2.. 0.1. 'Ll LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J S'ne rne-V\noc\\sV§ Division THE CALL TO WORLD SERVICE 01* '|p5 he World Service program herewith I presented, is worthy of the most — ®yJ careful, sympathetic, and generous support of all our people. It has been my privilege to observe closely the preparation of this great document. In my judgment, no similar presentation of the world-wide needs and opportunities of the Methodist Episcopal Church has heretofore been made. For a statesmanlike view of our total task, for careful analysis of our prob¬ lems, for inspiring suggestions as to the unparalleled openings for world service, no equally comprehensive and accurate doc¬ ument has gone out to the church. Every survey has been studied, revised where necessary, and treated with bus¬ iness sagacity as well as with prophetic vision. The best I can wish for the church is that this commanding volume may be studied as carefully as it has been prepared. The Word of the Lord to the people called Methodists is that they go forward. We are more nearly approximating the whole program of Jesus Christ for this world than ever before. The world is giving gratifying response to that appeal. Membership is growing, children and young people are crowding our modern buildings in ever increasing hundreds, property values are enormously increasing, more serviceable plants are constantly ap¬ pearing, and the spirituality of our church¬ es is deepening. We look forward with confident hope. We trust the church to recognize the privileges and the obligations of steward¬ ship and to respond with willing sacrifice and devotion which will gladden the Lord and Master of us all. Thomas tyc/o/son CHAIRMAN: COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION AND ADVANCE RESIDENT BISHOP . CHICAGO AREA — — — Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/worldserviceofrne00meth_0 Painting by L. Lhernutte 7 am among you as he that serveth ” 4. THE WORLD SERVICE OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Ralph E.Diffbndorfbr. : : Editor Isa/sted by PaulHutchinson : : Foreign Section William P. McDermott: : American Section METHODIST EPISCOPAL C H U RC H COUNCIL OF BOARDS OF BENEVOLENCE COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION AND ADVANCE 740 Rush Str-e-et I I Chicago, Illinois O FROM THE PRESS OF the m ethodist book concern 740 RUSH STREET CHICAGO, ILLINOIS First Printing, May, 1923 Second Printing, June, 1923 Third Printing, August, 1923 Fourth Printing, October, 1923 Fifth Printing, November, 1923 FOREWORD Methodism is on the march! This is normal. A militant church does not stand still. Wesley marshaled forces for a fresh crusade. Asbury outdistanced his reli¬ gious compeers. Simpson and McCabe challenged to larger advance. Thoburn, Bashford, Lewis thought in terms of Christ’s continental conquests. God gave to S. Earl Taylor, one of the secretaries of the Board of Foreign Mis¬ sions, a vision of the greater work He had for the people called Methodists. After a tour of inspection to many parts of the world in company with John F. Goucher and other leaders, Taylor challenged the church to undertake more seriously the Christian possibilities of the generation. This movement has been known as the Methodist Centenary. Three Methodisms united : the Methodist Church of Canada, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and our own. This was the pioneer of other similar movements which were in¬ itiated almost simultaneously by several Protestant denominations. Authorized by the General Conference at Saratoga Springs, in 1916, a purposeful celebration of one hundred years of our missionary effort was proposed. Pursuant to this action, a World Program Commit¬ tee of one hundred was constituted and met in significant session at Niagara Falls, September 17-19, 1917. The Centenary Program was based on world surveys in both home and foreign fields revealing needs of a five-year period making it necessary to secure $80,000,000. The reconstruction work following the World War added $25,000,000. The inclu¬ sion of the other general benevolent boards increased the total to $115,000,000. This huge sum was intensively solicited on a five-year basis, and was for the most part generously subscribed in a campaign v which, culminating May 31, 1919, was a marvel to the religious and financial world. In 1920, the General Conference changed the organization to the Council of Boards of Benevolence with the Committee on Conservation and Advance as its active promotional agent. Headquarters were established in Chicago. Up to April 1, 1923, a total of $55,878,201.78 has been collected and paid to the various causes. Midway of the Centenary period, No¬ vember 15-17, 1921, a unique, unforget- able National Conference was held in De¬ troit. The call read “On the Highway of God we are: we pause not for repairs or adjustments, but to decide the direction of our going.” “The World’s Need and Our Reply” was the general theme. In the Council immediately following was born the idea of the Committee of Twenty-Five on Advance or Post-Cente¬ nary Program. Early and vigorously did this carefully constituted committee under¬ take the tremendous task. New studies of the world’s need were instituted and the sub-committees worked on the problems of evangelism, lay activities, stewardship, ed¬ ucation, and our charted benevolent re¬ sponsibility. After days of preparation on January 11, 1923, the sub-committee on New Stud¬ ies and other sub-committees reported in detail to the Committee of Twenty-Five. A most significant composite report was prepared for the Council and, after full discussion, was adopted without change by a practically unanimous vote. This his¬ toric occasion was characterized by a sense of deep devotion, high obligation, and Kingdom responsibility. The church through properly constituted human authority and, we believe, by divine direction, has determined to meet the world’s agonizing cry for the gospel by a new advance, a fresh and continuous at¬ tack on evil, a truer exposition of the Christ ideal. The world can be set in order. Christ is the solution. The World Service Pro¬ gram exalts him. “O may it all my powers engage To do my Master’s will” R. J. Wade, Corresponding Secretary, Committee on Conservation and Advance . vi CONTENTS itmmmtiiiiiiiiimimmi Frontispiece, “I am among you as he that serveth” Foreword . Contents . ' Pages v-vi vii-viii Part One— THE FIELDS Eastern Asia . . . China .... Japan . . . . Korea .... Southeastern Asia . Philippines . . Malaysia . . . Dutch East Indies Southern Asia . . India .... Burma .... 3 6 35 47 57 60 66 70 75 78 103 Africa . Liberia .... Angola . Belgian Congo . . Rhodesia . . . . Mozambique . . Union of South Africa 107 110 113 118 122 124 128 Latin America Mexico Panama Costa Rica Peru . . Bolivia Chile Argentina Uruguay 131 135 141 144 148 153 158 165 172 Europe and North Africa France . Spain . Italy . . Yugo-Slavia Bulgaria Albania Norway Sweden Denmark Finland Germany Switzerland Austria Hungary . Russia . Baltic Republics (Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania) North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Tripoli, Cyrenaica, Morocco) Madeira Islands ... 175 178 182 183 188 191 194 195 197 200 204 207 211 213 216 218 222 226 231 Vll Pages New England States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa¬ chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut) . 233 Middle Atlantic States (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) 253 East North Central States (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin) . 277 West North Central States (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas) . 301 South Atlantic States (Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor¬ gia, Florida) . 321 East South Central States (Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mis¬ sissippi) . 341 West South Central States (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas) . 357 Mountain States (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada) . 373 Pacific States (Washington, Oregon, California) . 389 Territories (Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico) . 405 General Maps — Methodism in the United States . 413 Part Two— THE AGENCIES Board of Foreign Missions . 419 Board of Home Missions and Church Extension . 441 Board of Education for Negroes . 487 Board of Education . 499 Board of Sunday Schools . 521 Board of Conference Claimants . 543 Board of the Epworth League . 553 American Bible Society . 577 Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals . 585 General Deaconess Board . 593 Board of Hospitals and Homes . 601 Commission on Courses of Study . 615 Commission on Life Service . 619 Committee on Conservation and Advance . 625 Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society . 629 Woman’s Home Missionary Society . 637 Part Three— THE FINANCIAL NEEDS Introducing the Financial Needs . 645 The No-Growth or Present-Work Basis . 647 The Approved Needs . 678 The Apportionment to the Churches . 689 Designated Gifts . 693 Report of the Committee of Twenty-Five . 695 Acknowledgments . 703 viii Part One— THE FIELDS immiimmiinimmiimiimiiii Eastern Asia Southeastern Asia Southern Asia Africa Latin-America Europe and North Africa New England States Middle Atlantic States East North Central States West North Central States South Atlantic States East South Central States West South Central States Mountain States Pacific States The Territories — — EASTERN ASIA iiiiiimmiiiiMiimniiimiiiiimi CHINA JAPAN KOREA Distribution of Methodist Episcopal churches in Eastern Asia. The Japan Methodist Church is included. GRADUATES OP PEKING UNIVERSITY The real problem of the Pacific is the problem of the transformation of the mind of China, of the capacity of the oldest and most complicated civilization of the globe to remake itself into the new forms required by the impact of immense alien forces. John Dewey EASTERN ASIA After Three-quarters of a Century The first missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church to reach Eastern Asia landed in China in 1847. Twenty-six years later work began in Japan. Twelve years after that the first station was opened in Korea. There are eight annual conferences and one mission conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Eastern Asia today. In addition, there is the Japan Mission Council, supervising work in Japan and among Japanese in Korea, and the Japan Methodist Church, a union of the three bodies of Methodists that formerly car¬ ried on work in that empire. and 651 exhorters hold appointments, with several thousand additional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean workers. Episcopal residences are located in Peking, Shanghai, Foochow, and Seoul. A Period of Opportunity Political, geographical, social, and ra¬ cial differences make the problems affect¬ ing work in Japan, Korea, and China dissimilar. In the main, however, it can be said that all three are passing through a period of transition, and that with this there is given such an opportunity for Christian service as has never been offered before. A total Christian community of 132,984 represents the ingathering of these first seventy-five years. Of the preachers, 475 are full members of conferences, and 141 more are on trial. Four hundred and thirty-eight local preachers In no part of these fields, once so tightly closed, is there any lack of interest in the gospel. In fact, the amazing eagerness everywhere encountered constitutes one of the most embarrassing features of the situation. 5 I 4 6 WORLD SERVICE Entering Manchuria The time is ripe for advance into Man¬ churia by the Methodist Episcopal Church. This vast province of China has felt the full impact of foreign forces, both Japan¬ ese and Western. The Methodist Episcopal Church must have its attention directed thither because large numbers of its members have emi¬ grated there from Korea and North China. In Harbin, the managing director of the Chinese Eastern Railway, a mem¬ ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a graduate of Methodist schools in Peking, has joined with many others in petition that Methodist work be extended to this region. After careful investigation by parties from Korea and China, the Methodist Episcopal Church has decided to enter Manchuria. The program adopted is con¬ servative. It is expected that a large part of the field will be opened by workers sup¬ ported by the native churches in China and Korea. The program as approved for 1925 reads: Missionary Staff: No missionaries required in Manchuria. Work Operations: Church Work from 1 Center . . — $ 3,500 10 Day Schools . . $ 3,000 2 Boarding Schools . . 3,000 6,000 1 Dispensary . 1,000 $10,500 Property Projects: 2 New Missionary Bungalows and Land . . $20,000 1 City Church . - . 15,000 $35,000 Total Program (Manchuria) . $45,500 CHINA In the Eyes of the World A nation that cannot be hid. — Why are you interested in China? Why do American newspapers give so much space to China? Why were the governments of the world willing to submit their plans to a Washington Conference dealing with the problems of China? Because — The problems of China are the heart of the problems of the Far East. And — The problems of the Far East are the heart of the problems of future world peace. It is instinct that rivets world attention on China. From that land will come good or ill for us all. That is why we are interested in China. China and world peace. — There was a time when China seemed a helpless victim in the hands of any exploiter. That time has passed. It passed on the day when the first graduates went from modern high schools to begin the formation of a Chinese public opinion. The public opinion of a quarter of the human race, knowing that it has been victimized and de- A bit of old China EASTERN ASIA 7 Methodist Episcopal centers in China termined not to be victimized again, is not something with which to trifle. China has small power wherewith to re¬ sist exploitation from without. Small active power, that is. But she has enor¬ mous passive resistance. This she is ready to apply over centuries, if need be, making herself such an uncomfortable member of the family of nations that, in the long run, in desperation they will grant her justice. But from within she faces grave dan¬ gers. Many believe internal disintegra¬ tion has started. And a disintegration that plagues what is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, as well as the world’s largest nation, is bound to plague all. The world is too small to contain international disease anywhere and not be menaced everywhere. What will help China? — Faced by this world danger, the nations ask how China may be brought to full health. Some say that China needs to be let alone. She needs a chance to work out her own problems. That is true. But isola¬ tion is as impossible for China as for any other modern nation. Some say that China needs diplomatic aid. That is also true. But it takes small knowledge of history to know how re¬ stricted and how doubtful are the benefits of diplomacy. 8 WORLD SERVICE The port of Foochow, where, in 1847, the first two missionaries of our church landed Some say that China needs a develop¬ ment of her natural resources : new wealth will bring a higher standard of living. That, too, is true. But such development in other parts of the earth has often brought losses that more than balance the gains. Some say that China needs education for her masses. This need is, beyond ques¬ tion, immediate, imperative. But there have been examples in both East and West to prove that education, in itself, is no insurance of national health. All agree that China needs something. The leaders of the “New Tide of Thought,” that movement now penetrating to the vitals of Chinese life and there producing upheaval, say that China needs a new study of all her ancient sanctions, a new atmosphere in which her people may think new thoughts, live on new levels, achieve a new command of latent forces. In other words, that China must have an inner transformation. That paragraph summarizes the reason for and challenge to the Christian enter¬ prise in China. The Story of Seventy-Five Years Where Methodism entered China. — Prot¬ estant Christianity, like every influence that came to China from the West, entered from the South. Robert Morrison gave the adventure its first foothold in 1807 at Can¬ ton. Forty years later the first two mission¬ aries of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church landed in the teeming port of Foochow (see pic¬ ture at the left) five hun¬ dred miles farther north along the coast. The record of the early years makes heart-break¬ ing reading. Death, dis¬ ease, fierce opposition, in¬ ternal uprisings that scattered the missionaries, all conspired to make the work seem fruitless. In ten years the devoted efforts of some of the best missionaries who ever labored for the Methodist Episcopal Church gained not a single convert! Then, at the end of the first decade, the tide turned. The first convert was bap¬ tized ! A few weeks later the name of his wife was inscribed as that of the first woman to be baptized by the Methodist Episcopal Church in China. By the end of that year thirty-eight adults and three children had been gathered in the group. With a church, schools, a press, medical work, members, probationers, class-meet¬ ings, quarterly meetings, the mission was finally established and started upon its memorable career. That was seventy-five years ago. How the occupation spread. — Ten years sees a permanent foothold won at Foo¬ chow. Two years more and the work has spread fifteen miles up the Min River from that .city. At the same time the pioneers of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary So¬ ciety arrive, and special work for women and girls starts. Six Chinese local preach¬ ers are licensed, the first in that magnifi¬ cent line of men who have, when called upon, proved faithful unto death. EASTERN ASIA 9 We cannot follow the spread of the work in detail. Take a map of China, and check off by twenty-year intervals : I860 — And the work is huddled in and about the city of Foochow, just a dot on the map of Fukien province. 1880 — and the work is begun in four provinces, spreading out from Foochow to much of Fukien; at two of the recently opened ports on the Yangtse River; around the capital, Peking; at the foot of China’s sacred mountain in Shantung. 1900 — the Boxer year! And that scourge finds the church spreading through the provinces where it has previously been found, athwart the Yangtse in the prov¬ inces of Anwhei and Kiangsi, and leaping a thousand miles westward to the heart of the largest and wealthiest of all the prov¬ inces, Szechuen. 1920 — the Centenary! No new prov¬ inces, but great new stretches of territory in all the provinces entered. Isolated sta¬ tions linked. Centers of occupation care- A sterling Chinese Christian leader — the Rev¬ erend Liu Fang, district superintendent of the Peking District Entrance to the Ichang Gorge fully planned with reference to the new routes of travel that the railroad and the modern steamship are opening. The total responsibility of the Methodist Episcopal Church faced, and plans laid to meet it! Chinese Methodism today. — Wonderful is the record of these seventy-five years! Not only is the church established in seven provinces, and in such cities as Peking, Tientsin, Nanking, Chungking, Chengtu, Nanchang, and Foochow, but there are seven annual conferences and one mission conference, with more than 2,500 full-time Chinese workers, more than 90,000 mem¬ bers and baptized adherents, and more than 60,000 Sunday-school pupils. The scope of the work being carried on by the Methodist Episcopal Church in China is not to be exceeded by any Chris¬ tian body in any part of the world. It ranges from varied forms of preaching and teaching to philanthropic services to widely differing communities, with efforts to aid in the transformation of the con¬ ditions of thought and life that hamper many sections. It is specialized work, in the best sense of that term. And it is con¬ stantly attempting new modes of service. Most significant of all is the fact that this seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of Methodist work in China finds the church in that country increasingly under Chinese leadership. Three genera¬ tions of effort are yielding their fruit in men and women who, as preachers, teach- 2 10 WORLD SERVICE r General Feng addressing his soldiers ers, writers, executives, are proving com¬ petent to carry the enterprise rapidly to such triumphs as it has yet to know. The Methodist Episcopal Church in China has in its ranks, as laymen and as ministers, as capable men and women as are to be found in any part of the world’s Meth¬ odism. Emerging China Where world movements start. — Every¬ where the nations feel the impulse of new forces. Since the Centenary was launched the political aspect of much of the world has changed. In that day men were not talking much about the passing of mon¬ archism, the resurgence of Islam, the emergence of communism, or the rising tide of color. Yet these are the great factors to be faced today. It is possible that when some H. G. Wells of the twenty-first century summar¬ izes the history of our times he will point to China as the place where the present world upheaval began. Perhaps he will date the beginning in 1900 when China, through the Boxers, made the last attempt of the East to resist the forces of the West. Or perhaps he will date it in 1911 when the Manchus were driven from their throne, and China raised the torch of democracy amidst the imme¬ morial darkness of Asia. There have been revo¬ lutions or major attempts at revolution in twenty- nine countries since 1911. The revolution in that year has proved a prelude to a world upheaval. What brought the revo¬ lution? — Why was China ready to break with the governmental traditions of forty centuries? Many causes contributed. There was the increasing ineffi¬ ciency of the Manchu rule in the face of the constant encroachment from with¬ out. There was the in¬ creasing influence of wes¬ tern ideas, particularly in student cir¬ cles. And probably Yuan Shih Kai, the first president of the republic, was right when he told a missionary that the overthrow of the throne came as an in¬ evitable result of the preaching of human brotherhood and equality before God. It was significant that the revolution found strong support among Chinese Christians. During these years of tur¬ moil, when the ideals of the revolution have frequently seemed about extin¬ guished, these same Christian communities have frequently proved themselves, quietly but determinedly, devoted to the coming of a new day. The struggle for control.— Events in China in the last dozen years cannot easily be summarized. Inevitably there has been an inner struggle for control between con¬ servatives and progressives. More and more the conservative voice has come to be that of a blind, irresponsible, ruthless militarism. The most hopeful fact in any consideration of China’s future is that the voice of scholar and student, once most conservative, is now progressive. When the revolution of 1911 opened the way for a new government, an Oriental compromise gave the conservatives, in the person of Yuan Shih Kai, the offices, while the progressives were allowed to EASTERN ASIA 11 China has 1,500,000 men under arms write the constitution. The experience of later years proved that the con¬ trol of offices and army was everything and the paper constitution nothing when actual governing was at stake. The struggle has, there¬ fore, been one to secure a government in which power should reside in the hands of those who up¬ hold a national law, rather than in the hands of mili¬ tary swashbucklers who are a law unto themselves. The figures that have flitted so rapidly across the Chinese scene have all been ranged on one side or the other of this struggle. The revolution in China is still a long way from success. Days come frequently when China’s well-wishers despair. But there are these encouraging facts to keep ever in mind : Slowly but surely the power of the mili¬ tarists is passing. Slowly but surely the progressive, edu¬ cated young patriots are becoming most potent figures. But the power of the militarists is giving way to the dominance of progressive, educated young patriots. Graduates at Peking University Slowly but surely the revolution is pene¬ trating far below the political surface to change China’s life all the way down to its foundations. The making of the new China is a varied adventure. Some of it is political, but more is below that surface. All of it makes up the challenge that Christianity now faces in that land. New China’s Government China in arms. — The anomaly of present conditions in China is to be found in the fact that while the Chinese are the most pacific of peoples, there are more of them now under arms than in any other coun¬ try, with the possible exception of France. It is impossible to tell exactly how large are the armies of China. Every new mili¬ tary uprising proclaims its intention to reduce the number of soldiers, and re¬ cruits new brigades. Since troops hold their allegiance to individual leaders, while those leaders are practically without control from any central government, it is impossible to stop this recruiting. A con¬ servative estimate would place the number of soldiers in China today at 1,500,000. Chinese detest these armies as the scourge of their country. Unpaid for long periods, the troops collect a living by levies on towns and looting. In parts of the d 12 WORLD SERVICE country where soldiers have been em¬ ployed to put down banditry, inhabitants have soon come to profess a preference for the bandits. Shifting battle lines.— Groups of these soldiers engage in campaigns every sum¬ mer. We cannot trace in detail the shift¬ ing fortunes of these internal wars since the founding of the republic. The bloody business is a result of a weak central gov¬ ernment, bound to be dominated by what¬ ever general can place his troops in the most advantageous position. Generals thus form into cliques, hoping by combining strength to advance the per¬ sonal fortunes of each member. But when any member acquires too much power, the other generals combine to bring down the emerging figure. This, in a few words, roughly expresses the course of the fight¬ ing in China during the past five years. Behind and within all this maneuvering of individual generals and military cliques, is to be seen the struggle between repub¬ licanism and reaction. Certain of the generals who have recently achieved emi¬ nence, notably Wu Pei-fu and Feng Yii- hsiang, are known as favorable to the progressive cause. It is doubtful, how¬ ever, whether that cause can be estab¬ lished through the services of any of the irresponsible generals, however well-in¬ tentioned they may be. What of the future?— It is hazardous to prophesy China’s political future. It is possible that the present internal chaos will degenerate into general anarchy, when even a pretense of self-government will be impossible. But if this is not to happen, along what lines may the new China hope to win her way to political stability? Hope for the future probably lies in the strengthening of the government of the provinces. Already some of them have shown strength enough to expel the mili¬ tary adventurers who have exploited them, and set up administrations composed of local officials. This beginning may develop into a movement whereby China will be¬ come legally what it is in tradition, a col¬ lection of largely autonomous provinces, confederated only to provide a central ad¬ ministration to represent it in dealing with foreign affairs. The Christian contribution. — Has the church any part in this effort to provide China with a workable democratic form of government? From the interplay of personal rivalries and clique intrigues it needs not be said that the church must stand sternly aloof. But there is one con¬ tribution that the church may make. If it does not make it, China’s friends fail to see from what source she is to be supplied. China’s fundamental political need is worthy leaders. To be sure, that is the need of every country, but in a country in China’s disorganized condition, the need is especially pressing. Unless she can find men who will stand true to high personal and political ideals, who will sink all other interests in favor of the welfare of the whole, who can move easily in the mental currents of the world at large, China is in a bad way. The Christian church must supply these men, or they will not be found. New China’s Resources Railroads and the coolie. — There are less than 8,000 miles of railroad in China. That means little until it is interpreted in terms of human labor. Then it is seen to doom millions of Chinese to an existence little better than that of beasts of burden. Mr. Julean Arnold, speaking as the re¬ sponsible commercial agent of the United A Chinese coolie is a horse for work EASTERN ASIA 13 States, translates the meaning of China’s undeveloped transportation in these terms: “If we (Americans) had to hire coolie-carriers to carry the freight, not to mention the one billion passengers car¬ ried, which American railways hauled last year, it would take twice the present esti¬ mated population of China, or 800,000,000 men, each man carrying 160 pounds fif¬ teen miles a day for 365 working days.” No wonder that observers hold that the first requisite for a proper development of China’s resources is an adequate system of transportation. Mr. Arnold has esti¬ mated that there must be 50,000 additional miles of railway before this development can be completed. Others have pointed out that there is a need for good roads as pressing as that for railways. This lack of transportation directly af¬ fects the problem of food supply, which is of such importance in China. China’s farmers are admittedly among the best in the world. In the province of Shensi, for example, they raise thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre from land that has been producing similar crops for forty centuries. But, as matters now stand, it is cheaper to move wheat 7,000 miles from Seattle to Hankow than the 600 miles from Shensi. The lure of raw materials. — It is a new China, with new problems, that will come when this problem of transportation is solved, and trains and trucks carry the loads now borne by men and barrows. And this change is bound to come quickly, for it is now known that China’s soil is packed with the raw materials that this industrial age most covets. Reports of China’s coal and iron depos¬ its have probably been exaggerated. It is certain, however, that she possesses enough of these two requisites for a mod¬ ern industrial state to make it possible to compete with the output of any other na¬ tion. The coal reserve is probably from forty to fifty billion tons, or thirty-three per cent of that of Great Britain. More than a third of this is anthracite, in contrast to The Hanyehping Iron Works at Hanyang the condition in the rest of the world, where anthracite comprises only one- eighth of the supply. Since it is possible to mine this coal for not more than 75 cents a ton (U. S. gold) it can be seen that when transportation brings it cheaply to the place of use there may be a marked effect upon world commerce. The iron reserve is estimated at a billion tons, or about four-fifths of that of Great Britain, a third of that of France or Ger¬ many before the war, or a quarter of that of the United States. Of other resources, China holds more than half the world’s antimony; ranks after the Malay States and Bolivia in her wealth of tin ; is already third in cotton production; and will produce increasing tungsten, molybdenum, manganese, lead, zinc, petroleum, silk, vegetable oils (not¬ ably those from the soya bean), and flour. Large deposits of limestone and the other ingredients of Portland cement make good roads possible. To a world frantically seeking to re¬ store a shattered industrial life, the lure of such wealth is compelling. Let one theorize as may be, it is certain that com¬ mercial pressure will force the develop¬ ment of such resources before many more years pass. The welfare of China’s peo¬ ple, and the peace of the world, is wrapped in the basis upon which this development takes place. The Christian contribution. — Much of the impulse for the development of China’s WORLD SERVICE 14 material resources will come from the same lands from which have come Chris¬ tian missionaries. It is therefore impera¬ tive that nothing be done in the name of such development that will deny the prin¬ ciples Christians have proclaimed. For this reason it behooves all Christian churches to make clear their attitude toward the commer¬ cial and industrial development of such lands as China. A Christian platform would seem to de¬ mand : 1. That no de¬ velopment take place upon terms unaccept¬ able to the Chinese people. 2. That no de¬ velopment take place upon terms that would rob the Chi¬ nese people, either temporarily or per¬ manently, of the wealth that should be theirs. 3. That no development take place upon terms that would place the value of the product above the welfare of the worker. Churches in all lands must unite with the church in China to secure from gov¬ ernments guarantees that their nationals will embark upon the development of China’s resources only on this basis. This is but one example of the manner in which the broadening implications of the Chris¬ tian program require missionary service in so-called Christian lands as well as overseas. New China’s Industry The shift to manufacturing. — Thirty years ago there was not a factory chimney in China. Today the country is filled with manufacturing plants producing goods that already compete with Western prod¬ ucts in the markets of the world. A far from complete list of establish¬ ments shows that there are now in China cotton mills, oil mills, flour mills, woolen mills, silk mills, saw mills, paper mills, canneries, iron foundries, steel works, shipbuilding works, knitting works, print¬ ing works, smelting works, glass works, water works, brick works, electric light plants, packing houses, tanneries, lace and hair net factories, match factories, sugar factories, cig¬ arette factories, fur¬ niture factories, por¬ celain factories, railway shops, egg¬ drying factories, dis¬ tilleries, breweries, arsenals. There are at least twelve cities in China that are cen¬ ters of modern in¬ dustrialism. Some of these, such as Wusih and Nantungchow, were insignificant villages a few years ago. The growth of Shanghai from a col- Western industrialism makes a doubtful con¬ tribution to Chinese women — Cotton mill, Shanghai lection of fishermen’s huts to a population of more than a million, with the promise of becoming ultimately the world’s largest city, has taken place in less time than the growth of Chicago. When the United States entered the nineteenth century it was ninety per cent agricultural. In 1910 only thirty-three per cent of its population lived on the farm. When China entered the twentieth century it was ninety per cent agricultural. If a shift to manufacturing involving a third of these takes place during the century (a conservative estimate) more than the en¬ tire present population of the United States will be affected ! Taking into con¬ sideration what such shifts have meant in other lands, who can estimate the power with which this vast migration will shake the life of the world? The cotton industry offers striking illus¬ tration of the way in which a new indus- EASTERN ASIA 15 trial China is coming into being. The number of cotton factories jumped from 49 in 1919 to 102 in 1922, with about 1,500,000 spindles producing approxi¬ mately 300,000,000 pounds of yarn a year. The steel works at Hanyang have be¬ come of sufficient importance to warrant the Japanese in challenging the British claim to a “sphere of influence” in that region. China is still predominantly agricul¬ tural. It will remain so for another cen¬ tury. But the shift from the country to the city and from the soil to the machine has definitely begun. It is disturbing the whole tenor of Chinese life. Ultimately it is bound to affect the life of all the world. What sort of mills? — With Chinese by the millions turning to the mills for a live¬ lihood it is necessary to ask concerning the nature of this industrialism that is to in¬ fluence the East. It is probably no exag¬ geration to say that, for sheer brutality, the Chinese factory system cannot be sur¬ passed in any other part of the world. Conditions in most of the mills are such that a disinterested observer cannot ob¬ tain entrance. The factory system of China makes enormous use of the labor of women and children. Figures gathered by Mr. Julean Arnold, the commercial attache of the United States, and by Mr. M. T. Tchou, show that, in the cotton industry, forty Out of every ten workers in Chinese cotton mills, four are women, and four are children Small chance have they to secure an abundant life, slaving as they must in a Shanghai cotton mill per cent of the workers are women, forty per cent children, and only twenty per cent men. In Chinese industry as a whole, including the many forms in which it is impossible to use child and woman labor, these same authorities have estimated that fifteen per cent of the workers are women and twenty per cent are children ! To these workers starvation wages are doled out. Mr. Arnold states that the aver¬ age wage of men millworkers, in terms of American money, is from 15 to 20 cents a day; of women from 10 to 12*4 cents; of children from 5 to 10 cents. Mr. Tchou quotes actual figures from the silk mills of Shanghai, the most highly paid center in China, to show that the pay of skilled women weavers is from 18 to 20 cents a day; of unskilled from 14 to 17 y2 cents; of girls from iy2 to 10 cents. Sanitary conditions within many of the factories are notoriously bad, although some new plants show an improvement. Hours of labor are long, the average being a twelve-hour shift. More than seventy 16 WORLD SERVICE per cent of all the workers in China work seven days in a week. Sickness and mortality figures among these workers are, of course, frightfully high. So high that, in the absence of de¬ tailed statistics, it is unwise to make estimates. The cause of such exploitation. — Why is such a merciless industrialism allowed to come into existence, with the warning of Western experience in plain view? Simply because men are willing to bring any ruin upon their successors, as well as their em¬ ployees, if they may thereby obtain a quick profit. The following extract is from a trade paper and requires no comment: The profits of the - factory again sur¬ pass $1,000,000. To those who bestow thought on the progress of textile industries in China, the following particulars concerning this concern may be of in¬ terest. The company was started in 1904 with a paid up capital of $600,000, divided into 6,000 shares of $100 each. The capital was increased to $900,000 in 1916. . . . For the past two years it has been running night and day without intermission. . . . The working hours are from 5:30 a. m. to 5:30 p. m. and from 5 :30 p. m. to 5 :30 a. m. respectively. No meals are supplied by the factory. Most of the cotton used is produced locally. ... It will be seen that the com¬ pany is in an exceptionally favorable position. With the raw product at its door, an abundant and ab¬ surdly cheap labor supply to draw on, and no vexa¬ tious factory laws to observe, it is not surprising that its annual profits should have exceeded its total capital on at least three occasions. No, it is not surprising. But it will be surprising if there is no price paid for exploitation of this sort. The worst of it is that so much of this sort of industrialism is the result of the demand of western capital for quick and large returns. For example, forty-six per cent of the cotton mills of China are for¬ eign owned. A rising tide of protest. — Inevitably the Chinese are forming to combat exploita¬ tion of this sort. The growth in the labor union movement in China during the past two years has been astonishing. The an¬ cient guilds, which were really associa¬ tions of merchants and manufacturers, having proved unable to protect the work¬ ers, the workers have undertaken their own protection. Great success has at¬ tended their efforts. In Hongkong in 1921 Chinese sailors struck for better treatment and higher wages. Sympathetic strikes that finally involved practically all the Chinese in the city brought the foreign steamship com¬ panies to terms, but not until 275 ships, totaling 250,000 tons, had been held in harbor for weeks. After that victory, sixty labor unions were formed in Shanghai within a few months. In the cities of Canton and Chao- chow, industrial centers of southern China, more than fifty strikes occurred in the first nine months of 1922. More than nine-tenths of these were successful, bringing wage increases of from ten to forty per cent. The determination of the Chinese work¬ ingman was shown on the northern branch of the Canton- Wuchang railway, when an attempt to run trains under mili¬ tary guard was foiled by the strikers throwing themselves on the rails until more than a hundred had been injured and killed. The labor unions are now backing a list of nineteen demands, ranging all the way from recognition of the right of labor to organize to the obligation of the govern¬ ment to provide adequate education to all workers. These they desire to see inserted in the permanent constitution of the re¬ public, as soon as that document is framed. The Christian contribution. — While many of these demands of labor will not be realized at the present time, and much labor unrest is a result of demagogic ap¬ peal by unworthy leaders, the growth of a labor movement to protect China’s mil¬ lions against a rapacious industrialism is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored. No enterprise that hopes to share largely in the shaping of the future China can neg¬ lect this. Rightly, the Christian forces are bestir¬ ring themselves to deal with the matter. The meeting of the World’s Christian Stu¬ dent Federation, held in Peking in 1922, EASTERN ASIA 17 was marked by earnest discussion of the problems of industry. And at the National Christian Conference, held in the same year, one of the three subjects that were brought to the floor for direct action by the delegates was the adoption of a reso¬ lution pledging the church in China to work for the ultimate establishment of the labor standards set by the League of Na¬ tions, and for the immediate adoption of this platform: 1. No employment of children under twelve years of age. 2. One day’s rest in seven. 3. Safeguarding the worker’s health by the limitation of working hours, improve¬ ment of working conditions, and installa¬ tion of safety devices. Nor is this concern to confine itself to the passing of resolutions. Already the Chambers of Commerce of Peking and Chefoo, important industrial centers, have been induced to adopt the church’s pro¬ gram for their industries. The same ef¬ fort will be carried to the other parts of China. New China’s Education The word of an American thinker. — “We talk glibly about the importance of the problem of the Pacific, and even the schoolboy can quote Seward, Hay, and Taft. But what do we suppose this prob¬ lem to be? One that concerns a super¬ ficial waste of mobile waters? No, the real problem of the Pacific is the problem of the transformation of the mind of China, of the capacity of the oldest and most complicated civilization of the globe to remake itself into the new forms re¬ quired by the impact of immense alien forces.” John Dewey said that. Difficulties to be overcome. — But when you attempt “to transform the mind of China” you face the most difficult educa¬ tional task in history. Only the necessity of its accomplishment, which Professor Dewey has stated so clearly, nerves men to attempt it. What are these difficulties? She is a living symbol of China’s dire poverty — a rag picker 1. There is the poverty of the people. Investigation has shown that, in Shang¬ hai, with the cost of living demanding an income for a single man of at least $11.85 (Mexican) a month and for a family of five of at least $21.34, more than 40 per cent of the population live below this line. In North China more than half the people live below a standard that is 20 per cent under that in Shanghai. Such poverty re¬ quires every possible contribution from every possible hand, and cannot leave chil¬ dren in school long enough to give them even the rudiments of an education. 2. There is the difficulty of the language. The substitution of a new written form of Chinese for the old classical style (see the section on “White Language”) materially reduces the time needed to make one a master of ordinary literary forms, but Chinese, without an alphabet, remains a language requiring intense concentration. 3. There is the difficulty of conserva¬ tism. To be sure, the suspicion with which modern education was once regarded has largely passed in China. But some re¬ mains, particularly in reference to the edu¬ cation of girls. 18 WORLD SERVICE Two of the 100,000,000 Chinese children who should be in school 4. There is the difficulty of the mass. With at least 100,000,000 who should be in school, it can be seen that the provision of teachers and equipment will require years and large appropriations. 5. There is the difficulty inherent in changing educational standards. However desirous Chinese may be for a new type of education, better pedagogy does not come overnight. A majority of the primary schools are still of a miscellaneous nature that makes their work of problematic value. Government plans and performance. — In the new China there are scores of enthu¬ siasts who are working to overcome these difficulties and transform China’s mind with a modern type of education. Many of these have become educational special¬ ists in postgraduate schools in America, Europe, and Japan. Some of them have entered the Ministry of Education. Under their influence a well-balanced educational program has been adopted. This program provides for universal education in a system that begins in the kindergarten, passes through eight or nine years in the lower and higher primary school, through four more years in the middle school, then branches off to normal school or junior college, senior college, and university technical school. Education, at least in the lower primary school, is supposed to be compulsory. Nowhere is there a better balanced na¬ tional program of education. When it is finally carried into effect it will give China one of the best systems of public schools in the world. Up to date, however, so much of the national revenue has gone for the support of China’s militarists that almost nothing has remained wherewith to bring this plan into being. Most of the national program remains on paper. A false impression is created, however, if this failure to achieve all the ends in view is emphasized. Rather, it should be pointed out that, working almost without funds, either to provide school buildings or to pay teachers, more than 4,000,000 students have actually been enrolled in public schools, while a decade ago there were certainly not more than a million in schools of any kind. Also, there are 200 government normal schools, with an aver¬ age enrolment of 150, insuring that the area of educational operations can con¬ stantly be broadened. The Christian contribution. — From the first, Christian workers have recognized their obligation to assist in the transfor¬ mation of the mind of China. Indeed, it is not too much to say that such measure of transformation as has been achieved is largely the result of the service rendered by the pioneer schools established by the missionaries. It is clear that the church can never hope to provide even rudimentary educa¬ tion for 100,000,000 young Chinese. Nor should it. That is the government’s job. The task confronting the Christian forces is the conducting of schools that shall set the models for all other schools. By mak¬ ing these model schools positively Chris¬ tian, the Christian touch can be kept on all Chinese education, even after the over¬ whelming majority of schools are sup¬ ported by the government. EASTERN ASIA 19 Methodist Schools in China Teaching China’s young ideas how to read, in the higher primary school at Chungking The sort of schools. — In confronting its pres¬ ent educational opportu¬ nity in China the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church is seeking to do just this — not to make many schools, but to make good schools. One of the last statements made by Bishop Wilson S. Lewis declared : “Faulty principles of pedagogy, incompetent teachers, illy equipped ed¬ ucational institutions con¬ stitute an unspeakable menace to the propagation of the true religion of Jesus Christ. Illogical and unadapted courses of study are a reproach to our intelligence and our piety. Our opportunity is to build models of such excellence both in type and quality as to challenge the best yet known. One institution well located, well equipped, thoroughly furnished, is worth an unlim¬ ited number of those which merit the title of ‘sham.’ ” The Methodist program of education follows that laid down by the government. There are about 1,200 schools of all grades, including those conducted by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. Thirty thousand pupils are in the lower and about 6,000 in the higher primary schools. Three thousand are in the middle schools, a term corresponding to the American high school. Seven hundred are in college. The rest are in technical train¬ ing schools of various kinds. The crown of the school system is to be found in the union universities, in which the Methodist Episcopal Church co-oper¬ ates at Peking, Tsinan, Nanking, Chengtu, and Foochow with other American, Cana¬ dian, and British bodies to provide as high a type of education as is to be found in China today. The colleges for women in Peking, Nanking, and Foochow also are outstanding institutions. Here is Chris¬ tianity’s supreme opportunity to put its imprint upon the best educated of China’s future leaders. The sort of students. — What sort of stu¬ dents come from these schools? A Chinese Christian girl They are well educated. Many of them, in later study abroad have taken high rank. Many are filling the most exacting posts in China today. 20 WORLD SERVICE A part of the campus They are patriots. Not only in such tests as that of the Student Movement of 1919, but in the deeper test of continued national services at personal loss, many of these students and graduates have proven their calibre. They are Christians. Even in the col¬ leges, which enrol their students after the They are well-educated, patriots, Christians — leaders for new China. To furnish their kind to China is Christianity’s supreme opportunity first formative years, it is almost always the case that the majority of the graduates are Christians. In the North China Con¬ ference, for example, a survey showed that out of seventy-four preachers, thirty-five were graduates of Peking University. In government service, in commerce, in philanthropic leadership, as well as in all forms of service of an avowedly Christian character, the products of Methodist schools are contributing much to the build¬ ing of a new China. Principles of development. — The lines along which the Methodist Episcopal Church must proceed to develop its schools in China have been suggested in the words of Bishop Lewis. Not the number of schools, but quality! It cannot be said that there are yet enough Methodist schools. In not a single territory is the Methodist Episcopal Church able to provide an elementary edu¬ cation even for those children of its mem¬ bership not otherwise provided for. It is still necessary to increase the number of schools under Methodist auspices. Much of the cost of this development, however, will be borne by the Chinese. The day is long past when it is necessary to pay parents in order to secure students. There is not a single school in China, so far as has been reported, but is turning away prospective students. Increasingly it has become the policy to require of any EASTERN ASIA 21 of Nanking University community a substantial contribution toward the building and equipment of a school and the salary of the teacher before a new school is opened. There are also some gaps in the educa¬ tional system that must be filled. Particu¬ Distribution of Methodist Episcopal educational institutions in China larly must there be more adequate provi¬ sion for the training of teachers, and the raising of the grade of the schools prepar¬ ing preachers and other Christian workers is an immediate need, upon which the quality of our ministry depends. With all this, the church does not forget that its duty is to provide models that shall commend Christian standards of education to the China that is to be. For this pur¬ pose educational experts are required, who are called upon to supervise closely the work of the schools already established and bring up all standards of work. This constant rise in grade, extending from the lower primary school to the uni¬ versity, with the extension of common school privileges to all the Methodist con¬ stituency, can be said to comprise the im- A scientist in the making — student of organic chemistry at Nanking 22 WORLD SERVICE Poverty and disease stalk hand in hand — Chinese women picking rags in a dump mediate development before Methodist schools of China. New China’s Health The menace of disease. — Drastic effort for the betterment of the health of China’s people likewise comprises one of the prob¬ lems in the making of new China. While definite statistics are lacking, the ravages of disease are known to lower greatly the potential powers of the Chinese. Cholera, plague, smallpox, dysentery, leprosy, varied forms of fever — -these are the diseases that are popularly thought of in connection with China. It is true that they exist in strength, taking a high toll of life annually. But the most devastat¬ ing of all ills is tuberculosis. In the city of Shanghai, from which fairly accurate medical returns are obtain¬ able, eleven per cent of the deaths in a single year are found to have been caused by the white plague. Twenty-five hospi¬ tals elsewhere report 24.5 per cent of their patients as tubercular, although some of these institutions do not admit pulmonary cases. Out of a hundred students selected at random from a lower school in West China, only forty-six were from families that had no immediate tubercular history. These are but indications of the preva¬ lence of this disease. It makes its way into all ranks of society. Many have been the ministers of the gospel who have been taken by it from their work. And it is an axiom of history that you cannot build a strong nation on weak bodies. Preventable famines. — Again and again the West has been roused by news of famine in China. The last appeal came in 1920, when most of North China faced starvation, and the response was more gener¬ ous than ever before. It is not for China’s own good, however, to go ahead depending upon for¬ eign philanthropy to keep her children alive. Some causes of famine, such as drought extending over two years, are beyond control, and can only be dealt with by an improvement in communications that make it possible to ship food easily from one part of the country to another. Other famines need never have been. With water in the rivers, people have starved. Others have gone hungry while huge tracts remained uncultivated. Mod¬ ern irrigation and methods of dry farming can contribute much to overcoming these conditions. Unguarded childhood. — One needs al¬ ways to beware of statistics as to infant mortality in China. It has been stated that, of seven children born, not more than three live to be a year of age. There is no competent authority for such a state¬ ment, but it is probably true that, with the exception of parts of interior Africa Awaiting the distribution of supplies from America, in the famine area EASTERN ASIA 23 Dr. Ida Kahn’s hospital at Nanchang — An institution of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society and among some tribes of uncivilized Indians in interior South America, the death rate among in¬ fants is higher in China than anywhere else in the world. It is grotesquely cruel to say that such a sacri¬ fice is the only thing that keeps China from hopeless over - population. While vast stretches remain as sparsely settled as the western states of America, and methods are available wherewith to feed all this additional population, it is clear that here is a force being wasted that China needs. The Christian contribution. — With the doctor, the nurse, the hospital, the dis¬ pensary, the traveling health exhibit, the city sanitary campaign, the agricultural¬ ist, the forester, the orphanage, the train¬ ing class for mothers, the day nursery, and with many other aids, the Christian church is coming to bear its part in conserving the health of China. In part it does this out of devotion to the health of all peoples. A disease that gathers power in a region where there are no competent doctors may spread, as did the influenza, until it snuffs out lives all over the globe. But even the pneumonic plague, the last disease known to medical science with a mortality record of 100 per cent, was held by the devotion of medical missionaries and their associates to a nar¬ row confine. In part the church does this out of de¬ votion to China. It works to bring China the abundant life that Christ has offered all men. And surely no conception of an abundant life can include hungry stom¬ achs, diseased bodies, or dying babies. Methodism and China’s Health The work of the medicine kit. — In con¬ serving the health of China the Methodist Episcopal Church is bearing a notable part. More than sixty doctors and nurses are on the field, beside the Chinese medical assistants who are indispensable for the conduct of hospital and dispensary. In Shanhaikuan, where the Great Wall runs into the sea; in Peking; in Tientsin; in Taian, at the foot of China’s sacred mountain; in Nanking; in Wuhu; in Kiu- kiang; in Nanchang; in Chungking; in Tzechow; in Futsing; in Chengtu ; in Chin- kiang ; in Foochow ; in Kutien ; in Mintsing ; in Yenping; in Yungan; in Hankong, the port for Hinghwa; and in Sienyu, there are Methodist hospitals or major dispen¬ saries. Some of these are conducted by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society; the others by the Board of Foreign Missions. The work varies all the way from the Hopkins Memorial Hospital in Peking, with its many departments, pronounced by experts the best church hospital in North China, to rude sheds in which hun¬ dreds await devoted doctors with the salt solution that saves from the dread cholera. In some places it has been found possible to open dispensaries, staffed by Chinese trained in some central hospital, in which simple remedies are provided for regions at a distance. For many years the medical missionary was the surest point of contact be¬ tween the Chinese and the gospel. His service in that respect is still of mighty value. But he also stands as a constant proof that Christianity cannot see men anywhere in misery without desiring to help. 24 WORLD SERVICE The gospel of the plow. — In the scientific study of new methods of agriculture, and in object lessons given by agricultural mis¬ sionaries in North China and Hinghwa, the Methodist Episcopal Church is seeking to do its part in lifting the standard of liv¬ ing comfort in China. The School of Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Nanking has already achieved national prominence, and the similar school to be developed in connec¬ tion with Peking University will be equally valuable. Extension work and experiment stations are being started in Fukien and are projected for West China. Early mis¬ sionaries brought to China many articles of today’s ordinary diet, and today’s mis¬ sionaries are making more valuable pres¬ ent products of China’s soil. It is too early as yet to recount the out¬ come of the agricultural experiments now in process. But a school like that at Nan¬ king, by improving the quality of the cot¬ ton raised in China and by eliminating unhealthy silk worms, has given an en¬ tirely new outlook to those two basic in¬ dustries within the past five years and large future development is certain. If the millions of Chinese dependent upon cotton growing or silk weaving find a better market for their products, and an increased output for that market, thereby bettering their condition, they have the service of such a school largely to thank. “Cleanliness is next to godliness” — not a verse in the Bible, indeed, but always a preach¬ ment of Christian missions The first modem cotton gin to reach China — imported by the Agricultural Department of Nanking University Practical help of this kind in solving the problems of new China is finding recogni¬ tion throughout the country. Touching child life.' — When it comes to service for children the story is much too long to compress into this volume. Leaving out of account all the hospitals and all the orphanages and all the kindergartens and all the primary schools, one is tempted to linger over the story of the ministry of such an institution as the Ida Gracey Home for Crippled Children in Kiukiang or such an industrial school as has been conducted in Foochow. The temptation cannot be resisted to mention a single bit of service in one city that requires no in¬ stitution whatever. Every sunshiny day in the city of Hinghwa— -and most of the days there are sunshiny — a procession makes its way into some part of the city. After screens have been set up in some safe spot beside the street mothers are invited to bring their babies for a proper bathing. At first the innovation was looked upon with sus¬ picion. Today the mothers of Hinghwa overtax its resources. They are glad to provide the cost of the service. And the EASTERN ASIA 25 babies of that city are being cared for as they never have been in the past ! A simple act? Yes, but just one sample of the way in which Methodism is doing its part in every realm of China’s life to look after the welfare of China’s people. For it is all a contribution to the making of a new land. New China’s Culture “White Language.” — In his Outline of History, Mr. H. G. Wells gives more space to the written language of China than to the American Civil War. He does so, of course, because he holds that China’s language has had the larger influence upon the course of humanity. Probably he is right. If ever a language was de¬ signed to withhold knowledge from the majority of men, the ancient Chinese classical form of writing, known as wen-li, was. No man could be said to have mas¬ tered its intricacies in less than twenty years of intensive study. For years men have known that a new China, founded on a body of citizens capa¬ ble of rendering informed judgments, was impossible as long as the ability to read and write was confined to ten per cent of the population. But so strong was the hold of the iven-li, hallowed by use by Con¬ fucius, Mencius, and the sages of thirty centuries, that all attempts at reform were baffled. In 1916 a little group of enthusiasts, led by Professor Hu Suh of the National Uni¬ versity of Peking, began to write in a form totally different from the wen-li. No one spoke wen-li. From the standpoint of speech it was as dead a language as the Latin in which Europe wrote its medieval litera¬ ture. Three hundred million Chinese speak Mandarin. Why not write as these speak? To this new form of writing was com¬ monly given the name, pei-hua. Literally that means “white language,” the sugges¬ tion being of the whiteness of the light of the sun. The new form is designed, in other words, to produce a literature that the ordinary Chinese can, in the Western phrase, “see through.” Despite the fact 3 that it employs the traditional Chinese characters, it will probably prove as possi¬ ble to give the rudiments of an education in this medium in the few years spent in a primary school as in the same number of years in Western schools using the Ro¬ man alphabet. Renaissance or revolution? — Naturally, the appearance of the pei-hua aroused the opposition of the old Chinese literati. The young reformers were accused of under¬ mining the foundations of Chinese culture. The Chinese is, however, as reasonable a creature as lives.. And when poetry, phi¬ losophy, history, fiction, and all other im¬ aginable literary works began to come from the presses in the new form, and were found as expressive as the old, pei- hua soon won its way into general use. At the present time most of the books, prac¬ tically all of the periodicals, including newspapers, and an enormous amount of miscellaneous literature in tract form, are being issued in pei-hua. This has completely changed the cul¬ tural outlook in China in as short a time as since the Centenary was launched ! Ponder that statement. It is probable that histo¬ rians five centuries hence will put it down as one of the few great facts of our times. The number able to read a Chinese news¬ paper has been at least doubled since the world war closed ! And the increase in the number of literate Chinese will, for a time, be in geometrical proportion as the num- Young China is thinking. Here he is getting food for thought, in the newspaper room of the only free library in Peking 26 WORLD SERVICE ber of schools and pupils increases, and the time necessary to learn to read and write decreases. The result of flinging these doors open to millions of Chinese has been compared to Europe’s Renaissance, those golden days when men’s eyes were opened to new realms, and they went running out, men¬ tally and physically, to the discovery of new worlds. But China’s literary leaders refuse to be satisfied with that word. They are filling the publications that are spring¬ ing up with the world’s latest political, philosophical, and scientific thought, and they insist that the result will be, not a renaissance, but a revolution ; an en¬ tirely new culture, not a rebirth of an old one. And why not? What is Young China thinking? — The outward and visible sign of this inner and spiritual change in the thought-life of China is the crush of magazines to the news stands. Many of them die a-borning. Others attract large circulations, and are read throughout the country. There is scarcely a student center that does not produce its papers. What do these new periodicals offer China? Better than any attempt to de¬ scribe them is to list the table of contents of a single issue of a single magazine, picked at random from a newsstand that bore at least forty others much like it. This was a magazine issued by students in a government school. It has a large cir¬ culation. Compare its contents with those Where Chinese opinion is moulded-— Press room of “The Commercial Press,” Shanghai of the periodicals to be found on the news¬ stands of America, or better still, with the student publications of the United States. This can be taken as a fair sample of what thousands of Chinese are reading today : The Christ Before Jesus. The Foundations of Anarchy, and the Society of Anarchy. Opposed to the Life of Individualism. The Field of Psychology. Industry in Relation to Livelihood. Woman’s Rights and the Law. The Present Day Power of Democracy. The Building of Public Opinion. The Methods of Sociology. The Christian contribution. — Is the church to stand idly by while the cultural life of new China is being formed? By no means. In fact, to the church’s honor be it said that it has been experimenting in these fields for years. It was the Mandarin version of the Bible, translated in an effort to give the Scriptures to a larger audience than could read the wen-li version, that first showed the possibility of producing real literature in the same form in which most Chinese were speaking. It has been the church’s insistence upon the necessity of a liter¬ ate membership that has kept this prob¬ lem of an easily-mastered cultural medium to the fore. The present triumph of the pei-hua, while it rightfully belongs to Chi¬ nese writers, owes much to the pioneering of the Christian church. Likewise, the church has a responsi¬ bility in the face of certain kinds of litera¬ ture that are flooding the Chinese mar¬ kets. The production and distribution of Christian literature, although vigorously promoted by Bible societies and publish¬ ing agencies, has not yet attained a scale where it can be said to touch more than the fringes of the Chinese market. On the other hand, continental scepticism in all its forms is being translated in large editions, and great numbers of question¬ able novels are being sold. This moment, while this huge new group of readers is forming its habits of reading (for it must be remembered that the addition of a single per cent to the number of literate Chinese increases the EASTERN ASIA 27 total reading public by 4,000,000) is the time of all times for the church to stress the distribution of Christian literature. Methodist literature in China. — In this effort the Methodist Episcopal Church must bear its part. For years the Metho¬ dist Publishing House has been one of the outstanding Christian agencies in this field. The Mission Book Company, a union distributing agency in which the Methodist Publishing House has a part¬ nership, sells more than half of the total Christian literature distributed, leaving out of the account the sale of Bibles and Scripture portions. Behind the publishing and distributing agencies is the Methodist editorial force, composed entirely of Chinese, under the direction of Dr. Lo Ren-yen. This highly efficient group produces a weekly news¬ paper in co-operation with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and a monthly magazine that circulates among the young Christians far beyond Methodist bound¬ aries. Miss Laura M. White, of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, has also gath¬ ered a woman’s staff composed almost en¬ tirely of graduates of Methodist schools for girls, who, working in conjunction with the Christian Literature Society, produce a monthly that has been nick¬ named ‘‘The Ladies’ Home Journal of China.” In addition to periodicals, both these editorial staffs bring out a large amount of pamphlet and book literature. All of it is steadily winning recognition. Spreading the Scriptures. — In no part of the world has the work of the Bible soci¬ eties been more effective. The American Bible Society has as its agent a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Un¬ der its direction 1,987,326 Bibles and por¬ tions of Scripture were distributed during 1922, very little of it without some pay¬ ment. Some hint of the vast influence of this work may be obtained from this report, but one of many that have come in during the present year : The American Bible Society’s wheelbarrow and colporteur in China “Last year when I visited this village and opened an outstation the Taoist priest was the first inquirer, although he was living in a temple. Later, I stayed a couple of weeks there and he often came over to see me. He read very well, so I gave him some tracts and small books. We prayed together and I started to teach him the Bible, but very soon I dis¬ covered that he understood nearly every¬ thing that I taught him. The acts of our Saviour he knew; why he came and died; and the baptismal act. So I asked if he had read the gospel before. ‘Only once,’ he said, ‘twenty years ago.’ ‘How do you know so much about the gospel then?’ I asked. ‘Some men belonging to your doc¬ trine from the province of Shansi went through here at that time preaching the gospel and selling books. I heard them preach and wanted to buy a small Matthew’s gospel, but one of the men said that I should rather buy a New Testament. I replied that I could not afford it, but he said it did not matter; so he gave me a New Testament and I gave him eight cash. At the first I did not understand anything and I thought to throw the book away; but I kept on reading, and slowly 28 WORLD SERVICE Buddhism, at the hands of its parasitic priest¬ hood, is degenerating into idolatrous superstition I began to understand; and now I know that this book talks about the true God and that Jesus is my Saviour. At first, when I did not understand so much, I wor¬ shipped a tablet on which I had written Shangti Lao Tien Ie, (Jehovah, Lord of Heaven) ; but now I have thrown that away and only worship Jesus.’ ” New China’s Soul The fundamental lack.— In considering what must be provided for the making of the new China mention has been made of the stabilizing of government, the de¬ velopment of natural resources, the build¬ ing of industrial life, the safeguarding of health, the providing of education, the forming of a new culture. In all these the Christian church has been shown to have a share, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, as an important factor in the Christian enterprise, has been shown as facing an unescapable responsibility. But China’s fundamental need, as her best sons and daughters see, is for some¬ thing more intangible and at the same time more important than any of these. China needs a renewed spiritual life. Many of the fountains at which her soul has drunk are drying up. Soul-sterility confronts her as an immediate menace. When officials can mouth moral maxims and grow rich on graft; when industry can pile up profits and squeeze out lives; when hunger and death can be regarded complacently as the due portion of the majority; when education can lead to ag¬ nosticism and materialism be exalted as a way of life, then the soul of any nation is endangered. How is this danger being met? The menace of disintegrating faiths. — China for almost two thousand years has lived largely under the impetus of three faiths — Confucianism, Buddhism, Tao¬ ism. To be sure, Mohammedanism has been in China since the days of Mohammed himself, and has gathered several million adherents. But these live as separated groups, isolated from the life about them. It is the three named that have made China what she is. Taoism has degenerated into a maze of incantations and superstitions that cannot much longer survive the blaze of a new day. It is passing, and that rapidly. Buddhism, while containing elements of permanent value, and experiencing some local attempts at revival and puri¬ fication, is suffering from a priesthood of low intelligence. The parasitic Buddhist priest is the butt of every tearoom jester. Popular Buddhism, under his hands, has become such an idolatrous superstition that to thinking Chinese it is repulsive. Confucianism is coming to be recog¬ nized as a philosophy rather than a reli¬ gion. Confucius was himself too agnostic ever to have given birth to a religion. As a philosophy, Confucianism will exert in¬ fluence for generations to come. On the whole, it will be beneficial influence. As a religion, its limitations are perceived. But if nothing is to take the place of these passing faiths, the world may well tremble. China, animated by an agnos¬ tic materialism, would become overnight a serious menace to world peace. For her own good, as well as for the good of all others, she must find a faith by which to live. Can Christianity fill the breach? — As far as human wisdom can discern, China’s spiritual allegiance will be settled for a hundred years within the next ten. The EASTERN ASIA 29 Washington Conference has assured China a ten-year breathing space, during which time she will decide the status with which she will face the future. Is it to be as a Christian nation? Not if many devoted Chinese have their way. They believe that any religion is an antiquated absurdity, and that what China must have is, in the phrase of a student, “the iron-and-blood heart and spirit.” They frankly favor a material¬ istic, militaristic state. Nor can there be any hope of making China Christian in the sense that it is to reproduce any particular Western civili¬ zation. Bertrand Russell has written as though “Christianizing” and “American¬ izing” China were the same thing. China sees too clearly how far short the West has fallen in its approximation of Chris¬ tian ideals to allow that mistake. Nor, let it be admitted, can China be made Christian in these few years in the sense that all Chinese will join Christian churches. But this can happen : Jesus Christ can be held up before China as the saviour and captain of her soul. Enough of her leaders, now and to come, can be brought to intimacy with Christ to set afoot forces that will have vast molding powers. Ex¬ amples of the power of his gospel can be multiplied. Christianity can be shown generating spiritual vitality. And this can be done before the eyes of enough Chi¬ nese to insure that, finally, all China will seek soul-strength at this source. One of our brothers in Christ — local preacher in Chungking This is an answer of faith, contingent, as it must be, upon a proper support for the Christian enterprise during these next years. But it is a faith that grows out of knowledge; the knowledge that Chris¬ tianity, given the chance, can save China. The Methodist Program in China A solemn responsibility. — The Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church faces this crucial hour in China in a sense of solemn re¬ sponsibility. It does not possess unlim¬ ited resources. Yet it knows that it must bear its full share of the task, and that without lingering. There is no room within this book to outline the Methodist program in China in its entirety. Mention can only be made of the three main lines of strategy that are being followed. Encouraging Chinese leaders. — - The Methodist Episcopal Church had Chinese local preachers Christianity must furnish the spiritual guides for new China 30 WORLD SERVICE A result of the Centenary — Institutional church at Chengtu almost as soon as it had Chinese converts. From that first day, three-quarters of a century ago, the main effort has been to discover Chinese capable of bearing large responsibilities. Today, on the fifty-one districts of China’s Methodist conferences, there are forty-three Chinese district superintend¬ ents. Chinese act as heads of schools, and hold full professorial rank in colleges and universities. In the general promotional agencies, such as the Eastern Asia Jubilee, Chinese are at the head of departments, and there is a Chinese executive secre¬ tary. In the Central Conference for East¬ ern Asia a majority of the delegates are Chinese. On finance committees numbers of Chinese sit. Half the membership of the All-China Finance Committee is Chi¬ nese. In fact, it is impossible to touch the Methodist Episcopal Church intimately anywhere in China without finding Chi¬ nese moving into places of responsibility. It is a commonplace of foreign missions to say that the evangelization of any coun¬ try rests at last in the hands of the Chris¬ tians of that country. In China the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church gives evidence of its readiness to rely upon the Chinese mem¬ bers of the church to take the lead. This is not by any theoretical pronouncement, but by actually turning over responsi¬ bility as fast as the Chinese will receive it. Erecting commanding institutions. — It is impossible to cover China immediately with all the Christian institutions that na¬ tion will eventually demand. Nor would it be wise, were it possible. But it is wise, in this brief and critical hour, to place in conspicuous centers some institutions that will adequately represent Christianity. Because of its poverty, the Chinese church cannot do all that is thus required. To the extent of its ability, it is doing amazingly well. The church at large is therefore called upon to plant without delay, a few great colleges, a few great hospitals, a few great churches. Well located, these must give millions of Chinese an object lesson in the scope and service of Christianity. A glance at the map of China, showing the principal centers of Methodist occupation, will show how strategically located to in¬ fluence north, south, east, center, and west are the cities in which the outstanding Methodist institutions are being erected. Occupying the field fully.— -The Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church will not soon seek new territory in China to enter. In the careful delimitation of responsibility as between missions the Methodist obligation has been clearly determined. But there is a difference between enter¬ ing a field and occupying a field. If the responsibility of the Methodist Episcopal Church is for the evangelization of 40,000,000 Chinese, as is generally stated, and there are not today 500 missionaries of the Board of Foreign Missions and Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society on the field, it will hardly be claimed that complete occupation has yet taken place, or that it is immediately in view. Kindergarten children at the Central Institutional Church, Foochow EASTERN ASIA 31 Taking into account all possible work¬ ers, Chinese and foreigners, ordained and unordained, in educational, medical, agri¬ cultural, literary, business, and all other forms of work, as well as evangelistic, on furlough in America as well as in China, there are not more than 5,600 available. THOUSANDS i NDAY S< ENROLM / SI :hool / ENT r' 1 i (/ Fu r MEME LL ERS • / 1 850 I860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 Increase in church and Sunday-school members — 1850-1922 The situation in China is too pressing to allow a drifting policy any chance of suc¬ cess. The church cannot put one evangel¬ istic missionary in Chengtu and another in Chungking, ten days’ journey distant, and a third in Suining, another week dis¬ tant, and a fourth in Tzechow, still a week away, and then call the West China terri¬ tory, where it is solely responsible for the welfare of 12,000,000 people, occupied. During the world war there were poli¬ ticians who tried to convince their nations that victory might be won by a policy of “wait and see.” They were wrong, and the people knew it. In this struggle the church sometimes seems content to “wait and see” what will happen. If the field is not occupied in China without delay it is clear what will happen. The hour of our visitation will pass. A Few Developments As suggestive of some of the things that the Methodist Church has already done in China mention may be made of four en¬ terprises. The Institutional Church, Foochow. — If you take a map of the great city of Foo¬ chow, capital of the province of Fukien, and locate its geometrical center, the point In one year, 25,560 eye cases were treated in this clinic at Hopkins Memorial Hospital, Peking of your pencil will just about fall upon the Siong Iu Dong (Central Institutional Church.) This church has not yet been able to obtain the plant it must eventually have, but, in adapted Chinese buildings, it already conducts a full program of church services, a kindergarten, schools for girls and boys, a museum, medical work, and a course of lectures that draws from all parts of the city and all grades of society. A Chinese pastor trained in America heads a staff of twenty workers, of whom two others have studied abroad. The Chi¬ nese contribute several thousand dollars yearly to the support of the enterprise, which can be regarded as a type of the church by which it is hoped to challenge the attention of even China’s teeming cities. Hopkins Memorial Hospital, Peking. — In a quarter of the city of Peking in which medical responsibility cannot be shared with another church this hospital has, since 1875, been ministering. Started by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, it has been since 1885 under the direction of the Board of Foreign Missions. The usual work of a mission hospital is carried on by a staff that includes six for¬ eigners. Training is given Chinese for service as dispensary and hospital assist¬ ants. An eye clinic has attracted partic¬ ular attention, for diseases of the eye are 32 WORLD SERVICE Mothers bring their babies to the Bible Women’s Training School (Woman’s Foreign Mis¬ sionary Society School at Hinghwa) common in China. In a single year, 25,560 treatments were given in this one clinic, with 6,451 more in a special eye clinic for those desiring special service. A dental department has been developed during the Centenary period in which men are being prepared for dental service in seven other hospitals. Even today, after decades of service, such a hospital provides a point of contact for the gospel with 24,546 people in a single year. Of these, 1,870 were gathered into regular Bible study classes. Forty- one patients joined the church. The Hopkins Memorial Hospital is not designed to be the largest conducted in China by the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is, however, suggestive of the scope of and response to service of this kind. Biblical School, Hinghwa. — Approxi¬ mately sixty students come annually from the graduating classes of the higher pri¬ mary schools of the Hinghwa Conference to take the three-year course that is to pre¬ pare them for the ministry. This makes it necessary to plan much of the course as an equivalent to general high school training. In addition to this and the special theo¬ logical and Biblical studies, the student must take two years’ work in Sunday school and boys’ club work, and show two years of experience as a student pastor be¬ fore graduation. When it is remembered that there are only two other Christian schools of high school grade in the territory of the Hinghwa Conference, it can be seen that, with this course, the man entering the min¬ istry is given a mental equipment that will put him in advance of most of his fellows. The membership of the Hinghwa Confer¬ ence is practically composed of the grad¬ uates of this school. The Hinghwa Biblical School is far from being the highest grade institution for the training of Methodist ministers in China. Yet it has contributed the major impulse toward the evangelization of what is now the most nearly Christianized portion of China. As the standards of general intelli¬ gence mount, so will the standards of this school. And this is true of all training schools in China. University of Nanking. — This institution, one of the five of highest grade in which the Methodist Episcopal Church has a part, was formed in 1910 by a union of the Northern Presbyterians, Disciples, and Methodists. Two years later the Northern Baptists joined the project. By 1921 the student body of college grade had grown from fifty-six to 300; the number of foreign teachers from seventeen to thirty-four; the number of Chinese teach¬ ers from twenty to sixty-four, of whom eight had been educated abroad; and the property valuation from $125,000 to $600,000. This university includes a College of Arts and Science, a College of Agriculture and Forestry, a Junior College, and schools giving specialized work in forms of edu¬ cation, business administration, and medi¬ cine. In addition, there are preparatory departments, a language school for the training of new missionaries and a hos¬ pital. In close relation are the Ginling Col¬ lege for women and the Nanking Theo¬ logical Seminary, both likewise union in¬ stitutions. The work of the University of Nanking in improving the cotton crop of China, in EASTERN ASIA 33 securing superior silk worms, and in promoting reforestation has gained wide recognition. Equally significant work is being done in the other schools of the same rank. The Hour of Decision God’s great hours. — God has his own times and seasons. In his dealing with China surely this is one of them. Once before the door to a Christian China was wide open. Mr. Wells tells how the em¬ peror of China begged the Christian West to send teachers, and how the op- poitunity was allowed to China is open — her Great Wall avails no more pass. Now the second hour of opportunity is here. But there are A desperate struggle. — Within China the plenty of signs that this one, too, will not struggle between the old and the new, the linger. The fathers prayed for genera- outworn and the needful, the material and tions that China’s tight-barred doors the spiritual, is being desperately waged, might be opened. They are opened now. It is a long way from settled as to how But to what purpose if we do not enter? that struggle may go. Indeed, if one looks without faith, it is easy to believe that China will soon adopt a policy of iron-and- blood materialism that will make her a danger to all the world. Christianity, and Christianity alone, has the spiritual contribution upon which China dare rely to organize her life for a peaceful and larger future. Jesus Christ is the only leader who can bring this mighty mass safely through the perils of these hours. And the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church dare not shirk its share in the work of bringing China into touch with him. Girls from the Ginling College, in which the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society co-operates The immediate need. — There has been no attempt here to list all the places in which the Methodist Episcopal Church must move forward. But the needs of all these, as they have been presented, have been scrutinized by a long line of investigating bodies; revised and again revised. Finally, the church has authorized as its pro¬ gram in China for 1925 ; WORLD SERVICE The 1925 Program for China Missionary Staff is required on these lines: Evangelistic work . . 37 Couples Educational work . 91 Couples Medical work . 46 Couples Other work . 28 Couples 5 Single 37 Single 25 Single 21 Single Total .2 02 Couples 88 Single Work Operations will be conducted on these lines : Institutional Churches in 13 Cities . $20,400 Other Church work in 38 Cities . 42,100 Rural Church work on 597 Circuits . 99,519 Total for Evangelistic Work . 785 Primary Day Schools . 108 Primary Boarding Schools . 25 Middle Schools and Junior Colleges 4 Universities (Our share in Unions) 6 Theological Seminaries . 9 Other Training Schools . Total for Educational Work . . 19 Hospitals . $^,785 39 Dispensaries . 21,650 Total for Medical Work . Publishing and Publicity . . General and Miscellaneous Types of Work Total for Work Operation . $40,224 . 46,755 . 53,898 . 27,758 . 15,490 . 18,370 Property Prof ects 19 New Missionaries’ Bungalows . — 8 Institutional Churches . . 15 Other city churches . 75 Smaller churches . — . 44 Parsonages and other projects . . Total for Evangelistic Work projects.. 38 Lower Primary (Day) Schools . 23 Higher Primary (Boarding) Schools . 15 Middle School Buildings . 3 University Buildings . 3 Theological School Buildings . 3 Other School Projects . Total for Educational Work Projects 7 Hospital Buildings . 7 Dispensary Buildings . Total for Medical Work Projects . 5 Other Projects . $177,000 65,900 . 85,000 . 40,875 40,230 115,400 233,450 42,833 48,228 27,400 $170,000 . 28,865 $626,650 $162,019 $202,495 65,415 37,892 88,115 $555,936 $ 91,207 368,775 507,541 198,865 19,990 Total for Property Projects . Total Program (China) $1,186,378 $2,368,964 EASTERN ASIA 35 JAPAN The Leader of the Orient An imperial romance. — In all history there is no more romantic story than the development of Japan, within fifty years, from an isolated and (from the Western viewpoint) backward island into one of the world’s great powers. From the time the doors of the island empire closed upon the traders of the sixteenth century until Commodore Perry’s squadron forced them open again, Japan was apparently the most determinedly Ori¬ ental of all Ori¬ ental nations. Half a century later she has so completely oc- cidentalized certain features of her life that she can enforce her will upon the Occident. There have been those who have be¬ lieved the extension of Western civilization exclusively a pre¬ rogative of the white peoples. It is not so many years since Mr. Kipling wrote of “The White Man’s Burden.” But that idea has almost passed, and Japan has been largely the cause of its passing. In the change from isolated island to imperial empire Japan has committed many of the same sort of sins that have disgraced the imperialisms of the West. But this cannot hide the reality of her achievement in fit¬ ting herself to cope with an alien civiliza¬ tion within a man’s life time. Modern Japan is a good deal of an international miracle. Champion of the East. — It is as the de¬ fender of the East against the encroach¬ ments of the West that many patriotic Japanese have conceived their country. There have been times when the same conception has been current in other Asiatic countries. Certain it is that, with all Japan’s mistakes, her defiance of the West has brought about a changed atti¬ tude toward the East on the part of the European powers. At the beginning of the last decade of the nineteenth cen¬ tury, the stage was set in the Orient for a general division among European states of the suppos¬ edly defenseless ter¬ ritories of the East. To some extent that division has taken place on the Asiatic mainland, but not to the extent that once seemed certain. The reason is to be found in the growth of Ja¬ pan as a military power. Tests of strength. — In 1894-95 Japan fought China for the leadership of the Far East. The West was so little impressed by the strength shown by the Nipponese that a group of Euro¬ pean powers, led by Russia, coolly appropri¬ ated part of the spoils of that victory. For the rest of the century, and following the Boxer uprising in China, this European advance continued. Russia led, gradually absorbing Korea, then gaining practical control of Manchuria, and making unmis¬ takable advances toward Mongolia. England, with her empire in India, was as much frightened by this growth of Russian power in Asia, as Japan, and agreed, in the Anglo-Japanese alliance, to hold the circle if Japan went to war. In 1905 Japan stopped the Russian advance. 36 WORLD SERVICE It has become the custom to point out how little Japan won in her war with Russia. At least she won a place as one of the great powers, and five years later was established as a power on the Asiatic mainland. One of the great powers. — As one of the great powers, Japan has disappointed many hopes in Asia and among the liberals of the rest of the world. It must be said, however, that Ja¬ pan has never pre¬ tended to be other than an intensely centralized and conservative mon¬ archy, and that, in the worst phases of her imperialism, she has followed models set for her by other states. There has been in Korea or Formosa no cynical disre¬ gard for right in order to gain trade or political ad¬ vantages but can be paralleled in the colonial his¬ tory of most, if not all of the world’s other powers. Imperial policy. — As one of the powers, Japan has set herself to strengthen her political and industrial position. To do the former she has followed the obvious militaristic models of Europe, building up an effective conscript army and a navy that ranks third among the navies of the world. The real government of the empire has been too largely in the hands of the militaristic groups. Japan would point to her present enviable position among Asiatic nations as complete justi¬ fication of this course. To strengthen her industrial position, Japan has begun to change from an agri¬ cultural to a manufacturing state, and Map of Japan, showing railways and Methodist Episcopal resident stations has sought to annex or control many islands in the Pacific and parts of the Asiatic mainland which might be ex¬ pected to yield raw materials. Japan is handicapped by lack of coal and iron, those fundamental requisites of a modern state, within her own boundaries. She has sought to overcome this handicap as other states have, by going out o with a gun to / seize such terri- / tory as might yield the precious minerals. She but follows long precedent. It has yet to be proved that other na¬ tional ideals will be nec¬ essary in order that a state may maintain leadership in the period just opening. Many; have said that this will be so, but Japan is waiting for ocular proof. By her course at the Washington Confer¬ ence she gives evidence that, if a change is nec¬ essary, she will adapt herself to new interna¬ tional conditions as readily as she did to the strange environ¬ ment into which she was thrust fifty years ago. Modern Japan From agriculture to manufacturing. — Not long after the opening of the nine¬ teenth century England learned that, after a restricted territory contains a cer¬ tain population, it can continue to support its inhabitants only by shifting from agri¬ culture to manufacturing as a means of livelihood. A dozen can be employed in a factory producing goods to be ex¬ changed for food to every one who can be employed on the land. At the opening of the twentieth cen¬ tury Japan had to face the same condi¬ tion and learn the same lesson. Her EASTERN ASIA 37 Movies in Japan population had reached the forty-nine million mark, or approximately 295 per¬ sons to every square mile. As only seven¬ teen per cent of the volcanic territory of Japan proper is available for cultivation (and this includes thousands of square miles of terraced hills that would be shunned in such a land as America) it was apparent that the point had been reached at which new arrangements for supporting the life of millions must be made. The war and Japanese industry. — Coloni¬ zation projects, whether in semi-tropical Formosa or colder Korea and Manchuria, did not attract more than a few hundred thousand. Japanese leaders were astute enough to see that the only solution lay in the building of a highly organized in¬ dustrial state. Soon after this decision had been reached, as factories began to rise in cer¬ tain sections, the nations of Europe plunged into war and sought desperately for markets in which to buy needed sup¬ plies. Within a single year the number of factory workers in Japan mounted from 300,000 to more than 2,000,000. Wages doubled and trebled. The cost of living did the same thing. The nation was trans¬ formed from a debtor to a creditor state over night. The stock markets were jammed with speculators. Profiteers amassed enormous for¬ tunes. Wealth seemed about to become the por¬ tion of every family. Post-war conditions. — The inevitable reaction has come since the war. Much of the war-fostered trade was with the Rus¬ sian government, and when the Tsar fell Japa¬ nese manufacturers of munitions found them¬ selves holding tsaristic bonds of doubtful value. This explains much of Japan’s interest in the Russian empire. With the collapse of the war markets, notably in silk, as many fortunes have been lost as were made during the hey¬ days of speculation. Unemployment is rife in Japan today. But the shift to a manufacturing basis is permanent. The volume of trade in such a port as Yoko¬ hama, for instance, has grown from $500,000 in 1860 to $353,500,000 in 1916 and $739,000,000 in 1920. While there is a depression in Japan at present just as there is in every other part of the indus¬ trial world, Japan is on an entirely differ¬ ent basis from that of the period when, for example, the Centenary was in formu¬ lation. Japan is now a nation of confirmed industrialism. Japanese children have much fun on that one day in each year when the old wall paper is replaced by new — for then they may draw pictures on the walls 38 WORLD SERVICE Western industrialism invades Japan: Power looms in mill at Kagoshima Social Strengths and Ills Added material comforts. — In the rapid changes that have come to Japan in the past half century, there have been great advances in certain aspects of Japanese life. Living is more comfortable, particu¬ larly in the cities. Wages have gone up, as in Yokohama, where a carpenter now receives from $1.65 to $2.00 a day, and a gardener $1.40 a day. The cost of living has likewise, ad¬ vanced, until Japanese cities are said to be the most expensive places in the world in which to live. But the rise in wages has made for an increased purchasing power on the part of the masses. A literate nation.— Greatest of the social advantages has been that won through the fine system of public schools whereby, in a generation, Japan has advanced from general illiteracy to one of the highest rates of literacy in the world.. With this has gone an increase in political respon¬ sibility. The Japanese are today a nation of newspaper readers, and although Japan¬ ese newspapers frequently leave something to be desired in their discussion of public affairs (as do the papers of some other countries), there is constant and open debate on such matters. The Japanese constitution was so framed as to reduce popular participation in the government to a minimum, but the agitation for uni¬ versal suffrage and parliamentary con¬ trol of all national affairs is constantly increasing. Factory evils. — On the other side of this account must be drawn the picture of the social ills that already plague Japan, and will do her still greater harm in the fu¬ ture. The factory system, as it has grown up, has been of a peculiarly con¬ scienceless kind, with a few exceptions. The exploitation of labor, particularly of woman labor, has given birth to enor¬ mous discontent that now smolders be¬ neath the surface of Japanese life, but may burst forth in social revolt at almost any time. Much quick wealth, also, has come as the result of shady business prac¬ tices that have given Japanese merchan¬ dise a bad reputation abroad. Even the newsies read in Japan of prostitution, and apparently little head¬ way is being made in dealing with this so¬ cial evil, although statistics on young men examined for the army show an alarming increase in the number unfit for service. EASTERN ASIA 39 Drunkenness seems to be on the increase, and popular festivals are being increasingly demor¬ alized by liquor. Patriotic Japan Selling wine on the streets of Osaka The Cross in Japan How Christianity came to Japan. — To Francis Xavier, great missionary of the sixteenth century, there came, in Malaysia, a convert who confessed to have fled from a mur¬ der committed in Japan. Under the inspiration and guidance of this convert, Xavier penetrated the island empire, and there Strength or weakness. — Perhaps the greatest so¬ cial ill of all, although it is frequently seen only in its political implications, is the national cult of pa¬ triotism. Up to a certain point, patriotism may be a source of strength to a state. But in the concep¬ tion of the Japanese ruler as above criticism, which works to protect from criticism the bureaucracy that con¬ trols the ruler, there is nothing but danger. Undergird this conception of patriot¬ ism with a constantly stimulated patri¬ otism and the world may have to deal with an international, as well as national, danger. The inner struggle. — The internal life of Japan presents a constant struggle. In the first fifty years of the new era this struggle was largely between two war¬ like clans, the Satsuma and the Choshu, for control. The clans still have their jealousies and bickerings, but today they are united in a great fight. Modern Japan has come to power on a bureaucratic model much like that of Ger¬ many before the world war. A class of Slum children of Kobe professional office-holders, largely re¬ cruited from the aristocratic clans, has controlled the country. But the very development of the country has brought about the rise of a democratic group, in¬ tent upon winning for the people at large the control of the state. Despite the never-ceasing efforts to guard against the dissemination of “dangerous thoughts,” this group has increased. Democracy or bureaucracy. — Today the bureaucracy is locked in a life-and- death struggle with democracy. Appar¬ ently, the bureaucracy is in an impreg¬ nable position. Only the spirit of these times and the devotion of the democrats are to be weighed against it. All the his¬ tory of this period in Japan is to be read in the light of this inner struggle. 40 WORLD SERVICE founded one of the strongest of the Jesuit missions of that time. The center of Catholic influence was at Nagasaki, where the majority of the inhabitants were bap¬ tized. Why Japan closed her doors. — As fre¬ quently happened with Jesuit missions, questions of political policy became of paramount importance. Those were feu¬ dal days in Japan, and the local lord of Nagasaki, the political patron of the Jes¬ uits, proved, in the long run, unable to withstand the power of his enemies. He and his Christian followers were wiped out with hideous slaughter. At the same time the suspicions of the Japanese were aroused by the dealing of the priests with Spanish sailors, who boasted of their intention to conquer wherever the cross was planted. As a result Christianity itself was put under an interdict. Despite fearful persecution, however. “O ye who tread the Narrow Way By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day, Be gentle when ‘the heathen’ pray To Buddha at Kamakura.” — Rudyard Kipling. the first Catholic priests to return to the vicinity of Nagasaki after Japan was again opened, in the middle of the last century, found several hundred with rosaries and crucifixes, who claimed se¬ cretly to be Christians. The doors reopen. — Protestant mission¬ aries pressed in on the heels of Commo¬ dore Perry, and several daring young Japanese, going to America for education, were converted and returned to take an outstanding part in the Christian advance in their native land. The Methodist Epis¬ copal Church began its work in 1873 and was soon established in half a dozen widely separated centers. A quick response. — The country was so eager for the influences from the West that were to reform its life that it welcomed the religion of the West as an expected part of those influences. Many missionaries were given far-reaching op¬ portunities for service, notably Guido Verbeck, a Christian teacher from Amer¬ ica, to whom is given the honor of being known as the father of Japan’s system of state education. For more than two decades the Prot¬ estant advance was limited only by the resources of the missions. Had the churches adopted anything like an ad¬ equate program in Japan from, say, 1875 to 1885, Japan might have been a Chris¬ tian country today, and the whole outlook of the Orient changed. Timidity at that time marks one of Christianity’s great failures to take advantage of a God-given opportunity. Growing self-control. — A natural reac¬ tion followed the initial rush of the Japanese to embrace Western ways. Christianity suffered in that reaction. Finally the present Japan began to emerge, saying, “We will not reject the West. We will take the best of the West and adapt it to our needs.” The same spirit, working within the Japanese churches, brought a powerful movement toward self-control. It was felt that, in order to make a true adapta¬ tion to Japanese life, the churches must be under Japanese leadership. EASTERN ASIA 41 The present preaching place at Akunoura. Pastor Fekushima standing in the doorway The Methodists were the last of the large Prot¬ estant groups to carry this into effect. Finally, in 1907, the three leading Methodist bodies (the Canadian Methodists, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Episcopal Church) united to form the Japan Methodist Church. By this union, one Methodist body ap¬ peared instead of three, thus eliminating all dan¬ gers of overlapping work. Each of the missions was left to carry on its work, particularly in the realm of higher education, but the life of the churches was put under the guidance of this purely Japanese body. Japan Methodism A growing church. — The experiment of 1907 has, in the judgment of many ob¬ servers, justified itself. Although for a few years after the formation of the united church there was some confusion it was not long before the Japanese-led body found its feet, and the present rate of growth is remarkable. In 1907 the total number of members was 12,014. In 1921 it was 28,934, a gain of 148 per cent in fourteen years ! During the same period the number of Sunday schools increased from 247 to 587, the number of pupils in those schools from 21,928 to 42,902, the number of wholly self-supporting churches from 16 to 33, and the contributions from $19,115 to $155,345 — or from $1.59 annually per member to $5.36 ! The Centenary in Japan. — Much of this gain has come within the past two years. Inspired by reports of the Centenary in America, the Japan Methodist Church more than doubled its giving between 1920 and 1921, while it launched an evan- 4 ' gelistic advance that is making its im¬ pression upon all Japanese Protestantism. It is the more unfortunate that, in the face of this zeal, the Centenary has been able to carry out so few of the projects it has announced for Japan. It is, how¬ ever, recognized that without the increase in funds for running expenses made pos¬ sible by the Centenary, the enormous rise in living costs in Japan would have forced the closing of much of the work already established. A democratic body. — The Japan Metho¬ dist Church is noted for the strength of the leadership it has already produced, and for the spirit of democracy within its ranks. A visitor to the last General Con¬ ference reported that the one word heard constantly in the debates was “democ¬ racy,” and since the founding in 1907 the changes that have been made in gov¬ ernment have always pointed in that di¬ rection. In all the life of Japan, members of the Methodist Church can be counted as bulwarks on the democratic side. The missionary’s task. — As the control of the established churches was handed over to the Japan Methodist Church, the foreign missionaries moved on to occupy territory then untouched. Although these new centers are also under the legal 42 WORLD SERVICE Japan’s future control of the indigenous body, they con¬ stitute a work the main responsibility for which rests upon the mother church. The missionaries work in entire har¬ mony with the Japanese leaders, and are counted a necessity at the present stage in the life of the church. Especially valu¬ able is the contribution that they may make in suggesting to Japanese pastors varied methods by which to carry on their work. Japanese Christianity and World Peace The larger importance of modern mis¬ sions. — In this religious situation in mod¬ ern Japan is to be seen the vital part being played by Christian missions in the formation of a new world order. The Christian missionary still works for the transformation of men’s lives one by one, as he always has, and as he always will. But he is also at work for the transfor¬ mation of those social and political condi¬ tions that hinder the establishment of the rule of God throughout the earth. And in that work he comes to stand between mankind and numberless ills. His minis¬ try is, like his Master’s, manifold. Strategic Japan. — It is not too much to say that the history of the rest of this century will be largely conditioned by what happens in Japan within the next few years. If the bureaucratic forces gain control, there is every indication that they will embark upon an imperialis¬ tic course upon the Asiatic mainland that will mean war upon a vast scale. Statesmen are today watching the Far East as the probable scene of the next world war, if such a war comes. Bureau¬ cracies are essentially the same, wherever found. That in Japan is not more selfish, more brutal, more stupid than have been those in Europe. Nor is it less. Christianity as a democratic agency. — The importance of the democratic strug¬ gle within Japan thus becomes clear. But the democratic forces are still small in size, and while they are constantly grow¬ ing, a member of the Japanese Diet de¬ clared recently before the Federal Council of Churches that “the number of liberals is few, their power small, and the move¬ ment has not advanced to the stage where we can believe it has changed the politics of the nation.” It can be only by providing a compact, unbreakable central group, about which this democratic movement can rally, and by animating it with a supernatural spirit, that the defeat of the entrenched bureaucracy can be compassed. This is precisely what Christianity is doing in Japan today! Every congregation — es¬ pecially every Protestant Christian con¬ gregation — is a center of democratic strength. And the fate of the democratic movement in Japan is largely bound up with the fate of Japanese Christianity! A struggle far from won. — It would be a mistake to underestimate the serious¬ ness of this inner struggle within Japan, by supposing that the spirit of the times makes the victory of democracy certain. Japan is only a half century from feudal¬ ism. Its spiritual ties are all with a con¬ tinent that has been the immemorial home of autocracy. With the Japan Methodist Church occu¬ pying the honorable place that it does EASTERN ASIA 43 among the Christian bodies of Japan, a main division of the democratic forces, it would be treason to the future peace of the world not to support it now to the fullest ability of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Methodism’s Agencies in Japan General occupation. — The map on page 36, shows where the Methodist Episcopal Church maintains missionaries in Japan. It is to be remembered that there are many stations of the Japan Methodist Church not indicated. It will be seen that this occupation covers most of the im¬ portant centers of Japan, with the excep¬ tion of those from which agreements made with other missions exclude our workers. Note, also, that the work has followed the Japanese into Chosen (Ko¬ rea) where there is a district of the Japan Methodist Conference almost entirely self- supporting. This work is confined to Japanese. An awakened church. — Foremost among the agencies must be placed the churches. Every district reporting from Japan bears witness to an astonishing display of spir¬ itual vigor, due to Centenary stimulus. Here are a few sample reports: Tokyo District: “The Forward Move¬ ment wras a direct result of the Cen¬ tenary Movement at home, and has been both spir¬ itually and materially a great blessing to the Japan Methodist Church. Land has been purchased, buildings projected, and a general advance reg¬ istered.” Tokai District (includ¬ ing Yokohama) : “The church has taken on new life, financially and spir¬ itually. We all hope that the stimulus thus gained may be a permanent force, for it has added greatly to the efficiency of the church.” North Kyushu District (including Nag¬ asaki): “The church is entirely under native leadership and doing far better than it could under missionaries. The number of full members rose from 412 to 707 last year, and contributions from $9.80 to $13.71 per member.” South Kyushu District (including Ku- manoto): “There is manifest improve¬ ment each year. In general faithfulness, loyalty to our faith, wisdom in meeting difficulties, devotion to the church, the Japanese Methodists are making a fine record.” Chosen Japanese District: “Nothing has done so much to arouse the Japanese Christians to their responsibility for evan¬ gelizing the people as the Centenary. Their goals and efforts to reach these goals are most praiseworthy. There has never been such activity as is now evi¬ dent among Japanese Methodists.” Helping to mold the Japanese mind. — No more grave condition confronts the Chris¬ tian program in Japan than that presented by the schools. It is unnecessary for the churches to maintain lower schools, be¬ cause of the efficient government system of primary education. (There are a few Christian primary schools, and certain kindergartens have proved of large value. Chapel in the Aoyama Gakuin, Tokyo 44 WORLD SERVICE The campus and buildings But a Christian system of primary schools is not contemplated.) In the field of higher schools and col¬ leges, however, the Christian forces are required. For one thing, the state does not supply facilities to accommodate more than half of the graduates of primary schools who would continue their educa¬ tion. For another, the atmosphere within the government higher schools is not favor¬ able to religion. The last time a census of religious affiliations was permitted in the Government University at Tokyo the students reported themselves as: Agnostics . 2,989 Atheists . 1,511 Christians . 60 Buddhists . 49 Shintoists . 9 Most of the missions at work in Japan have established schools of a higher grade to deal with this dangerous situa¬ tion. The Methodist Episcopal Church has three such, in the south at Nagasaki, in the north at Hirosaki and in the center at Tokyo. The schools in the north and south are crowded to their capacity. At Hirosaki and Nagasaki. — From the school at Hirosaki have gone many lead¬ ers of Japanese life, such as Viscount Chinda, formerly ambassador at Wash¬ ington and present personal adviser to the Prince Regent, Viscount Sato, also at one time ambassador at Washington, Bishop Honda and many others. Educa¬ tional conditions in that part of Japan for a time brought about the closing of this school but the urging of both government and alumni has secured its re¬ opening. The school at Nagasaki has al¬ ways held as com¬ manding a posi¬ tion as would be suggested by its site on a hill looking out over the entire city and harbor. The greatest handicap of this institution is the restricted property upon which it is necessary to fit in build- CHRISTIANS 13 ^SHINTOISTS 0.2 * BUOOHISTS U* Religious affiliations at Government University, Tokyo EASTERN ASIA 45 of Aoyama Gakuin ings like the pieces of a puzzle. The limit of enrolment with present facilities has long since been reached. Aoyama Gakuin. — At Aoyama Gakuin, on the outskirts of Tokyo, the Methodist Episcopal Church has the crown of its educational system in Japan. Here, in an institution that contains academy, college and theological school, is to be found the largest enrolment, 1,589, in any mission school in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of this number, 608 are in the college, which meets the strictest requirements of the Japanese government and has full rec¬ ognition. Two-thirds of the running ex¬ penses are contributed locally and one of the outstanding buildings, Katsuta Hall, is the gift of an alumnus. It is the plan of the church to develop Aoyama Gakuin into a university, which will require a large addition to the teach¬ ing force and the physical equipment. Much of the cost of advance will be con¬ tributed in Japan. It is of interest to note that with all the plans for enlarge¬ ment, the program for Aoyama Gakuin calls for only as much support from America by 1934 as is now being con¬ tributed by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to one school in Japan. Facing the industrial situation. — To sug¬ gest some of the lines along which the Methodist Church is working in the fast growing industrial life of Japan, a visitor Spiritual leaders for the new Japan — theolog¬ ical students at Aoyama Gakuin 46 WORLD SERVICE Mailing Christian literature from the Methodist Publishing House, Tokyo ought to study the vast Akunoura dis¬ trict of Nagasaki, where, in a strip three miles long, 12,000 workmen live while they build great steamers and battleships that fly Japanese flags. In this district, entirely controlled by the Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Company (the largest of its kind in Japan), has been started what is to become a model institutional development. Here, with the approval of the company, the church is working among the 29,552 persons who make up this distinct community. The territory is left entirely to the Methodists by other Christian bodies. The Mitsubishi Company supports a certain amount of welfare work but this can not be said to go below the surface of the social and moral problems presented. A fine piece of property has already been secured, standing within a hundred yards of the Mitsubishi Technical School, within three hundred yards of the Mitsu¬ bishi Hospital, and adjoining the primary school for this district. On this prop¬ erty it is proposed to erect a fine institu¬ tional plant, for which $72,500 must be contributed from America. The staff for this plant is already in view and is thoroughly trained to meet the most exacting require¬ ments. Both as a contri¬ bution in a center of the industrial unrest that plagues Japan today, and as an example for Chris¬ tian work in other parts of the empire, this Aku¬ noura project must be carried through speedily. Printed evangelism. — Within the last few years an unusual type of mis¬ sionary work has been evolved through the inser¬ tion of advertisements bearing a Christian mes¬ sage in the newspapers. Since practically all Japanese are newspaper readers (see the picture on page 38), these appeals have proved of remarkable value. The Methodist Episcopal Church parti¬ cipates in and makes possible the exten¬ sion of this type of effort. Moreover, the Methodist Publishing House in Tokyo has become the leading Christian concern of its kind in Japan. The house shows a profit yearly, and all such profits are being used to amplify the work of this agency. At the present time when Japan is unusually open to a printed message, the value of the publishing house can be much increased. Coming from the Methodist Sunday-school in the Akunoura District EASTERN ASIA 47 Bible distribution.— As is natural under the conditions described, the market for the distribution of the Scriptures is con¬ stantly increasing. The American Bible Society is responsible for this work in the northern half of Japan, leaving the south¬ ern part to the agents of the British and Foreign Bible Society. By the end of 1921 the American body reported a total .distribution of 4,676,258 volumes. It is stated that prison authorities in many parts of the empire now seek Testaments for the use of the prisoners. The Need. — In view of the issues at stake, the present program of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church in Japan can not be considered at all adequate. For the maintenance of this work and such ad¬ vance as the church has approved of dur¬ ing 1925 this program has been adopted: Missionary Staff is required on these lines: Evangelistic Work.... 13 Couples 0 Single Educational Work . 13 Couples 3 Single Medical Work . 0 Couples 0 Single Other Work . 7 Couples 1 Single 33 4 $106,500 Work Operations Church Work from Centers......-.-..,. $ 54,641 2 High Schools . $32,050 1 College . 51,400 83,450 1 Missionary, Medical Service... 2,300 Other Work . 25,075 Total for Work Operations . $165,466 Property Projects 1 New Missionary Bungalow . $10,000 Land — Kago Shima . 5,000 $ 15,000 1 Institutional Center . . 40,000 3 City Churches . 49,000 14 Smaller Churches . . 43,440 3 Parsonages . 4,000 Other Evangelistic Work Proj- ects . 6,000 142,440 1 Orphanage . 15,000 4 High School Buildings . 62,716 2 College Buildings . 60,000 137,716 Office Equipment . 2,000 Centenary Projects, Payments Due . 10,883 12,883 Total for Property Project s . $308,039 Total Program (Japan) $580,005 KOREA .The Passing of the Morning Calm Working amid new forces. — Apostles of progress confront an entirely changed nation in Korea today. To some extent, change has come through the efforts of the Japanese. More important, however, is the change in spirit and mental attitude on the part of the 17,500,000 Koreans. Forty years ago Korea was known as the “Land of the Morning Calm.” She maintained that calm by an isolation more com¬ plete even than that of Japan. On her hundreds of miles of coast no cities or villages were allowed to rise. Even after this iso¬ lation was penetrated, the Korean maintained an inner calm that appeared to indicate com¬ plete lack of interest in the world without or in the forces that were bringing such rapid change in other parts of the Far East. When his country was made a plaything, the Korean seemingly accepted the situa¬ tion with resignation. He had no interest Modern street scene in old Seoul 48 WORLD SERVICE The East Gate Sunday school at Seoul in learning, and the introduction of rail¬ roads, manufacturing establishments, and other marks of a material civilization moved him not at all. Today all this is changed. There is hardly a person in Korea who has not passed through the fire of the independ¬ ence movement which has fused all groups into a self-conscious nation. Carrying on Christian work under such conditions pre¬ sents a problem totally different from that which the church faced a decade ago. Changes of a half decade. — The most cas¬ ual traveler through Korea can not fail to be struck by the material advance of the last few years. Highways capable of bearing automobile traffic are being ex¬ tended rapidly. The railway system will soon reach every important center. Such a city as Seoul, the capital, has been trans¬ formed into one of the most modern mu¬ nicipalities of the Far East. New schools are to be seen everywhere. The government had by 1919 a total of 556 common schools (the common school in Korea is equivalent to the American grammar school), but the complete gov¬ ernment program calls for 870 such schools. Afforestation is carried ahead rapidly, with 150,000,000 trees planted in a single year. The value of the output of min¬ erals has increased from $3,000,000 at the time of the annexation to $12,102,344 in 1920. Imports have increased from $33,560,000 to $140,395,000 during the same period, and exports from $10,490,000 to $109,830,000. There were in 1919 fourteen manufacturing companies with an average capital of more than $250,000. In only five of these companies, however, is Korean capital invested and only two are completely Korean in their control. Nor has the contribution of Japan to the making of a new Korea been wholly ma¬ terial. Particularly in administration there has been great improvement. The old Korean government was notorious for corruption even in the Far East. Bishop Herbert Welch states that “in place of the old corrupt and exceedingly inefficient government that prevailed before the an¬ nexation, there has been established a vig¬ orous and thoroughly honest government that has greatly improved the comfort, safety, etc., of the people and has made life and property secure.” A critical situation. — But while this ad¬ vance must be recognized, it is none the less true that the situation In Korea has Tree planting near Seoul EASTERN ASIA 49 in it elements of great danger. The so- called independence movement of 1919, re¬ pressed so sternly by the government, has disappeared from surface view. To be sure, there is still agitation carried on by Koreans in other parts of the world. But in Korea itself, except for an occasional outbreak on the part of some irresponsi¬ ble individual, opposition to Japanese rule smolders under the surface. For this rea¬ son it is the more dangerous, and the Japanese to some extent realize it. The latest official report of the Japa¬ nese Government-General devotes several pages to an account of the way in which the favor of the Koreans has been sought. Higher posts in the government have been offered to natives. New schools are being built for them at a rapid rate. The teaching of certain subjects in Korean is permitted in these schools. Many of the worst features of police administration have been abolished. Groups of Korean officials and teachers have been taken “Bean Porridge Hot — Bean Porridge Cold” — as played in Korea Kindergarten paper houses by the government on tours of Ja¬ pan, and moving pictures of Japanese life and of material improvements introduced by the Japanese have been shown through¬ out Korea. Little is being left undone that the ad¬ ministration can think of to win the con¬ fidence of the Koreans, but it will be a long time before that confidence is won. Koreans believe that whatever is now being done for their welfare comes as a result of the aroused moral indignation of the world. Nor does the good will of the administration always make itself felt in the acts of its subordinate officers. Missionaries and Christian workers generally are guarding themselves against interference in political matters. But while the situation in Korea is what it is and the basic doctrines of Christianity are what they are, there is always danger lest some unforeseen incident create grave dif¬ ficulties. Methodism in Korea How the land is occupied. — Korea often seems to the traveler to be just a great handful of mountains heaped up and thrown off the northeast coast of Asia. The country is about equal in area to Kansas, but has a population approxi¬ mately ten times that of that state. It is a land of villages, with only a few cities of any size. Nine-tenths of the villages contain fewer than fifty homes. The progress of Christianity in Korea has attracted the attention of the Chris- 50 WORLD SERVICE tian world. With Protestant missions started as recently as 1885, it is claimed that there has been a new convert every Methodist Episcopal resident sta¬ tions in Korea hour day and night since the work began. Today approximately three hundred thou¬ sand Koreans — one in every sixty — are reported as Christians. The six largest Protestant denomina¬ tions at work in Korea have divided the territory to prevent duplicating of effort. The accompanying map shows the way in which the territory of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church is scattered about central and northern Korea. More than 3,000,000 people live in these sections for whom Methodism is solely responsible. The centers of work are in the cities of Seoul, Pyeng Yang, Yeng Byen, Chemulpo, Wonju, and Kongju. The general organiza¬ tion of the church is much like that of early Metho¬ dism in England and America. County seats and other important towns are made the heads of circuits, each one of which includes a good many preaching points. The church in Korea relies upon How Korea is divided among six Protestant denominations volunteer service from lay preachers for much of its advance. Marks of an apostolic church. — In many ways the church in Korea is reminiscent of that described in the Acts of the Apostles. It has a vital prayer life that is based upon an intense searching of the Scriptures. It is not at all uncommon for congregations to spend five nights a week in Bible study. Out of this has grown the School children at prayer EASTERN ASIA 51 practice of personal work. One observer reports: “Never a service ends in Korea without an invitation for new believers to come forward. There are few services when some do not come. I have seen as many as fifty at a regular church service. They do not come because of the sermon that was preached ; they come because some other person in that congregation talked with them and talked with God about them and finally led them to the altar. This individual work has become so important that we never baptize a new believer without asking if he has led anyone to Christ. The three hundred thousand Christians in Korea were won largely in this way.” Another feature of the life of the Korean church is its benevolence. Many churches have almost reached self-support, and it is planned that practically every church now established shall reach that goal within the next ten years. One mark of the stewardship of the Korean is seen in the fact that, while the membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church, owing largely to political conditions, showed a decrease between 1916 and 1920, the con¬ tributions rose from $44,689 to $132,635. During the Centenary period more than $150,000 was subscribed by the Methodists of Korea for missionary work outside of the local church. This leads to reference to another feature, namely, the missionary zeal of the Koreans. Not only are they anxious for the conversion of their fellow countrymen, but they have formed a mis¬ sionary society that is sending representa¬ tives to work among the Koreans who live in Manchuria. It is no wonder that Sherwood Eddy once declared that, if Christianity dies out in the West, it exists in Korea in sufficient strength to re-evangelize the world. Through the fire. — In common with that of other churches, Methodist work in Korea suffered heavily during the inde¬ pendence agitation. Many schools were closed, pastors imprisoned, churches burned, and hundreds of church members suffered. For a time it seemed as though A Korean baby carriage the responsibility for the uprising might be placed by the authorities upon the church because the progressive character of the church members gave Korean Chris¬ tians a leading part in the movement. At present, however, the antagonism of the local government has disappeared. While the Japanese are correct in at¬ tributing to Christianity indirect respon¬ sibility for the Korean desire for freedom, they have been assured that churches and missions will to the fullest extent possible co-operate with the government in urging respect for law and aiding the efforts to bring about a mutual understanding be¬ tween Koreans and Japanese. A working basis between church and state has been found. On the other hand, while the Koreans have been disappointed in their hopes of intervention by western nations, many of them now feel that what their country most needs is internal change, so that they 52 WORLD SERVICE are flocking to the churches as they have never in the past. Missionaries report that while some of these inquirers leave when they find no political activities pro¬ moted, there remains the largest group of seekers the church in Korea has ever known. A veteran missionary says: “The pres¬ ent Christian movement in Korea is the most intelligent, the most determined, the most Korea-wide movement toward the Christian church we have seen. Our churches are full and our schools are over¬ flowing. There is an open-hearted eager¬ ness that has never before been seen in Korea. I have talked with our own mis¬ sionaries and those of other denomina¬ tions and they all say that the churches have an increased attendance — it amounts in some places to as much as two hundred or three hundred per cent.” The Present Impact A zealous church.— Every district report from Korea confirms this judgment. Scarcely a district but tells of congrega¬ tions being held together by lay workers. In many cases it has been impossible to provide pastors. By far the majority of preachers in the Korea Conference today are laymen. “All the work of evangelizing and soul winning is done by native agencies,” writes another missionary. “The church in Korea is a virile, self-propagating church. The ‘Day Collection’ is a unique thing in the Korean Church. By this method men and women pledge so much of their time to direct evangelistic work without remuneration. The missionary leads and co-operates with the native lead¬ ers in special evangelistic services, in training and to some extent in actual per¬ sonal work. But, aside from giving direc¬ tion, inspiration and momentum, the mis¬ sionary’s efforts are very limited as compared to those of the native church.” The educational problem. — But, while the church in Korea is famed for its evan¬ gelistic zeal, there lies before it an edu¬ cational problem that is giving its leaders Give this lad an opportunity — much concern. Until recently the aver¬ age Korean had little interest in education. The most constructive result of the in¬ dependence movement, however, has been the realization that the strength of Korea in the future depends upon the proper training of her young people today. Education is the topic of greatest con¬ cern. Anywhere a school is opened it can be filled to overflowing. Yet while this is true, as one observer reports, “the op¬ portunity for educating boys under Chris¬ tian influence is fast slipping away.” It is the government that is rising to this challenge. Reports from every district in Korea tell of Methodist schools closed or about to be closed, until it seems probable that within a few years there will be almost no Methodist common schools in the country. This is because the establishment of high grade schools by the government makes it impossible to meet the situation with poorly housed, poorly equipped, and understaffed mission schools. The alternatives are good schools or none. Increasingly, likewise, the government will take over the field occupied by the higher common school, roughly equivalent to the American high school. EASTERN ASIA 53 — and the result will pay It seems tragic that in this period when, despite all the efforts of the government, not half of the boys who do apply can be accommodated, the limited resources should force withdrawal from this field and leave the moulding of the most im¬ pressionable years in the hands of an agency that is not, to say the least, ag¬ gressively favorable to Christianity. The development of higher common schools under the impetus of the Cen¬ tenary at Kongju and Pyeng Yang calls for rejoicing, but our overcrowded Pyeng Yang school reports that last year it ad¬ mitted 450 boys between the ages of four¬ teen and twenty-two and had to turn away more than 500. Chosen Christian College. — In union with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the Northern Presbyterians and the Canadian Presbyterians, the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church conducts in Seoul the Chosen Christian College. Here, on a campus which, together with the present plant, is valued at $347,000, the evangeli¬ cal denominations are making their bid for the commanding institution of higher learning in Korea. The government has not yet entered this field, although it has collegiate work in prospect. The universities of Japan show what the government will be able to do. If Christian education is not to be stigma¬ tized as second rate, it is necessary that the Chosen Christian College receive full equipment for the most progressive type of modern education. At the present time the Methodist Episcopal Church is under obligation to provide a residence for one more American faculty member, two Korean professors who are graduates of American universities, a chapel and a part of the college’s necessary endowment. Preparing a ministry. — In the Union Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul, our church is co-operating with the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church, South, to provide adequate training for the men upon whom will fall the leadership of the church in Korea. Out of the 180 Methodist min¬ isters now at work in Korea, 100 are grad¬ uates of this school. There are at pres¬ ent ninety-seven students enrolled who will soon be in the active ministry. How¬ ever, it will be seen that this hardly be¬ gins to meet the needs when it is known that there are 811 churches for which ministers must be supplied. The Union Theological School now has an advanced course which is given in Eng¬ lish for graduates of the Chosen Christian College. It trains Korean graduates of the Pierson Memorial Bible School, an in¬ stitution of lower grade conducted in Seoul in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the North¬ ern Presbyterian. Training modern physicians. — In Korea, as in other Eastern lands, the need for modern physicians is so insistent that the church is giving much attention to their education. In Seoul, at the Severance Union Medical College, Northern, South¬ ern, and Canadian Presbyterians unite with the two branches of the Methodist Episcopal Church to maintain the leading medical school in Korea. From this school 113 doctors have already graduated, while from the hospital, conducted in connection with the college, forty-two Korean nurses have gone out. The faculty at the present 54 WORLD SERVICE larger churches and, where its membership can be guided so that it does not degenerate into a political debating society, it forms a fine instrument for the development of initiative and Christian character in the young people. In this period of intel¬ lectual awakening, the production and distribu¬ tion of Christian litera¬ ture becomes of increasing importance. The Metho- time includes twenty-one Americans, dist Episcopal Church has a part in the Canadians, and Australians; six Japanese; support of the Christian Literature Soci- Congregation at First Methodist Episcopal Church, Pyeng Yang and eighteen Kore¬ ans. There are fifty- seven medical stu¬ dents in training and thirty-five studying to be nurses. In addition to the Severance College and hospital, the Methodist Episcopal Church has in Korea medical work in Pyeng Yang, Haiju, Wonju, and Kong.ju. Other evangelizing agencies. — An out¬ standing feature of the quickening life of the church in Korea is the improvement in methods of Sunday- school work and the grow¬ ing work of such schools. Under the inspiration of trained leaders, schools are being conducted in practically every Metho¬ dist circuit in Korea. In many places separate schools are carried on for adults and for children, and ideals are high. The Epworth League exists in some of the Bible women giving tracts to working women ety of Korea which during the single year of 1921 published 47,644,244 pages of evangelical litera¬ ture. This has been found to be an agency of peculiar value and must re¬ ceive increasingly large financial provi¬ sion. Looking Ahead The Korean church today. — There are sixty-nine Korean full members of an¬ nual conferences, with twenty on trial, 281 unordained native Korean preachers Bedside clinic at Severance Hospital, Seoul EASTERN ASIA 55 Children paying subscription to church in actual labor and exhorters, and 406 other male work¬ ers. Behind these stand fifty-one mis¬ sionaries, with thirty-four additional representatives of the Woman’s For¬ eign Missionary Society, and two other foreign workers. The church reports 23,686 in its baptized community, of whom 19,985 are members. There are 500 Sun¬ day schools enrolling 27,599 pupils. There are 482 churches, 125 parsonages, and twenty-one residences for missionaries. The Need There is no question that the work at present under way in Korea must be main¬ tained. It is hardly possible that the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church will be ready to regard this present work as its full meas¬ ure of responsibility. In view of the need the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved this program for work in Korea during 1925 : Missionary Staff is required on these lines: Evangelistic Work.... 13 Couples 1 Single Educational Work . 14 Couples 1 Single Medical Work . 5 Couples 4 Single Other Work . 2 Couples 0 Single Total . 34 6 $113,300 Work Operations : Church Work from 114 Centers. 63 Day Schools . ..$ 6,400 24,957 11 Boarding Schools . .. 12,100 3 High Schools . 23,450 2 Theological Schools . . 3,940 1 College . . 5,000 Miscellaneous . . 2,100 52,990 5 Hospitals . . 10,900 8 Dispensaries . . 6,000 16,900 Other Work . 28,180 Total for Work Operations . $123,027 Property Projects: 5 New Missionary Bungalows . 33,900 2 City Churches . $30,000 22 Smaller Churches . 24,950 1 Parsonage . 370 Other Evangelistic Projects.... 10,250 65,570 2 Day School Buildings . 4,000 6 Boarding School Buildings . 59,600 1 High School Building . 7.500 1 College Building . 6,000 Other Educational Projects.... 3,250 80,350 1 Hospital Building . 25,000 1 Hospital Water Supply . 2,000 27,000 Total for Property Projects . $206,820 Total Program (Korea) . $443,147 ■ ' SOUTHEASTERN ASIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m i m 1 1 > PHILIPPINE ISLANDS MALAYSIA DUTCH EAST INDIES Distribution of Methodist Episcopal Churches in Southeastern Asia CENTENARY SCHOOL AT KLANG, MALAYSIA It is beginning to dawn upon some people that whether the East shall become Christian is a matter that vitally concerns every nation and must determine the future of humanity. W. E. Orchard. SOUTHEASTERN ASIA A Scattered Field The busy Methodist, glancing at the map, frequently fails to realize how large is the field in which his church is work¬ ing in Southeastern Asia. The Philip¬ pines, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Banka, the Straits Settlements, the Malay States — these seem just a jumble of islands and a stub-end of a continent, an inconsiderable bit of lace-work flung across one corner of the grand design. Yet the field that the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church knows as Southeastern Asia, if it were transferred to the western hemisphere, would stretch from Canada on the north to Santo Domingo on the south, and would almost cover the American continent east and west. There are about 57,500,000 peo¬ ple in this field. That, to be sure, is only half the population of the United States. But it represents an average density for the entire group of sixty-four persons to every square mile. The Methodist Episcopal Church is the only American mission (save a few workers of the Seventh Day Adventists and similar bodies) in all this region, except in the Philippines. In the Philippines the membership of the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church is almost equal to that of all the other Protestant bodies. The work in Malaysia was begun in 1885 by William F. Oldham, now bishop in South America. There is now an annual conference including the work on the Malay Peninsula, and a mission confer¬ ence covering the Netherlands Indies. The episcopal residence is at Singapore. James M. Thoburn, later bishop in India, carried the Methodist Episcopal Church into the Philip¬ pines in 1899. There is an annual conference now, and a church with 60,000 members. The episcopal residence is at Manila. 60 WORLD SERVICE Features of the Work No such unity of problem can be found in Southeastern Asia as exists in other grand divisions of the church’s foreign field. In the Philippines, the work is almost wholly evangelistic. Favorable conditions created by the American occupation en¬ able the church to center its attention upon the development of a self-reliant, self-propagating Christian community. In a remarkable degree this aim is being realized. In Malaysia, the work has, up to this time, been largely among Chinese. Shift¬ ing by the thousands from South China to the Straits, where many of them win wealth, these merchants have proven ap¬ preciative of an educational approach. As a result, strong Chinese congregations have been founded, and some of the most successful mission schools in the world filled with children who have come largely from Chinese homes. This work, with the help of the government or with the liberal support of the Chinese, has been largely self-supporting. In the Dutch East Indies, and in Ma¬ laysia as well, the church now realizes its responsibility to the millions of un¬ evangelized Malays. This work is just beginning, with the training of native preachers and with the provision of vari¬ ous proved modes of approach. It can confidently be stated, however, that the strategy of advance in the Malay archi¬ pelago will emphasize this evangelistic work among Malays from this time for¬ ward. The Immediate Need Because of this diversity in task it is impossible to carry through any pro¬ grams that apply to Southeastern Asia as a whole. There are some special workers in these fields, such as the Rev. Archie L. Ryan, who is directing Sunday-school ad¬ vance in the Philippines, and Mr. E. H. Rue, who devotes some of his time to spe¬ cial Ep worth League work in Malaysia. There is, however, no special program for Southeastern Asia as a unit, as dis¬ tinguished from its parts. The program as approved for 1925 will be found under each geographical division. To avoid too great detail these divisions have been presented as the Philippine Islands, Malaysia, and the Dutch East Indies. PHILIPPINE ISLANDS An Experiment Long Awaited In a sympathetic atmosphere. — When thg United States took over the Philippines, the evangelical church awoke to the realization that here for the first time mis¬ sionary work might be projected in a non-Christian land under fa¬ vorable political and social condi¬ tions. The public schools that were es¬ tablished throughout the islands were such as have evolved in Prot¬ estant countries. Missionaries were as¬ sured of intelligent understanding of their work on the part of officials. And while there were thousands of followers of other faiths in the islands, there were likewise great numbers who had been in touch with Christianity as at least nominal members of the Roman Catholic Church. What the result has been. — The remarkable results achieved in the less than a quarter of a century since Protestant work was begun have shown that, given such favor¬ able conditions, the church will go forward rapidly. Of all the Protestant bodies the Methodist Episcopal Church has gathered by far the largest membership. There are more than 63,000 names on its rolls, or more than three times as many members Methodist terri¬ tory in the Philippines SOUTHEASTERN ASIA 61 thousands Full membership has grown more rapidly in the Philippines than in Korea, where the record has been phenomenal as in Korea, which has about twice the population, much greater compactness, a longer period of Protestant effort, and where the results achieved by our mis¬ sions have been considered remarkable. In addition, the church in the Philippines is more nearly self-supporting than in any other part of Asia. The Philippines Today Social advances. — The United States can point with pride to the results of its twenty years of administration in the Philippines. More rapidly than in any other large colony in the world the peo¬ ple, who had lived under a despotism for centuries, have been brought to local and insular self government. A modern educational system has been planted throughout the islands. An effec¬ tive bureau of health has segregated lep¬ rosy and driven out cholera, bubonic plague, and smallpox. Public roads have been built in all parts of the islands. Con¬ crete bridges span the most important streams. Artesian wells provide a pure water supply. Railroad mileage has in¬ creased from one hundred to five hundred miles. Wages have gone up rapidly. There are no economic conditions in the Philip¬ pines that make it necessary for men to do the labor of animals, as they do in China and Japan when they haul rickshas or carry sedan chairs. Most of the trades in a city like Manila are well organized, and the strike is as powerful a weapon as in Europe and America. Social problems. — To be sure, vice has entered as well as material advancement. Intemperance, gambling, and other social evils are strong. But over against these may be placed the active campaigns, fre¬ quently led by Filipinos, for the abolition of these conditions. Throughout the Phil¬ ippines there is today an enormous public demand for education which holds out promise of vastly improved social and economic conditions in the future. Self-government and independence. — At present practically all local government, as well as that of the provinces, is in the hands of Filipinos. Under the Jones law the only officials now appointed by the President of the United States are the Jidiuie tvnicb l-U 1 I 1 l 1 L- I 1,1 10 0 10 20 w 40.50 60 70 80 90 100 Methodist Episcopal centers in Luzon 62 WORLD SERVICE How a church Governor-general, the Vice Governor (who is also the Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction), the Auditor, and the Deputy Auditor. All members of the senate and the house of representatives are Filipinos. There are thirty- eight Filipino pro¬ vincial governors, of whom thirty - three are elected by popu¬ lar vote. Although it cannot be said that these officials have made a perfect rec¬ ord as administra¬ tors, yet in view of the short period dur¬ ing which they have been out from under the domination of a foreign power their record must be re¬ garded as commenda¬ ble. Constant agitation is going on in favor of complete inde¬ pendence. While many friends of the Fili¬ pinos do not believe that the time has arrived when the islands should be cut entirely loose from the guidance and protection of the United States, it can¬ not be doubted but that independence will be achieved be¬ fore many years shall have passed. How the Church Has Grown A field for the evangelist. — Protestant missionaries pushed into the Philippines immediately after the raising of the Amer¬ ican flag. They found the missionary task simplified by the fact that, first, cen¬ turies of Catholic effort had familiarized most of the Filipinos with Christian terms and, second, the government had deter¬ mined to set up a public school system. With the government opening schools everywhere and bringing teachers by the shipload, it was un¬ 1. Bamboo shack (above) with thatched roof 2. Wooden chapel (below) with iron roof necessary for the missions to begin ed¬ ucational work. This left the field open to the evangelist. The emphasis from the beginning has been upon evangelism and the results have al¬ ready been seen. All advance plans now call for an in¬ crease in evangelistic effort. The Philip¬ pines provide prob¬ ably the largest field for a single type of approach in the world. Self - support and self-propagation. — If any one thing has marked the church in the Philippines from its birth, it has been the support of the work by the native congregations. Ac¬ cording to the poli¬ cies first adopted and still adhered to, funds have not been provided, except in the cases of a few city institutions, for the erection of churches. Congregations have been encouraged to build such churches as they could them¬ selves afford. This has meant that most of the Methodist congregations in the Phil¬ ippines have begun their worship in shacks built of bamboo with thatched roofs. After they have gathered strength, they have graduated into wooden chapels with corrugated iron roofs. From this the next step has been to concrete SOUTHEASTERN ASIA 63 churches, proof against the ravages of the climate. Many a Methodist congregation is now in the third edifice it has occupied since its organization less than twenty years ago. (See the three illustrations on this and the preceding page.) Such devotion as has made possible this sort of self-support has also led to a rapid spreading of the church through the Filipino effort. At the present time, for example, in addi¬ tion to the forty-nine members of the annual conference of the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church and forty- six local preachers, there are 1,117 un¬ ordained Filipinopas- tors and exhorters, offering a lay force for evangelistic ad¬ vance. The prevention of overlapping. — In 1902 an Evangeli¬ cal Union was organ¬ ized by the missions of the Methodist Episcopal, Presbyte¬ rian. Congregational, United Brethren, and Disciples churches. In order to prevent duplication of effort, the territory was divided up between these agencies. The Methodist Episcopal Church ac¬ cepted responsibility for the evangelism of all that part of the island of Luzon, the principal member of the Philippine group, lying north of a line drawn east and west through the City of Manila. While there are a few bodies at work that have not recognized the decisions of the Evangeli¬ cal Union, it can be said that there is prac¬ tically no overlapping in the Protestant work in the Philippine Islands. Centers of Methodist occupation. — There are eight districts in the Philippine Islands Conference. Manila, the capital, contains ten congregations and several in¬ stitutions, such as the Union Theological Seminary, the Methodist Publishing House, and the hostel for the Methodist students. Methodism also occupies Vigan, with hostels for students for both sexes; Caba- natuan; San Fernando, also the seat of student hostels and a Bible Training school; Paniqui; Ma- lolos, Tuguegarao, where there are hos¬ tels for boys and girls; and Aparri, where there is a dis¬ pensary. In addition to these cities there are hundreds of towns occupied, with 241 churches already built and about the same number of con¬ gregations which have as yet no build¬ ings. The develop¬ ment of railroads and motor roads is rapidly bringing all parts of the work within twenty - four hours of Manila. The Methodist Publishing House distributes literature in ten dialects and is one of the most valuable evangelistic agen¬ cies in the islands. The Union Theological Seminary has raised its standards so that it now admits only graduates of accredited high schools as regular students. In co-operation with the Presbyterians, the United Brethren, the Congregationalists and the Disciples, the Methodists are here preparing a high type of leadership for Protestant advance. By establishing hostels in educational centers, we give students from Christian homes decent living conditions and by such a constructive ministry hold them within the influence of the church. All observers report that the necessary preparation has been made and sufficient momentum accumulated to carry the ■grows 3. Concrete building, proof against tropical climate 64 WORLD SERVICE Nurses from the Mary J. Johnson Hospital, Manila church in the Philippines on to a great ad¬ vance movement in the next few years. Proposals for the Future The building of churches.— While the church has been going forward rapidly in the Philippines, it has not yet entered large stretches of territory that have been voted its peculiar responsibility. In Zam- bales province, for example, there is a stretch of almost 100 miles of coast where 84,000 people live without preacher, priest, or other religious worker. Indeed, in the province of Rizal, surrounding the city of Manila, not more than one-third of the territory has been occupied. More¬ over, almost half of the congregations already formed are still without perma¬ nent homes and many of the churches already built are of the flimsiest character. The contribution of the Philippine church toward the support of its pastors has grown from $9,657 in 1916, when there were 49,000 church members to $53,754 in 1922, with 63,000 church mem¬ bers. The value of buildings owned by the church has increased during the same period from $29,461 to $818,610. The num¬ ber of congregations and the number of church edifices must immediately be in¬ creased. It is not, however, the policy of the church to call upon the Methodists of America to contribute any large part of this advance. In certain city projects, such as would require missionary support in America, some assist¬ ance will be sought from outside sources. In most cases the entire cost of new church buildings will fall upon Filipinos. Safeguarding the stu¬ dents. — While the policy of the government lifts from the Christian forces the necessity for providing education, save for spe¬ cialized forms of church service, there remains a responsibility toward the moral welfare of the students in the gov¬ ernment schools. Hundreds of these come from a distance to the centers in which high schools have been located. Here students of both sexes are frequently forced to live under dangerous condi¬ tions. Many sons and daughters of Chris¬ tian families drift away from their reli¬ gious moorings, while others fall into vi¬ cious ways. The erection of hostels has proved the only satisfactory method of dealing with this condition. These are practically self- supporting and are under careful super¬ vision. In order to hold the coming gen¬ eration several of the hostels already overcrowded must be enlarged and still others must be planted in strategic educa¬ tional centers. A hospital in Manila. — The Methodist Episcopal Church feels that the time has come when it must provide medical serv¬ ice in some central point for its members. For this reason there is proposed the erec¬ tion of a hospital in Manila. Practically all the other Protestant bodies now at work in the Philippines have an extensive medical program. The Woman’s Foreign Missionary So¬ ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church has a hospital for women and children. There are not enough facilities, however, to provide for all who seek its aid. The Methodists have for years been im¬ posing upon the charity of the other bodies, but the time has come when all SOUTHEASTERN ASIA 65 these have more cases for which they are directly responsible than they can ac¬ commodate. It is believed that a hospital erected in Manila will be self-supporting both as regards expenses and maintenance of staff. in the available reading public as well as the growing interest in education, there is now a chance to bring the evangelical message to the attention of thousands who were almost entirely beyond reach a few years ago. Other forms of work. — Within the last few years the development of Sunday schools has come to the forefront of the Protestant program. There are now more than 38,000 members in the Sunday schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Provision for the adequate training of executives and teachers as well as for the opening of large numbers of new schools must be made. It is prob¬ able that no item in the program for the Philippine Islands means more to the future of the church than the budget for Sunday-school expansion. Within the last few years there has been a remarkable advance in Epworth League work, which it is proposed to en¬ courage by the use of training institutes and specially prepared literature. Particular attention is to be given to the development of the Methodist Publishing House. By additions to the present plant not only can its use be increased but much of the cost of the literature program can be defrayed from additional rentals. The value of this form of propaganda is widely acknowledged and with the great increase The Immediate Need In view of conditions in the Philippines the Methodist Episcopal Church has au¬ thorized the following program for 1925 : Missionary Staff is required on these lines : Evangelistic Work.. .10 Couples 2 Single Educational Work . 9 Co-uples 0 Single Medical Work . 2 Couples 0 Single Other Work . 1 Couple 1 Single Total . 22 3 $ 68,150 Church work from 175 Centers . 25,079 For Operating : 1 School . $ 1,050 2 Dormitories . 700 1 College (our share) . 300 1 Theological School . 7,250 9,300 1 Hospital . 7,800 Other and General Work . 12,000 Total for Work Operations . $ 54,179 For Property Projects: 2 City Churches . $64,000 6 Smaller Churches . 7,330 2 Parsonages . 1,500 4 Dormitories . 65,000 1 Hospital . 7’SOO 1 Missionary Bungalow . 6,500 Total for Property Projects . Total Program (Philippine Islands). $151,830 $274,159 A church growing as rapidly as that in the Philippines needs many trained preachers 66 WORLD SERVICE MALAYSIA (Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States, Unfederated Malay Singapore — An Oriental Melting Pot A city with seventy languages. — At the southeastern tip of Asia lies one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities. Singa¬ pore in a way is the Ellis Island of the Orient. Of its total popu¬ lation of 425.000 nearly seventy per cent were born elsewhere. More than 300,000 are Chinese, and of these seventy-five per cent are immigrants. Sev¬ enty languages may be heard on Singapore’s streets and the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church is carried on in eight tongues. The population of Singa¬ pore shifts more than that of any other city in the world. In 1921, for exam¬ ple, 95,220 immigrants en¬ tered British Malaysia from India and 126,077 from China, while 55,481 Indians and 68,383 Chinese left. Singapore has been for some time the third port in Asia and the seventh in the world. During the last few years, how¬ ever, the decline in the tin and rubber industries, upon which the commercial life of Malaysia has largely depended, has lowered the prosperity of the city. Con¬ ditions are beginning to improve, but Singapore is still dotted with unoccupied houses and many inhabitants are scarcely able to earn a living wage. A center of Chinese influence. — Until the break in the rubber and tin markets. 250,000 Chinese were entering the Straits Settlements from the southern provinces of China every year. They came as fortune hunters, and what they sought they found. As a result, the population of Singapore is predominantly Chinese and business enterprises largely in Chinese States, Sarawak) hands. Many Chinese, have, after making their fortunes in the Straits, returned to the land of their birth. Others are con¬ tent to remain under British government, although there is an increasing agitation among them for some share in its responsibilities. The educational work of Methodist missions in Sin¬ gapore has appealed to the Chinese of the merchant class, who have been ready to give financial support. At the same time, the great¬ est response to the evangel¬ istic work has come from this group. Many Chinese immigrants have been in contact with Christianity in Canton, Hinghwa, or Foochow before leaving China. Others have taken Christianity from Malay¬ sia to other parts of the East. Reaching a permanent population. — The collapse of industry in the Straits has at least made clear the presence of a perma¬ nent population. Those whose roots had not gone deeply into the life of the city left under the economic stress, but a large group remained and it is among these that the work of the church is being concen¬ trated. An evidence of the emergence of this permanent population is to be found in the increasing number of women among the non-native population. In the decade be¬ tween 1911 and 1921, while the increase in male population was 2,920, the increase in female population was 5,470. Among the Chinese, of whom it used to be said that no respectable Chinese woman had ever come to Malaysia, there number now 470 females to every 1,000 males. Workers in Singapore formerly com¬ plained that there remained little to show Methodist Episcopal centers in the Malay peninsula SOUTHEASTERN ASIA 67 Eighteen hundred pupils in front of Oldham Hall, Anglo-Chinese school, Singapore for their efforts over a period of years because they were generally preaching to a procession. Statistics of the church in that city now show that permanent increase has begun in every depart¬ ment of church member¬ ship during the last three years. Oldham Hall. — For years the Anglo-Chinese School for boys (more familiarly known as Oldham flail) con¬ ducted by the Methodist Mission in Singa¬ pore, has been one of the outstanding edu¬ cational institutions of the Far East. Founded by Bishop William F. Oldham during his early days as a missionary, the school has provided education up to college grade for thousands of boys who are now the Chinese leaders of Malaysia. In this school are primary, lower ele¬ mentary, higher elementary, commercial, and college preparatory departments with, at the last report, about 1,800 students. The teaching is done in English. Similar schools have been located in other centers of Malaysia and all have won the same recognition. Sanctified printing presses. — No institu¬ tion ever planted by the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church in another land has done a more distinctive work than has the Meth¬ odist Publishing House in Singapore. This plant, which is self-supporting, and has a fine equipment, has issued thousands of Fairfield Girls’ School, Singapore — a W. F. M. S. institution pages of Christian literature in Chinese, Malay Arabic, Tamil, and English. Today the Methodist Publishing House is recognized as the leading publishing concern, whether religious or secular, of Malaysia. Its influence as an evangelistic agency cannot be estimated. The future in Singapore. — The Methodist Episcopal Church is the only American body maintaining a mission in the Straits Settlements. The emphasis in the past has been mainly upon educational work. By a system of government grants, the work has been maintained at small cost to the mission. Schools for girls, conducted by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, have won as distinctive a place as those for boys. In Singapore, for example, the Methodist Girls’ School is overtaxed, many of its pupils coming from the wealthiest homes in the city. At some time in the future the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church expects to extend its educational system so that a full col¬ legiate course may be offered the gradu¬ ates of its present schools in Malaysia. Care is being taken in the preparation for this advance, so that the enterprise will not be launched until its pedagogical as well as its financial strength is assured. In the planning for this development the Chinese community in Singapore is taking a deep interest. All present educational work is to be continued at high efficiency. The time has come, however, for stressing of the evan- 68 WORLD SERVICE gelistic side of the work. To this end two or three outstanding projects must be carried through. The first of these is the Telok Ayre in¬ stitutional church, where a modern plant is required in place of the present 20x30 foot bake-oven in which congregations swelter under the vertical rays of the equatorial sun. The site provided lies in the heart of Singapore, where an institu¬ tional program will at once appeal to the Chinese and grapple with many of the peculiar problems of the city. The second large enterprise is the pro¬ vision of a proper church for the Straits- born or baba congregation. This group, which will in large measure supply the backbone for the future church of Singa¬ pore, has itself paid more than $10,000 into a building fund. A choice site has been secured and with a little help from America a proper edifice can be erected. The growth of a flourishing church in Singapore is almost entirely conditioned by the provision of proper quarters for the work and by the preparation of native leaders. In large part the church has in the past relied upon ministers from other countries. The Jean Hamilton Theologi¬ cal Seminary has, however, been reorgan¬ ized and will provide a thorough training for local candidates for the ministry. By giving this school necessary equipment and faculty the foundations of a perma¬ nent church should be guaranteed. Students from the Jean Hamilton Theological Seminary, Singapore Penang, Malacca, Sarawak New Doors of Opportunity Going forward in Penang. — The second city in importance in the Straits Settle¬ ments is Penang, lying on the island of that name at the northern end of the Straits of Malacca. Here under circum¬ stances very similar to those in Singa¬ pore, a strong school has been developed enrolling 1,500 students, with several out- station schools bringing the total enrol¬ ment to about 2,000. At present, however, the evangelistic opportunity is commanding. Among Chi¬ nese and Indians (Tamils), large congre¬ gations that can not be accommodated in present quarters have been gathered. Local support is increasing rapidly, even in the face of unfavorable economic condi¬ tions. With proper equipment it should be pos¬ sible to maintain the present position of the Anglo-Chinese School. It is the only Protestant school in this settlement doing secondary work. The schools of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society oc¬ cupy a similar position in the education of girls. Likewise, a large increase in the Christian community is in sight as soon as suitable quarters can be provided. As in Singapore, increasing emphasis is to be put upon evangelistic work in Penang. Advance in Malacca. — Nothing more re¬ markable has occurred in Southeastern Asia in the period since the Centenary was launched than the opening up of Malacca to the gospel message. Here in the oldest colony on the Malay Peninsula, where for years missionary work has brought little response, there has suddenly come a growth in interest leading to the founding of a large number of churches. Since 1921, the work in Malacca has ad¬ vanced from two preachers and three churches to eight preachers and ten churches, while the amount raised for self- support has increased four times. The mission is besieged by deputations from various centers pleading for the opening of new churches. Business conditions have been no better in Malacca than else- SOUTHEASTERN ASIA 69 where in Malaysia, yet congregations are showing a devotion that provides support for the church even when they themselves are almost without support. One of the largest evangelistic opportunities in Meth¬ odist missionary history seems to lie here. A remarkable feature of the developing church and school in Malacca is the un¬ usual amount of interest among Malays. Although these are Mohammedans, many are progressive. They are eager to place their children in Methodist schools and there is every promise that a large num¬ ber will ultimately find their way into the Christian community. At present the bulk of the church mem¬ bership, which is increasing so rapidly, is found among the Chinese and Indians. By placing the educational work upon a permanent basis, we shall do much to conserve the results of this rapid expan¬ sion. Surely when whole villages peti¬ tion for gospel attention, and the Metho¬ dists with the exception of Roman Catholics and Anglicans are solely respon¬ sible, we shall not turn away. Progress in Sarawak. — Although not in the Straits Settlements, reference must be made to the success of the Christian community developed under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Sibu in Sarawak, the independent state in North Borneo ruled by a British rajah. Here, since 1902, surrounded by dyak head hunters and other perils of the jungle, a colony of Chinese Christians has been seeking by the cultivation of rubber to attain independence. So far they have been successful. Despite a period in which the community faced actual starva¬ tion, it has come through triumphantly. Its church development is going ahead asking almost nothing from America for support. In the Malay States Intensification. — Between Siam on the north and Singapore on the south lie nine Malay States. Four of these are included in a formal federation, the Federated Malay States. The other five seem likely to enter this agreement within a short A model school-teacher! time. All are under British control, exer¬ cised generally through Residents who act as the power behind the native sultans. The centers of Methodist occupation are in the cities of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States, Ipoh, Siti- awan, Taiping, Seremban, Kampar, Klang. From these cities, schools and congrega¬ tions radiate out through the territory. The occupation of this field may be said to be fairly complete. Churches already established have reached a high degree of self-support, despite the recent slump in the tin and rubber markets. Future emphasis will be placed under the full de¬ velopment of the centers already entered rather than on extension of the work. As in the Straits Settlements, the most successful work at the present time is that among the Chinese, of whom there are almost as many as there are native Malays. The response on the part of the Tamils has also been marked. There has as yet been little impression made upon the Malay population, which is Moham¬ medan, but perfect freedom for work is guaranteed not only by the progressive Mohammedan sultans but also by the Brit¬ ish administration. Methodist work, as in other parts of Malaysia, has been chiefly noted for its success in education. The high reputation won by the schools throughout the Malay States must be maintained. It is how- 70 WORLD SERVICE ever, the purpose of the mission in the future to place first emphasis upon the evangelistic enterprise. An opening state. — At the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula lies the native state of Johore. For a good many years, the sultan has been petitioning for the opening of Methodist educational work in his realm but it has been impossible to. make this advance. At the present time, however, mainly on account of the re¬ markable growth of interest among the Malays in Malacca, one congregation has been actually formed in Johore on native initiative. Others will follow as soon as any encouragement is given. For the present, therefore, the one piece of ex¬ pansion before Methodism in the Malay Peninsula is the proper occupation of Johore. The Call in Malaysia The immediate need. — The Methodist Episcopal Church is carrying forward a conservative program in Malaysia, which includes, during 1925, these features : Missionary Staff is required on these lines: Evangelistic Work.... 14 Couples 6 Single Educational Work . 11 Couples 15 Single Medical Work . 1 Couple 0 Single Other Work . 1 Couple 1 Single 27 22 $ 60,200 Church Work on 115 Circuits. 38,448 39 Day Schools . 2 Boarding Schools . 1 Training School . 1 College . . . $12,751 . 5,700 . 3,595 . 1,500 23,546 2 Dispensaries . 2,800 For Other Work . . 6,600 Total for Work Operation . $ 71,394 Property Projects to make following : 4 City Churches . 5 Smaller Churches . 4 Workers’ Quarters . possible the . $42,000 . 8,585 . 13,500 64,085 3 Day School Buildings . 6 Boarding School Buildings. 1 Training School Building... . 5,650 . 123,000 . 7,000 135,650 4 Miscellaneous Residences cellaneous . and Mis- 21,125 Total for Property Projects . $220,860 Total Program (Malaysia) . $352,454 DUTCH EAST INDIES (Java, Dutch Borneo, Banka, Sumatra) An Island Empire What do we know about the Netherlands Indies? — Where are the Dutch East In¬ dies? What are they? Are they of any importance? The answer of the average American to these questions would probably reveal The Dutch East Indies look like this when placed on the United States a large ignorance. To be sure, he has heard of Java. That’s the place colfee comes from. No? Well, it used to, anyway. And Borneo. That’s the home of the wild men. Not now? Well, Borneo will always mean wild men to him. What is there about the Dutch East Indies worth knowing? Mineralogists know that a large part of the world’s supply of tin comes from the little islands of Banka and Billiton. To¬ bacco dealers know the Sumatra leaf. Biologists know the pithecanthropus, and now Mr. H. G. Wells is making a lot of people beside scientists acquainted with their kinsmen who walked about Java half a million years ago. A comparative map will show that, in size, this archipelago, is wider from east to west than the United States, and longer SOUTHEASTERN ASIA 71 from north to south than the distance from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. Comparative statistics will show that it has a population almost equal to half that of the continental United States, while the total land area is less than five times that of California. Eight hundred thousand of the people are Chinese. Life in the Dutch Indies. — The Dutch Indies are like all countries on the equator, only more so. It is always hot and always wet. Sometimes, however, it is hotter and sometimes wetter. To adapt himself to this climate the native Malay has perforce become a lei¬ surely sort of person. Hence he has proved a poor competitor for the immi¬ grant Chinese, who has largely taken away from him the business of the archipelago. But this business is still of restricted scope, for there are few cities. The over¬ whelming majority of the forty million in¬ habitants live rural lives. Most of the native inhabitants of these islands are Moslems — those fierce Malays This Chinese maiden was saved by mission¬ aries in Sumatra Methodist Episcopal centers in the Dutch East Indies (Malay states shown also) who, as pirates, left a name for ferocity in the world’s literature. Interior tribes still practice crude forms of animism. But the rule of the Dutch government insures a hearing everywhere for the Christian message. Where Protestantism has flourished. — The first white men to reach the East Indies in that search for spices that brought Columbus to the New World were Portuguese. With them went their friars, and Catholic missionary work, such as it was, brought thousands into the church’s fold. When the Portuguese passed the Dutch followed. Fresh from their fight for lib¬ erty in Europe, the Dutch proved as intol¬ erant as their predecessors. Protestantism became the only form of recognized reli¬ gion, supported by the state, and still sub¬ sidized by the government. There is now a strong movement afoot, supported by the government, to separate state and church. In point of numbers, there have been more accessions to the Protestant churches in the Netherlands Indies than in any other non-Christian field, taking into con¬ sideration the total population involved. The state church contains the largest uni¬ fied body of Protestant members to be found in any non-Christian land. Al¬ together there are about 735,000 Prot- 72 WORLD SERVICE Boat at pier, Rejang river Hing Hua— The Chinese are the business men of the Malay archipelago estant church members in this group of islands. Methodism’s Opportunity Where the church is established. — Al¬ though not large numerically, when com¬ pared with some of the Dutch and German bodies, the Methodist Episcopal Church occupies a significant place in the Chris¬ tian enterprise in the Dutch Indies. In the first place, it is an American mis¬ sion, and is therefore not identified in the Malay mind with the ruling power. It is the only American mission, save the Sev¬ enth Day Adventist, and that plays no large part. In the second place, the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church occupies many centers of population, particularly on the Island of Java, although there is no overlapping with the work of the other societies. It is peculiar that the four largest Prot¬ estant communities, containing more than two-thirds of the total, are in out-of-the- way sections or on very small islands. The Christian people of Java form only one- tenth of one per cent of the entire popula¬ tion. A glance at the map on page 71 will show the present centers of Methodist oc¬ cupation. Work among the Chinese. — Of peculiar importance, up to this time, has been the work conducted by the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church among the Chinese in the Dutch East Indies. The Chinese is the busi¬ ness man of the Malay Archipelago. Sometimes he has had touch with Christianity before leav¬ ing South China. Always he seems open to its ap¬ proach. After he has made a fortune — and he frequently does — he de¬ sires the best education possible for his children, and that education he holds to be of the type offered by Christian teachers. The Methodist Episcopal Church has been almost alone in approaching the Chi¬ nese of the Netherlands Indies. As a re¬ sult, the congregations gathered have been largely Chinese; the enrolment in the schools has been largely Chinese; and a large share of the financial support has been carried by these Chinese. As this group is bound to have so im¬ portant a part in the future of Java and its sister islands, the development of this work among the Chinese, until they are thoroughly evangelized, must be carried on. At present the work can not be said to have more than started, although the start has been auspicious. There are thirteen churches, with 1,153 members; eighteen Sunday schools with 1,474 mem¬ bers; and twenty-four day schools, with 1,665 pupils. Approaching the Moslems. — The great field in the Dutch East Indies is the con¬ version of the Malays. More than in any othei pait of Islam these have shown themselves open to the gospel. The Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church cannot escape its responsibility in this field. The approach to the Malays is to be two¬ fold.. There is to be a highly developed medical work, which has proved the most effective means of winning confidence. Malay preachers are to be trained who can carry the truth to their own people. Neither of these lines of advance has progressed beyond a beginning. The train- SOUTHEASTERN ASIA 73 ing school for preachers, located in Batavia, has gathered a promising group of students who are being prepared by well-equipped missiona¬ ries. There has not yet been time, however, to register evangelistic re¬ sults. Hospital Assistance has been promised by the Dutch government for the found¬ ing of a system of nine hospitals which is even¬ tually to cover the field of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The government has offered to provide a large part of the cost of erection of the necessary buildings and grant a small annual subsidy. At present, how¬ ever, the government is financially em¬ barrassed, due to the condition of the tin and rubber trade. Only one of the projected hospitals, that at Tjisaroea, has been put into commis- A Chinese Bible woman at Batavia, Java The immediate need. — In the Nether¬ lands Indies the Methodist Episcopal Church finds itself almost solely responsi¬ ble for the evangelization of the commer¬ cial leaders, who have already responded, and for millions of Moslems, who are more open to Christian effort than anywhere else in the world. The program that has therefore been approved for 1925 repre- sion. This, however, has more than proved the wisdom of the whole plan. In North Sumatra. — Since 1906 the Methodist Episcopal Church has been at work in the northern part of Sumatra. Some of the results have been remarkable. During the Centenary period the work was extended to the country of the Bat- taks — an animistic tribe in the interior that killed and ate the first American missionaries to reach them, and stead¬ fastly withstood all advances for years. Schools are crowded in this region, and the medical approach is winning results. The most recent report shows the church membership increasing by thirty-four per cent annually, with a constant rise, in the face of unfavorable business conditions, in self-support. The large Centenary church at Medan had about a fourth of its cost given by converts. Since 1920 the contributions of the church in North Su¬ matra have increased by twenty-three per cent. The Tjisaroea Hospital 74 WORLD SERVICE sents an attempt to measure up to the present demands of this situation: Missionary Staff is required on these lines: Evangelistic Work, 10 Couples 2 Single Educational Work.. 10 Couples 2 Single Medical Work . 7 Couples 8 Single Other Work . 2 Couples 0 Single 29 12 $ 77,500 Work Operations : Church Work on 59 Circuits - - - 17,639 36 Day Schools . — . $ 2,430 6 Boarding Schools . . . 2,500 2 Training Schools . 4,150 9,080 2 Hospitals . 2 Dispensaries . . . 1.000 Other Work . . 6,850 7,850 Total for Work Operations . $ 34,569 Property Projects to make possible the following : City Churches . Smaller Churches . Workers’ Ouarters . . Miscellaneous . .$20,500 . 11,700 . 4,000 . 2,000 $ 38,200 Day School Buildings . Boarding School Building . Training School Building . Miscellaneous . . 6,000 . 6,000 . 20,000 . 400 32,400 Hospital . Missionary Residences . . . 10,300 . 7,600 17,900 Total for Property Projects $ 88,500 Total Program (Dutch Indies) . $200,569 SOUTHERN ASIA jiiiiiiimmmiiiiiiiiiiiimiitiiii INDIA BURMA E-9 Valparaiso 4 (g)-j lONTEVfDEO' ►UENOS AIRES ►Concepcion *Angol iPunta Arenas Statute Miles I 1 UJ - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - j - 1 - 1 100 0 100 200 300 -300 500 600 700 800 900 1000 Methodist Episcopal centers in South America 148 WORLD SERVICE PERU Bigotry’s Stronghold The old Spanish tradition. — Peru is the most Spanish of all Spanish-American countries. The power of the Roman Cath¬ olic church is still felt in every depart¬ ment of its life. Not until 1915 was the constitution altered to make it legal to worship under other than Roman Catholic forms. A Catholic revival is now in progress, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy was never stronger. There is no such rift between intellec¬ tuals and the church in Peru as in other Latin American nations. A recent trav¬ eler reports that “It is clear that Peruvian liberals will have to come out boldly and be willing to take the consequences of a mortal combat with the clergy before the country can enjoy real liberty.” A growing work. — Despite the opposi¬ tion of the Romanists, Protestant work in Peru is growing. There is not the fanati¬ cal opposition on the part of the masses that once made advance almost impossi¬ ble. Since religious liberty was granted, one in close touch with the situation has reported that, “The work has developed as much during one year of liberal wor¬ ship as during five years of effort and growth under the olcl conditions.” Con¬ gregations, although forced to meet in private homes, small rented halls, or some¬ times even in railway stations, have in¬ creased rapidly. A growth in member¬ ship of about one-third yearly is now expected and the contributions of the Peruvian converts have mounted by 330 per cent since 1916. Problems Geographic Peru, with a territory as large as the United States east of the Mississippi, with the exception of Alabama, Georgia and Florida, presents one of the most needy mission fields in the world. Its population is about 4,800,000, of whom not more than 750,000 are whites. In¬ deed, most of these have a certain amount of Indian blood in their veins. The Indi¬ ans are exploited as in all Latin American countries and there are other classes whose spiritual needs are not being met. Some of the distinctive missionary prob¬ lems of Peru come from the geographical conditions of the country. These may be summarized as problems of the cities, of the mining camps, and of the Indians. Problems of the cities. — There are sev¬ eral commanding cities in Peru, such as the capital, Lima, containing the oldest university in the new world ; its port, Callao ; Arequipa, Huancayo, and the ancient capital, Cuzco. The city problem, as it ex¬ ists in these centers, is not greatly different from the same problem in other countries. Student bodies, tenement groups, schoolless children, un¬ evangelized multitudes — all require their peculiar type of service. There are still several large cities within the ter¬ ritory of the Methodist Episcopal Church that The patio of the British-American Hospital at Lima LATIN AMERICA 149 have not even been entered, and while it remains true that the church owns only one unfinished edifice in which worship is being conducted, it can not be said that occupation is anywhere adequate. Problems of the mining camps. — On the high slopes of the Andes some of the greatest mining camps in the world are growing. Largely the corporations re¬ sponsible are financed by foreign capital. The directors of these corporations are in most cases eager to have Protestant work in the towns that they have called into being. Conditions are much like those that once made the camps of Amer¬ ica’s West notorious. Open vice, absence of all modern sanitation, and a merciless exploitation of cheap labor cry aloud for effective evangelistic effort. Only a be¬ ginning has been made. Problems of the Indians. — In all that part of Peru that lies back from the coast practically the entire population, outside of a few owners of large estates, is In¬ dian. More than half a million of these people, living in remote sections, are still pagan and others are nominal adherents of a debased form of Romanism. The exploitation of the Indians of Peru is a story that has never been told in its full horror. Evangelical missionaries are only just beginning to reach these people with a type of Christianity that offers hope for the solution of their social as well as religious problems. The Methodist Episcopal Church has up to this time had no work exclusively designed to reach the Indians. The de¬ velopment in the brief period of religious freedom has been in the cities and mining camps. The time is now here, however, when it must reach out to this most needy class of all Peru. Plans for this exten¬ sion of work form a part of the immedi¬ ate program. Problems Social Studying Peru from another angle, that country is found struggling with problems that can not be isolated in any one section but affect her life as a whole. Toward the Geography class at the Lima High School solution of these social problems, the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church is contributing its leadership. Problems of morals and democracy. — Peru is afflicted with the same moral prob¬ lems that beset other Latin peoples — in¬ temperance, unchastity, a light regard for the value of a pledge, a conception of re¬ ligion as a formal adherence rather than as a mode of life — these and other vices sap the national strength. It is not too much to say that the work of the Protes¬ tant congregations is almost the only force in Peru directly dealing with such needs. There are twenty-seven cities and towns in Peru in which the Methodist Episcopal Church is now regularly carry¬ ing on work. In hardly one of these, however, does it own the quarters in which services are held. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that, in the pro¬ gram for advance, the Peru mission puts the building of certain churches and chap¬ els at the head of the list of needs. As surely as low morals will under¬ mine the stamina, so surely will contempt for honest labor undermine the democratic ideals of Peru. It is, alas, true that today any physical labor is thought so degrading as to exclude the worker from all but the very lowest society. For this reason the testimony of Protestant schools to the dignity of manual work is as much needed in Peru as the effort of the Protestant church to combat the other social evils. 150 WORLD SERVICE Problems of education. — Although the oldest university of either of the Ameri¬ can continents is located in Lima, Peru stands tenth in the list of Latin American countries in regard to the education of her citizenship. Less than twenty per cent of the population can read and write. Primary education is supposed to be com¬ pulsory, yet less than half of the children are enrolled in school and the average at¬ tendance is less than half of the enrol¬ ment. An educational mission from North America has been attempting to deal with this situation for several years and has made some progress. It has found itself, however, handicapped by the policy of the Catholic church. No schools in the country have won more attention than the Institute Andino, a coeducational boarding school at Huan- cayo ; the Callao High School ; the Insti¬ tute Norteamericano, a boarding school for boys in Lima ; and the high school for girls conducted in the same city by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. The growth of these schools has been re¬ markable. Despite determined opposition on the part of some priests, enrolment in the school at Huancayo has grown from 150 in 1919 to 290 in 1922; in Callao, from 262 in 1917 to 520 in 1922; and in Lima the newly established school already has an enrolment of 176. These schools are all ap¬ proaching complete self- support. One has reached that goal. Since almost eighty per cent of the stu¬ dents in them come from non-evangelical homes, it can be seen how important is the contribution that they can make toward overcoming popular prej¬ udice. It is also necessary to establish day schools to act as feeders for these schools of higher grade. Not only is the gov¬ ernment unable to pro¬ vide school facilities for all, but condi¬ tions in the government schools, where re¬ ligious instruction by Catholic priests is required, are such that it is frequently in¬ advisable to allow children from Prot¬ estant homes to study in them. The pri¬ mary schools already established by the Methodist Episcopal Church have been of such a high grade that they have won wide popularity, and from many parts of the republic requests are coming for the extension of the Methodist day school system. Problems of leadership. — The conditions holding Peru back will never be perma¬ nently changed until Peruvian citizens are ready to lead in the work of reform. The discovery and training of indigenous leadership thus becomes a major part of the evangelical program. Two projects are included in the plans of the Methodist Episcopal Church to deal with this need. The first is for the theological seminary at Lima, which will be a union institution, ministering to all the Protestantism of Peru. The second is a Bible Institute for Indians at Huan¬ cayo, established only a year ago by Bishop Thirkield, which has already pro¬ duced five ministerial candidates for this needy field. Problems of sanitation. — Except in the large cities, no attempt has been made to LATIN AMERICA 151 Boy Scouts at the Lima High School provide hygienic sur¬ roundings for the peo¬ ple of Peru. The result is that even such a city as Callao is reputed to have the highest death rate in the world. Among the Indians, it is esti¬ mated that there is an infant mortality rate of eighty per cent. So great has been the lack of modern medicine that a group of British and American residents have provided a hospital in which the Methodist Episcopal Church has be¬ gun its medical program. At the present time the small staff in this hospital is overwhelmed with the demand for its services. It is expected, however, that additions to the force will make extension of this service possible, especially to Indian communities. The Forward Program The advance program for the Methodist Episcopal Church in Peru can be sum¬ marized under four heads : Permanent Protestant churches. — The first necessity is to place congregations in Pupils from our grammar school at Callao important centers in permanent homes. It will never be possible nor desirable to build edifices as large as the cathedrals that are already to be found in Lima and other cities. But it is essential to gather our people out of the inadequate and fre¬ quently unsanitary rented quarters in which they now attempt to worship and house them in well-designed churches and chapels. Strengthening Protestant schools. — The Methodist school system in Peru is young and still lacks equipment essential in the provision of modern education. The Cen¬ tenary made possible large educational advance. It is now necessary to follow this up in such a way that there may be a strong foundation of Protestant day schools upon which to rest securely. The training of ministers is also of im¬ mediate importance. Plans under way call for the development of a theological seminary at Lima that will serve the evangelical churches of Bolivia as well as Peru. To these plans the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church is whole-heartedly com¬ mitted. Spreading a hospital. — As soon as the British-American Hospital reaches its full capacity for work in the present quarters — which will be within a very short time, 152 WORLD SERVICE The foundation on which a strong nation may be built if adequate staff is provided — its influence should be carried to the interior parts of Peru through the establishment of a chain of dispensaries. There should also be dis¬ pensaries opened in connection with the institutional church work in the cities. Reaching the Indians. — No more appeal¬ ing work lies before the church than that for the Indians. It is agreed that this enterprise can not longer be delayed. First approach may be made by the open¬ ing of dispensaries, although educational and evangelistic work is also called for New property now used by the Evangelical School at Huancayo — Made possible by Centenary money and planned. It will take the utmost wis¬ dom and devotion to reach this exploited and suspicious portion of the population of Peru. The difficulty of the task in large measure constitutes the challenge. The immediate need. — To deal with the situation in this land where religious big¬ otry is making its last stand, the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church has authorized the following program for 1925 : Missionary Staff will be required for: Evangelistic Work.. .. 2 Couples 1 Single Educational Work .... .. 8 Couples 12 Single Medical Work . .. 3 Couples 7 Single Other Work . .. 2 Couples 0 Single 15 20 Work Operations will be conducted on the following lines: Church Work from 18 centers.. ..$25, 235 18 Day Schools . 4,450 5 Central Schools . 3,476 1 Theological School . 200 1 Hospital . 1 Dispensary . 1,000 Other and General Work . 7,640 Total for Work Operations . $ 41,981 Property Projects: 2 City Churches . 42,500 2 Small Churches . — 5,500 2 Missionary Residences . 20.000 1 Huancayo Property Debt . 6,000 $ 74,000 Total Program (Pern) . $175,481 LATIN AMERICA 153 BOLIVIA A Neglected Country Cut off from the sea by five of her sis¬ ter republics, Bolivia remains one of the least known Latin American nations. This is not because it is a small land, for the most recent estimate of the area, 605,600 square miles, makes Bolivia about as large as the United States when it challenged world attention with its Declaration of Independence. It is not because of poverty, for there are rich tin, gold, copper and silver mines on the slopes of the Andes. It is not because of sterility, for three-fifths of Bolivia is valleys, sloping and alluvial plains and forests, where modern agriculture can raise large harvests. Population. — In this great country less than 3,000,000 people (five to the square mile) live. As in Mexico, Peru and Ecuador the majority are Indians, either those still living in a primitive state or those who make up the peon class. From the American viewpoint, these Indians lack prac¬ tically every right, privilege and ad¬ vantage that is supposed to belong to citizens of a modern republic. There are not more than 300,000 whites, in whose hands are the great estates, as well as the agencies of the government. The degra¬ dation of the Indians is pitiful. Transportation. — The development of a country situated as is Bolivia is, of course, dependent upon transportation. Up to date there are only 765 miles of railway, linking the capital, La Paz, with the coast by three lines. Two rivers, the Mamore and Beni, tributaries of the Amazon, pro¬ vide the only natural outlet to the sea. Both are navigable for large vessels, and from them launches and other boats ply the smaller streams of the country. 11 How Bolivia gets to the sea Winning the Minds of a Nation Returning from Bolivia as recently as 1917, Samuel G. Inman was able to write that “it was a real shock to find that there was a country on the globe where so little Christian work is being done.” Perhaps this was because of unprofitable lines of ap¬ proach on the Protestant mis¬ sions. At any rate the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church is now coming into a place of peculiar importance in the life of this nation because of a policy very different from that followed in most Latin countries. This policy has been radi¬ cally altered since the first minister of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church was appointed to work in Bolivia in 1901. To be sure, the initial years of zeal¬ ous preaching and Bible teach¬ ing provided a firm foundation but, since 1906, the work has proceeded along very unusual lines. Education for the upper classes. — The approach of the preacher and Bible col¬ porteur was necessarily to the poor. The upper classes, whose allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church was becoming constantly weaker, were still almost com¬ pletely beyond the reach of Protestant ef¬ fort. Irreligion seemed about to whelm the country. The pioneers of the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church, surveying conditions in Bo¬ livia, realized that the greatest unmet need of the country, in any realm but the spiritual, was that of first-class education. Although there was a law providing for universal compulsory education, only two per cent of the population were in school. Higher institutions were conspicuous by Buenos Aire' over- 154 WORLD SERVICE a course seemed revolu¬ tionary — a Roman Catho¬ lic country co-operating with a Protestant mission for the conducting of schools that were to mold coming leaders ! But in 1906 the government of Bolivia decided to endorse this proposal, and made a grant for the establish¬ ment of a school in La Paz. Later a similar school was Bird’s-eye view of La Paz their absence. As a result, the country was held back by a failure to give ad¬ equate training to those who would natur¬ ally provide its leadership. In this situation, the missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church brought forward the proposal that the government co-operate with them in the establishment of schools that would fill this gap. Such Above, Typical Indian face, La Paz Left, Yungas Indian, La Paz planted in Cochabamba. Each is called the American Institute. Two centers of influence. — From the day of the opening of the American Institutes in La Paz and Cochabamba they have been outstanding successes. For the first years of this work the government pro¬ vided subsidy. Financial difficulties, growing out of the World War, made it necessary to withdraw this in 1915. Since then the schools, which have an annual budget of $76,000, have been supported by their own income from tuitions, plus $10,000 contributed by the Board of For¬ eign Missions. Student classes. — The boys in these schools, which start with the kindergar¬ ten and carry through the high school, do not come from any one class. “The sons LATIN AMERICA 155 of small merchants, of wealthy miners and ranchers, of Indian bur¬ den-bearers, of members of the President’s cabinet, of ex-Presidents, of mem¬ bers of the official circles of the government, learn to work and to play to¬ gether and to forget that there is such a thing as caste.” The girls’ departments have been equally success¬ ful. All of them are run¬ ning to capacity, giving the students the finest education to be had in Bolivia, with acquaint¬ Above, Pupils in Indian night school, La Paz Left, Physics class in our school at Cochabamba ance with the spirit and ideals of a for¬ ward-looking Protestantism. There have been more than 6,000 pupils in the two schools since their founding (in 1922 there were 381 enrolled) and of those who have finished the course, a large number have al¬ ready achieved recogni¬ tion. not linked themselves defi¬ nitely with the church, they are leading Chris¬ tian lives and exerting a wide influence. Our Chris¬ tian schools have been able to show the youth of the country that Chris¬ tianity is a reasonable religion, that sci¬ ence and the laws of nature do harmonize with the teachings of God, and they are having a large influence in saving the young man from the prevailing atheism.” “The veteran a school,” says missionary, “is the most effective evangel¬ izing agency in Bolivia. By means of Bible classes and the Christian example of the teachers, the stu¬ dents are brought to a knowledge of the Chris¬ tian life. Even though many of them have Domestic science class in American Institute, La Paz 156 WORLD SERVICE Kindergarten children at La Pa z A Neglected People The other undeveloped field of service in Bolivia, to which the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church has turned its attention, is the uplift of the Indian. There are 900,000 of these Indians, most of whom live in a primitive state and under the most piti¬ able conditions. The leading newspaper of La Paz has thus described their life: “The condition of the Indians has changed all too little since the times of the Spanish domination. They continue to be pariahs, exploited by provincial authori¬ ties and brutalized by alcohol. The state has entered into a kind of partnership with the church ; the former to sell alcohol to the Indians (having a monopoly of its sale) and the latter to provide in her fes¬ tivals the occasion for its consumption. “The moral, intellectual, and material condition of the Indians is the worst pos¬ sible, and hinders the progress of the nation, at the same time bringing us face to face with very many and very grave problems which must be solved, the tran¬ quillity of outlying districts being mean¬ time in constant danger.” Exploited as the Indian has been, the work done among his people is difficult in the extreme, for there are those who would rather see him depressed and trac¬ table than educated and able to stand up for his rights. And they are quick to rec¬ ognize the dangerous revolutionary char¬ acter of the Christian gospel applied to such conditions. Supporting present work. — The advance pro¬ gram in Bolivia is very clear. The work at pres¬ ent conducted must be con¬ tinued. This means that the two higher schools for boys and girls, through which the Prot¬ estant spirit is being disseminated throughout the country must be strengthened ; The two day schools and five night schools for the Indians must be developed ; The Bible Training School in La Paz, the source of a trained ministry, must be enabled to do efficient work; The congregations gathered in La Paz, Cochabamba and three other places must be encouraged, and the day brought near when they can be suitably housed. Occupying new territory. — By agreement Drinking an alcoholic beverage after mass, in the shade of the chapel, La Paz Future Lines of Ad¬ vance LATIN AMERICA 157 among the Protestant forces, a great section of Bolivia, comprising one third of the total area, is left for penetration by the Methodist Episcopal Church. This is the Beni region, a fertile country, lying along the tributa¬ ries of the Amazon that give Bolivia its only out¬ let to the sea. Students from this region are al¬ ready in the American Institutes at La Paz and Cochabamba. The terri¬ tory has a larger percentage of pure- blooded Spanish inhabitants than any other in Bolivia, and, strange to say, is less occupied by the Roman Catholic Church than any other region. In much of this region there are neither priests nor churches. It is desired, therefore, to send a com¬ petent missionary, acquainted with Bo¬ livia, into this territory not later than 1925. This pioneer is expected to study the land Epworth Leaguers, La Paz and report to the church as to the most promising fields in which to begin work. The immediate need. — Facing the situ¬ ation in Bolivia, the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved the following pro¬ gram : Missionary Staff will be required for: Evangelistic Work .... 5 Couples 0 Single Educational Work . 12 Couples 17 Single Medical Work . 1 Couple 4 Single 18 21 $ 57,650 Work Operations will be conducted along the following lines : 7 Preaching Centers . $15,260 6 Day Schools . 4,700 2 Central Schools . 800 1 Indian Agricultural School . 300 1 Hospital . 500 1 Dispensary - . 1,700 Other and General Work . 4,300 Total for Work Operations . $ 27,560 Property Projects proposed are : 1 City Church . 44,400 1 Missionary Residence . — . 10,880 2 Central School Buildings . 38,000 Total for Property Projects . . 93,280 The 1921 graduating class at Cochabamba Total Program (Bolivia) $178,490 158 WORLD SERVICE CHILE Where Chile would be if it were revolved about the equator and placed in the Northern Hemisphere A Republic with a Future What is Chile like? — Chile, the “shoe-string re¬ public,” appeals to the imagination. What sort of a country can it be, when its coast line is 2,700 miles long and its territory, on the average, only eighty-seven miles wide? Many have been deceived as to its size, which is greater than that of Texas. Someone has said that if you could take the state of Illinois and squeeze it out until its northern border lay in the middle of Hudson Bay and its southern border in Cuba, you would obtain a fair ap¬ proximation of Chile. Another has said that if Chile were laid out upon the United States, it would stretch from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon. Traveling in Chile you pass through three kinds of climate. In the north there are eight or nine hundred absolutely rain¬ less miles, then comes an¬ other like distance where there is so little rain that irrigation is necessary, and finally there is another well-watered section of equal size stretch¬ ing down to the Straits of Magellan. The climate on the whole resembles that of California. What are the Chileans like? — Even to the casual traveler, the citizens of Chile seem among the most progressive to be found in South America. The Anglo- Saxon is struck by the evidence of early immigration from the British Isles, shown in the Edwards Street or the Pratt Plaza or the O’Higgins Square to be found in many of the leading towns. These fam¬ ilies, with the McKennas, the Walkers, the Tuckers and many others came to the fore in the days of the struggle for independ¬ ence. With the passing of the years, how¬ ever, they generally proved content to settle down into an oligarchy of wealth, which virtually ruled Chile. That period has passed. Today, while representa¬ tives of these original English families remain, now thoroughly latinized, the leadership of the country is largely in the hands of men whose ances¬ tors came from about the Mediterranean. And these men find Chile ready for demo¬ cratic advance of every kind. Great changes are coming within a few years. The latest census shows the population to be 3,870,000. This means that fewer than thirteen people live on every square mile. With an energetic population, Loading sacks of nitrate LATIN AMERICA 159 large national resources and one of the most securely established governments on the continent, Chile is bound to be a leader in the great advance that is before South America. The Church in Chile Established but not secure. — Article IV of the Constitution of Chile declares that “the religion of the Republic of Chile is the Apostolic Roman Catholic, excluding the public functioning of any other.” The Catholic clergy have been of a higher grade than elsewhere in South America. The church has produced a better type of morality and has held the allegiance of the ruling classes in a way that it has failed to do elsewhere. It can not be said, however, to be meeting the religious needs of the country.- In truth, Roman Catholicism in Chile today is established, but it is not secure. A plank in the platform upon which Presi¬ dent Alessandri was elected in 1920 de¬ manded the separation of Church and State. The mounting tides of labor, fem¬ inism, temperance reform, all find Ca¬ tholicism in opposition. Just as rapidly as they achieve their inevitable triumph, they will loosen the grip of the old eccle- siasticism. The challenge to Protestantism. — The same forces that spell defeat for an ex¬ clusive Catholicism offer unbounded op¬ portunity to an awakened Protestantism. When the Liberal Party was swept into power at the recent election, its platform San Salvador Catholic Church, Santiago First Methodist Episcopal Church, Santiago Our church at Gorbea called for currency re¬ form, the income tax, protection of national in¬ dustries from foreign aggression, solution of social evils, provision for the education of women and children, prohibition, parliamentary reforms and separation of church and state. It can be seen that this list of reforms that have received the mandate of 160 WORLD SERVICE the Chilean people includes causes for which Protestantism is struggling. Educa¬ tion of women and children, the basis of the new feminist movement in that coun¬ try, has long been pushed by the evangeli¬ cals as, for example, at the Santiago College for Women, conducted by the Methodist Episcopal Church. Poisoned by alcohol. — For a long time the evangelicals have been almost alone in their temperance agitation. Chile has been notorious as one of the most intem¬ perate nations. In fact, some travelers have called it the most intemperate. Today, however, far-sighted scientists and Liberal statesmen are joining with Prot¬ estants to popularize the motto : “Alcohol is a poison ; taken in large or small quan¬ tities, it is a poison.” Labor and the church. — The labor situ¬ ation is demanding more attention than any other factor in Chile today. For almost a century the country has been under the domination of an oligarchy of not more than a hundred land-owning families. With the fortunes of these, the Roman Catholic Church has allied itself. It is common opinion that only the election of a Liberal President prevented armed revolution in 1920. Strikes are common throughout Chile today. The newspapers give pages to labor problems. How the Challenge is Being Met The two outstanding evangelical forces in Chile today are the Presbyterian and Gymnasium class at the Methodist Episcopal Churches. Their fields alternate from the Peruvian border to the Straits of Magellan. Between them there is cordial co-operation. Both are striving to introduce a type of Protestant¬ ism that will show itself in harmony with all progressive forces. Preaching, teach¬ ing, healing are the means employed. Growing amid difficulties' — The latest figures available show that the Metho- The members of this church at Iquique almost paid for it with their own contributions LATIN AMERICA 161 Collegio Americano, Concepcion dist Episcopal Church now has in Chile thirty-six churches, ministering to ap¬ proximately 5,000 members. This is being done with only a handful of work¬ ers, there being only seventeen Chilean members of conference, with eighteen un¬ ordained preachers under appointment. Most of the churches have been housed miserably, with the exception of one edi¬ fice in Valparaiso. The appeal has been largely limited to the poorest classes be¬ cause, in a country educated to cathedrals, it is almost impossible to induce members of the upper classes to enter such dilapi¬ dated little shacks as have sheltered most Prot.estant congregations. Despite their handicaps, however, the churches are active as never before. There has been a great increase in tithing. Sunday schools are being pushed. Special leadership in temperance reform and in work among young people has been pro¬ vided, and in the leading cities, in tem¬ porary quarters, beginnings have been made out of which will grow com¬ manding institutional programs. Schools with national reputations. — The educational work of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church is known throughout Chile, largely because of such successful institu¬ tions as the Santiago College for Girls, Iquique English College, the Concepcion College for Girls, and the American College for boys, also in Concepcion. The lack in this system has come from its concentra¬ tion upon students of the upper classes. Re¬ quired by stringency of funds to be self- supporting, these schools have of necessity placed their fees so high that only the wealthy have been able to take advantage of this opportunity. One of the proposi¬ tions immediately to be undertaken is the extension of the educational system under Protestant auspices to the masses. A ministry of healing. — Medical work has been on a restricted scale, but in the large industrial fields, such as the nitrate regions, and in the slums of the cities, there is great need for service of this character, offering a quick means of ap¬ proach to the poor. Such an enterprise as the dispensary of the Good Samaritan in Santiago has a large influence and its resources are always taxed to their capac¬ ity. Literature an evangelistic force. — The distribution of Christian literature is growing. Not only is the weekly paper issued by the Methodists of Chile, El Her- aldo Cristiano, constantly gaining a wider reading, but the book store in Santiago is increasing its sales. This work is self- supporting. Much of the success in reaching Chile with the gospel in printed form must be credited to the years of seed-sowing by the American Bible Society, working through its La Plata agency. More than 2,000,000 copies of the Scriptures have been distributed by this agency, which also works in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Its pioneer agent, Francis G. 162 WORLD SERVICE Class in the Union Theological School, Santiago, Chile Penzotti, gladly suffered persecution and imprisonment in planting the work. Today his son, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, carries on the enter¬ prise. Unique Features of the Chilean Mission The work in Chile is much like that in other South American countries. A few developments, however, merit special at¬ tention. Hogar Anglo-Chileno. — In order to pro¬ vide a home for girl students of the Uni¬ versity of Chile in which they may have the opportunity of using the English lan¬ guage and learning English customs while in the most wholesome surroundings, there has been opened in Santiago a home that now provides quarters for fifty-three students. These come from the depart¬ ments of medicine, law, dentistry, phar¬ macy, physical education, art and peda¬ ism in a way that is cer¬ tain to leave a deep im¬ press upon their later years of service. With the student class so rap¬ idly drifting into infidel¬ ity, such an approach as is represented in the Hogar Anglo-Chileno de¬ serves wide support. Bunster Farm. — No Cen¬ tenary project in South America has attracted more attention than the Bunster Farm, purchased in 1919 to provide a self- supporting school for children of the poor. On these acres an encouraging start has been made in the establishment of a farm that shall demonstrate the latest methods of agriculture and at the same time give practical education to a constantly grow¬ ing group of students. The equipment is as yet very primitive and the resources of the farm have been swallowed up in building up an impover¬ ished soil, replacing worn-out machin¬ ery, equipment and live stock, and nursing back to health diseased nurs¬ eries and orchards. The experiment has, however, gone far enough to arouse interest in many parts of South America. It will eventually prove one of Protestant¬ ism’s most effective contributions to the solution of Chile’s twin problems of illit¬ eracy and poverty. Temperance propaganda, — Support fur¬ nished by the Board of Temperance, Pro¬ hibition and Public Morals has made it gogy. This home for girls was the first institution of its kind in South Amer¬ ica and is rendering a much needed service. By means of Bible study classes, lectures, and dis¬ cussion groups it is possi¬ ble to present to these uni¬ versity girls the ideals and ideas of Protestant¬ Harvesting wheat at the Angol Mission Farm, Angol LATIN AMERICA 163 Waiting for admission to the dispensary, Santiago, Chile possible to put a Metho¬ dist secretary at work fighting against the en¬ trenched liquor interests of Chile. By establishing connections with the gov¬ ernment and with influ¬ ential societies mass meetings have been held, a news service used by leading papers conducted, much literature distrib¬ uted, and moving pic¬ tures and stereopticon views widely displayed. This propaganda has been peculiarly effective in shops, mines and facto¬ ries. Continental headquarters. — In view of the geographical location of Methodist work in South America, Chile has proved the center from which much continent¬ wide work has been conducted. In addi¬ tion to the temperance agitation already mentioned, the Centenary, the Sunday- school, and the Epworth League head¬ quarters have been located in Santiago. The Sunday-school program for Chile includes short summer institutes for the training of workers, an increased range In the Gabriel Reyes dispensary of literature, more helps for teachers, a summer school of religious education, daily vacation church schools, co-operation with other evangelical bodies and many other features. This work has been nota¬ bly successful. Under the leadership of a part-time secretary the Epworth League is coming to the fore. The summer institute at Angol. held for three successive years, has been remarkable for the results achieved in spite of lack of equipment. Junior League work is also increasing. The Line of Advance In a land of stately churches. — The time has come when the Latin must be shown that to join a Protestant church does not mean that he must step from the magnifi¬ cence of the cathedral into the dinginess of a rented store room. Not much impression can be made until some adequate church edifices represent the evangelical group in the centers of Chile. Particularly in the capital, where there is not now a single presentable Methodist Church, is it imperative that such be erected. These will not be ornate structures but they will be in thoroughly good architectural taste. In the city of Santiago, the capital, an institutional church and two other churches must be built. In addition. 164 WORLD SERVICE churches should be erected immediately at Punta Arenas, the dominant city on the Straits of Magellan, in Los Anjeles, the capital of the province of Bio Bio, and Ovalle, a city controlling a mining and agricultural country in Coquimbo. Other churches in other strategic points must follow at an early date. It is said that most of these congregations will be¬ come self-supporting within two or three years. Where education is sceptic. — In the swing away from Catholicism most of the intellectuals of South America have be¬ come agnostic, if not atheistic. There is little chance that this condition will be altered in government schools for years to come. For this reason, it is imperative that the Protestant educational effort be kept at the highest possible state of effi¬ ciency. All the higher institutions of learning, mentioned in previous sections, must be reinforced. In many of them the equip¬ ment, which has been doing duty since the days of William Taylor, is out of date. In the city of Santiago, it is hoped to open a Nurse and Deaconess Training School in connection with the institutional church, in which nurse training can be given Chilean girls under distinctly Christian auspices. Day schools in connection with our churches are a necessity and must not only be taught by well-trained teachers but must be carefully supervised. The type of practical education represented by the Bunster Farm must be further developed. Better men for a better land. — One of the keenest observers of Protestant work in Chile has said that the immediate need is to provide first-class professional schools for training the church ministers and teachers. A Union Bible Seminary is maintained in co-operation with the Pres¬ byterian mission. This school has been conducted in borrowed and utterly inad¬ equate quarters in one of the Methodist churches. Despite such handicaps, the students are the school’s most enthusiastic support¬ ers. Almost first on the Methodist pro¬ gram in Chile must come the placing of this school on a better basis. With a school equipped to give the highest grade of work, the church can prepare a better type of leadership for the Chile that is to be. The immediate need. — During 1925 the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved the following program : Missionary Staff will be required for: Evangelistic Work.... 7 Couples 0 Single Educational Work . 12 Couples 36 Single Medical Work . 0 Couples 3 Single Other Work.... . 5 Couples 3 Single 24 42 $ 87,500 Work Operations will be conducted along the following lines : 49 Church Centers . $29,043 13 Day Schools . 3,408 7 Central Schools . 6,526 1 Theological School . 900 1 Agricultural School . 4,430 (Bunster Farm) 5 Dispensaries . 4,624 Other and General Work . 9,600 Total for Work Operations . $ 58,531 Property Projects proposed are: 2 City Churches . 26,600 3 Small Churches . 12,500 3 Buildings for Central School.... 24,000 1 Theological School Building.... 15,000 Annual payment on Bunster Farm . 25,000 1 Missionary Rest Home . 4,000 Total Property Projects . $107,100 Total Program (Chile) . $253,131 LATIN AMERICA 165 ARGENTINA “Watch Orient. A South American Leader “Watch Argentina Grow!”— If Argen¬ tina, instead of being south of the equa¬ tor, were west of the Mississippi (it is as large as twenty Iowas) what a fine time its Booster Clubs would have ! Argentina Grow!” would be the slogan advertised across its more than a million square miles of territory. There are less than ten million people in Argentina today, but if the present rate of increase should continue as it has for the last half century there would be fifty million peo¬ ple on hand in 1970, and two hundred million a century from now. At that, Argentina will not be crowded. Only fifty millions of its two hundred and fifty mil¬ lions of acres of tillable soil are as yet under cultivation. When the population is as thick on its plains as it now is in Italy, there will be three hundred and sixty million Argentines. Most of the wealth of the land now comes from ranching, with great wheat fields and cattle herds. But as the smaller farmer increases, under government encouragement, production and income will closely approximate those of our own agricultural states. Unlike other Latin-American countries, Argentina is populated almost entirely by Europeans. There are a few Indians left in the extreme north and extreme south, but for the most part the land is a mecca for emigrants from the old world. Ninety- two per cent of those are Latins. Argen¬ tina expects to develop her life by growth from abroad just as the United States has done. The city supreme. — Just as Paris domi¬ nates France, so is Buenos Aires the center of the Argentine republic. Indeed, as far as politics, education, business, the fine arts, and other matters of social interest are concerned. Buenos Aires is Argentina. To this city, with its population of 1,750,000, is flowing a growing stream of immigration from Italy, Spain, Germany, the Near East, Turkey, and even the Argentina has about the population of New York state, but is twenty-four times as large in area. In ten years Buenos Aires will probably be the second largest city in the new world. She already houses more Italians than Rome, more Spaniards than Madrid, more Syrians than Beirut and, as an aftermath of the war, expects to receive great additions of Austrians and Ger¬ mans. The domination of Buenos Aires, however, is being chal¬ lenged by such other cities as Rosario, Parana, Cordoba, Men¬ doza, Bahia Blanca, Santa Fe, and Tucuman. The government is encouraging the settlement of tracts previously given to cattle raising so that what have been sparsely inhabited provinces will soon support permanent agricultural communities. Before many generations, Buenos Aires will be forced by the growing power of the rest of the country to assume a less commanding position. Strategy today and tomorrow. — Many travelers declare that Argentina at pres¬ ent is marked by an aggressive national¬ ism which in some of its manifestations becomes almost a blind egotism. A per¬ vading materialism likewise makes reli¬ gious work difficult. One observer is re¬ ported as saying that “here the people are so indifferent to all religions that they have no time to be hostile to any. There is practically religious liberty, authorities and people alike seeming to look upon re¬ ligious work as an amiable form of in¬ sanity.” In the face of this dominance of Buenos Aires, the growth in national pride, and the materialistic atmosphere, any program 166 WORLD SERVICE of advance in the Argentine must take into consideration these elements. Evan¬ gelicalism must have a strategy that will provide, in the first place, a national leadership; in the second place, command¬ ing institutions; in the third place, ad¬ equate occupation of the nation; and, in the fourth place, occupation of the un¬ developed regions as they are settled. Argentina’s Pressing Problems The rising tide of labor. — It may surprise readers in North America to know that Buenos Aires has probably suffered more from labor troubles since the close of the world war than any other city in the world. Labor conditions have grown critical throughout the Argentine Repub¬ lic, leading up to the triumph of the radi¬ cal party at the recent election, with the socialists in second place, and the conserv¬ atives that have long been in power rele¬ gated to a minor position. Sovietism is rampant in Argentina today. Not only working men but stu¬ dents and faculties in the universities have largely gone over to the extreme commu¬ nistic position. The Federacion Obrera Regional Argentina — the labor organiza¬ tion that is generally known by its initials as the F. 0. R. A. — now has a member¬ ship of more than 300,000, all paying dues. It has carried through successful strikes against the strongest business or¬ ganizations in the country, such as the railway and steamship lines, and is now undertaking the organization of the peon labor on the great ranches. Cattle grazing on the pampas Twelve-year-old girl and baby sister at the steamer landing to welcome you to Argentina In truth, there is plenty in the condi¬ tion of these workers to inspire action, not only by the F. O. R. A. but by all who are interested in human welfare. The working men on many plantations are virtual slaves. If they attempt to flee, they are hunted like hounds. The con¬ tract given them provides that: “Each peon who abandons work without permis¬ sion of the patron, absenting himself from the establishment, incurs a responsibility for dam¬ ages, in which case he will be considered as a fugi¬ tive and the patron is authorized to pursue him and to compel him to com¬ ply with his contract. If the peon loses his time- book, he must submit him¬ self to the data contained in the firm’s books. The peon must work every day that the patron desig- LATIN AMERICA 167 The three star athletes of the American College and Ward Commercial School, Buenos Aires nates, Sundays, holidays, or rainy days not excepted, as also he must work at night, if the inclemency of the weather has not permitted him to do so during the day. If for lack of desire, he pretends sickness in order not to work, especially on Sunday, he will pay fifty cents a day for his meals, besides losing his salary.” Labor has proved its power so conclu¬ sively in Argentina that any body or movement seeking influence in the future life of the country must bring itself into line with the labor program. The Roman Catholic Church is wholly out of sympathy with this labor movement. As a re¬ sult, labor is stanchly anti-clerical. It remains to be seen whether Prot¬ estantism can win an al¬ legiance that Catholicism has thrown away. Perils to society. — Ar¬ gentina is confronted by much the same social problems that are to be found in ether Latin lands. Such vices as intemperance, gambling, a double moral standard, and lax regard for the truth are patent to any observer. Woman has until recently held an inferior position and still labors under legal dis advantages that make it impossible for her to administer family property. Through the neglect of education, it is esti¬ mated that forty per cent of the people are illiterate. To deal with these social problems many organizations are being formed. There are three outstanding feminist bodies, one composed of mothers, one of school teachers, and one the National Council of Women, all of which are attacking these evils from their own standpoint. The Woman’s Rights Association of Buenos Aires is carrying on a campaign that de¬ mands : 1. The repeal of all laws which estab¬ lish a difference between the two sexes and against woman, in order that the lat¬ ter be no longer the weakling which she is today, before the law. 2. The right of women to hold public office and to be members of the national and Regional Councils of Education. 3. The establishment of special courts for children and women. 4. The passing of laws for the protec¬ tion of maternity and for making legiti¬ mate all children. 5. The abolition of legal prostitution and the establishment of the white life for both. 6. Equality in wages. 7. Equal political rights. Heavily laden dock symbolic of Argentina’s vigorous commercial activity 168 WORLD SERVICE Our Girls’ School at Buenos Aires builds strong bodies as well as alert minds and spirits The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union has ob¬ tained a strong hold, par¬ ticularly among women connected with Protestant churches. The roster of organizations, some of them fostered by the evangelical churches and some with Catholic back¬ ing, wrestling with these problems, is too long for insertion here. A spiritual battleground. — It is in the realm of reli¬ gion that Argentina offers the greatest challenge. The indifference of the intellectual and working classes to the Roman Catholic church has already been cited. Equally, it should be said, are these groups indifferent to the presenta¬ tion of religion under any auspices what¬ ever they may be. There are several organizations of Catholic women that show a fanatical attachment to the welfare of that church. The Catholic hierarchy is bestirring itself to rid the clergy of inner decay and to re¬ establish the influence of the church. In this, it may be said that notable progress is being shown. But Argentina is drifting, in so far as its controlling elements are concerned, into religious indifference and even atheism. The evangelical churches have, as yet, shown but slight strength where¬ with to cope with this exceedingly difficult and dangerous situation. The Evangelical Program Occupying the field. — In this tremendous expanse of territory, there are working nine main evangelical bodies besides the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of these, two confine their efforts very largely to the small English-speaking communities that are to be found scattered throughout the country. Several hold themselves rigidly to a program of preaching only. With one body, the Disciples of Christ, it has been possible for the Methodist Episcopal Church to unite for various en¬ terprises. A delimitation of territory has prevented overlapping of the work of these two churches and should insure much more rapid occupation of the country. Methodist responsibility. — The responsi¬ bility of the Methodist Episcopal Church is larger than that of any other evangel¬ ical society. At the present time, its work is almost equal to that of all other missions combined. Although the Methodist Episcopal Church has been able to organize four dis¬ tricts in Argentina, and other evangelical bodies have pushed their way into other communities, the occupation of the field can not be said to have passed the initial stage. Unoccupied territory. — There are, as yet, few churches in Buenos Aires of any par¬ ticular importance. There are large cit¬ ies that contain no Protestant congrega¬ tions. In 1917, the Executive Secretary of the Committee on Co-operation in Latin America testified that: “If all the mis¬ sionaries, preachers, teachers, and other evangelical workers, native and foreign, were placed in the province of Buenos Aires there would be only one for each 6,500 people. In Buenos Aires, with 1,700,000, there are fewer than twenty churches and halls for Spanish-speaking services. In Bahia Blanca, with 100,000 LATIN AMERICA 169 people, there is one resident Protestant minister, and there are no teachers. In the province of Mendoza, San Juan and San Luis, with 457,584 inhabitants, there are five ordained ministers and a few vol¬ unteer helpers, with eight churches. The country districts, from which we draw most of our ministers, are practically un¬ reached in Argentina. And if we think of the unreached classes of people, space would hardly permit of their mention.” Methodism’s Present Work Successful institutions. — The work of the Methodist Episcopal Church really began in labors among the English-speaking pop¬ ulation of Buenos Aires. This work re¬ mains important and should be developed. It is self-supporting. In the course of the years, however, growth has been almost exclusively in the direction of the Spanish-speaking popula¬ tion. There are today thirty-four churches, seventy-nine Sunday schools, a Bible Training School, a secondary school in Buenos Aires, an agricultural training school, a group of primary schools in New building of Ward Institute, Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, an orphanage at Mercedes, primary schools for boys and girls in Ro¬ sario, and a primary school in San Eduardo. Ward institute. — More public attention is being given to the American College and Ward Commercial Institute than to any other of these enterprises. Here, where the co-operation of the Disciples of Christ has been secured in order to place before the Argentine capital an ob¬ ject lesson in Christian education, there is a flourishing secondary school, with a three-year commercial course. The Cen¬ tenary has made possible the enlargement of a fine plant on one of the main avenues of Buenos Aires. The school has been filled to capacity from the opening day. Christian literature. — As in all Latin American countries, the use of the printed page is of increasing importance in the Protestant program. In Argentina the church has shown itself strong enough to conduct its own publishing house and dis¬ tribute its own weekly El Estandarte Evangelico, on a self-supporting basis. The success of this enterprise is one more evidence of the . inherent power of the church in a Latin land. A devoted membership. — There are 7,250 members in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the bounds of the Eastern South America Conference! (This con¬ ference includes the work in Uruguay as well as in Argentina.) This may seem like a small group with which to face the problem of so large a land but the devo¬ tion of these Methodists is shown by the fact that, whereas the budget for educa¬ tional work has called for $95,000 yearly, the church in South America has con¬ tributed $76,000 of this amount; and whereas the budget for evangelistic work has required $203,000, the Methodists on the field have contributed $149,000, while they have carried the entire $50,000 that represents the expense of the publishing house. In other words, the Methodists of Eastern South America are now giving an average of $21.00 per member for evan¬ gelistic work and an average of $38.00 for 170 WORLD SERVICE One of five Sunday schools supported by the members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Bahia Blanca all purposes! This will compare favorably with the giving of Methodists in any part of the world and indicates that there has already been gathered in Argentina a nucleus about which can grow a mighty evangelical church. The Line of Advance Raising up leaders. — Bishop W. F. Oldham has written what he declares to be his “abiding word to Methodism” concerning the problems that face the church in Argentina. First place he gives to the need of a better-trained ministry. “This is a people,” he says, “wonderfully responsive to preaching that is adequate in material and form, while there is per¬ haps less patience with poor preaching than even with our impatient people at home. What we need, therefore, is a higher order of prepared men to command that hearing without which the gospel message can not hope to be widely spread.” In the face of this need, the importance can be seen of continuing the Bible Train¬ ing School at Buenos Aires, and of start¬ ing the work of the projected Union Theo¬ logical Seminary at Montevideo, which is to offer the highest type of post-graduate work to the evangelical ministerial candi¬ dates of all South America. The training school in Buenos Aires is conducted in company with the Disciples of Christ, although five-sixths of the stu¬ dents enrolled are prospective ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There will long be need for such a school to fur¬ nish the major portion of the Argentine ministry. The school in Montevideo is expected to give instruction only to those university graduates who have given signs of ability to render extraordinary service. Adequate churches. — Argentina, with its well-planned cities, presents the prob¬ lem of church edifices in a more pressing form than the other Latin countries. “There can never be sufficient empha¬ sis,” declares Bishop Oldham, “on the statement that people of cultivation and social position can not be induced into religious services or gatherings of any kind in poorly located and furnished halls. Accustomed to the stately and or¬ nately furnished buildings of the Roman Church, men and women of cultivation can not be induced by any possible means to enter ill-favored buildings. “Methodism must heed the important need by the expenditure of large sums of money to provide adequate churches. In every case the existing local congrega¬ tions will provide a far larger proportion of the expenses than one who knows their circumstances would estimate. And it can safely be said that such churches once built will soon hold self-supporting congregations, carrying not only their own local expenses but helping to send the gospel to other sections of their country.” A sample statement. — As one example of many that might be cited, consider the proposal for the building of Third Church, Buenos Aires: “The Third Church, Buenos Aires, is in the very heart of the city and presents the always pathetic sight of a Methodist attempt to evangelize a community of cul¬ tivated tastes through advance located in an inadequate hall, which at best can only hold 150 persons, without separate rooms for Sunday school or young peo- LATIN AMERICA 171 Pupils in our day school at Edwards pie’s activities of any kind. For years this gallant group has held its own, but it is worse than foolish to keep on with it, using so much energy, when with altered conditions so much larger results could be obtained. These conditions are: first, to move on to a main street ; second, to erect a commodious, attractive, but simple church and Sunday-school rooms. Land is expensive and about one-half the total ex¬ pense incurred will be in purchasing it. The amount that the congregation is col¬ lecting excites the admiration of all who know their circumstances ! The total amount required is $38,500. Local sources will provide $8,500.” A socialized program. — Argentina is re¬ sponding in an astonishing way to the first attempt at social service by the evangelical forces. The Methodist Episcopal Church has in its Boca Mission in Buenos Aires given an object lesson in the possibilities of in¬ stitutional work. The ministries of this widely known mission are mainly to the seamen and workers along the water¬ front of the Argentine capital. Only a lack of proper equipment has kept this from being one of the outstanding suc¬ cesses in institutional work in any land. Other social agencies are to be extended and a well-planned system of medical re¬ lief for the poor is to be put into effect, especially outside of the larger cities. Bishop Oldham, whose experience has touched India, Malaysia, and the general work of the church through his service as Corresponding Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions, writes that “If anywhere in the world will be found response to such pro¬ grams, it will be found here. In this case, once the initial expense is made, a large measure of self-support may speedily be looked for. All these clamant needs can be sup¬ plied for a total sum not exceeding the amount originally promised by the Centenary, and this because we are finding the local re¬ sponse greater than our estimates, fan¬ tastical as those estimates seemed when first made.” Entering the empty spaces. — A single district of the Eastern South America Conference contains more than 283,000 square miles of territory (more than all the state of Texas) with a population of 2,500,000. Another district embraces 185,000 square miles (more than four times larger than Ohio) with only 621,500 people. In still another district, with a territory more than ten times as large as that of Pennsylvania, there are but 920,000 people. Of the work in all these sections the resident bishop has to write: “Little is being done. Our undertakings are so small that as yet they can scarcely be said to be touching the fringes of the sit¬ uation. The insistent call is for primary schools, district nurses, itinerating dis¬ pensaries and a gospel tent for itinerat¬ ing through all the spring and summer, with a plentiful use of tracts.” The plans now adopted provide for a fit entrance into these new portions just as fast as funds are made available. Today, with the expansive spirit common to pioneer communities, these towns and cities welcome the evangelical approach. It is possible to secure satisfactory sites for the work that may not be available a few years hence, and a large amount of local support is in sight from the start. Chris¬ tian wisdom calls for advance into these fields in this time of opportunity. 172 WORLD SERVICE The need. — In order in any sense to discharge the obligations of Methodism in Argentina, the church has approved the following program1 for 1925 : Missionary Staff is required for: Evangelistic Work.... 10 Couples 0 Single Educational Work . 10 Couples 6 Single Medical Work . 0 Couples 5 Single 20 11 $ 68,950 1 This program is for the Eastern South America Annual Conference, which includes the work in Uru¬ guay. It is impossible successfully to separate the budgets for the two countries, because administra¬ tively they are handled as a unit. Work Operations Church Work from 66 Centers. 23 Day Schools . $6,800 5 Central Schools . 3,950 1 Theological Training School . 4.500 1 Agricultural School . 2,000 1 Dispensary . Other and General Operations Total — Work Operations .. Property Projects 4 City Churches . $85,000 6 Smaller Churches . $43,500 2 Central School Bldgs . 32,000 Total — Property Projects . Total Program (Eastern South America Conference) . $ 61,847 17,250 5,000 10,625 $ 94,722 $160,500 $324,172 URUGUAY A Forward-Looking Nation Progressive Uruguay. — As Geneva was once the intellectual center of Europe, so Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, small¬ est of the countries of South America, bids fair to become the intellectual cap¬ ital of that continent. South America is just moving into a period of destiny. And not only in education, but in dealing with almost every other problem that confronts the Latin republics, Uruguay is pointing the way. Uruguay is as much dominated by Mon¬ tevideo, whose 400,000 people are a third of the population, as is Argentina by Buenos Aires. The development of the interior has scarcely begun, although there are small cities, such as Durazno and Trinidad, with 20,000 people in them. At present it is possible largely to concen¬ trate attention upon the capital, but the certain development of the rest of the country requires an adequate occupation of other centers as well. Where labor rules. — The labor troubles of other South American countries have not greatly disturbed Uruguay, because labor is already in control. The govern¬ ment is avowedly socialistic in tendency, and the national constitution adopted in 1917 is remarkably progressive in its atti¬ tude upon industrial issues. There is probably no other government in the world, for example, where, accord¬ ing to law, a workman has to be paid while he is on strike. The compensation laws protecting workmen injured in in¬ dustry provide payment even when the accident is the result of negligence. The nation is probably the most socialistic in either of the Americas. Votes for women. — It is not surprising, therefore, to find a strong feminist move¬ ment in Uruguay. The only woman’s uni¬ versity in South America stands in Montevideo. The headquarters of the Con¬ tinental Temperance Society, a woman’s movement, are in the same city. And thre agitation for votes for women seems likely to attain its end. Educational emphasis. — Uruguay boasts that she has the lowest rate of illiteracy in South America. This is due to an edu¬ cational program that absorbs a larger percentage of the national budget than in any other country on that continent. So complete is the government system of grammar schools that it is unnecessary for the church to maintain schools of that grade, save in a few places where excep¬ tional conditions obtain. A continental center. — It is as a sort of center for the movements that affect South America as a whole that Uruguay LATIN AMERICA 173 is attracting prominence. Mention has been made of the way in which the tem¬ perance cause has made its headquarters in Montevideo. The international student organization of South America has also placed its offices in that city. The South American headquarters of the Young Men’s Christian Association will be found there. The Catholic church is reported to be sending priests from all parts of Latin America to Montevideo for final training. The office of the educational secretary for the united Protestants of the continent has been placed there. Some day the Union Theological Seminary, which is to provide the finest Protestant ministerial training in South America, will be located in this center. The religious situation. — Reports con¬ cerning the religious situation in Uruguay conflict. While Protestant work, espe- i 4 i i I Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Montevideo, Uruguay dally that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is flourishing, it cannot be denied that dominant political elements are strongly anti-religious. By the constitution of 1917 church and state have been separated. In many ways this has been a good thing for the Cath¬ olic church, since the necessity of provid¬ ing for its own support has purified and invigorated that body. The Catholic party today contains many strong men. The doors before the evangelicals, however, seem wide open. The Response to Methodism How the field is occupied. — While most of the people of Uruguay have lost confi¬ dence in religion as embodied in an insti¬ tution, they have proved peculiarly ac¬ cessible to religion preached as a personal experience and expressed through service. The response to the efforts of the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church has been remark¬ able. It is generally conceded that one Methodist congregation is the strongest Protestant body of any kind in Latin America. There are now twelve circuits, with many preaching points. The main population centers of the country are oc¬ cupied. Methodist work is much more extensive than the combined wTork of all other Protestant forces. The Methodist Episcopal Church must face responsibility for the evangelization of about four-fifths of Uruguay. An outstanding churchj — Mention Meth¬ odism in Uruguay and the McCabe Me¬ morial Church, Montevideo, immediately comes to mind. Here, in the finest plant occupied by a Spanish-speaking Protes¬ tant congregation in Latin America, evan¬ gelicalism is making a deep impression. Doctors, lawyers, university professors, merchants, bankers, and many other call¬ ings are represented in this wholly self- supporting church. Great liberality for benevolent purposes is shown, while im¬ provement of the local equipment goes on continually. A varied institutional work goes hand in hand here with an aggressive evangelistic appeal. 174 WORLD SERVICE Lads from our North American Academy, Montevideo In South America’s stockyards. — Equal suc¬ cess is meeting the Pan- American Institute in the Cerro district of Monte¬ video. This is the stock- yards section, and is filled with the workers of the Swift and Armour plants. The Pan-American Insti¬ tute puts on an evangelis¬ tic, educational, and medi¬ cal program that runs seven days and nights a week. Practically no other religious work of any kind is being done among these 15,000 people, who show their appreciation by bearing more than half the budget. As this is a young work, it is possible in time it may become self- supporting, something that is true of few institutional plants in the world. Two noted schools. — The higher educa¬ tional work under Methodist auspices is notably successful. In a country that prides itself on its standards of education, the high school for girls conducted by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, Crandon Hall, is genei-ally ranked in the first grade. The North American Academy, the higher school for boys carried on by the Board of Foreign Missions, is rapidly win¬ ning distinction. The crowded classrooms and large budget borne by local resources testify to the high standing of this school. If there were space, report might be made of much other work in Uruguay. It must suffice to say that in all South Amer¬ ica there is no country where the work is more solidly planted, nor anywhere is better hope for a future of large in¬ fluence. The immediate need, — As it is impossi¬ ble to separate the administration of work in the Argentine Republic and Uruguay, since both are included in the Eastern South America Conference of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church, with district lines in some cases crossing national bound¬ aries, the approved program for both countries will be found in the section de¬ voted to Argentina. EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA iiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiimiiiiMiii LATIN PEOPLES BALKANS PROTESTANT PEOPLES RUSSIA BALTIC REPUBLICS MOHAMMEDAN PEOPLES EACH DOT REPRESENTS ONE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH COLLEGIO INTERNAZIONALE, MONTE MARIO, ROME In 1917-1918 / studied the history of all the races of the earth, and became convinced that the sole solution of the evil of the world is the transformation of human souls, that this cannot be brought about except by means of religion, and that the most perfect and suitable is that taught by Christ. Giovanni Papini EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA The Continent with Diverse Problems When the Peace Conference attempted to settle the problems of Europe on the basis of racial and economic interests, it plunged into a task from which it was unable to extricate itself successfully. The church, facing the religious problems of the same continent, finds itself dealing with questions as intricate and difficult of solution as any that confronted the negotiators at Versailles. The program of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church in Europe is not a mechani¬ cal one. It has not been worked out on paper and then imposed upon the people involved. It has grown up as needs have been expressed by these people themselves and has been tested out carefully in action. There are six main divisions in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Europe. Briefly, these divisions are: The Latin Peoples The religious problem presented by the Latin countries is one of the most difficult. In Italy, France, and Spain the Methodist Episcopal Church has attempted to deal with it by placing increasing emphasis upon a proper culture for youth while at the same time carrying forward its evan¬ gelistic program. The rearing of a Prot¬ estant younger generation looks to future, more than to present, power. The Balkans Into the southeastern corner of Europe have been flung Mohammedans, Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, Jews, Free Thinkers, and Prot¬ estants. To insure future peace in this storm center a solution of the resulting religious prob¬ lem is as much needed as any¬ thing. Methodist work is being conducted in Bulgaria and Yugo¬ slavia, including Macedonia. 177 178 WORLD SERVICE The Protestant Peoples The healthy Methodist Episcopal churches that have sprung un among the Protestant peoples of Europe have all come, not as a result of any planning in America, but in response to evangelistic labors carried on by natives of these lands converted in other Methodist centers. Had it not been for the war, the work in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland would probably have been self-supporting by this time. For pur¬ poses of easy classification, in the follow¬ ing pages, the description of work in Aus¬ tria and Hungary, which was planted from Germany, will be found listed under the head of the Protestant peoples. Russia This great land remains a problem by itself. So challenging are the opportuni¬ ties that it is clear that the Methodist Episcopal Church must undertake a greatly enlarged program. The Baltic Republics The three small states that have been placed as buffers between Russia and western Europe have been the scene of Methodist work for many years. A strong church is coming into being in each of them. The Mohammedan Peoples While not in Europe, the work in North Africa has been attached to that in Europe for purposes of administration. Tunisia, Algeria, Tripoli, Cyrenaica, Morocco — the field of Methodist labor among the Mo¬ hammedans of North Africa — are all under the political control of European states. They are, however, closely linked to the rest of Africa, because they provide the base from which Islam is advancing against Central Africa. Plans for Advance The Methodist Episcopal Church at present has established residences for bishops in Zurich, Copenhagen, and Paris. The immediate program as approved for work of a nature affecting Europe as a whole is as follows : Work Operations ; 1 Theological School . $ 8,500 Other and General . 13,500 Total (Europe — general) . $22,000 FRANCE Our headquarters at Chateau Thierry Battling for the Spiritual Life of Europe Is France Catholic?— France is a Latin nation. Her history has been interwoven with that of the papacy. Her land is stud¬ ded with hundreds of Roman Catholic churches and other institutions. She sup¬ ports seventeen archbishops, sixty-eight bishops, and 51,000 Catholic clergy of other ranks. Outwardly, this suggests a Catholic country. Nor can it be denied that there has been, since the close of the World War, a lessening of the enmity between the French government and the Vatican, at the EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA in same time when, in some places, a resur¬ gence of Catholic piety has been reported. The diplomacy of an astute Pope and of a foreign office seeking every possible source of continental support has led to the first. The after-effect of the war, coupled with admiration for the heroism displayed by hun¬ dreds of priests, has contributed largely to the second. But the question is not yet answered. Is France Catholic? Politically, no. Dip¬ lomatic flirtations may be in progress, but it is unthinkable that any French gov¬ ernment now possi¬ ble would re-estab¬ lish the status that existed before 1905, when church and state were separated. Culturally, no. That there are large Roman Catholic de¬ posits in the culture of France will not be questioned, but for more than a hundred years the men who have been molding French thought have not, in the main, been sons of the church. Religiously, no. In this realm the Cath¬ olic interest is larger than in any other. But even here the influence must be recog¬ nized of French Protestantism, living un- brokenly to this hour despite St. Bartholo¬ mew’s Eve and all other disadvantage. The man who sees France just as a Catholic country does not see France. Irreligion and materialism. — The truth is that the fight which an eager evangelical¬ ism must wage in France today is not so much with a tradition-bound Catholicism as with irreligion and materialism. Mil¬ lions of Frenchmen, including many of the ruling minds, pride themselves upon their superiority to all religion, their devotion to a “reality” that confines itself to the af¬ fairs of the immediate moment. The struggle in France is not with a dis¬ torted conception of the worship of God, but with a refusal to worship God at all. Religion is to millions a myth outworn. And since France is the leading nation on the continent of Europe, with the stand¬ ards of culture for the Latins, the Balkans, the Poles, and the people of Central Eu¬ rope largely in her keeping, the battle in this republic is really a struggle for the spiritual life of Eu¬ rope. It is not a struggle between varying de¬ grees of spiritual life. It is a struggle to maintain any spir¬ itual life at all. French Protestant¬ ism. — Tribute must be paid the various branches of French Protestantism for the manner in which the truths of the ref¬ ormation, as they found their incarna¬ tion in that great Frenchman, John Calvin, have been kept alive. The last edition of the Statesman’s Year Book states that there are about a million Protestants in France. The Prot¬ estants themselves, at the close of the war, claimed only about 600,000 commu¬ nicants, with 1,200 churches. The addi¬ tion of Alsace and Lorraine increased this enumeration by about 275,000. French Protestantism is divided be¬ tween Reformed, Lutheran, Baptist, Wes¬ leyan, and Methodist Episcopal churches, the McAll Mission, and the Salvation Army. A good measure of the vigor of the French Protestant bodies is to be found in the fact that, at the outbreak of the war, despite their slender resources, they supported 119 foreign missionaries, mainly in Central Africa, with an annual missionary expenditure of $190,000. French Protestantism has a proud history. French orphan at Charvieu 180 WORLD SERVICE Girls from the Ecully orphanage What Methodism has to offer. — The Methodist Episcopal Church entered France in 1907. During the years before the World War the principal attempt was to evangelize the mountainous regions of Savoy, lying in the enclave between the work already established in Switzerland and that in Italy. The region had been badly neglected from a Protestant stand¬ point, and the results of the evangelistic work attempted were encouraging. While the war was in progress, with pastors and parishioners on the firing line, little more could be done than to hold the work together. Now the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church is giving France proof of a continuing interest on the part of the Protestant countries in the fortunes of Protestantism in France. It is also setting up a type of combined evangelistic and social service that may induce a new and more effective method in all French Protestantism. The Strategy of the Methodist Occupation Where the church is working. — There are twenty-three pastoral charges in the France Mission Conference, including Paris, Marseilles, Lyons, Toulon, Greno¬ ble, Chamberry, Chateau Thierry, Tre- voux, Albertville, and Grasse. There are also schools or homes at Charvieu, Ecully, Cannes, and Gen- nevilliers, in addition to some of the places already named. It will be seen that the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church has thus expanded outside the boundaries at first con¬ ceived for it. In large measure, this is a result of the war. The effect of the war. — Before the war the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church in France was a modest agency, mainly at work in the mountains of Savoy. After the war the Methodist Episcopal Church in France is a social agency, at¬ tempting at many points to heal some of the wounds inflicted by that mastodonic conflict. Before the war the Methodist Episcopal Church in France had its eyes fixed mainly upon the conversion of adults. After the war the Methodist Episcopal Church in France is fixing its eyes largely upon the conservation of children. In large measure, the present work can be told in terms of children (mainly orphans) and young people. War reconstruction. — Hardly had the guns cooled before the Centenary, work- Three refugees in front of the Centenary tent under the Liberty tree, Bouresches EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 181 Domestic science is taught at our orphanage in Grenoble ing through its War Re¬ construction Fund, made it possible for the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church to move to the help of France. Thirty villages on the Marne were turned over to Methodist workers for rehabilitation, and prompt and large contri¬ butions were made to aid in the rebuilding and re¬ covery of strength of the historic churches. In Chateau Thierry, a few hundred feet from the bridge where American marines stopped the last desperate German ad¬ vance on Paris, the memorial was opened which keeps firm, through a well-rounded social program, the bond there forged be¬ tween America and France. All this, and more, was done with no other thought than that of helpfulness. In the providence of God the Methodist Episcopal Church had funds wherewith to help; action therefore followed. But one result has been a widespread gratitude on the part of many French folk which has made ready a welcome in many places for other features of the work. Schools and orphanages. — Space does not permit a description of the home at Char- vieu, with its farm school, and its eighty boys housed in the fine plant that the Cen¬ tenary has erected. The orphanage at Boys at Charvieu lend a hand at reconstruction Champs Fleury cares for about sixty girls, many of whom entirely lost track of their families during the war. In Grenoble the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society has a fine home and school for girls. Ultimately, these orphanages, now de¬ manded to care for the victims of the war, will be developed into high grade schools. Other lines of work. — Evangelistic work of the Methodist type is proving success¬ ful. At the area headquarters in Paris, located in the university quarter, a chapel has been erected, where good congrega¬ tions are being gathered; and a building has been provided for a varied type of social work. In Lyons a former moving picture palace has been transformed into a social center that is influencing the en¬ tire section of the city in which it is located. Of significance in connection with the stress laid upon work for children and young people is the development in Sun¬ day-school methods. A few years ago there were no literature supplies, and the schools were nothing more than catechis- tical classes. Today there is a modern and rapidly growing Sunday-school work in all Methodist centers. Some measure of the power of French Methodism may be caught in these facts: In 1909 there were only twenty-four 182 WORLD SERVICE church members ; at the end of 1920 there were 971. In 1909 there were only three Sunday schools ; in 1920 there were twenty-four. In 1909 only twenty-five French children studied the Bible in Meth¬ odist Sunday schools; by 1920 more than 1,800 did so. What might be called a socialized evan¬ gelism distinguishes the whole work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in France. The immediate need. — To project the work in France the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved the following pro¬ gram for 1925 ; Missionary Staff will be required for : Evangelistic Work . . 1 Couples Other Work . 2 Couples 5 $ 14,500 Work Operations will be conducted on the following lines : Church Work from 7 Centers . 27,900 2 Orphanages . $22,000 Medical Work . . 15 000 37,000 Total — Work Operations . $ 64,900 Property Projects; 2 Orphanage Buildings . . $ 20,000 Other and General Work . 200,000 $220,000 Total Program (Prance) . $299,40o SPAIN A Land in Prospect A tale of two schools. — The Methodist Episcopal Church has entered Spain. Count that as a Centenary achievement. The entrance has not been spectacular. There are probably Spaniards who do not know that the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church is among them. But the day is coming when they will. When Methodism, after care¬ ful investigation, entered Spain, it did so by means of two schools. Both had been es¬ tablished for years, had won the confidence of their communities, and afforded a fine constituency with which to begin work. Girls from our Sunday school, Alicante The first of these schools is the Model School for Boys in Alicante, a city on the southeast coast. Founded by the Rev. Francisco Albrecias, who had been educated in Switzerland, and had labored for years as a Bible Society inspector, the school has won a wide reputa¬ tion. Since 1919, when it was taken over by the Board of For¬ eign Missions, the enrolment in the day school has jumped from about 200 to more than 500. A Sunday school gath¬ ers more than 700 children each week in the largest Spanish-speaking Sunday school in the world. The second school is at Seville, and has been known for years as the Evangelical School. Formerly supported by private parties, many of them now deceased, the school has taken on new vigor in its new relation as one of the bases for Methodist work in Spain. In fact, its enrolment mounted so high that the bars had to be put up, in order to keep the school within the limits made necessary by its present curtailed equipment. All this in Spain, where the public schools offer freely what these schools are forced to charge fees to possess, and where the enrolment of a child in the Protestant school may lead to the parent’s loss of po¬ sition or the family’s social ostracism ! EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 183 What Spain is today. — Spain is having a hard time finding her place in the company of modern European states. The mon¬ archy survives, supported by the army, and the two in turn find in the church their hope of a continuing conservatism. But progressive movements in other parts of the continent are felt below the Pyrenees. The general public is becoming more and more exasperated with the mili¬ tary adventures that have led to such costs in blood and treasure, with so little in return, in Morocco. The stability of the state is gradually vanishing. A new day may come in Spain at any time. Facing the future. — There is already a measure of religious tolerance in Spain, although it is less than that in other Latin countries. But it was possible for the 200 small Protestant congregations to unite in an open and national congress in Madrid in 1919. To aid in securing this assembly the Board of Foreign Missions made a generous contribution. The agi¬ tation for complete freedom of worship is constantly gathering strength. It takes no prophet to see that the triumph of new forces in Spain cannot be much longer delayed. This is, therefore, the best of all periods for Protestants to be planting their stakes, in order that they may be ready for aggressive advance the moment the control of Catholicism is loosened. The Methodist Episcopal Church feels sure that, by beginning among the chil¬ dren, it is doing the sort of foundation work that will make possible a stable church, with true evangelical ideals deeply Sunday-school youngsters, Alicante inbred, in the larger days to come. In those days the Methodist program will be enlarged. For the present the methods of work will be continued on the successful basis of the past three years. The immediate need. — The following pro¬ gram for work in Spain during 1925 has been approved : Missionary Staff will be required for: Educational Work . ...1 Couple $ 2,900 IV ork Operations will be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 3 Centers . $ 2.000 2 Schools . 8,100 Total for Work Operations . $10,100 Property Projects: 2 School Buildings . $30,000 Total (Spain) . $43,000 ITALY The Heart of the Latin World All roads lead to Rome. — The fascination of Italy abides, especially in the Latin world. The great Polish novelist, Sienkie- wicz, declared that every Latin has two fatherlands, the one in which he is born and Italy. And if travelers will gather from all the earth in the peninsula that once ruled the West, drawn by the magnetism of its past, how great must be the impress made upon the mind that traces its cul¬ ture to this source ! The Latin is no more confined to the northern shore of the Mediterranean. As his numbers have increased (there are about 170,000,000 Latins today) he has 184 WORLD SERVICE spread through the world, until he is to be found dominating South America, in force in large portions of North America and planting great colonies in Africa. The spiritual condition of Italy therefore be¬ comes of vastly more moment than as if it affected merely one European peninsula. A crucible of history. — Terrific has been the struggle for the control of Italy. The dark, confused years following the fall of the Roman empire are familiar. The city- republics of the Middle Ages must be care¬ fully studied by every student of political institutions. The emergence of the papacy as a temporal power, and the blighting effect of its rule, is the most curious phe¬ nomenon in Western religious history. It took Italy from the time of the Cae¬ sars to that of Mazzini and Garibaldi to win back control of her own life. And the makers of modern Italy — Mazzini, Gari¬ baldi, Cavour, Victor Emmanuel I — had first to defy the papacy before they could unite the country as a limited monarchy. Ostensibly the struggle closed in 1870 when Victor Emmanuel was crowned in Rome, and the pope became “the pris¬ oner of the Vatican.” In fact, the struggle continues. It played its part in hamper- Children of Sicily ing Italy’s armies during the World War. It is at work today. A hidden tomorrow. — Few observers would be so brave as to predict Italy’s political future. At the close of the World War it seemed that communism might en¬ gulf the land immediately. The monarchy is still admittedly in a precarious position. At present, a reaction, to which has been given the name of Fascism, has put down all socialistic agitation ruthlessly. This dictatorship — for such it is — may con¬ tinue in power for some time, counting upon the weariness of the people and their desire for order at any price. It is closely allied with the Vatican. On the other hand, its repressions may bring about re¬ volt at any time. Any enterprise in Italy, therefore, must work today in an environment far from stable. There is small hint as to what tomorrow’s conditions may be. But just because this is such a period of flux, it is a time when forces that would exert a molding influence upon Italy’s future must press their efforts. A Spiritual Battleground “Semper idem.” — It is the boast of the Roman Catholic Church that she never changes. History shows many changes that have come within her life during the centuries, but it is, alas, true that, in spirit, the church has hardly changed since the Middle Ages. Some of her doctrines, such as that of papal infalli¬ bility, are of recent promulgation. But her mind has scarcely altered since the days of Thomas Aquinas-. The challenge to freedom. — It is just this unchangeableness in which the Roman Church glories that has reduced its influ¬ ence among many Italians to the vanishing point. To be sure, in this day of unrest, there is something attractive about any institution that proclaims its opposition to change. But, to the thinker, it soon be¬ comes clear that freedom requires growth. Premier Mussolini states that his Fascisti have not hesitated to tread upon the pros¬ trate body of freedom, nor will they hesi¬ tate to do so again, should change be EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 185 bruited. It is no wonder that a party with such a platform can bring about a rap¬ prochement with the Vatican. At the same time, it makes more inevitable the final divorcement between liberal elements in Italy and the Roman Church. Before long, even the nominal adherence that has been maintained by many liberals will become impossible. The need for Protestantism. — Whatever present conditions, some form of liberal¬ ism is bound finally to triumph in Europe. If this triumph finds Italy’s liberals completely separated from the Roman Church, and without other spiritual al¬ legiance, the religious situation through¬ out the Latin world will be most serious. Apparently, the Roman Church tried to provide for this contingency at the close of the World War, when it launched its Popular Party with a program calling for far-reaching social and political reforms. But the temptation to make common cause with the immediate Fascist despotism has been too strong, and the proposal of an alliance between a progressive political order and a medieval church is now seen to be empty words. Liberal Italy is bound to discover that it cannot trust its future to any program dictated from the Vatican. It knows that the 272 bishops, archbishops and cardi¬ nals, the 67,147 priests, the 45,253 monks who inhabit this country no larger than Colorado are, with only a few exceptions, agents of a reactionary order. It must, for this reason, either find a form of Chris¬ tianity compatible with a free, progressive state, or it will reject all religion. Too largely, the choice of Italy’s lib¬ erals has swung toward the latter of these alternatives. To protect the Latin world, and the rest of the world, against this ca¬ tastrophe, Protestantism is called upon to attempt to set new religious ideals before Italian eyes. Methodism in Italy In the path of Victor Emmanuel. — It was on the twentieth of September, 1870, that the armies of Victor Emmanuel I breached the walls of Rome, brought to an end the A youthful virtuoso from Crandon Insti¬ tute, Rome. A W. F.M. S. school pope’s temporal sway, and proclaimed a united, free Italy. In the same year the Methodist Episcopal Church resolved to open the work in the country. Five years later there was a Methodist work in Rome. In 1893 Methodist headquarters were erected on the Via Venti Septembre — the Street of the Twentieth of September ! Historically and symbolically, free Italy and Methodism have been closely con¬ nected. Planting the church. — From the begin¬ ning, the attempt was to bring forth an Italian church. During all the years there has scarcely ever been a time when there were more than two, and sometimes only one, American member of the Italy Con¬ ference. Schools, philanthropic institu¬ tions, periodicals — all have been conducted worthily by Italian Methodists. While much has been reported concern¬ ing Methodist work in Rome, it must not be thought that this bounds the enterprise in Italy. Before the World War, the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church had been planted in ninety-six preaching places. (A few of 186 WORLD SERVICE Soap bubblers, Casa Materna, Naples these were congregations of Italians resi¬ dent in Switzerland.) The Boys' Indus¬ trial School in Venice had attracted wide attention, while to the Crandon Institute, conducted by the Woman’s Foreign Mis¬ sionary Society, and the school for boys, conducted by the Board of Foreign Mis¬ sions, in Rome, hundreds of the finest of the youth of Italy came for education. The theological seminary, also conducted in Rome, provided a trained ministry. What the Centenary has done. — During the World War the church in Italy suffered heavily. Preachers and laymen were called into the ranks, and suffered there in com¬ mon with the rest of Italy. Churches in the northern part of the country, in the path of invading armies, were destroyed. Methodist Headquarters in Rome But with the return of peace, the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church immediately en¬ tered upon a larger day. Fifty-three new workers were added, and 26,000 people aided with food, clothing, or money. Bible depots were opened in Syracuse, Reggio, Pozzuoli, and Rome. Today we have schools in Pola, Trent, Florence, Pistoia, Pisa, Terni, Spinazzola, Naples, and Rome. Additional property has been purchased in Venice; new property in Co- ritzia, Florence, Trent, Pisa, Pistoia, Na¬ ples, Scicli, and Rome; improvements in Turin. In Genoa, Milan, and Reggio Calabria property was purchased upon which there will later be buildings erected. The Present Program Monte Mario. — The removal of the Col- legio Internazionale from the crowded headquarters building on the Via Venti Septembre to a site on Monte Mario, a part of the Janiculum hill, overlooking Rome and the Mediterranean, has awak¬ ened interest throughout Italy. For a time it seemed that permission might be withheld for the erection of the buildings planned. Buildings that were on the site when purchased have been remodeled, however, and the school is in operation there. It is confidently expected that there will be no final hindrance placed in the way of developing a free institution of higher learning. The school is well called “international.” In its present student body are students from Albania, Montenegro, Yugo-Slavia, Hungary, Africa, Switzerland, Spain, Latin America, and the United States. It has already graduated more than 1,200 students, many of whom occupy positions of leadership in many realms of Italian life. More than forty members of the Italy Conference are products of the school that is now on Monte Mario. (For picture of one of the new buildings, see page 177.) “To serve the present age.” — The motto of the World Service Program of the Methodist Episcopal Church well ex¬ presses the spirit of present-day Italian Methodism. Not only on Monte Mario, but in many other places and ways, the EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 187 Neapolitan preaching scene church is trying to serve Italy. In Naples, for ex¬ ample, the Casa Materna has been moved to a new location, where one of Methodism’s largest or¬ phanages looks after helpless children. The property outgrown has been turned into a social center, with a day nurs¬ ery, a clinic, a recreation center, and an emigration bureau. This development of centers in which help may be given those who hope to emigrate to the United States is of great value. America’s laws now are so stringent that, unless prospec¬ tive immigrants are carefully instructed, they may spend all their available funds upon a fruitless trip across the ocean. At these stations in Italy the church attempts to forge the first link in the chain of serv¬ ice that shall later bind the immigrant to the church in the United States. A Catholic revival. — Newspaper reports, and apparently official statements, have declared that, along with the present in- Geography class, Monte Mario crease in Catholic political power in Italy, there has been planned a campaign espe¬ cially directed against the Methodists in Italy. The very plan bespeaks the reality of Methodist success. It seems clear, how¬ ever, that this campaign is to take the form of Catholic reproduction of Metho¬ dist forms of social service, which will hardly hurt the Methodists, and will be a welcome help in Italy. The immediate need. — In the critical con¬ dition in which the work in Italy now stands, the Methodist Episcopal Church has authorized this program for 1925 : Missionary Staff will be required for: Evangelistic Work . . 3 Couples $ 8,700 Work Operations will lie conducted on these lines : Church Work from SO Centers..- . 75,500 1 School . . . . . . . $ 4.000 1 College . . 20,000 1 Orphan Asylum . . 7000 1 Theological Seminary . . 16.000 47,000 Total — Work Operations ...$122,500 Property Projects to make possible : 1 Citv Church . . $10,000 1 College . . . 50.C00 $ 60,000 Total Program (Italy) . ...$191,200 18ft WORLD SERVICE YUGOSLAVIA In Europe’s Storm Center A shot heard ’round the world. — On a July morning in the city of Sarejevo, capital of the province of Bosnia, a Ser¬ bian student fired at an Austrian arch¬ duke and his wife. Before the final echo of those shots had died away, ten million men were dead on the field of battle, other millions were crippled, others homeless, others hungry, and the world had been brought to a crisis in its civilization. So far-reaching can be the effects of trouble in the Balkans. The Balkans after the war. — The map of the Balkans has been radically altered by the World War. Out of the dismember¬ ment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the disappearance of Montenegro, the de¬ feat of Turkey and Bulgaria, there has emerged the kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, or, as it is more familiarly known, Yugo-Slavia. There must be about five and a half million people in this territory, although political conditions are still so unsettled that an official census is impossible. They represent a strange mixture of peoples, with the races named in the king¬ dom’s title naturally in the major¬ ity. It will be some time before these can be welded into true natural unity, as is shown by the present agitation for independence in Croatia, and the refusal of Croat deputies to sit in the national legis¬ lature. Yet the importance of stability for this Balkan kingdom can not be minimized. “A foreigner in the Balkans,” wrote a recent observer, “in the city of Belgrade, about equidistant from seven turbulent borders, rests his security on the best bet in sight, and that the sagacity and firm¬ ness of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.” In the midst of the clash¬ ing forces in southwestern Europe, the survival of Yugo-Slavia, or of some well- organized state where Yugo-Slavia now stands, is necessary if the world is to be protected from further infection by the “running sore of the Balkans.” Strategic advance. — The church enters Yugo-Slavia because it has a definite and needed contribution to this work of build¬ ing a lasting community. In the breakup of nations, religious bonds have been greatly loosened. Much of the religious ferment that is being felt in Bohemia has crossed the border into Yugo-Slavia. The Greek Orthodox Church is shaken to its foundations by events in Russia, Greece, and the Near East. Even Islam has at¬ tempted a revolution in its government. Conditions are plastic in the Balkans. There is an enormous amount of the sort of human need that calls for the service of Good Samaritans from whatever source they may come. There is much seeking after a more searching personal and more socially uplifting type of religion. The Roman Catholic Church is straining every nerve to take advantage of this opportu¬ nity. In the providence of God it happens that the Methodist Episcopal Church is called upon to bear the major share of the Protestant advance into the same region. The Church in Yugo-Slavia The religious situation. — Some idea of the racial, as well as the religious mixture to be found in the Balkans is given by the report that, on the Novi Sad district of the Yugo-Slavia Mission, there are about 900,000 Slavs, 450,000 Ger¬ mans, and 450,000 Hungarians and Jews, while on the Strumitza District there are very few Catholics or Protestants, but 300,000 Mo¬ hammedans and 450,000 Serb, Bulgarian, and Greek members of the Orthodox Church; and on the Zagreb district the majority are Roman Catholics, with only a few Orthodox communicants. A refugee from Smyrna, she is now under Methodist care at Belgrade EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 189 Consolidating the Methodist line. — Across the heterogeneous kingdom the Methodist Episcopal Church has begun to spread its forces. In this statement the emphasis must be placed on the word “begun,” because the work of the church in Yugo-Slavia is still largely in a process of becoming. Adequate occupation of this vital territory requires a program much larger than that now possible, but the main centers of work have already been oc¬ cupied. As suggested there are three districts in the Methodist Epis¬ copal field. North of the Save River, mostly in the terri¬ tory of old Hungary, north of Belgrade, in the richest farming country in Yugo-Sla- via, lies the Novi Sad district. The part of old Macedonia that borders Greece on the south, Albania on the west, Bulgaria on the east and unites with the older Serbia on the north, com¬ prises the Strumitza district. The provinces of Croatia and Slovenia will form the Zagreb district, when this unit is organized. A glance at the map will show how complete is this occupation of territory. Work welcomed and supported. — Offi¬ cials of the state, and in some instances leaders in the Orthodox Church, have shown their approval of the type of serv¬ ice being rendered by the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church. The Serbian bishop in Novi Sad has commended the work being done in the school for girls there. The utmost cordiality has been shown by the Orthodox bishop in Strumitza. In the province of Croatia, which it is proposed to enter, the plans have the warm approval of the gov¬ ernment. Social work, which includes such insti¬ tutions as the Children’s and Mothers’ Home at Sarajevo, the social center and clinic at Belgrade, the social clubs at Novi Sad, Stari Becej, and Veliki Bechkerek, the girls’ school at Monastir, and the train¬ ing school for girls at Novi Sad, has met a response that has shown its need. For example, the schools mentioned are over¬ crowded, although schools conducted by Protestant bodies in years before the war found it impossi¬ ble to attract a con¬ stituency. The request has come from official quarters to extend the Methodist type of educational work to peasant boys and girls who are not now being reached. The government has asked the Methodist Episcopal Church to conduct an agricul¬ tural and industrial training school, but funds have not been sufficient. However, it is plain that this is a type of education of vast importance, for the future lies with the farmers. An Adequate Program The evangelistic advance. — The Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church can not fool with the situation in Yugo-Slavia. Either it will do the work that there is a chance to do there in the name of a free, modern, evangelical church, or it will lose its chance and might as well withdraw. The pro¬ gram that the church is being asked to support is not extravagant. It is ex¬ tremely conservative. The outstanding feature in the advance program for evangelistic work is the occu¬ pation of the province of Croatia, with later occupation of Slovenia. In both prov- Yes, a snow man in Yugo-Slavia. Girls from the training school at Novi Sad 190 WORLD SERVICE Centenary funds are building this church at Novi Sad. At the left is a school building inces there have been assurances given of support, and the government will favor the move. Next in importance, or perhaps of equal importance, is the placing of the work in Belgrade in a position to command the attention of that city. This involves a large social program, but the fundamental purpose is, of course, to provide an ad¬ equate evangelistic impact upon the na¬ tion’s capital. The Centenary has made possible an increase in the posts on the Novi Sad dis¬ trict from twenty to forty-one, so that the main drive now in this region must be toward the energizing of these new centers. There will be expansion, how¬ ever, much of which will be made possible by the release of funds through the attainment of self-support by churches now established. There is much greater advance neces¬ sary in the work in Macedonia. Here the occupation has not more than begun. The field will be hard to work, but there is a welcome assured wherever the church goes. And as soon as the occupation of territory is complete, the effort to reach the large Mohammedan population must begin in earnest. Schools and homes. — The scope of the training school for girls at Novi Sad must be broadened. Present standards are high, but there are many types of service that Yugo-Slavia needs that have not yet been undertaken. More room must be provided for students. Ultimately, a similar school for boys should be opened, probably in connection with the central headquarters in Belgrade. The Girls’ School at Monastir has made such progress in the two years past that a broadening of its field must be made possible. Serbia is full of young people whom the war has left parentless and homeless, who must be prepared to make their own way in life. The necessity for this type of education is apparent. In addition to these schools, the pro¬ gram in Yugo-Slavia calls for the develop¬ ment of such institutions as the Children’s Medical Home and Sanitarium in connec¬ tion with the school at Novi Sad, the Chil¬ dren’s and Mothers’ Home at Sarajevo, and a training school for Christian work¬ ers in Belgrade. The necessity of providing adequate training for Christian workers needs no argument. A few may go as far as Frank¬ furt, but the majority, if they are to be trained at all, must be trained at home. Christianity in action. — The note of com¬ munity service is struck loud and often, in the program of Yugo-Slavia. In addi¬ tion to the institutions already mentioned, there are already social clubs at Novi Sad, Stari Becej, and Veliki Bechkerek, where are provided : 1. Clubs for boys ; 2. Clubs for girls; 3. Bible classes for women; 4. Reading hours for boys and men; 5. Stereopticon and moving pictures; 6. Language classes in Serbian and. English; Sunning at the sanatorium, Ragusa, Belgrade EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 191 7. Musical instruction; 8. Distribution of literature; 9. Medical care for the poor. Missionary Staff will be required for: Evangelistic Work ...1 Couple 0 Single Educational Work 3 Couples 0 Single Medical Work. . .1 Couple 1 Single Plans call for the establishment of a press and a widespread distribution of lit¬ erature, and a medical work at Strumitza that will be felt throughout Macedonia. Social work is to be stressed in many forms at the Belgrade headquarters. It is suggested that, eventually, there may come agricultural and industrial training schools and perhaps even a farm colony for the demonstration of Christian stand¬ ards. The immediate need. — The Methodist Episcopal Church is called upon to help in the healing of the Balkans during 1925 by supporting the following program for Yugo-Slavia : 5 1 $15,950 IVork Operations will be conducted along these lines : Church Work from 32 Centers. . . $20,735 1 Industrial School . . . $4,300 1 Agricultural School . ... 6,300 1 Training School . . . 5,400 16,000 2 Dispensaries . 3,550 5 Social Centers . 8,315 Other and General Work . 2,000 Total for Work Operations . . $50,600 Property Projects to make possible : 2 Churches . . $21,750 1 Hospital . . . . 1,500 Total for Property Projects . $23,250 Total Program (Yugo-Slavia) .... $89,800 BULGARIA A Laboratory of History Where trouble is brewed. — Diplomats talk in terms of “danger spots.” Of all such, none has played a more sinister role than have the Balkans. Professor Sloane has well written of them as “A Laboratory of History.” Great has been the trouble brewed in these na¬ tional retorts. Of these Balkans, the heart is Bulgaria. Among all war- weary countries, Bulgaria has a right to be almost the weariest. Since she sent her troops to break the Turkish lines around Adria- nople in 1912, Bul¬ garia has been con¬ tinually under arms. In her last two wars she has fought on the losing side. She has been stripped of her territory, and saddled with heavy in¬ demnities and a war debt. Thousands of her sons have been slaughtered. Bulgaria since the war. — “Today,” says an observer, “the Bulgarian is war-tired. He is depressed and discouraged. He feels that he has been a victim of mis¬ placed confidence.” The promises of the Central Powers for a greater Bulgaria were soon shown to be empty. The king who maneuvered the country into war on the side of those pow¬ ers has been exiled. But the ideas out¬ lined in the Ameri¬ can fourteen points, which did much to end Bulgar resist¬ ance and to open the Balkans to the Allies, were also repudiated when peace - making time came. As elsewhere in Europe, Bulgaria’s reaction since the war has been two-sided. There have been those, who because their political hopes have been blighted, have been driven to their knees. Evangelical woi’kers report 192 WORLD SERVICE such a response as they have never before known. But there are also those who are swinging into avowed irreligion. In the face of this movement, with its accom¬ panying social excesses, the state church has shown little power. Within recent months Bulgaria has faced another post-war condition. Hordes of refugees from Russia and the Near East, refused a shelter in other countries, have been permitted to enter Bulgaria. The Armenian communities already in Bulgaria have la¬ bored heroically to care for these refugees, but they have been un¬ able to provide for more than a small part. By further demands upon their own already drained resources the Bulgars, with for¬ eign aid, have proved themselves friends in time of need for thou¬ sands. The future in Bulgaria. — It is hard to prophesy about Bulga¬ ria’s political future. At the present time a peasant party is in control, and the major inter¬ est of the state is the rehabilita¬ tion of agriculture. This is as it should be. Currency is, naturally, depreciated, and the cost of living has mounted as in other war-wrecked countries. The Bulgar, however, inspires confi¬ dence. He is industrious, sober, better educated than other inhabitants of the Balkans, and has proven his ability to take care of himself and build a strong nation, provided he receives an adequate chance. The location of the country on the Danube is in its favor. Despite present political hindrances, the day is bound to come when the economic needs of Europe will construct that Vienna-to-Bagdad trade route that had so much to do with causing the World War. When that hap¬ pens, Bulgaria’s economic future will be assured. Because of this economic promise, Bul¬ garia offers an attractive prospect for many kinds of investment just now. Not the least of these should be the invest¬ ment of those who work for the establish¬ ment of the kingdom of God. The Evangelical Contribution A mission well established. — The out¬ break of the World War found the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church well established in Bulgaria. Founded in 1857, the mis¬ sion survived years of discour¬ agement and opposition. By 1914 it had come to a point where it was nearly self-sup¬ porting and, with the exception of its superintendent, entirely Bulgarian in personnel. By agreement with the Amer¬ ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (the Con- gregationalists ) , Methodist work had been confined to the northern half of the kingdom; and there, in Sofia, the capital, in Varna, the chief seaport, in Plevna, and in twenty-one other centers, the church had been planted. During the World War. — With the coming of the war, and es¬ pecially when the United States entered on the side of the Allies, the work was terribly embarrassed. The United States never declared war against Bulga¬ ria, but the Methodists of that country were, nevertheless, in a dangerous posi¬ tion. In some way, however, the work went on. When peace came, the property was found to be little damaged, and the devotion of the church membership stood proved. War reconstruction. — In the interest of Bulgaria, as one of the war-swept nations, it was possible for the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church immediately to undertake reconstruction measures. This aid, coupled with the popular enthusiasm for the aims with which America entered the peace conference, soon gave the church such an opening as it has never had before. Be¬ cause this opportunity has been in a slight measure grasped, Methodism is now forced to determine whether the resulting strategic situation shall be adequately met. Macedonian peasant, Bulgaria EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 193 In the Bulgar capital. — The most im¬ portant step made possible by the Cen¬ tenary has been the securing of land in Sofia upon which will rise the Methodist headquarters for the entire country. In fact, so valuable was the property at first purchased that the government has taken it over as the site for a public building, and is now offering in exchange a larger plot, even more centrally and ad¬ vantageously located for the work which is contemplated. In this new plant there will be con¬ ducted an institutional church of the most modern type, as well as a center for the distribution of literature. When the plans are carried out, Methodism will at least be able to deal with the problems of “the most strategic city in the most strategic country in the most strategic peninsula in the world.” The opportunity. — In many other cities, notably Tirnovo, Sevlieve, and Gorna Metropolia, new or enlarged properties testify to the increasing vigor of Bulga¬ rian Methodism. Not all of these are as a result of Centenary gifts. In fact, it is claimed that for twenty-five years before the Centenary the church in America did not provide a cent for additions to the property holdings in Bulgaria. The home missionary society of the Bulgarians has been responsible for the building of most of the present Methodist churches in that country. This self-reliance on the part of the Bulgarian church is one guarantee for the The Methodist Episcopal Church, Varna future. Without it, the work could never have survived the crisis brought by the World War. With it, even the upset state of an impoverished land will not prevent the building of a strong indigenous church. During the last year the church in Bul¬ garia has reported a growth in member¬ ship of seventy per cent. The American School for Girls, conducted at Lovetch by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, has far surpassed its proper capacity. Everywhere there are evidences of wel¬ come on the part of the plain people, so much so that all sorts of peculiar bodies — the Spiritualists, the Russellites. the Holy Rollers and others — are pressing in. The Methodist Episcopal Church thus finds itself confronting the immediate and pressing necessity of representing a sane form of Protestantism in this nation of many religions. The program presented to the church in America is not large. The Bulgarian Methodists are themselves ready to bear a great part of the necessary program. Help from America is, however, essential. 194 WORLD SERVICE If Methodism has any real desire to put its mark on the Balkans, here is the place, and this is the time, for it to move forward. The immediate need. — After careful consideration of all the elements involved, the Methodist Episcopal Church has ap¬ proved the following program for Bul¬ garia in 1925 : Missionary Staff will be required for Evangelistic Work . 2 couples $ 5,800 JVork Operations will be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 28 Centers. ...$ 9,440 11 Industrial Schools . 2,40*0 Other and General Work . 2,500 Total for Work Operations . $ 14,340 Property Projects to make possible : 1 Church Building . 10,000 Total — Property Projects . . $ 10,000 Total Program (Bulgaria) . $ 30,140 ALBANIA A call unanswered. — One of the trag¬ edies of recent years has been the failure of the Methodist Episcopal Church to answer the appeal from Albania. Mis¬ sionary history pre¬ sents no parallel to the action taken by the Regency and Government of Alba¬ nia, when, on Octo¬ ber 15, 1920, they united in a formal, official appeal to the Methodists to enter that Mohammedan country, begin a full program, and partic¬ ularly take charge of a modern system of public education. The government pro¬ posed to grant all needed equipment for this undertaking, with the church sup¬ plying the educators. “In the providing of sites, of farm lands, of buildings — such as we have, they are yours, and we are your servants,” declared the official Al¬ banian appeal. Careful investigation by the bishop of the Paris area, by representatives of the Board of Foreign Missions, and by Amer¬ ican educational experts, brought a unani¬ mous verdict in favor of entering Albania. The country was found to be wide open, conditions more than favorable, and Prof. Elmer E. Jones, of Northwestern Uni¬ versity, concluded a dispassionate, scien¬ tific study of the sit¬ uation with these words: “I cannot make too strong a plea for an immedi¬ ate occupation of this field. The har¬ vest is ripe. It seems to me that the call is so urgent and so great that we cannot decline.” Despite this wide open door, this un¬ paralleled spectacle of Moslems and Greek Catholics ap¬ pealing to a Protes¬ tant church to occupy their land, the call remains un¬ answered. The reduction in foreign mis¬ sionary funds has made it impossible for the church, in view of its previous obliga¬ tions, to embrace this opportunity. Will the church, in the face of such a challenge, turn definitely away? Come and plan a school system for us! EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 195 NORWAY Methodism’s Farthest North A mission that founded itself. — At Ham- merfest, the most northern city in the world, there is a congregation of the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church. Throughout Norway, other Meth¬ odist congregations are scattered. Super¬ ficial observers, find¬ ing them in this Protestant country, have sometimes spo¬ ken of them as “in¬ terlopers.” How came they there? The Methodist Episcopal Church was established in Norway in the same way that it was es¬ tablished in the other countries of Scandi¬ navia. No American body planned it. A Norse sailor came to New York, found a living Christ in a Methodist service, re¬ turned to his native land to testify. Hearts were so stirred by this testimony that they would not permit the sailor permanently to return to the United States but insisted that he give his life to taking his message to his fellow countrymen. Out of this evangelistic crusade there came societies of those who were unsatis¬ fied by the formal worship of the state church. And from those societies came the Methodist Episcopal Church in Nor¬ way. Present conditions in Norway. — Modern Norway stands at the forefront of the democracies of Europe. Politically, there is equal suffrage for both sexes, with all offices, save in the church, open to women on the same terms as to men. Socially, the condition of the laborer is protected by the most modern industrial laws, sur¬ passing those of the United States, and old distinctions of rank are rapidly being wiped out. In education, Norway claims one of the finest systems of public schools, with one of the lowest rates of illiteracy, in the world. The stress of post-war days has made itself felt in Norway, even though that country was one of the few in Europe to keep out of the fight¬ ing. The cost of liv¬ ing has risen to staggering heights, while business de¬ pression has thrown thousands out of work and reduced wages in almost every industry. The government has been forced to exercise its powers of compul¬ sory arbitration to keep the industrial life of Norway going during recent years. Political control now lies in the hands of the liberals, with conservatives on the one hand, and the socialists and commu¬ nists on the other, struggling for power. The communists show great strength, and are determinedly anti-religious. Among the reforms of the last few years, none has been of greater signifi¬ cance than the adoption of a partial form of prohibition. The day is not far distant when Scandinavia will be dry. The place of Methodism. — What part is the Methodist Episcopal Church playing in this land? Norway has the system of state-supported Lutheran Church to be found elsewhere in Scandinavia. Despite the glory of its past and the regularity of its political connections there is often a lack of present spiritual power. Because of this, movements have sprung up within the state church, such as the Inner Mission and the China Mis¬ sion, which gave their followers a chance to express their interest in a more search¬ ing type of religious experience or in for- Northern Lights 196 WORLD SERVICE Methodist hospital at Bergen eign missions. When the inevitable separation of church and state comes, these movements may be relied on to supply a spiritual vigor sufficient to save what is now a tax-supported institution. In addition, there have been movements outside of the church resulting in the for¬ mation of such bodies as the Free Luther¬ ans, the Baptists, the Salvation Army, the Roman Catholics, and some smaller groups. Of all these “dissenters,” how¬ ever, the Methodist Episcopal Church is by far the strongest. In a word, the work of Methodism has been to set up an example of fervent piety that is now acknowledged to be a main cause for the stirrings of new religious life both within and without the state church. The Church in Norway Evangelistic centers. — There are seven districts in the Norway Annual Confer¬ ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a study of their location will show that the church is established in all the principal centers of the country. The most recent statistics available (those for 1920) show a total of forty- seven ordained and eighty-four unor¬ dained preachers in this territory, with a membership of practically 8,000. In fifty- six Sunday schools, 12,351 scholars are enrolled, and in eighty-three Epworth Leagues, both senior and junior, there are about 3,500 members. An unceasing evangelistic program is kept going, with itinerating evangelists, much after the pattern of early Metho¬ dism. The church in Norway feels that its peculiar responsibility is to testify to this type of positive evangelicalism. Woman’s socializing touch. — The work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Norway is definitely social as well as evangelistic in program. In large meas¬ ure this is due to the Methodist deaconess, who has made a deep impression upon the entire country. In all the Methodist work in Protestant Europe the work of the deaconess will be found to be of great importance. These women, who generally live in special homes, sacrifice to an unbelievable extent in their service for the poor. Consequently, their public repute is high. There are two deaconess homes, one in Christiania and one in Bergen, from which more than a hundred deaconesses have been commissioned. In the deacon¬ ess hospital at Bergen, and in many other hospitals and homes for children, these consecrated women carry on their work. The Epworth League is also helping in conducting summer outings for children. Throughout Norway, Methodism is coming to be known for its works of mercy. Present lines of advance. — The Cente¬ nary period in Norway has been marked by the purchase of the Central Church in Christiania, and by the growth in self- support on the part of the Norse church. In the new church in the national capital there is, in addition to the regular equip¬ ment for a large city congregation, room for the theological seminary and a book¬ store; and, as soon as certain temporary restrictions because of post-war housing conditions are removed, there will be dor¬ mitory space for many students. With the falling off in business affect¬ ing most adversely the classes that make up the Methodist constituency, there is cause for rejoicing in the advance of the church from a contribution in 1916 of $45,053 to $139,508 in 1920. The day of complete self-support will come quickly as soon as Europe returns to stability. At present there is likewise a signifi¬ cant development in the work with the EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 197 children and young people. The Sunday schools, which have been too largely neglected, are being carefully graded and brought, under close supervision, to the place where they can do work of the most approved type. Expressional activities for young people are being developed by the Epworth League. The immediate need. — To carry on the work in Norway during 1925 on the needed basis the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved this program: Work Operations will be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 57 Centers.--.- . . . $24,667 1 Theological School . . . . . 3,300 Total — Work Operations . $27,967 Property Projects: 3 Churches . . $22, COO 2 Parsonages . . 2,000 Other Projects . 3 000 Total — Property Projects . $27,000 Total Program (Norway) . . $54,967 SWEDEN How Methodism Reached Sweden The good ship “John Wesley.”— Eighty years ago there rode the waters of New York harbor a ship that has had a far- reaching influence in Scandinavia. This was the “John Wesley,” a “Bethel” ship, fitted up by Methodists in New York to carry on evangelistic services among sail¬ ors in port. Olaf Hedstrom was the skipper-evangelist. Men were converted who sailed to all parts of the world. Among these con¬ verts a young Swede, John P. Larsson, under the impulse that came from his con¬ version, returned to his home land. There he was joined by a fellow countryman, also converted in America. As laymen the two gave their testimony and great crowds listened. The Lutheran State Church of Scandi¬ navia was at that time in a period of stag¬ nation such as seems easily to befall state churches. In the simple testimony of these Methodist sailors there was a warmth and note of experience for which thousands of Swedes had been waiting. It needed but the coming of an ordained Methodist preacher from Norway to bring into ex¬ istence Methodist societies, with subse¬ quent formation into regular churches out of which the Sweden Annual Conference has grown. English forerunners. — It was, perhaps, prophetic that the founder of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church in Sweden should have been converted aboard a ship named the “John Wesley.” Wesley’s influence was felt in Sweden years before the Meth¬ odist movement came into existence. A Swedish ambassador to England, a Count Wrangle, was an intimate friend of the great preacher and was moved by him to take a large part in the formation of a society in Sweden that was designed to awaken a fervent piety within the state church. This Swedish diplomat had greater success in remaining within the estab¬ lished church than had Wesley. Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, Stockholm 198 WORLD SERVICE Institution for feeble-minded At the beginning of the nineteenth century, another wave of Methodist in¬ fluence came to Sweden. An English manufacturer, an ardent Methodist named Owen, who set up a factory in the country, soon sent for Methodist preachers from England to carry on evangelistic work. Of these, George Scott preached in Sweden for more than ten years, until finally he was driven out at the instigation of the established church. The work of these English pioneers was not entirely lost, however. It introduced many liberal elements into the state church and did much to prepare the ground for the success that attended later Methodist efforts. The church founded. — Sixty years ago the first ordained Methodist preacher en¬ tered Sweden from Norway. A year later a companion reached the field, having been transferred from a conference in the United States. In the years following, the interest aroused by the Methodist preachers pene¬ trated almost all circles of Swedish life. One of them was even invited to preach in the royal palace. Reaction followed, during which some of the preachers were fined and others imprisoned. The permanent establish¬ ment, however, went on without interrup¬ tion. A theological school was planted at Upsala and various other institutions came into being. After religious liberty had been granted in Sweden, other denominations outside the state church were formed. There are today approximately 600,000 Protestants in the country who are legally known as dissenters. Among them all the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church occupies an out¬ standing position. Its work has been con¬ ducted by Scandinavians. In this sense, therefore, it can hardly be spoken of as a foreign missionary enterprise. The Work in Sweden The present state of the church. — At the last session of the Swedish Annual Con¬ ference reports from 140 churches indi¬ cated a total membership of 19,015. In the more than 200 Sunday schools, more than 21,000 children are under instruc¬ tion. The church in Sweden is raising more than $350,000 a year for the support of the work. All these figures are encour¬ aging but they do not begin to give a pic¬ ture of the strong life currents that are flowing through Swedish Methodism. Preachers for Scandinavia. — One of the outstanding results of the Centenary has been the establishment of a Theological Seminary at Goteborg (Gothenburg) in which a high type of preparation can be given. By closing the schools that have been doing effective, but limited, work in Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and concentrating in this easily accessible center, a need that has been felt with in¬ creasing force will be met. Moreover, such a school will make Methodist work throughout Scandinavia more unified than ever. The Stockholm center. — None of the Centenary advance in Sweden has at¬ tracted more attention than the securing of a headquarters building in Stockholm. Here, in the national capital, the varied work of the Central Church is carried on along the most approved institutional lines. Offices are also provided for the leaders of Methodism throughout Sweden, and a bookstore for the Methodist Book Concern. Practical Christianity. — Of particular importance is the large amount of com¬ munity service being rendered. When one picks up reports from the Swedish An- EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 199 nual Conference and runs through the lists of churches, one finds items like this : “An extensive work is carried on among children throughout the country under the direction of the Foreningen For Varnlosa Barn Suppfostran (Society for the Bring¬ ing Up and Training of Homeless Chil¬ dren.) “The Social Mission of the Methodist Church in Stockholm serves many free meals, gives away in the course of a year clothing valued at 1,000 crowns, shelters 560 people, provides work for eighty-seven and gives summer vacations to many chil¬ dren. “The Goteborg Central Mission gave one meal a day to 150 children through¬ out the winter, 100 children were clothed and 150 children were given summer out¬ ings. A summer home for children has been opened up, two winter colonies have been conducted. Forty old people, unable to work, were fed and forty families re¬ ceived food, fuel, and other necessities. “Orgryte Mission fed 150 children with one meal a day, sent 110 to summer homes, clothed 100, and helped 150 poor families. “The Malmo Central Mission sheltered 420 different persons over night, con¬ ducted a home for school children whose parents are forced to work, caring for them in the interval between the close of school and the return of their parents to the home, and carried on many other forms of social service. “The two Methodist Episcopal Churches at Gefle cared for sixty-five families and clothed twenty-five children. “At Falun a home for poor children is conducted. “At Kiruna a day nursery is carried on for babies. “At Ostersund there is also a day nurs¬ ery. “About 15,000 meals were given to the poor children in Norkoping.” And so the list might be extended. Much of this work is under the active direction of the consecrated deaconesses who are trained in the centers at Stock¬ holm and Goteborg. The deaconess hos¬ pital at the latter city is one of the Children’s home at Alingsas outstanding institutions of Swedish Methodism. Methodism’s great contribution. — As in so many other places, the great thing that Methodism has accomplished in Sweden has been the revival of other churches. The evangelistic movement within the state church, with a large interest in for¬ eign missions, is in no small degree due to the influence of forces set in motion by the Methodists. It cannot, however, be said that the need for an evangelistic em¬ phasis in Swedish Protestantism outside the state church is at an end. While Sweden is one of the progres¬ sive countries of Europe, with forward- looking educational, industrial and other social legislation, there are still many con¬ ditions that need improvement. Too frequently the state church seems bound up with conservative interests. During the recent campaign for nation prohibition, for example, when the plebi¬ scite was lost by only 35,000 votes in a total of 1,800,000, the influence of the established church was not felt strongly on the side of prohibition. As one Swe¬ dish magazine writer at the time stated, “The history of the state church testifies to the sad fact that it has usually been on the wrong side when great social, religious or moral questions have had to be decided. It has once more missed its opportunity to become a leader of the ethical and religious movements of Sweden.” In conducting a vigorous evangelistic program, with emphasis as suggested upon 200 WORLD SERVICE many forms of social betterment, the Methodist Episcopal Church shows itself in possession of a type of piety that Swe¬ den today greatly needs. In Sweden the recognition of this need is growing. The immediate need. — In order to carry on the work in Sweden during 1925, the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved the following program : Work Operations will be conducted on these lines: Church Work from 45 Centers. ...$20,100 1 Theological School . 5,500 Total — Work Operations . $25,600 Property Projects: 4 Churches . $10,500 1 Theological School Building _ 5,000 Total — Property Projects . $15,500 Total Program (Sweden) . $41,100 DENMARK A Mission That Founded Itself “Go to thy friends.” — Wholly without its own design, the Methodist Episcopal Church awoke one day in 1857 to find a flourishing work in Denmark. Danes had been converted in Methodist churches in the United States; some of them had re¬ turned to their native land; there they md not found spiritual satisfaction in the state church ; the preaching of a Danish minister and the formation of Danish Methodist congregations was the inevi¬ table result. The work in Denmark founded itself. A land of new ideas. — The influence of Methodism has been felt in many portions of the life of Denmark. Here is a com¬ pact little country (about half the size of Indiana) with a population half urban and half agricultural. Much of the progressiveness of North¬ ern Europe is to be found in the laws pro¬ viding universal education, abolishing child labor; prohibiting prostitution; placing the liquor traffic under severe re¬ strictions; opening all offices to women (save the ministry, army and navy) ; se¬ curing, through organization of labor and capital, an effective method of dealing with industrial disputes. For the past half century Denmark has probably contained as enlightened a citi¬ zenship, taken as a whole, as has been found in Europe. For this reason, the re¬ cent extreme revolution¬ ary movements have made little impression. Results direct and indi¬ rect. — On the other hand, the state church has fre¬ quently fallen prey to the formalism that besets such institutions. The theory has been that every Dane belonged to this communion unless a definite act of separation had occurred. In 1922 the daily published by one branch of the state church at Copenhagen declared that “A man or woman is a member of the People’s (state) Church even if he This castle, near Aduire, has been purchased for the Methodist Children’s Home EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 201 or she has committed incest, stolen, or killed, and his right to be a member is not lost even if the member declare Chris¬ tianity to be falsehood and deceit.” To¬ gether with this conception of the nature of the church has gone a lack of sympathy with the emerging groups of labor, and a general tendency to hold back the forces of social reform. Keep in mind these elements and it is easy to understand why the Methodism of Denmark has developed as it has. The national interest in social reform has opened the way for a large institutional development. The conservatism of the state church has left the laboring group by the thousands out of touch with reli¬ gion. The spiritual longings of many have found their supply in the warm evangelism of Methodism, leading to a revival move¬ ment within the state church that has raised up a distinctly Methodist type of Lutheranism. The Methodist Episcopal Church in Denmark An indigenous church. — “Indigenous” is a word that is bound to crop out in any discussion of mission policies in any part of the world in these days. To plant a work, to see the roots go down deep, to guard the growth, until at last there emerges a church that is a part of the soil in which it has been planted — this is the modern missionary ideal. The Methodist Episcopal Church in Denmark comes as near to being an in¬ digenous church as is to be found on any of our mission fields. Its churches all have Danish pastors, who are supervised by Danish district superintendents, who report to a Danish bishop. The place of the church has become so well-recognized in Danish life that the authorities of the capital make possible an annual “flower day” by which funds are raised for its support. In 1921 the Methodists of Den¬ mark contributed $1,546,769 for the sup¬ port of the Church, thirty-two times as much as they received from missionary funds. Within a few years this branch of the church should be self-supporting. 14 The first two children to be received into the children’s home, Odense, with one of the sisters Evangelism and education. — The first representative of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Denmark gave his life to an evangelistic ministry. Naturally, for this seemed the form of work most needed in a country where spiritual power was being endangered by formalism. “Most of the people of Denmark are indifferent to reli¬ gion,” says a Danish observer. “They have their children baptized and con¬ firmed in a church, and the church is gen¬ erally used for weddings and funerals. But that, for the largest part of the Danish people, is all the church is good for.” The response to the evangelistic mes¬ sage of Methodism brought about the planting of churches in the five districts that compose the present Denmark Con¬ ference. It helped to lead to the rebirth of zeal within the state church that has given birth to the so-called Inner Mission within this body. Many other denomina¬ tions have followed the same trail in be¬ ginning work in Denmark, among them several forms of Adventists, Pentecostal- ists, and Mormons. It was not necessary to undergird the work in Denmark with schools. The sys- 202 WORLD SERVICE tem of public schools is the pride of the country, and all the children are assured the foundations of an education. In re¬ cent years, however, the need for a school wherein Christian workers could be trained has been felt, and a Bible and normal school has been opened. (This is officially known as the Danish Methodist High School, but the title does not ac¬ curately suggest its services.) The Lu¬ theran church has many such schools in Denmark, the Baptists one, and the Roman Catholics one. In this school it is now possible, by short courses as well as by regular courses, to train the young Methodists of Denmark for life service, as well as for the living of a Christian life and the erec¬ tion of Christian homes. There is great eagerness to obtain a place in the limited student body. A great institutional center. — A visitor who returned from Europe not long ago said, “I believe the Jerusalem Church in Copenhagen, with its Central Mission, to be the finest piece of institutional work now conducted by the Methodist Episcopal Church in any part of the world.” T is thirteen years since this Central Mission was launched by Pastor (now Bishop) Anton Bast. There is no space to tell the full story of its development, and statistics are too often mere masses of figures. But some will have imagina¬ tion to see what lies behind the statement that more than 12,000 meetings have been held here; that free lodgings have been given to 125,466; that free meals have been given to 394,171 adults and 907,289 children; that 6,126 have re¬ ceived work within the Mission, and em¬ ployment has been found for 5,722 more outside; that a home has been provided as a refuge for old people, two more for children, and another for infants; that an income of a million dollars has been raised, from which there remains property worth more than 8200,000 in which to carry on the work. Central Mission, Copenhagen, is Meth¬ odism’s outstanding example of Christian social service to the needy of Northern Europe. It must be supported, not only because its service merits support, but that it may inspire similar enterprises elsewhere. Facing the Future Moving toward self-support. — Had it not been for the World War, the church in Denmark would have been completely self-supporting before this. As it is, de¬ spite the poverty that has come, great ad¬ vances have been registered. Between 1916 and 1922 the contributions to evan¬ gelistic work increased by 333% ; to the support of preachers by 300% ; to the disciplinary benevolences by 281% ; the value of church build¬ ings by 100% and the value of parsonages by 369%. During the same period, gifts to foreign missions increased by more than 300%, reach¬ ing $4,000 in 1922. With this sort of sup¬ port it can be seen that the day is not far off when the Methodist Episcopal Church in Denmark will not require help from any other land. The policy of the Danish Methodists The Central Mission, Copenhagen, furnishes a Christmas evening dinner for destitute men EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 203 The day nursery of the Central Mission, Copenhagen calls for the rapid bring¬ ing to pass of this ideal. Why aid and what aid? Some may ask, in the presence of such strength as this, why any further aid should be given the work in Denmark. This is a legitimate question. Its answer lies in other conditions in this country. In the first place, the membership of the church is not large, with not more than 6,000 in the total constituency. These are not rich people. They are poor. The Methodist Epis¬ copal Church is not proselyting among other bodies. It confines its attention to the neglected classes, and rejoices in the response it wins from them. But these are not people with the ability to carry heavy financial burdens. It is remarkable that they do as much as they do. Again, such institutions as the Bible School and the Theological Seminary, which have in their keeping the whole future success or non-success of this enter¬ prise, are still too undeveloped to be left to their own resources. A bit more sup¬ port, until they are in a position to do their full work, will increase their future service many times. Finally, the devotion of these Metho¬ dists in Denmark merits support. They are not asking great sums. The plans they have made call for such advance as can be made without too much strain on the present work. Admiration for the achievements of the past, with recognition of the opportunity of the present, should insure such aid in the building of churches, the extension of city missions and the strengthening of schools as is asked. The immediate need. — A carefully worked out program for the Methodist Episcopal Church in Denmark shows that during 1925 the work will require: Work Operations to be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 37 Centers- . $ 17,740 1 High School . $1,850 1 Theological School - - 2,000 3,850 Total — Work Operations . $ 21,590 Property Projects: 6 Churches . . . . $31,000 1 Theological Seminapy Bldg _ 2,000 33,000 Total Program (Denmark) . $ 54,590 204 WORLD SERVICE FINLAND Out of the War A new Protestant nation. — The reli¬ gious traditions of most of the European nations established by the Treaty of Ver¬ sailles are Catholic, either Roman or Greek. Finland is Protestant. Her 3,335,237 people are, by law, members of the State Church (Lutheran) and could not, until recently, belong to any other without vast difficulty. There are, to be sure, some Greek Catholics, for there are about 50,000 Russians in this republic that was once a province of the Tsar. Metho¬ dists, Baptists, Jews, and Mohammedans also find place in the religious census. But the overwhelming majority of the people belong to the State Church. Through the fire. — Although the World War did not, according to the commu¬ niques, include Finland in its theatre, this land beside the Baltic suffered as severely as any part of Europe. Beginning as a Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Church, Helsingfors duchy of the Russian Empire, but a duchy where disaffection was known to be rife, Finland had to make her contribution to the Russian war strength, and to support 700,000 Russian soldiers. When the Russian revolution overthrew the Tsar in 1917, Finland asserted her in¬ dependence. An internal struggle for control between the conservative and so¬ cialistic forces followed, out of which came the bloody civil war of 1918. The outside world hardly knows yet that this struggle between the “Reds” and “Whites” was so bitter that when, after a year of fighting, the conservatives won, the little republic found herself with 40,000 orphans on her hands ! Finland’s problems. — Apparently the control of the Whites over Finland is complete. But, beneath the surface, there is immense dissatisfaction among the la¬ boring classes. If support should be offered from Russia it is likely that the Reds would think themselves strong enough to renew the civil war tomorrow. Now that the period of reprisals follow¬ ing the war of 1918 has passed, Finland is being given a fairly good government. The school system is functioning well ; national prohibition has come to stay ; women have won a place of equality, legally, politically, and socially, with men. Many experi¬ ments for improving conditions of indus¬ try are being carried on. The national finances are in better shape than in most European states. It is necessary, however, to win the allegiance of thousands of working people to this regime in order to insure its stability. It cannot be said that this has yet been accomplished. As in so many other states, the political problem roots back in economic conditions. Wages have risen sharply in Finland, a common laborer now receiving from eighty cents to a dollar a day. A few years ago this would have been a princely wage. But the cost of living has also risen. Most of the food staples of Finland are imported, many of them from America. Clothing EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 205 has reached the point where a suit will absorb a year’s savings. Rents are so high that few workers can afford more than a single room, no matter how large the family. Coupled with these economic and politi¬ cal problems, the religious situation de¬ mands attention. Most of the privileges of the State Church have been abolished, and freedom of worship established. Com¬ plete separation of church and state is coming soon. Yet the State Church is as supine as in many other countries of northern Europe. The grant of religious freedom may only show openly the drift toward indifference and atheism that has been going on within the church for years. Some power that will wake to life warm spiritual forces within the Protestantism of Finland is needed if that land is to be saved from the same religious breakdown that threatens Russia. Methodism in Finland How the work was planted. — The Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church is at work through¬ out Finland. How did it come there? As in the other European states, the found¬ ing of this work was not planned by the church. The year after the American Civil War closed, two young Finnish sailors were converted in a Methodist service in New York City. Under the inspiration of their new spiritual experience they returned to Finland, preaching the gospel. Later, local preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church came from Sweden to assist them. By 1891 there were enough members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Fin¬ land to secure legal recognition. Since that time the work has grown steadily, although there has never been a foreign missionary within the bounds of the Fin¬ land Conference. Present occupation. — The work in Fin¬ land is divided between two districts, one, concerned wholly with the Finns, and one confining its attention to Swedes, of whom there are 350,000 in Finland. There are churches for Finns in fourteen of the thirty-eight cities and in a majority of From the Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Sunday school, Helsingfors Swedish centers. In addition, there are two orphanages for Finnish children, three for Swedish, a Swedish nursery and old folks’ home and a theological semi¬ nary for Finns — the only Methodist school for Finns in the world. A growing church. — Although Finland has been passing through the depression of the world war and the terrors of its own civil war, church growth has been steady. There were, for example, 679 Finnish members in 1916, when the Centenary was launched; today, there are 1,604. There are likewise, 1,078 Swedish members. In fifty-three Sunday schools, there are 4,352 students, and there are Epworth Leagues in practically all the churches with a total membership of 2,633 in the Junior and Senior branches. At the same time contributions from the membership have greatly increased. In 1916 Finnish Methodists gave 8.072 Finn¬ ish marks* for the support of the pastor- *It is impossible to report these justly in terms of American money because of the fluctuation in value of the Finnish mark. Normally, this is worth about nineteen cents in American money. On Jan¬ uary 1, 1923, it was worth approximately two and one half cents. 206 WORLD SERVICE At the Children’s Home, Grankulla ate; in 1922, 93,965 Finnish marks. At the same time the support of the pastors on the Swedish district increased from Fmk. 20,445 to Fmk. 155,750. For mis¬ sions and benevolences, contributions of Finnish Methodists rose from Fmk. 5,792 in 1916 to Fmk. 126,720 in 1922. The Swedish district increased its offering for foreign missions during the same period from Fmk. 4,840 to Fmk. 28,425 and other benevolences grew proportionately. In 1916 church properties on the Finnish dis¬ trict were valued at Fmk. 337,300, upon which there was a debt of Fmk. 207,118. At present the value of properties has in¬ creased to Fmk. 1,281,408 while the debt has been reduced to Fmk. 69,854. The value of the churches and parsonages on the Swedish district has risen from Fmk. 685,583 to Fmk. 4,162,870. While the loss in exchange value must be considered, this amazing growth rep¬ resents a real advance on the part of the church, both Finnish and Swedish, in Fin¬ land. The income of the Methodists in that country has not kept pace with the change in the value of the Finnish mark. So that while the increase in pastoral sup¬ port, for example, is about 800 per cent in terms of Finnish marks, it likewise rep¬ resents at least 200 per cent, probably more, in terms of increased proportion of income contributed. What is the future to be? — The line of advance in Finland is very plain. For most of this the Methodist Episcopal Church in that country will provide. Help is asked from America for the provision of a headquarters building in the capital, Helsingfors; a deaconess hospital in the same city; and churches and chapels in five other cities and several smaller towns. The building in Helsingfors is especially important. In it there will be not only a varied institutional church work, but the Theological Seminary and a center for the distribution of evangelical literature. The Methodist Episcopal Church is in a position promising unusual success for an institutional program. In the internal struggle, it has been able to win the con¬ fidence of both Reds and Whites. No matter which party finally controls Fin¬ land, Methodist work will be free from in¬ terference and will have the sympathy of the authorities. The projected Methodist Central Building, Helsingfors EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 207 The opening of churches and chapels is always in response to invitations, which are coming in increasing numbers now that Finland has religious freedom. There is every indication that Methodism can expand its work in Finland many times during the next few years. The immediate need.— By far the larger part of the advance program in war- stricken Finland will be borne by the Finnish Methodists but they, in their pov¬ erty, call upon their American brethren for support in 1925 to the following ex¬ tent : Work Operations will be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 40 Centers . $ 21,900 1 Theological Seminary . 2,724 Total — Work Operations . $ 24,624 Property Projects: 2 Churches . $ 27,500 Other Projects . . 25,000 Total — Property Projects . $ 52,500 Total Program (Finland) . - . $ 77,124 GERMANY After the War An agent of international good will. — When Richard Wobith, superintendent of the Southern District of the South Ger¬ many Conference came to answer the ques¬ tion in the Post-Cente¬ nary Survey asking for “the urgent, significant movements creating a special opportunity for Christianity,” he wrote : “The greatest challenge in these days is that the Methodist Episcopal Church is the only one of all the Protestant churches of the world which is in¬ ternational and is able with the help of God, to give her interests to the reconciliation of the na¬ tions. For there is no peace now; only war. Many of the best men in our nation hope that the Methodist Episcopal Church will do this work.” Of course, the Methodist Episcopal Church can not alone assuage the wounds of the war. It is true, however, that the peculiar position of the church, with its international organization, gives it a unique opportunity as well as an inescapa¬ ble responsibility. Throughout the war the Methodist Episcopal Church continued its work in Germany, as well as on the other side of the fighting lines. Under the leadership of Bishop Nuelsen, it was the first body to bring relief to many parts of the coun¬ try after the signing of the armistice. Today, its membership in Germany is in the midst of a great spiritual advance. If the opportunity can be grasped, the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church may become an instrument to show the new Germany the good will of the Christians of other na¬ tions, as well as to furnish a rallying point for a rekindled Protestantism in that land. Cross-currents. — It is impossible in the limits of this volume to depict the internal condition of Germany after the war. Moreover, so rapidly are events occurring that any statement is likely to be out of date before this can be published. In the These youngsters at Ludwigsburg were fed by the Christmas offering of American Sunday schools 208 WORLD SERVICE main, however, it may be said that Ger¬ many finds herself in the grip of disillu¬ sionment because of the failure of the promises made her by her militaristic lead¬ ers; of resentment because of what she holds to have been a betrayal of the condi¬ tions of the armistice in the Versailles Treaty; of desperation because of the mounting cost of living combined with the falling value of the currency; and of be¬ wilderment because no way of escape is seen from the present chaos. No one believes that a people with the energy and resources of the Germans can permanently be reduced to a secondary position. Up to the present, however, it has been impossible for the government or any other agency to unite the Germans behind any one program. Those who might be willing, in an effort to recover from the losses of the war, to work long hours for low wages can hardly be ex¬ pected to give many weeks of hard labor when wages deemed satisfactory at the beginning of a week may not be found, when pay day comes, sufficient to provide food, clothing, and shelter. This is the condition in Germany and it is producing its inevitable result. Ex¬ asperation, cynicism, and irresponsibility mix together in all classes. What their final product may be no man can say. Some declare that it will be revolution. All that can safely be predicted is that Germany for the next few years is likely at almost any time to be a victim of sudden convulsion. In the Deaconess Home, Nurnberg Germany’s spiritual needs. — In the midst of this confusion, an appalling amount of spiritual need is manifesting itself in Ger¬ many. The downfall of the monarchy brought about the separation of church and state. In North Germany the Lutheran State Church has held millions in a nomi¬ nal membership. Thousands have with¬ drawn. The agnostic elements so often found in continental socialism have gath¬ ered great strength. Some pessimists have seen all Germany drifting into infi¬ delity. On the other hand, the Roman Catholics of South Germany have experienced a re¬ vival, and have on several occasions since the establishment of the republic held the balance of political power. In addition, there have been strange outcroppings of exotic religious beliefs. Buddhism has been strongly pushed, and various occult bodies have claimed thou¬ sands of supporters. Post-war Germany comes near to being a happy hunting ground for the religious faddist and char¬ latan. The true spiritual hunger of the nation, however, is evidenced by an outburst of religious passion on the part of the young. Hundreds of students in schools and uni¬ versities have pledged themselves to sim¬ plicity and cleanness of life and are carry¬ ing on a passionate propaganda for the salvation of their nation from the social ills that have swept in on her like a flood. Germany seems to have done with formal religion. Only a vital spiritual awakening can meet her need. If she does not find this, she is likely to give her re¬ sources to a stark materialism that spells disaster for the future. Methodism in Germany Where the church is planted. — WThen the first preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church arrived in Bremen in 1849, having been stirred to effort in the fatherland by his conversion in the United States, he found Germany just entering upon reaction following abortive revolution. It was the failure of the uprisings of ’49 that made possible the German empire of the Hohen- EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 209 zollerns. But even under the restrictions of that empire, Methodism grew. Today, with all restrictions removed, the Methodist Episcopal Church has two annual conferences in Germany, with con¬ gregations in most of the cities. The last available reports show 182 members of conferences, forty-seven local preachers and 589 exhorters and lay preachers. There are more than 25,000 full members, more than 7,000 probationers, more than 8,000 baptized children, more than 500 Sunday schools with 35,000 enrolled pupils. The Epworth League is organized in most of the large centers. Incomplete reports say that it has a membership of about 10,000. Types of work conducted. — As in other Protestant countries of Europe, the main effort of the Methodist Episcopal Church has been evangelistic. This has led to the formation of a distinct church. To an even larger extent, it has led to the awak¬ ening of evangelical zeal in many of the pastors of the state church. In truth, the work of Methodism in Germany has not been unlike that in England, save that in England the disciples of Wesley were forced generally outside the established church, and in Germany a majority of them have remained within the older com¬ munion. The Methodist Episcopal Church has always been distinguished by a vital piety and zeal for good works which have made it, in these post-war days the center of relief activities in many cities. It is unnecessary in a country such as Germany to conduct educational work, ex¬ cept for specialized theological training. Neither are distinctive medical enter¬ prises needed. The deaconess movement has been unusually powerful and provides the staff whereby several homes for the helpless, as well as other benevolences, are conducted. The entire work in Germany would be upon a self-supporting basis today if it had not been for the war and for the fall¬ ing value of German currency. As it is, it will be necessary to provide some help for this work until conditions are more Malnutrition, the war’s contribution to Eu¬ ropean children — Measure the nine-year- old boy at the right and the eight- year-old girl at the left with the normal four-year-old girl in the center nearly stabilized. German Methodists have increased their contributions by many millions of marks within the last few years. As soon as this currency reaches stabilization, they will make the entire work self-supporting. Young people to the fore. — In this criti¬ cal period it is encouraging to see how rapidly the Methodist Episcopal Church in Germany is increasing in its ministry to the young. Until recently it could hardly be said that there has been Sunday-school work in the sense in which it is known in America. The so-called Sunday schools were largely groups or classes in catechism, to which the pastors also preached. At twelve years of age the children dropped out automatically. With modern Sunday-school literature, institutes, teacher-training classes and well-trained general leadership all this is changing. The Epworth League, too, is proving an organization by which the awakening youth of the church can give expression to its religious zeal. Epworth 210 WORLD SERVICE Faculty and some of the students of Martin Mission Institute League conventions are reported as over¬ flowing the largest halls available. Many of the young people are giving impetus to the temperance propaganda which is carried on by the church, particu¬ larly from Augsburg and Mannheim. The deaconess in action. — Some of the outstanding deaconess institutions of the Methodist world are in Germany. In Hamburg, Stettin, Berlin, Leipzig, Dres¬ den, Nagold, Chemnitz, Frankfort, Plauen, Mannheim, Nuremburg, Heilbronn, Stutt¬ gart, Freudenstadt, and Munich are to be found philanthropic institutions staffed by the distinctively-garbed “sisters” of the church. Indeed, it is the social service conducted by the deaconesses that may be said to have made the Methodist Episcopal Church known to thousands who would have remained indifferent to all other forms of approach. The church is fortu¬ nate, in this period of social upheaval, to have such trained and effective agents for carrying its ministries among the needy. A school that reaches far. — In Frankfort - on-Main one of the most important insti¬ tutions in all Methodism is located. Here in the Theological Seminary, known locally as Marti-n’s Institute, seventy- eight students are preparing to preach. the gospel in Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, the Baltic Republics, Russia, Yugo-Slavia, Bulgaria, as well as in Germany. When the buildings of this school were completed, in the same month that the World War broke out, it was expected that they would prove ample for the needs of at least a generation. Already they are so overcrowded that students are forced to sleep in classrooms and members of the faculty can not be given accommodations for their families. Because its success is so necessary for the future growth of the church in Europe, the theological semi¬ nary in Frankfort demands support. Help in Time of Need A moment of promise. — It is hard to vis¬ ualize the situation in German Methodism. On the one hand there is the life of the nation largely in flux, with hundreds of thousands cutting loose from former re¬ ligious affiliations. On the other hand stands a church with an international out¬ reach, feeling within itself the fires of vigorous revival. From city after city come reports of congregations that have completely out¬ grown their available quarters. In many centers, edifices of the old state church, which have not seen more than a handful at their own services, when generously offered to the Methodists have been crowded to the doors. It seems possible to go ahead to almost any sort of an ingathering in Germany under the present conditions. However, the post-war poverty makes it impossible for the Methodists of Germany to provide the churches with which to take advantage of this opportunity. With the help of the Centenary, German Methodism has secured a few new churches, notably in Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfort, as well as homes in five places for the old and for under¬ nourished children. The devotion of the church can be seen in the contributions for mission work that have piled up when, under the terms of the Treaty of Ver¬ sailles, Germans are excluded as mission¬ aries from most of the world, and, at the same time, there has been no guarantee but that a further fall in the mark would wipe out the value of the collections thus sacrificially given. With a people with this sort of practical piety and a situation of this compelling EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 211 character, surely the Methodist Episcopal Church will not hesitate to move forward to a new position of power. The immediate need. — The Methodist Episcopal Church is proceeding very care¬ fully in its advance in all the war-torn countries of Europe. But, in view of the remarkable opportunity, it has recognized that during 1925 the program in Germany should include : Work Operations to be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 214 Centers . - . .....$ 72,635 2 Hospitals . 6,000 2 Orphanages . 7,860 Other General Work . . 13,050 Total — Work Operations . . . $ 99,545 Property Projects: 15 Churches . $ 37.750 Other and General Work . 57,000 Total — Property Projects . ...$ 94.750 Total Program (Germany) . $194,295 SWITZERLAND A Free Church in a Free Land Where Protestantism came to power. — In the city of Geneva stands a great me¬ morial to the Protestant reformers who broke the power of the papacy. It is hard to think of Switzerland without thinking of Calvin, Farel, Zwingli, and the streams of influence that have flowed out of that little mountain-girt home of free¬ dom to make a new Europe. Today the traveler in Switzerland finds himself in a land where two-thirds of the population is Protestant but, as in so many other European countries, where the establishment of a state church has tended toward a species of formalism in religion. As a result there has been room for the ministry of a foreign Protestant church and the response to the service rendered by Methodism has, in proportion to the population, been larger in Switzerland than in any other European country. The contribution of Methodism. — The Methodist Episcopal Church entered Switzerland from Germany and its work has been largely confined to the German¬ speaking portion of the confederacy. It required thirty-two years before the laws of the country and the strength of the church made possible any legal standing. During that period, however, so vital an evangelistic program was conducted that the state church felt its influence and began likewise to establish Sunday schools, conduct revival meetings and employ house-to-house visitation by laymen. As in other Protestant countries of Eu¬ rope, this stirring of the established church may be regarded as among the most important contributions made by Methodism. Swiss peaks Swiss Methodism The church today. — In the two districts of the Switzerland Annual Conference there are more than 10,000 church mem¬ bers worshiping in 250 congregations. 212 WORLD SERVICE Methodist Publishing House, Zurich Great attention is being given to the Christian nurture of youth, with more than 21,000 Sunday-school pupils and more than 100 chapters of the Epworth League. The latest reports available show that, despite post-war conditions that have greatly reduced the income of most of the members of the church, Swiss Metho¬ dists contributed an average of more than $25.00 per member for the support of the church in 1921. Offerings for foreign missions and other benevolent purposes have been gen¬ erous. In the days of post-war readjust¬ ment, these and American funds, have provided hundreds of children in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Yugo-Slavia with food and vacations in health resorts. At the central headquarters in Zurich there is not only a flourishing congrega¬ tion, with many forms of institutional service, but a book concern which is one of the best known evangelical agencies in Europe. Social Christianity. — As elsewhere in Europe, the Methodist Episcopal Church combines with an evangelistic zeal a per¬ sistence in good deeds that is winning the confidence and support of the communities in which it is working. In the pres¬ ent effort to establish temperance in Switzer¬ land, the Temperance Al¬ liance of the Methodist Episcopal Church is doing a real work. There are 150 deaconesses, stationed in seven centers, conducting a great hospital in Zurich and much other nursing and car¬ ing for children, the aged, the sick, the poor in other parts of the country. As already stated, the past two or three years have been marked by much work under¬ taken in behalf of needy children in other European nations. Swiss Methodism is known for its good works throughout Cen¬ tral Europe. The immediate need.— During 1925 the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved the following program for Switzerland: Work Operations will be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 62 Centers. ...$15,000 1 Hospital . 1,500 Total — Work Operations . $ 16,500 Property Projects: 1 Church . .' . 10,000 General Work . 25,000 Total— Property Projects . . $ 35,000 Total Program (Switzerland).... $ 51,500 EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 213 AUSTRIA The Aftermath of War Just to be kept alive. — So stern are con¬ ditions in Austria that there is little plan¬ ning for the future. It is enough if food and shelter for the day’s needs can be supplied. Accordingly, when the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church opens Austna-Hungary oPhool fhp dirpc in 1914 and Aus- a scnool> tne allec tria today tors feel that practi¬ cally the only matter with which they can now deal is the saving of the children’s lives. We must wait, they say, until another generation is born be¬ fore it will be possible to do much educa¬ tional work. Years of starvation have killed thousands of children who would be in schools today, and left the rest so weak¬ ened that they can not maintain the strain of class room work. In every line the forces that would build the future Aus¬ tria feel that their present efforts must be centered upon the fundamental service of keeping folks alive. After that is done, it will be time enough to consider other things. What hope has Austria? — The treaty of St. Germaine re¬ duced Vienna to a position as head of a petty state with only 6,500,000 people. Rich iron deposits were taken away and the major part of the food supply must now be obtained from peoples who, in past years, learned to hate Austria. The state has printed paper money in such quantities that it now has lost prac¬ tically all value. Common laborers re¬ ceive between forty and fifty thousand crowns in a day. By the time this book is printed they may be receiving between eighty and a hundred thousand crowns a day and still not have sufficient to feed their families. Austria’s hope for the future lies in her superb position athwart the trade routes between north and south and east and west Europe. In addition, she still has large forests and with sufficient capital could develop four million horsepower from available water supply. The League of Nations is interesting itself in Austria. There is some hope that under its lead Austria may be rescued from the awful fate that has befallen it. Religious freedom newly won. — From the midst of all this misery, Austria can report at least one religious advance as a result of the World War. Ten years ago the most Roman Catholic country in Europe, and still the center of a strong Catholic movement, the new state has proclaimed religious freedom. This has not come as a result of any lib¬ eralizing on the part of the Catholic Church, but rather because of the Social Democrats. Them¬ selves largely anti- religious, and in many cases even atheistic, the Socialists and Communists have been forced to proclaim religious tolerance to break the grip of the old hierarchy. Child of the streets, Vienna 214 WORLD SERVICE From the Day Nursery, Vienna — And they don’t like to have their picture taken are crowded and reports come of Sunday schools forced to hold many of their classes in the streets because of the lack of room. There is no proselyting from other Protestant groups, for practically all con¬ verts have been either nominal Catholics or atheists. One of the congregations in Vienna is composed of Czecho-Slovaks, of whom there are at least 400,000 in the capital. Much of the interest in the Methodist Episcopal Church is a result of relief measures undertaken under Centenary auspices in the days immediately follow¬ ing the war. This relief work has been carried on largely through the Metho¬ dists of Scandinavia and Switzerland, with additional supporting funds from America, and has won for the church both popular esteem and government recogni¬ tion. Tuernitz — haven of refuge.— The out¬ standing contribution of Methodism to Austria’s most pressing problem is the home for children at Tuernitz. Here in the Tyrolean Alps a small sanitarium has been purchased and in it children between four and fourteen years of age receive an Under these circumstances the Prot¬ estants, of whom the Lutheran, the Re¬ formed, the Baptist, and the Methodist Episcopal Churches are the leaders, can prosecute their work with a success that was totally impossible under the old re¬ gime. The Religious Outlook How Methodism is advancing. — The Methodist Episcopal Church was estab¬ lished in Austria by workers from Ger¬ many. Its work has been largely in and about the city of Vienna. As political conditions now stand this is an advantage, because the Peace Treaty has left Vienna, as a recent magazine article phrases it, “a capital without a nation.” Of the twenty-one districts that com¬ prise the city, seven have some form of Methodist occupation. One well-equipped new church in particular stands as a monu¬ ment to the Centenary. All the churches Feeding an emaciated child at Tuernitz — Centenary offerings made this service possible EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 215 Waiting for the distribution of Methodist relief supplies in Vienna, in the winter of 1919 average of four weeks in which to recover from un¬ dernourishment and mal¬ nutrition. All the children admitted give evidence of rickets, although no hos¬ pital or bed-ridden cases are taken. Six hundred and fifty of these children are aided in a year. This does not seem many amid the thousands of needy youngsters in Austria, but it is a form of service that is making a deep im¬ pression upon the Aus¬ trian people in their time of great need. There are also in Tuernitz some accom¬ modations for the very old and for young people, of whom, it is reported, at least sixty per cent in Austria today are tuber¬ cular. The work of this center is carried on largely by a corps of Methodist deaconesses. Fighting intemperance. — The church is also emphasizing the promotion of tem¬ perance. Following the war there has been in Austria, as in other parts of Europe, a sad let-down in moral habits. Such an outbreak of drunkenness has come as to frighten the authorities. With full government backing, therefore, and with co-operation from several other bodies, in¬ cluding Socialists, Nationalists, and Cath¬ olics, the Methodist Episcopal Church has carried its traditional fight against intem¬ perance to Austria. Observers speak of the Austrian Ep- worth League as “the fighting troops of the prohibition movement,” and the rec¬ ognition by all bodies of the vower of the temperance propaganda conuucted by the Methodists is hearty. Not only in the fight against drink, but also in the general evangelistic work, large use is being made of posters and hand bills, tracts, newspaper advertise¬ ments, and Bible distribution. What the future holds. — It is impossi¬ ble under the present circumstances to plan for any very distant future in Aus¬ tria. In two or three centers congregations have gathered. Because of the conditions, it is impossible for them to contribute largely. Edifices that can be used as churches for them should be purchased. As rapidly as possible other sections of Vienna should be entered. Now seems the best of all times because of the high value of American money, to purchase the central headquarters so long needed. Cer¬ tainly the humanitarian work must not be allowed to decrease. The immediate need. — In view of all the conditions in Austria the Methodist Episcopal Church has approved this pro¬ gram of work for 1925 : Work Operations will be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 17 Centers . $ 8,913 4 Churches . 1 Hospital _ _ _ Other and General Work . ...$1,167 ... 460 ... 2,650 4,277 Total — Work Operations $ 13,190 Property Projects: 2 Churches . 1 Orphanage . . . 1 Dispensary . Other Projects . ...$6,600 ... 3,800 ... 3,000 ... 2,000 $ 15,400 Total Program ( Austria ) . $ 28,590 216 WORLD SERVICE HUNGARY A Nation in the Making The political situation in Hungary. — -In the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, following the World War, Magyar aspirations for independence found their realization. To be sure, heavy penalties were imposed, such as the loss of many coal mines, most of the iron works, and all forests, for participation in the war. But this state was left in a much more advantageous position than was Austria, and the evolution of a lasting nation with present boundaries seems assured. Since the end of the war Hungary has been the scene of several political over¬ turns. The decision of the Allies ban¬ ished the Hapsburgs, rulers in Central Europe for a millennium. But the mon¬ archy made two attempts at a restoration, and the fear of a Hapsburg coup is not yet entirely gone. The first liberal gov¬ ernment set up did not prove strong enough to cope with the fierce passions at large, and was followed by a communist regime. Against this all the conservative forces in the country rallied, and it was overthrown with a vast amount of blood¬ shed. The “blue Danube” is the key to much of the history of Central Europe The dictatorship under Admiral Horthy, set up following the communists, still per¬ sists. At present, Hungary is fairly tran¬ quil, although it is claimed that this is a tranquillity inspired by fear rather than by complete satisfaction with the govern¬ ment. Living and labor conditions. — Socially, Hungary is having as hard a time recover¬ ing from the war as any of her central European neighbors. The salaried classes are in a desperate dilemma, because of the decrease in the value of the paper money of the state, while professional incomes have not increased enough to make up the difference. There are thousands of un¬ employed among the laboring groups, and many other thousands who are not paid enough to live under present conditions. Relief work, such as has been conducted by the Methodist Episcopal Church, has been the only means of keeping hundreds alive. The Methodists of Scandinavia have had a fine part in this work of relief. The larger share, however, has been pro¬ vided, rightly, from America. Social conditions are bound to feel the effect of such a period. The increase in vice, already bad enough, is appalling. The craving for stimulation results in in¬ creased drunkenness. Even in the dis¬ tricts outside Budapest, where the farmers have sufficient food, increase in intemper¬ ance and lowering of the moral standards are reported. Religious vigor needed. — -Such conditions call for a strong program on the part of the churches. Unfortunately, the Re¬ formed and Lutheran churches, which might have been looked to for Protestant leadership in such a time, seem content with a formal program. Dwindling con¬ gregations and a general spiritual stupor characterize many of their parishes. The Roman Catholic Church has seized upon this as a day of oppurtunity. Prot¬ estantism, with its freedom of thought, is depicted as the soil in which political rad¬ icalism can flourish, while Catholicism is EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 217 urged as the bulwark of the conservative order. As the conservatives now control Hungary, this helps forward the Catho¬ lic reaction. State schools are under the domination of Rome. Masonic lodges are forbidden. There is a strong anti-Semitic move¬ ment, wfith Catholic sup¬ port. Such a reaction, upon such a foundation, cannot last long. It does, however, hinder present advance. The vigor of Protestantism is repre¬ sented in Hungary by the Baptists, the Methodists, the Adventists, and a group of pastors within the Reformed and Lu¬ theran Churches who have been touched by evangelical fervor. This whole group is small, however, when compared with the forces against which they must work. Methodism in Hungary Wesley’s spirit still at work. — The work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Hun¬ gary reminds one of the work of Wesley in England. Begun as recently as 1906, by workers sent from Germany, and con¬ fining itself until recently to the German¬ speaking, the best result up to the present is to be seen in the fifty pastors of the Reformed Church (one of the churches recognized by the state) who, although taunted by their colleagues as Methodists, are preaching the necessity for conversion and a new birth. It cannot be said that relations with other Protestant bodies have been cordial in Hungary. Insistence among other bod¬ ies upon certain forms as a necessity for salvation has provoked opposition to the Methodists, with their broad attitude toward these things. But a better spirit of understanding is emerging, as it be¬ comes clear that Methodism, the latest arrival, has no intention of proselyting from other Protestant bodies. Methodist centers. — Budapest, Baranya and Tolna, Nyiregyhaza, Kegad, and Lapron are centers planned for Methodist must be the center for work in Hungary work. The last two cities have not yet been occupied. Budapest must be the center for any work in Hungary. Here are about 3,000,000 people to be reached, of whom fifty per cent are Catholics, forty per cent members of the Lutheran and Reformed churches, and ten per cent Jews. The work until two years ago was largely con¬ fined to Germans, but recent advances toward the Hungarians have resulted in the formation of two flourishing congre¬ gations. The temperance propaganda of the church in Budapest, made possible by a grant from America, has been particu¬ larly effective in winning public attention. The type of ministry in this region has been high, and the church can be said to be well established. The contributions of the churches have been generous, par¬ ticularly in view of the currency chaos. One congregation in Budapest has achieved self-support. In the province of Baranya and Tolna, in southern Hungary, the work is among the peasantry. The work is only a year old, but a hundred members and proba¬ tioners have already been gathered. There are a million people in this region. In northern Hungary our present center is Nyiregyhaza, from which we hope ulti¬ mately to reach two million people. After a year of work the church membership numbers one hundred fifty. Types of effort. — In Budapest and its environs, the church must conduct a di¬ versified social program, with emphasis upon the teaching of temperance, upon Budapest 218 WORLD SERVICE the development of Sunday schools and other work for young people, night classes for laborers, and classes in home econom¬ ics for women, and upon a widespread dis¬ tribution of literature. An industrial school for women and girls is planned in one town, and a home for laborers in another. Churches are called for in sev¬ eral places. Equipment for aggressive evangelistic campaigns is required. On the other districts, much the same line of advance is to be followed. The towns to be entered have been carefully chosen. Everywhere the emphasis is to be upon evangelism, in order to arouse as speedily as possible the forces latent in the Protestant churches, and to give the gospel to the multitudes who have actual contact with no church o«* are mere for¬ malists in religion. The immediate need. — The inadequacy of our present program makes advance in Hungary imperative. For 1925 the church has approved the following program : Work Operations will be conducted on these lines : Church Work from 15 Centers. ...$ 5,500 1 Theological Seminary . 870 Other and General Work . 3,350 Total — Work Operations . $ 9,720 Property Projects: 2 Churches . $13,500 1 Parsonage . 2,000 Total — Property Projects . $ 15,500 Total Program (Hungary) . $ 25,220 RUSSIA Closed or Open “When Russia opens.” — Since the down¬ fall of the Tsar it has become the habit of forward-looking Protestants to say, “When Russia opens, we must go into that country with one of the strongest advance movements the church has ever launched. Russia is hungry for vital religion. When she opens, then is our chance.” American Methodists sent these food supplies to Russia But is this kind of talk longer permissi¬ ble? Bishop Nuelsen, on his last trip to America, after spending weeks in Russia, said, “Soviet Russia is open. Soviet Rus¬ sia is open to the Methodist message. So¬ viet Russia is open to a large evangelistic and reform movement in the Russian Church and outside the Russian Church. . I had all of our pastors in Russia together, and every one of these pastors reported that in the town where he is preaching the gospel our chapels are too small to contain the crowds. I inquired of them whether there was any interfer¬ ence on the part of the government. They said to me, ‘There is not the slightest inter¬ ference ; we are absolutely at liberty to preach the gospel, and we have more calls than we can answer.’ ” In the face of such a situation it is hardly possible longer to escape responsi¬ bility for the evangelization of Russia by talking about what may be done “when Russia opens.” That hour is here. How will the church meet it? What is happening in Russia. — At the outbreak of the World War, Russia seemed to pass behind a veil. The veil lifted for a moment when the autocracy was over- EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 219 thrown, but soon descended again. Only fleeting, broken flashes have been given since 1917. Few Americans today believe that they know completely what is hap¬ pening in Russia. It is important, however, that, without longer delay, events in Russia be made clear to the rest of the world. For, be the Bolsheviki ever so mistaken, it is none the less true that in Russia, at this mo¬ ment, there is being carried on the vastest political and economic experiment the world has ever seen. The two are so closely interrelated that they cannot be considered separately. Future generations will hardly be able to understand how we have been content to live in ignorance in the presence of the phenomenon of Russia. They will hold it a folly past belief that we have allowed our prejudices or our fears or a censorship or any other factor to with¬ hold from us the facts concerning this ex¬ periment in a land that sweeps from the Baltic to the Pacific. Russian confusions. — So contradictory are the reports that come out of Russia that many have almost stopped reading them, thinking frank ignorance safer than hopeless confusion. There is no room here to enumerate all the matters concerning which testimony disagrees. Some of them are economic. To what extent has the soviet government aban¬ doned its communistic principles? Has it acknowledged that trade is impossible without the motive of private profit? Is Russia sinking deeper into distress, or is it climbing toward economic rehabilita¬ tion? Some of them are humanitarian. Are there starving people left in Russia? Is tuberculosis as common as has been charged among Russian children? Some of them are religious. Is the soviet government aggressively anti- Christian? Will there be any place for the church in the soviet state when and if that is finally established? Will Protestant churches be allowed to conduct work from bases in capitalistic countries? Choir at Petrograd Russian facts. — In contrast to these con¬ fusions there are some facts that chal¬ lenge attention. There are the enormous resources of Russia, both in people and in other sources of wealth. No country with such poten¬ tialities can forever be kept in a secondary position. The centers of world influ¬ ence are moving north. Once they were on the Euphrates and the Nile; then they were on the Mediterranean ; now they are on the Hudson and the Thames, to¬ morrow — ? There is the stability of the Russian government. Even reactionary news¬ papers have stopped predicting the fall of Lenin. He has been in power now longer than any other important premier in Europe. Even should he be removed from the stage personally, the theory of govern¬ ment that he represents will continue. “If anybody wants to wait for the overthrow of the present regime in Russia,’’ Bishop Nuelsen has said, “he will have to wait for a long time. I think the present govern¬ ment in Russia is as firmly established as any government in Europe.” There is the spiritual responsiveness of the people. Despite the sterility of the Orthodox Church, a part of the Tsar’s bureaucracy since the days of Peter the Great, and despite the persecutions of the soviet period, the masses in Russia remain the most inherently religious people in the West. Badly as they have been de¬ ceived by their spiritual shepherds in the past, they still hunger and thirst after 220 WORLD SERVICE righteousness. Is it possible that they are not to be filled? Facing the Opportunity Where Methodism now stands. — The Methodist Episcopal Church entered Rus¬ sia in 1907. This was at the time when the empire of the Tsar was showing its first response to pop¬ ular demand for re¬ form, but restric¬ tions were still severe enough to make rapid expansion im¬ possible. It cost the pioneers years to win the confidence of the authorities. In Pe- trograd, for example, it took six months of cultivation, after property had been purchased, before it could be used for re¬ ligious purposes. When the war broke out in 1914 the strongest Methodist churches were in the Baltic provinces, where they now continue to flourish in independent states. (See Finland and The Baltic Republics .) Much of the Protestant work in Russia was prohibited, but the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church was allowed to carry on. With the Revolution of 1917 another stage began. The American Superintend¬ ent of the Russian mission, with all other Americans, was ordered out of Russia by his own government. But during all the disorders that followed, the church held its ground. In Petrograd the Methodist deaconess, Sister Anna Ecklund, became an angel of mercy to thousands. In churches, in schools, in other government institutions she distributed relief from abroad. By her courage she held the prop¬ erty of the church in Petrograd inviolate when all other wooden buildings in the city were being torn down for firewood. There are now about ten organized cir¬ cuits of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Russia, with many other preaching points where permanent occupation will be welcomed. Trained pastors are needed, but as these are pro¬ vided the church in Russia should go for¬ ward with great rapidity. The strategic hour. — Every indication, however, shows that Methodism is to ren¬ der its greatest serv¬ ice by helping to revive vital religion within the Russian Church. With the coming to power of the Bolsheviki, the old church placed it¬ self in violent oppo¬ sition. Most of the communist leaders are agnostics or atheists, with little sympathy for the church under any circumstances. Find¬ ing it an agent of reaction, the soviet leaders set about disciplining it. It has proved impossible to suppress the church. Tales of the saints have been proved myths; miracles proved hoaxes; some priests proved degenerates. But the faith of the masses has lived on. Yet out of the trial to which the church has been subjected has come a new group of church leaders, priests who seek a revitalizing of the whole ecclesiastical structure of Russia. To this new party has been given the name of “The Living Church.” It has found a platform upon which it may work without trouble from the government. In fact, so favorable have been its relations with the government that it has been called, by other elements in the old Rus¬ sian church, a creature of the soviets. rpynixi nPRBtKMBHOfO JKK8S* UEPHSSb" WmSS RBBHTET y ' ■ 35 J M .V.OOOA. cA.'t.- Yttlk-UKCS l*AS‘>«fcE o rocr.o&E GOLF A T UCZ '.a- LA.i.-ui ouKwAbll *kbri ,7.k • “ b C C H. HS»e K&aeity ' <_V AKUti 'w?i: A K yVdCTHii flHeM £ob0 PG ... .... :k; -j~<) BR-n j'jctkk :: : i Reffiia* _ .« .4 i'AX G pay-- a a to k ban c npHraar.c- 40 .V : a\ MUGHD* KI7MC- - u “ loOT-ax .ipescToassero 01 - "* . .. .... 6piTC Kii> r,pv. iteT Been od"-. vlvli AkZPKKX c . rA5_-,r-zbM r ..... i:\-h, ucnz naSfl/T fiasnosyuiM.euoKX acif. - Jfunux ., JL.T scB ywcTHA a 06a;*x paoorax, sac ok/.- sea aepyasyw bo kmr Focnc, ivCj.n. ::a. a .IpaBocxaBHoro ienoro ,..yxoBcncT&a ■lepKOBi" joeAdraoT bcm cbohj ]*dAe.*Ay ra BcuMOPyux*' . i . Koe apt.ua acTopa* qejioaeqecTBa. 4^'IPMktaii8 KGMJJT3T TVJYtib* *M3AH Ra?- .Ipe/iceMaTeAi. <. fas lAceARTexi. The.r.Ku9 'exp^TapB Facsimile of the invitation from “The Living Church,” translated on page 221 EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 221 This progressive group is seeking help in its stupendous task of reforming a church that never felt the stirrings that came to the other churches of Europe through the Renaissance, the Reforma¬ tion, or the Evangelical Revival. And, wonder of wonders, it passes by advances made from Rome and elsewhere, deliber¬ ately to seek aid from the Methodist Episcopal Church! This is a translation of part of the official appeal recently re¬ ceived : In conformity with ancient ecclesiastical laws, the Orthodox Church of Russia intends to meet for its second territorial council on the tenth of February, 1923, in Moscow. The group, “Living Church,’’ which is at present engaged in the work of preparing for and convok¬ ing the council, invites the friendly American Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church to send at that time dele¬ gated brethren who through their experience in the organization of a free church under a republican form of state government could render aid in ac¬ complishing the task of elevating the faith and the morals of the Russian people. The group. “Living Church,’’ has every reason to hope that the possibility of taking part in the work of the council will be given to the brethren whom you may delegate. In directing to the one great Bishop of all Chris¬ tians, the Lord Jesus Christ, our prayers for the union of all those who believe in his name, we beg you to accept our respects and our cordial fraternal greetings. Group of the Orthodox White Clergy, “The Living Church" Central Committee Central Committee, group “Living Church” Honorary President, Joann Albinsky, Archbishop of Kruty. President, Archpriest Vladimir Krasnitzky, Responsible Secretary, Priest Dimitry Solovyeff. The Methodist Episcopal Church is feeling its way with great care in Russia. But wffio could hold back in the face of such an appeal? The three bishops resi¬ dent in Europe have been authorized to investigate and to suggest methods of co¬ operation. It takes no great flight of faith to believe that, within the next decade, Methodism, under God, will not only be able to establish congregations that will prove centers of Scriptural holi¬ ness, but also will be an agent for the renewal of the spiritual powers of the Russian Church. Advance projected. — It must be under¬ stood that the expanded program for Rus¬ sia approved by the Methodist Episcopal Church is tentative. Such readjustments as careful study show wise will be made. But for the immediate present, to take ad¬ vantage of the opportunity of this hour, the following lines of advance are con¬ templated : A central plant in Moscow, with not only full equipment for church w’ork, but a night school, a student hostel, a train¬ ing school for preachers, and a small pub¬ lishing plant. A similar, but smaller, occupation in Petrograd. Five industrial schools in various cities. Buildings to be furnished by the govern¬ ment ; repair and equipment by the church. Three agricultural schools, on land fur¬ nished by the government. Deaconess hospitals in Moscow and Pe¬ trograd, with buildings furnished by the authorities. The immediate need. — During 1925 it is proposed to carry out the following fea¬ tures of this program : Missionary Staff will be required for: Evangelistic Work- -. 4 Couples 1 Single Educational Work . 4 Couples 0 Single Other Work . 1 Couple 0 Single 9 1 $ 27,550 Work Operations will be conducted on the following lines : Church Work from 5 Centers . 12,000 2 Commercial Schools . 1 Industrial School . 1 Agricultural School . 1 Training School . ..$11,000 .. 7,500 . 10,000 .. 2,000 30,500 1 Hospital . 10,000 Other and General Work . 9,500 Total — Work Operations $ 62,000 Property Projects to make possible the following : 1 Parsonage . $ 10,000 3 School Projects . 130.000 1 Hospital . . . 40,000 Total — Property Projects . $180,000 Total Program (Russia) , $269,550 222 WORLD SERVICE THE BALTIC REPUBLICS (Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania) Three Nations: One Problem Between Russia and Germany. — Out of the upheaval of the World War have come the three republics along the western shore of the Baltic Sea — Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Formerly a part of the Russian Em¬ pire, the three seized the opportunity pre¬ sented by the downfall of the Tsar to proclaim their independence and, largely under the lead¬ ership of men who have lived abroad, they are seeking a perma¬ nent place in the family of nations. A glance at the map will show the difficul¬ ties that beset them. On the one hand looms the mighty bulk of Russia ; on the other, Prussia and Poland. The latter in particular has shown her jealousy of these Baltic States and is regarded as a menace to the inde¬ pendence of at least one of them. Moreover, since a large part of the prosperity of these countries de¬ pends upon their carrying trade from the Baltic ports to Russia, they are in fear lest she absorb them back into herself. Can independence be maintained? — This political condition keeps alive the debate as to whether the Baltic Republics can permanently maintain their independence. Although they are larger than such coun¬ tries as Holland, Belgium, Denmark, or Switzerland, they are hardly strong enough to maintain themselves against all their neighbors. Their political future thus depends upon the outcome of present events in Europe as a whole, including the future power of the League of Nations to maintain international peace. Whatever the issue, a new conscious¬ ness has been given to these three repub¬ lics, which are bound to have, therefore, a rapid material and social development. For this reason the large religious oppor¬ tunity is not dependent upon political even¬ tualities. The religious sit¬ uation. — While the Tsar ruled, the Greek Catholic Church was of course favored. But none of the Baltic Republics is dominantly Greek Catholic. Esthonia is no more Catholic than its kindred state, Finland. Latvia is predomi¬ nantly Protestant and /Lithuania Roman Cath¬ olic. It must be con¬ fessed, however, that much of the Protestant¬ ism has been largely formal. Bishop Nuelsen has said: “The church is broken down. Both materially and spir¬ itually the economic situation of the churches and pastors is very precarious, since the government has placed its hands on and confiscated the greater part of the funds from which the pastors re¬ ceived their income. The men in influ¬ ential positions take no interest in church affairs and would not turn their finger to change the conditions in the churches.” In the face of this condition one finds everywhere on the part of the masses of common folk a readiness to receive the vital truths of religion. Latvia and Lith¬ uania were part of the battleground of the war. Esthonia was used as a base for several of the expeditions launched EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 223 The grain and flour ship arrives at Reval, Esthonia against the bolshe- vist government in Russia. The relief afforded to war suf¬ ferers has won the confidence of the people. A warm evangelical message from the same source is proving its power to win their hearts. Esthonia Methodism’s place. — Two of the impor¬ tant ports of Estho¬ nia- -Reval, the cap¬ ital and Haapsal — have already been occupied by the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church. The occupation of this territory began in the days of the old Russian Empire, but a large increase in the work has come under Centenary auspi¬ ces. In a central headquarters in Reval, work of a social as well as evangelistic nature has been begun. Particular atten¬ tion is being given to needy children. As elsewhere facilities have been overloaded from the day when they were made avail¬ able. Esthonia is made up of a few Russians, a few Germans, and a mass of Esthonian peasantry who are of the same blood as the Finns. Until recently, a large part of the land has been owned by Germans known as the Baltic Barons. During the war this aristocracy seemed ready to sup¬ port any side that would guarantee its position. Now the infant republic has passed an agrarian law by which estates of more than four hundred acres have been taken over by the government and let out under strict control to farmers who will be allowed to remain in posses¬ sion only as long as they properly culti¬ vate the land. The forests have likewise been taken over. When Methodism entered this region a good many years ago, she came in mostly by the way of Germany, where her work was strongly planted. For this reason the work in Esthonia in the be¬ ginning was mainly a German - speaking work. Now, how¬ ever, it is clear that primary attention must be given to the Esthonians. This will lead more quickly to an indigenous church. Portents of success. — While the work has hardly begun, and political condi¬ tions make it impos¬ sible to report with Above, Methodist European relief supplies ready for distribution. Below, the grateful recipients 224 WORLD SERVICE any accuracy as to its success, the opening of the'enlarged plants at Reval and Haap- sal has caught the public attention. In other centers the Lutheran churches have shown their interest by making available large auditoriums in which to hold meet¬ ings that would overflow any hall that the Methodists can now provide. As this country has been made a sepa¬ rate district of the Baltic Mission, under the leadership of an Esthonian District Superintendent, it is believed that by emphasizing the social as well as the evan¬ gelistic implications of the Methodist pro¬ gram a large and ultimately self-support¬ ing church will be raised up within a short period. Latvia The Lettish Methodist Church. — The es¬ tablishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Latvia constitutes one of the romantic stories of European Methodism. More than ten years ago the pastor of an independent congregation of Moravians in Libau, a leading port, discovered the Methodists through their church litera¬ ture. Later he found a Methodist preacher in Riga, where an attempt was made to establish work which had to be abandoned with the outbreak of the World War. When peace came, this Moravian pastor again put himself in communication with Methodist authorities, and in 1921 he and his entire congregation of about 150 mem¬ bers were formally received into the Methodist Episcopal Church. Out of this beginning has come one of the most promising pieces of work in Eu¬ rope. It must be remembered that the atmosphere of Latvia is dominantly Prot¬ estant and that there, as elsewhere, the people, dissatisfied with the mere forms of religion, are seeking a satisfactory spiritual experience. How the work advances. — -From the modest beginning in 1921 the church has gone forward rapidly. Relief work, such as that carried on in Riga, where during the school year 900 students of the unR versity had their only substantial meal each day in the Methodist Central Mis¬ sion, has convinced the people of the prac¬ tical nature of the Methodist program. The constituency of the church has more than trebled. Sunday-school development is proving as successful as in other parts of Europe. The purchase in Riga, at an unbelievably low price on account of economic depres¬ sion, of a central headquarters facing a prominent park has gone far toward in¬ creasing the enthusiasm of the workers. In Libau the Methodist congregation has been moved from its little chapel (it was located between a slaughter house and glue factory) to a fine property where it will be possible to carry on an extensive social work. With a large group of native pastors already enlisted, rapid progress in Latvia seems certain. The Catholic challenge. — The most dis¬ turbing element in the situation in Lat¬ via is the political intrigue of the Roman Catholic Church. The country is, as has been said, overwhelmingly Protestant. Not more than one-quarter of the inhabi¬ tants can be classed as Roman Catholics, with perhaps an additional one-sixth members of the Greek Catholic commun¬ ion. The rest are Protestants. In the city of Riga only eight per cent of the population is Catholic. The Reformation came to Latvia in 1522, when John Calvin was only thirteen years old. It was confirmed in that coun¬ try by Gustavus Adolphus. Yet, today, when the young republic is desperately seeking all possible sources of political stability, the Vatican has concluded an agreement whereby the Roman Catholic Church is to have a complete ecclesiastical organization, including archbishops, bish¬ ops, cathedrals, and all the rest, supported by state taxation. The church of St. James, the most famous Protestant edifice in the Baltics, has been surrendered under the terms of this agreement to the Roman Catholic Church. It will take more than a formal Protestantism to deal with a situation of this kind. Lithuania A difficult field. — In entering Lithuania the church finds itself confronting EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 225 The birthplace of Lettish Methodism strongly entrenched Ca¬ tholicism, together with a large Jewish population. At the present time the work is largely among the German -speaking inhabi¬ tants, of whom the major¬ ity have been unchurched. The country is almost exclusively agricultural. Kovno, the capital, can hardly be said to be a city in the modern sense. Po¬ litical intrigue between Poland on one hand and Russia on the other, com¬ plicated by the Lithua¬ nian seizure of what was to have been the neutral port of Memel, makes the whole situation so confused that it is hard to outline a definite program at this time. The churches already planted are re¬ ported as crowded to the doors, and in some places a large part of the congrega¬ tion has to meet in the open air. With the return of any kind of normalcy, Lithua¬ nia should become a prosperous nation and the church should be able to carry forward an important work. profit toward the running expenses of the Russian Empire. Their geographical lo¬ cation insures that they will do the same thing again. If the Methodist Episcopal Church will take advantage of the oppor¬ tunity to enter the centers now open, it will find itself in a position of large reli¬ gious influence within a generation. The immediate need. — The work in the Baltic Republics, according to the program approved by the Methodist Episcopal Church, during 1925 will be: The Future Around the Baltic What may be expected. — So rapidly is the church growing in the three Baltic Re¬ publics that, whatever the political out¬ come, a Methodist Conference should come into being within a short time. It may be that this will prove the center from which most effectively advance can be made into Russia. The present affords a unique opportunity in this territory. Be¬ cause of economic depression, property can be secured at unbelievably low prices. This economic condition will not continue forever. Before the war these three states were among the provinces that returned a Missionary Staff will be required for: Evangelistic Work . . . 2 couples $ 5,800 Work Operations will be conducted on the following lines : Church Work from 20 Centers.. ..$ 18,850 Other and General Work . 3,750 Total for Work Operations . $ 22,600 Property Project to make possible the following : 1 Church . . $10,000 Total for Property Project . $ 10,000 Total Program (Baltic Republics) . $ 38,400 226 WORLD SERVICE NORTH AFRICA (Algeria, Tunisia, Tripoli, Cyrenaica, Morocco) Attacking a Moslem Base What is North Africa? — A strip of terri¬ tory along the Mediterranean including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Tripoli, and Cyrenaica, varying from five hundred miles in depth on the west to no depth at all at the Egyptian border, offers the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church a battleground for its North African mission. Here lives one of the hardiest of Moslem populations. North Africa is the base from which Mohammedan ad¬ vance is going for¬ ward with such power into Central Africa. In conduct¬ ing Christian work here, the Methodist Episcopal Church has attacked Christianity’s most vigorous rival in a supremely important position. The importance of this effort becomes more clear when it is remembered that there are no other large Protestant bodies carrying on aggressive work among Mos¬ lems in this region. An ancient Christian base. — North Africa presents one of history’s most sol¬ emn warnings to the Christian church. Fifteen hundred years ago a Christian church held this entire territory. From the time of Simon of Cyrene, who bore the cross for the Lord, until that of Athana¬ sius and Augustine, North Africa pro¬ duced towering figures in the church. But the church sank into formalism, lost its vigor, and proved an easy prey to the Arabs who carried Islam toward the West in the sixth century. Forty thou¬ sand churches were destroyed and 600 bishoprics disappeared. For 1,100 years the prophet of Mecca ruled supreme along the southern shore of the Mediterra¬ nean. The missionary im¬ portance of N orth Africa. — During this long period there were many who, like Raymond Lull, that devoted missionary of the thirteenth cen¬ tury, felt called to a Christian crusade for the reclamation of North Africa. Various Protestant bod¬ ies and individual missionaries attempted work, but with small success. Even the Catholic missions proved disappointing. In 1908 Bishop Hartzell aroused the Methodist Episcopal Church to enter Al¬ geria and Tunisia. This has become the strongest Protestant work on the coast. Much of this strength is due to the isolated but deeply earnest groups of English and Scotch missionaries who preceded the Methodists and in many cases joined the missionary forces of our church. Mohammedanism constitutes the most vigorous challenge to Christianity today. Ruins of an ancient Christian church, Carthage EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 227 In Central Africa the Mohammedans are increasing among the uncivilized tribes many times faster than are the Christians. In fact, the missionary situation in Cen¬ tral Africa is to be conceived as a struggle with Mohammedanism rather than with paganism, with the signs at present point¬ ing to Mohammedan victory. As has been said, the main source of this Mohammedan advance is North Africa. Its vigor can be checked more quickly by capturing a base than by at¬ tacking the outposts. It is impossible, however, to believe that the present Chris¬ tian forces in North Africa are enough to deal with the problem presented by the 15,000,000 Moslems. For the sake of Christian work throughout the world, it is imperative that the Protestant enter¬ prise in North Africa, which is largely in the hands of the Methodist Episcopal Church, be immediately and greatly strengthened. Present-Day North Africa Races and conditions. — There are almost as many racial divisions within Islam as within Christianity. Among the 15,000,000 Moslems of North Africa not more than a fourth are of Arab origin. The remainder are “Berbers” who are Caucasian de¬ scendants of the Christians conquered by the Arabs in the sixth century. At present the Berbers are stronger than the Arabs, although so great is tra¬ dition that they do not so consider them¬ selves. Among the Berbers the most vig¬ orous are the hill tribes, known as the Kabylcs. In addition, there are more than a mil¬ lion Europeans scattered along the coast, of whom the greater part are French. Many of these are Protestants who left Alsace and Lorraine at the time of the German occupation in 1870. They thus provide a foundation for Protestant mis¬ sion work in North Africa. In some of the cities, notably Algiers, Tunis, Oran and Constantine, the Euro¬ pean colonists are in many cases finding wealth and the native population suffering greatly in the attempt to adapt them- Jewish girl at Tunis selves to the economic requirements of a new day. In the rural regions there is immediate demand for improved methods of agriculture. European colonies. — France, Italy, and Spain have found in North Africa scope for much of their colonial ambition. Of the three France, controlling Algeria and Tunisia with the major part of Morocco, has been the most successful. Since her entry into North Africa in 1830, she has built good roads, connected the principal cities by rail, introduced a public school system in which natives and French are trained with exact equality, and conducted agricultural experiments until it is re¬ ported that the increase in cultivation in recent years has reduced the average drought from five to four months. During the World War, 500,000 natives of North Africa served in the trenches and munition factories. As a reward for this loyalty, citizenship in the French Re¬ public is now offered on the same basis 228 WORLD SERVICE A Kabyle girl as to Frenchmen and, although the unrest that characterizes the Moslem world is felt, the states of North Africa have, in the main, fared so well under European control that there does not seem immedi¬ ate danger of any wide-spread revolt. It should not be thought, however, that the administrations of Spain or Italy are as successful as that of France. How Methodism Faces Moham¬ medanism Centers of occupation. — The great cen¬ ters of Methodist work along the North African coast have been Tunis, Algiers, Constantine, and Oran. Missionaries are also stationed at Fort National, the ad¬ ministrative center of the so-called Great Kabylia, and Sousse. While the program for the North Afri¬ can mission calls for eventual occupation of Morocco and Tripoli, it seems the part of wisdom at the present time to confine advance largely to the linking of these widely separated centers. It will be seen An Arab girl from the Girls’ Hostel, Tunis that these provide the natural centers from which to carry on work in Algeria and Tunisia. Types of work. — It has been found nec¬ essary to deal with two problems in North Africa. On the one hand there are the Moslems, the most fanatical of all non-Christians. On the other are the nominal Roman Catholics who, trans¬ planted from home, rarely have any inter¬ est in vital religion. These present a re¬ ligious problem almost as difficult as that of Islam. The government is neutral in its atti¬ tude, but the active opposition of Moham¬ medan and Catholic leaders precludes any hope of immediate large numerical re¬ sults. This does not, however, discourage the mission from conducting work for Europeans in the large centers and for Mohammedans both in the cities and in the country towns. In thinking of the work in North Africa, it is necessary to keep this three-fold EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 229 Methodist headquarters, Algiers Four young men from the Boys’ Hostel, Con¬ stantine, Algeria — They were recently baptized Methods of work proposed. — To deal with the present demanding situation in North Africa it is proposed that the work in the cities be put upon an institutional basis. This will include : 1. Provision for culture and relaxation through libraries and reading rooms. 2. Provision for recreation through games, both outdoor and indoor. 3. Provision for physical culture. 4. An efficient medical department, especially for Moslems. 5. Commercial training* or provision for help for those learning a trade. 6. Rooming accommodations for stu¬ dents, clerks, and other young men away from home. 7. Employment Bureaus. 8. Domestic science training for young women. distinction in mind, namely the city work for Europeans, the city work for Moslems and the country work for Moslems. Each requires distinctive treatment. Portents of success. — Although the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church has been at work in this territory less than twenty years and the number of church members in the North African Mission Conference is still small (the latest report shows a native constituency of but a little more than 200), there are victories already to be reported that have amazed missionaries among Moslems in other parts of the world. Most impressive are the seventeen Arab and Kabyle Christian workers, with half as many more in training. No other mis¬ sion in the world at work in distinctly Moslem territory has been able to secure anything like such a group of former Moslems as workers. Moreover, there is today a greater response to the work of the mission, which makes possible a fair hearing in secluded villages as well as in cities. This in itself marks an advance stage in the work. 230 WORLD SERVICE Building for Boys’ Home, Algiers — a $10,000 Centenary project In the country the projected program in¬ cludes : 1. Model churches and community service buildings in which will be carried on such features of the city program as are found applicable to the rural problems. 2. Educational work, including a. A creche for abandoned or desti¬ tute babies; b. Homes for older children in prep¬ aration for higher grade institutions ; c. Industrial training schools to be divided into two classes: (1) Elementary school with short classes teaching improved methods in native trades and arts; (2) Modern industrial school for the training of expert workmen who will be superior to all others in the region. 3. Agricultural schools, likewise of two classes: a. To teach more ef¬ fective methods for use in the hill country; b. To teach modern agriculture to those liv¬ ing in the valley and plains. Research work will be a feature of these latter schools. 4. Medical work will be of two types : a. That conducted by a doctor from a central well-equipped dispen¬ sary, this dispensary later to develop into a hospital ; b. Training school for nurses which will provide the personnel by which the work may be extended into village communities. 5. The teaching of do¬ mestic science, emphasiz¬ ing home making, is much needed among the young women. 6. Each of our central rural stations should con¬ tain a widows’ home, because of the peculiar social disabilities attaching to widowhood. In fact, it is almost impossi¬ ble for a Christian widow to live in peace in a Moslem community. 7. It may seem wise to plant business schools, likewise. Coupled with this evangelistic, educa¬ tional and medical advance, there must be a large increase in production and distri¬ bution of literature. Primary considera¬ tion ought to be given to questions that are found most frequently in the Moslem mind. It is not expected that this program can be carried into effect immediately. It should, however, be undertaken as rapidly as there are workers to man it. The Methodist mission is fortunate in having men ready for this exacting work. Teaching the boys to farm, Boys’ Hostel, Tunis EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA 231 The church has had sufficient experience to know that such a program will work successfully in this region. If the church envisages the importance of the North African campaign, it is certain that there will be no delay in setting up this advance. The need. — In view of the issues at stake in North Africa, the present pro¬ gram seems almost pitiful in its insuffi¬ ciency. It goes without saying that this will be continued. A much larger pro¬ gram might be projected, but during 1925 the approved plans have been held to this minimum : Missionaries will be required for: Evangelistic Work .... 8 Couples 3 Single Educational Work. .. 6 Couples 1 Single Medical Work . 1 Couple 0 Single Other Work . 3 Couples 0 Single Total . 18 4 $50,000 Work Operations: Church Work from 69 Centers . $ 33,647 5 Central Schools . ) 1 Training School . > 38,296 1 Industrial School . . ) 3 Medical Centers . 6,722 Other and General Work . . 13,873 Total for Work Operations . $ 92,538 Property Projects: 3 Churches . $ 45,750 5 Central School Buildings . $26,762 1 Training School . . . 5,950 1 Agricultural School . . 2,000 34,812 Medical Equipment . 225 Other — 1 Home Building . 5,000 Total for Property Projects . $ 85,787 Total Program (North Africa) . $228,325 MADEIRA ISLANDS Portugal’s Garden Colony An Atlantic crossroads. — Off the north¬ west coast of Africa lie five islands — two of them inhabited — that form Portugal’s garden colony. Here ocean liners stop while en route from Europe to South Africa or South America, and here tourist steamers break the voyage between Amer¬ ica and the Mediterranean. There are probably 170,000 people in the islands, living under extremely primitive conditions, with only two or three towns of any size. For the most part the Madeirans live in scat¬ tered houses, often little better than huts, perched on the hillsides. At least eighty per cent of them are illiterate and little is being done to remedy this condition. Drinking is a general evil, as might be expected in islands noted for their export of wine. Wages are low but there is little incentive to earn more. Altogether the islands pre¬ sent the spectacle of a care-free people con¬ tent with what would seem to the Ameri¬ can or European a backward sort of life. The familiar obstacles. — The Methodist Episcopal Church faces the same sort of difficulties in the Madeira Islands that are found in all Roman Catholic countries. Although there has been liberty of wor- Mount Faith Mission House, Madeira 232 WORLD SERVICE ship since the establishment of the Portu¬ guese Republic, the power of the priest¬ hood remains strong among the poorly educated inhabitants of the island. The Rev. W. G. Smart tells this story: “In Santa Anna a Christian man was converted through a Bible left, many years ago, by a passing visitor. For years he held the fort alone, surrounded by hos¬ tile neighbors worked up against him by the priest. Finally he was cast out and on the scattered occasions when we could get across to visit him, we found Maciel in a straw roofed hut. He had his Bible and other books and he read them daily. “Finally Maciel grew old and deaf. Con¬ tinued persecution worked on his mind and he became mentally deranged. He believed that everyone who called at his hut meant to hurt him. When last we called at his hut in 1921, he realized who we were and seemed to come to himself. He read his portions of scriptures and with his withered hands clasped he recited the hymn which he had learned many years before. Later we found out that after this incident, of which many neigh¬ bors were witnesses, Maciel used to read the scriptures to them and they listened more readily. “The result of years of isolation and persecution came recently. Maciel, men¬ tally deranged, wandered out to the rocks by the seashore and either threw himself over or fell over the cliffs. He was given the burial of a dog.” One unusual difficulty in the Madeiras is the fear of the government lest the Methodist Episcopal Mission undermine the loyalty of the people. This has re¬ sulted in a law refusing sanction for any school in which there are teachers who have not had government approval. Since this approval is restricted to graduates of government normal schools, it is very diffi¬ cult to find teachers who can properly fit in with the program of a Protestant mission. For this reason, it is necessary to carry on the educational work in a pri¬ vate and unofficial manner. Methodism’s present occupation. — The principal occupation at the present time is in the city of Funchal, the capital, in Machico, and in Mount Faith. The work is of the familiar evangelistic and educa¬ tional nature. Up to the present time, there has been no medical effort. In Funchal there is a sailors’ head¬ quarters that has done a social work of value. The distribution of the Bible and of a monthly paper, “Voz de Madeira” (Madeira Voice) has proved an evangel¬ istic factor of importance. Emigration has been heavy from the Madeiras recently and the Methodist work has lost many of its best converts who, because of their progressive nature, have been among the first to strike out for lands where there seem to be greater op¬ portunities. However, there are still more than 200 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with schools enrolling about seventy per cent, all of whom are under religious instruction. The future of Madeira.— The program, as worked out for advance in the Ma¬ deiras, calls for the opening of schools and evangelistic work in four new points with an immediate increase in the social aspects of the work. Medical work is to be started in connection with a home for aged and children. Since, however, the elementary schools offer the key to future influence in the islands, they are to re¬ ceive primary emphasis. The immediate need/— The program ap¬ proved for 1925 is as follows : Missionary Staff will he required for: Evangelistic Work . 2 Couples Work Operation will be conducted on these lines: Church Work from 4 Centers . 3 Schools . $1,844 1 Sailors’ Home . 881 1 Dispensary . 2,550 Other and General Work . ... 180 Total — Work Operations . Property Projects to make possible : 1 School . $2,450 1 Sailors’ Home . 100 Other Projects . 630 Total . . Total Program (Madeira Islands) . $ 4,200 $ 4,089 5,455 $ 9,544 $ 3,180 $ 16,924 NEW ENGLAND STATES iiiiiiiiiiiiHiiMiimmiiiiimiiiii MAINE NEW HAMPSHIRE VERMONT MASSACHUSETTS RHODE ISLAND CONNECTICUT MORGAN MEMORIAL, BOSTON The blood of the people! changeless tide through century , creed , and race., Still one, as the sweet salt sea is one, though tempered by sun and place ... One love, one hope, one duty theirsl no matter the time or kin, There never was a separate heart-beat in all the races of men. THE NEW ENGLAND STATES Vivid Contrasts The cradle of a new Americanism. — His¬ toric New England is today a land of striking contrasts. Overflowing cities and abandoned farms, classic halls and con¬ gested tenements, roaring factories and picturesque resorts, Mayflower descend¬ ants and foreign-speaking multitudes, poets and peasants — these are the ele¬ ments which have been thrown together in one of the greatest melting pot sections of the New World. The sweeping social, industrial, and re¬ ligious changes which have taken place from the far reaches of northern Maine to the densely populated sections of Rhode Island and Connecticut fling out to the church a challenge for heroic service to win unreached and needy multitudes for Christ. A new Americanism is being cradled in the old home of Colo¬ nial tradition. The task of the church is to instil in the new life the God¬ fearing spirit which gripped the old. New England’s people.— The growth in population alone has been sufficient to challenge the expansive activities of the self-supporting church, while the shift of the predominant type from the native American to the European summons every denomination to aggressive and intelligent missionary service. The six states of New England com¬ prise one of the most heavily populated sections of the country. Here are to be found 7,400,909 people, by the 1920 census, with a gain of 848,228 registered in the decade since 1910. Of the total, 5,865,073, or 79.2 per cent, live in the cities, while 1,535,836, or 20.8 per cent, live in the small villages and open country. In other words, the urban population of New Eng¬ land is practically four times as large as the rural. 235 236 WORLD SERVICE Located near the principal ports of entry, its growing industrialism offer¬ ing employment to an ever - increasing number of workers, New England has been the destination of a large proportion of the foreign-born who have come to America. They have not only settled in great colonies in the cities, but also in the rural industrial com¬ munities. Many have gone to farming, groups of Italian, Lithu¬ anian, Polish, and even Jewish farmers being found scattered throughout New England. More than 4,500,000, or ap¬ proximately sixty-two per cent of all New England people today are foreign-born, or of foreign or mixed parentage. Negroes are making a noticeable migra¬ tion to the section, the 1920 census show¬ ing 79,051 colored people, a registered increase of 19.2 per cent being made in the decade. Social and economic changes. — Changes in the social and economic life of New England have been many and varied during the era of its population shifts, se¬ riously affecting the strength and accom¬ plishments of the established churches and at the same time creating greater mis¬ sionary needs. While the steady streams of European immi¬ grants have been pouring into the cit¬ ies, villages, and country, New Eng¬ land has been send¬ ing its own virile sons and daughters by the scores of thousands to settle the plains and conquer the mountains that stretch westward to the Pacific. Since the Civil War, the land of the Pilgrim Fathers has given to the western empires of the United States more colonists than the present pop¬ ulation of New Hampshire and Vermont. They have builded the churches of the middle west into towers of strength — but the church “back home” has paid the price in its own life’s blood. Changes of population also have brought illiteracy, something practically unknown in the old New England. New England has 289,700 illiterate per¬ sons or 4.9 per cent of the total population. Practi¬ cally all of it is among the foreign-born. Rhode Island and Connecticut register the highest illit¬ eracy, in excess of six per cent; and Vermont the lowest, with three per cent. The illiteracy of the native whites of Mas¬ sachusetts is .4 of one per cent, while that of the for¬ eign-born is 12.8 per cent. A fundamental eco¬ nomic change is marked in the process. Not many Many are the Mayflowers that have made the New England of today NEW ENGLAND 237 decades ago agriculture was the dominant occupation in spite of mountains and stony soil. Today, while farming still flourishes in such sections as the Connecticut valley, large parts of Maine, and Northern Ver¬ mont, and while there is something of a revival of agriculture throughout New England, especially on the part of the foreign-born, agriculture has given over its primacy to industry. Thousands of farms have been abandoned and the rural population has decreased, while a vast net¬ work of industries has spread throughout New England, until many of the pictur¬ esque towns and villages far back in the Portuguese fisherman, Long Wharf, Boston hills have their manufacturing plants and their colonies of foreign-speaking people. The Church Amid Change The church’s new task. — Such changes in emphasis from the classic old New Eng¬ land of Colonial days to the New England of smoking factories and sweating toilers, from the language of the poet to the strange jargon of a myriad commingling tongues, mean that the conventional work of the church among the native-born American people will not suffice for the future. The metamorphosis brings to the church the challenge of a heterogeneity of races and of meeting the acute social and religious problems of people of differing languages, ideas, and ideals. The Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church is fitted for that transcendent task, and should be enabled to do it. Agriculture is giving way to industry — as witness these tenement homes for the employees of woolen mills New England Methodism past and pres¬ ent. — Although it was the last settled sec¬ tion of Colonial America to be entered by the Methodist itinerant, an entrance which was resented by churches which barred their doors, New England has had written into its history the romantic story of great Methodist achievement. From this virile section of the new world came a leader¬ ship which found a rich expression in cre¬ ating the organic law of the church; in the founding of the Methodist press; in ex¬ panding the work of the Methodist Book Concern; in pioneering missionary terri¬ tory; and in education. From New England came the founders of Methodist missions in Africa, in South America, in India, and in Mexico. As a matter of fact, to quote Bishop Blake, “the men who founded, or inspired the founding of Methodism in every major foreign mission field are sons of New England by birth or adoption. Isaac Owens, who laid the foundation of Meth¬ odism on the California coast; Jason Lee, who established Methodism in the Pacific Northwest; and William Case, the founder of Canadian Methodism, were New Eng¬ landers every one. It was in the city of Boston that a handful of resolute and daring women, having a vision of the needs of the world’s womanhood, organ¬ ized the Woman’s Foreign Missionary So¬ ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The story is told on page 629 238 WORLD SERVICE The house of worship which is typical of older New England . .New England soil may be sterile, her farms rocky, her hill sides bleak, her output poor, but as yet New England has never failed in her crop of men.” At the centennial of Wilbraham Acad¬ emy, one of the speakers affirmed that Jason Lee with the group he led had de¬ termined the holding of the Oregon coun¬ try within the United States and that the financial results of that missionary work would have more than endowed the col¬ leges of Methodism. The spirit of victory. — This spirit of New England Methodism lives today in crossroads churches of the countryside, the village houses of worship, and in the city centers which are battling destructive and oppressive conditions. It is this spirit, rather than numbers or wealth, which equips the Methodist Episcopal Church for the vast missionary task within the borders of this historic section. This spirit is at present exemplified in a small group of Portugese-speaking worship¬ pers who dwell in the shadow of Plymouth Rock. They form a little Methodist Epis¬ copal congregation, with no church in which to worship. In the summer time they hold divine services by the seashore, in the winter wherever they can secure a place. Their dream, for which they toil and sacrifice, is a temple of their own in which to worship God. The vitality of present-day Methodism in New England may be noted in these facts : the number of churches has doubled and its membership has more than trebled in three-quarters of a cen¬ tury; Boston University, with its 10,000 students, has passed both Yale and Har¬ vard ; Boston School of Theology has grad¬ uated the largest body of theological students in the world; hundreds of little- heralded churches have sent a stream of recruits into the ranks of ministers and missionaries the world over; and the fervor of old-time Methodism still lives in sixteen successful camp meetings. Centennial celebrations are common among New England Methodist Episcopal churches and woven into the stories of these churches are the thrills of deep devo¬ tion and sacrificial life. The Little River Methodist Episcopal Church at Columbia, Maine, in its century of life has sent six sons into the ministry. The Waitsfield, Vermont, church has contributed twelve men to Christ’s service in church leader¬ ship. The Centre Methodist Episcopal Church at Malden, Massachusetts, has dedicated thirty men and women to spe¬ cial Christian work. It is far indeed from the little class of twelve meeting in a shoe¬ maker’s house in Malden to the present great organization of 1,400 members and supporting an annual budget of $40,000 — but it is characteristic of the spirit of New England Methodism. The stories of the churches cited are not records, just illus¬ trations. The Methodist Episcopal story in figures. — While New England for 300 years has been the center of Congregationalism’s strength, and while the hundreds of thou¬ sands of immigrants pouring in from Europe and from, the French-Canadian settlements of the north have made it a great Roman Catholic stronghold, never¬ theless the Methodist Episcopal Church NEW ENGLAND 239 SUMMER SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTES Epworth League Institutes. Maine 1 Bucksport, East Maine Conference. 2 Kents Hill, Maine Conference (Maine Wesleyan). New Hampshire 3 Tilton, Tilton Seminary. Vermont 4 Montpelier, Montpelier Seminary. 5 Poultney, Poultney. Massachusetts 6 Auburndale, New England Conference (Lasell Seminary). 7 Northampton, Laurel Park. Connecticut 8 Middletown, Wesleyan. Schools for City Pastors. Conference Institutes Massachusetts 9 Malden. Rhode Island 10 Pawtucket. Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Massachusetts 11 Boston, Boston School of Theology. Summer Schools of Theology. Maine 12 Lake Cobbosseecontee, Y. M. C. A. Train¬ ing Camp (Maine and East Maine Con¬ ferences). Missionary Summer Conferences. Missionary Education Movement Maine 13 Ocean Park. Woman’s Home Missionary Society Massachusetts 14 Northfield (Interdenominational). Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society Massachusetts 13 Northfield (Interdenominational). 240 WORLD SERVICE has made a steady advance. Today it registers 174,185 members, with 1,027 pastoral charges, 1,242 church buildings, and a property valuation of churches and parsonages of $20,478,688. During 1922, the Methodist Episcopal churches of New England paid out for local expenses $4,036,488, for benevolences $1,124,383, a total of $5,160,871. Per capita giving was $29.63, next to the highest of all the geographical divisions of the United States. The Missionary Field Its variety. — An adequate program to meet the vast missionary needs of New England must be varied, indeed. Proba¬ bly the greatest task for the church is in carrying personal and social evangelism into the teeming cities. Here by far the greatest number of people is to be found and the most demoralizing conditions. Here the influences that oppose the king¬ dom of God are concentrated and here the church finds it most difficult to upbuild the kingdom. The marked trend toward industrialism also has produced altered conditions which have made a greater missionary task. It has meant the crowding of hundreds of thousands of the foreign-born and their large families into congested quarters of the cities ; the development of working and living conditions, of insanitation and hard¬ ship, long hours and exhausting toil, the consequence of which is a situation mili¬ tating against bodily and spiritual vigor. There is also a rural industrialism of fac¬ tories and manufacturing plants which are strung along the railroads, rivers and water power streams. These concerns at¬ tract groups of Italians, Poles, Finns, Lith¬ uanians, and other foreign born, who need the ministry of the church. Industrial communities. — But the great task of the church in the industrial com¬ munities, whether large or small, is not only to improve social conditions but to bring about a spirit of Christian fraternal- ism among the groups. In few places in America are class lines drawn more rig¬ idly or is feeling more intense than in the industrial sections of New England. Great problems which threaten the life of the church itself because of the unchristian spirit engendered by them are to be found in various centers. Perhaps nowhere in America has industrial strife been more relentless. Capital and labor have been at sword’s points for decades. Strikes and bloodshed and bitterness are an old, old story in many mills and shops and facto¬ ries. Old ideas that wealth is a possession and not a trust, that labor is a commodity and not a service are still rampant, battling the ideals of Christ which the church seeks to instil. Colonies of Americans from other lands. —A still further field of service lies in a personal ministry to the great colonies of foreign born, both in city and country. It is not enough that material conditions be improved and that inter-group relations be mollified. Whatever the nationality or the language spoken, the church is finding a magnificent opportunity in the ministry of kindness to the foreign born, whose con¬ tacts too often have given them a per¬ verted and sinister conception of America. By rendering aid in a myriad different ways in the Christian spirit, the forces of the church are winning the confidence and then the devotion of these strangers from many lands, which is the first step to their personal acceptance of Christ as Saviour. Thus far only a beginning has been made and the effort must be multiplied many times before the work will be commensu¬ rate with the needs. Decadent rural sections. — Into the deca¬ dent rural fields the church must go, back into Vermont where farms are being aban¬ doned or where foreign elements are taking them up; into the hills of Maine and New Hampshire where the emigration of the more vigorous type to the west or to the cities has left an exhausted stock. Its message must be one of revitalizing community life and revivifying the church. The nation’s playground. — A great mis¬ sionary opportunity is that of the summer resorts scattered throughout New Eng¬ land, especially among the mountains and lakes and along the sea shore, where vis- NEW ENGLAND 241 itors come in throngs for several months each year. Village churches which can care for their few communicants during the other seasons find themselves swamped in the summer time, turning many away. It should not be so, because vacation time is often thought-provoking time, and is conducive to a spiritual quickening. Bishop Hughes well exhorts visitors from other sections of Methodism and his own people as well, not to be “summer heathen” but rather to confess their Lord and encourage the small churches by regu¬ larly attending church services in the va¬ cation period. Student centers.— In the student centers of New England the church faces an op¬ portunity which it must needs improve. In spite of the great industrial develop¬ ment, New England is still a land of cul¬ tural emphasis and strength, and its cities and towns and villages are dotted with academies, seminaries, colleges, pri¬ vate training schools, and universities. Here multitudes of young men and young women, not only from New England but from all over America, who are to furnish the leadership of tomorrow, are securing their education. The Service of Methodism to the Cities “As go the cities.”— It is well that the Methodist Episcopal Church has launched a program to capture the cities of America for Christ. For the cities, with their con¬ stantly accruing population, point that “as go the cities, so goes the nation.” In few sections of the United States is there a more pressing need for a far-visioned, modern city ministry than in New Eng¬ land. The southern section of New England is becoming one vast city. Rhode Island, with 97.5 per cent of its population living in cities, is the most densely settled state of the union. In Massachusetts, only five per cent live in the villages and open country, while ninety-five per cent are urban. These two states are almost as thickly populated as Belgium. The pop¬ ulation of Connecticut is eighty-five per cent urban. In the parish of Morgan Memorial Church, Boston The church faces in New England a ter¬ ritory where seven per cent of the total population of the United States reside, and yet which has sixteen per cent of the cities of more than 100.000 population. In other words, eleven out of sixty-eight American cities over 100,000 are in New England. Boston, with 748,000 people, is the metropolis of New England, followed by Providence, Rhode Island, with 237,595 inhabitants. The other nine cities, rang¬ ing between 100,000 and 200,000, are Cambridge, Fall River, Lowell, New Bed¬ ford, Springfield, Worcester, Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. The most vivid fact showing the growth of cities in New England is that the New England cities have grown faster during the past thirty years than the whole of New England itself. In other words, from 1890 to 1920, New England cities gained 2,725,000 in population, while New England itself only increased 2,700,000. The explanation is while the cities have been gaining 2,725,000, the country has lost 25,000 population in thirty years. Methodism in Boston. — Boston, the metropolis of New England and a city of traditional culture and education, has become a great foreign-speaking, indus¬ trial center. Boston Common has become a meeting place for many races, while his¬ toric churches of other days find them¬ selves surrounded by old dwellings turned into tenements swarming with Latin and Slavic peoples. Seventy-two per cent of Boston’s population is of foreign birth or 242 WORLD SERVICE of foreign or mixed parentage. As it has been said, “the languages of the world are spoken on the streets of Boston, and ideas and ideals gathered from the ends of the earth are being steadily built into her social fabric.” Into this polyglot center of turbulent, toiling humanity, the Methodist Episcopal church has thrown its forces, and the effort to bring the kingdom of God to pass is well begun. Reinforcements of prayer, personnel, and resources are needed to win the victory. Evangelism in eleven languages. — Meth¬ odism carries on its evangelistic and social program in Boston in eleven languages. The Boston Missionary and Church Exten¬ sion Society and the Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Extension are related in a great city wide program by which work is carried on by seventy . missionaries at twenty-three different centers. Eleven distinct racial or language groups are served. One may attend churches or mis¬ sions conducted by the Methodist church where the Gospel of Christ is preached in Chinese, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Syrian, Norwegian, Danish, Swed¬ ish, German, and English. There is also a service for Jews and one for Negroes. The story of old “First Church.” — Romance and inspiration unite in the story of old First Church, Boston, which has adapted itself to serve the changing neighborhood in which it is located. Its history goes back to the summer of 1792 when Jesse Lee preached on Boston Com¬ mon. In 1912, the West End Rescue Mis¬ sion was founded in connection with the church, and in 1918 the Beacon Hill Com¬ munity Center was organized. Located in a lodging-house section on the edge of a great foreign-speaking neighborhood, there is scarcely a spiritual or social need of the thousands who live within short walking distance of its doors which First Church does not attempt to meet by its variegated ministry. It is among the peo¬ ple as a servant. Its social ministry includes classes in housekeeping, nursing, millinery, stenog¬ raphy, and music; it has its Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, women’s societies, young people’s gatherings, its gymnasium and kindergarten and Bible classes, all of which fill not only every available hour, but every available inch of space. It has a constantly expanding program of spir¬ itual regeneration and community uplift. The church maintains dormitories, a med¬ ical and dental clinic, and has a center for sailors from the Charlestown Navy Yard. Real progress is being made toward reach¬ ing this congested, cosmopolitan popula¬ tion for Christ. A challenging opportunity. — Yet old First Church, one of the most majestic givers of leadership, needs that some of the life blood which it has yielded to build new churches shall flow back into its own arteries to give renewed life for its problems. A survey of its parish in the West End of Boston reveals that in two years thirty per cent of the population had shifted, and in five years seventy per cent had totally changed ! In one ward, three out of four foreign-born are Russian Jews, and in another ward two out of four. Out of 260 members of First Church, only 106 live in the parish. Yet the church’s share of the community responsibility embraces 405 non-Sunday- school attending Protestant children, 2,310 children of no religious affiliation, 2,719 in need of an Americanization train¬ ing, and 634 illiterates! It is a field of tremendous significance because of its his¬ torical connections, its present constitu¬ ency of many races and its demonstration of the adaptation of the time-honored, city residential church to meet the problems of the modern industrial city. Italian work. — A sweep of Boston would bring into purvue the five centers where the Methodist Episcopal church carries on a ministry for the thousands of Italians — one person in every twelve in Boston being an Italian. At the First Italian Methodist Episcopal Church in the formerly fashionable North End of Boston, now a congested tenement neigh¬ borhood of 30,000 Italians, between 250 NEW ENGLAND 243 and 300 children and young people are being reached by its religious, educational, social and recreational activities. A sum¬ mer camp and a daily vacation Bible school are conducted. There is a well graded Sunday school, each class of which is organized as a club, meet¬ ing week days. The Sunday school carries on a pro¬ gram of religious education throughout the week. Lithuanian work. — In the old St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church of South Boston, at one time having a membership of more than a thousand, there worships today a Lithuanian congre¬ gation, with a former priest as its minister. There are 8,000 Lithuanians in South Boston and 12,000 in the en¬ tire city. Three Sunday schools are maintained for the Chinese, the oldest at the Old Broomfield church, now absorbed into the new United Church. In ten years, forty-four Chinese have been converted in this one school, one of whom was gradu¬ ated recently from Boston University. Others are scattered throughout the world. Negro work. — A work for Negroes is conducted by the Woman’s Home Mission¬ ary Society at the Hattie B. Cooper Com¬ munity Center in connection with the Fourth Methodist Episcopal Church. The progtram ranges from dressmaking class and choral clubs to Sunday school and Epworth League. For lack of space, the Sunday school must meet in three sections. Though inadequate, it is the only Negro Methodist church in the city. Morgan Memorial Church.* — No story of Methodism in Boston, New England or the United States would be complete without the mention of Morgan Memorial. Here the Gospel is applied to modern life ! Here was founded the Goodwill Industries, and here several hundred regularly employed and “opportunity workers” are kept busy. *See picture on p. 235. A social ministry and program of religious education are carried on which reaches the thousands, young and old, every year. Here also are English-speaking, Italian, Syrian, Portuguese, and Negro depart¬ ments. Once a month these various departments and their min¬ isters join in an “interna¬ tional service.” Fifteen hun¬ dred children of twenty-five nationalities are ministered to in the children’s settle¬ ment. Twenty-eight differ¬ ent languages are spoken within a mile of this church. Boston a pattern for New England. — The problems and activities of Boston as here chronicled are the problems and activities of the other cities of New England on a smaller scale. Important beginnings are registered among the hundreds of thousands of foreign-speak¬ ing peoples scattered else¬ where. In Lowell, Mas?., there is work for the Greeks and Syrians in the factories. At Man¬ chester, N. H., there is a French Meth¬ odist Episcopal church, the only one in New England, ministered to by an engineer who is employed in industry six days a week. There are important pieces of Italian Methodist work at Portland, Maine, Middletown and New Haven, Conn., Providence, R. I., Barre, Vt., and Fall River, Mass. Among the 100,000 Portuguese in New England a splendid program of missionary activity is being carried on at East Cam¬ bridge, Plymouth, New Bedford, East Wareham and other points in Massachu¬ setts, and at Valley Falls, and other cen¬ ters in Rhode Island. Here also is published “Aurora,” a Methodist Portuguese paper of large circulation. Bishop Hughes has said, “If we con¬ sider Boston University, the Deaconess Hospital, and Morgan Memorial, it is apparent that no Protestant church is Wesleyan Association Building, Boston — Methodist headquar¬ ters in New England 244 WORLD SERVICE While they make over old shoes, they are themselves remade by productive em¬ ployment — Goodwill Industries, Morgan Memorial, Boston today doing more or better work in New England than is the Methodist Episcopal. We need a representative and outstanding church in the city. We have the funds for getting it and we are trying to get the wisdom and the patience for the enter¬ prise.” Typical new program churches. — A suc¬ cessful “melting pot” church is the Central Methodist Episcopal of Lowell, whose program is partially sustained by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. Here six years ago the work Our church at Hamden Plains, Connecticut, (new residential section of New Haven) was alert to the problems of rapid suburban growth, and, with Centenary help, put up this adequate plant was at so low an ebb it seemed the church would have to close. Today, under an ade¬ quate leadership, will be found nine nationalities represented in the church activities. There are Greeks, Chinese, Armenians, Syrians, White and Negro Americans, Germans, Irish and French. Syrians, French, Greeks, and Americans can be found kneeling together at the same communion service. Public worship, Sun¬ day school, Epworth League, and prayer meeting are all well attended. A Syrian school of sixty boys and girls is carried on in connection with Central Church. The meteoric growth of modern city suburbs often throws out a challenge too great for the local church to meet. Such was the situation in Hamden Plains, one of the newer residential sections of New Haven, Conn. Hamden Plains increased 15,000 in population in two or three years, most of the newcomers being workers in nearby industrial plants. The Methodist Episcopal Church at large co-operated with the faithful congregation to meet the challenge, and a splendid church was built. On the day of dedication, a large number of people was received into membership. Already the congregation and Sunday school crowd the building to the doors. Goodwill Industries. — Two of the Good¬ will Industries of the Methodist Episcopal Church are located in New England, at Boston and Lowell, Mass. More than fif¬ teen years ago, a praying and far-visioned pastor saw the need of helping discouraged and desperate homeless men to help them¬ selves. He conceived the idea of collecting cast-off clothing, broken furniture, and other articles, reconstructing them and selling them at a low price, furnishing employment to unfortunates, and estab¬ lishing a partially self-supporting enter¬ prise to help others. So marvellous has been the success that today at Morgan Memorial, the Goodwill Industries occupy two large six-story buildings and about 5,000 needy people find self-respecting employment every year. The Goodwill Industries at Lowell are located in an industrial city of more than NEW ENGLAND 245 120,000 people, of whom eighty per cent are foreign born or of foreign or mixed parentage. Self-sustaining churches. — Many achieve¬ ments might also be registered of English-speaking churches which are win¬ ning out against the difficulties of the modern city. For instance, the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Man¬ chester, N. H., nearly doubled its member¬ ship in two years, increased its Sunday- school enrolment until it is one of the largest in New Hampshire, built a splendid church and community center and entered upon a program to meet the many varied spiritual and social needs of its neigh¬ borhood. Methodist Service to Rural New England Agricultural New England. — A narra¬ tive of abandoned farms and decreasing rural populations is not a pleasant one, nor is it conducive to an optimistic frame of mind. Yet there are phases of agri¬ cultural New England which are distinctly hopeful. Decreasing population means a devital¬ ized country church. The movement west or to the cities of much of the more vigor¬ ous Yankee stock of rural New England has robbed many a historic, virile country church of its very life strength. It has meant that many churches should die, and hundreds of them have, or they should become missionary projects. One aban¬ doned church is now being used by the village fire department. A boy in a village with closed churches directed some tour¬ ists to the graveyard as “the livest place in town.” A new rural people. — Another problem is that of the incoming foreign element which is not of a Protestant type. The situation in Vermont is described by the Department of Rural Work of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension : “It is reported by two mail carriers from one community that in the past half dozen years eighty-six changes have taken place in farms and all but six of these have passed into the hands of Roman Catholics. Today’s investment for tomorrow among the Portuguese. A student from Boston Univer¬ sity teaches this Sunday-school class Either actual abandonment of farms is still in process or the land is passing into the hands of a non-Protestant population. In either case, the result is likely to be an actual decrease in Protestant church membership.” Foreign-speaking peoples on farms. — Scarcely a section of New England is there but what is feeling these inroads by foreign-speaking peoples. The French- Canadians are coming in by the thousands from the north to settle on the farms as well as in the cities; the Italians, Poles, and Lithuanians are pushing out from the congested city settlements, some of them to return to their old-country occupation of farming, others to engage in the village industries. This rural industrial situation Gym class for boys in our church at Man¬ chester, New Hampshire 246 WORLD SERVICE is an important one in New England, as represented in the fishing villages along the coast and the mill towns back in the interior. Practically all of these rural communities with their small factories and foreign-speaking people present a peculiar social problem which the church must meet and solve. But without ade¬ quate equipment and trained leadership little progress is possible. Living and dying churches. — Hundreds of churches of various denominations are serving their own limited constituencies, and with programs unadapted to modern needs and with decreasing memberships and support are steadily making their way to the ecclesiastical graveyard. But other churches are awake to the difficulty of New England’s rural problem and its various manifestations and are success¬ fully solving it. Methodist leadership. — The hope of New England’s rural Methodism heads up largely in the splendid rural leadership courses provided by Boston University and its School of Theology in co-operation with the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. Here the dignity and opportunity of the rural parish are empha¬ sized, and methods developed and taught for successful country church work in the various types of communities. A circulat¬ ing library for the rural pastors is widely used. Demonstration parishes are chosen and the program inaugurated, so as to afford It is high strategy to train the leaders of for¬ eign-speaking groups in a Christian col¬ lege — Foreign-speaking students at Boston University illustration and inspiration for the scores of churches which are falling short of their task. The results of this kind of demonstration work are seen in Gardner Centenary Parish in Massachusetts, where a program started three years ago has continued to develop until the missionary appropriation has been reduced from $6,000 to $1,000 annually. The summer school for town and coun¬ try pastors, conducted at Boston Univer¬ sity by the department of rural work of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, brings together aggressive and forward-looking ministers in rural fields for training in the most successful methods for reaching the various types of rural communities. Success illustrated. — Another striking example is the new epoch in the life of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Grantham, N. H., a little hamlet off the railroad. Under the leadership of a trained and energetic pastor, a community house was built, with social rooms, an auditorium and other equipment. A community pro¬ gram was inaugurated which has made the church the center of the life of the village and surrounding country. Already a new vision of what service means and the resultant helpfulness are putting a new spiritual viewpoint in the life of the entire neighborhood. Upton, Massachusetts, is a village which has the problems of a rural industrial community. Young women come in from the country to work in the straw goods factory. There was little social life of a helpful type and the Methodist Episcopal church was static. Even when a new minister came, there was little enthusiasm. But his contact with the rural leadership program enabled him to inaugurate a campaign of rejuvenation of church and community. Within four months it was the livest church in town, with a large class of men, an energetic group of young women, a vested choir, a new parsonage and a trebled budget. A community house also was purchased and equipped by an organized community council, of which NEW ENGLAND 247 the pastor was a member, and the amuse¬ ments of the neighborhood were brought to a higher plane. In another rural industrial community, the Methodist pastor held noonday meet¬ ings in the factory, later establishing Sun¬ day afternoon services in the mill for the workers. A social program for them also was initiated. Their interest and confi¬ dence were won on a large scale and a large number became members of the church. Evangelism the keynote. — Evangelism plays an important, successful part in the advance of the Methodist Episcopal church in New England. Not only is this true in the self-supporting churches, but also in the missionary activities. A for¬ eign-speaking evangelist is employed by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension to labor among the Portuguese of the fishing villages along the coast and in other settlements. Another foreign¬ speaking evangelistic effort is among the Italians of Portland, Maine. An unusual experiment was carried out in Vermont, where four centers were visited with a religious chautauqua. .Ten churches were given a vision of community responsibility, four young men recruited for life service, 320 young people definitely related to the churches and Sunday schools, and other facts of great progress registered. Scores of the unchurched were brought to the church. A new type of rural evangelism was recently inaugu¬ rated by the equipping of a motor truck with religious literature, including testa¬ ments, miscellaneous pamphlets and church papers. Two evangelists are mak¬ ing a tour of rural New England for itin¬ erant preaching and visiting. The Ministry of the W. H. M. S. Methodist women at work. — Several women are serving as pastors or special workers in the rural fields of New Hamp¬ shire and are doing excellent missionary work. One is a local preacher and a licensed deaconess and serves a widely scattered population of 500, covering a “The Church at the Harbor,” Scituate, Massachusetts territory as large as Rhode Island. Another is leading a group of 100 or more into a deeper spiritual life through the medium of a well-developed social pro¬ gram. Missionary activities of a widely varied nature are carried on by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. Among the Italian granite workers at Barre, Ver¬ mont, a deaconess home and chapel are located. The deaconesses carry on in the community a social and religious work, including domestic science and industrial classes, mothers’ meetings, Sunday school, and vesper services. Aid is given in the support of a woman worker among the Italians at Oaklands, Methuen, Mass., and in the maintenance of a daily vacation Bible school at St. Paul’s church, Law¬ rence, Mass. A most notable activity is among the Negroes at Boston, with a diversified and extensive program of social and religious service. The society also maintains the East Bos¬ ton Immigrants’ Home, where many needy and pathetic cases of newcomers to a strange land are cared for. In addition, the Boston Medical Mission gives thou¬ sands of treatments annually to suffering, needy patients, with an influence radiating throughout the city. In an educational way, the Society maintains the Dwight Blakeslee Memorial Training School, located at New Haven, Conn., a national school of the organization. It is a training school for Christian work. The Training 248 WORLD SERVICE Training Schools. Massachusetts 10 Boston (D), Boston University School of Religious Education. Connecticut 11 New Haven (WHMS & D), D. W. Blakeslee Training School. Noth : (D) indicates that the institution, in addition to other services, trains deaconesses. (W.H.M.S.) indicates that it trains zvorkers for service under the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Colleges/ Universities, and Professional Schools. Massachusetts 1 Boston, Boston University. Connecticut 2 Middletown, Wesleyan University. Secondary Schools. Maine 3 Bucksport, East Maine Conference Sem¬ inary. 4 Kents Hill, Maine Wesleyan Seminary. New Hampshire 5 Tilton, Tilton Seminary. Vermont 6 Montpelier, Montpelier Seminary. 7 Poultney, Troy Conference Academy. Massachusetts 8 Wilbraham, Wilbraham Academy. Rhode Island 9 East Greenwich, East Greenwich Academy. STUDENT WORK AT NON-METHODIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Maine 1 Orono, University of Maine. New Hampshire 2 Durham, New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Vermont 3 Burlington, University of Vermont. Massachusetts 4 Cambridge, Harvard University. 5 Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 6 Amherst, Massachusetts Agricultural Col¬ lege. Connecticut 7 New Haven, Yale University. NEW ENGLAND 249 The oldest standing building in the New World dedicated to Metho¬ dist education — “Old Academy,” Wilbraham, Massachusetts School conducts Wesley- House, a settlement in New Haven, and a rural social center and religious work at Mapleton, twenty- five miles away. The school thus is enabled to give its students practical work both in city and country. The Methodist Episco¬ pal Church has Deaconess work at the following places: Gardiner and Portland, Maine ; Barre, Vermont; Boston, Con¬ cord, Haverhill and Fall River, Massachusetts ; Providence and Paw¬ tucket, Rhode Island ; and New Haven, Connecticut. It partakes of a varied educational and social service nature. Transients Ministering to visiting throngs. — In order to meet the tremendous opportunity for a ministry to transients, visitors and summer tourists, the Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Extension in a forward look has aided in the enlargement and equipment of some of the village summer- resort churches. One small village chapel was remodelled and equipped to render a ministry to hundreds of" vacationists. In a Massachusetts town, an appropriation encouraged the construction of a splendid church building and community center. An all year-round social and religious pro¬ gram serves the village and its permanent residents and in the summer thousands of tourists are reached with the spiritual min¬ istry of the church. Scores of other coast towns and inland lake and mountain vil¬ lages which are fast growing in popularity are not so equipped, however, and must have missionary support if they are to serve the opportunity which confronts them. Ministry of Teaching Majestic educational records. — In the field of education, New England Meth- 17 odism takes a high place. What with Wilbraham Academy, the oldest of our educational institutions, and its six sister academies; with Wesleyan University and its notable record of leaders furnished for the world’s religious and scientific life and progress, among them more than sixty college presidents, thirteen bishops, hun¬ dreds of pastors, missionaries, teachers, editors, scientists, statesmen and lawyers ; Boston University, and its monumental contribution to both New England and the world, with a similarly eminent record of training leadership and with more than 1,000 out of its present 10,000 students preparing for twenty different forms of religious work — the record and the promise are both wonderful ! The Christian culture, education, and inspiration which have come from these world-known centers of learning, and from those other meritorious educational insti¬ tutions of which New England Methodism is proud, have left their mark on the lives of thousands. (See the map on page 248.) If a growing Methodism can enlarge their activities and provide the spiritual and material resources for their develop¬ ment, the result in the advancement of the kingdom of Christ will be worth the cost many times. 250 WORLD SERVICE This group of Boy Scouts at Morgan Memorial, Boston, Massachu¬ setts, includes the following: 4 Italian, 4 Jewish, 1 Scotch, 2 Irish, 6 Negro, 1 Polish, and 1 Irish-Italian Twentieth century reli¬ gious education. — Through a unique program of co¬ operation between the Board of Education, the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, and Boston University and its School of Theol¬ ogy, an extensive pro¬ gram of religious educa¬ tion has been developed in Boston which is emi¬ nently successful and nationally known. Boston and vicinity furnish a laboratory where nearly all conceivable religious problems and social situ¬ ations can be met and solved. Students not only receive instruction in the class room and from textbooks, but have actual experience in their chosen field of work under the supervision of trained leaders, for which experimental work academic credit is given. Four hundred twenty-five students received this training last year. Among them were sixteen bi-lingual workers, equipped for a ministry in a foreign tongue and the English language, five Italians, one Russian, one Lettish, three Greeks, four Portuguese, one Lithuanian, and one Syrian. Ten students in the School of Theology were preparing for ministry in down-town city churches, and One of Boston University’s buildings forty-five students for rural church leader¬ ship. Thirty students were in training for foreign mission work, and a large num¬ ber in the School of Religious Education. Wesley Foundations. — The work of the Wesley Foundations and the social and religious service of university pastors and ministers in college community churches register a tremendous contribution by Methodism to educational and spiritual advancement in New England. Expan¬ sion of present work will mean winning more and more young men and women who are to be the leaders of the future. Among these New England centers where Methodism is thus functioning are the University of Maine at Orono, the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Durham, the University of Vermont at Burlington, Harvard Uni¬ versity and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge, the Massachu¬ setts Agricultural College at Amherst, and Yale University at New Haven, Conn. Guiding New England’s youth. — Reli¬ gious educational work, which is having a far-reaching effect among the young men and young women and the boys and girls of New England, has the experienced help of the Board of Sunday Schools and the Board of the Epworth League. Direct aid in leadership and literature is furnished NEW ENGLAND 251 to hundreds of Sunday schools and Epworth Leagues in the self-supporting churches as well as in the missionary centers. In special ways, the impact of these agencies of the church is being felt throughout New England. Sunday-school missionaries toiling in the rural neighbor¬ hoods where spiritual life has declined almost to the vanishing point, in the fish¬ ing villages where spiritually impover¬ ished boys and girls are found, are carry¬ ing forward the redemptive work of Christ. The churches of New England in a peculiar way are very much alive to the primacy of the teaching method, and the way is open for a much larger program of teacher training, Sunday-school devel¬ opment and week-day instruction in religion. Young people’s institutes. — Summer and winter institutes of a widespread and successful nature are characteristic of the Epworth League in New England. In 1922, eight summer institutes were held, to which came hundreds of virile young people for inspiration and training. Many were of the far-famed old Yankee stock, others of the cosmopolitan type which is building the new industrial New England. The New England conference conducted the largest number of mid-winter insti¬ tutes, eight, in any one conference. The Boston and Portland districts have under¬ taken the support of student missionaries. In New England, out¬ standing successful Jun¬ ior League programs in connection with camp meetings have been con¬ ducted. Ministry of Healing Servants of mercy. — Not in the fields of missionary expansion and religious education alone does the Methodist Episcopal Church function in New England. In a ministry of philanthropy and heal¬ ing, it brings comfort to those stricken in body, help to the unfortunate and care for the aged and the orphan. Through the Board of Hospitals and Homes and the General Deaconess Board, the institutions as listed on the map on page 252, are re¬ lated to the great Methodist Episcopal Church at large. Their service, which touches thousands of lives annually for good, can not be measured, but only men¬ tioned, here. Other deaconess work is also carried on among the city churches, in neg¬ lected rural fields, in settlements, and in the myriad miscellaneous ways that these noble women serve in the name of Jesus Christ. The New England Deaconess Association functions particularly in an extensive service in and around Boston. Other Ministries Other Methodist agencies. — The work of the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals, and of the Board of Con¬ ference Claimants, which is national and yet not institutional, is not easily cata¬ logued by geographical divisions. Suffice it to say, however, that they function for the entire church in New England as well as in the rest of the nation. The Bible in New England. — Bible dis¬ tribution is carried on extensively throughout New England through the American Bible Society, Methodism’s appointed agency for that work. In New England the direct work of circulation is New Trinity Church, Springfield, Massachusetts — The type of benevolent-spirited church that pours thousands of dollars into missionary coffers — An adequate plant for religious education and community service 25 2 WORLD SERVICE HOSPITALS AND HOMES Hospitals. Massachusetts 1 Boston, New England Deaconess Hospital. 2 Roxbury, Palmer Memorial Hospital. 3 Concord, Concord Deaconess Hospital. 4 Attleboro, Attleboro Sanitarium. Homes for the Aged. Massachusetts 5 Concord, Home for Aged Methodist Women. Connecticut 6 West Haven, Methodist Church Home for Aged. Homes for Children. Massachusetts 7 Haverhill, Deaconess Fresli Air Home. 8 Fall River, Deaconess Children’s Home. New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston through state societies. Last year the Massachusetts Bible Society furnished Scriptures in forty-three different lan¬ guages. The Society seeks to place a Bible in the hands of every Sunday-school pupil and to supply every missionary worker with Scriptures as needed. The ultimate program calls for regular colporteurs on salary and for special workers, such as students during vacation and part time workers for special campaigns, and for circulating the Scriptures in every tongue spoken in New England. New England’s Need Methodism’s heroic achievements in the life of New England can not be viewed against the background of the colossal changes in that historic center without revealing that here is a world mission field. The need is for greater and better equipment; for more and better trained leaders; for prayers and consecration of givers and servants alike; for faith that the task can and will be done, if the spirit of Christ grips His people and if loyalty to His ideals become a part of every life. The task made concrete.' — Aside from the needs of the institutions and agen¬ cies already indicated, the list of criti¬ cal situations in New England calls for churches in industrial centers sur¬ rounded by polyglot peoples; for new mission centers in rural industrial com¬ munities of Portuguese and Italian peo¬ ple; and for continuing successful exper¬ iments of re-establishing our work in rural agricultural communities. The task grows greater as illustrations of the types of need are revealed. In Maine, the unchurched Protestants outnumber those in church by five to one, and in Massachusetts by three to one. Four hundred thousand more Protestant children are out of Sunday school in New England than are in Sunday school. Surely the challenge to Methodism is to “go forward!” in New England with all the historic missionary zeal which has brought it to its commanding place in the Christian world. MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES iiiiiimmiimmmmiiimiiimin NEW YORK NEW JERSEY PENNSYLVANIA INDUSTRIAL CLASS, CASA DEL POPOLO, NEW YORK CITY On the one hand, the city stands for all that is evil — a city that is full of devils, foul and corrupting; and, on the other hand, the city stands for all that is noble, full of the glory of God, and shining with a clear and brilliant light. Lyman Abbott MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES The World in America The Statue of Liberty is the keeper of the gate to the City of All Nations. The City of All Nations, in turn, is the portal to a land which has gathered in its fold the millions from the near and far-flung corners of the earth. The concentration of the nationalities has naturally taken place at the gate¬ way — so New York City is the foreign¬ speaking center of America. From there the spread has been fan-shaped, sweeping from New England’s shores across New York state and Pennsylvania, into the more distant states, and to the coast of New Jersey. The immigrant today who leans far out over the rail of the incoming ship to catch his first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty outlined against the sky, to trace along the horizon the skyline of the Wonder City, and to thrill with the surcharge of new life in a new world of undreamed opportunity — that immi¬ grant may be from the industrial cen¬ ter of England, from strife-torn Ire¬ land, from ravaged Poland, from hungry Austria, from mysterious Russia, or from sunny Italy. It matters not, because he soon will be at home — he will find in the Middle Atlantic states, New York, Penn¬ sylvania, and New Jersey, great numbers of his own countrymen. An immigrant’s journey. — Let the New American journey through the environs of the adjacent states. At the threshold of his pilgrimage lies the City of New York itself, the first city of America and, in many ways, the first of the world. The vastness, the strangeness, the apparent incomprehensibility of it will awe him, just as it does the native Americans. Here the New American will discover 5,600,000 people center- 255 256 WORLD SERVICE The sky-line of the City of all Nations ing their lives — the factories, offices, mills, and shops where they work, the tenements and palaces where they dwell, the glitter¬ ing theaters and the dingy dance halls where they amuse themselves, and sundry churches where they worship. Greater New York has more people than the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. It has a population as large as the next three largest cities combined : Chicago, Phila¬ delphia, and Detroit. Traveling “upstate.” — The journey of the New American may bear him out beyond the confines of Greater New York, up the historic Hudson, to the rest of the Empire State. In the northern part he will find thousands of French settlers who have migrated from Canada, taken up farms, or settled in cities. In the north¬ eastern portion is one of the pleasure resort sections of America, where thou¬ sands come to see the picturesque beau¬ ties of the Adirondacks and the Catskills, and to spend their vacation season. He will travel through fertile farming regions, where fruits and grains grow in abundance. Here much of the old Ameri¬ can stock is to be found— the character¬ istic Empire State type before the inun¬ dation from foreign shores. In some sec¬ tions Italians and other foreign-speaking peoples are established on farms, intro¬ ducing a new rural type. They are in colonies in the “up-state” cities also, especially in the industrial centers. Many cities will be visited which are still pre¬ dominantly of the native American type, cities of fine homes, splendid churches, and widely-known colleges and universities. From the Lackawanna steel works on the Lake Erie border of Buffalo to the great manufacturing plants at Niagara Falls stretches the twenty-five mile “Niag¬ ara Frontier,” one of the most highly organized industrial regions of America. The development of this region has hardly begun, although it now produces a more varied assortment of goods than any simi¬ lar portion of the United States, with the exception of New York. Abundant power is supplied by the Falls; lake steamers bring raw materials at low cost; easy access is given to foreign and domestic markets by railroads, a barge canal, and, in time, the St. Lawrence-to-the-Atlantic steamship canal. Visiting Pennsylvania. — If the New American makes his pilgrimage a “swing around the circle”, he will drop southwest from Buffalo and enter “the Pittsburgh District”, another vast industrial region, the steel center of the world. Here, too, are great colonies of foreign-speaking people employed in the steel mills, and in the related coke and coal industries. From Chestnut Ridge of the Allegheny mountains, he will see stretched out before him more than two hundred company- owned mining towns ranging from a few hundred to several thousand polyglot peo¬ ples — all this where once was an ordinary, peaceful farming region. MIDDLE ATLANTIC 257 In the northern part of Pennsylvania, the visitor would find a rural section of the old type; in central Pennsylvania a heavy industrial and mining region; and in the southeastern part the most fertile and best developed agricultural section of the state. The whole north¬ eastern portion forms the vast anthracite mining re¬ gion, with its hundreds of thousands of underground toilers mostly foreign¬ speaking Slavs. Studying Philadelphia. — The climax of his visit to Pennsylvania would bring him to Philadelphia, third city of America. Here he would discover the center of 1,823,000 people, a city of rich historical tradition, and a great industrial and commercial metropolis. In the shadow of Independ¬ ence Hall he would find swarming multitudes speaking tongues strange to the fathers of America. He would find a city of great churches, and yet a city where many thousands are unreached by the social or spiritual ministry of any church. Touring New Jersey. — The pilgrimage to New Jersey would take the New American to the congested foreign-speaking centers of Newark, Jersey City, and Hoboken. He would find happy and contented suburban residential towns but each one with its handful of “foreigners”, and scores of industrial communities large and small. A side-trip south would bear him through the central portion of the state, a back¬ ward, unfertile rural section, where dwell the celebrated “pineys” — an ignorant, illiterate, and superstitious group living in the shadow of some of the greatest cities of the world. All of southern New Jersey is the dairy and market garden for New York, Philadelphia, and adjacent cities. The native American population is inter¬ spersed with numerous rural Italian colonies, and a few Jewish agricultural communities. Along the coast is a contin¬ uous stretch of summer re¬ sorts, Atlantic City being known to America and all the world. A Panorama of Com¬ plexity Surveying the field — If, at his journey’s end, the New American should make a study of these Mid¬ dle Atlantic states, he would learn that their total population is 22,261,144 people, of whom 16,672,595, or 74.9 per cent are urban — living in cities of 2,500 or more — and 5,588,549, or 25.1 per cent, are rural. Of the total, 4,912,575 are for¬ eign-born, and 600,183 Ne¬ gro. The striking fact is that while the net increase in population for the Mid¬ dle Atlantic states, between 1910 and 1920 was 15.2 per cent, a trifle higher than the United States at large, the for¬ eign-born increase was only 1.8 per cent, while the Negro increase was 43.6 percent. Mill section, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Headquarters of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension — Wesley Building, Philadelphia, owned by the Permanent Fund of the Board. 258 WORLD SERVICE Blue Birds’ Industrial Club, Italian Branch — Elm Park Methodist Episcopal Church, Scranton, Pennsylvania The principal foreign-born elements and their number, are as follows: English, 272,752; Irish, 472,319; German, 508,226; Polish, 515,708; Austrian, 310,844; Hun¬ garian, 190,224; Russian, 763,891; Italian, 925,222 ; and Czecho-Slovaks, 123,863. The section contains more English, Irish, Polish, Austrian, Hungarian, Russian and Italian people than any other section of the United States. Pennsylvania has the largest Negro population, 284,568. The city’s challenge. — The Middle Atlan¬ tic states, the greatest city area of Amer¬ ica, naturally presents the city as its great¬ est problem. What is the problem of the city? Pre-eminently it is the submergence of humanity and personality in the depths of crass materialism. Competition at its keenest, selfishness in its most intense form, the struggle for a living the severest — all these are but phases of that mate¬ rialism. In New York, the metropolis, it heads up in its most virulent form. Its overwhelming magnitude, its seething multitudes, the maddening craze for amusements, the perpetual motion of the swirling mass, the deadening monotony of its work, the cold-blooded materialism of its thinking, the maelstrom of its loneli¬ ness, its every known variety of human¬ ity, the multi-family dwellings, money lure and “working papers”, and finally the class cleavages, these are some of the condi¬ tions of city life that try men’s souls. The analysis of it is made vivid in a recent study entitled, The Case for Old New York.1 Things hopeful. — Set over against these destructive elements are some hopeful characteristics : The upward striving of the city masses: everywhere there is seething discontent with present conditions. The passion of the new Americans for education: public schools are jammed with eager learners of many races ; college and university enrolments tell the same story; educational work of churches and settle¬ ments brings a great response. The emotional temperament and the generous benevolence of New York people. A world mission field.— -New York has become a world mission field. The moral and spiritual resources for its own advancement and regeneration are not available within its own borders. The evangelization of New York is a task for America. As the greatest city New York presents the greatest missionary oppor¬ tunity. No greater task faces the church of America today than the spiritual con¬ quest of its cities. The situation in New York is duplicated, to a lesser degree, in a hundred other metropolitan centers throughout the United States, every one of which is a challenge to the church. Indeed, in some centers of smaller popula¬ tion, certain given social conditions are worse, due to the fact that New York as a municipality has taken the lead in ameliorating many evils. The industrial field. — Industrialism, with the social and economic conditions which it engenders, is woven into the life of these three states. In fact, the Middle Atlantic states along with New England form the industrial heart of America. It may be in the cities, in the town or rural industrial regions, the problems are much the same. 1 Single copies may be secured free of charge bv addressing The New York City Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 150 Fifth Ave., New York. N. Y. MIDDLE ATLANTIC 259 Class distinctions, misunderstandings, bit¬ terness, congested housing, lack of recre¬ ational facilities, social and economic pov¬ erty, exhausting toil, long hours (the twelve-hour day still lives), and spiritual stultification — all these arise concurrently with an intensified industrialism. There are few sections of New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania which are not touched with it to lesser or greater degree. Here in the past has been industrial warfare, marked by bloodshed and no quarter. In some places some of the strife has sub¬ sided. But the provocative conditions have not been removed. In some industries, great progress has been made in reconcil¬ iation of capital and labor and in the reali¬ zation of brotherhood in toil. Little has been registered in these eastern mining regions. The barbaric rule of exploitation is still to be found. As this is being writ¬ ten, 60,000 men of southwestern Pennsyl¬ vania are still on strike fighting for stand¬ ard conditions of labor and wage scale. Their families have spent the winter hud¬ dled in tents in the snow, while a family of seven, a typical family, had to get along on the union allowance of $4.25 a week. New rural types. — The spread of foreign¬ speaking peoples into the countryside — for most of the immigrants were farmers in Europe — creates a situation of two angles: first, it is a problem to the indi¬ vidual rural church, which finds its native American constituency being replaced by The Ford brings the missionary and the missionary brings a helpful service to the Italian farmers of South Jersey This lass is an Italian migrant worker in a string-bean field. Central New York state a foreign-speaking, non-Protestant ele¬ ment; second, it is an opportunity to the church at large to evangelize the foreign- born under favorable surroundings, that is, it is easier to reach him in the open, rural regions than in the congested city colonies where the very mass overwhelms. The American farmers are progressive and co-operative, while the rural churches are often static, only a few modern pro¬ grams having been developed in the last four or five years. The foreign-speaking farmers generally work by intensive farm¬ ing, acreage that American farmers do not find profitable. Trained leadership and community programs and equipment are necessary to revive the stagnant farm life and to meet the changing needs where foreign-speaking peoples are replacing the native American. An increasing mission¬ ary problem is involved in the process, as more of these rural churches are con¬ stantly coming for help to the church at large. Other problems. — Summer resorts with their transient populations, especially in the mountain and lake regions of New York and Pennsylvania and the coast of 260 WORLD SERVICE With this type of church, Methodism is serving the rural need — Harpursville, New York New Jersey, repeat the opportunities and problems of other resort communities, likewise, the student centers found in abundance throughout these heavily popu¬ lated states, especially in and around New York and Philadelphia. The small fruit and vegetable industries in fields, orchards and canneries bring thousands of immi¬ grant workers, especially women and chil¬ dren, into the small villages and open country from the cities, creating an ab¬ normal social life that challenges both local and general leadership. Methodism at work. — In this vast cru¬ cible, the Methodist Episcopal Church is toiling with vigor and vision to invest it with spiritual devotion. It is no stranger seeking a domicile in a strange land. Rather, it has grown up with the people and become a part of their life. Methodism dates back to Revolutionary days in this historic area, the circuit rider sharing the hardships and the tribulations of the early pioneers and through his cour¬ ageous ministry built himself into the very life of the colonies. He journeyed across the mountains and conquered the forests with the vanguard of civilization. It is fitting, therefore, that the church he rep¬ resented should be known as a church of the people. Living witnesses. — Such has the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church of the Middle Atlantic states continued to be. Old-fash¬ ioned, white houses of worship which have stood for a century in rustic sections of New York and Pennsylvania testify to Methodism’s ministry to the traditional American type descendent from early days. Great temples in the cities, with towering spires, magnificent organs and throngs of well-dressed people, tell the story of how Methodism is beginning to adapt herself to the demands of twentieth century metropolitan centers. Mission halls in the underworld sections, settle¬ ment houses where children fight for breathing space and where poverty hangs like a fog over life, institutional churches where the social need is great and recrea¬ tional life is stunted, conventional churches in normal residential districts, rural com¬ munity churches, flourishing congrega¬ tions in town and country, orphanages, hospitals, old people’s homes, colleges, academies, universities, all these, and more, reveal how the Methodist Episcopal Church is growing and changing with the communities as they have been wrought into the vast new empire of the Middle Atlantic states. The church today. — In 1922 there were 885,096 full members on the roll of the church in the Middle Atlantic states, and it had 4,834 church buildings. The Sun¬ day-school enrolment was 1,021,321, while the Senior Epworth League had 117,006 members and the Junior Epworth League 55,457. The total benevolences were $5,665,287, while the total paid for all pur¬ poses was $22,678,311, or $25.62 per cap¬ ita. This is the fourth highest rate of giv¬ ing among Methodist Episcopal churches of the nine census divisions of the United States. Institutions of service. — In the present register of Methodism in the Middle Atlan¬ tic states will be found three colleges and universities, one theological seminary, eight secondary schools and two training schools ; student work maintained at seven non-Methodist educational institutions, including some of the leading universities of America; thirty-five summer schools and missionary institutes of various types ; MIDDLE ATLANTIC 261 and twenty-five hospitals, orphanages, and homes for the aged and infirm. Methodism at the Front How the Methodist Episcopal Church is measuring up to the mountainous task in this industrial heart of America can only be indicated here. A survey or compre¬ hensive study of its service would require volumes to portray. A few of the high lights may serve to illuminate the whole picture. The mission field of New York City. — In a population where every third person is a Roman Catholic, every fourth person a Jew, and every hundredth person is a Methodist, there are only fifty-two Meth¬ odist Episcopal churches to carry on the denomination’s share of evangelizing the 3,000,000 people in Manhattan and the Bronx. In greater New York, with its 5,620,000 people, there are only 140 Meth¬ odist Episcopal Churches. Metropolitan Temple stands in a parish of 90,000 people. A canvass of twenty-six blocks nearest the church located 400 unchurched Protestant families, from whom 200 new members for the church were secured. The church has a Spanish membership of 100, and has a varied pro¬ gram of community and welfare service. “Always Open.” — With a blazing electric cross to carry its message to the passing throngs of pleasure-seek¬ ers on Broadway just “ninety-nine steps away,” the widely known Union Methodist Episcopal Church is Methodism’s great effort to meet the challenge of the hotel and theatre center of the world’s greatest city. Here the Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Exten¬ sion has represented the church at large in a pro¬ gram to serve the passing thousands. Its possibili¬ ties, as seen by the New York City Society, are a pulpit for Methodism’s greatest preacher; a social and religious clinic; an interpreter of the art and idealism of the great metropolis; the travelers’ New York City church; a complete neighborhood service, regardless of profession or occu¬ pation; a Christian colony of volunteer workers resident in the property; a meet¬ ing place for kindred assemblies ; a center of friendship for the lonely; a civic and religious forum; and a center of popular education. The Church of All Nations — In the heart of a tenement district where hun¬ dreds of thousands of many nations swel¬ ter in summer and freeze in winter, the Methodist Episcopal Church has developed a tremendous center of friendship and help. It is well named the Church of All Nations, because in this concentrated sec¬ tion of the lower East Side, where 416,000 people are huddled, 97!/2 per cent of them are of foreign birth or parentage. His¬ torically, the church represents at least eight strong and influential Methodist Episcopal churches, many of them with a membership of 1,000 or more in the days when the population was native Ameri¬ can which moved away or closed the churches with the influx of foreign hordes. The Church of All Nations stands as the last outpost in the wilderness, and of it is said that “nowhere in this country does 262 WORLD SERVICE the Methodist Episcopal Church face so gigantic a task in the evangelization of new Americans as at this center.” Through the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension and the New York City Society, there has recently been dedi¬ cated an equipment equal to any for settle¬ ment and home missionary work. The new main building, supplementing the five- story tenement house in use so long, will be able to minister to thousands of needy people in varied ways, from the physical benefits of a gymnasium and open-air roof and the educational opportunities of the class rooms, to the religious service of the chapel. The work at present includes organized social and religious activities in three for¬ eign languages, Russian, Italian, and Chi¬ nese. A program of religious education reaches several hundred people, while the recreation program serves many more. English is taught to the foreign-born. There is a daily kindergarten of fifty little children. Here the Russian Collegiate Institute conducts a pro¬ gram for 250 students each winter. The Chinese Mis¬ sion in Chinatown is a de¬ partment. There are a fresh-air summer home for tired mothers and children, a Daily Vacation Bible School, and Sunday reli¬ gious services. St. James Church. — St. James Methodist Episco¬ pal Church is in a commu¬ nity of 35,000 people who were thought to be entirely unapproachable to the Protestant work. A thor¬ ough survey located 4,000 Protestants having no membership within a ra¬ dius of four blocks of the church. The staff has been enlarged and twenty- nine different activities are personal evangelism and religious educa¬ tion. Methodism’s premier Italian center.— In the midst of an Italian colony of 100,000 people in New York stands the Jefferson Pai k Methodist Episcopal Church, carry¬ ing on the greatest Italian social and reli¬ gious work which American Methodism knows. It consists of an adapted church building, the Wood Memorial Casa del Popolo Community House, and a Fresh Air Home. It is a community and reli¬ gious center ministering to 15,000 people a month. Foi ty activities are on the weekly cal¬ endar, including Americanization classes, industrial classes for boys, cooking and sewing classes for girls, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, organized athletics and recreation, lectures, moving pictures, a children’s assembly, and vesper service Sunday after¬ noons attended by from 800 to 1,000 weekly, a day kindergarten, and special preparatory membership classes. A church of many peoples.— Situated in a single city block in which dwell over 2,500 men, women, and children, who speak twenty different lan¬ guages, is the People’s Home Church and Settle¬ ment. No other work in New York is so inten¬ sive in its character. From the children who fill the surrounding tenements and swarm into the streets after school hours, the church takes boys and girls and builds them into Chris¬ tian citizens. In other centers. — Within the limits of this story, mention can only be made of the Church of our Sa¬ vior, the only Protestant work among 10,000 Ital¬ ians in Yonkers; of the Five Points Mission, lo- ; . r,°, ■■■HhmbHH rive Joints Mission, lo- with special emphasis Uon Proposed Smithfie,d Street Build- cf!ed ™ t.he heart °.f the 1 nasis on mg, Putsburgh, Pennsylvania oldest Italian colony in the MIDDLE ATLANTIC 263 city; of Hadley Rescue Hall, in the historic Bowery, where, in addition to the rescue mission hall, are dormitory accom¬ modations for about fifty men who have nowhere else to lay their heads, and facil¬ ities for feeding the hungry and clothing the destitute in all times of need; of the Japanese Church and institute command¬ ing the respect of the Japanese population ; and of the famous Mission in China¬ town, its first efforts more than a dozen years ago in a little hall — no success — street preaching — a convert now and then — some scoffs and jeers — a growing con¬ fidence — a greater harvest — a developing religious work. In the greatest Negro city. — New York has the largest Negro population of any city in the world. In one section, Harlem, are to be found 150,000 Negroes, and there is church provision for only 20,000 of them. There are four Methodist Epis¬ copal churches among the Negroes in New York, St. Mark’s, Salem, Epworth, and Butler Memorial. Provision has been made in Harlem by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension for a new site for St. Mark’s, a church with 2,500 members, worshipping further dcfvvntown, for a new church property for Salem, and similarly for Epworth. Butler Memorial has pur¬ chased a site for a new church. In Brook¬ lyn, the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church (Negro) is meeting in what once was a Greek Catholic Church. Methodism in Brooklyn. — Here, too, the church is brought face to face with great foreign-speaking colonies, transient neigh¬ borhoods and other situations which make the work of the church difficult. Co-operation between the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension and the Brooklyn and Long Island Church Society have enabled the church to go for¬ ward in many places. Knickerbocker Avenue Church is an illustration. Founded more than twenty-five years ago, its first meeting place was in an old store. Around it were erected thousands of flats to which came many thousands of people to live. A Sunday school grew until it Class in English language — Casa del Popolo, New York City had 500 members, and no more could be jammed into the decrepit old quarters. Through help, a splendid new edifice was erected, adapted to community uses. More than 150 new members were added in a short time, and 140 new Sunday-school pupils were enrolled in one season. Old John Street Church.— No story of all-New York Methodism, whether told in the terms of the past, the present, or the future, would be complete without rever¬ ential attention to that shrine of Amer¬ ican Methodism, old John Street Church. Located far down-town, near the tip of Manhattan Island, and surrounded by the towering temples of business, this modest temple of worship stands on ground which has been hallowed by Methodist worship for a longer time than any other spot on the American continent. A successful down-town church. — “Sold out to a factory” need no longer be the epitaph of the once prosperous, preten¬ tious church which finds itself in the down¬ town section or in the foreign-speaking neighborhood of a great city. St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church of Jersey City, N. J., was one of the great churches of the denomination thirty years ago, with a membership of more than a thousand people. They disappeared, however, be¬ fore the inrush of Italian, Russian, and Polish people. Now the church, with an adapted religious and social ministry, is on the upgrade and is training and nurtur¬ ing these foreign-speaking people in a work organized in six racial groups. 264 WORLD SERVICE “The Newsboys’ Church.” — This might be the title applied to the Market Street Methodist Episcopal Church, at Paterson, N. J., where 120 Jewish, Catholic and Prot¬ estant newsboys are daily gathered in for refreshment, a “sing”, and then a religious service. A number of them have come in to the Sunday school. In this church, in the heart of a great industrial city, there are naturally many opportunities for Christian service. Helping a sick Portu¬ guese lad, aiding a deaf Armenian girl, carrying on a Chinese Sunday school, all these are typical, picturesque activities of such a church. Ninety thousand people live within a radius of one mile of this church. At work in Philadelphia. — The second city of the Middle Atlantic states, and the third of America, Philadelphia is Metho¬ dism’s greatest metropolitan stronghold. It has 112 Methodist Episcopal churches, compared to 140 in Greater New York, and 96 in Chicago. Philadelphia’s world repu¬ tation as a center of culture and religious expression often obscures the fact that the settling of hordes of immigrants in congested quarters and the housing of a great Negro population in run-down neigh¬ borhoods create keen social and religious problems. Philadelphia has its foreign¬ speaking colonies, its tenements, its indus¬ trial communities and its rapidly growing suburbs, all of which challenge the church to greater action. Probationers’ class, Kaighn Avenue Church, Camden, N. J. The Fifth Street Temple. — What kind of a church would one expect to find eight blocks from Independence Hall, four blocks from Benjamin Franklin’s grave, three blocks from old St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, a shrine of American Methodism, and five blocks from Betsy Ross’s house where the first American flag was made? The instinctive answer would be a great church in a patriotic American neighborhood. Yet what is the case? Hear the story of the Fifth Street Temple. This neighborhood, rich in its traditions of American liberty and patriotism, today is distinctively polyglot, housing 100,000 people, Jewish, Polish, and Lithuanian pre¬ dominating. The old church and its old program were about to pass out when the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension took hold. A splendid new com¬ munity building was erected and in three years the neighborhood became a-throb with a new spiritual zeal and new life. Today 2,500 people are often ministered to in a single week; there is a Sunday school of 500, of fourteen different nation¬ alities, and an enrolment in classes and clubs of 600 different individuals; a wom¬ an’s club of 100; a kindergarten of 75 to 100 children; a group of forty volunteer wor kers ; a domestic science instructor, nurse, boys’ worker, girls’ worker, and miscellaneous other organizations and leaders. Religious work is emphasized, and Sunday services have a large hold on the neigh¬ borhood life. One of the world’s great¬ est churches.— A member¬ ship of over three thou¬ sand and church services in relays warrant the des¬ ignation given to East Calvary Methodist Epis- pal Church in Philadel¬ phia. It is, in many ways, the greatest piece of work among Negroes in the Methodist Episcopal Church. MIDDLE ATLANTIC 265 Negroes crowd the services of East Calvary Methodist tupiscopal Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania It is not unusual, when a capacity Sunday con¬ gregation has been dis¬ missed, for another con¬ gregation just as large to be awaiting its turn for worship. In summer weather it is necessary to hold services in a huge tent out in the open. For weeks at a time during cold weather, from 200 to 500 men nightly have availed themselves of the opportunity to sleep in the church building and have a free warm meal. Clothing has been given to hundreds of suffering, shivering men. Among them, eight hundred conversions took place in a few months. Many white men also were helped. The cost of the relief work, about $70 a day, was borne by the Negro congregation for a long time, many of the members doing without meals and new clothing so that the more unfortunate might be cared for. The Board of Home Missions and Church Extension has made it possible for East Calvary church to purchase a fine new property on which a church and commu¬ nity center will be erected. The Board also is helping six other Negro churches in Philadelphia to solve the new problems growing out of the northern migration. A dying church revived. — What home mission and church extension help can Playground, St. Paul’s Church Philadelphia, Pennsylvania mean to a congregation is illustrated by the Kaighn Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, located in the congested section of Camden, N. J. For many years this church had been considered a forlorn hope. Often the Sunday morning congregation num¬ bered only eight or ten persons. At least one-half the population is foreign-speak¬ ing. A modest bit of missionary aid was given and a capable leadership provided. After less than two years of such a pro¬ gram, the morning and evening congrega¬ tions fill the church and 500 children attend the Monday night Happy Hour service. An Italian Sunday school also is conducted. Methodism in Pittsburgh. — Forty Meth¬ odist Episcopal Churches make Pittsburgh vibrant with a great program of forward- looking Christianity. In addition to the great self-supporting centers, one might cite the new Dormont Methodist Episcopal Church, equipped for community service; or the Oakland Methodist Episcopal Church where new equipment and enlarged staff are making possible a successful work among students ; or the excellent work at Butler Street, Friendship Park, Laketon Heights, the Polish Mission and the two Italian centers. Brimstone Corner. — In 1788, Pittsburgh was listed as a regular Methodist Episcopal 18 266 WORLD SERVICE “appointment,” and 1817 a church was built, now the Smithfield Street Church. Today it is in a very real sense, the center of the Methodist life of Pittsburgh. It not only ministers to a large American con¬ gregation but also carries on an important Italian work, and the building serves as the headquarters for the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church Union. The Polish work is in the charge of a former miner who car¬ ried on religious work in his own home among his own people for fourteen years before he became a Christian minister. A unique city-wide feature is the employ¬ ment of an Americanization worker and the enlistment of numerous volunteers to teach English. Already groups of Syrians, Slavs, Chinese, Spaniards, Hungarians, Greeks and Italians have been reached. Altogether, nearly fifty different institu¬ tions or separate activities are aided or supported by the Methodist Episcopal Church Union — certainly an energizing city-wide effort of evangelism and social service. A developing Negro work. — In the “Pittsburgh District”, comprising twenty- seven counties, there are at least 75,000 Negroes, one-third of whom have come north since the war. Aid from the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension has made possible the organization of twenty congregations. However, they have only eight buildings for their use. In McKeesport, one of the largest indus¬ trial centers of the Pittsburgh region, the Board enabled the newly organized church to purchase a property formerly used as a Jewish synagogue. In two years it has come to complete self-support and makes a substantial benevolent offering. A Pentecostal grayer meeting. — Imagine a prayer meeting where the Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, French, and German languages were all used in divine petition ! Surely it would be as if Pente¬ cost were being repeated. Yet such hap¬ pens in the Methodist Episcopal center at North Braddock in the “Pittsburgh Dis¬ trict”, where a house-to-house canvass re¬ vealed 160 families of various racial groups without religious instruction. The one common language was German, so a Ger¬ man-speaking missionary was provided. A modern, serviceable church was built, and a membership of more than a hundred people was recruited. Already, young peo¬ ple from this church have gone into train¬ ing for special religious work among for¬ eign-speaking Americans. The coke missions. — “Where the grimy toilers sweat at the smoking coke ovens, among the foothills of southwestern Penn¬ sylvania,” is located our unique “Coke Mission.” It is more or less of a “moving van” ministry for migrating towns and peoples, but it is none the less efficient. In its area are scores upon scores of vil¬ lages, like a great irregular checkerboard, with a network of trolley and railway lines for intercommunication. In the villages is a close commingling of many races and a variety of languages, cultures, social forces and religions. The Coke Mission was launched a gener¬ ation ago by the Pittsburgh conference. It began with one man who went about preaching and doing good. Today, among MIDDLE ATLANTIC 26 7 A kindergarten in the W. H. M. S. Community House, Leisenuring, Pennsylvania — In the coke region 500,000 people, half of whom are foreign- born and the children of foreign-born, the Methodist Episcopal Church has an organ¬ ization with a superintendent, a score of chapels and community houses, about fif¬ teen paid workers and two hundred volun¬ teers, twenty-two preaching places, and thirty-six Sunday schools with an enrol¬ ment of 2,200 pupils, reporting evangel¬ istic meetings whenever and wherever the way is opened, regular preaching in many places, street preaching by foreign work¬ ers, house-to-house sale of Bibles and other religious literature, language churches maintained, little Sunday schools in the vil¬ lages, week-day schools of religious edu¬ cation, stereopticon and moving pictures used to teach religion, hospital and social ministries of all sorts, playground, girl scout and boy scout work, industrial classes, pageantry and music. In one report are listed twenty-three sewing- classes, sixteen baseball teams, and sev¬ enteen daily vacation Bible schools. It is a great organization with a cosmopolitan grasp of religious needs and methods of work. It is aided by the department of rural work of the Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Extension. Sheaves for the Kingdom.- — The spiritual harvest of these labors is typified by the first foreign-language work in the coke district. It was begun among the Bohemi¬ ans in 1898. The present membership is only fifty, only one more than at the end of the first year, yet in the interven¬ ing time 320 persons have been baptized, and the church has sent out from its mem¬ bership for work among Bohemians, six ordained ministers of the Gospel, three local preachers, one deacon, three mission¬ aries, and two trained nurses. The McCrum Slavonic Training School at Uniontown, conducted by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, grew out of the interest and devoted efforts of the daugh¬ ter of the pastor who served for twenty years as superintendent of the Coke Mis¬ sion. The school today is sending out trained Christian Slavonic girls into the home mission fields of America and to Europe to do Christian work among their own people. The analysis of a city. — Buffalo has one of the largest Polish populations among the cities of America, registering in excess of 100.000, while it also has a colony of 45,000 Italians. Others are Jews, 35,000; Negroes, 10,000; Hungarians, 5,000; na¬ tive white Americans, 145,000; and 166,000 of different nationalities, such as German, Russian, Scandinavian, Greek and Syrian. One of the public schools has on its roll children of twenty-four nation¬ alities. In a section of 32,798 people, half are native born, 10,000 are Polish, 3,000 Hungarian and the rest miscellaneous. In the church membership are 10,770 Roman Catholics and 4,520 Protestants, while 17,508 are not connected with any church. In the largest Italian colony of Buffalo, 18,000 are Catholic, 500 Protes¬ tant and 11,500 of no church connection. In the Polish section live 90,000 people, 80 per cent of whom are Polish. The rest are 5,000 Germans, 3,500 Jews, and smaller scattering groups. Church membership is 49,000 Catholic, 1,000 Protestant and 40,000 of no connection. The Methodist Episcopal Church has hardly begun to grapple with this situa¬ tion. There is a site for a church for Ital¬ ians in Niagara Falls, but no church. There is an Italian pastor in Buffalo, but he has no plant in which to work. The 268 WORLD SERVICE Efworth League Institutes. New York 1 Round Lake, Round Lake. 2 Riparius, Riverside. 3 Sidney. Sidney Grove. 4 Barneveld (Assembly Park), Trenton (Northern New York). 5 Cazenovia, Central New York Conference. 6 Montour Falls, Cook Academy. 7 Silver Lake (Assembly), Silver Lake. New Jersey 8 Madison, Madison. 9 Pennington, New Jersey Conference. Pennsylvania 10 Collegeville, Philadelphia Conference. 11 Millersville (Lancaster Co.), Millersville. 12 Eagles Mere, Central Pennsylvania. 13 Meadville, Erie Conference. Summer Schools of Religious Education. New York 14 Syracuse, Syracuse University. New Jersey 15 Ocean Grove. Pennsylvania 16 Carlisle. Dickinson College. Schools for City Pastors. Summer Training Conferences New York 17 New York (Interdenominational). New Jersey 18 Madison. Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. New Jersey 19 Madison, Drew Theological Seminary. Summer Schools of Theology. New York 20 Carmel, New York Conference. 21 Round Lake, Troy Conference. 22 Herkimer, Folts Institute. 23 Cazenovia, Cazenovia Seminary. 24 Silver Lake, Genesee Conference. New Jersey 25 Ocean Grove, Philadelphia, Wyoming, New Jersey, Baltimore and Wilmington Conferences. Pennsylvania 26 Carlisle, Dickinson College. MIDDLE ATLANTIC 269 Missionary Summer Conferences. Missionary Education Movement New York 27 Silver Bay. Woman's Home Missionary Society New York 28 Round Lake. 29 Montour Falls, Central N. Y. Girls Camp. 30 Silver Lake, Central N. Y. Girls Camp. 31 Chautauqua (Interdenominational). New Jersey 32 Ocean Grove. Pennsylvania 33 Lake Ariel, Hiawatha Camp. 34 Williamsport, Central Pennsylvania School. 35 Chambersburg (Interdenominational). Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society New York 36 Silver Bay (Interdenominational). 37 Round Lake. 38 Lake Titus. 39 Dempster Grove. 40 Montour Falls. 41 Silver Lake. New Jersey 42 Hackettstown. Pennsylvania 43 Chambersburg. EDUCATIONAL Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools. New York 1 Syracuse, Syracuse University. New Jersey 2 Madison, Drew Theological Seminary. Pennsylvania 3 Carlisle, Dickinson College. 4 Meadville, Allegheny College. Secondary Schools. New York 5 Carmel, Drew Seminary for Women. 6 Cazenovia, Cazenovia Seminary. 7 Lima, Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. INSTITUTIONS New Jersey 8 Hackettstown, Centenary Collegiate In¬ stitute. 9 Pennington, Pennington Seminary. Pennsylvania 10 Kingston, Wyoming Seminary. 11 Williamsport, Williamsport-Dickinson Seminary. 12 Beaver, Beaver College. Training Schools. New York 13 Herkimer (WHMS & D), Folts Mission Institute. Pennsylvania 14 Uniontown (WHMS), McCrum Slavonic Training Scbool. 270 WORLD SERVICE Polish congregation is not equipped to deal with the spiritual challenge of 180,000 people. Negro Methodists are forced to worship in such places and at such times as other congregations have no use for their edifices. University Church is a one-room build¬ ing with a basement which is really a cel¬ lar located in a great developing center with a population now of 7,500, and with new houses being constructed on every side. At an expense of seven million dol¬ lars, Buffalo University is being rebuilt in this locality. There are at present 1,500 students. With proper equipment, Univer¬ sity Church could have a membership within a year of from five to eight hun¬ dred people. About two years ago, an educated and consecrated Polish minister was secured. Without any building, the work was begun with street preaching. A dwelling house has now been secured and altered so that the work will have a home. For a year, the pastor has spoken several times each week before the many Polish clubs of the city, and has a fixed place in the confidence and esteem of many of the most influential Poles of the city. Recently when the Vice- President of Poland was the guest of the city, it was our pastor who met him at the station and introduced him to the mayor, rode with them in the procession, and presented him to the throng who had gath¬ ered to listen to his address. He is pav¬ ing the way for a citywide successful social and religious work among the Poles. A “Friendly Center” has been opened by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, where seventy-five children are daily gath¬ ered and a splendid work is beginning. A varied program. — The program car¬ ried on at these various centers involves far more than preaching and Sunday- school work. It includes week-day reli¬ gious instruction, daily vacation Bible schools, English classes, fresh air work, Americanization classes, groups in the study of the Italian language, industrial courses, Boy Scout and Camp Fire Girls’ activities, kindergartens, day nurseries, and a great variety of other social and religious programs. None of these Italian churches has as yet reached the stage of self-support. In the congested centers of great cities the churches can be little more than pioneer¬ ing and recruiting centers through which individuals are passed on in brief time to other churches. Such points may seem to have little to show by way of organiza¬ tion after years of effort, yet their work is of the very greatest importance. Other city centers. — In at least forty other cities of New York state are to be found foreign-born population groups varying from 1,000 up to many thousands. Most of them are in the industrial centers where the social conditions and religious problems emphasized in the write-ups of the larger cities are present only differing in degree. Eighty newspapers in thirteen different languages are delivered by the postman one morning of each week in the homes of the parish of the Clinton Street Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church, Binghamton, N. Y. Ten thousand of the 12,000 people there are Slovak, Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian, Syrian, Armenian, Italian, Jewish or other foreign-speaking. Ours is the only Protestant church in this com¬ munity. While these Polish and polyglot centers reach a variety of race groups in the Summer school for city pastors, at Drew Theological Seminary MIDDLE ATLANTIC 271 Empire state, the most extended work is in more than twenty Italian colonies reach¬ ing from New York through the cities of the southern tier to Buffalo, and back through Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Schenectady to Troy and Albany. Begin¬ ning with nothing a few years ago, the first Italian Methodist Church in the United States was organized in 1880; the work has advanced until the number of Italians who are directly or indirectly under constant influence runs into the thousands. Five in one. — Just an ordinary residence is rather cramped quarters for a settle¬ ment house, a mission, a recreation cen¬ ter, library, and community building, yet such is the housing for the Anthracite Sla¬ vonic Mission, conducted by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society at East Ber¬ wick, Pennsylvania. Here live hundreds of Slovak, Hungarian, Syrian, Polish, and other foreign-speaking industrial workers and their families. The work started three years ago, is an exceedingly busy institu¬ tion with sewing and cooking classes, clubs^ and kindergarten, a fine Sunday school and week-day church school. One hundred boys, twelve to twenty years old, are in the clubs. Last year there was a daily vacation Bible school of 209 children. In town and country. — In the midst of the lumber industry of the Adirondacks is the rural community of Newcombs, twenty-eight miles off the railroad. An influx of French-Canadians made the problem difficult. Finally the church gave up and sold its property. A new efficient leader bought back the old property, opened it, aligned every one of the fifty-four Protestant families of the township with the church, together with 200 lumberjacks. A parsonage and com¬ munity house have since been erected. A church can win over the dance halls and pool rooms for the attention and inter¬ est of the young people of a community. At Harrisville, New York, by right lead¬ ership and efficient methods, the church was reorganized, ioo new members added, the Sunday school trebled, the benevo¬ lences increased 400 per cent, two new Sunday schools opened at outlying points, a community hall erected and the parson¬ age rebuilt. A twentieth-century church. — A five-point circuit at Dudley, Pennsylvania, with a population of 6,000, raised its support from STUDENT WORK AT NON-METH¬ ODIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS New York 1 Ithaca, Cornell University. New Jersey 2 Princeton, Princeton University. Pennsylvania 3 \\ est Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania. 4 Lewisburg, Bucknell University. 5 State College, Pennsylvania State College. 6 Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh. 7 Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute of Technology. 272 WORLD SERVICE $965 yearly to $2,800 by the reinvigoration made possible by right leadership. A new parsonage was built, two community houses erected and two pastors employed. Bigger Sunday schools and church serv¬ ices, week-day religious education, night school for Italians, recreation programs for old and young, are among the results. Contagious success. — That success can be contagious is illustrated at Lander, Penn¬ sylvania, which is becoming famous throughout western Pennsylvania because of its progress in developing a new com¬ munity spirit. Within fifteen miles of Lander, five other churches already are taking steps to duplicate its venture. The milestones in the achievement were the coming of a new pastor with a vision, the enlistment of a community in a program of social and religious service, the erection of a community center, with gymnasium and club rooms, and a new interpretation of religion in terms of this life as well as the next. The spiritual result has been registered in enlarged attendance at public worship and in increased local support and a 1,000 per cent gain in benevolent giving. Among the Indians. — Four mission sta¬ tions are maintained by the Methodist Episcopal Church among the different Indian tribes of New York State. Among 1,500 Mohawks on the St. Regis reservation, Hogansburg, N. Y., the Meth¬ odist Episcopal work is being directed from a building seventy-five years' old, with warped flooring, an annually flooded base¬ ment and supporting timbers rotting away. The whole structure is dilapidated, yet the 250 Methodist Indians stand faithfully by. The leader is a native Mohawk, a univer¬ sity graduate and a former nationally known baseball player. There is a dire need for a new church building and com¬ munity house to care for the needs of the reservation. Other points are Indian Falls, Onondaga, and Versailles. Successful evangelism. — A field force of energetic and successful evangelists and spiritual upbuilders have labored from the congested tenements of New York to the regions far off the railroads. In the Central Pennsylvania conference, a personal work campaign was organized and leaders trained. There were a Go-to- church Sunday, the rounding up of neg¬ lected church letters, decisions for Christ obtained, and the total membership of the conference raised to beyond the 100,000 mark. A “soap-box” evangelism of a unique type is carried on in the congested, varie¬ gated Harlem section of New York. Here gather all colors, races, religious and polit¬ ical believers of every sort, in the melt¬ ing pot of a religious forum. Leadership training. — Several members of the Extension Field Force of the Board of Sunday Schools are at work in this sec¬ tion. To show the value of trained leader¬ ship, the following record of achievements in one conference under a field man’s gui¬ dance is given: forty-five teacher training- classes organized, with 250 enrolment ; forty Bible classes formed, with 450 enrol¬ ment; thirty-nine schools graded or departmentalized; forty-two communities surveyed; forty-eight institutes or group meetings held, 20,000 persons attending; forty-three daily vacation Bible schools promoted, with 471 enrolled, and 235 per- Day nursery. Goodwill Community House, Jersey City, New Jersey MIDDLE ATLANTIC 273 HOSPITALS AND HOMES Hospitals. New York 1 Brooklyn, Bethany Deaconess Hospital. 2 Brooklyn, Methodist Episcopal Hospital. 3 Syracuse, Hospital of the Good Shepherd. Pennsylvania 4 Philadelphia, Methodist Episcopal Hos¬ pital. Homes for the Aged. New York 5 Fort Edward, Frederick D. Hodgman Memorial Home. 6 Brooklyn, Bethany Home for the Aged. 7 Brooklyn, Brooklyn Methodist Episcopal Church Home. 8 New York City, The Methodist Episcopal Church Home. 9 Ossining, Bethel Swedish Methodist Epis¬ copal Home for Aged People. New Jersey 10 Ocean Grove, The Methodist Episcopal Home for the Aged. 11 Lawnside, Home for Negro People. 12 Collingswood, Home for the Aged and Infirm. Pennsylvania 13 Philadelphia, Methodist Episcopal Home for the Aged. 14 Tyrone. Methodist Home for Aged. 15 Dravosburg, Hamilton Home for Aged. 16 Conneautville, Ida M. Cribbs Memorial Home. Homes for Children. New York 17 Dobbs Ferry, St. Christopher’s Home. 18 Binghamton, Children’s Home of the Wyoming Conference. 19 Williamsville, Methodist Home for Children. Pennsylvania 20 Philadelphia, Methodist Episcopal Orphanage. 21 Mechanicsburg, Methodist Home for Children. 22 Sheffield, Ruth M. Smith Children’s Home. 23 Oakmont, Elizabeth A. Bradley Children’s Home. 24 Bakerstown, Epworth Fresh-Air Farm. 25 Pittsburgh, Louis Home for Babies. 26 Pittsburgh, Robert Boyd Ward Home. 274 WORLD SERVICE sons given credit on Standard Teacher-Train¬ ing courses in these schools. Seven years’ work registers 276 teach¬ er-training classes organ¬ ized, 3,529 enrolment; 369 Bible classes organized, 4,820 enrolment; 162 schools modernized; 184 communities surveyed ; and 1,762 conversions registered. The Epworth League. — ■ The Epworth League in the Middle Atlantic states is active in upbuilding When Charles and in missionary work. A secretary is maintained in the League area office in New York. The Brooklyn North District supports a fresh-air home for children. The Northern District, Troy Conference, supports a native preacher in India; the Southern District, Troy Con¬ ference, started an Italian mission which has developed into a church. The Syra¬ cuse West District contributed $1,200 to support League work in South America. The Pittsburgh Conference supports a Methodist headquarters in New York City — Old 150 Fifth Avenue Wesley Flint was inaugurated as Chancellor of Syracuse University Fresh- Air Farm and underwrites the bud¬ get for League work in Mexico. The Blairsville and McKeesport districts organ¬ ize and help support Sunday schools in the coke regions. Methodist schools and colleges.— Of the various Methodist colleges in this sec¬ tion, Syracuse University, the largest, is a national institution. Others which may not be as large, and yet because of the standards they maintain and the train¬ ing they give are just as vital are Dickin¬ son College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylva¬ nia, and the eight secondary schools, all located on the map on page 269. The ministry to students in non-Meth¬ odist institutions. — Through the activities of the Wesley Foundation Joint Commit¬ tee and of individual churches, various efforts are being made to minister to Meth¬ odist students at Cornell, Princeton, Buck- nell, Pennsylvania State College, the Uni¬ versity of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Carnegie Institute of Technology. In these institutions will be found Meth¬ odist student groups ranging from 400 to 1,200 in number. A social center unit has been added to our church at State College. A parsonage has been transformed into a community house and student headquar- MIDDLE ATLANTIC 275 ters in Pittsburgh. A fine property pro¬ viding a parsonage and student headquar¬ ters has been purchased in Philadelphia, where a brilliantly successful program is in progress, and the Wesley Foundation is beginning to reach several institutions in addition to the University of Pennsyl¬ vania, the present center of our work. Drew Theological Seminary. — At Madi¬ son, New Jersey, is located one of our greatest religious institutions for the training of ministers, missionaries and religious educators, Drew Theological Sem¬ inary. Its degrees are recognized every¬ where and on its faculty are some of the outstanding scholars of Methodism. Aside from the usual courses and depart¬ ments of a theological seminary main¬ tained in the College of Theology, Drew Seminary has a College of Missions, which prepares students for home and foreign missionary work. Such courses as Science and Practice of Missions, Foreign Mission¬ ary Languages, the City Church, The Town and Country Church, and Foreign- speaking Work are offered. The seminary enrols women students, missionary candi¬ dates, missionaries on furlough, and gives special preparation for religious directors, church assistants and administrators, teachers, and leaders in denominational activities and philanthropic enterprises. It has sent out a steady stream of foreign missionaries for more than a generation. It trains men also for home missions, in¬ structing in rural leadership, city evangel¬ ization, and bi-lingual religious work. Goodwill Industries. — Goodwill Indus¬ tries are in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Buf¬ falo, Jersey City, and Brooklyn. Congregation of University church, Syracuse, New York In Buffalo, the old Grace Methodist Epis¬ copal Church and adjoining property serve as the headquarters for the Goodwill Industries. The Children’s Settlement through play and useful activity is up¬ building the moral and religious life of the children of the surrounding neigh¬ borhood. In Jersey City, the Goodwill Industries operate five buildings, and during the past year have doubled their business and have employed seventy-five opportunity work¬ ers. A Goodwill Community Center is con¬ ducted and two churches are closely re¬ lated. It has a parish of 65,000 people, of whom ninety per cent are foreign born. Work is being done among twenty-eight nationalities. There are a day nursery, library, clubs, an Italian Department, Slavic Department, religious services in Italian, English, and Russian, and em¬ ployment department — altogether a broad social and religious program deeply affect¬ ing the whole section of the city. From this center of Christian service have gone a Polish young man to be¬ come a minister of his own people, an Italian to become a Young Men’s Christian Association sec¬ retary, a Lithuanian girl for social-service work, and an American girl, one of the workers at the cen¬ ter, to become a deaconess. In Philadelphia, the Methodist students at University of Pennsylvania 276 WORLD SERVICE Goodwill Industries are conducted in con¬ nection with Fifth Street Temple, and many of its employees are workers in its Sunday school. Within a radius of three blocks live twenty-three nationalities. In Pittsburgh, the Goodwill Industries are in the famous “Strip”, a low-lying stretch of the city in which foreign-speak¬ ing people, Negro and white Americans are huddled together in housing conditions which are lamentably inadequate and where the air is always heavy with dust and smoke from the steel mills. Bible distribution. — A tremendous field for distribution of the Scriptures is found in the Middle Atlantic states. Most of the foreign-speaking peoples who live in the city and rural industrial centers are from non-Bible-using lands, therefore, the opportunity is so much the greater. Scriptures are now available in thirty- eight of the languages spoken in these states, in two-language form, that is, with the English and foreign-language versions in parallel columns. Looking Forward A century’s generous giving of money and men to the mission fields of the world, has won for the Middle Atlantic states the right to call upon the great Methodist Episcopal Church at large for the life and means to evangelize the strange, new mul¬ titudes within their borders. In short, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, in spite of their great and numerous churches and the splendid ministry to be found here and there in city, town, and country, pre¬ sent a mission field of vast extent and tre¬ mendous need. Aid is needed to — Establish a church and community center in a woefully unchurched city section of 25,000 Negroes. Erect an adequate church building in an indus¬ trial residential neighborhood where the Sunday school is so crowded one class has to meet in the coal bin. Build an adequate church and community build¬ ing in a new, modest, suburban district where the present country church building has seventy little children crowded into an ante-room not able to accommodate more than twenty decently. Provide ample quarters for a Polish work grow¬ ing out of street preaching in a large Polish section of a great city. Enable the church to develop work in sixty-four industrial towns in one part of a state which have no religious ministry whatever. Complete a building project, delayed by the war, in an industrial community of 10,000 people. Erect a church building in community of 2,000 people where the Methodist Episcopal congrega¬ tion — the only one in the town — is worshipping in a small school room. Enter large colonies of German-speaking Rus¬ sians where little spiritual ministry is now pro¬ vided. Expand the missionary work to meet needs of thirty lumber camps, all of them Methodist re¬ sponsibility. Support pastors and missionaries in anthracite mining towns, now unchurched. Lift debt on new church caught by inflated prices during erection and now threatened with fore¬ closure. Maintain work in numerous weak rural centers. Replace building erected in 1860 and now con¬ demned. Re-establish work in isolated rural communi¬ ties abandoned during the war. Provide church facilities — none whatever now — in irrigation project with employees and families totaling 2,000 people. Relocate building in gardening and poultry¬ farming community of 2,000. Complete church building stopped by rising costs. Congregation practically bankrupt. Renovate Bohemian Methodist Episcopal church building, part of which must be rented out as living quarters to meet church expenses. Provide a Sunday-school building for a working- class community where 900 pupils attempt to meet in a little old building. Make possible the erection of fifteen church buildings for as many Negro congregations in one district. Evangelize 330,000 Italians of New York — ac¬ knowledged to be Methodism’s fair share of the opportunity. Open new missions, churches and community centers in the great metropolitan centers where literally hundreds of thousands of foreign and native born people, among whom the doctrines of atheism and anarchy run riot, are untouched by the ministry of any church whatsoever. Expand the work of educational and philan¬ thropic institutions, and enable a more adequate and better-trained leadership to be provided for the missionary program of the church. EAST NORTH CENTRAL STATES OHIO INDIANA ILLINOIS MICHIGAN WISCONSIN Distribution of Methodist Episcopal churches in the East North Central states WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, GARY, INDIANA A system of week-day religious instruction involves educational methods, staff, curriculum, and supervision on the same plane as children find in the public school. Henry S. Cope EAST NORTH CENTRAL STATES A new pilgrimage. — Westward the course of another empire takes its way — the empire of industry. It began its march along the Atlantic Coast and is steadily journeying toward the Pacific. It has made its conquest of New England, has estab¬ lished its sure domain in the Middle Atlan¬ tic group, has left the Alleghenies behind, and today is rapidly advancing toward the sovereignty of the East North Central states. The transition, in which the far- famed agriculture of these states hands over its preeminence to industrialism is one of profound import. The extent of industry. — Michigan is the world center for the manufacture of auto¬ mobiles, about two-thirds of the 2,000,000 cars produced annually being made there. It also has exten¬ sive iron ore, copper and coal mines, and a big lumber pro¬ duction. Ohio has more than 16,000 manufacturing establish¬ ments, employing more than 1,000,000 persons. The iron and steel ore and re¬ duction and machinery industries lead all others. Oil production is heavy and auto¬ mobile manufacture extensive. Indiana’s greatest industrial center is in the Calu¬ met region, adjacent to Lake Michigan. With Gary as the center, vast steel mills make it one of the world’s important man¬ ufacturing regions. Illinois, the third state in the union in population, is one of the nation’s indus¬ trial centers, heading up in Chicago and nearby cities. It has extensive coal mines, standing third in bituminous production. Wisconsin, in addition to large manufac¬ turing interests, mines, dairies and fisher¬ ies, affords the largest lumber cut in the Great Lakes region. The agricultural situation. — Agriculturally, the East North Central states are among the nation’s leaders. The fact that 279 280 WORLD SERVICE manufacturing has become the leading occupation does not mean agricultural de¬ cline. Rather is it that industry has gone ahead much faster. Agriculture is still in a state of development and is making steady, although relatively slow progress. The range of products is very extensive, from fruits and berries of many kinds to the major grain crops. Population tendencies. — Today the East North Central division has one-fifth the population of the United States, 21,475,- 543, running an exceedingly close race with the Middle Atlantic states. The lat¬ ter increased 15.2 per cent in population between 1910 and 1920, while the former added 17.7 per cent. The trend to the cities over a period of thirty years, 1890-1920, is shown in the changing percentages of urban and rural population. In 1890 62.2 per cent of the people were classified as rural and only 37.8 per cent as urban. Today there is practically a reversal of the situation, the 1920 census showing 60.8 per cent of the people living in the cities and only 39.2 per cent living in the villages and open country. There is a Negro population of 514,554, or an increase of 71 per cent in the last decade. Illiteracy has been kept at a low rate, registering only 2.9 per cent for the whole area. The American-born element is still dominant in this region, although hun¬ dreds of thousands of foreign-speaking immigrants have congregated in the indus¬ trial and mining districts. The heart of Methodism. — In the early days when the pioneers were hewing clear¬ ings out of the vast forests and settlements were being planted here and there, the circuit-rider toiled with the souls of men in the wilderness. The fruits of his labor and of those zealous disciples who followed him have been seen in the virile Methodist Episcopal churches which have dotted the cities, villages and countryside of the Great Lakes region for three-quarters of a century. Here, among the major geo¬ graphical sections of America, Methodism has come to its fullest flower. Those little Social hour of the Young Women’s Industrial Club, Waukegan, Illinois log churches in the wilderness, supported by the missionary zeal of colonial Meth¬ odism, have grown into splendid temples of worship, able not only to support them¬ selves but to give abundantly of life and means for missionary work at home and abroad. Methodist Episcopal Achievements A statistical statement. — The total membership is 1,225,615, and the number of churches is 7,351. The Sunday-school enrolment is 1,357,383, and the aver¬ age attendance is 684,671. The Epworth League has a membership of 130,946, and the Junior Epworth League of 42,017. The net valuation of churches and parsonages is $92,400,923. The total benevolences for 1922 Workmen leaving the mills, Gary, Indiana EAST NORTH CENTRAL 281 were $6,506,014, while the total paid for all purposes was $25,933,942, a per capita payment of $21.16. Included in these totals are 236 German Methodist Episcopal churches with 25,504 members; 113 Scandinavian churches with 8,877 members, and 91 Negro churches, 101 pastoral charges, many of the congregations not having church buildings, with 15,619 members. Methodism has pushed her educational and philanthropic work here as far or farther than in any other section of the United States. Again the figures can but indicate their magnitude or influ¬ ence : twenty-three colleges, universities, and secondary and professional training schools; student work at fifteen non- Methodist educational institutions: eighty- eight summer schools and institutes ; and forty-four hospitals, old people’s homes, orphanages, and other philanthropic institutions. The Challenge of the Field Middle-West cities. — Twelve of Ameri¬ ca’s fifty largest cities are located in the East North Central states. In their order of size they are Chicago, Detroit, Cleve¬ land, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Toledo, Columbus, Akron, Dayton, Grand Rapids, and Youngstown. Here also are some of the most rapidly growing cities of the country such as Detroit which in¬ creased 527,912, or 113 per cent in popula¬ tion between 1910 and 1920 ; Akron, 201 Recitation Hall, Lawrence College, Appleton, Wisconsin Methodist Book Concern building at Cincinnati, Ohio per cent; Gary, 229 per cent; Cicero, 209 per cent ; and Kenosha, 84 per cent. Chicago’s “New Americans.” — Chicago, the second city of America and the fourth of the world, the world’s greatest railway center and one of its greatest industrial centers, naturally presents the biggest foreign-speaking problem in the area. The foreign-born population is placed at 805,482. The total foreign-speaking ele¬ ment, including the children of foreign- born and mixed parentage, approaches the 2,000,000 mark. Detroit rates its 1.000.000 population as twenty per cent native ; forty per cent foreign born; thirty-five per cent of for¬ eign parentage, and five per cent Negro. Cleveland, with approximately 800,000 people, has a foreign population, including foreign-born, and of foreign parentage, of about sixty-five per cent. The rural problem. — While the cities of the East North Central states gained 7,952,091 between 1890 and 1920, the rural population advanced only 45,147. 19 WORLD SERVICE Between 1900 and 1920 there was an act¬ ual decrease of 339,335 persons. This steady depopulation of the countryside is reported to be continuing, although au¬ thorities predict a back - to - the - farm movement of people which will at least check the decline. Improved machin¬ ery and better transportation permit agricultural development to go forward while the actual number of farmers may become fewer. The movement of country people to the cities has had a serious effect upon the rural church. Hundreds of churches in the open country through these states have closed their doors and abandoned their buildings or turned them into hay- sheds. Different surveys show an alarm¬ ing condition of dead and dying churches. Volumes have been written revealing the conditions and the causes. It is a situa¬ tion which is not peculiar alone to the East North Central states, but to nearly all the established farming regions of the United States, especially where industrial cities are frequent. Tenancy and the church. — Tenancy is steadily increasing and along with it is a growing transiency which always embar¬ rasses constructive church effort. Many a rural church has built up a constituency only to find it vanish in a year. In one Illinois country church, the district super¬ intendent has tried three times to bring the charge to self-support, but each time removal of tenants has made necessary the In this week-day religious education class, Gary, Indiana, thirty-eight nation¬ alities are represented Methodist Episcopal church, Redford, Michigan building up of a new constituency. Thus through tenancy, churches become a per¬ manent missionary challenge to the church. A fundamental problem. — Competition among country churches, absentee pastors, lack of right leadership, lack of community church equipment and programs, and the social attractions of villages and towns made available to country people by auto¬ mobiles and good roads, lead many to believe that this rural problem is the most serious of all for the church because it is the most fundamental. An Ohio survey. — In fifty counties there are 637 abandoned churches. There are 137 Methodist Episcopal, seventy-one United Brethren, fifty-two Baptist, thirty- six Disciples of Christ, thirty-two Presby¬ terian, and twenty-six Lutheran — which would indicate that the abandoned church is not peculiar to any denomina¬ tion. Rather is it due to changed economic and social conditions. The introduction of the automobile, which has happened almost entirely within the last ten years, has revolutionized rural life. One community surveyed had 775 people and nine churches, seven of which had been abandoned and the other two were inactive. Nine-tenths of the community was totally untouched. One strong church would have served the entire group. In another county were two communities: one with 1,300 people had three resident pastors, and the other adjoining it, with 4,000 people, had no resident pastor at all. EAST NORTH CENTRAL 283 Our church in Tovey, Illinois, built on the site once occupied by a saloon — The women of the church scraped the 40,000 bricks It was reported that Ohio had nearly 400 communities, some of them with over 2,000 people, without a resident pastor in any of them. Other rural types. — The vast copper, coal, and iron ore mining regions contain hundreds of towns and villages peopled by many nationalities whose social and reli¬ gious needs are acute. In central and southern Illinois, where Peter Cartwright preached, mine shafts dot the country over. Germans, Italians, Englishmen, Scotchmen, Poles, Lithuani¬ ans, Scandinavians, French, Roumanians, Slavs of all kinds, and Mexicans work in the corn fields, mines, smelter works, glass factories, mining and railway supply foundries. At various points along the Mississippi, where the land was formerly under water or in swamps, drainage districts have been organized and thousands of acres pro¬ tected. Some of the districts are operated by poor tenants with capital invested by absentee landlords and corporations. In Michigan and Wisconsin, especially, will be found logged off lands now being opened up to settlement. New people are pouring in, to face much the condition of the pioneers. Homes must be built, land further cleared, schools and churches started. Much of it is sparsely settled. The people are isolated but are spiritually hungry. In the same northern regions are ex¬ tensive forests in which thousands of lumberjacks are toiling. Of the several nationalities among them, the Finns pre¬ dominate. The Missionary Service of the Church Achievements which point the way. — It is not possible here to list all the individual achievements of the missionary program of the church, or even to give adequate mention to all its phases. If, however, a few illustrations succeed in suggesting both the vastness and the vari¬ ety of our home mission work in these states and in inspiring our church to still greater accomplishments for the Kingdom, then the purpose will have been served. Methodism in Chicago.' — In the fore¬ front of the denominations in Chicago in making adjustment and expansion for city work, is the Methodist Episcopal. A new day is at hand for Chicago Methodism, a day of unparalleled achievement. A Thoburn victory. — In a neighborhood of thousands of modest homes of working people is Thoburn Methodist Episcopal Church, an outstanding witness of city church possibilities. Formerly a strug¬ gling mission chapel, it embarked on a program to reach its community. Co-op¬ eration between an energetic people, a far-visioned pastor and the statesmanlike Board of Home Missions and Church Extension and the City Missionary Soci¬ ety, made possible a splendid $125,000 church and community building. Today the membership is around 1,000, and the Sunday school has nearly as many enrolled. The church is a haven for old and young. It swarms with young people. The Sunday evening audience packs the auditorium and is the largest regular evening church congregation in the city. “Back of the Stock Yards.’’ — In the heart of the greatest foreign-speaking colony of Chicago’s famous stock-yards district is located Community Methodist Episcopal Church. Twenty nationalities are repre¬ sented in the Sunday school and a dozen in the church membership. Polish, Bohe¬ mian, and Lithuanian are the chief types being served. Thirty-two athletic clubs, many of them formerly exploited by ward 2H4 WORLD SERVICE Seminar of rural pastors, Madison, Wisconsin politicians, are now directed in their activ¬ ities by a Board of Control, led by the pastor. In every activity for the better¬ ment of the 300,000 people living in the stock yards territory, Community Church is always a prominent factor, itself serving a population of 75,000. In “Little Italy.” — In the greatest Italian section of Chicago, famous for its black- hand murders and known for long as the “Bloody Nineteenth” ward is to be found the First Italian Methodist Episcopal Church. In three schools in its parish, ninety-five per cent of the 7,100 school children are Italian. An excellent work in evangelism and modern religious educa¬ tion is carried on by the bi-lingual pastor and his assistants. Recently a class of twenty-five probationers was received. The South Side Negroes. — Within four years, the Negro Methodist Episcopal churches in Chicago have increased from four to fifteen. Through missionary aid some of these congregations have been housed in good but old-style buildings formerly occupied by white congregations. Five years ago the South Park Methodist Episcopal congregation was housed in a small store room which could be spanned by three men touching hands. The mem¬ bership has grown from 200 to 3,000 and now worships in a large church formerly used by white people. It is estimated that 300 or more grad¬ uates of the institutions of the Board of Education for Negroes reside in Chicago. Of these, nearly one hundred are physi¬ cians, pharmacists, and dentists, who are graduates of Meharry Medical College, one is a Bishop of the African Methodist Epis¬ copal church, two are ministers, graduates of Gammon Theological Seminary, one the Assis¬ tant Corporation Counsel of Chicago, another Assis¬ tant State’s Attorney, others are government and post office clerks, teachers, tradesmen, stenographers, business men, nurses, housewives and dressmakers. Varied missionary achievements. — • Through co-operation with the City Mis¬ sionary Society and the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, steady progress is being made in many fields of Chicago. In the Lincoln Street church, which fourteen years ago had a thousand children of native American stock in its Sunday school, now will be found eleven distinctly religious services and thirty- nine other activities each week, minister¬ ing to Slovenian, Lithuanian, Bohemian, and German people. The community is ninety per cent foreign, and houses 75,000 people to the square mile, thus presenting an acute Americanization problem. In the great steel mill section running for thirty miles along the lake front from Chicago south and east, the Chicago- Calumet Industrial Federation is develop¬ ing a parish program of religious and social service. A Russian work is being developed at Pullman and several nation¬ alities are ministered to at Hegewisch. Thirty-five thousand men are employed in the mammoth steel mills of South Chicago. Here men of the community got together with the pastor and erected a temporary community center while waiting for the erection of the planned-for church and parish building. At Chicago Heights, a city of 30,000 people of a score of national¬ ities, the new community church is open day and night, seven days a week, and by reaching thousands monthly is building up the life of the neighborhood. In the industrial regions north of Chicago, pri¬ marily in the Waukegan region, similar EAST NORTH CENTRAL 285 activities are reaching the twenty-five nationalities of the parish. The Chicago Temple. — The crowning glory of Chicago Methodism is in its new majestic Chicago Temple. The only re¬ maining church property in the city’s famous “loop,” where traffic ebbs and flows ceaselessly, it is becom¬ ing the headquarters of the city’s organized religious life. Numer¬ ous other denomina¬ tions are centering their offices there. On the main floor is an im¬ posing auditorium which will minister week day and Sunday to the city-wide mem¬ bership and to the thou¬ sands of transients who are in Chicago’s down¬ town district daily. The Chicago Temple will in time doubtless attain the prestige and world-fame of the City Temple of London. A steady progress. — Concerning the work in and around Chicago, Bishop Thomas Nichol¬ son has said : “In Chi¬ cago at least twenty- five new churches have either recently been completed, are now in process of erection or are scheduled for the current year. The in¬ crease of membership has been gratifying. The new program of the church wherever tried stands the test. Parish and community houses, with church training night, are changing a meager prayer meeting attendance into a church night with from 150 to 500 people present.” In the “Motor City.”— In 1855, Meth¬ odism had five churches and chapels, mem¬ bership of 400, in Detroit. In 1910 there were twenty English-speaking churches, with a membership of a little more than 8,000. Today there are forty English- speaking, one Finnish, one Italian, one Polish and three German-speaking Meth¬ odist churches in the city. Recent progress in city mis¬ sions can be attributed largely to a thorough survey showing the city’s needs and the formation by the Meth¬ odist Union of Greater Detroit, of a “city par¬ ish” and an enlarged missionary program. Today the staff of the “city parish” comprises foreign-language pas¬ tors, deaconesses, so¬ cial service workers, clinic nurses, visiting nurses, day nursery matrons, goodwill in¬ dustry workers, for¬ eign-language teachers, and vacation Bible school workers. City mission victories. — In Detroit are num¬ erous new communities such as Ferndale, where 4,000 young married people are building small homes and where within six w7eeks a Sun¬ day school of 200 and a church of 200 mem¬ bers were organized starting in a lodge hall. The Palmer Memo¬ rial Church has been made an Italian center where the outstand¬ ing Italian Protestant work of the city is carried on. Detroit Methodism believes that this will produce one of the greatest Italian churches in the country if the necessary resources are at hand. In a Polish settlement of 40,000 people is St. Peter’s — the first Polish Methodist Church in Detroit. The former National Catholic congregation which worshipped The Chicago Temple 286 WORLD SERVICE First Methodist Episcopal Church, Steuben¬ ville, Ohio— -A fine old residential church adapting its ministry to an industrial polyglot community in the building, wishing to become Protes¬ tant, asked to be received into the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church. A home mission appropriation enabled the congregation to pay off the debt and the church and school buildings are now administered under Methodist auspices. The parochial school has been turned into a public school with the Board of Education supplying the teachers. In other centers the needs of Armenians and Syrians are being met. Harper Church center was established and built up by a deaconess in a single year. A medical clinic was founded, the board of health furnishing two physicians and two nurses. It is related to Harper Church, whose membership is 152 and Sunday-school enrolment 350. Centenary Church, an old residential type is now min¬ istering almost altogether to “new Americans,” including Polish, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Italian, and Russian people, all of whom can be found in the religious services. The Sunday-school enrolment is 364. Clubs, gardening, sewing classes, basketry, manual training, vacation school, and dispensary are maintained. There are also a day nursery, a playground, and Goodwill Industries in connection. New life for an old community. — The Goodwill Church, Settlement, and Indus¬ tries of Cincinnati, Ohio, are in a congested tenement house district near railroad terminals, grain elevators, the haymarket, and many factories. The neighborhood was once the wealthy resi¬ dential section of Cincinnati, with a fine residential Methodist church. With the shifting of population, there is now pov¬ erty, vice, squalor, and congestion every¬ where, cramped quarters, dark rooms badly ventilated, no sanitary conveniences, and no yards for the children to play in. A new program was begun, with a trained leadership, and the work rapidly expanded. Equipment has been added and the present value of the property is $70,000, with an annual budget of nearly $50,000, carrying on the work of the Industries, the Chil¬ dren’s Settlement and the Church. The day begins with the day nursery and kin¬ dergarten. There are sewing and cooking schools, manual training clubs, girl scouts and boy scouts and a mothers’ club. Through the gymnasium, moving pictures and playground, the recreational life of the boys and girls is ministered to. The Calumet region. — In the famous Calumet region of northwestern Indiana, Gary, Hammond, Indiana Harbor, East Chicago, and Whiting, comprise one of the greatest steel mill sections of the world. Many thousands of foreign-born are employed and their social and religious needs are acute. Social conditions vary greatly. Model housing development exists alongside of congestion and squalor. Some of the companies are progressive as to Story hour in the kindergarten — Halsted Street Church, Chicago EAST NORTH CENTRAL 2S7 working conditions and hours. Others still cling to the twelve-hour day, seven-day week labor policy. In other cities. — In Milwaukee, Summer- field and Grand Avenue Methodist Epis¬ copal Churches are doing epochal down¬ town work. Asbury Church is in a polyglot section and St. Peter’s is thug only Polish Methodist mission in the cffy. In Dayton, Ohio, a number of churches are doing a community work. Neighborhood reformation has been wrought by the work of the West Side Community House, Cleveland, where 2,558 different boys and girls were enrolled and attended classes during a recent eight-months’ period. The institution has seventeen boys’ and six girls’ basketball teams. A state authority says that crime has decreased very notice¬ ably in that section of Cleveland since the Community House has been operating. At Springfield, Illinois, is Wesley Church, with a fine community building, partially erected out of paving brick given to the congregation. On dedication day over one hundred charter members were received. At Flint, Michigan, is Trinity Church, a temporary structure built dur¬ ing war times. It now has a Sunday school of 250. Valley Avenue Church at Grand Rapids, and Calvary Church, Terre Haute, both German, are rapidly develop¬ ing with modern programs. The Italian Methodist Church at Madison, Wisconsin, specializes in community work and citizen¬ ship activities. The Methodist Settlement in Indianapolis, in a section inhabited by factory and railroad people, carries on a community ministry. Printing class in the Industrial School, Lincoln Street Community Church, Chicago An East St. Louis church was housed at first in a wooden tabernacle. There were sixty-eight charter members and eighty-seven in the Sunday school, increas¬ ing in less than a year to 180 and 325 respectively. A week-day school of reli¬ gious education for Negroes in which 150 pupils are enrolled is maintained by Trin¬ ity Methodist Episcopal Church and Stewart House in Gary. A community nurse visits the sick, a modified Goodwill Industries is maintained, and social, recreational, and religious activities are carried on. A rural parish demonstration. — An out¬ standing experiment in the “rural parish” idea is in Lake and McHenry counties, Illinois, in the Rock River Conference, with nine charges and sixteen churches in the open country. A district rural society was formed and a director of rural work with special train¬ ing was appointed for these charges. The department of rural work of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension co-operated with the de¬ partment of religious edu¬ cation of Northwestern University and with Gar¬ rett Biblical Institute in putting on a demonstra¬ tion program, making this field a laboratory for the training of leaders. Directors of religious education, community or¬ ganization and social life were secured. They organ- Proposed First Italian Methodist Episcopal Church and Community House, Chicago 288 WORLD SERVICE SUMMER SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTES Epworth League Institutes. Ohio 1 Camp Ground near Lancaster, Lancaster Camp. 2 Lakeside, Lakeside. 3 Chautauqua, Franklin, Miami Valley Indiana 4 Oakwood Park, Syracuse, Wawassee (North Indiana Conference). 5 Bethany Park, Brooklyn, Indiana Confer¬ ence. 6 Lafayette, Battle Ground. 7 Dale, Santa Claus. Illinois 8 Berger, South Holland, William Nast. 9 Des Plaines, Des Plaines, Employed Young People’s Institute. 10 New Lennox, New Lennox. 11 Riverview Park, Pontiac, Central Illinois Conference. 12 Forest Park, Shelbyville, Illinois Confer¬ ence. EAST NORTH CENTRAL 289 13 Franklin Grove, Franklin Grove. Summer Training Conference 14 Lebanon, McKendree. Illinois 15 Tyndall’s Grove, Rock Island, Milan. 57 Evanston. Michigan Council of Cities 16 Albion. Illinois 17 Michigamme, Michigamme. 58 Chicago. Wisconsin 18 South Byron, Camp Byron. 19 Conference Point (Williams Bay), Lake Geneva. 20 Cambridge, Lake Ripley. 21 Platteville, Platteville. 22 Lake Chetek, Chetek. Sunday-school Institutes. Ohio 23 Canton. 24 Barlow. 25 Coolville. 26 Zanesville. 27 Bidwell. 28 Proctorville. 29 McArthur. 30 Coalton. 31 Ironton. 32 Norwalk. 33 Crestline. 34 Wheelersburg. 35 Kingston. 36 Lucasville. 37 Washington Court House. 38 Findlay. 39 Wilmington. 40 Lima. Indiana 41 Indianapolis. Illinois 42 Joliet. 43 Princeton. Michigan 44 Port Huron 45 Detroit (Interdenominational school of Sunday-school methods). 46 Alpena. 47 Milan. 48 Bay City. 49 Owosso. 50 Sault Sainte Marie. 51 Negaunee. 52 Houghton. Summer Schools of Religious Education. Illinois 53 Evanston, Northwestern University. Schools for City Pastors. Conference Institutes Ohio 54 Dayton. Illinois 55 Princeton. Michigan 56 Pontiac. Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Ohio 59 Delaware, Ohio Wesleyan. Illinois 60 Evanston, Garrett Biblical Institute. Summer Schools of Theology. Missionary Summer Conferences. Missionary Education Movement Wisconsin 69 Lake Geneva. Woman’s Home Missionary Society Ohio 70 Bethesda (Interdenominational). 71 Lancaster (Interdenominational). 72 Lakeside (Interdenominational). Indiana 73 Winona (Interdenominational). Illinois 74 Dixon (Interdenominational). 75 Lebanon, Illinois-Missouri (Interdenomi¬ national). Wisconsin 76 Lake Geneva (Interdenominational). Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society Ohio 77 Bethesda (Interdenominational). 78 Lancaster (Interdenominational). 79 Lakeside (Interdenominational). Indiana 80 Winona (Interdenominational). 81 Battle Ground (Interdenominational). Illinois 82 New Lennox (Interdenominational). 83 Franklin Grove (Interdenominational). 84 Dixon (Interdenominational). 85 Lebanon (Interdenominational). Michigan 86 Bay View (Interdenominational). 87 Ludington. Wisconsin 88 Lake Geneva (Interdenominational). Ohio 61 Berea, Nast Theological Seminary. 62 Delaware, Ohio Wesleyan University. Indiana 63 Greencastle, DePauw University. Illinois 64 Bloomington, Illinois Wesleyan University. 65 Lebanon, McKendree College. Michigan 66 Albion, Albion College. Wisconsin 67 Appleton, Lawrence College. 68 Madison, University of Wisconsin. 290 WORLD SERVICE Our Polish church in Detroit ized each of these communities for an extended social, educational and worship program. Two Michigan parishes. — Dead churches brought back to life, scores of new mem¬ bers added, buildings renovated, gifts increased, and community spirit devel¬ oped have resulted in the working out of the parish plan in southern Michigan. The church at Charlotte, Michigan, was chosen as the center of one parish. Cen¬ ter Eaton is one group of three rural churches on Charlotte parish and Gresham is another. Before the adoption of the parish plan, there were six decaying or dead country churches, paying a salary of $1,500 and parsonage. Today all six are live and active country churches, sup¬ porting three ministers and increasing the local salaries $2,825 per year. Eaton Rapids parish, with Eaton Rapids as the center, is composed of the Griffith group and Onondaga group of churches, the rural appointments of Charlesworth, Robbins, and Winfield. Formerly there were six churches, two in the open country and inadequately served, and four were closed. Where $1,300 was paid to one minister before, now he is given $3,000, an assistant is paid $1,600 and a student pastor $600. On Easter, 1923, these churches received into membership 176 persons. In town and country. — Plainfield, Illi¬ nois, Methodist Episcopal Church has a community center which has the mayor and president of the school board as mem¬ bers of the board of control. The strong social and religious spirit developed is helping to keep the young men and women in the community, instead of drifting off to the city. At Coalton, Illinois, a Sunday school which has met successively in a dance hall, an abandoned saloon, out in the open air and finally in the jail, is to be housed in an adequate building, with the foreign¬ speaking residents paying for the lot, the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension helping on the building, car¬ penters donating service and the farmers furnishing sand and gravel. A girls’ club is taught sewing, cooking, fancy work, and there is a children’s class in sewing and music. In Brown County, Indiana, is a demon¬ stration of what effective leadership will do. For years there had been no ordained minister living in the county. An inves¬ tigation revealed nine scattered villages or communities which needed religious serv¬ ices. Seven of them became the new pas¬ tor’s circuit. Before he had settled in his new home, the young people began to ask to borrow his books. He saw the need of a public library and broadcasted an appeal for books. More than 1,600 were donated. Through the pastor’s efforts a town library was established, later a county library with 10,000 volumes. Farming was on the decline, so the pastor carried on a Time for eats— Mothers’ Memorial Social Center, Cleveland, Ohio — Maintained by the W. H. M. S. EAST NORTH CENTRAL 291 campaign which secured a county agri¬ cultural agent. He advocated fruit rais¬ ing and started a nursery. He urged the merit of dairying upon the farmers. A community which had paid practically nothing one year to benevolences paid more than $5,000 the next year. The Sunday-school enrolment became 300 and the church membership 321. An Epworth League with thirty-three members was organized and two Junior Leagues of eighteen members each. In Lewis, Wisconsin, located in the cut¬ over lands is the People’s Church, the cen¬ ter not only of the village life but of the community many miles around. Under the leadership of a far-visioned pastor, the sparsely settled sections grouped them¬ selves and carried on programs of recrea¬ tion and public worship which ran through an entire winter. In Marshfield, Wiscon¬ sin, a town of 8,000 people, Protestantism exerted but little influence. With mission¬ ary aid, a $35,000 church was erected and is now the center of the town’s activities. The foreign language conferences. — The East North Central states form one of the strongholds of the German and Scan¬ dinavian conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a number of them developing an excellent community and home mission work. Flourishing churches are maintained in the rural Swiss colonies of Michigan and Ohio, and a large section of Illinois and Wisconsin, heavily popu¬ lated by German people. A church romance. — A thrilling interest attaches to the foreign language churches. Out of the efforts of a German-speaking missionary, there has come the organiza¬ tion of a Russian mission in South Akron, which started in the basement of a dilapi¬ dated dwelling occupied by several fami¬ lies. The first Sunday school class was actually held in a fruit cellar with two pupils. Yet this has grown to a school with an average attendance of about 150 Russian, Austrian and Hungarian chil¬ dren. The 1922 probationers’ class of twenty-two contained nine children from the mission, who speak five languages. These people joined the German Methodist Episcopal church. Opportunity investments. — The recent influx of Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes, as well as the shifting of population, has opened up new opportunities for greatly extending our Scandinavian work. The pastor at Superior, Wisconsin, made a careful canvass of some new ter¬ ritory and discovered a most inviting mis¬ sion field. The old, ramshackle building was torn down, the trustees themselves dismantling the old chapel and using the suitable material for the new structure. The excavating was mostly done by mem¬ bers of the church. The old material was carted by the trustees to the new site, and much of the carpentering was done by them. The new church was built at a cost of $20,000 with some help from the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. Living evangelism. — From hospitals to mining camps and from large cities to wayside villages the workers aided by the department of evangelism of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension go, preaching the Gospel, reviving hopeless and helpless churches, comforting the sick and carrying on an itinerant ministry much as the Savior himself did. The results are immeasurable. The labors of one evangelist, who com¬ bined debt-paying and soul-winning cam¬ paigns in a number of churches, resulted in two years in more than 1,000 new mem¬ bers, $242,300 raised to cancel heavy West Side Community House, Cleveland, Ohio — A Centenary achievement 292 WORLD SERVICE debts, thirty young people dedicating their lives to Christian work, 400 conversions, hundreds of tithing pledges and innumer¬ able reconsecrations to the Christian life. Several churches which were about to be closed and sold at sheriff’s sale were saved; their congregations were encour¬ aged ; church debts were paid or provided for; and seven-day- week programs were mapped out and launched. Goodwill Industries. — Five Goodwill In¬ dustries are located in the East North Central states, at Cincinnati and Cleve¬ land, Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee. In Cleveland, the old Acme hall, famous as a radical socialists’ headquarters, houses the Goodwill Industries. Chapel services are conducted every morning in the old bar-room. A Goodwill forum is conducted once a month which has had a widespread civic influence. Free moving pictures are provided for the children and parents of the district, whose population is mostly Italian, Slovak, Syrian and Russian. Out of a Sunday afternoon Sunny Hour has come a fine Sunday school, “racially 100 per cent foreign, but loyally 100 per cent American.” A recent report of the Milwaukee Good¬ will Industries showed a roll of 26,239 contributors of waste material, sales dur¬ ing the year through the Goodwill stores of $34,881, of which $22,625 was paid in wages to the aged, needy and handicapped. Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church, Rockford, Illinois Tent for district evangelist’s meetings, Jacksonville, Illinois During the year work was given to 791 people representing twenty-one nationali¬ ties and fourteen creeds. The total attend¬ ance at chapel services for the year was 14,506. A real “Youth Movement.” — “Young people’s work for young people”, carried on by the Ep worth League is character¬ ized by a strong charitable and missionary spirit. In Ohio, one district supports a community house in a foreign section of a city; another district supports a fresh-air camp ; and still another contributes largely for the Christian education of Moslem boys. In Indiana, one district makes large donations to a hospital, and pays the salary of an Epworth League secretary for South America; another supports a mis¬ sionary in China; and another maintains Americanization work among Italian children. In Illinois, one district partially sup¬ ports a baby fold, and helps in the support of a missionary in Korea ; another contrib¬ utes to the support of an Epworth League secretary in Europe. The Epworth League in Michigan is financing the Twenty-four- Hour-Day plan of League work in China, and also leads in the number of mission study classes, having reported for 1922 a total of 974 classes. In Wisconsin the League is especially active in the support of hospital work. Methodist colleges.— Space will not per¬ mit an appreciation of each one of the colleges, universities, secondary schools and training schools with which the East North Central states are so richly endowed. A chapter on each one would EAST NORTH CENTRAL 293 An overseas veteran telling a missionary story to the Sunday school, North Austin Methodist Episcopal Church, Chicago not suffice for its achieve¬ ments and world-wide in¬ fluence. The far vision of our great church enables it to understand their im¬ portance and to plan for the co-operation which will enable each one to advance to the position the times demand in the need for Christian leader¬ ship in world affairs. Ohio Wesleyan Univer¬ sity is one of the notable schools of Methodism. It has provided thirty college and university presidents to various institutions; it has furnished the Methodists with eight bishops, Luc- cock, McCabe, Anderson, Foss, Hughes, McConnell, McDowell and Thirkield. Three of its presidents, Thompson, Bash- ford and Welch, have been elevated to the episcopacy. In a similar way DePauw University, Lawrence, Mt. Union, Albion and Illinois Wesleyan of splendid tradition and great promise are serving the cause of educa¬ tion and religion in their respective sec¬ tions. At Jacksonville, the Illinois Woman’s College is Methodism’s only Administration Building, De Pauw University, Greencastle, Indiana distinctly woman’s educational institution west of the Allegheny Mountains. The board of trustees, the president and the faculty hope to make this college one of the greatest in America. The other Methodist Episcopal educational institu¬ tions in these states, listed under the map on page 295, are rendering equally signifi¬ cant service. A leadership training center. — Meth¬ odism has concentrated at a strategic point forces and facilities for leadership train¬ ing which are without superior in the denomination. Chicago, with its environs, located within a night’s railroad journey of 40,000,000 people is that point. In Evanston and Chicago are located North¬ western University and its various gradu¬ ate schools, equipping men and women for educational, ministerial and other profes¬ sional leadership ; Garrett Biblical Insti¬ tute, a great training center for ministers, missionaries, and religious educational directors; the Norwegian-Danish Theo¬ logical Seminary and the Swedish Theo¬ logical Seminary, both training leaders for churches of the foreign language confer¬ ences and the Chicago Training School, preparing both men and women, lay and clerical for church and missionary work. Garrett Biblical Institute. — The main emphasis of Garrett Biblical Institute is in the Graduate School of Theology. It makes provision for the ministerial train¬ ing of college graduates in the Graduate School of Theology who in certain depart¬ ments are permitted, with the approval of the Board of Graduate Studies of North¬ western University, to pursue selected courses in the School of Theology leading to advanced graduate degrees in special¬ ized fields. A graduate school of religion. — ! he closest correlation of activities and courses exists between Garrett Biblical Institute WORLD SERVICE 294 loeanswi RICHMOND HSTRlC MEWE/BTLEi “h i *A85Wy *;ltw csroi. Wawassee Epworth League Institute and Northwestern University. That rela¬ tionship expresses itself chiefly through the Graduate School of the University, which has courses arranged for ministerial students who are candidates for advanced degrees and for a large group of grad¬ uates who are preparing for positions of religious and social leadership other than the ministry. The Chicago Training School. — Train¬ ing for Christian work in varied fields is the purpose of the Chicago Training School, with university standards for col¬ lege graduates; an undergraduate school with college standards for high school and normal school graduates ; a preparatory school with high school standards for those desiring to prepare themselves for leadership in the local church. Since its organization in 1885, the Chicago Train¬ ing School has sent out more than 5,000 students. These students have founded forty insti¬ tutions of American Methodism, such as hospitals, training schools, deaconess homes, baby folds, orphanages and rest homes. From the school have gone out 408 foreign missionaries, 1,000 deacon¬ esses, 250 social workers, one hundred directors of religious education and 2,500 home-makers and lay workers who give part time service. Rural leadership training. — In the East North Central states, rural leadership departments are maintained at Albion College, University of Illinois, Ohio Wes¬ leyan University, Mount Union College, McKendree College, Garrett Biblical Insti¬ tute and the University of Wisconsin. At the University of Wisconsin, in con¬ nection with the Wesley Foundation, courses of study, designed to develop the right understanding of an approach to the rural field, are provided. The rural parish in all its phases, historical, social, economic and religious, is discussed. Rural life, religious education and methods of rural church work are given consideration. The director of rural leadership advises with the student pastors in order to increase the effectiveness of their service, and at the same time gives them laboratory train¬ ing. He also co-operates with superin¬ tendents and pastors in putting on rural training institutes and with the rural Vista at Albion College, Michigan EAST NORTH CENTRAL 295 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools. Ohio 1 Alliance, Mount Union College. 2 Cleveland, Baldwin-Wallace College. 3 Berea, Baldwin-Wallace College. 4 Delaware, Ohio Wesleyan University. 5 Ada, Ohio Northern University. Indiana 6 Greencastle. DePauw University. 7 Evansville, Evansville College. Illinois 8 Chicago, Northwestern University. 9 Evanston, Northwestern University. 10 Evanston, Garrett Biblical Institute. 11 Evanston, Norwegian-Danish Theological Seminary. 12 Evanston, Swedish Theological Seminary. 13 Bloomington, Illinois Wesleyan Uni¬ versity. 14 Lebanon, McKendree College. 15 Abingdon, Hedding College. 16 Jacksonville, Illinois Woman’s College. Michigan 17 Albion, Albion College. Wisconsin 18 Appleton, Lawrence College. Secondary Schools. Illino is 19 Onarga, Onarga Military School. 20 Aurora, Jennings Seminary. Training Schools. Ohio 21 Cincinnati (D), Missionary Training School. 22 Cincinnati (D), Dorcas Institute. Illinois 23 Chicago (D), Chicago Training School. 296 WORLD SERVICE department of the Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Extension in conducting local surveys. The Wesley Foundation. — The Wesley Foundation is the most notable advance in Christian education in the last quarter century. In addition to the steady growth and increasing usefulness of our denomi¬ national schools, the Church now proposes to bring guidance and religious nurture to our youth in state and independent edu¬ cational institutions. The early inaugura¬ tion of this work at the University of Illinois with its continued development has been one of the outstanding achieve¬ ments of the church in recent years. The objectives of a Wesley Foundation, as stated by the pioneer in this movement are “to provide churches for college and university students that will offer a shrine for worship; a school for religious educa¬ tion ; a home away from home ; a labora¬ tory for training lay leaders in church activities; and a recruiting station for the ministry, for missionary work at home and abroad, and for other specialized King¬ dom tasks.” Other student centers. — At Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, the needs of the unusually large proportion of Metho¬ dist students are being met by near-by churches, especially King Avenue and Indianola. At Ann Arbor, Michigan, a fine building adjoining our Methodist church has been remodeled and equipped for a student center. Our church here has one of the largest volunteer student con¬ gregations in Methodism. On the West Side of the city of Chicago, in a most diffi¬ cult field in the greatest medical, dental and nurse training center in the world, our St. Paul’s Church is offering a kindly welcome to students, and is serving their everyday needs through social activities, Bible study classes and pastoral visitation. At the University of Wisconsin, Wesley Hall, the first unit of a new building, located near the south entrance of the campus, is the center of the activities of a university pastor and a staff of trained assistants who teach, advise, and offer social leadership to Methodist students numbering each year 1,700. At Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, 1,000 STUDENT WORK AT NON-METHO¬ DIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITU¬ TIONS Ohio 1 Athens, Ohio University. 2 Oberlin, Oberlin College. 3 Columbus, Ohio State University. 4 Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati. 5 Oxford, Miami University. Indiana 6 Bloomington, Indiana University. 7 West Lafayette, Purdue University. Illinois 8 Chicago, University of Chicago. 9 Chicago, West Side Professional Schools. 10 Urbana, University of Illinois. Michigan 11 Ypsilanti, Michigan State Normal Col¬ lege. 12 Ann Arbor, University of Michigan. 13 East Lansing, Michigan Agricultural College. 14 Kalamazoo, Western State Normal School. Wisconsin 15 Madison, University of Wisconsin. EAST NORTH CENTRAL 297 Methodist students are ministered to by a Foundation, the director of which is the pas¬ tor of our West Lafayette Church. A New Negro College for the North Negroes in North ncreasing. — The East North Cen¬ tral section of the United States rep¬ resents the states covered in the Lexing¬ ton Annual Conference. To these it is estimated that one half of the Negroes migrating from the South have gone in the last five years. The Negro population for these states is as follows: State mo 1920 Ohio . 96,901 186,187 Indiana . 57,505 80,810 Illinois . - . 85,078 182,274 Michigan . 15,816 60,082 Wisconsin . - . 2,542 5,204 Total . - . 257,842 514,557 Negroes in large cities. — In the East North Central states are also the follow¬ ing large cities, with their large Negro population. Although these cities are included in the state statistics, their Negro population is placed in a separate table because of the relation which these cen¬ ters of Negroes bear to Methodist Epis¬ copal Churches among the Negroes: Negroes in Negroes Methodist Epi City in 1920 copal Church Cincinnati, Ohio . - . . 30,079 1,451 Columbus, Ohio . . 22,181 1.009 Cleveland, Ohio . . 34,451 1,534 Dayton, Ohio . . 9,025 204 Springfield, Ohio . . 7,025 515 Toledo, Ohio . . . 5,691 41 Youngstown* Ohio . . 6.662 227 Indianapolis, Ind . . . ... 34,678 1,087 Gary, Ind . ...... 16,460 367 Evansville, Ind . . 6.394 81 Cairo, Ill . . 5,000 Chicago, Ill . . 100,458 5,260 East St. Louis, Ill . . 7,437 126 Detroit, Mich . . . . 40,838 516 Milwaukee, Wis . - . . 2 229 Total . - . 328,608 12,418 It will be seen that of the total Negro population of 514,557, fifteen of the large cities have 328,608, leaving but 185,949 in the smaller towns and rural sections. In the Lexington Conference there are 24,269 Negro members. Negroes in northern schools.— The claim is that the Negro children seldom go further in their education than the eighth grade. Very few are to be found in the high schools and fewer still in the uni¬ versities and colleges. The high schools of the city are open to the Negroes, but they do not enter. The Negroes gradu¬ ated compared with the number of eligibles are very few. A new institution needed. — In the East North Central states there is but one institution of learning specifically for the Negro worth the naming, located in Ohio at Wilberforce, known as Wilberforce University. This institution is filled to capacity. The plant was originally the property of the old Cincinnati Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is now owned and operated by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The author¬ ity of the Board of Education for Negroes under its charter to operate an institution north of the Ohio River seems ample. The question seems to be solely one of ade¬ quate means for the purchase of a site, the erection of necessary buildings, equipment for the same, and its maintenance as a full-fledged standard college of first rank. Illinois Woman’s College, Jacksonville, Illinois directly related, within one year, to King Avenue Church, Columbus 20 298 WORLD SERVICE Hospitals. Ohio 1 Cleveland, St. Luke’s Hospital. 2 Columbus, Protestant Hospital. 3 J oledo, Flower Hospital. 4 Cincinnati, Bethesda Hospital. 5 Cincinnati, Christ Hospital. Indiana 6 Fort Wayne, Methodist Episcopal Hos¬ pital. 7 Indianapolis, Methodist Episcopal Hos¬ pital. 8 Gary, Methodist Episcopal Hospital. 9 Princeton, Methodist Episcopal Hospital. Illinois 10 Chicago, Wesley _ Memorial Hospital. 11 Mattoon, Methodist Memorial Hospital. 12 Carbondale, Holden Hospital. 13 Peoria, Methodist Hospital of Central Illinois. Michigan 14 Kalamazoo, Bronson Methodist Hospital. Wisconsin 15 Green Bay, Wisconsin Deaconess Hos¬ pital. 16 Madison, Methodist Hospital. 17 Rice Lake, Lakeside Methodist Episcopal Hospital. Homes for the Aged. Ohio 18 Elyria, Old Ladies’ Home. 19 Cincinnati, Bethesda Home for Aged. 20 Cincinnati, Methodist Home for Aged Indiana 21 Warren, Methodist Memorial Home. Illinois 22 Chicago, Methodist Episcopal Old People’s Home. 23 Chicago, Swedish Bethany Home for Aged. 24 Saint Francisville, Old People's Home. 25 Quincy, Old People’s Home. Michigan 26 Chelsea, Old People’s Home of the Detroit Conference. 27 Grand Rapids, Clark Memorial Home. 28 Covert, Emanuel Aged People’s Home. Wisconsin 29 Sparta, Morrow Memorial Home for the Aged. EAST NORTH CENTRAL 299 Homes for Children. Ohio 30 Berea, German Methodist Orphan Asy¬ lum. 31 Worthington, Methodist Children’s Home Association of Ohio. Indiana 32 Greencastle, Indiana Methodist Children’s Home. Illinois 33 Lake Bluff, Methodist Deaconess Orphan¬ age. 34 Urbana, Cunningham Children’s Home. 35 Mount Vernon, Methodist Orphanage. 36 Normal, Mason Deaconess Home and Babyfold. 37 Polo, Peek Orphange. Michigan 38 Farmington, Methodist Children’s Home. Other Institutions. Ohio 39 Toledo, Flower Home for Girls. 40 Cincinnati, William Nast Christian Home for Young Men. Indiana 41 Rensselaer, Monnett School for Girls. Illinois 42 Chicago, Bethany Home for Working Girls. 43 Chicago, Esther Home for Girls. Wisconsin 44 Sheboygan, Methodist Home for Girls. Christian philanthropy. — Hospitals, orphanages, old people’s homes, baby folds, homes for working girls, homes for unfor¬ tunates — all these and others tell the story of the heart of a church quickened to care for the sick and aged, to help the needy and the wayward, and to minister in love to those who for one reason or another have fallen by life’s wayside. Forty-four such institutions, scattered through the five states, are Methodism’s witness to a belief in works of mercy. Bible distribution.— In 1921, Scriptures in forty-six languages were supplied to this territory. The program calls for co-operation with the churches in the Bible distribution; the establishment of a depos¬ itory in every large center of population ; the maintenance of colporteurs among the Italian, Bohemian, Polish, Slovak, Rou¬ manian, Jewish and Russian colonies; and the enlistment of voluntary workers for Bible distribution. Woman’s Home Missions— Classes for children in city slums, homes for working girls, educational work among Indian women and children, rescue homes, oi- phanages, old people’s homes — such a list indi¬ cates something of the extent of the Christian service being rendered by the Woman’s Home Mis¬ sionary society in the East North Central states. The measure of total achieve¬ ment can never be taken. Among the Indians.— The native red man is still to be found in his favorite haunts of the Great Lakes Region. Scattered throughout Michigan and Wisconsin are more Methodist Episcopal Indian missions than in any other two states of the union. The fourteen stations of Indian work in the East North Central states are at Athens, Bradley, Rosebush, Mt. Pleasant, Northport, Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Mikado, L’Anse, Algonquin, Hermansville and Pequaming, Michigan, and at Oneida and Odanah, Wisconsin. THE MISSIONARY NEED The story of need can only be indicated by typical cases : Rapidly growing industrial neighborhood, where church is only social center aside from saloons, pool rooms and public dance halls. Seven outlying communities in one parish, en¬ tirely without religious work. Eight communities along a railroad in a new agricultural community, have no religious services at all. A church of twenty-six members in a parish of 792 square miles, with two villages and twenty lumber camps, is struggling heroically. A flourishing Sunday school in a mining camp which has been homeless, moving from place to place to find shelter. These students of Purdue University are in classes at the First Methodist Episcopal Church 300 WORLD SERVICE Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana The oldest church in a large city, in a thickly populated section of 50,000 people, finds its mem¬ bers moving away and needy Armenians, Bulgari¬ ans, Austrians, Italians, and other foreigners mov¬ ing in. In another large city, there are nine Methodist Episcopal congregations among the Negroes, and only one of these occupies a worthy building. A circuit in a section rapidly changing from lumbering to agriculture. New site and building material required in a parish of 7,000 people of eight nationalities in lumbering and iron ore region. .In a fast growing industrial city, missionary aid will make possible the erection of eight new church buildings and eight new parsonages badly needed. Five Methodist churches around one county seat were abandoned during the war for lack of ministers, and are still unsupplied. A church in industrial community of 1,200 peo¬ ple has received sixty-one young men into mem¬ bership in recent months. One-room frame struc¬ ture, too far gone for repair, greatly handicaps efforts to reach many others. A Negro congregation in a district of 10,000 Negroes, is housed in a one-room, abandoned school building. A corporation will donate the site if the congregation will build. Large colonies of German-speaking Russians in Michigan and Ohio, have only a few mission churches ministering to them. 1 he largest Belgian settlement in the world outside of Flanders is in Illinois. There is need for Christian literature and a bi-lingual leader. A coke town of 4,000 unchurched people, half of whom are under twenty-one years of age. Methodist responsibility. Methodist settlement in city congested district, ministering to social and religious needs of native Americans and Italians, must enlarge to meet de¬ mands. Italian Methodist Episcopal congregation has erected a new building, but needs help in support of pastor. A growing industrial center has four Methodist Sunday schools, not one with a church building. Two meet in school houses, one in a tar paper shack and another in a store. At the Cincinnati Area Convention, Columbus, Ohio, February, 1923 WEST NORTH CENTRAL STATES 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111) MINNESOTA IOWA MISSOURI NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA NEBRASKA KANSAS SUMMER SCHOOL FOR RURAL PASTORS The ideal solution of the country church problem is to have in each rural community one strong church, ade¬ quately supported , properly equipped, ministered to by an able man — a church which leads in community service. K. L. Butterfield WEST NORTH CENTRAL STATES A Center of Traditional Americanism The West North Central states of today are sometimes called the “New Eng¬ land of yesterday.” Here life is still largely rural, and the population is mostly made up of descendants of the pioneers of native stock. The westward wave of in¬ dustrialism has not yet swept across the Mississippi river, and the cultural empha¬ sis still holds supreme. The little red school houses have grown up into colleges and universities, while the little brown churches have become centers of strength and service. This traditional Americanism in its full flower is both materially and spiritually progressive. Along with the development of fine churches and schools has gone the steady improvement of farm and home. Where a short half century ago the prairie schoon¬ ers trekked across the plains, the motor car now reigns su¬ preme. There are a few cities where sharp class lines are drawn ; some mining and lumbering sections, backward hill regions, and sparsely settled frontier areas where extreme con¬ ditions prevail; but as a rule the people belong to that great middle class, individ¬ ualistic in their thinking and social in their action. They are neither very wealthy nor very poor, but in normally prosperous circumstances which foster a strong home, community, church and school life. The Region Characterized People and occupations. — The seven states in this division have a population of 12,544,249, of whom 7,816,877, or 62.3 per cent are rural, and 4,727,372, or 37.7 per cent are urban. That a city-ward movement is under way, the same as elsewhere in the United States is indicated by the change in percentages from 1890, when the rural population was 74.2 per cent and the urban 25.8 per 303 304 WORLD SERVICE cent. The population growth as a whole has been slow, registering for the decade of 1910-1920 only 7.8 per cent. The total number of foreign-born is 1,371,961, large numbers of whom are from northern Eu¬ rope and more easily Americanized. The Negro population is 278,521, an increase of 14.8 per cent. Illiteracy is here at its lowest point in the United States, only 193,221, or two per cent coming under that classification. The largest iron ore mines in the world are to be found in Minnesota, also im¬ portant lumbering, shipping, and flour¬ milling industries. Large lead and zinc mines are found in Missouri; coal mines in Iowa and Kansas; oil wells in Kansas; and gold, silver, and lead mines in South Dakota. The industrial development of the cities varies, but rests primarily on the products of the soil in the given re¬ gions. In God’s garden. — The panorama that unfolds for the traveler is one of enchant¬ ment. He is in a vast garden — God’s garden, someone has called it — where fields of wheat and fields of corn seem to stretch endlessly. They called it the “great American desert” in the long ago, when the distant gold fields of the Pacific lured multitudes across it. Little did they dream, as they took their painful, ox-team pilgrimage along the trails, that under their feet was wealth untold. It waited only the coming of the settler to yield its riches. Today that desert in truth blos¬ soms as the rose, and the disdained prairies have become the “bread basket of the world.” Asbury Hospital, Minneapolis, Minnesota The crops of grain, however, are not the largest harvest of these states. Closely allied with the tilling of the soil is the cultivation of character. Contact with the soil seems to bring a consciousness of God. The fellowship of the soil. — In the words of a great Norwegian man of letters, the growth of the soil and the worker go hand in hand: “There you are, living in touch with heaven and earth, one with all these wide deep rooted things . Look, nature’s there, for you and yours to have and en¬ joy. Man and nature don’t bombard each other, but agree ; they don’t compete, race one against the other, but go together. .... You’ve everything to live on, everything to live for, everything to believe in ; being born and bringing forth, you are the needful on earth . ’Tis you that main¬ tain life.” Methodist Pioneering The product of missions. — Here where life still clings to the soil, churches of Christ flourish and bring forth a large harvest. Villages, towns, and cities are dotted with the spires and towers of the temples of worship. Nowhere in America is Protestantism more virile or more vitally related to the individual and social life. Its fruitage is a strong missionary interest which reaches around the world. The religious life of the West North Central states today is the product of home missions for the last half century or more. Nowhere is there a more striking example of struggling missions in frontier settlements becoming, through missionary aid, gloriously strong churches, giving of their wealth, their strength, their prayers, their manhood and their womanhood for the extension of the kingdom of Christ in congested cities, in isolated country sec¬ tions, and in far-flung mission fields. Most of the educational institutions of these states were founded on the religious im¬ pulse, and many of them are still maintained by the denominations. The first church in Iowa was the Methodist Episcopal church which was organized at Burlington in 1834; and the WEST NORTH CENTRAL 305 second was another Methodist church, at Dubuque. Of the thousands of Methodist Episcopal churches which were founded in the ensuing half or three-quarters of a century, 80 per cent are said to be the direct results of home mission work. Other denominations throughout this re¬ gion credit from 75 to 95 per cent of their present churches, most of them self- supporting and benevolent, to home mission labors of other years. In Kansas, a Methodist home missionary founded the State Agricultural College, while other home missionaries started the State Normal School and the State Univer¬ sity. The church colleges which dot Kansas and the other states of the division are likewise a testimony to home mission statesmanship. The measure of present Methodism. Today the church sees as the visible result of its labors a membership of 643,213 in the West North Central states, of which 606,191 are white English- speaking, 19,389 German, 6,834 Scandi¬ navian, and 10,237 Negro; a Sunday-school enrolment of 767,913, of which 730,969 are white English-speaking, 24,319 German, 7,021 Scandinavian, and 4,981 Negro; 4,564 churches, of which 4,089 are white English-speaking, 226 German, 117 Scan¬ dinavian, and 123 Negro. The total valuation of all churches and parsonages is $48,198,288, while the total paid for local expenses in 1922 was $11,170,396, and for benevolences $3,585,587, or a total for all purposes of $14,755,983, or $22.94 per capita for all purposes. There are also twenty colleges, universities, and tesasusaaiij University Methodist Episcopal Church, Salina, Kansas Case Library, Baker University, Baldwin, Kansas training schools, and thirty-four hospitals, orphanages, and old people's homes in these states, maintained under Methodist Episcopal auspices. Problems for the Church The rural situation.— The problem of Methodism is not primarily one of more churches, but of adaptation to the chang¬ ing needs of the communities in which the churches are located. Bishop Homer C. Stuntz has put the whole situation in a few sentences : “We are attempting to check the down-grade movement among our rural churches. The country population of the states is almost stationary. In some places it is decreasing. The high prices of farm lands and the increasing number of tenant farmers are operating to check immigration and to force young men looking forward to agriculture as a live¬ lihood to seek cheaper land. The coming of the automobile and other influences like the radio are steadily working against the country church. We are doing our utmost to make such combinations of country churches with the churches in towns near which they are located and with one another in the open country as will con¬ serve the membership we already have there, and minister to the growing youth of these scattered communities.” Adapting the country church. — The tele¬ phone, the rural free delivery, the interurban railway, the automobile, the radio, the improvement of roads and other physical betterments have broken down 306 WORLD SERVICE Community building in rural Iowa, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa most of the isolation of the West North Central states. Modern farm machinery and improved farming methods give more leisure time to rural dwellers, except for the short busy seasons of harvest and planting. A new social life is developing, centering around the larger villages and towns. The one-room school is being super¬ seded by the consolidated, graded school, and the little country churches are finding their members either moving to towns or transferring their memberships there. This problem of the country church is not one of a single denomination, but of denominational co-operation. The need is for one strong evangelical Protestant church in a community, ministering to social as well as spiritual needs, guiding the thoughts and efforts for community betterment, and providing a recreational life which will overcome the church- alienating, commercialized amusements which are drawing so many young people today away from church and religious influences, and which, through their very purposelessness and uselessness, are blighting the spiritual life. The church with the trained leadership, with seven- day-a-week program, with a desire to help and to serve its people in every phase of their lives ; the church which seeks to make a better world as well as to get people ready for heaven; the church with the full-rounded program of personal and social ministry such as Jesus preached and practiced, that church is winning in the rural field today. “Out where the West begins.” — Al¬ though North Dakota is the only one of the West North Central states included in “the frontier” as defined by the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church, the western portions of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas still have much of the pioneer flavor. The missionary problems that go along with sparsely settled areas are here to be found. Vast prairies, given over to “dry farming”; great grain fields; im¬ mense ranches devoted to cattle raising — these mark most of this territory. But there is some mining, and some irrigation. Development is steadily going ahead and there is a curious mixture of the old fron¬ tier and modern farming in the process. Methodism is at the front in these fields. Up in South Dakota, the Aberdeen district extends 312 miles east and west and seventy-two miles north and south. Practically one-third of it still is virgin plain. The district includes 18,990 square miles of land, with a population averaging 8.4 persons to the square mile. It has but one town with more than 2,500 people. Unchurched groups. — The “lumber jacks of the Northern woods” like the southern highlander, are familiar in song and story. They need greatly both a social and re¬ ligious ministry. In the mining camps, particularly of Missouri and Kansas, are thousands of foreign-speaking inhabit- Our church at Kearney, Nebraska WEST NORTH CENTRAL 307 Bible colporteur on the ranges of northern Minnesota ants, whose problems are the same as of the rural industrial communities of the East. In a region where the native popula¬ tion is more predominant, these foreign - speaking people are the more con¬ scious of their isolation and the more readily mis¬ understand and are mis¬ understood. Western highlanders. — The mountain people of the Ozarks in Mis¬ souri are the one “highlander” group of the West North Central states. Here in a territory stretching across part of Mis¬ souri and Arkansas is a section which seems to have been lifted bodily out of the mountains of the Old South and to have been transplanted with all its illiteracy, primitiveness, superstition, and poverty, and also offering the same need for ed¬ ucation, evangelism, and community serv¬ ice. The migrants.— A picturesque group, to which the chui'ch has just begun to real¬ ize that it owes a ministry, is composed of the many thousand migrants who work in the harvest fields of the West North Central and West South Central states every year. Among them are professional seasonal workers, such as are found in railroad work, in the ice fields, in the lumber camps, and in the closed season haunting the cheap lodging houses of the city; college students, earning money for an education ; vacationists, out for extra money; house¬ holders, securing leave of absence to work during the harvest season. In most any harvest crew will be found married and unmarried men, educated and uneducated, wanderers and ambitious students, stu¬ dents for the ministry and profane athe¬ ists, personal workers and sceptics. The West North Central cities — While the West North Central states are essen¬ tially rural, the importance of their cities is not to be minimized. Seven cities of more than 100,000 population are located in the seven states. St. Louis, with 772,897 people, is the leader, followed in order of size by Minneapolis, Kansas City, Missouri; St. Paul, Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City, Kansas. While the growth of these cities has been steady, and in some instances rapid, it has not been meteoric such as some of the highly industrialized cities of the East have known. Industry and commerce hold a high place in their advancement, but it has been usually a variety of industries which has been responsible. The cities ai’e more of the traditionally American type, with a comparatively strong religious life. St. Louis, by an official survey, is shown to be 77 per cent native-born white, 13 per cent foreign-born, and 10 per cent Negro. Of those employed, 40 per cent are in industry, 15 per cent in the trades, 14 per cent in clerical positions, and 5 per cent in the professions. Religiously, 36 per cent are Protestant, 39 per cent Roman Catholic, and 3 per cent Jewish. One-fifth admit no interest in any church. “St. Louis is prosperous,” says the survey, “yet over one-half of her people live below the average of human welfare and 30 per cent under distinctly subnormal conditions.” In spite of many churches, the tendency of the cities is towards congestion and social cleavage. The outward movement of populations is causing the “downtown church” problem, and there is need of adaptation to the various types of city communities the same as in the eastern cities. This adaptation requires, however, lead¬ ership trained to the specific city task and equipment commensurate with the need. 308 WORLD SERVICE Epworth School for Girls — A W. H. M. S. home in the suburbs of St. Louis Methodism at the Front Linking town and country. — The social and economic changes under way throw an added responsibility on the village and town churches. Likewise, the increasing distractions of commercialized amuse¬ ments and community effort with no church affiliations tend to sever the church’s contact with the people. The church’s answer must be a ministry which touches all the needs of the parish. It should be the connecting link between town and country life and the center of the social as well as the religious expres¬ sion of both. In Kearney, Nebraska, our church is proving the feasibility and the value of such a program. The town church has linked itself with the rural parishes of Elizabeth Valley, Buda School House, Haven Chapel, and Alfalfa Center, and has developed a well-rounded program for all. The Kearney church building is never closed. During 1922, 50,000 people made use of its facilities on week-days. The farmers and their families make large use of the attractive rest-room and reading room when in town shopping. A radio helps to furnish entertainment. There is provided an employment and infor¬ mation bureau, and a gymnasium and social center. Neighborhood programs are arranged for the rural parishes. The Rapid City district. — Seven hun¬ dred members were recruited by the sixty- four Methodist Episcopal preaching places in the sparsely settled territory of the Rapid City District, Dakota Conference, during 1922, a witness to the fact that the church can adapt itself to frontier con¬ ditions. The district covers a territory as large as the combined area of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connec¬ ticut, and Rhode Island. It has a popula¬ tion of 93,292 people, of whom more than 25,000 are children of school age. The country is settled for the most part by homesteaders of meagre resources, so the territory is largely missionary. Rebuilding a county. — What a pastor can accomplish in community betterment if he is willing to exercise energy, leader¬ ship, and consecration finds its epitome in the experience of Phelps County, Mis¬ souri. The Methodist Episcopal pastor launched the Phelps County Development Federation, with a farm bureau to secure a county agricultural agent, prepare or secure bulletins on crops, organize farm¬ ers’ institutes, and plan exhibits at fairs; a welfare bureau, to devise a county home for the unfortunate poor, and to offer a constructive plan for dealing with poverty and benevolence; a school bureau, for ad¬ vancing public education; a road bureau, to study highway needs and encourage road building; an organization bureau, to aid in the formation of commercial clubs and other community organizations; and a recreation center bureau, to arrange social excursions from one part of the county to another, to give support to cen¬ trally located picnics, and otherwise “to make provision for development of social gatherings which will encourage broader acquaintance among Phelps County peo¬ ple.” Circuits of school houses were arranged for popular addresses on better farming and entertainments. Administration Building, Ozark Wesleyan College WEST NORTH CENTRAL 309 In other fields. — A term spent by the pastor at a summer school for rural pas¬ tors has resulted in a community church at Hastings, Iowa, where a program of steady advance is maintained. Church and Sunday-school and Epworth League membership is rapidly increasing. A membership increase of 650 per cent in three years has been achieved at the Waite Park church, St. Cloud, Minnesota, par¬ tially through the help given by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Wathena, Kansas, in nine months received ninety-three new members, and has entered into a community social and recre¬ ational program. An antiquated church building has given place to a fine new building at Walton, Kansas, which has become the social center of the village and surrounding country. Among the miners. — In the Albia Mis¬ sion, among the coal mining camps of Iowa, a missionary, member of the coal miners’ union, was put in charge of the work. He began by making surveys of the camps, opening Sunday schools, organ¬ izing preaching services and prayer meet¬ ings. Within a few months, four churches were organized in as many different camps, and seven Sunday schools started. Preaching services were held in the five other camps, in school houses, homes or wherever room coi id be secured. The These teen-age girls at Guthrie Center, Iowa, use a tent as a Sunday-school classroom Industrial class, supervised by a deaconess, church community house, Frontenac, Kansas population of the camps varies from 200 to 1,900, with many foreign-speaking peo¬ ple and many Negroes. Centering around Pittsburg, Kansas, are a number of coal mining camps with 30,000 foreign-speaking people, mostly Italians. A parish program has been worked out in connection with the Pitts¬ burg Church, under the name of the Craw¬ ford County Mission, calling for commu¬ nity centers in a number of the larger mining towns, and with a mission organi¬ zation patterned after that of the Coke Mission of Pennsylvania. Revelations of a survey. — One of the camps, with 600 population, composed of Italians, Austrians, Slovaks, Americans, and others, has no religious work what¬ ever. Another of 3,000 people has a few churches but no community centers save the pool halls. In still another of 900 people, with Italians, Austrians, Poles and Slovaks, and a radical element predominat¬ ing, there is no social, civic, or religious work whatever. With the assistance of the Board of Heme Missions and Church Extension progress has begun in religious work in these camps. Frontenac, with twenty- eight languages represented in its constit¬ uency, has enlarged its church facilities and added a community hall with a gym¬ nasium. Excellent contacts have been made with the miners’ families, and all creeds and nationalities are served. This is Americanization at its best. 310 WORLD SERVICE Sunday school at Capaldo, Kansas Helping harvest toilers. — A rural serv¬ ice department director, a county agri¬ cultural agent, and a Methodist pastor planned one of the first programs of service to these migrant workers. At Larned, Kansas, sleeping and entertain¬ ment rooms were arranged, meal tickets given to needy men when rain delayed work in the fields, writing materials fur¬ nished, neighborly meetings promoted, and a kindly spirit toward the harvesters fostered among the town and country peo¬ ple. Much the same provision was made for them as for the soldiers by the “Y” huts during the war. The response was so remarkable that many other commu¬ nities were organized to do similar work. In the cities. — The city churches of the West North Central states are among the most active in America. Made up of mostly a native American people, a large propor¬ tion of them directly from the smaller towns and open country, or only one generation removed, the city problem in this area has not yet become so compelling or so complex as of the industrial cities of the east. There are foreign-speaking colonies in nearly all of these wes¬ tern cities, but they are not so large as to be domi¬ nant or to displace the native-born population. Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church of Min¬ neapolis, is a shining example of a successful city church, growing in membership from around 400 to more than 1,500 in two years and a half. Hundreds are frequently turned away from its doors at Sunday services, for the pastor adapts the church’s program to city needs. A successful “down¬ town” church. — Located in the congested downtown area of St. Paul is the Central Park Methodist Episcopal Church. A survey showed within a radius of four blocks 8,081 peo¬ ple of twenty-three nationalities and twenty-six religious denominations, 2,669 children, and 2,619 roomers and boarders. In a mile radius live 60,000 people. The church building, thirty-three years old, was of the conventional type until Cente¬ nary help enabled complete remodeling, and launched a community program. The spiritual results of four years’ labor, as far as figures can portray them, give striking proof of the value of the adapted city church. Between 1918 and 1922, the church membership increased from 642 to 1,107 ; the number of families reached by the church from 382 to over 600 ; the Sun¬ day-school enrolment from 514 to 959; the vacation Bible school enrolment from 191 to 496 ; the winter week-night school from 118 to 416. In 1918, the neighborhood of The church at Larned, Kansas, provides a rest room for transient harvesters WEST NORTH CENTRAL 311 the church was the center of juvenile crime in St. Paul. It has been driven back by the social and religious program until no child has been arrested in two years within three or four blocks of the church in any direction. Other city churches. — Trinity Church, St. Louis, is located in a semi-downtown changing community of 70,000 people, most of whom have migrated from rural regions to work in the industries. Under the inspiration of help from the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, a program has been launched which bids fair to demonstrate beyond a doubt the value of an adapted ministry and a trained leadership for these difficult and challeng¬ ing situations. Excellent community equipment has been provided for the Wagoner Memorial Church, St. Louis, enabling it to develop a program of social and religious service. Woodland Community Church of Duluth has risen out of the ashes of an old church, with the aid of home mission help. It was enabled to secure a better location and a modern building. The community is growing very fast and the church is keep¬ ing pace. A community survey once a year enables the Rustin Avenue Church of Sioux City, Iowa, to keep record of new families mov¬ ing into its parish. Calling on new fami¬ lies is done by both pastor and people. Its community work enables it to establish contacts with many not otherwise obtain- Trinity Church, St. Louis, has a playground for its youngsters The daily vacation Bible school teaches much besides “book-learning” — Here’s a sewing class. Central Park Church, St. Paul, Minnesota able. As a result the church membership in a few years has been more than doubled, the Sunday-school enrolment largely increased, the budget trebled and benevo¬ lences increased 600 per cent. Among the Negroes — While the largest part of the Negro migration north in the last decade has settled in the industrial cities east of the Mississippi River, the influx in the western part of the United States also has been large. A substantial gift by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension made possible the erec¬ tion of a modern plant in one of the most populous Negro sections of St. Louis for the Asbury Memorial Church, which had been worshipping in a store room and which it had greatly outgrown. An appro¬ priation also enabled the Negro Methodist Episcopal Church at St. Joseph, Missouri, to complete its auditorium and community center, by means of which it has greatly expanded its work. The church has made itself a part of the life of the community through its recreational and social facili¬ ties as well as its church services. Within fifteen months the Haddock Methodist Episcopal Church at Sioux City, Iowa, developed from nothing into a church with institutional activities. Besides a full pro¬ gram of church services, it has organized tennis, baseball and volley ball clubs for boys, recreational clubs for girls, main¬ tains a library and night school and has formed a community association. 312 WORLD SERVICE Mothers’ and Daughters’ Banquet — Rnstin Avenue Church, Sioux City, Iowa Foreign-language conference churches. — Early day settlement, in the West North Central states, by colonies of German, Swedish and Scandinavian people resulted in the establishment of many churches in their native languages, which continue to this day. With the drift of their children to English language and customs, many of these people have co-operated with their children in adapting their programs so that part of the services might be held in English. A few have made beginnings toward community programs, while a large number hold fast to the traditional services of worship in their respective languages. The First Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church at Minneapolis is one of the oldest of Swedish Methodism in America. The destruction of the building by fire a few years ago called for help from the church at large in the plans for the future. Rush County, Kansas, is largely popu¬ lated by German-speaking Russians and the Methodist Episcopal church has about a dozen churches throughout the commu¬ nity. Russians converted in the churches of this community have returned to Russia and have aided our Methodist centers there. A new church has been erected at Bison, and is exerting a widespread influ¬ ence for the Kingdom. In Wright City, Missouri, is a German Methodist Episcopal Church, long on the verge of closing, which has erected a new building and developed into a strong com¬ munity center. Centenary aid made possi¬ ble the new building project, and through it various elements were fused and a church developed to serve all classes and types. Successful evangelism. — A district evan¬ gelist in one section of Iowa worked dur¬ ing 1922 in eleven charges, seven of which had been closed during the war. In one church forty were at the altar and twenty joined the church, an old debt was wiped out, the pastor’s salary was increased, and a new spirit possesses the church. In another charge with an unpainted and run-down church building which had been closed for seven years and where the par¬ sonage was used as a junk shop, a Sunday school of one hundred was enrolled and an Epworth League of twenty was organized. There are thirty-five members in the re¬ organized church, the finances are in good condition, a community program is in operation, and the church Is the most pop¬ ular place in town. A little out-appoint- ment was reopened and the former mem¬ bership of sixteen increased to fifty, and the handful of Sunday-school members in¬ creased to ninety-three. Hospital evangelism. — Rochester, Min¬ nesota, is the world-famous “hospital city.” The genius of the Mayo brothers has resulted in this little mid-western city becoming one of the world meccas for physical relief. Sixty-five thousand sick people come every year from almost every corner of the world for treatment. From 175,000 to 200,000 people pass through the city yearly. More than one patient in every six is a Methodist, and the same These Mexican folks had a great time in the Christmas fun provided for them by the church at Valley Junction, Iowa WEST NORTH CENTRAL 313 proportion would obtain among the other transients, making more than 10,000 Methodist patients and from 25,000 to 30,000 Methodist visitors in Rochester yearly. To serve these on the bed of pain and those of anxious heart who accompany them, the department of evangelism of the Board of Home Missions and Church Ex¬ tension maintains a chaplain at Rochester. This chaplain averages about a thou¬ sand calls a month ; writes and sends many letters and telegrams to friends of the sick; answers many inquiries about hotels, rooms and board, hospitals, doctors, sur¬ geons, and operations; meets trains; seeks to comfort those who are dying; tries to hearten many discouraged ones over seri¬ ous operations, puts himself at the service of every sick person with whom he comes in contact; answers special calls at all hours of the day and night; prays with people and tells of the Good Shepherd and the Great Physician, and often points the way to inquiring souls; baptizes and administers the Lord’s Supper; now and then marries a couple; conducts funerals; teaches in the Bible school, and preaches in the churches. The Goodwill Industries. — Three Goodwill Industries are located in the West North Central states: at St. Louis, St. Paul, and Duluth. In St. Paul, an abandoned church and parsonage of another denomination was purchased and houses the Goodwill Industries and the Goodwill Day Nursery. More than forty- four people gather daily for chapel service before they go to their work in the Indus¬ tries. In St. Louis, the Goodwill Industries had their genesis in the institutional activities of the Trinity Methodist Epis¬ copal Church in the East End. A large, new building has been started, but is as yet uncompleted on account of lack of funds. However, from the part of the building usable, the Industries have gone steadily ahead in their activities, in 1922 giving employment to an average of thirty- two persons each day, and making sales of $28,172 in restored articles. 21 It’s at Kansas City, Missouri. What is it? Read the sign The field of education. — Where the forces of Christianity are to be found in such strength as the West North Central states, education, as one of them, has made great forward strides. This is true not only of colleges and universities, but also of the program of religious education. The Epworth League in this section finds one of its strongholds. Iowa ranks high in the development of Junior League work and in Epworth League institutes. Three districts, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Atlantic, each support a dis¬ trict deaconess. The Wichita Area is one of the most highly organized with respect to Epworth League work, over seventy- five per cent of the churches having chap¬ ters. The Area has officially adopted the twenty-four-hour-day plan of finance and through it supports an Epworth League secretary for the area and is pledged to the support of Epworth League work in India. There is need for the development of group training conferences for intensive cultivation of League lead¬ ers. Twenty-one Epworth League insti¬ tutes were held in this section in 1922. 314 WORLD SERVICE Epworth League Institutes. Minnesota 1 Lake Minnetonka, Hopkins, Groveland. 2 Lake Minnetonka, Tipi Wakam (Nor- wegian-Danish). 3 Park Rapids, Northern Pine. Iowa 4 Mount Pleasant, Iowa Conference. 5 Clear Lake, Clear Lake. 6 Indianola, Des Moines Conference. 7 Clarinda, Southern Iowa. 8 Lake Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Okoboji. 9 Glenwood, Glenwood. Missouri 10 Sedalia, George R. Smith College (Cen tral Missouri Conference — Negro). 11 Marionville, Ozark Wesleyan. 12 Cameron, Missouri Conference. North Dakota 13 Lisbon, Fargo District. 14 Devil’s Lake, Devil’s Lake (Minot Dis trict). 15 Mandan, Bismarck. WEST NORTH CENTRAL 315 South Dakota 16 Mitchell, Dakota Wesleyan. 17 Rapid City, Rapid City. Nebraska 18 Epworth Lake Park, Lincoln, Nebraska Conference. 19 Norfolk, Norfolk District. 20 Crawford, Tri-State. Kansas 21 Baldwin, Baldwin. 22 Salina, Northwest Kansas. 23 Pratt, Southwest Kansas. Sunday-school Institutes. Minnesota 24 Money Creek. 25 Mabel. 26 Preston. 27 Chatfield. 28 Kasson. Kansas 29 Baxter Springs. 30 Topeka. 31 Burlington. Schools tor City Pastors. Conference Institutes Minnesota 32 Winona. 33 Chisholm. Iowa 34 Mason City. Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Minnesota 35 St. Paul, Hamline University. Iowa 36 Ames, Wesley Foundation. Schools and colleges.— A deep spirit¬ ual life as well as high educational stand¬ ards is characteristic of the Methodist Episcopal colleges, universities and train¬ ing schools of these states. From them have gone out hundreds of ministers, mis¬ sionaries, teachers, physicians and other professional men to carry the Gospel of Christ around the world. Difficult city churches and rural parishes are finding a rich source of leadership in these western colleges. Their alumni rolls contain im¬ pressive lists of men and women, serving in varied fields, who almost uniformly are actuated by the Christian impulse. Their achievements at home and abroad attest the value of the Christian college and defi¬ nitely show that it is vital to the expan¬ sion of the kingdom of Christ throughout Missouri 37 Warrenton, Central Wesleyan. Kansas 38 Winfield, Southwestern College. Summer Schools of Theology. Minnesota 39 St. Paul, Hamline University. Iowa 40 Mount Pleasant, Iowa Wesleyan College. 41 Indianola, Simpson College. 42 Sioux City, Morningside College. Missouri 43 Marionville, Ozark Wesleyan College. 44 Cameron, Missouri Wesleyan College. North Dakota 45 Grand Forks, Wesley College. South Dakota 46 Mitchell, Dakota Wesleyan University. Nebraska 47 University Place, Nebraska Wesleyan University. 48 Chadron, Northwest Nebraska Conference. Kansas 49 Baldwin, Baker University. 50 Winfield, Southwestern College. 51 Salina, Kansas Wesleyan University. Missionary Summer Conferences. Woman’s Home Missionary Society Iowa 52 Okoboji Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society Minnesota 53 St. Paul (Interdenominational). South Dakota 54 Sioux Falls (Interdenominational). the world that denominational schools continue to develop and to be supported adequately. The fervor of John Wesley lives in western Methodism and finds its expres¬ sion in many ways. It is of interest to note how the Christian educational impulse hearkens back to Methodism’s founder by the naming of institutions after him. Eight of the eighteen Methodist colleges and secondary schools in the West North Central states are named after the church’s founder; these and all the others noted on the map on the next page, al¬ though not bearing his name have the same devoted spirit of John Wesley. Methodism at other institutions. — The Wesley Foundations throughout the West North Central states report nearly 10,000 316 WORLD SERVICE Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools. Minnesota 1 St. Paul, Hamline University. Iowa 2 Mount Vernon, Cornell College. 3 Mount Pleasant, Iowa Wesleyan College. 4 Fayette, Upper Iowa University. 5 Indianola, Simpson College. 6 Sioux City, Morningside College. Missouri 7 Warrenton, Central Wesleyan College. 8 Cameron, Missouri Wesleyan College. North Dakota 9 University, Wesley College (affiliated with State University). South Dakota 10 Mitchell, Dakota Wesleyan University. Nebraska 11 University Place. Nebraska Wesleyan University. Note: The notations (WHMS & D) indicate that tb Society and the General Deaconess Board. Kansas 12 Baldwin, Baker University. 13 Winfield, Southwestern College. 14 Salina, Kansas Wesleyan University. Secondary Schools. Minnesota 15 Winnebago, Parker College. Iowa 16 Epworth, Epworth Seminary. Missouri 17 Sedalia, George R. Smith College (Negro). 18 Marionville, Ozark Wesleyan College. Training Schools. Missouri 19 Kansas City (WHMS & D), Kansas Citv National Training School. Iowa 20 E)es. Moines (WHMS & D), Iowa National Training School. institutions serve the Woman’s Home Missionary WEST NORTH CENTRAL 317 Barracks used for Wesley Foundation, Ames, Iowa students in their constitu¬ encies. Student work is maintained at fourteen different centers, in vary¬ ing degree, from a well- established foundation with student pastor and full social and religious program to a student min¬ istry in the local church. New building projects are under way at Minneapolis; Ames, Iowa; Rolla, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Hays, Kansas. There are also large op¬ portunities ripe for development at Law¬ rence and Manhattan, Kansas. Ames, in three years, sent seven agriculturally trained missionaries to the foreign field. Probably in no section of America will Methodist students be found in greater proportion in the state educational insti¬ tutions than in these seven states. Bishop Stuntz states that out of 4,100 students at xowa State University 1,100 are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and 380 are of Methodist preference, making a Methodist constituency of 1,480 students; that 1,790 out of 4,400 students at the State Agricultural College at Ames are Methodist; and that one-third of the students for the last six years at each of these institutions have been Methodist. For the year ending in June, 1922, there were enrolled in the University of Minne¬ sota 8,943 students, of whom more than 1,200 were of Methodist preference. Many New Wesley Foundation unit, University of Minnesota of the students became full members of the church, others affiliate members. Thir¬ teen are preparing for full-time Christian service. A ten-year program has been adopted, which when fulfilled will make it one of the outstanding Wesley Founda¬ tions of the country. Other educational activities. — The total number of summer conferences reaches fifty-four, including Epworth League and Sunday-school institutes, schools for city pastors, summer schools for town and rural pastors, summer schools of theology, and missionary summer conferences of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society and the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. Rural leadership also is emphasized by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, and enters largely into the pro¬ gressive life of this distinctly rural region. Eleven of the thirty-four rural leadership departments maintained in as many dif¬ ferent Methodist educational institutions are located in the West North Central states. Other achievements. — Thirty-four hospi¬ tals, homes, orphanages, and other centers of mercy indicate the philanthropic achievements of our church in these states. A noteworthy feature is the great expan¬ sion of Methodist hospitals. The Ameri¬ can Bible Society maintains a depository in Duluth and serves the territory also from the Chicago and Denver offices. At least twenty more Bible visitors could be used. Seven Indian missions are located in this division. The Woman’s Home Mis¬ sionary Society has two training schools. The General Deaconess Board, the Board of Conference Claimants, and the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public 318 WORLD SERVICE STUDENT WORK AT NON-METHODIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Minnesota 1 Minneapolis and St. Paul, University of Minnesota. Iowa 2 Iowa City, State University of Iowa. 3 Cedar Falls, Iowa State Teachers’ Col¬ lege. 4 Ames, Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Missouri 5 Rolla, Missouri School of Mines and Met¬ allurgy. 6 Warrensburg, Central Missouri State Teachers’ College. North Dakota 7 Grand Forks, Wesley College. South Dakota 8 Brookings, South Dakota State College, School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. 9 Vermilion, University of South Dakota. 10 Spearfish, State Normal School. Nebraska 11 Lincoln, University of Nebraska. Kansas 12 Lawrence, University of Kansas. 13 Manhattan, Kansas State Agricultural College. 14 Hays, Fort Hays State Normal School. Campus, Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa WEST NORTH CENTRAL 319 This Topeka (Kansas) church provides super¬ vised recreation for its young business women Morals function effectively in their re¬ spective fields of service in this section. The call to the church. — Though the churches of the West North Central states are fighting a good fight and are keep¬ ing the faith, the summons to advance must be sounded. Whether it be in the pioneer stretches of the western border, with scattered settlements and primitive conditions, in the increasingly congested cities, the mountain sections of Missouri, the foreign-speaking urban and rural col¬ onies, or the vast rich countryside and villages and towns where dwell most of the people, there is need for the hosts of the Kingdom ever to be at their task. Typical Needs Here are a few of the missionary needs of the West North Central states: A community hall for an Indian village where no provision is made for recreation. A Negro community work in a congested city colony. Church buildings and community houses for min¬ ing camps without any religious service whatever. Complete a building in an industrial suburb with a polyglot population. A woman worker in an iron range community of 9,000 foreign-speaking people. New church and community house in industrial city of several thousand people, where one-room church serves. Children meet in damp, dark base¬ ment, and whole building is overcrowded. Enlarge church to minister to 500 students in nearby college. Community church for town of 8,000 people, founded by atheists who forbade any church for many years. Methodist church has the field. Aid in replacing numerous one-room country church buildings on frontier. Establish a community center in Ozarks. Finish Scandinavian church left uncompleted be¬ cause of financial depression. Help for church in a town whose business section was wiped out by fire. New church in industrial community of 3,000 Bohemians, Italians, Russians and Mexicans. New community church for Negro congregation now worshipping in a store. Numerous rural demonstration centers, and work among lumberjacks. Maintenance for churches in frontier fields badly stricken by several years’ drought. Rebuild church destroyed by fire, congregation now worshipping in school house. Develop Wesley Foundations. Complete a downtown city center for working girls. Supporting rural program at seven points with population of 8,000 people. Purchase an abandoned church of another denomi¬ nation for community center. Provide automobile for hospital chaplain. Replace Negro church now condemned as unsafe and unfit. Expand church activities in industrial community of 17,000, sole Methodist responsibility. Reopen six abandoned Methodist churches in the Northwest. New churches to reach large colonies of German¬ speaking Russians. Enlargement of church in a community of 6,000 Bohemians in one city. Foreign-language pastors for needy communities. Willard Hall for employed women, Omaha, Nebraska — A Centenary project 320 WORLD SERVICE Hospitals. Minnesota 1 Duluth, Free Dispensary. 2 Minneapolis, Asbury Hospital. 3 Windom, Windom Methodist Hospital. 4 Wadena, Wadena Hospital. Iowa 5 Cedar Rapids, St. Luke’s Hospital. 6 Keokuk, Graham Protestant Hospital. 7 Des Moines, Iowa Methodist Hospital. 8 Sioux City, Methodist Episcopal Hospital. Missouri 9 Springfield, Burge Deaconess Hospital. 10 Joplin, Freeman Hospital. 11 Saint Joseph, Missouri Methodist Hospital. North Dakota 12 Mandan, Mandan Deaconess Hospital. 13 Kenmare, Methodist Hospital. South Dakota 14 Brookings, Dakota Deaconess Hospital. 15 Mitchell, Methodist State Hospital. 16 Rapid City, Methodist Deaconess Hospital. Nebraska 17 Omaha, Nebraska Methodist Hospital. 18 Scottsbluff, West Nebraska Hospital. Kansas 19 Kansas City, Bethany Methodist Hospital 20 Wichita, Wesley Hospital. 21 Belleville, Belleville Methodist Hospital. 22 Saiina, Asbury Hospital. 23 Hutchinson, Grace Hospital. 24 Hays, Hays Methodist Hospital. 25 Norton, Methodist Episcopal Hospital. 26 Goodland, Goodland Hospital. Homes for the Aged. Minnesota 27 Minneapolis, Elim Home for the Aged. Nebraska 28 Blair, Crowell Memorial Home. Kansas 29 Topeka, Methodist Home for Aged. 30 Clay Center, Emanuel Home for Aged. Homes for Children. Iowa 31 Dubuque, Hillcrest Deaconess Babyfold. Missouri 32 Saint Louis, Epworth Home for Girls. 33 Warrenton, Central Wesleyan Orphans’ Home. Nebraska 34 York, Mother’s Jewels Home. SOUTH ATLANTIC STATES iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiin DELAWARE MARYLAND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VIRGINIA WEST VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA GEORGIA FLORIDA Distribution of Methodist Episcopal churches in the South Atlantic states The one curse of the race held both in tether; They are rising, all are rising, The black and white together. Booker T. Washington SOUTH ATLANTIC STATES The Old South and the New If the father of his country were to awake from his sleep at Mount Vernon, on the banks of the Potomac, and journey southward to the far shores of the expanded nation, he would pass through a land which spans three centuries in its present-day life. He might travel by the ox-team and springless cart of the eighteenth century ; the carriage and horse of the nineteenth century; the automobile and airplane of the twentieth century. He might tarry for a day at the log hut of a mountaineer, who farms with a hoe and whose wife operates the spinning wheel, as in the days of the Revolution; he might journey on to a cotton or cane plantation where Negroes work in the field, much as in the days of the Civil War; he might end his pilgrimage in a modern in¬ dustrial city, where the roar of strange machinery and the hab¬ its and customs of twentieth century living would be as of another world. Such is the strange contrast as it is found in that changing empire called the South Atlantic states. The section is one of varied complex. One of the oldest divisions of the United States, much of it of Colonial setting, it holds stretches of territory where people dwell in primitive contentment, unaware of the civilization which has passed them by, leaving them a century or two behind the times. Here, too, a process of fundamental change has begun, and industrialism, which has swept agriculture out of first place in the occu¬ pations of American people, has started its conquest. It means that a new South is being born out of the old. Peoples and occupations. — The faddist in “undiluted American¬ ism” will find in the 13,990,272 people who live in that sweep of the Atlantic Coast from 324 WORLD SERVICE Vestiges of the Old South Maryland to the southern tip of Florida, a situation to delight his heart, so far as na¬ tionalities are concerned. It is populated by an almost exclusively native people, of the white and black races. Only 315,920, or 2.3 per cent, are foreign born, one of the lowest percentages in the United States. The dominating problem which presents itself to the church, therefore, is not one of fusing nationalities, as in the case of vast regions of the industrial North, but in inter-relating the white and Negro races, and in improving the conditions and opportunities of each. Almost one third, or 4,325,120, of the people are Negroes. The growth registered in the South Atlantic states in the decade of 1910-1920 was 1,795,377 people, or 14.7 per cent. This is approximately the same for the United States at large, 14.9 per cent. A distinctive feature and an especially hope¬ ful one from the standpoint of the church, at least for the present, is that the section is essentially a rural one, 9,651,480 people, or 69 per cent, being classified as rural, and 4,338,792, or 31 per cent, as urban. If, however, the above percentages are contrasted with the figures for 1890, when the South Atlantic states registered 80.5 per cent rural and only 19.5 per cent urban, the universal American tendency of drift toward the city even in this still largely unindustrialized section of the South is apparent. The types of people and the occupations are extremely varied. In Delaware and Maryland, farms, shipping, manufac¬ tures, and fisheries afford employment. In Washington, D. C., almost the entire activity is governmental, between 110,000 to 120,000 being so employed. In Virginia and West Virginia, agriculture, coal mining, manufacturing, and shipbuilding are the leading occupations, while in North and South Carolina agriculture and lumbering vie with the rapidly growing textile industries. Georgia is a noted agricultural state, with 25,000,000 of its 40,000,000 acres in settled farms. Yet, in the last census, manufacturing has sur¬ passed agriculture in relative importance, so great has been the development of the cotton mill industry. Florida presents the anomaly of a far southern state with a distinctly northern atmosphere, due to its climate and winter resort attractions and agricultural development, which have attracted many thousands of northerners either to live there permanently or at least six months out of every year. Illiteracy. — With all the social ills which ignorance and superstition bring in their One-third of the population of this section is Negro — 69 per cent of the population is rural SOUTH ATLANTIC 325 wake, illiteracy is here more prolific than in any other section of the United States, with the single exception of the group immediately adjoining at the West, the East South Central states. Out of the 13,990,272 inhabitants in the South Atlantic states, there are 1,212,942 illit¬ erate persons, or 11.5 per cent of those ten years of age or older. Distinct hope lies in the fact that, as the result of the work of both church and state, this percentage has been reduced from 16 in 1910 to 11.5 in 1920. The greatest illiteracy is among the Negroes, 25.2 per cent. The District of Columbia, of course, shows the least illiteracy, with 2.8 per cent. Among the states, Maryland has the best record, with only 5.6 per cent illiteracy. South Carolina has the worst, with 18.1 per cent. New blood in the veins. — Shifts in popu¬ lation and migration from the North are causing upheavals in many areas which have knowm little change from the atmosphere and setting of the “Old South” for a century. Colonization move¬ ments for the old farming regions of Virginia have brought in many aggressive young farmers from the middle west, inaugurating a new era of live-stock husbandry and fruit raising. Great num¬ bers of northerners also have flocked in, buying up estates and country homes in the mountains. Development of the min¬ ing industry is causing rural people of both W'hite and Negro races to move to industrial centers, creating serious social and religious problems, imperatively demanding the attention of both chui’ch and community. The textile expansion in the Carolinas and Georgia affords one of the marvels of twentieth-century America. Good shipping facilities, both rail and water; much water power and raw materials available; and increasing labor troubles and industrial friction to the north, especially in New England, have caused the removal of many mills to the Caro¬ linas and' Georgia. South Carolina, with 4,974,460 spindles, stands second only to But even the dominantly rural, agricul¬ tural South feels the pull toward the city and its industrialism Massachusetts in the production of cloth. Industrialism and child labor. — This industrialism is causing one of the great¬ est social changes in these old southern states. Cheap labor is sought, and with no foreign-born element to draw upon, as in the North, recourse is had to the moun¬ tain people. Great numbers of these have been induced, by the offer of higher income than the bare subsistence afforded by mountain life, to leave their mountain cabins and to work in the mills. Whole families are engaged in the cotton mills, sometimes performing long hours of exhausting toil. It is here that child labor is at its worst. Often the ignorance of these credulous highlanders is capitalized by exacting employers. Insanitation, bad working conditions, and poor nourishment, added to the deadening effect of mechanical toil on boys and girls of ten and twelve years, as well as older, portend social disaster. These sinister conditions hurl out at the Christian church a challenge to remove from the borders of a so-called Christian nation a condition of barbarism bred by an unchristian industrialism. Achievements of the Methodist Episcopal Church The fruits of service. — Heroic vision and sacrificial service are golden threads woven into the fabric of achievement of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the South Atlantic states since it began its 326 WORLD SERVICE /iMountain Lake Park J X3*4'13'16’17 west / \r> i ^ J Baltimorei Buckhannon . ^ \ 510 Ay Princes' VIRGINIA #G,eensboro •Atljnta CAROLINA 8 II \ ft FLORIDA® ISamt Petersbul SUMMER SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTES Epwokth League Institutes. Delaware 1 Dover, Delmarvia. Georgia il Atlanta, Gammon Theological Seminary. Maryland 2 Baltimore, Morgan College (Washington and Delaware Conferences — Negro). 3 Mountain Lake Park, Pittsburgh Confer¬ ence. 4 Mountain Lake Park, Baltimore Confer¬ ence. West Virginia 5 Buckhannon, West Virginia Wesleyan (West Virginia Conference). North Carolina 6 Greensboro, Bennett College (North Caro¬ lina- — Negro). South Carolina 7 Orangeburg, Claflin (Negro). Georgia 8 Atlanta, Clark University (Atlanta — Negro). Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Maryland 9 Baltimore, Morgan College. West Virginia 10 Buckhannon, West Virginia Wesleyan. Summer Schools of T^heology. Maryland 12 Princess Anne, Princess Anne Academy. 13 Mountain Lake Park, Pittsburgh Area. North Carolina 14 Greensboro, Bennett College. Missionary Summer Conferences Missionary Education Movement North Carolina 15 Blue Ridge. Woman’s Home Missionary Society Maryland 16 Mountain Lake Park (Interdenomina tional ). W Oman’s Foreign Missionary Society Maryland 17 Mountain Lake Park (Interdenomina¬ tional). Florida 18 Miami (Interdenominational). 19 DeLand (Interdenominational). 20 St. Petersburg (Interdenominational). SOUTH ATLANTIC 327 extensive missionary work there more than half a century ago. Today the fruit of that toil is found in the record of 3,696 Methodist Episcopal churches of which 2,128 are for white people and 1,550 for Negroes; in the recorded membership of 398,579 persons, of whom 236,259 are white and 161,153 are Negro; in the Sun¬ day-school enrolment of 409,952, of whom 296,981 are white and 111,580 Negro. Delaware has the highest proportion of members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of any state in the Union, or 120 members to each 1,000 population. The total gifts for all purposes were $6,252,- 630, of which $4,707,930 was paid by the white congregations, and $1,514,330 by the Negro. The per capita giving for all purposes was $15.69. A bit of history. — When the Civil War ended and 4,000,000 Negroes were thrown on self-support, the Methodist Episcopal Church entered upon a ministry to them which was to prove of profound significance. On December 25, 1865, it organized a mission conference with a dozen Negro preachers, not one of whom could read or write. The work rapidly extended until in the General Conference in Chicago in 1868, delegates of eleven new mission conferences in the far South, including not only portions of the present South Atlantic states, but of other southern sections as well, were received. The ministry which the Methodist Episcopal Church began rendering in the South to white people after the division in 1844-45 and continuing since, and among the Negroes after the Civil War, was a welcomed and sought-after ministry, not a forced one. The mountain peoples of that territory stretching down like a long arm through and between the South Atlantic and East South Central states held firm, as a group, in their loyalty to the Union throughout the period of unrest and agitation preceding the war and during the war itself. They wanted and sought the ministry of the church of the North. The work among the Negroes was, at first, of necessity, a task for the church from the North. Bishop Hartzell speaks. — Bishop Hart- zell has told the story in this way: “There was serious trouble over the proposed dividing territorial line. In 1848 the Methodist Episcopal Church General Conference unanimously decided to extend its work further south. Later the Church South General Conference extended its work northward wherever the way opened. In 1876, with the cordial approval of both General Conferences, a joint commission was appointed to ‘remove all obstacles to formal fraternity between the two churches.’ The co-ordi¬ nate relations of the two churches as branches of Episcopal Methodism were affirmed, and provision was made for settling property titles. The work of the Methodist Episcopal Church was then organized in the whole South, and one of the first administrative acts of the com¬ mission was to confirm property titles to three churches occupied by Methodist Episcopal congregations in the city of New Orleans. When the appointment of the Commission on Fraternity was arranged for, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church called special attention to work of that church in the southern states as an integral part of its responsibility. All property diffi¬ culties between the churches were in the southern states. That action confirmed the legal and moral right of either church to extend its work wherever it felt provi¬ dentially called.” Education and philanthropy. — Education and philanthropic and social service are broad avenues to a missionary evangelism which the Methodist Episcopal Church has followed in its effective ministry throughout the South. Noteworthy are the growth in churches and members and the development of educational institutions. In the South Atlantic states will be found fifteen of our educational institu¬ tions, of which eight are for white people and seven for Negroes. Student work is conducted at two non-Methodist educa¬ tional institutions. Twelve hospitals, orphanages, and old people’s homes also are maintained. 328 WORLD SERVICE Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools. Maryland 1 Baltimore, Goucher College. 2 Baltimore, Morgan College (Negro). District of Columbia 3 Washington, The American University. West Virginia 4 Buckhannon, West Virginia Wesleyan College. South Carolina 5 Orangeburg, Claflin College (Negro). Georgia 6 Atlanta, Gammon Theological Seminary (Negro). 7 Atlanta, Clark University (Negro). Secondary Schools. Delaware 8 Dover, Wesley Collegiate Institute Maryland 9 Princess Anne, Princess Anne Academy (Negro). North Carolina 10 Washington, Washington Collegiate Insti¬ tute. 11 Greensboro, Bennett College (Negro). Georgia 12 Epworth, Epworth Seminary. 13 Mount Zion, Mount Zion Seminary. Florida 14 Jacksonville, Cookman Institute (Negro). Training Schools. District of Columbia 15 Washington, Lucy Webb Hayes National Training School. SOUTH ATLANTIC 329 Problems Which Chal¬ lenge the Church The new industrial re¬ gime — The rapid develop¬ ment of manufacturing and mining in the South Atlantic states means that there will be a relocation of populations, a draining of the rural regions to supply labor, an increas¬ ing foreign-speaking ele¬ ment, greater congestion in the cities, more exploi¬ tation of child labor— if „ r . the aroused conscience of A diminutive black agriculturalist from Georgia the nation does not find means to prevent it — and all the other intensification of evil conditions which de¬ prave, both socially and morally. The exploitation of child labor and oppressive working conditions point to a repetition of those evils which have brought such industrial warfaie and bitterness in other manufacturing centeis. It is not a condition of undevelopment, as among the superstitious whites of the highlands or the ignorant Negroes of the plantations, but rather is it a condition of perverted development. Industrial expan¬ sion itself is not the problem, but the social conditions which industrialism by its present standards permits and fosteis in very many cases — congested housing, insanitation, exhausting hours, and exploi¬ tation of the workers in multifarious ways. The southern Negro.— The North knows the Negro almost exclusively as a city dweller, engaged in unskilled work. It is difficult to visualize him as a farmer, as he is seldom seen on a northern farm. In the South, however, the Negro population is largely rural. Composing more than 4,000,000 of the population of the South Atlantic states, the Negroes inevitably present an oppor¬ tunity for vast missionary service. The range in percentage of colored people in the different states of the section is very great. It varies from 5.9 per cent in West Virginia to 51.4 per cent in South Caro¬ lina. The District of Columbia is twenty- five per cent Negro, while in Maryland and Delaware the percentage is very much smaller. Virginia is 29.9 per cent Negro, North Carolina 29.8, and Florida 34 per cent. Georgia has the largest Negro population. Many of the Negroes of these states have made astonishing progress since their emancipation, and credit must be given to their heroic spirit and determi¬ nation to conquer in spite of difficulties. Credit goes also to many sympathetic white people of the South who have aided these Negroes in their fight for financial independence, and to the northern people who, principally through the churches, have poured out their money and personal service to help them. The sectional spirit, however, which still is rife in the more backward regions is a veritable barrier to the development of other thousands of Negroes. Achievements of the Negroes must not go unrecognized, but in this presentation the achievements yet to be recorded are the paramount issue, and, therefore, the problems incident thereto must be empha¬ sized. The forces of harm.— Two-thirds of the Negro farmers of the South are renters. One-third of them own their farms. In Georgia, alone, 4,498,836 acres are farmed 22 330 WORLD SERVICE by Negro tenants. The significance of these facts lies in the accompanying condi¬ tions, primitive methods of cultivating the soil, irresponsibility, low development, miserable housing, and a system of prac¬ tical slavery effected through the mainte¬ nance of “plantation stores” whereby the Negro workers are kept continuously in debt. This latter situation, however, is said to be becoming less acute. In brief, the Negro through disfran¬ chisement and oppression has been kept in a well-nigh hopeless, helpless condition. Ignorance has made him the prey of dis¬ eases of the mind, and insanitary condi¬ tions the victim of diseases of the body. Educational facilities on a par with those accorded the white people have been denied to the Negro in most of the South Atlantic states. In the District of Columbia alone does the Negro population receive its propor¬ tionate share of school money to educate its children. Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia come next nearest to pro¬ viding equal opportunities of education, but in the other states the discrepancy is glaring. Virginia and Florida spend less than one-fourth as much on Negro edu¬ cation as white, in proportion to popula¬ tion, while North Car¬ olina spends about one - fifth, Georgia about one - seventh and South Carolina about one-eighth. The number of Negro chil¬ dren entirely out of school is even more appalling. The range is from 26.5 per cent in Delaware to fifty-two per cent in Georgia. Forces of progress.— Progress has been made among the Negroes of the South where the northern and southern mis¬ sionary agencies have been at work. This is shown in less illiteracy, larger owner¬ Two-thirds of the renters — A Negro ship of land, more wealth, better schools, and improved social conditions. Morals also are much higher. A current movement in the south seeks to improve race relations and give the Negro his proper chance at work and education. This is reflected in larger appropriations for Negro education by the southern states and in a better inter-racial feeling. In our own church, the situation calls for more buildings and more leader¬ ship for the work conducted by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension and the Board of Education for Negroes. Opportunities in student centers. — One of the greatest college and university sec¬ tions of America is to be found in the northern part of the South Atlantic states. Here for many decades some of the choicest young minds have come for training, and from here many of the leaders in national and world affairs have gone out. Such a student center of achievement and influence calls from the church the very flower of its spiritual leadership in order to impart the definitely religious viewpoint on life to the hosts of young people who will be directing affairs in the coming genera¬ tion. In Washington, D. C., are located the American University, George Washington University, Howard University for Ne¬ groes, two normal schools for the train¬ ing of teachers, and two Roman Catholic universities. Hun¬ dreds of students Negro farmers are tenant farmhouse from the nation over are at Johns Hopkins University and Goucher College in Balti¬ more and at the United States Naval Acad¬ emy at Annapolis. Virginia is far-famed for its institutions of higher learning, among them the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, located at SOUTH ATLANTIC 331 Charlottesville; Washington and Lee Uni¬ versity at Lexington; and William and Mary College at Williamsburg, the oldest in the United States, and the alma mater of Phi Beta Kappa. Hampton Normal School at Hampton, Virginia, was the first well developed school for Negroes established in the South. The primitive high¬ landers. — Strange as it may seem, the purest strain of American blood to be found today is in the most backward sec¬ tion of the United States. Hidden away in the picturesque slopes and ravines of the Appalachian mountains, these de¬ scendants of a “lost race” live in their log cabins, run bare¬ footed, marry in childhood, cherish their superstitions, fight out their feuds, and talk in the lan¬ guage and live by the customs of pre-Revolutionary days. No¬ where in American life are more romantic people to be found, and their quaint ways and manners have been sung in story until they are familiar to nearly every mind. Romance may serve to thrill, but it often serves to hide. So has it served in the public mind, hiding the deprivations, the miserable surroundings and condi¬ tions, and the general mental, physical and spiritual blight endured by these descendants of fine old Colonial stock, potentially one of the greatest sources of American talent and idealism. Between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 of them are scattered throughout the southern states, principally in a strip about 1,000 miles long, which follows the mountain levels from Virginia and West Virginia through the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee into Alabama and Georgia. The religion of the hills. — A small pro¬ portion of them are very religious, but as a class the mountain people are below the average. Church services are not reg¬ ular, once in a month or two is a heavy average, and the preachers are as il¬ literate as their con¬ gregations. Church buildings are old, de¬ crepit, one-room cabin affairs, and many of the commu¬ nities have no churches or services at all. Their belief is little more than a superstition, op¬ poses a trained min¬ istry, holds to denom¬ inational bigotry, and permits the relent¬ less feuds which have saturated the southern hills with blood for generations, often long after the cause of disagreement has been forgotten. It is an old saying that if a highlander likes you he will die for you, and if he dis¬ likes you, you will probably die for him. Both northern and southern churches have long carried on their missionary work among these mountain people, establishing colleges, industrial schools, agricultural schools, churches, and mission stations; and furnishing teachers, nurses, physi¬ cians, and pastors to minister to their needs and provide education. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Work Building the Kingdom. — While condi¬ tions of dire poverty and distressing Mountain woman, hand to plow 332 WORLD SERVICE ignorance have called for an unusual emphasis upon education and social serv¬ ice, the Methodist Episcopal Church has been true to its Great Commission in the South Atlantic states. Its evangelism can be seen in the roll of its membership, already cited, or in the stories of splendid work done in congested city districts, in lonely mountain commu¬ nities, in fertile farming regions or among the plantation Negroes. Dead churches revived, static and dis¬ couraged congregations enlivened and en¬ larged, and a large harvest of converted men and women, boys and girls, brought into the Kingdom, form some of the re¬ sults of sustained evangelistic effort. A fifty-two year old frame church was insufficient to meet the needs of a rapidly growing section of Baltimore. Hard¬ working people who composed the mem¬ bership and appreciated the need of a new church tried heroically to float it alone. In co-operation with the Baltimore City Missionary and Church Extension Society This lad, they say, thought the World War was a mountain feud and the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, the new Summerfield Methodist Episcopal Church was erected in a parish where dwelt 450 Methodist families, and where there were 600 other Protestant families inadequately cared for spiritually. Scores had to be turned away at every service in the old structure. The new plant has adequate Sunday-school and social rooms, an auditorium seating 900, a gymnasium and other features. In one year the membership has grown from 259 to 373, and a Sunday school of 700 members is already outgrowing its new quarters. Stories that thrill. — -Church members gathering stones for a foundation is indic¬ ative of a warm desire for a new building. Such was the happening at Johnsville, Maryland, where for ten years the people had been saving for a new church and yet the total savings were only $100! With help from the church at large they built a new $4,000 building. In the first year thereafter, 235 people were converted ! “Give, and ye shall receive,” might be the revised admonition to the Methodist Episcopal Church at large, by virtue of a strange happening in a little church to which it gave a friendly hand. The Charles Wesley Church at Centreville, Maryland, not long ago was discouraged. Its debt was increasing instead of decreas¬ ing and its property was suffering from lack of care. Then help came from the church at large. The debt was cut in half, the buildings renovated and restored, and here’s the punch to the story — benevolent giving was largely increased. So heart¬ ened was the congregation that where before it had given $45 a year to home and foreign missions, it raised the amount to more than $400 ! Turning people away at prayer-meeting frequently occurs at the winter resort cities of Florida. Standing room is often at a premium and at the regular church services hundreds cannot get inside. Local congregations are struggling bravely to provide the equipment necessary to meet the great hosts of visitors, but in SOUTH ATLANTIC 333 Above, The old house where the mission at Marietta, Georgia, began, three years ago Below, The new church building ar.d some of the 162 members. No debt. A Centenary enterprise many cases they are unable to carry the burden alone. Good and faithful servants. — Similarly splendid achievements are to be recorded of the work among the Negroes of the South Atlantic states. To a Negro pastor from South Carolina, the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension gave a scholarship to attend the school for rural pastors at Gammon Theological Seminary at a cost of only $20. Fired with zeal, he returned and doubled the benevolent giving of his church, the net increase so far being $600. Redeeming a community. — Vice and waywardness have received a body blow in the Negro community of 5,000 or more people in Annapolis, Maryland, through the zeal of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church in providing a community house as well as services of worship. The pastor and congregation believe in worship and in prayer meetings and also in the church being the recreational and social center instead of the street corner or saloons and commercialized loafing places. Besides the resident colored people, there are 250 to 500 Negro sailors sta¬ tioned at the Naval Academy as mess attendants and in other work. There was no Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A. or club rooms for any of these, and the social needs were desperate. The new three-story building has twenty-one rooms which are beehives of activity for clubs, games, library, and office. There is a playground large enough to care for scores of children. Athletic events are encouraged, field days observed, boy and girl scout work regu¬ larly carried on, and music classes devel¬ oped. The wholesome ministry of the church and community house is felt throughout the entire section. A modern Negro city church. — In the Sharp Street Memorial Church, Baltimore, where the church at large and the congre¬ gation worked together in the erection of a $75,000 community house, one hundred and ten conversions were reported in a single year, mostly among people who were first led into the church through its community welfare undertakings. The parish plan.— The development of the “parish plan” by the Rural Depart¬ ment of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension is being tried out with success in the Lansing Parish of the Blue Ridge-Atlantic Conference. Twenty-six churches which nestle among the high mountains of western North Carolina form the parish. Trained leadership is provided and a program laid out to bring each one of the churches to the standard of regular services every Sunday, with all departments organized and functioning. A trained leadership. — The South Buck- hannon Circuit in the West Virginia con¬ ference was for years an eight-point cir¬ cuit, paying a salary of $850. Adrian, a school house appointment on that circuit, paid $60 a year as its share of the salary and had twenty members. Under strong and better leadership and more thorough 334 WORLD SERVICE Drinking fountain before new Ebenezer Church, Jacksonville, Florida cultivation of the field the entire circuit has been greatly strengthened. Adrian has now a church and parsonage property costing $18,000. Of this amount $1,700 was appropriated by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. The membership of that church has now reached 200. The circuit at the present time employs one full time minister and two part time men and pays a total salary of $3,200. Help from the church at large has enabled the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cecilton, Maryland, to enlarge its service not only to the residents, but also far into the open country. For a half century a one-room brick church was the sole equipment. Then new leadership and funds and an aroused vision on the part of the people made possible a splendid community house. Volunteer labor was furnished for the excavating and hauling of material. The building is now in use seven days of the week and is counter¬ acting the evil influences prevalent in so many rural communities. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a full equipped building in the down-town center has been purchased from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and a good work is under way. This is our only church in a city of 50,000, to which large numbers of people are moving from the mountain districts in order to work in the industries. A young Negro pastor in Virginia, quickened by his contacts and inspiration at the summer school at Gammon Theo¬ logical Seminary, was sent to a church which was worshipping in an old building standing more than a century. In nine months a new church was built and dedi¬ cated, the parsonage remodelled, the pastor’s salary increased to a living standard, and the church put on an aggres¬ sive and successful basis. Educational achievements- — Goucher col¬ lege at Baltimore and the American Uni¬ versity at Washington are typical insti¬ tutions of higher learning, of Methodist origin and development, and of prestige and influence which transcend all lines of denomination. The West Virginia Wes¬ leyan College, at Buckhannon, West Vir¬ ginia offers courses in liberal arts, music, the fine arts, and oratory. It was founded in the same spirit as its predecessor, Clarksburg Academy, to meet the pioneer hardships in the lack of schools for the children. Negro education. — -In the field of Negro education, Atlanta, Georgia, is, in a large way, the hub of activities for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Here are located Gam¬ mon Theological Seminary and Clark University, familiar throughout the edu¬ cational and religious world as institutions of influence and power, and known, through the leadership being trained, as the molders of a race. Our church at Johnsville, Maryland SOUTH ATLANTIC 335 Gammon Theological Seminary. — Few institutions have exerted a more profound influence in the development of a race than Gammon Theological Seminary. As practically the “only well-equipped, well- endowed, and well-manned theological seminary for the training of Negro preachers in the world,” it has for forty years been uplifting and clarifying the standards of the Christian ministry among the Negroes and training students for the broad service so necessary to overcome the religious blight brought on by an illit- HOSPITALS AND HOMES Hospitals. Maryland 1 Baltimore, Maryland General Hospital. District of Columbia 2 Washington, Sibley Memorial Hospital. West Virginia 3 Spencer, Methodist Episcopal Hospital. Florida 4 Jacksonville, Brewster Hospital. Homes for the Aged. Maryland 5 Baltimore, Home for the Aged. 6 Baltimore, Methodist Home for Aged Men and Women. erate, superstitious, and transient leader¬ ship. Gammon Theological Seminary, in training an educated as well as a conse¬ crated ministry, is laying the foundations for winning generations yet to come to Christ. The work being done by the rural exten¬ sion department of Gammon Seminary reaches throughout the south. It takes on three phases : work within the school ; supervision of student pastors; and co-op¬ eration with district superintendents and pastors on the field. Courses are offereci District of Columbia 7 Washington, Methodist Episcopal Home. South Carolina 8 Charleston, Centenary Home for the Aged. Homes for Children. Maryland 9 Baltimore, Kelso Home for Orphans. District of Columbia 10 Washington, Swartzell Methodist Home. North Carolina 11 Winston-Salem, Methodist Orphanage. Other Institutions. Florida 12 Eustis, Retired Ministers’ Home. STUDENT WORK AT NON-METHODIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Maryland 1 Annapolis, United States Naval Academy. West Virginia 2 Morgantown, West Virginia University. 336 WORLD SERVICE Student body at Bennett College, in rural sociology, rural economics, and public health. The extension department is the point of contact between the teach¬ ing of the classroom and the demonstra¬ tion on the field. Clark University. — Clark University is looked upon as the university center of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the Negroes of the South, and as such has developed into an institution of far- reaching scholastic and religious influ¬ ence. It enrols more than five hundred students who come from many states. As a result of the Centenary, the new admin¬ istration building, Leete Hall, named after Bishop Leete, has been completed at a cost of $200,000, enabling the school to expand its teaching facilities. High edu¬ cational and spiritual standards are main¬ tained at Clark University, and it is rated as one of the outstanding enterprises of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Claflin University. — Another important center of Negro education is Claflin Uni¬ versity, located at Orangeburg, South Carolina. The plant is composed of seven well-equipped brick and five frame build¬ ings. Complete high school and college courses are offered. Claflin University has had, in its history, a total enrolment of about 20,000 students, and has gradu¬ ated from all departments about 1,200 students. As a result of the annual reviv¬ als, about 2,500 students have professed Christ as their personal Savior. A historic service to the church and to the Kingdom of God has recently closed with the resig¬ nation of the presidency of Claflin College by Dr. L. M. Dunton. He served the colored people of South Carolina for fifty years, forty years in connection with Claflin College. In that half century, Dr. Dunton’s labors have definitely reached for Chris¬ tian consecration more than 50,000 lives. Bennett College. — Forty years of achievement written into the lives of a multitude of splendid Christian men and women is the record of Bennett College, located at Greensboro, N. C. From its halls have gone two men to be elected to the office of Bishop, R. E. Jones and M. W. Clair. Others among the alumni are suc¬ cessful physicians, ministers, teachers, merchants, nurses, and farmers. For years Bennett College went heroically along at its task, crowding its halls and accommodations to the limit and yet hav¬ ing to turn away applicants. Its buildings and equipment became less and less serv- Students of Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia, leaving for week-end preaching engagements SOUTH ATLANTIC 337 Greensboro, North Carolina iceable, until an awakened church started in on a new era of efficiency by providing new structures for those worn out or destroyed by fire. The enrolment is in excess of 300. Morgan College. — An institution which radiates constructive influence among the colored people of both North and South is Morgan College, located at Baltimore, Maryland, in a strategic position to reach thousands of Negroes. Recently relocated with the aid of the Centenary, on a beauti¬ ful site of eighty-five acres in the suburbs of the city, with fifteen buildings, the col¬ lege is in a position greatly to expand its work. In 1922, it had 599 students and forty-two teachers. The Morgan College Corporation, in addition to its Baltimore institution, has holdings of 117 acres and ten buildings at Princess Anne Academy, the eastern branch of the University of Maryland. The college provides industrial, Faculty and students, Gammon Theologi¬ cal Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia agricultural, home economics, normal, collegiate, and graduate education courses. More than two hundred Negro students are now preparing for teaching. Cookman Institute. — The first school for the higher education of Negroes to be es¬ tablished in Florida is Cookman Institute, located at Jacksonville, Florida. It is a worthy institution with a splendid history, and renders a wholesome influence for Christian education and consecration to a widespread community. Women’s educational work. — The train¬ ing of young women in the far-flung fields of social service and religious education is the program of the Lucy Webb Hayes Na¬ tional Training School, including the Sib¬ ley Memorial Hospital and Robinson Hall, at Washington, D. C., the work of which is connected up with the church at large through the Woman’s Home Missionary Society and the General Deaconess Board. Here Christian young women are trained to become nurses, deaconesses, mission¬ aries, church secretaries, directors of re¬ ligious education, social service workers, domestic science teachers, or kindergarten teachers. Through connections with churches, settlement houses, the Associ¬ ated Charities, the hospital and other in¬ stitutions, splendid opportunities for field work are provided. Fields of opportunity open. — Great op¬ portunity awaits further activity for the religious care of the needy young people of the South Atlantic states, of both the white and Negro races. The stories al¬ ready told of backward communities, of 338 WORLD SERVICE ignorance, of depraving conditions, mor¬ ally, and of the general physical, mental, moral and spiritual stagnation among thousands of poverty-stricken illiterates — these revelations find their greatest tragedy in the blighted and barren lives of boys and girls who would develop if they could. The Sunday-school work. — So pitiful are these conditions that the contrast is made all the greater between these communities and the more progressive cities and towns where the church and social life have kept apace with the times in development and in¬ fluence. To enlarge and im¬ prove the Sunday-school work, the Board of Sunday Schools has four members of its extension field force in the South Atlantic states. Two of them are white and two are Negro. The success of these few workers giving themselves to the promotion of larger and better Sunday schools warrants the faith •that a greatly increased force of such workers would richly repay the church in spiritual results. Epworth League activities. — The Epworth League is carrying on a varied program in the South Atlantic states, including both a spiritual and social ministry. The leagues Lad from Cookman Insti¬ tute, Jacksonville, Florida, who took the part of Abra¬ ham Lincoln in Lincoln Day celebration of Baltimore maintain an Aged People’s Outing Association, providing summer vacations for needy and deserving old people. The Epworth League of the Rose- dale Methodist Episcopal Church at Wash¬ ington has equipped a community play¬ ground for both young and old. Eight successful summer institutes were con¬ ducted in 1922. The Goodwill Industries. — Two of the twenty-one Goodwill Industries affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church are located in the South Atlantic states — at Wilmington, Delaware and Baltimore, Maryland. Located at the old Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church, the Balti¬ more Goodwill Industries uses five different buildings, three of which it owns. More than 17,000 homes in the city use the “Goodwill” bags which two motor trucks, running daily, collect. Each truck averages fifty calls per day. There is a constantly increas¬ ing demand for the remade clothing and reclaimed furni¬ ture which the Goodwill In¬ dustries sell. Wesley Foundations. — Pro¬ vision is made for the social and spiritual care of Metho¬ dist students, at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and at West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia. Special interest attaches to the Wesley Foundation activi¬ ties at these institutions be¬ cause at least 200 midshipmen of Methodist preference are located at Annapolis, while at Morgantown there is one of the largest Methodist Epis¬ copal Churches in the coun¬ try. The number of Methodist students at the West Virginia University increased from 650 to 800 during the last year. State-wide publicity was given to its Wesley Foundation activities through bulletins, speeches and letters. The Meth¬ odist Student Council was organized con¬ sisting of twenty-two representative stu¬ dents and two faculty members. Marked progress was made in church attendance, student Bible classes and Epworth League work. The Bible in the South Atlantic states. — It is estimated that there are 150,000 SOUTH ATLANTIC 339 families without Bibles in this section. There is need of Bible distribution and teaching to overcome the prevalent fanat¬ icism, ignorance, and superstition. Woman’s Service. — An extensive and blessed service is being rendered by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society in a widespread missionary and social service program throughout the South Atlantic states. Description of the work of each is impossible here, but stories of great achievement for the Kingdom of Christ are written into the records of the institutions which the society maintains in this section. Vast missionary needs. — Neither tongue nor pen can portray the tremendous and appalling need of the backward districts of the South Atlantic states for the whole ministry of the church. It is true that great beginnings have been made, yet these are but the gateways to the larger opportunity. A river has been spanned, yet a whole sea lies just ahead. Poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, fanaticism, super¬ stition, hatred, hopelessness — they tell the story. What more is needed to reveal the plight of those whom the church must succor? In West Virginia there are 1,200 mining camps, at least 300 of which are spiritually destitute — children growing up in the darkness, parents living in deadly indifference. What can come but spiritual decay? In an industrial village of 1,400 people, mostly Spanish-speaking and Italian, in the same state, there is no church building of any kind. The super¬ intendents of the plants have come asking that the Methodist Episcopal Church enter the field. Near In the bawl-room — Sibley Hospital, Washington, D. C. Sharp Street Memorial Church, Baltimore Fairmont, Virginia, are twenty different mill and mining villages with a population of thousands of Italians and Slavs without a religious ministry. Five centers should be organized and adequate and prac¬ tical buildings for Sunday school and community service should be established and the workers pro¬ vided. Of the many thousands of highlanders living in this section, probably less than ten per cent have adequate church connection or religious instruction. Down in the Everglades sections of Florida, thou¬ sands of settlers have poured in from the north to make their homes on reclaimed lands. They need the ministry of their home church, yet whole com¬ munities are without religious services whatever. In the very center of the Cherokee Indian section of North Carolina, the Indian Methodists are at¬ tempting to worship in a small, dilapidated, one- room shed. There is need for a suitable house of worship and a community center. The church has the opportunity of winning many of these Indians to Christ by providing a constructive ministry for them. There is no provision whatever for the social or recreational life of either old or young among them. In a cotton milling center of 20,000 people, of whom 5,000 are Negroes, our church building is old. dilapidated. A community house is imperative to win the people from wrong indulgences and bring them into the way of the church, which also should have a modern building. A larger and more ade¬ quate program would contemplate the development of the parish plan, with a central church and outly¬ ing points of neighborhood service. A summer-resort community with small church needs an adequate plant to minister to throngs who spend six months of the year there. The Methodist church building in a fishing village of 2.000 has been condemned as unsafe. Help must come. A city church in a poor neighborhood has a Sun¬ day school of 700 children who meet in unsightly 340 WORLD SERVICE Class of 1922, Ebenezer Mitchell Home, Misenheimer, North Carolina surroundings while others have to be turned away for lack of room. Proper equipment would double the ministry of this church in a short time. Help is needed in a mining town of 2,500 to rebuild the church destroyed by fire; in a Negro community of 1,700 too poor to build alone; to save a situation in a community where people have pledged their farms as collateral for church debt and are now threatened by mortgage holders; to build a com¬ munity house in a congested Negro community of 25,000 ; to move the Methodist work from an alley in a Negro community of 17,000 people; and to develop more demonstration churches in mountain communities. The church’s task. — The challenge for a great vision and heroic spirit, demanded of the church to meet the missionary needs of the South Atlantic states, was accepted long ago by the Methodist Episcopal Church and for many years it has toiled steadily onward toward the achievement of its goal. It is in the A West Virginia coal field spirit of greater advance, rather than any retreat, in the present hour. It must labor at a varied task. It must toil in many ways. It must build churches among the thousands of unchurched people, white and colored. It must extend its schools and build more of them. More hospitals and homes and orphanages must follow. It must develop leader¬ ship which can not only build in new territory, but recreate where devastating teaching has done harm to the advance¬ ment of Christ’s kingdom. It sorely needs a theological school in the South where the Am I not a man, and a brother? sons of the mountains can be trained and sent to the people whose psychology they understand and in whose condition they can live. “For generations,” says Bishop Richard¬ son, concerning the backward sections of the South, “a part of the settled church teaching has been that education is wrong, evangelism foolish, missionary enterprise is unnecessary, and paying salaries to ministers is a sin. Against the lack of education and this settled theology, it is hard to contend.” EAST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES . . . KENTUCKY TENNESSEE ALABAMA MISSISSIPPI Distribution of Methodist Episcopal churches in the East South Central states PITTMAN CENTER, TENNESSEE MOUNTAINS For the strength of the hills we bless Thee Our God, our fathers’ God Thou hast made Thy children mighty By the touch of the mountain sod. Hymn of the Vaudois Mountaineers EAST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES New Wars for Old Amid the historic scenes of the Civil War, where grass grows green over old battlefields, where wounds of the spirit find healing in the touch of time, and where enemies in life gain comradeship in death, peace is now winning victories no less renowned than those of battle. The ground hallowed by the blood of brave men is again the setting for strife, not man against man, but man and God against the forces of ignorance and misunderstanding. New wars are replacing the old, that pov¬ erty and superstition may disappear and knowledge and wealth may take their place. Nowhere is there a more interesting chapter in American progress than in these East South Central states — Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala¬ bama, and Mississippi — whose names have been written into American history in letters of crimson. Men of the Blue and men of the Gray who fought up and down and across these states in the dread fratri¬ cidal strife are living to see the day when their sons and daughters are uniting for a betterment of life and its opportunities. Changes in the old South. — Developing industrial activities are drawing the rural people slowly but surely to the cities. Negroes are migrating north at a rapid rate. The isolated mountain life is break¬ ing up. A new agriculture is evolving. But more profound than any of these is an essentially spiritual progress in over¬ coming ignorance and seeking after knowl¬ edge, and in a new social ministry and com¬ munity rebuilding. It means a new day for the traditional South. “Ye shall know the truth.” — The wit¬ ness of this advancement is found in the steadily growing victory over illiteracy. Even today the East South Central states have the highest percent¬ age of illiteracy in America, 343 344 WORLD SERVICE Aunt Lydia, widow of a Union soldier but the significance lies in its rapid re¬ duction in the past decade — from 17.4 per cent in 1910 to 12.7 per cent in 1920. It means that the heroic efforts of the churches and the schools to provide education for the boys and girls of the backward regions of these states are not in vain. It signifies that the movement to banish illiteracy is gathering speed, and that the next census should reveal it cut in half. A part of the old South. — A glance at these four southern states will reveal that they comprise a section almost wholly native American. Out of a total popula¬ tion of 8,893,307 will be found only 71,939 who are foreign-born, or less than one per cent. The total Negro population is 2,523,532. The states are essentially rural, 77.6 per cent of the people living in the villages and open country, while only 22.4 per cent live in the cities. However, the urban population is growing more rap¬ idly, for in 1890 the census showed 87.3 per cent rural and only 12.7 per cent urban. Rural life is undergoing an economic as well as a social change. Boll-weevil inroads in the cotton fields are hastening diversified farming and rotation of crops. More attention is being paid to grain and thoroughbred livestock. Cotton, cane, tobacco, and rice continue heavy in pro¬ duction. The changes, however, have meant a removal from the rut of half a century and consequent new ideas and thoughts of life. The general spirit of progress is an invitation to the church to strike out on new paths. The growth of industrialism. — Numerous shifts in population also are to be noted, the white people to the cities, and the Negroes to the North. Industrialism is primarily responsible for both. Water power, nearness to coal fields and to sources of raw materials, harbor advan¬ tages, and exploitation of commercial opportunities, all these are factors in the growing manufacturing business of the South. At the same time, restrictions of immigration are causing the northern demand for labor to continue, and the Negro migration north, started during the late war, steadily continues. During the decade of 1910-1920, the East South Cen¬ tral states lost approximately five per cent of their Negro population, Kentucky leading with a loss of 9.8 per cent. Ken¬ tucky has the smallest proportion of Negro population, less than ten per cent, while Mississippi has the largest, 52.2 per cent. Along with industry, mining also has developed tremendously, especially in the mountain regions of Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. A number of the largest cor¬ porations in America have their own coal fields in the South, have constructed rail¬ roads into the mountain fastness and built their company towns. The miners are largely Negroes and highlanders, attracted by offers of higher wages. In some of these camps, excellent conditions prevail, in others they are very bad. Lum¬ bering also continues as an important industry. The larger cities.-— Louisville, a typical southern city, is the metropolis of the area, with a population of 234,891. Birming¬ ham, with 178,806 people, is known as the “Pittsburgh of the south” because of its great steel mills. Memphis, with 162,351 EAST SOUTH CENTRAL 345 people and Nashville, 118,342 population, complete the list of cities with move than 100,000 people. The church today. — The present status of the church and its activities, as far as statistics may reveal, in the East South Central states is as follows: 155,793 members, of whom 79,417 are white English-speaking, 75,059 Negro, and 1,317 German; 134,058 Sunday-school enrol¬ ment, of which 82,866 are white English- speaking pupils, 1,813 German, and 49,359 Negro; 1,878 church buildings, of which 923 are for white, English-speaking peo¬ ple, 949 for Negroes, and six for German. The total paid for all purposes was $1,615,177 for the year, or $10.37 per cap¬ ita. The number of educational institu¬ tions is thirteen, six for Negroes, and seven for whites. There are also three hospitals. Our church in the South. — From the pen of the venerable Bishop Hartzell the following summaries show that if we con¬ sider everything, especially the testing times during the Civil War and the re¬ construction period following, the de¬ velopment has scarcely any, if any, paral¬ lel in Methodist annals: “There are thirty-seven annual confer¬ ences, seventeen white and twenty Negro, each group covering the territory from Delaware to the Rio Grande, and together entitled to 180 delegates in the General Conference. “These are the remarkable facts: Portable houses in logging camp, Elkmont, Tennessee Sunday-school teachers in training class, St. Paul’s church, Tuscaloosa, Alabama “Annual conferences, thirty-seven, with 3,814 traveling and 4,922 local preachers ; full and preparatory members, 846,511, 483,353 white, and 363,156 Negro; church and parsonage properties, $49,170,988; seventy-three institutions of learning, a large proportion of high grade, with 1,196 teachers, 13,413 students, and properties valued at $13,649,142, including $4,969,626 in endowments; also two hospitals, with $675,000 properties. Total church, par¬ sonage, school, and hospital properties $63,495,130. That is several million more than one-fifth of the net property of the whole church.” The problems of the field.— Why is there a missionary problem in the South? The South, of course, has its progressive cities, its wide-awake towns and villages, and large stretches of open country where flourishing churches are witnesses to progressive communities. The church is also the leading factor in the conservative and unchanging towns and districts which are reminiscent of days of long ago and retain the flavor of the “Old South.” The South covers a vast geographical area, however, and not all its territory nor all its people are absorbed in these classifica¬ tions. In the mountains. — There are scores of counties in the East South Central states, as well as the South Atlantic states, where the highlanders dwell in poverty and woe¬ ful ignorance and superstition, so familiar in song and story. Estimates place the number dwelling in the mountainous ter- 23 346 WORLD SERVICE The mission Sunday school at Somerset, Kentucky ritory stretching from Virginia to Ala¬ bama and Georgia at from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000. They vary greatly in their conditions of life, from those in neighbor¬ hoods where some educational and social privileges are provided to other communi¬ ties where extreme poverty, ignorance and isolation exist. A small proportion of the people are exceedingly religious in an emotional way, but the facts indicate that the masses are untouched. In ten counties of the Holston Conference not more than twenty-five per cent of the people belong to any church; everywhere church mem¬ bership is small. The program of the church, therefore, is more than the mere illiterate mountain “preachin’.” In a number of the more isolated and needy mountain communities, the social, educational, and religious pro¬ gram of the Methodist Episcopal Church has achieved results in a short time far exceeding expectations. Public improve¬ ment of the roads has been stimulated and beginnings made in the development of agriculture suited to the mountains. Household arts and crafts are being renewed. The sentiment regarding the il¬ licit manufacture of liquor has been defi¬ nitely changed ; and the local feuds result¬ ing in frequent killings lessen as larger community interests prevail. A new inter-racial attitude. — A change in attitude toward the Negro has begun to take place in the South. It is his star of hope. It is the omen of an era of jus¬ tice and opportunity for him. The para¬ mount cause of the changing attitude is the Christian spirit which has animated a growing group of southern white people to give to the Negro his due, social justice, economic opportunity, and a neighborly spirit. Their determination is to live the brotherhood of man, re¬ gardless of inherited prej¬ udices or antagonisms. They seek to work out the so-called Negro problem on the basis of inter-racial good will, with justice for all; and are developing a national movement for the promotion of the spirit of Christian fraternalism, that it may be the basis of adjustment of all differences. Through hundreds of communities of both South and North, the leavening influence of an inter-racial adjustment is spreading. Negro advance., — In spite of the many handicaps, however, the achievements of the Negroes from the close of the Civil War to the present time show racial char¬ acteristics of high ambition and great capacity for development. It has been said that there are few parallels, if any, in history, where a people have journeyed upward so quickly and so far. A gauge of that progress is in the following table: Negro Accomplishments in Fifty-four Y ears i 8 66 1920 12,000 Homes owned . 600,000 20,000 Farms operated . 1,000,000 90% Illiteracy . 20% 100,000 Students in public schools 1,800,000 700 Churches owned . 43,000 600,000 Church memberships . 4,800,000 $20,000,000 Wealth accumulated . $1,100,000,000 60,000 Value of higher educa¬ tional property . 22,000,000 1,500,000 Valuation of church prop¬ erty . 85,900,000 The shack where the Sunday school, pictured above, has to meet. To remodel this, outside aid is asked EAST SOUTH CENTRAL 347 Chapel service at Murphy Collegiate Institute, Sevierville, Tennessee Chief credit for that progress goes to the Negro himself. The aid of friendly whites in both the North and the South has been of inestimable value and profound inspi¬ ration. Were it not for the Negro’s burning de¬ sire for better things, however, his willingness to undergo suffering for his principles, his zeal in sacrificing that his chil¬ dren might have an edu¬ cation and other advantages, and the flaming purpose of an evangel to invest life with a spiritual meaning as well as material significance, his help would have been in vain. As Bishop Robert E. Jones has well said, ‘‘Lincoln plighted his faith in the Negro; the great Lincoln, with his faith in the Negro, risked his all, his place in history, and the Negro made good his faith.” Yet a great need. — While this great prog¬ ress is to be acknowledged, the tremendous missionary need among them must still be emphasized and the achievements of the past and present be made the augury for the future. The Methodist Episcopal Church has done much. It must needs do more. The need of resident pastors. — The church must also substitute educated, pro¬ gressive, resident pastors to take the place of the non-resident and often uneducated ministers. One of the blights of the south¬ ern rural church is the “absentee treat¬ ment” by ministers living in town and journeying to the country once a month or bi-monthly to hold services. On one short railroad journey in Mississippi, sixty-five preachers were counted on one train, going out to country appointments for over Sun¬ day, to desert the fields on Monday for the town or city home. More adequate buildings. — The church also faces the problem of replacing the old shacks in which it has attempted the min¬ istry of Christ for decades. Some of our so-called “churches” in the rural South, especially in the Negro communities, are nothing but shanties handed down from slavery days or outworn, outgrown, and outlived clap-board buildings erected half a century ago. The industrial fields. — The industrial sit¬ uation, especially in the mining sections of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, presents a tremendous problem for both church and community. Here thou¬ sands of Negroes and highlanders, accustomed to the open spaces and the freedom of rural life, have been drawn in for work in the mines and coke ovens. The abrupt changes in living and working conditions, poor enough before, in many instances have made for the worse. Racial prej¬ udice is made keener by Community leaders in training for effective religious education. University of Chattanooga 348 WORLD SERVICE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools. Kentucky 1 Barbourville, Union College. T ennessee 2 Chattanooga, University of Chattanooga. 3 Nashville, Meharry Medical College (Negro). Mississippi 4 Holly Springs, Rust College (Negro). Secondary Schools. Tennessee 5 Chuckey, Wesleyan Academy. 6 Morristown, Morristown Normal and In¬ dustrial Institute (Negro). 7 Sevierville, Murphy Collegiate Institute. 8 Athens, The Athens School. 9 Baxter, Baxter Seminary. 10 Nashville, Walden College (Negro). 11 McLemoresville, McLemoresville Collegi¬ ate Institute. Alabama 12 Boaz, John H. Snead Seminary. 13 Birmingham, Central Alabama Institute (Negro). Mississippi 14 Meridian, Haven Institute (Negro). closer contacts. Hundreds, often thou¬ sands, of people have come into the camps within a few months to live and work. Church and social facilities often are woe¬ fully lacking. Dangerous conditions.— -One county re¬ ports seventy-nine mining camps only twelve of which have any social or reli¬ gious work of any kind ; in another county are seventy-eight camps, only ten of which have religious services. In other camps, churches and community halls have been erected by the companies and conditions are much better. Over-churched and under-churched com¬ munities. — In those words are written the tragedy of ill-advised and unrelated mis¬ sionary work by different denominations. Unholy competition by denominations in some neighborhoods, spiritual starvation in others, that is the story to make Chris¬ tian people think and so to organize their activities that co-operation will be the key¬ note in the future. Such a situation can be found in many parts of the East South Central states and the nation. A striking example is to be found in certain counties in Kentucky. Educa¬ tional and commercial growth has been the most important development of the past twenty-five years in the eastern part of the state. Within that time, the church instead of keeping pace with educational and commercial advancement, seems to have followed a plan of retrenchment. Taking the line of least resistance, the church has, as a rule, held to the well- beaten paths of the railroad and main water courses. In most every case, a church in an isolated community has, in the process of time, been abandoned. In Mason County, Kentucky, which is easily traveled, there are 17,760 people and 48 per cent of them are church members, while in Pike County, very hard to travel, with 49,477 people, only ten per cent of the people are church members. There are two or three churches at nearly every cross-roads in Mason County, while there are twenty-one communities with more than 1,000 people in Pike County without even an occasional religious service. EAST SOUTH CENTRAL 349 A Various Ministry The ministry of service. — The church has long realized that poverty, isolation, igno¬ rance, and insanitary conditions, as well as immorality and unbelief, are enemies of the kingdom of Christ and must be con¬ quered. Therefore its service has been more than that of Sunday worship. It has aimed to regenerate communities socially and physically, to provide educa¬ tion of mind and heart, and, as the climax, to win disciples for the Master on the basis of Christianity as it is understood by the best minds and hearts of the church. The correction of the weird and harm¬ ful beliefs which have been scattered abroad by illiterate “shouters” is a neces¬ sary part of that labor. If the program of the Christian church of today is anywhere near right at all, then perverted concep¬ tions of Christianity must be replaced by sane interpretation. Judgment should be by the fruits of the two teachings. The accompaniment of the prevalent theology is social and spiritual depravity; of the missionary teaching, social and spiritual progress. Trained leadership needed. — The solution of the problem is in a trained, intelligent leadership. Already definite steps have been taken through the establishment of professorships for rural training at Gam¬ mon Theological Seminary and at Baxter, McLemoresville, Boaz, and Murphy Col¬ leges, and through the holding of summer schools for rural pastors already in service. The Negro pastor in a rural church is confronted with such conditions of disease, lack of sanitation, inadequate nourishment, poverty, and lack of social and educational opportunities that he must be equipped to lead his people to better things. The policy and program of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension is to min¬ ister to all of these various needs and thus bring a richer and fuller life to our Negro Americans. “Demonstration” community centers. — “Sign-boards which point the way to bet¬ ter things” is the description which has been given to the six major and several minor centers of mountain work. Five of these are in Tennessee: Pittman Center, Beersheba Springs, Parham’s Chapel, Luminary, and Patten Center. Pittman Center. — Back in the hills of Sevier County, Tennessee, was found a remote mountain section. Here were 2,500 people, living in the most primitive man¬ ner. In not a single home was discovered anything pertaining to a bathroom, and screens were almost unknown. Contagious diseases spread and hookworm was preva¬ lent. The health of the people was deplor¬ able, so bad that vigorous work was almost impossible. There was only one doctor for 200 square miles of mountain gorges with a population of 5,000. The report of the draft board for the county indicated that seventy per cent of those between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five could not read or write. Only two newspapers were taken by 1,000 people. At one of the first community meetings ninety per cent of those present had never seen a movie or lantern slide lecture, and fifty per cent of the women had never seen a railroad. A new day in the mountains. — It was decided that here was the strategic point for the location of a church community house and educational center, an institu¬ tion which would change the miserable conditions not only of a neighborhood but of a whole section. Work was begun at the site late in 1920. In early January, 1921, the contractor started pouring the concrete foundation, the cement, hardware, glass and equip¬ ment being hauled twenty-six miles over indescribable mountain roads. By August 15, the structure was ready for occupancy. On the first enrolment day of school 87 pupils registered, 125 at the end of the first week, and finally 300. The school is the only one in Eastern Tennessee which conducts an eight months’ term, furnish¬ ing books and school supplies without cost. Many pupils walk daily from four to six miles to avail themselves of the advan¬ tages, and the teacher of the primary grades and the principal say they have never met classes which average better. 350 WORLD SERVICE Dedication day at Patten Center Community House Pittman Center has class rooms for vocational and manual training, sanitary plumbing, the use of water power, car¬ pentry, and agricultural shop work, and home economics quarters for girls, for cooking, sewing, knitting, and weaving. Classrooms with modern desks and black¬ boards, large casement windows and artis¬ tic draperies, a large auditorium, with stage and dressing room for entertain¬ ments, a library and other quarters and equipment, are also provided. It was a strange sight indeed to the mountaineers to whom kitchen ranges, electric lights, running hot water, and plumbing were mysteries ! (Picture on page 343.) The operation of the school, community center, and church is along four well-de¬ fined lines. They are: 1. Improvement of public health. Em¬ ployment of a doctor on occasion and the maintenance of a community nurse. Public conveniences in the school and community building, constant instruction in matters of health, such as screening against flies, open window sleeping, right preparation of food and insistence on sanitary meas¬ ures and precautions — all these are pro¬ ducing good results. 2. Development of better economic con¬ ditions. It was estimated that the aver¬ age annual income, in products as well as cash, for a family of five persons in the community was $200. The agricultural department works to increase the yield of the land and to provide a market. Seed wheat is treated to prevent smut. Farm¬ ers are encouraged to buy fertilizers. New forage plants are grown to be used as a base for improving the small farm crops. Thorough-bred livestock is being intro¬ duced into the community. Fruit raising is being developed with a nursery of standard fruit tree varieties. 3. Establishment of modern education. The Pittman Center school is an official public school, the state recognizing it and aiding in its maintenance. The parsonage has been given up for a home for the school teachers. 4. Maintenance of a well-rounded evan¬ gelistic and religious educational program. All the teachers are expected to approach their work from the religious viewpoint and to lay emphasis on a modern religious program for the community. Prayer- meetings, Epworth Leagues, song services, Bible classes, social events and stereopti- con lectures go hand in hand. The fruitage.' — Does such a broad policy pay as a missionary enterprise? It does. In a recent few months more than fifty conversions occurred in the Pittman Cen¬ ter charge, every one of which was a con¬ scious, voluntary, and eager decision for Christ. There has been a tremendous improvement in the moral consciousness of the neighborhood, where formerly the moonshiner was a hero. Today he is looked upon as a lawbreaker. Feuds are being forgotten and fellowship is increasing as the larger community interests prevail. The crowning fact is that Pittman Center has twenty-five young men now preparing for the Gospel ministry — young men who, as trained leaders, will help to redeem, physically and spiritually, the wretched and blighted communities whence they came. Other mountain lighthouses. — The John A. Patten Community Center at the village of Melvine, in the Sequatchie Valley, twelve miles from Pikeville, Tennessee, is another outstanding demonstration. The mountain walls, five hundred feet high, are underlaid with soft coal, not yet touched in a commercial way. Great quantities of timber are now being cut. Fifteen hundred EAST SOUTH CENTRAL 351 people live within a radius of four miles. The school year averaged three and a half months in 1919, when we began our work. The buildings, one-room churches and school houses were very poor. In addition to Patten Center, there are six small schools in isolated communities around the mountain rim. These small schools have one resident teacher each who gives time during the vacation period to religious and social welfare work. The average cost of each of these schools is about $300 a year and each school averages seventy-five in attendance. This has been a feud section almost ever since its settlement. There were well defined lines between the parties and the feuds and killings continued until our work began. With full time workers resident in the community not a killing has oc¬ curred since our work was launched Jan¬ uary 1, 1920. This work among the highlanders is supervised by the superintendent of moun¬ tain work of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. Pie has ten proj¬ ects and twenty-seven workers. The circuit-rider’s field. — While trained leadership and demonstration commu¬ nity centers and churches are the far- visioned program, immediate religious needs are being ministered to in the only manner possible with present resources and personnel, through the maintenance of as many preaching points and circuits as possible. The church in the coal camps. — A new day is dawning for many of those coal camps of southeastern Kentucky where social and spiritual starvation is the rule. Three years ago the start was made at Black Mountain. So impressed was the community by the service rendered that it volunteered a per capita contribution to the support of the work. The charge became self-supporting. The district superintendent then received invitations to extend the work at twenty other mining camps, with promise of partial support. The aim is to group camps around one of the points on a circuit, then put a strong man at the head of each group. It is hoped to establish social and industrial centers in the camps, of which there are more than fifty in southeastern Kentucky without organized social or religious effort. The plan calls for the erection of a build¬ ing in each camp for religious services, gymnasium, recreation and social pur¬ poses. One end of the building would have apartments for the workers. Examples of success. — Crushing and hauling rock is often a prison punishment and is not often indulged in by church members in order to get a new building. Such was the happening at Somerset, Ken- SUMMER SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTES Epworth League Institutes. Kentucky 1 Epworth, Ruggle’s Camp. Tennessee 2 Sevierville. Murphy College (Holston Conference). Mississippi 3 Holly Springs, Rust College (Upper Mis-* sissippi Conference — Negro). Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Tennessee 4 Athens, The Athens School. Summer Schools of Theology. Tennessee 5 Athens, The Athens School. Mississippi 6 Meridian, Haven Institute. 352 WORLD SERVICE tucky, a railroad and mining town of 8,000 people, where destructive influences men¬ aced hundreds of men and boys. The Methodist Episcopal people decided on a community church. A site was secured, and aided by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, the people worked with their own hands at the task, and the first unit, with facilities for religious edu¬ cation, bowling alleys, game room, swim¬ ming pool, etc., was soon under way. In the center of a coal mining region in Tennessee, we have a church and com¬ munity house located at Jellico. Here a building with splendid facilities for wor¬ ship and social purposes has recently been completed. It contains auditorium, read¬ ing rooms, banquet hall, gymnasium, and other quarters. The Sunday-school and church services are both well attended, while the community rooms are a beehive of activity. Out of bondage. — That freedom may be a gift but its blessings must' be earned was one of the first statesmanlike teachings HOSPITALS AND HOMES OF THE METH¬ ODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Hospitals. Kentucky 1 Pikeville, Kentucky Methodist Hospital. 2 Louisville, Methodist Deaconess Hospital. Tennessee 3 Nashville, Hubbard Hospital. which the Methodist Episcopal Church bore to the new freedmen when the shackles of slavery had been stricken from them. This policy has continued through the years as the church has labored to help the Negroes to help themselves. Churches and schools and the training of leadership have been the keynotes. In the delta section.— ~In the Mississippi delta, there are 28,000 square miles of the most fertile soil in the world. Four hun¬ dred thousand Negroes live in the delta, and turn out one million bales of cotton annually. Almost all of the land is divided into plantations, some of them running into more than a thousand acres. In the delta, six years ago, we had on what is now the Clarksdale and Sardis Districts, of the Upper Mississippi Con¬ ference, 1,200 members, and 1,000 Sunday- school children in twenty-six churches. We now have 2,024 members and 2,778 Sunday-school children in fifty-six churches. The benevolent collections increased from $359 to $3,766. What happened in four years in Tupelo, one of these delta towns is shown below: In igi8 A frame, one-room building, value . $ 1,500 Salary of pastor . $ 500 Benevolence . $ 60 Average Sunday-school attendance . 35 Membership . 162 Prayer meeting . None Social activities . None In 1922 Modern brick church, value . $14,000 Salary of pastor . . $ 1,000 Benevolence . $ 303 Average Sunday-school attendance . 120 Membership . 329 Prayer meeting . 90 Social activities : Playground, Girls’ Clubs, Boys’ Club, Mothers’ Clubs, Men’s Clubs, Sewing Circle. The plantation section. — The boundaries of the Upper Mississippi Conference embrace the greatest plantation section of the South. The churches are usually of the crudest and most neglected type. Of the 106 pastors in this Annual Conference, about one-half have been in attendance at one of our rural schools and thirty-two have regular weekly social and recrea¬ tional programs. Better schools, more EAST SOUTH CENTRAL 353 sanitary home surroundings and better church buildings are being developed. An Example— New Albany, Mississippi In 1920 A point on a circuit A condemned frame building 135 members A Sunday school of 49 Pastor’s salary $500 A $200 Centenary offer¬ ing No social activities In 1922 A station A four-room brick church 203 members 109 in Sunday school $840 salary $300 Centenary collection Playground and clubs The Board of Home Missions and Church Extension has invested $27,317.50 in the building program of the Upper Mississippi Conference and $13,688.75 in leadership. This conference, which raised $11,424 dur¬ ing the three years prior to the Centenary, has paid to the Centenary treasurer up to October 31, 1922, $87,968. A reconstructed circuit. — A striking example of the need to be found among the rural agricultural Negroes is told by the district superintendent of the Opelika District, Central Alabama Conference : “Ashland is a three point circuit of about twenty-four miles. At Spring Hill, there are fifty children enrolled in the public school, the people paying a teacher for four months in a year. Because the Negro school cannot secure a ‘licensed teacher,’ the state fund goes to the white school. The church here is a miserable structure. At Glades, one of the points on the circuit, fourteen miles from the railroad, we have a crude building without windows, the shutters being used to keep out the cold and rain. There is also a Baptist Church in Glades and each denomination is giving once a month service. A Gammon Theo¬ logical Seminary graduate is now serving this circuit. He has received as little as $1.05 after driving fourteen miles to serve the Glades congregation. A small main¬ tenance appropriation enables us to keep this trained man on this work. As a result, we have today at the central point a $4,500 church building, practically free from debt. The Board of Home Missions and Church Extension gave $1,100.” This achievement is typical of the work done on the entire Opelika District, where Barskin schoolhouse, Sevier County, Tennessee. Forty-five pupils study here, seated on wooden benches with trained leadership and a little aid, twelve churches and parsonages have been built or remodeled and a district program developed which, aside from Tuskegee Institute, is the greatest single factor in improving the economic, social, educa¬ tional and religious life of the people. One of the strongest Negro Methodist Episcopal churches in the South is located at Greenwood, Mississippi, an important town in the center of the Mississippi delta. It has a Negro population of 3,000. The church has a large auditorium with class rooms, club rooms and dining hall. A pub¬ lic library for Negroes is maintained in the building. In the cities. — In a great industrial and manufacturing section of Chattanooga, the St. James Methodist Episcopal church is the only church and social center of any sort among 9,000 people. In Birmingham, the first floor of a large plant for Negro work has been constructed. In Bessemer, Alabama, a thriving mill cen¬ ter, a fine new structure has been made possible by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. The service of these churches is as wide as human need. At Centenary Church, Memphis, people are turned away. The membership has doubled, the Sunday school quadrupled. Besides religious serv¬ ices, there are lessons in physical culture, a tea room, a story hour for children. At the Jackson Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Louisville, the church work includes boys’ and girls’ clubs, dramatic 354 WORLD SERVICE Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Mississippi clubs, services for Negro soldiers, noon meetings in railroad shops, social welfare work at city hospital, employment agency, emergency lodgings, and social evenings. Religious education. — The corner-stone of the missionary structure of the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church in the south is edu¬ cation. It ranges from teaching little children the alphabet to training ministers for specialized leadership in their com¬ munities. Its aim is to uplift body, mind and soul. To this end all the agencies of the church give primary concern to reli¬ gious education. The Board of Sunday Schools now has two field directors in the East South Cen¬ tral states. The activities are as varied as the problems of the Sunday school. Enlarging existing Sunday schools, estab¬ lishing efficient programs, securing better leadership, opening up new Sunday schools, reviving abandoned schools, and developing a missionary interest through all of them — these are some of the things being done. The missionary opportunity is an outstanding one from the Sunday- school standpoint. This is not only because of the lack of Sunday schools in many spiritually starved neighborhoods, but also because large families are the usual thing, especially in the backward regions. Trained leadership sought .-—I n addition, many of the charges are circuits, which make it al¬ most impossible for the pastor to have intensive supervision, were he trained for it, over the several communities com¬ mitted to him. In these situations, a well-trained director of religious education would afford the minister the most valued reinforcement, and would do more perhaps than any other single type of service to give permanency to the work, and to insure steady growth. The Epworth League finds its problem, aside from the building up of its member¬ ship, is to provide the young people of the isolated mountain sections with educating and broadening influences. Among the Negroes, there is the problem of effecting standardized organization and programs for the young people. There is need for more institutes for both white and Negro groups and conferences for intensive train¬ ing of League officers. There is need among the Negroes of specially prepared literature with emphasis on social serv¬ ice and recreational programs. For the white group, there is need for the accept¬ ance of greater responsibility on the part of the young people in well established cen¬ ters for their comrades in the sparsely settled sections. Educational institutions. — In the four¬ teen colleges, universities, secondary schools, and professional schools, which the Methodist Episcopal Church has through¬ out these states, will be found a fountain of Christian influence and leadership. The University of Chattanooga. — From inauspicious beginnings to a noteworthy university with 261 students and twenty- three faculty members is the romance of the University of Chattanooga. It com- EAST SOUTH CENTRAL 355 Nottingham primary school (W. H. M. S.) Boaz, Alabama prises also within its jurisdiction the Ath¬ ens School, Athens, Tennessee, a stand¬ ard college preparatory and normal school with a faculty of twenty-five and a student body of 324. Fortunately situated in a district hold¬ ing more than a million people — a district of which Chattanooga is the metropolis, the university wields an influence for Christian education far greater than the mere number of enrolled students would seem to indicate. Other centers of learning. — Union Col¬ lege at Barbourville, Kentucky, for the development of Christian leaders, contains departments of liberal arts and sciences, normal training, music and expression, and academy. A quarter of a century ago some girls came out of the mountains and asked the wife of a Methodist preacher to give them “some book lamin’ She consented and opened her home to them. That was the beginning of the present John H. Snead Seminary, at Boaz, Alabama, a school where 1,000 students are now enrolled. Located in the little town of Sevierville, Tennessee, is Murphy Collegiate Institute, with a record of transforming lives and sending out well-equipped boys and girls to live out useful careers and to render Christian service. From its halls have gone those who are teachers, missionaries, and builders of communities. It is said that within a radius of forty miles of Sevierville are 30,000 young people of school age. Murphy Collegiate Institute cares for 500 more. Baxter Seminary has an enrolment of 500, and strongly features re¬ ligious education and the training of rural leaders. Freedmen’s progress. — Teaching a class of freed- men in the same room in which he was sold as a slave before the Civil War was the strange experi¬ ence of a man now a mem¬ ber of the faculty of the Morristown Normal and Industrial Col¬ lege, Morristown, Tennessee. In that same room, his grandfather, mother, and him¬ self were baptized. Today the school has 400 students, and has won the respect and friendship of both races. At Meridian, Mississippi, will be found Haven Institute, another splendid Negro work. Walden College, located at Nashville, Tennessee, began its life in a church base¬ ment, and spent its childhood in a gun factory, erected for that purpose by the Confederate government but never used. For more than half a century it has been serving to advance Negro education in the south. Several other schools under the administration of the Negro Board of Edu¬ cation are doing splendid work in prepar¬ ing of the Negro race for better things. Meharry Medical College. — To be known as “the light-house of a race” would seem to be as high a goal as any institution could wish to attain. Yet such is Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, from whose portals have gone from one- third to one-half the trained physicians, surgeons and dentists of the Negro race in America. Hundreds of them there are, scattered throughout the densely popula¬ ted Negro areas of the south, in the old and newr Negro colonies of the northern industrial cities, in fact wherever their people are congregated in numbers, eighty- seven of them are in Chicago alone. Highlv trained in science, their professions-. 356 WORLD SERVICE Training school for rural pastors, Athens, Tennessee education built upon the Christian foundation of service, these graduates, now approaching 3,000 in number, are doing more than healing bodies and prolonging life. Their profession brings them into close contact with folk of all types and conditions, and through such avenues of helpful service they instil new ideals and aspirations into the hearts of their people. Philanthropic service. — Charitable work is done by the three hospitals at Louisville, Pikeville, and Nashville. The Deaconess Board serves in various ways. The Wom¬ an’s Home Missionary Society directs its endeavors to the maintenance of acad¬ emies, industrial homes for mountain girls and for educational and relief work among Negroes. Some Challenging Needs Here are typical individual and general reeds of the Methodist Episcopal work in the East South Central states: Complete a church building In an industrial com¬ munity of 12,000 people. Building is partly erected but not inclosed. Pastor and two members have been laying brick. Sunday school meets in a moving picture hall. Great expansion will come with new building. Minister to 14,000 men in 263 mining villages of Tennessee. Methodist Episcopal Church has effective work in only one. Complete our only adequate church plant among 40,000 Negroes in one city. Provide a woman worker in a city manufacturing community where vice and corruption prevail and where ours is the sole religious and social center. Provide salary for missionary and assist in con¬ struction of chapels among Negro miners in spir¬ itually destitute coal camps. Build a parsonage in mountain center where pas¬ tor’s home has been turned over to house school teachers. Help to erect a church for a community of rail¬ road shopmen. A site has been secured but building is halted awaiting aid. Help a village congregation, now worshipping in an old storehouse, to erect a house of worship. Assist in paying for new building for a highland school. Save from bankruptcy a church building enter¬ prise brought to a crisis by business and industrial depression. Help to support woman worker in textile and iron mill town where workers are largely composed of former mountaineers. Remodel building for community work in parish of 8,000 people. Large amounts to make possible a building pro¬ gram to replace the disreputable shanties serving as churches throughout the poverty-stricken Negro sec¬ tions of the East South Central states and among the destitute mountain people. Special Needs Such examples give a hint as to the needs of buildings and equipment for church work. There is just as crying a need for equipment, support and expan¬ sion of the training schools so that ade¬ quate leadership may be provided. These schools are striving desperately to main¬ tain high standards of scholarship. Trained leadership is absolutely essential to com¬ munity progress. Highlanders, who know the psychology and needs of their people, must be trained and sent back as ministers. Southern Negroes must likewise be equipped to serve. No greater statesman¬ ship could be shown by the Methodist Episcopal Church than to meet these lead¬ ership training needs. WEST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES iiiiiiiiimiiiiimmmiimmiiiiii ARKANSAS LOUISIANA OKLAHOMA TEXAS TULSA, OKLAHOMA There is always a new horizon for forward-looking folk WEST SOUTH CENTRAL STATES A Cosmopolitan Empire Contrast and color, high lights and shadows enter into the picture of the West South Central states. Here in a vast empire, where distances seem to fade away, will be found the Old South meeting the New West, and the New South crossing paths with the Old West. The cowboy of the plains and the busi¬ ness man of the city, the old-time south¬ ern gentleman and the up-to-the-minute efficiency expert, the derrick worker of the oil fields and the farmer of the rich grain belt, the Mexican section hand and the Negro cotton picker, the coal miner and the mountaineer and the minister — all these are thrown together in the crucible of the development of this region. State by state. — Arkansas and Louisiana form the western outpost of the old south, whilQ Texas and Oklahoma are in the proc¬ ess of change from the old west of the frontier to the new south of industry and stabilized agriculture. Arkansas, once derided in jest and story, is fast winning a deserved place in the sun because of its vast potential resources and its rapid development. It has extensive agricul¬ tural interests of cotton, grain and fruit, vast lumber and timber products, consid¬ erable coal, lead and manganese mining, important phosphate deposits, and a grow¬ ing textile industry. There is a continu¬ ous influx of northern people, who engage in both agriculture and industry. Little Rock is fast becoming a typical northern city. Back in the hills are to be found many primitive mountain people, while the Negroes num¬ ber 472,220 out of a population of 1,752,204. Oklahoma, famous as the state 359 360 WORLD SERVICE which was made in a day, more than a quarter of a century ago, by the race of settlers who had lined up at the border and awaited the signal to go, has some of the element of the pioneer days left, such as ranches, cowboys, with their sombreros and “chaps,” and blanketed Indians, but in most ways its development has brought it everything which appertains to modern life. It has fertile soil a: d a fine farm development. Its industrial life centers around oil production and refining; it ranks at the front by producing more than 100,000,000 barrels yearly. Louisiana is still an old southern state, with the picturesque elements of its French population, its cotton plantations and its river traffic. Its industrial life cen¬ ters around its heavy oil production, its exports and fisheries, although agriculture is its primary occupation. Texas, the Lone Star State, embraces nearly eight per cent of the entire area of the United States. Roughly, its dimen¬ sions are 800 miles long and 800 miles wide. It is the only state in the union in which the crops, by the census reports, exceeded one billion dollars in value. It is first in cotton production. It has the largest railway mileage of any state. It has a heavy oil development and some large industries. There is extensive lum¬ bering and some coal mining. The west¬ ern portion is largely given over to stock raising. Facts of the whole group. — The total population of the West South Central states is 10,242,224, of whom 2,063,579 are Negro and 459,333 are foreign-born. That it is an essentially rural area, second only to the East South Central States in percentage of rural population, is indi¬ cated by the census figures for 1920, show¬ ing 71 per cent rural and 29 per cent urban. In thirty years the shift has been from 84.9 per cent rural and 15.1 per cent urban. The rural population is 7, 271, '395, while the urban population is 2,970,829. The number of illiterates reaches 773,637, or 10 per cent. The illiteracy among foreign-born whites is 29.9 per cent, as compared with 12.8 per cent in the South Atlantic states, and 13.1 per cent for all the United States. This is due largely to the Mexican immigration. The illiteracy among the Negroes is 25.3 per cent and among native whites 4.1 per cent. Louisiana registers the highest illit¬ eracy in the United States, 21.9 per cent, of which 10.5 per cent is among the native whites, 21.9 per cent among the foreign- born and 38.5 per cent among the Negroes. The significant fact, however, is the reduc¬ tion of this total percentage in a single decade from 29 per cent to 21.9 per cent. Oklahoma has the least illiteracy/ only 3.8 per cent. Its Negro and foreign-born pop¬ ulation is very small, compared to the other West South Central states. The section registered the largest pro¬ portionate increase of foreign-born in the decade, 31.7 per cent. By the 1920 census, the foreign-born white population con¬ sisted of 47,217 Germans, 14,652 Rus¬ sians, 27,724 Italians, 15,488 Czecho-Slo- vaks, and 259,007 Mexicans. Concerning the church. — The measure of Methodist Episcopal work throughout the West South Central states must be more in terms of goals and service than in sta¬ tistical record, if it is to be correctly made. While its strength is not great, a spirit of achievement has permeated the church in this region, with the result that rapid progress is being made. Much of it lies within the Wichita Area, which led all the areas in Methodism in 1922 in net increase in membership. These states as a whole are still largely home missionary territory. The Methodist Episcopal work is almost evenly distributed between the whites and the Negroes. The white work is largely centered in Oklahoma, which is more of a western state than a southern, and in the cities of Texas. The Negro work is scattered through all the states, but is largely developed in Louisiana. The Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church, South, is very strong throughout these states, but com¬ petition has been reduced to a minimum, WEST SOUTH CENTRAL 361 Oil wells aflame, Oklahoma and fraternal relations are growing. The Methodist Episco¬ pal Church has 122,263 members here, of whom 58,482 are white English- speaking, and 57,728 Ne¬ gro, 4,212 German and 1,574 Scandinavian; the Sunday-school enrolment is 117,148, of which 72,408 are white Eng¬ lish-speaking, 37,616 Negro, 5,688 German and 1,229 Scandinavian; 1,227 churches, of which 435 are white English-speaking, 724 Negro, 53 German and 12 Scandinavian. The net value of churches and parsonages is $6,485,206, while the total paid for local expenses was $1,825,371. Benevolences were $456,280, and the total for all pur¬ poses, $2,281,651, or $18.66 per capita. Problems of the Field The rural situation.— No single designa¬ tion can cover the rural situation of the West South Central states, so varied are the conditions and occupations. Agricul¬ ture has a wide meaning and can be spe¬ cifically applied only in a geographical sense. In the cotton belt where thousands of Negroes are employed, the problem, as universally elsewhere throughout the South, is one of overcoming poverty, igno¬ rance, superstition and discouragement. Among the white people, it is establish¬ ing a modern church program, promoting a better racial feeling, and setting higher educational standards. In the timber regions will be found the usual condition of spiritual deprivation among the lumberjacks. Many thousands of men, away from families or without family ties, are here employed, under con¬ ditions that tend to destroy both soul and body. The attention of the church has been directed of late years to the necessity for religious work in the great forest regions of the north and northwest. The south should not be forgotten. The vast farming sections of the west¬ ern portion of the division range all the 24 way from thickly settled, grain-raising regions, with modern homes and splendid equipment, to the old-time cattle ranches. The problems of the former are the same as have been emphasized before : the adap¬ tation of the open country and village church to the changing communities, and the inauguration of a seven-day social and religious ministry to reach the entire neighborhood ; while the problem of the latter is that of the frontier, where travel is often over dim trails through cattle pastures, between ranch houses often twenty miles apart, an isolation and a lone¬ liness which makes the missionary pastor a welcome visitor. He is the circuit-rider of the new day, travelling by automobile instead of in the saddle and rendering- just as vital an influence for the Kingdom as did his forebears in the long ago. The oil fields. — The famous “gold rushes” of by-gone days to California, to Cripple Creek, Colorado, and to Death Val¬ ley, produced some of the great home mis¬ sionary enterprises of the early day. Somewhat similar, with part of the “scenic effects” of six-shooters, open gambling and prostitution, and frequent killings gone, have been the oil rushes to Okla¬ homa and Texas, where “flowing gold” has been discovered in unparalleled quantities. The discovery of an oil pool means a population influx over night, with new towns laid out, drilling outfits imported, and a tremendous industry launched in a twinkling. With the drillers and promot¬ ers come the oil camp-followers of every description. “Tent cities” often are the result, and lax moral conditions and reli¬ gious indifference create a tremendous 362 WORLD SERVICE Negroes at Tulsa were forced to use this tent as a temporary church missionary problem. This situation, now largely passed in Oklahoma and Texas because the oil industry is now in the stage of extension of old fields rather than the discovery of new ones, has been followed by a well-defined, stabilized industry, engaging the efforts of large numbers of people. They form a heterogeneous group. A splendid opportunity awaits the church to develop a community church work in the oil centers. Foreign-speaking residents. — The scat¬ tered colonies of the Germans, Russians and Czecho-Slovaks throughout the rural regions of the West South Central states principally in Oklahoma and Texas, the Italians in the industrial centers and the French in the old south present a definite missionary problem. Large contingents of Germans emigrated to Texas in 1848, and whole counties were given over to them by the government. They transformed the wilderness into a rich agricultural sec¬ tion, throughout large portions of which the Methodist Episcopal Church is giving the only religious ministry to the people. Little is known in the church at large of the religious situation among the French settlements of Louisiana. They are not catalogued among the foreign bom, as they are descendants of old French settlers. But like the Canadian French, they are very tenacious of their language and customs, and in actuality remain more of a foreign problem than many of the newer colo¬ nies of foreign-born. An illuminating picture of them is given in a chroni¬ cle of missionary work in Basile, Louisiana. A French romance. — “In 1911 the first sermon was preached in the saw-mill. So faithfully did the first pastor live and preach the gospel and with such tell¬ ing effect that the wrath of the roughs of the com¬ munity was stirred and they upon one occasion shot at him while he was preaching. The church was built in 1912. “In Basile we are in the heart of the Evangeline country. In the Evangeline Parish there are 28,000 people, 95 per cent ot whom are of French descent; 85 per cent of those over 21 years of age cannot read or write; 50 per cent of those of sc 100I &ge cannot do so, while 55 per cent of those of school age do not attend school. “The descendants of the first Acadians are nominally Roman Catholic. The great majority, however, are so little in sym¬ pathy with their church and so loosely tied to it m practice as to be practically with¬ out church affiliation. Of the 28,000 people 90 per cent are nominally Catholic, yet there are only four Roman Catholic churches in the parish which is forty miles long and thirty miles wide. The church secured, the problem of the school remained. An endeavor was made to secure a high school, but it was met by open and determined opposition of the Catholic priest. The school did not mate¬ rialize. Later twelve acres of land were purchased and a church school was planned. When the Catholic priest saw that a church school was likely to come to his community, he and neighboring pnests at once endeavored to hinder the Pi eject. Many of the French, however, stood loyally by when they believed it would bring new opportunity to their WEST SOUTH CENTRAL 363 These students from the Agricultural and Mechanical College, Stillwater, Oklahoma, attend the Methodist Sunday school children. A building was erected and in September, 1922, the first Methodist school for the French in America became a fact. The Woman’s Home Mis¬ sionary Society has un¬ dertaken the part of the project which will develop into an industrial home for French-American girls.” The Methodist Episcopal work among them is now carried on at three churches and two school houses as well as in con¬ nection with the college. Among the Mexicans. — One of the tre¬ mendous migrations to America to which comparatively little attention has been paid in the past ten years has been that of the Mexicans across the southern bor¬ der. The church and the nation think of the foreign-speaking problem in terms of southern Europeans principally, yet this influx of more than a million aliens creates a Spanish-speaking problem which places a monumental missionary burden on the church. Not only is it a missionary prob¬ lem in terms of humanity, but also one in terms of international relations. The prejudice and hatred aroused by selfish jingoism make it especially urgent that the church, by wise home and foreign mis¬ sions, should demonstrate that neighborli¬ ness is possible among the nations. The movement of the Mexicans into America has been largely industrial. Rail¬ roads particularly have brought them in by the thousands to work in construction camps and on right-of-ways. Hundreds A Centenary task begun but not finished — An uncompleted Negro church of towns in Oklahoma and Texas, increas¬ ing as the southern border is approached, have their Mexican colonies, much the same as industrial towns and cities of the east have their foreign-speaking sections. In El Paso, out of a population of 78,000 there are 45,000 Mexicans. San Antonio has many thousands, also. They engage in the commonest of labor. Illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, superstition, and low- moral standards are common among them. They fall an easy prey to disease. They have been exploited in many ways, and only rarely has any effort, aside from the missionary activity of the church, been made to understand or reach them. They have lived and been treated as a people inferior and apart — the “greasers.” Yet they are essentially spiritual by nature, and responsive to an appeal by those in whom they have confidence. The success of the Methodist work in Mexico is a wit¬ ness to that fact, as well as in specific communities in the United States, although only a few of these are in this division. With their quarter million pop¬ ulation in the West South Central states, they form a community which the church must heed. The cities. — An important feature of the West South Central states is its rap¬ idly growing cities, especially in Oklahoma and Texas. The expansion of the oil indus¬ try and other elements of commerce have caused a tremendous influx of northern capital and personnel. New Orleans, one of the oldest cities of the nation, is the metropolis of the area, with 387,219 peo¬ ple, its growth being but 14.2 per cent dur- 364 WORLD SERVICE Church and community hall at Roosevelt, Oklahoma ing the decade. It is also the most cosmo¬ politan city of the southland, containing about 110,000 Negroes, an increase of 25 per cent in ten years, most of them com¬ ing from the rural sections. There are also about 40,000 people of foreign birth, chiefly Italian, German, French, Spanish and Jewish, drawn mostly to it as a port. The four largest cities of Texas, San Antonio with 161,379 people, Dallas with 158,976, Houston with 138,276, and Fort Worth with 106,482, increased during the decade 67, 72.6, 75.5, and 45.2 per cent respectively. Oklahoma City, with 91,295 people, is the largest in Oklahoma. Tulsa, in the heart of the oil field, advanced from 18,182 in 1910 to 72,075 in 1920, a gain of 296.4 per cent, making it one of the fastest growing cities in America. To keep pace with the new neighborhoods as they develop and to adapt the established churches’ programs to the changing city needs is the task of the church. Methodist Episcopal Achievements The church in the field. — This story of a reborn village church and community is the story of twentieth century home missions as it is at work in numerous sections of the middle west, and as it will be in greater measure in the future, if the progress demanded of the church is main¬ tained. A few years ago, Roosevelt, Oklahoma, was a typical rural village of 600 people, with four feeble churches struggling in wasteful competition. Assigned to the Methodist Episcopal church was a for¬ merly successful business man who had given up his work to become a country preacher. With a salary of $400 a year and seven children in his family, there was but one thing to do. He rented a farm and raised cotton to make ends meet, preach¬ ing on Sundays and doing his parish call¬ ing in between times. Hard work and dis¬ couragement did not daunt him, however, and he went straight ahead toward the goal which he had set up, the establish¬ ment of a community center. A pastor at work.— -He organized the boys and girls of the town, irrespective of denomination, into troups of Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls. For the boys he built an attractive club house across from the parsonage. He laid the first concrete sidewalk, a stretch of 360 feet from the main street to the church. He worked successfully to have a course in domestic science added to the curriculum of grade and high schools. He organized a cemetery improvement association which cleared the cemetery of weeds and built a fence around it to keep out the live stock. And he brought about the construction of three and a half miles of graded road from Roosevelt to the village of Cold Springs in the Wichita Mountains. Going into Cold Springs which was without religious advantages, he held a revival that so stirred up things that a bootlegging gang was routed whose leader became one of the promoters of the $2,500 chapel which was later built. The result is that a $32,000 community house was erected, and it and the church have become the center of the life of the people. Lectures, school exercises, wom¬ en’s meetings, farmers’ institutes, and other educational and social activities are held there. The church has become an essential part of the community and the spiritual and moral value of the service rendered is apparent in many ways. Other active churches. — A night school for the benefit of those who must work to support dependents is one of the fea¬ tures of the community service of the Medford, Oklahoma, Methodist Episcopal Church. There is also a junior congrega¬ tion, composed of boys and girls eight to fifteen years of age, pledged to attend wor- WEST SOUTH CENTRAL 365 ship. The church already has two of its young women members as missionaries in India and has twelve life service recruits now in preparation in high school and college. The building burned early in 1922, but has been replaced by a larger structure with good Sunday-school equipment and quarters for community work, in co-oper¬ ation with the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. Jasper, Arkansas, is twenty-two miles inland from the railroad. The Methodist Episcopal Church has the leadership of the whole county. Avery’s Chapel, in Hem- stead County, Arkansas, is forty miles from the nearest Methodist Episcopal Church, and is supplied by the pastor at Amity, he driving that distance once per month and being compelled to cross two treacherous rivers in the journey. St. Joe, Everton Circuit, Arkansas, is a town of 500 people with no church. This is a type of critical situation where we have the sole responsibility and which has always been accepted as a challenge to missionary endeavor. Everton Circuit, Arkansas, covers an area of 200 square miles and is our sole responsibility. Center Valley, in the same district, covering a similar area, has produced twenty minis¬ ters in the past fifty years. It still needs aid like the others to keep trained men in the field until a strong modern program can be developed. In the cities. — The cities of the south have been largely pre-empted by the south¬ ern branches of the various denominations. Campfire girls from the Methodist Sunday school at Crescent, Oklahoma Methodist tabernacle in the heart of Fort Worth, Texas Yet in nearly all of them the Methodist Episcopal Church is represented by churches which are serving communities which need their ministry. The steady influx of people from the north enhances the opportunity presented. A survey in 1922 revealed a rapidly growing unchurched section of Oklahoma City, where there was a large number of Methodist families. The need of a new church was recognized, but it seemed unwise to build an insignificant frame structure out of keeping in appearance with the homes and public buildings of the section. Through the aid of the City Union and the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension the first unit of a good community church plant was erected. In San Antonio, the largest boys’ pro¬ gram of any church in the city is main¬ tained by the new Trinity Methodist Epis¬ copal Church in an impressive new build¬ ing, modern in every respect and complete for meeting community needs in the heart of the residential section. It maintains weekly movies, a kindergarten and gymna¬ sium classes. Haven Methodist Episcopal Church at Hot Springs, Arkansas, is another modern church adapted to its community. First Church, located in the heart of the city, has an ambitious program of community service. West Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a purely indus¬ trial community of 5,000 people and forms the parish of our church. The congrega¬ tion was enabled to move from an made- 366 WORLD SERVICE Mallalieu Church, Fort Smith, Arkansas — One of our newer Negro churches quate structure to their new plant and Sunday-school classes that met on a vacant lot are now sheltered. An oil refin¬ ery donated native stone which was hauled free by the street car company. The refin¬ ery also gave $4,000 for the new church, recognizing its value to the community. The church and community house are planned to meet every need of the neigh¬ borhood. Room is provided for the audi¬ torium and Sunday school, for a social hall, and for an athletic and recreational pro¬ gram. Among the Negroes. — The heart of the Methodist Episcopal Church has ever been quickened to their appeal, and their steady progress toward better things materially, socially and spiritually, can in substantial part be attributed to the mis¬ sionary work of our great church. Bishop Robert E. Jones has summed it up in this wise: “The Methodist Episcopal Church is in the forefront of this process of American¬ ization among ten millions of native- born black Americans. We are building churches and school houses, hospitals, old folks’ homes and orphan asylums. We are educating doctors, lawyers, teachers and preachers. We are lending our support to the development of a leadership found in commercial life, in politics, in litera¬ ture, in art, in music, in agriculture, in amusement, in education and in religion. “At the same time, that assistance has been meager when placed against the background of monumental need. In whole districts of the South are to be found Negro churches which are nothing more than hovels. Here and there are being erected modern buildings, however, and equipped with a trained leadership. The results are remarkable and demonstrate beyond question that the solution lies in the energetic and intelligent promotion of such a program.” In New Orleans. — As a “city of the world,” where many races and national¬ ities meet and commingle, it is natural that the Negro, along with other groups, should have greater freedom and opportu¬ nity of self-expression in New Orleans than in any other city of the South. Here there is less “consciousness of kind” and hence less race prejudice and discrimina¬ tion against color. A home mission writer has said: “The Negroes in New Orleans enjoy the distinction of working in practically every trade; they are bricklayers, carpenters, painters, mechanics, machinists, and they control the stevedore and longshore work. Industrially and socially, the Negro is coming into his own. The Negro owns and controls three large insurance companies in the city ; the Unity Life Insurance Com¬ pany (Negro) employs twenty-five people, does a business of $500,000 annually, and owns property valued at $700,000. The ‘Crescent City Park’ is a great pleasure center owned and controlled by Negroes; its bouts and athletic sports draw many thousands to the city. The Negro Pyth- ians own an eight-story building valued at $300,000, housing a fine modem Negro theater. The Odd Fellows, the Masons and the Eastern Stars care for fraternal activities and the Wheatley Club is a pow¬ erful political-social organization. “There is a Negro Young Men’s Chris¬ tian Association with Bishop Robert E. Jones as president, two Negro branches of the Public Library and three public parks exclusively for Negroes. There are nine separate elementary schools and one high school for Negro young people. Grad- WEST SOUTH CENTRAL 367 One of the best equipped institutional churches among the Negroes — Boynton Community House, Houston, Texas uates of the latter can teach in the state without further examination. Negro churches. — “The Negro churches in New Orleans have a total at¬ tendance of about 35,000 on the average Sunday, leaving 75,000 not attend¬ ing regularly. The seat¬ ing capacity of all Negro churches is only 65,000, leaving 45,000 unpro¬ vided for. “Forty - five thousand Negroes are listed as members of Negro Catho¬ lic churches in New Or¬ leans, due, doubtless, to the French and Spanish Catholic influ¬ ences and traditions. The Roman Catholic Church has nine churches for Negroes, supplied by white priests. There is one Negro nunnery with about sixty sisters, and Xavier University with about 600 stu¬ dents. There are 16 Methodist Episcopal, 5 African Methodist, 2 Colored Methodist, 3 Presbyterian, 2 Episcopal, 3 Holiness, 4 Congregational, 1 Christian Science and 74 Baptist churches.” First Methodist church, New Orleans, has plans under way for a new build¬ ing, five stories high, partly devoted to business offices and stores, and the rest auditorium, assembly rooms, kindergar¬ ten, day nursery, rest rooms, club rooms, gymnasium and other recreational facili¬ ties. It has a membership of 900 Negroes, and is known as a “man’s church” because of the large number of men who worship in it. Four hundred of the 900 members are men, and two-thirds of the average congregation are men. In a heavily populated Negro neighbor¬ hood, the former Franklin Avenue Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church of the Southern German conference sold its church, social center building and parsonage at a reduced figure to the Negroes. The German con¬ gregation had been offered $20,000 by a motion picture concern but turned it down for a $12,000 offer from the Negroes, underwritten by the local Negro City Soci¬ ety and the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. A pastor and two work¬ ers make ministry of the church effective every day in the week. Welfare work, kindergarten, day school, night school, employment bureau, medical clinic, dental clinic, cafeteria and boys’ work offer the only church welfare min¬ istry for Negroes in this parish of thirty-six blocks. Home mission aid en¬ abled Grace Church to purchase an old building of another denomination and to carry on an un¬ usual and helpful work Church and people, Cleveland, Oklahoma 368 WORLD SERVICE among young Negroes in the downtown section. Three-fourths of its average con¬ gregations are boys and young men thir¬ teen to twTenty-four years of age. Mt. Zion Church, with a fine new building, in a thickly populated Negro section, is crowded continuously with week-day ac¬ tivities. It has a school, kindergarten, playground and cafeteria. A number of other Negro Methodist Episcopal churches in New Orleans are gradually adjusting their organization and programs to meet the new demands made upon them. The one-day-a-week church is becoming the seven-day-a-week church with its varied program of worship, instruction, recreation and social welfare. Trinity Church, for example, has broad¬ ened its scope to include kindergarten, classes in teacher training, classes in domestic arts and sciences. Wesley Church, the oldest Negro church of the Methodist denomination, founded in 1853, maintains a playground, a cafeteria, a social center, and Wesleyan Hall for club meetings. Two thousand persons make Wesley their church and social and recre¬ ational home. But among some of the others the need is distressing. Haven Chapel, built before the Civil War, is held together by log chains, yet it serves as the only church in the midst of 5,000 Negroes, most of whom are employed as stevedores and in shipyards. Scott Chinn Church, crowded Oklahoma City College into a bad location, in the midst of 14,000 Negroes, sorely needs a modern building. Other Negro churches. — At Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the center of a large industrial and agricultural section, is lo¬ cated one of the best Negro churches in the South. The town draws many hundreds of Negroes from surrounding communities because of its excellent school facilities. The congregation, determined to keep apace, secured help from the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension and built a community church, equipped with auditorium, class rooms, gymnasium, social hall and reading room. It is the largest church building in the city and has re¬ sulted in an improvement of moral condi¬ tions and a greater tolerance from the white people toward their Negro brethren. Perhaps the finest Ne¬ gro church building, in the erection of which the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension has co-operated, is St. Paul’s Church at San Antonio, Texas. Fully equipped for religious, educational and community work, it is the Christian center to which thousands of Ne¬ groes come seven days in the week. This is the inadequate plant in which we are trying to minister to the spiritual needs of Methodists in Louisiana University for Negroes, Scotland, Louisiana WEST SOUTH CENTRAL St. Paul’s Church, San Antonio, Texas The Field of Education Colleges and student work. — Oklahoma City College is Methodism’s major educa¬ tional institution for its white constitu¬ ency in the West South Central states. A successful financial campaign has enabled it to erect new buildings and establish a substantial endowment fund. Other schools are Texas Wesleyan Col¬ lege at Austin, Blinn Memorial College at Brenham, Texas, and Port Arthur College at Port Arthur, Texas. Negro educational institutions. — Four colleges are the contribution of the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church to the cause of Negro education in the West South Cen¬ tral states. Philander Smith.— Between 400 and 500 students are enrolled in Philander Smith College at Little Rock, Arkansas. The moral and religious atmosphere of the institution is strong. Gilbert College.— At New Orleans, Gil¬ bert College has an enrolment of approx- imately 600 and provides pre-medical and teachers’ college courses as well as the usual academic work. Samuel Huston College is located at Austin, Texas. Wiley. — At Marshall, Texas, will be found Wiley University, one of our most important institutions of Negro education. It is said that “the results of Wiley’s fifty years as a lighthouse to a whole race are to be found in the professional and busi¬ ness channels of every southern state and of nearly every southern city of impor¬ tance. Wiley’s graduates are among the leaders of their race not only in Texas but throughout the whole cotton belt. From Wiley the Texas Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church secure the majority of their pastors; from Wiley the Meharry Medical Colleges get more of their students than from any other institution under the Board of Education for Negroes ; from Wiley there go out trained teachers of Negro youth, licensed, without further examination, to instruct in the schools ot Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Arizona.” Woman’s Home Missions. — Where the need is greatest there the work of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society will be found in its greatest abundance. In New Orleans, the Italian Mission is supported by the Society. A kindergarten and a vis¬ iting nurse are maintained on the staff. At the Rose Gregory Houchen Settle¬ ment in El Paso, Texas, located in the heart of a Mexican settlement, a great response is being won among these people from beyond the southern border of our country. Classes in kindergarten, sewing, cooking, millinery, gymnastics, camp-fire work, kitchen-garden, basketry, and indus¬ trial arts are conducted, and there are clubs for mothers, and for boys and girls. STUDENT WORK AT NON-METHODIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Oklahoma 1 Stillwater, Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College. 2 Norman, University of Oklahoma. 3 Edmond, Central State Normal School. 370 WORLD SERVICE Peck School of Domestic Science and Art, con¬ ducted by the Woman’s Home Mission¬ ary Society, New Orleans College Distressing conditions of poverty, disease, and ignorance are combatted by the set¬ tlement, and headway is being made for better things for the colony in which the settlement is located. At Whiteagle, Oklahoma, is located the Ponca Mission, carrying on a religious and educational work among the North Amer¬ ican Indians, especially for the children. There are also numerous Negro schools, orphanages, missions and industrial homes, among them the Sager-Brown Orphanage for Negro Children at Baldwin, Louisiana, with sixty children, and the King Indus¬ trial Home for girls, conducted in connec¬ tion with Wiley University, teaching dress¬ making, domestic science and normal courses. Bible distribution. — Scriptures in twenty-eight languages were distributed throughout the region in 1922 by the Southwestern Agency of the American Bible Society, located at Dallas, Texas. Practically 100,000 Bibles and Bible por¬ tions are placed in homes and in the hands of individuals in this section yearly. A noteworthy feature is the changing atti¬ tude toward the Bible by the French and Creole population centering in New' Orleans. A veteran colporteur there New Orleans College Louisiana 2 New Orleans, (Negro). Oklahoma 3 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City College. Secondary Schools. T exas 6 Port Arthur, Port Arthur College. 7 Brenham, Blinn Memorial College. 8 Austin, Texas Wesleyan College. WEST SOUTH CENTRAL 371 come and never has found any city more open to the Scriptures. The service of philanthropy. — New Orleans is the headquarters of two of the four hospitals and homes of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church in the West South Central states. One is the Lafon Home for the Aged, caring for fifty Negro men and women past sixty years of age. The Flint-Goodridge Hospital and Nurse Training School, also Negro, is one of the best hospitals of the city. It has fifty-six beds, and its free clinic ministered to more than 6,000 people last year. It specializes in the training of young Negro women for the nursing profession. Its aim is a new hospital of 375 beds where semi-tropical diseases may be studied and treated scien- tificially, and where training may be given a hundred nurses at a time. The Missionary Needs There are areas of wealth and of pov- ertv in the West South Central states, and even in the trail of wealth there go those who are in need of the ministry of the church. Whether one thinks in terms of the poverty-stricken Negroes of the poorer farming regions, the scattered plainsmen, the loggers, the min¬ ers, the spiritually needy of city or coun¬ try, one feels that the Methodist Episcopal Epworth League Institutes. Arkansas 1 Little Rock, Philander Smith College, Little Rock Conference (Negro). Louisiana 2 Lake Arthur, Gulf Conference. Oklahoma 3 Guthrie, Oklahoma Conference. Summer Schools of Theology. Oklahoma 8 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City College. T g xas 9 Marshall, Wiley University. Missionary Summer Conferences. Woman's Home Missionary Society Oklahoma 10 Oklahoma City (Interdenominational). Texas 4 Marshall, Wiley University (Negro). 5 La Porte, Houston. 6 Brenham, Southern German Conference. Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Texas 7 Marshall, Wiley University. Texas 11 Houston (Interdenominational). Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society Oklahoma 12 Oklahoma City (Interdenominational) T c xas 13 Dallas (Interdenominational). 372 WORLD SERVICE HOSPITALS AND HOMES Hospitals. Louisiana 1 New Orleans, Flint-Goodridge Hos¬ pital. Oklahoma 2 Pawhuska, The Pawhuska Metho¬ dist Hospital. 3 Guthrie, Oklahoma Methodist Epis¬ copal Hospital. Homes for the Aged. Louisiana 4 New Orleans, LaFon Home for Aged. Homes for Children. Louisiana S Baldwin, Sager-Brown Orphanage. Church has just begun its work. Some of the typical needs are as follows: A community house in a section of 17,000 French people without any vital connection w th any church, and 2,000 children out of school. A church building and community center in town with 2,800 Negroes and no church building. Negroes living in one and two-room houses, one-half of them illiterate, and 450 out of 700 children not in school, l.arger influx expected because of new industries. Church in Negro parish of 2,000 in city of 38,000 people. Building to replace church destroyed by flood, many members’ homes also destroyed. Ten churches in unchurched German communities in one Methodist district. Remodel building into community center in Negro community of 5,000 people. New church at state university center, where there are 750 Methodist students. Removal of mortgage from church where Negro farmers have put up their homes as collateral against foreclosure. Aid needed for church almost bankrupt on account of having been caught in war-time conditions while building. Completion of church for Negroes now worship¬ ping in unfinished basement. New church to replace one destroyed by fire. Supplement salaries in badly stricken rural terri¬ tory. Church enclosed but not completed. Negro con¬ gregation oppressed by lumber company demanding eight per cent interest quarterly on unpaid bill. Aid to replacing tumbled down church building and one-room shack used for parsonage after district was hit by flood. Church adjoining a state university for Negroes. Building for new Methodist Episcopal Church developed out of a Union Sunday school. Rebuild a Negro church destroyed during race riot. Opportunity calls. — In many ways the West South Central states form one of the newer communities of the nation. It is true they have long been settled but they have remained largely undeveloped. A new era has begun, and scientific agricul¬ ture and industry are marching hand in hand in the making of a new empire. The church must go along with that de¬ velopment, if it would win the millions to Christ. Students of Wiley College, Marshall, Texas MOUNTAIN STATES iiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii MONTANA IDAHO WYOMING COLORADO NEW MEXICO ARIZONA UTAH NEVADA MODERN CIRCUIT RIDER, NEW MEXICO If people only knew the need of home missions, we would not have to see these churches which we try to put in the new centers struggle and languish as they do. “Brother Van” MOUNTAIN STATES The Frontier Out whe'e the West begins. — In the land where towering, snow-capped mountains stand guard over rolling prairies; where fertile valleys nestle among the hills ; where dug-outs still are dwelling places, and where the gold prospector occasionally goes forth with his pack ; where wild game range the wild, and where deserts greet with their mirages; where gardens and orchards and grain fields beckon and pic¬ turesque cities welcome the stranger; where gold mines and coal camps are com¬ panions of refineries and steel mills; where dwell the pioneer settler and the millionaire — that is the frontier of today. The heart of it is the Rocky Mountain region. Vast stretches of primeval prairies and forests greet the nature lover. Majestic moun¬ tains, lakes and meadows, the incomparable Grand Canyon and Royal Gorge, make the appeal of beauty. Rich, undeveloped ore regions, unsettled homestead lands, extensive irri¬ gation projects, and other endless eco¬ nomic opportunities are the magnet for new dwellers, making it the fastest grow¬ ing division, with the exception of the Pacific states, of the nation. The land and the people. — The seeker after “elbow room” need feel no crowding here. In an area whose geographical extent staggers the imagination, live only 3,336,101 people, so scattered as a whole that no country so sparsely settled is to be found in either Europe or South Amer¬ ica, save Bolivia and the Guianas. The average is only 3.9 persons per square mile, while the average for the nation at large is 35.5 persons. The Mountain states form one of the major rural sections of the country, the rural pop¬ ulation totalling 2,121,121 375 376 WORLD SERVICE people, or 63.6 per cent of the whole, while the urban population is 1,214,980, or 36.4 per cent. The variation in percentages in thirty years has been slight, in 1890 the rural being 70.7 and the urban 29.3. The foreign-born total 453,225 and the Negroes 30,801. The Negro increase for the decade of 1910-20 was 43.5 per cent. Illiterates number 132,659 or 5.2 per cent. Colorado is the largest in population, with 939,629 inhabitants and Nevada the smallest, with 77,407. Methodism today.- This mountain, pla¬ teau and valley land of enchantment and potential riches, passed by in the rush to the Pacific for gold, is still, in the main, a vast missionary territory. Here are some older cities with great churches, and some prosperous towns and villages and thickly settled countryside where there is a stable educational, social and church life. But in the main, these states are still in the mak¬ ing. In such a situation, the measure of the church is more in its potentialities than actualities, more in the way it is headed and the progress it is making than in the exact position on the road. In that light, the statistics of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the Mountain states assume importance. The membership is 84,960, of which 83,041 are white English-speak¬ ing; the Sunday-school enrolment is 123,- 099, of which 120,502 are white, English- speaking. There are 12,402 Senior Epworth Leaguers and 5,792 Juniors. The eighteen Latin churches, mostly Spanish¬ speaking, have enrolled 1,036 members. Epworth League cabinet at work, Lewiston, Idaho The net value of all Methodist churches and parsonages in the division is $6,394,- 708, and the total local expenses for 1922 were $1,762,802. Benevolences were $423,- 086, while the total paid for all purposes was $2,185,888, with a per capita giving of $25.73 for the year. The church also has here five institutions of higher education, maintains student work at twelve non- Methodist institutions, and has fourteen hospitals and homes. Summer schools and institutes of various types are fifteen in number. Isolated areas.— In Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico will be found large cattle ranches where the flavor of the old west still lingers, and where the cowboy is yet a living figure. Ranch houses are planted in the shelter of mountains or in the val¬ leys where there are water and wood, or out on the vast plateaus. The life is an isolated one, and the work of the mission¬ ary is pioneering. Similarly, isolation is the primary problem of missionary work on the sheep and cattle ranches of Idaho and in the arid sections of Utah, Nevada and Ari¬ zona, and to a lesser degree in the “dry farming” regions and in the homestead areas of the different states. The irrigated regions. — Those who have not journeyed through the west and seen the marvelous expansion of irrigation projects turning deserts and valleys into fertile gardens cannot comprehend the significance of this movement to agricul¬ ture and to the nation at large. Lands which have been so arid that only cactus would grow have, under the magic of water, turned into fertile fields of mag¬ nificent harvest. Every irrigation project opened up means the influx of new fam¬ ilies, the settling up of farms and the opening of towns. They become farming communities of more than ordinary pop¬ ulation, because heavy production and in¬ tensive care makes the small farm of ten to one hundred acres the average, rather than the traditional “quarter” or “half”, 160 or 320 acres, of the middle west. MOUNTAIN 377 Settlers’ investment for land and water rights ties them up for a number of years. It amounts to a mortgage on their future. In addition, there are improvements to be made, such as schools, public buildings, good roads and the like, most of which come in terms of taxes and are not a mat¬ ter of choice. Missionary help is impera¬ tive, therefore, for the founding of mis¬ sions and the development of churches. The mining communities. — The mining camp has ever been a missionary challenge to the church. Two-thirds of the indus¬ trial values of Montana are produced in its mining, copper smelting and refining processes. Copper mines in Arizona are among the greatest in the world. Gold, silver, lead and zinc are also produced. Colorado is second among the states in the production of gold. It also has immense coal and silver mines. Oil production runs high in Wyoming, its oil fields producing missionary problems much similar to the mining camps. It also has extensive coal and copper production. Mineral resources are varied in Utah, ranging from gold to zinc, likewise in Nevada, third in rank in silver production. Idaho is second in lead and sixth in zinc production. New Mexico is a coal producing center. The Spanish-speaking groups. — New Mexico and Arizona, and a section of Colo¬ rado form the center of the territory which the 1,000,000 Spanish-speaking people inhabit. Sweeping across from southern and western Texas to southern California and the Pacific shores, in many sections they comprise the majority of the people, thus forming one of the great home missionary opportunities. This vast foreign-speaking group is divided into two distinct classes. The one is native-born and the other is the Mexi¬ can refugee and immigrant. The native- born of Spanish origin are descendent, through many generations back, from the Spanish colonists who settled the land and claimed it for their own. Many of them, of proud Castilian blood, are conscious of their lineage and maintain the tradi¬ tions of language, custom and caste. They 2? look at the coming in of the native Amer¬ ican as the invasion of a foreigner. The historic towns of Santa Fe and Tucson, two of the oldest in the western hemi¬ sphere, typify in their architecture and social cleavages, this historic, Spanish ele¬ ment in American life. The other Spanish-speaking group is composed of the hordes of Mexicans who have migrated to the United States, some as political refugees, others to become la¬ borers in the mines, on railroad construc¬ tion jobs, on irrigation projects, in indus¬ tries and on the farms. Social conditions among them are miserable. Disease, destitu¬ tion and death are rampant among them. Other nationalities. — Large numbers of Italians, Polish, Czecho-Slovaks, Lithuani¬ ans and Russians are to be found in the mining camps, especially of southern Colo¬ rado, northern New Mexico, and Montana. In the “open camps” especially, miserable housing conditions are to be found, wdfile in the “closed camps” friction and labor unrest are often the rule. Japanese are in Colorado, Utah and Idaho, wThile most of the immigration in Utah is English and Scandinavian, drawn by Mormon entice¬ ments. The Mormon problem. — Our best authority on Mormonism has stated : “Mormons compose more than two- thirds of Utah’s 450,000 people. Idaho is next with about 100,000. They keep 378 WORLD SERVICE Hospitals. Montana 1 Sidney, Sidney Deaconess Hospital. 2 Glasgow, Frances-Mahon Deaconess Hos- pital. 3 Forsyth, Rosebud County Deaconess Hos- pital. . 4 Billings, Billings Deaconess Hospital. 5 Havre, Kennedy Deaconess Hospital. 6 Great Falls, Montana Deaconess Hospital. 7 Bozeman, Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. 8 Butte, Butte Deaconess Hospital. Idaho 9 Gooding, Gooding Deaconess Hospital. Colorado 10 Colorado Springs, Beth-El Hospital. New Mexico 11 Albuquerque, Methodist Deaconess Sani¬ tarium. Arizona 12 Phoenix, Arizona Deaconess Hospital. Homes for Children. Montana 13 Helena, Montana Deaconess Children’s School. Other Institutions. Utah 14 Ogden, Esther Home for Girls. about 1,800 missionaries in the field, but their propaganda cannot be called suc¬ cessful. The number of conversions on the outside is about 7,000 a year, while the net increase of the whole church is about 16,000 a year. The movement, of people from the East and from foreign countries as a result of Mormon mission¬ ary effort is less than formerly because there is no longer the inducement of free land. The expansion of Mormonism is by colonization rather than by conversion. For that reason the church encourages the movement of families to neighboring states. Their missionary efforts are really unsuccessful because their doctrine makes no appeal to intelligent religious people. Summing up.— The Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Extension gathers up the frontier situation in these words: MOUNTAIN 379 “The Frontier is a field with diversity of conditions and challenging opportuni¬ ties and needs. The simple frontier of the past is no more.. .The problem of the church is a much changed one . Pre¬ dominant now is the task of making the church function where it has been planted in the past and establishing it effectively in communities being born full grown in a day.” In New Mexico. — In the mountains of northern New Mexico a missionary pastor is toiling in a parish embracing 2,000 square miles. Rangers, farmers, loggers and miners are among the little groups, called congregations, which gather in the bunkhouses, the miners’ shacks, and occasionally the ’dobe huts in which he preaches the Gospel. At the center of his parish is the town of Cimarron, where a comfortable parsonage has been secured, a new church building erected and a seven- day-a-week program put on. The town ministry might occupy all his time, but his is the heart that goes out into the hills. One of his charges, the Red River school house, is forty-five miles away and to reach it he must travel over rough mountain roads, usually in the saddle. Altogether his parish includes “four agri¬ cultural communities, three mining camps, one lumber camp, one important mixed community, and uncounted ranchers, set¬ tlers, cowboys, mining prospectors and others, hidden away in some of the most beautiful mountains, canyons and fertile valleys which the mind can picture.” A Bishop speaks. — Stirring events on the frontier are indicated in the follow¬ ing words of Bishop Burns: “The Helena Area, consisting of North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and eastern Ore¬ gon, representing enormous reaches of territory, equivalent to a journey from New York to Minneapolis, is the largest continuous area in American Methodism. It consists of 316,000 square miles. There are 1,050 preaching places with 404 men manning these great circuits, the largest single parish in America. For heroism, sacrifice, and courage, these college-bred ministers and their cultured wives are unequalled. It is no wonder that under their leadership the Helena area in per capita giving is near the lead in the church. “In North Montana through the drought of seven years no man has abandoned his task, while some of our preachers have lived on potatoes and stewed hearts of the Canadian thistle and have kept the fidelity of the faith in the missionary gifts. Out of their poverty and need, the Glacier Park district, covering the whole of North Montana, has presented the remarkable achievement of 112 per cent in missionary giving. With seven to fourteen-point cir¬ cuits, these hardy, heroic men travel whole counties in their unwashed Fords, build¬ ing a Christian empire in the Northwest.” In one district in northern Montana are twenty-four preachers, seventeen of them college and seminary graduates. But there is only one good church building in the district. One of the men has twelve preaching places and nine Sunday schools on his charge and not a dollar’s worth of church property. In another section there are sixty-five preaching points and not a church building. Events at Roundup. — Roundup, Mon¬ tana, is a typical frontier town of 6,000 or 7,000 people in a territory changing from sheep and cattle-raising to farming and mining. Coal lies nearby and oil fields are not far away. The population is polyglot. In the old box-shaped church the Meth¬ odist people worked and worshipped for | Our church at Clayton, New Mexico, has a seven-day-a-week program 380 WORLD SERVICE years. Then came the need for a new building. The people dug the basement and put the building materials on the ground for the new church. In the old building, without a kitchen, the Ladies’ Aid Society in one year made $1,200 for the new enterprise. The new church, located on a corner which eighty-five per cent of the town people pass on their way to the business center, was designed by the Bureau of Architecture to serve the com¬ munity. It contains a gymnasium, dining hall, club rooms, and social center quarters and is open every day. Helpers in the construction were two councilmen, clerks and miners. The life of the entire com¬ munity is being influenced constructively by this Methodist church, which the town thinks of in terms of a part of itself. “Land office business.” — At Emmett, Idaho, home mission help has resulted in a thoroughly remodelled church plant, including the addition of a gallery, a gym¬ nasium and Sunday-school and social facilities. The Buhl, Idaho, congregation is worshipping in the basement of an unfin¬ ished building, in which a Sunday school of over 300 members must be quartered. After a recent revival more than 100 members were added to the church. Eighteen states and three foreign coun¬ tries are represented in the constituency of 600 people of the Wheatland, Wyoming, Methodist Church. Yet it stands as the commander of a small empire, because the nearest community of any considerable size to the south is Cheyenne, sixty miles away. The nearest church to the north is Douglas, fifty-eight miles distant. To the east fifty-two miles is Torrington, while to the west the vast plains stretch eighty- eight miles to Laramie. The church has members living twenty-six miles away in the hills. In 1922, the Wheatland church had a property value of $31,000, a mem¬ bership of 325, an auditorium seating 750 and a Sunday-school provision for 600. It is a good illustration of the fruits of home missions. In mining camps. — Out in Utah nature has cut a gorge through the hills and man has planted an industry in it. The result is Bingham Canyon, one of America’s most interesting spots. One street, Main street, runs like a snake’s trail for miles up and down the length of the canyon, while stores, schools, houses, and mine dumps intermingle up and down it and about the mountain sides. Rich copper mines are the one industry. Here on the one street live 13,000 people of eighteen different nationalities. There is little opportunity for normal life such as is found in better developed communities of the East. Three years ago our Meth¬ odist work amounted to practically noth¬ ing. Then the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension built a new church and put in trained leadership. Our mis¬ sionaries are now putting on an all-round program under the auspices of the church. They have a kindergarten with an enrol¬ ment of eighty-five children of Mormon and Catholic families as well as Protes¬ tant; clubs for children in the primary department, industrial classes for boys and girls, girl pioneers and boy and girl scouts. The pastor organized a Father and Son Club, and a prayer band of twenty- six boys who met before school every day for three months. A Wyoming coal town. — Ten thousand people of thirty different nationali¬ ties live in Rock Springs, Wyoming, one of the Main Street, Powell, Wyoming MOUNTAIN 381 Blue Bird ceremony, Rock Springs, Wyoming state’s largest coal pro¬ ducing centers. The Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church is housed in a small build¬ ing with an auditorium 24x50 feet and a smaller room 9x24 adjoining. The only other quarters were a basement. But in spite of such inadequate equip¬ ment, there are remarkable results, espe¬ cially among the boys of great coal camp. Now over 200 boys of twenty diiferent nationalities are enrolled in the activities of the church. For the girls there are Camp Fire and Blue Bird organizations, Sewing Club, and Kitchen Garden Club. Achievements in Denver. — In Denver one of the most progressive city pro¬ grams in Methodism has been organized and is in successful operation. The identity of the Denver District with the city environs makes possible a reinforced organization and greater efficiency. The program is one inclusive of missionary expansion, Christian education and social service. It seeks not only to provide more and better churches, but also to adapt each church to the specific needs of its community, to reoccupy abandoned fields and to anticipate future growth. It is a comprehensive city program, rather than stereotyped, haphazard, unrelated church activity. Ten years ago the Denver District had a total membership of 6,372. The churches now report a total membership of 10,266, exclusive of probationers or non-resident members. The property values ten years ago were $568,500. Now they are $980,- 850. This increase in property values is represented in seven new church build¬ ings, eleven community houses and Sun¬ day-school buildings, four new strategic sites upon which churches will be built, and eleven new parsonages. The giving to disciplinary benevolences has increased from $21,965 to $62,105. The district now has twenty-seven churches, thirteen of which are conduct¬ ing a full seven-day-a-week program of social and educational activities. More than 60,000 persons pass through these churches each month and are touched by the religious influences of these activities. All of these thirteen churches have a paid staff of one or more members in addition to the pastor. Eight churches are now provided with full gymnasium equipment for their recre¬ ational program, while five have impro¬ vised gymnasiums in remodelled space in older church buildings. Fifteen of the churches in the district last summer con¬ ducted daily vacation Bible schools from four weeks to two months in duration. One church is conducting a regular system of week-day religious education after school hours throughout the winter months. Eighteen of the churches are conducting some form of religious instruc¬ tion and education by means of well-organ¬ ized classes on one or more week-days. In Pueblo. — In a city of great car shops, steel mills, smelting, refining, brick and tile works, the First Methodist Epis¬ copal Church has a parish of 18,000 people. A splendid new church, where an adequate program for all classes of people in the parish, is under construction. Excellent contacts are being made with labor and foreign-speaking groups. Northern Ave¬ nue Church, located also in an industrial neighborhood, has wide opportunities for community service, but no equipment. One of Methodism’s oldest Italian mis¬ sions is located in Pueblo, in a parish of 130 city blocks where dwell many thou¬ sands of Italians, Mexicans, Negroes, and Slavs. In spite of miserably inadequate equipment, the mission is doing a heroic 382 WORLD SERVICE Here, in 1908, our Italian work in Denver began, and - work of uplift and service. During the flood a few years ago, one of its buildings was entirely washed away, only one chair being salvaged. The people went bravely ahead in the remaining building. Now the pastor has listed more than 1,000 children who live within the parish and is reach¬ ing the community in a larger way through the ministry to them. In Salt Lake City.— One of the fine Methodist Episcopal achievements in Utah has been the completion of Centenary Church in the south residential section of Salt Lake City. This gives a modern plant providing for social, recreational and religious educational work. The new Grace church erected last year on the west side of the city also is a modern plant with gymnasium, departmental accom¬ modation for Sunday school, kitchen, par¬ lors and scout rooms. First Church, start¬ ing with fifteen boys in a religious education program, now has more than one hundred enlisted. The Epworth League is strong, registering a weekly at¬ tendance of more than one hundred. The miner’s town. — In Butte, Meth¬ odism has six churches, only one of which is a good church building. The others are one-room buildings or basements. Butte has 7,000 Italians and 2,000 Greeks, and 60,000 people in its environs. Most of our effort is among the English-speaking. In the Mormon stronghold. — Methodist work in Mormon territory, primarily Utah and Idaho, has been of a two-fold nature. Missionary activity in the way of planting churches here and there, conduct¬ ing preaching service and Sunday school, evangelism by the personal method and educational activity through schools and colleges — these form the first method. Varying success has been registered. Right leadership and proper equipment have made remarkable records possible in some places, notably Salt Lake City, while insufficiently supported effort elsewhere has meant a lack of results commensurate with the opportunity. .our present Italian work in Denver The other method has been stated by an authority on Mormonism in this way : “Our greatest work has been in forcing Mormonism to change its attitude toward evangelical truth. Three great results have followed evangelical effort in Utah and have more than justified our expendi¬ tures there: 1. Evangelical missionary activity forced the Mormon church to install a first-class public school system. When that system was installed the doom of old Mor¬ monism was sealed. Their children afford a fertile field for evangelical effort. 2. Evangelical effort in Utah has forced the Mormon Church to change its attitude toward the United States govern¬ ment and become measurably patriotic. 3. Most important in recent years has been the gradual shifting of Mormon emphasis from non-Christian doctrines. The book of Mormon has been losing in importance, and the Bible has gained,” MOUNTAIN 383 Spanish work.— The eighteen churches and more than 1,000 members indicate somewhat the achievements in this impor¬ tant Spanish-speaking work, a district of the New Mexico Conference. The real prog¬ ress has been recent, however, as our church has been doing religious work for more than fifty years among Spanish peo¬ ple in New Mexico, Arizona and along the border, and has never until now had more than a few adobe huts as centers of wor¬ ship. Increased benevolent giving has helped these people build fit places for worship. The chief center of Methodist work among the Spanish-speaking people in the Mountain states is in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here a substantial congregation has been gathered in spite of the lack of a building. Its services are held in the afternoons in the American church. Here also is located an institution for develop¬ ing a leadership for the Spanish-speaking work, the Harwood School for Boys, for¬ merly known as Albuquerque College. A school for leaders. — Back in 1892, Dr. Thomas Harwood, early missionary to the Spanish-speaking people in the South¬ west, embarked on the enterprise of a school. He started the Boys’ Biblical and Industrial School at Socorro in 1892. It was later transferred to Albuquerque, a site secured and buildings erected. Each year witnesses an increased enrolment and some years students are turned away for lack of accommodations. The enrol¬ ment is in excess of one hundred. It has seventy acres of land, two school buildings and two residences, but equipment and quarters are both inadequate. Courses are given in agriculture. There are literary societies, and a John Wesley The class of 1922, Harwood Industrial School, (W. H. M. S.) Albuquerque, New Mexico Club, composed of a number of splendid young Spanish-Americans preparing for Christian missionary service. No greater enterprise of statesmanship in solving the Latin American problem is being fostered than this school. For Spanish girls. — Two fine schools for Spanish-speaking girls are maintained in this territory by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. One is the Mary J. Platt Industrial School at Tucson, Ari¬ zona, where domestic science, home train¬ ing and care, sewing and the cultural arts are taught. The other is the Harwood Industrial School at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Last year 120 were enrolled in this school. Spanish congregations. — The most important and best equipped of the Span¬ ish-speaking churches are at Douglas and Tucson. Half way between the center of Douglas and the international boundary line is located Centenary Church, largely built through Centenary aid. Forty per cent of the pop¬ ulation of Douglas are Mexicans, between 6,000 and 7,000 of them. They make up ninety-five per cent of the membership 384 WORLD SERVICE STUDENT WORK AT NON-METHODIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Montana 1 Bozeman, Montana State College of Agri¬ culture and Mechanic Arts. 2 Missoula, Montana State University. Idaho 3 Moscow, University of Idaho. 4 Lewiston, State Normal School. Wyoming 5 Laramie, University of Wyoming. Colorado 6 Greeley, State Teachers’ College of Colo¬ rado. of the church. In four years there were 140 conversions among them. The build¬ ing is equipped for community work. At Deming another splendid Spanish¬ speaking work is carried on. Las Cruces, New Mexico, has about 5,000 people, more than half of whom are Spanish-speaking. A small congregation is maintained there by the heroic efforts of the pastor, in spite of the most severe opposition. He also carries on work at Dona Ana. Lots are owned at Las Cruces, but the congregation 7 Fort Collins, Colorado Agricultural Col¬ lege. 8 Boulder, University of Colorado. 9 Golden, Colorado School of Mines. New Mexico 10 State College, New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Art. Arizona 11 Tucson, University of Arizona. Nevada 12 Reno, University of Nevada. has waited for years for help in securing a building. At Flagstaff, Arizona, is a Methodist Spanish-speaking congregation which worships in a Presbyterian build¬ ing. Although it has no church of its own, it pays its benevolent quotas in full. Another of the preachers in the Spanish District has six preaching places. Ministry to the Indians. — Indian Mis¬ sions are maintained by the Methodist Episcopal Church in New Mexico, Mon¬ tana, Nevada, and Arizona, At Browning, MOUNTAIN 385 Montana, we have a growing and impor¬ tant piece of work among the 3,000 Black- feet Indians, 800 of whom are of school age. Of these 800, only 350 are in govern¬ ment schools. Our missionary is called upon to travel a reservation seventy miles in length and thirty miles in width. The character of the service is extremely varied, touching the school life of the children, looking after the poor, meeting groups in camps and ministering to the sick. Conditions among them are pitiful, as many are blind from trachoma and a large number suffer from tuberculosis. A modern equipment and parsonage are vitally necessary. At Farmington, New Mexico, we main¬ tain a mission school for Navajo children, but there is need of two new buildings, a dormitory and a hospital, and the enlarg¬ ing of our present school house. The present capacity is forty-five children. There are 9,000 children of school age on this reservation, but school facilities to care for only 2,000, leaving 7,000 to grow up in ignorance. At Schurz, Nevada, is the Walker River Reservation with 500 Indians. Our church has the sole respon- I s ( M o N T A N Iliff School of Theology, Denver sibility for their religious training, but the church building is more than forty years old and is in a dangerous condition. Educational pioneering. — No story of the extension of the Kingdom of Christ throughout this vast frontier would be complete without a tribute to those who have blazed much of the trail, the mis¬ sionaries who have sought out the obscure villages and scattered settlements and planted Sunday schools, the usual forerun¬ ner of the church. In mud huts, log school houses, settlers’ shanties, and sometimes in barrooms, they have gathered the little groups together and set them on their spiritual journey. Just as this territory has been sanctified by the footsteps of brave bearers of the flaming cross, so EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools. Montana 1 Helena, Montana Wesleyan College. Idaho 2 Gooding, Gooding College. Colorado 3 Denver, University of Denver. 4 Denver, Iliff School of Theology. Secondary Schools. New Mexico 5 Albuquerque, Harwood Boys’ School (Albuquerque College). 386 WORLD SERVICE today is it being traversed by those who are resolutely carrying forward the frontier Gospel work. Higher education.— Methodism, born in a university, has never ceased to stress the religious value of education or the value of religious education. Along with the frontier church has gone the frontier col¬ lege and both have grown into command¬ ing influence together. This process is under way in the Mountain states. Here our institutions may not be as numerous as in the east, but they are virile, pro¬ gressive and of high ideals, and are alter- Epworth League Institutes. Montana 1 Neihart, Montana State. Schools for City Pastors. Conference Institutes Colorado 10 Denver. Idaho 2 Wood River, Ketchum, Inter Mountain. 3 Smiths Ferry, Ore-Gem District. 4 Coeur d’Alene, Spokane District. 5 Moscow, Moscow District. Colorado 6 Estes Park, Estes Park. 7 Grand Mesa, Cedaredge, Grand Mesa. Arizona 8 Carrs, Arizona. Utah 9 Mt. Timpanogos, American Fork Canyon, Utah Institute. Summer Training Conferences Colorado 11 Denver. Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Montana 12 Helena, Montana Wesleyan. Idaho 13 Gooding, Gooding College. Colorado 14 Denver, Iliff School of Theology. Missionary Summer Conferences. Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society Colorado 15 Boulder (Interdenominational). MOUNTAIN 387 ing the currents of the developing civili¬ zation. At Helena is Montana Wesleyan College and at Gooding, Idaho, is Gooding College. While under separate manage¬ ment, the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology adjoin, and aca¬ demically the School of Theology is related to the University precisely as though it were a graduate school of the University. Iliff School of Theology. — The School of Theology was founded nearly forty years ago in answer to the need of a training school for the ministry in the great territory west of the Mississippi. First a department of Denver University, it later became a separate institution, but standing in friendly relation with it. Privileges of the school are extended upon equal terms to members of all Christian churches. The school offers not only the standard theological training, but also stresses courses in Rural Church Life, Religious Education and Church Methods. Its Rural Church Extension Department and Field Service for Town and Country Churches are of outstanding value to the section in establishing modern community church programs. Denver University. — Denver University has 2,500 or more students. Its Graduate School, the College of Liberal Arts and the Schools of Chemical Engineering, Elec¬ trical Engineering and Pharmacy are on the campus proper. The Dental College, School of Law and School of Commerce are in the business section of the city. Health opportunities. — Thousands jour¬ ney to the Mountain states yearly for their health. The altitude, climatic and atmospheric conditions make it a haven for those afflicted particularly with lung diseases. Many have wealth, but many others spend their last cent in getting to the mountains, often their last hope of earthly life. A number of hospitals for their care are maintained by different organizations of the Methodist Episcopal Church. One is the Methodist Deaconess Hospital at Albu¬ querque, New Mexico, conducted by the Chapel building, University of Denver Woman’s Home Missionary Society. It was opened in 1912 and has a capacity of sixty-six beds. The property consists of two fine buildings and twenty-five cot¬ tages. The most ambitious project of the church is the proposed National Methodist Episcopal Sanatorium for Tuberculosis at Colorado Springs, Colorado. Since 1910 the Woman’s Home Missionary Soci¬ ety has maintained Beth-El Hospital, with 103 beds, at Colorado Springs, one of the best hospital properties in Methodism. Now it has given this $250,000 property to the church at large and under the supervision of the Board of Hospitals and Homes, it is planned to erect a larger institution. The Colorado Springs Cham¬ ber of Commerce has given a new site of twenty-one acres. The first unit of the new institution will have 250 beds. Char¬ ity work will play a large part in the new hospital. Women’s achievements in Montana. — For generations to come the currents of Montana life will feel the spiritual power given in the early days by the pioneering services of the General Deaconess Board and the deaconesses in this frontier state. Hospitals, schools, missions, Sunday schools and other institutions and organi¬ zations were founded by them, and relief work done. 388 WORLD SERVICE The task at hand. — The Mountain states comprise a section of great prom¬ ise. Life is still plastic. Missionary work, it is true, has been going on for half a century, but with an era of tremendous expansion beginning and with fundamen¬ tal social and economic changes under way, the imperative summons comes to the church not merely to continue its labors, but more emphatically to expand its effort and adapt it to the needs of the new day. Just as the downtown city church or the rural church of the East must alter its program to its specific needs, so must there be similar procedure in missionary work on the frontier. Trained leadership is the key. Urgent needs, in addition to those already noted in Mormon territory, which demand immediate response, are many and varied. Arizona village and parish, where Methodist work is struggling with neither parsonage nor church building. Increased support for a Montana pastor who lives in one-room log shack and holds services in old, small, cold, uninviting store building, who preaches at eight other points, and who has or¬ ganized eleven Sunday schools. Replace church erected in early frontier days in a railroad and mining town of 18,000. Church aid in a dry farming region, where people worship in a basement. Proposed National Methodist Episcopal Sana¬ torium for Tuberculosis, Colorado Springs, Colorado Deaconess Nurses in training, Sidney Hospital, Sidney, Montana Church, threatened with closing because of drought, needs immediate help. Hospital project threatened on account of finan¬ cial depression. Support of pastors in isolated mining camps reopening after dull season. Support of missionaries among Spanish-speaking mining camps. New church in frontier town with 600 boys and girls in school. Congregation meets in hall over restaurant. Complete building for congregation now wor¬ shipping in a basement, in a town almost bankrupt. Community church in industrial neighborhood of 10,000 where 500 families in religious census ex¬ pressed Methodist preference. Provide equipment in coal camp where twenty- seven languages are spoken among the 1,800 people. Aid for missionaries on western slope of Col¬ orado under purely frontier conditions. Help to build church for congregation compelled to use hall which is a public place for dances and prize fights, totally unfit for worship. Erect church in primitive frontier town where people worship in a pool hall. New church needed in college town where Methodism is represented by an old one-room building and a tar paper shack for the Sunday school. New church for Indian Mission where building has been condemned. Support for missionary pastors in drought-towns. PACIFIC STATES iimmmmii'iiiimimiMiiiiiHii WASHINGTON OREGON CALIFORNIA WASH. Distribution of Methodist Episcopal churches in the Pacific states IRRIGATION — THE MAGICIAN CF THE WEST \ \y From the higher plane of political and intellectual and moral interests the Pacific Basin will be the one great theater of human events for all the centuries to come. James W. Bashford PACIFIC STATES A New World in the Making Looking East through the Golden Gate. — The world-seer no longer stands within the portals of America and looking toward the setting sun thinks of the Pacific Coast as the farthest western portion of the United States. In the shift and development of world affairs, he has taken a new point of observation. It is beyond the ocean shore, and he has turned his face toward the ris¬ ing sun. Looking east through the Golden Gate, he sees the eastern boundary of the Pacific Basin. As the eastern rim of the Pacific Basin, the Pacific states form a new world in the making. They are in the circle of the greatest population centers of the earth and of the countries which are the markets of the future. Around that rim will be found Canada, Alaska, Siberia, Man¬ churia, Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Australia, the islands of the south Pacific, South and Central America — lands that are awaken¬ ing and demanding and giving the fruits of modern civilization. From the United States, the port of entry to it is the Pacific Coast. Atlantic trade has been a paramount influence in the expansion of our eastern states. What expansion of trade with the Orient and South America will mean to the Pacific states, no prophet is needed to foretell. The era of indus¬ trialism and intensified agriculture al¬ ready has begun. The possibilities are endless. A half century may easily see our western coast as thickly settled and as highly developed as the eastern. America’s fastest growing region. — As if prophetic of a new epoch, the growth of Washington, Oregon and California for the last cen¬ sus decade, 1910-20, has been the most rapid of any geograph¬ ical division of the United 391 392 WORLD SERVICE States, 32.8 per cent. The population in 1920 was 5,556,871, an increase of 1,374,- 564 in ten years. Of that number, 1,033,868 were foreign-born and 47,790 were Negroes. The increase in foreign- born was twenty per cent and of Negroes 63.7 per cent. A strong urbanizing in¬ fluence is indicated over a thirty-year period. In 1890, the population was 42.5 per cent urban and 57.5 rural, while in 1920 it had changed to 62.4 per cent urban and 37.6 per cent rural. Illiterates numbered 123,435 or 2.7 per cent. Pacific Coast cities.— Los Angeles, a mecca for a large migration, transient and permanent, from the East and Middle West, due to its climate and scenery, with 576,673 people, is the metropolis of the Pacific Coast states. It gained 257,475 people between 1910 and 1920, one of the three fastest growing cities of more than 100,000 population in the United States. San Francisco with 506,676 people, for a generation the largest city on the coast, is now in second place. With Oakland’s 216,261 people, however, and other com¬ munities just across the bay from San Francisco, the “bay region” forms the heaviest populated metropolitan area on the coast. San Francisco not only is the Golden Gate to the sea, but is also a gate¬ way to the great California Valley. Her steamships reach out to Asia, Alaska, Australia, South America, and through the Panama Canal to the eastern states and to Europe. Seattle, on Puget Sound, a deep and beautiful body of water, has enough har¬ bors to hold ten times the ships of all the world. Tacoma near by with 96,965 peo¬ ple has access to the same harbor facili¬ ties, and the city and industrial prophets of the future predict ultimately a great Puget Sound city, one of the densely pop¬ ulated centers of America. Portland, the “Rose City” with 258,288 people, the fourth coast city in size, on the Willamette River, a short distance from the Columbia, has deepened her harbor so that the largest ships can enter, greatly increasing her foreign trade. As from San Francisco, the steamship lines from Portland and Puget Sound carry food and factory goods to Alaska ; lumber, machin¬ ery, cotton and flour to the Orient and Latin America, and are building a heavy export trade through the Panama Canal. These four metropolitan centers of the Pacific coast have been and are still rivals for supremacy. Our interest in them is not which one will be first in industry and commerce, but which one will first become a city of God. The Coast spirit.-An optimistic spirit of achievement is characteristic of the Pacific states, and the section is conscious of a future. The unparalleled develop¬ ments of irrigation projects and of water power, the rapid stride of the cities and the tremendous projects under way in in¬ dustry and the opening up of new lands for grain and fruit-raising, are indicative of this development. Conservatism may still exist in some of the older sections which had their first development in the gold rush in 1849, but they too are falling into the march of progress. Where Methodism Stands The statistical record.— The Methodist Episcopal Church has in this section 174,- 501 members, of whom 166,170 are white English-speaking, 820 are Latin, 2,339 are German, 2,363 Scandinavian, 1,993 Orien¬ tal, and 462 Indian. In the Sunday-school enrolment are 225,972 English-speaking white, 1,931 Latin, 2,647 German, 2,566 Scandinavian, 871 Indian, and 2,243 Oriental. There are 1,202 churches, of which 1,072 are white, English-speaking, eleven Latin, forty-one German, forty-one Scandinavian, twenty-two Oriental, and ten Indian. The net value of churches and parsonages is $15,645,191, while the total local expenses for 1922 were $4,480,- 142. Benevolences were $1,483,418. The total paid for all purposes was $5,963,560 for the year, a per capita giving of $34.17, the largest of all the geographical divi¬ sions. Bishop Leonard states that there never has been a time when the Methodist Epis- PACIFIC 393 copal Church on the Pacific Coast was in as commanding a position as it is today, and expresses the conviction that we are facing an utterly unprecedented situation, demanding churches for new rapidly growing communities, and adapting and re-locating many churches due to shifting populations. In the great Northwest, Bishop Shepard affirms that the Methodist Episcopal Church today stands first among all the denominations numerically, and is prob¬ ably first in its educational and philan¬ thropic work. He and his co-laborers are laying strong and wide foundations for the future. His greatest problem is the securing of capable men. Problems Facing the Church In rural territory. — While the Pacific states are classified as frontier territory, they do not present the rural missionary problem in terms of scattered settlements and isolated families in the proportion that the Mountain states do. In the eastern sections of Washington and Ore¬ gon, particularly, will be found the ranch¬ ers and homesteaders, but the bulk of the farm population is in the Puget Sound- Willamette Valley regions. New irrigation projects, opening up large farming territories, are character¬ istic of the region. California leads the nation in irrigation development, its enor¬ mous output of fruit and grain being largely attributed thereto. In Oregon, more than 1,000,000 acres are under irrigation, and projects for 2,000,000 more acres are under way. Washington has large irri¬ gated districts all the way from its southern part to the Canadian boundary. Between the old and new pioneering, there is a vital difference. Opening up virgin prairies to set¬ tlement often meant half a century of missionary support before the com¬ munity became sufficiently populated or prosperous to make a strong, self- 26 sustaining church. The new irrigation development is almost a mathematical certainty, and the missionary project should become the missionary-giving church in one-fifth to one-third the time the former required. Speed, therefore, is a large element in the irrigation project missionary program. Quick and liberal action by the church at large is necessary if responsible religious work is to be established. The logging camps. — The many thou¬ sands of men who live in the bunk houses, work in the timber and are beset by vice and iniquity offer not only one of the most picturesque but also one of the most im¬ portant home missionary opportunities be¬ fore the church. Many of them help to form that large army of migrant workers with no vital spiritual life and sometimes out of touch with civilization itself. “In the Puget Sound Conference” writes one of our sky pilots in Washington, “there are 962 lumber camps, employing 25,690 men, and 1,031 mills, employing 72,545 men. Some of these camps are thirty-five miles or more from a settlement and are reached only by the logging camp railroad. The territory covered by one of our three lumber camp evangelists is thirty-six miles long and here are more than 3,000 people of whom only two and one-half per cent are professing Chris¬ tians. Of the 700 public school children, only a very few know what a Sunday school is like. “In these camps bolshevism, I.W.W.’ism, and ultra radical teachings thrive. Work ceases early in the day and during the long Community Rally at Ramapo, Washington — set up by field representative of Board of Sunday Schools 394 WORLD SERVICE winter nights the men gather in the bunk- houses, where many of them gamble, argue, and sometimes fight. Hospital vis¬ itation is an important part of the pro¬ gram of thrift, health, education and evan¬ gelism of the camps, and this Christlike ministration is not soon forgotten by the men. A number of regular pastors assist in this camp work. Sunday schools are organized, and many men have united with the churches near these camps, over 200 taking this step in one camp.” Race groups.— Spanish-speaking, prin¬ cipally Mexicans, are the predominant foreign-speaking groups faced by the church in the Pacific states. Large col¬ onies of southern Europeans, principally Italians, will be found in several cities, and the task of reaching them with evan¬ gelical Christianity is similar to the in¬ dustrial cities of the East. Chinese in the three states numbered 34,265 in 1920, distributed as follows: 2,363 in Washington, 3,090 in Oregon, and 28,812 in California. Japanese totalled 93,490 in the Pacific group, California having 71,952, Oregon 4,151 and Wash¬ ington 17,387. The Chinese population is steadily decreasing, due to the death rate, and voluntary migration back to China. The Japanese are steadily increasing, due to the incoming of “picture brides” up to a recent date, the establishment of family life and the rearing of large families of children. The Chinese come for a sojourn, the Japanese to colonize and to build a permanent community life. The essential problem faced by the church concerning the Orientals is not the form of its missionary service. The type of ministry which succeeds abroad is adaptable here. The success of home mis¬ sions already attained among the Japanese and Chinese is the proof. But the church must create a Christian basis for the solu¬ tion of interracial problems between the native Americans and the Orientals. Rapid growth of the cities. — Rapid in¬ crease of population always offers a chal¬ lenge to the church. Suburban com¬ munities spring up with amazing speed, and although they bespeak prosperity in appearance, yet they are investment op¬ portunities which have always been recog¬ nized by the church. Most of the new homes are sold on the basis of a small cash payment and the rest in instalments that generally consume the financial mar¬ gin of those struggling to get established. Hence the need for help in building churches and providing the right leader¬ ship which will at the very start command the respect of the community. Methodist Episcopal Achievements Off the beaten track.— Sixty miles from the railroad is located Fall River Mills, California, a three circuit charge. The entire field is almost completely iso¬ lated, yet a rather exten¬ sive agricultural and in¬ dustrial development has taken place. A home mis¬ sionary pastor is minis¬ tering to the needs of the people in this remote ter¬ ritory. At Cedarville in Surprise Valley in the northern part of the state, there are three points where preaching is main¬ tained with a membership of 170, This valley will PACIFIC 395 some day be largely developed through irrigation. In a remote district in eastern Washington, a survey some time ago showed 104 school districts with no reli¬ gious service. The population in all of them is 4,000. A missionary, supported by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, conducts preaching service and Sunday school in many of them, and wins many to the Christian way of life. These are typical missionary enterprises in the isolated regions of the Pacific states. In the towns. — A successful community work and an adequate building has meant new life in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Pasco, Washington. A com¬ paratively new brick block was bought and remodelled, providing a splendid audi¬ torium and other rooms for social, recrea¬ tional, welfare and other activities. It has a pastor’s study and a church office, besides housing many organizations. Be¬ fore the building was purchased and the community program was promulgated, the membership met for worship in a small one-room and one-day-in-seven church. The membership was less than half a hundred with a Sunday morning attend¬ ance of twenty people. The membership has since passed 200 and the average at¬ tendance exceeds that number. The Sun¬ day-school enrolment in the old church was eighty-six, with an average attend¬ ance of fifty. Today the enrolment is 366, with an average attendance of 200. At Bend, Oregon, a church adequately equipped is steadily progressing in relat- A Centenary project — East Bakersfield Methodist Episcopal Church Bunk house of a lumber camp ing itself to every constructive phase of community life. At Lakeview, Oregon, the Methodist Episcopal Church is preparing for the growth of the community through enlarged lumber industry and through ex¬ tensive irrigation projects. These community churches and others like them are types of those which the progressive mind of the Pacific Coast is expected to develop in the course of the coming decade. Among the lumberjacks. — Methodism’s ministry to the men who work in the for¬ ests is two-fold : that rendered by the pas¬ tors of towns and villages in the lumber regions, who go out into the camps and render what service they are able: the other is that performed by missionaries commissioned for the particular task. Primitive conditions and hardships are often their portion, but nowhere is a more thrilling achievement being rendered in the name of the Kingdom. During one month, one of these sky pilots to the lumberjacks made thirty camp calls and gave twenty camp talks; collected 8,000 magazines and delivered 5,000 of them among these men who are out of touch with the world ; made twenty hospital visits and 100 calls on the sick; wrote a letter to the State Industrial In¬ surance Department concerning a logger’s claim ; delivered two people to the hospital and took one home ; took twenty-five bou¬ quets to hospital ; installed at a hospital a good standard library purchased with gifts from citizens of the community; 396 WORLD SERVICE preached eight times ; had three professed conversions ; conducted two funerals , added five members to the church; and visited three Sunday schools. Among the miners.— For thirty years efforts of Protestantism to maintain a ministry in the great coal fields of the state of Washington have been notoriously weak. Yet a remarkable piece of service is being rendered by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension at Wilke- son, one of the most important mining centers of the state. Here a Methodist Episcopal pastor is interpreting the mes¬ sage of the Kingdom among a population of 4,000 Austrians, Italians, Finns, Welsh, Poles, Germans, Slovaks, English, Swedes, Bohemians, Hungarians, French, Scotch, Belgians, Swiss, Russians, and Canadians. The only other churches are an unused Greek Catholic and a small Roman Cath¬ olic with services once a month. Vice, and gambling have long run wide open. When the missionary pastor arrived two years ago, he found a small Sunday school of three teachers and twenty-five children. There are now nine classes with an average attendance of ninety-four, a boys’ club of twenty, a girls’ club of sixteen, and a Junior choir of sixteen. The attendance at preaching services has increased from sixteen to 140. A Thanksgiving service had an attendance of 300, and a Christmas entertainment of 800. Welfare and so¬ cial work are being developed and the Our Chinese church in San Francisco— W.H.M.S. building in rear community life is gradually being trans¬ formed. Among the Chinese.— The Pacific Chi¬ nese Mission, with an English-speaking superintendent, has eighteen appoint¬ ments, all of them in charge of Chinese pastors. Only one of them is listed as “to be supplied,” the work now being con¬ templated among the 500 Chinese in San Antonio, Texas. These appointments are all in California except the churches at Phoenix, Arizona; Reno, Nevada, and San Antonio, Texas. We have six schools for the teaching of Chinese to children and young people, and nine evening schools for the teaching of English to young men. We have boys in these schools who are sons of fathers now in China who them¬ selves were trained in our schools. Many men who are of great influence in civic and moral life in China were thus started in their American training by us. Our immediate necessity is for teachers and workers who have both the English and Chinese languages, which means that our leaders must have specialized training. The Pacific Japanese Mission. — The Pa¬ cific Japanese Mission is divided into six groups, four of which are in California. They are the San Francisco Bay region, with five centers of work ; the Sacramento Valley, with six centers; the San Joaquin Valley, with two centers; and Southern California with four centers. In Wash¬ ington and Oregon there are several ap¬ pointments. The following activities are listed in nearly every church: worship and evan¬ gelism ; religious education ; social service ; recreation ; welfare ; and Americanization. Los Angeles and Los Angeles County have the largest Japanese population of any town and county in the United States. Our substantial and growing Methodist congregation, now inadequately housed, is planning for a splendid new building. In Berkeley a large Japanese student body attends the University of California. The Sacramento Valley is a natural cen¬ ter for Japanese work. Two missions, PACIFIC 397 at Florin and Loomis have already grown out of the Sacramento Mission. The mother church continues to show remark¬ able vitality. In a few months thirty-five children and many adults were baptized. The membership and Sunday school each exceed one hundred. In the Oakland Japa¬ nese Church is strong Americanization and evangelistic work. Among its 198 members are business men, merchants, laborers, and students. Brawley is our Japanese center in the Imperial Valley. The whole section has been allocated to the Methodist Episcopal Church by the Oriental Missions Council. The Anglo-Japanese School. — In San Francisco is one of the oldest features of our Pacific Japanese Mission. From the Anglo-Japanese School have come a large number of the finest type of Christians, both ministers and laymen, including one ambassador from Japan to the United States. It is largely self-sustaining. In 1922, 282 students were enrolled, of whom 252 were men and thirty were women. Nearly all were graduates of grammar schools in Japan, others of high schools, and a few from the Imperial University at Tokyo. The Latin American Mission. — Impor¬ tant advances in recent years in the work among Mexicans and other Spanish¬ speaking people, especially in New Mex¬ ico, Arizona, and California, indicate pos¬ sibilities of reaching Mexico with the message of Protestantism from this point of vantage. In California, we have twenty-six cir¬ cuits for Mexicans, covering fifty-four points. Through schools, social service, and a varied ministry, these Latin Ameri¬ cans are slowly but surely seeing the meaning of the Gospel of Christ. The progress which is possible is illustrated by Selma, California, where, after a mis¬ sionary worker was put in the field, the local forces got together and built a chapel for the Mexicans. In one year 179 people were added to the church, and the pastor has reached out to three other points where he has organized missions and se- The Centenary provided this new parsonage for our Mexican pastor at Calexico cured volunteer workers converted in his own mission to lead these new centers. Employed here is a well-trained Mexican deaconess, herself a product of the work. One of the converts was a bootlegger who after his conversion not only destroyed his liquor supply but sought out the man from whom he had stolen the grapes and in¬ sisted on paying for them ! The Plaza Community Center. — The Plaza Community Center of Los Angeles is the very heart of our Mexican work in California. Besides the transient popula¬ tion there is a more or less permanent Mexican population of about 15,000 in this one parish. For years Methodist work on the Plaza has been carried on in two small, one- story frame structures, so cramped that often it has been necessary to use a single room for six different purposes. Yet, in spite of such handicaps, a program has been developed which includes seven reli¬ gious services in Spanish each week; three jail services; the distribution of tracts and Scriptures; the Plaza Christian Training School for Mexican theological students and young women missionaries; a Sunday school with a membership of 220; Ep- worth League with attendance of ninety; Epworth League Gospel team, doing un¬ excelled extension work; classes in nurs¬ ing, homemaking, dietetics, and the care of infants; a day nursery for children of working mothers; young men’s, women’s and girls’ clubs; special social events, pic¬ nics, suppers, socials and hikes ; an em¬ ployment bureau; a medical clinic; relief work and a legal consultation service. 398 WORLD SERVICE Manual training — Spanish-American Institute, Gardena, California During a recent twelve months, 15,000 people came to the Plaza Community Cen¬ ter for special consultation, 5,400 applica¬ tions for work were received and 1,500 jobs secured, 19,440 attended services at the church. Long delayed plans for a new building are now being realized. This one institution so strategically located is rendering an incalculable personal minis¬ try in interpreting the spirit of Jesus Christ, both to Old Mexico and to the multitudes of Mexicans who within recent years have found refuge in America. The Gardena school. — The Spanish- American Institute at Gardena, organized seven years ago, has today the greatest attendance on record, enrolling 100 pupils, and furnishing for Mexican boys who do not know English an opportunity to get an education in a fine social and Chris¬ tian environment. It offers a definite training to fit them to meet the needs of the Mexican people. The school owns twenty acres of productive land on which have been erected eight buildings. The Frances De Pauw School in Los Angeles is a similar school in practical training for Spanish-speaking girls con¬ ducted by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. Other Latin groups.— For several years Filipinos — mostly young men, alert, loyal Americans, have been migrating to Amer¬ ica, many settling on the Pacific Coast, especially in San Francisco and Southern California. It has resulted in the forma¬ tion of the Filipino Christian Fellowship, composed of students and business and professional folk. Each Sunday after¬ noon there is a devotional service followed by a social hour. The membership has passed the one hundred mark. It has resulted in the promo¬ tion of friendship, and good will. Many Portuguese are in Oakland, Tulare, Stock- ton and the Santa Clara Valley. Several circuits have been formed, and our missionary pastors have succeeded in establishing centers of work and worship and are gradually winning the confidence of the people. Summing up. — A nine months’ report of the Latin American mission is illuminat¬ ing. “We have held or assisted in 7,783 meetings with an attendance of 89,053; 3,134 sermons have been preached, 48,039 visits made ; workers have traveled 128,477 miles, placed 2,514 copies of God’s Word, given out 38,242 tracts, and distributed food or clothing in 2,279 cases of need.” During a year there were 650 conversions, 113 baptisms, 150 received into full membership, and 282 into pre¬ paratory membership; 1,616 additional ad¬ herents were reported. Methodism in the cities. — Methodism is proving in the Pacific Coast cities that it can adapt itself to metropolitan conditions and can solve the city problem. For half a century the First Church of Sacramento held faithfully to its task of a conventional ministry. Then the new Class in English for Mexican women. Plaza Community Center, Los Angeles PACIFIC 399 Frances De Pauw Spanish School — an institution of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society flood poured in — Japa¬ nese, Chinese, Portuguese, Italians, Serbs, Poles, Hungarians, Hindus, Greeks and Mexicans. Thirty - one nationalities in all took possession of that portion of the city. Though losing in member¬ ship, the old church did not falter. With far vision, it began adjustment to meet the even greater needs of the poly¬ glot population. The new program in¬ cluded service to the needs of its immedi¬ ate community. It became known as “American Center.” During a recent winter of severe unemployment, 20,000 men received free shelter and food and work was found for hundreds. During the same winter, the gospel in Spanish and English was preached to 20,000 men at regular Sunday public worship and at week-night street meetings. Services are conducted in five languages — Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Eng¬ lish. On one occasion 700 Japanese were present. A Church of All Nations. — In a parish of 60,000 people of forty-two nationalities, is the Los Angeles Church of All Nations. Poverty, congestion, bad housing, vice and crime are some of the social problems. The section produces more juvenile delin¬ quents than any other part of the city. Except for a small school playground and that of the church, there is no play space for more than five thousand children of school age. There are five hundred indus¬ trial establishments in the parish. A thorough survey revealed the needs. The work was begun, a staff built up, and the program for the future adopted. The playground and social rooms became the haven for hundreds in their search for recreation and for friendship. Clubs, classes, and group organizations were formed. At present the attendance at all activities is running 1,800 per week, the capacity of the present quarters. Plans are under way for new buildings which will provide for worship, religious education, social service, and recreation. The new location is on one of the main thorough¬ fares of the city. Help from the church at large is necessary to make pos¬ sible this enlarged plan to care for 5,000 needy people per week in a widely varied ministry. For the abundant life. — Woodland Park Church, Seattle, has under way a new community church plant, the first unit of which provides equipment for religious ed¬ ucation and social recreational features. Its community church creed is: “Jesus came that men might have abundant life. This church will be built to help folks find that abundance for every department of life.” At Portland, the list of church projects inspired, aided and brought to successful completion, or now in process of con- Class in children’s department, Church of All Nations, Los Angeles 400 WORLD SERVICE struction as the result of Centenary effort, is the testimony of the vision and intelli¬ gent devotion of our church leaders to Portland’s larger needs. The entire Port¬ land district has been lifted in physical equipment and morale. In Tacoma, Central Church was con¬ demned by the building inspector. Its SUMMER SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTES Epworth League Institutes Washington 1 First Creek, Lake Chelan, Lake Chelan. 2 Yakima, Soda Springs. 3 Redondo Beach, Puget Sound, Epworth Heights. Oregon 4 Joseph, Wallowa Lake. 5 Ashland, Ashland. 6 Falls City, Falls City. membership represented meager financial resources, many of their bread winners being out of work. So the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension and the larger churches in Tacoma came to the rescue by providing a new worthy build¬ ing which houses the social and religious work and the Goodwill Industries for the California 7 Huntington Beach, Pacific Palisades. 8 Sierra Chautauqua, High Sierras. 9 Yosemite Valley, Camp 6, Yosemite. 10 Camp Belle via Tahoe, Lake Tahoe. 11 Arroyo Grande, Arroyo Grande. 12 Castle Crags, Shasta. 13 Asilomar, Asilomar. 14 Guernewood Park, Guerneville, Russian River. Summer Schools of Religious Education. Washington 15 Tacoma, College of Puget Sound. California 16 Eos Angeles, University of Southern Cali¬ fornia. Schools for City Pastors. Conference Institutes California 17 Fresno. Summer Schools for Town and Rural Pastors. Washington 18 Pullman, Washington State College (Inter¬ denominational). Oregon 19 Salem, Kimball School of Theology. California 20 San Jose, College of the Pacific. Summer Schools of Theology. California 21 Los Angeles, University of Southern Cali¬ fornia. Missionary Summer Conferences. Missionary Education Movement Washington 22 Seabeck. California 23 Asilomar. Woman’s Home Missionary Society California 24 Los Angeles (Interdenominational). Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society Washington 25 Seabeck (Interdenominational). California 26 Los Angeles (Interdenominational). 27 Mount Hermon (Interdenominational). 28 Asilomar (Interdenominational). PACIFIC 401 community. Bethany Church has com¬ pleted a new community hall equipped with much needed Sunday-school rooms, a fine gymnasium, and a social center. In Spokane, capital of the Inland Em¬ pire, Centenary Church, with a parish population of 40,000, has supplanted its old one-room building with a modern plant adapted to community service. Goodwill Industries. — One of the most interesting of the Goodwill Industries is located at San Francisco, growing out of a free employment bureau conducted by a downtown pastor. He served two years without salary, putting in $1,000 of his own money to get the enterprise started. The third year it did $80,000 worth of business. In Los Angeles the Goodwill Industries largely serve the Mexican population. Women’s Home Missions. — Schools, kin¬ dergartens, relief work and religious min¬ istry comprise the characteristic service of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society throughout the Pacific states. Japanese, Italians, Chinese, Mexicans, Koreans, and other nationalities are among those helped. Indian stations. — Methodism’s ministry to the North American Indians, in the Pacific states, is larger than in any other division of the country, except the East North Central states, where the number of missions is the same, fourteen. At Nespelem, Washington, forty miles back It carries its own sign, and is located in San Francisco from the railroad, dozens of Indian young men gather nightly at the church. The only other place open is the pool hall. A community house would enable the church greatly to enlarge its work. On the Siletz reservation in Oregon, Methodism has the sole responsibility among six hundred Indians. Our church has a membership of more than one hundred. A demonstra¬ tion farm is maintained at the Beatty, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Colleges, Universities and Professional Schools. Washington 1 Tacoma, College of Puget Sound. Oregon 2 Salem, Willamette University. 3 Salem, Kimball School of Theology. California 4 Los Angeles, University of Southern Cal¬ ifornia. 5 Los Angeles, McClay School of Religion. 6 San Jose, College of the Pacific. Training Schools. Washington 7 Seattle (D), Northwest Training School. California 8 San Francisco (WHMS & D), San Fran¬ cisco National Training School. Seattle 7 ifcTacoma 1 WASHINGTON s V i 402 WORLD SERVICE Methodist Book Concern building, San Francisco Oregon, mission. Round Valley is one of our important California Indian missions, allocated to us by the Home Missions Council. White Swan, Washington, is on the Yakima reservation, and is the out¬ come of work begun by Jason Lee. Educationj — Among the colleges and universities, some of them among the fore¬ most and progressive in the world, Meth¬ odism, true to her tradition, has a large representation. In Tacoma, the College of Puget Sound has just completed a $1,500,000 campaign for building and endowment. A magnifi¬ cent campus has been purchased and it is expected that the new buildings will soon be constructed. At Salem, Oregon, Willamette Univer¬ sity, which is the oldest educational insti¬ tution west of the Rocky Mountains, has just increased its endowment to $2,000,- 000, and has received new funds fPr build¬ ing and equipment. Kimball School of Theology at Salem has recently been re¬ organized and is filling a larger place in the thought of the church. The University of Southern California in Los Angeles is now entering upon a ten-million-dollar campaign for endow¬ ment. A new building will be erected to house the activities of the McClay School of Religion. The university is not only an institution of strong, Christian influence, but serves all the needs of the great mu¬ nicipal university. The College of the Pacific at San Jose has recently secured a million and a half dollars in endowment, and is planning to relocate at Stockton, the doorway to the great San Joaquin Valley. The national training schools at Seattle and San Francisco are Deaconess and STUDENT WORK AT NON-METHODIST EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Washington 1 Pullman, State College of Washington. 2 Seattle, University of Washington. Oregon 3 Eugene, University of Oregon. 4 Corvallis, Oregon Agricultural College. California 5 Davis, University of California, Agricul¬ tural Experiment Station. 6 Berkeley, University of California, PACIFIC 403 HOSPITALS AND HOMES OF THE METH¬ ODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Hospitals. Washington 1 Spokane, Maria Beard Deaconess Hos¬ pital. 2 Wenatchee, Central Washington Dea¬ coness Hospital. 3 Seattle, Seattle General Hospital. California 4 Los Angeles Methodist Hospital of Southern California. Homes for the Aged. Oregon 5 Salem, Methodist Old People’s Home. California 6 Los Angeles, Pacific Old People’s Home. 7 Stockton, Bethany Old People’s Home. 8 Oakland, Beulah Rest Home, Homes for Children. Washington 9 Everett, Deaconess Children’s Home. 10 Seattle, Catherine P. Blaine Home. 11 Seattle, Lyng Home for Girls. California 12 La Verne, David and Margaret Home. 13 Gardena, Spanish American Institute. 14 Los Angeles, Frances M. DePauw Span¬ ish School. 15 Los Angeles, Norwegian-Danish Home for Girls. 16 Oakland, Fred Finch Orphanage. 17 San Francisco, Ellen Stark Ford Home. 18 San Francisco, McKinley Orphanage. 19 San Francisco Methodist Episcopal Chinese Home. Woman’s Home Missionary Society enter¬ prises. Wesley Foundation beginnings. — The Pacific states report at least 5,000 Meth¬ odist students at non-Methodist institu¬ tions. In Oregon the work done by our churches at the state college centers, Eugene and Corvallis, is of vital impor¬ tance. The enrolment of Methodist stu¬ dents at the Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis, already equals the membership of the church. A modern church building is now in process which will make possible a social and religious ministry for the thousands of young people who through the years will be entrusted to the Corvallis Church. At Seattle, near the University of Washington, two dwellings have been purchased and have been remodeled to form very satisfactory temporary quar¬ ters for study groups, conferences with students, and social functions. The Bible car at San Franciscg 404 WORLD SERVICE At Berkeley, California, an unusually constructive work among the students at the state university is being done by Trin¬ ity Church. Enlargement plans call for an educational building, a social center, and an auditorium to seat 1,200 people. Methodist work is also being established at the State Agricultural College of Wash¬ ington at Pullman and at the California Agricultural Experiment Station at Davis. Social service. — The organized philan¬ thropy of the church is represented in nineteen hospitals, homes and orphanages scattered through the three states. Among them is the Deaconess Hospital at Spo¬ kane, with building and equipment valued at $500,000, the Deaconess Hospital at Wenatchee, Washington, valued at $150,- 000, and the General Hospital at Seattle. Typical needs. — Rapid growth in popu¬ lation and the opening up of new regions for settlement constitute the missionary problem and opportunity. The opportu¬ nity is the field, the problem is the enlist¬ ment of leadership and resources sufficient to meet the need. Immediate needs, in¬ volving vital work already started, are pressing in the Pacific states: New building in industrial section of city where people of little means now worship in old, decrepit structure. Worker to reach sailors and civilian mechanics at large naval station. New building for Mexican congregation now crowded into an old, unsuitable building. Community house for Italian congregation now housed in structure repulsive to those who love the beautiful. New church for Indian congregation now wor¬ shipping in an old, abandoned government ware¬ house, which looks more like a barn than a church. Community building for Indian reservation where only destructive forces provide any social life. Church to reach 3,500 unchurched Italians and Portuguese in industrial community. Community church building for parish of 20,000 near large shipbuilding plants. Social center for Norwegian-Danish congrega¬ tion, ministering to many foreign-speaking sailors. Support of worker in Japanese community where Buddhist influences are strong. Expansion of foreign-speaking school work to meet the demands upon it. Completion of Japanese Mission building stra¬ tegically located in large city and able to do influ¬ ential work. Community center for church in parish of 60,000, mostly Japanese and Jews. Church doing a large work with inadequate equipment. Parsonage in Mexican border town with a pop¬ ulation of about 5,000. New church to replace a shack which is falling apart, located in dry farming region turning to irrigation. Population of 3,500 expected largely to increase. Replace condemned building in rapidly growing educational center. Community church building in mining commu¬ nity of 4,000 with ten pool rooms and dance halls. Church in center of irrigated fruit growing region, a packing house now being used for part of growing Methodist work. Our sole respon¬ sibility in population of 3,600. Looking forward. — “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” may well be ap¬ plied to the church. Methodism has lived because it has seen the spiritual poverty of mankind and has sought to provide the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus. True to its commission, it has moved westward with the multitudes who have gone out to build new empires. It journeys on with Anglo-Saxonism as it makes its final stand on the Pacific Coast. It now steps beyond the shores and faces east again, looking through the Golden Gate and viewing the Pacific Coast as the eastern rim of the Pacific Basin. It sees there a land of vast missionary opportunity, a portion of the earth’s territory which in the future is destined to have a profound influence on all the rest of the world. It has set its hand to the plow to till the soil and sow the seeds of the kingdom of Christ that a new world may come forth. Having set its hand to the plow, it will not turn back. Life Service Assembly of the Epworth League, California Conference THE TERRITORIES imiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimiimimii) ALASKA HAWAII PORTO RICO THE NOME LIMITED The United States government wiped out yellow fever by abolishing unsanitary conditions. The church must wipe out immorality and irreligion by processes of edu¬ cation, worship and community service. THE TERRITORIES ALASKA A Land of Treasure Shall we give as we get? — When William H. Seward paid seven million dollars for 590,900 square miles of ice and snow, most of the United States united in derision. Yet “Seward’s Folly” has turned out to contain an amazing wealth of gold, cop¬ per, tin and coal, millions of acres that can be cultivated and waters teeming with salmon. But, although the country is as large as all the United States east of the Missis¬ sippi with the exception of Florida, the population in 1920 was only 55,036 — almost 10,000 less than in 1910. This decrease in the popula¬ tion • is, of course, due to the fact that Alaska yields her riches only to the hardi¬ est and most determined of men. Nor will spiritual victo¬ ries be won in this stern land save by the display of the same sort of courage that has marked the search for material wealth. Since gold was discovered in the Yukon men have gone to Alaska almost exclu¬ sively to get something from her. Today we are beginning to see that the future depends upon our willingness to give something to her. The spiritual welfare of her Americans, English, Spanish, and Norwegians, as well as the Aleuts, Atha- baskan Indians and Eskimos depends upon the service which the Christian church renders. Alaska today. — Alaska is America’s last frontier. Its inaccessibility is being somewhat changed by the building of railways but it is still true that, after one leaves the three short lines so far developed, the only means of travel is by mushing it on foot or by dog- sled over trails that are passa¬ ble only during the severe winter 407 408 WORLD SERVICE Old hospital, Nome, Alaska months. Settlements are widely scattered and communication difficult. The white population is of an extremely shifting character. Much of it “goes out” during the winter to Seattle, San Francisco or southern California. While in Alaska, white men wander from one mining camp to another, or from one fish¬ ery to the next, ever on the search for higher wages and almost never settling. Besides white men, the Indians and Es¬ kimos, present a missionary problem. Only a slight advance has been made toward the evangelization of these. The Program of the Church A defined territory. — In the face of the problems of distance and communications, the Christian churches in Alaska have wisely delimited the territory for which each is responsible. A glance at the map on page 406 will show that the Methodist Episcopal Church is at work at Ketchikan, Petersburg, Juneau, Seward, Skagway, Nome, Fair¬ banks, and Unalaska. The funds availa¬ ble have been too limited to care even for these restricted responsibilities. Methodist church and parsonage, Alaska What the field requires.^ — At Ketchikan, a strong fishing center, there is a varied social type of evangelism among the Scandinavians and English-speaking pop¬ ulation. During the fishing season from one to three hundred of the 1,200 fishing boats, each with a crew of four or five men are constantly in port. With a proper chapel and clubroom much can be done to protect these men from the vices common to such places. The same thing is true in Petersburg. Juneau is one of the most promising towns in Alaska. Seward is the strategic center for the Kenai peninsula. In Nome is to be found one of the fine institutions under the direction of the Sewing class in the Jesse Lee Home Woman’s Home Missionary Society. The work originally consisted of a church, par¬ sonage, hospital and gymnasium. At the time of the first influenza epidemic all the adult Eskimos in the town died, leaving over two hundred children as orphans. These have been gathered in the gymna¬ sium, where they are being cared for as well as the makeshift quarters permit. Far out on the Aleutian Islands, point¬ ing at the nearby coast of' Asia, is the Jesse Lee Home at Unalaska, in which seventy Aleutian children are gathered by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. The superintendent, Dr. Newhall, is the only physician within 600 miles. The immediate need. — It is the purpose of the Methodist Episcopal Church to staff adequately all its centers in Alaska and to give them an equipment that will make it possible to deal effectively with the needs of this neglected territory. THE TERRITORIES 409 HAWAII The Crossroads of the Pacific On the road to everywhere. — With all this talk about the coming importance of the Pacific, it behooves world citizens to pay attention to Hawaii. For it is im¬ possible to go much of anywhere in this vital basin without touching this group of islands. Pass through the Panama Canal, Yoko¬ hama bound, and you break your voyage at Honolulu. Leave one commonwealth of the British empire at Vancouver to reach another at Sidney and you stop at Honolulu. Embark from one great republic at San Fran¬ cisco, to debark at another in Shanghai, and you pause part way at Honolulu. When it comes to patrolling the Pacific Basin, Hawaii will be found on the road to everywhere. A problem in amalgamation. — It is not hard for the enraptured climate-booster to grow lyrical about Hawaii. But to many of Hawaii’s leaders, however, there seems today little time to give to the cli¬ Hawaii — Crossroads of the Pacific mate. Political and social problems de¬ mand instant attention, foremost among them that of racial amalgamation. Talk as you will about the conditions in American cities, you will find that Uncle Sam has no more refractory melt¬ ing pot than Hawaii. Out of a population of 25 6,000 there are estimated to be 110,000 Japanese, 23,000 Chinese, 21,000 Fili¬ pinos, and 5,000 Ko¬ reans. In addition, there are 24,000 Ha- waiians and about 27,000 Portuguese. The remainder are mainly Americans, many of them descend¬ ants of the first mission- •ies to the islands. What are you to do with a group like that, especially when it is the Orientals who are increasing most rapidly, and when many of them, faced by the dras¬ tic citizenship laws of the United States, show every disposition to tighten the ties that bind them to their former homes? This intricate but important problem un¬ derlies much of our work in Hawaii. 410 WORLD SERVICE Children at Susanna Home, Honolulu What the Church is Attempting Methodism in Hawaii. — The Methodist Episcopal Church came to Hawaii first in the early ’50s, and then went away again. It found the missionaries of other socie¬ ties doing an adequate work, so, in ac¬ cordance with the general policy of the church, it withdrew. The beginning of the Oriental influx, however, completely changed conditions. The churches in Hawaii petitioned for the return of the Methodists, who were able to send workers already familiar with the language and custom of Japanese, Ko¬ reans, and Filipinos. Down to the pres¬ ent, practically all the Protestant work done among the fast-increasing Filipinos is that of our church. In addition to the service among these racial groups, there is also a strong con¬ gregation in Honolulu ministering to the English-speaking community there. Types of work. — There are two Japa¬ nese Methodist churches in Honolulu, one of which is now being relocated and re¬ constructed. Both are w?ell staffed and are having a wide influence throughout the islands. There are fourteen Japanese workers of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Hawaiian Islands, with no church property except the two churches in Honolulu and the new property just purchased on the island of Maui. In the city of Honolulu there has been for a number of years a Korean Methodist church and compound. During the past year a new location has been Secured and church and compound reconstructed. There are ten Korean workers in the islands, but no other property. The Centenary has made possible the First Filipino Methodist Episcopal Church in Honolulu. Twelve Filipino workers carry on a program throughout the settle¬ ments of their countrymen, but there ia no other property. Facing the future. — The Methodist Episcopal Church is at work in the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Hawaii, and Maui. With the exception of the Japanese, Korean, and Filipino churches in Honolulu and one church in the island of Maui, used by both Japanese and Filipinos, the church is dependent for places of worship and for residences for its workers upon property loaned by the sugar planters. It is most urgent that steps be taken to secure suit¬ able property in all of the centers in which work is being carried on. The Oriental has come to Hawaii to stay. He must be shown that the church has come to stay with him. At the Schofield Barracks, the largest army post in the entire service, twenty- seven miles from Honolulu, the church faces a peculiar responsibility. With no house of worship within nine miles, the church has been requested to build a chapel for which the government will pro¬ vide rock and most of the labor. The chapel, when built, will serve 9,000 men in the United States army. First Methodist Episcopal Church, Honolulu THE TERRITORIES 411 Men’s Bible class, Ponce Methodist Episcopal Church, Ponce, Porto Rico PORTO RICO (With a note on Santo Domingo) Responsibility in the Antilles A Spanish legacy. — Porto Rico, although under the American flag, is a land of an alien tongue. For more than four hun¬ dred years it was ruled by Spain. Under this tutelage little advance was made by the people. When the United States took over the island, 85 per cent of the popu¬ lation was illiterate. Poverty and plenty. — Porto Rico should be a land of plenty. Its soil is able to pro¬ duce with all the generosity that marks the semi-tropics. But only a quarter of the land is under cultivation, and this must support approximately four hundred people for every square mile of the island ! The Department of Agriculture reports that there are 300,000 barefoot people liv¬ ing in the poorer sections of the island who have scarcely enough to satisfy their absolute needs. Under American rule, however, im¬ proved economic and social conditions are coming. Before the coming of the United States, for example, Porto Rico was pro¬ ducing 68,000 tons of sugar annually; in 1917 the production was 488,000 tons. Where Catholicism fell short. — From the time of Columbus until that of McKinley the Roman Catholic Church had a free field in Porto Rico. Nor should its serv¬ ice be underestimated. From the Catholic conception of the church, the island’s reli¬ gious needs were fairly well served. The most obvious shortcoming of the church under Spanish rule was its failure to touch rural Porto Rico. And only 283,934 of the 1,299,809 people in Porto Rico live in the cities. The Roman Catholic Church in Porto Rico, as elsewhere, failed to give an inter¬ pretation of religion that emphasized its ethical and social demands. The Protestant influence. — In accord¬ ance with American policy, the territorial government established public schools and began to work toward universal popular education. There are today almost 175,000 students in these public schools. This emphasis upon education left the evan¬ gelical churches free to devote their atten¬ tion to that training in religion and morals that the island so sadly needed. The action of Porto Rico in enacting prohibition by popular suffrage prior to the constitutional amendment in the United States, is sufficient evidence of the influence of Protestant Christianity. 412 WORLD SERVICE Methodism in Porto Rico An important field. — The field assigned to the Methodist Episcopal Church com¬ prises a broad strip of territory extend¬ ing across the island. In this Methodist territory live about one-third of the people of Porto Rico. The Methodist Episcopal Church is at work in 130 centers, in not one of which is there any other evangelical effort. A Centenary achievement.' — Everywhere the church is going forward. This has been graphically demonstrated during the Centenary period in the capital city of San Juan, where for years there has been need for a church building that would fitly house what has been conceded to be the best piece of church work that is being carried on by any Protestant body in that city. Church extension funds have made possible the erection of an edifice that is commanding attention and leading to an increased ministry on the part of this im¬ portant society. Trinity Church, San Juan, Porto Rico Typical needs. — But with all that has been accomplished the work in Porto Rico must still be considered in terms of need rather than of accomplishment. Arecibo, a city of 12,000 people on the north side of the island, has a church manned by the superintendent of the dis¬ trict and three helpers. The work has outgrown its quarters. The present par¬ sonage is needed for religious education and social work. Then there must be a new parsonage. Then the church must be enlarged. At Hatillo, a community of 1,500 people a little further west, is located the George O. Robinson Institute for boys. A little one-room, frame building of the cheapest sort of construction serves as a place of worship. The municipality has given gen¬ erously to the support of the work. This fine school is in dire need of an adequate church building. The Advance on Santo Domingo A Centenary advance. — It may sound strange to say that the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church, during the Centenary, un¬ dertook a new home missionary enter¬ prise in a foreign country. Yet that is just what happened when, in 1920, work was opened in the city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. For this work is an offshoot of the Porto Rico work, and thus has naturally been directed as a home missionary enterprise. So do the distinc¬ tions between “home” and “foreign” blend into one another in these world¬ transforming days! The board for Christian work. — One of the most significant experiments in mod¬ ern missionary history underlies the ad¬ vance of Protestantism into Santo Do¬ mingo. Four evangelical churches, with six societies, decided upon a united effort in the island. Then, instead of merely providing for a delimitation of territory, these societies organized and chartered the Board for Christian Work in Santo Domingo, and so, as one organic body, they are actually at work! Number of full members of the Methodist Episcopal Church to each thousand cf population — by states 1 '•>* &A j r as ;JV fc .v, 4.x V V :vv--4 ' 1 ••• * ::vVv’- *i ' * • . . - • v‘ ';T;. ? K •• H' :-L ::. - | . 1 — i -• V- | r~—. — -x j ■' — — — J ' • 1 •’■;:.*■ ■■.•'. /,'•■ . • I - /• - - i ■ ' Distribution of Negro Methodist Episcopal churches in the United States Distribution of Methodist Episcopal Churches in foreign-language conferences in the United States Part Two— THE AGENCIES iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiimiiiiii Board of Foreign Missions Board of Home Missions and Church Extension Board of Education for Negroes Board of Education Board of Sunday Schools Board of Conference Claimants Board of the Epworth League American Bible Society Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals General Deaconess Board Board of Hospitals and Homes Commission on Courses of Study Commission on Life Service Committee on Conservation and Advance miiiiiiiimmiiiimiimimimmi Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society Woman’s Home Missionary Society THE FIELD IS THE WORLD. Countries where the Methodist Episcopal Church is at work indicated by black BATHING IN THE GANGES How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed ? H I And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? / And how shall they hear without a preacher? vlj ) ' And how shall they preach, except they be sent? \ J V Romans 10:14-15 THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. What is Our Board of Foreign Missions? 1. Name and object 2. The field 3. Present world occupation 4. Duties 5. Organization II. Kinds of Work 1. At headquarters 2. On the firing line III. Whereunto We Have Arrived IV. The Task We Face Today on the Foreign Field V. The World Service Survey VI. What Our Church Should do in Foreign Missions in the Next Ten Years 1. Relief and Pensions 2. Reserves 3. China 4. Japan 5. Korea 6. Philippine Islands 7. Netherlands Indies 8. Malaysia 9. India 10. Africa 11. South America 12. Mexico 13. Costa Rica 14. Panama 15. Europe VII. Conclusions 419 420 WORLD SERVICE I. WHAT IS OUR BOARD OF FOR¬ EIGN MISSIONS? 1. Name and Object The name and object of the board are fixed by the General Conference. In the Discipline of 1920, paragraph 412, we find: “The name of this organization shall be the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Its ob¬ jects are religious, philanthropic, and educational, designed to diffuse more generally the blessings of Christianity, by the promotion and support of all phases of church work and missionary activity in foreign countries ; and also in such other places subject to the sovereignty of the United States, but not on the conti¬ nent of North America or the islands ad¬ jacent thereto, as may be committed to the care of such organization by the Gen¬ eral Conference of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church, under such rules and regulations as said General Conference may from time to time prescribe.” 2. The Field The field is the world and the Methodist Episcopal Church is not merely an Ameri¬ can church, but is in the uttermost parts of the earth. Nevertheless, our church is not found in all countries. In some regions Methodism is at work undei other names, as the Wesleyan Church in England, and the Methodist Church of Canada. On what is generally recognized as the foreign mission field many comity agreements have been entered into, for there would be chances for conflict and misunderstanding if every Protestant church should undertake to carry the gospel into every land. It has seemed the part of brotherliness and of efficiency in the great common task to recognize a dis¬ tribution of forces in the foreign field by general agreements, and there are some countries, as, for example, Brazil and Egypt, where our church is not estab¬ lished and where the responsibility for evangelization is left with other Prot¬ estant denominations. Likewise within the different countries there are states or provinces where the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church has clearly defined responsi¬ bilities, while other denominations take the responsibility in other areas. Nevertheless, looking at a map of the world, one finds Methodism as represented by the Methodist Episcopal Church widely spread. 3. The Present World Occupation of Our Church (See map on page 418) Asia China Korea Japan Malaysia . . . Netherlands Indies Philippine Islands India . ( 7 annual conferences I 1 mission conference ... 1 annual conference ...1 mission council (in co-op¬ eration with Japan Meth¬ odist Church) ... 1 annual conference ...2 mission conferences ...1 annual conference ( 8 annual conferences < 2 mission conferences (1 English speaking mission Africa Liberia . 1 annual conference Angola . 1 mission conference Congo . 1 mission conference Rhodesia . 1 mission conference Mozambique and Transvaal.. 1 mission conference Morocco . ) Algeria . y j mission conference Tunisia . t Tripoli . ' North America Mexico . 1 annual conference Panama. . 1 Central I j mission conference Costa Rica ) America 1 South America Argentina . I 1 anmial conference Uruguay . . . ) Chile . 1 annual conference Bolivia . 1 mission conference Peru and Ecuador . 1 mission conference Europe Denmark ... Finland . Norway . Sweden . France . Italy . Bulgaria ... .. Yugo-Slavia Spain . Austria ... Latvia . Esthonia. Lithuania Germany Hungary Russia ... Switzerland . 1 annual conference . 1 annual conference . 1 annual conference . 1 annual conference . 1 mission conference . 1 annual conference . 1 mission conference . 1 mission conference . 1 mission . 1 mission conference Baltic Provinces ... 1 mission . 2 annual conferences . 1 mission . . 1 mission conference . 1 annual conference FOREIGN MISSIONS 421 In all, our foreign mission work lies in fifty-three missions or conferences, and in forty countries. There are Methodists of every race and color, bound together by an effective organization as well as by the ties of a common faith. 4. Duties The board is instructed by our church, through the General Conference, to take the responsibility of supervising the work of our missionaries and in general promoting the interests of the church on the foreign field. The Discipline of 1920, paragraph 411, reads: “1. There shall be a Board of Foreign Mis¬ sions, duly incorporated according to law, and having its office in New York City ; said Board of Foreign Missions shall have committed to it the general supervision of all work in the foreign fields, and shall be subject to such rules and regu¬ lations as the General Conference from time to time may prescribe. “2. Other denominational agencies shall un¬ dertake work in foreign lands only in co-opera¬ tion with this board.” 5. Organization a. The board is a corporation under the laws of the State of New York. In order to transact business, to hold property and execute deeds of trust, it is necessary that the board should be legally incorporated. A few of our universities and other union institutions in foreign lands have been separately incorporated, but in general all business on the foreign fields is done and all property held in the name of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church. As the indigenous church becomes stronger and more self- reliant, the title of property used for church purposes can be turned over to it, but in most instances it is still necessary for the Board of Foreign Missions to serve as the legal principal in business transactions. b. The members of the board are elected by the General Conference every four years from ministers and laymen of the church representing the different sec¬ tions of the country. Of the present board, twenty-three are pastors, two are district superintendents, seven are or¬ dained ministers in general service, and thirty-two are lay members of the church. The bishops are ex-officio members, and Bishop Luther B. Wilson is president of the board. c. The officers responsible for the ad¬ ministration of the board’s affairs are the two corresponding secretaries, who select the staff and direct the business of the board, subject to the board and in har¬ mony with the advice of its authorized committees. d. Standing committees meet through¬ out the year to transact the details of business that cannot receive the atten¬ tion of the board at its annual meeting. The board fixes the annual appropriations to the various missions, but there are emergency appropriations and special funds and interpretations of all kinds re¬ quiring attention throughout the year. The Executive, the Candidate, the Fi¬ nance and the Administrative Commit¬ tees meet monthly to attend to such mat¬ ters and authorize necessary actions by the secretaries and the staff. e. The organization of the church on the foreign fields is much as it is at home. There are annual conferences and mission conferences grouped now into areas for Episcopal supervision. The bishop or general superintendent exercises the same duties there as here in the matters of holding conference, making appoint¬ ments, and otherwise adjusting the per¬ sonnel of the field. The missionaries as well as the native workers receive their annual appointments from the presiding bishop. Missionaries who have been or¬ dained to preach are usually members of the annual conference of their field. Be¬ fore the conferences were organized, the missionaries in a given field constituted a “Mission.” In the development of the national organization, mission confer¬ ences and annual conferences have been set up, sometimes including mission¬ aries as well as the nationals. The mission, however, composed of the missionaries sent out by the board 422 WORLD SERVICE Native preachers of Muttra, India continues and works alongside of and with the conferences, retaining its organ¬ ized relationship to the board in the missionary group units. When the time comes for a more complete organization of the workers in any field in matters of self-support and in normal conference and church organization, a changed relation¬ ship between the board and the represen¬ tative unit on the field may well be effected. In all fields where it is at work, the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society maintains an organization as a part of the general missionary program. We have therefore in each field— the counterpart of what we have in Korea: the Korea Annual Conference, and the Korea Mission; the former representing the local indigenous church, and the latter, a group of missionaries, represent¬ ing the brotherly help of the church in America through the Board of Foreign Missions. f. The missions on the field, and there are more than forty of them, must be or¬ ganized to transact business. The Mis¬ sion Treasurer is usually the board’s offi¬ cial financial representative on the field. Annual or semi-annual meetings of the mission determine the general policies of the work within its field. A finance committee of the mission nom¬ inated on the field and appointed by the board is responsible for all ad interim business and for all matters pertaining to money or property. Every survey esti¬ mate, every request for property or other special grant must be approved by the field Finance Committee. This rule is designed to insure an element of bal¬ ance and continuity to the work on the field. If a missionary carrying an im¬ portant bit of work is suddenly called from it by sickness or other cause, the Finance Committee will provide for the continuation of the work. The board looks to the Finance Committee to ap¬ prove all proposals made from the field, and to carry out all proposals made from the homeland. g. The foreign missionary is thrown largely on his own resources. His work is usually individualistic. Often he is a lone messenger ; often he must be the mes¬ sage itself. The mind of the heathen world cannot comprehend Christ. The mere translation of words cannot always carry the gospel message. The mission¬ ary must live that message and his work is often based on his own personality. Nevertheless, the affairs of the king¬ dom may not be risked by the uncer¬ tainties of the life of any one man. Re¬ inforcements must be at hand. Those lone workers in foreign lands must be in some way knit together ; they must see the common task and must work toward the common goal. They must have that con¬ nection with the church at home that enables them really to represent it out there, and that enables us to share with them the view of the task and the call for intercession. The care for these matters of both spirit and method is the task which the church has assigned to the Board of For¬ eign Missions. II. KINDS OF WORK 1. At Headquarters The accountants who make a business of auditing books for New York concerns say, that there are few commercial en¬ terprises that have a business so complex FOREIGN MISSIONS 423 as that of the Board of Foreign Missions. Income is varied and expenditure more so. A considerable part of the annual re¬ ceipts is designated for special objects. The Division of Designated Income takes care annually of 30,000 gifts designated for particular fields and work. Not only must these 30,000 gifts be properly booked and forwarded, but the givers must be in¬ formed as to the use of their gifts, and the missionaries in charge abroad of the givers’ wishes. In some instances, half a dozen letters will pass before the des¬ ignation is arranged. The Department of Annuities and Bequests conducts a business as wide in its range as that of certain commercial concerns. Self-insur¬ ance against fire has been found profitable and a complete system of insurance ac¬ counts is in force. Special funds, such as China Famine Funds, India Mass Movement Funds, and European Relief Funds must be kept apart and carefully accounted, each almost as a separate busi¬ ness enterprise. In the matters of expenditure there are over forty different missions to deal with in dozens of nations, each with its special money medium and financial system. Twelve hundred missionaries and 20,000 native workers are supported in full or in part together with their work. It is not a light task to direct and safeguard these expenditures. These Costa Rican children wait to hear of *the abundant life The missionary is everybody’s friend 2. On the Firing Line On the field types of work are even more varied. Four major groups of work are generally recognized and the proposed budget which is published elsewhere in this volume, will be found to be divided along these lines evangelistic, educational, medical, and “other” work. a. The evangelistic work is the funda¬ mental aim of all our missionary effort. For the pioneer missionary it is almost his only work, with perhaps some excep¬ tions in favor of the medical work. Liv¬ ingstone crossed and recrossed Africa, made friends with the tribesmen, learned their tongues, and lived in their villages that he might tell the gospel story, and many another noble soul has gone out on the Lord’s business that he might spread by direct contact with the un-Christian- ized races the story of love and hope. Mackay, in his work in Formosa, began in the same way. After a number of years, he slackened these efforts to reach the masses of the people and adopted a policy of traveling about from place to place with a small group of converts. On them he concentrated his efforts, teaching them to present the story, aiming by this means to reach a much larger circle than he alone could ever touch. This is the second phase of the evangelistic work wherein the foreign missionary follows the example of Jesus in withdrawing 424 WORLD SERVICE Pastor Sang does effective street preaching in China from the crowd and committing the mes¬ sage to those whose hearts the Lord has moved. The early disciples found it necessary to set apart certain deacons to look after the business of the church. So the mis¬ sionaries on the field find that the whole task is not in calling the sheep into the fold, but that the flock, once gathered, must be shepherded and nurtured. As the membership grows, especially in such cases of rapid accessions as have occurred in the Mass Movement areas of India, the guiding of the native congregation in their problems has consumed much of the time of the foreign missionary. As more strong leaders are developed within the native church, it will be able to take care of itself, and more than this, we can con¬ fidently expect that it will contribute to the vitality of the Christian church throughout the whole world. The bread of life which we “cast upon the waters” will be returned to us many fold. For the present, how¬ ever, the burden of shep¬ herding rests heavily upon the foreign workers and reinforcements are needed that there may be no fail¬ ure in this respect, and that at the same time the work of direct evangeliza¬ tion and preacher train¬ ing may go on. For this we cannot now depend on indigenous leadership. b. The educational work of the church on the foreign field is quite different from that in the homeland. In America, it is largely confined to preparatory schools, colleges, and institutions of higher learn¬ ing. The state and local governments pro¬ vide popular education which fills the needs from the primary through high school grades. The church, with its insti¬ tutions, supplements the public and pri¬ vate colleges and universities. The purpose is to provide proper environment for its young people when removed from their home influences, and to offer special lines of study, rather than to provide a better grade of instruction. On the mis¬ sion field, the first task of the church is to provide a better grade of instruction. The church may be, in fact, the only insti¬ tution giving any chance for education to the masses which it comes to serve, and schools of all grades, from kindergarten to university are administered under the Board of Foreign Missions. “Education is power,” and if we wish our newly-made converts in these un¬ civilized lands to become powerful advo¬ cates of the gospel, it is evident that we must pause in our evangelistic work long enough to plan for the education of the next generation in these Christian fam¬ ilies. In India, hundreds of village schools are today in session with no more shelter than that of the trees. In Africa, where the native clan life is often unfavorable to such work, the converts are gathered together in Christian communities and FOREIGN MISSIONS 425 training centers where the boys and girls can be taught to think of life as something more than a wild tribal existence. In other places where the African youth are called together by the lure of wages at the mines, the missionaries come with night schools or special studies, endeavoring to throw around them an influence that they will counteract the awful effects of a civi¬ lization devoid of Christianity. In South America, the missionary is not greatly concerned with providing primary educa¬ tion, for extensive school systems are maintained by the governments; but he has found that the youth of these lands will come gladly and in great numbers to our high schools and boarding schools. These are in great favor, and are the most ready means of approach to the people of these nominally Catholic countries. In China, education has always been highly valued, but the type of education has been entirely insufficient for their modern needs. It is impossible for a nation to build up in one year an education of an entirely new type from that of the thousands of years that have preceded it. The change must be begun with the youngest child and grow along through a generation, and China is having inestima¬ ble help in this task from the Christian forces within that country. Throughout the world there is scarcely a field in which our church is established where educational work does not occupy a large place in its plans and on its budgets. c. The medical work includes hospitals, dispensaries and the itinerating services of the medical missionary. Up in the mountains of China, a prominent villager was being slowly choked to death by a tumor. Tiger bones and snake-skin con¬ coctions were unavailing but it was a very simple matter for the foreign doctor to cut out the tumor and relieve the ap¬ parently doomed man. Is it any wonder that the missionaries were soon invited to open a church in that man’s village, and that we now have a thriving congre¬ gation there? 28 Missionary physician at work in Africa The most difficult tribe to reach in Africa finally gave way to the needs of medical aid. Wherever the church has gone it has carried the gospel of healing and of prevention. Medical work includes not only support of hospital and dispensa¬ ries, but also campaigning among the people for better habits and healthier ways of living. d. The “other” work as represented on the foreign field is of many types. There are institutional and social centers in places of large population ; orphanages, homes for lepers, and homes for the aged and other dependents. There are many items of general and miscellaneous work such as are found necessary in any project. Even here in the homeland where conditions are more stable and pro¬ cedure more standardized, these items are essential to proper and efficient work. On the foreign field they are all the more so. Inland stations must be served by messen¬ gers ; missionaries must be called together for regular conference and often for emergencies; new building work must be administered, and a hundred other items of a general nature that cannot be classed as evangelistic, educational, or medical, are grouped under this head of “other work.” This section also includes the preparation and publishing of literature in dozens of languages and dialects and its distribution and sale over widespread areas, often difficult and even dangerous of access. 426 WORLD SERVICE In all this variety of work, however, there is fundamentally the one purpose, and that is evangelism. The great motive of the workers on the field is a desire to bring men to a knowledge of the Christ, and the policy of the work is determined primarily by this desire. III. WHEREUNTO WE HAVE ARRIVED 1. Growth in Membership The progress of the work of the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church on the foreign field is encouraging, as this curve of mem¬ bership during the past sixty years will show : When we note the “few that be saved” and the countless peoples yet untouched by the gospel message, we may lose heart. But faith comes in and we see Jesus, with a mere handful of followers, proposing to draw all men unto Himself. Faith, how¬ ever, is sometimes hindered and some¬ times helped by a study of the cold, hard facts. Surely, in this case the sharp upgrade of the membership curve should stimulate us and we can thank God and take courage, because of this evidence of healthy vigor. MILLIONS 25 20 THE TASK The Methodist Episcopal Church has in a direct sense the responsi¬ bility and certainly the opportuni¬ ty to evangelize 100,000,000 in. non-Christian lands. Assuming our task to be merely bringing this population to the degree of evangelism found in America — say one in four to be church members — we have the task shown by the height of this block 25,000,000 OUR ACCOMPLISHMENT TO Q^TE 600,000 Cfwch Members in^O Years < - - - 60 YEARS When will the little line at the lower left reach the top? FOREIGN MISSIONS 427 2. Comparative Statistics Study the comparative statistics as to the status of the work now and as it was when we first faced the Centenary task. It is impossible to show the full measure of increase in responsibility that has come to the Board of Foreign Missions since in September, 1917, it received approval for its Centenary program from the historic conference at Niagara Falls. In Table A (below), there is con¬ trasted the present condition of the life of the Methodist Episcopal Church outside the United States with the condition as reported by the Board of Foreign Mis¬ sions in 1917, in so far as statistics can give it. No tables of figures can give a picture of the transformations of human life, nor can the contribution of the spirit of Jesus Christ to the social, economic, religious, and political developments of the peoples of the world be measured by mathematics. 3. Self-Support Table B shows the rate of increase in self-support by different parts of the church. Added point is given the call for a new world program by the realization that our Methodist Episcopal Church is now at Table A — Comparative Statistics Flags under which work is conducted . _ . Missionaries . Native preachers (ordained) . Native preachers (unordained) . Other Native workers (male) . . Other Native workers (female) . Church members . Preparatory members . Baptized children under instruction . Sunday-schools . . . . . . . . Sunday-school pupils . . . . Churches and chapels . Parsonages and homes . Value of property on foreign field... . . Contributions of the Church on the foreign field. Disbursements of the Board of Foreign Missions. fUniversities or colleges . University or college students . Theological or Bible Training Schools . Theological or Bible Training Students . Secondary schools . Secondary school students . Elementary schools . Elementary school students . Medical schools . Medical school students . Kindergartens . . Kindergarten students . Unclassified schools . Unclassified school students . Students in all schools . 1916 1921 Increase 26 33 7 929 1,190 261 1,283 2,944 1,661 5,138 7763 2,125 2,686 4,501 1,815 4,003 5,339 1,336 207,494 272,937 65,443 235.371 305,867 70,496 52,855 170,724 117,869 7,440 10,374 2,934 346,793 491,233 144,440 2,516 2,874 358 1,424 1,853 429 $13,787,579 $24,840,073 $11,052,494 $ 783,851 $ 2,919,609 $ 2,135.858 $ 1,887,042 $ 5.426,129 $ 3,539,087 12 15 3 * 1,972 36 67 31 * 1,873 94 47 * 6,402 2,853 2,921 68 * 109,299 31,180 * 4 94 * 26 1,929 * 40 3,525 96.021 125,094 29,073 Table B — Growth in Self-support 1916 1921 Increase % Eastern Asia . $ 73,934 $ 216,534 $ 142,600 19’ Southeastern Asia . 21,870 92,476 70 606 323 Southern Asia . 129,378 257,679 128301 99 Africa . . . 18,582 22,228 3,646 19 South America . 70,130 128,809 58,679 83 Mexico and Central America . 14,598 79 799 65 ’01 446 Eur°Pe . 455,359 2,122784 1, 666725 366 * The classifications in 1916 did not differentiate these types of schools. fThe educational statistics of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society are included in these and the following figures. 428 WORLD SERVICE work in seven nations that did not exist as nations when the Centenary was launched. 4. Other Increases in Summary The following further increases since the Niagara Falls meeting are significant: In annual disbursements by the Board of Foreign Missions, an increase of . 187% In property valuations on the foreign field, an increase of . - . 80% In number of missionaries, an increase of . 28% In number of native workers, an increase of-. .52% In number of Christian community, an increase of . 51% In number of schools, an increase of . 5% In number of students, an increase of . 34% Some of these increases are cause for unalloyed rejoicing. Others, such as the disparity between the increase in educa¬ tional facilities and in the Christian com¬ munity for which we are responsible, point with stern clearness to certain fea¬ tures of our future program that must receive primary attention. IV. THE TASK WE FACE TODAY ON THE FOREIGN FIELD 1. In General a. The task is ours. — A hundred years ago, there were saintly men who seriously combatted the idea that we should “inter¬ fere in God’s plan for the heathen.” Hon¬ est souls felt that we must first do more “in Jerusalem.” Doubtful ones said that the heathen would never listen to the gospel and that God never intended that we should send men out to be killed and eaten. But men went, and men came back, and the reports which they brought were full of promise. Since that time, the for¬ eign mission enterprise has taken a large place in the thought of the church. We must continue and enlarge our efforts for the non-Christian world. The dismal prophecies of a century ago found fulfilment in a few instances, but are un¬ supported by the general history of mis¬ sions. The later promises of wholesale ingatherings into the kingdom came true in certain districts, a village and a clan here and there, but we have discovered that on the foreign field, as elsewhere, the kingdom must grow gradually, like the mustard seed of the parable. We, today, can look forward with more assurance than our predecessors. We have not only the same Bible that they had, the same Word of Promise from the same God of Power, but we have the benefits of their experience to build upon, and we have the encouragement that is found in the rec¬ ords of their work. The membership chart which we have already studied has for us other lessons than the mere encouragement of its up¬ ward trend. There are two things that are worthy of note. The church on the foreign field, these statistics tell us, has doubled its member¬ ship in ten years. The church in the home¬ land has doubled its membership in thirty- four years. We dare not, in the face of these figures, halt our work of planting the gospel in these lands where it has flourished so notably. The foreign mis¬ sionary work has proven a most profitable use of our church’s resources. The second fact brought out by these figures is that the rate of increase on the foreign field, while still much greater than we have attained at home, has been de¬ creasing during the last few decades. It is to be expected that the river will not flow as swiftly as the mountain torrent; that it will take longer to grow from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 members than it did to grow from 200 to 400. At the same time, we must recognize other possible reasons for the falling off in the rate of increase. The anti-Christian forces are aroused as never before. The non-Christian reli¬ gions are showing new vigor and in¬ creased opposition. Mohammedanism is sweeping across Africa. Buddhism and Shintoism are taking on the cloak of philanthropy and striving to revive the ancient reverence for their gods. In¬ tense nationalism is arrayed against the progress of “the foreign religion.” World¬ wide atheism flaunts the failure of Christendom in its political dealings as the failure of Christianity. These conditions if rightly met need not affect our rate of FOREIGN MISSIONS 429 THE CROSS AT ITS BEST IN MISSION LANDS This chart shows the situation in Moradabad District which is one of our best districts in India, the land of our greatest successes in winning men to Christ. Each white square represents 1000 who have so far been won to our Christian community Each black square represents 1000 not yet reached increase, but the fact remains that the Church of Christ is facing in most Chris¬ tian lands such opposition as it has never before known, and the foreign enterprises on which the church has embarked may not be lightly forsaken in these days of onslaught. b. Future promise. — The great reach of the task is before and not behind us. The native church, full of promise as it is, is nevertheless an infant. We find much to encourage us in the upward trend of membership totals. At the same time, if we are wise, we shall take the member¬ ship curve on page 426, as the measure of our accomplishment, and shall set it up against the picture of the task yet un¬ done, as shown in the chart on this page. We must not deceive ourselves; the great task lies still ahead. Since God has made of us a people great and powerful and well equipped with worldly means, we must face the question as to what He expects us to do. 2. The Many Ministries a. “Preach the gospel.” — Many have never heard it. Many never will hear it except as we preach it. Look for ex¬ ample at the Moradabad District in the North India Conference, as indicated by the chart at the top of this page. Considerably more than half our 600,000 converts are found in India alone. India is one of our best fields, and Morada¬ bad District is among the best half dozen of the sixty-three districts in India. Here we have 14,000 church members, but there are 1,500,000 people yet unreached by the gospel message. This district is one of those from which other denomina¬ tions have withdrawn. No other Prot¬ estant church will enter. Here we alone are responsible, and this situation is du¬ plicated many times in India and in other lands. For fully 50,000,000 people in foreign lands throughout the world we bear this peculiar responsibility. Except as we preach it, they never will hear the gospel. “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” b. “Teach all nations.” — In every nation it seems there are occasional men, who, like Cornelius the centurion, have held communion with God without having heard or understood the plan of salvation. They with eagerness accept the gospel story. With others, the vision comes only through long contact with the ideas of Christianity and for these the schools are the ideal medium for planting in their minds the idea of a God of love. Educa¬ tion is the handmaiden of evangelism and one of the first aims in educational work 430 WORLD SERVICE on the mission field was the great oppor¬ tunity it presented to supplement the preaching of the Word. Usually when a convert from the for¬ eign field tells his experience, it is a story of one who first came from curiosity, was puzzled and distrustful, returned again and again, inquired more and more dili¬ gently, and finally found his Lord. A defi¬ nite period of cultivation seems necessary in most cases and here is where the schools come in to help the evangelist. Not only do they supplement evangel¬ ism, but often make way for it. The Anglo-Chinese College at Foochow re¬ ceives 200 students each year. More than half of them come from non-Christian homes and many of the boys come with stern warnings to beware of listening to any of the foreign doctrines. It is a re¬ markable thing that nearly all of these boys become Christians before they gradu¬ ate and the acquaintance made in the school with missionaries and native Chris¬ tians opens the way for visits to their homes, often ending in the conversion of parents and friends. The educational task is really a privi¬ lege. Can you look at this little Korean lad without feeling kindly toward him, and wishing him the best things that life may have in store for him? To be allowed to help the bright-faced boys and girls, through education, into a world of wider usefulness and into a greater enjoyment of life, is our privilege. Then there rests on us the obligation to give to our new-found brethren in India and Africa and China those opportunities for their children which we enjoy for ours. The heathen world is ignorant and depressed. Education is the ladder out of the pit for them. An Indian beggar, one of the outcastes, living near the sum¬ mer camp of the missionaries, was won by the gospel story. His only request, and one made with such persistence that it could not be denied, was that his four boys might be taken into the mission school. Only two could be taken then. Later the other two were received. Today they are all men of prominence and esteem, instead of outcastes in their com¬ munities. Two of them are in positions of great responsibility in the government service. Without the church and its schools they would today be mere scaven¬ gers back in the foothills of India. The sad thing is that the church, with the meagre funds given for this work, has been unable to provide this opportunity for more than a fraction of its children. In foreign lands there are to be educated fully 800,000 children of our church fam¬ ilies. More than half of these are en¬ tirely dependent on the church for their education. Our facilities are inadequate to receive them. We would have to triple our number of schools and teachers, and then crowd out all of that educational work for non-Christians, which has FOREIGN MISSIONS 431 already been described as so rich in prom¬ ise of reward. Take an average district in China as here shown and consider where we stand. Look at this great circle of opportunity. Extend it as much as you please to cover the great privilege of helping little tads by education into a wider world and a fuller life; and then compare the narrow strip of what we have actually done, and be convinced that this generation has not yet done its duty by the children beyond the seas. c. “Heal the sick.” — The three aspects of the educational work — opportunity , privi¬ lege, and obligation, are just as much present, and more distinctly emphasized in the medical work. What Christian can view human suffering without feeling a desire to help? Even non-Christians in America have been moved to contribute for the relief of physical suffering of the great masses of the uncivilized world. Were there in our hearts no other motive than a mere humanitarian one, we would have to provide medical missions, and we must as a people do far better or be con¬ demned as a selfish and heartless genera¬ tion. So much for the privilege. The opportunity is self-evident. Jesus found the blind man not a subject for discussion and theorizing. The man was blind. He said, “that the word of God might be glorified.” The man was before them as an opportunity, and all other con¬ siderations were beside the case. So the millions of sufferers in Asia and Africa stand before us as an opportunity and a challenge “that the word of God may be glorified.” Talk as we may of pauperiz¬ ing folks by giving to them too freely, we ourselves never feel pauperized because our hospitals in America are with few exceptions heavily subsidized. Our medi¬ cal work in foreign la»ds, striking as it is in contrast with the blackness of its sur¬ roundings, is but a beginning. Then there rests upon us the obligation as a church to give to our own in foreign lands the same chance to live and enjoy existence that has been vouchsafed to us by our Christian civilization. A church member’s wife in India has a sick child. We tell her and her husband that their The opportunity to evangelize through our primary schools An average district in China native doctors mislead them with super¬ stition and with disgusting and dangerous practices. We destroy their faith in the native doctors, and all too often we do no more. We would cry out in protest and anguish of heart if we had not more out¬ look for our sick children than we are granting to that church member’s wife in India this year. From Africa and China the same cry is heard from Christian homes — “May we not share in your bless¬ ings?” For every Christian home in these lands there are a hundred or more homes where neither the gospel of love nor of healing has entered. Jesus said, “Preach the gospel, heal the sick,” and “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye have done it unto Me.” The world awaits our response. — A sur¬ vey of the opportunities is staggering. Let none say that the task is well along, or that we have done all that could be ex¬ pected of us. What do these figures of the extent of our enterprise mean when cast up against our measurable resources? Four millions of us are sending out 1.200 432 WORLD SERVICE missionaries; that is to say, 3,300 Chris¬ tians are busy keeping one representative on the foreign field, and is that, in the face of these great needs, the best we can do? V. THE WORLD SERVICE SURVEY The great task is still before us. A gen¬ eral outlook of the world field and a re¬ view of the record of “whereunto we have attained” convinces us of that fact. The Centenary surveys which, at the time they were made, were a remarkable summing up of the church’s task, are now at least seven years old. Many of them were made before our entry into the World War, and are rendered obsolete by new conditions, as well as by the lapse of time. The question arises as to what we shall do at the close of the Centenary period. When the call was made upon the Council of Boards for a resurvey of each department of the church’s task, the Board of Foreign Missions passed on the call to each of the missions and confer¬ ences on the foreign field, supplying them with such instructions and helps as were considered necessary to procure a unified form of statement. The church should be grateful to its over-burdened workers for the many days and nights of thoughtful discussion and compilation necessary to produce a statement of this character. We have, as the result, the most complete and extensive statement ever produced of our work and a wealth of information that will not only be of interest to the church, but will also greatly assist in the adminis¬ tration of the fields. In general, the surveys were prepared by the missionaries in charge of the work. In every case, however, the final responsi¬ bility has rested with the Finance Com¬ mittee of the mission, and the approval of its secretary was required on each sur¬ vey return, as was also the approval of the bishop in charge. These returns represent largely the con¬ certed and balanced judgment of nearly 1,200 workers, our representatives on the outposts of the kingdom. The officers of the Board of Foreign Missions have given them intensive study and attempted to ad¬ just the differences and to provide for evident irregularities. Thus the result combines the message of our ambassadors abroad and the convictions of our admin¬ istrators at home. All correspondence with the field, and all instructions concerning survey mat¬ ters emphasized the necessity of keeping to a moderate and rational program grow¬ ing out of our current work. The esti¬ mates of needs, presented elsewhere in this volume, as modified and accepted by the Council of Boards as the “Approved Needs” of the Board of Foreign Missions totals $12,015,000. It does not represent a program of what we could be doing, or what we should be doing on the foreign field. It is not a program of the church’s full responsibility in the lands overseas, but a statement of what is the next step from our present level on the way to better things. VI. WHAT OUR CHURCH SHOULD DO IN FOREIGN MISSIONS IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS With such a varied field the only way we can study a ten-year program to ad¬ vantage is to cover the ground country by country. Nevertheless there are sev¬ eral general matters for which a definite policy must be set up. 1. Relief and Pensions Relief and pensions. — For retired mis¬ sionaries or dependents a sum of $60,000 is required out of each year’s income. We have 1,200 adult missionaries and the physical strain is severe. Over 140 are now receiving pensions or grants for re¬ lief. Many of our missionaries are lay¬ men. Most of the missionary preachers have their conference relationship abroad. These Conferences are financially weak and there is no adequate Conference Claimants’ Fund to care for the retired ministers and none for the many laymen who are missionaries. The Board of For¬ eign Missions has had to meet the obli- FOREIGN MISSIONS 433 gations out of the annual missionary col¬ lections. It would be more fitting to have this charge met from a special fund and it is desired within the next ten years to create an endowment of $2,000,000 pro¬ ducing an annual revenue of $100,000, which is about what the pensions and re¬ lief costs will amount to at the end of the ten-year period. 2. Reserve Fund An operating reserve fund. — The other outstanding need for “General Opera¬ tions.” From such a reserve, funds can be drawn to carry the year’s work while the treasury waits for the collections to come in from the churches. Also it is needed to steady up our fluctuation in re¬ ceipts so that a falling off in expected income during any year need not mean plunging the board into debt, nor drastic re-adjustments that hurt the work. The reserves should be maintained at about twenty-five per cent of the yearly budget and it is proposed to apply two per cent of the budget each year for these purposes. 3. China Education in favor. — When we under¬ take work in China we find that the old injunction to “be all things to all men” means that we will emphasize education. Though comparatively rare it is highly revered among the Chinese. Christianity comes with the message that education is for all and not alone for a few. Primary education. — -Our program for the next ten years contemplates tripling our facilities for primary education, partly as a means of reaching non-Christian homes, but more especially to provide a primary education for at least one out of three of the children of our Christian families. Universities and theological schools. — The four great Union Universities in China in which Methodism has a share should be provided with sufficient build¬ ings to keep pace with their increasing enrolment. Likewise we must insure ade¬ quate provision for the operating expenses of each of these Universities. The high- grade theological schools which now have their beginning in each of the four major areas of our work in China should be strengthened and brought to a point where they will fulfill their avowed purpose in the training of the highest type of prophetic and spiritual leadership. Ten or twelve Biblical Training Schools of lower grade will also be maintained. The educational program is not only an opportunity to meet the Chinese temperament but is also essential in this training of leadership for the future conduct of our Christian enter¬ prises. Hospitals. — Our ten hospitals should be strengthened both by additional staff and equipment, and an equal number of new minor medical centers opened. Evangelism. — Direct evangelism will not be neglected but the great Jubilee Move¬ ment largely under native leadership is expected to stimulate the whole life of the Chinese Church and we shall make notable advances in the hitherto untouched com¬ munities. New territory. — Distinct areas of new territory are proposed to be opened in Central China, areas where for some time our responsibility has been recognized but for which it has been impossible to make any financial provision for adequate entry. These areas, however, are comparatively small and the great task will be the inten¬ sive cultivation of those areas wherein we have already entered. 4. Japan Evangelism and the social gospel. — Buddhism and Shintoism in Japan are fast taking over the Christian ideas and ideals of service and making these things a part of their campaign to recover their threatened prestige. Big sums of money are made available by their devotees for such campaigns. The Japan Methodist Church is a comparative infant among these long established religious organiza¬ tions and can not be left to cope alone with this situation. There is great opportunity for us to work through the Japan Metho¬ dist Church in putting on a program of 434 WORLD SERVICE direct evangelism and the spreading of the social gospel. This situation should be met in a much more commanding way during the next ten years than has so far been found possible. A trained Christian leadership. — The Japanese Government has learned well the value of primary education and made it compulsory for all children. We can not, however, expect to train Christian leadership through the medium of Japa¬ nese Government schools and the three or four higher schools that we maintain must be kept at a high state of efficiency to meet the competition of Government schools and also to provide the material essential to our leadership. 5. Korea Strengthen our centers. — Korea has had somewhat the same problems as Japan. The Korean Church is very active and aggressive in evangelistic matters and should be strongly supported in its activi¬ ties. Our program contemplates the maintenance of interest in the Chosen Christian College as a strong center for higher Christian education, and in the Union Theological Seminary for the direct training of Christian workers. The work of Severance Union Medical College should also be strengthened as a means of train¬ ing those who must serve our ever growing Christian constituency with medical skill. Extension work.— The extension of the Korean and Chinese work in Manchurian fields is also proposed as a definite part of the program of these ten years and the significant thing is that this program will be largely supported and carried on by the Chinese and Korean Christians with oc¬ casional help from the church in America. 6. Philippine Islands Expanding the rim of church work. — Our churches now organized in the Philippine Islands are fast becoming self- supporting. Nevertheless there is always a rim of new churches as we advance into new fields that must be supported, and although our church in the Philippine Islands has attained self-support proba¬ bly more rapidly than in any other field we occupy we do not forget that there is still much ground to be covered. During the next ten years we should triple our contributions toward the furtherance of gospel work, although practically every church that is today receiving support will then be carrying its own budget. The Filipino Methodists have as a rule built their own churches but they have been necessarily flimsy and inadequate structures, in keeping with the small fi¬ nancial ability of the members. Govern¬ ment and commercial interests are rapidly introducing improved types of buildings throughout the islands and our type of church building must also be improved. Some aid will be necessary to local con¬ gregations and we should invest $25,000 each year (a small figure indeed) for the next ten years in aiding the dozens of small congregations, and occasionally large and important city groups, to secure these better buildings for their work. Dormitories.. — In general, good educa¬ tional facilities are provided by the Amer¬ ican Government, and our mission does not compete with the government in edu¬ cation. Hundreds of thousands of students, however, leave home to attend high schools, technical schools, normal schools and universities. One missionary writes : “There are at present over 2,000 students in the high school at Lingayen with no regular dormitory facilities. They are crowded in private homes and subject to uncomfortable and unsanitary conditions. The same condition prevails in Bayom- bong. The school there is not so large, yet is growing rapidly, and it would be well if we could get our dormitory established early.” We have three or four such dormito¬ ries now and we should put up a new one each year for the next ten years just to meet the urgent situations. Another missionary writes of the Manila dormi¬ tory: “At 6:30 every morning all the students are required to attend chapel at which a passage of Scripture is read with comments setting forth some truth for FOREIGN MISSIONS 435 the day. Then comes a song in which they all join most heartily, as they do at the close of the morning’s prayer in the Lord’s Prayer. We follow up this work with personal interviews. Many come de¬ siring only a good place in which to live and many are prejudiced against Prot¬ estantism, but the moral atmosphere of the institution is fine and most of the stu¬ dents, in the end, become converted and unite with our church.” In the matter of expense, these dormi¬ tories pay their own way. We should not delay to build them at all important pro¬ vincial centers and provide the mission¬ aries to carry on this promising work. 7. Malaysia Immigrant opportunities. — Thousands upon thousands of immigrants from China and from southern India stream through the ports of Malaysia every year. Our evangelistic work lies almost wholly among these people, and also with certain Malay Mohammedan groups at points along the coast. The fact that we have work in China and India forms a point of contact with the immigrant populations; for, some bring their church connections with them, and many have known of our work in their homelands. Our policy dur¬ ing the next ten years will be steadily to develop this highly important work. Many of these churches will become self-supporting during these ten years. One whole district, in fact, is proposing to ask the mission for only one-third of the aid it now receives. In other sections, there are many new churches to be opened requiring outside support because of the unsettled life of the immigrants. On the whole we should largely increase our activities in planting the church in these new born communities, and to this end the ten-year program calls for a tripling of the present missionary staff. Contacts in education. — Our educational work in Malaysia is carried on in close co¬ operation with the British Colonial Gov¬ ernment, which makes liberal grants for the building and maintenance of our schools. By this arrangement we are en¬ abled to influence for Christ thousands of youth who would not otherwise come within the sound of the Christian message. The schools we have already estab¬ lished have been very successful. The one at Penang has over 1,500 students. The tuition fees and government aid pay prac¬ tically all the expenses of the school and in many cases pay also the salaries of the missionary teachers. These schools have far outgrown their facilities, however, and we must provide them with more ad¬ equate quarters in which to carry on their work. Not only this, but for every one school we have opened there are four or five others that we should open within the next ten years. These will require aid from the home church in providing the plant and in carrying the operating ex¬ penses for the first few years. There¬ after they will become permanent centers for the propagation of gospel truths. 8. Netherlands Indies A medical opportunity. — Perhaps the greatest opportunity in the Netherlands Indies is medical work carried on in co¬ operation with the government. By an arrangement the government makes large grants to the building and maintenance of these plants and allows them to be run entirely as mission institutions. They therefore form bases for all lines of Christian activity as well as provide a much needed ministry of healing to those vast populations in the East Indies Islands. Two or three first-class schools should be maintained for the training of Christian boys, and one good Normal and Preachers’ Training school established. Direct evangelistic advances should be made towards the almost untouched na¬ tive populations in the interior of the Islands of Sumatra and Dutch Borneo. This involves the gradual enlargement of the staff and the securing of property and erection of proper buildings for the varied types of work. 9. India An intensive task. — Although the waves of the Mass Movement break upon us with their constant intensity, and although the 436 WORLD SERVICE urge for an expanding work is still laid heavily upon us, the program for the next ten years will lay the supreme emphasis upon the intensive development of areas already occupied, rather than upon further wide extension of our borders. It is rec¬ ognized that no truly successful advance work can be carried on until we have wisely consolidated the great gains from the Mass Movement of recent years. In¬ tensive instruction and training for these new converts is necessary and will re¬ quire a doubling of our efforts and activi¬ ties. Training schools and training con¬ ferences will be emphasized. A staff of several educational specialists is planned to correlate our various educational enter¬ prises and to relate them more definitely to this great task of the education of a church. Because our work lies mostly among the lower castes, the average church member in India is very poor. Self-support grows steadily though slowly, and as soon as one place becomes self-supporting, two or three new places will be opened. If we rely solely on what financial support these native Christians can give to the work, progress will be slow indeed. It seems reasonable to plan that the church in America should, for the next ten years, double its gifts towards gospel preaching in India. During this period we should provide 600 or 700 small preaching places or circuit centers for this work, costing anywhere from $500 to $5,000 each, and we should plan each year to provide one or more city plants in the twelve large cities within the area of our occupation. Primary schools. — Nothing will do more to preserve the Mass Movement gains than the extension of our primary educational system to include the children of these homes. The whole problem of finding better teachers, better equipment, and better supervision for this work requires double the attention we have given to it in the past. We now have about 400 village schools and propose to add 600 more during these ten years. Practically all of these are now out-of-door schools, and many of them are so poorly equipped that the government will not recognize them. We hope to erect each year thirty-five day school buildings at a cost of about $1,000 each. This is a modest program for our great need but if we can carry it through successfully it will be a wonderful encouragement to our native Christians, as well as a great bless¬ ing to the children. The English Theological College. — Within the past year has been launched a new All-India English Theological Col¬ lege of the higher grade for candidates for our ministry, who are able to receive their advanced training in English. We have all these years had no provision for helping these men of higher educational qualifications for participation in our task of evangelism and the next ten years must see this school equipped and staffed on an adequate scale. Hospital extension. — We have too long relied on the government hospitals for the medical work in these fields. Our church is spread largely among the village folk whom the city hospitals cannot adequately serve. We now have three hospitals in oper¬ ation, and plan to have in each of our con¬ ference areas by 1934 one central hospital with several outlying dispensaries for each, and provision for an itinerant dis¬ pensary service to cover these heavily populated districts in order to relieve suf¬ fering and make an entry for the gospel of love. In addition, we are establishing and must adequately develop the All- India Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Madar, near Ajmere, in the Rajputana desert. 10. Africa Training centers.— Our chief endeavor in Africa will be in the building up of five or six strong training centers. The expe¬ rience of the past fifty years has taught us that scattered small scale operations in Africa will not make headway against the great mountain of native ignorance and superstition and against the advance of Mohammedanism. A handy man or two for these institutions will not suffice. We must in the next ten years put half a dozen specialists in these centers. Farming and FOREIGN MISSIONS 437 industrial methods must be studied as well as taught. A new economic and social order must be found for these peoples who come to us and our training work in Africa must be taken up vigorously and promptly. In mining regions. — In the mining re¬ gions there is a peculiar opportunity to reach the floating population of mine workers through education and social features. Our program at Elisabethville and Johannesburg contemplates extensive operations along these lines under the direct supervision of specialists in re¬ ligious education and work with men and boys. More adequate medical work. — In medi¬ cal work we have scarcely begun to occupy our African fields. The three existing hospitals have a most meager equipment. In ten years they should be modestly but adequately housed and staffed and five new medical centers opened, for the need of Christlike ministration is great beyond words. New mission stations. — Several areas in Africa with large populations have been hitherto practically untouched by Chris¬ tian missions. They live in the path of the Mohammedan advance and we should bear a share of the responsibility of out- posting these lands with Christianity. Our ten year estimate contains provision for the establishing of these mission stations within such new areas if the conferences on Africa proposed for the coming year indicate that such is a wise course to pursue. 11. South America School expansion. — Our Methodist schools for the Latin youth of South America are much in favor and the ex¬ pense of this operation is largely met from the student income, in some cases an an¬ nual profit being regularly shown. These schools do much to break down the preju¬ dice against Protestantism on the one hand and against all religious institu¬ tions on the other. They offer large and important contacts where the leaven of the gospel word should be performing its office. We will in the ten years expand these operations by eighty or ninety per cent. The Indian appeal.— Our work among the vast Indian population has just begun. It is an adventure of strong missionary appeal and worthy of the church’s thought and support. These Indians are lightly touched by the Latin civilizations of the land, and need our help through medical missions and fundamental educational facilities, as well as in the preaching of the gospel message. These people of myste¬ rious history and wonderful capacity for development have through years of repres¬ sion lost heart in the task of self-improve¬ ment and it may be our privilege in these ten years in some measure to carry to them the gospel of hope and uplift. Better church and school plants. — 411 of our properties in South America are insufficient to our task and mean in com¬ parison with secular buildings and the church properties of other fields. Some of our important schools and many church services are conducted in unsuitable rented quarters. A large percentage of the better class of Latin Americans despise religion and churches as they have known them, and where religions are counted scarcely respectable we need something better than our makeshift plants to do an effective work. It is proposed in the next ten years to make possible better plants for our more important centers of work both in churches and in schools. 12. Mexico Our responsibility. — We have been working in Mexico for 50 years, and be¬ cause of the large Indian population will probably have to continue for 50 years more. There are four million people in the territory assigned to the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church. The theological school and a hospital must be developed and have their own properties. A considerable investment will still be necessary in the Aztecas social center in Mexico City, and similar institu¬ tions must be started in at least four other cities. Assistance will have to be given either in the erection of new buildings, or 438 WORLD SERVICE reconstruction of older churches in a hun¬ dred smaller centers. For at least twenty- five years a great deal of attention and some considerable investment will have to be made in primary schools until the state can furnish free public schools throughout the Republic. A literature program with its printing plant, book store, and weekly paper must be subsidized and the program enlarged for meeting with good literature the de¬ mand now being made by this rapidly developing people for reading material. Increased investments must be made in our plants in the four large educational institutions. Considerable help must be given to congregations in cities ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 where fine churches must be erected. The hospital at Guana¬ juato must be further developed and a larger investment made in the union hos¬ pital in Puebla. Medical work should also be opened in Queretaro and Pachuca to take care of large centers of population. 13. Costa Rica New missionaries. — In addition to the district superintendent, two evangelistic missionaries are to be established in lead¬ ing centers in Costa Rica for constant itinerating work throughout the country, with an additional missionary family to work among the Indians on the border between Costa Rica and Panama. Educational needs.— The small Bible Training School now under the district superintendent, will be developed into a theological seminary, and must train both men and women workers. The primary school in the capital of San Jose must have its own building and should develop into a fine secondary institution with a junior college as the ultimate goal. The fine nor¬ mal school at Heredia should have both a boys’ and girls’ dormitory with American missionaries in charge. Developing the church.— Special atten¬ tion must be given to the West Indian negroes and other workers on the large banana plantations. Large churches must be built and conducted in the four leading cities, and smaller churches in at least 25 Costa Rican children other towns. While the people are much farther along than in Panama, we cannot expect complete evangelization of the Re¬ public and the establishment of a self- supporting church in less than twenty-five years, and possibly not for fifty years. 14. Panama Our peculiar responsibility. — Our work in Panama for the past three years has been conducted principally in Panama City, with one provincial station at David. Work has been opened in Chitre, and other parts of the Republic have been visited. As our Board is solely responsible for the evangelization of Panama, we propose to establish preaching places and churches in every province, and also among the San Bias Indians. Work among the West In¬ dians is left largely to the Wesleyans and Baptists. An educational program. — Our Panama College, now a primary school, must be extended to cover secondary work and FOREIGN MISSIONS 439 eventually a junior college. The Training School in connection with the Sea Wall Church must become a theological school. A large institutional church is planned for the principal plaza in Panama City. Nurses will be added to the mission sta¬ tions throughout the Republic and a medi¬ cal missionary will be employed for itinerating work. The interior portion of the Republic is so backward that mis¬ sion work will have to continue for many years to come. 15. Europe Influence of war. — The policy of the Board of Foreign Missions in promoting the interests of the Church and the King¬ dom in Europe has been profoundly influ¬ enced by the war. An emergency.^ — The definite consider¬ ation of the principles and practice of self-support as affecting both missionary funds and the permanent relation of the Methodism of continental Europe to the Methodist Episcopal Church, was halted; consultations were left incomplete, and con¬ clusions were not formulated. For the time the European problem became one of emergency in which the Board reckoned with new factors which suddenly ap¬ peared. Both the physical and mental map of Europe were changed. Gradually, how¬ ever, there is emerging a certain order of events and of thinking which should put us again upon the track of a program thoroughly thought through and accepta¬ ble to Methodism on both sides of the sea. Prompt relief. — The demand for prompt physical relief both for our own mem¬ bers in Europe and for other sufferers from the war required prompt and gen¬ erous action in the period, 1918-1920. This demand came as definitely from the church at home as from the sufferers in the lands directly affected by the war. Provision had been made in the program of the Centenary for an addition of $2,500,000 annually to the original askings for the Board of Foreign Missions in order that these requirements for immediate relief and for reconstruction might be met. This made it possible for the Methodist Episcopal Church to be the first Christian organization of America to reach with resources in money and supplies the hungry and destitute in Europe. Over $1,200,000 was used in this immediate relief. The money was not in hand but the church had pledged it and pledged it for this purpose. Had the board received even seventy per cent of its expected in¬ come, this amount would not now be car¬ ried as a debt. National changes. — The changes caused by the war have adjusted the former boundaries and have brought new states into being. The Baltic Mission is es¬ tablished, covering the three new repub¬ lics, Latvia, Esthonia, Lithuania. Austria- Hungary is no longer a dual field, it has become two units. Yugo-Slavia embraces a part of Hungary and takes in a part of Macedonia for which our Mission has an important responsibility. Russia, always a problem, is now a problem raised to the nth power. Albania still awaits our help. The war has thrown up into relief the re¬ ligious groupings. There is a new Prot¬ estant situation, where the state church has been disestablished. As never before our church confronts with sharp distinc¬ tion, the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Creek Church, Mohammedanism and sheer materialistic atheism. In outline and content the problems of continental Europe, as seen from the Methodist view¬ point, with all that is old in them, are new and compelling. Comity. — By agreement, accepted by our own Board and by our General Conference, acted upon but not officially adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the countries of Europe, so far as work in them by our two churches is concerned, are distributed as follows: Methodist Episcopal Church: Scandi¬ navia, North and North Central Russia, Baltic Republics, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Balkans. Methodist Episcopal Church, South: Belgium, Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, South and South Central Russia. 440 WORLD SERVICE This division adds to territory occupied by our Church in 1914, Spain, Yugo-Slavia, and parts of the Baltic Provinces, and takes from it our very limited work in Poland. The fact of this understanding between these two great branches of American Methodism adds to the respon¬ sibility of each. In the proposal for an appropriation basis for 1924-1925 these general facts are held in mind. They become also influen¬ tial factors in outlining the policy of Methodism in Europe in the coming years. The Board has instructed its Committee on policy and work in Europe to prepare and present at its meeting in November, 1923, a report on our European work with a view to recommendations to the General Conference of 1924. General policy. — With no attempt at close financial estimates beyond 1924-25, the general policy would include: 1. For Protestant Europe, continued aid in securing suitable property and equipment, maintenance subsidies while work is being stabilized, promotion of self- support, and cessation of financial support, except in the case of central educational or philanthropic units, well within the ten year period. 2. Clearer definition of our responsi¬ bility in Latin countries, co-operating with existing churches, establishing our own units of work at important centers, hold¬ ing American representatives to a mini¬ mum, and developing and training the nationals themselves for the leadership and support of a Methodism for each land with international relations and obliga¬ tions. For some countries the contribu¬ tions should be increased and then for a time maintained; in others, within a rea¬ sonable time, there should be gradual re¬ duction, the institutional work receiving consideration upon its merit as it de¬ velops. 3. Increased responsibility must be assumed in the Balkans, in Austria, and in Hungary, in the Baltic republics, and especially in Russia, where the financial provision should be enlarged fivefold in the near future. A strong program should be maintained in North Africa, which for purposes of administration, is classified with Europe, since there our church alone occupies the field, and the contacts with Mohammedanism offer opportunities no¬ where else afforded. In most of these fields a large property program is inevitable. Until a resource- constituency is secured, the cost of ade¬ quate property for theological training schools, orphanages and churches, espe¬ cially in important centers, cannot be borne by the nationals themselves. Ur¬ gency to secure the self-supporting basis for the going work must in Europe as elsewhere be accompanied by a generous consideration of the need of co-operation for housing and equipping the work. VII. CONCLUSION If in this statement we have marred the Master’s program, we are confident that the flaw will be revealed, the error corrected. The currents of missionary sympathy belt the globe. We find ourselves thinking in terms of other lands, of work¬ ers in far away fields. Let them speak to the church at home. They are shepherding the little flock scattered among all the great alien peoples of the world. The grow¬ ing churches are gathered into fifty con¬ ferences. They look out upon populations where 99^2 per cent are still unevangel¬ ised. They are set to the task of teach¬ ing and of healing them. It is theirs to conquer error with truth, superstition with faith, sin with holiness. In Jesus Christ are their power and their recom¬ pense. As someone has said they promote a Kingdom which is without frontiers. Where hindrances are greatest, confidence is most firm. They follow the world’s Master, they have faith in God, they trust the Church. They and we know that it is morning and not eventide. In this statement we and they are drawing a new line not as a line at which to end but as one from which afresh to start. What the world has been waiting for through the cen¬ turies is a sample Christian nation. America has the best chance of being that sample. Edward Laird Mills THE BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS AND CHURCH EXTENSION ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. Historical Statement 1. Missionary society 2. Origin and development of church extension work 3. Division of the missionary society II. Functions of the Board 1. The form of organization 2. The task in concrete terms III. A New Study of the Home Field IV. Home Missions and Church Extension Needs 1. The territories 2. The North American Indian 3. Mormon territory 4. The Negro 5. Industrial workers 6. The cities 7. Foreign-language groups 8. Rural problems 9. Summer and winter resorts 10. Educational and military respon sibilities 11. Home mission leadership 12. Evangelism 13. Foreign language literature 14. The Goodwill Industries 15. Emergency needs. 20 441 442 WORLD SERVICE I. HISTORICAL STATEMENT 1. Missionary Society The first society. — Organized missions in the Methodist Episcopal Church began with the adoption of the following at a public meeting held in the Bowery Church, New York City, April 5, 1819; “Resolved : That it is expedient for this meeting to form a Missionary and Bible society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.” In the first constitution the society was called “The Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America.” “In America” was eliminated in 1828 to permit a future work overseas, although at that time the revised charter declared that the society was “for the express pur¬ pose of enabling several Annual Confer¬ ences more effectually to extend their missionary labors throughout the United States and elsewhere, and also to assist in the support and promotion of mis¬ sionary schools.” The General Confer¬ ence of 1840 added “in our own and in foreign countries.” “Domestic operations.” — The present Board of Home Missions and Church Ex¬ tension did not come into existence until 1907. Previous to that time the Mis¬ sionary Society of the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church had jurisdiction over all missionary work, both at home and abroad. In early days missionary out¬ posts on the American frontier were re¬ ferred to and managed as “foreign” mis¬ sions, but for purposes of clearness and study we should adopt the quaint term which gradually crept into the general usage of the church, “Domestic operations of our Missionary Society.” By 1881, domestic missions were of two kinds: those administered by a board of managers included Arizona, Black Hills, Dakota, Indian Territory, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Nebraska, and those ad¬ ministered by the conference were mis¬ sions to the Aborigines, Welsh, Germans, Scandinavians, French, and Chinese; also needy points of forty-six Annual Confer¬ ences, most of which were on the frontiers or in the South. The first missionary. — It is surprising what changes came during the life-time of the first missionary, Rev. Ebenezer Brown, who was appointed in 1819 by Bishop George to labor among the French in New Orleans. Fourteen years changed an Indian’s happy hunting ground to a well-established community. Mr. Brown went to work in the year when the mis¬ sionary society was organized. When he died in 1889, the receipts of this society had grown to a million dollars a year. A justified endeavor.-— With true insight the early missionary society established outposts of evangelism in sparsely settled regions and waited for the population to fill in the intervening places. During these years the field was entered, a sys¬ tem of management developed, policies decided upon, tested and readjusted until finally the missionary society, which had been opposed on the floor of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1820 and denounced as a radical and dangerous movement, has justified itself beyond the wildest dreams of its supporters. But during all the years in which the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church existed, “Home Mis¬ sions” consisted for the most part in what is now called “maintenance,” that is, the full or partial support of missionaries or ministers in what is technically known as missionary territory. 2. Origin and Development of Church Extension Work The heart of home missions. — Techni¬ cally, the planting of churches in com¬ munity after community is called “church extension.” It is at the heart of all home mission endeavor. In the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church, it started in a small way In Iowa. The expansion of the West and the inability of the settlers to provide at once homes and churches without assistance came as a challenge to Iowa Methodists. Dr. Alpha Jefferson Kynett organized a local Church Extension Society at Du- HOME MISSIONS 443 buque, Iowa, in 1856. With his fellow ministers he was instrumental in collect¬ ing money and helping many a frontier preacher to erect a house of God. After travelling 2,000 miles to pitch a gospel tent, it meant something to have aid in building a church. The society organized. — It was not until the General Conference of 1864 in Phila¬ delphia that a church-wide organization was adopted. It was called The Church Extension Society of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church and was organized to help in the building of churches and parson¬ ages. This was a great boon to struggling Methodist societies. The loan fund.— When the Church Ex¬ tension Society was organized, Methodism had 6,800 traveling preachers, 928,000 members, with 10,000 churches worth $24,000,000 and 2,900 parsonages worth $3,000,000. Within ten years, the Church Extension Society collected $3,000,000, of which $555,000 became a permanent fund to aid churches by loans. Of this sum $425,000 had been returned and reloaned to other churches. During this time 5,805 churches had been helped, the num¬ ber of preachers had increased to 12,000 and the membership to 2,000,000. The first loan fund was created by the Upper Iowa Conference in 1856. In 1870 this fund was transferred to the parent Society, to be used within the Confer¬ ence that created it. The General Conference of 1864 ap¬ proved a constitution for the Church Ex¬ tension Society which contained a provi¬ sion authorizing the making of loans, but not until action had been taken by the General Conference of 1872 was the pres¬ ent Loan Fund with the annuity feature a part of the authorized machinery of the church. From 1864 until 1907 the Church Extension Society, which became the Board of Church Extension in 1873, con¬ ducted its great work as one of the general Boards of the Church. 3. Division of the Missionary Society The General Conference of 1900 raised a commission on the subject of the con¬ solidation of the benevolent societies of the church and instructed the commission as follows: “Which commission should consider the question of the benevolent societies of the church, and should make a plan for con¬ solidation, if it be found practicable, and publish such plan in the church papers at least one year before the meeting of the next General Conference, and report to the next General Conference.” 1 The report of this commission was made the basis of a plan for consolidation, which action created the present Board of Home Missions and Church Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The directions given for the consolida¬ tion are as follows: “To the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension shall be committed all the mission work of the church in the United States and such other mission work, in countries under the jurisdiction of the United States, as may be assigned to it by the General Conference, and all the work of the present Board of Church Extension.” “The Board of Church Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church is hereby directed to secure an amended act of in¬ corporation from the State of Pennsylva¬ nia under the corporate name of ‘The Board of Home Missions and Church Ex¬ tension of the Methodist Episcopal Church,’ but preserving the identity of the existing corporation ; and the said Board of Home Missions and Church Ex¬ tension shall discharge all obligations connected with the annuities, bequests and other property which it now holds or which it may hereafter receive from the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, or from other sources, so that the purpose of every donor shall be sacredly regarded and every trust faithfully performed. The office of the Board of Home Missions and Church Ex¬ tension shall be in the city of Philadel¬ phia.” General Conference Journal, p. 531. 444 WORLD SERVICE II. FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS AND CHURCH EXTENSION 1. The Form of Organization The technical commission. — The task of the new Board of Home Missions and Church Extension was set for it by the form of organization adopted by the Gen¬ eral Conference of the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church, 1916. 1 “Its purpose shall be to prosecute mis¬ sionary work in accordance with the terms of its charter, in the United States, and its possessions, not including the Phil¬ ippine Islands.” The five departments. — “The more ef¬ fectually to accomplish the purposes of the Board there shall be organized five de¬ partments of work, viz. : the Department of Church Extension, the Department of City Work, the Department of Rural Work, the Department of Frontier Work, and the Department of Evangelism.” Detailed information. — The detailed plans of the several departments ; the rela¬ tion of the board to episcopal supervision on the field ; the co-operative relationships of the board with other agencies ; the reg¬ ulations governing appropriations and ob¬ jects and projects toward which home mission and church extension aid may be given — these are clearly stated in the Dis¬ cipline of 1916, paragraphs 431 to 446. These paragraphs should be reread and studied by everyone who would under¬ stand the policies and programs of this board. 2. The Task in Concrete Terms A larger program. — The re-organization of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension in 1916 enlarged very much its powers and responsibilities. Up to that time the board had been largely a collecting and disbursing agency. Now it is charged with the responsibility not only of surveying city and country com¬ munities, but also of developing programs suited to such fields, discovering and helping to give specialized training to a 1 Discipline, 1916, 1J431-446. leadership for city centers, foreign- language groups and rural communities. Major results. — The better income of the Centenary has made it possible for the re¬ organized board to discharge its new re¬ sponsibilities in a more adequate fashion. It is interesting to note some of the results growing out of our larger mainte¬ nance program, making it possible to improve greatly our leadership situation in a variety of ways. Full time workers. — The number of ab¬ sentee ministers has been materially re¬ duced, noticeably in Negro Conferences. In such fields as Porto Rico, the Mexican border, industrial, immigrant and Indian communities, we have through the years depended upon part time workers. Since we have been in position to pay better salaries, the church has been able to com¬ mand the services of more competent men for full time service. Up to Centenary days so meager was the amount of money available for use here that our pastors in our Spanish- American work in the southwest had to spend most of their week working as sec¬ tion hands on the railroad, laboring in the beet fields, clerking in stores, or selling real estate and life insurar e. Those days are gone, let us hope, forever. The Centenary has made it possible for the first time to secure for our faithful ministers and missionaries in Porto Rico a living support. These men with new courage are now giving full time service in that field which so greatly needs the continuous ministrations of the pastor in the extending of the kingdom of God. Increased self-support. — It is the policy of the board so to administer maintenance funds as to bring charges now on the mis¬ sionary list to self-support at the earliest possible date. A policy followed in former years in very many cases was to make small supplementary maintenance appro¬ priations. These in most cases had little influence in the development of charges to which such appropriations were made. We have had many cases to which appro¬ priations were made amounting to from HOME MISSIONS 445 fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars over a period of thirty to forty years and which were then no stronger than at the be¬ ginning of the period. It is the conviction of the board that slightly increased ap¬ propriations make it possible to secure stronger leadership and bring charges to self-support in from three to five years. As the result of our emphasis on such a policy, in much of the regular work of the church an improvement is seen in the large number of charges hitherto on the missionary list now coming to self-sup¬ port. For example, a district superin¬ tendent in one of the newer sections of the country has been able to bring two- thirds of his missionary charges to self- support. Comity and co-operation. — There is a growing appreciation of the importance of closer co-operation with Protestant bodies working in American fields. This spirit of co-operation is having its effect in the administration of our work in many communities. In Porto Rico, the various Protestant bodies have reached an agree¬ ment which has resulted in a division of that field so that we are working in 130 centers in Porto Rico and have no com¬ petitors in any of them. In Santo Domingo, a number of Protestant denomi¬ nations are co-operating in the new de¬ velopment and promotion of a unified program. In the North Montana Confer¬ ence with only one or two exceptions, our maintenance appropriations are made to communities in which the Methodist Episcopal Church has the sole responsi¬ bility. Better buildings. — The Centenary in¬ come has made it possible for the board to respond more generously to the appalling needs confronting it in the matter of better buildings and equipment. The work of the board is quite often re¬ ferred to on the platform and in the public press as a new program. The truth of the matter is, that it is not so much a new program, as it is an enlarge¬ ment of the Old. This is especially true of church extension. In former years the board made small appropriations to ini¬ tial enterprises which were usually in¬ expensive and temporary. At the present time the need has been to encourage the construction of buildings better suited to meet the larger needs of neighborhoods and at the same time secure equipment somewhat permanent in character. More extensive home missions. — In the period prior to the Centenary, the board has had a very limited program of mis¬ sionary work due to the fact that its in¬ come was limited. To maintain work in purely missionary fields such as mining camps, foreign-language groups, decadent downtown city sections, and similar types, the support must be provided by the gen¬ eral church. With the better income of the Centenary, the board has been able to begin the development of such fields in rather an extensive way. The opportunity fund. — The work of the board in all of its history has been very largely “opportunity” in character. From the very beginning it has been our major policy to make appropriations not to cover the entire support of missionaries and the development of property, but simply to stimulate and supplement them. All of our work, for example, on the frontier and in our Negro Conferences, was developed on such a basis. It was never possible, prior to the Cen¬ tenary period, due to our limited income, for the board to make sufficiently large gifts to cities to encourage the develop¬ ment of necessary property in such centers. At the last general committee meeting of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, in 1915, the com¬ mittee realizing the seriousness of our situation in the cities of America due to our inability as a board to make adequate gifts, created what is known as the Spe¬ cial Opportunity Fund. It was hoped that from time to time some significant gifts might be made out of such a fund to encourage the development of at least a few adequate plants in our cities. It is a lamentable fact that prior to the making 446 WORLD SERVICE of those few gifts, which were made out of the Special Opportunity Fund, no sig¬ nificant gift had been made by the board in its history to any of our institutions in the cities of America. III. A NEW STUDY OF THE HOME FIELD Method of the study. — The Board of Home Missions and Church Extension has acted as the central co-ordinating agency in making this study. A set of principles and questionnaires were formulated as a basis for standard¬ izing the study. These principles and questionnaires, together with a statement of method for making this study, w7ere presented for review and adoption to the sub-committee on survey of the Commit¬ tee of Twenty-five and to the Committee of the Board of Bishops designated for that purpose. These principles together with uniform questionnaires were sent to each resi¬ dent bishop for distribution, through his district superintendents, to be used as a basis for making a study of the needs of the districts on his area. A preliminary study thoroughly demo¬ cratic in form was then made for each district by local leadership. On districts, where both rural and city communities are represented, separate studies were made under the auspices of the organized city and rural societies. Where a city society or a rural society was not already organized, the district superintendent was asked to appoint a committee representative of the various interests of the respective rural or city sections to co-operate with him in making the district study. An intensive study blank was then fur¬ nished for every project whose mission¬ ary needs were under consideration by the local survey committee. This blank properly filled out by the pastor formed the basis of recommendation for inclusion in the preview. When this local preliminary study was completed and the societies or committees were ready to make their report, a group was called together made up of the pastor and one representative from each charge or church. A representative of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension was present at this meeting. This group reviewed the recommenda¬ tion of needs presented by the survey committee and approved the preview of the district. These needs were then submitted to the various annual conference Boards of Home Missions and Church Extension for discussion and adoption. The previews were finally submitted, in every case to the conference cabinets for their approval, and in the case of the fall conferences of 1922 where the cabinet so recommended, they were presented to the session of the annual conference. What is home missions? — For the pur¬ pose of standardizing the program of the church, a home field study was so made as to define clearly the various types of home missionary endeavor. The two gen¬ eral principles were used as a basis for this study: 1. Purely missionary projects where permanent aid may be necessary because local support for leadership and equip¬ ment is either undeveloped or uncertain and cannot be counted on to guarantee an adequate program for an indefinite period of years. 2. Opportunity missionary projects where aid in securing property and lead¬ ership is needed as a stimulus to self- support. IV. HOME MISSIONS AND CHURCH EXTENSION NEEDS 1. The Territories The peculiar needs of Porto Rico, Santo Domingo, Hawaii, and Alaska are related in Part One, where the various fields are described, because each is a distinct geo¬ graphical unit. These territories are all home mission fields and the work in them is under the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, HOME MISSIONS 447 2. The North American Indian Fifty centers of work. — John Wesley began work among the North American Indians on the Atlantic coast in 1736. In 1834, Jason Lee established his missions for Indians in the Oregon country on the Pacific coast. Today the missionary ac¬ tivities of the Methodist Episcopal Church among American Indians extend from coast to coast. They include nearly fifty centers of work and involve a ministry to thirty-two different tribes, including Mo¬ hawks, Onondagas and Senecas in New York; the Chippewas of Michigan, Wis¬ consin and Minnesota; the Blackfeet of Montana ; the Yakimas, Klamaths, Pai- utes and Modocs in the far northwest; the Yumas and Cocopahs in the southwest; the Navajos in New Mexico; and the Cherokees of North Carolina. We are maintaining two schools and forty-one missions and help to support seventy workers, fifteen of whom are In¬ dians. The present program of work involves the support of preachers, teachers, reli¬ gious work directors, field missionaries and nurses, and the provision of scholar¬ ships for young Indian men and women to pursue advanced courses of study in preparation for missionary labors among their own people. The need for more and better trained preachers among American Indians is urgent. The need for schools. — Less than one- third of the Indians read and write the English language. In spite of all that the churches and the government have done, there are still 27,025 Indian children for whom no schools are provided.1 The op¬ portunity of the mission school is to pro¬ vide the usual school courses in addition to training the young men in farming, dairying, and building; the young women in cooking, sewing, laundrying, general housekeeping, and home making; and to do this all in an environment which is thoroughly Christian, in which definite instruction and training in the religious 1 Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 19 22, p. 37. life are prominent and important factors. Work at government schools. — We are sharing with other denominations in the support of religious work directors at five government boarding schools and are solely responsible for this work among Protestant students in three other cen¬ ters. There is need for the extension of this service. It is of very great impor¬ tance that the Indian shall not become a mere educated pagan. The church, there¬ fore, must bring to the government schools the religious training which the govern¬ ment itself, under our Constitution, is not permitted to provide. Health needs. — Fifteen per cent of the Indians suffer from tuberculosis and twenty per cent from trachoma. In most American Indian homes there is little knowledge of needful measures to avoid the spread of infectious and contagious diseases. Three out of five of North Ameri¬ can Indian babies die before they are five years of age. Many of them might be saved by a little intelligent care. The value of field missionaries and nurses in carrying the gospel of good health and better home conditions is beyond meas¬ ure. From many reservations come urgent appeals for such workers, and these appeals can not longer be denied. The field matron. — Our field matron on the Navajo reservation visited an Indian home where she found a sick baby suffer¬ ing from intestinal trouble. “What have you been feeding this baby?” asked the matron. The mother replied, “Water¬ melon and corn.” It is because of such ignorance in the care of sick children that many of them are sacrificed. Instruc¬ tion is needed to provide proper sanitation and ventilation and to guard against the spread of infectious and contagious dis¬ eases. The field missionary is able to get into the Indian home and to the mother who has charge of the training of the chil¬ dren. We have been largely confining our missionary work to adult Indians after their habits of life have been formed. The work of the field matron makes possible an approach to the children. 448 WORLD SERVICE own people in order to give them the new out¬ look. Some are asking for training in our theological schools. Scholarships should be provided that these ambitious boys may realize their desires. Young women are also making requests for help. The appeals during the past year have been five times the number of schol¬ arships now available. The appeal of 10,000. — There are 50,000 Indians in the United States among whom no mission¬ ary work whatever has been done, either by the Roman Catholic or Protestant church. If the Methodist Episcopal Church assumes responsibility for those allocated to us by the Home Mis¬ sion Council, we should begin new work that would provide for 10,000 of this num¬ ber. Not only has our church been re¬ quested by the Home Mission Council to assume this responsibility, but the Indi¬ ans themselves are asking that we come. As one pagan Chippewa chief said, “The program. On the world trail. — Ten thousand American In¬ dian lads served in the re¬ cent war in one branch or another of Uncle Sam’s army and navy. These boys have returned with minds that are no longer tribal. They have come to think in terms of the whole world. Many of them are asking opportu¬ nities for training that they may become leaders and teachers among their An Indian church that has been allowed to fall into disrepair Indian babies just baptized Training Indian leaders- — A common fault of American Indian education is that it does not go far enough. Race leaders can rarely be developed from individuals who have covered only the elementary school grades. Our program proposes to offer aid to ambitious, but needy young people, as an incentive to higher courses of training. This is essential, if we are to develop the leaders needed. There is woeful lack of adequate equip¬ ment and funds sufficient to support needed types of leadership. Not one of our missions has facilities for a social or recreational Points where the Methodist Episcopal Church is at work among North American Indians 450 WORLD SERVICE Methodists have what we want; send the Methodists.” 3. Mormon Territory Mormon strength. — The Mormons are a religious sect whose principles are in con¬ tradiction to the teachings of Protestant¬ ism. They seek to conserve and to propa¬ gate their faith through the use of their organization in business and in politics. Utah is the state in which they are par¬ ticularly dominant. Yet southern Idaho is almost as much Mormon as Utah and groups of the sect are found in many other sections of the West, especially Wyoming. Arizona and Nevada. Their societies have been organized and churches built in some eastern centers of the United States. They number more than 500,000 ad¬ herents. The Christian leavenj — It is true that just now there seem to be signs that the right to individual thinking is asserting itself among the Mormons. Christian ideals and ideas are slowly bearing fruit in spite of all the hindrances. Contact with other minds in business and in schools is breaking down irrational super¬ stitions. Our program has not been one of proselytism, but rather one of con¬ structive religious teaching, which in time undermines false teachings and commands the approval of hearts made for truth. Chief Two Guns White Calf, whose face you’ve often seen- — on nickels Some Mormons have been received into our church and more will follow. In fact, the situation just now indicates that a day of rapid advance is not far ahead. Many are already beginning to break with the old superstition. A strong established church proclaiming life and liberty, will be necessary if large numbers are not to lapse into skepticism and unbelief. A vital church program has tended also to affect the message of the Mormon leaders. Reference is often made by them in ad¬ dresses to Jesus and his moral ideals. The church has lifted up the Christ until he is securing some recognition. The result will be that the hearts and minds that open their doors to him even slightly will come to feel more and more of his transforming influence. This is the day for providing adequate and attractive buildings and the launching of a thoroughly comprehensive program of religious service in these Mormon fields. With the development of irrigation and extension of the mining and allied indus- HOME MISSIONS 451 tries in these supposedly desert states, they will become more and more signifi¬ cant in the life of the nation. 4. The Negro 1. A General Statement When one pauses to think of that group of Americans who are Negroes he enters a world consisting of nearly ten million souls who have wrapt up in them all the needs and longings, pow¬ ers, and possibilities of human nature. All too slowly have the principles and ideals of American democracy been applied to these peoples. While some Negroes have made commendable progress, the masses have yet to be lifted. Illiter¬ acy, poverty, race preju¬ dice, industrial restric¬ tions, unspeakable living conditions, the northern exodus and inadequate leadership are present factors in the life of this people with which the church must deal in the most consecrated way. The northward trend of the Negro pop¬ ulation continues and these people, used to farming and outdoor life, are now to be found in industrial centers where housing conditions are often unspeakable and where young people are a prey to the worst elements of the community. A decade ago the task of uplifting the Negro lay predominately in our southland. Today the challenge comes almost as for¬ midably out of the northern centers. The Methodist Episcopal Church must listen to their voices, sometimes resonant with hope, sometimes weary with disap¬ pointment, as they seek better treatment, a fair chance for education, reasonable economic conditions in city and country and an even-handed justice everywhere. The Methodist Episcopal Church has 327,467 Negro members in the United States. And because the Negro members of our church have had better opportuni¬ ties, we have the unique advantage of shaping, in a large way, the destiny of this plastic race. 2. The City Negro in the North The northern migration. — The largest population of Negroes in single groups or colonies is no longer found in the South, but in the northern cities. The migration to the North has not ceased. During the last ten years the Negro population in Chicago has increased 150 per cent and in Cleveland 300 per cent. In smaller industrial centers, for exam¬ ple, Youngstown, Ohio, the increase has reached 244 per cent. The migration to the northern cities ranges from Boston and Philadelphia to Kansas City and Du¬ luth, and from Denver to San Francisco. Housing facilities are very crowded. “Boundaries” of Negro colonies are ex¬ panding. Schools and churches are ur¬ gently needed as well as provision for sound recreation and social life. The Negro is essentially religious. In various groups they have rented stores and dwelling houses and often have occupied cellars, for church services. Every sort of nonde¬ script religious group has taken advan¬ tage of the situation. 3. The City Negroes in the South Population increasing. — Notwithstand¬ ing the movement to the North, the popu- At a northern church service 452 WORLD SERVICE calls that timidly arise from crowded Negro quar¬ ters in southern cities. Ynmr f *1 * churc,h by a &rouP of northern Negroes for a g time, but now they have a new church home Look down in the right-hand corner of this page lation of Negroes in southern cities is constantly increasing. In some cities the recent increase has been as high as thirty-four per cent. While many south¬ ern Negroes have made noteworthy prog¬ ress and live in good homes, the vast majority in the larger cities live in con¬ gested quarters with unimproved streets, inadequate school and church facilities and where general conditions severely handicap moral and religious progress. While our denomination has made some progress in educational work among the Negroes, not until the beginning of the Centenary did we have a dozen well-built Negro church buildings in all the southland. tural Negro A southern problem. _ By the rural agricultural Negro, we mean all Ne¬ groes engaged in agri¬ cultural pursuits, and also those who reside in town and village communities whose existence is pri¬ marily dependent on agri¬ culture. Notwithstanding the large influx of Negroes in , . ^ the North, eighty-five per cent of the race live in the South, and a vast majority of them are in agricultural communities. rTtna^ry and ownershiP- — Two-thirds of the Negroes of the rural South, how¬ ever, are tenant farmers and America has no tenantry problem larger and more com¬ plex than this. In Georgia, 4,498,836 acres of farm land are worked by Negro tenants; in Alabama, 3,489,142 acres; in Mississippi, 3,986,830; a total including Our form of organiza¬ tion and supervision and our attitude toward uni¬ versal fraternity in the church places us in a posi¬ tion of leadership and responsibility among Ne¬ groes in the cities of the South. Our national safety as well as the moral de¬ velopment of the race demands that we heed the Their new church HOME MISSIONS 453 This Negro church teaches girls how to earn their living all the Southern States of 23,633,113 acres. There have been few improvements in farming methods, due very largely to the cheapness of labor, the large number of ten¬ ants and their low state of development. Major Millsaps of Jackson, Mis¬ sissippi, founder of Mill- saps College, said, “It has been popular here, now happily growing less so, to exploit the Negro by high store prices (the store is usually on the plantation), encour¬ aging him to get in debt. It has often made him hopeless.” 1 Fully three mil¬ lions of Negroes live under these condi¬ tions. Negroes in the rural South own about one-third of the farms they work. The communities which show the greatest ad¬ vancement in this respect are those where the missionary agencies of the North have done their best work. Ownership has not carried with it independence and wealth, but it has resulted in better home life, better morals, higher religious ideals, self-support and generous contributions to the general program of the church. The religious and missionary problems involved in these communities are more or less unique, yet, upon analysis, they re¬ solve themselves into questions of build¬ ings and leadership. The characteristic rural church for Ne¬ groes is a small, rough, one-room building, constructed of crude materials and wholly unsuited to any sort of activity, except the holding of platform meetings. The majority of the buildings are either heir¬ looms handed down from the days of slavery or weather-boarded buildings fashioned after them. One might travel over the entire Baton Rouge District of the Louisiana Conference or the Hunts¬ 1 A Handbook for Inter-Racial Committees pp. 24 and 25. ville District of the Central Alabama Con¬ ference. the Western District of the North Carolina Conference, the Savannah Dis¬ trict of the Savannah Conference or any district in the Tennessee Conference and find scarcely a Negro church that is not a plain weather-boarded building, fur¬ nished with ordinary “two-strips-across- the-back” benches. The exception to this will almost invariably be those country churches which the Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Extension has assisted in recent years. Perhaps the most outstanding need of the rural Negro churches is the providing of adequate buildings. Particularly should there be an adequate centralized church plant on each circuit to serve as a com¬ munity center. “Rosenwald Schools.”— -A few years ago the rural public school buildings for Ne¬ groes in the South were in a disreputable condition. Among others, Julius Rosen¬ wald, a Jewish philanthropist of Chicago, became greatly interested in correcting this condition. He evolved a plan and pro¬ vided the resources for assisting such communities as stood ready to help them¬ selves, in the construction of new and ad¬ equate school buildings. Today more than a thousand communities scattered all over the Southern States are sharing in the benefits of “Rosenwald Schools.” As a 454 WORLD SERVICE by-product of this movement, it has been possible to secure better teachers for these better schools and many communi¬ ties have been stimulated to erect ad¬ equate school buildings for themselves. This single movement made by one man has done for the rural Negro schools of the South a service, the value of which is past computation. The time is ripe for our church to do for the rural Negro church of the South what has been so well begun for the rural school. The need of trained leaders. — Closely as¬ sociated with the question of buildings is that of leadership. The evil of the ab¬ sentee pastor, with church services held once a month or once in two weeks and then by an untrained farmer-preacher, must in some way be overcome. Already definite steps have been taken to provide trained leaders through the establishment of a professorship for rural training at Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia, and through the holding of sum¬ mer schools for rural pastors already in service. The Negro pastor in a rural church is confronted with such conditions of disease, lack of sanitation, inadequate nourishment, poverty and lack of ad¬ equate social and educational opportunities that he must be equipped to lead his peo¬ ple to better things in all of these fields. The Home Mission policy and program of the Methodist Episcopal Church is to minister to all of these varied needs and thus bring a richer and fuller life to our mil¬ lions of Negro Americans. 5. The Rural Industrial Negro In both South and North. — The rural in¬ dustrial Negro settle¬ ments, which are scattered all through the South and some sections of the North, include the cotton mill towns, the oyster and fishing settlements of Maryland and Virginia, the mining towns of Alabama, West Vir¬ ginia and Kentucky and the turpentine, lumber and construction camps in several states. These settlements present prob¬ lems peculiar to themselves. The popula¬ tion is largely transient, thus placing upon the local church a responsibility too heavy to be carried without assistance. These centers constitute an important missionary responsibility which the church must no longer neglect. 5. Industrial Workers 1. Industrial Villages and Towns Church work difficult. — Industrial work¬ ers in villages and towns include groups of laboring people mainly dependent for living upon industrial activities rather than upon agriculture. They are found principally in the mining camps, lumber and logging camps, quarries, cement fac¬ tories, coke and chemical works, fishing communities, cotton mill and other textile and small mill towns. There is usually extreme centralization of wealth in the hands of operators, many of whom are absentee and by religious or racial affiliation are not interested in the work of Protestant churches. A steady income for the worker is very uncertain and transiency runs as high as seventy- five per cent in a year. Uncertainty and real poverty make maintenance of ad- HOME MISSIONS 455 equate church work most difficult. There is also a large percentage of foreign¬ speaking population in these industrial communities. Mining camps. — The latest available statistics on occupations that may be prop¬ erly classed as rural industrial show that there are over 1,000,000 employed in mining alone. This, at a conservative es¬ timate, represents a total population of at least 3,000,000. The lumber industry, — Lumber and log¬ ging camps represent a missionary task demanding a high grade, especially adapted missionary service. The map shown below indicates the logging activi¬ ties of concerns having a capital of $75,000 or over. We are working in but one place. The future program demands that the great responsible religious organ¬ ization, the Methodist Episcopal Church, plan to do the work adequately. The places where we are not at work are prac¬ tically neglected by religious agencies. Not only are the loggers to be considered, but also their families. In many of these places, there are conditions which make our advance imperative for the sake of the children. 2. Industrial Cities A clear mission field. — The Methodist Episcopal Church has an important obli¬ gation in scores of communities in cities whose population is made up of skilled and unskilled workers in the industries. These industrial communities, with their congested housing conditions and shifting populations, usually tenants, many of whom are foreign, have very in¬ adequate religious, education and wor¬ ship facilities. Here uncertainty, over¬ crowding, ignorance, misunderstanding, poverty and exploitation create unrest, strife and depression. The absence of the owners and mana¬ gers from the community leaves such groups peculiarly unable to provide, with¬ out outside aid, the leadership and equip¬ ment needed for their evangelization and Christian development. Some notable beginnings. — When an in¬ vestment is made which is sufficient for instituting a seven-day-a-week program serving the needs of these people, they rally eagerly to its support. 6. The Cities 1. General Statement One hundred and forty-four cities each have 50,000 or more population. Forty-two per cent or 44,000,000 of our total population are in cities of more than 10,000. In 1920, 21,760,000 of foreign birth and the children of foreign-born parents were found in cities of 25,000 and over. The cities are growing more rapidly than the church is adjusting itself to the conditions created by the un¬ dreamed-of development. Twenty - three cities with more than 25,000 people have increased from 105 per cent to 1,266 per cent since 1910. The cities are a mael¬ strom of conditions in¬ volved in industrial situ¬ ations, over-crowded housing, enforced ming¬ ling of various nationali¬ ties and races and the 456 WORLD SERVICE A class in English provided by a metropolitan church rapid shifting and growth of population. The city work of the church, especially from the missionary point of view, seems to fall into five general divisions: a. Downtown churches, often with a substantial church constituency drawn from distant points, but neglecting the polyglot, transient masses nearby. b. Semi-downtown neighborhood par¬ ishes, where the constituency has moved away leaving the church helpless in reaching the immediate broken commu¬ nity. c. The older changing residential com¬ munities, whose population is disinte¬ grating, bringing in new unchurched elements demanding an adapted pro¬ gram. d. Newly developing residential sec¬ tions, usually homogeneous in population but where the constituency is unorgan¬ ized and undeveloped. e. Suburban developments. In this section of the city are the business blocks, factories, thea¬ ters, hotels and poor grade of apartments. It is the congested, corrupted and sin-ridden sections of the city’s life that usually be¬ come malignant sores upon the body politic. The necessity of vitaliz¬ ing and maintaining the downtown church is in¬ separable from the task of city evangelism. The children and young people in these sections must be reached, Ameri¬ canized and Christianized for the sake of the future. Here in the humble homes or in the boarding houses dwell many of the cities’ future leaders in business, profes¬ sional and political life. The church center. — The downtown church as a center must vitally relate itself to the welfare of the entire city. 2. Downtown Churches City sore spots. — In nearly every one of the 287 cities of 25,000 and over in the United States, there is at least one “down¬ town situation.” The supporting mem¬ bership has been driven out by changing conditions to the newer residential sec¬ tions leaving the downtown church sur¬ rounded with great unchurched popula¬ tions, largely foreign and crowded into the back streets and alleys. A city church in the theater district flings out the banner 458 WORLD SERVICE A huge Sunday school in an “older 3. Semi-downtown Neigh¬ borhood Parishes Its ministry must break down prejudices and provide a meeting ground for all classes. It must lead in reform and in humanitarian work. The crowds must be reached with the universal language of a service ministry. The downtown is usually purely missionary in character and ex¬ ceedingly urgent. Outside aid must be provided to remodel or improve the prop¬ erty. A trained leader and a staff who understand the complexities of the mod¬ ern city must be provided. Outstanding downtown service. — One of the greatest achievements of the Centenary under the reorganized Board of Home Missions and Church Extension has been the changed front in many so-called hopeless downtown churches. Many “Old First” churches need their prop¬ erties entirely overhauled or made more nearly fit for a seven-day-a-week ministry. In some cases additional real estate must be purchased and parish houses must be erected. town centers of all our larger cities, there are churches in the downtown or semi¬ downtown sections whose membership is a mere remnant of the former supporting membership. The usual condition of these churches is the necessity of closing their doors just as the need for their ex¬ istence becomes increasingly acute. The community is usually congested with low living ideals and lack of proper home con¬ ditions for children and young people. The field requires specially trained leadership who can plan and carry for- The challenge of chang¬ ing conditions. — In addi¬ tion to the “Old First” churches in the down- This church had to give up its traditional program in order to furnish a seven-day-a-week ministry to the foreign-speaking and unskilled laboring community that moved into its vicinity HOME MISSIONS 459 ward a strong and vital program which will include social, recreational and reli¬ gious educational work and usually a thorough-going program for Americani¬ zation. J. Older Changing Residential Com¬ munities The challenge of the transient. — In the older residential sections of the city, the better classes of people, economically and morally, are constantly moving out and unskilled labor with a large sprinkling of foreign-speaking people are taking their places. Old homes are remodeled into apartments and flats. While the older church constituency is decreasing, the population of the community to be served is larger than ever. In this type of com¬ munity, the newcomers who are moving in are not interested in the church and in many cases are entirely antagonistic. The church must be reinforced through some outside agency or cease to exist. Usually the building must be remodeled so as to lend itself to a thorough-going community program, including recreation and religious education, as well as wor¬ ship. Especially trained leadership is necessary. Experience teaches that where a church of this kind is willing to adjust itself to the changing conditions of its community, the people of the neighbor¬ hood are quick to respond. Churches which would have been abandoned under the traditional program, have become busy centers carrying forward a seven- day-a-week ministry. 5. Developing Residential Communities A missionary investment. — Just beyond the older residential sections of our cities is a zone adjoining the newer residential streets, spreading out from the older sec¬ tions, but still within the city limits. This section of a city usually remains static for a number of years and then begins to grow very rapidly. We usually find a one-room church, often poorly located, that has been utterly ineffective in comparison with the great develop¬ ment of the community. During the Centenary, in many cases of this kind, a comparatively small invest¬ ment of missionary funds has enabled the local church to secure a strategic location, build a new and more adequate and more attractive plant, and within a year or two such churches have reached a place of permanence and power in the life of the community. Unless such stimulus from the outside is rendered and capable leader¬ ship established, churches of this type are doomed to defeat in these commu¬ nities of good homes, schools, parks and clubs. 6. Suburban Developments The suburban problem. — Pra c t i c a 1 1 y every American city of 75,000 population or over is spreading out into suburban communities. The development of rapid transit lines, the desire to establish a home in a more pleasant environment and the crowding of the city with consequent as¬ cending real estate values are responsible for suburban development. 460 WORLD SERVICE The people settling in the suburbs are for the most part salaried people and young business or professional men with fair salaries or “just getting started.” They buy their homes by making monthly payments. Some suburban communities, on account of their location, are almost entirely inhabited by employees of indus¬ tries. Up until the time of the Centenary, in such communities the Board of Home Mis¬ sions and Church Extension of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church was not in position to co-operate. The local congregations, with very little strength, undertook to carry the burden alone and in a majority of instances failed to accomplish an ade¬ quate piece of church work. Some prepos¬ terous and irretrievable mistakes have been made in these cases. A typical case.— A rapidly growing sub¬ urb is open to the denomination which is able to care for it properly. Our Metho¬ dist leaders look over the situation, dis¬ cover the cheapest and hence the poorest location, or perhaps someone offers to donate a location that is usually not adapted to the work, yet the best that can be secured because of the straitened financial condition. They build a $4,000 to $6,000 chapel, secure a minister for $800 to $1,200 a year, and launch their program in the midst of this fine populous commu¬ nity. They have a difficult time because of the unsuitable equipment and the inade¬ quate leadership and are barely able to exist. In three or four years, another denomination sends its leaders to look over the field, they determine it is inadequately churched and probably launch a program, which because of their financial condi¬ tion, is of the same in¬ adequate character as that inaugurated by the Methodists. Then come the churches of other de¬ nominations, one after the other, and do like¬ wise. Thus is laid the foundation for a genera¬ tion or more. The spirit of competition, rivalry and in some instances open strife, divide the people into groups. Each group seeks to build up its own enterprises at the ex¬ pense of all the others. Work worthy of the kingdom of God cannot be accom¬ plished. The churches through this policy are inevitably brought into ill repute and finally into confusion and defeat. The new policy. — The present policy of the board is, when possible, to make a sci¬ entific inventory of such a community, assist the people in purchasing the most strategic location and then aid them through a modest donation as a challenge to erect a $25,000 to $75,000 plant more nearly adequate to carry a program which includes all necessary social, educational, recreational and spiritual ministry. A first class pastor is secured, one competent in leadership to grip the heart of the com¬ munity and make a vital religious contri¬ bution. The people respond and ultimately a great church, dominating the whole com¬ munity, is developed. With our church thus adequately equipped and having a competent leader- Typical growing suburban community HOME MISSIONS 461 The sincerity of our Christianity is being tested by these peopleof an alien race who are among us. Whatever our attitude Above — the public school in a certain town Below — the church, parsonage, and lot in the same town 1. The Orientals An international oppor¬ tunity. — According to the 1920 census, there are in the United States 111,010 Japanese, 61,639 Chinese, 5,603 Filipinos, 2,507 Hindus, and 1,224 Koreans. Their sojourn in our country gives America a rare opportunity to mold life and character and to start influences United States. Added to these considera¬ tions, however, is the fact that in many American communities, these Orientals are the victims of sharp racial discrimination. It then becomes doubly important that someone shall approach them in the spirit of Jesus Christ. A string of effective churches with well trained pastors along the Pacific Coast stands as a witness to the fact that they do and will respond to such an approach. The record for self-support and for missionary giving on the part of these Japanese and Chinese churches has been a most commendable one. ship, the other denominations making an investigation of the field are satisfied that the community is well cared for and turn their attention elsewhere. This congrega¬ tion not only immediately pays back to the Board of Home Missions and Church Ex¬ tension the original do¬ nation, but also becomes for all time a great source of revenue to all the be¬ nevolent enterprises Of the denomination. This method has proven it¬ self to be an unqualified success and an exhibition of wise statesmanship. The interests of the king¬ dom keep pace with the growth of the community where the church is thus well established. which will eventually affect the lands from which these people have come to America. Race prejudice. — All of the reasons which lead us to send missionaries to Japan and China may also be urged for the evangelization of the Orientals in the 7. The Foreign- Language Groups 462 WORLD SERVICE A Japanese Methodist Episcopal church on the Pacific Coast upon questions of immigration may be, we can find no Christian excuse for treating these friends from the Orient in anything but a Christian manner. They are here, and there is no possibility of eliminating them even if we would. The number of Chinese is steadily decreasing and the number of Japanese is increasing only by the birth of children who are American citizens and who will grow up in our pub¬ lic schools. Surely we cannot fail to share with these people the very best which we have, the Christian religion. Distribution of Methodist work. — The Methodist Episcopal Church is reaching a group of Koreans in New York City. There is a Japanese Church in New York, and important Chinese work in New York, Philadelphia and Boston. Our largest Oriental work, however, is west of the Mississippi River. It extends into a num¬ ber of western states, but is best developed along the Pacific coast and particularly in California where the largest number of Orientals reside. San Francisco, Los An¬ geles, Sacramento, and Mexicali in Lower California are the four chief centers of Oriental population. While the Chinese are not so numer¬ ous as the Japanese, nevertheless, there is a field for a large piece of missionary work among them. The total number of Chinese in California was 28,612 in 1920. The student group. — Among the Orientals we are touching several quite distinct groups. There are the Oriental students who flock to our great educational cen¬ ters and who have some¬ times returned to their own countries less reli¬ gious than when they came. Other Oriental con¬ tacts. — There is also another group made up of individuals in busi¬ ness, industrial or agricultural pursuits who are in this country more or less temporarily, although the periods of resi¬ dence often extend over many years. An¬ other group is made up of native born Orientals and therefore American citizens or of persons who have become eligible for citizenship through service in the World War. Perhaps no better single illustration of the effectiveness of our work could be cited than the following letter written by an enlisted Japanese boy, who had been in our Berkeley, California, church, to a friend who was about to enlist, the latter, a member of our Sunday school in Oak¬ land : “I know you will live straight and be a true and loyal soldier of democracy. Don’t for a moment think that the army is full of immoral or degraded fellows. No, not by a long shot. They are few, or rather in the minority. But my advice to you is to keep your book of life a clean sheet. Use pure English and avoid and abstain from language unbecoming a true Ameri¬ can. It is the only way, by your actions and daily life, that you can prove to the American people the true worth of Japa¬ nese blood in an American community. You are one of the few chosen ones, and HOME MISSIONS 463 upon you and me rests a great responsi¬ bility. You are the link of friendship and the bond which will tie the East and West. All I can ask of you is to do your level best and be worthy of the people who bid you godspeed and await the news of your progress. And last, the most important of all, be true, be loyal, be faithful to the land of lands, my own United States!” 2. Mexicans and Spanish - Speaking Americans Two distinct problems. — What is often loosely spoken of as the Mexican problem in our Southwest presents in reality two quite distinct situations. By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, made with Mexico in 1848, the United States took over important areas of our present Southwest. With the acquisition of this territory we also acquired an im¬ portant group of Spanish-speaking citi¬ zens. Living on the frontier, these new citizens were not quickly assimilated and they did not learn the English language. The years passed, new generations were born, and today the descendants of these early Spanish-speaking peoples are still speaking the Spanish language in New Mexico and they form approximately sixty per cent of the population of that state. Even the work of the courts and the state legislature must be car¬ ried on in Spanish or translated into that lan¬ guage so that the individ¬ uals concerned may un¬ derstand what is being done. It is hardly fair to call these people, who have for several genera¬ tions been an integi’al part of the United States, “Mexicans.” They are Americans who still speak the Spanish language. Mexican immigrants. — On the other hand, we do have a very large number of real Mexicans who have arrived more or less recently in the United States. The overthrow of the Diaz gov¬ ernment in Mexico with the ensuing revo¬ lutions made conditions so intolerable in Mexico that multitudes of Mexicans en¬ tered this country as refugees. Some came through the regular channels of immigra¬ tion, some came by special permit as con¬ tract laborers and many more merely “stepped across the border.” These people are scattered all over the United States from New York to the Pacific Coast, but an overwhelming majority of them are to be found in the states of Texas, Colorado, Ari¬ zona, and California. Relatively few of them have settled in New Mexico. They are to be found not only in congested city centers such as San Antonio, El Paso, Los Angeles and lesser cities, but in thou¬ sands of small hamlets and in rural and in¬ dustrial communities of every sort and de¬ scription. Indispensable to industry. — Whatever may have been the original intention of these immigrants, it is now apparent that they are to become a permanent part of our national life. There is, of course, some shifting back and forth across the border, but the tendency is for the returning im¬ migrant to bring several others to the United States with him. The Mexican has already made himself well-nigh indispen- A Mexican church and parsonage in the Southwest 464 WORLD SERVICE A Swedish church made possible by Centenary aid sable to the mines and railroads, to the sugar beet industry in Colorado, to the onion growers of Texas, to the cotton planters of Arizona, and to the producers of vegetables, walnuts and citrus fruits. There is hardly any sort of manual labor in the great Southwest, in which the Mex¬ ican does not find a place. He has become an economic factor. Important advances. — The Methodist Episcopal Church has registered impor¬ tant advances in recent years in its work among Mexicans and Spanish-speaking people in the United States. This is par¬ ticularly true of the work in New Mexico, Arizona, and California where new work¬ ers have been raised up and trained, new church buildings erected and many re¬ markable conversions have taken place. Through the Mexican immigrants now in the United States, we have an unprece¬ dented opportunity to interpret America and the Christian religion to our near neighbor, Mexico, and to promote mutual understanding and to improve the rela¬ tionships between Mexico and the United States. Mexico is not only at our doors, but a substantial number of her people are within our own borders. In this situation, we find an opportunity, a responsibility and a test of our loyalty to the Master who said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy¬ self.” 3. The Older Immigra¬ tion National unity. — De¬ veloping a strong and sturdy nation does not necessarily pre-suppose people of one blood, but rather people of one mind. Out of the diver¬ sity of races there must be created the unity of spirit, a task in which the church, through its missionary agencies, renders the state a most unique and unifying service. Especially has this been the case among the older immigrants. A contribution to American life. — In the older immigration, there are the Danes, Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, and Swiss. These racial groups arrived as early as the seventeenth centuiy and their descen¬ dants today number about twenty-three million. They have made a most important and nationally valuable contribution in the laying of the foundations and the building up of our nation, and in conserving its unity. They have settled for the most part in the Central and Northwestern states, though large numbers are in Texas, in the Pacific Northwest, and in practi¬ cally every large city of the union. In the crowded industrial centers, in the silk and woolen mills of the East, and in the jewelry, furniture, steel, automobile, leather and glass industries and at the shipping ports, they predominate. They are also largely the tillers of the soil in the mountain regions of many states, where they are mostly unchurched. In Texas and in some Northern borderline states whole counties are practically populated with Germans, Swedes, and Danes, many com¬ ing from Canada where there are growing settlements of these groups. California, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsyl¬ vania have large colonies of German¬ speaking Russians with only a few mis¬ sion churches ministering to them. In Utah, numerous Swiss centers are without HOME MISSIONS 465 A national problem.— Xen nationalities The presence in America, of foreigners, and their children, totaling one-third of our population, demands that we press upon their attention through every possible means, the Christian prin¬ ciples we believe essential for the highest human attainment. Since 1880 the newer immigration from southern and eastern Europe has brought us an entirely different class of New Americans. Our Italians, Russians, and Poles are numbered by millions. They are crowded into our great industrial centers and spread throughout the rural districts. The principle of “safety first” demands that we press upon their hearts and minds represented in a daily vacation Bible school those fundamental religious ideals and convictions that have founded our national life. Not only their evangelization, but their Americanization requires most strenuous efforts by the churches, and no Americani¬ zation in any cheap or shallow sense is meant. They need to be rooted and grounded in the faith that made our fathers die for our institutions while their fathers were bombing the institutions they were forced to support. A high government official said, “If it were possible to do so, America could make no investment for the public safety that would equal in results and expenditure the con¬ tinuance and extension of the work with for¬ eigners as it is being done by several churches which I could name.” We must not allow this fundamental Americani¬ zation program to be displaced by a shallow program carried on by agencies that leave the gospel out. The harvest is ripe. — We have no longer any Senior and Adult Departments of a Russian Sunday school a church, while in the ex¬ pansive agricultural areas of the West and North¬ west large sections of these people have no or¬ ganized church life, but are mainly found in the Turnverein and lodge and have no connection with the church. It is esti¬ mated that from eight to ten millions of these older immigrant groups are not yet affiliated with the church. U. The Newer Immigra¬ tion 466 WORLD SERVICE Church of All Nations, Morgan Memorial, Boston, Massachusetts question as to our responsibility for missionary work with the foreign-speak¬ ing masses in the home land, neither is there any doubt as to the results possible. Although from countries where the Roman or Greek Catholic churches domi¬ nate, a high percentage of these people are open to the evangelical appeal. In a free country, many have broken from the domination of the Catholic church and have become agnostic, radical or profess¬ edly atheistic. But these need Christ and many of them realize their need. Many adults of the first generation of immigrants retain a formal loyalty to their traditional faith. The second generation, however, mingling in the public school and in business with Gentiles and with Protes¬ tants, find their prejudices broken down and will not enforce upon their children a formal loyalty to the old country faith of their fathers. The work demands extreme haste, not only on account of the vast numbers now approachable, but also because there is every indication that with the renewed activity of our industries and the conse¬ quent need of unskilled labor, every effort will be made to increase immigration. Methodist responsibility. — As a denomi¬ nation, our responsibility is even greater than is indicated by our relative member¬ ship among the evangelical denominations. The leadership that is now available and is becoming available for this work in re¬ sponse to appeals for workers in the home land is encouraging. This is true of lan¬ guage pastors and of American workers, both trained and consecrated to this form of work. There are entering our schools an increasing number who feel the call and urge of the mission field in America. This very encouraging outlook as to leadership will admit of no slacking of the program. We can go forward into this staggering task in humble confidence that we, as a Church, have been called to this field and can render effective service in it. Our Italian work.— -Our most extensive mission to foreign-speaking groups is that to the Italians. This work now reaches sixty-five points, scattered from Portland, Maine, to Los Angeles, and from Chicago to New Orleans. There are many stories of achievement, but there are as many unmet needs. Work in temporary build¬ ings, rented halls and dwellings ought to be established in real church buildings. New centers should be opened immediately at scores of points where contacts have been established. The “First Italian Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Ange¬ les” worships in a disreputable shack. Only the utmost faith could expect good results where such equipment must be used. 5. Immigrant Port Work The time for friendly aid. — There is no time when an immigrant is so much in HOME MISSIONS 467 need of help and when as¬ sistance is so greatly ap¬ preciated as at the time of his arrival in America. It is generally admitted by those who know, that any kind of attention or act of service rendered to an im¬ migrant while he is en route or within thirty days of arriving, looms larger in his appreciation than twice that amount of attention after he is set¬ tled. It is then, too, that he gets his first and most lasting impressions of America. To meet the im¬ migrant at the port of en¬ try, to give him a friendly word and assistance in meeting his immediate problems, to furnish him reading matter, to save him from the altogether too fre¬ quent exploitation on the part of un¬ scrupulous persons and to help him locate Foreign language periodicals read in the parish of an eastern city church with his friends and to find a job — that is a part of our task. Co-operative plans. — The most impor¬ tant points are Boston, New York, Balti¬ more, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San Francisco. This is a work in which co-op¬ eration is particularly desirable. At Ellis Island a plan of co-operation involving Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and other re¬ ligious and welfare agencies is in opera¬ tion. This should be extended to other ports. The Home Missions Council, The Travelers Aid of America, and The World Alliance for International Friendship have all offered to co-operate in this field. Here is an opportunity for the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church to co-operate in establishing the greatest piece of immigrant aid work ever attempted. It involves meeting the immigrant at the port of embarkation; meeting him at our American ports, and touching him with helpful service up to the time when he gets his job and is set¬ tled with friends in America. Doctor and nurse provided by a church community center 8. Rural Problems 1. The Medium-sized. Residential Town The near city. — In communities from about 2,500 to about 10,000 population, we 468 WORLD SERVICE find religious conditions of a peculiar type. The medium sized residential town is to be found in every part of the country. Quite often it is the county seat town. In other cases it is the overgrown agricul¬ tural village or has become a large enough manufacturing center to call itself a city. Retired farmers, trades-people and a limited number of manufacturers may be found. Wage earners, while underpaid, are not class conscious as they are in the cities or in the transient agricultural labor sections. Religious and social needs. — The follow¬ ing characteristics justify the considera¬ tion of this type of community in the home mission and church extension program of the church: a. Most of the church buildings now in use have been erected from thirty to fifty years and while many of them are good looking they are almost totally inadequate for a modern church program. b. In most towns of this size the con¬ ventional ideas as to what constitutes re¬ ligious service prevail. About the only social centers in many such towns are pool rooms and dance halls. The older men go to lodges. The churches are respectable clubs of a limited group of families with their younger children. They do not have a vital program touching the community or even their own constituency. c. Very few of these towns have Chris¬ tian Association buildings. The demand for community service equipment is likely to be met by funds raised and controlled outside the churches. Abundance of ex¬ perience exists to show the dangers of private commercialized control of amuse¬ ments. d. The immediate need in most of these places is either modern church buildings or additions for larger service, or a defi¬ nite broadening of program to meet com¬ munity needs. e. As in many other types of American communities, while there is local wealth, it is not available. f. In many cases the truly progressive church membership is not the financially able element. When once improvements are introduced, local support is assured. Aid is needed until the value of the im¬ provement is demonstrated to the com¬ munity. g. A home mission or church exten¬ sion contribution is a stimulus to right building. Conditions may be made to a gift that will result in better location, more commodious rooms and other factors that experience and study indicate to be ad¬ visable. 2. The Agricultural Village and Surround¬ ing Country The village center.— -The majority of Methodist Episcopal churches today are located in incorporated villages and towns. With the improvement of roads the village has become increasingly the center of educational, social and religious life. The agricultural village is a national institu¬ tion and its church may be considered the prevailing type of rural church. A very large proportion of the church buildings now being used in such villages were erected in days when the place of the church in the community was radically different from what it is today. The churches have maintained small insignifi¬ cant plants, usually with only one room. In a small per cent of cases, there have been an extra room for Sunday school and an unsanitary basement for occasional adult socials. Meanwhile, other agencies have often gone ahead, providing the most modern type of equipment for present day needs. The result has been that the church as a useful servant in the community has fallen in the estimation of people. In many villages the population has changed until now they are more predominantly the home of retired farmers who are con¬ servative and whose resources for church purposes are not available in large amounts, trades people, farm laborers and their families, who usually are tenants and whose resources are very limited. In most cases the building of a structure suitable to modern needs presents a crisis in the local community that cannot be met unless outside aid is given. Pastors’ HOME MISSIONS 469 salaries are very low in a large percentage of these fields. Village needs. — An illustrative type of askings for village agricultural communi¬ ties is the following : New Boston, in the Central Illinois Con¬ ference, a village with an agricultural en¬ vironment, has a population of 1000 peo¬ ple. Our church has the responsibility for this field. There is little local interest in things religious. The church building is dilapidated and the salary so low that able ministers cannot be persuaded to go there unless assured of adequate support for their families. Unless aid is given both for building and pastoral support, un¬ til the place has been revitalized, it will gradually revert to practical paganism as many other neglected communities have done. 3. The Agricultural Open Country The country circuit. — The M e t h o d i st Episcopal Church has a very large respon¬ sibility for religious work in the open country. Our circuit riders with mission¬ ary fervor and holy zeal penetrated iso¬ lated communities, crossed the plains and organized Methodist classes everywhere. The open country church is characteristic of Methodism from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In most of these sections, the primitive circuit system of Methodism persists to an excessive degree. Pastors usually live in some village or city center and go out for occasional services in the country church. The conditions that affect the farmers as a class affect the life and financial ability of the open country church. A national bulwark. — The “churches in the wildwood” as well as on the prairie have been and are our principal recruiting stations for furnishing Christian leaders for the church and the nation. Many a little country church has sent at least a dozen of its sons into American pulpits and to the mission fields of the world. No one questions the farmer’s stand on prohibition and other moral issues. But it must be clearly understood that agricul¬ tural life today is making rapid changes and it is necessary that the open country church keep up-to-date if it is to direct religious forces in the country. A new program needed. — Modern church buildings have been slowest to reach the farmers. Most churches in the open coun¬ try are modeled after the little pioneer school house with the sole addition of a small steeple. But with Methodism’s en¬ larging program of ministering to the whole of man as well as to every man, so¬ cial rooms and equipment for religious education must be provided as well as the sanctuary for worship. The time has now come, in fact is here, when our church must recognize the new farm consciousness and be ready to meet it with an improved church program, both as to leadership and equipment. Co-opera¬ tive organizations among farmers are in¬ creasing by leaps and bounds. Automo¬ biles, good roads, and the movies in town are factors in the changing farm life. Our task during these changes is to keep the church in its rightful place of leadership. Limited resources. — In general, resources are limited. Studies of farm incomes, sal¬ aries paid pastors and teachers, and funds available for public improvements, indi¬ cate that the rank and file of the farmers in America today are still below the aver¬ age in financial resources.' The result is shown in the abandoned farms, the exodus of wage earning groups to cities, low sal¬ aries for teachers and ministers, and the constant shift of pastors from rural to ur¬ ban service. Where there is wealth it is likely to be controlled by a very few who have little or no interest in local improvements. 'Twenty-eight per cent of the people of the United States gainfully employed are engaged in agriculture, but they receive only about eighteen per cent of the total national income. The average annual per capita income of the people engaged in agriculture during the ten years 1909-1918 was only a little over half that of the people engaged in the other major indus¬ tries. These figures are taken from the United States Census of Occupations and from a survey, Income in the United States, prepared by Mitchell, King, MacCauley and Knauth, and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. 470 WORLD SERVICE U. Isolated and Range Populations Two types of isolation. — There are vast stretches in the south central and western parts of the United States where large The old missionary frontier. — Communi¬ ties of both types often present very great missionary need. The reasons are more or less obvious. herds of cattle and flocks of sheep still graze, where dry farming is being carried on and where, in the mountainous regions, small farming is combined with hunting and trapping. The land is often badly broken and moisture is limited and uncer¬ tain. Two general types of isolation are found. The first is without any consider¬ able town or village cen¬ ter, simply cross-roads trading posts serving as gathering places for the people. These centers, however, are visited only when necessity arises and very little social and certainly no religious significance can be at¬ tached to them. The sec¬ ond are the small villages and towns which serve centers sometimes far removed from the rail¬ roads. a. The number of people is so small that even though they had the same in¬ comes as enjoyed by others in more favored rural sections of the country, their resources would not be sufficient to support the work. b. The very limitation of their social contacts tends to make them indifferent Old sod farm house HOME MISSIONS 471 toward religion and particularly some of the older forms of religious expression. c. The distances to be travelled as well as the condition of the roads interfere with lation in these now sparsely settled regions is destined to increase and we have the fine opportunity not only of ministering now to people who are in real need, but also regular attendance at religious services. d. Owing to the lack of moisture and other natural limitations causing uncer¬ tainty of crops and income, the majority of these frontier people are continually on the verge of poverty. There are sections of Montana, for example, where seven successive crop failures have reduced peo¬ ple to destitution and forced owners to abandon their lands and seek employment elsewhere. Under such conditions thousands of chil¬ dren are being reared without churches, without Sunday schools, without min¬ isters of religion, and without religious training. Other thousands are enjoying these privileges only because missionary funds are made available for assisting in the support of the work. If the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be made known to the parents and children in such isolated com¬ munities, and if Christian ideals are to be maintained and built into the life of these new settlements, it will be because home mission aid makes it possible. The popu- of establishing organized religion in com¬ munities which will be of steadily increas¬ ing importance. 5. Tenant and Transient Agricultural People The increase of tenancy.— In the best ag¬ ricultural sections of the country, since 1870, there has been a gradually growing tenant population on the farms. Accord¬ ing to the United States census, 1920, 1,558,000 (twenty-five per cent) of the farm operatives in the United States had been on their present farms one year or less. Over fifty per cent of them have been on their farms four years or less. The great majority of the persistent movers are “tenants.” Rents are rising and the in¬ come passes to absentee residents. The transiency of the tenant introduces into the country where land values may be high, exactly the same condition that ex¬ ists in the industrial populations in mining villages or logging camps or in the stock- yard section of Chicago. The church and 472 WORLD SERVICE other social institutions decline. The ab¬ sentee owner is not interested in contrib¬ uting largely for adequate church build¬ ings. He uses his influence in many cases to prevent taxation of his property for consolidated schools. Instances have been known in Iowa where the tenants were threatened with eviction if proposals for the establishment of consolidated schools in the country were passed. The absentee landlord does not contribute to the support of the pastor. The interest of the tran¬ sient tenant is but temporary and he can not be persuaded to give largely to the church. As one tenant expressed it, new buildings had been going up in four com¬ munities where he had been located in the past few years. Transient rural populations. — In addi¬ tion to the transient tenant, modern agri¬ culture presents the problem of 100,000 agricultural laborers who move from one state to another in the great wheat belt, and remain in one place but a short time during the harvest season. No church, local or otherwise, has an adequate pro¬ gram for the spiritual welfare of this group. Indifference to them as aliens to the local community has characterized much of their treatment. Is it any won¬ der that they are antagonistic to the church, the state, and organized society? G. The Cut-over Timber Lands In Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, in western Washington and Oregon, and in other great lumber sections of the North, West, and South, the passing of the timber has left vast expanses of so-called cut-over lands. Most of this land is good for agriculture and is sold by timber com¬ panies at low figures. The cost of clear¬ ing the land of stumps and undergrowth, however, is such as to tax the resources of the settler for many years. He is, in fact, in the same condition as the pioneer in the Ohio Valley a century ago. In those days, with practically no capital, the settler had to live almost entirely on the products of his own small patches of cleared land until he could clear more acres and develop resources by thorough thrift and saving. So with the cut-over land pioneer of today. He can hardly support himself and has no surplus left Deserts like this can be made to blossom by the scientific storage and distribution of water, as illustrated at the bottom of the next page HOME MISSIONS 473 for schools and churches, yet he and his family need the ministry of the gospel. Failure to help now will result in communities like many in the West, indif¬ ferent to things religious. Co-operation now will re¬ sult in communities strong, public spirited and Christian. Developments in the cut-over lands of today, however, are much more rapid than in the pioneer communities of an earlier day. In the first few years of hardship, we are fully Above, the public school, and below, our church, in a section where grazing and dry farming are giving way to irrigation farming justified in granting missionary aid for the development of his church life, 7. Irrigation and Drainage Projects Where empires are made to order. — It requires no prophetic vision to see the abundant evidence that the future reclamation of land through irri¬ gation is far to exceed in area all previous achievements. The ex¬ perimental stage has been passed. Through government aid, the ob¬ stacles have been con¬ quered. Frontier conditions obtain wherever a new irrigation project ’s thrown open to settle¬ ment. The settler comes to found a home, not to make an investment. Payments on the land must be made annually. Farm equip¬ ment must be purchased. The law requires that schools and public improvements be provided. All classes and all denominations are 31 474 WORLD SERVICE SULLIVAN ( JOHNSON .J ^ J > ! WASHINGTON ! CARTER Y W 7 <•***% $££'"”’/ X / Atmans / McMlNN \ / / v ^ y" V HAMILTON J rfe£c/ev*/sn&f l ( BRADLEY / POLK 0 J )★ / ! y ° Chattanooga \ j _ _ _ _ J LEGEND METHODIST EPISCOPAL METHODIST EPISCOPAL SOUTH PRESBYTERIAN, U.S.A. PRESBYTERIAN, U S. UNITED PRESBYTERIAN SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CONGREGATIONAL INDEPENDENT HOLINESS SHADED AREAS ARE COUNTIES WITH NO CHURCH-AIDED SCHOOLS Church-aided schools in the Tennessee Mountains represented. The Mormons are very en- ergetic in establishing colonies in the rich irrigation areas. Quick and liberal action by some church is necessary if responsible religious work is to be established. Our form of epis¬ copal supervision makes our church peculiarly responsible for the sending of missionaries and the founding of churches in such frontier regions. The settlers respond. — The settlers on the great irrigation projects, with every shade of religious ideals or lack of ideals, are aggressive and intelligent. Live wire government representatives aid them in successful conquest of soil and climatic conditions. They will respond to an ad¬ equate church program. Drainage projects. — An inter-state com¬ mission headed by Secretary Herbert Hoover is now pushing forward plans in¬ volving the opening of millions of acres of new lands. It is estimated that there are in the United States 90,000,000 acres of land now in swamps or under water which can profitably be reclaimed through drain¬ age. The soil in these drainage sections is very rich. Although a purely missionary work under purely missionary conditions is now necessary, these districts will de¬ velop into small farm communities with landowner operation. 8. The Highlanders of the South Where time slips back. — Along the southern portion of the Appalachian mountains, extending into northern Geor¬ gia and Alabama, live three or four million descendants of the original English, Scotch, Irish, and French colonists. This area, called the “Southern Highlands” con¬ tains, according to different authorities, between one hundred and two hundred counties in eight states centering in Ken¬ tucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The problems are isolation, illiteracy, and ar¬ rested development. The accompanying map shows the need of this region educationally, and from a broad point of view, it also shows the chal¬ lenge for a religious service touching all phases of the people’s life. According to the data presented in a reliable school directory for 1921, the counties colored dark have no privately aided secondary schools. Thirteen counties have but one high school each. Seven have no high schools of any kind. Five counties have not more than twenty-five per cent of their population belonging to church as com- HOME MISSIONS 475 pared with forty-four per cent for the United States. Such church service as is rendered is often of the once a month type given in good weather by a non-resi¬ dent minister. The circles indicate where the Methodist Episcopal Church should begin a far larger work of purely missionary service in this critical period. Real home missions. — The Southern Highlands have certain character¬ istics that make them a purely missionary terri¬ tory requiring long and adequate support to produce permanent results. Among those characteristics are the following: An appreciated church service to a transient harvest hand A community center for southern Highlanders a. Poverty. — The crudest, most elemen¬ tary types of agriculture still prevail. Here the home is still a self-sufficient, inde¬ pendent unit, where homespun clothes and knitted stockings are produced by the women, and the men range forest and stream for their food supply, or wrest it from tiny garden patches that seem about to slip their moorings and go sliding down into the valley below. Housing still con¬ sists of log cabins with plain homemade furniture. There is little trade and very little money in circulation from one year’s end to the other. Only seven rural churches in the Holston Conference in Tennessee have more than one room. Six of these are the result of the Centenary. The aver¬ age value of rural churches is about $1,200. b. Indifference to religion. — Contrary to popular impression, the facts indicate that the highland counties are neglected reli¬ giously. Ten counties of the Holston Con¬ ference have not more than twenty-five per cent of their population belonging to any church and everywhere church mem¬ bership is below the average. A small proportion of the people are exceedingly religious in an emotional way, but the masses are untouched. Large portions of this country are without religious service of any kind, many of the people being S\, 476 WORLD SERVICE isolated that it would be impossible for them to attend worship. c. A free salvation. — In harmony with the economic conditions, the section is bur¬ dened with the philosophy that salvation should be absolutely free. Consequently we must assist in supporting trained pas¬ tors until they can build up a new and bet¬ ter basis of support for the church. d. A worn-out circuit system. — Metho¬ dism here is still bearing the burdens of the survival of an excessive preaching point circuit system. In common with other denominations it has too much once- a-month absentee pastoral service. The parish plan must be substituted. This section has good stock, it has good eco¬ nomic possibilities when rightly developed. It will require a church program that touches life educationally and economi¬ cally as well as spiritually. 9. The Rural Leadership Training Move¬ ment The General Conference of 1916 di¬ rected the Department of Rural Work of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension to encourage the teaching of rural sociology in our schools. The purpose of this provision was obviously to counter¬ act the undue emphasis upon urban life, to give proper emphasis to the importance of rural life, and to present to the students an adequate view of the opportunity for life service which rural America offers to the college student. The organization of the religious and social life of our smaller communities is as important a service as is the improvement of economic welfare. But as yet it has been practically untouched. For many years the Board of Sunday Schools has maintained a staff of field workers and they have accomplished great results in improvement of methods of religious edu¬ cation. The demand now is for the expan¬ sion of such extension work to touch all phases of religious life and service. The Directors of Rural Extension Work connected with the Methodist educational institutions and affiliated with the Depart¬ ment of Rural Work of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension are al¬ most the only representatives in the edu¬ cational work of this type of service. They have not been at work long. There is no experience to guide their policies. It is a pioneer movement. The types of work now being done by Directors of Rural Extension Work is quite varied. Some of these may be men¬ tioned and an estimate made of their place in the permanent organization. Teaching. — All rural leaders are en¬ gaged in some form of teaching in the institutions with which they are con¬ nected. In all cases, courses related to rural church and community life have been offered. The present task to be done is that of standardizing their courses. The conventional prejudice against rural work as a life service still remains as a challenge to most of the group. In the face of difficulties, encouraging progress has been made. At Boston University, a large proportion of the best theological seminary graduates are specializing in rural work. At Garrett, out of one hun¬ dred students who recently expressed themselves as to the type of work in which they wished to specialize, twenty-seven chose the rural work and twenty-one the urban. The others were distributed among religious, educational, foreign and other special types of service. Supervision of student pastorates. — Theoretically no student should be per¬ mitted to carry full work in an institution and draw full salary on a country charge independent of all control by the educa¬ tional agency whose existence has made the student pastorate possible. Neither should any student be permitted to con¬ tinue indefinitely at low salary on a rural charge that should have full time service at an adequate salary. These principles apply to colleges as well as to theological seminaries. If the student pastorate is to serve effectively for training purposes, and if the interests of rural communities are to be conserved, student pastors must HOME MISSIONS 477 be required to give a definite minimum of time to their charges ; to follow out a def¬ inite program of training that will be helpful to him and valuable to his charge ; to limit the number of courses taken in the institution so that he can give real pas¬ toral service to the charge. Some progress has been made. Many student charges have been brought to self support. The problem of establishing rural training stations has become recog¬ nized, so that students taking training for rural work may work under the direction of trained rural ministers. Survey. — In laying the foundation for a national service for rural work the De¬ partment of Rural Work has been carry¬ ing on a survey of rural life. This survey has been designed to discover the location of every church of every denomination, the residence of every pastor, whether churches are located in villages or in the open country, circuit systems, and other facts that would enable us to reorganize rural service in harmony with present rural conditions and to plan for the ad¬ vancement of the work of the church to communities and to homes not now defi¬ nitely served by any church. Research. — The department has been encouraging in every possible way the development of scientific methods of study. There is need for the still further encour¬ agement of research work in all our higher institutions of learning. Many problems are awaiting solution. Summer Schools and Epworth League Institutes. — The Directors of Rural Exten¬ sion Work have furnished almost the en¬ tire staff for the presentation of the prob¬ lems of rural life in Epworth League institutes and in our summer schools for country pastors. Rural ministers’ seminars. — A number of the men have been trying out the plan of holding meetings at selected points in their territory to which ministers would come at least once a month for study of their local problems. Week-day religious education. — In co¬ operation with the Board of Sunday Schools, a number of the directors have been experimenting with religious educa¬ tion for rural communities. This work has taken the two forms of vacation Bible schools and the establishment of special courses for religious education in co-oper¬ ation with the public schools. Founda¬ tions have been laid for a safe and rapid advance in this form of rural church work. 10. The Rural Demonstration Parish Legislation. — The General Conference of 1916 directed the Department of Rural Work “to apportion such funds as may be appropriated for this purpose to strategic centers widely distributed throughout the country for a given period of years and thus to demonstrate the service such a church enterprise can render.” Future needs. — The critical period of the war called for all available Centenary funds for sustentation purposes and this very important feature of the work of the department has been neglected for the lack of funds. In the future a spe¬ cial fund should be made available for the department, in co-operation with the De¬ partment of Frontier Work, which can be used in the support of those rural projects under carefully trained and selected lead¬ ership that offer co-operation in the de¬ velopment of modern methods of church work. The development of these projects requires a sufficient amount to cover church buildings, parsonages, equipment and necessary maintenance to show what can be done under trained leadership with adequate support. 9. Summer and Winter Resorts The resort churches are located at places in the United States which, because of special attractions, become centers of rest, healing and recreation for large numbers of our people during the extreme weather of the summer and winter months. The permanent or “native” colony of a sum¬ mer or winter resort is usually relatively small compared with the influx that the 478 WORLD SERVICE “season” may bring. The permanent col¬ ony may find itself literally swamped by the coming of a large number of people, who in the majority of cases, are more dis¬ posed to forget their religious obligations than they are to remember them. If some special effort is not made, such people by their very presence, will inevitably depress for the time being and probably perma¬ nently the religious life and activities of the resort. These resort populations constitute a challenge and an opportunity for the re¬ ligious forces of the town or region, but the opportunity and the challenge can only be met by adequate resources. The indig¬ enous resources are usually inadequate, hence the need and wisdom of co-operation by the general church. The survey reveals that there are about fifty of these resort projects scattered all over the United States. As might be ex¬ pected, California, Florida and certain sections of the Atlantic Coast present the most needy and the most appealing of these half hundred opportunities. 10. Educational and Military Responsibilities 1. Student Centers A neglected opportunity. — There are 112 state and municipal colleges and universi¬ ties in the United States and 560 other private institutions of similar grade. The available statistics indicate that at least 100,000 young Methodists are attending these schools. Nearly three-fourths of these Methodist young people in non- Methodist institutions are in groups rang¬ ing from fifty to twenty-five hundred. Un¬ til within recent years the church has done little or nothing to minister directly to these young people. Something of the re¬ sult of this neglect is suggested by the fact that ninety-two per cent of the college- trained men in Methodist pulpits come from the Methodist schools while only eight per cent come from all other colleges and universities including state, independ¬ ent and denominational schools. For many years more Methodist young people have gone to non-Methodist col¬ leges than to Methodist colleges and uni¬ versities. At present there are at least sixty of these non-Methodist institutions each enrolling more than three hundred Methodist students. The Wesley Foundation. — The work of the Wesley Foundation is designed to bring friendship, social opportunity and voca¬ tional counsel and religious training to Methodist young people at the impression¬ able college age while they are attending tax-supported and independent institu¬ tions. In connection with the carrying out of the program, the local Methodist Episcopal churches are used as laborato¬ ries for training students in Christian work. Special class groups for the study of various phases of the religious life are provided and a wide range of social activi¬ ties is carried out. This work, at present developed by the Joint Committee of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension and the Board of Education, reaches fifty-five in¬ stitutions and employs twenty-eight full time workers. An annual expenditure of $150,000 for general maintenance for such work would hardly be adequate to do the work efficiently at the centers already organized. It is conservatively estimated that with the development that will come to religious work among Methodist stu¬ dents at non-Methodist institutions, there should be an increase of at least $15,000 a year for the next ten years bringing the total annual budget up to $300,000 by the year 1933. The provision for buildings. — The Board of Home Missions and Church Extension has been charged with the sole responsi¬ bility for providing adequate equipment in the way of churches, community houses, and residences at tax-supported and inde¬ pendent institutions. During the three years, 1919-1922, the Board has been able to give substantial assistance to twenty- four institutions. At three of these it has co-operated in the purchase of adequate and desirable sites on which it is hoped buildings will be erected in the near fu¬ ture. At twenty-one such centers it has HOME MISSIONS 479 made possible the erection of suitable buildings. It is most urgent that during the ten years following the Centenary period, suitable property and equipment be se¬ cured so that Methodist students may have proper religious care. Foreign students. — The Wesley Founda¬ tion makes it possible to do for foreign students what we have never been able to undertake previously, namely to give them a sympathetic and personal interpre¬ tation of the Christian religion as they pursue their academic work so that they may not return to their native lands more pagan than when they came. At Negro schools. — Attention should also be called to the fact that the Wesley Foundation idea must be made to apply to those schools ministering to Negro Ameri¬ cans where there is an increasing tendency for students to be indifferent toward and to drift away from religion and its influ¬ ence. At present there is not a single Methodist Episcopal Church for Negroes in any large Negro educational center, adequately prepared by location, building, equipment and leadership to minister to the Negro students whom it should reach. The Wesley Foundation program is at present a most excellent beginning of a task whose importance can scarcely be overemphasized. The young people in our colleges are the finest that we have; they are the leaders of the future in almost every line. We must not permit them to spend four of the most important years of their lives out of touch with the church and its interests. Instead we must provide for them the very best we have in build¬ ings, program and leadership. 2. Military and Naval Reservations A permanent need. — During the World War we were very eager to minister to the soldiers and sailors in cantonments and naval stations. There is still a definite need to continue this ministry at many points. Where we have continued this work, we have not duplicated the efforts of any other church or welfare agency. 11. Home Mission Leadership Our greatest handicap in missionary work in the United States is the shortage in a leadership trained and adapted to home mission work. Investments in prop¬ erty and equipment are vain without an adequate leadership to make every element in the equipment count toward a definite and complete evangelization of the com¬ munity. This shortage is always felt first in our weaker and most needy communities. To meet this situation among the ministry of our church and also to provide trained workers for foreign language, industrial and other groups, the Board has adopted a definite policy. a. Summer schools. — In order to give specialized training to men now in the ministry, selected young men, who have not had the opportunity of such training, rural and city summer schools have been conducted. Such schools have been from eighteen to twenty days in length. The very strongest men possible have consti¬ tuted the faculties of these training con¬ ferences. During the past three years about 4,000 men have been in attendance and have taken such courses. b. Higher education. — The board has co¬ operated with theological seminaries and departments of religious education in certain universities in making it possible to have training given for students pre¬ paring for special types of home mission work. c. Rural leadership. — Departments of Rural Leadership have been established in about thirty of our Methodist schools, thus helping to recruit and train men for service in rural fields. d. Scholarships. — The board has granted from year to year a limited number of scholarships to selected students who are taking special training for some form of home mission work. 12. Evangelism 1. Definition of Evangelism What is evangelism? — Evangelism is an earnest effort on the part of the 480 WORLD SERVICE followers of Jesus Christ to bring in the kingdom of God by seeking first to be¬ come the type of individuals that possess and practice the spirit and purpose of the kingdom of God and to help others to become like-minded and undertake the self-same task. A program of evangelism must con¬ stantly impress upon the leadership of the church that evangelistic efficiency can result only from lives that have been brought into the conscious and joyous ex¬ perience of oneness with God, and thus qualify for active participation in the work of saving the world. A church evangelistically efficient will seek to reach and save its constituency, especially the unchurched people in its immediate community. The spirit of evangelism must be at the heart of the program of the church. With this spirit, it will in a large measure be prepared to meet its full responsibility in reaching and saving the people in its community and wholesomely affect the relationships of all men. Money, building, equipment, leadership, all depend on the enthrone¬ ment of the spirit of evangelism, itself the heart of the enterprise. 2. The Problem of Evangelism The problem of evangelism arises largely from one or more of the following reasons : The need of the deepening of the spiritual life of the church. The dependence by pastors on special evangelists. Lack of a definite, organized evangelistic program. Spasmodic, rather than a continuous evangelistic program and practice. Lack of accurate knowledge of local conditions. Failure to use Christ’s method of personal evan¬ gelism. Inadequate preparation of childhood for life's supreme decision. The need of broad social sympathies. Indifference of many foreign-speaking people and industrial workers to the message of the church. Local financial problems that dissipate the strength and absorb the time of the people, leaving little if any for definite evangelism. 3. The Purpose of the Department The purpose of the Department of Evan¬ gelism is to stimulate and utilize the spirit¬ ual resources of the church that it may meet its full responsibility in preventing the loss of childhood from the kingdom of God and in evangelizing the unchurched and unsaved in the home field. J. The Program of the Department To hold conferences with pastors and lay members for the deepening of the spiritual life and the setting up of the evangelistic program of the church. To encourage and help ministers to be pastor-evangelists by means of coaching conferences. To help to place district evangelists under district superintendents for the purpose of developing charges in evangel¬ istic efforts, and to give direct super¬ vision for a program of evangelism adequate to meet the needs of the com¬ munity or district. To make available to district superin¬ tendents and pastors the services of accredited evangelists. To assist the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church in evangel¬ istic work in colleges, universities, and Meetings held by a district evangelist HOME MISSIONS 481 To encourage a responsibility roll in each local church. To prepare helps in soul winning for personal workers’ classes. To train young people in personal evangelism in summer institutes. To stimulate the churches to a study and practice of evangelism in its relation to social and industrial problems. To co-operate with other denomina¬ tional agencies in evangelistic efforts. To secure and train intercessors. To provide leaflet literature to be dis¬ tributed in attractive form in both English and foreign languages, thus reaching all classes of people. 5. The District Evangelist Seventy-one district evangelists are now at work under the direction of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, their salaries being paid in part or in full by the board. By this plan, the evangelist is to be paid regularly a stipulated salary. He gives full time under the district superintendent and reports to the De¬ partment of Evangelism. Meetings are held mostly in weak and needy churches where the evangelist puts on a definite, constructive all-round local church pro¬ gram. 6. Missionary Evangelism The missionary evangelist is the herald of salvation in places to which he must be sent from the outside and be practically supported by the board. Among the 1,500,000 migrant workers in the oil fields, fruit industry, construc¬ tion camps and wheat harvests, the mis¬ sionary evangelist is welfare worker, counsellor and guide in many matters, all leading to the highway of the soul. With the lumberjacks in Tennessee, Michigan or northwest, as comrade, friend, adviser, and sky pilot, he is the stabilizer of thought, the buffer for de¬ structive radicalism, and the only ap¬ proach that the church of Jesus Christ has to a group of unmarried men who feel themselves to be outside the pale. Many of these men the missionary evangelist brings into the fellowship of the church. In mining camps, like those about Wilkeson, Washington, he organizes com¬ munity life, stimulates religious activity, and opens Sunday schools and preaching places. In the South, the Negro missionary evangelist is working in one needy com¬ munity after another, interpreting reli¬ gion for the shaping of character, and stimulating to broader vision the minis¬ terial leadership of our colored churches. The foreign-speaking evangelists labor among the Portuguese on Cape Cod, the Italians in Portland, Maine, the Lithu¬ anians in Chicago, the Japanese in San Francisco and Hawaii, and the Spanish- Americans in New Mexico. Thus, under varying conditions, among all sorts of folks, the missionary evangel¬ ist is helping to bring in the kingdom in ways which the local church is not equipped to do and therefore must be supported by the church at large. There is also the evangelist who not only wins souls to the kingdom, but also helps the local congregation to put its finances on a firm footing and thus pre¬ pare the church for an aggressive evan¬ gelistic campaign. One of these evangel¬ ists assisted last year in raising a total of $135,000 for new church enterprises and to pay old debts, $25,000 of which was to clear off a fifty-six year debt of $19,500 on which the local people had paid $70,000 interest. The hospital evangelist or chaplain renders that fine service to the sick and wounded in the hours much given to med¬ itation and reflection, which helps to an appreciation of the relative values of the things of life and the claims of Christ upon their lives. The forty-one Methodist Episcopal army and navy chaplains find one of their practical points of contact with the Methodist Episcopal Church through the Department of Evangelism, which provides each man with an inci¬ dental fund for use in furnishing office supplies, music, flowers, and literature not furnished by the government. 482 WORLD SERVICE In work among student groups the de¬ partment co-operates with the Board of Education in promoting the week of prayer, assisting in the organization of gospel teams and in providing evangelis¬ tic speakers for our college and other ed¬ ucational institutions. The results of this work cannot be measured in this genera¬ tion. The success of street preaching has been very marked in East Harlem. New York, among the radical groups, and in Chicago where a number of city pastors and students of Garrett Biblical Institute in the summer of 1922 preached on the streets and in the public parks of the city. Some of the meetings were very largely attended and some results achieved. About 800 Methodist Episcopal pastors are availing themselves of the oppor¬ tunity to deliver short, crisp, vital mes¬ sages at the noon hour in the shops and factories of our great industrial centers. Forums are established where oppor¬ tunity is afforded for free and open dis¬ cussion of social and industrial questions under Christian auspices. Some remark¬ able results have already been accom¬ plished. The department assists in securing speakers and helpers for such open forums. 7. Intercession Intercession is an important factor in all evangelistic effort. The members of the League of Intercession enrolled with the Department of Evangelism are culti¬ vated and helped in definite and united prayer for our great kingdom interests. When the entire membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church unites as intercessors, the day of the Kingdom will be greatly advanced. 8. Evangelistic Literature The need of evangelistic literature grows apace. These silent preachers go everywhere and are ever ready to deliver their message. The Methodist Episcopal Church needs a variety of tracts for this purpose written in a popular style, printed legibly and in convenient form and issued by the hundreds of thousands. The department is publishing all the lit¬ erature of this character its budget will permit. 13. Foreign-Language Literature A silent messenger. — The need for a con¬ structive Christian foreign language lit¬ erature for use among various racial groups in America, has long been felt. Many immigrants who will never be able to read English easily or to understand it when spoken in public address can and do read their own mother tongues. Even in the case of those who do learn English ultimately there is often a long period of delay running into years, during which ideas can be conveyed to them in English only in the most imperfect manner. So¬ cialist, atheistic, and other radical groups have taken advantage of this situation to spread communistic ideas and infidelity among these people at a time when, be¬ cause of their break with the past and its traditions, they are particularly respon¬ sive to new ideas. Certain religious groups have also seized upon this method of reaching these new arrivals. Up to date, however, most Protestant agencies have been slow to recognize that Ameri¬ can ideas and ideals, including those reli¬ gious ideas which we most cherish, can and must be interpreted in languages other than our own even in America. The Committee of Six.— Following the direction of the General Conference of 1916, the Committee of Six on Foreign Language Publications has been hard at work. Already there are available and in use more than a dozen carefully edited pamphlets in from one to twelve different languages. One of these is the “Social Creed of the Churches,” a translation of a statement adopted by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. This is available in Arabic, Czech, Fin¬ nish, Italian, Lithuanian, Magyar, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, and Spanish. Another is “Facts and Figures Concern¬ ing the Methodist Episcopal Church.” This leaflet grew directly out of the deeply felt need on the part of a pastor in a HOME MISSIONS 483 SSSSgrl bibliaj -isottkk Kcszti K ' VA9.IKV, LECZKJCK f cbjsto d»bf ifuwft't"- ■CAKTW yii'tpbi ^•'^McrcKon c»onA^t,Mon HCPKWJ. I*'*1” «'V>W J* ^ u4r r$! ^ - '.*> ’ v*- 'r-N^b **-' — rrVc-* J~ -'- *■”' - ' *¥•» j’_. ,-*•• •-fuf'A -1 V**. L,1 U.> -*'< r?* *■“ rr i : ’ .■*>-. j — ' ’ sr * — ; “ ” J- e*. iv ^ ^*'4 *>■ tA'- • * : ^’-r—w^-rV ji w^< 5' Jf J'-_X.; J-.-/' i-S r;— ' w J U v, (M prV ->** -J Samples of foreign-language literature provided by the Committee of Six great polyglot community with many Slo¬ vaks, Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians, Ar¬ menians, Syrians and others. “What,” said he in desperation, “can I do to make the people, many of whom are anti-reli¬ gious and are regularly reading the most radical literature, understand that the Methodist Episcopal Church is something bigger than the little wooden building in which I must carry on my work?” The pamphlet is an attempt to help him and many others like him to answer that ques¬ tion in some measure. There are also translations of parts of Fosdick’s “The Meaning of Prayer,” and “The Manhood of The Master” and other pamphlets such as “The Church and the Working Man,” and “Things of First Importance” for spe¬ cial groups. Interdenominational work. — Co-operating with several other denominations through the Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations, bi-lingual Bible lesson quarterlies are already available or in process of publication in the Czech, Italian, Magyar, Polish, Russian, and Spanish lan¬ guages. Methodist periodical literature is also published in the Swedish, Portuguese, Norwegian-Danish, Slovak, Korean, Japa¬ nese, and Filipino languages, the last three being issued in Hawaii. An Italian-Eng- lish story leaf is designed to enable par¬ ents who do not read English to read in Italian the lessons studied by their chil¬ dren in Sunday school. Co-operating with the Home Missions Council and the Coun¬ cil of Women for Home Missions, race studies on “The Czecho-Slovaks in America,” “The Poles in America,” “The Russians and Ruthenians in America,” “The Italians in America,” and “The Greeks in America,” have been published through the George H. Doran Company. A sixth study, “The Magyar in America” is now in press. These studies are de¬ signed to help Americans to understand the background and the problems pre¬ sented by these various race groups which have come to see how our American experiment in democracy works out. 484 WORLD SERVICE An important method. — The importance of extending this foreign-language litera¬ ture work is very great. When we com¬ pare the size of our issues with the extent of the field to be reached, we realize that we are but touching its fringes. With added funds we could very greatly extend our sphere of influence and the result of a single pamphlet among these eager seek¬ ers after truth, who can foretell? One foreigner with pronounced anti-religious sentiments in the coal fields of Pennsyl¬ vania said after reading a pamphlet issued by our Committee, “Well, I thought I was an atheist, but, if that is what Christianity means, possibly I am not an atheist at all.” A wise use of our literature in homes and among laboring groups will break down prejudice and drive out erroneous and dan¬ gerous corruptions of America and of Protestantism faster than any other method which we can use and the way will be paved for a far more effective work among the rising generation of young people. 14. The Goodwill Industries Not charity. — The Goodwill Industries are institutions where cast-off shoes, clothes and furniture collected from the homes and business houses of the commu¬ nity are renovated by people economically or physically unfit to be employed in the regular industries. Under Christian fore¬ men, they become shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, upholsterers, milliners and dressmakers and are fitted for earning a livelihood. The product of their labors while learning a trade is sold at a low price to needy people unable to purchase new goods. During this process of the recon¬ struction of men and things the message of the gospel is interpreted through chapel worship and personal contact with Chris¬ tian men and women. The Goodwill Industries represent the church in promoting business life, scien¬ tific and Christian methods of saving the waste in order to provide for the material and religious needs of old, handicapped and unemployed people, many of whom are now alienated from the church by poverty or social and religious prejudice and con¬ sider that the church has no message for labor. It is estimated that from 2,500,000 to 10,000,000 people in America are in pov¬ erty and do not have sufficient income from year to year to secure the necessaries of life, food, clothing and shelter. On the other hand, enough material is wasted in America to provide an abundance for these millions of needy people if this waste ma¬ terial were properly conserved. The Goodwill Industries ar designed to give the needy, “not charity but a chance”, in the self-supporting work of saving the waste materials of the community. These Industries are business-like in their methods of saving this waste mate¬ rial, so much so, that in a short time after proper provision is made for tools and trained leadership, they become self sup¬ porting. They are so scientific in saving this waste material that they have substituted for menial charity, a chance for the un¬ fortunate to become self supporting and self respecting. The Goodwill Industries are so Chris¬ tian in their methods of saving waste material that they literally follow the methods of Jesus in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick in body and mind and preaching the Gospel to the poor. The Christian method in all ages of the church transcends social, national and re¬ ligious prejudice. The Goodwill Indus¬ tries are so operated as to constitute an industrial democracy. The people who work and those who supervise and finance the enterprise, share together the respon¬ sibility of the management. Goodwill Industries are not run for profit but for service. Goodwill Industries constitute more than temporary material relief. Fourteen trades are taught in the Goodwill Indus¬ tries run by the Methodist Episcopal Church. Americanization classes are con¬ ducted for foreign-speaking people. Day nurseries, kindergartens, music schools, industrial schools, fresh air camps, and Missions and Church Extension 486 WORLD SERVICE daily vacation Bible schools are main¬ tained for the children. The Goodwill Industries conduct reli¬ gious meetings every week day. Where there is no church near to minister to the people, a Church of Good Will is organized for that purpose. But, a chance. — In 1922, twenty Goodwill Industries reclaimed more than $1,000,000 from waste materials and ministered through their workshops and stores to more than 250,000 needy folks. Nearly 10,000 unfortunate people have turned this waste material into articles of use which 1,000,000 other unfortunate folks, who could not afford new things, purchased at small prices in our sixty-five stores in twenty cities. Fully $500,000 in self re¬ specting opportunity wages have been paid to the 10,000 old, handicapped and unfor¬ tunate folks at work in our industries. The foremen, teachers and regular over¬ seers received $250,000 in salaries. Many persons have been remade economically by learning one of the fourteen trades taught in our factories. The Industries constitute the largest Trade School in the denomina¬ tion. These students could never learn a trade elsewhere. They support themselves and other dependents as they learn. More than 6,000 religious services were held in the Goodwill Industries in 1922. It would be altogether impossible to care for these unfortunate peoples by any other method. It is either this method or leave them without a chance and without reli¬ gious opportunity. There are at least twenty-one other cities throughout the country where Goodwill Industries should be organized and carried forward at the earliest possible date. 15. Emergency Needs Calamity cases. — The term “emergency,” is used to cover those needs for church ex¬ tension aid entitled to consideration by the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, in which church property has been destroyed in whole or in part, by fire, flood, tornado or other natural calamity, and where such property can not be rebuilt or restored without outside help. In rare cases, since the beginning of the Centenary, other problematic and difficult situations growing out of crop failures or sudden collapse of business en¬ terprises have been relieved by emergency funds. In general, however, emergency funds have been used for real calamity cases and the funds available are scarcely sufficient for anything else. Our experience has again and again demonstrated that it is well worth while to stimulate the work of rebuilding or restoring these destroyed and damaged churches. The aid given in any case is determined by the amount of loss sustained and the resources which the board has available. NO RETREAT ! The Board of Home Missions and Church Extension steadfastly refuses to beat a retreat and as steadfastly refuses to listen to timid and visionless counsel. It is profoundly convinced that Christ is calling the church to join him in a con¬ quering crusade that shall end only when the social organism has been thoroughly Christianized. The board believes that the great body of Methodists join in this conviction. A LABORATORY, RUST COLLEGE, HOLLY SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI Slow moves the pageant of a climbing race. Paul Laurence Dunbar BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR NEGROES ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. The Board of Education for Negroes 1. General object 2. Its program for the education of the Negro II. The Negro’s Educational Needs 1. Reasons for educating him 2. The kind of education for him 3. The pressing need of Negro education V. Church and State Education for the Negro VI. Growth and Needs of the Insti¬ tutions VII. What the Methodist Episcopal Church Must do for Negro Ed¬ ucation in the Next Ten Years 1. Standards that must be at¬ tained 2. The future program III. Negro Progress 1. In business and the professions 2. In religious leadership IV. The Only Source of Leader¬ ship for the Negro Race VIII. Our Brother in Black, a Mis¬ sionary Appeal 1. Some results of fifty-six years of education 2. The program justified by the results 487 488 WORLD SERVICE I. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR NEGROES 1. General Object “The work of the Board of Education for Negroes shall be the establishment and maintenance of institutions for Chris¬ tian education among the colored people in the Southern States and elsewhere. The instruction in these institutions shall in¬ clude such literary, professional, and bib¬ lical courses of study, and such industrial training as will tend to develop the highest Christian character. These institutions shall be located with reference to an educa¬ tional system comprising collegiate centers and co-operative preparatory academies, so that with the greatest economy the edu¬ cational needs of the people may be most fully met. Contributions shall be taken through the church for the maintenance and support of this work, and for this purpose Lincoln’s Birthday shall be ob¬ served wherever practicable. “The schools shall be made self-sup¬ porting as rapidly as the financial condi¬ tion of the people will permit. Special efforts shall be made to secure permanent endowments for the various institutions, and the Board of Managers, whenever it is satisfied that the support will be ample, and that the property will be maintained and perpetuated, may convey the control of said schools to a local Board of Trus¬ tees.” 1 2. Its Program for the Education of the Negro A central university.— The Board of Ed¬ ucation for Negroes has a well-defined plan for the development of its schools. The program calls for one university at Atlanta, Georgia, in the very center of the South. Plans have already been adopted by the board for the re¬ organization of Clark University, provid¬ ing for schools of liberal arts, science, commerce, music, law, also post-graduate courses, the theology and medicine of the university to be done at Gammon Theo¬ logical Seminary and Meharry Medical College. In providing for post-grad¬ 1 Discipline, f451. uate work, we look toward the train¬ ing of college presidents, professors and outstanding leaders, not only for our own system of schools, but for the entire Negro educational needs of the country. This work is now entirely done in north¬ ern universities. First-class colleges. — The program calls for not less than four or five first-class colleges located in various sections of the South, so as to provide full college courses within easy reach of the Negro masses. Because of inadequate funds in the past not one of the institutions now rated as colleges has had a chance for self- determination as to its permanent classi¬ fication. The system is being maintained as given in this report. With the in¬ creased help which now comes from the Centenary and is expected from the pro¬ gram following the Centenary, the policy of self-determination, based upon growth, will permanently fix the number of stand¬ ard colleges the board may profitably operate. Moreover, the Southern States are con¬ stantly raising the standards of their in¬ stitutions for the Negro. The board will be compelled for the next five or more years to watch the growth of the schools and the action of the states and other de¬ nominational agencies, in order to act wisely. Junior colleges, institutes, and academies. — The balance of the schools are to be junior colleges and secondary schools, from which will go out school teachers and such of the ministers and Christian leaders as shall find it impossible to secure a full college training and a complete theological course added. Under the con¬ ditions prevailing among the Negroes, for a long time to come, the junior col¬ leges and secondary schools must suffice for the great mass, not only of the minis¬ ters, but local church leaders as well, such as Sunday-school superintendents and teachers, Epworth League presi¬ dents and workers in all departments of the churches. NEGRO EDUCATION 489 Negro fourth grade containing pupils from eight years of age to forty II. THE NEGRO’S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS 1. Reasons for Educating the Negro a. He is a man entitled to it. It is his inherent right to be trained. b. Education makes him a producer as well as a consumer. c. As a producer, he becomes an asset, not a liability. d. A democracy like the United States is safe when all its people are educated. e. No people in a country should per¬ manently be left weak. It forms the basis for the destruction of the weak and a handicap of the strong. 2. The Kind of Education for the Negro a. All that the individual is capable of taking. b. It should cover all phases of life. c. It should be Christian. d. It should be thorough. 3. The Pressing Need of Negro Education a. There are 10,381,309 Negroes in the United States, or one-tenth of our popu¬ lation, needing mental, moral, spiritual care and leadership. b. The necessity for qualifying for voting in church and state, requires educa¬ tion. The trend is for educational quali¬ fication in and for everything. The Negro 32 without education may become a liability and positive burden to civilization. c. In fifty-six years, Negroes have made marvelous progress in business. The call is for educated leadership beyond the present capacity of the schools to furnish. III. NEGRO PROGRESS 1. In the Professions and in Business Two Negro medical schools. — There are only two approved institutions for the medical training of the Negro. Howard University, Washington, District of Co¬ lumbia, and Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee. For the year 1920- 21 Howard University had 459 students in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, and Meharry Medical College had 645, or 186 in excess of Howard University. It is an astounding fact that there are only two medical schools and one law school specifically established for a race of people numbering 10,381,309. No southern state provides for the medical or legal education of the Negro. Schools of the North are open to the race, but re¬ strictions are on the increase, by which he is either prohibited or advised to seek training at one of the Negro schools. The limit has been reached at Meharry Medical College in the accommodation for students. The increase of the endowment to $1,000,000 is imperative. The Metho- 490 WORLD SERVICE Directors of a Negro bank dist Episcopal Church, through the Board of Education for Negroes, has contrib¬ uted $300,000 for the expansion and en¬ dowment of Meharry Medical College, and now enters $10,000 per annum in its budget of askings, that the school may retain the rank of Class A. One Negro law school. — In 1920-21, there were 60,000 business operations by the Negro. These consisted of banking, insurance, grocery, real estate, etc. The taxable property of the Negro is valued at $1,500,000,000. With this accumula¬ tion comes the need of the Negro lawyer, and yet there is but one Negro law school from Washington to Los Angeles. The only Negro institution conducting a law department is Howard University, with 72 students in 1920-21. The board contemplates the organiza¬ tion of Clark University, with the inclu¬ sion of a law department as one of the imperative needs. 2. In Religious Leadership The religious status of the Negro in 1920-21 Churches . 45,000 Ministers . 37,000 Communicants . 4,800,000 Sunday schools . . 46,000 Sunday-school pupils . 2,250,000 Church property value . $90,000,000 Alarming facts. — As gratifying as the above showing may be in fifty-six years of freedom, there are some alarming symptoms in the facts when analyzed. Of the 10,381,309 Negroes in the United States, but 4,800,000 are enrolled as members of churches. The Negro has been hitherto re¬ garded as our most re¬ ligious race. There are but a few over one half as many Sunday-school pupils in Negro churches as there are Negro church mem¬ bers. Where are the children of this hitherto deeply and openly religious race? Negroes in theological seminaries. — Of the 37,000 Negro ministers, 20,317 are Baptists and 15,171 Methodists. With the exception of 1,779 Negro ministers in the Methodist Episcopal Church and 1,014 in the Protestant Episcopal, Pres¬ byterian and Congregational Churches, the bulk of Negro ministers, numbering 34,207, belong to the distinctively Negro Methodist and Baptist bodies. In all the theological institutions and departments for the training of Negro ministers there are now 910 students. Of these, 114 were reported in Gammon Theological Semi¬ nary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was the largest number in any one theological institution for Negroes. Of the total number of 910 Negro students in the 36 theological institutions and de¬ partments, 346 are in nine institutions operated by northern boards, and the Southern Presbyterian Church. There are 1,152 students in the Negro medical colleges, as compared with 910 in Negro theological seminaries. The rating of the medical schools is far above that of two thirds of the theological semi¬ naries. Not more than one fourth of the 37,000 Negro ministers can be said to have ad¬ equate training for leadership. Need of a trained ministry.— The out¬ standing need of the Negro race is a trained ministry. Gammon Theological Seminary at Atlanta, Georgia, has been a mighty lever of power for the Negro race. The imperative need is expansion in buildings and endowment, in order that NEGRO EDUCATION 491 the seminary may do its largest work in theological and extension courses. Any money expended here is an investment that will yield. The Centenary income of over $400,000 per year from Negro conferences is directly attributable to the Negro ministerial leadership from Gam¬ mon Theological Seminary and other in¬ stitutions. Summer institutes. — Great and perma¬ nent good has been done in the work of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, in providing rural institutes for Negro conferences, wherein the min¬ isters and lay leaders are brought to¬ gether at Wiley College, Morgan College, and Clark University for two or three weeks of study each summer. It has stimulated the ministry and membership of our Negro conferences. IV. THE ONLY SOURCE OF LEAD¬ ERSHIP FOR THE NEGRO RACE A trained leadership imperative. — No race can come to its own without trained leadership. The one source is the insti¬ tution of learning. The success of fifty- six years in producing a leadership for the race warrants the continuance of the work as the source of supply. When we were called to war, it was the educated Negro of our Methodist schools that made possible the large contribution of Negro forces to the victory achieved. The Methodist Episcopal Church had ed¬ ucated a Negro leadership, so that one of its graduates guided the entire race in its relation to American forces at home and overseas. Every board of the church is depend¬ ent upon our Negro institutions for the working of its program at home and abroad. V. CHURCH AND STATE EDUCA¬ TION FOR THE NEGRO Religious value of church education. — It has been said over and over that but for the denominational institutions begun and continued in the South for the Negro people, the wisdom of educating the Negro never would have been discov¬ ered. Hence the forward movement in the South by the state for the education of the Negro may be justly considered as one of the victories of northern philan¬ thropy. Now that there are one or more state institutions in every southern state for the education of the Negro, along with our schools, each is finding its place in a definite way. The Christian school is preparing Christian leaders for all, and the more emphasis placed upon the Chris¬ tian basis, the better. The religious re¬ vival in our schools where young people are sought to become converts and follow¬ ers of Christ is unknown to the state school. One of the institutions of our church, situated alongside of a state school, had such a religious revival among the stu¬ dents that it influenced the state school and conducted the revival for both, by having the state school students join in the meetings. Denominational schools have found their specific work to be the training of ministers, teachers, physicians, pharma¬ cists, lawyers, and home-makers, leaving the state schools to train the Negro in industry, agriculture, commerce and busi¬ ness. Our Christian schools, therefore, are spending most of their funds in the academic and professional training of the Negro, on the religious basis; and the state is expending large sums in the in¬ dustrial and handicraft pursuits. Type of public-school facilities provided for Negroes by the state 492 WORLD SERVICE Leaders for our greatest racial VI. GROWTH AND NEEDS OF THE INSTITUTIONS 1. Growth of Institutions in Teachers and Students Institutions Teachers Students _ A _ _ _ _ A _ 1901-02 1911-12 1921-22 1922-23 1901-02 1911-12 1921-221 1922-23’ South Atlantic States : Morgan College . 5 Princess Anne Academy . 5 Bennett College . 10 Claflin College . 34 Clark University . 14 Gammon Theological Seminary . 4 Cookman Institute . 4 East South Central States: Meharry Medical College . 19 Walden College . 33 Morristown Normal and Industrial College.... IS Central Alabama Institute . 4 Rust College . 12 Haven Institute and Conservatory of Music.... 7 West South Central States : Philander Smith College . 13 New Orleans-Gilbert College . 14 Flint-Goodridge Hospital and Nurse Train¬ ing School . 15 Wiley College . 14 Samuel Huston College . 10 West North Central States: George R. Smith College . 9 Totals . 241 10 17 26 72 105 445 449 11 14 15 84 140 180 177 11 17 18 257 238 344 303 43 29 36 636 603 489 565 11 19 20 580 480 490 510 5 7 7 62 58 142 135 13 16 19 214 470 296 271 36 43 '45 233 537 646 643 20 10 17 560 266 160 191 22 29 24 356 349 396 321 15 12 12 148 182 214 180 20 25 26 322 378 435 519 8 16 22 356 377 341 374 21 22 19 464 412 417 337 21 25 26 482 535 582 596 7 35 24 74 20 22 34 30 25 35 502 552 541 567 22 24 19 273 420 294 274 11 13 15 142 115 111 93 332 398 425 5,817 6,237 6,545 6,539 1 The attendance record for 1922-23 is given as of October 31, 1922, while the record of other years rep¬ resents the highest enrolment in the full year. Many students come into school in the rural South after crops have been harvested, so that the enrolment for 1922-23 will exceed any former year in the last decade. The record for 1921-22, as for 1922-23 includes students in elementary grades. These are being discontinued as fast as the public schools are established and operated for the proper number of months. NEGRO EDUCATION 493 minority provided by one school 2. Progress of Institutions in Property and Equipment Property Equipment Institutions 1901-02 1911-12 1921-22 1922-23 1901-02 1911-12 1921-22 1922-23 South Atlantic States : Morgan College . $ 44,000 $ 44,000 $ 517,000 $ 520,000 $ 7,000 $ 10,000 $ 24,500 $ 24,500 Princess Anne Academy . 46,000 52,000 85,000 86.000 3,000 8,000 20,000 20,000 Bennett College . 60,000 34,000’ 43,000 145,000 2,500 2,000’ 3,000 10,000 Claflin College . 110,000 119,520 250,000 279,900 5,000 36,430 15,000’ 20,000 Clark University . 350,000 236,400’ 330,000 545,000 5,000 20,000 5,200’ 25,000 Gammon Theological Seminary 100,000 108,000 90,000’ 130,000 3,500 10,464 11,500 15,000 Cookman Institute . 21,000 31,000 50,000 55,000 1,500 712’ 3,000 4,000 East South Central States : Meharry Medical College . 50,000 50,000 140,000 245,000 7,500 4,000’ 15,000 25,000 Walden College . 75,000 25,000’ 70,000 175,000 4,000 1,000 2,500’ 5,500 Morristown Normal and In¬ dustrial College . 75,000 66,390’ 134,500 140.000 2,000 10,900 15,000 18,000 Central Alabama Institute . 8,000 30,000 40,000 65,000 1,000 2,000 3,800 4,000 Rust College . 125,000 106.700’ 89,500' 116,000 5,000 4,500’ 5,000 15,000 Haven Institute and Conserva¬ tory of Music . 8,000 15,000 30,000 170,000 1,500 920’ 2,000 40,000 West South Central States Philander Smith College . 30,000 50,000 51,500 122,000 2,500 6,785 5,000’ 15,000 New Orleans-Gilbert College.. 125,000 75,000’ 135,000 155,000 3,500 5.000 4,100’ 16,000 Flint-Goodridge Hospital and Nurse Training School . 20,000 27,000 65,000 70,000 1,500 3,975 10,000 12,000 Wiley College . 64,000 53.541’ 190,000 235,000 3,500 12,500 10,000’ 42,000 Samuel Huston College . 48,000 32,400’ 75,000 117,000 2,000 8,316 5,750’ 10,000 West North Central States George R. Smith College . 50,000 52,000 37,200’ 62,000 1,000 2,175 3,000 4,000 Totals . $1,409,000 $1,207,951’ $. ?,422,7002 $3,432,900’ $62,500 $149,677 $163, 3502 $325, 0002 1 The decreases in valuation of property and equipment here noted are due to fluctuation in real estate values, to fire losses and to discontinuance of the more costly industrial departments requiring large out¬ lay in machinery, as at Claflin and Clark. 2 The increase in valuation of property and equipment as follows: $1,228,422 in 1921-22 over 1911-12 and of $1,171,850 in 1922-23 over 1921-22, is due mostly to the Centenary and the wise expenditure of such funds by the Board in realty purchases and expansion. 494 WORLD SERVICE 3. Comparative Progress of Local School Income and Board Appropriations School Income Board Appropriation Institutions South Atlantic States : Morgan College . Princess Anne Academy . . . Bennett College . - . Claflin College . Clark University . Gammon Theological Seminary . Cookman Institute . East South Central States : Meharry Medical College . Walden College . - . - . Morristown Normal and Industrial College.... Central Alabama Institute . Rust College . - . Haven Institute and Conservatory of Music West South Central States : Philander Smith College . New Orleans-Gilbert College . Flint-Goodridge Hospital and Nurse Training- School . Wiley College . Samuel Huston College . . . West North Central States : George R. Smith College . . . Totals . 1901-02 1911-12 1921-22 ' 1901-02 1911-12 1921-22 $ 5,947 $ 6,483 $ 25,910 $ 5,753 $ 3,594 1 $ 15,400 5,650 6,500 8,500 Provided for by Morgan Coll. 3,234 6,720 25,346 2,575 3,000 7,500 23,136 81,093 52,601 7,500 9,500 15,000 23,871 13,885 52,170 7,735 8,500 15,000 3,880 18,059 30,258 12,000 14,500 15,366 1,014 7,789 15,655 2,100 2,950 7,500 13,122 39,380 147,621 1,000 1,500 10,000 11,936 13,640 14,582 8,000 6,400 3,333 6,458 24,445 60,249 4,312 4,500 13,000 640 6,576 18,808 900 2,800 7,500 12,725 18,309 31,606 5,000 5,600 10,000 770 9,145 33,285 500 1,500 10,000 12,561 11,340 28,514 3,725 4,450 10,000 11,211 * 14,595 42,233 5,000 5,000 13,000 4,412 7,909 48,396 500 2,400 6,000 12,081 27,062 60,905 2,700 4,450 15,000 6,699 22,653 32,455 1,283 3,700 10,000 3,902 8,754 19,161 2,375 3,000 7,500 $163,249 $344,337 $748,255 $72,958 $87,344 $191,099 e given as we are in the begi inning of the year when this report is made. Accurate accounting of funds. — The Board of Education for Negroes is con¬ stantly studying the best and most ap¬ proved methods to secure accurate ac¬ counting for the funds of the church appropriated for the education of the Negro and of student fees. The board receives the following formal reports: Monthly report of president, covering receipts and expenditures. Monthly report of president, covering student attendance. Teacher’s application blank. The additional methods of accounting being inaugurated will bring weekly to the office of the board duplicate ledger ac¬ counts of bursars. In this way the office will know every week the business of its entire list of schools, and check any ir¬ regularity promptly. The success of our schools in the last ten years has been due in no small degree to the improved busi¬ ness methods in their conduct. VII. WHAT THE METHODIST EPIS¬ COPAL CHURCH MUST DO FOR NEGRO EDUCATION IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS 1. Standards that Must be Attained Standardizing agencies. — The Board of Education for Negroes of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the conduct of its institutions, must meet the requirements of standardizing agencies in the educa¬ tional world. Negro institutions must now measure up to the same standards as white institutions, in order to have the credits of their graduates accepted in Class “A” institutions. The standardiz¬ ing agencies which cover the institutions of the United States in general are as follows :2 The Association of American Uni¬ versities. - List of approved Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Junior Colleges — compiled by the American Med¬ ical Association, January 15, 1922. NEGRO EDUCATION 495 The North Central Association of Col¬ leges and Secondary Schools. The University of California. The Association of Colleges and Pre¬ paratory Schools of the Middle States and Maryland. The Association of Colleges and Pre¬ paratory Schools of Southern States. The Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association has published a list of Negro Colleges in Classes I, II, and III. The classification is based upon the findings of the Phelps-Stokes Fund and the United States Bureau of Education in the in¬ vestigation of Negro institutions of learn¬ ing. This investigation, which was made ten years ago, placed most of the schools of the board in Class III, covering entrance requirements for medical colleges. The board is now having a re-investiga- tion of its institutions, since the great help of the Centenary in the last four years has made possible radical changes in curricu¬ lum, large additions to science depart¬ ments, and increase in libraries. Likewise, the erection of new buildings, increase of The abundant life is not for these, unless yo'u give them the opportunity Educational institutions affiliated with the Board of Education for Negroes teachers’ salaries, installing of school furnishings, and additions to endowment are direct results of the Centenary. Me- harry Medical College at Nashville has been placed in Class A; Wiley College, Marshall, Texas, is recommended by the Texas State Board of Education for rec¬ ognition as a Class “A” college, and other institutions of the board are soon to re¬ ceive the same recognition. Pressure is constantly brought to bear to raise the standards in all institutions of the board. Public school standards. — State boards of education in many of the states where our institutions are located now require teachers in high schools to be graduates of standard colleges having a four-year course; also teachers of ele¬ mentary schools to be graduates of nor¬ mal schools, with training from four to six years, the first four in high schools and the remaining one or two in normal or teacher-training courses. State requirements. — The denomina¬ tional institutions for the education of the Negro, in order to be upon the ac¬ credited lists of State Boards of Educa¬ tion, must be regularly inspected by rep¬ resentatives of the state. They meet state requirements in teaching force, hours of academic work for each se¬ mester, laboratory and library equip¬ ment, as well as buildings affording adequate space for all such work. When a school is upon the accredited list of a state board, the graduates receive cer¬ tificates to teach in elementary and high 496 WORLD SERVICE Class in first aid at rural pastors’ summer school Negro Youth, organized in 1913, is to promote high academic standards in college work. The as¬ sociation admits only col¬ leges which have met full laboratory, library and collegiate standards, generally accepted by the best standardizing agen¬ cies. The importance of a compulsion of this sort to exact high-grade cur¬ ricula cannot be over¬ estimated. And Negro schools must not lag be¬ hind in quality. schools without examination. These cer¬ tificates are presented to the graduates with their diplomas on the day of grad¬ uation. In some states, because of re¬ ciprocal relations with other states, a graduate is eligible to teach in several states. Graduates of Wiley College have such reciprocal privileges. Standards of great foundations. — Such agencies interested in the training of teachers and erection of school buildings for the education of the Negro, as the General Education Board, the John F. Slater Fund, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, the Anna T. Jeanes Foundation, the Phelps-Stokes Fund, have secretaries and field agents constantly visiting Negro de¬ nominational schools. They note the ad¬ equacy or inadequacy of Negro institu¬ tions to do the work required. They give publicity to the same, which influences and weakens or strengthens the constitu¬ ency and friends of the institution in its support. Church standards. — The institutions of the Board of Education for Negroes, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, are under the direction of the University Senate of the Methodist Episcopal Church by General Conference mandate, and subject to the standards and ideals of the senate. National association standards. — The National Association of Colleges for 2. The Future Program A Ten-Year Forecast Institutions Teachers’ South Atlantic States: Salaries Morgan College . $ 450,000 Princess Anne Academy . 50,000 Bennett College . 250,000 Claflin College . 350,000 Clark University . 300,000 Gammon Theological Seminary1 . (Provided for by endowment) Cookman Institute . 140,000 East South Central States : Meharry Medical College 1 . 100,000 Walden College . 150,000 Morristown Normal and Indus¬ trial College . 200,000 Central Alabama Institute . 120,000 Rust College . 250,000 Haven Institute and Conserva¬ tory of Music . 250,000 Repairs $ 80,000 20,0CJ 100,000 100,000 100,000 50,000 30,000 100,000 25,000 100,000 100,000 West South Central States : Philander Smith College . $ New Orleans-Gilbert College .... Flint-Goodridge Hospital and Nurse Training School . Wiley College . Samuel Huston College . West North Central States : George R. Smith College . 250,000 $ 50,000 250,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 300,000 100,000 200,000 50,000 150,000 30,000 Ten-Year Totals . $3,860,000 $1,235,000 1 See The Negro and Religious Leadership (page 490) and Negro Progress in the Professions (page 489) for explanation of the items on Gammon Theological Seminary and Meharry Medical Col¬ lege, also the reorganization of Clark University upon a university basis. NEGRO EDUCATION 497 Needs in Buildings, Equipment and Endowment Equip- Endow- Institutions Buildings ment ment South Atlantic States: Morgan College . $ Princess Anne Academy Bennett College . Claflin College . Clark University . Gammon Theological Seminary1 . Cookman Institute . 250,000 $ 50,000 $ 500,000 50,000 5,000 200,000 150,000 50.000 500,000 120,000 50,000 500,000 150,000 50,000 500,000 250,000 . 500,000 130,000 20,000 250,000 East South Central States: Meharry Medical Col¬ lege1 . . Walden College . 105,000 Morristown Normal and Industrial College 100,000 Central Alabama In¬ stitute . 150,000 Rust College . 150,000 Haven Institute and Con¬ servatory of Music . 100,000 W est South Central States: Philander Smith College 300,000 New Orleans-Gilbert College 2 . 200,000 Flint-Goodridge Hospi¬ tal and Nurse Train¬ ing School 3 . 300,000 Wiley College . 300,000 Samuel Huston College.. 200,000 West North Central States: George R. Smith College 200,000 15,000 200.000 20,000 500,000 25,000 50,000 200,000 500,000 25,000 500,000 50,000 500,000 50,000 500,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 200,000 500,000 500,000 40,000 300,000 Ten- Year Totals....$3,205,000 $650,000 $7,350,000 SUMMARY Ten-year Forecast Teachers’ Salaries . $ 3,860,000 Repairs . 1,235,000 New Buildings . 3,205,000 Equipment . 650,000 Endowment . 7,350,000 Administration . 1,000,000 Total . $17,300,000 Estimated Need for Institution North of Ohio River in East North Central States Building and Equipment Maintenance Endowment Total . $1,000,000 The operating room in a Negro hospital VIII. OUR BROTHER IN BLACK— A MISSIONARY APPEAL 1. Some Results of Fifty-six Years of Education Educated twelve bishops for our own and other Methodisms. Produced a ministerial and lay leader¬ ship in fifty-six years, capable of raising benevolences among Negroes from nothing to $400,000 per year. Two hundred six thousand five hun¬ dred forty-five have been enrolled ana 31,560 have been graduated from educa¬ tional institutions. The public school system of the South has been supplied with 15,241 teachers. Among our graduates there are such outstanding leaders as an assistant secre¬ tary to the Secretary of War, an assist¬ ant to the United States attorney-general, a one time registrar of the United States treasury, a United States minister to Li¬ beria, scores of college presidents in our 1 With the endowment Gammon Theological Semi¬ nary has and will have, if the addition requested is granted, the institution can take care of its equip¬ ment and repairs. The growth of the institution, however, will demand new buildings which cannot be provided for out of endowment funds. The Board of Education for Negroes, having dealt so generously with Meharry Medical College, thinks it cannot further provide buildings and equipment. 2 The New Orleans-Gilbert College is now located on St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, La., and is very valuable property. The institution is, however, in cramped quarters. It is thought if suitable loca¬ tion could be found with a large tract of land it would be in the interest of development to change the location of the institution. In this event the amount asked plus the income from sale of property will replace the institution on a new site. If the in¬ stitution remains on present site the amount of $200,000 will be needed to erect necessary buildings. 3 The Flint-Goodridge Hospital and Nurse Train¬ ing School is the only Methodist Hospital for all the New Orleans Area. Additional property and a new building will be necessary to care adequately for the Methodist people and others ; hence the askings in the table. 498 WORLD SERVICE own and other institutions, and leaders of large insurance and business corpora¬ tions. The Negro lawyer who secured a deci¬ sion from the Supreme Court of Mary¬ land against the famous Baltimore segre¬ gation ordinance was graduated from one of our schools. The Negro lawyer who pleaded and se¬ cured a decision of the United States Supreme Court on a phase of the South¬ ern disfranchisement acts, was a law student at old Central Tennessee Col¬ lege, now Walden College. One third of all the Negro physicians, pharmacists and dentists practicing in the United States, have graduated from Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Ten¬ nessee. In Atlanta, Georgia, graduates of our schools include: 48 physicians and dentists ; 30 public school teachers; 10 ministers ; 1 real estate agent ; 8 clerks in government and other service ; 16 housewives ; besides proprietors of drug and grocery stores, and chiefs of departments of in¬ surance. This kind of service can be duplicated in Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Pitts¬ burgh, St. Louis, New Orleans, Birming¬ ham, Jacksonville and every large city of the South. From Claflin College have gone: 250 tradesmen ; 300 business men ; 79 musicians ; 18 lawyers ; 78 ministers ; 6 foreign missionaries ; 430 high and elementary school teachers ; 53 doctors; 6 nurses ; 14 dentists; and 6 pharmacists. This is but a sample of what has hap¬ pened in each of the institutions during its history of service. In Flint-Goodridge Hospital at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1,052 bed patients and 8,200 outside cases were ministered to from July 1, 1921 to July 1, 1922. Dur- Meharry has trained one-third of the Negro dentists in the United States ing the same time there were won for Jesus Christ, 212. All the results are be¬ yond any power to tell. 2. The Program Justified by the Results Justified by results, — During the Cen¬ tenary period the schools of the Board of Education for Negroes have been able to do more than ever toward reaching edu¬ cational ideals and arriving at the place of large usefulness, befitting the great church and the need everywhere before us. The Brother-in-Black has justified by results all the help given to him. He still needs the loving, substantial support of the great church to bring him to the day of full development, a blessing to himself and to others. His is a missionary appeal, vindicated and justified by results se¬ cured. The program is just begun. Methodist Episcopal schools for Negroes must be the equal of any for that race anywhere. And in this strategic advance, our great and good church must “carry on.” CAMPUS, OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY Christianity is the greatest civilizing, molding, uplifting power on this globe, and it is a sad defect in any institu¬ tion of high learning if it does not bring those under its care into closest possible relation to it. Mark Hopkins THE BOARD OF EDUCATION ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. The Functions of the Board II. The Method and Scope of These Studies III. Present Needs 1. General survey 2. Frontier schools 3. Southern schools 4. Theological schools 5. Graduate schools 6. Methodist schools and church ex¬ tension. 7. Religious training in non-Meth¬ odist institutions 8. Religious training in Methodist institutions 9. Education and Christian civili¬ zation IV. What Should the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church do for Education in the Next Ten Years 499 500 WORLD SERVICE I. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD “The object of the Board” is to promote “ministerial and general education.” The methods and extent of the work as pre¬ scribed and suggested by the law of the church 1 may be grouped under three heads, aid to institutions, co-operative re¬ lations and general service. Aid to institutions. — The location and organization of new institutions of learn¬ ing in the Methodist Episcopal Church are subject to the approval of the board. It has an “advisory relation to the busi¬ ness and educational management” of all our institutions of learning; it is charged with “devising ways and means” for aid¬ ing them in financial undertakings; it must “receive and disburse such funds as may from time to time be committed to it,” the largest of these being the public educational collection ; it is required to re¬ ceive and securely invest certain funds, in effect endowment funds, for the benefit of educational institutions and “other ed¬ ucational agencies under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church;” and it exercises special responsibility for the maintenance and administration of the southern schools for white students. Co-operative relations. — The Board of Education has co-operative relations “with the Board of Bishops in the work of the Commission on Courses of Study,” nomi¬ nating three members of the commission and helping to “provide funds;” with “the Board of Home Missions and Church Ex¬ tension in the care and religious training of Methodist students at tax-supported and independent” educational institu¬ tions; with conference educational soci¬ eties in providing and administering loan funds for students ; with the Board of Ed¬ ucation for Negroes in supplying from its staff an educational director for the schools of the Negroes; with the Uni¬ versity Senate, which fixes standards and classifies institutions, as the executive agency and financial support of the sen¬ ate; with the Educational Association of 1 Discipline, 1920, f456. the Methodist Episcopal Church as ad¬ viser, executive, and representative in similar bodies; with the Association of American Colleges and the Amer’can Council on Education as a constituent member, helping to determine general ed¬ ucational policies and procedure; and with the Council of Church Boards of Educa¬ tion by contributing to its budget and sharing actively in its work of investiga¬ tion, publicity, and promotion. General service. — The general service of the board consists mainly in preparing and publishing statistical and other edu¬ cational treatises; in helping teachers to find positions and schools to find teach¬ ers; and in administering the loan fund derived from the Children’s Day collec¬ tion. This fund is absolutely restricted in use to the one purpose of aiding stu¬ dents. It grows larger each year, and the beneficiaries now number more than 30,000. The board serves also in a great many matters that cannot be classified. II. METHOD AND SCOPE OF THESE STUDIES Annual budget reports. — The law of the church requires every educational insti¬ tution asking an appropriation from the public educational collection to submit to the Board of Education, as a basis for its request, a budget for the year in which the help is asked and a complete state¬ ment of the income and expenditure for the preceding year. These budgets and statements, when compared with financial reports for earlier years, furnish the best basis for such estimates as are here sub¬ mitted. A budget is a list prepared beforehand of all expected receipts and expenditures for the coming scholastic year. It is itemized closely and, under proper admin¬ istration, is remarkably accurate. One of our schools 1 having an annual expendi¬ ture of more than $1,000,000 reports that in eighteen years it has seldom had a defi¬ cit, that it has never had one that was 1The word “school” is used, except when plainly limited, to include secondary school, college, univer¬ sity, and professional school. EDUCATION 501 EXPENDITURES ABSOLUTE INCREASE PER CENT INCREASE 46,809,000 ! 1 ! 1 1 - 1 - ENROLMENT PER CAPITA COST 14,110 $97 W//////////M Z/M 35% 187% 0 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% Increase in enrolment, expenditures, and per capita cost, 1913-1921 not foreseen, and that the maximum devi¬ ation from budget estimates has not ex¬ ceeded three per cent. Budget forms prepared by the board are used by all our educational institutions. The accounting of their finances is re¬ duced to a careful system and estimates based upon budgets checked against each other year after year are dependable in the highest degree. Other figures necessary for comparative purposes were obtained from reliable sources such as the General Education Board, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the United States Bureau of Education. III. PRESENT NEEDS 1. General Survey Number of schools — Universities and colleges . 44 Professional schools : theology, law, medicine . 35 Schools of secondary grade . 35 Total . 114 Endowments and holdings — Real property and equipment, $42,000,000 Endowments . 49,000,000 Aggregate . . 91,000,000 Less debts . 5,000,000 Net total . . $86,000,000 Number of students — 1912-13 . . 39,591 1920-21 . . 53,701 Gain — 36 per cent. Aggregate school expenditure of Methodist schools — 1912-13 . $ 4,388,000 1920-21 . 11,197 000 Increase — 155 per cent. Average school expenditure per student — 1912-13 . . . $111 1920-21 _ _ 208 Increase — 87 per cent. Comparative income. — Financially our schools are not as well off as the larger support now given to them would indb cate. The aggregate income has in¬ creased, but the number of students has increased largely and the expense per student has nearly doubled. At the same time, general school standards have been rising rapidly. The gap between assured income and necessary expense is propor¬ tionally larger than eight years ago. Expense of the school year, 1921-22. — The aggregate maintenance expense of the schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church of all grades, except schools in the South and some professional schools of in¬ dependent financial organization, is $11,151,003. The assured income from all sources, including the present public ed¬ ucational collection, is $9,717,407. The schools needed $1,433,596 1 more than they received from dependable sources. Provision for maintenance. — How can such a need be met? In recent years it has not been fully met. But much of it has been covered by generous gifts from the Gen¬ eral Education Board, (such gifts soon will cease), and by the unremitting toil of presidents and financial agents in secur¬ ing extraordinary and therefore tempo¬ rary sustentation funds. They should be relieved of a part of the burden of rais¬ ing current funds in order that they may have more time and energy for other work of great importance. 1 Figures for the school year 1922-23 will not be complete until July or August, 1923. 502 WORLD SERVICE The usual income of our educational in¬ stitutions consists of interest from endow¬ ments; fees paid by students; miscella¬ neous contributions; special collections in the churches; and the public educational collection. Income from endowment and fees paid by students is relatively dependable. The other kinds of income are subject to sud¬ den fluctuations which can neither be foreseen nor prevented. Since our schools have immediate and essential needs which cannot wait for the slow process of in¬ creasing endowment and student fees, their success depends largely upon in¬ creasing and stabilizing other kinds of income. What may reasonably be ex¬ pected from each kind? 1. Interest on endowment Our schools always have solicited funds for buildings, equipment and endowment. They will need to continue soliciting by private methods and public campaigns. Endowment furnishes an essential element of stability. But providing for current needs by endowment is slow and in some cases impracticable. Subscriptions usu¬ ally are payable in instalments extending from three to five years. After they are collected, the funds must be invested and another year passes before the interest is due. Again, endowment sometimes can not be obtained. That is generally true of schools on the frontier. Some institu¬ tions will secure endowment rapidly Soldiers’ Memorial Hall, Mount Union College enough to insure steady and effective service. Others quite as worthy and as necessary to the church will not. The Board of Education should have money to help them. It should also have sufficient funds to use in equalizing educational conditions throughout the church as a whole. 2. Fees paid by students Fees have been very generally increased since the war, and in many cases are quite as high as they ought to be. Some Metho¬ dist colleges are now charging $200 for tuition in addition to other fees. Rates ought not to be increased so as to bear too heavily upon students, many of whom are poor. No large increase in income toward current expense seems obtainable from this source. 3. Miscellaneous contributions Nearly all educational institutions re¬ ceive help from miscellaneous contribu¬ tions from former students and other friends of the institution. Such income is uncertain and usually small in amount. During the last two years our schools have shared largely in the famous “Christmas gift” made by Mr. John D. Rockefeller for the relief of teachers. The General Education Board, which admin¬ istered the fund, appropriated to Metho¬ dist schools $564,000 for the years 1920-22. Help from this source is rap¬ idly diminishing and soon will end, since the fund was intended to be exhausted in a brief period. J. Special collections in the churches A few of our institutions receive some help, and a very small number receive large help, through special collections in addition to the public educational collec¬ tion taken in the churches of the patroniz¬ ing territory. This method, except in cases of the very greatest need, is ques¬ tionable. Special appeals, however nec¬ essary at times, and the duplication of collections widely throughout the church may seriously hinder the united financial appeal. EDUCATION 503 5. The public educational collection The church undoubt¬ edly intended the public educational collection to cover the necessary cur¬ rent expenses in so far as they are beyond the abil¬ ity of the schools, and also to meet the cost of special work committed to the Board of Education. 6. Can expenditures be reduced ? Instructional costs make up about one-half of the total expenditures. They cannot be reduced without cutting salaries, overloading teachers, and dimin¬ ishing both service and standing. Salaries in our schools average about one-third lower than in state schools. It is hardly possible to ask more of the missionary spirit from our teachers. In justice the salaries should be increased. Depart¬ ments of instruction often are under¬ manned and in many instances are merged where they ought to be divided. Very few teachers are carrying less than the maxi¬ mum load allowed in accredited colleges. Reduction in the number of teachers means eliminating departments and restricting attendance. Operating costs probably will recede slowly, but there is no early pros¬ pect of important changes. The present trend is slightly upward. The expenditure per student in our col¬ leges is at present less than the amount approved for the standard college. The savings that may be made in operating costs will be more than offset by the added expense due to educational requirements fixed by the standardizing agencies. The flood of students also will continue to swell. Additional students require more expense, for almost without exception our schools are running at full capacity with their present faculties and facilities. The budgets of our schools need expansion in¬ stead of reduction. Greater economy means a loss in prestige and efficiency. It also means limiting the opportunities of Methodist young people. Many who want to go to Methodist colleges to fit them¬ selves for Methodist service will be ex¬ cluded. A real emergency. — During the last eight years the expenditures of our schools have increased nearly twice as fast as the normal income. Such a ratio cannot continue, but it is obvious that the total expenditure cannot be reduced with¬ out diminishing the service and injuring the prestige of Methodist educational in¬ stitutions. Students in multiplying numbers seek admission to our schools. Several thou¬ sands were turned away in 1922. Among them may be hearts “pregnant with celes¬ tial fire,” nobly ambitious youth whom the church will miss its chance to train into the Bashfords, Thoburns, and Motts of the future. Restrictive economy in education is the costliest economy the church can practice. It puts too heavy burdens upon the gal¬ lant men and women who by sacrifice as real as in any field of church work have made education in Methodist schools pos¬ sible for so many thousands of Methodist young people. It also deprives the church of the trained and consecrated lives that it increasingly needs at home and abroad. 504 WORLD SERVICE helped them. In some of the western states we have a very sparse church membership. The Metho¬ dists in these frontier states are not only few; they have little accumu¬ lated wealth. At present they cannot support prop¬ erly — even modestly- — the educational institutions essential to the welfare of their families and the growth of the church. They need immediate and generous help as mission¬ ary enterprises. In the deficits reported, the frontier schools are included, but if they are to serve the church and do their share in creating great commonwealths, their work must be more generously sustained. Natur¬ ally, their normal receipts from the pub¬ lic educational collection are small. These frontier schools and a few elsewhere are proper and promising home missionary and opportunity investments. The money supplied to them now will yield quick and multiplying returns. Educational institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church The annual need.— In the school year 1921-1922, our colleges and schools had an aggregate difference of $1,433,596 between necessary expenditures and dependable in¬ come from endowment, student fees, and the present guaranteed public educational collection. We have found increased in¬ come from endowment, from fees paid by students, from miscellaneous contribu¬ tions, and from special collections, insuffi¬ cient and in some cases undesirable or impossible. How shall the required income be provided? The safest way for the present is by an increase in the funds al¬ lotted to the Board of Ed¬ ucation. 2. Frontier Schools Missionary investments. —In the ’80s, churches in the East were giving lib¬ erally for the building of little churches and giving something for the build¬ ing of little colleges for Illinois and Iowa. Today, in Illinois and Iowa, these churches, once little, are giving more to church en- > — - - — ■ " — - - - - - - terprises than the eastern Harwood Boys’ School, Albuquerque, New Mexico churches that formerly Maintained by the Board of Home Missions and Church Exten EDUCATION 505 Student body, John H. Snead Seminary, Boaz, Alabama Urgent needs. — Condi¬ tions change from year to year. A statement of needs in 1922 may not cor¬ respond with a statement of needs of any subsequent year. Whatever differ¬ ences may appear in the individual schools the to¬ tal is likely to increase. If $100,000 had been availa¬ ble in 1922 instead of $40,000, probably there would have been more and larger appropria¬ tions to a few of the older schools that have real though temporary emergencies. The amount for that purpose might have reached $24,000. The remaining $76,000 should have been distributed among fron¬ tier schools and other schools in mission¬ ary territory as follows : Needed for Needed for Current Equip- School Expense merit East Greenwich Academy . $ 4,000 East Maine Conference Seminary 2,000 Montpelier Seminary . 2,000 Ozark Wesleyan College . 4.000 $5,000 Evangeline Collegiate Institute . 2.000 2,000 Texas Wesleyan College . 3,000 4,000 Harwood Boys’ School . 3,000 5,000 Gooding College . 20,000 Montana Wesleyan . 20,000 3. Southern Schools for White Students A special charge. — The white schools in the South, most of them in the mountains, were committed by the General Confer¬ ence of 1908 to the Board of Education.1 The University of Chattanooga, which is on the borderland, has developed into an excellent college. For a few critical years, the board made to it relatively large con¬ tributions which have been fully justified by the high rank the university now is taking and the service it is giving as the center of our educational system in the South. Current expenses. — The white schools in the South now receiving aid on current ex¬ penses from the Board of Education, are 1 Discipline, 1920, f 460 § 7 33 listed below. Several local schools which formerly were aided by the board are not included in this list because they now are operating as public schools. For many years church boards thought it wise to share in the support of public schools in order to encourage backward communi¬ ties to have better schools. The boards now are withdrawing from such work and are transferring whatever properties they hold to the public school authorities. Appropria- Institution Location lions iy2i The Athens School. .Athens, Tennessee . $4,000 Baxter Seminary . Baxter, Tennessee . 5,500 Epworth Seminary.. Epworth, Georgia . 3,200 McLemoresville Collegiate In¬ stitute . . McLemoresville, Tennessee 3,700 Mount Zion Semi¬ nary . . Mount Zion, Georgia . 4,000 Murphy Collegi¬ ate Institute . Sevierville, Tennessee . 5,000 John H. Snead Seminary . Boaz, Alabama . 8,000 Union College . Barbourville, Kentucky .... 8,500 Washington Col¬ legiate Institute.... Washington, NorthCarolina 6,000 The amounts granted on current ex¬ penses to these nine schools for alternate years since 1913 are as follows: 1913 . . . . $ 7,700 1915 . 10,550 1917 _ _ 9,950 1919 . 28,500 1921 . 42,900 In 1921, these nine schools raised from friends and received from tuition fees and other sources, $46,279. The Board of Ed- 506 WORLD SERVICE ucation of the Methodist Episcopal Church gave them $42,900, making a total of $89,179. The number of students was 3,124. The average expenditure per stu¬ dent was $28.55. About half of the stu¬ dents were in the high school, nearly three hundred were of junior college rank, and the remaining with few exceptions were in the upper grades of the grammar school. The church cannot be satisfied with a per capita expenditure of only $28.55 a year in schools that are objects of its special care as a denomination. This problem de¬ serves immediate attention. New buildings. — The southern schools need to create modern plants. They have few buildings, and most of them are cheap, badly arranged, and poorly equipped. The deficiency in dormitories limits the range of service the schools can give. Ex¬ isting dormitories are crowded to the doors, almost to the roofs; often six oc¬ cupants use one room. Sometimes more applicants are turned away than are received. There is no reasonable doubt that twice as many students would be en¬ rolled if they could be accommodated. The additional buildings now needed in the nine southern schools would cost about $1,269,000. The total seems large, but it is not when the details are examined. The average amount per school is $141,000, which is less than the cost of the high school building in many small towns. Building needs. — A list of the additional buildings now needed in the southern schools appears in the table below. Perhaps one-half of the building fund can be raised by the trustees and princi¬ pals of the schools. Certainly the remain¬ der must be given by the general church. One hundred thousand dollars a year is a conservative amount. If these schools are to be a credit to the. church, we must continue through many years to provide not only as much as we have recently been expending for equip¬ ment and maintenance, but we must in¬ crease the amounts. In some of the schools there are possibilities of very great promise. The Athens School, John H. Snead Seminary, Murphy Collegiate Institute, and Washington Collegiate In¬ stitute may readily, with adequate sup¬ port, take a place among the largest and best secondary schools in Protestantism. Union College will develop into an excep¬ tionally good college and preparatory school, a form of organization unusually well adapted to the Kentucky mountain region. What is done in the South should be well done. Our church schools in the South should be thoroughly good schools. In spite of serious limitations they have done good work. But they must be en¬ abled to do better work. We must furnish our membership, and especially our min¬ isters, with satisfactory opportunities and inducements for a fair education. Our in¬ stitutions must worthily represent us. Dnrmi- School Gymna- Povoer Refec- President’s torics Buildings Chapel slum Plant tory House Athens School . ...$80,000 $ 50,000 $ 40,000 $ 40,000 $ $4,000 Baxter Seminary . Epworth Seminary . .. 20,000 McLemoresville Collegiate Insti¬ tute . .. 30,000 5,000 2,000 3,000’ Mt. Zion Seminary . . Murphy Collegiate Institute . Tohn H. Snead Seminary . . 30,000 .. 70,000 . 80,000 20,000 60.000 7S.0001 40,000 40,000 40,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 Union College . Washington Collegiate Institute... .. 100.000 .. 75,000 75,000 tiO.OOO 50,000 40,000 25,000 25,000 Total 210,000 4,000 20,000 37,000 53,000 260,000 245.000 150,000 290,000 $485,000 $235,000 $190,000 $160,000 $115,000 $75,000 $9,000 $1,269,000 ’Included in plans for 1922. 1 Partly included in Board appropriations for 1922. Extensions will be needed later. EDUCATION 507 A missionary responsibility .—The Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church would not leave these schools as they are if it understood the conditions. Here are a great oppor¬ tunity and a heavy responsibility for a white membership of 114,000. They sel¬ dom are in reach of good public schools. Unless we do our duty they are obliged to depend upon schools poorly equipped, poorly taught, and operated for short terms. They send to our schools 3,000 of their sons and daughters and would send twice as many if we could care for them. On each pupil we spend one dollar a week and the pupil furnishes fifty cents of that dollar. In the North, where the ad¬ vantages of the greatest public school sys¬ tems in the world are available, we are spending on each pupil in our Methodist secondary schools one dollar a day. Wo are not spending too much in the North. And we are not beginning to spend enough in the South. Our problem is, what should we do in the South where we have a real, missionary responsibility? These schools are in a proper sense a matter of home missions, a missionary effort for a people isolated by geographi¬ cal location, a people of English, Scotch, and Irish stock who have the intellectual gifts to fill the highest places among us and who are intensely loyal to the best ideals of American life. In a large part of this territory the av¬ erage annual salary of the pastors in our churches is less than five hundred dollars. Their school advantages are very limited. Increasingly they look to our secondary schools to serve them and their children. In these secondary schools many candi¬ dates for the ministry, among them men who give large promise of leadership, have received the inspiration to go on to Plan of Murphy Collegiate Institute, Sevier- ville, Tennessee Canning Club at Mt. Zion Seminary, Mt. Zion, Georgia college and make fuller preparation for their work. If our church is to stay in the South and our work is to prosper, we must provide very much more liberally than is now at all possible for the training of leaders native to the region. 4. Theological Schools Ten theological schools are related to the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Four are doing spe¬ cial work for foreign-language confer¬ ences. The six others are located, two in the East, one in the Middle West, one in the Rocky Mountain region, and two on the Pacific coast. The list includes: Institution Location Boston University School of Theology . Boston, Massachusetts Central Wesleyan Theologi¬ cal Seminary . Warrenton, Missouri Drew Theological Seminary.. Madison, New Jersey Garrett Biblical Institute . Evanston, Illinois Iliff School of Theology . Denver, Colorado Kimball School of Theology..Salem, Oregon Maclay School of Religion, University of Southern ' California . Eos Angeles, California Nast Theological Seminary (Baldwin-Wallace Col¬ lege) . . . Berea, Ohio Norwegian-Danish Theo¬ logical Seminary . Evanston, Illinois Swedish Theological Semi¬ nary . Evanston, Illinois 508 WORLD SERVICE The new Administration and Recitation Building, Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Illinois For the whole church. — Three of these six have very modest equipment and little endowment. All of them have serious fi¬ nancial needs. They receive nothing from tuition fees. As a rule, Annual Confer¬ ences do not recognize a definite duty to contribute to their support. They “exist for the benefit of the whole church,” but the church as a whole has not accepted the responsibility of providing for them ad¬ equate buildings and endowment. Nearly all that they possess has been given by in¬ dividuals of rare vision and generosity. The support of the newer theological schools, Iliff, Kimball, and Maclay, is be¬ yond the power of local Annual Confer¬ ences or local friends. Their case will be a hard one unless they are helped gener¬ ously by the church at large. They are in fact missionary enterprises and should be so treated. To do properly the work they now are undertaking for “the benefit of the whole church,” they need additions to their current income averaging about $20,000 a year. Even then they would be spending much less per student than ed¬ ucational authorities regard as necessary. To do other work which they are not now undertaking, but which greatly needs to be done, would add in its beginnings from $5,000 to $10,000 a year to the budget of each school. Allowance must be made for an increased number of students and therefore an increased ex¬ pense. A conservative to¬ tal needed for these three schools is $70,000 a year. Uncertain supportj — The older schools, Drew, Bos¬ ton, and Garrett, are called upon for services beyond their present nor¬ mal income. They also should have aid from the entire church. They are obliged to resort to high pressure solicitation for special gifts in order to keep the work going. One of these schools presents as its minimum need be¬ yond its assured income, $38,700. Of this amount $24,850 repre¬ sents annual gifts whose continuance is uncertain and therefore the work is in jeopardy. The remainder is for salaries and library expenses made necessary by the increased number of students and the wider range of the curriculum now re¬ quired in theological schools. This $38,700 is not for expansion but to guarantee the continuance of the present work. Inevitably there will be expansion in response to the growing needs of the church for trained workers. A careful scrutiny of the re¬ port from this school and a comparison with the reports from other theological schools with fewer students and smaller constituencies to serve justifies the con¬ clusion that the estimate of needs is con- Students at Washington Collegiate Institute, Washington, North Carolina EDUCATION 509 Gateway, University of Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee servative. What is true of this school is practi¬ cally true of the other two schools. One of them re¬ ports needs considerably larger and the other some¬ what smaller. The aggre¬ gate for the three schools is not less than $115,000. Until sufficient endow¬ ment can be secured and that may be far in the future, there is no way to provide for these ex¬ penditures above normal income except by contri¬ butions from individuals or the church at large. Unless the money is pro¬ vided the work must be restricted and stu¬ dents excluded, just at the time when the church most needs all the professionally trained ministers it can get, and a multi¬ tude of consecrated young people are eager to be trained for service. A new southern school needed. — The South presents a special case. Here we have 214,000 white members, but no theo¬ logical school, or special school for the training of our ministry. The work of our church in the South will lack full ef¬ fectiveness until this gap in our educa¬ tional system is filled. A school should be established, independently or in con¬ nection with one of the existing schools, to train ministers and other specialized workers. The courses and the methods should be adapted to the southern work. The conscious and steady aim should be a product for home consumption rather than export. In connection with one of the existing schools, a satisfactory begin¬ ning could be made for $15,000 a year. 5. Graduate Schools Colleges and universities of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church usually have had a few advanced students doing graduate work. The courses offered were exten¬ sions of departmental instruction rather than parts of an organized graduate curriculum. Need of graduate schools. — In recent years, universities have found it wise to organize graduate schools. One advan¬ tage is the favorable reaction of the grad¬ uate school upon scholarship in the uni¬ versity faculty. Another is the ability to supply satisfactory teachers to other ed¬ ucational institutions. In the old day, which has not fully passed, Methodist col¬ leges and secondary schools often were obliged to take the majority of their teachers from graduate schools where the philosophy, ideals, and spirit of Christian¬ ity did not prevail. The results very often were exceedingly unfavorable for the church. In response to pressing demands the universities are expanding the work of their graduate schools in the traditional courses of study, and are establishing new departments or schools in religious education, missions, comparative reli¬ gions, and related subjects. A graduate school in religious education. — One of the universities submits the fol¬ lowing outline of work that a graduate school of religion or a department of re¬ ligious education in a graduate school should afford : 1. Training for candidates for the min¬ istry desiring to secure advanced degrees in special fields of work. 51U WORLD SERVICE Chapel at Ohio Wesleyan, Delaware, Ohio 2. Training for graduate students pre¬ paring for positions of leadership in reli¬ gious education, or community service, such as professors of religious education in our church colleges and training schools; directors of Wesley foundations, of reli¬ gious education in communities, rural churches, institutional churches, and va¬ cation schools; teachers in foreign mission fields; and directors of community music, pageantry, and recreational activities. 3. Training for graduate students pre¬ paring for special mission fields. In addition to courses in the history of religion and missions, there should be provided courses in history, geography, languages, government of the particular missionary fields and adequate graduate instruction for teachers in missionary schools and colleges. The cost of satisfactory instruction for all of these courses is estimated at not less than $52,000 a year. Scholarships also would be necessary in the amount of $5,000 to $10,000 a year depending upon the enrolment. The total for a creditable school could hardly be less than $55,000. The greater part of the work here out¬ lined is being undertaken by one school, but with precarious financial support. Less extensive courses are offered in other places. Much of the program as outlined should be put into effect at once in other universi¬ ties. The cost in the be¬ ginnings should vary from $25,000 to $55,000, the variation being due in large part to the size of the universities and the present development of the work. The total need for graduate work for the present in the universities is not less than $170,000 a year. As the demand for specialized service in¬ creases in the church, the current expense funds of the graduate schools will have to be en¬ larged. 6. Methodist Schools and Church Extension Source of leadership. — The church natur¬ ally looks to its schools for leadership. Methodism has not been disappointed in this expectation. Bishop Warren once said that “if Wesleyan University had not been founded, the Methodist Episcopal Church would not have attained fifty per cent of its present power.” A chapter from recent history is con¬ clusive.1 From Methodist Episcopal schools came: Twenty-one area secretaries out of twenty- four. Thirty-two members of the Committee on Conservation and Advance out of forty. Ten members of the Joint Centenary Com¬ mission out of thirteen. Thirty-eight bishops out of thirty-nine. Forty college presidents out of forty-three. Ninety-two per cent of college trained Meth¬ odist ministers. Six hundred and three active missionaries (on October 22, 1921) out of 1,185. An even more remarkable statement from Dr. Kelly is that, for the school year 1919-20, the Student Volunteer Move¬ ment reported in training 2,500 mis¬ sionaries of all denominations. Of these. 471 came from Methodist Episcopal schools. To be entrusted with the train- 1 A report of Dr. R. L. Kelly, EDUCATION 511 ing of nearly one-fifth of the missionary volunteers in training for service with all the denominations should inspire our church with both gladness and humility. Organized Christianity of all kinds re¬ lies for the greater part of its leadership upon its own schools. “In the nature of things,” says President W. 0. Thompson of Ohio State University, “the church will continue to draw the major part of her leaders from her own colleges. My con¬ viction is that the church will be not only a traitor to its own interests but also rec¬ reant in its duty to the state if it shall relinquish its emphasis upon the funda¬ mentals of religion which are most effec¬ tively taught in denominational colleges.” Missionary leadership. — The extension of education to foreign lands has been due mainly to the denominational schools in the homeland. They furnished the pat¬ terns by which the foreign schools were shaped. They trained the teachers, they gave the teachers the vision of mission¬ ary service, and they commissioned them to “go and teach” the nations. What can measure the value to China of Bishop Bashford, who clearly saw that his task “meant stimulating reform, introducing modern learning, establishing hospitals, transforming the system of industry, set¬ ting up a political government on the foundation of intelligence and freedom, in short, energizing the whole life of the nation by the spirit of Christ”? The church needs to take the far look, and not to “draw a circle premature.” The investment of millions in schools may seem to be a long way around, but it is the surest way home. To conserve the results of mass movements and great re¬ vivals, they must be organized, informed, and directed by educated men who think and act in accord with the Christian ideal¬ ism most effectively taught in our own schools. To what extent will the future of the Christian church be determined by the future of the Christian colleges? The future of Christian civilization certainly will be determined by the future of the Christian church. 7. Religious Work Among the Meth¬ odist Students in Non-Methodist Institutions The United States Bureau of Education reports in this country 112 tax-supported colleges and universities, not including 100 normal schools or teachers colleges granting the B.A. degree, and 516 pri¬ vately supported colleges and universities, in addition to 43 directly under the patron¬ age of our own church. Methodist enrolment. — Nearly one in four of the students in the state institu¬ tions and about one in ten at the independ¬ ent institutions reported are Methodists. In 1922 the total state institution enrol- ment is reported as 250.000 and the inde¬ pendent or privately supported institu¬ tions, not including our own, report approximately the same number. These to¬ tals indicate that there are at least 75.000 young Methodists attending non-Metho¬ dist colleges and universities in the United States. Our own institutions report a total en¬ rolment of 41,633, of whom about 30,000 are Methodists, bringing our total college student constituency well above 100,000. The fifty-five non-Methodist institutions at which our work is organized, report 35,546 Methodist students in 1922. In the state institutions reported, the Methodist students lead in point of num¬ bers at forty-nine places, and are second at twenty-two places. In Wisconsin, where only 2.5 per cent of the population of the state are of our church, 15.7 per Commencement procession, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut 512 WORLD SERVICE cent of the university students at Madi¬ son are Methodists. At Illinois State University, Urbana, Illinois, out of a total enrolment of 8,743, the Methodist students number 2,166. At Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, there are 2,401 Methodist students in a total student body of 8,734. At Purdue University, Indiana, and at Manhattan, Kansas, the Methodist stu¬ dents outnumber the next four denomina¬ tions added together. Our largest repre¬ sentation at the independent institutions is at the University of Chicago, where we have at least 1,190 students. In the sev¬ eral professional and graduate schools on the West Side of Chicago the number runs even higher. Joint board supervision. — The policy of the Joint Committee of the Board of Ed¬ ucation and the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension created by the General Conference of 1916 for the super¬ vision of this work is to encourage an all- the-year program of religious activities of, for, and by students and professors, in and through existing churches in order that these students and professors may re¬ main or become active members of the church. The Wesley Foundation.— Following the precedent established at Urbana, Illinois, and at Madison, Wisconsin, this type of work is commonly known as the Wesley Foundation. A Wesley Foundation is a group of representative Methodists organ¬ ized or incorporated for the development of religious activities and education among Methodist students at a non-Metho¬ dist institution. A new source of leadership. — While a very large majority of our educated min¬ isters and missionaries have come from our own colleges, it is evident that a large majority of our educated laymen are bound to come in increasing numbers from the tax-supported and other . non- Methodist institutions. It is evident, also, from the facts reported to date that a substantial and growing number of re¬ cruits for the ministry and especially for the mission fields may be expected from a more extensive and thorough development of Wesley Foundation activities. The following figures are reported from the work already organized at Wesley Foundations : Enlistments for Ministry Missions 1920 . 45 179 1921 . 67 162 1922 . 73 192 The missionaries actually sailing dur¬ ing the latest full year reported in the Epivorth Herald include sixty from the Wesley Foundation field, the high point to date for any one year. For several years at least twenty per cent of the new missionaries actually sailing have come from the tax-supported and independent schools. Fully 10,000 Methodist students are now voluntarily attending preaching serv¬ ices at Wesley Foundation churches. More than 5,000 are attending Sunday-school classes and a similar number are engaged in Epworth League activities. Hundreds of these students are engaged as Sunday- school teachers and members of gospel teams carrying on evangelistic efforts dur¬ ing their college years. An adequate student program. — Most of these state institutions are located in rela¬ tively small towns or cities where the re¬ sources of the local churches are entirely inadequate for a constructive student pro¬ gram. In view of the wide varieties of student groups, no program of standard¬ ized details is practicable. The funda¬ mental effort is to provide for a given church an adequate equipment and a com- EDUCATION 513 Choir entering Wesley Foundation Chapel, Madison, Wisconsin petent staff of workers, according to the size of the student constituency, that the students may find at hand a church provid¬ ing “a shrine for wor¬ ship,” a “school of reli¬ gious education,” a “home away from home,” for so¬ cial activities, and a “lab¬ oratory” for training in the service of the church. At present we have thirty full-time workers, less than one-half of the number needed at the fifty-five centers already reached. Three hundred stu¬ dents is the number rec¬ ognized by several denom¬ inations as requiring the full-time services of an ordained pastor for students. As a matter of fact, there are a considerable number of institutions enrolling some¬ thing over two hundred Methodist stu¬ dents where a full-time worker could be used to great advantage. There is a growing demand at the large centers like Ames, Iowa; Columbus, Ohio; Madison, Wisconsin, and Urbana, Illinois, for religious education courses worthy of curriculum credit. Such courses have been received with marked favor at Ames and Urbana, enrolling a total of nearly two hundred students. An ex¬ penditure of $25,000 a year for this spe¬ cific type of work would meet only the few most urgent calls for building, equip¬ ment, and personnel. Budget requirements. — The budget for the aid of fifty-five churches adjacent to colleges and universities for 1923 is $105,000, which amount is administered by the joint committee, referred to above. An immediate annual expenditure of $150,000 for maintenance would hardly be an adequate minimum for the places already organized and investigated. In view of the unreached places and the rapid increase of students, the state uni¬ versity enrolment having doubled during every decade since 1870, a modest estimate for a ten-year period of conservative de¬ velopment would be at the rate of $15,000 a year, or a total maintenance budget by 1933 of $300,000 a year. These figures make no account of the new buildings needed by Wesley Foundations which are included in the study of the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension. An urgent appeal. — Thousands of Meth¬ odist young people may all their lives be devoted to the church if, during their stu¬ dent years, the church is wisely devoted to them. The great expenditures by the states upon these institutions insure their growing size and quality. The small ex¬ penditures required from the churches for the religious atmosphere and ideals the state cannot provide, yield large returns in ministers, missionaries, and educated lay¬ men so essential to progress of the king¬ dom of Jesus Christ. 8. Religious Training in Methodist Institutions The Methodist Episcopal Church builds and maintains schools and organizes re¬ ligious work at non-Methodist schools in 514 WORLD SERVICE Wesley Foundation, Urbana, Illinois. A co-operative enterprise of the Board of Education and the Board of Home Missions and Church Extension order that our young people may be edu¬ cated under auspices and influences dis¬ tinctively Christian and thus fitted for Christian service. How enormous is the need for these training centers is revealed in the study of the leaders required in our church made by the Commission on Life Service. See statement on pages 619-623. Vocational guidance. — The literature of the church has given little attention to vocational guidance. Fifty-three uni¬ versities and colleges of the country are making researches in this field. Only two or three of these are Methodist in¬ stitutions. Doubtless the number will soon increase. The Board of Education and the Edu¬ cational Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church now are making a joint study of the problems of vocational guidance. Such a study finds ready the very fortunate provision of forty-four col¬ leges and thirty-five secondary schools, besides professional schools. They af¬ ford the best of opportunities to unite religious education and vocational guid¬ ance with general education. Through such a union, our own young people may be selected and fitted most effectively for service in the church. Religious training. — Our schools are un¬ dergoing many changes that call for new methods and new forces. Student enrolments are greatly increased and rep¬ resent a far wider range in the social order than was found at the denomi¬ national colleges a genera¬ ls i o n ago Multiplying duties of executive heads and faculties render im¬ possible the older methods of religious oversight and direction of these throng¬ ing student groups. It is necessary to organize un¬ der competent specialized leadership a systematic, unified, and all-year pro¬ gram of religious work and recruiting in our colleges. The Board of Education in co-operation with the Commission on Life Service recently held a number of state conferences with refer¬ ence to such a program. It was agreed that the board should make this kind of work an annual feature and should organ¬ ize it so as to reach every college campus of the church during the year. The plan for religious training and re¬ cruiting will involve: the general pro¬ gram of campus religious activities month by month; the curriculum studies in reli¬ gious education, including Bible study ; the voluntary study classes of the campus groups; and, in some respects most im¬ portant of all, the work and influence of the local churches at our college centers. The colleges and larger universities need a specialized worker on full time to lead in the vocational guidance and reli¬ gious training of the students. His work would be quite like that of a Wesley Foundation director at a state university. The average appropriation for Wesley Foundations is $2,000. A similar amount, assuming a degree of local financial as¬ sistance, would be required for such work at our own schools. At present several typical centers are seeking the co-opera¬ tion of the board. A fund of from $16,000 to $20,000 would provide for these as a beginning and for the necessary supervi- EDUCATION 515 sion. It is clear that successful demon¬ strations of the plan at even a limited number of places would lead to its ulti¬ mate extension among all the institutions of the church. The secondary schools, in view of their smaller size and closer or¬ ganization, may not require such appro¬ priations for the present. In the forty- four colleges and universities of the church we may expect a rapid increase in the demand for this kind of work and for appropriations toward its support. 9. Education and Christian Civilization Education fundamental. — Education serves the entire church and all of its or¬ ganizations at home and abroad. In a vital sense it has first importance. Effec¬ tive work in the home field depends upon trained leadership. Foreign missions re¬ quire leaders of the broadest training and most vigorous religious life. As education becomes more general throughout the world, college and university training will become essential in an increasing degree to Christian leadership. The preacher is greater than the pulpit. The missionary is more important than the mission house. The marvelous achievements of the Centenary and the greater things which may be done after the Centenary period will issue in disap¬ pointment unless compe¬ tent leaders can be found to spend wisely the mil¬ lions given by the church. From Methodist colleges, from Wesley Foundations, and from other church agencies for recruiting and training for Christian service the youth of today will come the leaders equal to the demands at home and abroad in the great new era that now draws near. The process of con¬ structing a better world is under way. Thinkers of every class, notably men of science and business, are seeing more clearly that spiritual ele¬ ments are essential to civilization. Reli¬ gion has a new chance to serve. The genius and spirit of Methodism say, “For¬ ward.” IV. WHAT SHOULD THE METHO¬ DIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH DO FOR CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS? 1. Forecast of Developments A significant testimonial. — A letter to the board from R. L. Kelly, secretary of the Council of Church Boards of Education, says: “I have learned with a great deal of interest that the Methodist Board of Education is planning another long step forward for the agencies and institutions of learning of the Methodist Episcopal Church. “These institutions have already put Protestantism and indeed the nation under lasting obligation because of their marked success in discovering and point¬ ing out permanent elements of educa¬ tional progress, in comprehending the scope and complexity of the task, a^d in formulating machinery for its accom¬ plishment. You have been pioneers in many fields of higher education and have shown a remarkable ability to accomplish what you undertake. We all take our hats off in the presence of the dynamic of Auditorium Conservatory, College of the Pacific, San Jose, California 516 WORLD SERVICE Cornell Library, Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, New Jersey Methodist education. May your board versities has and its affiliated agencies long continue to dare and to do. “In my rather intimate studies of higher education in the United States during the past few years I have often been impressed with and have remarked upon the combination in Methodist insti¬ tutions of the traditional New England ideals of cultural and religious education and at the same time the inclusion of mod¬ ern subject matter and methods. Your institutions have shown remarkable adapt¬ ability without losing elements which have given stability to higher education in the United States. “Anyone must recognize, of course, that the carrying forward of such a program as this in view of the uncounted numbers who must receive the benefits of it, calls for the expenditure of vast sums of money. In the interest of Christian edu¬ cation in the United States, I express the hope that your fondest dreams may be realized.” Growth of enrolments and budgets. — High school and college enrolments nearly double every ten years. From 1890 to 1900 the proportion of young people in high school increased about one hundred per cent. There was a similar gain from 1900 to 1910. The figures for 1918, 1 the 1 Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 34. last available, indicate another doubling between 1910 and 1920. College enrolments increased in a slower but astonishing ratio. They advanced from 55,687 in 1890 to 98,906 in 1900, to 175,893 in 1910, and to 290,106 in 1918. Though full official figures are not obtainable there are many evidences that the rate of increase has risen sharply during the last four years. The increase in Meth- odist colleges and uni- not been so rapid. De¬ pendable figures for the earlier period are not available, but the enrolment in six representative colleges has advanced from 3,933 in 1913 to 5,997 for the school year 1922-23. The latter figure is in part an estimate since complete reports of the school year 1922-23 cannot be obtained until July-August, 1923. The gain for the ten years is 52.5 per cent. All Metho¬ dist schools advanced in the same period from 39,591 to 56,912, a gain of 43.75 per cent. What may be expected for the next ten years? During the last decade there has been a rush of students to the larger educational institutions. Many of the uni¬ versities, both state and private are seri¬ ously overcrowded and are trying to limit attendance by direct and indirect methods. There is no doubt that the number of stu¬ dents desiring to go to college will in¬ crease at a much faster rate than will the facilities and faculties of the great uni¬ versities. As a consequence the tide will set more strongly toward the denomina¬ tional colleges, unless a large number of junior colleges are created (and that is improbable except in a few sections.) The rate of increase in Methodist col¬ leges is very unlikely to be less during the next ten years than it has been during the last ten years. Accordingly, in 1933 the six representative colleges should have EDUCATION 517 9,449 students. The total for all of our schools should be 81,811 students. On the modest assumption that by 1933 the cost per capita will at least equal $300.00, the minimum now supported by any author¬ ity, the six representative colleges would have a budget of $2,834,700. All the schools, excluding frontier and southern schools with about 1,000 students, would have an aggregate budget, exclusive of buildings and endowments, of $23,043,300. A budget forecast. — The excess of ex¬ penditures over assured income from en¬ dowment and student fees, and the public educational collection has steadily in¬ creased during the past ten years both in absolute amount and ratio. It is not likely to decrease during the next ten years. The present ratio is 12.8 per cent. Taking that as a basis all the schools ex¬ clusive of frontier and southern schools will require in 1933, over and above in¬ come from endowment, student fees, and the public educational collection as now guaranteed, $2,949,542 instead of the present $1,433,596. The difference is $1,515,946. Current expenses may be ex¬ pected to have increased by 1933 by at least $10,000,000, or at the rate of $1,000,- 000 a year. The amount is more likely to be $1,200,000 a year. But taking the minimum basis of $1,000,000 a year, 12.8 per cent would be $128,000, the annual increase necessary from the church at large or other sources close to the gap be¬ tween expenses and dependable income. Estimates conservative. — All of these calculations concerning the future rest upon the fundamental as¬ sumption that the church will maintain its schools in at least their present rank. As rapidly as the educational world goes forward they too will ad¬ vance. Even so the figures must be regarded as pro¬ visional estimates. Too many factors are un¬ known, and now are un¬ knowable, to permit of mathematical exactness. How much the income from the endowment may increase, how many large gifts may be received, how great may be the unexpected de¬ mands, and how many catastrophes may occur no one can tell. But the records of several years have been scrutinized for constant factors and ratios. The esti¬ mates throughout are based upon mini¬ mum rather than maximum figures and expectations. For example, $300 annual cost per student in 1933 probably is much too low for our schools, including colleges, universities, professional schools, and the few northern preparatory schools but excluding frontier and southern schools. On the other hand it may be too high for a part of the ten year period. But revision of the total figures in 1933 when complete reports are available is likely to be upward rather than down¬ ward. Higher requirements. — More rigid stand¬ ardizing requirements probably will be put into effect. Our own University Sen¬ ate has already led the way. The move¬ ment has become general among stand¬ ardizing agencies, national, regional, and denominational. Whatever they prescribe it is practically necessary for our schools to do. The church has no desire to oper¬ ate discredited schools. It purposes that as good teaching and facilities as may be found anywhere and a tonic esprit de corps shall prevail in the schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church. New Administration Building, John H. Snead Seminary 518 WORLD SERVICE Senior Class, Jennings Seminary, Aurora, Illinois Increasing standards. — General refer¬ ence lias been made several times to changes brought about by the standardiz¬ ing agencies. A few specific illustrations may be useful. 1 . Equipment Required equipment is increasingly nec¬ essary and expensive. In the old day, before the reign of science, the text-book and the teacher were almost sufficient. But now the sciences have a large place in the curriculum. They de¬ mand numerous and costly apparatus. Re¬ placements made necessary by breakage and by improved patterns are large. Ad¬ ditional apparatus required by new dis¬ coveries and inventions are frequent, in fact, almost constant. Moreover, the sci¬ entific method has extended to other sub¬ jects. Psychology demands a laboratory, and sociology a clinic. All the recog¬ nized subjects require large, “live, well- selected, and professionally administered libraries.” 2. The teaching force The costliest part of education is the teacher, and that in spite of the fact that he is among the poorest paid of profes¬ sional men. As recently as fifteen years ago a professor in a college doing credita¬ ble work not infrequently taught as many as thirty semester hours. Now the maxi¬ mum is fixed at sixteen hours. On the theory of one hour for preparation, one hour in class, and one hour for correcting papers the professor has a forty-eight hour week, not including the large amount of time spent in faculty meetings, commit¬ tee work, and conferences with students. Formerly a professor might hold two or three loosely connected chairs as history, Greek, and Bible. Now specialization is required as a condition of accrediting. The ratio of teachers to students once gave little concern. Now one teacher to ten or twelve students is considered neces¬ sary. 3. A teacher’s minimum needs Certain needs of the teacher himself have come to be more clearly recognized. He must frequently attend summer school to renew and enlarge his knowledge of facts and methods. He ought to have leave of absence at least one year in seven for study and travel to accumulate resources for the coming years. Otherwise his pro¬ fessional usefulness is almost certain to decrease. “At the moment when wealth of knowledge is wanted it cannot be ac¬ quired.” 1 He should attend teachers’ conferences and educational associations for the sake of kindling contact with the best minds in the educational world. All the time he should live, dress, and main¬ tain his family on a scale consistent with his rank as a professional man, equal in training and service to the physician and lawyer. Further, he faces the probability of somewhat early retirement and there¬ fore should be able to make provision for old age. It is true that few teachers have been able to do all these things. But the ex- 1“The Ideal Teacher,” Palmer. Administration Building, Simpson College Indianola, Iowa .5 EDUCATION 519 pectation rapidly grows and soon will become a demand that they shall be able to do them, not primarily for their own sake but for the sake of their students. Unless teachers are vital, amply informed, and devoted to their work, they cannot in¬ vigorate life through knowledge. For this reason the time is near when only the schools that provide suitably for their teachers will be classed as standard or worthy of recognition. J/.. Pension 'provision Methodism then must make ready to raise more money for education. Mr. John D. Rockefeller’s famous Christmas gift of $50,000,000 for the relief of teachers was an impressive lesson. It recognized a des¬ perate need. It suggested the only efficient remedy. The money was distributed with rare judgment, a gift usually carrying the condition that three or four times as much be added to the fund for teachers’ sal¬ aries. But the relief was only partial and it was confined to a limited number. What this rare benefaction initiated the church should now complete for the teachers in its schools. Temporary relief must pass over into just and permanent provision for a suitable standard of living. Other¬ wise the church can expect to retain only a weak and dispirited corps of teachers. It were better not to have schools unless they can be manned by teachers of vigor, scholarship, and high inspiration. There is no doubt that if our schools meet the demands upon them and do their share in American education their capac¬ ity will need almost to be doubled and their expenditures more than doubled during the next ten years. 2. Conclusion Necessary limitations. — The church has established and has in operation a large group of schools involving a heavy expense. Due to certain present con¬ ditions, increasing costs, rapid growth of student bodies, the introduction of new departments of teaching, our colleges are finding unusual difficulty in meeting their necessary current expenses. Varsity crew, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y. The situation amounts to what is almost a crisis. These present needs are likely to continue to be during three years, the most insistent needs of the colleges. There are other needs almost as press¬ ing, such as additional material equip¬ ment, buildings, libraries, laboratories. No attempt has been made to set forth these needs in detail for the total cost would go beyond the provision of general benevolences. It seems to the Board of Education inescapable that many needs of the colleges must be provided for en¬ tirely beyond and outside of the public collection in the churches. This is what has been done in the past. To make a scientific showing of even the present needs of the colleges in all their relations would involve investigations so expensive that the board would have felt embarrassed by the cost. A primary interest. — Education is not a final end, but a primary interest; that is, education does not exist for itself as an end, but as a preparation for other under¬ takings. Those who would prove its claim to assistance from the church, must show that education returns more than all it costs, in service rendered in the ac¬ complishment of all the great ends for which the church is striving. Is it not true that all our agencies and undertak¬ ings, whether they be the pastorate or the episcopacy, whether they be missions or philanthropies, depend for their guid¬ ance, their administration, their leader- 520 WORLD SERVICE ship, on men who a few years ago were making ready in college halls? What is asked of education is not simply the ad¬ dition of graces and ornaments, what is asked is the promise of effective public and world service in all the causes for which the church does strive. A balanced program needed. — Wise ad¬ ministration of our benevolences ought to provide for the largest immediate achieve¬ ments in our various fields of activity on the front line, as it were. But it will be sorry service to mankind that prevents the laying of foundations for the greater missions and philanthropies of the next generation. The foundations must be laid down in our colleges and the doing will not wait. To find a proper balance be¬ tween the needs of the service of the church in the present day and its under¬ lying service in the schools and colleges in its work of education which is to blos¬ som and bear fruit as the greater service tomorrow, to find this balance is a task of highest consequence to the future of the Methodist Episcopal Church. WORSHIP SERVICE IN A MODERN PRIMARY DEPARTMENT Formation , not ref ormation , holds the vita! secret of the world' s progress. J. G. Holland / have a notion that children are about the only people we can do much of anything for. When we get to be men and women, we are either spoiled or improved. The work is done. But while young, a great deal can be dene for us. Benjamin Harrison THE BOARD OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. The Board of Sunday Schools II. Fourteen Years of Board Supervi¬ sion III. Basis of Studies and Scope of Facts IV. The Task as it Appears Today 1. Methodist Episcopal responsibility 2. Training an adequate leadership 3. Evangelism in the church school 4. Status of children in the Sunday school 5. Distinctive mission to young people 6. Training world Christians 7. Service to adults 8. Week-day and vacation church schools 9. The challenge of the foreign field V. What the Methodist Episcopal Church Should do for Religious Education in the Next Ten Years 1. The educational point of view 2. What this point of view implies 3. Modern family life 4. Advance and expansion in field work 5. Curriculum promotion 6. Expansion of missionary education 7. Week-day and Vacation Schools 8. Development of the local school 9. Directors of Religious Education. 34 521 522 WORLD SERVICE The General Confer¬ ence has interpreted the task of the Board of Sun¬ day Schools as including the promotion of men’s church organizations, family worship, and vari¬ ous supplemental forms of religious education, such as week-day schools of religious education, daily vacation church schools, and a definite re¬ sponsibility for recrea¬ tional leadership. Upon these main lines, and in harmony with the definite tasks assigned, the Board Training leaders through leading: Senior Department President 0f Sunday Schools has en- conducing opening service of worsh.p deavored'to carry out the I. THE BOARD OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS wdl of the church since its organization OF THE METHODIST EPIS- in May, 1908. COPAL CHURCH The Church by action of the General Conference established the Board of Sun¬ day Schools “for the moral and religious instruction of our children and for the promotion of Bible knowledge among all our people.” To this board is assigned “general oversight of all the Sunday- school interests of the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church.” 1 The constitution of this board specifies certain duties, such as the following : 1. Founding new Sunday schools in needy neighborhoods. 2. Contributing help to Sunday schools needing assistance. 3. Educating the church in all phases of Sunday-school work, constantly en¬ deavoring to raise ideals and improve methods. 4. Determining the Sunday-school cur¬ riculum, including the courses for teacher training. 5. Giving impulse and direction to the study of the Bible in the church. 1 Discipline, f468, §§1-3. II. FOURTEEN YEARS OF BOARD SUPERVISION The annual reports of the board ren¬ dered to the church in complete detail and recorded in the year books give a compre- Sunday-school total enrolment and average attendance 1908-1921 SUNDAY SCHOOLS 523 hensive account of the growth of the reli¬ gious education movement in the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church during the fourteen years of the board’s history.1 III. BASIS OF STUDIES AND SCOPE OF FACTS A cross-section study.— In making this study of the present status of religious education in the Methodist Episcopal Church there were selected cross sections of the church in the United States, com¬ prising twenty-four annual conferences and one district. Three thousand churches studied. — One hundred and five districts of these confer¬ ences were studied. Written data were secured from more than three thousand separate churches covering the following subjects: Organization and administra¬ tion of the church school; methods of increasing enrolment and attendance ; leadership training; evangelistic results and life service volunteers; missionary education; methods of finance in local schools; recreational provisions; directors of religious education; week-day schools of religion, and vacation church schools. Accurate information available. — In ad¬ dition to this investigation the board had access to the findings of the Indiana Sur¬ vey initiated by the Interchurch World Movement and completed by the Commit¬ tee on Social and Religious Surveys; the reports of the Religious Education Associ¬ ation; the Sunday School Council of Evangelical De¬ nominations; and also much accurate informa¬ tion within its own office. In addition to the pub¬ lished reports from the workers in the foreign field, first-hand informa¬ tion concerning the status of religious education in the foreign mission fields was obtained through the personal visitation of the Superintendent of the 'Year-Books of Board of Sun¬ day Schools. 1908-1921. Foreign Department, to mission fields in South America, Europe, India, Malay¬ sia, the Philippines, and the Far East, and through the experience of the Super¬ intendent of Young People’s Work, who conducted a series of religious education conferences in Japan, Korea, and China for the World’s Sunday School Associa¬ tion. Limitation of space prevents more than a summary of the significant facts thus assembled concerning the teaching task of the church. IV. THE TASK AS IT APPEARS TODAY 1. Methodist Episcopal Responsibility One fourth, our share. — These studies show that one-fourth of the Protestant re¬ sponsibility for religious education in the United States belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the 19.000,000 persons enrolled in the Protestant Sunday schools, 4,278,616 are enrolled in the Sun¬ day schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. Of the 27,- 000,000 persons of school age not enrolled in any church school, 6,500,000 form an equitable responsibility for our church. To meet this opportunity we must continue to overcome the habitual absence from the church school of a large percentage of the enrolment. We must also increase our present enrolment by more than one hun¬ dred per cent. A teacher-training class in session 524 WORLD SERVICE A deserted cook house in the Northwest where the field repre¬ sentative of the board organized a Sunday school 2. Training an Adequate Leadership Lack of trained leadership. — If we had our full constituency of American chil¬ dren and youth enrolled in our church schools, would we have an adequate force of trained teachers to instruct them? The survey shows that only seventeen per cent of the officers and teachers of our Sunday schools in the twenty-four conferences re¬ porting have ever had any kind of teacher training. Less than five per cent of the present teaching force is now enrolled THOUSANDS in any kind of training course; less than six per cent of the 43,627 young people, in the schools re¬ porting, between the ages of eighteen and twenty- four is enrolled in any kind of training class which looks forward to a trained usefulness in the local church. The Indiana Survey shows that while the public schools recruit their teachers from middle and later adolescents, the recruit teachers from the and adults, neglecting women at the very time church schools older children young men and they are making life choices, and should be in training for service. METHODIST EPISCOPAL SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES - 1921 378,064 OFFICERS and TEACHERS IN METHODIST EPISCOPAL SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES - 1921 Sunday-school teachers enrolled in training classes by the Board of Sunday Schools since its organization The teacher-training task It is very significant that the schools reporting teacher-training activity beyond the average, also show a larger percentage of attendance than the average, and a larger percentage of accessions to the church from the Sunday-school member¬ ship. There is unquestionably improvement in all phases of Sunday-school work in pro¬ portion as officers and teachers are being definitely trained. a. Field work and organization. — Where the board has full time field men stimu¬ lating and promoting Sunday-school effi¬ ciency, and where its institutes and schools of methods have been held, the reports show a twelve per cent gain in the number of teachers taking training as over SUNDAY SCHOOLS 525 the conferences where these forms of field work have not obtained. Twenty-nine per cent have organized departments, as against twenty-one per cent where there are no extension men. Forty-four per cent have graded lessons, as against thirty-six per cent where there are no ex¬ tension men. The year 1921 was the ban¬ ner year in teacher-training activity in our church, but the year 1922 exceeds it in the number of teacher-training classes, of students enrolled, and of standard diplo¬ mas and certificates given for class work. Since the success of the movement for religious education in the church depends so largely upon a greatly increased force of qualified officers and teachers, the Board of Sunday Schools feels that it must promptly expand its present force of seventeen intensive field workers, con¬ fined now to twenty conferences, until it shall have at least one full-time, thor¬ oughly capable man in each annual con¬ ference, backed by a Conference Board of Religious Education.1 b. Institutes and schools. — Campus sum¬ mer schools are provided for those who are training for work in the local church, and especially for those who will give them¬ selves to leadership as field directors of religious education. The Conference training schools, for a shorter time and with fewer courses, bring together general and local workers from the annual conference field for spe¬ cial training. District institutes of still shorter dura¬ tion give inspiration and specific informa¬ tion to Sunday-school workers, though no credits are offered toward certificates or diplomas. Church training night, one of the most promising features in the local church today, in which the local church has cor¬ related all its training activities, affords a fine opportunity to add to the regular teacher-training classes a weekly seminar on the problems of the church school. The number of all these types of train¬ ing schools should be increased until all 1 Discipline. 472. teachers and prospective teachers, in either the Sunday or week-day sessions of the church school, shall find it possible to take special practical courses of training. c. Directors of religious education. — By the legislation of the General Conference of 1920 provision was made for the ap¬ pointment by the Quarterly Conference of a director of religious education, to have general supervision of the entire teaching program of the church. Already this im¬ portant position is being filled in a number of forward-looking churches. The studies show that of the 2,684 churches reporting, 569, or twenty per cent, have a director of religious education. It appears, however, that only 46 of these are paid directors. Even the designation of volunteer direc¬ tors indicates a recognition of the need and opportunity for special leadership in unifying the teaching and training pro¬ grams of the local church. The regular organization of our church by districts and groups invites most naturally the appoint¬ ment of directors for the stimulation and supervision of religious education within these units. THOUSANDS Relation of Sunday-school evangelism to net in¬ crease in church membership 1908-1921 526 WORLD SERVICE 3. Evangelism in the Church School Accessions from the Sunday schools. — The growth of church membership depends very largely upon evangelistic success in the Sunday school. From 1908 to 1921, 2,249,436 members of the Sunday schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church were received into church membership. During the same fourteen years the net gain in church membership (full members) was 1,067,793, or less than half the number of accessions from the Sunday schools alone. The report for the single year 1921 shows the same ratio : accessions from the Sunday schools, 200,668; net gain in church membership (full members), 78,682. Evangelism must be understood as con¬ tinuous. The initial act of confessing Christ and uniting with the church is not the end of evangelism, but the basis for a continuous process of growth in grace through Christian nurture, instruction, and training in service. Religious education and evangelism.— The relation of religious education to evangelism is most admirably stated in a paper adopted by the Religious Education Council of Canada, from which the fol¬ lowing is quoted: “We seek to enlarge the content of the term evangelism so that evangelizing shall be understood to mean Christianizing, not limiting the term to a single emotional crisis in the life or to the joining of the church, but including in it antecedent and subsequent educational processes. “We seek, on the other hand, to enlarge the content of the term education so that it shall not be regarded as a mere process of formal instruction, but rather as a vital process promotive of religious life, and in¬ cluding in its objectives decision for Christ, church membership, Christian in¬ telligence, and social efficiency.” 4. Status of Children in the Sunday School A huge, unfinished task. — On the basis of the survey of twenty-four conferences, there are Cradle Rolls in 73 per cent of the Sunday schools. This means that in 27 per cent of the Sunday schools no pro¬ vision is made by the church for the reli¬ gious training of children under four years of age. In 64 per cent of the churches re¬ porting, the Stinday school is the only church organization of any kind operating for the religious training of the children under twelve years of age. The degree of graded organization is gratifying, but the figures show that there is still work to be done. Thirty-three per cent of the Beginners’ De¬ partments, thirty-six per cent of the Primary De¬ partments, and thirty-two per cent of the Junior De¬ partments are organized; while twenty-one per cent of the churches reporting admit that even their youngest children meet in the same room with the adults, join in the same worship, and study the same lessons. The circle talk in the Beginners’ department SUNDAY SCHOOLS 527 On the basis of the survey, forty - eight per cent of the pupils enrolled in our Sun¬ day schools are under twelve years of age. This includes the Cradle Roll Depart¬ ment. 5. Distinctive Mis¬ sion to Young People The young people’s department. — The survey reveals that the age group from twelve to twenty- four years represents thirty-three per cent of the entire Sunday- school enrolment. Thirty-two per cent of the churches stud¬ ied had no other or¬ ganized agency for this age group than the Sunday school. The Indiana Survey shows that forty-six per cent of the churches studied had no other organization for the children and young people than the Sunday school. In view of this large responsibility for the most critical period of life, it is perti¬ nent to ask what the Board of Sunday Schools has to offer pastors, Sunday- school officers and teachers, and parents, all of whom are involved, in meeting the needs and developing the Christian charac¬ ter of youth. The board’s program urges : 1. An organization by departments and by classes in which the intermediates, seniors, and young people may be served according to their special needs. 2. This organization, with its program of worship, instruction, expression, and service recognizes the tested principle that young people are best developed by being helped to develop themselves. Pro¬ vision, therefore, is made for participa¬ tion in the planning and the conduct of the entire program of the church school by the young people. 3. The other well- known but frequently ignored fact which governs standards for work with young people is the indi¬ visible unity of life. To serve any phase of life effectively we must give considera¬ tion to the total in¬ terest. This calls for the varied program recommended. Recreational needs. — What is the recre¬ ational need in this field? Of the 2,249 churches reporting on recreational and social provision, 19% have playrooms, 12% have playgrounds, 5% have gymnasiums, 5% have athletic fields. With so few of our churches making any adequate provision for the recreational activities of our children and young people, is it any wonder that so many of them seek their satisfaction in this respect with non¬ church and generally with non-religious agencies? Finding most of their exhilara¬ tion far from the church, vast numbers of them do not return to the church for their religious satisfaction. The church must minister to the whole life. The Bureau of Architecture reports that eighty per cent of the new church build¬ ings seeking the counsel of the bureau last year are providing recreational equipment. The modern church must recognize the importance of recreational facilities for the cultivation of those social ideas and principles which will guide our young people in the normal social relationships of the community. Influence of outside agencies. — Forty- seven per cent of the recreational pro¬ grams reported are under the auspices of outside agencies. The Indiana Survey shows that nine out of ten Boy Scouts are “A' Scouting builds good men 528 WORLD SERVICE One thousand one hun¬ dred sixty-three churches report a total of 959 young people now in training for full-time Christian service, or three-fourths as many as were reported entering full-time Christian serv¬ ice during the previous ten years, and yet this is an utterly inadequate gain in this field. The Young People’s Council plans activities members of the Sunday school, but the local churches usually have only a remote relation to the local councils of this move¬ ment. The older boys’ and older girls’ confer¬ ences are being offered as effective means for cultivating the interest of young peo¬ ple in Christian leadership, and yet over half of the churches reporting that they had sent boys to such conferences indi¬ cated that they were not conferences under church auspices. Excellent as the influence of these extra-church and allied agencies may be, a church that continues to farm out its youth for training will con¬ tinue to be in dire need of strong recruits for its leadership. Life service recruits. — From the 1,509 churches answering the question, 1,320 young people entered full-time Christian service during the ten years from 1912 to 1921 — an average of not quite one from each church in the decade. 406 chose the ministry, 253 foreign missions, 76 home missions, 124 deaconess work, 127 work as pastor’s assistant, 54 directorship of religious education, 101 Y. M. C. A. work, 42 Y. W. C. A. work, and 137 other fields. 6. Training World Christians Spiritual aims,. — Al¬ though the review of mis¬ sionary education in the Sunday schools, as con¬ ducted by this board, has revealed phenomenally increased offerings to the benevolences by the members of the Sunday schools, still this financial evi¬ dence is not the conscious objective of mis¬ sionary education. All sorts of influences have wrought together to do away with geographical provincialism. The inter¬ mingling of the races by travel, by quick communication and for commercial pur¬ poses has made it more insistent that the provincial mind shall give way to a mind of world sympathy and a spirit of world brotherhood. In achieving this distinctly spirit¬ ual aim our efforts are already pro¬ ducing notable results. Capable leadership. — One of the methods of or¬ ganization $7S||S 1908- 19U 1912 1915 1916- 1919 1920- 1922 Missionary offerings in Methodist Episcopal Sun¬ day schools since the organization of the Board of Sunday Schools. Per an¬ num averages for quadrenniums SUNDAY SCHOOLS 529 stimulated by the Department of Mission¬ ary Education is to have a capable mis¬ sionary superintendent in every Sunday school.1 Under the leadership of this officer 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 Sunday-school missionary offerings 1895-1921 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 Annual per capita Sunday-school giving to missions 1895-1921 -Discipline, If 428, §5 and If 621, §2. missionary programs and expressional service-activities are constantly promoted. Over 20,210 Sunday schools have provided missionary superintendents. The studies of 1,105 schools in three representative con¬ ferences, the Kansas, Wilmington and New England, showed that: Where they had a missionary superin¬ tendent — Per capita offering was 44 cents. They had pledged 101 per cent of quota. They had paid in 1921 83 per cent of quota. Budget of Board of Sunday Schools Relation of board’s budget to the total giving of Sunday schools Offerings to Missions 1908 . $ 476,333.00 1909 . 523,200.00 1910 . 578,066.00 1911 . 591,865.00 1912 . 594.577.00 1913 . 631,086.00 1914 . 654,381.00 1915 . 646,988.00 1916 . 676,220.00 1917 . 696,004.00 1918 . 742,032.00 1919 . 1,025,456.00 1920 . 2,000,000.00 1921 . 1,774,660.00 Paid for Lesson Helps $1,532,521.00 1,542,144.00 1.551,405.00 1,665,978.00 1.935,545.00 1,874,440.00 1,842,345.00 1,935,446.00 1,967,213.00 2,034.117.00 2,064,707.00 2,190,007.00 2,496,786.00 2,946,007.00 Budget of the Board $ 49,823.00 63,224.00 82,969.00 97,480.00 96,531.00 134,679.00 166,261.00 167,374.00 172,993.00 181.431.00 210,877.00 305,433.00 378,048.00 365,559.00 530 WORLD SERVICE The Adult Bible Class appeals to men Where they had no missionary superin¬ tendent — Per capita offering was 29 cents. They had pledged 71 per cent of quota. They had paid in 1921 61 per cent of quota. 7. This Board’s Service to Adults Organized lay forces. — Since the entire program of the church for childhood and youth is almost entirely dependent upon the good will and wisdom of adults, the board has an urgent mission to the grown¬ ups in the church school. The organized Adult Bible Class movement is today the largest and most widely distributed organ¬ ization of the lay forces of the church. Three thousand churches replying to the inquiry reported an enrolment of 119,420 persons over 24 years of age. These same schools reported a total enrol¬ ment of 627,182. It will be seen that nine¬ teen per cent are adults, nearly one-fifth of the entire enrolment. a. Many of them are parents. — The family, therefore, must be exalted in their thinking and doing. The board is pro¬ moting a revival of worship and religious instruction in the home. As parents these adults may help or hinder greatly the efforts of the teachers of their children. The board promotes mothers’ associations and parents’ classes. It endeavors to es¬ tablish a more effective co-operation between the home and the church in their common task for childhood and youth. b. These adults are citizens, voters; their intelligent Christian convictions re¬ specting a social order that shall be Chris¬ tian is of the utmost importance. The Bible classes are in many instances forums for the study of applied Christianity. c. These adults are laymen of the church. — What they think, and how they feel toward the policy and objectives of the church is a matter of great concern. The board aims to help the local churches in their efforts to have a laity, broad in its vision, sympathies, and fervent in its passion for righteousness. The Adult Bible Class has proved to be a most effective evangelistic agency in winning men and women to Christ, and in relating them to active membership in the church. 8. Week-day and Vacation Church Schools A timely challenge. — The church school is now clearly recognized as operating on Sunday, week days, during the school year, and during vacation. The Sunday session of the church school is now and probably will be for some time the strongest arm of the church in its re¬ ligious educational activity. The week-day church school, meeting before, after, but preferably during school hours, and the daily vacation church school carried on during the summer vacation for periods of three to five or even eight weeks, are supplemental agencies. SUNDAY SCHOOLS 531 Practically the entire public school world is alive to the challenge of undergirding the coming generation with the fundamental principles of a Christian citizenship. The vast numbers of children in the United States as yet untouched by any form of education in religion is appalling. Practically one-half of our total population is under twenty-five years of age, and three-fifths of these have no religious education. Boy leading worship service in week-day school of religion chinery which can be depended upon to hand on, from generation to generation, social and industrial achievements of the race; but we have not had an equally effi¬ cient piece of machinery with which to hand on from generation to generation the moral and spiritual achievements of the race.” A church school system. — The Christian church is now in the process of organizing a church school system that will reach the very last child. This system will have its Sunday, week-day, and vacation school sessions. The increase in population of the United States averages 1.4 per cent annually. The annual increase in the enrolment of chil¬ dren in our Sunday schools is approxi¬ mately three-tenths per cent. Our own church was early in the field experimenting to find a way to check this tragic decline. Through the work of this board in this field certain guide lines have been set, certain conclusions reached and definite leadership established. Its em¬ barrassment is the rapidity with which the movement is spreading and the nature and frequency of the calls for help. Approximately 800 week-day schools are reported in the office of the Religious Education Association. Twenty-four Meth¬ odist Episcopal conferences report 358. In these are enrolled one per cent of the Persons under 25 years of age . . . 53,197,850 1 In Protestant Sunday schools . 19,713,775 2 In Catholic religious schools . 1,870,000 3 In Jewish religious schools . . 87,000 3 Unreached Protestants . 27,274,000 Methodism’s share . 6,818,500 These figures seem to justify Professor Athearn’s statement: “The democratic state has created, in the public school system, a piece of ma- 1 Interchurch World Movement Survey: Estimate of U. S. Census Bureau, 1917. Figures include chil¬ dren too young for Sunday school attendance. 2 Reported by Sunday School Council as 20,801,- 568, including all North America. Figures include adults above 25 years of age. 3 Census of Religious Bodies, 1916. A class in daily vacation Bible school 532 WORLD SERVICE day church school is of outstanding value. If the 5,522 pupils reported in 331 Methodist schools who had no church home are won to the Sunday school, and their parents to the church, the effort will be most worth while. Waiting for the daily vacation Bible school to open Protestant school population of the com¬ munities involved. Three hundred and thirty-one of these schools meet in Meth¬ odist Episcopal churches. A community school. — The movement, however, is co-operative. Several or all of the churches of a community unite to reach all the children. Methodism’s op¬ portunity is, first, to see that each of the 29,620 Methodist Episcopal churches makes larger time provision for the 3,500,000 school children already enrolled as Sunday-school pupils, and for her share of the 27,000,000 children not related to any Sunday school or church. She must also see to it that the 462 district super¬ intendents and the 16,554 pastors as well as other leaders are pro¬ vided with necessary in¬ formation and help. The church must pro¬ vide through colleges and theological schools, trained leaders, both lay and clerical, men and women who will head the schools and teach the chil¬ dren. Whole communities have already turned to this method of religious instruction. As an Americanizing influence and a mission¬ ary enterprise, the week¬ Vacation schools. — Otherwise idle churches, idle college students, idle boys and girls are uti¬ lized by vacation church schools. In 192 2 more than 5,000 such schools were held, with an enrol¬ ment of over 350,000 children. Of these forty per cent were boys and girls un¬ touched by any church or Sunday school. In twenty-four conferences 228 vaca¬ tion church schools were held in 1922, en¬ rolling 27,830 pupils. This is 9.5 per cent of the 2,383 churches replying to this item in the questionnaire. There were reported 338 as held in co-operation with other church or churches of the com¬ munity. Of the pupils enrolled in these schools 5,522 were not connected with any Sunday school or church. A missionary harvest field. — As a mis¬ sionary enterprise, especially in non- churched and congested foreign-speaking communities, the daily vacation church A Japanese Sunday school out of doors SUNDAY SCHOOLS 533 Feeding German children — a result of the Sunday-school Christmas offering school is unsurpassed. Also its rapid introduc¬ tion in foreign lands is providing a means by which the increasing num¬ bers of Christian college men and women may carry the Message to the childhood and youth of their own home communi¬ ties. In active promotion, number of vacation schools, and interest, Methodism stands third in America. The Presbyteri¬ ans with 878 schools in 1922, and the Baptists with 641 surpass us. The program, the methods, and worthy curricula, are ready for churches and com¬ munities. Co-operation with the Inter¬ national Association of Daily Vacation Bible Schools is established. The field is ready. Leadership is available. The training of the teachers for the va¬ cation schools is a problem to be met only by adequate college courses and by com- THOUSANDS Sunday-school enrolment in the foreign field 1895-1921 munity and denominational training schools. There were six such schools held by Methodists in 1922, 29 by Presbyteri¬ ans and 26 by Baptists. No greater challenge may be found in the entire church than the opportunity for week-day religious education as it pre¬ sents itself today. 9. The Challenge of the Foreign Field Needs and plans in foreign fields. — ■ Making allowance for differences of method due to differences of racial charac¬ teristics, religious backgrounds and ex¬ perience, historical and local conditions, all that has been said thus far connotes like needs and plans for religious educa¬ tion in lands outside America, for there we are carrying on this same great task. Prior to 1908, the type of Sunday-school work done on the foreign field was vari¬ able. If a given missionary happened to be interested in it, it prospered in his sta¬ tion to the extent of his understanding and until he became submerged beneath the numerous duties of the mission field. Everything depended upon the mission¬ aries and they have always been over¬ loaded with a multiplicity of inescapable duties. In 1908, however, the church reorgan¬ ized its religious educational work through 534 WORLD SERVICE METHODIST ’ EPISCOPAL the Sunday schools at home and abroad and through its Board of Sunday Schools began to give intensive cultivation to the work in foreign fields. The general plan has been to place a specialist, trained in religious education, in each general racial, or linguistic, or national field, and then build up about this secre¬ tary a staff of skilled asso¬ ciates to aid in the crea¬ tion of literature, in the training of teachers and other leaders, in holding institutes, and in aid¬ ing the missionaries and national workers to a fuller and more accurate understanding of their task. The limited funds available for this work have made it impossible thus far to more than make a beginning upon this program putting a secretary only into a given field, occasionally with an assist¬ ant, and initiating efforts toward the cre¬ ation of lessons and helps, teacher train¬ ing, and the establishing of standards of work. Even this skeleton outline organi¬ zation has not yet been completed in all our mission fields, but our Board of Sunday Schools has now thirty-five such workers in the different countries of the foreign world. These workers are mostly nationals, for it is the policy of the board to use national leader¬ ship wherever possi¬ ble. Significant results. — Already it is possi¬ ble to see results from this policy, as a few comparisons will indicate. 1. In India the board did not put an American secretary BAPTIST DISCIPLES PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATIONAL AND Methodist and other Protestant Sunday- school enrolment in the Philippine Islands 1895 at work until 1916. In the five years since then the number of Sunday schools has increased almost 2,000 and the mem¬ bership has jumped from 134,042 to 187,126. 2. In Europe, the general director of this work was not installed until 1919, but in the following two years our Sunday-school membership has increased 20,000 in spite of all the confusion and disruption of after-war times. 3. In the Philippines in 1912 our Sunday- school membership was 8,685; in 1921 it had increased to 31,373, under the leadership of a secretary trained in the Department of Re¬ ligious Education of Northwestern Univer¬ sity. The work of special¬ ists. — A comparison between the increase in church member¬ ship and that' in Sunday-school member¬ ship shows the effect of intensive specialized leadership. Most of the larger of these Sunday- school increases have come in the last four years, so that the results have scarcely had time to register heavily in the church membership increase which must in¬ evitably follow later, especially if funds become available to permit the quality of the work to keep pace with the quantity expansion. One further com¬ parison is illumi¬ nating. The following denominations doing Sunday-school work in the Philippines have no Sunday- school specialist in that field: Presbyte- ENR0LMENT 53084 INCREASE 54007 INCREASE 2027 INCREASE What supervision has done for India SUNDAY SCHOOLS 535 rian, Disciples, United Brethren, Congre¬ gational and Baptist. Their total com¬ bined Sunday-school membership in the Philippines amounts to 32,127. The membership of Meth¬ odist Episcopal Sun¬ day schools is 31,370. Methodism with a specialist directing its work both quali¬ tatively and quanti¬ tatively in the field comes within 757 of having as many HOURS GENERAL EDUCATION 750 2. What This Point of View Implies When the church is fully committed to a program of religious instruction certain obvious provisions must follow. PROTESTANT 24 CATHOLIC 200 JEWISH 335 250 HOURS IN WEEK DAY SCHOOLS Hours per year devoted to religious education by children of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish families a. Buildings and equipment. — A re¬ adjustment of build¬ ings and equipment to make possible the work of the school of the church. b. Time for the church school. — Pro¬ vision for an exten- RELIGI0US EDUCATION 24 | Comparative time schedule of a Protestant pupil showing hours per year devoted to general and to religious education pupils in its Sunday schools as all the other five great denominations combined. V. WHAT THE METHODIST EPISCO¬ PAL CHURCH SHOULD DO FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS The church’s future emphasis. — Bearing in mind the main achievements in this field during the recent past and the rather careful study of the present situation, the prophets of religious education generally agree upon these lines of development : 1. The Educational Point of View The church as a whole must be led to accept the educational point of view that religion can be taught and must be fully committed to the teaching method as a major concern in establishing the rule of Christ throughout the world. The church of today must yet be convinced that a Christian life for the individual and for society is an achievement; that we must prepare for Christian decision by Christian nurture and follow such deci¬ sion by instruction and training. The Board of Sunday Schools believes that leading our church to this conception is its biggest task in the next ten years. sion of the time for instruction and training far beyond the limited period now available for the Sunday session of the church school. The teaching program of the local church properly correlated will afford more time. The home should make its contribution of time needed and the public schools should make possible better week-day schools of religious education by co-operating with the church in arranging the necessary time schedules. c. A trained leadership. — The most vital provision is in the field of a trained leadership for the local church. There must be officials with vision, courage and skill to organize and administer the church for teaching purposes, a teaching force which even though it must be volun¬ teer for the most part, will have such in¬ telligent understanding of the spiritual worth of the enterprise as to give both de¬ votion and ability to the work. No such trained leadership can possibly be furnished the local churches of Metho¬ dism without a large expansion of the present field organization and of schools for the training and inspiring of such a body of workers. In the entire range of a trained personnel for the realization of a 536 WORLD SERVICE —court cure.” Judge Ben B. Lindsey church should be able to offer local churches and training schools as well as to the departments of reli¬ gious education in col¬ leges and seminaries, cur¬ ricula in the field of religion better articulated and truer to the best ed¬ ucational principles than obtain in other fields of education. e. Necessary correlation. — The problem of corre¬ lation among all the agen¬ cies interested in the common task of religious “Church prevention — teaching program, the next ten years should wit¬ ness at least a ten-fold advance. d. An adequate curricu¬ lum. — The teaching ma¬ terial must be put into the best possible form for teaching purposes. We have only begun on this problem of providing a curriculum of religious material for use in the various sessions of the church school. During the next ten years our — is better than — education must be ad¬ vanced toward solution as rapidly as possible. The home, the school and the church must find a way to closer affiliation. The present promiscuous ef¬ forts of the various agen¬ cies in the local churches must give way to a cor¬ related and purposeful plan of procedure. This will require a frank un¬ derstanding and agree¬ ment on the part of the connectional agencies SUNDAY SCHOOLS 537 which cultivate the local church. It also involves the question as to the degree of co-operation we may enter upon with other denominations and agencies. f. Tested results. — We must develop a practical method by which all that en¬ ters into the outfit for religious education shall be tested con¬ stantly in terms of the output of intelli¬ gent loyal Christian character. g. Local financial provision. — Finally all the above means that local churches must put into their budgets greatly in¬ creased amounts for religious education. We note from the Indiana Survey that out of every munici¬ pal dollar, 47 cents are spent for public school purposes, while out of every church dollar only 2.3 cents are used for the church school. 3. Modern Family Life Many discriminat¬ ing students of this movement of religious education believe that the modern family is the most im¬ portant field for cultivation. The re¬ sponses to efforts in that field since the General Conference definitely assigned the task to this board fully justifies this judgment. Before the next decade shall have passed, the church school throughout the denomination should have parents’ or¬ ganizations working so effectively that systematic religious instruction will be observed in all our church families. But behind and beyond this, family life itself is at stake. Economic pressure, the demand for individual freedom, the lure of careers for women, the growth of apartment hotels, lax social relationships, 35 and the breakdown of social responsibil¬ ity for home-making and children — all are tending to disrupt the home as a funda¬ mental social unit. How to withstand these tendencies in modern life and to substitute for them an enthusiastic ac¬ ceptance and support of the Christian home is a problem which the Board of Sunday Schools has got to face, in behalf of the childhood of the world. We believe that these are some of the main lines on which the movement of re¬ ligious education in our church will ad¬ vance during the coming years and that the Board of Sunday Schools must give itself more vig¬ orously to these tasks. 4. Advance and Ex¬ pansion in Field Work a. Field cultivation. - — The number of well- qualified men who are to promote the total program of re¬ ligious education in the field must be in¬ creased. The board now has seventeen such men covering the territory of twenty annual conferences. Fifteen definite and insistent appeals are now filed with the board from as many conferences. In view of this widespread interest, the board hopes to provide for an addition of an average of ten well-trained leaders each year for the next decade, so that by 1934 each annual conference in America will be served by a director of the teaching pro¬ gram of the church schools. Such a field director of religious education would happily bridge the gap between the Board of Sunday Schools and the local Sunday schools. 538 WORLD SERVICE MEN V/E HAD .TO OROP Along with this supply of specially trained leaders must go the continued or¬ ganization of the confer¬ ence boards of religious education, with a view to securing their initiative, increasing financial co¬ operation, and backing for the field program of the board. b. Expansion in foreign fields. — We cannot per¬ mit ourselves to plan more largely APPROPRIATION $75,000 APPROPRIATION $45,000 SALARY AND EXPENSES OF 25 FIELD MEN $40,925 (AVERAGE $1,637) ADMINISTRATION $4,075 THIS IS AS FAR AS THE REST OF THE MONEX WOULD GO SALARY AND EXPENSES OF 18 FIELD MEN $62,500 (AVERAGE $3,472) ADMINISTRATION $12,500 1922 study in Sunday-school extension, costs to resources in 1915 and Relation of 1922 for our own favored land than we must for the children and young people of our neighbor nations. Happily the board faces the new decade with its picket line placed in all the great mission fields. There were three repre¬ sentatives in the foreign field, (Germany, Italy, and Sweden), in 1912; there are thirty-five in 1922, supervising the work in all Europe, in the Philippines, India, China, Korea, Japan, and South America. Based upon the expan¬ sion of the past ten years, and upon the open doors of opportunity now ap¬ pealing, the normal expansion for the next decade would call for an increase of nine American field secretaries, 138 na¬ tional workers, and provision for teaching material written in the language of the various peoples and born of their type of thought. The program which the Board of Sun¬ day Schools proposes for foreign fields is the result of a careful survey of these fields by the board’s representatives now working there, plus consultation between its foreign superintendents and bishops and missionaries in most of the fields, and a mass of data upon the subject of reli¬ gious education in these fields now on file in the board’s office. The program is broad, comprehensive, sound. The foreign field program. — Involving on the one hand the creation of lesson-sup¬ plies, story-paper materials, materials for teacher-training, instructional literature for departmental and graded work, and on the other, the conducting of institutes, summer schools of religious education, daily vacation Bible schools and week-day schools of religious instruction where local conditions make these desirable, this program is in harmony with the best principles of religious education. More¬ over it is to be carried out not only with reference to the requirements of an in¬ digenous development, but also in fullest co-operation with whatever work of a Members of a frontier Sunday school that meets once every three weeks — Stimulated by the Extension Department representative SUNDAY SCHOOLS 539 similar nature is being done in given fields by our own or other denominations. This complete and important program is to be carried out, not in one field alone, but in every country in which our church operates, around the world. The expand¬ ing force of trained specialists necessary to create the above-mentioned literature, conduct the institutes and other training work, and aid in directing the trained leadership that the church must have if she is to win these lands to Christ, will, it is estimated, ultimately reach 140. An immediate requirements — The Board of Sunday Schools plans to complete this secretarial organization in the immedi¬ ately ensuing years, build up the staffs in these fields to the minimum of neces¬ sary requirements, create the needed lit¬ erature, either by itself or in co-operation with others where this latter can be done consistently with a right quality of work, and aggressively develop religious educa¬ tion in accordance with the genius of the peoples among whom we work. This will inevitably mean, also, that while America will aid in the finances and in placing the rich results of her fifty years of experimentation in Sunday-school work at the disposal of these different peoples, her main aid will come through the training up of well equipped indige¬ nous leaders who will at the earliest pos¬ sible date assume full control and carry the work on in terms and forms that they know will best meet the field’s need. The literature will have to be created for each country or racial or linguistic group, as the case may be. It will not do simply to translate good graded materials from America. The whole range of lit¬ erary forms, literary allusions, and even historical characters that are native to us as Anglo-Saxons, is quite foreign to the Latins, the Slavs, the Orientals, and the others. We must find or ti’ain up leaders, with Anglo-Saxon assistance for the present, who will create an in¬ creasingly indigenous literature. And it will cost money to print as well as to cre¬ ate this literature. But the money must be forthcoming if our church is to take Primary children making scrapbooks for their foreign friends her religious-educational task seriously in foreign fields. Grants in aid. — Further, in the sterile portions of South America, in many of the islands, in three-fourths of India and in many sections of China, the people who wait for help are so poor that they cannot purchase the supplies for their Sunday schools when produced. They can and do pay a little; but their poverty is so beyond the imagination of North America that it cannot be described. Literature grants are at present keeping open scores of schools in all the foreign fields which but for such help would have to close. Eventually they will become strong; but today they must be carried. Such grants are not optional; they are imperative if we wish the work inau¬ gurated to live. A world-wide responsibility. — We are only beginning as a denomination to re¬ alize how our church has been but toying with its supreme obligation to undergird its total evangelism with the evangelism of religious education. In her comprehen¬ sive program of a world ministry of re¬ ligious education, the church for the first time seriously faces her total task. It will cost money, as any worth-while task on a world-scale inevitably must. Than this our church has no more fundamental duty. 540 WORLD SERVICE Christian stewards in training— The missionary offering in the Primary department c. Additional summer schools. — We must establish more campus schools at strategic points, until we have them avail¬ able for the choice young people through¬ out the church who are willing to qualify for large leadership. There are now six such schools. Ten more of these are needed. The conference schools should keep pace with the expansion of the field men and conference board organizations. 5. Curriculum Promo¬ tion Complete teaching ma¬ terial.— The closely graded system of lessons, now so widely used in our Sunday schools, must be supple¬ mented by introducing whatever material is found to be necessary for a fuller education of the (church-school pupils in intelligent Christian liv¬ ing. The principles and methods of Christian stewardship, the Chris¬ tian duties of citizenship and the obligations of church membership should be embodied in the material used in teach¬ ing the children and young people in the Sun¬ day school. 6. Expansion of Mis¬ sionary Education Missions at the center. — Missionary education in the Sunday school pro¬ ceeds upon the principle that practically all teach¬ ing of religion by the project method creates missionary habits of thinking, missionary hab¬ its of feeling, and mission¬ ary habits of doing. For whenever you lead a pupil to put Christianity to work in his sector of the social order, you are at once in the field of Christian serv¬ ice. And that is the field of missionary education. So far, missionary education in our Sunday schools has been largely con¬ fined to the raising of a huge sum of money, and to undergirding that finan¬ cial appeal with the necessary informa¬ tion, generally by some form of the monthly missionary program. Institutes Summer Schools ot Religious Education Schools of Sunday-school methods, 1922 SUNDAY SCHOOLS 541 But in the next decade most vigorous steps should be taken to put missions at the heart of all religious education done by the church schools, and to provide training in and commit¬ ment to the principles of Christian stewardship. Only thus can Metho¬ dism’s world service pro¬ gram be undergirded for the future. 7. Week-day Vacation Schools A missionary dramatization, “Chundra Lelah,” by pupils in a week-day school of religion Extension of week-day schools. — The next decade will probably see the extension of the week-day and va¬ cation church school movement through¬ out Christendom. The provision of adequate curricula and standards of or¬ ganization and administration are an outstanding obligation. It is necessary that the publicity and promotional activi¬ ties shall steady the movement lest it become a superfi¬ cial activity rather than a substantial advance. Materials and methods must be standardized, teachers and lead¬ ers trained and the whole movement must be kept on a worthy plane in or¬ der that the co-op¬ eration of the pub¬ lic schools may be justified and unem¬ barrassed. It is es¬ sential that the church shall be kept intimately ac¬ quainted with the facts as the move¬ ment grows, that its direction may be along desirable lines. The lad who played the part of the priest in “Chundra Lelah.” He plans to be a medical missionary 8. Development of the Local School a. Church-school buildings. — The inter¬ est of the Board of Sunday Schools in architecture is primarily educational. Pastors and building committees con¬ templating new buildings or improve¬ ments on old buildings will desire the educational reasons for the type of buildings urged for their approval. They will quickly see the advantage, not to say the necessity of a church building that shall make provision for a teaching program and for the social and recrea¬ tional features of such a program of edu¬ cation. We are unquestionably entering upon the greatest decade of church build¬ ing at home and abroad that the church has ever known, and the Board of Sun¬ day Schools must see to it that the entire church appreciates both the artistic and educational elements in church building plans. b. The graded Sunday school. — The survey shows that graded organiza¬ tion for teaching purposes has brought increased results in all phases of Sunday- school work. The average attendance in such schools and the number of acces¬ sions to the church are far above the average. The Indiana Survey shows that 70 per cent of the schools studied have made no successful attempt to grade their organization. Here is a field for marked advance during the next decade. 542 WORLD SERVICE The touch and go method will not effect the result. We must have workers who will stay by a situation until the new order is established. This will call for an increase of special workers to meet the calls for help in this particular. 9. Directors of Religious Education A need in the local school. — All we propose in the way of field expansion and training schools serves to accentuate the need of the local church for a highly trained director of religious education. One of the findings of the Indiana Sur¬ vey is expressed as follows: “The local Sunday schools of Indiana are suffering from the effects of long distance super¬ vision, and from their failure to recognize that voluntary local workers need imme¬ diate contact and personal supervision by highly trained specialists.” What is true of Indiana is true of the whole church. In the years immediately before us local churches must be helped to see that next in importance to a qualified pastor and preacher is the director of the teach¬ ing activities of the whole church. Pro¬ vision in local budgets must be made for such a full time worker. The demand from the local churches for such a form of life service must stimulate the col¬ leges to provide adequate training for an increasing number of the choicest young people to meet the demand. The stand¬ ing of such an office must be defined by the authority of the church. A new field for higher education. — If the church is a teaching institution, it should have a worthy body of teaching material, a faculty or force of trained and supervised teachers, and a group of pupils organized and equipped for teach¬ ing purposes. To this end, we appeal for adequate provision, in the colleges, universities, and theological schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church, for professors and for courses of study in order to train pro¬ fessional and volunteer leaders and teachers. No more insistent opportunity has ever appealed to our educational institu¬ tions than this demand for a trained and forceful body of college graduates to put this popular movement of religious edu¬ cation above educational reproach and to furnish it with a curriculum of practical excellency. WORKERS THE CHURCH MUST NOT FORGET It seems to rue that no higher duty rests upon the lay¬ men in connection with their support of the church than that of helping to create a fund out of which we may guarantee to our ministers in their declining years peace and security for themselves and their families. Henry J. Allen I. General Statement 1. Historical a. The situation prior to 1908 b. An obligation of the entire church c. Objectives of the board 2. Present and future needs a. The number of claimants b. Necessitous cases c. Present and future needs II. The Equalization Fund 1. Reasons for its creation a. The need and the remedy b. The basis of calculation 2. Disciplinary provisions 3. Total apportionment Support of Aged and Disabled Supply Pastors 1. Connectional provisions a. Just recognition b. General Conference action c. Board recommendations d. Council of Boards 2. Survey a. Further investigation b. Significant disclosures IV. Sustentation 1. General Conference action 2. A thorough-going survey V. The Basis of the Askings THE BOARD OF CONFERENCE CLAIMANTS ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT III. 543 544 WORLD SERVICE I. GENERAL STATEMENT 1. Historical a. The situation prior to 1908. — Until 1908 there was no board or administrative officer responsible for the cause of confer¬ ence claimants ; the distribution was based solely on need ; the amount of money avail¬ able for distribution was small, viz.: 1870, $129,898. 1880, $130,944. Increase during the decade, $1,046. 1890, $137,093. Increase during the decade, $6,149. 1900, $260,402. Increase during the decade, $123,309. 1908, $606,000. Increase during eight years, $345,598. 1915, $1,225,226. Increase during seven years, $619,226. 1922, $2,586,396. Increase during seven years, $1,361,120. The increase in 1908 resulted from agitation growing out of the appointment of the Commission in 1904, and the in¬ crease of the Book Concern dividends. Since that time the church has traveled fast along the new legislative highway, and will reach the goal of a three and a half million dollar annual distribution when once again the attention and inter¬ est of the church shall be devoted to this holy task. b. An obligation of the entire church.-— The motive back of the new legislation was the obligation of the entire church to assist in caring for the claimants of the poorer and weaker conferences. In their report the commissioners said : “The fact that none but the strong conferences can create funds cannot be overlooked. Some of the weaker conferences have small funds, but the increase has been so slow that it emphasizes the statement that this class of conferences can make but little provision for conference claimants by this form of relief. Hence the connec- tional fund. “While the annual collection is a most constant and helpful source of income, it is plain that it cannot possibly meet the needs of the conference claimants in the small conferences, and it is equally plain that the increase from any permanent funds which they are able to create will be limited. These facts and conditions im¬ peratively demand the creation of a con- nectional permanent fund.” Influenced by such considerations, the General Conference accepted connectional responsibility for the support of confer¬ ence claimants and organized the Board of Conference Claimants to carry out its will. Deficits in the larger and stronger conferences will be provided for without denominational assistance, but the weaker conferences will never be able to provide adequately for their retired ministers without denominational help, and the board is the agent of the whole church to help them in old age and disability “ac¬ cording to need.” c. Objectives of the board. — Two tasks were given to the board : 1 1. “To build up and administer a con¬ nectional permanent fund, in order that a more equitable and general support might be secured for conference claim¬ ants, especially for those in the more needy conferences, by a distribution ‘ac¬ cording to need.’ ” 2. “To increase revenues for the bene¬ fit of conference claimants.” 2. Present and Future Needs a. The number of claimants. — In 1921, there were: Retired Ministers . 3,400 Widows . . 3,857 Dependent Orphans . . 861 Total . 8,118 In 1921, the sum of $2,586,396 was paid to them. They constitute two-fifths of the pension beneficiaries of American Prot¬ estantism. b. Necessitous cases. — The demands for necessitous cases will increase in the weaker conferences; for it is only by a 1 Discipline, if 478, § 3. CONFERENCE CLAIMANTS 545 larger necessitous distribution that the lack of equity between the pitiably small amounts paid by the poorer and weaker conferences and the liberal amounts paid by prosperous con¬ ferences can be cor¬ rected. The board requires not only a larger current in¬ come, but also a spe¬ cial endowment held in trust for the weaker conferences. c. Present and fu¬ ture needs. — A care¬ ful study of the situ¬ ation shows the need, immediately and con¬ stantly during the next decade, of in¬ creasing greatly the income for immedi¬ ate distribution, and of large additions to the connectional per¬ manent fund and to the endowments of the annual conferences. II. THE EQUALIZATION FUND 1. Reasons for its Creation Serious difficulties in the administra¬ tion of ministerial pensions because the conference by which a preacher is retired is held responsible for his entire service annuity, even though he had served only a few years in the conference, led to the investigation by the board and the pres¬ entation of its findings to the General Conference of 1920, which referred the suggestions to the Committee on Itiner¬ ancy. Its recommendations were referred to the Council of Boards of Benevolence with authority, and the equalization fund became the law of the church. a. The need and the remedy.. — When ministers who had served in several con¬ ferences became a liability on the confer¬ ence which retired them there was an evi¬ dent lack of equity, especially after the conferences began to pay high annuity rates; and some conferences set up bar¬ riers against the transfer of ministers who had any considerable length of serv¬ ice, or limited the distribution of the income of confer¬ ence endowments and preachers’ aid societies. The income of the equalization fund, which is a part of the connectional ap¬ portionment for the Board of Conference Claimants, will be distributed among the several confer¬ ences “in proportion to their liability for the years of service of their retired min¬ isters which have been rendered in con¬ ferences other than their own. It is the duty of the Board of Conference Claim¬ ants to determine the processes by which the legislation shall be put into operation, and the duty of the Council of Boards ‘to add to the apportionment made for the support and maintenance of the Board of Conference Claimants an adequate amount for the equalization fund’.” b. The basis of calculation. — The new survey made by the board covers the records of service of all the retired min¬ isters and, by a double entry system of accounting, shows exactly the obligations of the several conferences. Each annual conference is credited with the number of years its retired ministers have served outside its boundaries, for which it is paying an annuity, and is debited with the years served within its boundaries for which other conferences pay ; the total years thus charged against a conference being the same as those credited to the conference which pays the annuity. In setting up the equalization fund the obligations to the creditor conferences are made on the basis of the calculation at The Knight of the Saddlebags lives over again, in memory, the days of battle 546 WORLD SERVICE n i in I. The pre-war dollar. II. The dollar to-day — reduced 40 per cent in buying power. III. Section of reduced dollar representing 40 cents unpaid to conference claimants. the rate actually paid. The total claims are figured on the basis of the net credit years, that is, the difference between the years of service rendered in other confer¬ ences for which the creditor conferences have paid, and the years of service ren¬ dered in the debtor conferences which were paid by the other conferences. The excess in the number of years paid for by the creditor conferences, multiplied by the annuity rate paid by them, gives the total credit in dollars. The total aggregate of such excess claims paid by the creditor conferences is the amount to be appor¬ tioned to the pastoral charges for the equalization fund. In this way the en¬ tire connection shares in the burdens and benefits, because the equalization fund both discharges the debts of the debtor conferences, and reimburses the creditor conferences for the excess payments made by them. The diagram at the foot of this page shows the actual working of the Equali¬ zation Fund. 2. Disciplinary Provisions for the Equalization Fund “In order to equalize among the sev¬ eral annual conferences the claims for annuities paid by them for years of service rendered in other conferences than their own, there shall be created an equali¬ zation fund, the receipts from which shall be distributed among the several annual conferences in proportion to the liability for the years of service of their retired ministers which have been rendered in other conferences than their own. Such equalization fund shall become a part of the connectional apportionment for the Board of Conference Claimants and be distributed directly to the annual confer¬ ence in proportion to their several liabili¬ ties for such years of service, provided that the rate paid to an annual conference shall not exceed the rate paid by such con¬ ference to its conference claimants. The board shall determine the processes by which this legislation shall be put into operation and the Council of Boards of Benevolence shall add to the apportion¬ ment made for the support and mainte¬ nance of the board, the securing of en¬ dowments for annual conferences and the Board, and increasing its annual dividend to the poorer and weaker conferences, an adequate amount for the equalization fund.” 1 3. Total Apportionment The tabulations, carefully prepared and worked out, and determined show that the total claims on the equalization fund for the retired ministers alone are $79,078. The task, now under way, of examining the records of the 3,828 widows and 816 dependent orphans is one of great diffi¬ culty, and it is not practicable at this time Sources of income in forty of the weaker conferences. 1 Discipline, f 584. SECTION II / / SECTION I Why an Equalization Fund is needed. (Note: Only white English-speaking conferences have been included in the above chart) 548 WORLD SERVICE to give the figures. But an estimate can be made by comparing the total annuity claims of the ministers with those of the widows and orphans and establishing a ratio to be used in estimating the re¬ quirements of the equalization fund. In the Advance Program, $20,000 has been allotted to the Equalization Fund. III. SUPPORT OF AGED AND DIS¬ ABLED SUPPLY PASTORS 1. CONNECTIONAL PROVISIONS That financial recognition should be given to the old age or disability of faith¬ ful supply pastors is a natural reaction to the enlarged pension plans of Methodism. Their invaluable services, rendered often on meagre support and under difficult conditions, has resulted in a widespread conviction that they ought not to be neglected in old age. a. Just recognition. — At first, the supply was a local preacher, tentatively and temporarily appointed to preach un¬ der the direction of the pastor. But later he was regularly assigned to supply a pulpit under the direction of the district superintendent, and, for all practical pur¬ poses, became a pastor, frequently being continued from year to year, until finally supply pastors were given a recognized place in the ministerial ranks and per¬ formed an indispensable service in the church. During the missionary period, when weak, scattered churches were grouped into pastoral charges, they were in continual demand as pioneer preach¬ ers. As the work expanded the call con¬ tinued, and the supply pastor, an essen¬ tial factor in the founding of Methodism, became an increasing factor in its devel¬ opment. Whenever economic conditions produced a considerable gap between the standard of living and ministerial sala¬ ries, both the actual and the proportionate number of supply pastors steadily in¬ creased. The advancing standards of min¬ isterial preparation, involving a more thorough education, resulted in the fail¬ ure of some useful men to gain admission into an annual conference, or in so dis¬ couraging them that they gave up the attempt, leaving to them the alternative either of relinquishing ministerial work entirely or of entering into the ranks of supply pastors, b. General Conference action. — The General Conference in 1916 and 1920 made annual conference provisions for the care of aged or disabled local preach¬ ers. During the discussion many dele¬ gates were convinced that the support should be furnished by the church at large, rather than by annual conferences, and the Board of Conference Claimants was authorized to consider the subject and to “present the results of its deliberations to the Council of Boards of Benevolence, with suitable recommendations.” The disciplinary statement is as fol¬ lows : 1. By annual conferences' “Authority is hereby given to the an¬ nual conferences to take such measures as they may deem wise to create a per¬ manent endowment fund, or to raise money for annual distribution for retired local preachers who may have given fif¬ teen consecutive years or more (giving their entire time as pastors to the work of the church) and for the widows and minor children of such deceased local preachers. The annual conference shall administer the funds and distribute the income through its Board of Stewards, as the annual conference may determine.” 2. By the Board of Conference Claimants'1 2 “Whereas, there is need of immediate consideration of providing for the old age of faithful supply pastors, therefore be it “Resolved, That the Board of Confer¬ ence Claimants be authorized to consider these matters, in order to accomplish the purpose stated in the preamble, and to present the results of its deliberations to the Council of Boards of Benevolence, with suitable recommendations. 1 Discipline, fl226. 2 Discipline, jj585. CONFERENCE CLAIMANTS 549 “And further, that all reports and data bearing upon these interests be placed at the disposal of said board.” Board recommendations. — The board aged and disabled supply pastors, the Board of Conference Claimants be author¬ ized : “1. To complete the survey already un¬ dertaken, in order to understand more gave immediate consideration to the sub¬ ject and recommended to the Council of perfectly and to define more equitably the Boards, as follows : “The question of pen¬ sions for supply pas¬ tors, referred by the General Conference to the Board of Con¬ ference Claimants for study and recom¬ mendation, has been carefully considered, also memorials on this subject from churches, confer¬ ences, laymen’s meet¬ ings, local preachers’ associations, etc.; also the provisions of the Discipline for an¬ nual conference help 01226) and the prob¬ lems involved in the development of a connectional or general plan.” We are convinced of the justice of doing something for those needy supply pastors who have served for many years without being admitted to an annual conference. One out of every four churches of Meth¬ odism is served by a supply pastor. The limitations in the legislation for annual conferences, which should be followed in a connectional plan, do not provide pen¬ sions for temporary supplies, or for local preachers who are engaged in secular oc¬ cupations, or for students during their school years, or for supernumerary or re¬ tired ministers temporarily acting as sup¬ plies; but only for those who for fifteen consecutive years have faithfully devoted their entire time to ministerial work. d. Action of the Council of Boards. — After consideration by a special commit¬ tee, the Council of Boards of Benevolence voted that: “In carrying out the will of the General Conference to provide for the relief of Seventy-eight, one hundred and two, and eighty — two hundred and sixty years of service! problem as it actu¬ ally exists in the church, and to per¬ fect a plan, based on the obligations of the church to make pro¬ vision for the relief of aged and disabled supply pastors. “2. To develop such unity in the plans for the relief of aged or disabled supply pas¬ tors as shall be in harmony with the general principles already operative in the church for the pensioning and relief of retired ministers, and to cultivate such a common interest between the supply pastors and the regu¬ lar ministry as shall give the highest unity, accord and stability to the minis¬ terial forces of the church. “3. To make the first distribution to aged and disabled supply pastors in 1923, on the basis of the amount available in 1922.” For setting up the system and making a beginning for pressing necessities, the council provided a budget of $10,000, to be distributed in 1923. 2. Survey a. Further investigation. — The board immediately began a thorough-going in¬ vestigation of the supply appointments as printed in the General Minutes, in order to ascertain the actual number of supply charges and the salaries paid by them, and sent requests for information to 2,659 supply pastors, whose names and ad¬ dresses were given in the annual confer¬ ence minutes. For intelligent classifica- 550 WORLD SERVICE tion and study the conferences were divided into six groups: (1) Colored Con¬ ferences; (2) Foreign-Speaking Confer¬ ences; (3) Northeastern Conferences; (4) Prairie Conferences; (5) Southern and Border Conferences; (6) Rocky Mountain and Pacific Conferences. Tabulations. — The tabulations show the number of supply pastors, the ratio of supply pastors to the total number of pas¬ tors, the average salary paid to supply pastors in the several groups and in the entire church. b. Significant disclosures — i. The number of supply pastors has increased greatly during the last twenty years. There were : In 1900, 2,782 supply pastors. In 1910, 3,749 “ “ Increase 967 In 1920, 4,321 “ “ “ 572 Total Increase, 1900-1920, ....1,539 The increase from 1900 to 1910 was thirty-five per cent; from 1910 to 1920, fifteen per cent; from 1900 to 1920, fifty- five per cent. 2. Not only was there a large increase in the number and percentage of supply pastors, but also a large increase in the ratio of the supply pastors. In 1900, nine¬ teen per cent of the total pastoral charges were served by supply pastors ; but in 1920, twenty-six per cent were so served. 3. The average salary of the supply pastors, $720, is larger than has generally been supposed. In four conferences it was more than $1,000. 4. The increase of both the number and the percentage of supply pastors in the prosperous groups is large, contrary to the general opinion that supply pastors Conference Group 1900 Colored . 266 supplies — 15% 319 Foreign Speaking — 105 supplies — 13% 147 Northeastern . 904 supplies — 20% 1055 Prairie . 1033 supplies — 17% 1510 Southern and Border.. 215 supplies — 32% 263 Rocky Mountain and Pacific . 259 supplies — 19% 475 Total . 2782 supplies — 19% 3749 are used mostly in small and weak confer¬ ences. 5. While the total number of supply pastors is large, 4,321, most of them re¬ gard their work as temporary. Among them are college students, or supernumer¬ ary or retired ministers, who will be pro¬ vided for in old age as conference claim¬ ants, or men engaged in secular pursuits, to whom the supply ministry offers an opportunity for service. 6. The facts and conditions disclosed after the first payment has been made will suggest the legislation which should be rec¬ ommended to the next General Confer¬ ence. The records of all supplies are now under scrutiny, and the facts concerning their ministry are being secured and tabu¬ lated for future use, but to secure a com¬ plete roster and comprehensive data of permanent value will require time and patience. For distribution during 1923, $9,000 is now on hand ; and $20,000 has been placed in the Advance Program for this purpose. IV. SUSTENTATION 1. General Conference Action The General Conference of 1920 took the following action; “The need of special sustentation work for the emergencies of ministerial life, es¬ pecially in the weaker conferences, was referred to the Board of Conference Claimants, and the board was directed to present the results of its deliberations to the Council of Boards with suitable rec¬ ommendations.” a. Legislation for Sustentation by Annual Conferences. “It shall be the duty of each annual con- ference, whenever practicable, to organize 1910 1920 Average Salary 1920 supplies — 19% 367 supplies — 18% $318 supplies — 17% 142 supplies — 19% $394 supplies — 22% 1257 supplies — 26% $700 supplies — 23% 1770 supplies — 27% $822 supplies — 35% 301 supplies — 38% $503 supplies — 23% 484 supplies — 33% $759 supplies — 23% 4321 supplies— 26% $712 CONFERENCE CLAIMANTS 551 conference sustentation fund societies to supplement the inadequate ministerial support in those pastoral charges which are unable to furnish a sufficient sup¬ port.” 1 b. Action on Sustentation by the Gen¬ eral Conference 1920. “Whereas, there is need of special sus¬ tentation work for the emergencies of ministerial life, especially in the weaker places, “Resolved, that the Board of Conference Claimants be authorized to consider these matters, in order to accomplish the pur¬ pose stated in the preamble, and to present the results of their deliberations to the Council of Boards of Benevolence with suitable recommendations.” 2 2. A Thorough-going Survey During 1923 a thorough-going survey of the entire situation as to sustentation will be completed and, as directed by the Gen¬ eral Conference, “the board will present the results of its deliberations to the Coun¬ cil of Boards of Benevolence with suitable recommendations.” 2 In the Advance Program, there has been placed $25,000 for sustentation. V. THE BASIS OF THE ASKINGS General Conference action, 1920. — “Most of the campaign work for endowment funds during the last quadrennium was co-operative, in some cases under the im¬ mediate leadership of the board. The principal effort was directed toward se¬ curing and increasing endowments for annual conferences. “In the program of the coming quadren¬ nium these endowments in annual confer¬ ences should be provided for and should be completed, if possible. To do this the Board of Conference Claimants should be adequately financed in order to lend aid to the annual conferences for this pur¬ pose and to furnish requisite literature 1 Discipline, 1920, f 324. 2 Discipline, 1920, ff 585. and immediate assistance through its rep¬ resentatives, so that the $5,000,000 that is still needed by annual conference or¬ ganizations should be secured. The board ought also to be enabled to secure an ad¬ dition of ten million dollars to its perma¬ nent fund, the income of which shall perpetually help the poorer and weaker conferences in the remote and difficult fields, and all necessitous cases in every conference. A major interest. — “The ideal for the quadrennium should be the securing of sufficient funds to complete the major program for all conference claimants throughout the church. In any general church-wide financial program or cam¬ paign undertaken during the coming quadrennium, an adequate amount for re¬ tired ministers, widows and orphans of ministers shall be included so that the un¬ fortunate situation developed in the Cen¬ tenary activities shall not be repeated, and in the future the cause of the minister, active and retired, shall be included in the major programs of the church and the interests of conference claimants be care¬ fully safeguarded; therefore, be it “Resolved, That, should there be any general or connectional financial program in the church during the coming quadren¬ nium, there shall be included such an amount as will make it possible for an¬ nual conferences to meet all their obliga¬ tions to their ministers, and as will enable the Board of Conference Claimants to ex¬ tend adequate and needed help to all those retired ministers, widows and orphans of ministers at home and abroad who, on ac¬ count of the conditions under which they work or their immediate necessities, should receive the helping hand of the entire church. “In this manner the major purposes for which the Board of Conference Claimants was organized, as stated in the Discipline, ^[485, may be speedily accomplished. “In the Advance Program, $60,000 has been allowed for administrative purposes, and $20,000 for general work.” AT AN EP WORTH LEAGUE INSTITUTE The church that is wise toward youth will shine as the stars .... Our problem today is fashioning that new generation of human life, in its thoughts, its ideals,its spirit,its character , its attitudes to life, its relation to Jesus Christ, its place in the world. It is rapidly being made and the world of to-morrow is being made with it . W e must make the makers of tomorrow. From the Episcopal Address to the General Conference of 1920 THE BOARD OF THE EP WORTH LEAGUE ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. Historical Statement II. The Epworth League in the United States 1. Epworth League organization 2. Department activities and needs a. First Department b. Second Department c. Third Department d. Fourth Department 3. Epworth League Institutes 4. The Junior Epworth League 5. Negro Epworth Leagues 6. Special Epworth League groups 7. Hawaiian Epworth Leagues 8. The Twentv-four-Hour-Day plan III. The Epworth League in Foreign Fields 1. Japan 2. Korea 3. China 4. Malaysia 5. Philippine Islands 6. India 7. Mexico 8. South America 9. Europe as a whole 10. Italy 11. France 12. Scandinavia 13. Austria and Hungary 14. Switzerland 15. Germany 16. Tunis 36 553 554 WORLD SERVICE I. HISTORICAL STATEMENT The General Conference of 1892 recog¬ nized and officially adopted the Epworth League, which three years before, at Cleveland, Ohio, had been formed by the merging of five young people’s societies operating within the church. The organization was given a form of constitution and its general aim as ex¬ pressed in the legislation was “to promote intelligent and vital piety in the young members and friends of the Church, to aid them in the attainment of purity of heart and constant growth in grace, and to train them in works of mercy and help.”1 Each Grneral Conference since 1892 has scrutinized thp record and relationship of its young people’s organization and after improvements, from time to time, aimed at more perfect adaptation of the society to its task, has given it official ap¬ proval. At Des Moines in 1920 the Gen¬ eral Conference gave it for the first time the standing of one of the regular benevo¬ lent Boards of the church.2 The thirty-three years of the Epworth League’s activity have seen the accom- 1 Discipline 1892, T|325, §82. 2 Discipline, 1920, 11*407. WICHITA NEW YORK WASHINGTON SAN FRANCISCO PITTSBURGH PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO OE-TROI I OMAHA INDIANAPOLIS ST. LOUIS CINCINNATI BUFFALO PORTLAND ST. PAUL NEW ORLEANS DENVER BOSTON HELENA rges ATLANTA Chapters CHATTANOOGA o so 2o jo 4° 5° 6o jo So yo Percentage of charges in the United States having Senior Epworth League Chapters plishment of great results, far beyond the dreams of the devoted and courageous founders. As the official young people’s so¬ ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Epworth League has made for itself a large place in the hearts and life of Meth¬ odist youth. Through it they have accepted, gladly, their share of the church’s task and their share of its responsibility. The League’s training in leadership has pro¬ duced hundreds of our church leaders and its emphasis on a well-informed member¬ ship has produced an intelligent laity. Its study classes, its institutes, its training conferences, have been of great value in acquainting young people with the various phases of need and activity related directly and indirectly to the church’s program. Coupled with this educational program, the opportunity for expressional activities has been tremendously valuable. The League in its whole program seeks to stress on behalf of boys and girls of probationers’ age, carefully directed courses of training in intelligent member¬ ship in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, for the young people of the Senior Chapters, training and direction for in¬ telligent service within their own church and as Christian citizens in their own communities. It should be remembered in studying this statement that the actual membership of the League is limited to those who join by voluntary act and that the number re¬ corded as members does not indicate the actual strength of the League. There is a large percentage of loyal constituents who contribute to and are helped by the League program who are not represented by its reported statistics. “Young People’s Work for Young Peo¬ ple” means that, in co-operation with the pastor, the young people themselves, from their own initiative, plan and direct their work in accordance with the general con¬ stitution of the Epworth League. This involves the building of Christian charac¬ ter, co-operation with other Christian forces, the Christian conquest of the evils of the social and economic order, and EPWORTH LEAGUES 555 Christian comradeship in the community. The work of the Epworth League is di¬ vided into four departments. The First Department concerns the building of Christian character, for which there are weekly devotional meetings, Bible study classes, “Win My Chum” cam¬ paigns, co-operation with junior work, the Morning Watch, and life work. The Second Department concerns Chris¬ tian stewardship and mission study; there are study classes, reading courses, and the enrolment of tithing stewards. The Third Department concerns vital social and moral questions in the com¬ munity. It promotes good citizenship, the enrolment and aid of first voters, law enforcement, Sabbath observance, mercy and help, visits to civic institutions, em¬ ployment bureaus, and the Booth Festival. The Fourth Department concerns Chris¬ tian comradeship in the use of leisure time and the general promotion of culture. Here the membership of the League is recruited, Epworth Herald interests are advanced, institute delegations are secured, and liter¬ ary, musical, social, and outing programs arranged. II. THE EPWORTH LEAGUE IN THE UNITED STATES 1. Epworth League Organization The present Epworth League organiza¬ tion in the United States consists of 18,471 local chapters, both Senior and Junior, with 638,865 members. Of 462 dis¬ tricts, 335 have standard¬ ized League organizations, leaving 127 unorganized. Sixty-three per cent of all charges have Epworth League Chapters; but the average in typical organ¬ ized districts is seventy- three per cent, and in unorganized, twenty-four per cent. This would seem to indicate that the district as a working unit must be developed. This can be done most effectively by an Epworth League worker for the area, whose duty it is to organize districts and local chapters, and to co-ordi¬ nate the activities of the young people with those of the general church. Calls are multiplying from the field asking that such help be sent. In practically all cases the young people themselves are will¬ ing and eager to undertake a share of the responsibility, but provision must be made for a constantly expanding program, so that when the young people desire a worker and are willing to undertake his support, it may be provided for through the general League budget. There are at present four field Secre¬ taries at work in various sections of the country, in the Wichita Area, the Califor¬ nia Conference, the Blue-Ridge Atlantic and Holston Conferences, and the Portland District of the Maine Conference. 2. Department Activities and Needs Departmental secretaries. — If the Board of the Epworth League is to provide a bal¬ anced program an equally important pro¬ vision must be made for more departmen¬ tal secretaries in the Central Office. The program for each department should be under the special direction of a worker selected for that form of activ¬ ity, who will promote its interests. 556 WORLD SERVICE The Second Department has demonstrated what results can be obtained when this is done. In no work has the Epworth League shown greater advance than in its Mission Study and Stewardship Department, as is indicated in the report of that Depart¬ ment. a. First Department Win-My-Chum.— The growth of the Win-My-Chum idea, the Epworth League’s program of personal evangelism, might easily be doubled both in the number of campaigns and in results if district and local First Vice-Presidents were given op¬ portunity to study the Win-My-Chum plans, especially the preparation for and the method of the campaign. Morning Watch Movement. — The Morn¬ ing Watch movement enrolled during the two years, 1920 and 1921, about 3,000 Epworthians, while in the year of 1922 when some special attention was given to its promotion the enrolment increased to 4,298. The cultivation of the prayer habit is absolutely essential for a vital Chris¬ tianity in the church. It is seen that by interesting the youth of today, the leader of tomorrow will be equipped with the nec¬ essary tools for Kingdom building. Bible Study. — Bible study classes occupy no small place in the Epworth League pro¬ gram. Our courses have been broadening in every way, for the text-books adopted on the recommendation of the Central Of¬ fice are comprehensive in their treatment of the leading movements and characters of both Old and New Testaments. Needs of the First Department. — The needs of the First Department include: 1. A secretary to plan and promote the interests of the First Department. 2. Development of training conferences for district and local First Vice-Presidents. The ideal would be to hold each year at least one conference on First Department methods in every district under the leader¬ ship of an experienced worker. 3. The distribution of free literature. If provision can be made for these needs, the spiritual value of the League and its 1917-18 1918-19 1919-20 1920-21 1921-22 Reported mission-study classes contribution to the church will be greatly increased and the development of the spiritual life of our young people will go forward in a splendid way. b. Second Department Growth of mission study. — In 1917 the number of mission study classes was 850 ; in 1918, 2,005; in 1919, 2,508; in 1920, 3,002; in 1921, 5,026. During this period of four years, there has probably been a total enrolment in mission study classes of one-half million young people. Mission study in the institutes. — Mission study forms a part of institute programs, both summer and mid-year. The leaders for local classes gather at the institutes to learn how best to present the mission- study books to their groups in the local chapters. The period of emphasis. — In January and February, when the devotional meeting topics are based upon a mission-study textbook, the whole Epworth League turns its attention for six weeks to the church’s kingdom program. Mission study is also promoted during the fall through classes outside of the devotional meeting. Constant emphasis is placed upon the value of and the necessity for real study. The purpose is to educate our young peo¬ ple in kingdom geography, kingdom bi¬ ography, and modern kingdom history. Missionary readers. — As a supplement to the mission-study class, there is individual EPWORTH LEAGUES 557 MICHIGAN NEW YORK PENNSYLVANIA ILLINOIS OHIO INDIANA KANSAS IOWA CALIFORNIA NEW JERSEY NEBSASKA MASSACHUSETTS WISCONSIN MISSOURI WASHINGTON MINNESOTA UKLAHOMA MARYLANO WEST VIRGINIA OREGON MAINE CONNECTICUT COLORADO DIST. ol COLUMBIA NORTH DAKOTA MONTANA SOUTH DAKOTA IOAHO TENNESSEE VERMONT DELAWARE FLORIOA ARIZONA TEXAS GEORGIA RHOOE ISLANO VIRGINIA WYOMING ARKANSAS ALABAMA KENTUCKY NEVADA LOUISIANA NEW HAMPSHIRE NEW MEXICO UTAH MISSISSIPPI NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA HAWAII PORTO RICO ENGLAND 946 499 471 376 373 306 273 255 146 143 104 102 92 Distribution of mission-study classes by states, 1922 57 56 54 51 ■ 50 ■ 49 ■ 43 ■ 32 ■ 27 ■ 26 ■ 22 ■ 2\ U 19 ■ lb ■ 14 ■ 12 ■ II ■ 7 ■ 7 ■ 7 ■ 7 I 6 ■ 5 ■ 5 N 3 I 2 1 2 I 2 I 2 I reading of mission¬ ary books under what is known as the Meth- _ odist Million Readers ™ plan. Many thousands 7 of young people have pledged to read at least one missionary book during 1922-23. With all of these splendid accomplishments, the possi¬ bilities of increased effi¬ ciency are not exhausted. There are yet several thou¬ sand chapters whose mem¬ bers should be enrolled in the definite study of mis¬ sions. The department ideal. — The desire and ideal of the Second Department is expressed in its motto, “That They May Know.” If this ideal is to be realized, three methods of promotion must be followed : 1. Normal training courses for all teachers of institute classes. 2. Area Conferences for the Second Vice-Pres¬ idents of the districts. 3. District Confer¬ ences for local Second Vice-Presidents. Stewardship. — Another activity of the Second Department is the pro¬ motion of Christian stew¬ ardship. Epworthians are acquainted with all phases of steward¬ ship, including that of time, talents, and serv¬ ice, as well as of posses¬ sions through considera¬ tion of the subject in study classes and devotional meetings. As a result of this program, not less than fifty thousand tithers have been en¬ rolled during the past three years, as fol¬ lows: 1920—40,000; 1921—5,000; 1922— 5,000. The importance of this enrolment to the church cannot be over-estimated. The goal which is set for the enrolment of Christian Stewards within the next ten years is 500,000. This will be accomplished through an educational program pro¬ moted largely through literature covering the whole field of Christian stewardship, especially adapted to the needs of young people. Year round promotion is emphasized. Through study classes in both summer and mid-year institutes, and through the study of approved texts, through reading con¬ tests and other educational features in local chapters, Epworthians are learning to “Crown Him Lord of All.” c. The Third Department Social Service.— The advance which the Second Department has made is but an EACH DOT (.) REPRESENTS ONE MISSION STUDY ENROLMENT DURING 1 92 1 -22 TOTAL 5026 Mission-study classes — 1921-1922 558 WORLD SERVICE indication of the possibilities for strength¬ ening and expanding each department, if adequate leadership is provided. Our Ep- worthians should have careful training in the principles and methods of real Christ- like service. The Epworth League is as greatly interested in the securing of Chris¬ tian business men and consecrated Chris¬ tian citizens for America, as it is in send¬ ing teachers to China. EP TORCH COGUE cut mcwtiisc juiccics “AcknoioJedgnienl and Purpose as Christian $tcu'ard$~> IS1' losing lo,valtv to their lord and 09 on aclinoiflcdgmcnt of His oton.rship the fallowing number of Epworth Ccoguors in the yeeir li)22 have covenanted ti- poy th, Cjthc ’heir inc ouk for the purpose of main - taining and extending the Kingdom of God 1 Atlanta Area 16 BaAen Area 100 1 Buffalo Area 116 Chat Ian ooga Area 2 s Clticaejc Area •152 |CijKinnati Area 4 ISO % Denver Area 25 iDetrc tt Area 322 £ Helena Area DO llndianai'clis Area tro Item Orleans -Area 2 Hcu-TorJ. Rrca Omoba Area 3>6 Philadelphia Jtreo Pittsburgh Area 50C' Portland Urea SI. Corns itrfa St. Foul Area Sa» Francisco Art o 3 70 U)a sblnqt oh Arc© ll'rehito Area -J2l. -Cctal *984- The present program.— For many years the Third Department was exceedingly weak but recently there has been a new expanding motive and obligation for serv¬ ice. The present program for the Third Department includes: 1. The stressing of the service motive during the year in the devotional meeting. 2. The study and practice of Christian citizenship through study classes and the devotional meeting, in campaigns of law enforcement and an active interest in legislation. 3. This distribution of litera¬ ture. Material is now available for only a few phases of social service work. 4. Co-operation with our Methodist benevolent institu¬ tions through the Booth Festi¬ val, a program of recreation j and service, which, in 1922, was carried out by twenty-one districts. The total amount of supplies and money thus donated was more than i $16,000. Probably other festivals were held which have not been reported. 5. The promotion of : service activities. The service work now being ; carried on by Epwor- thians is both surpris¬ ing and commendable. The activities reported include Fresh Air ! Farms supported by more than one dis- j trict or conference, outings for slum children and for aged folks during the summer months, a year- ; around Kinder¬ garten financed ! by one district, Signed Stewardship cards in the Central Office files, if stacked, would make a pile nearly fifty feet high run EPWORTH LEAGUES 559 and a Traveler’s Aid Deaconess in one of our large cities, entirely supported by Ep- worthians. Fourteen scholarships in train¬ ing schools and colleges are provided through the liberality of Epworthians. Three chapters have equipped and are directing community play grounds. In addition to these outstanding accom¬ plishments, Epworthians are actively en¬ gaged in giving personal service to scores of orphanages, missions, hospitals, alms¬ houses, jails, old people’s homes, and to churches in foreign-speaking communities. Needs of the Third Department. — If the Third Department program is to keep abreast of the new and vital needs of Christian service — there must be: 1. Adequate and efficient leadership. The time is now ripe to add a specialist in Social Service activity. 2. A service program big enough to challenge the interest of our thinking young people. 3. Some method by which social and economic problems may be placed before Epworthians. Probably the best begin¬ ning would be through the preparation of informational literature. d. The Fourth Department Recreation and culture. — The Epworth League was the pioneer in Methodism in recognizing the need for, and developing the program of, recreation. For several years it has provided an increasing num¬ ber of text-books with suggested programs and outlines for recreational activities. When the General Conference in 1920 opened the way for new responsibilities and opportunities for leadership in recre¬ ation, the response of the Fourth Depart¬ ment was immediate and gratifying. Since that time a large number (estimated roughly at about one in twenty-five) of Fourth Vice-Presidents have undertaken the task of recreational direction in the local churches. According to estimates based on reports of district officers, the Epworth League touches over 2,200,000 young people each year through its recreational program. The importance of this is found in the fact that when young people play together it is easier for them to pray together. The ideal of the Fourth Department, as it is expressed in the words, “The best life must lead and not trail,” has the sug¬ gestion of the great possibilities for con¬ stant service if the Fourth Department in the local chapter can be given the aid which it so greatly needs. Each year brings a larger number of commercialized amusements that urge their attention upon young life. It be¬ comes increasingly important, therefore, that there shall be provision for clean, wholesome recreation especially for young people. Epworthians have a large opportunity to influence the recreational life of their communities. In a multitude of cases they are accomplishing results, but there are tremendous possibilities in large numbers of untouched fields. There should be a director of Fourth De¬ partment activities to aid in planning pro¬ grams for various types of chapters that will challenge the attention of the young people of the whole community ; to prepare literature that will give adequate informa¬ tion concerning methods of play; to adapt the recreational program so that it will successfully care for the college group, the intermediate group and the rural chapters. In no phase of young people’s activity is the masterhood of Jesus Christ more greatly needed than in recreation. The church through the Epworth League can make a contribution to young life that will mean not only stronger bodies, but more alert minds, more helpful social con¬ tacts and better developed Christian char¬ acters. 3. Epworth League Institutes Rapid growth. — The Epworth League In¬ stitute traces an unbroken history back to the year 1906. In 1910, there were seven institutes un¬ der the direction of the Central Office. They were at Mount Hermon, California ; Bonner Springs, Kansas ; Lake Minne¬ tonka, Minnesota; Byron Camp Grounds, One hundred and seven Epworth League Institutes in the United States in 1922 EPWORTH LEAGUES 561 Wisconsin; Cazenovia, New York; Sea Cliff, New York; Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. In 1911, there were six Institutes; in 1912, eight; in 1913, twelve; in 1914, eigh- NUMBE* or myrnuTts How the institute movement has grown teen; in 1915, nineteen; in 1916, thirty; in 1917, thirty-three; in 1918, forty-four; in 1919, fifty-eight; in 1920, seventy-five; in 1921, eighty-seven; and in 1922, one hundred seven. Seventeen new Institutes have been registered so that for 1923, we have at least one hundred twenty-four planned, some of which minister to the young people of the foreign speaking and colored conferences. Certain institutes are under the direc¬ tion of district organizations while others minister to annual conferences. Widely distributed. — These institutes are distributed over the whole of the United States and nearly every state is represented. The institute idea is spreading to for¬ eign lands wherever Epworth League work is found. India, the Philippine Islands, Malaysia, South America and Mexico have reported splendid results while other coun¬ tries are planning for these gatherings. Institute objectives. — The institute ob¬ jectives are: A better knowledge of the Bible. A better knowledge of the needs of the world in the light of God’s Word through Mission Study. A better understanding of the signifi¬ cance of Christ’s great commission and our relation thereto through the study of Christian stewardship. Better methods of work in Junior and Senior Epworth Leagues, the Sunday school, and the church. A better understanding of the work of our church at home and abroad and the Chart showing yearly summer institute attendance needs in men and money to do the work The promotion of evangelism among young people through study classes and Win-My-Chum campaigns. The development of wholesome, con¬ structive recreation. The enlistment of those who feel a call to Christian life service under the direction of the church. In order to reach these objectives the program includes four major divi¬ sions: devotional hours, class study periods, rec¬ reation, and inspira- Lunch time at institute £62 WORLD SERVICE tional meetings and wor¬ ship. Daily schedules. — The study schedules are ar¬ ranged in a four-year cycle, during which the interests of each depart¬ ment receive special em¬ phasis and cumulative development. The afternoons are given to directed recrea¬ tion and the evenings to social clinics and inspira¬ tional meetings. The climax of the week comes on Sunday when the call to life service is presented. Life service. — Out of the institutes of the last five years have come the names of 12,569 young people who have signed cards indicating it to be their purpose to give their lives to some form of Christian serv¬ ice. Not all of these are full time service but the Commission on Life Service is at present in correspondence with more than half of these. Most of them are in high school, col¬ lege, university, seminary or training school preparing themselves for some defi¬ nite form of service under the direction of the church, for one of the matters that is stressed at the institute is the impor¬ tance of careful preparation. Every sum¬ mer hundreds are inspired to go to col¬ lege. One of our educational leaders has A A A A A A In 1918 there were some 12,000 Epworthians registered at the summer institutes Mission-study class at summer institute publicly declared that the Epworth League Institute has no small part in crowding the colleges of our church as well as our state institutions. Already in the ministry and in various forms of service in the home and foreign work of the church there is a splendid company who point to the Epworth League Institute as the place where they received either the initial or the determining im¬ pulse to find in Christian service their life vocation. One out of twenty of the youth of our church has been in such a training camp during the past summer and is at home again diffusing the leaven of holy zeal and consecration. Mid-year institutes.-— The newest devel¬ opment of the institute idea is the Mid¬ year or Indoor Institute. The young peo¬ ple themselves have been asking how they might take the institute inspiration, pro¬ gram, and method to their local chapters. Provision has been made to adapt the summer program to the district, sub-dis¬ trict, city union, or local church group. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA In 1922 the registration total was well over 30,000. In the span of five years the number has been multiplied two and one-half times Each figure represents 2,000 Leaguers EPWORTH LEAGUES 563 Pastors’ class at summer institute Every precaution is taken to keep the standard of work up to that of the larger summer institute. The Mid-year Institute puts within the reach of all the members the training that the summer institutes have planned for the district and chapter officers of the Leagues. This new and intensive form of training is meeting with enthusiastic response. In 1922, more than two hundred Mid-year Institutes were reported. This new door for training stands wide open and unites the Institute Department to a service it is eager to render. Institute goals. — The goals toward which the Epworth League is working in its in¬ stitutes are in part as follows : 1. A summer institute within reach of every chapter. 2. A mid-year institute available for every Epworthian. 3. Every cabinet officer attending an institute. 4. The Junior Epworth League Purpose and program. — T he Junior League through its program adapted to boys and girls between the ages of nine and fifteen, seeks to train them in and pre¬ pare them for church membership. The Junior League holds a unique place in the church. It affords the pastor oppor¬ tunity for fulfilling his obligation for the religious instruction of the children by preparing them for and supplementing the work of the pastor’s class. It prepares for this class by helping boys and girls to find themselves in the church through acquaintance with its history, doctrines, government, and activities. It prepares for church membership by laying the foundation for an intelligent and well-grounded decision for Christ. It trains in church membership through the formation of groups in which the boys and girls become members of a quarterly conference, directors of a new church, sec¬ retaries of the various boards of benevo¬ lence, and members of the Council of Boards of Benevolence. It educates the Juniors as world citizens through the activity of the Neighborhood Club — a band of American Junior Leag¬ uers adopting an “Amigo Intimo” or “Best Friend” in some foreign field, thereby ef¬ fecting a direct friendly intercourse be¬ tween the home and foreign field. It lays foundation for a life of steward¬ ship through its emphasis on every phase of stewardship principles. It trains in church membership by ac¬ quainting the boys and girls with the work of the kingdom today in its classes in mis¬ sion study. It lays enduring basis for the spirit of service through its training in various forms of service activities. Several thou¬ sand dollars have been subscribed to the various home and foreign mission projects through the Junior chapters outside of the suggested activities. It trains in church membership by pro¬ moting wholesome recreation under the auspices of the church. It provides through its devotional meet¬ ings the cultivation of devotional expres¬ sion. S64 WORLD SERVICE Needs. — It seems incredible that a pro¬ gram so inclusive and making such splen¬ did provision for the adequate vital re¬ ligious training of boys and girls and their preparation for church membership is not more eagerly seized by a greater number of churches as an important part of their program. There is a serious lack in the number of Junior chapters in various areas. This lack should be corrected and can be if a few but tremendously important needs can be supplied : 1. More training conferences for workers. 2. Additions to the Junior League staff by the provision of field workers. 3. Some organizers in particular ter¬ ritories who will give at least part of their time to distinct promotion of Junior League work. Looking forward. — The projected pro¬ gram of the Junior League as planned for 1923 shows clearly how imperative are the above needs if the ideals of this great or¬ ganization are to be realized. Carrying out the general theme, Evan¬ gelism, the Junior League subject for the year is “Saving the World Through the Boys and Girls.” The method of presenting this topic will be by the study of 1. Wholesome Living — The Immi¬ grant. 2. Christian Education — American In¬ dians and Southern Highlanders. 3. Christian Homes — Latin-Ameri- cans. 4. Christian Ideals — Children’s Homes, 5. God’s Own Word — Bible Boys and Girls. 6. Our Influence — Playground, School., and Church. Junior League Statistics. — The Juniors are enthusiastic supporters of the Twenty- four-Hour-Day Plan. There are 690 Twenty-four-Hour-Day Junior chapters enrolled representing 16,591 Junior Leag¬ uers. Ten countries are represented in the Neighborhood Club. The registration in the Junior Methods class during the 1922 institute season was 3,189; 923 of these young people prom¬ ised definitely to organize local Junior Leagues. During 1921 and 1922, a Junior League extension program for boys and girls was conducted in twenty-six camp meetings. In 1921, 1,411 new chapters of the Junior League were organized. 5. Negro Epworth Leagues An encouraging program. — T h e League program in our Negro Conferences is con¬ stantly developing. The growth of the institutes is an index to the life of the entire program. In 1922, at Claflin University the whole school was given over to the institute program for a week with very encouraging success. It is expected that the educational centers will be utilized in a like manner in increasing numbers. Great emphasis is being placed upon Third Department activities. Negro Ep- worthians learn the relation of a young Christian to his community and practice Christian ideals of citizenship by under¬ taking “Clean-Up Weeks” and similar campaigns. Recreation is in great need of careful attention. Booth Festivals are rapidly increasing in number and scope and make the young people happy in con¬ sciousness of service rendered. 6. Special Epworth League Groups Intermediates. — The young people in¬ cluded in the Intermediate group are receiving the attention of a special com¬ mittee appointed by the Board of the Epworth League so that the problem of the adaptation of the whole program to their needs will be solved. College groups. — The college young peo¬ ple constitute a group offering a large op¬ portunity for real service. Programs and suggestions especially adapted to their needs are being introduced and tried with success. The next few years should show marked results and a real contribution to the church. EPWORTH LEAGUES 565 Foreign-speaking groups. — An almost untouched field of opportunity lies in the Southwest among the Spanish-speaking young people. Many urgent calls have come asking for translation of both Senior and Junior chapter literature into Spanish. While some of the literature prepared for Mexico will serve, other material will be necessary. Special programs for activi¬ ties will also be required. The young people of Europe who come to America as the land of opportunity should have attention through especially prepared suggestions for service activities and study classes. The Epworth Leagues of our German Conferences have a secre¬ tary whose work it will be to standardize their program and their support. The need, as a League leader in Europe states, is that our young people come to know and work with their European comrades who have come to America. Work has begun in many centers for Chinese and Japanese Epworthians who appreciate greatly the interest of the League. Recently a Chinese chapter on the Pacific Coast sent a contribution to provide food for a Fellowship Hour for a chapter in Vienna. 7. Hawaiian Epworth Leagues The Epworth League in Hawaii con¬ sists of twenty-four chapters, fourteen Senior and ten Junior, with a member¬ ship of 468 Seniors and 198 Juniors, making a total of 666. This number seems small, but it is a nucleus from which great things may be expected if adequate support is forthcoming. The young people of Hawaii need young peo¬ ple’s work as much as do the young people of other lands and they rightly look to the United States for the satisfaction of their desires. Present program. — The present program is carried on in four languages, English, Filipino, Korean, and Japanese. Classes in mission study, Bible study, steward¬ ship and social service have been reported. Needs. — (1) A trained secretary who can give at least part time to the develop¬ ment of Epworth League activities. (2) An adequate supply of League lit¬ erature translated into various languages. At present there is none available except in English. 8. The Twenty-four-Hour-Day Plan The financial plan adopted by the Epworth League operates in a most satis¬ factory manner. It is called the Twenty- four-Hour-Day Plan because the funds secured through it make possible a large share of the forward program of the League which is operating twenty-four hours in every day. Its scope includes all of the countries where the Epworth League is organized. Minimum expectations. — Local chapters are expected under the ruling of the Board of the Epworth League to pledge at least one-fourth of their membership under the Twenty-four-Hour-Day Plan. This means for the Senior member, besides his contri¬ bution to the local budget, the payment of two cents a week for general work through the Central Office. Junior members are asked for one cent a week. Upon the DETROIT 59 WICHITA 45 HELENA 42 ST. PAUL 29 INDIANAPOLIS 29 WASHINGTON 28 NEW YORK 28 SAN FRANCISCO 26 CHICAGO 26 PITTSBURGH 24 PORTLAND 24 CINCINNATI 21 BUFFALO 2! ST. LOUIS 19 BOSTON 18 DENVER 13 PHILADELPHIA 11 CHATTANOOGA 10 OMAHA 9 ATLANTA 5 NEW ORLEANS 0 D ] j 3 ] ] ] ] SO SO 70 60 90 lOO^, Chart showing percentage of Senior chapters, by areas, which have adopted the 24-hour-day plan 566 WORLD SERVICE adoption of this plan by one fourth of the membership all other Central Office obli¬ gations are cancelled. Above the minimum. — W hen chapters enlist more than one fourth of their mem¬ bership, they are permitted to assign a fair proportion of their contribution to in¬ tensive work within the area, conference, or district, and to some foreign field for League work. Under this plan, the sup¬ port of Mexico is being undertaken by the Leaguers of the Pittsburgh Annual Con¬ ference. The Wichita Area provides for the support of the Epworth League Secre¬ tary and his work in India. The Detroit Area is caring for the League budget in China. The Epworthians of the Fort Wayne District contribute largely to Dr. Hauser’s work in South America. Other groups “pull their share of the load” by giving some assistance to other fields. Among these should be mentioned Ep¬ worthians of the Central New York Con¬ ference and the Nebraska Conference who are assisting splendidly in the support of League work in South America. Results of the plan.— The official finan¬ cial plan of the League provides for; 1. The work of the general organiza¬ tion, 2. The foreign program and its ex¬ pansion, 3. Intensive work within the bounds of the local area, conference, and district. That the plan is popular and effective is evidenced by the steadily increasing pay¬ ments reported for the years, 1919-1922. 1919— $10,795.85 1920— 16,543.46 1921— 17,466.89 1922— 26,435.63 The total number of chapters which have adopted the plan is 2,574, represent¬ ing an enrolment of 64,373. The increase since 1917 has been phenomenal. During that year sixty-four chapters enlisted, while this year 434 have officially adopted it. Of the total number, sixty-five are en¬ listed as 100 per cent honor chapters, 243 have at least seventy-five per cent of their members enrolled. District progress. — At present there are 158 districts with less than twenty-five EPWORTH LEAGUES 567 districts having between twenty-five and fifty per cent of their chapters enlisted. Thirty-four districts have between fifty and seventy-five per cent of their chapters enrolled and in fifteen districts, between seventy-five and one hundred per cent of the chapters have adopted the Twenty- four-Hour-Day Plan. III. THE EPWORTH LEAGUE IN FOREIGN FIELDS1 1. Japan the call of the millions of youth in Japan must be heard with other calls in careful fairness. There are about 3,970 Senior Leaguers in Japan belonging to 159 different chap¬ ters, while the Juniors number 1,123 in fifty-two chapters. In 1918, there was no Epworth League organization whatever. Seven of the fourteen districts are loosely organized, but with development, the dis¬ trict will be the most effective administra¬ tive unit. Present status.— The situation in Japan differs from that in the other oriental countries, because of the fact that our work, like that of the rest of the church, is so closely linked with the work of the Canadian and Southern Methodists. These denominations excel us in their young people’s work, and we should, at the earliest possible moment, add our co- ’The statistics in these surveys of foreign countries have been obtained from reports sent to the Central Office from workers on the field. Needs. — The first and special field to which the Epworth League should turn its attention is that of the student class, one of the outstanding groups in Japan. The chief criticism of Japanese educa¬ tion is its materialism. Educationalists are saying that the need is for more effec¬ tive moral and religious teaching. Most of the missions are giving special atten¬ tion to student work, but the field is prac¬ tically untouched. The Epworth League must add its bit. 568 WORLD SERVICE There should be some provision for at least the part-time services of a secretary to lead the Epworthians of Japan, and ac¬ tively assist in arranging a program that will adequately represent the young peo¬ ple’s work for the church. The secre¬ tary for Korea and this worker for Japan could co-operate in many joint enterprises. For printed Ep worth League helps, only one manual is available. The first and fourth departments should have special and immediate provision of manuals and programs, while an adequate supply of suggestions for other activities should not long be delayed. 2. Korea Unguided youth. — In Korea, the young people are flocking to the church in num¬ bers. They are coming unguided without the advice and help that they have a right to expect. In practically every community the young people are forming groups. Many of these groups were organized at first in churches, but because nothing was offered to them in the way of a program cr help they are going elsewhere, away from the church for their meetings. It is only within the last three years that the young people of Korea have been getting together in their organizations. It is a new Korea and the young people are moving forward. Needs. — Because of this marked and sud¬ den change, the need is not only great in Korea, it is also urgent. The demands for various forms of assistance are frequent and insistent. 1. The need for a secretary There has been, during 1922, a marked change of attitude on the part of mission¬ ary leaders and Korean pastors. In 1921, when the problem of the young people was discussed, everyone agreed that something should be done by the church, but there was little direct enthusiasm. In 1922, at the Annual Conference, the Epworth League was urged to appoint a secretary immediately for Korea. There are many reasons why this need is so ur¬ gent: 1. The young people are leaving the church to conduct their activities else¬ where. 2. The Sunday school is not reaching the adolescent youth. 3. There is tremendous difficulty in holding the young people in balanced lines of church activities. Bishop Welch has stated that this is one of the greatest prob¬ lems in our work in Korea today. 4. There is taking place now a most critical change in the social order, a break¬ ing down of old standards of separation of the sexes in social meetings. The influx of foreign ideas and ideals will not permit the isolation of men and women much longer, so that the church, if it is to lead the thought of the country, must build a sane basis for society. The logical place to begin is with the young people. 5. The young people are inflamed with the desire to do something. They are waiting for the message, eager to be taught. In the gripping statement of the Epworth League Committee for Korea, “With a secretary to prepare and explain a program for young people, the League would enrol ten thousand members within a year.” Some of the members insisted that ten thousand was too low a figure. Such a challenging opportunity must not be neglected, for it is impossible to state how long it will last. It must be seized immediately. The Annual Conference of the Metho¬ dist missionaries of both the Board of For¬ eign Missions and of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, passed resolutions in June, 1922, asking the Central Office for a secretary for Korea. The Policy Commit¬ tee of the Korea Conference, composed of representatives from the district, the Board of Foreign Missions, the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, both men and women, foreign and Korean, asked that the Central Office of the Epworth League send out a specialist in young people’s work as soon as possible. It is agreed, even by the Koreans them¬ selves, that the Epworth League must be put under strong foreign leadership if it is to do the work which it should. EPWORTH LEAGUES 569 However, a Korean secretary should also be appointed to co-operate with the foreign secretary and assist in adapting the general program of the Epworth League to the specific needs of the country. 2. Literature A manual of Epworth League work, which has been translated, is waiting pub¬ lication only for lack of funds. Depart¬ mental literature particularly adapted to the needs of Korea and standardized helps for devotional meetings should be pre¬ pared. The First and Fourth departments need special emphasis, helps for which are ab¬ solutely necessary if the young people are to be held after they have been organized. 3. Institutes As in other countries, training the workers by means of institutes is highly necessary. While the movement is new, some faculty members will have to be pro¬ vided from outside the country. 3. China A secretary in China. — With the appoint¬ ment of an Epworth League Secretary for China, it was found that most of the so¬ cieties known as Epworth Leagues were in reality simply groups of folks old and young who knew very little of the League’s program and ideals. The task therefore has been primarily to standardize the existing work and not to do extensive organization. There are now forty-three Epworth League chapters in China, thirty-five Senior and eight Junior, with a total mem¬ bership of 5,235 of which 4,805 are Senior and 430 Junior. Present program. — The Epworth League program in China includes a weekly devo¬ tional meeting, probably the strongest feature; a six weeks’ mission-study class which is usually held in connection with the regular devotional service; assistance in the evangelistic campaigns of the church and sometimes a League Win-My- Chum campaign ; the organization of gos¬ pel teams for definite work; the enrolling of Christian stewards; and an occasional 37 recreational program. League work is be¬ ing carried on both in North and South Mandarin and in three or four dialects, as well. A few pieces of literature have been published in Chinese. The Year Book contains suggestions for the devotional meetings and the Epworth League Manual has been made available in both English and Chinese. Needs. — The needs of the Epworth League in China are very extensive and urgent. It is true of the whole world, but of China especially, that the young people must be won immediately if the nation is to be Christian. There never has been a nation which has exhibited such remarka¬ ble activity in politics, in business, in so¬ cial changes and, in the last few years, in spiritual matters. The Young China movement is sweep¬ ing every phase of Chinese life, its influence will not be denied. What these energetic orientals most need and desire is education and they are taking advantage of every opportunity to satisfy this need. With the promising beginning which has already been made and the interest that has been awakened, the Epworth League holds a prominent strategic position in winning China for Christ. Valuable helps which should be supplied are unlimited in number but there are many needs which are indispensable if the Chinese Epworth League shall continue to function as it ought. 1. Literature It is absolutely necessary that the workers have social service sugges¬ tions for their young people, as well as recreational and social suggestions and biographies for study classes. Very nearly as important are libraries for general reading and a long list of Junior League books. Reliable material upon such subjects as the relation of science to religion and the inadequacy of moral philosophy must be provided for the inquiring student class which is increasing rapidly every day and whose needs can be met only by Chris¬ tianity. 570 WORLD SERVICE 2. Additional workers There should be added to the staff of workers a stenographer, who is urgently needed to care for the routine work and to enable the secretary to give more time to the expansion of League activities; a translator; four Chinese field secretaries for the supervision and extension of the work in all parts of China. 3. Institutes The organization of institutes is under way and must be pushed vigorously be¬ cause of the great importance attached to the training of the young Chinese. 4. Malaysia A good start. — While we have no paid secretary for Malaysia, some organiza¬ tion work has been done with the result that the number of Leagues has increased from thirteen in 1920 to twenty-two in 1921, and from 832 members to 1,623. This increase is an indication of what may be expected if the League program can be carried forward. The Junior Chapters show even a more marked increase. From a membership in 1911 of 211 they have nearly tripled that number. A standard institute. — The Penang Insti¬ tute was highly successful. It is conducted on a three year course basis with a certi¬ ficate of graduation. Some idea of the value of the Institute may be gained when one sees that among the text books used were “The Church of the First Apostles” by C. H. Morgan, “New Life Currents in China” by Mary Ninde Gamewell, and “Stewardship Starting Points” by Calkins. Literature available. — A thousand copies of the English translation of the Topics Book prepared by Miss Geraldine Town¬ send, the League Secretary for China, have been printed for use in Malaysia. It is the plan to co-ordinate and correlate work of the Epworth Leagues in China and Malaysia by strong co-operation in every way. There are also some leaflets and booklets on “Tithing”, but other than these the supply is very meager. A projected program. — The aims of the Epworth League in Malaysia are in part : 1. A Senior and Junior chapter at every day school. 2. The Epworth League enlisting the young people of every church community. 3. A membership goal of 3,000 Sen¬ iors and 1,220 Juniors. 4. Institute expansion. 5. Christian literature in homes of young people through League libraries and tracts. 6. Promotion of stewardship in every chapter. 7. A workable program for each de¬ partment. Needs.— The high rates of exchange make greater financial aid imperative. There should be supplied a budget for at least a part time secretary, with provision for his traveling expenses. There must also be literature for all the departments. Since about half of the Leagues conduct their services in the vernacular, a pro¬ portionate amount for translation should be added. 5. Philippine Islands Growth since 1918.— There is no field of Epworth League work which has exhibited such remarkable growth in the past four years as the Philippine Islands. On the other hand, there are few places which of¬ fer such unlimited opportunities for ex¬ pansion. The intellectual advance of these people is familiar to America. The League has the potential power to keep pace with the many forward movements. The young Filipinos depend upon America for sup¬ port and guidance. There are now 122 League chapters or¬ ganized in the Islands, thirty-nine Senior and eighty-three Junior, with a member¬ ship of 1,685 Seniors, and 5,416 Juniors, totaling 7,101. Practically all of this or¬ ganization has taken place since 1918, only eight chapters having been reported before that time. A successful institute.— The outstanding feature was a very successful Institute with splendid results both as a training school and in the consecration of young lives. Institute activity must be greatly EPWORTH LEAGUES 571 enlarged if the League is to function in the way we all wish. League work is carried on chiefly in the English language, though some is in Tagalog. There is very little literature available, only a few Central Office leaflets, for many of them are not adapted to the peculiar needs of the Filipinos. A very small amount is spent on publications. Needs. — It is absolutely necessary, if League work is to be carried on as a for¬ ward movement, that one thousand dol¬ lars be secured for the purpose of printing promotion literature and for increasing the influence of the institute which has accomplished so much in the past. The returns in Christian leadership are sure to more than compensate for any expen¬ diture, however great. 6. India Three decades of history. — On May 22, 1888, Dr. E. W. Parker, later bishop, or¬ ganized the Oxford League for his station and district at Moradabad. This was the first society for the young people of our church in India and speedily proved that it had come to the Kingdom at the right time. The year following, when the Ep- worth League was organized in America at Cleveland, Ohio, the Oxford League of India swung into line and became the first foreign branch of the Epworth League. The need for a Christian young people’s society was strongly felt and very soon the League idea spread all over India. In 1894, the Central Conference inaugurated the first Epworth League Board of Con¬ trol for Southern Asia with Dr. Parker as its president, and Homer C. Stuntz, now bishop, as its secretary. In 1896 there were 139 chapters with 6,555 members. In 1921, 911 chapters have 24,839 members. At the present rate of growth there should be 1,000 chapters and 40,000 mem¬ bers in the near future. This is the ob¬ jective of the board for Southern Asia. Present work.— Sixty-eight of the dis¬ tricts are organized. Epworth League work is being carried on in nine languages, chiefly through the weekly devotional meetings. Twelve institutes were held in 1921. The Year Book for India contains material for the devotional meetings and some departmental suggestions. An Indian translation of John Wesley, Jr., an intro¬ duction to the benevolences of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church, is being prepared. Other literature is published but the sup¬ ply is very meager. An extensive social survey has been conducted in Jubbulpore by Epworthians, with plans under way to promote similar studies in other cities. Needs. — This present program needs to be strengthened and expanded. Forty per cent of the church membership of In¬ dia is of League age. That there is op¬ portunity and need for great expansion is shown by the following tables: Percentage of Church Membership actually belong¬ ing to the Epworth League. Conference Percentage Central Provinces 22 Burma 20 Bombay 18 Bengal 15 Lucknow 08 North India 05 South India 03 Northwest India 03 Some of the outstanding needs are : 1. Institutes. — The first need of the Ep¬ worth League in India is the training of its young people. This can be accom¬ plished most effectively by Institutes. These should be held at least in every dis¬ trict and in co-operation with the larger schools. Through institutes, the program of the Epworth League would be promoted more effectively than in any other way. 2. The Village League. — T here is a great field for the Village League in mass movement areas where there is need of a program to hold the young people. The Village League must offer activities cover¬ ing more than the weekly devotional meet¬ ing. India is well supplied with meetings of that type and the Indian is all too well trained in the art of “sitting in meeting’’ and giving outward attention. The pro¬ gram must include provision for adequate social and recreational life, and it must help in the solution of the problem of il- 5 72 WORLD SERVICE literacy which influences all departments of church work and which church leaders feel should be solved by the Epworth League. The Junior League must be built up in the villages for its splendid graded pro¬ gram is adapted to the development of the boys and girls and will insure a trained, informed church membership for the future. This village program should be under¬ taken by someone who knows the problems of the village and has ability to carry on the recreational and social phases of the work. 3. Literature. — Through the use of lit¬ erature, the Epworth League in India will lind its greatest opportunity. To meet adequately this situation, the League will have to enter several fields which may seem strange to young people’s leaders in the United States, where we have a back¬ ground of religious publications, public libraries, a progressive school system, magazines written especially for young people, text books, educational motion pic¬ tures and a wide-spread and varied edu¬ cational work on the part of the Govern¬ ment in connection with wireless, corn contests, bird study, etc. All of these pro¬ duce a more vital type of boy and girl on which foundation more distinctive League work can be done. In India there is prac¬ tically nothing. They have none of these conditions and privileges with which to work. A report of the League Secretary for Southern Asia says, in part, that the young people of India are satiated with things religious. In dealing with them too much reliance has been placed upon the natural religiousness of the East. The East is re¬ ligious in the sense that it is easy to get up a religious discussion and that religion plays a greater part in every-day life than it does with us, but there is very little evidence that religion controls active life and service. It is the dynamic, the active- service type of Christianity that we need to develop, for there is already too much of the passive, formal kind. Ways must be found to put young In¬ dia’s religious tendencies to work. Hence, some of the needs, in the field of literature are as follows: 1. Text books Out of the urgent needs, the most im¬ perative ones are at least one text book each in Bible study, life service, missions, Methodism, social service, temperance, the Indian church, health, recreation. It is important to remember that every book that is issued means eight other books, because of different languages, if we are to cover the whole field. To get the material of one hundred pages into circulation, nine hundred pages must be issued. Only very small editions are practicable which means that there can be no financial gain in publishing them for there will be the full original cost in each instance. Thus the literature problem, great enough already because of the dearth of books, is further complicated by the nine-fold cost of supplying even one item of the need. 2. Leaflets A series of brief vocational pam¬ phlets would fill a much neglected need. There should be prepared also, a series of leaflets on “hobbies.” The young person of India is very inadequately sup¬ plied with outside interests. Something must be put into mind and heart to occupy leisure moments. 3. Other 'publications Some means of direct contact with the members themselves is necessary. The Indian Witness, the only means available at present, despite the fact that its co¬ operation is greatly appreciated, reaches practically none of the League clientele. Even with missionaries, the League gets overshadowed by other duties, so that its special interests are not served satisfacto¬ rily. It needs a periodical publication of its own for its own crowd. A plan which would be productive of great results would be to buy space regu¬ larly in the vernacular papers in which would be printed evangelistic messages, EPWORTH LEAGUES 573 An Epworth League institute in Mexico social service suggestions, and other League mate¬ rial. J. Stereopticon lectures At least two sets of slides on Methodism would be of great and needed service for the in¬ stitute and convention programs. Other lectures on temperance, health, and social service are ur¬ gently requested. 5. Additional workers for India The carrying out of this program will necessitate additions to the Epworth League staff of India of a secretary for the Junior League, a director for the vil¬ lage programs and Indian field secreta¬ ries. 7. Mexico The Epworth League work and program in Mexico has made rapid progress under the leadership of the Epworth League Secretary for that country. Needs. — A survey shows that the chief needs are those of organization and stand¬ ardization. A great deal of League lit¬ erature is available in Spanish, organiza¬ tion material, the departmental literature, and helps of various kinds. The present program.— T w o institutes have been held, each with an enrolment of about one hundred. The Junior work in Mexico is one of the strongest phases of the League pro¬ gram. Five books from the Junior Course of Study have been translated into Span¬ ish. “Stories of Bible Victories”, which is the last book to be translated, is await¬ ing funds for publication. It is hoped that the Junior League work may grad¬ ually develop the proper type of native leadership. In fact, because of local con¬ ditions, the Junior course of study is bet¬ ter adapted to the beginnings of the Senior League program in New Mexico. In the near future, the translation of the Senior and Junior Workers’ Quarter¬ lies may be undertaken in order that the Epworthians may have adequate material for the preparation of their devotional meetings. The work in Mexico is exceedingly en¬ couraging because Mexican Epworthians are undertaking to pull their share of the load by the adoption of the Twenty-four- Hour-Day plan, thus providing not only for their own support, but giving their aid to the work of the general organiza¬ tion. While the field in Mexico is great and the needs are many, it is believed that the present assistance from outside sources will be sufficient when the Mexican chap¬ ters are awake to their full responsibility. 8. South America The present program. — The center of Epworth League work in South America is Concepcion, Chile, where the secretary, Scott P. Hauser, has offices. There are thriving chapters in Panama, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia. One institute at Angol, Chile, has been held three years and is remarkable for the success achieved in spite of the lack of equipment. Bible study is being introduced through the first department. Through gospel teams, chapters conduct evangelistic serv¬ ices which are productive of great results. Junior chapters make an important contribution to the work. Needs. — The first item is the salary of a secretary. Instead of the present pro- 574 WORLD SERVICE vision for only part time service, there must be funds for full time work. Amounts are needed for the printing of the Quar¬ terly and other helps, for the service of at least one Spanish pastor, and for estab¬ lishing and conducting four institutes. If we had the needed help, we could have an active useful League in every church, make the League a power, and train a more intelligent leadership for the church of to-morrow, which would eventually make the church in South America self- propagating, self-supporting and self¬ directing. The challenge of the future. — South America is the land of the future. With its vast resources, waiting to be utilized, its huge expanses waiting to be settled, and above all, its hordes of peoples, an¬ cient and new, waiting to be led up into civilization, it offers a challenge which cannot go unanswered. 9. Europe as a Whole A study of the fields of Europe indicates that there are three types of fields needing our attention; 1. Countries requiring cultivation, where no League work has been done and where the need is urgent. 2. Countries requiring organization where there are many isolated chapters at work without any co-ordinating program. 3. Countries requiring adaptation, where the League is at work in an organ¬ ized way but where the program should be related more specifically to that of the general organization. 10. Italy A ripe field. — There is very little League work in Italy. It is one of the fields need¬ ing cultivation; and because of the recent significant political upheaval, the time is undoubtedly right for the launching of a young people’s program. Those conversant with the situation say that no country will respond more heartily than Italy if the opportunity is offered. The leaders are asking for translation of helps and text-books and for assistance in leadership. Moises Garcia as he came out of the hills of Mexico to attend the Epworth League institute 11. France A national need.— -At present there is al¬ most no Epworth League work in France, due to the old rigid social customs that did not permit the mingling of young peo¬ ple. Gradually, these customs are begin¬ ning to change so that there is well- founded hope for a new social regime. A national need of France is for self- governing, self-expressing groups of young people who will undertake to de¬ velop initiative. The Epworth League has proved its power to fill such a need and is waiting for the opportunity to help the youth of France discover what possibilities lie be- EPWORTH LEAGUES 575 Moises Garcia one year later, after a year in a mission school fore them. Those familiar with the situa¬ tion say that not only would the Methodist Church be served, but that one of the weak spots of France would be strength¬ ened if “Young People’s Work for Young People” could be made a reality through the Epworth League’s program in France. The immediate appointment of a secre¬ tary is urged by Bishop Blake, and a sec¬ ond worker will be needed in the very near future, if the program develops as rapidly as there is every indication it will do. Some literature, revised to meet the need of the country, has been translated, but more will be needed if the work is to go forward as it should. 12. Scandinavia The League program is already well developed in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark. The results which have already been achieved in departmental activities prove that Scandinavian Ep- worthians are a group of interested and industrious Christian workers. Norway Leagues established summer camps for orphan children of Austria after the World War. Leagues of Denmark support a business college for their share of public improvement. Other activities engage the attention of these wdde-awake alert young people. Needs. — The assistance that we are asked to give is an adequate supply of our League literature which they will then translate and adapt to the needs of their young people. There is an urgent request for the help of a secretary, since the work should be correlated and standardized to a greater extent than has been possible heretofore. An adequate supply of books and pam¬ phlets must be secured for these fields if the aspirations and the initial impulse are to be effectively utilized for the evan¬ gelization of the world. 13. Austria and Hungary A most needy field. — From a material standpoint, the young people of Austria and Hungary are very unfortunate. The aftermath of the World War is character¬ ized by severe suffering and privation. In spite of all the hardships they have had to undergo, the young people of these coun¬ tries are not discouraged, and are only awaiting the help in the way of equipment and leadership, which is so sadly needed. Already the cause of temperance is en¬ thusiastically supported and evangelism shows signs of great promise. It must be remembered that religious freedom is only two years old in Austria. Until 1920, such advances as are now being made in the Protestant Church were ab¬ solutely impossible because of the intoler¬ ance of the Roman Catholic Church. The feeling of international fellowship 576 WORLD SERVICE between the young people of the United States and Austria, has been materially strengthened in the last year by reason of the Sunday Fellowship Hours which have been provided by Epworthians of America for their comrades in Vienna who during the past few years have been too poverty stricken to provide even for their own necessities. 14. Switzerland The work in Switzerland is character¬ ized by high enthusiasm. A conference¬ wide organization makes possible some¬ thing of a standard program. In 1921, a supply of the material most adapted to their needs was sent and the reports indicated that it was exceedingly useful, but that in planning their activi¬ ties some assistance should be given them in the preparation of books, methods, and outlines. A secretary is urgently requested. 15. Germany The critical aspect of Germany’s situa¬ tion can hardly be over-emphasized. The young people are exhibiting a willingness to accept the broad principles of the teach¬ ings of Jesus Christ. The denial of their needs would be dis¬ astrous to the new League life which has come into being. There is a great demand for all kinds of free literature, books, helps for every department, and institute pro¬ grams. German young people have signified their desire to work more and more toward a standardized program. They tell us that religious work for young people has been a long-standing need. The young people themselves desire to advance the spiritual life, to awaken missionary inter¬ est, to practice welfare work, and to foster ennobling social life. The Junior League, which would fill a great place in the program of the Church, is being started with enthusiasm. One Epworth League institute has al¬ ready been held and the plans call for an extension of the institute program. The appointing of a German secretary for the Epworth League is sure to mean that for young people’s work, so long neglected, new ideals are not far distant. 16. Tunis One of the most unusual chapters of the Epworth League is to be found in Tunis. It is three years of age and con¬ sists of 110 members, active and asso¬ ciate. The work carried out by each of the departments shows something of the spirit of the Epworthians. First Department— T h e First Depart¬ ment conducted studies on The Life of Christ and is planning in 1923 to observe Win-My-Chum week. Second Department.— T h e Second De¬ partment offers a program on the second Tuesday of each month, presenting the work in other foreign lands, or a series of studies on church projects in Africa. Third Department.— -The Third Depart¬ ment interests the chapter through mov¬ ing pictures and illustrated lectures, in the “Anti-Alcohol Ligue.” It is co-oper¬ ating in community life in a splendid way. Part of the money raised by the Russian Branch of the American Red Cross was distributed by the Epworth League. Other assistance has been given the Russian refugees. The Social Service Department visits hospitals and American ships in port, often with a phonograph and records in four languages. It is undoubtedly through the department of recreational culture that the League first attracted the majority of its members. It is the leader in the forming of a six-club organization with baseball teams. Fourth Department. — Another avenue of approach under the auspices of the League, is the free moving picture. The fourth department is seconding the efforts of the French National Movement to eradicate impure films and literature. Plans for 1923 call for the formation of one Junior League for the Italian children, another for promising Arab boys; the organization of a group of boy scouts under the leadership of the League and a group of camp-fire girls. Needs. — There is just one handicap, the lack of literature in Italian and French. COLPORTEUR WITH FOREIGN -SPEAKING GROUP That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life .... that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. 1 John 1:1,2 THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. Historical Relation of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church to the American Bible Society II. Influence of the Action of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Other Denominations III. What are the Needs IV. A Ten-Year Program 578 WORLD SERVICE I. HISTORICAL RELATION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH TO THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY Adoption of American Bible Society. — In 1836 the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church dissolved its own Bible Society and adopted the Ameri¬ can Bible Society as its official organiza¬ tion for the translation and circulation of the Scriptures. Each succeeding General Conference has continued this relationship and recognizes the American Bible Society as one of the official benevolences of the church. Comparison of gifts. — A few facts con¬ cerning the gifts of the church at different periods will be of interest and are of im¬ portance. They are taken at random from a study of the entire record of the gifts of the Methodist Episcopal Church to the American Bible Society as related to its other benevolent gifts and to its member¬ ship. In 1853 the gifts from the Methodist Episcopal Church were at the rate of .046 per member or $34,339. In 1865 they were at the rate of .109 per member or $101,743. In 1922 they were at the rate of .033 per member or $150,000. If the Methodist Episcopal Church were to give in 1923 at the same rate per mem¬ ber as it did in 1853 (which was a wholly normal period), it would give to the Soci¬ ety a total of $203,065. If it were to give in 1923 at the same rate per member as it did in 1865, it would give a total of .$481,177. If we compare the gifts of the Metho¬ dist Episcopal Church to the American Bi¬ ble Society and its missionary collections, one or two interesting facts appear. For instance, in 1856, the collections for mis¬ sions amounted to $200,970 and for the American Bible Society $35,038 or over seventeen per cent. If the church were giving to the American Bible Society sev¬ enteen per cent of its collections for Home and Foreign Missionary Societies today it would be giving over $1,700,000 instead of $150,000. In 1866, the collections for missions amounted to $671,000 and the col¬ lections for the American Bible Society were $107,238, or about one-sixth. If the Society were receiving today one-sixth of the offerings of the Missionary Societies it would receive over $1,500,000. This was a particularly good year for the Bible Society. For years during that period it was the only other benevo¬ lence of the church, then came along other collections. In 1886 the Missionary Socie¬ ties received $823,056 and the American Bible Society $28,940, or a little more than one-fortieth. If the society were receiving today one-fortieth of the collections of the Missionary Societies, it would receive $250,000 a year. In 1906 before the sep¬ aration into Boards of Home and Foreign Missions, the total collection for missions was $1,841,511 and the gifts for the Bible Society were $40,074 or about one forty- fourth. If the Society were to receive one forty-fourth of what is now given to the Home and Foreign Missionary Societies, it would still receive over $200,000 a year. Ought the church ever to forget that the Bible Society stands next to home and for¬ eign missions in the history of its benevo¬ lent program? II. INFLUENCE OF THE ACTION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH ON OTHER DE¬ NOMINATIONS Other denominations follow Methodist example. — The intelligent and generous support given to the Bible cause by the recognition of the American Bible Society among its official benevolences and the in¬ clusion of the same in its budget has led many other denominations to follow the example of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which was united with the Methodist Episcopal Church when the American Bi¬ ble Society was made an official benevo¬ lence has continued the same generous in¬ terest in the American Bible Society. BIBLES 579 The colporteur takes the Bible to the Negro’s home Within recent years the leading denominations of the United States have entered into the same re¬ lationships so that at the present time there are fif¬ teen denominations which have adopted the Ameri¬ can Bible Society as their official medium for the translation, publication, and circulation of the Holy Scriptures. Many of these denominations are emulating the gener¬ ous support given the So¬ ciety by the Methodist Episcopal Church and a few of them are exceed¬ ing it in the fixed per¬ centage which they have adopted for the Society in their budgets. III. WHAT ARE THE NEEDS? 1. In the Homeland a. Work among the Negroes of the United States. — It has been found nec¬ essary to create a special department to meet this problem and the American Bible Society has taken it up in earnest with a secretary in charge, located in the Bible House, New York, and four sub-agents at Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Caro¬ lina; Memphis, Tennessee; and Houston, Texas, to provide for the 10,000,000 colored people scattered throughout the Southern States. Out from these centers are operating twenty-five full-time col¬ porteurs and a large force of volunteer workers and special part-time colpor¬ teurs. Taking cognizance of the tide of immi¬ gration whereby nearly 1,000,000 Negroes have moved into the North during the last five years, a fifth sub-agency has been established in Cleveland, Ohio, and efforts are being made to follow up the emigrants, as they have largely settled in industrial centers and in the large cities of the North. This today is one of the big problems confronting the American Bible Society and demanding its most care¬ ful attention. There is an imperative need for other sub-agencies, especially in Greater New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Only shortage of funds delays the putting into effect of these plans. b. The Eastern Agency. — This includes the State of New York, together with ad¬ jacent portions of the New England States not included in the territory of auxiliary societies. The headquarters of this agency are in the Bible House, New York City, and are in charge of the local sales room. Although one of the smallest agencies as to area, it is one of the most complex in its problems. c. The Atlantic Agency. — The Atlantic Agency covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The great problems in this agency are connected with the vast in¬ dustries and mining populations in which there are large numbers of foreign-speak¬ ing peoples. We believe in Americanizing by Bible- izing. By the use of Diglots (English and foreign language Scriptures in parallel col¬ umns, which are now available in thirty- three different languages) the users learn the Bible while learning English. 580 WORLD SERVICE A colporteur among miners, Pennsylvania We co-operate with mission churches and workers to supply each church and Sunday school with Bibles and to provide colporteurs for language groups. d. South Atlantic Agency. — This Agency with headquarters at Richmond, Virginia, includes the states of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. There are 8,000 churches in this terri¬ tory, but very few adequately supplied with Scriptures. A reasonable estimate is that there are 150,000 families without Bibles in this territory. With but very few exceptions the public schools throughout this entire area are open to the distribution of the Scriptures. A program whereby a portion might be placed in the hands of each child will be welcomed. About 40 nationalities are represented in the population of this Agency. The larger groups are found in the mining and lumber sections of West Virginia and North Carolina and in the industrial cen¬ ters like Norfolk, Virginia, and Atlanta, Georgia. The very difficulties of over¬ coming fanaticism, ignorance and super¬ stition in these varied nationalities is a challenge to the Christian church. e. Central Agency. — This Agency with headquarters at Cincinnati, Ohio, includes the states of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. f. Northwestern Agency. — This large agency includes the nine states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. It contains a total population of 23,087,086, this being a growth of twenty per cent in the last ten years. One striking feature has been the phe¬ nomenal growth of the cities during this time, being far in excess of the growth of the evangelical churches, thus throwing an unusually heavy responsibility upon the Bible Society. In the rapid increase of population the element of foreign or mixed parentage has centralized in the cities, and these recruits have come almost exclusively from the southern and southeastern parts of Eu¬ rope — non-Bible-using people. Depositories of Scriptures must be es¬ tablished in available centers of popula¬ tion. Colporteurs must be provided for na¬ tionalities — Italians, Bohemians, Poles, Slovaks, Roumanians, Jews, Russians, Bul¬ garians, and others. Voluntary workers must be sought and their efforts directed. g. Southwestern Agency. — This agency with its headquarters at Dallas, Texas, includes the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas, with a total population of 10,342,224. This territory faces certain problems peculiar to itself. Within the last five years hundreds of thousands of Mexicans have crossed the border into the United States, a large proportion of them either locating in or passing through the state of Texas. These people are nominally Roman Catholics, but few if any of them have ever so much as seen a copy of the Bible. A strenuous effort is being made to supply each one, so far as possible, with a copy of the Scriptures. Two Mexican colporteurs are giving all their time, visit¬ ing the towns along the border where these refugees congregate. BIBLES 581 Another feature of this area is the French and Creole population of Louis¬ iana, centering in and about New Orleans. This has long been a stronghold of Roman Catholicism and a very difficult place for Bible distribution, but within the last few years a great change has taken place here in this respect and our veteran colporteur now at work in New Orleans is receiving a wonderful welcome and reports that never before has he found any city more open to the Scriptures. Another problem is the sparsely settled population of Arkansas. Many of these people are removed from school or church influences and unless reached by the dis¬ tributor of the Word are untouched by religious influences. h. Western Agency. — This agency, with headquarters in Denver, Colorado, in¬ cludes the states of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyo¬ ming, New Mexico, and Arizona, with a total population of 8,432,006. This is an area of immense distances. It would take the Secretary four years of constant travel, spending one day in a town, to cover the territory and then there would be numerous hamlets yet untouched. English Esperanto Esthonian Finnish Flemish French German Greek Hawaiian Hebrew Hungarian Ibanag Ilocano Irish Italian Japanese Korean Latin Lettish Lithuanian Malay Marshall Is. Norwegian Pampanga Panayan Pangasinan Panjabi Persian Polish Portuguese Roumanian Russian Ruthenian Servian Slavic Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Syriac Tagalog Turkish Urdu Welsh Yiddish Chinese-Mandarin Chinese-Cantonese Chinese-Wenli Chinese, Delegates Bohemian-Slovak Armenian-Modern Syriac-Modern Scriptures for Blind (six sys¬ tems) This territory possesses probably the greatest number of sects, beliefs, and “isms” of any part of the United States, emphasizing the supreme necessity for a strong centrally organized Bible work throughout the section. It is the only basis on which these divergencies can be brought together. 2. In Foreign Fields a. The West Indies Agency.— With headquarters in San Juan, Porto Rico, this agency includes the West Indian group of islands, with a total population of 10,- 500,000. Of these about two-thirds are white and one-third colored. There are Needs: Depositories conveniently located; Co-operation with home mission work¬ ers ; Colporteurs for nation¬ alities ; Volunteer workers. i. Pacific Agency. — This agency with head¬ quarters at San Francisco, California, includes the states of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Cal¬ ifornia, with a total popu¬ lation of 5,644,278, calling for Scriptures last year in the following languages: hundreds of islands in this group, widely scattered. With inadequate missionary work among all these islands as compared with other foreign lands, it leaves a heavy Albanian Arabic Armenian Bicol Bohemian Bulgarian Chinese Croatian Danish Dutch A colporteur in the oil district of Texas 582 WORLD SERVICE responsibility upon the Bible Society. With but six sub-agents and nineteen colpor¬ teurs largely self-sustaining at other tasks and giving but little of their time to the work, the task is far from being completed. It would require a number of depositories and at least fifty colporteurs adequately to cover this territory. b. The Mexico Agency. — This agency, with headquarters in Mexico City, covers the entire Republic of Mexico with a popu¬ lation of 15,500,000. Former antagonism to the Bible so prevalent in Mexico has largely diminished and the work of the Bible Society is the one foreign propa¬ ganda that is meeting with rapidly grow¬ ing favor throughout this new republic. In order to cover this territory the number of colporteurs should be greatly increased. c. The Caribbean Agency. — The head¬ quarters of this agency are in Cristobal. It includes all the republics of Central America, Panama, and the Canal Zone, extending its work into Colombia, and containing a total population of about 10,000,000. Inadequate transportation facilities in this large territory make this an unusually difficult field, and the Bible Society’s colporteur is in many instances the sole representative of evangelical Christianity to penetrate these distances. d. The Upper Andes Agency. — Its headquar¬ ters office is in the Pan¬ ama Canal Zone. It ex¬ tends its operations throughout parts of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It contains a total population of about 13,905,172. This field is coming rapidly into prom¬ inence and there is an ex¬ tremely urgent need for more aggressive Bible propaganda, propaganda which would employ at least twenty colporteurs. e. The Brazil Agency. — With headquarters in Rio Janeiro, this agency includes the Republic of Brazil, and contains a population of 22,000,000. The present appropriation provides for about seven colporteurs in this vast territory which is so rapidly be¬ ing filled up and developed. In order to keep pace with the growth, there should be two or three times that number, and a greatly enlarged supply of Bibles. f. The La Plata Agency. — With head¬ quarters in Buenos Aires, this agency in¬ cludes the Republics of South America excepting Brazil, in which the Spanish lan¬ guage prevails: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile, with a total popula¬ tion of 14,704,282. The veteran representative of the American Bible Society, in charge of this agency for many years, the Rev. F. G. Penzotti, has done more than any other person to popularize the Bible in the fast¬ nesses of this great continent. His son now follows in charge of the work and after a careful study of the field estimates that he should have at least seventy-five full time co-workers in order to meet the needs. As one writes, “A great change has taken place in the Republic of Argentina during the last decade in the reception of the Scriptures by the Republic.” The Bible is a mighty leaven. BIBLES 583 g. The Levant Agency.— This agency has its headquarters in Constantinople. Its territory includes the Turkish Empire in Europe and Asia. Here we have the storm center of the world as these 51,000,000 of people are torn by the distresses of fanatical warfare. First, the Ottomans themselves must have their individual as well as national life leavened by a much larger introduc¬ tion of the Scriptures if they are ever to be able to take their place at the council table of the Christian nations. Second, the hundreds of thousands of persecuted Christians who have lost all and are being persecuted even to death are calling upon the Bible Society as never before for the Sacred Word. h. The Arabic-Levant Agency. — This agency has its headquarters at Cairo, Egypt. It is a natural product in the development of the Levant Agency, which outgrew the possibility of direction from one central office. This includes Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, containing a total population of about 22,650,000. Much of this is entirely untouched by evangelical mission work. Thousands do not have the Bible and the Bible Society should have at least seventy-five representatives and in¬ creased stocks of books to meet this situa¬ tion. i. The Siam Agency.— With headquar¬ ters in Bangkok, this agency includes a population of about 10,000,000 people. This is a country of vast morasses and wildernesses, and a dense population reaching far off into Southwestern China, with poor transportation facilities de¬ manding arduous labors on the part of those who carry the Word. Last year there were about thirty-five workers en¬ gaged in this agency, giving all or part of their time. There should be at least three times as many and a greatly enlarged publication program. j. The China Agency.— Its headquar¬ ters are in Shanghai. By mutual arrange¬ ment with other Societies the American Bible Society has accepted the responsi¬ bility for supplying the Scriptures to about 150,000,000 Chinese. Five sub¬ agencies are located at strategic centers, Peking, Hankow, Canton, Chungking, and Chengtu. Most of the work is being done by voluntary workers, which at best is only sporadic and somewhat indefinite. A careful estimate of the workers needed for this territory calls for at least seven hun¬ dred and fifty full time workers. k. The Philippine Agency. — Its head¬ quarters are in Manila. It has the entire responsibility of providing the Scriptures for the total population of the Islands, about 11,000,000 people. By an inter¬ change with the British and Foreign Bible Society they have withdrawn 'from the Philippines so that the whole work of translation, revision, publication, and dis¬ tribution depends upon the American Bible Society. This work largely begin¬ ning in Spanish and now growing in Eng¬ lish, covers also ten Philippine dialects. l. The Japan Agency.— The headquar¬ ters of the Japanese Agency are in Tokyo. From there, the American Bible Society caters to the northern half of the Japan¬ ese Empire containing about 30,000,000 of people. The Bible Society’s represen¬ tative enjoys a peculiar immunity from the prejudice which the Japanese have against the representatives of the foreign insti- Colporteur at work in a Siamese street 584 WORLD SERVICE A Japanese colporteur tution or mission seeking establishment in their Empire. It comes not to receive, but to give, and as such has a large place in the hearts of the people. The Bible has had and is having a very large place in the formation of the new character of the Japanese people. In order to reach the last man within a reasonable time they should have at least one hundred and fifty paid workers in this area, giving their whole time. m. Other Fields. — In addition to these established agencies, the Society endeavors to meet calls for Scriptures and for funds to assist in the circulation of the Scrip¬ tures in every country in Europe except Great Britain and in fields in Africa, and Asia, and the Islands of the South Seas not covered by the regular agencies. IV. A TEN-YEAR PROGRAM Forecast The Society has been asked to look ahead for a period of ten years and pre¬ sent some statements concerning the real need for the expansion of its work. Its officers have gone very carefully into this matter and have accumulated a very con¬ siderable amount of important and valu¬ able data. It is not yet in final form. From it, however, certain facts emerge. If the Society is to live up to its motto “The Whole Bible for the Whole World" it should at once begin on a greatly en¬ larged program which would include : a. An enlargement of its literary de¬ partment for a study of the language needs of each group and of the scholarship at home and in mission lands available to serve on Committees of Translation and Revision. b. A very notable increase in its pub¬ lication activities which would involve the employment of many publication houses not now engaged in this work or the set¬ ting up of manufacturing plants in re¬ gions where no such facilities exist. c. A proper housing of its work in all the centers in the world in which it oper¬ ates. It has now a Bible House in New York, a Bible House in Cristobal, and one in Manila. It has certain relationships to the Bible House in Constantinople. It has land in Peking and in Canton on which Bible Houses should at once be erected. If this program of building were carried out, as it should be, it would involve large expenditures but a great saving would be accomplished in the end. d. Such an addition to its agencies at home and abroad as to cover adequately every state in the Union and the foreign lands in which in spite of all that is being done the surface is only being touched here and there. This would mean en¬ largement of its staff abroad and the em¬ ployment of the peculiar messengers of the Bible Societies, “The Colporteurs,” in greatly increased numbers, and the proper supervision of their activities. Of course all such enlargement would involve a proportionate development of the executive organization. A somewhat detailed estimate of a mini¬ mum annual expenditure of a ten years’ adequate program follows. It may not be wise in this survey to suggest the share of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church in such a program, but it would necessarily have to be on a scale proportionate to the increase for other of¬ ficial benevolences. A CONVERTED BARROOM We are not seeking simply to make a safe place for our¬ selves and our children in the United States. . . . We did not help to drive the saloon out of America expect¬ ing it to take up its abode in China or Africa or any¬ where else, unopposed. Wherever the liquor infamy exists, we are set to fight it. William Fraser McDowell THE BOARD OF TEMPERANCE, PROHIBITION, AND PUBLIC MORALS ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. Historical Statement II. The Present Work of the Board 1. Co-operative relations 2. The staff 3. Contacts with the field a. Public presentations b. The Clipsheet c. The Voice d. Educational publicity e. Research and reference f. Charts, illustrations and cartoons g. Stereopticon lectures and moving picture films 4. Foreign work a. Europe b. India c. Latin America d. Miscellaneous 38 III. Plans for the Future 585 586 WORLD SERVICE Captured at Washington, D. C. 1. HISTORICAL STATEMENT The temperance society.) — The Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Mor¬ als, with offices at Washington, District of Columbia, organized by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia, is the out¬ growth of the permanent Committee on Temperance and Prohibition established by the General Conference of 1888. The General Conference of 1904, meeting in Los Angeles, broadened the work of this committee and changed its name to the Temperance Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and made it one of the benevolences with headquarters at Chi¬ cago. At the General Conference of 1908 in Baltimore, the constitution of the society was broadened and $25,000 was appor¬ tioned for its support and every pastor was requested to present the claims of the society and ask a free-will offering of the people.1 The Board of Managers met semi¬ annually in Chicago to raise financial aid for any places where there was a call of need. When Oklahoma was having her fight for state-wide prohibition, the so¬ ciety raised funds and sent speakers. Be¬ sides, numerous leaflets and pamphlets were sent broadcast into the country, ef¬ fectually supplementing public meetings. In 1910, the Board of Managers elected two men to devote their full time to the Board of Temperance. These men en¬ tered upon their work without office, desk, or salary and without guarantee of expense by anyone, but the church rallied to the work. Literature by the hundreds of thousands of pages was circulated, es¬ pecially during wet and dry contests. An important pledge campaign was conducted; speeches were made on street corners, in parks and in locations of almost every description in thirty-four states. When the General Conference of 1912 met it was found that more than one hundred thousand people had been pledged to abstinence. By a unanimous vote, the General Con¬ ference of 1912 commended the adminis¬ tration of the board, moved its head¬ quarters to Topeka, Kansas, and voted a $50,000 apportionment as a minimum for its support.2 During the next four years the society participated in twenty-seven state campaigns and sent out millions of pages of literature. The work was di¬ vided into departments and under-secre¬ taries were named. Research and pub¬ licity began to be undertaken ; posters were produced ; automobile campaigns in the neglected portions of states facing prohibition elections were conducted and New home of the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals, Washington, D, C, 1 Discipline, 1908, H444. 3 Discipline, 1912, fl479. REFORM 587 several of these campaigns were decided by the work of the board. In 1916, the General Conference unani¬ mously increased the board’s apportion¬ ment, re-wrote its constitution to broaden its field of operation and to make perma¬ nent its task, located it at Washington, District of Columbia, and instructed it to undertake a building operation.1 Present objectives of the board. — The General Conference of 1920 took the fol¬ lowing action:2 “In order to make more effectual the efforts of the church to create a Christian public sentiment, which will relate the principles of the gospel of Christ to the economical, political, industrial, and so¬ cial relations of life, and which will crys¬ tallize opposition to all public violations of the moral law, the General Conference hereby authorizes the organization of a Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with headquarters at Washing¬ ton, District of Columbia, and the Board shall incorporate under this title and work under the following condition : “The object of this Board is to promote voluntary total abstinence from all intoxi¬ cants and narcotics, to enforce existing statutory laws and constitutional provi¬ sions that suppress the liquor traffic and to secure the speedy enactment of such legis¬ lation throughout the world.” “It shall be the duty of the Board of Managers to represent the church offi¬ cially in every wise movement for the promotion of voluntary personal total abstinence and the securing of legal pro¬ hibition of the liquor traffic; to promote public morals; to publish, approve and distribute literature on the liquor traffic, the use of narcotics and manufactured articles containing a large per cent of al¬ coholic liquors.; to devise such plans and make such advices as shall enable the church most successfully to compass the overthrow of that great foe of society, the 1 Discipline, 1916, f492. General Conference Jour¬ nal, 1916, p. 677. 2 Discipline, 1920, fl490. Into Old Whisky Row, Chicago, once a tough saloon section, prohibition has introduced day nurseries legalized liquor traffic ; to make such use of the money paid into its treasury as the work demands, and to publish an annual report of its work and to make a quad¬ rennial report to the General Conference.” II. THE PRESENT WORK OF THE BOARD 1. Co-operative Relations It is notable that from the beginning, the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals has had only the most pleasant relations with the Anti-Saloon League, the Woman’s Christian Temper¬ ance Union and other temperance and re¬ form organizations. This is due to the fact that its field has been unique and its methods have been unprecedented. It has gone into the highway and byways. It has circulated literature where literature was not previously being circulated. It has sent its speakers where temperance speakers were hitherto unknown. 2. The Staff At present the board has a general sec¬ retary, a research secretary, two field secretaries, two extension secretaries, a secretary for Colored work, and assistants 588 WORLD SERVICE in research, publicity, and office manage¬ ment. There are foreign secretaries in South America, France, Japan, India, Italy, Aus¬ tria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, the Baltic States, and Mexico. 3. Contacts With the Field a. Public presentations. — During the year 1922, the general secretary and his assistants travelled many thousands of miles representing the board at important conferences, conventions, before commit¬ tees of Congress and on many other occa¬ sions. They have also participated in Ep- worth League Institutes, Sunday-school conventions and public mass meetings. The board has done vital work in cleaning up the Mexican border and in investigations at various points in the United States, although it does not undertake what is ordinarily known as “law enforcement” work. The secretary for Colored work organized and managed a law enforce¬ ment conference at Nashville, Tennessee, with from seven to eight hundred colored delegates. Leaflets were circulated in great quantities. b. The “Clipsheet.” — A Clipsheet has been published and circulated which goes to every daily newspaper in the United States and to thousands of other publica¬ tions, as well as to hundreds of “key men” here and abroad. The idea of this publi¬ cation was born in a conviction that the methods of circulating prohibition litera¬ ture were inadequate. Prohibition papers were being sent to people who subscribed for them, just as speaking was being done to those who were already convinced. It was believed that literature should be con¬ stantly and systematically placed in the hands of men and women whose opinions were worth while, but who had not been sufficiently interested in prohibition to pay for a prohibition paper. The Clipsheet is in a sense a literary street speaker, being sent out not primarily as a publicity at¬ tempt, but as an earnest, honest, above¬ board pleader for civic righteousness. It was a pioneer and today its influence for good is tremendous and it is imitated in the interests of a hundred other causes. It has stood for prohibition, for political cleanliness, for Americanism pure and undefiled and against Sabbath desecration, brutal prizefighting and gambling. It has avoided fanaticism and extremism, but has been loyal and fearless. c. “The Voice.” — Similarly, The Voice goes to our preachers. It is brief, quickly read and hides nothing from our people. d. Educational publicity. — During 1922, we issued a number of special publications, some of which were widely circulated. Particular attention was paid to illustra¬ tions, for instance, in the report of the effects of prohibition in the city of Chi¬ cago. In 1921, Dr. Charles W. Eliot, president emeritus of Harvard, requested that the board undertake an investigation as to the present attitude of business men on Amer¬ ican prohibition. This was arranged with The Manufacturers ’ Record of Baltimore, and the publication has been circulated in almost every country. Frequently, instead of the board’s hav¬ ing to go to the newspapers with material, their men come to its offices seeking news. The board has an effective and systematic news-gathering service: At the prohibition commissioner’s office in Washington, there is a special hook on which matters that might be of interest to it are hung and are available for collection every day. Our friends in Congress and in the de¬ partments and frequently newspaper men are sources of information. During the past year various new avenues of pub¬ licity have been located. The board constantly is checking up on liquor hoaxes and found a peculiar pleas¬ ure during 1922 in correcting once again the perennial liquor hoax as to Abraham Lincoln. Scores of liquor law violations have been reported. e. Research and reference. — A vast deal of new statistical information has been collected and classified. Files and card systems are in good condition. The board has information, for instance, show- REFORM 589 Mute evidence that Chile needs the services of this board ing the wet or dry prej¬ udices, the religious affili¬ ations and general char¬ acter of nearly all members of Congress. It is now collecting police statistics from every city in the United States hav¬ ing a population of more than 25,000. Many meth¬ ods are used, direct in¬ quiry, inquiry by congress¬ men, visitation, and local representations. Through our congressional friends, the Library of Congress has been used effectively, matter being frequently translated and information compiled and reported. The general information files are depended upon to some extent by repre¬ sentatives, senators, newspaper men, mag¬ azine writers, pastors and the general public, including debaters, schools, public libraries, etc. Prohibition material in the magazines, the Advocates, prohibition publications, the Clipsheet and The Voice is indexed and filed. For propaganda use, a list of newspapers having columns de¬ voted to contributions is being made. The board is now locating and photographing closed Keeley and Neal institutes, closed jails and breweries which are used for other purposes. This material will be used for illustrated publications and slides. f. Charts and cartoons. — The board also makes and circulates charts, illustra¬ tions, cartoons, maps and posters, which are furnished for exhibits and other uses. Efforts are being made to appeal espe¬ cially to young people. g. Lectures and film. — Stereopticon lec¬ tures have been circulated and the board’s motion picture has been exhibited to many thousands of people. In one New Jersey city, it was shown to various groups of for¬ eign born and at the night school it was made the subject of an essay contest. Additional illustrated lectures to cover temperance and the general work of the board are being prepared. The board’s offices have been general headquarters for foreign visitors. From all parts of the world they have come, some of them bearing ornate commis¬ sions from their governments to study American prohibition. 4. Foreign Work a. Europe. — The board sent one of its secretaries abroad in 1919 and again in 1921 to outline and establish the Euro¬ pean work. The second time he went by appointment of the President of the United States. It has personal ac¬ quaintance with every prohibition leader in Europe. Co-operating faithfully with the leaders of our church, the board is responsible* for a most flourishing Meth¬ odist temperance movement abroad. At present it is firmly established in twenty-one nations. The abnormal power of the gold dollar is enabling it to do a work abroad which could not be done in normal times for less than half a million dollars. In France, two representatives have lectured, given motion picture exhi¬ bitions against alcohol, visited schools, colleges, barracks and Boy Scout organi¬ zations. Real missionary work has also been done in taking the gospel of temper¬ ance to the slums. Argument and appeal have been taken to large manufacturers, false statements in the newspapers have 590 WORLD SERVICE been denied and public demonstrations in the city streets have been held. In Italy, under the Italian secretary, educational and publicity work has been launched, a paper is being published, and meetings have been held in public places, prisons, schools and colleges. In Switzerland, a well-balanced work in the Methodist Church is under way. A paper is published, effective work is being done among young people and much public propaganda is going on. The board contributes sixty per cent of the income of the International Temperance Bureau under Dr. Hercod, the leader of Euro¬ pean temperance propaganda. The direc¬ tor of the Swiss telegraph agency has agreed to transmit press news, as have the Havas (French), Wolfe (German), Reuter (English), and Stefani (Italian) news agencies. In Austria, Hungary, Germany, Es- thonia, and Latvia the work is flourishing and in some of these countries it is reach¬ ing large proportions. In Moscow and Petrograd there are promising openings. At Augsburg, Mannheim and Buda Pesth, there are fixed centers of propaganda. A connection has been made with the Rus¬ sian priests looking toward temperance education. In Austria, a student secre¬ tary gives his entire time to that work. Special attention has been given to exhib¬ its and parades. The work in Hungary and Czecho-Slovakia is backed by the leading men of the nation. The board has newly established work at Darmstadt and Riga. b. India. — A very large and promising work has been launched in India. A head¬ quarters is maintained under direction of an executive committee, a monthly Clipsheet is published and many ad¬ dresses have been made. Testimony has been given before government commis¬ sions. A study book has been prepared for the Epworth Leagues and posters have been issued. A great deal of litera¬ ture in the vernacular is circulated. Sev¬ eral important conventions have been held. c. Latin America. — In South America important connections have been estab¬ lished with the Chilean government and with influential societies there and in other republics. A news service is con¬ ducted. Moving pictures and stereopti- cons are used. Propaganda is being car¬ ried on in mines, shops and factories. The weekly bulletin has a circulation of 1,500. Arrangements have been made to fi¬ nance a work in Mexico. d. Miscellaneous. — Small appropriations were made to assist in the Scandinavian countries and in Korea. In addition to all of this, quantities of literature were sent to various parts of Europe, Asia, and Aus¬ tralasia. The literature circulated by the Research Department would make one solid column 2,000 miles long. The Clip- sheet has gone to British newspapers and we have received many acknowledgments. During 1922 three thousand inquiries were answered and large co-operation has been given to other temperance or¬ ganizations. III. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE Wet propaganda. — The prohibition amendment is at present being assailed by every species of misrepresentation. This misrepresentation extends to the history of the movement, the method by which the prohibition amendment was achieved, the motives behind the agita¬ tion, and the effects of the policy. Abuse, misstatement of fact, and the powerful influence of suggestion in cartoons, jokes, headlines, and news reports fall before the eyes of millions of people daily. By these methods uninformed or illiterate people, as well as those with criminal tendencies are being made to distrust our form of government, to disapprove the methods outlined by the fathers for the securing of constitutional changes, to despise law and to violate it as a matter of convinced right, not to say of duty. Anti-prohibition propaganda appeals have been made particularly to those of alien birth, to those whose education has been achieved in an alien atmosphere, to REFORM 591 Formerly a brewery, Chicago shallow-minded, so-called “society peo¬ ple,” to Negroes and to other large special classes. Practically all of the foreign- language newspapers in the United States constantly misrepresent the prohi¬ bition law, not only opposing it, but ad¬ vertising materials and methods for vio¬ lating it. The entire anti-prohibition campaign constitutes a challenge to the safety of America as well as chal¬ lenge to the integrity of prohibition. Urgent immediate measures. — The little church on Main Street brought prohibi¬ tion to the country and it alone can de¬ fend it. The claim that prohibition was “put over” on the people, that it is not approved by a majority of the population, and that it is the fruit of fanaticism, is constantly placed before the average man. Unless adequate defensive measures are taken immediately, we face, in plain speaking, the imminent return of the American saloon, which was in fact a beer saloon almost invariably owned or controlled by brewers. We face the re¬ turn of the beer interest in politics with its alliance with alienism and of every evil thing against which we have fought for a cento vy, together with a new evil in the form of widespread promotion of home drinking by women and children and the bootlegging of whisky at every bar. The Board of Temperance, Prohi¬ bition, and Public Morals knows how to meet this emergency, but it can not meet it with present funds. The question is not one of legislation and the agencies and methods which have achieved the legislation can not deal with it. The only adequate methods call for an early en¬ largement of its educational propaganda. The critical situation abroad. — Similarly the work of the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals abroad in¬ volves such vast opportunities as to call for immediate enlargement. It is not in¬ correct to say that misrepresentation of American prohibition in the foreign press is amazing in its extent and appalling in its consequences. The Methodist Episco¬ pal Church throughout the world parallels the prohibition movement in the think¬ ing of the people and we can not avoid our peculiar responsibility which, if bravely assumed, promises immense re¬ wards. When one of our bishops met the President of Czecho-Slovakia, the Presi¬ dent said, “I am glad to know you or any Methodist; I am a total abstainer my¬ self.” What Methodism does for prohibi¬ tion in Europe will bring hundreds and thousands of thinking patriots to its doors. Other evil tendencies. — The board’s duties do not end with a defense of the prohibition law. It is perfectly appar¬ ent that little or nothing is being done to check numerous bad tendencies in American life. It is a fact that there is more gambling today, for instance, than ever before in our history. Something also must be done to encourage decency in the literature of the people, to restrain evil influences which are disintegrating home life and causing young people to despise the moral standards of their fathers. The question of drugs is a world problem which we have not touched. The board should be enabled to deal more adequately with the question of pop¬ ular amusements, prize fighting, and with Sabbath desecration. It should be en¬ abled to deal particularly with the ques¬ tion of Americanism. The church can trust its own agency to deal with these problems without fanaticism and with dignity, and it should enable its agency to deal with them vigorously and promptly. DEACONESS MINISTRY — THE TEACHING FUNCTION IS A PART i I I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant 1 I of the church, . . . for she herself also hath been a helper of many, and of my own self. 1 Paul, to the Romans, 16: 1, 2 m3 / THE GENERAL DEACONESS BOARD ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. The General Deaconess Board II. Distinctive Position Now Held by the Deaconess III. Growth of the Deaconess Movement 1. In personnel 2. In property IV. Present Status of the Deaconess Movement V. Program for Advance 1. Disseminating information 2. Securing deaconess candidates 3. Training deaconess candidates 4. Providing pensions and rest homes 5. Administering the board 593 594 WORLD SERVICE 1. THE GENERAL DEACONESS BOARD Objectives “For the promotion of deaconess work throughout the church there shall be a board known as the General Deaconess Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This board, duly incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and having its headquarters in the city of Buffalo, shall have general supervision of all dea¬ coness work in the church and control of all the deaconesses.” “The General Deaconess Board, on re¬ quest of the Conference Deaconess Board and the annual conference, shall have power to authorize the establishment of a deaconess institution. Should the pro¬ posed institution be a school, authoriza¬ tion shall be given only after approval by the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The General Deacon¬ ess Board shall satisfy itself that there is need of the proposed institution in the locality designated; that the site selected is suitable for the work intended; that it would not be likely to affect unfavorably any existing institution ; that there is good prospect of its adequate support, and that its property, of whatever form, is not un¬ duly encumbered.” “The General Deaconess Board shall establish a standard for entrance into training schools, provided it shall be equivalent to a high-school course, and shall prescribe the Courses of Study for Deaconesses. It shall have authority to determine and settle all questions arising between institutions and individuals. It shall seek to promote general interest in this work, approve rules for the govern¬ ment of both institutions and deacon¬ esses, prescribe a distinctive garb for deaconesses, determine the minimum al¬ lowance for active deaconesses, fix amount of pension for retired deaconesses and perform such other service as the work may demand.” 1 { MILLIONS « /•< •7 H MES #< • • • • • _ • / • / y • « • • 7 r ho jPITALS «r / • - - TRAININ SCHOOLS OTHER SCHOOLS . ••••••••••« . . . r 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 Increase in number of deaconess homes, hospi¬ tals, training schools, and other schools 1914-1922 II. DISTINCTIVE POSITION NOW HELD BY THE DEACONESS Annual conference membership. — The deaconess has a distinctive position among the women workers of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church. She is the only woman worker who has membership in an annual conference body; who reports to and has her standing approved by that body ; who is appointed to her work by the presiding bishop; who is consecrated by church authorization, and who, when no longer able to continue in effective service, is granted a retired relation with pension. Scope of deaconess work. — Since the days of the Apostles there have been women, called deaconesses, who have given their lives to the service of the church. The deaconess of the Methodist Episcopal Church is the direct successor of the de¬ voted women whose names are recorded in the pages of the New Testament. How¬ ever, the service rendered now is broader and much more varied than was that of early years. The Discipline states clearly the wide scope of the work of a deaconess. ’Discipline, 1920, If 491, §§ 1, 2, 3. DEACONESSES 595 Deaconesses in Hamburg, Germany, who have served each for twenty-five years “A deaconess is a woman of suitable qualification who has been led by the Holy Spirit to devote herself to Christlike service under the direc¬ tion of the church . She will give herself to any form of service that will further the kingdom of God.” 1 Her distinctive posi¬ tion. — What, then, differ¬ entiates the deaconess from other women work¬ ers within the church? Not her work, since she may do any work; not her dress, since the wearing of the distinctive garb is optional with “the form of administration or other organization with which the deaconess serves” ; not her remuneration, since that is not now lim-. ited. The difference is in her relationship. She is a member of the Deaconess Board of an annual conference and thereby a part of connectional Methodism. From this relationship she can be removed only by resignation, by formal trial, or by death. 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 Increase in number of deaconesses in the United States, 1890-1922 1 Discipline, 1920, f[229, §§1, 3. III. THE GROWTH OF THE DEACONESS MOVEMENT The Deaconess Movement in the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church dates officially from 1888. In that year the General Con¬ ference gave it recognition. It was in 1890 that the first deaconess license in the United States was granted. 1. Growth in Personnel in the United States In 1890 there were 3 deaconesses. In 1901 there were 318, with 505 pro¬ bationers. In 1911 there were 723, with 179 pro¬ bationers.2 In 1921 there were 846, with 88 pro¬ bationers. In 1922 there were 881, with 142 pro¬ bationers. In Europe, where the General Deacon¬ ess Board has general supervision, the movement has attained great strength. The latest information from Switzerland, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries shows 907 deaconesses in Europe. This gives a grand total of 1,930 dea¬ conesses and probationers in the United States and Europe, which indicates an 2 A different method of reckoning probationers accounts for the loss during this decade. In the early years every student in the training schools was reported as a probationer. The time came when this custom ceased and hence the decline in reported probationers. WORLD SERVICE 596 $ MILLIONS Increase in deaconess property in the United States, 1894-1922 average annual increase of 55 since the action of the General Conference of 1888. 2. Growth in Property Growth since 1894. — The church has gladly placed in the hands of the deacon¬ esses the property needed to carry on their work. These figures show remark¬ able growth in the institutions that have been officially recognized as deaconess in¬ stitutions. The first year for which ac¬ curate information is available is 1894. In 1894 the total deaconess property represented a value of $284,908. In 1902 the property and endowment figures had gone up to $1,898,992. In 1912 the total was $4,682,343. In 1922 it had jumped to $12,767,050. This growth in property gives an an¬ nual increase since 1888 of $375,501. If this increase were divided into the period before the organization of the present form of the General Deaconess Board and- the period since, it would give the follow¬ ing: Annual increase before 1912, $195,097 ; annual increase since 1912, $808,470. These figures do not include the prop¬ erty in Europe. The fluctuating money market makes any calculation unsatisfac¬ tory, but reliable estimates value Euro¬ pean property at $1,495,669. These fig¬ ures are conservative, and probably should be half a million dollars higher. The total of deaconess property in the United States and in Europe is approxi¬ mately $14,259,719. IV. PRESENT STATUS OF THE DEACONESS MOVEMENT New impetus in 1920. — Any program for the Deaconess Movement within the Methodist Episcopal Church must recog¬ nize the important status given this Move¬ ment by the General Conference of 1920. Too few have adequate conception of the action taken at that time. The present status of the deaconess is set forth in Chapter Three of Part IV of the Discipline, 1920, If 229-240. The present status of the deaconess or¬ ganization is contained in Chapter Four¬ teen of Part VII of the Discipline, 1920, 11 491-499. These portions of the Discipline call upon the deaconess to carry on “any form Growth of Property in United States 1913-22 Book Homes Hospitals of 1 1913 . $1,852,362X0 $3,408,167.00 1914 . 2,095,224.00 2,829,660.00 1915 . 2,344,507.00 2,523,675.00 1916 . 3,364,410.00 1,906,965.00 1917 . 5,745,733.00 2,723,875.00 1918 . 4,367,585.00 2,994,222.00 1919 . 4,209,970.00 3,301,648.00 1920 . . 4,446,9 d3. 00 3,899,100.00 1921 . . 5,111,639.00 4.522,217.00 1922 . 5,427,411.00 5,966,654.00 Training Other T otal Schools Schools $588,332.00 $148,000.00 $5,393,340.00 796,600.00 150,717.00 5,872,201.00 893,349.00 148,000.00 5,909,531.00 933,862.00 216,194.00 6,421,431.00 641,715.00 212,000.00 7,323,323.00 655,217.00 253,119.00 8,270,142.00 646,717.00 248.765.00 8,407,100.00 716,674.00 258,000.00 9,320,707.00 694,274.00 380,976.00 10,709,106.00 992,482.00 380,603.00 12,767,050.00 lThe figures for 1913 are confused, and contain considerable overlapping in the various items. The total, however, is correct. DEACONESSES 597 of service which will further the kingdom of God.” As a result women of the highest capabilities and training can find within the Deaconess Movement ample scope for their consecrated service. There is no form of work open to women within the church that is not now open to the deaconess. Types of work. — The Commission on Life Serv¬ ice has recently issued lit¬ erature showing that dea¬ conesses are now required for the following types of work : 1. Local Church Positions: Pastor’s Assistant, Church Secretary, Director of Religious Education, Director of Social and Recreational Activities, Missionary, Evangelistic, Country Church. 2. Social Service Positions: Old Peo¬ ple’s Homes, Rest Homes, Children’s Homes, Orphanages, Baby Folds, Dea¬ coness Homes, Business Girls’ and Woman’s Homes, Fresh Air and Vaca¬ tion Homes, Settlements, Day Nurseries, Immigrant Work, Hospitals, Dispensa¬ ries, District Nursing. 3. Educational Positions: Grade Schools, Secondary Schools, High Schools, Cooking class in a deaconess seminary 598 WORLD SERVICE Colleges, Universities, Training Schools, Industrial Schools. 4. General Positions: Executive, Edi¬ torial, Administrative. Additions are bound to be made to this list as new positions open to women work¬ ers, and as this is happening constantly, the Deaconess Movement is manifestly just at the beginning of a period of great enlargement. V. PROGRAM OF ADVANCE Distinct fields of activity.— In view of the ever-widening field of deaconess serv¬ ice and in order that our board may prop¬ erly co-ordinate its work with that of other boards of the church, it will be nec¬ essary for the General Deaconess Board to devote itself primarily to the promotion of such activities as relate to the advance¬ ment of the Deaconess Movement. The task placed upon the General Dea¬ coness Board is a large one and in order to carry it out adequately, the program divides itself into five distinct fields of activity. 1. To disseminate information about the widening scope of the Deaconess Movement and of the official connectional relation of the deaconess. 2. To secure deaconess candidates suf¬ ficient in number and of such quality as to meet the increasing demand. 3. To provide for these candidates the best possible preparation. 4. To make possible proper facilities for those in need of rest and to insure adequate pension for those who have spent their lives in this service. 5. To administer ef¬ fectively the affairs of the board. In addition to these five it is the duty of the Gen¬ eral Deaconess Board to bring into sympathetic co¬ operation the deaconess work of the entire Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church. 1. Disseminating Information An information service. — There is noth¬ ing more certain than that the day of woman’s work in the church is here. Women are now serving world-wide church organizations. They are in ex¬ ecutive positions, have been members of general conferences, and devote them¬ selves to almost every form of Christian activity. As the Deaconess Movement is a connectional movement of the Church it is the duty of the General Deaconess Board to formulate for the information of the church a program of possible dea¬ coness service. Such a program will de¬ mand large use of the church press, will call for specially adapted printed material and will necessitate presentation by pic¬ tures and addresses. 2. Securing Candidates Life service appeals. — As knowledge of the Deaconess Movement becomes wide¬ spread and new enterprises are under¬ taken, there will be an increasing call to the gifted daughters of the church and many more women of the highest type must be brought into this form of service. Young women in high schools and colleges should be reached with such attractive printed material as will arrest attention. In public gatherings and in private con¬ versation the claims of this work should be personally presented. In all this work the General Deaconess Board will continue to co-operate with the Life Service Commission. DEACONESSES 599 3. Training Candidates Adequate training neces¬ sary. — No part of a pro¬ gram of advance will be of greater importance than that which seeks the proper training of the women workers of the church. It is possible to take a consecrated young woman, give her a hurried coaching, and then turn her loose on some church organization ; but it is not possible by this method to secure the sterling type of lead¬ ership which the church requires in this critical period of expansion. As the majority of young women seek preparation in training schools, it is nec¬ essary that the standards of instruction in such schools be brought to the highest possible level and that regular and post¬ graduate courses meet recognized educa¬ tional standards. Approved courses of study. — The courses of study in the following train¬ ing schools have been approved by the General Deaconess Board: Boston Uni¬ versity School of Religious Education, Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago Training School, Chicago, Illinois; Missionary Training School, Cincinnati, Ohio; Dorcas Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio; Iowa National Training School, Des Moines, Iowa; Folts Mission Institute, Herkimer, New York; Kansas City National Training School, Kansas City, Missouri; D. W. Blakeslee Training School, New Haven, Connecti¬ cut; San Francisco National Training School, San Francisco, California; North¬ west Training School, Seattle, Washing¬ ton; Lucy Webb Hayes National Training School, Washington, D. C. It is advisable to make scholarships available for a limited number of young women of unusual promise, by means of which those without sufficient funds may be encouraged to secure adequate train¬ ing. The General Deaconess Board will co¬ operate with every institution which may be able to contribute to the solution of this problem. 4. Providing Rest Homes and Pensions Permanent pension payments. — If a dea¬ coness in fulfilling her vow is broken in body by the strain of the modern church, it should be the joy of that church to provide for her a haven of rest and a house of healing. Rest homes are needed. The claim for pension is recognized, and the General Deaconess Board is delegated to pay pensions to officially retired dea¬ conesses. In order to insure permanency of pension payment an adequate endow¬ ment is required. This endowment should not be less than $500,000 and continued effort should be made to secure that sum. As about $70,000 only is in hand, the pres¬ ent pensions are paid largely from the current income of the General Deaconess Board. 5. Administering the Board Enlarged work of board. — The respon¬ sibility for carrying out the advanced program of the deaconess work belongs to the General Deaconess Board, for this board has “general supervision of all deaconess work in the church and con¬ trol of all the deaconesses.” The contribution made by the adminis¬ tration of such a board to the progress of the church cannot be tabulated, but its value appears in a healthier atmos¬ phere, in higher standards of preparation, in broader scope of work, and in co-or¬ dination of effort on the part of all con¬ nected with the Deaconess Movement. ■ . 1 _ , \ NURSES, BETHESDA HOSPITAL, CINCINNATI, OHIO And Jesus went about all Galilee .... healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Matthew 4:23 If THE BOARD OF HOSPITALS AND HOMES ANALYSIS OF STATEMENT I. The Missionary Character of Hospitals and Homes. II. Board of Hospitals and Homes 1. Organization and purpose 2. The function of the board 3. Achievements since 1920 4. Co-operative relations III. Method and Scope of Studies IV. What the Survey has Revealed V. What the Methodist Episcopal Church Must do for its Philan¬ thropic Institutions in the Next Ten Years 39 601 602 WORLD SERVICE I. THE MISSIONARY CHARACTER OF HOSPITALS AND HOMES The Place of Philanthropy in Methodism John Wesley’s practice.— The preaching of the gospel by John Wesley was accom¬ panied by a practical application of the healing and comforting ministry of Jesus. Mr. Wesley gave attention to the needs of the sick and afflicted in the jails and alms houses and established dispensaries as well as homes for children and aged women. The beginning of Methodism was practical because it was spiritual and had world-wide vision. Present-day philanthropy. — Today the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States alone operates 173 benevolent in¬ stitutions, representing a property and endowment value of $36,000,000. The first Methodist Episcopal Home for Aged was established in 1850 in New York City. There are now thirty-seven such homes in the United States where aged men and women are spending their sunset days in comfort. The first Methodist Episcopal Home for Children was founded in 1864 at Warren- ton, Missouri, and has been followed by forty-five other homes, where children have the best of care. The first Methodist Episcopal hospital opened its doors in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, and there now are seventy-nine other similar institutions in the United States, giving service to 200,000 sick, suf¬ fering, and needy people. There are eleven institutions of other kinds, such as homes for working girls, homes for working young men, homes for delinquent girls, homes for retired ministers and tuberculosis sanitariums. The healing commission. — “Go, preach and heal,” the ideal for all true Christian activity, is still written high on the far- flung battle flag of the Christian church and wherever the message is preached in foreign or home field, it must always be accompanied by a practical ministry of healing and comfort. Bishop James W. Bashford, laying the corner stone of the Woman’s Hospital in Peking, China, is a true Christian statesman preaching the whole gospel to the whole of man. Likewise our bishops dedicating hospitals or homes in the United States, are truly representing the missionary spirit of the Christ, for the physical needs are always the same, irrespective of the field of serv¬ ice. An evangelizing agency. — Every year thousands of men and women from all stations in life who have given little thought to spiritual things find Christ as a personal Saviour while being restored to physical health. Hundreds of boys and girls come to our children’s homes from homes broken up by death or other rea¬ sons. And here they are nurtured and trained under the care of those who give to them a love and devotion which they could not get elsewhere. This in both in¬ stances is a real missionary service ren¬ dered in an hour of need. Modern medical service. — A Methodist Episcopal hospital gives more than medi¬ cal and surgical service. But it must be remembered that it does give this. Each day is full of care for men and women suffering with pneumonia and heart dis¬ ease, with goiter and nephritis, with broken legs and appendicitis, with mas¬ toiditis and tonsilitis, for new-born babes and their mothers. They are of all races, colors, and creeds. The first Methodist Episcopal hospital took for its slogan: “A general hospital which shall be open to Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Cath¬ olic, heathen and infidel, on the same terms.” The dispensaries in connection with the hospitals care for thousands of medical and surgical patients. These patients pay a small amount, in most cases not suffi¬ cient to pay for the medicine or necessary medical supplies. Thousands of babies receive care through the Out-patient De¬ partment. This all demands adequate plan and equipment, food and medical supplies, and an efficient adminis¬ trative and medical staff. And it de¬ mands of its staff, executives, surgeons, physicians, and nurses, not only profes- PHILANTHROPY 603 Hospitals and Homes of the Methodist Episcopal Church sional efficiency, but also Christian character and a passion for service. The church and public health. — The church claiming for itself a fore¬ most place in the develop¬ ment of spiritual life and Christian education, must perforce equally recog¬ nize its obligation in the field of humanitarian ef¬ fort for social and phys¬ ical welfare. To neglect this feature will event¬ ually result in a lopsided church program and give to others, who are not Christian, the most im¬ portant places of leadership. A Christian home.— A Methodist Epis¬ copal home for children is more than an orphanage. It is a home. Here the lad or girl suddenly thrust out into the world at a time when most needing the love and care of parents finds what an “orphanage” in the accepted definition of such an institution, never can give. Clothes, a bed, and food never make a home for children. They crave parental love and care, which, from Christian men and women, they receive in our forty-five homes for children scattered from Boston to San Francisco. They are taught home ways, Christian truth and right habits and are prepared for the day when old enough to tackle life on their own footing, they go forth to carve their own career. The heartaches comforted, the tragedies averted, the visions opened up, are not to be recorded in type. They are written in the lives of those who are advancing the Kingdom because of what the church put into their lives in childhood’s days. A contented old age. — Old age must ever be lonely. There is always the “last leaf,” but old age should not be left to be hard and uncomfortable. In the homes for the aged, the days of sunset are made as bright and cheery as possible. Here the lonely grandmother with children and grandchildren gone, may dream in peace of the days of ambition and hopes and longings and live in memories of him who was her sweetheart and companion of the many years as she daily sees with greater vividness the outlines of the shores be¬ yond. And the while she does this, the attentions of home and church are all pro¬ vided for her, loving attendants try to bring the joy that the thinning ranks of companions took away, medical care is provided in the hour of need and the going home is made beautiful and com¬ forting. Free service in hospitals. — Under this caption is included the actual service which is rendered by a hospital or home to a patient or a guest from whom no pay can be expected. There are thousands of such cases brought to the hospitals each year. There are people from all classes and conditions who live far below the average financial income determined by the government as a necessary basis of maintaining individual or home life. In many cases homes have been broken by death or other conditions leaving one or more parties at the mercy of charity and friends. These people are taken to the hospitals by local charitable agencies, police, pastors, and friends. In many in¬ stances, it is not possible to secure any 604 WORLD SERVICE The orphanage is more than an orphanage: it is a home money with which to pay for even a week of service in the hospital. Even when this amount is provided for, the patient sometimes is compelled to remain in the hospital for a longer period and thus be¬ comes a charitable patient. Part pay cases. — The part pay cases in the hospital arise from a large number of people who, as ward patients, are unable to pay sufficient rate even to meet the average cost per patient per day in the hospital. This class also includes a large number of people who come into the hos¬ pital with a small amount of money, which is all that they have, and have to depend upon the hospital for the balance of the service rendered to them. Occa¬ sionally, these people are dismissed from the hospital with the expectation that they will be able to pay the hospital the bal¬ ance of the bill, but after a period of time, find that this is an impossibility. The hospital then charges this to part pay service and it is thus reported at the end of the year. Free service in children’s homes. — The survey reveals the fact that sixty per cent of the children received in the homes for children each year are free and part pay cases. In many instances the children are entire orphans or the parent left is in such poor circumstances that no money can be paid for the upkeep of the child, in which instance the service is designated as entire free service. On the other hand, there are instances wher the parent will place a child in the home and pay a small amount for its maintenance which amount is below the average cost for a child a day, so that the home must assume the balance of the indebtedness for this main¬ tenance service. Free service in homes for the aged. — The survey reveals the fact that sixty per cent of the people received in the homes for the aged receive free or part pay service. The average admission fee for entrance into a home for aged is about $400.00. People are not received until they are sixty-five years of age. The average age at the time of being received into a home is sixty- eight years. The average age of expect¬ ancy of life for these people is ten years, because people live longer in homes for the aged than they do in other homes, owing to the lack of worry and trouble in taking care of themselves and being re¬ sponsible for their maintenance, as well as the happy, cheerful conditions which surround them. People upon entering a home, sign a contract by which they give over to the home their possessions. In most cases these possessions are very lim¬ ited. In the old established homes of the church, it has been ascertained that there are many people who have been received on the basis of $300.00 and have lived from fifteen to eighteen years without any other financial gifts to the home than the entrance fee. This has entailed con¬ stant expenditure of money by boards of directors for their maintenance. The es¬ tates and money put at the disposal of the boards of directors by people coming into the homes furnish only a small per cent of the finances necessary to main¬ tain the guests over a period of years. It will thus be seen that the homes for aged are constantly facing a losing financial proposition in the maintenance of their aged guests. There are a few guests who are able to pay a sufficient sum of money to keep them over a period of years until their death. However, the survey reveals PHILANTHROPY 605 the fact that these instances are very rare. Summary of free service. — The total amount of free and part pay work for 1921 in Methodist Episcopal philan¬ thropic institutions totalled $1,695,104, while the total amount of disbursements for all hospitals and homes mainte¬ nance and service was $7,974,979; thus showing that twenty-five per cent of all money disbursed for maintenance of hospitals and homes was given for free or part pay service. The Board of Hospitals and Homes must also place before the churches the needs of national institutions such as the National Sanitarium for Tuberculosis, a National Home for Retired Ministers in favorable climes, and a National Home for Incurables. These institutions must be fostered by the Board of Hospitals and Homes and the board should receive suf¬ ficient benevolent funds to promote and maintain them properly for the sake of the whole church and its constituency. II. BOARD OF HOSPITALS AND HOMES 1. Organization and Purpose Disciplinary provisions. — Recognizing its responsibility in this matter, the Meth¬ odist Episcopal Church, through the Gen¬ eral Conference in 1920, created the Board of Hospitals and Homes. It is a benevolent board of the church in the same manner as the other benevolent boards. “For the promotion and general supervision of an advisory character for all hospitals, homes, or other organizations and institutions for the care of the sick, incurables, and other dependents, there shall be a board known as the Board of Hospitals and Homes, incorporated ac¬ cording to law and subject to the control of the General Conference.” 1 Affiliation. — “All institutions or organi¬ zations seeking to affiliate with this board must have the indorsement of the Annual Conference within whose bounds they are located. Institutions or organizations of 1 Discipline, 1920, IfSOO, §1, similar character operating under other boards seeking affiliation with this board must secure the consent of their board, the recommendation of the Annual Con¬ ference within whose bounds they operate and the approval of this board.” 2 Activities. — “This board shall sustain an advisory relation to, but shall not provide direct supervision over institutions or or¬ ganizations within its jurisdiction except when specifically requested.” “It may make surveys, disseminate in¬ formation, suggest plans for securing funds, maintain a bureau for the purpose of securing experts in all lines of work, provide architectural data, and render as¬ sistance in the promotion and establish¬ ment of new institutions. It shall en¬ courage and assist all institutions within its jurisdiction in attaining the highest possible standards. This board may ad¬ minister any and all funds- vested in it for general or specific purposes and shall have power in co-operation with the other be¬ nevolent boards, and in the same manner, to secure special funds to carry out and execute its purposes.” 3 2. The Function of the Board It will thus be seen that it is the func¬ tion of the Board of Hospitals and Homes 2 Discipline, 1920, f|501, §2. 3 Discipline, 1920, f|505, §1, 2. A happy old age guaranteed by the Old People’s Home 606 WORLD SERVICE to assist the local hospitals and homes in every department of their work. There has not been enough local initiative to put the whole program on the map. This has been and must continue to be supplied by the Board of Hospitals and Homes. The following instances will illustrate the spe¬ cific types of work that the Board of Hos¬ pitals and Homes does for a local institu¬ tion : a. For a children’s home. — A children’s home within the bounds of a confer¬ ence had not set up its organization in the Annual Conference. The Board of Hospitals and Homes, with its Depart¬ ment of Survey and Standardization, sent its representative to this home. The rep¬ resentative went over all of the details of the organization very carefully and advised a new form of organization for the local board through the Annual Con¬ ference. This organization was put into effect at the next session of the Annual Conference. Conference endowment was secured for the set-up of the American White Cross and through its department of publicity this plan was fully carried into effect in the local churches. A large amount of money was secured for the care of the children in the home as well as a fund for the building of a new home. The Board of Hospitals and Homes through its department of architec¬ ture furnished a competent counsellor, who laid out the plans for the new home and gave specific direction to the local architects in the completion of plans for the new structure. The board has kept in definite touch with this organization, which has prospered through the year. b. For a new hospital. — The Board of Hospitals and Homes was requested to lay out through its Department of Survey and Standardization, the complete plans, for a new Methodist hospital in a conference. The representative met the Annual Con¬ ference Board and through it organized a local board of directors and all of the working departments of the hospital. Through its Department of Publicity and Finance, a representative of the board counselled with the local board of direc¬ tors in setting up the publicity and cam¬ paign plans for securing funds. Through the Department of Architecture, the plot and building plans were laid out and proper architectural services secured for the new hospital. The board has kept in continuous touch with this new develop¬ ment. The hospital has been opened for one year and has prospered financially and has done a fine piece of community work. c. For homes for aged. — The Board of Hospitals and Homes was asked to take up the development of a home for aged. The same procedure as that indicated for the home for children and the hospital was carried out and the new home is under construction at the present time. 3. Achievements Since 1920 Since the organization of the Board of Hospitals and Homes by the General Con¬ ference in 1920, the tasks committed to the board have been undertaken vigor¬ ously. It is impossible to state in such brief form the total program that has been put into effect. a. Conference organization. — Since 1920, Conference Boards of Hospitals and Homes have been organized in most of the Annual Conferences in the United States. The function of the local board in the An¬ nual Conference is to give consideration to all hospital and home interests within the bounds of conference. All new hospi¬ tal and home projects must have consid¬ eration by the local board and presenta¬ tion of these interests to the Annual Conference for vote before a new hospital or home can be established or financial pro¬ grams of any character put into effect. This organization is a definite channel through which the local institutions can present their matters to the Annual Con¬ ference. The committees which previ¬ ously handled the affairs of the local insti¬ tutions, have now been merged into one Annual Conference board, making a much more unified supervision of the entire philanthropic program of the conference. PHILANTHROPY 607 Cooking class in a Methodist school which exists simply for girls who need another chance b. Local boards of directors. — Many local boards of directors have requested re¬ organization of their hospitals or homes in order to conform to the new General Conference legislation. Many hospitals and homes which did not have the trust clause in their deeds, have had the arti¬ cles of incorporation and constitution changed, so that practically two-thirds of the hospitals and homes are now held in trust for the Methodist Episcopal Church. In some instances, boards of directors have been entirely reorganized, so that the board is now elected by the Annual Conference instead of being a self-perpet¬ uating body. Many of the older hospi¬ tals and homes have been reorganized in their departments of management, finance and methods of operation, thus strength¬ ening local institutions and giving per¬ manence to their work. c. New Boards of Directors. — The board has adopted standardized articles of in¬ corporation, constitution and by-lawj for all new hospitals and homes. This new form of organization requires that all hospitals and homes must be organized under the auspices of the Annual Confer¬ ence within whose bounds they are located and in all instances a majority of the membership of the board of directors must be members of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church, thus insuring the interest of the Annual Conference in the affairs of the hospital or home. It is only in this way that we can insure permanent organ¬ izations and expect a con¬ tinued support of the churches in the Annual Conference. d. Reorganized institu¬ tions. — Several hospitals and homes which have been merely local in their organizati n and admin¬ istration, have been reor¬ ganized and placed under the direct auspices of the Annual Conference and in several instances, under a combined board repre¬ senting one or more An¬ nual Conferences. This has greatly strengthened the local hospital or home. e. Standardization of hospitals and homes. — Previous to the organization of the Board of Hospitals and Homes, there had been no definite standards by which hospitals and homes were to operate ex¬ cept in the case of hospitals having the minimum standard adopted by the Ameri¬ can College of Surgeons. The board has now adopted definite standards for the hospitals, homes for aged, and homes for children and in so doing, set up a goal to be reached by each local institution. Dur¬ ing the past two years, eighteen hospitals have reached the standards which have been adopted by the Board of Hospitals and Homes and the American College of Surgeons, thus making a total of twenty- five hospitals which have reached a high standard in the medical and surgical pro¬ fession. The Board of Hospitals and Homes will continue its efforts to have each hospital standardized in all its lines of work. We should be 100 per cent standard. All of the homes for children have now met the requirements of the state within whose bounds they are lo¬ cated, relative to sanitation, educational qualifications, and other items that relate to the welfare of orphans. Most of the homes have met the standards adopted by the board in relation to organization and policy and will all be rated A1 in due time. Many changes have been made in the operation of the homes for aged, in order 608 WORLD SERVICE that they will also meet the classification of A1 homes. These standards relate, mainly to health, food, and the general conditions of home life that should char¬ acterize a home in which aged people are to live the balance of their days. Thus the item of standards in relation to the various types of institutions have been very carefully studied and marked progress has been made by all of our phil¬ anthropic institutions. This in itself is worth all of the work and service which the board has given to the hospitals and homes during the past two years. f. Publicity. — The Board of Hospitals and Homes, through its Department of Publicity, has brought to the local hospi¬ tals and homes a great inspiration in the character and set-up of new publicity. The director of publicity has prepared booklets illustrative of hospital and home work. The White Cross publicity which has been used throughout the church, has been a great inspiration in setting forth the needs of the hospitals and homes. First-class publicity is absolutely essen¬ tial if the church is to be educated along the lines of philanthropic service. g. New vision. — The Board of Hospi¬ tals and Homes has given to the local in¬ stitutions a new vision of their rela¬ tionship to the church at large and also a consciousness of their place in the en¬ tire church program. Through special meetings and conferences, a spirit of co¬ operation has been developed and real team work is being done by our local institutions. New courage has been given to many boards of directors, which have been on the verge of financial embarrass¬ ment. The local superintendent and offi¬ cials have taken new heart, as they really find the church at large interested in their local projects. h. Architectural supervision. — The Board of Hospitals and Homes has set itself to the task of working out a definite plan through which better hospitals and homes will be constructed and the most efficient architectural service rendered to the local institutions in their new building programs. Many hospitals and homes have been located through the services of the Department of Survey of the board. Information has been given relative to building, equipment and furnishings. Architectural plans have saved the hos¬ pitals and homes large sums of money, and given a better type of structure than heretofore. Thirty-two hospitals and homes have received direct service through this department. i. Finance. — Through the finance de¬ partment, the board has given special at¬ tention to the financial problems of many local institutions. Financial campaigns have been promoted with the very best of campaign publicity and leadership. Dur¬ ing the past two years, over $800,000 has been raised through the organization known as the American White Cross. All of this money has been used for mainte¬ nance, building, and endowment. New bookkeeping systems have been estab¬ lished in many hospitals and homes, thus adding to the efficiency of the administra¬ tive work in the institution and making it possible for accurate reports to be sub¬ mitted to the boards of directors each month. Many hospitals and homes have had careful consideration by the depart¬ ment of survey in relation to their ex¬ penditures and the possibility of increas¬ ing the efficiency of their service through the better handling of their finances and the expenditure of their money. j. Child welfare. — Special emphasis has been placed upon the necessity of re¬ lating the interests of children’s homes to the communities along the line of child welfare. This program has been put into effect in many communities and will be promoted as money is available for special workers. k. New institutions and general de¬ velopment. — It will be impossible to make an adequate statement covering the physi¬ cal development of the hospitals and homes throughout the past two years. The board set definite goals for its service at the outset and has met them in a very gratifying manner. PHILANTHROPY 609 This board works for child welfare. Children from one of its homes playing in the sand-box A summary of the new institutions fol¬ lows : Hospitals Number of new hospitals established.... 20 Value of new hospital buildings . $ 796,000 Number of old organizations erecting new buildings . 28 Value of new buildings erected— *. . $2,875,000 Money raised in campaigns and by spe¬ cial gifts for old and new hospital buildings and endowment . $4,789,000 Homes for Children Number of new homes for children . 4 Value of new buildings . $ 75,000 Number of old organizations erecting new buildings . 9 Value of new buildings erected . $ 471,000 Amount raised in campaigns and by special gifts . . . $ 227,300 Homes for Aged Number of new homes for aged . 1 Number of old organizations erecting new buildings . 11 Value of new buildings erected . „ . 476,000 Amount raised in campaigns . $ 200,000 Other Institutions Number of new organizations . 5 Value of prope ty — . . $ 105,000 Number of old organizations erecting new buildings . 1 Value of new buildings erected . $ 25,000 Summary Number of new organizations . 30 Value of new property . $1,452,000 Number of old organizations erecting new buildings . 49 Value of new buildings erected . $3,850,000 Total value of new buildings . $5,302,000 Total amount raised in campaigns and by special gifts . $5,216,300 Total number of new projects considered by the Board of Hospitals and Homes, many of which are now under further consideration by the annual conferences and local boards of directors . 37 It will thus be seen that the philan¬ thropic interests of the church have gone forward very rapidly during the past two years. This has been done without any special embarrassment to the gen¬ eral finances of the church and in many instances the church has hardly known that large sums of money have been con¬ tributed to the various local enterprises. The sum total of the whole program should be very gratifying to the church at large. 4. Relation of Board of Hospitals and Homes to Other Boards Carry¬ ing on Philanthropic work Affiliations of institutions. — All of the institutions affiliated with the Board of Hospitals and Homes are organized and operated either as annual conference in¬ stitutions or under the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, the Board of Educa¬ tion for Negroes, or the Deaconess As¬ sociation of the annual conference. All these institutions have the recommenda¬ tion of the annual conference within whose bounds they are located. Some hospitals and homes of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society or the Deacon¬ ess Associations are the only institutions within the bounds of the annual confer¬ ence and have combined boards represent¬ ing the annual conference and the society under whose auspices they operate. All of the eleven hospitals and dispen¬ saries of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society are serving annual conferences within whose bounds there are no regular conference institutions serving the same territory. Four of these are distinctly missionary hospitals and can only exist by missionary aid. They are located at Nome, Alaska; Jacksonville, Florida; Rapid City, South Dakota; and Albuquer¬ que, New Mexico. The hospitals operating under Deacon¬ ess Associations as in the Montana and North Montana Conferences, are entirely 610 WORLD SERVICE STATISTICAL SUMMARY OF PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS Ul 0) INSTITUTIONS a o s 'O c tS m c'S C m 3 o a m X-o a« I* 'd o> > u U1 o w 0) y 0) £ ,Q a) Sc = O £U Ul 0> 1 -S 3 m 3 fcjl| $ 3^ 030 hOO o £clo c £: hi 0) " 3 > « £ t> W ^ TO 0&H g « .a 2?,Z C 0J C) 1 Hospitals . 2. Homes for Aged . 3. Homes for Children 4. Other Institutions .. Totals . so 6,646 67 7,590 220,076 $ 667,123 38 1,936 42 4,344 1,652 339,580 44 2,670 40 3,906 3,281 348,224 11 349 10 231 840 16,900 .173 11,601 . 16,071 225,849 $1,371,827 $376, GSG 16,100 84,401 6,090 $483,277 Difference between total free and part pay service and amount contributed by churches . 'C a ® £ x. » O 4_» u 2 u c.2 d 0) £ ® S d o a> "O [x |o 2TJ O O x a) C and the salary, office and travel expense of the Superintendent of the Institute Department and a staff of four specialists. Teacher Training f training courses, promoting, recording and supervising teacher train¬ ing classes in local Sunday schools, co-operating with the Institute Department in tocher training institutes, and the salaries of examiners and the clerical forces f°r c°^ study and the salary, travel and office expense of the Superintendent of Teacher Training. M 1 S The* pr i nt in g &a nd* distribution of missionary material for Sunday-school missionary superin¬ tendents and for all the grades, promoting missionary education, stewardship . and giving through the Sunday school, World Friendship correspondence essay and oratorical contests, work through annual conference boards of Sunday-schools, and the salaries, travel and office expense of four field men and the Superintendent of Missionary Education. 17101 Creating the standards of organization, methods and curriculum for the cradle roll, begin-> ners’ primary and junior departments; for staff conferences, training schools, and children’s week; and for the salary, travel and office expense of held representatives, special workers, volunteer workers, and the Superintendent of Elementary Work. ^ OUCreatffigl0he Standards* ^f organization, methods and curriculum for the intermediate, senior and young people’s departments ; for study and experiments, summer camps, older boy and older girl conferences, industrial conferences, college campus and life service, young peoples institutes, inter-denominational co-operation, community projects, special conferences ot young peoples, field work and camp leaders ; and the salary, travel and office expense of boys’ work and girls’ work assistants and the Superintendent of Young People s Wo . AdUCr£tmgtXentstandards 'of organization, methods and curriculum for the Adult Department ; the promotion of the Methodist Brotherhood ; and the promotion and program, of adult conferences; and the salary, travel and office expense of a womens work assistant, of field and survey workers and of the Superintendent of Adult Work. FaiT1For the^equipment, supplies and expense of a new office and for surveys, the preparation and distribution of slides, charts and literature on parent training and the family worship league, and the salary, travel and office expense of field workers, a parent training spec¬ ialist and an editorial assistant. 26,700 69,550 34,630 50,000 35,800 43,800 APPROVED NEEDS 683 Week-Day and Vacation Church School Work . _ . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . 35,000 For the construction, preparation and promotion of curricula; for field study, exhibits, tabulation and charts ; for supervision of local experiments ; for training schools and special courses in other schools and institutes; for co-operation in community enterprises; and for the salary, travel and office expense of a Superintendent of Week-Day and Vacation Church Schools and field workers. Evangelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,000 Co-operation with interchurch agencies, other boards, special literature and church-wide special campaigns. Research and Special Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,000 General survey world Sunday-school conditions, research, tabulations, statistics, Interna¬ tional Sunday-school Council, International Lessons Committee, and Board of Sunday Schools experimentation. Contingent Fund . . . . — _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 25,000 Unexpected charges, General Conference Exhibit and Commissions, special assigned cam¬ paigns, e. g. Near East and Christmas Fund. Variations in general charges. Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114,600 Salaries for the corresponding secretary, treasurer, cashier, bookkeeper, research secre¬ tary, stenographers, clerks, travel and hotel expense, rent, equipment, alterations, printing, postage, and Bureau of Architecture. TOTAL NEEDS - - - - - - - $899,660 BOARD OF CONFERENCE CLAIMANTS The needs revealed by the surveys with the scope of the Board of Conference Claimants, and approved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence, after careful scrutiny and revision by the Committee of Twenty-five and its Sub-committee on New Studies, are $150,000. These needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows: Equalization Fund . . . j$ 25,000 For the purpose of enabling all the conferences to bear, in a connectional way, the burden that now falls on certain conferences because of the large number of transfers for climatic and other reasons. Fund for Aged and Disabled Supply Pastors . .. . 20,000 For pensions and relief for these worthy men when they can no longer continue in active work. Sustentation Fund . 25,000 For the emergencies of ministerial life especially in the weaker conferences. Connectional or General Work of the Board . 20,000 For the promotion of campaigns in annual conferences, and for endowment for conference claimants. Administration . 60,000 For the salaries, travel and general office expense, rent, and board meetings. TOTAL NEEDS $150', 000 684 WORLD SERVICE BOARD OF THE EPWORTH LEAGUE The needs revealed by the surveys within the scope of the Board of the Ep worth League and approved by the Council of Boards*^ of Benevolence, after careful scrutiny and revision by the Committee of Twenty- five and its Sub-committee on New Studies are $176,800. These needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows : FOR THE PRESENT PROGRAM . $18,010 'salaries of tii^ General Secretary, stenographers and clerks. 20 440 General ®®^er^XP„ppfieSj postage, telephone, telegraph, rent and miscellaneous items. ^ DC^ salary^travel1 exp^s^ and the proportiona te share oT general office' expense or the' sTcretary ' for German Work. 6250 ^P^X1 8°lfar^eS5el'«pen^'' and "the' ^pVoponionate"share ’of ‘ien^ai-^e-^ cHhe's^ Negro Work. 25 000 MlSE Sshare 'ofge^l office expense of the Secretary for Mission Study and Stewardship. '“"Sr ' the Junior League Division. ^ pense of the Secretary of the Institute Department. 15150 and tine proportionate share of general office expense of the Promotion Secretary. FOR NEW DEPARTMENTS Bible Study and Evangelism . . . . For the preparation, printing and distribution ol the hotel expense of a staff helper and the proportionate necessary new literature, the salary, travel and share of general office expense. Social Service . . For the preparation, printing hotel expense of a staff helper and distribution of the necessary new literature, the salary, travel and and the proportionate share of general office expense. Education^ standardize and co-ordinate the educattona1 work of all the departments of the League, and the proportionate share of general o P 7,000 7,000 7,000 CHECK backs . An arrangement entered into between the Central Office for a field is given full credit and part of it is returned and local fields in which the support provided for intensive cultivation in that territory. 8,000 . 35,800 FOREIGN FIELDS . , For full or part time salaries of special League workers and for the necessary trave an expense for the Epworth League Program. Japan . . . Malaysia . . Philippines . . . . South America . Italy and France . . Scandinavia . . . Austria, Hungary and Switzerland . . . Germany . literature ..$ 500 3,000 450 .. 8,400 500 . 1,000 . 8,400 . 2,500 . 4,550 ... 2,000 400 . 2,000 . 2,100 $35,800 TOTAL NEEDS .$176,800 APPROVED NEEDS 685 AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY The total needs revealed by the surveys within the scope of the American Bible Society led the Council of Boards of Benevolence, upon the recommendation of the Committee of Twenty-five and its Sub-com¬ mittee on New Studies, to indicate $250,000 as the share of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the total budget of this society. These needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows. It is not possible to make a separate analysis of our share in these total needs. APPROPRIATIONS Publication Scriptures printed for the society’s work in the and press work, binding, general manufacturing plates, Scriptures purchased, depository charges. United States and Latin America chiefly ; paper expenses, superintendence, care and repair of Home agency secretaries Salaries of nine secretaries, and general office and travel expense. Home agencies Nine agencies including work among the Negro people throughout the United States, and appropria¬ tions for distribution of Scriptures in the fields. Foreign agencies Secretaries’ salaries, twelve agencies, West I ndies, Mexico, Caribbean, Upper Andes, La Plata, Brazil, Levant, Arabic-Levant, Philippines, Siam, China, Japan, and contingent expense. Foreign agencies, covering Latin America, the Near East, and the Far East as already named; ex¬ penditures for the manufacture and purchase of Scriptures and the expense connected with their distribution by colporteurs and correspondents. General Extending life memberships and auxiliary Bible societies; providing Scriptures for the blind; mis¬ cellaneous home expenses, emergencies, and home grants in books or funds; miscellaneous foreign, furlough and traveling expenses, foreign agency secretaries, pensions, grants in funds or books to fields not included in agencies, countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Micronesia, etc., and co-operative movements; translation and revision, and plates of new versions not charged in the cost of the books, and contingent. administration General administration including salaries of two general secretaries, a treasurer, a recording secre¬ tary and an assistant secretary. Salaries and wages of office force. Travel, postage, telephone, telegraph and cables, supplies, and office equipment. Bible Society Record, annual report, pamphlets and leaflets, library expenses, meeting of the Ad¬ visory Committee and contingent. Treasurer’s office, including bookkeeper and cashiers. Pensions, interest on loans, legacy expenses, annuity expenses, payment of costs over income; capi¬ tal charges, real estate (not Bible House in New York) ; audits and special accounts, United States Trust Co. as assistant treasurer and cc flections of checks. Education and promotion Salaries and wages, news releases, general advertisement, Bible Sunday, pamphlets, lantern slides, exhibits and posters; annuity program, following up donors and new prospects, and contingent expense. 686 WORLD SERVICE BOARD OF TEMPERANCE, PROHIBITION, AND PUBLIC MORALS The needs revealed by the surveys within the scope of the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals and approved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence, after careful scrutiny and revision by t le Committee of Twenty-five and its Sub-committee on New Studies, are $316,750.00. These needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows. Surveys and Special Assistance . . - . . ; . For dealing with notorious situations in cases where investigation and advice are imper¬ ative, and the publication of reports for the basis for corrective legislation, publicity, court action, but not “law enforcement.” Printing and Propaganda . ; . . For the preparation, printing and circulation monthly of the Clipsheet and The Voice and certain publications to impress people of marked leadership and influence. Research and Record . - . 7 . For the compilation with proper files and card indexes of the results of surveys, and other data of value, for publicity addresses, college and university lectures and sociological study. Charts and Illustrations . - . . . Illustrative material for Sunday-school lesson helps, plated cartoons for rural papers, charts for schools and posters for general propaganda. $ 10,000 35,000 5,000 3,000.00 Foreign Language Literature . . . 7T‘7.' . 7' For regular periodical publications in South America, Switzerland, Italy and India, also for posters, charts, leaflets in many foreign languages and for publicity material in the foreign-language press in the United States. Lantern Slides and Moving Pictures . - . . . . . . . ; . For the production and circulation of technical slides and popular and scientific motion picture films, especially for use among foreign-language groups. Exhibits . . - . . - ----- . . - For child welfare, expositions, fairs, occasional meetings both in America and abroad. Appropriations for Foreign Work . ----- . . . . --•• For salaries, office and travel expense, and for education and propaganda work in South America, Austria, Flungary Germany, Baltic States, Switzerland, Italy, India, France, Mexico and Japan. International Co-operation . . . . . For reasearch and propaganda at Lausanne, Switzerland, especially through the public press. Mass Propaganda . . . . . .7 . .' For the preparation and distribution of vital pamphlets to every telephone subscriber in certain cities at critical times in the fight for prohibition. General Administration . . . . ----- Salaries of corresponding secretary, field helpers, stenographers and clerks, postage, sta¬ tionery, miscellaneous supplies, telephone, telegraph, rent, taxes, and insurance. Travel and hotel expense of the secretaries in the United States and for occasional visits to foreign fields and the travel of certain foreign secretaries. 16,000 1,000 15,000 45,000 10,000 100,000 64,750 15,000 TOTAL NEEDS $319,750 APPROVED NEEDS 687 GENERAL DEACONESS BOARD The needs revealed by the surveys within the scope of the General Deaconess Board and approved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence, after careful scrutiny and revision by the Committee of Twenty-five and its Sub-committee on New Studies, are $90,000.00. These needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows: Informing the Church . - . - . - . $ 14,100 Salaries, share of office rent, necessary travel expense, printing, clerical help, postage and lantern slides. Securing Candidates . - . - . — . ; . 6,600 Salaries, share of office rent, travel expense, clerical help, postage, and for co-operation with the Life Service Commission. Training Candidates . - . — - . Share of office rent, travel expense, clerical help and postage, for raising the standards of instruction in training schools. Scholarships . - . - . Available for a limited number of young women of unusual promise. Rest Homes and Pensions . - . . . . - . Grants in aid to rest homes and pensions for retired deaconesses, with share of general office expense. Administration . Salaries of corresponding secretary, field workers and office force, travel and general office expense, and travel and hotel expense of the members of the board for the annual and other meetings. 3,500 8 000 30,600 27,200 TOTAL NEEDS .$ 90,000 BOARD OF HOSPITALS AND HOMES The needs revealed by the surveys within the scope of the Board of Hospitals and Homes and approved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence, after careful scrutiny and revision by the Com¬ mittee of Twenty-five and its Sub-committees on New Studies are $175,000. The needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows: Field Promotion . . . - . - . ------ . -.- . For salaries, travel and office expense for the corresponding secretary,, field secretaries, director of finance, department of architecture, department of American W h ite Cross and the promotion of child welfare. Administration . — . — . : • - For salaries of the office secretary, stenographers and bookkeeper, rent, office supplies and equipment, postage, telegraph, telephone, legal advice and travel and hotel expense of board members for annual meeting and its committees. Publicity . . . - . ----- . - . •- . . — : . For printing and distributing the technical pamphlets of the board and the News Letter sent to all institutions and to the leaders of the church, slides, graphs, charts, and for publicity counsel to local institutions. Maintenance of National Institutions . . . . . - — - . . . To apply on the current expenses of institutions that have a claim on the general church due to the peculiar character of their service; including the National Methodist Sana¬ torium for Tuberculosis, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the Methodist Deaconess Sanato¬ rium for Tuberculosis at Albuquerque, New Mexico; the Home for Retired Ministers at Eustis, Florida, and for the care of our patients at homes for incurables (the location of a National Methodist Home for Incurables is now pending). Emergency Loans and Grants . . . v . -. . For the assistance of hospitals and homes in financial stringency be obtained. where no local help can .$ 27,000 18,000 5,000 100,000 25,000 TOTAL NEEDS .$175,000 688 WORLD SERVICE COMMISSION ON COURSES OF STUDY The needs revealed by the surveys within the scope of the Commission on Courses of Study and^ ap¬ proved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence, after careful scrutiny and revision by the Com¬ mittee of Twenty-five and its Sub-committees on New Studies are $60,000. These needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows: The salaries of the Executive Secretary, staff directors, stenographers and filing clerks, rent, postage, telegraph, telephone and other office expense required for the following divisions of work. (1) For prescribing the courses of study for those applying for license to preach, for local preachers, for reception on trial, for annual conference requirements, correspondence study and postgradu¬ ate study. (2) For co-operation with the conference boards of examiners for such assistance as may be desired in directing and aiding students in their study and in plans and methods of examination. (3) For the summer schools of theology held under the control of the conference boards of examiners. Each school is held on the campus of one of our colleges or seminaries, and every undergraduate is required to be in attendance. The conference examiner is the instructor. Examinations and credits are given and diplomas are issued to successful students. (4) For the preparation and promotion of a graduate course of study, textbooks, manuals and col¬ lateral reading and for correspondence and supervision. COMMISSION ON LIFE SERVICE The needs revealed by the surveys within the scope of the Commission on Life Service and approved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence, after careful scrutiny and revision by the Committee of Twenty- five and its Sub-committees on New Studies are $75,000. These needs are described in Parts One and Two of this volume and are classified as follows : The salaries of the executive secretary, staff directors, stenographers and filing clerks, rent, postage, telegram, telephone and other office expense required for the following divisions of work ...’ . $75,000 (1) For the correlation of the life service appeals of all the agencies of the church. (2) For conferences with faculties, Christian Association secretaries, pastors and students in Methodist and non-Methodist secondary schools, colleges, universities and profes¬ sional schools, in order to secure definite decisions for full time Christian work. (3) For registering, filing and making available to bishops, district superintendents and all boards, detailed information regarding recruits and candidates who are preparing for life service. (4) For correspondence with candidates on matters of vocational guidance and educational requirements for preparation for different phases of life work. (5) For preparing and distributing general information regarding opportunities for life work within the church including specific opportunities which open from time to time. (6) For research and continuous surveys in order to forecast the personnel needs over a period of years. COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION AND ADVANCE The needs of the Committee on Conservation and Advance, as approved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence after careful scrutiny and revision by the Committee of Twenty-five and the Sub-Com¬ mittee on New Studies, are $865,000.00. These needs represent the necessary expansion of the activities described on the askings for the present work basis as found on Page 672. The future budget of the Committee on Conservation and Advance depends entirely on the amount of education and promotion which the church desires from a central promotional agency. Any modification of the work from the present basis would result either in added expense to the benevolent boards or in the elimination of types and divisions of work. TOTAL NEEDS . . . . $865,000 THE APPORTIONMENT TO THE CHURCHES A minimum requirement for maintaining our World Service on the present basis of expansion (January 1, 1923), demands $13,885,231.77. The total needs revealed in the surveys and approved by the Council of Boards of Benevolence call for an expenditure of $28,045,173.00. Midway between these minimum and maximum figures the Council voted to apportion to the churches, $18,500,000, distributed among the various boards as f ollows : Board of Foreign Missions . $ 6,800,000 Board of Home Missions and Church Extension . 6,800,000 Board of Education for Negroes . 760,000 Board of Education . 1,500,000 Board of Sunday Schools . 600,000 Board of Conference Claimants . 150,000 Board of the Ep worth Eeague . 175,000 American Bible Society . 200,000 Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals . 250,000 General Deaconess Board . 90,000 Board of Hospitals and Homes . 175,000 Commission on Courses of Study . 60.000 Commission on Life Service . 75,000 Committee on Conservation and Advance . 865,000 $18,500,000 In the World Service Program, the income of no board is guaranteed: all share in the receipts in proportion to the askings listed above, with the excep¬ tion of the Committee on Conservation and Advance, for which the income is necessarily guaranteed. 45 689 690 WORLD SERVICE HOW THE APPORTIONMENTS ARE MADE The apportionments are a goal, a stand¬ ard which must be met if the work which the church has undertaken is to be suc¬ cessfully carried through. They are not a demand arbitrarily imposed upon the church from without. They are rather an attempt, by the agency which the church itself has established for this purpose, to distribute fairly throughout the whole church the opportunity and the responsi¬ bility for the support of its general benev¬ olent activities. A perfect apportionment, if such could be made, would do no more than register the figure which each church, if it might study for itself and know the whole matter in detail, would recognize and accept as its just share in the whole task. When so accepted, the benevolence apportionments afford a rea¬ sonable ground for the expectation that certain needed amounts of money will be provided for our varied missionary and philanthropic undertakings. The problem of the apportionments is two-fold. First, some way must be found equitably to distribute the whole task to the larger units of which the church is composed, that is, to the several confer¬ ences, mission conferences, and missions. This distribution must be made by some central, authoritative, co-ordinating body. Second, some way must be found to dis¬ tribute to the pastoral charges in each conference the total responsibility of the conference. Any distribution to these smaller units which the central authority may make ought to be subject to what¬ ever revision may be required to meet va¬ rious local conditions concerning which no central organization can have exact and intimate knowledge. This calls for the co-operation of local groups having close and familiar contact with small sections of the church — such as the dis¬ trict superintendent and the district com¬ mittee on apportionments. The central agency ought to exercise no further con¬ trol over this redistribution than is needed in order to preserve certain approved totals. How the new plan of apportionments adopted for the World Service Program attempts to meet this two-fold problem is set forth in the following paragraphs. Apportionments to Conferences The annual conferences, mission confer¬ ences, and missions are rated according to their ability to give. Their relative stand¬ ing in this matter has been determined by three factors: 1. The number of members per pastoral charge.— As a rule, the larger the average number of members in the pastoral charges of any conference, the stronger the conference and the greater the ability of its people to give. 2. The ministerial support payment per pastoral charge. — As a rule, the larger this item, the stronger the conference and the greater the financial resources of its people. 3. The per capita payment to ministerial support.— Other things being equal, the larger the individual contribution for min¬ isterial support, the stronger the confer¬ ence and the greater the ability of its peo¬ ple to give. The number of members is always un¬ derstood in these reckonings to mean the number of full members, not including preparatory or non-resident members. By ministerial support is meant, as de¬ fined by the Discipline, pastors’ salaries (house rent included), and payments for the support of district superintendents, bishops, and conference claimants. The 113 conferences to which appor¬ tionments are made are rated according to these three items. The average for the country as a whole on each item is first ascertained, and with it is compared the average on the same item for each annual conference. To find the relative standing of an annual conference as to the number APPORTIONMENT 691 of members per pastoral charge, it is nec¬ essary to compare it with the average number of members per pastoral charge in the country as a whole. This is indi¬ cated by an index or rating of 100. The rating is then calculated for each confer¬ ence. If the average number of members per pastoral charge in any conference is above the average for the country as a whole, that conference must accordingly be rated at above 100. If the average number of members per pastoral charge in any conference is less than the average for the country as a whole, that confer¬ ence must accordingly be rated at less than 100. By an exactly similar process the rela¬ tive standing as to each of the other two items is calculated, in each case the confer¬ ence being compared with the church as a whole. The average of the three index numbers so calculated, determines the rating of the conference, just as the aver¬ age credit earned by a pupil in his vari¬ ous classes determines his standing in school. For instance, a certain con¬ ference has 54 per cent as many members in each pastoral charge as the average number of members per pastoral charge in the United States, it pays 78 per cent as much to ministerial support per pas¬ toral charge, and 147 per cent as much per member as the average payment of the church as a whole. The average of these three percentages is 93. This con¬ ference therefore is counted as able to pay about 90 per cent as much per mem¬ ber as a conference of average ability. These estimates of the relative ability to give have further been verified and cor¬ rected by comparison with the relative in¬ come per capita in each state as calcu¬ lated by the National Bureau of Economic Research. When, for example, it was found that the per capita income in the state in which the conference above cited is located is exactly 93 per cent of the average income per capita in the whole United States, the estimate of the Divi¬ sion of Apportionments and Statistics on the comparative financial ability of this conference had received the strongest pos¬ sible confirmation. In most cases com¬ parison with these scientific estimates of income clearly confirms the division’s rating of the several conferences ; in other cases this comparison has been used to modify and correct its estimates of com¬ parative financial ability, not in any case increasing, but in a few instances lower¬ ing. Comparison was also made with the relative apportionment per member for the Centenary and the relative payment per member in each conference. The total amount ordered to be appor¬ tioned to the whole church is apportioned to the several conferences on the basis of the estimates so made of comparative ability to give. A detailed statement of the methods employed, including the rating of the sev¬ eral conferences and the amount to be apportioned to each conference, was sub¬ mitted to the administrative committee of the Committee on Conservation and Ad¬ vance, acting under the authority of the Council of Boards; and these methods, estimates, and apportionments received the administrative committee’s definite approval. Apportionments to Pastoral Charges Thus far this statement has dealt only with the apportionment to each confer¬ ence as a whole. The next step is to dis¬ tribute these conference totals to pastoral charges, assigning to each charge its just share in the total amount apportioned to the annual conference. A careful esti¬ mate must first be made of the compara¬ tive strength of the several congregations in each conference as indicated by the statistics printed annually for all charges. Four items in these statistical reports are accepted as in some degree an indi¬ cation of each congregation’s ability to give to the church’s benevolent program. These items are : 1. Membership, the number of full members on the roll, not including either preparatory or non-resident members. 2. Net property valuation, churches and parsonages, less indebtedness on property. 692 WORLD SERVICE 3. Ministerial support, pastors’ salaries (house rent included) and payments to the support of district superintendents, bishops, and conference claimants. 4. Previous payments to disciplinary benevolences. Centenary payments foi the ten general benevolent boards and the American Bible Society, together with the Children’s Day Loan Fund of the Board of Education and the women’s missionary societies. In order to provide a more adequate measure of each church’s normal strength, not one year’s statistical report alone, but the average of three full Centenary years is used in all these reckonings. Expensive properties reported by churches wholly supported from mission¬ ary funds are excluded from the reckon¬ ing; and properties of small, partially self-supporting churches are counted as no more than the average property hold¬ ing per member in the church as a whole. The attempt is also made to exclude from the reckoning money received from any missionary agency and applied to minis¬ terial support. Redistribution of Apportionments After the above processes have been employed and the apportionments to the local churches have been calculated, these apportionments are mailed to the district superintendents as required by the Dis¬ cipline. They in turn are expected to “transmit the same to pastors,” not how¬ ever without first the opportunity to secure, if needed, some revision. For, no matter how excellent the methods em¬ ployed or how accurately they may have been applied, still a perfect result will not in all cases have been achieved. Therefore, whenever desirable, the dis¬ trict superintendent is authorized to re¬ distribute, in co-operation with a district committee on apportionments, the total amount apportioned to his district. This makes it possible through district co-oper¬ ation to overcome the most serious diffi¬ culty which a central organization must meet in any attempt to calculate the ap¬ portionments to the local churches. No redistribution can be accepted by which the district total is reduced. After the district superintendent has reported to the central office the redistri¬ bution recommended by the district com¬ mittee, and after these figures are found to meet the conditions stated above, they are recorded at the central office as the official apportionments to pastoral charges. The apportionments are transmitted to local churches by the district superintend¬ ents, and will not be sent out directly from the central office. The apportionments to the conferences, districts, and charges are calculated and are announced for one year and for only one year at a time. One apportionment is made distributing to conferences, districts and charges an $18,500,000 total. Sepa¬ rate apportionments are not reckoned for the individual boards. DESIGNATIONS 693 DESIGNATED GIFTS At its regular meeting in Chicago, Jan¬ uary 23-25, 1923, the Council of Boards of Benevolence upon the recommendation of a subcommittee and its Executive Com¬ mittee passed the following resolutions to govern designated gifts. While it is the earnest hope of all the boards and agencies, that subscriptions and payments to the World Service Pro¬ gram be made regularly through the du¬ plex envelope without designation, it is re¬ alized that many persons desire to give large amounts for specific objects. For¬ tunately, the financial plans of the World Service Program permit full opportunity to realize both of these desires. Resolutions Adopted by the Council 1. The first consideration for the church is to raise the regular apportion¬ ment in full, so that the regular recurring obligations of its World Service may be faithfully provided for. 2. The Committee on Conservation and Advance, through its Administrative Com¬ mittee, shall in consultation with the Boards make a list of approved needs for designated gifts. This list shall repre¬ sent such portion of the work shown in the statement of needs in excess of the $18,500,000 regularly apportioned as may be determined upon. Additional or “honor roll” credit shall be given the churches only for such designated gifts as are au¬ thorized as herein provided. 3. Within the regular apportionments to the churches, contributors may desig¬ nate their gifts to any board or to any of the objects of the work of any boards; but such designation shall not change the ratio of receipts of the respective boards. 4. Authorized designated gifts from churches having met their apportionment in full shall be applied directly to the boards or causes designated, and shall be additional income for such boards. But all designated gifts shall bear their pro¬ portion of administration expenses. 5. When a church shall have raised its regular apportionment in full, it may re¬ ceive additional or “honor roll” credit for all moneys given for authorized desig¬ nated gifts. 6. To avoid conflicts, overlapping and duplication of expense and effort, all solic¬ itation for designated gifts shall be under the immediate direction of the Committee on Conservation and Advance in co-opera¬ tion with the other constituted authorities of the Church. 7. The Treasurers of the several con¬ stituent boards shall make an itemized monthly statement to the Treasurer of the Committee on Conservation and Advance of the receipt of all designated funds re¬ ceived by such board during the preceding month. 8. None of the donors of designated gifts shall receive apportionment or “honor roll” credit unless the moneys pass through the hands of the Treasurer of the Committee on Conservation and Advance or are reported as above. 9. These regulations relating to Des¬ ignated Gifts shall continue in force until modified by the General Conference or by the Council of Boards of Benevolence. . The Committee of Twenty-Five and the C orresponding Secretaries in Session at Chicago , January 11-12, 1923 ADVANCE PROGRAM Report of the Committee of Twenty -Five to the Council of Boards of Benevolence Adopted by the Council at its meeting in Chicago, January 23-25, 1923 The Council of Boards of Benevolence at its second annual meeting in Detroit, Michigan, November 22, 1921, adopted a report recommending the creation of a Committee of Twenty-Five to which the boards should submit new studies of their needs as a basis for a program of advance for presentation to this Council. This Committee of Twenty-Five on Advance Program was composed of fifteen ministers and ten laymen, with whom were associated the president of the Coun¬ cil, the chairman of the Executive Com¬ mittee, the chairman, corresponding sec¬ retary, and treasurer of the Committee on Conservation and Advance, and the five members of the Bishops’ Advisory Committee. It met in Chicago March 1-2, 1922, for organization. David G. Downey was elected chairman and James R. Joy, secretary. Standing committees were ap- pointed on new studies, evangelism, edu¬ cational program, stewardship, lay activ¬ ities, and tentative program of advance. Plans for the prompt prosecution of the new studies by the boards were formu¬ lated, and a time schedule was worked out. The committee held a second meet¬ ing in Chicago June 27, 1922, when re¬ ports of progress in the surveys were received. The third session was held in Chicago, January 11-12, 1923. At this time the committee received and acted upon the results of the new studies and adopted the several reports which it now presents to the Council: 1. Lay Activities Your committee would emphasize the importance of lay activities in connec- 695 696 WORLD SERVICE tion with the forward progress of church benevolences. Key laymen should be en¬ listed to make intelligent distribution of the new survey volume, to direct the every-member benevolent canvass and to otherwise educate and direct the local churches in the forward program. We emphasize the importance of selec¬ tion of the proper person in every quar¬ terly conference as chairman of the com¬ mittee on apportioned benevolences. The missionary societies in the Sunday school, and the department of World Evangelism in the Epworth League should be enlisted for the best possible service in the new program. In the work of promotion and education through the committee on apportioned be¬ nevolences, Sunday-school missionary so¬ cieties, Epworth League department of World Evangelism, and other lay agencies we request our educational department of the Committee on Conservation and Ad¬ vance to take necessary steps in making these agencies effective through the regu¬ lar channels of the church. We recommend the use of district or sub-district training conferences with lay representation to be arranged through the resident bishop, area secretary, and district superintendent. 2. Educational Program We recommend that the existing or¬ ganization of the church be the agency for the carrying out of this educational program and that the direction of it be committed to the Committee on Conserva¬ tion and Advance, working through its Department of Education. This action placing responsibility for the educational program on the existing organization of the church means that all the persons involved in this organi¬ zation must themselves be informed and inspired as a prerequisite for leading the church to whole-hearted effort. The suggestions which follow are based on the use of these connectional agencies : a. An inter-board staff training confer¬ ence, to be held immediately after the January council meeting. b. An adequate presentation and dis¬ cussion in the annual conferences, begin¬ ning with the spring conferences of 1923. c. Area training conferences, with bishop, area secretary, college presidents, and district superintendents present. d. District or group meetings using the Survey Book as a program basis. These to be discussion groups with an inspira¬ tional evening meeting. e. In the local church the following simple but absolutely necessary program is suggested: 1. A discussion of the world-service program of the church with an accept¬ ance of the apportionment by the quar¬ terly conference or official board ; 2. Public presentation by the pastor from the pulpit at definite stated periods when the great causes represented by the connectional boards will be given to the people ; 3. Study classes, Church Training Night, and unit groups; 4. Instruction in the Sunday school and in the Epworth League; 5. The use of minute men, but not necessarily under that name; 6. A copy of the survey volume in every home; 7. Adequate preparation for the every member canvass. f. We urge an immediate enrolment in the area offices of the chairman of the com¬ mittee on apportioned benevolences in each local church. g. The preparation of the educational material necessary to carry forward the above program. h. Inspirational meetings, area, dis¬ trict, city- wide, as may be arranged in ac¬ cordance with the desires of the various areas. i. We recommend that a new name and a slogan be adopted. We propose The World Service of the Methodist Episcopal Church “I am among you as he that serveth .” “To Serve the Present Age.” COMMITTEE OF TWENTY-FIVE 69 7 j. We recommend that pledges be taken in 1923 for the first post-Centenary year only, and that we leave the determi¬ nation of a permanent policy until later; this, however, does not preclude any indi¬ viduals or churches from making pledges for a longer time if they so desire. 3. Stewardship In the Discipline no phase of the Chris¬ tian life is more clearly stressed than that of Christian stewardship, stewardship of life, of substance and of prayer as essen¬ tial to the complete Christian life and not merely as a means for financing the pro¬ gram of the church. These principles of stewardship are so fully set forth under the head of Special Advices in Paragraph 71 of the Discipline, that no word of explanation is needed. Paragraph 182, Section 17, provides that every pastor shall teach the duty of Christian stewardship in accordance with these special advices. Paragraph 108, Section 4, provides for a quarterly conference report from unit leaders and class leaders with special ref¬ erence to intercession and Christian stew¬ ardship. The church has been placing the em¬ phasis upon the giving of the tenth. The greatest example in all history of a peo¬ ple’s recognition of God’s claim upon their possessions is found in the tithe of the Jews, and no better starting point for the Christian’s recognition of God’s claim upon him can be found than in the tith¬ ing system, as can be testified to by almost a half million of enrolled Methodist tith- ers, together with a great company of unenrolled conscientious givers, many of whom are tithers. Some definite propor¬ tion of our substance must be set aside for God ; and history and our present-day experience point alike to the tenth as a wise minimum of endeavor. While recognizing the right of every giver to designate his tithe, we never¬ theless unhesitatingly express the con¬ viction that for the most part the king¬ dom of God will be more quickly advanced by the dedication of the tithe to the regu¬ lar enterprises of the church. A new light is breaking and the church is coming back at last to the emphasis of Jesus. God has made us working partners in his plans for a new world, and he owns more than a tenth interest in the partnership. The other nine-tenths also belong to God. They are as truly his property as the tithe. We are stewards of all we possess. We are trustees for God Of all our possessions and all our personality. A recognition of this prin¬ ciple is necessary to the world’s redemp¬ tion. The failure of professed Christian nations to recognize and practice the prin¬ ciples of Christian stewardship has de¬ layed for centuries God’s plans for bring¬ ing in the fullness of his kingdom. God has honored our Methodism with a large share of the responsibility for the evangelizing of the world. The Cen¬ tenary, which has been one of the out¬ standing events of the religious history of the world, is but the index finger pointing to the unmeasured opportunity for world conquest just ahead. “Our God is marching on” and we march with him. To that end we call upon our pastors to preach and teach the gospel of Chris¬ tian stewardship. We urge the appoint¬ ment of a stewardship committee and the speedy adoption in all our churches of the unit system, or some equally effec¬ tive organization, with a view to the forming of classes or units of tithing stewards. We recommend that the Coun¬ cil of Boards of Benevolence conduct its stewardship educational program through the duly constituted agencies of the church, and that bishops, district super¬ intendents, pastors, quarterly conferences, and unit leaders commit themselves prayerfully and whole-heartedly to the promotion of this movement so vital to the progress of the kingdom at this crucial hour in the life of the church. In the sphere of religion, organization of any sort is valuable just in proportion as it is vitalized by the Holy Spirit. “The letter killeth, the Spirit giveth life.” All the mighty religious movements of his- 698 WORLD SERVICE tory have been the outcome of prevailing prayer. From Pentecost to the present hour religious progress is a sure witness to the sincerity and urgency of prayer. Rejoicing in the spirit of intercessory prayer, which has ever been a Methodist habit, we urge a renewal and deepening of the prayer life of our people, personal, family, and public. Our God will be in¬ quired of and entreated by his children. Answer waits upon such inquiry and en¬ treaty. The world temper is indicative of prayer need. By many and devious methods the world is blindly groping after God. The Christian knows the way. It is by the path of prayer. Behind every method, back of all agencies, at the foun¬ dation of every human effort, we postu¬ late the necessity, the primacy, and the efficacy of prayer. Without this we fail miserably; with it victory is certain, for ours is a covenant-keeping God. 4. Evangelism a. Our supreme work. — Your committee holds with the thoughtful and devout minds of the whole church that evangel¬ ism is the supreme work of the church and that in its true and inclusive meaning it gathers up all other phases of our work. Methodism is only a spirit and method of evangelism. With any other dominant note we would not be Methodists. We believe that the church should carry on the following four correlated activities simultaneously : 1. Evangelism, by which we mean con¬ version and vital Christian experience, in¬ cluding, of course, constant accessions to membership ; 2. Teaching and training the whole membership, and as much as possible,, the whole constituency, in intelligent piety, and in the total stewardship responsibil¬ ity; 3. A broad, careful, intelligent call to life-service tasks; 4. An adequate, systematic, general fi¬ nancial program that will reach every member. It is highly important that any church¬ wide program should so combine these activities that no section and no commit¬ tee or commission can mistake the unity or can break the correlation. b. The objective. — It is our conviction that the church needs to know and feel a more comprehensive definition of the meaning of the term evangelism so that it may have its full content and consequently its proper place in our thinking and work¬ ing. It should include every method of win¬ ning men to Christ and every form of training men in the Christian religion. Evangelism is not complete when persons are converted and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Master. All such should be en¬ rolled as members of the church and be developed by many processes of Chris¬ tian nurture and through considerable periods of time into full-grown Chris¬ tians. No convert is safe outside of the church. He in turn must become not a lone disciple but a co-operating soul win¬ ner, for he must know that the kingdom is not to be advanced by mere addition but by multiplication. c. The field. — The field is the whole world. The Sunday school is still the most immediate as well as the most promising field. Each church has also a natural con¬ stituency and that should be accepted as definitely as the enrolled membership of the congregation. We have included schools and colleges as accepted fields of responsi¬ bility. We should also include as fields of evangelistic obligation the so-called “neg¬ lected poor” and the “neglected rich.” Further, we should give exact and patient effort to reach with a virile gospel all other distinct groups, among which are: 1. Business men’s organizations and clubs ; 2. Women’s clubs and societies; 3. Labor organizations and working men ; 4. Foreign-speaking communities ; 5. Army and navy groups. Such walls of separation are man-made and artificial and the chief purpose of the gospel is to bring together in one all of His own. Wherever there is one lone, lost man, we must bring him to Jesus. COMMITTEE OF TWENTY-FIVE 699 d. Methods. — Never was diversity of method more needed or more justified. Congregations are following certain forms of effort which have become formal and in¬ efficient. This church has no exclusive method, and no method that does the work is improper or irregular. Therefore we urge pastors and all official members not to allow themselves to rest satisfied with the use of means that are actually unsuc¬ cessful but to seek and to try honestly, dili¬ gently, and prayerfully till they discover some successful method for this particular congregation at any given time, and heart¬ ily pursue it. An annual growth of ten per cent must be the minimum expectation in every congregation. These methods are proved and we com¬ mend them to the churches : 1. Systematic, organized, prayerful personal interviews; 2. Careful training and dedication of all child life; 3. Congregational revival campaigns; 4. Community revival campaigns; 5. Special campaigns in colleges, shops, and among workers : 6. Street and open-air meetings and missions ; 7. Summer institutes and camp meet¬ ings; 8. Parlor meetings and other informal home gatherings. Attention is again called to the great value of the special seasons as appropriate times to climax evangelistic efforts for a given period. Such are Christmas, Easter, and Children’s Day. But short and occa¬ sional efforts of any kind ought not to relieve any church of its daily responsi¬ bility or any member of his constant evangelistic opportunity. Church training night has become pop¬ ular in many congregations. It should not be diverted from its highest purposes into mere social waste. We urge its more general use as a means of evangelism of the best sort, including the development of intelligent Christian character. The call for a positive and a prophetic preaching ministry was never more timely than now. Sin is rampant and deadly; personal redemption in Christ Jesus is still the only cure. It is no time for pleasant platitudes or passionless plausi¬ bilities. Actual burning facts and wit¬ nessing, working Christian experiences and dedication to God are imperative. With such a need and such a gospel, woe to the watchman who does not preach the gospel of the redeeming Christ! Nor are methods of recruiting the mem¬ bership alone sufficient. The gospel of conservation is just as necessary and as heroic as that of conversion. Our Master kept those the Father gave him and lost but one of the twelve. The leakage and wastage in our membership every year are appalling and losses are so unneces¬ sarily large as to show bad methods of church and pastoral care, if not criminal neglect. We need: 1. Greater and wiser care of new-born Christians ; 2. Better methods of caring for new¬ comers in the congregation ; 3. Systematic follow-up of indifferent members ; 4. Increase in local church activities that will give opportunity to new mem¬ bers to exercise and develop Christian graces and character; 5. Increased conscience in keeping church records to prevent great numbers being “pruned” out instead of being lov¬ ingly followed up and set to work. There is too much eagerness to correct church records in order to affect financial appor¬ tionments and we have allowed ourselves to become complacent when members wander away and are lost. We count it a great event when one comes into the king¬ dom; we should count it a tragedy when one is dropped from the rolls of the church. Habits of indifference in this matter on the part of pastors or official members are inexcusable, if not un-Chris- tian. e. Agencies. — This or any other chal¬ lenge to faithful evangelism will be mere words unless it brings forth a hearty and willing response from the pastors and lay 700 WORLD SERVICE leaders of the churches. Evangelism should be initiated by the religious zeal and loy¬ alty of the local leadership, and there must be greatest freedom in methods and plans to meet those varied needs. If they fail the evangelism of that community fails. Plans, suggestions, and ideas may come from some general headquarters; but genuine and enduring Christian evangelism comes from the spirit of the Master and is near to every congregation of true worshipers. It cannot be brought by resolutions and indifferent consent of heedless official boards of quarterly conferences. It can only come by prayer and plans and sacri¬ fice. There should be no “off years” of watchful waiting for it to break out. in some unexpected quarter. Our loving Lord awaits a willing church. Wherefore, trite as it may seem to some, it is necessary to say again that the chief pastoral responsibility of the hour that cannot be replaced by any other duty or delegated to another is the duty to lead the congregation in successful evangelism, and from this no pastor may be excused. Boards and bishops and conferences may suggest and plan and advise. Whatever results come from the efforts of confer¬ ence, district or professional evangelists, pastoral and congregational evangelism in spirit and in fact is a supreme need of the hour and is the permanent work of the church. We raise no objection to sup¬ plementing this with gospel teams, evan¬ gelistic singers, or any other needed help¬ ers. But it is never to be avoided as a pastoral responsibility. The guidance of this work belongs to the regular, authorized leadership of the church. We urge and expect bishops, dis¬ trict superintendents, and all others to give such definite, hearty, personal leader¬ ship to this work in every area as they gave in the “I Will Maintain” campaign and other strategic victories of the church. These ought ye to have done but not leave the supreme task undone. f. Our dedication. — For the evangelism of the world, our Lord came to earth, lived, taught, suffered and died on Calvary, saying : “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” For this purpose the Holy Spirit came into the world and developed a world¬ saving church out of a mere handful of disappointed men. For this purpose Methodism was called into being and began to preach that good news among the poor. To accomplish better this purpose we have developed a great organization of connectional Christianity, that now car¬ ries the light of His cross to the remotest parts of the earth. Not a board, not a society or commission in the whole church in its truest purposes has any other task or objective, but is part of this high and holy purpose. If in this purpose we fail, the whole structure of Methodist Christianity stands before the world as a once mighty temple now sacked and ruined. We are just now closing the celebration of the first century of that aggressive denominational life which has been so full of sacrifices, of achievements and of devotion to the will of God, all of which was so bounti¬ fully blessed by the Holy Spirit. The need for this evangel is today a tragic need. It is the last hope of the world. Expedients, social, political and economic have been tried and have failed. As of yore the multitudes are asking: “Sirs, we would see Jesus,” and they will not be satisfied with another. Therefore, we make this solemn and sincere dedication to the first task of the church : That old and young, leaders and those led; in boards and commissions and con¬ gregations, preachers and people; by old means and new, and by means yet unknown among us, formally and informally ; in church and school and home ; in club and factory and on street; on special days, during special seasons and every day; in all languages and tongues and among all races and peoples and colors; with due humility and yet with a godly courage; we do again lay ourselves and as far as in us lies our congregations and our great Meth¬ odism anew on the altar of Jesus Christ COMMITTEE OF TWENTY-FIVE 701 dedicated to keep first things first and to go into the whole world preaching the gos¬ pel to every person teaching them to observe all His teachings. Fail if we must in other tasks; we dare not and will not fail our Lord in this. 5. Needs and Apportionments Your committee recommends that a defi¬ nite sum of $18,500,000.00 be designated and approved to be apportioned among the churches in the regular way. The Committee of Twenty-Five received from the Committee on New Studies a statement of the legitimate needs and the no-growth figures of the eleven benevolent boards. These were discussed at length and referred to the sub-committee, who, in turn, resubmitted them to the boards for any possible revisions. The sub-com¬ mittee, after full conference with the boards involved, again presented these figures to the Committee of Twenty-Five and they were finally adopted and made a part of this report. It is intended that this list of needs shall be presented to the church in an appeal for subscriptions over and above the apportionment on the honor roll plan. 6. A Call to Advance What is the meaning of this figure that your committee has recommended for the apportionment? On the one hand we have the estimate of $28,045,173 as the legiti¬ mate annual need of the church for its dis¬ tinctively missionary work and on the other we find that the amount necessary to maintain the work on an absolutely “no growth” basis is $13,885,172.70. Remem¬ bering that ours is a growing church, remembering also that “no growth” in work of this character is quite sure to result in deterioration, recalling our com¬ mission as a Committee on Advance Pro¬ gram and bearing in mind that the church recently pledged $21,000,000 and in one year actually paid $15,908,000.00, it has seemed to your committee that the amount named is a reasonable expectation of what the Methodist Episcopal Church ought to lay on God’s altar in the first year of the new quadrennium. This plan will make it possible for those churches now meeting their full apportionment to continue and even to advance, and will also make pos¬ sible an apportionment to many churches that will inspire them with confidence in their ability to meet the askings on a one hundred per cent basis and be a declara¬ tion of purpose to bear our full share in the sacrificial task of winning the world for Christ. The program and achievement of our Centenary celebration has lifted the total thinking and giving of our church im¬ measurably. Horizons once pushed out can never be contracted. Moments of achievement are advance posts which the church will not easily surrender. The splendid advance of these recent years is due to the fidelity, the devotion, and the generosity of laity, pastors, district super¬ intendents, bishops, and secretaries. The foot cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of thee.” The whole body working together has wrought successfully at the task in the interest of humanity and for the glory of God. The very name of the Committee of Twenty-Five, a Committee on Advance Program, makes it clear that the Council did not expect the committee to sound a retreat and it is believed that the church does not desire a retreat. In presenting to the Council, and through the Council to the church, this program of advance, the Committee of Twenty-Five desires to make crystal clear the fact that for the successful prosecu¬ tion of the total task of Methodism, at home and abroad, the dependence must always be upon the local church, the pas¬ tor, the district superintendent, and the bishop. These are the foundation stones upon which the entire superstructure rests and must always rest. Your com¬ mittee strongly emphasizes the primacy of these agencies. They are not the servants of the boards but per contra the boards are the duly constituted agencies devised, planned, and ordained by the representa¬ tives of the church in General Conference assembled, for the carrying out of the plans and the programs of the church. 702 WORLD SERVICE THE THREE BASES— Present Work, Approved Needs, and Apportionment Present-work Basis Approved Needs Apportionment Board of Foreign Missions . Board of Home Missions and Church Extension Board of Education for Negroes . Board of Education . Board of Sunday Schools . Board of Conference Claimants . Board of the Epworth League . American Bible Society . Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals . General Deaconess Board . Board of Hospitals and Homes . Commission on Courses of Study . Commission on Life Service . . Committee on Conservation and Advance . In view of what has already been achieved, in view of the world need as out¬ lined in the careful and scientific studies herewith submitted, and in view of the unquestionable ability of our people, we dare call the church to a simultaneous ad¬ vance along the whole front: 1. In the supreme work of the church, to wit : The preaching and practice of the good news of Jesus Christ, with steady and insistent application to the totality of life; 2. In the enlistment of still larger num¬ bers of the laity in all the activities of the church, to the end that that genuine Chris¬ tian experience may be the prized posses¬ sion and the daily practice of the great hosts of people called Methodists; 3. In the development and ever-widen¬ ing application of the scriptural and dis¬ ciplinary doctrine of the trusteeship of life and substance; $ 5,426,129.03 $12,015,900.00 $ 6,800,000.00 5,082,723.07 9,805,040.00 6,800,000.00 782,077.14 950,000.00 760,000.00 801,227.40 2,302,683.00 1,500,000.00 346,387.75 810,000.00 600,000.00 55,000.00 150,000.00 150,000.00 118,827.30 176,800.00 175,000.00 142,957.04 250,000.00 200,000.00 149,284.10 319,750.00 250,000.00 50,414.06 90,000.00 90,000.00 39,527.88 175,000.00 175,000.00 45,000.00 60,000.00 60,000.00 54,677.00 75,000.00 75,000.00 792,000.00 865,000.00 865,000.00 $13,886,231.77 $28,045,173.00 $18,500,000.00 4. In the strengthening and enlarging of the work of the local church and in cordial co-operation with the various boards majoring in the home field; 5. In the extension and completion of the world service of our church in those lands where by order of the church our representatives are toiling in the face of difficulties almost unbelievable, and with a devotion as deep, a courage as heroic and a faith as sublime as the world has ever known. Fervently do we pray — “Let kindle, as before, 0 Heavenly Light! New messengers of righteousness, and hope, And courage, for our day! So shall the world That ever, surely, climbs to God’s desire Grow swifter toward his purpose and in¬ tent ACKNOWLEDGMENT “World Service.” — World Service is a new general name for the disciplinary ap¬ portioned benevolences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, adopted by the Council of Boards of Benevolence. It does not include the work of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society and the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. Their institu¬ tions, mission stations, and summer con¬ ferences are indicated and described in this volume because no account of the world service of our church would be complete without them. Their budgets, however, are not included in the World Service ask¬ ings and apportionments because in the local church they are not officially com¬ bined in the benevolent budget and raised through the duplex envelope. A co-operative effort. — This World Serv¬ ice volume represents that fine quality of co-operation possible in a great connec- tional organization like the Methodist Episcopal Church. Toward its prepara¬ tion, missionaries at home and abroad, corresponding secretaries and department superintendents of the benevolent boards and agencies, presidents and deans of our educational institutions, superintendents of our philanthropic agencies, pastors, dis¬ trict superintendents, bishops, and editors of our church papers have all contributed a share. Mr. Hutchinson wrote the foreign sec¬ tion of Part One. Mr. McDermott pre¬ pared the American section of Part One. Part Two was prepared in co-operation with the various boards and comprises the statements presented by them to the Committee of Twenty-Five and to the Council of Boards of Benevolence, with the necessary revisions. Part Three was written in co-operation with the treasurers of the Committee on 703 704 WORLD SERVICE Conservation and Advance and of the be¬ nevolent boards and agencies. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Gilbert Loveland for weeks of painstaking effort on the preparation of the copy for the printer and all items of makeup and proof reading; to James Grantham for work done on the maps, charts, and en¬ gravings ; to Hiram G. Conger for assem¬ bling the illustrations from far and near ; to Charles M. Barton for furnishing the statistics; and to Robert H. Hughes and the staff of the Methodist Book Concern in Chicago for loyal and devoted efforts on the manufacture of the book. Neither the editor, the writers, nor any other person receives any royalties or extra financial compensation in the sale of this volume. The material is not copy¬ righted and may be reproduced freely. Our hope is that it may have the very widest possible circulation. Our goal is “A copy in every Methodist home” Ralph E. Diffendorfer, Educational Secretary, Committee on Conservation and Advance. Chicago, Illinois, May 15, 1923. A WORLD SERVICE PRAYER thou eternal Father of mankind, H grant unto us, we pray thee, a _ consciousness of thy Thou^only art our refuge and our salvation. heartening presence. ' strength, our light and \Ve have sinned and suffered. Help us to repent before it is too late to avoid further suffering. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from those selfish passions and bitter tem¬ pers that have wasted the wealth of na¬ tions, turned fruitful fields into a barren wilderness, dimmed the light in women s eyes, hushed the laughter on the lips of children, slain the sons in whom we had centered our hopes, and left us permanently poorer. Open our eyes to the folly of greed, to the madness of hate, and to the unreasonableness and wickedness of those prejudices that have separated class from class, nation from nation, and race from race. Help us to make our own the motive of Him who came into our world not to be ministered unto but to minister. Help us to love even our enemies and to do good even to those who have hurt us. Beneath every difference of culture and color and creed, may we discover our common hu¬ manity and our growing dependence on one another. Grant unto us a vision of our human world as it might be: no festering slums in which little children are denied a fair chance of life: no selfish industries in which material profit looms larger than the welfare of men; no hopeless poverty nor preventable dis¬ ease; no wasting, embittering strife; but a world built securely upon justice, made happy by love, and enriched by the con¬ tributions of many peoples. Help us in spite of every discouragement to believe in this better world. Help us to become willing to pay any price which may be necessary to secure it. May we resolve to give all we can to the end that the night of the world's sorrow may be shortened, and that a glad, new morning may dawn for mankind. In the name of Him who is the inspirer and hope of our world service.