about conduct as a necessary test of character. Most men will speak glibly about civic righteousness and na- tional integrity. Surely they should be able also to advocate such a manner of life for each man as is conformable to Christian ideals. A layman will find his task easier if he avoids abstractions and delivers himself of some concrete message. Let him think of some way in which his own associates are in the habit of doing violence to the Christian ideal. Let him THE LAYMAN'S CONTRIBUTION 95 meditate upon the evil consequences of this thing as manifested in home life and in social relations. Then let him ponder upon his hopes for his own children or for the young people of his community and reflect upon the way in which these hopes are in danger of being frus- trated. While he is thus musing the fire is likely to kindle and at the last he will speak with his tongue. Perhaps the layman in some given instance is a man of position and privilege. Perhaps he has observed the habit of others like him when brought into familiar contact with men of less education and of small privilege. If so he must have noticed a thing that is unfortunately char- acteristic of American democracy. I mean the way in which the man of privilege habitually levels himself down to the other man in speech and conduct instead of exercising over the other that quiet influence which the right way of doing things always exerts. A desire t® avoid the appearance of snobbishness leads him to become deliberately unreal. It is a futile effort. The other man quickly perceives what is hap- pening and loses all respect for the man who might have helped him. Any layman who keeps half an eye open will readily find dozens of illustrations of this false democracy. Suppose, for example, a man of privilege finds himself in contact with guides 96 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION or lumbermen or, as in a training camp, with men of the regular army. In the vast majority of cases you will find this man going out of his way in an effort to outdo his new associates in blasphemy and foul talk — and this even when under ordinary conditions such talk is by no means agreeable to him. There is something pathetic about this vain attempt to curry favor with the crowd. It indicates a hopelessly false philosophy of life and a total failure to per- ceive that affected scurrilousness is as futile as any other form of affectation. A layman might preach a very effective sermon on a man's duty to be himself and his obligation to appear to be as religious as in fact he is. I have spoken of blasphemy. We all know, of course, that profanity with many men is merely a bad habit and has no serious moral quality whatever. The blasphemous use of our Lord's ISTame is, however, a different matter. It may be true that the blasphemer has no de- liberate intention to blaspheme. But it is also true that he can have no real reverence left in him; else such talk would be impossible. He would not, for example, publicly use his mother's or his sister's or his wife's name in the way that he dares to use his Saviour's. It is a curious fact that when men get together in groups, away from feminine influence and the restraint of civilization, they immediately lapse into the THE LAYJVIAN'S CONTRIBUTION 97 most barbarous and unrestrained talk. In so doing thej make an unconscious confession that nothing really sacred has a place in their thoughts and that there is not even a small area dedicated to Almighty God. It would be a fine thing if a layman were to raise his voice in earnest protest against the careless, irreverent, or blasphemous use of the only !N'ame given under heaven whereby we may be saved. I should like to hear a mercilessly frank discourse by a layman on the decline of honesty in America. I shall be told, no doubt, that there has been of late years a great uplifting of stand- ards of corporate conduct and that high finance is no longer low. Let it be granted that this is true. A somewhat extended experience, nevertheless, leads me to the unhappy conclu- sion that a man thoroughly honest in all his financial relations is a very rare bird. I am not a cynic or a pessimist. I try to make only conservative statements; yet I stand by the one I have just made. Thorough-going honesty is rare. I wish that we would admit it. Let laymen think, for example, of the per- centage of treasurers, agents, and factors who mingle trust money with their own. Think, too, of the guardians who "lend" their wards' money to themselves for use in their own busi- ness. Then there are the trustees who are mak- ing direct and indirect profit out of their trusts, 98 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION and the executors and administrators who in ways little and big are robbing the dead as well as the living. I have heard a lawyer of great sanity and enormous experience give it as his deliberate opinion that a majority of American fiduciaries, if suddenly subjected to unexpected examination, would be detected in more or less serious embezzlement. Fear of detection keeps some insurance agents from rebating. Honesty restrains others. How many applicants for in- surance, however, will refuse to accept a prof- fered reduction in the broker's commission? What is your honest opinion of some of the practices common among agents for the sale of real estate? The dealings of many lawyers, especially in the large cities, with their clients and with their clients' money are far too little understood. How often do you happen upon corporate directors who are accepting "commis- sions" from "clients" doing business with the corporation ? Is it uncommon to find vendors of securities unloading their holdings upon inex- perienced purchasers by creating the impression that their advice is disinterested ? What is your experience with sextons ? What percent- age of them do you suspect of being grafters? How many day laborers will work diligently when they are not being watched ? Do you find that the unsupervised work done by your builder, your carpenter, and your plumber is THE LAYMAN'S CONTRIBUTION 99 honest work, fairly worth its price? Do your farmer and your gardener try to take advantage of you in petty ways? Can you trust the weights and the books of your grocer and your provision dealer? What is your observation of the treatment of bidders on public and private work? Is the sheriff making an unfair profit out of feeding the prisoners in your county jail ? Is there any corrupt relation between your po- lice force and protected vice ? Are you satisfied that your community is honestly governed ? Do people often recommend for employment per- sons whom they would not trust? Is your rec- tor's report to the diocesan convention strictly accurate both as to the number of actual com- municants and as to other matters ? Is he scrupulously careful in the handling of funds? Does the charitable board of which you are a member ever "borrow" from the endowment fund in order to meet current expenses ? How often do you come in contact with professional beggars who are misrepresenting facts to get money ? Are you accustomed to rely implicitly on the representations of the promoter who wants to let you in on the ground floor ? Have you ever been a minority stockholder in a small company of which the majority desired to ac- quire all the shares ? I submit that there is far too much cock- crowing about the rugged honesty of the de- 100 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION scendants of our forefathers and far too little reporting of the facts as thej are. Laymen are the people who do the cock-crowing and they are the only people who can effectively do the reporting. May we not hope that more than a few laymen will seize the opportunity offered by the mission and risk their popularity by stating the facts ? It should be pointed out with stern insistence that we have long enough clipped and snipped the Gospel to make it square with selfishness and that it is high time to reverse the process by fitting our daily lives to the Gospel. Are no lay voices to be raised in opposition to views which tend to disrupt the family and destroy the home? The consideration of the divorce problem has been clouded by abstract discussions of the nature of marriage and the function of the Church in respect to it. The important point to emphasize is that experience shows that divorce is a failure. Of all the remedies and reliefs which quacks hold out to suffering mortals, divorce is the most disap- pointing and dangerous. Why not come out boldly and warn people that it is criminal folly to drift into serious domestic trouble in the de- luding belief that lost happiness can quickly be restored by decree of court ? It is not a ques- tion of the propriety of the remarriage of di- vorced persons. It is not a question of the way THE LAYMAN'S CONTRIBUTION 101 in which the horrors of the divided custody of children can be mitigated. It is not a question of remedy but of prevention. What contribu- tion can laymen make to the subject of moral hygiene in the household? Are they to be dumb in the presence of a national emergency ? Would it not be a fine thing if laymen were to proclaim to their fellows that most domestic discord is traceable to bad manners upon the part of the male ? Lack of consideration for the feelings of the wife ; lack of insight into the conditions which will make a woman happy; unwillingness to make little personal sacrifices; bad temper and unreasonableness when the bills seem big — all these things will cumulate and in time smother the flame of love. If a lawyer could tell of the origins of family discords he would make an astonishing record of trifles that ended in tragedies. While legislators are grap- pling with the divorce problem and Churchmen are puzzling over the question of remarriage, they and most other people seem to be over- looking the fact that the remedy for domestic discord is not divorce but happiness. The cul- ture of happiness is the important matter and the Christian home is the place in which it most surely flourishes. I wish laymen would step out of the pews, ascend the pulpits, and pro- claim a new era in which Christian chivalry will replace churlishness and the man of the 102 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION family will admit that if the home is unhappy it is primarily his fault. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the man who can induce a woman to marry him can also make and keep her happy if he lives not for himself but for her. The households in which the family altar was reared and the installation of family prayers implanted soon after they were established are almost always households which have continued to be happy. A strong and vigorous advocacy by laymen of a return in this respect to the general custom of an earlier day is a thing greatly to be desired. Perhaps, in order to arouse the layman to an appreciation of his privileges and oppor- tunity, it will be necessary to preach him into preaching. It may be that those who are or- ganizing the mission will find themselves un- able to discern any appreciable number of lay- men who will conquer reluctance, fling away self-consciousness, and declare boldly the faith that is in them. If this proves to be the case, then the clergy who preach the Mission must do what they can to convey the message of which the laity themselves might well have been the medium. Even so, the layman need not be merely passive. Apart from the personal serv- ice that he can render in preparing the way for the coming of the missioners and in bringing men and women within the range of their THE LAYMAN'S CONTRIBUTION 103 voices, he can himself cooperate with the preacher by pondering in advance the sugges- tions that I have made in this paper. If his eyes are open to the dangers that beset our lives he is likely to listen more eagerly for those words of counsel and exhortation which will be addressed to him in the power of the Spirit. THE PREACHING MISSION AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION By the Kev. William E. Gardner, D.D. General Secretary of the General Board of Religious Education SYNOPSIS This article aims to show that the educational conception of the Church's life is primarily a soul-saving force ; that the conception demands a careful study of parochial forces, and a programme that will win and rightly place the "wit- nessing" energy of each Churchman. APEEACHING mission, whose sole pur- pose and aim is the salvation of men through Him whose ^ame is above every name, presents the primary motive for the movement of Religious Education. Soul Saving The Church is urging us to have and Education a passion for souls. That passion must be defined and educationally controlled, if it is to be effectively expressed and permanently pursued. For this reason soul saving must ultimately receive from the hands of the Church the same kind of scientific attention that has been given by society to health restoring. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 105 Soul saving must, for the Church, become a more scientific activity than the restoring of health. It is more important in the long run ; it will therefore be studied more carefully and systematically. Its investigation may call for laboratories and investigators more expensive than dollars can buy, and more truly scientific than the most scientific laboratory and investi- gator known to-day. A keen teacher of psy- chology said recently : ''When we give as much time to the study of the religious impulses as has been given to rocks and reptiles, we will know more definitely than to-day what we mean by 'social betterment' and 'salvation'." This in a preaching mission must be made clear: we may come to a sinful world bearing the gift of salvation as we have received it, or been possessed by it, but the world will not receive it unless that salvation is the evident fulfilment of a crying need. Figgis says : "N"o religion can endure which does not answer to the demands of the religious consciousness." But "man is a religious animal," he is constructed to live by divine grace, and he waits for a Church so to comprehend the length and breadth and height of that religious consciousness as to be able not only to supply his religious demands, but to mak:e him recognize the presence of these demands. A comprehension of the religious conscious- 106 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION ness is the crying need of the Church. It can be the only basis for a successful mission. Only a keen analysis of the individuals in a parish will reveal the contributions that a mission should make to that parish. We cannot deal with souls until we have dealt with many a single soul. We cannot deal effectively with a soul until we have faced our own. Our Lord was successful in His Mission because "He knew what was in man." The Challenge ^^^^ch analysis and comprehension of the "Peculiar of the Spiritual things of the re- ^^"^^ ligious consciousness has been checked by a recreancy born of a "peculiar parish." The representative of a wholesale business was traveling in a train. He carried a large, heavy card catalogue containing a card for every retailer in his line, located in his district. Each card showed the retailer's financial ability, the kind of trade he aimed to meet, the competing firms from whom he had bought, the orders placed with his own firm during the last few years, and other information. Commenting on the difficulty of making and keeping up such a record, he made this significant remark : ''My business is a peculiar business; therefore I must know the facts." RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 107 Contrast this salesman with a ^^peculiar business" with some men of God of your ac- quaintance who claim to have peculiar parishes. With the business man peculiarity was the in- centive to study, labor, thought; with the "man of God" is not peculiarity the excuse for the neglect to study and comprehend and eifectively meet the problems of the salvation of men ? The salesman has a passion for customers. He must know, cultivate, and win them. If he does not show "orders" he will not keep his position. The "man of God" to-day is not su- perWsed; his position is hedged about with a traditional respect; public opinion works very slowly if it is adverse to him. He may have a good face and voice, be a good mixer, and hold his position as leader of a parish, though he may have little passion for souls. Again, the "passion for customers" is now a science; schools for salesmen and a voluminous weekly and monthly journalism have made "the successful approach to the customer" a path- way very clearly charted. Back of all is a busi- ness system with the boards, investigators, trade organizations, and advertising propaganda, all of which have created and are increasingly creat- ing successful methods by which the demands of people shall not only be supplied, but their very desires educated by suggestion. The passion for souls has not yet become a 108 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION science, and in the minds of many men never should be. Your acquaintance with his peculiar parish probably openly proclaims that the spirit of investigation and organization which is forcing itself into the Church "interferes^' with his parish plans. He does not believe that a card catalogue of his parish is a neces- sity. To study his families and tabulate their good and bad points, to account for every ado- lescent child, and follow up every family "drift- ing out of the parish," are tasks that seem to him unrelated to the "spiritual work of the min- istry,'' and demand time that should be placed in study, meditation, and worship. If the IN^ation-wide Preaching Mission can bring clergy and laity to see the challenge that is in the "peculiar parish," if it can open an era of the study of the religious consciousness, of the study of "what is in man," then the salva- tion of men through Him whose Name is above every name will be set forward by a religious revival that will have permanent effects because it will be truly educational. Soul Saving and ^^ ^^ think of the Church as ihe Educational Comprehending the religious con- Programme sciousness and by that comprehen- sion meeting effectively man's religious de- mands, we are forced to think of salvation in terms of a programme. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 109 There are many who complain, when they see Sunday school pupils and college students straying from the Church, that the Church has no educational programme, the implication being that such a programme would bring salva- tion in some degree to our youth. What we all mean when we speak of a pro- gramme of religious education, in the Church, is a programme of Church life. Religion and education are both coming to have new mean- ings. A programme of Religious Education can no longer be limited to the formal teaching of a faith once delivered. The characters of boys and girls and men and women are not being made to-day by the presence of convictions. These play a part, but the moving forces are imitation, suggestion, and desire. The con- tribution of the Church to the salvation of men to-day will depend very largely on what she holds before men as sufficiently desirable to win imitation and stimulate suggestion. This means a Church life that compels the admiration of the community. The educational programme in any parish is not determined first of all by a set of subjects for a Sunday school curriculum handed doAvn by a Board of Education, it is determined by the crying needs of the community. The study of the parish as a leaven in the community is in its infancy. Parochial life 110 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION and power present an undiscovered field; they call for the genius of an explorer and the sacri- fice of a pioneer. The parish will enter the life of the com- munitj in somewhat the same way as the public school has met the needs of the community. There was a time when the public school aimed to teach the three R's and the classics. To-day it is responding to the demands of the com- munity and creating special courses for special groups, from cooking and dressmaking to col- lege preparation. The three R's are funda- mental and always will be; the special courses are built upon them. In the same way in the life of the Church there are certain funda- mental religious truths and training that must be given to all. But there are also specialized conceptions and activities that must be given to certain groups. The adolescent needs special study and treatment ; so also the college student. The parent in the home, the various leaders of parochial groups, the teachers, and the minister, all need specialized study and training in re- ligious thinking and action in order that the total life of the Church may be lived in the community. The parish exists to form and train and direct these various groups that the saving power of the Church may find its way into the community. The teachers of adoles- cents should form a studying, teaching, and RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 111 self-perpetuating group of men and women; that delicate, transitory, but very important pe- riod in the religious development of every soul should not be treated with the hit or miss methods that to-day are present in too many parishes. * The ''home nurture" group should be a parish fixture. Eectors might come and go, but there would always be a group of par- ents—call it a "Home Department of the Church" if you will — who study and promote these methods of family worship and home nur- ture that make the Church an influence seven days each week. The parish exists to bring each soul into the presence of the religious conception and action which his life demands. The Church must raise up specialists both among clergy and laity, some paid, many volunteers (this is essential to the life of the Church), who because they are relig- ious educators are bringing salvation unto men. Can the N"ation-wide Preaching Mission cause some parishes to formulate a programme of life that aims to place the needs of the com- munity first and to develop workers and leaders to meet those needs? To-day business is the most potent force in the life of the community. Must it always be? Can the Church demon- * Send to General Board of Religious Education, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York City, for literature on League of Church Parents. 112 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION •strate spiritual values that will compel and win the recognition she has claimed through the ages ? Can she make visible that she is a nat- ural and necessary part of the social life ? These questions deeply concern the soul saving and the educational propaganda of the Church. Movements in The preaching mission can not Religious only promote an intensive study Education ^f ^jjg religious consciousness as found in the parish and a programme of paro- chial life that will meet the demands of that consciousness, but it can also make known some of the practical movements for meeting needs that are present in the various educational agencies of the Church's life. In the Home There are signs that parents are taking parenthood more seriously. The home is becoming the educational institution of first importance. * The fact that publishers find it profitable to publish books on Child Welfare, Home IsTurture, Problems in Child Training, reveals an interest that will increase. There are many distinct movements for family wor- * See magazine, "Daily Bible," published 30 East Forty-second Street, New York City. Read Coe's "Edu- cation in Religion and Morals," Revell, p. 277; Cope's "Religious Education in the Family," University of Chicago Press. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 113 ship. Throughout the Church rectors are com- piling prayer cards for the use of their families. Here and there the service of Family Prayer is being read where it was not heard before; if it is not read every day, then it is read with more or less regularity. Conversation shows a more ready conscience to acknowledge the place of family worship. Certain unfortunate circumstances must still be recognized. Public education claims the very best of the child's time and without intention encourages the shifting of responsi- bility and respect, so fundamental to religious training, from the family to the school. But the parent associations and the closer relation between teacher and parent show the desire of educational leadership to force family responsi- bility. Again, industrial conditions and busi- ness methods create a gap between the parent and the child. Family life requires time if its highest possibilities are to be discovered and promoted. A weary mind and body cannot yield the child that sympathy and comprehen- sion that he must have. City life with its great variety of distractions and the tendency to standards of luxury, encouraged by the sight of those who live lives of spenders rather than pro- ducers, all make the task of the Church more difficult. These obstacles present a challenge that should compel the study and the definite 114 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION placing of responsibility in the spirit of the ancient prophets. The main question that concerns the Church in her relation to the home was well put by a rector in an easy-going suburban community. "You all have good homes/' he told his con- gregation one morning, ''hut have you Christian homes f' In the Public The new movement for vocational Schools training in the public schools was bound to make possible a new discussion of the importance of religion in the total education of a child. This must be taken into considera- tion in any movement for soul saving. The movement in the schools of Gary, Ind., where the pupils were released to the churches certain hours and religious instruction was given "on school time/' was the direct result of the vocational emphasis. In Colorado and ]N"orth Dakota the recogni- tion of the Bible as an important element in education led to the giving of credits to certain high school pupils, who by study in Sunday school gave evidence of having attained a cer- tain amount of knowledge about Hebrew his- tory. These experiments successfully tried have stimulated many centers. "New York City has begun to remodel its educational system to ad- mit extensive vocational training. With these RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 115 changes comes the opportunity for religious leaders. Already a large inter-church committee is studying the possibilities, and various com- munions are preparing to move when the oppor- tunity is presented. This whole movement is a vital part of any soul saving movement in the Church. In every community the time has come for study and investigation in the subject, if not for immediate action. In the Sunday The most important move in the School Sunday school world is the frank recognition that its opportunities are limited and that many influences combine to hinder the fulfilment of the highest ideals of its leaders. Parents have lost respect for the Sunday school. Many clergy are not only lacking in ability and training to be Sunday school leaders, but they question the value of the institution. In spite of these obstacles, the Sunday school is a very live institution commanding the regular attendance of millions of pupils and the voluntary services of thousands of teachers. The teacher training movement which has brought into existence correspondence schools, summer training schools, city and rural insti- tutes, is an indication that there are many who seriously consider their responsibility towards the religious training of the youth of the Church. 116 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION With the development of the two move- ments, Religious Life in the Home, and Re- ligious Instruction in School Time, there is bound to be a change in Sunday school methods. The change may take the form of training in worship, and Church loyalty on Sundays at church, leaving instruction in the Bible and Christian ethics to weekday opportunities. That the assembling of children together on Sunday will cease is inconceivable. Even should they attend worship with their parents and receive religious instruction weekdays, there would also be a demand for the religious expression of the child life of the Church in a special congregational form adapted to chilr dren. Call it "catechising" or "children's Eucharist" or "children's service," they all stand for an abiding necessity in religious nur- ture and must have due consideration in any soul-saving movement of the Church. The movement of the Church to adequately administer to the child is the best soul-saving movement in the Church. Its influence upon the hardened sinner, the careless and indiffer- ent, has been conspicuous in all ages. "A little child shall lead them" is one of the greatest assets of the Church. It has not been given due study by the Church leaders. Like many of the simple things of the religious life, it has been passed over and time and energy have been given RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 117 to dogmas and discussions that might better have been spent in being a "witness'^ to one child. If the clergy will know and administer to the soul life of the children, they will save the souls of the congregation. In tjje The rapid growth of so-called Secondary "Church Schools" is another move- Schools ment that must be considered in any soul-saving campaign. There are over two hundred and fifty "Church Schools" under pri- vate and diocesan control. Church parents tes- tify that they prefer to send their boys and girls to Church schools because they want them to come under the distinctly religious standards found there. The shepherding of these hundreds of boys and girls as they graduate each year from these "Church Schools" in many cases is most inade- quate. Those who go on to college are fre- quently lost in the maelstrom of athletics, clubs, fraternities, and week-end parties. Those who return to parishes are not always searched out and treated in the spirit of "you have been three years in a Church school, you are just the one I need to help me in .... " , , « .. Approximately 17,000 Church In the College , ^^ j • / n • boys and girls are annually m at- tendance in our colleges and universities. These 118 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION all come from parishes. These should all re- turn to parishes. Taken as a body they represent a power in the developing life of the Church, but they can- not be considered as a body. Two or three come from this parish — twenty-five from another. In the college town they do not figure in the Church life because the Church has not learned how to deal with the student. There is one practical soul-saving influence that can be exerted more effectively to hold the student loyal to the Church, and that is the ac- tive interest of his home parish. Those men and women of every parish who belong to the college alumni have a responsibility in maintaining the loyalty of students during their college days. With the aid of the rector they can form the acquaintance of the students of the congrega- tion. They can visit the college, entertain the student when at home, accompany him to a cor- porate Communion, and by correspondence keep him in touch with local Church affairs. The college student needs a ^'home parish sponsor" more than a college Church club or guild hall. During one trip I questioned twenty-five rectors about their relations to the students of their parish who were away from home. Only two kept a list of their names, the others had only general ideas as to the whereabouts of their students and frankly confessed that they had RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 119 never given the student members of their con- gregation much thought. The ^^teaching the Bible and religion" in colleges is another aspect of this subject which is receiving much attention. Many of the lead- ing college authorities are giving a cordial recep- tion to the movement for religious instruction as part of the curriculum. The June (1915) issue of Religious Education (published 332 South Michigan avenue, Chicago) presents valuable articles on this subject from various points of view. Brown University offers work in a de- partment of religious education, and all large universities have courses in Biblical Literature. Cannot the local parish influence the student to take one course in college that has for its end the improvement of his religious point of view ? Cannot father and mother and student adviser be led to see that this effort can be a form of soul saving? In Theological ^^^J movement in the Church for Education soul saving that does not encour- age prayers and efforts for the increase of the ministry is not fulfilling its function. The first requisite in the consideration of theological education is an answer to the ques- tion: What am I doing to supply the Church with ministers to educate ? There is much energy spent in discussing and condemning the 120 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION theological seminaries that might more profitably be spent in recruiting the ministry. The ministry should be increased by the prayers and pleadings of the laity as much as by those of the clergy. Vestries have not only the responsibility of maintaining the material fabric of the Church, they are by canon com- missioned to take an active part in maintaining the ministry. "Choose ye out fit men," was the command to the laity, and the process was one of selection and not waiting for men to come who thought they heard a call. Can the "preaching mission" make every vestryman face the question : What effort did I ever mahe to increase the ministry ? The fact that vestrymen do not seek with enthusiasm to increase the ministry by persuad- ing the best of the young life of the parish to consider that field of service, is a revelation of Church valuations. There are parishes which have never given a man to the ministry and they are contented to live on the gift of life from the general. Church when they would indignantly refuse the gift of money that would place them in the category of a mission. If the desire to send men into the ministry can be dominant in the Church, the question of the content of theological education will be an- swered in a practical way and with a renewed RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 121 life. The needs of tlie Churcli should deter- mine the curriculum of the theological semi- naries. If the Church registers a need for social service workers, or for educational ex- perts, or for preachers, pastors, or priests, the theological schools will supply them. The present difficulty in theological educa- tion is not in the theological school. It is in the indefinite aims and ambitions of the Church. During the coming years there will be an arraying of the things that make for Christ, and those that do not. Unless the official lay read- ers can define and commend the real principles of Christianity and communicate the evident life of Christ, that is, unless they can teach and demonstrate, the Church will lose the allegiance of this generation. If the Nation-wide Preaching Mission can convince laymen that much of the "trouble with the Church" is the result of their own haziness and slackness in religious thinking and encour- age them to make definite demands upon them- selves and others, including the clergy, the ques- tion of theological education will enter a new stage where there will probably be much debate but valuable results. All signs of the times, all the needs of man, social, intellectual, and religious, point to an educational conception of Church life that is essential to a Nation-wide Preaching Mission. 122 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION If the mission can aid in making that con- ception better understood, if it can help the ad- ministrators of the Church's life, from Bishops to kindergarten teachers, to manifest in their work the outward and visible signs of that con- ception, we shall have a soul-saving movement that will reach do^vn the ages. Prayer for Religious Education. O God, who hast sent Thy beloved Son to be unto us the Way, the Truth, and the Life; Grant that we, looking unto Him, may set forward the teaching power of Thy Church, to the nurture of Thy children, the increase of Thy Kingdom, and the glory of the same Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for Educational Institutions. Almighty and eternal God, the Source of light and life, whose fear is the beginning of wisdom; Guide and illumine by Thy Holy Spirit the teachers and the taught in every school of good learning, that all truth may be felt to reveal Thy will, to invite Thy service, and to find itself incarnate in Thy only Son, our Master Jesus Christ. Amen. For Parents. O heavenly Father, assist with Thy blessing the parents of this land, that they may order their households after Thy Law, and live to see their children brought up to Thy praise and honor. Grant, O God, that they and the children which Thou hast given them may so live together in this RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 123 life, that not one of them may be wanting in that day when Thou makest up Thy jewels; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A FEW HELPFUL BOOKS Education in Eeligion and Morals. Coe (Revell). Price $1.35. The Religious Education of the Child. Rusk (Long- mans, Green, & Co.). Price 50 cents. Child Study. Dix (Longmans, Green, & Co.). Price 50 cents. Religious Education in the Family. Cope (Univer- sity of Chicago Press). Price $1.25. Magazine: "Religious Education," issue of June, 1915, Vol. 10, No. 3. Price 65 cents. Note: This number contains many valuable articles on the Rights of the Child, the Bible and the High School, the Gary and North Dakota Plans for Religious Instruction, Bible Study in Cajiada, the Administration of Religious Educa- tion in the Parish (a very valuable article by Prof. Coe), the Family as an Agency for Relig- ious Education, Parents' Classes. Magazine: "The Constructive Quarterly" (Doran Co., N. Y. C), issue of September, 1915. Price 75 cents. Note: Read illuminating article "Education and the Constructive Aims," by Edward A. Pace, Ph.D., of Catholic University. TOPICS FOR SERMONS AND ADDRESSES The following topics have been issued by the Board of Religious Education of the Province of Washington, to be used during a week of Inter- 124 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION cession for Keligious Education beginning October 17th: TopicI — Religious Nurture In and Through the Church. The Meaning of Church Membership. "Soul is kindled by Soul. To teach religion the first thing needful, and also the last and only thing, is finding the man who has religion. All else follows." — Carlyle. Topic II — Religious Nurture in the Home. "There are, doubtless, many ways in which men may make a *new heaven and a new earth' of their dwelling place, but the simplest of all ways is through a fond, discerning, and individ- ual care of each child." "Where no voice speaks for high things, where no tide of indignation against wrong sweeps into language, where the children never feel that the parents have good moral convictions, where no vision is, the people perish." — Cope. Topic III — The Church School as the Trainer of Leaders. Education During the Critical Period of Habit-Forming Age. "Nothing in these days will serve our Church and Community in more permanent and essential ways than the successful working of a school in which the education of the mind shall be di- rected, developed, and sustained in the fear of God and the faith of the Church." — Bishop Bhinelander. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 125 Topic IV — College Life and Enlistment for Serv- ice. Education During the Period When Purpose is Fixed. "The College Course should develop the sci- ence and art of right living; it should make, first of all, for character and conduct. One may say, that the four college years give the final color to the world-view, purpose, character and social relationships of the average graduate." — Professor Yotaw. Topic V — The Sacred Ministry as a Vocation. "Pray ye the Lord of the Harvest that He will send forth laborers into His Harvest." "There is, then, a definite and proper end for every man's existence ; an end which to the heart of God is the good intended for him; that which he is privileged to become, ought to become — every human soul has a complete and perfect plan cherished for it in the heart of God." — Bushnell. Topic VI — The Public School and the Church. "The first essential is that the Church should recognize that after the public schools have done their best in moral education and even by official recognition of religion the pupils need the deep sanctions and the dynamic of a religious faith. To supply this is the business of the Church, not the State." A FEW SUGGESTIVE BIBLE PASSAGES Deuteronomy 6:1-15. St. Luke 17:20 and 21. Joshua 24:14-28. St. John 4. Jeremiah 31 :31-36. St. John 3 :1-13. Micah 6:6-9. Komans 12. St. Mark 7:14-23. Romans 8. MISSION MUSIC By Stanley R. Avery Choirmaster and Organist^ 8t. Mark's Church, Minneapolis THE music of a mission must be given a very prominent place, and be very care- fully prepared. It falls naturally under two heads: the singers and the music sung. Adult choir: The parish choir ingers should form the nucleus of as large a mission choir as the chancel will con- veniently hold. A personal circular letter from the choirmaster to individual singers as well as to members of choral organizations in the community, and to members of other Episcopal choirs, where advisable, will, as a rule, meet with ready response. The definite dates, the comparative short duration of the mission, and the bigness of the undertaking, make a strong appeal to volunteers. Do not try voices: take all who come, until the lists are full. All should be vested. Plan MISSION MUSIC 127 the music in detail for every service before the mission begins and have few but highly con- centrated rehearsals. These may be supple- mented as needed before or after mission services. Children's choir: This choir should be han- dled nearly like the adult choir, though letters are seldom necessary to gather boys and girls together. Take all who come, up to chancel capacity. A word of admonition to the boys to sing softly will be sufficient to prevent any harm being done to untrained voices. Soloists: If your choir cannot supply a soloist who can sing with deep feeling, engage such an one from elsewhere. In fact, secure the very best you can afford. ^ . Hymns: Appended is a list of hymns well suited to mission pur- poses (a) from the Church Hymnal; (b) from the Mission Hymnal.* Anthems: Select comparatively easy and always popular anthems. (See suggested list.) Be sure that they are within the ability of the mission choir. * The Mission Hymnal, published by Biglow & Main and The Young Churchman Company; with music, 35 cents per copy, $25 per hundred; words only, 15 cents per copy, $10 per hundred. Twelve or more copies at the hundred rate. 128 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION Solos: These also should be simple and popular. (See suggested list.) Many Gospel Hymns may be used as solos; and however simple, they must be rendered to the very best of the singer's ability. SUGGESTED HYMNS FROM CHURCH HYMNAL Hymns marked ♦ are especially suitable. 143* Jesus calls us : o'er the tumult. 150 We sing the glorious conquest. 179 Hark ! the sound of holy voices, 196* Our fathers' God to Thee, 250* Saints of God ! the dawn is brightening, 284 O Word of God incarnate, 312 Christ, whose glory fills the skies, 319* Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown, 322 Conquering kings their titles take, 323 Hail to the Lord's Anointed, 327* Thou, Whose almighty word, 328* Lord of all power and might, 331* Watchman, tell us of the night, 332 God of mercy, God of grace, 333 Par from my heavenly home, 335* Jesu, lover of my soul, 336* Rock of ages, cleft for me, 342* Art thou weary, art thou languid, 344* Nearer, my God, to Thee, 345* My faith looks up to Thee, 357* O Jesu, Thou art standing, 358 Jesus, I my cross have taken, 359* In the cross of Christ I glory, 374 Crown Him with many crowns, 377 Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove, 392 Not to the terrors of the Lord. 396* Ten thousand times ten thousand, 398* Hark ! Hark, my soul I Angelic songs are swelling, 399* Light's abode, celestial Salem, 403* O Mother dear, Jerusalem, 404* I heard a sound of voices, 405 The world is very evil. MISSION MUSIC 129 406 Brief life is here our portion, 407 For thee, O dear, dear country, 408* Jerusalem, the golden ! 411 Shepherd, with Thy tenderest love, 412* The King of love my Shepherd is, 414* Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, 418 O God, our help in ages past, 422* Lead us, O Father, in the paths of peace, 423* Lead, kindly Light, 432* Love divine, all love excelling, 450* All hail the power of Jesus' name, 452 Children of the heavenly King, 470 All people that on earth do dwell, 472 O come, loud anthems let us sing, 483 Christ is made the sure foundation, 488* Triumphant Sion, lift thy head, 490* Glorious things of thee are spoken, 491* The Church's one foundation, 507* The Son of God goes forth to war, 509* Soldiers of Christ, arise, 510 Go forward, Christian soldier, 511 O happy band of pilgrims, 514* We march, we march to victory, 515* Brightly gleams our banner, 516* Onward, Christian soldiers, 521 Through the night of doubt and sorrow, 522* On our way rejoicing, 523* Forward ! be our watchword, 579* O brothers, lift your voices. 580* Christ for the world we sing ! 582* Stand up, stand up, for Jesus, 583* Work, for the night is coming, 584 Go, labor on, spend and be spent, 586* Lord, speak to me, that I may speak, 590* To-day Thy mercy calls us. 591 When at Thy footstool, Lord, I bend, 593 There is a fountain filled with blood, 596 The Spirit, in our hearts, 597 Jesus, and shall it ever be, 601* I need Thee, precious Jesus, 602* I need Thee every hour, 603 I could not do without Thee, 605 I lay my sins on Jesus, 606* Just as I am, without one plea, 607* Love of Jesus, all divine. 130 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION 608 Lo ! the voice of Jesus, 611* Jesus, merciful and mild, 615* O Jesus, I have promised, 616* He leadeth me ! oh, blessed thought ! 617* Glory be to God the Father, 618* Revive Thy work, O Lord, 619* Call them in, the poor, the wretched, 620 Onward Christian ! though the region, 623 I'm but a stranger here, 628 Though faint, yet pursuing, we go on our way, 636* How firm a foundation, 637* Come ye disconsolate, where'er ye languish, 648* To Sion's hill I lift my eyes, 649 Lord, forever at Thy side, 654* More love to Thee, O Christ, 663 O Thou, from Whom all goodness flows, 670 Father, whate'er of earthly bliss, 672* Blest be the tie that binds, 673 I heard the voice of Jesus say, 674* Peace, perfect peace. CHILDREN'S HYMNS 196* Our fathers' God ! to Thee, 327* Thou, Whose almighty word, 335 Jesu, lover of my soul, 336 Rock of ages, cleft for me, 344* Nearer, my God, to Thee, 345* My faith looks up to Thee, 357* O Jesu, Thou art standing, 359* In the cross of Christ I glory, 374 Crown Him with many crowns, 398 Hark ! Hark, my soul ! Angelic songs are swelling. 403* O Mother dear, Jerusalem, 408 Jerusalem, the golden, 414* Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, 422 Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us, 423* Lead, kindly Light, 432* Love divine, all love excelling, 450* All hail the power of Jesus' Name, 490* Glorious things of thee are spoken, 507* The Son of God goes forth to war, 509 Soldiers of Christ, arise, 514* We march, we march to victory, 515* Brightly gleams our banner. MISSION MUSIC 131 516* Onward, Christian soldiers, 522* On our way rejoicing, 523* Forward ! be our watchword, 526 Jesu, from Thy throne on high, 531* Jesus, King of glory, 533 Come, praise your Lord and Saviour, 534* Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me, 545* Golden harps are sounding, 547 Glory to the Father give, 549 King of glory ! Saviour dear ! 551 God of mercy, throned on high, 552 Loving Shepherd of Thy sheep, 553 There's a friend for little children, 555 Gracious Saviour, gentle Shepherd, 556 Heavenly Father, send Thy blessing, 562* I think when I read that sweet story of old, 573* Saviour, like a shepherd lead us, 577* In the vineyard of our Father, 579 O brothers, lift your voices. 580* Christ for the world we sing ! 582* Stand up, stand up, for Jesus, 583* Work, for the night is coming, 602* I need Thee every hour, 606* Just as I am, without one plea, 616* He leadeth me ! oh, blessed thought ! 636* How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 649 Lord, forever at Thy side, 672* Blest be the tie that binds, 674* Peace, perfect peace. FROM THE MISSION HYMNAL 11 Blessed assurance. 182 God be with you. 34 I love to tell the story (solo). 98 I will sing you a song, "Home of the Soul" (solo). 129 Jesus is calling. 125 Jesus, keep me (solo). 103 Jesus, Saviour, pilot me (solo). 33 O Love that wilt not (solo). 85 Pass me not. 44 Rescue the perishing. 41 Safe in the arms (solo and chorus). 155 Saviour, more than life to me. 53 Souls of men (solo). 132 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION 74 Sweet hour of prayer. 71 Tell me the old, old story (solo and chorus). 79 The Homeland. 163 The whole wide world for Jesus. 109* There is a green hill (solo). 55 There were ninety and nine (solo). 131 Throw out the life-line (solo and chorus). 50 What a friend we have. 143 Glory Song (solo and chorus). 170 Yield not to temptation. FROM OTHER COLLECTIONS OF GOSPEL HYMNS Almost persuaded (solo). Beyond the smiling (solo and quartet). Hiding in Thee. It is well with my soul. Saved by Grace (solo and chorus). Softly and tenderly (solo). Something for Jesus (quartet). Who is on the Lord's side? SUGGESTED ANTHEMS As pants the hart (Spohr). Ave Verum (Gounod). God so loved the world (Stainer). Glorious is Thy Name (Mozart). Hark, hark my soul (Shelley). Hosannah (Oranier). I waited for the Lord (Mendelssohn). I am Alpha (Stainer). Incline Thine ear (Himmel). In heavenly love abiding (Parker). Inflamatus (Rossini). Jerusalem (Gounod). King of Love (Shelley). No shadows yonder (Gaul). Prayer of Thanksgiving (Kremser, arr.) Rock of Ages (Buck). Sanctus (as anthem) (Gounod). Saviour, when night (Shelley). * The familiar tune is not printed in this hymnal. MISSION MUSIC 133 Seek ye the Lord (Ro'berts). Sweet is Thy mercy (Barnhy). The radiant morn (Woodward). Trust in the Lord (Largo arr. for Male Voices (Handel). Unfold, ye portals (Oounod). Any choruses of moderate length from the standard ora- torios and cantatas. SUGGESTED SOLOS Abide with me (Liddle). Gloria (Buzzi-Peccia). Glory to Thee, my God, this night (Oounod). Hosannah (Oranier). The King of Love (Oounod). There is a green hill (Oounod). The Recessional (DeKoven). Solos from the standard oratorios and cantatas. Carefully selected Gospel Hymns. APPENDIX Prayers for the Nation- Wide Preaching Mission For the Mission. A LMIGHTY and most merciful Father, who didst '^*" send Thy Son Jesus Christ to seek and to save that which was lost, and to be to Thy children the Way, the Truth, and the Life; We beseech Thee in His name to give to Thy Church a new conscious- ness of His saving power, a more real apprehension of the awfulness of sin, a deeper sense of humility, a finer zeal for service, and an earnest passion for souls. Quicken, we pray Thee, at this time Thy whole Church, and make it splendid with Thine own presence. Let Thy Holy Spirit pervade and direct the mission about to be undertaken in Thy name and presence. Through its ministry, knit Thy people together in the bonds of a holy fellowship; strengthen the weak, lift up the fallen, unstop deaf ears, renew the vision of those who see Thee not. Restore, Lord, those who have lost their way, and direct their feet into the paths of peace. Visit, we pray Thee, this nation, and save it from threatening perils. Let not Thy people, O God, trust in uncertain riches; let not Thine her- APPENDIX 135 itage be put to confusion. Save us, we beseech Thee, from the pride of power or the enervating lust of undisciplined luxury. Revive Thy Church; make bare Thine arm; clothe Thy ministers with spiritual power and give them Pentecostal zeal. Use Thy Church, blessed Lord, for the enrichment of Thy Kingdom and the extension of Thy divine power; and hasten the day when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord even as the waters cover the sea ; and to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us shall be all the praise forever and ever. Amen. r\ ALMIGHTY and Eternal God, Heavenly ^^ Father, who so loved us as to give Thine only- begotten Son for us; Increase in us, we pray Thee, our love toward Thee. Stir up our wills, we beseech Thee, O Lord, at this time as never before; and fill us with such an hunger and thirst after righteousness that our own souls shall be filled, and through us the hearts of those who know Thee not be turned to the light of Thy love and made to rejoice in the full knowledge of Thy salvation. Raise up, we pray Thee, Thy power, and on the threshold of this present Advent season come among us, and with great might succour us, that in the special services about to be held in Thy Name we may all honor Thee with our presence; and Thy messengers so truly preach the pure gospel of Thy love, and Thy people, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, so profitably receive the same, that the kingdom of sin, Satan, and death may be broken down among us, and the Kingdom of Heaven so established in our midst, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may take 136 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION possession of us and prevail among us in all genera- tions; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end. Amen. For the Blessing of the WorJc. r\ LORD Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd of the ^^ sheep, who seekest those that are gone astray, bindest up those that are broken, and healest those that are sick ; Bless, we beseech Thee, the effort to be made in this diocese to convert souls unto Thee. Open the deaf ears of the wanderers, that they may hear the words which belong unto their salvation. Grant that those whom Thou dost raise to newness of life may through Thy grace persevere unto the end: of Thy mercy who livest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. For the Preachers and Other Workers in the Mission. A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who dost ■^^ govern all things in heaven and earth ; We com- mend to Thy fatherly care all whom Thou shalt call to take part in the work of the preaching mission in this diocese. Watch over them, we beseech Thee, for good; defend them from all dangers both of body and soul. Let Thy Holy Spirit in all things direct and rule their hearts ; and give them power to consume the evil, to melt the stony-hearted, to purify the unclean, to enlighten the ignorant, and to quicken the dead; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For the Spirit of Unity. r\ LOED Jesus Christ, who saidst unto Thine ^^ Apostles, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you; Regard not our sins, but the faith of APPENDIX 137 Thy Church, and grant us that peace and unity which is agreeable to Thy will; Who livest and reignest God for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayers prepared by Bishop Osborne) For the Lapsed. r\ ALMIGHTY God, who didst have mercy upon ^^ the race of men after the forfeiture of our origi- nal righteousness ; Have mercy, according to the ful- ness of Thy long-suffering, upon those who, having been once renewed by Thy compassion, are yet again fallen by their own frailty. Let Thy Spirit strive within them, and the remembrance of His former inspirations excite in tliem such hatred of their sin, and such vengeance against those earthly lusts by which they have been carried captive, that they may no longer hesitate to obey Thy divine call, but may cast themselves upon Thy mercy; and, returning again with penitence to the embrace of Thy love, may walk in the way of Thy commandments; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For Returning Penitents. r\ GOD, who by the Blood of Thine only Son didst ^^ redeem mankind from the power of death; Quicken, we beseech Thee, the souls of all returning penitents (especially . . . ) and receive upon their return those whom Thou didst recall when they were wandering. Hear their sighs; heal their wounds; strengthen their weakness. Grant them with such contrition to confess their sins that in the day of Thy judgment they may be found worthy of Thy glory, never more to be lost, as they have been re- stored by Thy love to the grace which they had for- feited; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 138 A NATION-WIDE PREACHING MISSION For Those who are Prejudiced against the Truth. OGOD, be merciful to all those who shut their eyes against the acceptance of Thy Truth in consequence of any unworthy prejudice, and grant them so to be softened by Thy love that they may be illuminated by Thy Wisdom, and so humble them- selves for their shortcomings that they may praise Thee for Thy revelation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For the Advancement and Perseverance of the Faithful. ■yOUCHSAFE, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to '' strengthen and confirm all Thy faithful (espe- cially those in . . . and all others for whom we are desired to pray), and to lift them up more and more continually to heavenly desires; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For a Retreat. f\ LOED Jesus Christ, who didst say to Thy dis- ^^ ciples. Come ye apart into a desert place and rest awhile ; Grant, we beseech Thee, to Thy servants now gathered together, so to seek Thee whom our souls desire to love that we may both find Thee and be found of Thee. And grant such love and such wisdom to accompany the words which shall be spoken in Thy name that they may not fall to the ground, but may be helpful in leading us onward through the toils of our pilgrimage to that rest which remaineth, where nevertheless they rest not day nor night from Thy perfect service; who livest and reign est, God for ever and ever. Amen. APPENDIX 139 For the Conversion of Sinners and Awakening of the Listless. A LMIGHTY God, we beseech Thee to hear our •**• prayers for such as sin against Thee, or neglect to serve Thee (especially those in . . . and others for whom our prayers are desired), that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to bestow upon them true repent- ance, and an earnest longing for Thy service; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Daily Prayer. r\ LOED Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd of the ^^ sheep, who seekest those that are gone astray, bindest up those that are broken, and healest those that are sick; Bless, we beseech Thee, the effort now to be made to bring souls nearer to Thee. Quicken by Thy Holy Spirit the hearts of Thy faithful ones. Open the deaf ears of the wanderers, that they may hear the words which belong unto their salvation. Lead to repentance those who are living in sin; and grant that those whom Thou dost raise to newness of life may through Thy grace persevere unto the end: of Thy mercy, who livest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God world without end. Amen.