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FRANCIS MARION RAINS 
 
 <BY 
 PAUL BOYD RAINS 
 
 ST. LOUIS 
 
 CHRISTIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 
 
 1922 
 
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 Copyright, 1922 
 
 Christian Board of Publication, 
 
 St. Louis, Missouri. 
 
 
 ©CI.A686577 
 
 OCT 30 "22 
 
THIS VOLUME IS 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO 
 
 MY STEPMOTHER 
 
 MRS. ROSE STEPHENS RAINS 
 
 WHOSE SPLENDID CHRISTIAN 
 CHARACTER STRENGTHENED 
 THE EFFORTS OF MY FATHER 
 AND HAS GREATLY ENRICHED 
 MY LIFE 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This volume is a memoir rather than a biography. 
 The author has attempted to present a composite 
 word picture of Francis Marion Eains as he was 
 known by those with whom he lived and labored. 
 It is well as we share in the world-wide triumphs 
 of righteousness which may be witnessed on every 
 hand today, to remember such Christian statesmen 
 who have gone before and prepared the way. 
 When we confront great problems as a religious 
 body it is well to be minded how such men dealt 
 with similar problems through the preceding years. 
 
 The book would not be complete without ex- 
 pressing appreciation for those who have helped 
 to make it possible, among whom are the following : 
 B. F. Clay, Carter Simpson, Harry D. Smith, B. L. 
 Smith, George W. Muckley, Stephen J. Corey, A. 
 E. Cory, C. W. Plopper, Bert Wilson, C. M. 
 Yocum, Bruce L. Kershner, George L. Snively, 
 E. B. Barnes, Richard H. Crossfield, Joseph D. 
 Armistead, James H. Fillmore, C. R. Stauffer, W. 
 Remfry Hunt, Mrs. Paul T. Gates, and especially 
 my mother, Mrs. Rose S. Rains, whose assistance 
 has been invaluable. 
 
 It is with the hope that this volume may per- 
 petuate the memory of one whose leadership has 
 been widely felt and prove an inspiration to all 
 who read it, that it is presented to Disciples of 
 Christ everywhere. 
 
 Paul Boyd Rains, 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 April 9, 1922'. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 I 
 
 The Old Kentucky Home 13 
 
 II 
 College Days 18 
 
 III 
 In the Sunflower State 25 
 
 IV 
 
 The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 40 
 
 V 
 
 Relation to the Missionaries .... 78 
 
 VI 
 A Dedicator of Churches 97 
 
 VII 
 
 As an Evangelist 110 
 
 VIII 
 As a Friend 120 
 
 IX 
 The Close of His Ministry 139 
 
 X 
 
 He Did Good in Israel 159 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 It is with the sense that a great honor has been 
 done me that I accede to the request of Paul B. 
 Rains to write this short introduction; for I am 
 thus permitted to associate my own name with 
 one which has become noteworthy and dear in 
 many places both in our own land and abroad. 
 Indeed, it is difficult to recall a more significant 
 name than that of the subject of this volume. 
 
 When I began to know Mr. Rains we were both 
 young, he being some years older than I. Almost 
 from the first of our association with each other 
 I admired and trusted him, and he blessed me with 
 his friendship. Since his passing I am not a little 
 embarrassed in my practical decisions; for during 
 more than thirty years before that event I had 
 been wont to refer any matters of first importance 
 in my ministry to him, that I might act in them 
 in view of his judgment. He honored and helped 
 many another younger minister as he did me. 
 So it was that such younger men always thought 
 of him not as the great secretary, not as the world 
 traveler, not as the recipient of academic honors, 
 not as the master of assemblies, but as "Brother 
 Rains." 
 
 It need hardly be added that Mr. Rains was 
 modest; for modesty is ever a part of the secret 
 of such capacity as he had for friendship. Who 
 
 9 
 
10 Introduction 
 
 that glimpsed the relation in which he stood to 
 Mr. McLean can forget his self -forgetful attitude 
 toward that other mighty man of our recent his- 
 tory? Or who that ever noted how generously he 
 rated the powers and achievements of younger and 
 less known men in the ministry can escape the 
 sense of his great and beautiful modesty? 
 
 Another trait that endeared Mr. Rains not only 
 to his friends of the ministry but to a whole vast 
 Christian communion was his humor. This, in 
 him, was no mere adornment. It was rather an 
 engine of efficiency at which thousands marveled. 
 Results of the finest sort at which others aimed in 
 vain, he often achieved through it. That it was 
 of the most basic part of him became evident when 
 he grew ill; for still he smiled and spoke such 
 words of radiant cheer as the most of men cannot 
 command in the flower of perfect health. 
 
 Of course Mr. Rains was an orator. He knew 
 the art of persuasive speech. He knew how by 
 means of spoken words to shape multitudes to 
 great ends which he loved. He was a wizard of 
 churchly finance. And yet his wizardry is largely 
 intelligible. He had a universal cause, that of 
 foreign missions, as his theme during the greater 
 part of his public life. Besides, from the be- 
 ginning of his ministry he conceived with extraor- 
 dinary justice and vividness the relation of money 
 and property to the Kingdom of Christ. And then 
 he had a penetrating insight into the considera- 
 
Introduction 11 
 
 tions by which men are moved to give these things 
 to good causes. And lastly he knew as by a kind 
 of revelation and with great certainty who were 
 and who were not the fittest persons to forward 
 the several parts of the great enterprises in which 
 he led. 
 
 How his piety was deepened with the passage 
 of the years is well known to many of his friends. 
 1 ' How this man Kains has grown ! ' ' So exclaimed 
 Charles Louis Loos one day as Mr. Eains con- 
 cluded an address on foreign missions. President 
 Loos was quite right. |Mr. Eains continued to 
 grow. Nothing more characterized him than 
 growth. 
 
 It is good to read the story of such a man. I 
 covet, therefore, many readers for the following 
 pages. 
 
 Harry D. Smith, 
 Phillips University, 
 Enid, Oklahoma. 
 
 November 1, 1921. 
 
CHAPTER ONE 
 
 THE OLD KENTUCKY HOME 
 
 On a farm one mile southwest of the village 
 now known as Heekin, in Grant Connty, Kentucky, 
 Francis Marion Eains was born May 7, 1854. He 
 was the eldest son of John Eains. His paternal 
 grandfather, who was of French parentage, had 
 migrated from Virginia to Kentucky early in the 
 nineteenth century, and in a trip back to that 
 state was killed by bandits. Later, John's mother 
 having married again, he left home as a lad of 
 twelve to make his way in the world. He was 
 married to Mahala Starns. Of this union, six 
 children were born, Francis Marion being the first 
 one to die, Ella (Mrs. A. S. Barry) of Temple, 
 Texas, dying in the following year. Those sur- 
 viving are: Dr. George Rains, Madison, Indiana; 
 G. G. Rains, druggist, Aurora, Indiana; Effie 
 (Mrs. Joe Gunn), Salisbury, Missouri; Ida (Mrs. 
 T. B. Noel), Moberly, Missouri. The mother died 
 when the children were still small and the father 
 married again, five children being born of this 
 marriage, all but one still living. 
 
 Francis Marion's boyhood was spent on several 
 different farms within a few miles of his birth- 
 place, assisting his father about the place and driv- 
 ing cattle to Cincinnati before the Ohio River was 
 
 13 
 
14 Francis M avion Rains 
 
 bridged. Life was made harder for them all because 
 the father indorsed a note for a neighbor and later 
 was compelled to pay what would be a large sum 
 even in these days, taking practically all he pos- 
 sessed. Francis Marion was six years old at the 
 breaking out of the Civil War, and had vivid 
 memories of soldiers passing along the highway. 
 The fact that the father's brother fought on one 
 side and the mother's brother on the other com- 
 plicated matters for the little family. On one 
 occasion they were both at home on furlough at 
 the same time. It is not difficult to imagine the 
 interest with which the children listened to the 
 thrilling accounts of the great conflict. Many 
 times during these anxious and trying years the 
 family was compelled to flee to the woods as news 
 of approaching soldiers reached them. They were 
 also terrorized by Morgan's raiders more than 
 once. While John Eains was unable to take an 
 active part in the war, he provided in a material 
 way for several neighboring families where the 
 father was at the front, and this without regard 
 to the side on which they were fighting. 
 
 The life of the family was of the simplest. The 
 clothing was homespun, Francis Marion remember- 
 ing distinctly his pride in his first suit of store 
 clothes. He remembered, too, pouring tallow into 
 molds for candles, and the tallow dip as well. 
 
 John Rains' home was a Christian home. He 
 was baptized by William Garratt in 1854, at the 
 
The Old Kentucky Home 15 
 
 age of twenty-two. This was the year Francis 
 Marion was born. This home was always the 
 preacher 's home, many of the pioneers being enter- 
 tained, and services conducted there, as was the 
 custom of that day because of the scarcity of church 
 buildings. The family removed to Missouri in 
 1881, residing near Keytesville and Salisbury until 
 the death of the father, which occurred at the 
 home of his daughter, Ida, in Moberly, January 
 2, 1914, at the ripe age of eighty-one. John Rains 
 had a strong constitution, ready wit and piercing 
 eyes, all of which he retained until a short time 
 before his death. 
 
 As may be imagined, the schools were most 
 primitive. Dr. Carter Simpson, now of Coving- 
 ton, Kentucky, writes as follows of his recollections 
 of those early days : 
 
 Our early and limited education was obtained in the 
 interval from about 1865 to 1871, attending the district 
 schools during the free school term covering a period of 
 three months each year. Practically all the schools were 
 taught in old dilapidated and abandoned dwellings or 
 cabins, and in no case were those makeshifts supplied with 
 chairs, seats, or desks. A substitute for seats was a log 
 split, the flat side turned up and pins inserted in the 
 round side, these serving the purpose of legs. We had 
 no foot-rest or support for the back and it is a great wonder 
 that the children who grew up under circumstances of this 
 kind did not have curvature of the spine. Our writing 
 desks consisted of a plank or board resting on two or 
 three pins inserted into the wall of the building, and when 
 
16 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 we took our lessons in penmanship we were compelled to 
 stand. 
 
 About 1870 we concluded that we had about mastered 
 the English language. We were lucky enough to get 
 teachers' certificates and started out to teach the young 
 minds of our locality how to " shoot", as the saying went 
 in those days. In the fall of 1871 W. K. Azbill came to 
 our neighborhood and held a protracted meeting at my 
 father's house at Heekin. During this meeting, Marion 
 and I made the confession on the same night and within a 
 day or two were immersed in Grassy Run Creek at a point 
 where we had spent much of our time during our boyhood 
 days. In fact, this was about the only place we had to 
 take a bath during the warm season. Mr. Azbill was 
 organizing Columbia Christian College at this time, and 
 through his influence Marion and I, with several other 
 boys of the neighborhood, matriculated in this school the 
 latter part of the following December. All returned home 
 at the close of the session the following spring except 
 Marion. 
 
 Prior to going to Columbia Mr. Rains had at- 
 tended Harrisburg Academy, a small school near 
 Owenton, Kentucky. 
 
 Dr. Simpson also relates the following incident 
 which Mr. Rains often recalled: 
 
 Marion never let an opportunity pass without having 
 something to say, and his improvement along this line was 
 marked. I recall an incident that occurred at the Mt. 
 Olivet Church when Marion was called upon to make a 
 little talk, as they expressed it, at a social meeting and 
 the crowd was so agreeably surprised at the improvement 
 he had made in public speaking that the congratulations 
 of the crowd were simply showered upon him. An old lady 
 in the neighborhood, a shouting Methodist, whom he had 
 
The Old Kentucky Home 17 
 
 known for years, happened to be present on this occasion 
 and her admiration was so pronounced that she could not 
 refrain from expressing her congratulations, and as a 
 manifestation of the same she rushed up and embraced 
 him. He said to me some time after this that he felt so 
 embarrassed at the time that he was at a loss to know 
 what to say or do. 
 
 The first protracted meeting held by Mr. Rains 
 was in the Mt. Pleasant Chnrch in Grant County. 
 G. W. Marshall of Corinth, Kentucky, claims that 
 it was the most successful revival ever held in the 
 community. 
 
CHAPTER TWO 
 
 COLLEGE DAYS 
 
 B. F. Clay, who has been a successful pastor, 
 secretary and evangelist, was a classmate of Mr. 
 Rains in the College of the Bible, of Kentucky 
 University (now Transylvania College), Lexing- 
 ton, Kentucky, graduating at the same time. 
 
 Mr. Clay writes as follows concerning the ex- 
 perience of the four years thus spent in Lexing- 
 ton, no doubt voicing the sentiments of Mr. Rains 
 as well as himself: 
 
 The Christian college is something of a melting pot 
 when it gathers young men from different states, prov- 
 inces and nations to train them for preachers of God's 
 word. These boys come from every walk in life. They 
 come with different degrees of culture, or it may be with 
 no culture. Some from high schools and the small 
 colleges with a fair degree of education, but there are 
 others who come from the poorly equipped country school 
 of the backwoods or the hill country where opportunities 
 for acquiring even the rudiments of an education are very 
 poor. At least this was true of many schools fifty years 
 ago. 
 
 Generally, these boys have one thing in common — a 
 great moral and spiritual purpose in life. This with many 
 of them is a passion. Such men usually find themselves 
 when they are converted to Christ. It is there that they 
 seriously ponder the meaning of life and mark out for 
 themselves the course in life in which they can best serve 
 God and man. At this time young men decide to preach 
 
 18 
 
College Days 19 
 
 the gospel of Christ. It is not to them a profession, nor 
 do they think of it as a ministry. Worldly ambition has 
 little or nothing to do with their decision to preach. There 
 is not before them even a splendid vista of useful years 
 leading up to an exalted station in life as the fruitage and 
 reward of their toils and trials. They simply desire to 
 serve God in the salvation of men, and as an education 
 is necessary to do this, they find some way of entering 
 college where they hope to fill their minds and hearts with 
 such knowledge of the truth as will make them efficient 
 servants of God. 
 
 In the fall of 1874 a boy from Grant County, Kentucky, 
 came to Lexington, and matriculated as a student in the 
 College of the Bible. There was nothing about this boy 
 to distinguish him from the dozens of other young men who 
 had done this same thing. He was of medium size, weigh- 
 ing about one hundred and twenty-four pounds, and so 
 were others. He had dark hair and eyes, but in this respect 
 he was like the majority. He was clad in very ordinary 
 clothing, but this was characteristic of the student body 
 in that particular college. His step was elastic and quick — 
 so was it with all other boys who came to Lexington that 
 fall. His education was limited — so was that of many 
 others. He was "raw", and in this matter he had plenty 
 of company — green, yes, but he knew it and made a joke 
 of it, and likewise of the fellow who was disposed to look 
 down upon him because he was not up on education or 
 culture. 
 
 In one particular he was unlike all others excepting 
 one young man who was his roommate and bosom friend. 
 Both hailed from Grant County. These two men were 
 F. M. Rains and J. S. Kendrick. They were bubbling over 
 with fun. Wit and humor were ever on tap in their rooms. 
 If they had matriculated in any other department of the 
 university you would never have thought of the ministry 
 in connection with either of them, but both of them had 
 
20 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 come to Lexington to prepare for preaching the gospel. 
 However, underneath that wonderful flow of mirth in each 
 of these men there ran a rich vein of intense earnestness 
 and spiritual power. 
 
 Each man had preached a few sermons and held some 
 meetings in country churches. Rains had been strongly 
 influenced by W. K. Azbill of Columbia Christian College, 
 and by Dr. W. H. Daugherty of Corinth, Kentucky. Both of 
 these men were great admirers of Professor J. W. Mc- 
 Garvey, and Rains' presence at Lexington was in a large 
 measure due to the influence of these two friends and ad- 
 visers. His great desire to preach the gospel and his lack 
 of equipment would have put him into some college, but 
 it was McGarvey's reputation as a teacher of the Bible 
 that turned his face toward Lexington. 
 
 He was a good mixer from the first. The students all 
 liked him, his fun and easy manner. However, he spent 
 more time in jesting with his roommate than all the other 
 students in the college. Neither he nor Kendrick was 
 sought after because they were leaders in any other line 
 than as fun-makers. This was their forte. They excelled 
 all others in this regard. Everyone liked them but no one 
 took them seriously. If a boy were "blue" or weary of 
 study, he would slip off to their room for a visit where dull 
 care and gloom were soon routed. "While Rains joked with 
 the boys, memory fails to recall a single sting in aught 
 that he ever said or did. He did not wound his fellow-men 
 though he often used great plainness of speech. He loved 
 them too well ever to ruffle their feelings. 
 
 His method of study was quite different from that 
 usually pursued by boys in college. Most students would 
 sit quietly by their table with books before them, digging 
 out their lessons. Rains and Kendrick spent much of their 
 time reading aloud the printed page and would then ask 
 each other questions as to the meaning of the author. It 
 was a rapid fire, running discussion, interspersed with witty 
 
College Days 21 
 
 remarks at the expense of the author or of each other. 
 With them this method was effective, as their daily recita- 
 tions compared favorably with the men in their respective 
 classes. Mr. Rains was not regarded as a brilliant student. 
 He, however, never failed on examinations — the dread of 
 most boys. He was not a bookman, but in some way he 
 gathered knowledge from every source. His contact with 
 men seemed to be fruitful and when college days were 
 ended he was well equipped for his life work. 
 
 It was a rule of the faculty that students could have 
 regular appointments for only two Sundays in the month. 
 Mr. Rains preached somewhere on every Sunday he could 
 get away from college. He generally preached for small 
 country churches and for small pay, but he went away 
 from college on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning 
 with the air of a man who had the most important charge 
 in the entire brotherhood. On the following Monday he 
 came in as one who had fully measured up to the require- 
 ments of the situation. 
 
 On one occasion he preached on a controverted subject 
 in a country church near Cincinnati, and did it with so 
 much assurance and effectiveness that a reporter for one 
 of the Cincinnati dailies who heard him, commented very 
 sarcastically on the sermon and the preacher, and then re- 
 quested him on his next trip to discuss a very curious and 
 obscure description of a certain beast in the book of Revela- 
 tion. His friend Kendrick read the comment, clipped it 
 from the paper, and later sprung it on Rains in a debate 
 in the college literary society. He was for the moment 
 abashed, as he had not seen or heard of it before, but by 
 the time he was to reply had fully recovered. His reply 
 was to the effect that the reporter was a sectarian and his 
 sermon got under his hide that night. He was out there 
 courting a girl and not seeking either light or salvation. 
 Then he told an experience of Kendrick 's that closed the 
 debate in an uproar of laughter. 
 
22 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 In the Philothean Society he preferred debating to any- 
 other form of literary exercise. He loved action both of 
 mind and body. In debating he -was at his best when his 
 intimate friend, J. S. Kendrick, was his opponent. The hall 
 of old Philothea was always a place of mirth whenever 
 these two men were pitted against each other. 
 
 His preaching at this time was not remarkable for the 
 scholarship displayed. However, it made a good impres- 
 sion. The people went to hear him and they returned home 
 feeling better. He did men good both in the pulpit and 
 in their homes. Very seldom could any of his flock sur- 
 prise him with their wit and humor. One incident may be 
 mentioned. He had preached on Sunday morning at Mor- 
 tonsville an unusually good sermon. A brother stepped 
 up to him after they were out of the house and said, 
 "Brother Rains, that was a fine sermon. Yes, sir, it was 
 a big one. Where did you get it?" As quick as a flash 
 came the reply, "I reckon it was a good one. That was 
 one of McGarvey's best." Yet it is doubtful if on that 
 or any other occasion he actually plagiarized. He seldom 
 ever used another man's language, word for word, and 
 certain it is, he never attempted to imitate Professor Mc- 
 Garvey, his beloved teacher, in either manner or language. 
 If he used his thoughts he dressed them in his own style 
 and illustrated them in his own unique way, which was well 
 adapted to his audience. Rains preached unlike any other 
 man; not because he did not admire and enjoy them but 
 simply because he had his own inimitable style. He under- 
 stood folk far better than most men of his years and ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Perhaps the day of all days in his college life was the 
 commencement day in June, 1878. Thirteen boys were to 
 graduate; no two of them were alike in any respect. Each 
 was his best that day. The old Main Street Church was 
 filled with a great audience of sympathizing friends and 
 brethren. This was the first commencement. In a sense 
 
College Days 23 
 
 professors and students were alike on trial. The great 
 triumvirate, Graham, McGarvey and Grubbs, sat on the 
 platform. Their work with these boys was finished. As 
 they sat in the midst of this class there was on their 
 faces an expression of confidence as to the outcome of the 
 day. 
 
 The class song, "We Are the Eeapers, " was sung by the 
 thirteen men who composed the class, and one by one 
 thirteen orations were delivered. Francis Marion Rains was 
 in the middle of the program and gave a practical speech 
 on ' ' The Power of Influence. ' ' When all were through 
 speaking and the diplomas were presented the platform was 
 a mass of flowers sent up by admiring friends to those 
 who were finishing college and beginning life in a wider 
 field. All were happy. One brother came up from the 
 audience and greeted each graduate in a few words of 
 hearty congratulations, and then walked up to Profes- 
 sor McGarvey and said, "Brother McGarvey, aren't you 
 proud of this day and these boys?" His reply will never 
 be forgotten by those who were privileged to hear it. 
 "No," he said, "I am not proud, but I am satisfied with 
 these boys and grateful to God for His blessings upon our 
 work. ' ' 
 
 This ended the college life of F. M. Rains, who 
 soon forged his way to the front as a leader of men and 
 inspired the great church of God with new ideas of giv- 
 ing and doing for the glory of His name. 
 
 J. S. Kendrick, of whom Mr. Clay has spoken, 
 grew up in the same neighborhood with Mr. Rains. 
 His mother having died when he was seven years 
 of age, and his father going to fight for his conn- 
 try, the yonng lad fell into the hands of a hard 
 master and worked in a blacksmith shop many 
 times until midnight. The strong attachment 
 
24 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 which was formed by these boys grew with years 
 of their association in college. They embraced 
 every opportunity to be together in after years 
 when the duties and responsibilities of life were 
 heavy for both of them. Just a week before the 
 death of Mr. Kendrick, April 25, 1899, he was in 
 the home of Mr. Rains, having gone to Cincinnati 
 to consult a specialist. It had long been under- 
 stood that when one died the other was to preach 
 the funeral sermon, and this became one of the 
 hardest tasks of Mr. Rains' life, for he had loved 
 Julius Kendrick as a brother. He said of him, 
 "As a preacher of the gospel he excelled. There 
 were few better preachers among our people.' ' 
 And again, "He was my personal friend for a third 
 of a century. While we were yet boys, there grew 
 up between us a strong friendship which was never 
 marred. He was faithful in his attachments and 
 the unusual sweetness and uniformity of his tem- 
 per endeared him to all with whom he came in 
 contact." 
 
 Many times in the years that followed and just 
 a short time before his own death, he spoke of his 
 affection for Mr. Kendrick. 
 
CHAPTER THREE 
 
 IN THE SUNFLOWER STATE 
 
 Immediately after his graduation Mr. Rains was 
 married June 13, 1878, to Miss Susie Field, a 
 daughter of Dr. Sam Field of Columbia, Adams 
 County, Kentucky, whom he had met while at 
 school there. Miss Field was a beautiful woman 
 with a keen intellect and received the A.B. degree 
 in Columbia Christian College, occupying the chair 
 of natural sciences the following year in that in- 
 stitution. With nothing but good health, high 
 hopes and determination, these young people 
 established an academy at Corinth, Kentucky. 
 This school was continued until 1881, Mr. Rains 
 serving the church at Corinth also. From this 
 school went out men who have become prominent 
 lawyers, doctors, teachers and business men. 
 
 Early in 1881, Mr. Rains conducted an evangel- 
 istic meeting in Winfield, Kansas, which resulted 
 in his removal to that place in June of that year. 
 Here he entered upon his duties with the zest and 
 enthusiasm which so characterized his entire life. 
 Here, also, a grievous blow fell upon him in the 
 sudden death of his young wife, June 8, 1882. 
 Perhaps this had much to do with his resignation 
 after a ministry of a year and a half. J. H. Bauser- 
 man, at that time Secretary of the Kansas Board of 
 Missions, wrote as follows concerning that period: 
 
 25 
 
26 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 We were at Winfield the 2nd Lord's Day in December, 
 preaching both morning and evening. It will be remembered 
 that this church has been for a year and a half under the 
 pastoral care of F. M. Eains. Hence, we were not as- 
 tonished to find this one of the most active congregations 
 we have visited in the state. The membership is consider- 
 able in numbers and all seem to have a mind to work. H. D. 
 Gans and T. E. Bryan are the elders. The brethren have 
 sold their house and bought a beautiful corner, centrally 
 located, upon which to build. This is encouraging. But 
 as an offset to this we were sorry to learn that Mr. Rains 
 could not resist the temptation of the Leavenworth breth- 
 ren, but removes there the first of the new year, and 
 takes charge of the church. He is pushing matters in 
 Winfield, however, banking the money subscribers have 
 given for the new house, and says the building shall be in- 
 sured before he changes his field of labor. The brethren 
 give him up very reluctantly, but he promises them a good 
 man to succeed him. 
 
 During his pastorate there were fifty additions 
 and a parsonage was bought and paid for. Evan- 
 gelistic meetings were also held for other churches 
 during this short period. 
 
 Benjamin L. Smith was pastor of the church 
 at Topeka, Kansas, from 1889 to 1895, and Mr. 
 Rains was a member of that church for several 
 years of the time, and was often heard to say that 
 Mr. Smith was one of the best pastors in the broth- 
 erhood. In 1895 when Mr. Smith was called to be 
 secretary of the American Christian Missionary 
 Society, that society and the Foreign Christian 
 ^Missionary Society had rooms in the Y. M. C. A. 
 Building, and the two secretaries renewed the 
 
In the Sunflower State 27 
 
 friendship so much enjoyed in Kansas and which 
 continued firm and unbroken. Mr. Smith, after a 
 long and successful pastorate in Moberly, Mis- 
 souri, is now pastor of an institutional church 
 in Rochester, New York, and contributes some 
 reminiscences of interest: 
 
 Mr. Rains moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, January 1, 
 1883, and Mr. J. P. Bauserman, brother of J. H. Bauser- 
 man, wrote soon after his coming: 
 
 "In point of population, manufacturing 
 and commercial interest, Leavenworth is the 
 most important city in Kansas. A combination 
 of circumstances conspired in the past to militate 
 against the interests of the church here, chief of 
 which was the resignation of J. B. McCleery as 
 pastor, who commands the love and confidence of 
 the entire membership. There is no discord among 
 us. With one accord all are interested in the good 
 work. We are confident that great good will be 
 accomplished. There is a growing religious in- 
 terest developing all over this young giant state 
 of ours, and we are determined to keep abreast 
 of this current of life. " 
 Note the fierce competition between cities in those early 
 boom days in Kansas. One did not need to prove to Kan- 
 sas that it was the greatest state in the union — she admitted 
 it. It had been "bleeding Kansas," but in the eighties 
 it was "leading Kansas," and the fortunes lost in 
 "booming" Kansas were only equalled by the money now 
 being lost in oil speculations. Into this booming Kansas — 
 and Leavenworth — came Mr. Rains, and the Leavenworth 
 boom lost nothing by his coming. He remained in Leaven- 
 worth one year, resigning the pastorate to accept the call 
 as corresponding secretary and State evangelist of Kan- 
 
28 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 Missions. He never again served as pastor, but passed 
 from state secretary to secretary of Church Extension, 
 then to the Standard Publishing Company; later becoming 
 secretary of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society. 
 
 His work as pastor was that of a young man full of 
 zeal and energy from 1876 to 1884 — at Corinth, Kentucky, 
 at Winfield, Kansas, and at Leavenworth, Kansas. 
 
 The characteristics of these pastorates were three: 
 First: Intensely busy with hard work, he was blessed at 
 that time with robust health, youth, wonderful vitality and 
 energy. He never shirked hard work, then or later. He 
 endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and 
 was a marvel to others for his intense labors for the work 
 in hand. That spirit characterized his work as pastor, for 
 there was not a lazy bone in his body. Second: His work 
 was characterized by careful and skillful administration; 
 guarding and advancing the affairs of the churches. Men- 
 tion has already been made of the fruitful work done dur- 
 ing the short pastorate at Winfield. At Leavenworth he 
 remodeled the church building and made it far more 
 attractive and convenient. Rains was a born administrator. 
 Third: His preaching was strong and practical. He was 
 not a mystic. Coming from Kentucky University and the 
 Bible College, it was of course strongly doctrinal. How 
 could it be otherwise? He believed and therefore spoke 
 the words of strong conviction and power. Mr. Rains' 
 preaching was never offensive. In manner he was always 
 friendly to those who differed from him both in belief and 
 practice. He quoted frequently Lincoln's adage, "God 
 must have loved the common people; he made so many of 
 them," and Rains loved too much to give unnecessary 
 offense. 
 
 Mr. Rains' humor was contagious and delightful. It is 
 a rare and pleasant memory. I well remember his frequent 
 
In the Sunflower State 29 
 
 quotation of the Limekiln Club, described in a series of 
 humorous articles written in negro dialect which appeared 
 in the Detroit Free Press. 
 
 Thus my friend went forward to his destiny. He had 
 the happiness of a sound body; the joy of full lungs, 
 dreamless sleep, good appetite and busy days. This was 
 the benediction of health. 
 
 He had the joy of doing good work with body and brain, 
 seeing the beauty of work in the way he met it, not as an 
 enemy to be conquered before night, but as a friend who 
 made him feel at evening that the day was well spent. 
 This was the benediction of work. 
 
 He had the happiness of an open mind, the delight in 
 new truth. He was obedient to the highest callings of truth, 
 to the heavenly vision of duty, and was blest with the best 
 truth this world can give. This was the benediction of 
 the open and growing mind. 
 
 He had the happiness of the heart, the luxury of many 
 friends. Being helpful to others he reckoned his gains by 
 the friends whom he helped and was. always more ready 
 to suffer than to inflict burdens. This was the benediction 
 of friendship. 
 
 He had the happiness of a contented mind, the grace 
 of accepting life's courses without bitterness, its crowns 
 without vanity. He greeted each day with a cheer for its 
 opportunities; being able to say, "Jesus Christ and I are 
 friends." He believed in the Father's house at the end 
 of the road and looked forward to His welcoming smile. 
 This was the benediction of the Christian. 
 
 The following taken from a paper published in 
 1883 shows what Mr. Eains thought of the re- 
 sponsibility of the minister: 
 
 It can be safely said that almost all our failures in 
 church work are attributable to preachers. Do you know 
 
30 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 of a church that has been properly taught and admonished 
 to aid mission work? Let the preacher show the scriptural 
 teaching on this subject and the honor in advancing such a 
 cause, and the church will at once take hold and help. 
 
 When the preacher urges the necessity and importance 
 of prayer meetings and Sunday schools, the church will 
 sustain both, and that well. If the preacher seeks to make 
 both interesting — tries to make both instructive and edify- 
 ing — the church will soon see the source of spiritual 
 strength and follow the example of the preacher in en- 
 hancing their interest and efficiency. 
 
 What I have said of missions, prayer meetings and Sun- 
 day schools is equally applicable to church work. A 
 preacher who is merely a time server will be mortified to 
 see his church the same. But if he shows a deep interest 
 in all the departments of church work, so will his con- 
 gregation. There is no excuse for a preacher not making 
 his people zealous in every good work. This is his life work. 
 He owes it to himself, to his brethren, to the world and to 
 God. The responsibility of a preacher is measured by his 
 opportunities. And this is true of all Christan workers. 
 There is a great demand for preachers who are workers 
 and instructors rather than drones and sermonizers. No 
 good workers are looking for a field, but on the contrary 
 the fields are looking for the workers. Of course, they 
 must be men of acceptable ability as preachers and men 
 of marked piety, but this is not all by at least a half. They 
 are expected to lay out the work, appoint the workers, and 
 then see that it is done. To do this does not require a 
 great amount of brains but a large measure of that of 
 which so many are destitute — common sense. My brothers 
 in the ministiy, our responsibilities are great. Are we equal 
 to them? 
 
 Mr. Rains was called from the pastorate at 
 Leavenworth after a year to be the State Secretary 
 
In the Sunflower State 31 
 
 of Kansas. In 1901 after passing through Kansas 
 on his way west, he wrote as follows in a letter to 
 the church papers: 
 
 When we reached Kansas I fell into a reminiscent mood. 
 Twenty years ago I went from Corinth, Kentucky to Win- 
 field, Kansas. In 1881 we had about 5,000 members in 
 the state and less than twenty-five church buildings. We 
 were rich, however, in a number of clear-headed, vigorous 
 and consecrated preachers. The first state convention I 
 attended was held in Salina. Pardee Butler, John Boggs, 
 J. C. Sevey, R. L. Lotz, C. J. McKinney and J. W. Ran- 
 dall were there. These have been called to their reward. 
 These men, with their associates, laid the foundations broad 
 and deep for an almost unparalleled growth in just a few 
 years following. These were men of one thought, and that 
 thought was the gospel. They were mighty men with 
 strength equal to their convictions. They knew the mean- 
 ing of hardships. These men preached the gospel in 
 season and out of season. They helped to plant a type of 
 churches that for purity of faith and life, for vigor and 
 enterprise and for clearness and breadth of vision are 
 probably not surpassed anywhere. These churches were 
 born with a robust missionary spirit; missionary men and 
 the missionary spirit gave them being. More churches in 
 Kansas contribute annually for foreign missions than in 
 some states where we have double the number of churches. 
 
 For a time I served the churches as state secretary. It 
 was a delightful work. There was a great influx of our 
 people from other states. Churches and houses of worship 
 multiplied rapidly. In little more than one year, forty-one 
 new houses of worship were completed in the state. Here 
 I saw and felt the need of a Church Extension Fund be- 
 fore we had such a helpful agency. Alexander Elliot, now 
 of Chillicothe, Missouri, was president of the Kansas State 
 Board of Missions when I was elected. He said we should 
 
32 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 plant churches in centers like Topeka, Lawrence, Wichita, 
 Hutchinson, Wellington, etc. My first duty, therefore, was 
 to go among our weak churches in the state and raise 
 money to help do this work. 
 
 One of the first places visited was Ft. Seott W. 
 Chenault was there and he is still there. He gave me 
 $500. This was a great help. The preacher of the church 
 at that time was opposed to securing money from the church 
 for missions. He has dropped out of sight long since. Any 
 preacher that opposes missions or proves indifferent is 
 doomed. He may shine as a star of the first magnitude 
 for a time but his light will go out. Missions is the rock 
 on which so many preachers make shipwrecks of their use- 
 fulness. It requires labor and tact to educate a church in 
 missions. 
 
 To show the diversified character of the work of 
 the state secretary and evangelist at that time, as 
 well as the appreciation of the churches, we give 
 the following, taken from one of the church papers : 
 
 F. M. Rains, State Evangelist of Kansas, raises money 
 to employ preachers, raises money to build churches, takes 
 pledges for missionary work, helps the weak churches, stirs 
 up the strong churches, fosters the Sunday school work, 
 helps the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, organizes 
 churches and district work and keeps everybody in a good 
 humor and at work. 
 
 Whiting — F. M. Rains came to our place and preached 
 to a good audience. His sermons were eminently prae:i ::."-. 
 thoughtful and instructive, and were delivered in a style to 
 make a lively and lasting impression upon the hearer. 
 
 We want to tell Mr. Rains that he has done us a great 
 and lasting good, not only by his excellent sermons but by 
 his social intercourse as well, for he is as much of a Bueeeaa 
 socially as otherwise. We did not do near as much for Mr. 
 
In the Sunflower State 33 
 
 Rains as he did for us, but we think it can be truthfully- 
 said that we did what we could. 
 
 The brethren, so far as I know, are abundantly satis- 
 fied with our state evangelist and think that he is pe- 
 culiarly fitted for the position which he occupies. I want 
 to say to the preachers of Kansas that if you want to feel 
 good, get Mr. Rains to come and see you and your church. 
 He has helped me. I think he can do for every congrega- 
 tion what he has done for us. With F. M. Rains at the 
 helm, the state work will boom. — J. W. Mitchell. 
 
 Arkansas City, Kansas, March 9, 1886. — We had 
 with us the first Lord's Day in March, F. M. Rains, our 
 State Evangelist. He came among us as the early sunbeam 
 of spring, gladdening all our hearts by his cheerful, Chris- 
 tian manliness and by his plain, practical way of present- 
 ing the state work. Mr. Rains possesses and exercises that 
 happy faculty of cementing ties between preacher and con- 
 gregation. We feel strengthened by his visit in Kansas, 
 and hope he may continue his good work until all Christ's 
 churches in Kansas may be as one family united together 
 by strong ties. A visit from Mr. Rains is a safe invest- 
 ment.— J. P. Witt. 
 
 Mr. Rains was in Kansas during the fight for 
 prohibition of the liquor traffic in that state, and 
 on the platform, in the press and wherever possible 
 used his energy, enthusiasm and influence to make 
 that state dry. It was always a source of satis- 
 faction to him to remember that he had even a 
 small part in that task, and his last days were 
 made happier because of the knowledge that the 
 whole country had followed the example of Kansas 
 in this respect. 
 
 In 1884, Mr. Rains was married to Miss Lovie 
 
34 
 
 Ft 
 
 :> My-c-. Raini 
 
 ■ Mr. Ba 
 f .Missions. 
 
 Boyd, a graduate ;: the N._ . 
 dale, Dlinois. She was a very 
 woman and a great help 
 She was much interestec 
 tian Woman's Boai 
 
 _ inristian Woman's B 
 as follow mneerning her 
 
 She vrs; :a: Aaziiiary Pre: 
 leader. She als: held the office 
 later of State Secretary. Atthon 
 
 and her responsi:::ii:ie: ah: ::::. 
 whole-hearted devoticr^. ser ving 
 weakness -erf aresshag hari a: : 
 gone to her home and found hea 
 7^: vri:h ~:;::-^ materia: La harr 
 or writing to urge our uninteresi 
 ticipation in our women's missi 
 once finding her in great pain 
 Whea I askei. her :he :a\ise :f 
 • ■ 1-lj hihssi:a 3aaa rae: wi:h : 
 die: 0:7s reraaiaei a::e: :ae : 
 that he had decided to give his 1 
 way of becoming a minister of 
 said, after she had told me of 
 view ' ' If my son should live to i 
 how happy I would be! " 
 
 Airs. Helen E. 
 1 President of 
 
 K; 
 
 iisaiia 3:-.al 
 ^•aaaa.re: aai 
 ~as ieii:a:e 
 •Tr her ~::k 
 en rain aai 
 s I 
 
 r 
 
 e 1 s-rsrers :: a a.a.; r ar- 
 :aarv — ::k. I reraeraher 
 ye: ~::h a riiiir: :a:e. 
 he: evident joy, she said: 
 ne today and one of my 
 : ii e : 5 ha i z :ae. :: :eii rae 
 Lfe :: Car:;: iaa :he sre:iai 
 the gospeL" <4 Car! sne 
 :he :eaieri7 sa:rea ha:er- 
 : ieii:a:e has are :: ■.-: :i. 
 
 Airs. Eains was 
 
 After locating in 
 instrumer.:al in orgs 
 
 tian VT:raaa.'s B 
 nut Hills Church ■:: that city. 
 
 To this union were born two sons and a dausrh.- 
 
 AV< 
 
In the Sunflower State 35 
 
 ter: Ernest Errett, who is in the fire insurance 
 business in Oklahoma City, and has a son, Francis 
 Marion, eleven years old; Paul Boyd, an ordained 
 minister, for several years Northern District Sec- 
 retary of Religious Education in connection with 
 the American Christian Missionary Society, and 
 later the United Christian Missionary Society, now 
 Director of Religious Work of the Y. M. C. A. in 
 Denver, Colorado. Paul has a son, Gregg Bedford, 
 aged three, and a daughter, Marian Mize, named 
 for her two grandfathers and now a year and a 
 half old. The daughter, Elva, who was the second 
 child, died at the age of ten, two and a half years 
 after the death of her mother, which occurred April 
 14, 1897. These deaths, following anxious and 
 loving care of months, left their mark upon Mr. 
 Rains, but with singleness of purpose he hid his 
 grief with his ever ready smile and took up the 
 burdens and responsibilities of the work to which 
 he had dedicated his life. 
 
 While organizing and dedicating churches in 
 Kansas as State Secretary, Mr. Rains realized the 
 great need of a Church Extension Fund. G. W. 
 Muckley gives the following account of his call 
 to this work and something of what was accom- 
 plished during his term of service with that board : 
 
 F. M. Rains was the pioneer in our Church Extension 
 work. He really started the work. It is true, that in the 
 National Convention at Cincinnati, in 1883, a fund was 
 started with a few subscriptions which brought a cash sum 
 of $4,711.83 in three years. However, at the National 
 
36 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 Convention held in Kansas City, in 1886, the real forward 
 movement began. 
 
 A committee acted promptly in securing a secretary, 
 and in October, 1887, F. M. Rains, of Topeka, Kansas, be- 
 came the Secretary of the Board of Church Extension. 
 By his energy and untiring devotion, the receipts to the 
 fund were increased by over $7,000. 
 
 The Committee had been doing most diligent work, but 
 its business had not been to make appeals for money to 
 build up the fund. Up to October, 1887, the four years' 
 work of the Committee showed that total collections for 
 the fund amounted to $5,648.83, and twelve loans had been 
 made in nine different states. 
 
 The National Convention, which was held in Spring- 
 field, Illinois, in October, 1888, was so pleased with the re- 
 sults of a special secretary of this fund, and was so im- 
 pressed with the growing demands of the work, that it 
 recommended the creation of a separate Board of Church 
 Extension, to be elected annually, which should have en- 
 tire charge of the fund. Accordingly, Article VII of the 
 Constitution of the American Christian Missionary Society 
 was enacted which provided for the Board of Church Ex- 
 tension of that society. 
 
 At that Convention, $10,662.80 was turned over to the 
 Board of Church Extension, whose headquarters were 
 placed in Kansas City, Missouri. This creation of a 
 separate Board of Church Extension, located in the heart 
 of our Brotherhood, where most of the funds would be 
 needed in loans to help new mission churches secure their 
 first church homes, was the promotional work of F. M. 
 Rains. His idea was that through a separate board more 
 emphasis could be put upon this v^ry necessary work. The 
 wisdom of this has been proved through the years. Had 
 we not thus emphasized this work, we would not have this 
 fund of $2,000,000 today. 
 
 In February, 1889, Mr. Rains secured a $5,000 Name 
 
In the Sunflower State 37 
 
 Fund from Mr. F. M. Drake, and in the following October 
 of 1889, the Standard Publishing Company Fund was also 
 secured by him. The Name Fund idea grew until now there 
 are thirty- four such funds, which by going and return- 
 ing, have built nine hundred and eighty-seven churches. 
 
 A Name Fund consists of $5,000. All interest at four 
 per cent is added. This fund compounds itself semian- 
 nually, since interest is paid semiannually by the borrow- 
 ing churches. Each Name Fund is kept in a separate ac- 
 count showing the donor what his fund is doing every 
 year and through all the years. Thus the F. M. Drake 
 Fund has built ninety-three churches since 1889. This 
 Name Fund idea originated in the mind of Mr. Rains and 
 he secured three such funds during his secretaryship. 
 
 In the Convention of October, 1890, Mr. Rains recom- 
 mended that the Board take annuities at six per cent from 
 people fifty years of age or more. Thus began the An- 
 nuity feature of our organized work, which has been so 
 helpful to all departments. 
 
 The Board of Church Extension alone has $659,000 in 
 its Annuity Fund and this has aided in the erection of three 
 hundred and eighty-two churches. The beauty of the An- 
 nuity Plan is that a man can administer upon his own 
 estate and see his money working while he is alive. At the 
 same time, it is also earning him an income at six per cent 
 with no loss and no taxes. 
 
 Mr. Rains' secretaryship lasted three years, but during 
 that time he so impressed our brethren with the Church 
 Extension idea and with his promotional ideas, that his 
 name will always be remembered in connection with this 
 work which has grown so satisfactorily during thirty-three 
 years. 
 
 In the fall of 1890 we find items in The Chris- 
 tian-Evangelist : 
 
38 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 There will be sincere regret on all hands that Mr. 
 Rains gives up the work of Church Extension. No one 
 could have done a better work than he has done. 
 
 F. M. Rains, the successful pusher of the Extension 
 Fund to its present triumphs, has resigned his secretary- 
 ship to rest from such arduous labors. It may be no secret 
 that he will work in the interest of one of our church's 
 great publishing houses. 
 
 Mr. Rains was a devoted admirer of Isaac Errett 
 and did field work for the Standard Publishing 
 Company for a time. During this period he had 
 a severe attack of typhoid fever, being unconscious 
 for thirty days. It was thought that he could 
 not get well, but careful nursing, wise medical 
 treatment and the prayers of his friends availed 
 much, and from a slender man of one hundred and 
 twenty-four pounds he came to be a man of large 
 physique weighing as much as one hundred and 
 eighty-nine pounds, with a strong constitution 
 which served him well in the strenuous work of 
 his after life. 
 
 In 1891 he was called to Cincinnati as president 
 of the Standard Publishing Company, which posi- 
 tion he held for two years. 
 
 In leaving the work of the Church Extension 
 Board, Mr. Rains was naturally anxious as to his 
 successor. It was natural, too, that he should con- 
 sult Isaac Errett about the matter. Mr. Errett 
 at once suggested G. W. Muckley, who had done a 
 fine piece of work at the Fergus Street Church 
 (now Northside), Cincinnati. It may be said 
 
In the Sunflower State 39 
 
 that Mr. Muckley was perhaps the first minister 
 among the Disciples of Christ to put a religious 
 paper in every home of his congregation, the 
 church board paying for those who felt unable to 
 subscribe for themselves. That Mr. Muckley has 
 been eminently successful in his work as secretary 
 is evidenced by the fact that the Church Extension 
 fund has now reached nearly $2,000,000. 
 
CHAPTER FOUR 
 
 THE FOREIGN CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY 
 SOCIETY 
 
 While serving as President of the Standard Pub- 
 lishing Company, Mr. Rains was elected a member 
 of the executive committee of the Foreign Christian 
 Missionary Society in 1892, succeeding ex-Gov- 
 ernor Bishop, who had just died, as Vice-President. 
 Mr. Rains had planned to leave the organization 
 work that he might lead a quieter life and spend 
 more time with his family. However, he realized 
 the great need for another secretary of the Foreign 
 Society. The executive committee had been cor- 
 responding with several men with a view to taking 
 the work, but had been unsuccessful. A. McLean, 
 who was the first secretary to give his whole time 
 to the work, had labored alone for eleven years. 
 The receipts had grown to over $58,000, and there 
 were sixty-five missionaries in the various fields. 
 Having once accepted the work as Financial Sec- 
 retary in 1893, Mr. Rains seemed to have adopted 
 as his motto, "This one thing I do," and for 
 twenty-six years gave every ounce of his strength 
 and dynamic energy to the extension of the King- 
 dom to the uttermost parts of the earth. In 1897 
 he became Treasurer and in 1900 was elected Cor- 
 
 40 
 
Taken in 1910 at Cincinnati just before 
 
 leaving for a world wide visit to 
 
 our mission stations 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 41 
 
 responding Secretary, but whatever his title, his 
 duties were practically the same. 
 
 Mr. Eains, as a student in the Bible College at 
 Lexington, had attended the national convention 
 in Cincinnati at the organization of the Christian 
 Woman's Board of Missions, in 1874, and was also 
 present at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1875 when the 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society was organ- 
 ized. He and A. McLean were interested observers 
 of all that transpired, neither having any idea of 
 the important place they were to fill in the future 
 work of that society. 
 
 The first mention of his name in the minutes of 
 the national convention is in connection with a 
 report of the Committee on Obituaries of which he 
 was a member in 1887. This was the convention 
 at which he was elected Secretary of the Church 
 Extension Board. This year he became a Life 
 Member of the Foreign Christian Missionary 
 Society, and later on a Life Director, taking special 
 pleasure, by his contributions from year to year, 
 in making wise and influential pastors Life Di- 
 rectors also. 
 
 Mr. Eains was on a committee in Louisville in 
 1889, looking toward a plan for congregational 
 contributions, at which time it was recommended 
 that the offering for foreign missions be taken 
 the first Sunday in March, instead of two offer- 
 ings as formerly, the first Sunday in March and 
 the first Sunday in September. The first Sunday 
 
42 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 in March came to be the high day in Mr. Rains' 
 life. His time, thought and energy, without stint, 
 were given that this offering might be a success. 
 How anxiously he scanned the weather reports, 
 and how eagerly he watched for the reports to 
 come in ! In those early days, when there was no 
 church budget and little conscience on the subject 
 of missions, if the special day was not observed, 
 the offering was apt not to be taken at all. 
 
 In the early national conventions it was a custom 
 to raise money from the platform. In The Chris- 
 tian-Evangelisi we find the following in the report 
 of the convention at Springfield, Illinois, in 1888 : 
 
 F. M. Eains is a prince of solicitors. When he appears 
 
 before an audience it is accepted as an irresistible demand 
 
 for the people present to turn their pockets inside out. 
 ***** 
 
 F. M. Rains, ' ' God 's beggar, ' ; never misses a convention 
 unless he is sick, and he is becoming an indispensable fac- 
 tor in raising funds. He has made it a study and knows 
 how to do that kind of work. His talent was brought into 
 requisition more than once and he never fails to respond 
 and to make others respond. 
 
 As early as 1891 he was a member of a committee 
 to confer with similar societies looking toward 
 closer unification of the work of the different 
 boards. The first record which can be found of his 
 appearance on the program of a national conven- 
 tion is in 1891 while still in Kansas, and in 1892 
 he spoke of "Importance of Pre- Announcement of 
 Offerings. ' ' 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 43 
 
 We publish a note from Mr. McLean written for 
 The Christian-Evangelist, as well as an editorial 
 comment : 
 
 The Foreign Society has secured the services of F. M. 
 Rains, who will enter upon his work September 1. He will 
 be financial secretary, thus leaving the present secretary 
 free to give more attention to the fields and editorial work 
 on the Missionary Intelligencer. The new secretary is as 
 well known as any man in the brotherhood. He has dem- 
 onstrated his fitness for this position. He will do the 
 society good service. Under his wise management and en- 
 thusiastic and energetic driving it is confidently believed 
 that the receipts will increase by leaps and bounds, and 
 that the society will enter upon an era of unexampled 
 prosperity. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The new departure of the Foreign Society takes the 
 hustling Rains from the Standard Publishing Company and 
 makes him financial secretary. This is a wise move and the 
 Foreign Society is to be congratulated in securing the 
 services of so competent and so well known a man as Mr. 
 Rains. He no doubt will be able to turn into the treasury 
 annually several thousand dollars. 
 
 The calling of a new secretary was a venture 
 of faith, but was fully justified by the steady 
 increase of receipts. Many years he earned enough 
 through the dedication of churches to pay his en- 
 tire salary. 
 
 To show the strenuous life he led from the be- 
 ginning of his secretaryship we give the schedule 
 of dedications for a few months as it appeared in 
 the Intelligencer : 
 
44 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 1893 
 
 October — Butler, Missouri 
 
 Hedrick, Iowa 
 
 Lincoln, Nebraska 
 
 Sadieville, Kentucky 
 
 Oskaloosa, Iowa 
 November — Prairie City, Iowa 
 
 Odessa, Missouri 
 
 Columbia, Missouri 
 December — Raritan, Illinois 
 
 Athens, Ohio 
 
 Cincinnati (Fergus Street), Ohio 
 
 Shelbyville, Missouri 
 
 Maryville, Missouri 
 
 1894 
 January — Augusta, Kansas 
 
 Delavan, Illinois 
 
 Osceola, Iowa 
 
 Rushville, Indiana 
 
 Washington, Pennsylvania 
 February — Frankford, Missouri 
 
 We note that he raised $42,000 in the dedications 
 in October, addressed three state conventions, and 
 delivered six other addresses. 
 
 That this strenuous program was continued al- 
 most to the end, is shown in the following extracts 
 from letters to Mrs. Rains. 
 
 Longview, Texas. 
 
 May 13, 1912. 
 
 A trainload of strawberries was ditched on our track 
 
 so that we had to go more than 100 miles around to go 
 
 at all. Here we are, six hours late. Will not get into 
 
 Houston until Tuesday morning, just in time to speak, 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 45 
 
 if then, and no rest before speaking. See? Well, such 
 is the lot of a "traveling man." 
 
 Hope you had a good Sunday. Mine was lonely. It 
 is a great thing to be able to be at church every Sunday. 
 
 Hope Paul came out all O. K. at Latonia. Tell him I 
 was thinking of him. 
 
 I will leave Houston for home next Friday morning. 
 If I could go by way of New Orleans would start Thurs- 
 day night after speaking, but the high water over that way 
 will not permit. 
 
 It is going to be a busy week with me. The folks may 
 eat me up. Affectionately, your husband, 
 
 F. M. Rains. 
 
 Owen Sound, Ontario. 
 May 30, 1913. 
 It is eleven o 'clock at night, am just going to bed. Had 
 a hard, busy day. 
 
 I get up at 4:30 tomorrow to get a train and go by way 
 of Toronto and Buffalo to Ashland, Ohio, where I am to be 
 on Sunday. 
 
 Hopkins (Robert) has been good to me and helped me 
 much. He is a dear man. Wish I could see you and Paul. 
 
 Omaha, Nebraska. 
 September 17, 1918. 
 
 Had a great day in Boston on Sunday. They gave me 
 a fine reception. Left Boston at 4:45 Sunday afternoon 
 and reached here at 4:00 P. M. It was a long trip but 
 the trains were good. 
 
 I spoke in Boston three times. Have invitations to 
 visit a number of churches in New England. 
 
 Paul and Clara were at the train to meet me and are 
 looking well. Her supper tonight was simply fine. She is 
 a Number One cook and housekeeper. I am delighted with 
 her. 
 
 Say, the news from France is great and no mistake 
 
46 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 Many have written concerning the beautiful 
 friendship which existed between Mr. McLean and 
 Mr. Rains during all the years of their close asso- 
 ciation. Each recognized the ability of the other 
 in his line of work and from the beginning they 
 were true yokefellows. There was no question of 
 seniority, and this principle obtained as other men 
 joined them in the work from time to time, no 
 doubt accounting for the harmony which always 
 prevailed in the Foreign Christian Missionary So- 
 ciety. 
 
 The convention of 1894, recognizing the need of 
 a first-hand knowledge of the fields on the part of 
 the secretaries and wishing also to show the ap- 
 preciation of the Brotherhood for the self-sacrific- 
 ing labors of Mr. McLean, recommended that he 
 spend a year visiting the mission fields. Accord- 
 ingly, he left America in the summer of 1895, re- 
 turning in August of the following year. Mr. 
 Rains cheerfully agreed to carry the burdens and 
 responsibilities of the work in his absence. That 
 he did good service is shown by the fact that the 
 receipts showed a marked increase over the pre- 
 ceding year. In addition to the office work he at- 
 tended conventions and dedicated a number of 
 churches. 
 
 In 1898 Mr. Rains, accompanied by S. M. Cooper 
 of Cincinnati, Treasurer at that time of the 
 Foreign Society, and a member of the Executive 
 Committee, visited Cuba with a view to opening 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 47 
 
 work there. Shortly afterward a station was 
 opened in Havana. 
 
 In July, 1898, Mr. Rains was married to Miss 
 Rose Stephens of Cincinnati, formerly of Paris, 
 Kentucky. The family consisted of Ernest, thir- 
 teen years of age ; Elva, nine ; and Paul, three and 
 a half. Mention has been made of the death of 
 Elva at the age of ten. Mr. Rains' home was his 
 castle, and his happiest hours were spent there. 
 Nevertheless, no call of the work was unheeded and 
 nearly every Sunday was spent away from home, 
 while frequently he was absent for weeks at a time. 
 
 Mr. Rains suffered a stroke of facial paralysis 
 in February, 1900, from which he was months in 
 recovering. In spite of this affliction, he insisted 
 on going to Kansas City through a severe snow 
 storm when all wires were down and street cars 
 had stopped running, to conduct a Silver Jubilee 
 service, of which the following account is given : 
 
 With no disparagement of the contribution of others 
 the deepest and most abiding inspiration came from the 
 addresses of F. M. Rains and G. L. Wharton. Mr. Rains 
 came to us though his physician had ordered him to give 
 up his work, and with Spartan heroism took up the burden 
 of his work. His presence under such conditions stirred 
 all hearts. We felt like we had not only heroes and 
 martyrs in the foreign field but hero and martyr stuff too in 
 our consecrated secretary. His address was one of fervor 
 and of power, and the chords of the heroic in us all, though 
 perchance long slumbering, were touched to answering 
 nobleness. 
 
48 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 In 1903, enroute to England, Norway and Den- 
 mark to visit and encourage the churches in those 
 places, Mr. Rains stopped off at Buffalo to attend 
 the state convention. Stephen J. Corey was at 
 that time State Secretary. As he made his report 
 in the convention and presented some plans for the 
 work, Mr. Rains was impressed with his evident 
 ability and resourcefulness, and wrote Mr. McLean 
 regarding the possibility of securing him as a sec- 
 retary for the foreign work. At the national con- 
 vention in 1904 Mr. Corey was elected Correspond- 
 ing Secretary. In the nearly eighteen years which 
 have passed he has endeared himself to the entire 
 brotherhood and demonstrated the wisdom of the 
 choice. No one now living could be better fitted 
 to write of Mr. Rains in his relation to the Foreign 
 Christian Missionary Society. Mr. Corey con- 
 tributes the following: 
 
 For more than a quarter of a century F. M. 
 Rains served as Secretary of the Foreign Christian 
 Missionary Society. He came to the work in 1893 
 and until a short time before his death, October 
 24, 1919, he was bearing the burdens of the foreign 
 work which he loved so well. The only breaks in 
 his direct secretarial work during this long period 
 of twenty-six years were the brief intervals which 
 he spent with Mrs. Rains in visiting various mis- 
 sion fields. Even during these journeys he was 
 very busy but with different phases of the mis- 
 sionary task. While at home his time was almost 
 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 49 
 
 entirely absorbed with promotional work which 
 had to do with the income of the Society. He and 
 Mrs. Rains went to the Orient in 1901 and again 
 in 1910. The first visit was to China and Japan 
 only, but on the second visit, nine years later, he 
 visited China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Aus- 
 tralia and India. It was the purpose of Mr. Rains 
 on this journey to encircle the globe, but he was 
 taken ill while in the East and the necessity of 
 hurrying home brought them back by way of 
 the Pacific. In 1903, in company with Mrs. Rains, 
 he went to Norway, Sweden and Denmark, visiting 
 the work of the Society and groups of Disciples in 
 these countries. During this journey he also 
 visited our churches in England and gave them 
 much encouragement. In 1915 a short journey 
 was made to Cuba to inspect the missionary work 
 being carried on at that time in the island. 
 
 It is difficult for a biographer to know what to 
 say in a brief chapter with regard to Mr. Rains 
 and his work with the Foreign Society. The writer 
 was associated with him for almost fifteen years in 
 this work. Perhaps a word concerning the inter- 
 view with Mr. Rains which led to the writer's as- 
 sociation with him in the work will give some in- 
 sight with regard to his attitude toward his asso- 
 ciates. 
 
 It was at the time of the St. Louis National 
 Convention in 1904. Mr. Rains took me aside and 
 after we had eaten together at a simple restaurant, 
 
50 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 he pushed back his chair and broached the subject 
 of giving my life to the work of foreign missions 
 as a secretary. After a conference, in which the 
 burdens and responsibilities of the work were 
 quite as thoroughly set forth as its appeal and 
 compensations, Mr. Rains said in his characteristic 
 way, ' ' My friend, if you come with us you will be 
 a secretary, not an assistant or associate secretary, 
 and we will work together with equal responsibility 
 and equal voice. We are not much on personal 
 rights or prerogatives in the foreign office." The 
 words "equality" and "responsibility" were 
 strikingly characteristic of his work and the work 
 of his associates as they toiled together. He was 
 a man who knew how to give and take, was never 
 afraid of a hard task and expected no one else 
 to be afraid of one. There was no shirking of 
 burdens on his part and he inspired the same 
 courageous attitude in others. Mr. Rains believed 
 in each man having his job well defined, and mak- 
 ing good in that particular task. His associates 
 always looked upon him as a man of direct action. 
 He was always the Christian gentleman, although 
 not a diplomat with any "pussy foot" tendencies. 
 His conferences and persuasive interviews were 
 more of the "shirt sleeve" type where sentences 
 were short and crisp, and laughter and banter 
 mixed with challenge. Decisive, ready-to-use con- 
 clusions were reached in their meetings. Mr. Rains, 
 although an admirable team-mate, was what one 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 51 
 
 would term an effective individualist in his work 
 and he granted everyone else the same privi- 
 lege in his particular task. The modern " agenda" 
 or ' ' docket ' ' for a committee meeting was unknown. 
 A few penciled notes on the back of an envelope 
 drawn from Mr. Rains' inside coat pocket, or a 
 similar notation from Mr. McLean's ever present 
 memorandum book, would furnish the line of 
 thought for the evening. Many an important de- 
 cision was reached after animated and sometimes 
 heated discussion. Personal opinions were strongly 
 stated, Mr. Rains never hesitating to set forth 
 his own thinking in the most clear and convincing 
 way. However, the final conclusion had no refer- 
 ence to differences of opinion. After an important 
 matter had been talked through and thoroughly 
 and a majority of the company was agreed, the 
 matter was settled. You would never find Mr. 
 Rains, after he had accepted such a decision, re- 
 ferring to any difference of opinion he might have 
 had on the subject. These conferences, which had 
 so much bearing on the policies and plans of the 
 Society, were purely democratic and a decision 
 once reached was the unanimous decision of all. 
 The team work of Mr. McLean and Mr. Rains was 
 very beautiful on any point of policy, even though 
 the process of getting harnessed together some- 
 times took considerable discussion. 
 
 F. M. Rains was the driving power of the Foreign 
 Christian Missionary Society. On the other hand, 
 
52 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 Mr. McLean was the quiet, studious writer and 
 prophet of missionary ideals for our people. Mr. 
 Rains was distinctly the dynamo that made the 
 wheels go around in the office and in the home base 
 progress of the work. From the time he entered 
 the office early in the morning until he closed his 
 desk everything about him was all atingle with 
 effort. The stenographers felt it, the bookkeepers 
 and office girls were alive to it, and his associates 
 in secretarial work always felt the strong working 
 pulse of his presence. He always worked at high 
 tension and with tremendous energy. There was 
 a healthy contagion about his effort. He brought 
 a certain breeze and stimulus into the office with 
 him. One instantly straightened up and squared 
 his shoulders when Mr. Rains passed by in the en- 
 thusiasm of his toil. Sometimes during the day 
 there might be something of a good-natured clash, 
 or perhaps even an explosion, but it was all soon 
 forgotten in the speeding up of the missionary 
 train. The occasional jars and bumps, with starts 
 and stops, had no lasting effect, for Mr. Rains' 
 hand was always on the throttle, and "full steam 
 ahead" was his constant motto. Few men could 
 turn off more work than he could. He always 
 had a dozen irons in the fire. Many times when 
 Mr. McLean and the others would be away for 
 months, holding rallies and trying to educate the 
 people on the field, Mr. Rains would be alone 
 at the office. The whole burden of promotional 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 53 
 
 and administrative work would be upon his 
 shoulders. It is difficult to know how he ac- 
 complished so much, for his health was not the 
 best during the last ten years of his service. When 
 left alone, as we have mentioned above, he carried 
 on all the correspondence both at home and abroad, 
 edited the Missionary Intelligencer once a month, 
 got out the quarterly issue of the Missionary Voice 
 which was then published, got out all the printed 
 circulars for the March offering, besides the 
 numerous other pieces of literature that went with 
 these, usually edited a racy and pungent issue of 
 the March Offering Manual for the preachers, 
 wrote special articles for the papers, even down to 
 the little church papers published by the local con- 
 gregations, worked on annuities and personal gifts, 
 got up programs and sermon outlines for the March 
 offering, looked after the advertising in the papers ; 
 and all of these things were seen to besides the 
 daily round of office duties and the handling of 
 the daily mail which touched on so many subjects. 
 Mr. Rains was the outstanding financial genius of 
 his day among our people. He could have been 
 a successful banker, railroad president or the head 
 of some great corporation. He came to the Society 
 in its infancy when the receipts were $58,355 a 
 year. When he died, after twenty-six years of 
 effort, the income was $630,000 a year. Mir. 
 McLean did not have to do so much with the finan- 
 cial side of the work. He taught the people to 
 
54 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 give, as he incessantly wrote, spoke among the 
 brethren everywhere, and held missionary rallies 
 all over the country, but when it came to raising 
 money from headquarters this task was largely left 
 to Mr. Rains. The Foreign Society became famous 
 because of its wide-awake and ingenious plans in 
 enlisting the interest of the people for missionary 
 giving. There was hardly a missionary society in 
 the country which did not profit from these wide- 
 awake and original ideas. Nearly all the special 
 plans of the society for raising missionary money 
 came out of the fertile mind and heart of F. M. 
 Eains. Over these plans he thought and prayed 
 and brooded until they were almost like his 
 children. He introduced the Annuity plan among 
 our people and the Living Link plan whereby a 
 local church supports its own missionary. Chil- 
 dren's Day, while in existence before he came to 
 the Society, grew into a real day of vast significance 
 under his direction. He made the March offering 
 stand out as a vital institution among the churches. 
 Mr. Rains introduced the Birthday Box in the 
 Sunday school for missionary giving. One of his 
 unique contributions to missionary endeavor was 
 the "circular." He always studied advertising 
 journals and business magazines and he believed 
 that a well constructed and printed circular was 
 the finest bit of missionary information and in- 
 spiration possible. As the March offering 
 approached, these circulars became more pointed 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 55 
 
 and more replete with striking sentences, strong 
 appeals and gripping illustrations. He used to 
 say, "I like to spend a week soaking in a 
 circular." He would divide such a production 
 as a great preacher divides his sermon. I have 
 heard numbers of our ministers say that the cir- 
 culars of Mr. Rains did more to convert them to 
 the missionary ideal and lift their sense of mis- 
 sionary responsibility than anything else which 
 ever came into their lives. The day for such litera- 
 ture is probably past. Our plans have changed 
 in this regard, but one cannot help admiring the 
 genius of this good man as he stirred the ministers 
 and the Sunday school superintendents with these 
 vital, burning messages. How he reveled in these 
 plans of promotion! What inventive genius he 
 displayed through these avenues! Mr. Rains was 
 a great man to set a financial goal for the society 
 which he would call a watchword for the year and 
 then, by writing letters, getting notes and articles 
 in the papers, sending out circulars and speaking 
 at conventions, he would press the people on toward 
 that goal. I have often heard him say that, like 
 Jay Gould, he had two purposes in mind ; one was 
 to cut down expenditures and the other to increase 
 receipts. However, he never hesitated at a worthy 
 expenditure and was always willing to launch a 
 new plan if he felt it was what the people needed. 
 The fact that the majority of our churches gave 
 nothing to missions was almost a nightmare to him. 
 
56 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 In season and out of season, by literature, by dia- 
 grams, by letters and by personal appeal he was 
 ever endeavoring to enlist these cold and indif- 
 ferent churches. He felt that if even a small offer- 
 ing could once be secured from the congregations, 
 there was hope of their forming a regular habit. 
 
 He was not enamored of the modern committee 
 and its slow processes in getting into operation. 
 He believed in taking hold of a problem quickly 
 and directly and dealing with it in the most ex- 
 peditious fashion. 
 
 Mr. Rains' method was that of direct contact 
 with the churches. The Every Member Canvass 
 had not come into large vogue during his active 
 service and his main emphasis was on special days 
 and offerings, in which he was a real genius. He 
 was not much given to "conferences" and felt 
 that on many occasions they were time consumers. 
 He thought such meetings had little place during 
 "business hours," but was always willing to ac- 
 cord a conference a full evening after working 
 hours, when there was leisure for thought and one 
 could be away from the stress and strain of office 
 duties. The meetings of this kind in which he 
 delighted were in his own home. In the early days, 
 these were usually held every two weeks or so when 
 Mr. McLean, Mr. Plopper, (the Treasurer), and I 
 would go over with him the many problems of the 
 work and do our planning for the future. Later, 
 when A. E. Cory, R. A. Doan, Bert Wilson and 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 57 
 
 finally C. M. Yocum had joined us and our group 
 was larger, these conferences were often held at the 
 office. The fireside meetings were times of delight- 
 ful fellowship as well as earnest discussion, because 
 Mr. Rains' home was always ideal in its friendly 
 atmosphere and fine environment. "While Mrs. 
 Rains did not usually join in the discussions con- 
 cerning the work, she was always nearby to help 
 settle any mooted question, give a fine bit of judg- 
 ment when asked, and to round up the evening 
 with a cup of tea and some other refreshments in 
 a jolly half hour spent around the family table. 
 These meetings often extended until midnight. 
 
 Mr. Rains was a man of singleness of purpose. 
 He lived and prayed and read and spoke and wrote 
 for world-wide missions. There were no side issues 
 with him. His whole life was given to his task. 
 He burned his strength out and shortened his life 
 in doing this one thing. Much has been said about 
 his dedication of churches, and he was one of the 
 greatest church dedicators America ever knew. No 
 financial situation would stop him and nearly one 
 thousand church buildings in America bear testi- 
 mony to his gift as a money raiser. However, his 
 dedication of churches was a means to an end. 
 What he received financially in that type of work 
 always applied through the missionary society on 
 his salary. He enjoyed this type of service but 
 said again and again that he would not be doing it 
 at all if it were not for the opportunity which it 
 
58 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 afforded him to give foreign missionary messages 
 to the people. His feeling was that after raising 
 the money needed at the morning service and the 
 service of dedication in the afternoon, he should 
 always spend the evening hour in an address on 
 foreign missions. By that time in the day every- 
 body was enthusiastic about him and the church 
 membership was usually very happy because he 
 had raised more than enough in pledges to pay the 
 balance on their building. Like a physician who 
 has healed a patient found in distress, he then had 
 the confidence of all and could say anything he 
 liked. The house was always crowded and the 
 people enthusiastic, and his greatest missionary 
 addresses were given on these occasions. Many a 
 church enthusiastically paid for its own building 
 at the morning hour and then quite as enthusiasti- 
 cally pledged support in the evening for a Living 
 Link. 
 
 While Mr. Rains was a man of one purpose 
 and kept enthusiastically at the one task of foreign 
 missions, he was versatile in his thinking and in 
 his sympathies. 
 
 He had a striking way of making people see the 
 need and the bigness of the task and illustrations 
 drawn from his visits to the mission fields always 
 made foreign missions homey and real. There was 
 a thrill in his voice which was not always melodious 
 but piercing and convincing, and no one ever slept 
 while he talked. He knew how to sprinkle humor 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 59 
 
 with his seriousness and would often pass in a 
 word from the sublime to the ridiculous. He could 
 quite as easily, however, make his audience weep as 
 laugh. No one could visualize a given situation, a 
 stingy church or a parsimonious individual better 
 than himself. Often his running commentary on 
 some delinquent church or covetous man would 
 bring roars of laughter from his audience. 
 
 Mr. Rains and Mr. McLean both believed in 
 making convention programs strong and vital. Im- 
 mediately after the close of one annual convention 
 several evenings would be spent together planning 
 the program for the next convention. The topics 
 chosen were vital and had to do with the needs, the 
 financial watchword, and the different ways of 
 raising money, as well as presenting the work from 
 the mission fields. No man could conduct a sym- 
 posium at a convention better than Mr. Rains. 
 He had some such part in nearly every convention. 
 One year he would conduct a symposium on the 
 Living Link idea, another year on Children's Day, 
 at another time on the March offering, another 
 year on missionary preaching and then on steward- 
 ship and so on. His idea was to get eight or ten 
 strong speakers who would speak from five to ten 
 minutes each. His leading was always happy and 
 he knew how to intersperse remarks and state- 
 ments, witticism and appeal, between the brief ad- 
 dresses with telling effect. The addresses and 
 symposiums of the conventions were considered fine 
 
60 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 campaign literature and after the convention was 
 over these were converted into tracts, newspaper 
 and magazine articles. 
 
 Mr. Rains had many strong elements of states- 
 manship in him. He would not allow the tyranny 
 of details to imprison him, but always looked out 
 on wide horizons and tried to measure the work 
 through decades rather than months. He was a 
 real joy to the missionaries on the fields and his 
 journeys among these workers were an inspiration. 
 Many a discouraged missionary was given new 
 hope and courage by his wise counsel and plan- 
 ning. He unraveled many a tangled web of mis- 
 sionary policy and succeeded in harmonizing con- 
 flicting personalities and plans as he threw himself 
 into the life of the missionaries on the fields. He 
 could be the careful diplomat when it was wise and 
 at other times could speak out with fearlessness 
 and decision. He always had the courage of his con- 
 viction. No man was better than he to jar a mis- 
 sionary or a group of workers loose from a pro- 
 gram which was too conservative and which did 
 not take the long future into account. 
 
 Mr. Rains was a truly great speaker. We had 
 no one in our brotherhood who could so electrify a 
 convention or an audience. He was a man of 
 rather eccentric manner, and resorted to none of 
 the tricks of the orator. However, in his quaint 
 utterances, his rare wit, his homely philosophy and 
 his burning zeal keyed up to a high pitch of en- 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 61 
 
 thusiasm, he swept the people along irresistibly. 
 He spoke with authority, as one having unbounded 
 conviction with regard to the substance of his own 
 message. He used odd sentences, striking state- 
 ments and startling facts. He impressed you as 
 being one filled to the bursting point with his mes- 
 sage. There never was a word of doubt or hesi- 
 tancy. He often dealt in superlatives. The words 
 "great," "enlargement," "world-wide," "for- 
 ward," "loyalty," were often repeated. 
 
 He was always reading the newest and freshest 
 of books. He kept himself in intimate touch with 
 the educational life in our fellowship, served for 
 many years as one of the trustees of Transylvania 
 College, and when he was beyond sixty years of 
 age and thought of retiring from the secretaryship, 
 planned to go to Yale and spend a year in school 
 before settling down in a small pastorate for the 
 rest of his life. Occasionally, during his years 
 with the Society, he would spend a month in sum- 
 mer in holding evangelistic meetings. He was 
 very successful in this, too, and his services were 
 always in demand. 
 
 Mr. Rains was a contagious optimist. He knew 
 how to break up a sordid and discouraging situa- 
 tion with a bombardment of laughter, the sting of 
 ridicule and the strength of a wide wholesome 
 vision. His advice was never to pay too much at- 
 tention to criticism and questioning. "Launch 
 ahead, ' ' he always said. ' ' Do the work ; let victory 
 
62 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 be the proof of the pudding." He struck fire to 
 the soul. His life and work were radiant. He 
 laughed at the most difficult times and his rare 
 humor brought cheer to many a weary heart. 
 No one could tell a joke better than Brother 
 Rains, and he knew how to tell one with point 
 in a difficult situation. To illustrate his sense 
 of the ridiculous, one time when a serious error 
 had been made in some plan he said, "Well, 
 my friends, there may be folks who have made 
 bigger fools of themselves than we have, but none 
 have ever made a bigger variety of fools of them- 
 selves than we have. ' ' Often when the Society had 
 been misunderstood, was being attacked, or when 
 the brotherhood seemed to grow greatly concerned 
 over some theological controversy, he would say: 
 "What we need is a Disciple Puck or comic paper 
 to crack open our seriousness over tweedle-dee and 
 tweedle-dum and cure us of our conceit in taking 
 ourselves too seriously." 
 
 Mr. Eains was a wonderfully attractive person- 
 ality to those who knew him best. His sense of 
 humor was very rare and this fine trait bore him 
 over many a hard place and no doubt prolonged 
 his life. He had a great heart and formed strong 
 personal attachments. No one could have been a 
 better yokefellow than Mr. Eains. He had srtong 
 personal opinions, but he was always loved by his 
 associates. He never let an opportunity pass of 
 saying a fine, strong word concerning those who 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 63 
 
 worked with him. He magnified the work of those 
 with whom he toiled. His support of Mr. McLean, 
 with whom he worked so long, was very beautiful. 
 He always pushed him to the fore and made his 
 leadership stand out w T ith emphasis. No man 
 had closer friends among the pastors and business 
 men throughout our brotherhood than F. M. Rains. 
 He loved his friends very deeply and met them 
 with good cheer and a fine display of friendly wit. 
 Several times while in ill health he wished very 
 much to resign from the work, but the personal 
 attachment to A. McLean and others held him to 
 the task. 
 
 His love for Mr. McLean was wonderful. They 
 were as different in temperament as two men could 
 possibly be. Their judgment often clashed and 
 they did not hesitate to speak plainly to each other 
 about differences in opinion, but their love was 
 never marred. No two men ever supplemented 
 each other better than they. When death ap- 
 proached and Mr. Rains was hardly able to speak 
 he called for his old friend and yokefellow. On 
 the verge of the great unseen world, when his lips 
 could hardly phrase the words, he said, "I love 
 the brethren, I love the brethren,' ' and then to 
 Mrs. Rains and Paul, as Mr. McLean turned 
 away, "I love him with an unceasing love." 
 
 No one will ever be able to properly measure 
 the vital contribution which this great leader made 
 to the missionary life of our people. During the 
 
64 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 critical twenty-six years in which we were made 
 a real missionary people, Mr. Rains was the practi- 
 cal, promotional genius, while Mr. McLean was the 
 prophet and school teacher of our missionary life. 
 
 Mr. Eains took great pride in the Missionary In- 
 telligencer, which was the official organ of the 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society. When it 
 was first published it was devoted to the interests 
 of all the organized work, and as Secretary of the 
 Church Extension Board, Mr. Rains was among the 
 first editors. The year he became Secretary of the 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society it was taken 
 over by that society and he continued one of the 
 editors until it was merged with the publications 
 of the other societies into World Call. "While it 
 was almost like giving up one of his own children, 
 he rejoiced in the nobler proportions and increased 
 circulation of the new magazine. 
 
 With the approaching thirty-fifth anniversary 
 of Mr. McLean's connection with the Foreign 
 Christian Missionary Society, Mr. Rains conceived 
 the idea of creating a fund of $10,000 to com- 
 memorate the event, and provide for the support 
 of a missionary on the foreign field forever ($600 
 at that time being the amount necessary). The 
 many friends of Mr. McLean everywhere were glad 
 to share in this. In addition, the secretaries ar- 
 ranged for a public demonstration in the Central 
 Christian Church, Cincinnati, on the first Sunday 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 65 
 
 in March, 1917, at which time representatives of 
 the other boards, as well as pastors and friends 
 from nearby points, joined with local forces in 
 making it a memorable occasion. A leather bound 
 book containing telegrams and letters from all over 
 the country, was presented to Mr. McLean, and 
 addresses of congratulation and affection served 
 to show the high esteem and love of his friends, 
 Mr. Rains was not well and had been in the South 
 for some weeks, but braved the cold and discom- 
 fort of the worst blizzard of the year to be with 
 the "Bishop," as he loved to call his comrade 
 of many years, and added his message of apprecia- 
 tion. 
 
 The following letters which have been preserved 
 are self-revealing and show something of the af- 
 fection and respect that existed between these as- 
 sociates. As the letters from Mr. McLean and Mr. 
 Corey indicate, Mr. Rains upon several occasions 
 felt that his health was such that it would be better 
 to give up the work, but upon their insistence, he 
 consented to continue. 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 October 1, 1912. 
 Rev. S. J. Corey, 
 c-o S. S. Lusitania, 
 New York. 
 My Dear Brother Corey: 
 
 Welcome to American soil! We are delighted to see 
 you. If you have any African germs on you please take a 
 bath before you come this way. We are very particular 
 
66 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 down around Cincinnati. There is no dirt here I will give 
 you to understand. Only the immaculate are allowed to 
 enter the cleanly precincts of the Queen City of the West. 
 
 Well, really, we are delighted to have you come home. 
 Personally, I am overjoyed. I have been lonesome with- 
 out you. Your Sunday schools have worked my head off. 
 They are an obstreperous lot of schools! We have made 
 a very good gain, thank you, both in number of con- 
 tributing schools and in the amount given. Our total re- 
 ceipts amount to over $400,000, a gain of $21,000. The 
 Lord is in the earth as well as in his heaven. 
 
 That man Abram Cory is a prince. He is doing won- 
 ders. You will hear from him and his team. The Standard 
 folks are still blowing and fussing. They are now after 
 Fortune and they want to get after Hopkins. What do 
 you think? Hopkins put Maclachlan on his program and 
 also that Chicago man that we appointed for Cuba and 
 did not go out, you know his name, and Lappin wrote him 
 protesting against these two men being on the program. 
 Think of it! Hopkins wrote him a note and told him that 
 it was too late to consider his suggestion. 
 
 Well, we have tried to keep the old ship sailing till you 
 get here. Now if she springs a leak you will have to calk 
 her up. 
 
 Your wife and children are very happy. They seem to 
 do well without you. Let me know definitely what train 
 you will be on and what hour and I will send your wife 
 down to meet you. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 F. M. Rains. 
 
 July 23, 1914. 
 Dear Brother Rains: 
 
 I want to thank you for that very tender personal letter. 
 You have been everything to me through these nine years 
 we have been together, and have been so whole-hearted and 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 67 
 
 Christ-like in all our relationship. I never can tell you 
 just how much all this has meant to me. I regret leaving 
 just now with the burden of things on you as heavy as 
 they are, but it seems that I should go. I feel unworthy 
 of this great privilege and weak as I face its responsibility. 
 
 Brother Rains, I do not want you to leave the work. You 
 must not — the work cannot spare you and we would be at 
 sea without your great experience and wisdom. I pray 
 God that you may have strength and that the work may 
 hold you for years yet. 
 
 I am so disappointed about the Sunday schools for I 
 felt they would gain handsomely. We worked hard on them, 
 too. Hope the churches continue to gain. 
 
 I'll bear your message of love to the missionaries. 
 
 My sensitive point! Fishing! And you are so in- 
 discreet as to stir me upon it while saying ion voyage. I 
 am as sensitive on that point as you are on singing and 
 as efficient too. Supposing we draw a bargain. I'll praise 
 your voice in its musical cadences, if you'll praise my 
 prowess with the rod and reel. I think I'm generous, too. 
 
 But I will try the Yangtse if I get a chance, but I 
 won't risk a picture, you discredit even my pictures of 
 fish! 
 
 The August Intelligencer is a dandy. Bower and I 
 have been going over it. It hits the spot. 
 
 Well, may the Lord bless and keep you in his sweet 
 peace. I shall think of you so often. 
 
 With true affection, 
 
 Stephen. 
 
 Tokyo, Japan. 
 November 18, 1914. 
 Mr. F. M. Rains, 
 
 Box 884, Cincinnati. 
 Dear Brother Rains: 
 
 I have found no time for a letter but I must write just 
 
68 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 a word. We are leaving today for Akita. We have been 
 busy night and day. You will be reading the letter to 
 Brother McLean in which I mention some things of im- 
 portance. 
 
 I do trust, Brother Rains, that you will not plan to 
 leave the work. I cannot bear to think of it. If you were 
 ever needed it seems to be now. Your efforts have been 
 so untiring and you have developed the work so wonder- 
 fully. We must have your wisdom and help for some years 
 to eome. Of course, you must write the first March Offer- 
 ing circular and the rest of them too. I will help you 
 out of course. Expect to get home January first, ready for 
 work. Am very anxious to get back. 
 
 With Christmas love to all, 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 Stephen J. 
 
 Dec. 8, 1914. 
 My dear Doctor: 
 
 I wish you would give up all thought of giving up the 
 work on Mr. Corey's return. I thought after our talk on 
 the subject, that you were going to do that. It appears 
 clear to me that it will be better for you and for the 
 work, for you to do this. The work needs you; I feel that 
 Christ needs you in the Rooms. I greatly wish that you 
 would remain there always. 
 
 You are planning a Florida trip. I think you would 
 do far better if you went to Michigan or Minnesota. It 
 is cold weather you need. That is far more health-giving 
 and life-giving than the warm weather of Florida. The 
 cold destroys germs of all kinds and fills the system with 
 ozone and electricity and energy. Florida debilitates and 
 thins the blood. A month in Battle Creek would do you 
 more good than a winter in Florida, a hundred times 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 69 
 
 as much good. This is my conviction. I trust Mrs. Rains is 
 about herself again. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 A. McLean. 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 March 2, 1915. 
 Dear Doctor: 
 
 Wherever I go I find the people greatly interested in 
 you. You have a large place in the hearts of the people, 
 and you deserve it. No man has ever rendered our cause a 
 better service than you have. E. B. Barnes was speaking 
 about you when I saw him last. He said he never saw 
 your equal in energy, enthusiasm and "pep." Tens of 
 thousands feel the same. The hope of all who know you is 
 that you will so recruit your strength in the months you 
 are absent from the Rooms that you will be able to take 
 your place in the work before the end of the year. I do 
 not know how we are going to go on and grow without your 
 presence and help. The prayer of your associates in the 
 Rooms is for your complete recovery, and that speedily. 
 God bless you and Mrs. Rains and all dear to you. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 A. McLean. 
 
 Memphis, Tenn. 
 Nov. 17, 1917. 
 My dear Doctor: 
 
 Yours of the 6th reached me in Nashville. I am now 
 in Memphis. We are having good meetings. Yesterday's 
 set-up was wonderful. I think I was never in a better 
 service. Miller made a profound impression. He is an 
 orator. Abe does too, though he is not a bit like Miller. Our 
 people — Madden, Hagin, Dye and Dr. McGavran, stir 
 the people. No one stirs them more deeply than Dr. 
 
70 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 McGavran. All the speakers do well, and are heard with 
 deepest interest. 
 
 We did not get much money in Nashville. The Y. M. 
 C. A. was trying to raise money at the same time. The 
 claims of the war came first. Men say, "We must win the 
 war." Till the war is won they do not propose to give 
 for any other cause. 
 
 We have not begun to solicit in Memphis. We shall do 
 better here than we did in Nashville. 
 
 I was not mistaken about Paul's speech. He did re- 
 markably well. I was proud of him and happy on your 
 account and on his account. 
 
 The President of the General Convention will not pre- 
 side at all the conventions. There is nothing in the con- 
 stitution to that effect. 
 
 Smith of North Carolina told me of your great address 
 at Wilson. He said you carried the Convention by storm. 
 
 You speak about being well. I trust you will take 
 good care of yourself. Be sure to get plenty of sleep. 
 Don't overwork. Let Mrs. Rains have her way with you. 
 
 I am a poor solicitor. Abe knows that. I am sent 
 with an experienced man. All I am expected to do is 
 to reenforce my mate with my presence and some few 
 words now and then. I help with the maps and charts 
 and speak when there is an opportunity. 
 
 Abe has not been with us much. Rafe is in full com- 
 mand most of the time. We are a happy family. 
 
 We are due in Cincinnati the night before Thanksgiving. 
 The Georgia campaign has been called off for the present. 
 Billy Sunday is in Atlanta; that is the reason. 
 
 I am well and enjoy this new experience. I wish for 
 you and Mrs. Rains all the best things in life. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 A. McLean. 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 71 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 Nov. 12, 1920. 
 Dear Mrs. Rains: 
 
 Please tell me what books by Isaac Errett you have in 
 your library. I have been looking for his book entitled 
 "Linsey Woolsey and other Addresses." The Standard 
 Publishing 1 Company says the work is out of print. If you 
 have it, would you sell it or loan it to me? Please tell me 
 what other missionary books you have, aside from the 
 Intelligencer. 
 
 When I called at your home before leaving Cincinnati, 
 it was to express my gratitude to you for all your hos- 
 pitality and kindness. You and Mr. Rains were more to me 
 than any other two people in Cincinnati. Your home was 
 the only home I visited regularly. The world is different 
 to you since Mr. Rains answered the home-call. The world 
 is different to me, too. On his account and on your own 
 account I shall always be interested in you, and shall al- 
 ways wish you all the best things in life. If I had had 
 an opportunity I would have told you this while you were 
 in St. Louis. 
 
 God love you and prosper you always and in all things. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 A. McLean. 
 
 There follow short statements from C. W. Plop- 
 per, who has served for years as Treasurer of the 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society, and later 
 of the United Christian Missionary Society, and 
 also from Bert Wilson and C. M. Yocum, Secre- 
 taries of the Foreign Missionary Society and now 
 occupying like positions in the United Christian 
 Missionary Society: 
 
 It is a great privilege and splendid opportunity for any 
 
72 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 young man to be intimately associated in his business con- 
 nection with an aggressive, conscientious, Christian man of 
 older years. Beginning as a young man it was my privi- 
 lege to be very closely associated with F. M. Rains for 
 nearly nineteen years in the offices of the Foreign Christian 
 Missionary Society. We were also members of the same 
 local congregation during the larger part of that period. 
 By opportune words of brotherly counsel and by a wonder- 
 ful Christian example, he was most helpful to me. His 
 consecration to the great task to which he was connected 
 was always a marvel to me. Personal comforts or desires 
 were always pushed aside when there was an opportunity 
 to present the world-wide work of the Master for which he 
 truly gave his life. In his passing I have felt a keen 
 personal loss and look forward to the time when we can 
 again be associated in our Father's Kingdom. — C. W. 
 Plopper. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The first time I ever saw F. M. Rains to know him was 
 at the Omaha National Convention in 1903. Mrs. Wilson 
 and I were newlyweds, attending our first National Con- 
 vention together. Mr. Rains sat in front of us at one of 
 the sessions of the Convention and listened with such eager- 
 ness and enthusiasm and zeal, that it seemed almost as 
 hard work as if he had been making a speech. That 
 was characteristic of Mr. Rains throughout his life. 
 
 A couple of years later I received a telegram to meet 
 Mr. Rains in St. Joseph, Missouri, to talk over an important 
 proposition that he wanted to present to me. I took the 
 next train from Humboldt, Nebraska, and met him about six 
 
 'clock in the evening. We had supper together and he 
 requested me to go out to Krug Park with him. During 
 all this time he made no mention of the matter for which 
 
 1 was called to meet him. Arriving at Krug Park we found 
 a bench under some large trees, and as soon as we 
 sat down, Mr. Rains abruptly said, " Wilson, the Foreign 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 73 
 
 Society wants you to go to Cuba as a missionary. ' ' And 
 then he laid out the opportunity and the need for a man 
 to take up work in Cuba at once. I was not through 
 college and, of course, when I explained to him that I had 
 two more years of college work before me, he agreed with 
 me that I should not undertake the work before the time 
 that I should have finished college. But when I left him 
 he said, "Remember that some time you must join us in 
 this Foreign Missionary work." 
 
 When I was called to work for the Foreign Society, I 
 had a long talk with Mr. Rains, in which he outlined with 
 directness and vigor the task of a secretary as he saw it. 
 He said that it meant hard work; that a man had to live 
 with that job for twenty-four hours of every day; that he 
 had to work at foreign missions and even dream foreign 
 missions. He said it was a job that meant separation from 
 one's family for weeks and sometimes months; that there 
 were hardships in connection with it; that there were many 
 advisers, and that these advisers usually felt that they 
 knew more about the proposition than the one who had 
 spent twenty-five years at it. 
 
 On the other hand, he said that you could usually trust 
 the brethren; that the judgment of the big mass of our 
 folk was usually safe and sound on any proposition. He 
 said the task had many compensations, among them a host 
 of friends which would accumulate through the years. 
 These friends, he said, loved the foreign missionary cause 
 and gave their money and their prayers for it, some of 
 them gave their children to help it go forward. 
 
 Most of the time that I lived in Cincinnati, our home was 
 across the street from Mr. Rains. I then learned more in- 
 timately something of the vigor and strength of character, 
 and untiring zeal of the man. He worked early and late. 
 He lived and talked and dreamed about his job more than 
 any man I ever knew. One could not talk with him for 
 ten minutes without his making some reference to the task 
 
74 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 of foreign missions. He was a man of unusual optimism. 
 He always thought in terms of enlargement. 
 
 During the last year or two of his life, when he was 
 almost incapacitated for work, he longed to be at the task 
 again. He always spoke of the time when he would be 
 stronger and be able to go out and visit the churches and 
 get them to become Living Links and give more money to 
 the cause. 
 
 He often came over to our home in the evening and 
 played croquet with our girls. One game was about as 
 much as his strength would allow, but he seemed to put as 
 much vigor into trying to win as if he were dedicating a 
 church or raising a Living Link for foreign missions. The 
 girls always enjoyed playing with him because he played 
 with such enthusiasm. 
 
 The morning on which I started on my trip to India, 
 Mr. Rains came over to bid me good-bye. After a short 
 visit, as he was about to leave, he said, "Tell the mis- 
 sionaries that we all love them; that we are going to get 
 more money to support their work than ever before. Tell 
 them that we are just in the beginning of our foreign 
 missionary work and that it will grow larger and larger 
 from year to year." — Bert Wilson. 
 ***** 
 
 The first time I saw F. M. Rains, he appeared to me 
 to be a man of unusual ability. I had united with the 
 church at Steubenville, Ohio, in my earliest teens. Shortly 
 thereafter, the old building in which I made the confession 
 and was baptized, was torn down to make way for a new 
 building. My father drew the plans for the new building 
 and I helped to clean brick taken from the old building, 
 to make them fit for use in the new. Hence, the erection 
 of that new building was of more than usual interest to 
 me, and usual interest would have made it an "occasion. 5 ' 
 Had we not talked of a new and up-to-date church for 
 many months? 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 75 
 
 When the new building was completed F. M. Rains came 
 to dedicate it. Of all the men in our brotherhood capable 
 of dedicating a church building, he was selected as the 
 most capable. 
 
 The day of dedication arrived. The new church, beauti- 
 fully decorated, awaited the word of a man of God to 
 set it apart to the worship of God, and the man of God 
 came in the person of Mr. Rains. The setting, to me, 
 was perfect, and in that setting Mr. Rains stood out as 
 a man of unusual power and consecration. 
 
 Three times I heard him preach that day and even yet 
 I can recall quite clearly his witty plays on the names of 
 the contributors. I do not recall anything else he said, 
 but the impression made upon me, deep and abiding, was 
 that of a great occasion and a great man; a great thing 
 done in a great way. I was in the hero-worshiping stage 
 of my development and Mr. Rains at once became one 
 of my heroes. 
 
 Could I contribute a more beautiful flower to his mem- 
 ory than to say that more intimate acquaintance with him 
 in more mature years did not dim or mar that earlier, 
 idealistic picture of boyhood, but rather served to make 
 it more distinct and real? Mr. Rains was a big man, a 
 man of God. It was not my privilege to know him inti- 
 mately as long as his other associates in the office knew 
 him, for he lived only a little more than a year after I 
 went to Cincinnati, and much of that time he was away 
 because of his illness. But I knew him long enough to 
 know the measure of the man and the source of his power. 
 
 Shortly after entering the office it became my duty to 
 promote the March Offering which he had promoted so 
 long and so successfully. One of the big items in his 
 promotion of the day was the "March Offering Circular " 
 to the ministers. I went to his desk and asked him the 
 principles of a successful circular. He invited me to sit 
 down and then, at length and in detail, went over the 
 
76 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 things which from his long experience he deemed essential. 
 
 Three things, he said, were necessary. Base the case 
 on the Bible. Our people love the Book. Rest the argu- 
 ment on the Word of God. Present the work, its triumphs 
 and its needs. People will contribute when they see the 
 need. Let them know the facts. Then dress the circular 
 in attractive garb, not gaudy, but in such clothing as 
 will claim the attention of the preachers. These, he said, 
 were the principles upon which he worked and gladly he 
 passed them on to others in the work. These principles 
 are sound principles. They are absolutely sincere and 
 genuine, no tricks are concealed, and they reflect the 
 genuineness of the man who discovered and adopted them 
 and the liberality with which he passed them on reflected 
 his magnanimity. 
 
 Fellowship with F. M. Rains was a benediction. In his 
 life he exemplified the reign of God in the heart of man, 
 and in his long and successful service he promoted the 
 spread of the Kingdom of God among the nations. — C. M. 
 Yocum. 
 
 As plans were formulated for the unification 
 of all the missionary interests of the Disciples of 
 Christ, Mr. Rains was greatly concerned. Failing 
 health prevented any active participation, but as 
 he had opportunity he inquired as to certain phases 
 of the consolidation. Mr. McLean, when in the 
 city, spent every Thursday evening with Mr. Rains. 
 Thus it happened that they were together the night 
 before Mr. Rains' final relapse, and many ques- 
 tions were asked and answered regarding the con- 
 stitution of the United Christian Missionary 
 Society. Mr. Rains was not permitted to see this 
 Society put into operation. The Foreign Christian 
 
The Foreign Christian Missionary Society 11 
 
 Missionary Society was a part of his very being 
 and with its passing as a separate organization, he 
 laid aside his armor. He had finished his course. 
 Mr. McLean was able to contribute much to the 
 organization of the new society and served a little 
 over a year as its vice-president, when he, too, was 
 called to higher service, on December 15, 1920, and 
 the names McLean and Eains are linked together 
 again as they were for so many years in their work 
 for the evangelization of the world. 
 
CHAPTER FIVE 
 
 RELATION TO THE MISSIONARIES 
 
 Two visits were made by Mr. Rains to the Orient. 
 The first in 1901 to China and Japan. This was a 
 great help to him in the prosecution of the work. 
 He gained new enthusiasm and greater arguments 
 for foreign missions. It was on this trip that he 
 saw the vision of schools for the Orient, and 
 as a result raised thousands of dollars for this 
 purpose. 
 
 While on this tour Mr. Rains wrote an account 
 of his experiences to the church papers, the same 
 being issued later in booklet form under the title, 
 "A Visit to Our Mission Stations." In the last 
 letter he summed up his impressions as follows : 
 
 On this trip to the East I have seen many new and 
 strange things. I have seen mighty mountains and vol- 
 canoes, great cities, ancient temples, great statesmen and 
 scholars, but nothing I have seen has impressed me so 
 much as the marvelous success of the gospel in these lands. 
 I went out believing and hoping and I return knowing and 
 enthusiastic. The man who questions the success of the 
 work in Japan and China doubts the testimony of thousands 
 of as intelligent and consecrated men and women as the 
 world has ever seen. 
 
 Of this visit, F. E. Meigs, one of the pioneers of 
 the mission in China, who has since died, writes 
 as follows: 
 
 78 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 79 
 
 Our annual convention has just closed. Brother Rains 
 was with us and did us great good. He has just left and 
 we feel somewhat lonely without him. He was full of 
 life and encouraged us by his hopeful words and manner. 
 It is a good stroke of business to send a business man 
 like Brother Rains out to see the field and the workers. 
 It does not require miles of argument to make him see the 
 needs of the mission. He takes the situation in at a 
 glance. I am writing to you at this time to tell you some 
 of our hopes and purposes. It has been decided, Brother 
 Rains acquiescing, to enlarge our school work in China. 
 
 W. Remfry Hunt, who went out to China from 
 England nearly thirty years ago, contributes some 
 reminiscences of Mr. Rains which will be of 
 interest : 
 
 It opened up new windows through which the mission 
 fields could be seen, when it was decided to send secretaries 
 and representatives of the Mission Boards to India, China 
 and Japan. In the choice of its representatives, the Foreign 
 Christian Missionary Society was wise. It sent men of 
 vision. Francis M. Rains came to China as a colleague. 
 He entered into the problems and achievements of the mis- 
 sionaries. He came when the Society was foundingi its 
 mission stations. He visited them with the missionaries 
 and shared the loneliness and the hardships with them. 
 
 Francis M. Rains was a missionary statesman of no mean 
 caliber. In Chuchow, he met the pioneers, W. Remfry Hunt 
 and Dr. E. I. Osgood, and marvelled when he saw the 
 li roughing it" these missionaries who blazed the trail had 
 to encounter, and endure cheerfully. He saw the old 
 thatched house. It had centipedes, rats, spiders, and even 
 snakes that had undisturbed for decades made cozy habitat 
 in its rafters. He saw our first dispensary, primary school, 
 church building made of mud walls and mud floor and 
 
80 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 thatched roof. Brother Rains said he felt highly honored 
 as he slept with us in Chinese boats, dined in Chinese inns, 
 traveled in Chinese fashion, wondered at our mysterious 
 language jargon, and marvelled that it could mean anything 
 so natural as "real American talking.'' His hearty laugh, 
 his quick discernment and his careful manner in suggest- 
 ing any improvements made him a friend and counsellor to 
 be trusted. 
 
 It was a calm morning in the fall of 1901 that I took 
 F. M. Rains to one of our mission churches at Wu-i in 
 Anhwei Province. It was a great farming area. It at- 
 tracted Mr. Rains at once and he remarked upon the pro- 
 ductiveness of the soil and its great economic values when 
 the Chinese catch the fire of enthusiasm and build their own 
 churches. It seemed as if with prophetic vision he was 
 looking down the years to the present time when the Chu- 
 chow district has had such fine growth and advancement. 
 He said, looking deeply into my eyes, "Young man, this is 
 the field for your life-work, stay here and build the 
 churches. • ' From Chuchow a radiating course of stations 
 has been opened up. It has indeed been a starting point 
 for missions even into the remote parts of the province. To 
 the time of his death, Mr. Rains took a deep personal in- 
 terest in all these points he had visited. The native Chris- 
 tians called him "the bishop" and always referred to him 
 in terms of personal affection. I think it gave him a tre- 
 mendous urge and reality in his faith as he always spoke 
 of these live-wire churches in the field as the advance posts 
 in the firing line. He remembered the pastors and teachers 
 and sent them greetings in his personal correspondence. 
 
 On the occasion of his leaving Chuchow for Xanking we 
 had quite an exciting experience. The country was in- 
 fested with brigandage. They had no respect of persons. 
 Chuchow is about fifty miles from Xanking and the return 
 journey was to be taken by the canal. Mr. Rains had never 
 met or been held up by robbers; if he had been, he would 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 81 
 
 have had some respect for their boldness. The military- 
 governor of our city was a bit anxious and sent an armed 
 escort of some two soldiers in a small sampan following 
 close behind us. It took about a day and a night to make 
 it in fair weather. All went well till along about midnight 
 the head boatman on our boat put his head into my compart- 
 ment, which was at the main entrance, and whispered that 
 it was very unlucky, but that there were some suspicious 
 characters following the boat in the direction of the more 
 sparsely populated parts. Presently the suspects proved 
 their real calling and challenged us. 
 
 1 ' Pull alongside, old fellow, if you know and respect us, ' ' 
 shouted the leader of the robber band. 
 
 At this juncture I was anxious that Mr. and Mrs. Rains 
 should not be informed of the peril, and asked the boatman 
 to keep in the middle of the stream. 
 
 ''They have ropes and hooks attached for lassoing 
 us," he cried. 
 
 Then there was a pandemonium of swearing and cursing 
 and firing commenced. 
 
 ' ' Shall I return the fire ? ' ' the soldiers asked of me. 
 
 I called out, "Who are you? We are foreigners going to 
 the capital." 
 
 "Won't you dare-devils answer us?" they retorted. 
 
 "We will answer them," shouted our soldiers angrily, 
 and poured in a volley of fire in their direction, for they 
 were following us on the banks. 
 
 Then I knew we were in for trouble. It was a situation. 
 We had the far-famed Treasurer of the Foreign Christian 
 Missionary Society aboard and thoughts surged up as to 
 what a commotion it would make in America should we 
 be captured by these fellows who would handle us none too 
 delicately. It was not, to say the least, conducive to quiet 
 meditation. Mr. and Mrs. Rains were sound asleep in their 
 cabins. Should I awaken them? How could I break the 
 news to them? What effect would it have upon them? 
 
: J Francis M:rr'o> Bo. ')•.$ 
 
 These and a hundred other thoughts surged up in my mind, 
 and stirred all sorts of imagination. We lifted thoughts 
 in prayer. "We had proved God in trials and difficulties 
 abundant. So I let them sleep. The firing had ceased and 
 ; . with other reasons, because we were nearing one of 
 the small military encampments along the route. 
 
 Toward the early dawn Mr. Rains dreamily awakened 
 and remarked that he was somewhat disturbed by noises. 
 At breakfast and at morning prayers I explained the some- 
 what startling incidents of the night, but under those won- 
 derful, silent, starry, oriental nights, wearied by travels, 
 the treasurer and his wife had slept the sleep of the just 
 and rested. ''Under His shadow we dwell in safety among 
 the heathen.'-' 
 
 Xearing the close of his life Mr. Rains wrote me a beauti- 
 ful letter. I can only give extracts from it. ''Let me con- 
 gratulate you, my dear brother, upon the long years of 
 service you have given to China. It has been a wonderful 
 experience to have seen the Church of Christ grow up over 
 the ashes of heathenism. You have stood long and faithful. 
 You have been a sentinel alone in many battlefields. The 
 great brotherhood honors and takes note of your service. 
 Those churches are a crown of joy. You have given a life- 
 time to China in the midst of the greatest days of its 
 missionary struggles, pioneer life and constructive work. 
 Missionaries are the architects of a new civilization. Let 
 us know fully and sincerely what we can do for you in 
 any way to forward the splendid interests to which you 
 and your dear wife have devoted your lives. The benedic- 
 tions of the Father be with you and you: s. ' 
 
 In the quiet of the home life F. M. Rains was at his 
 best Those who knew him in the great conventions re- 
 membered him as the thundering and clarion call, the voice 
 of a mighty man of valor, the strong and clear executive 
 in administration. But it was in his own home at Norwood, 
 Cincinnati. Ohio, that he and his amiable wife had a 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 83 
 
 ' ' prophet 's chamber ' ' where they boasted more missionaries 
 than usual had rested. It was a benediction to be there. 
 It seems strange that we shall hear his voice no more on 
 this side of the river, and the thought will come: It must 
 be all right. He is over there now in company with his 
 beloved comrade, Archibald McLean, and one muses on the 
 dream that they are in higher service in the Kingdom for 
 which all this service was as but a school. 
 
 The Chinese students were attracted by the fine person- 
 ality and strong character of F. M. Rains. "When they 
 presented him with his Chinese card and had his name in- 
 scribed, he was very much interested in having them give 
 him the interpretation of the Chinese hieroglyphics. His 
 name put into the transliteration of Chinese and adapted to 
 its phonetics was: RUT EN-ZS, which means: "Discerning 
 and finished teacher of Grace.' 7 Mr. Rains smiled, good- 
 naturedly, and said: 
 
 "Isn't that fine? You fellows are too polite." 
 
 They said, "Not at all, what language, what language 
 of compliment." 
 
 Once they kept Mr. Rains waiting about half an hour 
 before opening up the boat to cross the Yangtse, and even 
 then, upon starting, one said to the other as they were 
 leaving the sides of the river: 
 
 "Go slowly, go slowly," which was meant to be polite. 
 
 When Mr. Rains heard it, he said, "Tell them to get a 
 move on them." 
 
 They were amused and said, "He is a foreigner, and 
 hasn 't read our book of rights which prescribes the decorum 
 of parting guests ! ' ' 
 
 The next visit was made to India, Philippine 
 Islands, China, Japan and Korea, from July, 1910, 
 to July, 1911. At the earnest solicitation of the 
 Churches of Christ in Australia which were co- 
 
84 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 operating in the work in India, China and Japan, 
 Mr. Rains spent a month in that county. He was 
 kept busy every moment of the time, the churches 
 very graciously paying all the expenses of both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rains during the entire stay. The 
 following are some of the words of appreciation 
 of the value of the visit, sent to Mr. McLean : 
 
 You will not be surprised to hear that Brother Rains 
 received a most cordial welcome wherever he went. His 
 visit was a benediction to our churches. Our one regret 
 was that his stay was so limited. Will you please convey 
 to your board our hearty appreciation of their kindness in 
 arranging for his visit to Australia? It has meant much 
 for us. Our vision has been broadened and hearts enriched. 
 He has won our love and the Australian brethren have 
 been drawn much closer to America. We realize as never 
 before our oneness in Christ. The missionary spirit has 
 received a mighty uplift. — D. A. Ewers. 
 
 Brother Rains has come and gone. I could not begin to 
 tell you how completely Brother Rains captured the hearts 
 of our people. I do not say too much when I say that he 
 made our State and Federal Conferences. On every subject 
 he was ready with just the word. We wanted to raise $1250 
 at our meeting. Brother Rains spoke and in the hands of 
 Brother Thomas, the thing was possible. We were dis- 
 cussing the best way to support the work of the Council 
 of Churches; he spoke and the motion carried. His very 
 first speech, which was a response to the first welcome, was 
 a plea to enlarge, and all through the conferences he kept 
 that same plea before us, until we wanted to go out, 
 every one of us, and do evangelistic work. He is a giant 
 and has put a larger heart and vision into each one of us. 
 God bless him for coming to our conferences. His genial 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 85 
 
 spirit was the delight of all. Crowds came to hear him. 
 All went away filled. — Ira A. Paternoster. 
 
 Thanks a thousand times for letting Brother Rains come 
 our way. His visit has been a great blessing to us all. 
 He has cheered and inspired us. He has helped us to be- 
 lieve more in ourselves and in our Christ and encouraged us 
 to attempt greater things in the future. We wish we could 
 keep him here. — Horace Kingsbury. 
 
 The visit of F. M. Rains will make an epoch in the his- 
 tory of our work in Western Australia. His unbounded 
 enthusiasm, his optimism, his world-wide vision, his fidelity 
 to the gospel message, lifted us out of our provincialism, 
 gave us a vision like unto his own for larger things and 
 led us into a new appreciation of the movement for the 
 restoration of the New Testament church and the plea 
 for the union of God's people. 
 
 His original manner, his epigrammatic style, his thunder- 
 ing climaxes, his fund of information, his sparkling humor 
 and heart-searching pathos, all combined to make him one 
 of the most interesting and powerful speakers Perth audi- 
 ences have ever heard. Whether it was a welcome meeting 
 of his own brethren, a sisters' meeting for women only, a 
 men's banquet, a children's service, or a great combined 
 meeting with many visitors from other churches, he never 
 failed to gain the ears of his audiences and hold them in 
 rapt attention until the last word. On three occasions he 
 spoke for one hour and then left his hearers eager for 
 more. A newspaper reporter said he was one of the most 
 interesting persons he had ever interviewed. A prominent 
 social worker said, "Mr. Rains dwarfs any missionary 
 advocate who has hitherto visited our State." Many of 
 our own people were taken by surprise, for they had not 
 realized that one of the great men of the modern mission- 
 ary movement was coming among us. 
 
86 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 From Australia the long trip across the Indian 
 Ocean was made to India, where six weeks were 
 spent in intensive work and thought as Mr. Rains 
 journeyed from one station to another, conferred 
 with individual missionaries or met with all of the 
 missionaries in convention assembled. Dr. George 
 W. Brown, now on the faculty of the College of 
 Missions, Indianapolis, Indiana, but for some years 
 a valued missionary in India, writes as follows : 
 
 One of the advantages of Brother Rains' visit to India in 
 1910 was that it enabled the missionaries to see things a 
 bit more clearly from the standpoint of the Board. Not 
 that there was ever any lack of appreciation of the diffi- 
 culties of the Board, but separated by ten thousand miles 
 of ocean, and engrossed by the details of work on the field, 
 missionaries find it difficult to grasp all the problems which 
 are confronted at the home base. When, for instance, it 
 becomes, necessary for the Home Board to reduce appropria- 
 tions to the field, it is impossible for the missionaries on 
 some far away field to see and understand the reasons. Or, 
 when one sees the appropriations for his field stationary 
 for a number of years and the amount appropriated to 
 another field mounting annually, it is hard to understand 
 that the Board is dealing alike with all the fields. 
 
 The visit of Mr. Rains helped the missionaries in India 
 to see more clearly through some of these problems, for 
 at this time the mission had been for years very careful 
 in its budgets in response to the repeated urging of the 
 Board, and the current expense budget was being held 
 practically stationary. Yet the total receipts of the Society 
 had been mounting, and it was hard to see why the India 
 mission was not allowed to expand and take advantage of 
 opportunities which were offering themselves. Moreover, 
 the total number of missionaries of the Society was in- 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 87 
 
 creasing, but the number sent to India was kept for years 
 at the same number. The missionaries had many questions 
 to ask in regard to these matters, and Mr. Rains helped 
 them to see that the Board was doing all that could be 
 expected of it, and that what seemed to the missionaries to 
 be a neglect of the Indian field, and a bit of partiality 
 toward some other field, was really nothing more than the 
 earnest endeavor of the Board to be fair with all its mis- 
 sion fields. Mr. Rains compared the different fields to a 
 lot of children, all of whom were clamoring to their father 
 for something, and as he did not have enough to satisfy all 
 their demands, he simply had to make his means go as far 
 as he could and see that each one received the best he 
 could give. 
 
 Another thing was that Mr. Rains impressed very deeply 
 on the missionaries the fact that they had the full sympathy 
 of the Board. Some of the letters which one gets on the 
 field are personal in their nature, but most of them are of 
 the business type. The members of the secretarial force 
 are absolutely devoted to missions, and their work at home 
 makes it possible for the missionaries to be kept at their 
 posts. But they have so many other things to do that they 
 have little time to write to the missionaries, and seeing so 
 little of them, especially those who have not had years of 
 experience with the Board, are sometimes slow to realize the 
 deep and earnest sympathy of the men behind them. Mr. 
 Rains helped the missionaries to feel this sympathy. He 
 entered into their problems, visited them in their homes, 
 joked with them, rode with them, talked with them, and 
 in all these ways showed that a missionary secretary is in 
 full sympathy with them. This was one of the outstanding 
 results of the visit of Mr. Rains. 
 
 During his visit to India, Mr. Rains conducted a con- 
 ference with the missionaries of the mission, in which they 
 were invited to discuss all their problems. Some of these 
 problems were of the kind that Mr. Rains might assist 
 
88 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 in solving; they were of the type already referred to. 
 Others were of a different class; they had to do with the 
 work on the field as such. Such matters as dealing with 
 converts, with native workers, with non-Christians; prob- 
 lems about the education of children, problems about deal- 
 ing with government. The sound common sense of Mr. 
 Rains often helped to valuable suggestions in these mat- 
 ters. In other cases some other missionary was able to 
 help a troubled fellow-worker. In all cases the missionary 
 at least had the satisfaction of opening his mind freely, 
 and gaining the consciousness that others were giving him 
 a sympathetic hearing. 
 
 One thing which impressed me very much about Mr. 
 Eains was the way in which he sized up men. I have known 
 few, if any, who seemed to have the ability to arrive so 
 quickly and accurately at an estimate of the character and 
 worth of a man as he. 
 
 After Mr. Rains returned to America, the missionaries 
 felt that the Board was doing its best for them. It was at 
 this time that the Men and Millions Movement was in its 
 inception. From the way it originated the missionaries 
 were not at first sure that it was meant to include India, 
 but soon this doubt was dispelled. Mr. Rains' attitude in 
 India left no doubt in the minds of the missionaries. 
 
 Because of a storm on the Yellow Sea, enroute 
 to Hongkong from India, Mr. Rains was delayed 
 in reaching Manila, and was compelled to spend 
 Christmas Day on a small boat tossed by angry 
 seas. Bruce L. Kershner, professor in Lynchburg 
 College, Lynchburg, Va., who with his wife at- 
 tempted to go the American pace in a tropical cli- 
 mate and was compelled to return to this country, 
 gives the following account of Mr. Eains y itinerary: 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 89 
 
 It was the Christmas season of 1910. The members of 
 the Mission hoped to have Mr. and Mrs. Rains present for 
 the exercises on Christmas Eve which that year fell on a 
 Saturday; but when the regular weekly boat from Hong- 
 kong arrived that afternoon without them, most of us gave 
 up hope of their coming before the arrival of the next 
 regular boat, one week in the future. An irregular boat 
 was to come in on the next Tuesday but as it was about 
 three removes from a first-class steamer, there was a gen- 
 eral feeling among those accustomed to travel in the tropics 
 that they would not brave the discomfort of a voyage in it. 
 A few of us, however, thought they would come by the first 
 connecting boat regardless of personal inconvenience and, 
 acting upon that impulse, were present at their arrival. I 
 shall never forget my feelings when, as the boat was coming 
 alongside of the wharf, I was able to identify them among 
 the crowd of Filipinos and Chinese on deck, but I was 
 no quicker of eye than they, for never were prisoners more 
 anxious to escape from their cells than they were to leave 
 that boat with its unchristian smells and dirt. 
 
 Without loss of time they were taken to the Mission 
 House where the entire station group assembled to give them 
 welcome. The next day was the time for the annual din- 
 ner to the Filipino evangelists; they were just in time 
 for that. Roast pig, the "Philippine turkey," was to be 
 served with sufficient Philippine cookery to make the native 
 men feel at home and enough American garnishments to 
 protect the appetites of the American missionaries. The 
 pig had been selected as early as the preceding May and 
 by careful attention had by this time come to the propor- 
 tions of a two hundred pounder, more or less, probably more. 
 Early in the morning the butcher did the duties of his 
 office and from that hour until more than high noon the 
 porker, spitted in the middle of a fifteen-foot pole, was 
 kept slowly revolving over a fire of coals. 
 
90 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 The tables were arranged in banquet order in the big 
 sala of the Mission House; the visitors in the center; the 
 missionaries on both sides of them; and the Filipino 
 evangelists and their families completing the group. So- 
 ciability reigned and at the dramatic moment four husky- 
 men, two under each end of the pole and the pig swinging 
 between them, came marching up the wide stairs, through 
 the door and across the room, the nut-brown porker exuding 
 hot grease in a trickling stream until he was deposited on 
 the table. The assembled party did the rest. Mr. Rains 
 was not a great eater of fat pork, but he was a great maker 
 of speeches, and that was one of the times of his life. 
 
 In the evening he attended a mass meeting in the Mis- 
 sion Chapel and addressed a general audience. As he spoke 
 only in English this address, as all others he made to Fili- 
 pino audiences, was translated as delivered. 
 
 As he was to visit all the stations, no time was to be 
 lost in pushing forward his program. The trip to the north 
 was made by sea. Mr. Rains looked over the boat, and 
 then went to arrange for the trip. While in the office some 
 one asked him if he were subject to seasickness and he 
 replied: "Yes, I get seasick when I go to buy a boat 
 ticket. " From Laoag, he was driven to the outstations by 
 Dr. Lemmon, and made the trip to Vigan overland. There 
 he had the experience of meeting with the annual Mission 
 Convention, taking part in the discussion of mission prob- 
 lems, and offering helpful suggestions for the transaction 
 of mission business. While there he was one evening taken 
 to an outstation for a meeting and on the return, while 
 walking across an open field, had the thrilling experience 
 of being stoned. 
 
 The return to Manila was made overland as much as 
 possible. The missionaries thought that before leaving the 
 Islands, he should have the thrill of witnessing a cock 
 fight. Accordingly, the whole station force escorted him 
 and Mrs, Rains to a big cock pit. He mingled with the 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 91 
 
 motley crowd of Chinese and Filipinos who frequent such 
 places, with considerable interest, until he came to the 
 gallery where some men were adjusting the gaffs to the 
 chickens' spurs. This was too much; he had no heart for 
 anything as cruel as that, and since the pleasure of the 
 visit was now ended, the party withdrew. 
 
 In all, their stay in the Islands occupied about five 
 weeks, and they left for China followed by the good wishes 
 and prayers of the entire Mission. The visit had brought 
 encouragement and renewed energy to all and the genial 
 good nature of Mr. Rains lingers to this day as a pleasant 
 recollection with those he visited. 
 
 In a personal way, I felt a deep attachment to Mr. Rains. 
 When the time came for me to enter upon what I had for 
 years dreamed was to be my life work, I went to Cincin- 
 nati and appeared before the Executive Committee of the 
 Foreign Society; after the conference, while sitting in the 
 office reflecting upon circumstances so full of meaning to 
 me, it was he who stepped in and in his kindly way in- 
 formed me that I was accepted for foreign service in the 
 Philippines. I have always cherished that message and he, 
 as the bearer, has had from that day a place distinctly 
 his own in my thoughts and affections. I am sure that 
 what is true with me must be equally so with many others, 
 and I am glad to be one of the number to record this ex- 
 pression of highest regard for him as one of my truest 
 and best friends. 
 
 Dr. W. N. Lemmon, of Brownfield, Texas, who 
 was compelled to leave the Philippines on account 
 of ill health, says of Mr. Eains' five weeks spent 
 in the Island : 
 
 From his visit we date the foundation laying of the 
 Albert Allen Bible College and Dormitory, the germinating 
 of the Mary Chiles Hospital and the unification of the 
 
92 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 Philippine work. When Mr. Kershner returned to America 
 for his furlough, Mr. Wolfe and I were left in Manila 
 with instructions to find a location for the Albert Allen 
 College. Knowing the desires of both Mr. Bains and Mr. 
 Kershner, the college was located on Taft Avenue, just 
 across from the Philippine University, where they thought 
 it should be. Twelve years have come and gone; the Bible 
 College is cooperating with the University Seminary; this 
 through the continued efforts of Mr. Corey and other mem- 
 bers of the Commission, making a strong central plant for 
 the entire 3,000 islands, and the Bible being, therefore, 
 accessible to all of the tribes. The press has been moved to 
 Manila, thus unifying the two fields, with Mr. Hanna in 
 charge, doing a valiant and heroic work, Mr. Wolfe having 
 paved the way with his former Tagalog paper. The Mary 
 Chiles Hospital, which germinated about that time, has 
 proved its beneficial influence by ministering to thousands 
 and bringing confidence to the people that the mission is 
 for their good. 
 
 From the visit of the great missionary statesman, F. 
 M. Rains, I feel that the beginning of the new life of the 
 Philippine mission can be dated. We cannot and would not 
 discount the great work of the Commission (S. J. Corey, 
 Prof. W. C. Bower and R. A. Doan) but had it not been 
 for the visit of Mr. Rains, they would have had to begin 
 where he found us. 
 
 P. A. Davey, who was born in Australia and 
 graduated from the College of the Bible, Lexing- 
 ton, Kentucky, and who spent about twenty years 
 in Japan, speaks of Mr. Eains in relation to the 
 missionaries in general and to the work in the 
 Sunrise Kingdom: 
 
 As I think of Mr. Rains today in relation to the work 
 of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society in Japan, I 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 93 
 
 think of one who had the deepest interest in the work, and 
 who was most devoted to his task in relation to the work 
 at the home base. His impress on the work was very much 
 deeper than has generally been recognized. He so put his 
 life into the enterprise that he identified himself with it, 
 but the enterprise was always greater than himself and 
 he naturally took his place in it as a man of sane, sagacious 
 business sense who looked for results both at home and 
 abroad and who honored his co-workers on both sides of the 
 water by recognizing the work and worth of all. 
 
 Mr. Rains was a true friend of the missionaries and 
 had a real interest in their welfare. He wished them to be 
 happy in their home life and to have homes that should be 
 havens of rest and good cheer. He had the welfare of all 
 the missionaries at heart and was impartial in the interest 
 he showed. He did not expect the missionary wife, bur- 
 dened with household cares, to also be burdened with many 
 mission duties. To a single missionary he said, "You 
 should put by at least $50 a month for the future." He 
 desired the missionary to have adequate salary. He said, 
 "You should read one new book a month." While true to 
 the position of the Disciples of Christ in regard to baptism, 
 he was broad-minded enough to recommend the Congrega- 
 tionalist as a religious weekly one ought to read. He was 
 interested in the plans of the individual missionaries and 
 of the mission in regard to the development of the work. 
 I recollect that on his first visit he took a keen interest 
 in the search for land for our educational interests which 
 a few years later took shape in the erection first of the 
 Boys' School and then of the Girls' School in Takinogawa. 
 He sought to get information for the churches at home that 
 supply the sinews of war. I believe that while the whole 
 work was on his heart he conceived his main task to be 
 that of providing men and means for the task abroad. I 
 doubt very much whether the educational plant we now 
 have in Takinogawa would have come to be, at least until 
 
94 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 years later, if it had not been for the vision Mr. Bains 
 got of the need and the efforts he made to supply it. 
 
 Mr. Eains had a big heart. He was not able to do for 
 the missionaries all he would have liked, and doubtless now 
 and then a young missionary, before he got a true perspec- 
 tive of the whole missionary task, was disappointed because 
 he did not get the equipment he wanted, I have always had 
 a very great sympathy for Mr. Eains and for Mr. McLean, 
 both because they seemed to me to be between the buffers 
 of a train, with the criticisms of the reactionary forces of 
 missionary unbelief at home on one side, and the mission- 
 aries with their great plans which could not be put into 
 effect because the churches at home had not caught the 
 vision of their task, on the other. 
 
 On his last visit to Japan Mr. Bains was not well. 7-: 
 everyone could see how very deeply his heart was set on 
 the work to which he had so unsparingly given his life. 
 He eould see a wonderful growth along educational lines 
 and in material equipment but I imagine he must have been 
 disappointed that the growth in direct evangelistic work 
 had not been commensurate with the educational work. The 
 evangelistic side of the work had not been overlooked but 
 there had been peculiar difficulty in Japan in keeping pre- 
 pared workers on the field, this being so necessary to con- 
 tinuity of effort and permanence of result. He and Mr. 
 McLean have had burdens to bear throughout the years of 
 which most folks at home not in intimate touch with the 
 work little dream. 
 
 Brother Bains, although his work for the cause in Japan 
 was mainly in America, put himself into the foundations of 
 a work in Japan which we trust shall prove to be a pillar 
 in the house of the Lord. 
 
 In the files of the Foreign Society we find a let- 
 ter written by Alexander Paul of China, to Mr. 
 
Relation to the Missionaries 95 
 
 McLean, regarding the visit of Mr. Kains to that 
 country : 
 
 I want to say to you that we are delighted with the 
 spirit of love and sympathy that Mr. Rains has shown. He 
 is entering into our problems in a way that we had thought 
 impossible for him or any other man coming from the 
 outside to do. His visit is going to do us untold good. 
 Already he has cleared up many misunderstandings that 
 have existed between you as an executive committee and 
 us on the field. We feel that we have seen into Mr. Rains' 
 heart and some of us have for the first time seen the love 
 and sympathy that are stored up there for us people on 
 the field. We admire his frankness. He has talked to us 
 very freely and called us down good and hard, but he did 
 it in the spirit of Christ. We thank the Father for his 
 coming among us. He will not be able to please all, but 
 to the great majority of us he will bring you good people 
 into a different relationship. We have always loved and 
 respected you all, but we have not understood you and we 
 feel you have not always understood us. If Mr. Rains 
 continues to clear up these misunderstandings, we as a 
 mission will be continually grateful to the Father and with 
 deeper zeal and consecration seek to carry the message of 
 our God to these lost people. 
 
 A. E. Cory, for many years a missionary in 
 China and who came home to lead in the Men 
 and Millions Movement and later became an im- 
 portant factor in the Interchurch World Move- 
 ment and one of the secretaries in the United 
 Christian Missionary Society, contributes the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 It was my great pleasure to see Mr. Rains on two visits 
 
96 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 were in China and went with us to our first mission sta- 
 tion. His wonderful cheerfulness, his deep sympathy, his 
 keen humor cheered the missionaries at ail times. He had 
 that rare quality of getting the confidence of the mis- 
 sionaries. They talked to him and he with them. His 
 criticisms were kindly and came only after he had shown 
 full appreciation of their work. He inspired them to larger 
 things. He often challenged them to do greater things than 
 they had ever thought of doing and at all times he laid 
 upon them the need of evangelism. He was able to glorify 
 the common task more than any man I have ever known. 
 His visit was a benediction. 
 
 Mr. Rains had the rare faculty of seeing things in the 
 large. He came to China in 1911 after a visit to the 
 other mission fields. China was thinking of her own trou- 
 bles. Our missionaries were talking of raising money for 
 our own needs. He encouraged this. He was sympathetic 
 to every proposition, but he gradually pointed out that 
 China ought not to think of herself alone, but that any 
 money that was raised ought to be for all of the fields. 
 
 So by great vision, wonderful companionship, and with 
 an unbounded faith there grew out of that conference the 
 plan for the first Million Dollar Campaign. To Mr. Rains 
 more than to any other single individual is due the large 
 vision for individual campaigns which has come to the Dis- 
 ciples in the last decade. 
 
CHAPTER SIX 
 
 A DEDICATOR OF CHURCHES 
 
 It would be most interesting if we had a com- 
 plete list of the churches dedicated by Mr. Rains, 
 Unfortunately, he never kept such a record. "With 
 him, when a work was finished that was the end 
 of it and he was ready for the next duty. The 
 number of such churches has been variously esti- 
 mated at from eight hundred to a thousand. 
 
 His first dedication came about in this wise: 
 Isaac Errett was to have dedicated the church at 
 Lyons, Kansas, in 1883. As Mr. Rains had never 
 been to a church dedication, he thought this would 
 be a good opportunity to attend one and at the 
 same time to hear Mr. Errett. What was his con- 
 sternation when he reached Lyons, to learn that 
 Mr. Errett was ill and unable to be present, and 
 that they were depending upon him to lead in 
 providing the money for their new church home. 
 He protested that he knew nothing of that form 
 of service, but to no avail. M. T. Hough was the 
 pastor. I. N. McCash, afterward Secretary of the 
 American Christian Missionary Society, and now 
 president of Phillips University, Enid, Oklahoma, 
 was at that time teaching school in Lyons. Mr. 
 Rains, years afterward, in recalling the occasion, 
 says of Mr. McCash : ' ' Through his efforts and the 
 
 97 
 
98 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 little I could do, we raised more than enough. He 
 did more than I could do. He was well known in 
 the community and commanded a large influence. 
 He was not a preacher then; he was a teacher 
 and a good one." 
 
 It is interesting to note that in 1906, after hav- 
 ing made a reputation as a church dedicator, he 
 was recalled to Lyons to assist in the dedication of 
 a second building. 
 
 Mr. Eains would leave the office of the Foreign 
 Society Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, 
 depending upon the distance. Arriving at his 
 destination he would call a meeting of the board 
 of officers, to lay plans for the campaign to clear 
 the church of indebtedness. Saturday night he 
 would preach to the church members, striving to 
 put them in a hopeful and expectant frame of 
 mind. Sunday morning, after a short talk in the 
 Sunday school, he would preach on ' ' The Church ' ' 
 or "The Kingdom," and then call for cash and 
 pledges. He had the faculty of keeping everybody 
 in a good humor and seldom failed to secure the 
 amount needed. Sunday afternoon was usually 
 given over to a fellowship and congratulatory serv- 
 ice, participated in by the different religious bodies 
 of the place. Sunday evening, Mr. Eains always 
 spoke on some phase of world-wide missions, often 
 taking a train at the close of the service and being 
 at his desk at eight o 'clock the next morning. He 
 would work all week and then repeat the process. 
 
A Dedicator of Churches 99 
 
 This he would do week after week, seemingly know- 
 ing no limit to his endurance. 
 
 On these occasions, as well as at other times 
 when visiting churches, Mr. Kains did much to 
 encourage the pastors, stirring up the churches to 
 a proper appreciation of their labors, and as Mr. 
 Armistead indicates in another chapter, was the 
 means of having the church send the pastor to the 
 national conventions, and in many cases release 
 him for a year's study in a university. 
 
 Miss Gertrude Smith, of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes 
 that Mr. Kains dedicated the church at Massillon, 
 Ohio, in 1891, when her father was pastor there, 
 and in addition to raising all the money needed, 
 suggested that an extra amount be given to send 
 Mr. Smith away for a rest. This was done. It 
 will be remembered that C. C. Smith, after being 
 a successful pastor, became the faithful and be- 
 loved Secretary of the Board of Negro Evangeliza- 
 tion, and as such made a worthy contribution to 
 the missionary work of the Disciples of Christ. 
 This good man went to his reward early in 1919, 
 and Mr. Rains attended his funeral when scarcely 
 able to get about himself. 
 
 George L. Snively, who is having phenomenal 
 success in dedicating churches, contributes the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 It is yet difficult for one who knew him well to write 
 the biography of Francis M. Rains. 
 
100 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 So persuasive his presence, so magnetic Ms personality, 
 so tense and dominating Ms very aura, we are still under 
 the spell of him. Going in and out among us, stilling winds 
 and waves, heartening us, ever near us and yet before us 
 on the hill just above, he fearlessly called in clarion notes 
 with a voice that for a tMrd of a century compelled each 
 morning's rear guard of some sector of the Lord's hosts to 
 kindle their eveMng fires where the morning vanguard had 
 folded their tents. Xone other of our mighty leaders pos- 
 sessed his power to make of *'Our Movement" one con- 
 tinuous processional toward the great ideal of the uMted 
 hosts of the Lord to win all this world for the Christ. 
 
 Only Ms tensely alert and masterful genius for leader- 
 ship could best mobilize consecrated resources into irre- 
 sistible forces of righteousness and compel them on to 
 those incomparable victories starring our Mstory during 
 Ms meridian activities. None such preceded him, nor have 
 they surpassed him since he laid Ms armor down. One 
 familiar blast upon Ms bugle now were worth ten thou- 
 sand men. 
 
 It was divine endowment that made Mm one of the 
 greatest of all the immortals whose renown has helped 
 glorify the great brotherhood he fervently loved and faith- 
 fully served. Among the tropMes of Ms distinguished 
 career, none is more lustrous than that won in his min- 
 istry as a dedicator of churches. In this realm he was 
 for a quarter of a century the unrivaled premier. Xo 
 biography would be complete without a chapter dealing 
 with this phase of Ms versatile gemus and diversified use- 
 fulness. It is possible that his contemporaries, L. L. Car- 
 penter of the Christian church and Chaplain MeCabe of 
 the Methodist bodies, dedicated more buildings than he, 
 but the same statistics will show they did not approach him 
 in the noble class of buildings dedicated. It is certain 
 that he surpassed them in the amount of moMes assembled, 
 the number of lives consecrated to God in conjunction with 
 
 
A Dedicator of Churches 101 
 
 dedicatorial ceremonies and in the far-reaching and life 
 exalting influences radiating out from him when he was 
 announced as the dedicator of a new church home. Oh, that 
 God would raise up many among us today worthy to bear 
 his mantle, capable of doing his work among the churches! 
 
 We are profoundly impressed with his self-dedication 
 to God. Had he entered the Temple of Trade, his ships 
 would have sailed the Seven Seas. He cared not for silver 
 or gold save as they advanced the boundaries of the King- 
 dom of Heaven. Had he sought Caesar first, he would 
 have sat down with the Councilors of State, but he saw in 
 Caesar only a peace officer guarding the outer approaches 
 to the sanctuary. Had he been a devotee of technical learn- 
 ing, volumes in lecture rooms would have borne his imprint 
 on worn bindings, and his name would flash in foot note 
 references in scholarly treatises. But he humbly sought to 
 learn the way of the Lord more perfectly and to build 
 homes where His Word might be taught and His Spirit be 
 more thoroughly inculcated. Yes, on the altar of self- 
 dedication he renounced all ambitions leading to the labora- 
 tory, counting room, or to halls of earthly fame. 
 
 He was possessed of an unfaltering faith in a God who 
 delights to so intervene in human affairs as to change im- 
 pending dedication defeats into victorious, joyous festivals. 
 On hundreds of occasions he has stood amidst prophets of 
 disaster and through the power of an all-conquering faith 
 has compelled gifts from hands reluctant at first till made 
 to feel they were giving to Him with whom they would have 
 to do in the inevitable final accounting. 
 
 Among the endowments qualifying him for his position 
 as America's premier dedicator were cheerfulness and 
 friendliness. In olden times ' ' stranger ' ' and ' ' enemy ' ' 
 were synonymous. In Francis Rains' lexicon "acquaint- 
 ance" and "friend" were practically so. Congregations 
 were his friends. Oftentimes, as at Lyons, Kansas, he 
 dedicated the church reared by a handful of charter mem- 
 
102 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 bers. Years afterward, that congregation would build coni- 
 niensuratelv with its multiplied numbers and wealth. Many 
 times the friends of earlier years would have him recalled 
 to dedicate the nobler temple. 
 
 He was not frivolous, but one of his Father's merriest 
 children. He bubbled over with cheerfulness. Into the 
 serious business of urging men to fill to its overflowing 
 brim the last full measure of devotion to God he would 
 bring laughter and hilariousness, dispelling fears and 
 pessimism, and in this characteristic atmosphere of friend- 
 liness and cheerfulness he wrought the magic success. 
 
 He never exalted money to first place among earthly 
 values. He taught and practiced the doctrine that money 
 should be men's servant, not their master. He never wor- 
 shiped money, he used it. He was not an ascetic. He lived 
 well himself and delighted in seeing others comfortably 
 situated, but he protested alike against the hoarding of 
 gold or its misuse in luxurious living or wastefulness. 
 You are not your own, all you are and have are His, hav- 
 ing been bought with the blood of Jesus. Believing and 
 practicing this doctrine and advocating it with fiery, im- 
 petuous eloquence, it is little wonder that men under 
 the spell he cast over great crowds made restitution to God 
 and redeemed his churches from the thrall of debt. 
 
 Mr. Eains had a faith like unto Paul's and he possessed 
 a Christlike optimism. He had the power to see tulips 
 where others could see only the unlovely bulbs. While 
 others could see only a little band toiling painfully up the 
 long hill of debt, he could see that church redeemed unto 
 the Lord, its numbers multiplied, their hearts purified from 
 earth 's dross, its debts vanished. He could hear the peni- 
 tent 's voice in the midst of the congregation, and the songs 
 of praise and shouts of joy. This faculty of beholding 
 laden orchards where others saw only apple seeds gave him 
 almost magical power to impel the people on to the second 
 mile. 
 
A Dedicator of Churches 103 
 
 He rejoiced in and encouraged the successes of other 
 dedicators, thus multiplying his own golden sheaves. I 
 greatly prize one of the last letters he ever penned. In 
 congratulating me over having assisted Mark Collis at the 
 dedication of the Broadway Christian Church home, Lex- 
 ington, Kentucky, he was magnanimous enough to add: 
 "That is the largest amount ever assembled at the dedica- 
 tion of one of our churches, and now that my strength is 
 failing I am depending on you to carry on my dedicatory 
 ministry among the churches. ' ' 
 
 Doubtless on through the ages, our churches shall prac- 
 tice this beautiful dedicatorial formula arranged by Mr. 
 Rains : 
 
 ' ' We now set apart this house to the worship of the living 
 and true God and to the service of Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 We devote it to the preaching of the gospel of the grace 
 of God for the conversion of sinners and to the education 
 of Christians in a knowledge of spiritual truth, in all the 
 graces of Christian character and in all the activities of 
 Christian life. Here shall the incense of prayer and praise 
 ascend to God. Here shall the ordinances of the Lord's 
 house be sacredly observed. Here shall the word of God 
 which liveth and abideth forever be sounded out for the 
 salvation of the perishing, and shine as a perpetual light 
 to guide God's pilgrims through the night of time to the 
 light of everlasting glory. Here may children of sin and 
 sorrow find a refuge from despair and ruin, and Christians 
 a harbor to which they can resort when the tempest is 
 high and still be safe. Here in the hearts of humble wor- 
 shipers may the Holy Spirit find a temple, and the doctrine 
 of God's word distil upon waiting and thirsty spirits, as 
 the rain upon the mown grass and as the showers that water 
 the earth; so that righteousness may flourish and holiness 
 abound and all the rich fruit of the Spirit be yielded in a 
 blessed harvest to the praise of God. May no discordant 
 
104 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 note of strife ever be heard within these walls, no unholy- 
 spirit of pride or worldliness find entrance here; but may 
 the faith, out of which all goodness springs, the hope which 
 purifies and comforts the sorrowing heart and the love 
 which honors God, blesses man and binds Christians in 
 blessed fellowship ever inspire and sway the hearts and lives 
 of those who worship here, so that with one mind and heart 
 they may strive together for the faith delivered, and let 
 their light so shine that others seeing their good works 
 may glorify our Father who is in Heaven. 
 
 "May these earthly courts be as the holy place in the 
 temple, separated only by a veil from the holiest of all, 
 in which the royal priests of the house of God may trim the 
 golden lamp, eat of the bread of life and burn incense at 
 the golden altar; and thus drawing near to God with true 
 hearts in full assurance of faith may they be prepared to 
 enter finally 'within the veil,' to rejoice in the presence 
 of God, where there is fullness of joy, and at His right 
 hand where there are blessings forever more. 
 
 "And may God graciously accept this offering of a house 
 in His name — an offering made by grateful hearts and will- 
 ing hands — and bless every heart that shares in this gift. 
 And when, one by one, those who have shared in this serv- 
 ice shall be taken from these earthly scenes and leave a 
 vacant seat, may they find a yet more blessed home in that 
 house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, where 
 the worshipers shall go out no more forever. May mul- 
 titudes here be born to God, so that when all these here 
 today shall have gone to their eternal home, others will 
 take up the service and repeat from generation to genera- 
 tion the old, old story of the cross, the songs of Zion and 
 the prayers of saints until Jesus comes, and all His re- 
 deemed are gathered home. 
 
 1 ' We give thanks to God that His people have been able 
 to offer willingly after this sort. We invoke His blessings 
 on the labor of their hands. And we commit to His holy 
 
A Dedicator of Churches 
 
 105 
 
 care and keeping all the interests connected with this re- 
 ligious enterprise. May the beauty of the Lord our God 
 be upon us. And establish Thou the work of our hands 
 upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it. Let 
 this house be a home for the stranger, a place of welcome 
 and comfort for the poor, a consolation for the distressed 
 and a place of salvation for the sinner. Let it be a place 
 for the guidance of youth, for the consolation of age, for 
 the good of men and women and for the glory of God." 
 
 I hesitate to insert this incomplete list of new church 
 homes he dedicated, but it will illustrate the wide scope 
 of his ministry, and awaken some fond memories: — 
 
 Augusta, Georgia 
 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 
 Ft. Worth, Texas 
 Salem, Illinois 
 Jackson, Illinois 
 Shelbyville, Indiana 
 Mobile, Alabama 
 Larned, Kansas 
 Boone, Iowa 
 Atwood, Kansas 
 Ada, Ohio 
 
 Junction City, Kansas 
 New London, Missouri 
 Beatrice, Nebraska 
 Lawrence, Kansas 
 Robinson, Illinois 
 Ottumwa, Iowa 
 Sioux City, Iowa 
 Atlanta, Georgia 
 Youngstown, Ohio 
 London, Kentucky 
 Rushville, Indiana 
 Neosho, Missouri 
 
 Mason, Kentucky 
 
 Findlay, Ohio 
 
 Chester, Nebraska 
 
 Hutchinson, Kansas 
 
 Independence, Missouri 
 
 Memphis (McLemore), Ten- 
 nessee 
 
 Kansas City (Jackson Ave- 
 nue), Missouri 
 
 Cleveland (Aetna), Ohio 
 
 Norman, Oklahoma 
 
 Petersburg, Illinois 
 
 Columbus (Wilson Avenue), 
 Ohio 
 
 Bethany (University), Ne- 
 braska 
 
 Cincinnati (Oakley), Ohio 
 
 McConnelsville, Ohio 
 
 Roanoke, Virginia 
 
 Lexington (Maxwell Street), 
 Kentucky 
 
 Robinson, Kentucky 
 
 Lebanon, Kansas 
 
106 
 
 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 Dodge City, Kansas 
 
 Cleveland (Euclid Avenue), 
 Ohio 
 
 Cleveland (Broadway), Ohio 
 
 Delavan, Illinois 
 
 Berry, Kentucky 
 
 Raritan, Illinois 
 
 Cincinnati (Fergus Street), 
 Ohio 
 
 Maryville, Missouri 
 
 Washington, Pennsylvania 
 
 Brazil, Indiana 
 
 Winchester, Kentucky 
 
 Omaha (First), Nebraska 
 
 Omaha (South), Nebraska 
 
 Fredonia, Kansas 
 
 Logansport, Indiana 
 
 Broken Bow, Nebraska 
 
 Coshocton, Ohio 
 
 Lakewood, Ohio 
 
 St. Louis (Maplewood), 
 Missouri 
 
 Plum Creek, Indiana 
 
 Shoals, Indiana 
 
 Richmond, Kentucky 
 
 Colfax, Indiana 
 
 Columbus, Ohio 
 
 Indianapolis (Third), In- 
 diana 
 
 Norwood, Ohio 
 
 Quincy, Illinois 
 
 Moreland, Kentucky 
 
 Sidney, Ohio 
 
 Manhattan, Kansas 
 
 Amarillo, Texas 
 
 Bethany, West Virginia 
 
 Owenton, Kentucky 
 Atlantic, Indiana 
 Dallas (Oak Cliff), Texas 
 Wichita (Lawrence Avenue), 
 
 Kansas 
 Danbury, Connecticut 
 Elliott, Iowa 
 La Plata, Missouri 
 Sardinia, Ohio 
 Osceola, Iowa 
 Frankford, Missouri 
 Athens, Ohio 
 Shelbyville, Missouri 
 Augusta, Kansas 
 Prairie City, Iowa 
 Lyons, Kansas (1886-1906) 
 Grenola, Kansas 
 Wellington, Kansas 
 South Haven, Kansas 
 Coffeyville, Kansas 
 Cameron, Missouri 
 Soldier, Kansas 
 Junction City, Missouri 
 Elk City, Kansas 
 New London, Missouri 
 Amazonia, Missouri 
 Turner, Missouri 
 Linneus, Nebraska 
 Hebron, Nebraska 
 Hastings, Nebraska 
 Delphos, Iowa 
 Clinton, Illinois 
 Westmoreland, Kansas 
 Dayton, Ohio 
 Red Cloud, Nebraska 
 
A Dedicator of Churches 
 
 107 
 
 Kansas City (Forest Ave- 
 nue), Missouri 
 Dennison, Texas 
 Wheeling, Missouri 
 Kansas City, Kansas 
 Hannibal, Missouri 
 Colorado Springs, Colorado 
 Leroy, Illinois 
 Jacksonville, Illinois 
 Hopkinsville, Kentucky 
 Jackson, Mississippi 
 Poplar Bluff, Missouri 
 Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania 
 Mt. Olivet, Kentucky 
 Newton Falls, Ohio 
 Jacksonville, Florida 
 Louisville, Kentucky 
 Paragould, Arkansas 
 Carterville, Illinois 
 Laredo, Ohio 
 Colfax, Illinois 
 Tipton, Indiana 
 Bellevue, Kentucky 
 Laurens, Iowa 
 Hillsboro, Texas 
 Dallas, Texas 
 Gainesville, Texas 
 Moberly, Missouri 
 Tina, Missouri 
 Mason, Iowa 
 Butler, Missouri 
 Hedrick, Iowa 
 Lincoln, Nebraska 
 Sadieville, Kentucky 
 
 Oskaloosa, Iowa 
 
 Odessa, Missouri 
 
 Decatur, Illinois 
 
 Mt. Carmel, Illinois 
 
 Minneapolis, (Portland Ave- 
 nue), Minnesota 
 
 Kansas City (South Pros- 
 pect), Missouri 
 
 St. Louis, (Tuxedo Place), 
 Missouri 
 
 Keokuk, Iowa 
 
 Noblesville, Indiana 
 
 Steubenville, Ohio 
 
 Barry, Illinois 
 
 Massillon, Ohio 
 
 Crawfordsville, Indiana 
 
 Madison, Indiana 
 
 North Tonawanda, New 
 York 
 
 Dallas (East Side), Texas 
 
 La Plata, Missouri 
 
 Eushsylvania, Ohio 
 
 Springfield, Illinois 
 
 St. Joseph, Missouri 
 
 St. Louis (Union Avenue 
 Sunday School), Missouri 
 
 Lawrenceburg, Indiana 
 
 Chicago (Englewood), Illi- 
 nois 
 
 Trenton, Missouri 
 
 Higginsville, Missouri 
 
 Kokomo, Indiana 
 
 Perry, Missouri 
 
 Mexico, Missouri 
 
 These are only a few of the hundreds along his ded- 
 icatorial trail, leading from Boston Bay to the Golden 
 
108 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 Gate, and from the snowy plains of the Canadas to lands 
 laved by the warm waters of the Southern Gulf. 
 
 Here too, it should be recorded, these herculean efforts 
 were purely works of love. His financial compensation for 
 them with scrupulous care was assigned to the treasury of 
 the church societies with which he was identified. His 
 earnings as a dedicator frequently more than paid his 
 salary as Secretary of the Foreign Christian Missionary 
 Society. 
 
 Never again will the silvery voice of the great dedicator 
 ring out over multitudes expecting the miraculous of him. 
 O, for one more flash of wit, another wondrous smile, an 
 old time appeal clothed in the fire of ancient Israel's 
 prophets! Once again let us hear the familiar hurrying 
 of feet, the clinking coins, rings and jewels, and the 
 shout of victory ! Enter thou into nobler temple than human 
 voice can dedicate, that other building of God, that house 
 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens! 
 
 A unique dedicatory service and one in which 
 Mr. Rains took great interest was that of the 
 steamship Oregon, which took place in the ship- 
 yards at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, during the Cen- 
 tennial convention of 1909. 
 
 In 1897 Mr. Eains had gone to Boston with E. 
 E. Faris of Texas and Dr. Harry N. Biddle of 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, to see them embark on that long 
 journey to Africa. As the great boat swung out 
 into the bay, he had mingled feelings of anxiety 
 for the young men who were going, with such 
 brave hearts and high courage, to what was an un- 
 known land to the Disciples of Christ, and pride 
 in the fact that another great mission field was to 
 
 
A Dedicator of Churches 109 
 
 be opened — the first since his connection with the 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society. 
 
 Twelve years had passed. Sorrow and joy had 
 come to the African mission. Dr. Biddle had died 
 of tropical fever, and been buried in the Canary 
 Islands, before the mission site had been located at 
 Bolenge. But recruits had been sent and the mis- 
 sion was well established. 
 
 Great need was found for a steamer to carry the 
 missionaries and supplies from place to place. Af- 
 ter hearing Dr. and Mrs. Royal J. Dye at the 
 Oregon Convention, the people of that State agreed 
 to provide such a steamer, and most of the money 
 was given by them. At the dedication service 
 money was raised to transport the boat to the 
 Congo. After taking pledges, dollars were show- 
 ered on the deck as the lights were turned on and 
 the crowd sang, "Let the Lower Lights be Burn- 
 ing." 
 
 While Mr. Rains had many calls for dedications 
 in the last few years of his life, he was obliged to 
 decline them in order to conserve his health. So 
 far as can be learned his last dedication was the 
 Oak Cliff Church, Dallas, Texas, in September, 
 1916. 
 
CHAPTER SEVEN 
 
 AS AN EVANGELIST 
 
 Several have spoken of the evangelistic meetings 
 held by Mr. Rains during his student days as well 
 as when State Secretary of Kansas. He took delight 
 in recalling how while in college he and Julius 
 Kendrick held a meeting in a small country church 
 in Kentucky for two weeks, one doing the preach- 
 ing and the other leading the singing. At the close 
 of the meeting, they were given $6.25, " which," he 
 said, "was probably all it was worth." Upon an- 
 other occasion, after having hired a horse and 
 buggy to convey him to an appointment, one of the 
 members took him behind the church building and 
 in a very confidential manner informed him that 
 he believed in supporting the preacher and wanted 
 to make a contribution. Mr. Rains had visions of 
 at least $5.00, when he was handed fifty cents! 
 This was all he received. 
 
 E. B. Barnes, of Cleveland, Ohio, for a number 
 of years a successful pastor and writer, describes 
 Mr. Rains as an evangelist. 
 
 Mr. Rains was a born evangelist. Successful as he 
 was in the many offices he filled, I believe he would 
 have been a history-making evangelist had his energies 
 been wholly devoted to that work. It was in the 
 evangelistic field while state evangelist of Kansas that 
 he attracted the attention of the brotherhood, and that 
 attention he held to the last. 
 110 
 
As an Evangelist 111 
 
 Although born in Kentucky Mr. Eains was a man of 
 the West. That section of our country left deep im- 
 pressions upon him. He had the ease and freedom which 
 are associated with our prairie states. There was never 
 anything aloof about him; he revealed himself in his 
 sermons, in the home and in what he wrote. He was as 
 much at home before an audience as in a pastor's study. 
 He never had a case of fl nerves'' when he arose to speak. 
 Neither the crowd nor the individual were strangers to 
 him long. He was probably the best known man in our 
 brotherhood. He could never be a man of mystery. 
 
 The College of the Bible, which Mr. Eains attended, 
 has always kept two ideals to the front; the first is to give 
 the student a thorough knowledge of the Bible; and the 
 seeond is to teach the young preacher how to preach. 
 Those ideals are paramount there until this day. Two 
 factors favor the student-preacher there — a fine type of 
 Southern oratory prevails; and many churches are 
 within easy reach of Lexington where the rising minister 
 may have ample opportunities to exercise his gifts. 
 Many of the older members of such congregations point 
 with pride to the "big'* preachers they have made, 
 while the preachers delight to refer to the beginnings 
 of their ministry at the Cross Roads church. Whatever 
 may be thought of the merits of student-preaching, 
 there are many congregations which could not exist with- 
 out such; anything mature being beyond their ability to 
 secure, and if the wisdom of the student-preacher is not 
 profound he is likely to impart a degree of enthusiasm 
 and vigor to the congregation which atones for the many 
 defects of inexperience. His ignorance of a hundred 
 subjects makes him magnificently fearless, while his 
 denunciation of sin saves many a sinner from his down- 
 ward career. The only way to learn to preach is to 
 preach, and Mr. Eains learned how at Lexington. 
 
112 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 Nature bestowed her gifts reluctantly on our great 
 missionary bishop and associate of Mr. Eains, Archibald 
 McLean, but Nature was generous with her gifts to Mr. 
 Eains. He had what we call in these days a fine ap- 
 proach to people of all classes. Very few ever felt that 
 there were any barriers to be removed between them 
 and Mr. Eains. At once a community of interest was 
 established. It was as true when he was in the pulpit. 
 He knew how to present his cause. In the business 
 world he would have been a great salesman. The same 
 gift was invaluable to him as a preacher and evangelist. 
 
 He was gifted with more than his share of enthusiasm. 
 He had enough of that rare quality for a dozen men. 
 I doubt whether there has ever been a man among us 
 who, as an enthusiast, could approach him. Crowds were 
 moved by his enthusiasm under the most adverse condi- 
 tions. Opposition was broken down under its spell. It 
 is one of the essentials in this world which must be in- 
 herent like the gift of music. Cultivation will do some- 
 thing, but as a rule, it must come from outside, and unless 
 carefully guarded it leads to all the excesses of fanati- 
 cism, but under restraint it is one of the greatest boons 
 to man. Who has not felt that power when Mr. Eains 
 was on a convention platform, at a dedication, or in a 
 revival meeting? How flat and stale the proceedings 
 after Mr. Eains had concluded his address or sermon. 
 He set the occasion on fire and made ordinary days the 
 memory of a lifetime. The ice of conventionality melted 
 under the warmth of this genial soul. He regarded the 
 proprieties of the hour, but proprieties were not allowed 
 to become the grave of power for him. 
 
 His voice was a great asset, and what delight he took 
 in taxing it to the utmost! It was a wonderful organ 
 to endure unbroken to the end of his public ministry. 
 It could be heard in the ordinary conversational tones, 
 
As an Evangelist 113 
 
 no matter how large the auditorium, while the higher 
 ranges were impressive in their power. 
 
 When Mr. Rains was driving home some lesson with 
 his trip-hammer voice, there was never a listless hearer. 
 In quality it was a tenor or high baritone. I have heard 
 him at times when the voice was like the rising and 
 falling of a bird against a head wind. It was equal 
 to every occasion. It was not Websterian, neither did 
 it possess any of the velvet-smoothness of the flute, yet 
 for work it did all that was demanded of it, an enormous 
 amount of work, and never flagged. It was just the 
 voice needed to convey those messages of tremendous 
 power and enthusiasm. 
 
 He had the two gifts which every orator must have, 
 pathos and humor. If a man have the one, he is certain 
 to have the other. The great humorists of the world 
 were often men of broken hearts. They knew how to 
 live above the clouds, and to dwell in the somber regions 
 of the valley. Mr. Eains knew how to make people 
 laugh and how to make them cry. 
 
 "With such gifts how could he help being a great 
 evangelist? He lived just a little after the theatrical 
 stage of our evangelism had passed, and a little too 
 early to benefit by the revolutionary methods of organ- 
 ized evangelism. His forte was to preach first principles, 
 enforced by homely illustrations and then to exhort 
 as though everything depended upon the exhortation. 
 And he could exhort! Seldom have I heard any evan- 
 gelist who was his equal. The fine old art is passing 
 away, the preacher is not moved to tears, and the con- 
 verts "join the church" or sign a card, and the pro- 
 ceedings are entirely regular. But Mr. Eains, like Gipsy 
 Smith, kept alive the power of the exhortation and 
 sinners were moved to repentance. If only he could 
 have been printed as well as the sermon what power 
 those sermons would lend to the preachers of today! 
 
114 Franc Rains 
 
 The sermon is dull type without the man behind it. But 
 every sermon that Mr. Bains preaehed in a protracted 
 neeciig thrilled with life and power. He pnt himself 
 into the message if ever a man did. 
 
 I —15 vriTJi iim in cne :f :1c- grea: nee:iugs :f Lis 
 :areer in :he earlv nixeries. fell;— lr_g s. ieiicarlcn 
 which in 11117 — .:7s — cs remarhahle. An::her large 
 eongregation in the town a few weeks before had failed 
 to raise any considerable amount of money at its dedica- 
 tion services conducted by one of its most prominent 
 ministers of that section. Mr. Bains made our dedi- 
 catory services seem easy. The day was a great vic-tory. 
 Then the meeting in a most conservative wmmiinity 
 reachei all classes :z recrjle. ani tie hixse —as cr; — iei 
 nigh: af:er nigh:. I i; nc: recall ;, sxirhc: ~ hich ::xli 
 be called sensational, or a single sermon-subject, m 1x7 
 striking passages or treatment of subjects; 7e: the in- 
 tense earnestness and enthusiasm of the evangelist w ere 
 sufficient to make everybody talk about the mee:iug. 
 to bring the crowds who are interested in the latest 
 novelty, as well as to keep the rank and file of :he 
 membership in their places every night. It was cne :: 
 those meetings which brings to eonvietion the men and 
 women who have been regular churchgoers, :he ones 
 who have withstood many evangelistic efforts ana ex- 
 hortations of pastors, ani e~en en:hre households into 
 the Khngiini. Shamerei imen zhshins ~ ere resmrei. 
 hi ice:; —ere naii. irchen men —ere s:ar:ei ane~ :n 
 the upward way, the rich ani :he | : :r alihe sang ' 'Blest 
 be the tie that binds," ani a ne~ era came :: the ::m- 
 1:1:7. The evingelis: mile 1 name f:r himself :ha: 
 vras l:ng rememicrei. What he iii :here he hi in a 
 large degTee in other communities. The opportunity 
 was as much a feast of soul fox him as for those to w] 
 he spoke. The events of his life eonspired to make him 
 an evangelist had he not chosen :: use his wonderful 
 
As an Evangelist 115 
 
 gifts in the cause of world-wide missions the greater 
 part of his life. 
 
 Mr. Eains was deeply touched by the Foreign Mis- 
 sionary cause. He came to love it supremely. It had a 
 wonderful effect upon his own spiritual nature, for in 
 that work he mellowed until he spoke on so many oc- 
 casions with tenderness and tears. He spent his days 
 with a great co-worker, Archibald McLean, whose shadow, 
 like that of Peter's, fell upon all his associates, and who, 
 more than most men in our ranks, had learned the secret 
 of abiding under the shadow of the Almighty, and im- 
 parted something of that secret to others. 
 
 Mr. Rains never lost his passion for preaching. 
 In his later years he longed for the opportunity 
 to study and preach. Carl Agee, the beloved pas- 
 tor of the Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, Church of 
 Christ, who has been released for a year 's vacation 
 to pursue some studies in Yale University, writes 
 of the influence of Mr. Eains upon his own life, 
 and gives an account of an evangelistic meeting 
 held for the church at Flat Rock, a well-to-do com- 
 munity twelve miles from Paris, Kentucky. This 
 was perhaps, the first meeting he had held in 
 twenty-five years, and lasted for two weeks in the 
 month of August, being a part of his vacation. 
 
 Mr. Eains was the cause of my going to Flat Rock 
 in the first place. Before that I was teaching and 
 preaching; majoring in teaching and minoring in preach- 
 ing. My going there was the beginning of my full-time 
 ministry. 
 
 J. C. Ogden (of Tibet) was announced to speak for 
 us one Sunday in April of the spring, 1913, but could 
 not come. Mr. Rains came to take his place, and I re- 
 
116 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 member he introduced his address by saying he was not 
 worthy to stoop down and unloose the shoe-latchets of 
 Mr. Ogden. He was at his best that day, and I have 
 never seen a congregation more deeply moved. That 
 afternoon, with several of the men of the church, we 
 visited old Cane Ridge and the tomb of Barton W. Stone. 
 It was there that we asked Mr. Rains if he would consider 
 holding us a meeting that summer, and he consented. 
 
 That meeting will long be remembered by the people 
 of Flat Rock community. Many of the older members of 
 the church often remarked that it was their greatest 
 meeting. Some of us were a bit apprehensive concerning 
 Mr. Rains' power of individual appeal, after having been 
 so closely identified with the Foreign Society for such a 
 long time. In a very few days this feeling was all gone, 
 and he was enjoying a hearty response from everyone. 
 He stirred that community in a wonderful way. Fifty- 
 two responded to the invitation. An aged mother and 
 her four strong sons were baptized together. A father 
 in his seventieth year walked down the aisle hand in 
 hand with his daughter. He emphasized strongly the 
 individual nature of religion and the power of the gospel. 
 
 At the same time he stressed the function of the 
 church and its obligation to serve the community. Before 
 the meeting closed a movement was well under way to erect 
 a beautiful parsonage, and before a year had passed 
 the church had doubled its budget and decided to occupy 
 the full time of their minister instead of half time. 
 
 My training up to that time had been very scant and 
 unsatisfactory, and several times he would say, "Agee, 
 how old are you?" I would answer, " Twenty-four, ' ' 
 
 and he would say, "Well, now, there is , who 
 
 didn't go to college until after he was twenty-five and 
 he has made good. Go to college." Since then I have 
 spent six years in college and university and I feel that 
 he had a great part in that. I am sitting here in my 
 
As an Evangelist 117 
 
 study this afternoon in New England, writing my gradu- 
 ation thesis in a great university; thus realizing a dream 
 of my youth, largely because of the friendship and ad- 
 vice of Mr. Eains. I loved him like a father and re- 
 spected his judgment and goodness absolutely. 
 
 When Mr. Rains returned from, his visit to the 
 mission fields in 1911, it was found that he was 
 anemic and while, from time to time, he was built 
 up apparently to normal strength and able to do 
 a vast amount of work, at the same time the cold 
 winters were very trying for him, and the work 
 of the Foreign Society was planned so that he 
 could spend that period in the South, where he 
 visited conventions, colleges, assisted many 
 churches in reaching the Living Link standard and 
 held some evangelistic meetings. In all of these 
 services he took every opportunity of advancing 
 the foreign missionary cause. 
 
 In 1915 he held a short meeting with what was 
 at that time a small and struggling church at 
 Miami, Florida, making a short trip to Cuba at 
 the close, in the interest of the mission there. 
 
 In November, 1917, he attended the state con- 
 ventions of North and South Carolina, Georgia, 
 Florida, Alabama and Mississippi and during that 
 Winter and Spring held meetings for the churches 
 at Montgomery, Alabama; Yaldosta, Georgia; 
 Meridian, Mississippi and the Woodland Park 
 Church, Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. E. T. Ed- 
 monds, pastor of the latter church, has written as 
 follows : 
 
118 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 I was talking a few days ago with Professor J. W. 
 Porter, about the meeting that F. M. Eains held for the 
 Woodland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, 
 at the close of May, 1918. Professor Porter was rather 
 averse to having Mr. Rains hold this meeting for he 
 thought he would talk about missions to the exclusion 
 of other types of teaching more adapted to the 
 revival. But he and others had all their misgivings 
 on this point thoroughly dissipated. Mr. Rains preached 
 along the lines peculiar to Disciples in evangelistic work. 
 But he did not confine himself to that line of preach- 
 ing. Pretty much every phase of practical Christianity 
 was included in his series of sermons. I had been 
 reading in the months preceding the meeting several 
 books that were at that time popular among all preach- 
 ers. I found Mr. Rains quite conversant with this type 
 of literature. It showed itself not only in special quo- 
 tations but in the general fibre of his preaching. 
 
 I had known Mr. Rains in the beginning of his public 
 life and through the intervening years, not intimately, 
 but in a way that gave me a good opportunity to watch 
 his growth in mind and heart. But few men I suppose 
 ever made greater use of natural endowments than did 
 Mr. Rains. The raw and unpolished youth developed 
 into a great statesman for the Kingdom. "Twelve men 
 did once hold together, and the whole face of the world 
 was changed." And thank God that in their own day 
 Rains, McLean and others inspired men to repeat the 
 triumphs of the first apostles of the faith. 
 
 That Mr. Rains had clear-cut ideas on the sub- 
 ject of how to conduct evangelistic meetings, as 
 well as how to get a missionary offering, is evi- 
 denced by the following taken from a paper pub- 
 lished while he was State Secretary of Kansas : 
 
As an Evangelist 119 
 
 F. M. Bains, who is one of our most efficient revival- 
 ists in the state, sets forth the following points as 
 necessary to success in a protracted meeting: 
 
 1. Let the church be ready for the meeting. Let 
 every member of the church so arrange his business that 
 he can be in regular attendance, and also give some time 
 to the meeting in inducing his neighbors to be present. 
 If the church is ready and willing to work, the success of 
 the meeting is almost assured. 
 
 2. Have good singing. I mean sing old and familiar 
 songs and get as many as possible to sing. This is no time 
 to practice new songs and to make a display in the 
 music. There is power for good in songs; utilize this 
 power. Be in earnest and sing in earnest. Do not let 
 the singing drag. Do not start the songs too high or 
 too low. 
 
 3. Commence on time. Do not wait for people to come 
 if the hour has arrived to begin. The way to begin is 
 to begin. 
 
 4. Have short scriptural readings, short prayers, and 
 short sermons. 
 
 5. Preach so as to make men feel the need of a 
 Savior. Teach men much of sin and its effects and 
 point them to the source of cleansing. Get them willing 
 to be saved and then tell them how. Do not abuse any- 
 body, but preach the truth with power. Make men feel 
 that you are preaching the truth, and that the truth 
 alone can save. 
 
 6. Pay the preacher for his labor, and have the money 
 ready when the meeting closes. Do not take up a public 
 collection at the close or at any time during the meet- 
 ing. Determine on how much you ought to pay, and 
 then pay it. Do not be afraid of paying too much, but 
 be much afraid of paying too little. It is better to 
 have an understanding with the preacher as to the 
 amount to be paid before the meeting begins. 
 
CHAPTER EIGHT 
 
 AS A FEIEND 
 
 J. D. Armistead, pastor of the church at Cyn- 
 thiana, Kentucky, and at one time pastor of the 
 Norwood, Ohio, church, pays the following tribute 
 to Mr. Rains : 
 
 A popular writer, Charles Kingsley, once said, "Make 
 a rule, and pray God to help you keep it, never, if 
 possible to lie down at night without being able to say, 
 'I have made one human being, at least, a little wiser, 
 a little happier or a little better this day.' You will 
 find it easier than you think, and pleasanter. ' ' F. M. 
 Rains could come as nearly doing this as anyone whom 
 I have known. To be with him during any day was to 
 be made "a little wiser, a little happier, or a little 
 better. ' ' One of the first things that he learned was 
 to love well. It was out of a big heart that his kindly 
 words of wisdom and helpfulness came. To many who 
 were acquainted with him as a missionary leader, he 
 was probably more often thought of as an expert in 
 inducing Christian people to give money, but to many 
 who knew the inner side of his life, and had the oppor- 
 tunity to know him as a friend, the big-heartedness 
 of the man was seen as the secret of his success in 
 raising money. 
 
 F. M. Rains was a big man in both mind and heart. 
 His relation to the Kingdom was not due to his skill in 
 getting money, but to his love for God and men. 
 Even today I thrill with the recollection of how his soul 
 was moved when he talked of the environment in which 
 our missionaries lived. "Heathenism, heathenism every- 
 where!" he would say, and tears would course down 
 120 
 
As a Friend 121 
 
 his cheeks. Public speakers can move themselves to 
 tears with their own utterances, but these tears came in 
 a private Conversation. Whether dedicating a church 
 or appealing for higher ideals for another year of mission- 
 ary campaign he always spoke out of love for the cause. 
 
 However, love for the Kingdom found very concrete 
 expression in his love for his brethren. In his last 
 hours his true self found words when he said to his 
 saintly friend, A. McLean, "I love the brethren, I love 
 the brethren." Then turning to members of his family 
 he said of A. McLean, with broken and feeble voice,, "I 
 have known him forty years and I love him with unceasing 
 love. ' ' Outside of his family, perhaps he loved no one as he 
 did Archibald McLean, his comrade for twenty-six years. 
 As one who was associated with him for a number 
 of years as a member of the executive committee of the 
 Foreign Christian Missionary Society, it was a delight 
 and an inspiration to see the love he bore for our 
 apostle of missions. In spite of differences in tempera- 
 ment A. McLean and F. M. Eains loved one another 
 like David and Jonathan. 
 
 In the beginning of my ministry it became my good 
 fortune to become the pastor of F. M. Eains, a privilege 
 which brought life-long blessings to me. Because I was 
 a young and inexperienced preacher at that time, and 
 became attached to him as a warm friend,, I have been 
 asked to give some of the ways in which he showed his 
 friendship for a young preacher. Such a recollection 
 of his kindliness in those days should have its influence 
 in the lives of others who are entering upon that same 
 holy calling. 
 
 The first expression of his friendship came when 
 friendship was sorely needed. My first pastorate having 
 had a brief and troubled course, I found myself spend- 
 ing Christmas at my father's home, wondering if I had 
 not mistaken my call. I wrote F. M. Rains telling him 
 
122 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 I was at home with no place to preach. He wrote im- 
 mediately for me to come to Norwood, Ohio, that he needed 
 a pastor. Shall I ever forget the joy that letter brought? 
 Inasmuch as his relation to the Foreign Society often 
 caused him to be absent on Sunday and throughout the 
 week, it happened that he was not present when I 
 preached for the church my trial sermon. Before he 
 returned I had decided that I was not qualified to meet 
 the needs of the church, and so notified the officers. Having 
 nothing else to do I agreed to remain and preach for 
 the church the following Sunday. On Saturday night 
 F. M. Eains came home. He learned my decision, and 
 sat up with me until midnight until he had put confi- 
 dence in my heart, and changed the whole aspect of my 
 future, persuading me to be willing to accept a call if 
 one were given. It was given the next morning, and I 
 entered upon my work as pastor of the Norwood Church 
 simply because he had befriended one who needed a 
 friend. Some of us go through life trying to do the 
 things our friends believe we can do, rather than the 
 things that appear possible to ourselves. "Give a man 
 one friend who can understand him, who," said Hammer- 
 ton, "will not leave him, who will always be accessible 
 day and night, one friend, one kindly listener, just one, 
 and the whole universe is changed." 
 
 F. M. Rains knew how to encourage his pastor. It 
 is a trying ordeal often to a young preacher to have 
 some able preacher frequently in his audience. But 
 this was never true where one preached to this man, who 
 was always the preacher's friend. He seemed always to 
 appreciate the situation and have just the right word to 
 offer at the close of the church service. Instead of one 
 feeling that his immature message was meeting with a 
 cold reception, some passage in the sermon would be 
 particularly referred to as especially helpful. No preacher 
 
As a Friend 123 
 
 ever had a more interested and helpful listener than he 
 who preached to F. M. Eains. 
 
 Not only did he encourage his preacher with com- 
 mendation upon his sermons, but he would invite him 
 over to supper where matters that pertain to the King- 
 dom, and which are so dear to the heart of every 
 preacher, might be discussed at length. 
 
 Just here lies one of the best opportunities that older 
 ministers can offer to young brethren beginning their 
 work. Nothing is so helpful to a young preacher as the 
 friendship of an older man in the ministry whose mind 
 is not closed to new ideas, who will listen patiently and 
 sympathetically to the thoughts that often seem to 
 a young man to be of vital importance to the church, 
 and which he feels the need of making clear even to him- 
 self by friendly conference. Many older men have 
 grown to view the work of the church very differently 
 from their early days, yet refrain from giving utterance 
 to these changes of thought, especially from the plat- 
 form. They may do an inestimable amount of good 
 by their sympathetic listening to the ideas of younger 
 men. By so doing they will be able to correct many 
 of the fanciful notions of the inexperienced and at the 
 same time wisely guide in moulding the thought of a 
 new day. For lack of some such friend doubtless many 
 young men in the ministry fail to develop with the 
 increasing light of the bigger day. F. M. Eains was 
 always on the alert to lend a listening ear to those whom 
 he regarded to be wise and ambitious young men of the 
 church. 
 
 In harmony with this expression of his friendship 
 was his interest in the reading of his friends. He read 
 good books, late in date and ideas, and gave them to 
 his friends. How sweet is the association of old books 
 and old friends. Looking over the books on my shelf, 
 
124 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 those that came from the hand and the heart of F. M. 
 Eains have a special value now. 
 
 It is impossible to think of our national con- 
 ventions without thinking of F. M. Eains. He loved 
 these gatherings of the brotherhood as places where 
 he met his friends, and where annual forward steps 
 were taken in the work of the Kingdom. He constantly 
 advocated attendance upon these meetings by our 
 preachers. In his judgment if one would get the greatest 
 good out of these inspirational occasions he should be a 
 regular attendant from year to year. To attend some 
 and miss others was to lose touch with the brethren and 
 with the work. Every year was a vital year. No one could 
 afford to miss even one of these gatherings. Furthermore, 
 no church could afford to have a minister who did not at- 
 tend these conventions. He promoted the plan of having 
 the churches pay the expenses of the pastors on these 
 occasions. He made it a point to see that his own 
 pastor was there, and that his expenses were paid. In 
 order that one might get the best out of these conven- 
 tions he maintained that one should always be in his 
 seat at all the sessions, and that he should sit well 
 up in front. The farther one sits away from a speaker 
 the less of the speaker's personality reaches one. J. J. 
 Haley tested this for himself after giving up an active 
 pastorate. He said he sat in all parts of the auditorium 
 and found that the farther to the rear he sat the less 
 interest he took in the sermon, the less good he received 
 from the service. 
 
 One of the special phases of the friendship of F. M. 
 Eains was particularly noticeable in connection with his 
 work as a secretary of the Foreign Christian Missionary 
 Society. His friendliness manifested to the Executive 
 committee was worthy of record. Being a man of 
 strong mind and of convictions he would sometimes defend 
 some position which he had taken so strongly that action 
 
As a Friend 125 
 
 would be deferred for months and sometimes years. 
 Nevertheless, whenever the committee finally decided 
 against him, and his long fight was lost, he would say, 
 "All right, brethren, I am with you." Never, after- 
 ward, would he refer to the matter, or remind the com- 
 mittee of what he thought was a mistake. There was 
 no alienation even for a moment between himself and 
 his brethren. 
 
 Upon leaving my pastorate in Norwood, after three 
 years' ministry, I asked Brother Eains what advice he 
 had to offer me as working principles for the future. 
 Declaring that what he would say was not to be taken 
 as a criticism he offered three suggestions which he said 
 grew out of many years of observation of preachers. 
 
 His first suggestion was, "Be sure always before going 
 into the pulpit or upon any platform to preside over a 
 meeting, that you know absolutely just what is to be 
 done, and the order in which everything is to come, and 
 just what you intend to say." 
 
 His second suggestion was, "Do not allow yourself 
 to preach long sermons. Thirty minutes is long enough 
 for any sermon. Many of the best preachers in the 
 brotherhood have handicapped themselves by preaching 
 long sermons. Do not allow the people to mislead you 
 by saying, 'We could have listened an hour longer \" 
 
 His third suggestion was, "Do not hesitate to promote 
 advance steps in the program of your church even if you 
 must meet serious opposition. No one ever accomplishes 
 much who does not meet opposition. A minister who 
 seeks to keep peace by pleasing every one, will discover 
 that the progressive people of his church are discontented 
 and they will demand a man who will do things." 
 
 I have no doubt that I personally needed this advice, 
 and that he saw that I needed it, but I pass it on, be- 
 cause it has been of great value to me. 
 
126 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 In later years there were two other suggestions that 
 ought to be recorded here. One was that a preacher 
 should stay at least ten years in his pastorate. 
 
 The other was that our preachers should take a year's 
 leave of absence from their pastorates after having been 
 out of college about fifteen yeaTs, and spend the year 
 at one of the large universities, bringing themselves into 
 touch with the best of modern thought, and freshening 
 themselves for future work. A. McLean was of the 
 same conviction, and expressed to the writer the wish 
 to do this himself. 
 
 F. M. Eains was the friend of good ideas as well as 
 young preachers. He influenced more than one to spend 
 the summer at some university, and in some instances 
 to spend an entire year there. He was the friend of 
 higher education. The last years of his life found him 
 befriending higher education among the Disciples of 
 Christ, specifically rendering what service he was able 
 to the College of the Bible, of which he was a trustee. 
 
 C. R. Stauffer, who has been the efficient pastor 
 of the Norwood, Ohio, church for the past ten years 
 and has led it into fruitful service in that field, 
 writes : 
 
 It was a rare privilege that the writer had in being 
 the pastor of F. M. Rains for over seven years in the 
 church at Norwood, Ohio. He was a devoted member 
 and a faithful elder. 
 
 While Brother Eains was engaged in the larger interests 
 of the Kingdom and carried many burdens on his heart, 
 he never was too busy or too heavily laden to be in- 
 terested in the work of the local church. He was helpful 
 in the counsels of the church, practical in his suggestions 
 and faithful in his duties. 
 
As a Friend 127 
 
 Whenever in the city on Wednesday evening he was 
 sure to be in the midweek prayer meeting where his 
 talks were always edifying. If he was in the city on 
 Sunday he was the best listener in the audience. If the 
 pastor preached a good sermon he was hearty in his 
 expression of appreciation. If there was something that 
 needed criticising he did it in the spirit of love and was 
 always helpful to his minister. 
 
 The hospitality of his home was often extended and 
 the spirit of that home made it a place where the min- 
 ister and his family delighted to be. His loyalty to his 
 pastor was an inspiration at all times, for he was a real 
 friend. 
 
 His keen mind and broad experience as a leader in 
 the work of the Kingdom made him a most helpful ad- 
 viser on many matters. He always gloried in the 
 achievements of the local church and did his best to 
 make it one of the best in the brotherhood. He radiated 
 a Christlike spirit through his devotion to the King- 
 dom beginning in the local church and extending around 
 the world. The secret of his leadership in the larger 
 work is to be somewhat accounted for through his de- 
 votion to the church which he loved. 
 
 One of the well-known laymen among the Dis- 
 ciples of Christ is J. H. Fillmore, of Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, music writer and publisher. As a friend 
 and neighbor he contributes the following : 
 
 It was my good fortune to have Mr. Bains a near 
 neighbor for twelve or fifteen years before his death. 
 We lived just across the street from each other and for 
 most of the time were fellow elders in the Norwood 
 Christian Church. 
 
 I had known of and about Mr. Rains ever since he 
 had made Cincinnati his headquarters, but our intimate 
 
128 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 acquaintance began when we became neighbors. From 
 that time on we were constantly together when he was 
 at home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rains were hospitable people. Most of 
 the time they were entertaining in their home, either 
 missionaries or ministers or relatives or friends. They 
 seemed never so happy as when they were entertaining. 
 
 My personal friendship with Mr. Rains grew to bound- 
 less proportions as the years came and went. We did 
 not always agree in our opinions, and to me therein lay 
 the uniqueness of our comradeship. We were both rather 
 radical in our temperament and belief, and our dis- 
 cussions were sometimes quite violent, but like children, 
 when the subject changed we were more friendly than 
 ever. Our mutual esteem far outweighed our differences. 
 
 This was the one illuminating friendship of my ex- 
 perience. Our discussions at times were quite bitter, yet 
 always resulted in solidifying our friendship. To illus- 
 trate, Brother Rains speaking once to our church congre- 
 gation, said: ''Brother Fillmore and I agree upon only 
 one thing, and that is our minister, Brother Stauffer." 
 
 Brother Rains was a loyal supporter of his preacher 
 and his church. He was faithful in his attendance, even 
 when worn out from work or travel. He would drag 
 himself to church when his physician would advise his 
 staying abed. He was a great source of good cheer, 
 stimulation, and inspiration to the church by his pres- 
 ence. 
 
 Brother Rains was a great reader and student. He 
 was a subscriber to the best church papers and maga- 
 zines; he bought all the best books on religious and 
 social questions as they were announced. These he read 
 with great interest and satisfaction, thus he kept up 
 with modern thought; it was a great enjoyment to him, 
 yet he never swerved from what is called "our plea." 
 
As a Friend 129 
 
 Brother Rains was a remarkable man, industrious, in- 
 dividualistic — a religious genius; a leader among men, 
 performing a great task for the Disciples that only 
 he could have performed, energetic, resourceful; he 
 literally wore himself out in the service of the church. 
 
 Mr. Kains was a friend not only to pastors and 
 churches but to every institution and organization 
 of the Disciples of Christ, one evidence being a 
 bequest to every one of them. The College of the 
 Bible at Lexington, Kentucky, had a large place in 
 his affections. 
 
 R. H. Crossfield, now President of William 
 Woods College, Fulton, Missouri, and who made a 
 signal success as President of Transylvania Col- 
 lege and the College of the Bible, writes as follows : 
 
 In the early days of June, 1878, Francis Marion Bains 
 received his diploma from the College of the Bible, 
 Lexington, Kentucky, "With all the rights, honors 
 and perquisites thereunto appertaining, ' ' as runs the 
 academic formula, and from that day until the end of 
 an eventful life he never failed to magnify his Alma 
 Mater and to glorify the gospel ministry in a manner 
 befitting a great soul striving to invest itself in a con- 
 tinuous and far-reaching service for the Master. 
 
 Before entering the college at Lexington, already 
 famed wherever the Disciples of Christ were known, 
 Mr. Eains had received college preparatory training in 
 Harrisburg (Kentucky) Academy and in Columbia (Ken- 
 tucky) Christian College. His college experience was 
 characterized by a warmth and geniality of spirit that 
 won for him high praise in the esteem of student body 
 and faculty members, and by a passion for service that 
 
130 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 found expression in numerous activities, particularly 
 that of ministering in uncared for communities. 
 
 Many traditions are still extant in Woodford and 
 Grant Counties of how this youthful Barnabas gave his 
 utmost strength to the enlargement of the church, and 
 how he traveled, on foot at times, from house to house, 
 exhorting with all long-suffering and doctrine those of the 
 Laodicean type and urging old and young to make King- 
 dom interests their chief concern. 
 
 The success attending his evangelistic campaigns was 
 beyond that of many of the more mature and experienced 
 students, and it became apparent that he possessed pe- 
 culiar gifts in the high art of fishing for men. He had 
 but one theme, the Fatherhood of God, and the need 
 of every individual for that love that found expression 
 in Jesus Christ. He learned well the simple Gospel 
 story under the guidance of that triumvirate of the 
 Disciples, Graham, Grubbs and McGarvey, and told it 
 with a fervor and expertness that won immediate and 
 lasting results. 
 
 Critical questions, such as those touching inspiration, 
 authorship, and so forth, had not then found place in the 
 college curriculum, just as the scientific approach to truth 
 in other areas had not become the established order. 
 But F. M. Eains continued his education after leaving 
 the classroom, becoming a discriminating reader of the 
 best contemporaneous religious thought. On one occasion, 
 he remarked to me that one of the richest blessings of 
 his life came through an intimate acquaintance with 
 Lyman Abbott through the columns of the Outlook. He 
 was equally well acquainted with the writings of Marcus 
 Dods, James Orr, and men of that scholarly type. Such 
 breadth of view enabled him easily to make the neces- 
 sary adjustment to the ever enlarging areas of knowledge 
 and experience, and to live comfortably in an expanding 
 
As a Friend 131 
 
 world where new light is constantly breaking for the 
 guidance of human feet. 
 
 In the early part of 1903, while filling with marked 
 success the position of Financial Secretary of the Foreign 
 Christian Missionary Society, President McGarvey ap- 
 proached him with the personal request that he give his 
 consent to become a trustee of the College of the Bible. 
 Out of a deep affection for the College and Brother 
 MeGarvey, he accepted this responsibility in June, 1903. 
 Until the time of his death, Brother Rains discharged the 
 office of Trustee with singular fidelity and intelligent 
 interest, attending almost every meeting of the Board 
 over a long period of years. 
 
 But it was during the last few years of his life that 
 an opportunity was afforded him of making his largest 
 contribution to the welfare of the institution. While 
 exceeded by no one in his loyalty to the administration 
 of President McGarvey, for whom he entertained a great 
 affection, he was likewise loyal to the succeeding admin- 
 istration, believing that it had a peculiar responsibility 
 to discharge in the light of the increasing problems of 
 modern times. 
 
 During the period of controversy following the ap- 
 pointment of Professors A. W. Fortune, W. C. Bower and 
 E. E. Snoddy, Brother Rains gave loyal and discriminat- 
 ing support to the policy adopted by the faculty, and to 
 those scholarly and self-giving men of God who for a 
 time suffered almost apostolic persecution. 
 
 His was a big mind that refused to be closed, always 
 seeking for the light from whatever quarter; a large 
 heart that beat with devotion to the cause of the King- 
 dom; and an indefatigable spirit that burned out in 
 splendid service for our Lord. 
 
 One of the chief concerns of Brother Rains was that 
 the College nave adequate financial resources in order 
 that the teaching staff might receive proper pecuniary 
 
132 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 recognition, and that the ever expanding program of the 
 College might be carried forward without debt. In 
 addition to directing students to the College, he con- 
 stantly sought men who were able to contribute to its 
 support. 
 
 When the will of Brother Eains was probated it was 
 discovered that he had bequeathed a goodly part of his 
 modest estate to the permanent endowment of the College 
 of the Bible. Today he lives in the life and life-giving 
 of the institution he loved to serve, and so shall he live 
 through the generations to come. 
 
 The following letters coming- near the close of 
 his life from friends of long standing brought 
 great cheer to his heart and show the high regard 
 in which he was held by the brethren at large. 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 December, 1918. 
 My Dear Brother Rains: 
 
 In the days between Christmas and New Year I find 
 a real blessing each year in thinking gratefully of my 
 friends^ and especially those men and women who have 
 through the year, added to my store of faith and hope 
 and love. You will experience no surprise when my 
 thoughts turn to you as for last year, and on back and 
 back, you have helped me at times you knew not of. 1 
 thank you. 
 
 Wishes are not made of very tangible stuff — but, aftei 
 all, the unseen things, the doings of the heart are the 
 things that count. My heart is in my new year wishes 
 for you and Mrs. Bains. May God give you both a year 
 full of the real riches. 
 
 Sincerely your friend, 
 
 R. E. Elmore. 
 
As a Friend 133 
 
 November 4, 1918. 
 F. M. Eains, 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 Dear Brother Eains: 
 
 No letter among the many I have received since com- 
 ing to Detroit has pleased me more than yours of October 
 29th. It means more to me than you can know. I left 
 Cincinnati without saying "Good-toy" to anyone. I 
 shook hands with the members of the Executive Com- 
 mittee at the last meeting but not to say "Good-by." 
 It was with intention that I slipped away without for- 
 malities. In the first place it is hard for me to say 
 "Good-by" on any occasion. Then I do not feel in this 
 case that I am parting with the work or the workers in the 
 Missionary Societies. I hope to keep a close connection 
 with both. 
 
 I hope for opportunities to go to Cincinnati and meet 
 with the Committees. My heart is in the general work 
 and I love the devoted men and women who are engaged 
 in extending the bounds of the Kingdom. You cannot 
 know, Brother Eains, how much I admire the courage and 
 persistence with which you have enlarged the work of 
 the Foreign Society during the difficult years. The work 
 some of the rest of us have done has been easier because 
 of the great foundations laid by men like yourself. Some 
 of the later undertakings have been more spectacular and 
 have had more attention and some of us have received 
 recognition beyond our deserving. But the larger things 
 have been made possible because you have borne the heat 
 and burden of labor and criticism. I feel like a thief 
 when I am praised for the very small contribution I have 
 been able to make. It has been far beneath what I 
 hoped for myself. I want you to know that I fully 
 appreciate your own great part in all that has giveir our 
 beloved brotherhood even an approachably worthy part 
 in the splendid enterprises of the day. 
 
134 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 I regret that there has not been more time for per- 
 sonal fellowship. That would have enriched my life. 
 But I have watched with anxious concern your struggle 
 for health. I have seen the agony in your life that you 
 might add yet more and more to the splendid years of 
 your service. Even when others have felt you ought to 
 take the earned, rest you have hoped and fulfilled hope 
 that you might yet return to the battle. It has all beer 
 a great inspiration to me. 
 
 I shall hope for many opportunities to see you and 
 hear you. I shall want you to visit me and the church 
 here that we may gain from your own zeal for the King- 
 dom. I want this to be an increasingly great missionary 
 church. Affectionately yours, 
 
 E. H. Miller. 
 
 December 19, 1918. 
 Eev. F. M. Bains, 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 My dear Brother Rains: 
 
 I am enclosing you a copy of the second edition of 
 your tract* which is just from the press. We are receiv- 
 ing from day to day calls for this tract and we have 
 gotten out another edition of 5,000 copies. This is without 
 doubt one of the best statements ever put out by the 
 Disciples regarding the unity of the church. It has taken 
 with both the Disciples and the other communions. When 
 this second edition is exhausted we will get out the 
 third. I thank you with all my heart for what you have 
 said in this little tract. 
 
 May the Lord's blessing rest abundantly upon you. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 Peter Ainslie. 
 
 'Disciples of Christ and Christian Union. 
 
As a Friend 135 
 
 Study, May 12, 1919. 
 Eev. F. M. Bains, LL.D., 
 
 Norwood, Ohio. 
 Dear Brother Eains: 
 
 News comes to me that you are regaining though 
 slowly some portion of your former physical strength 
 and I rejoice in it. May you continue to do so! As I 
 have written to you before we need men like you in the 
 church and in this stricken world. Your brothers in the 
 ministry need you — you have cheered and inspired us — 
 and cheer and inspiration are a vast wealth — an incal- 
 culable wealth. We are greedy — we covet more of these 
 — we wish to look to you for great measures of them 
 as we have been wont to do. For myself, I am pro- 
 foundly grieved at your protracted illness and in- 
 capacity for all your accustomed and significant work. 
 I should find it hard to tell you how much I have loved 
 and trusted you and how unfailingly you have justified 
 me in doing so — may the Lord somehow show to you 
 what you have meant to me and hosts of others and may 
 the vision give you something of added disposition and 
 power to us still, if not otherwise then with years of 
 ripened counsel — you are prayed for here and not by me 
 alone. 
 
 With all good wishes for you and Sister Eains — what 
 a lovely woman she is! — and others who are dear to you, 
 I am, Your friend, 
 
 Harry D. Smith. 
 
 Moberly, Mo., March 31„ 1919. 
 Dear Brother and Sister Eains: 
 
 I just got your address from Mrs. Noel and want to 
 throw you both a line of hopeful interest and love — I trust 
 every day will see you in better health and looking for- 
 ward to renewed strength and power. You have done 
 such a heavy work and lifted all the time the burdens of. 
 
136 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 the churches that you surely deserve a rest and a quiet time 
 to gather yourself together again. I shall be glad to 
 know you are gaining. 
 
 I was just thinking of the old days at Cincinnati when 
 we used to lunch together with J. A. Lord and the brethren 
 dwelt together in unity. I remember the real fellowship of 
 those days with pleasure yet — and your never failing good 
 humor was no small part of it. You have had a royal fel- 
 lowship in all your ministerial life — from Kansas to this 
 day and your heart should be so full of the love of the 
 thousands who love you and honor you for your work's sake. 
 
 Yours in bond, 
 B. L. Smith. 
 
 Lexington, Ky., May 5, 1919. 
 Dear Brother Bains: 
 
 I am sorry to hear that you have been very sick. It 
 makes me feel that one both intimate and dear is ailing. 
 You have been so active, vigorous and devoted to the 
 interests of the Kingdom of Christ when well, that now 
 the Master's hand is laid gently upon the strings of your 
 harp to rest them from vibration. 
 
 One who has thrilled others may now hear the echo 
 of his music. He for whom you have so long been 
 speaking is now speaking to you. May the "Meek and 
 Lowly" reveal and give to you His rest. This life is a 
 school as well as a pulpit, a parish and a workshop. Your 
 outward wings may be clipped for a season but your 
 inward pinions grow day by day. 
 
 You will be glad to know that Broadway Church, on 
 yesterday, raised $83,000 to pay a debt of $75,000. Brother 
 Snively conducted the campaign. 
 
 Trusting you are feeling better and that the very 
 best of life's blessings may come to you and your good 
 wife. Very cordially yours, 
 
 I. J. Spencer. 
 
As a Friend 137 
 
 Springfield, 111., May 6, 1919. 
 Mr. F. M. Eains, 
 
 Norwood, Ohio. 
 My Dear Brother Eains: 
 
 It is with much regret that I learn of your indisposi- 
 tion, but with pleasure I learn of your gradual improve- 
 ment. I have been so fortunate from the health stand- 
 point during all my ministry that I presume I hardly 
 appreciate what it means to be indisposed for any length 
 of time. Yet, I know that to one who has been as active 
 as yourself for so many, many years it must be a source of 
 pain not to be at the task. You may rest assured that, 
 not only your associates in the Foreign Board, but also 
 your preacher brothers throughout the land will want 
 you to take all the time necessary for recuperation. 
 
 Ever since I began preaching (nineteen years ago) 
 I remember your leadership and inspiration most kindly. 
 I am now about the mid-time of life where I think I can 
 the more appreciate leadership than I would then. In 
 some small way, I know something of the tremendous 
 drain incident to it as well as the unbounded joys accru- 
 ing from it. 
 
 My prayers and best wishes are yours for a permanent 
 recovery. Your brother in service, 
 
 Wm. F. Rothenburger. 
 
 May 14, 1919. 
 Enid, Oklahoma. 
 Mr. F. M. Rains, 
 
 Norwood, Ohio. 
 My Dear Brother Rains: 
 
 I learned through Brother Harry D. Smith that you 
 are back home and have not been feeling at all well, but 
 am glad to know that you are improving and I hope by 
 the time you receive this letter that you are very much 
 better indeed. No doubt, Mrs. Rains is seeing to it that 
 
138 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 you are being properly looked after and not exposing your- 
 self. It is mighty hard, I know, for a man who has been as 
 active in service as you not to attempt to do work when 
 he is unable; but you are too useful and important a 
 man in the brotherhood to make any mistake, so be as 
 careful as you can and get well as fast as you can for 
 we need you. 
 
 I count it one of the great joys of my life to have had 
 the opportunity to have known you and to have been asso- 
 ciated with you in a small way. It was always a great 
 thing to me to be in your presence and I know of the 
 influential things you have accomplished in the interest 
 of the missionary propaganda of the world. I think no 
 man of the Disciples of Christ has done more. I wish 
 you were able to come down to Enid and make us a 
 visit, it would cheer all of our hearts and be of great 
 strength and inspiration to the school. 
 
 We are progressing I think in a very fine way with 
 an enrollment of over 1,000 students. One of the greatest 
 assets, if not the greatest asset in recent years, to Phillips 
 University has been Brother Harry D. Smith. He is a 
 wonderful teacher and there is no need for me to say 
 to you that he is a superior man. He wields a tremen- 
 dous influence upon the young ministers of the University. 
 
 Hoping again that you are improving rapidly and with 
 very best wishes to you and Mrs. Rains, I am, 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 T. T. Roberts. 
 
CHAPTER NINE 
 
 THE CLOSE OF HIS MINISTRY 
 
 The preceding chapters have shown F. M. Rains 
 as an active, determined, intelligent servant of 
 God. His ministry from earliest manhood was 
 never interrupted save during those short periods 
 which nature demanded that he might recuperate 
 from the effects of overtaxed strength due to his 
 arduous labors. Never once did the lure of the 
 world's commerce, with all its promise of wealth 
 and power cause his footsteps to falter. With a 
 deep and abiding faith, pointing his face Godward, 
 he caught that perspective of life which Jesus 
 wished for all men when he said, "Seek ye first 
 the Kingdom of God." Every other interest was 
 subordinate to that of Kingdom building. Yet with 
 all that consecration of life and concentration of 
 effort he manifested a vital interest in the progress 
 of manhood in every form of endeavor. After 
 a strenuous day in the office with its exacting 
 and nerve wearing duties, he would anticipate 
 his evening at home. Here, after the evening meal 
 with his family he would read the day's mail, the 
 evening paper, several church papers, or perhaps 
 a portion of some new book. He loved books — 
 good books, lately written books — and he brought 
 one or more home so frequently that it was a prob- 
 139 
 
140 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 lem where to put them. After this period of 
 browsing in the intellectual field he found com- 
 plete relaxation in a game of checkers or flinch. 
 This was his favorite pastime, and how he would 
 joke and laugh and sing some little ditty remem- 
 bered from boyhood! 
 
 He had that active mind which found content- 
 ment only in purposeful effort. He was a great 
 lover of nature and often in his reminiscent or 
 humorous moods would refer to the persimmon 
 tree, the huckleberry and the briar bush. One of 
 his morning clarion calls for the boys was, "Get up, 
 go down and wash your face in the brook, climb 
 a persimmon tree and eat your breakfast!" On 
 summer evenings just before twilight or early in 
 the morning, he delighted in wandering over the 
 lawn with a pocket knife in hand extracting the 
 dandelions. He took pride in young trees which he 
 had placed in the yard and watched their growth 
 with great interest. 
 
 It has been said that Mr. Rains was an individ- 
 ualist. This characteristic manifested itself in cer- 
 tain unconventionalities, inimitable voice, and 
 physical mannerisms. While always showing due 
 courtesy, he fell in with the spirit of every occa- 
 sion and exercised a freedom of manner which in 
 many others would have been a violation of good 
 etiquette. His impulse was to do what seemed to 
 him the natural thing without regard to what 
 other people might think. This, in most instances, 
 
The Close of His Ministry 141 
 
 won him friends. Those who have heard his plat- 
 form utterances, know how his accentuation of the 
 most common words secured attention and made 
 lasting impressions. If talking about some new, 
 far-reaching program, he would draw out some 
 such word as "enlargement," with an accumula- 
 tive volume of utterance. He knew how to make 
 dry wit out of the most commonplace experiences. 
 His humorous vein found expression on the most 
 common and serious occasions, and was reenforced 
 by a certain whimsical look and snap of the eyes 
 quite peculiar to himself. While Mr. Kains did 
 not think it necessary for a preacher to be either 
 foppish or clerical in his dress, he did believe that 
 he should be well groomed and is quoted as saying, 
 "It would be a good thing for some preachers to 
 black their boots and put on a clean collar at least 
 once a quarter." He was very particular about 
 the cleanliness and neatness of his own attire. He 
 bought good clothes and wore them a long time. 
 
 Mr. Rains took few people into his confidence 
 concerning his personal affairs. He planned his 
 finances with loyalty to certain well established 
 principles of thrift and supervised all such matters 
 carefully. From the first year of his marriage, 
 when he was receiving $800.00 a year and through- 
 out his life during which time his salary never ex- 
 ceeded $3,000.00, he saved systematically. Al- 
 though a liberal contributor to every good cause, 
 he was able on a moderate salary by wise invest- 
 
142 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 merits to provide a perpetual income for his wife 
 and to leave certain gifts to college and missionary 
 causes which were dear to his heart. 
 
 One of his greatest problems was a quick tem- 
 per, but he never let the sun go down without 
 doing everything a man could do to atone for the 
 hastily spoken word. He loved every member of his 
 household and folks generally, too much to cause 
 sorrow. On one occasion when Paul was about 
 fourteen years of age, he became irritated over 
 some matter and struck him across the back with 
 a copy of the Youth's Companion, folded in the 
 mailing wrapper. A short time afterward he 
 apologized in the most manly way to his youngest 
 son, with as much humility and dignity as might 
 have been addressed to a man of his own age. It 
 is needless to say that Paul discovered a new ad- 
 miration for his father. 
 
 When his namesake, Francis Marion, Jr., the son 
 of Ernest, was two and a half years of age, he 
 visited his grandfather. One day Mr. Rains at- 
 tempted to discipline him as he had his own chil- 
 dren, by turning the high chair away from the 
 table when he refused to stop crying. The boy 
 stopped instantly, but it could be seen that he 
 was very angry, as he looked up at his grand- 
 daddy, his black eyes flashing, and he said, "Now, 
 ain't you ashamed of yourself?" This was one 
 occasion when Mr. Rains had no answer ready. 
 He was completely routed by his young grandson. 
 
The Close of His Ministry 143 
 
 Mr. Eains loved his children dearly. However, 
 he was prevented by the very nature of his work 
 from having that close fellowship with them which 
 he desired and which they needed. It will be re- 
 membered that Elva, his only daughter, died at the 
 early age of ten. Ernest, when seventeen years 
 old, went to Texas for his health and established 
 himself permanently in the south. Paul left home 
 for college at the same age. Mr. Rains spent most 
 of his Sundays in dedications. One of the prices 
 he paid for the great missionary service he ren- 
 dered was the lack of a closer contact with, his 
 family. He loved and cherished his last wife 
 dearly. Coming into the home when the youngest 
 child was but three years of age, she quickly grew 
 into their affection. Throughout the years she has 
 occupied that place in the hearts of the boys which 
 only a true mother could claim. Among the few 
 utterances which Mr. Rains was able to make dur- 
 ing those last days as life slowly slipped away were 
 words of praise for her tender ministrations. 
 
 That he followed his children with loving inter- 
 est is shown by the following extracts from letters 
 written to Paul after he began work with the 
 American Christian Missionary Society: 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, August 16, 1917. 
 Dear Paul: 
 
 Do your own careful thinking. Stand square and solid 
 on the integrity of the Bible and upon Jesus Christ as 
 the Son of God, and remember that there is a lost world 
 and that only Jesus Christ can save it. Hang to Jesus 
 
144 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 Christ, and hang to his commandments. The world does 
 not need new things preached to it so much as it needs 
 the old common things emphasized and reenforced. 
 
 I am going down to New Liberty (Kentucky) Saturday. 
 I will preach one sermon on "Immortality" as you request. 
 Affectionately, your father, 
 
 Jacksonville. Florida. 
 November 17, 1917. 
 Dear Paul: 
 
 My health is improving right along. I am getting so 
 stout that I can speak two or three times a day and 
 travel in between. I say, you will have to get up and dust 
 if you keep up with the old man. You kids don't know 
 much about work yet! I hear good things about you 
 and your work. * * * 
 
 Lexington. Kentucky. 
 
 May 15, 1918. 
 
 Dear Paul: 
 * * * 
 
 I note what you say about the poems. I think they are 
 good and I enjoyed them and am proud of you. Don't 
 get too poetical, but don't be afraid even of poetry. * * * 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 November 12, 1918. 
 Dear Paul: 
 
 Let me particularly recommend that you take pains 
 about good warm clothing this winter in that very severe 
 climate. See that you are well fitted out with warm under- 
 wear especially, and see also that your overcoat is a warm 
 one. Keep your feet warm. Provide yourself with good 
 warm socks and in your travels guard yourself against ex- 
 posure to the cold as much as possible. 
 
 I have not been very well for some days. I suffer a 
 
The Close of His Ministry 145 
 
 good deal as you know with my back. I get along like an 
 old stiff horse, but the weather is beautiful now and I am 
 hoping for better things. * * * 
 
 Norwood. 
 Nov. 18, 1919. 
 Dear Paul: 
 
 Congratulations upon the safe arrival of the young man 
 of much name! We inclose him $5.00 to pay his income 
 tax for five years! 
 
 As ever, 
 
 F. M. Rains. 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 December 31, 1918. 
 My dear son Paul: 
 
 The old year is passing. How short it seems to have 
 been! What mighty things have taken place! A new 
 year is here tomorrow. May it be a happy and useful 
 year to all of us. 
 
 Last Sunday I spoke three times at Akron, Ohio. Next 
 Sunday I aim to be at Janesville, Wisconsin. I can do 
 little office work. 
 
 Hope both of you will keep well. Take good care of 
 yourselves when it is cold. 
 
 Affectionately your father, 
 
 No one knew quite as well as the members of his 
 own family with what abandon he threw himself 
 into his work as a secretary of foreign missions. 
 He was a man of broad vision and deep sympa- 
 thies. No one could have been more sanely opti- 
 mistic. The mission fields and the missionaries 
 were constantly on his mind. He spent many rest- 
 less nights thinking about their problems. Some- 
 
146 Fr^nc-s M>ir:or. £,:;>:.< 
 
 times when troubled :-ver an unusual situation he 
 would walk the door :r wenld dress in the middle 
 :>i the night and g: :: l_is study for meditation 
 and prayer. VThen Mr. Rains accented gifts aggre- 
 gating S25.00j frem John D. Rockefeller for" for- 
 eign missions. T'r.i Chr.r.i:.*; .>':.: ch. -5. citterly 
 criticized him and the Society. This was the begin- 
 ning of continual criticism and opposition on the 
 part of tMs paper, which caused unfounded sus- 
 picion and distrust among the brethren. Air. Rains 
 was not concerned for himself except as he feared 
 that it would embarrass the growth of the cause 
 into which he was pouring his life. The growing 
 emphasis and support whieh the church gave its 
 foreign missionary task was sufficient testimony of 
 the faithful stewardship of Mr. McLean and Mr. 
 Rains. Furthermore, the confidence of the broth- 
 erhood in the leadership of these men was mani- 
 fested by their vmanimous election each succeeding 
 year. 
 
 Mr. Rains placed a high value :n the church 
 
 vent tons wmen ne coo not attend, suuee tne Lm- 
 cinnati Convention of 1874 He knew convent! :n 
 psychology. There was n: tetter master ■:£ cere- 
 monies in the brotherhood. In his inimitable man- 
 ner he ::eu turned diseeuragiug situatiens into 
 victory. It was at 'he Los Angeles Convention of 
 1!?15 that he "^ male Secretary Emeritus. 1: 
 Moines Convention of 1916 was the last one he 
 
The Close of His Ministry 147 
 
 was permitted to attend. The Christian-Evangelist 
 of October 19, 1916, reports as follows: 
 
 When F. M. Rains declared that his report was "the 
 best the Society has ever presented in the forty-one years 
 of its existence" and when it was learned that $522,617, 
 $100,000 more than any previous year, had been received, 
 President McLean could no longer suppress cheering. It 
 was too great a strain on an audience of Disciples. It 
 looked as if the chairman himself wished to clap his hands, 
 though he refrained. But his frown looked very much 
 like a smile. 
 
 A pleasant interpolation was the presentation of a lov- 
 ing cup to F. M. Rains in a few appropriate words by 
 C. H. Winders, of Indianapolis, on behalf of the office 
 force and executive committee, as an expression of the 
 good will of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society. 
 Doubtless every person present wished he might have had 
 direct part in this token, so happily conceived, so truly 
 merited. 
 
 In 1917 he did not feel equal to the physical 
 demands involved by attendance upon a national 
 convention. Instead therefore, of going to Kansas 
 City, he filled a number of speaking engagements 
 in the south. In the fall of 1918 he went to St. 
 Louis, but the convention was not held on account 
 of the influenza epidemic. 
 
 In the latter part of January, 1919, he started 
 on a speaking trip through the South, visiting 
 the churches at Knoxville, Tenn., Jacksonville, St. 
 Petersburg and Miami, Florida. On January 30th 
 he wrote to his son Paul from Cincinnati as fol- 
 lows : 
 
148 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 My dear Boy: 
 
 I am off tomorrow for the South. Will be gone from 
 four to six weeks. Hope you and Clara will keep that part 
 of the world level while I am gone. I am feeling pretty 
 well. Had a big day last Sunday at Owensboro, Kentucky. 
 Your mother feels that she will get a little lonesome but 
 she has so many irons in the fire, I think she will keep 
 busy. Keep yourself warm. This has been a remarkable 
 winter for good weather. Sincere love to both of you. 
 
 Affectionately your father, 
 
 Mr. W. A. Harp of St. Petersburg wrote to A. 
 McLean as follows : 
 
 We had Brother Rains with us Sunday and he gave us a 
 great address in the morning but at night he was not 
 able to speak. He came to us in a terrible condition, 
 weak, sick, broken, and awfully yellow, and terribly anemic, 
 but we took the best care of him we could and Ms voice 
 was better and he seemed more natural when he left. He 
 will attempt to speak at Miami next Sunday against the 
 doctor's orders, but he will have to give up for some 
 months and rest, for he is about "all in." It hurt us to 
 see him looking and feeling so bad, but I believe that with 
 care, he will improve, though Dr. Woods of Cleveland said 
 just by looking at him, he would never be better. He had 
 a great house of the finest people on earth from all over 
 the United States and they were glad to hear him. I 
 write you that someone might know the real situation. 
 He has sent for Mrs. Rains to join him in Miami. 
 
 After reaching' Miami, Mr. Rains was not able 
 to speak again until the first Sunday in March. 
 During an eight weeks ' stay he was confined to his 
 bed the greater part of the time. The following 
 letters which he wrote to his associates in the For- 
 
The Close of His Ministry 149 
 
 eign Society during this period represent his con- 
 dition : 
 
 Miami, Florida. 
 February 25, 1919. 
 Brethren Corey, Wilson, Plopper and others, 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 Dear Brethren: 
 
 First of all, let me thank you for your very cordial and 
 brotherly letters. These are real sources of strength and 
 encouragement to me and to Mrs. Rains. I appreciate them 
 more than I can tell you. 
 
 I think I wrote one of you that I had almost entirely 
 lost my voice, and a very reputable physician, Dr. Adam- 
 son, of Tampa, insisted that I quit speaking for a month 
 or two at least. Having an engagement here I decided to 
 stay at least until the first of May. I spoke only once at 
 St. Petersburg, and under great embarrassment. I could 
 speak only above a whisper. I supposed my trouble was a 
 cold but the doctor told me my hoarseness was owing to 
 the condition of my blood. He said my blood was in bad 
 shape, lacking in iron and irregular. He made a thorough 
 test. 
 
 We have rented a small apartment and are comfortably 
 situated. I am already feeling some better. The weather 
 is very warm. I am giving my attention to building up my 
 strength. I may say that since I talked with Dr. Adamson 
 I have conferred with two other physicians, a Dr. Barnes 
 of Miami, and Dr. Crawford of Illinois, and they agree with 
 Dr. Adamson in diagnosis and treatment. 
 
 Of course I am greatly disappointed to be laid up in 
 this way at this time, but I am doing what seems to be 
 the only thing I can do. I did not speak here last Sun- 
 day, not having sufficient strength, but I am planning to 
 speak next Sunday a little while and then will not under- 
 take to speak again until about the first of May at least. 
 
150 Francis Marion Bains 
 
 I have canceled my engagements at Valdosta and Augusta, 
 Georgia. 
 
 The situation here is very congenial. Brother (Ira) 
 Adams is very attentive and kind to me. There are a num- 
 ber of people here whom I know, Mr. and Mrs. Bowman of 
 New York; Dr. and Mrs. Crawford of Eureka, Illinois; 
 Mr. and Mrs. Pounds of Cleveland, Ohio ; Mr. and Mrs. Sala 
 of Canton, Ohio; President and Mrs. Cramblet of Bethany, 
 West Virginia, and many others. The weather and climate 
 are ideal. If I do not improve here my situation, it would 
 seem, is hopeless. But I feel assured that in the course of 
 two weeks or a month I will be better and will improve 
 right along. I am very anxious to give at least five or six 
 years more to the Society, if the Lord wills. 
 
 I rejoice in the good word I have from all of you and 
 from the missionaries. I trust that we may have a great 
 year, and that we will have plenty of money to support 
 the work and find many new candidates for the field. I 
 am trusting that Brother McLean's trip to Mexico was not 
 too hard on him. 
 
 I need hardly tell you that I have full confidence that 
 you are all laboring to the very best advantage for the 
 growth and expansion of the work of the Society. May 
 God give you all great wisdom and preserve your health 
 and make the Society a mighty force in the world. 
 
 I know you brethren will understand how I am pressed 
 for strength and will accept this letter as one intended for 
 each of you. With great affection for all in the office, I 
 remain, 
 
 Most cordially yours, 
 
 F. M. Rains. 
 
 February 28, 1919. 
 My Dear Brother Plopper: 
 
 I have no doubt everything is being done that can be 
 done for the March offering. Somehow this time of the 
 
The Close of His Ministry 151 
 
 year I feel a little nervous about it always. I suppose 
 that is the law of habit. 
 
 I am very glad you are hearing from Brother MeLean. 
 Tell him to write me when he returns. Tell him I am 
 doubled up here doing everything I can to get strong. 
 
 I am very glad to report to you that Mrs. Rains is a 
 source of a great deal of help to me in writing my letters 
 and looking after my affairs. 
 
 Miami, Florida. 
 
 Dear Brethren: Mareh 3 > 1919 ' 
 
 I spoke here yesterday thirty minutes. I was quite weak 
 but my voice was very good. I was able to speak only 
 once. We had a very good crowd and representatives of 
 our people from many different states. 
 
 I suffer no pain at all, but I am weak. I suppose it 
 was a little imprudent to speak yesterday morning but I 
 was afraid the people would get away to their homes, and 
 I would not have an opportunity to address them. 
 
 Miami, Florida. 
 
 Dear Bishop: March 5 > 1919 ' 
 
 I received your card from Mexico and your letter from 
 Cincinnati. I thank you for both of them. It is good to 
 know that you are back safe and sound. I have no doubt 
 you learned much about the situation in Mexico and I am 
 quite sure that good things will come out of your con- 
 ferences. 
 
 I am feeling some better, I think. I am not strong. 
 When I walk up one flight of stairs I am almost completely 
 exhausted. When I walk three or four blocks I am tired 
 out but feel that my stay will do me good. My present 
 thought is to remain here until about the first of May. In 
 the meantime I shall not make any engagements, I think. 
 I believe it my first duty to try to build up my blood and 
 
152 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 regain my strength. This I think I will do. Mrs. Gains 
 is a great comfort and help to me. 
 
 Miami, Florida. 
 Beloved Brethren: Itad. 10, 1919. 
 
 You ask about my health. I am making some progress 
 but it is slow. * * * I am making the best fight I know 
 t: get back mv strength. My great ambition is to do some 
 more work before I pass on. 
 
 I do hope the March offering is proving a great success. 
 I hope you can send me a comparative statement for the 
 ±rst nfteen days of March. 
 
 Most cordially yours, 
 
 F. M. Rains. 
 
 Miami. Florida. 
 March 17. 1919. 
 
 The past w eek has been a disappointing one. I have 
 been here in this room flat on my back for six days. I 
 have been quite sick part of the time. I am about as 
 yellow as when I returned from Japan. It all grows out 
 of the condition of my blood, the doctor says. I have 
 been exceedingly fortunate in having the daily visitation of 
 Dr. Crawford of Eureka, Illinois. He is a fine physician, 
 and his sympathy and suggestions have been invaluable. 
 He has done me a lot of good and I shall not soon forget 
 his kindness and helpfulness. I must also testify to the 
 stmstant attention of Brother Adams, the minister of the 
 church. He has been to see me every day and many 
 friends have shown great kindness. 
 
 I am hoping and praying for better health and I am 
 doing everything in my power to that end. I trust the 
 good Father for recovery if it is his will. It looks strange 
 that one under this Italian sky, by this beautiful blue 
 ocean, with these delightful trees and numerous and fra- 
 grant flowers should be obliged to occupy a small room, 
 
The Close of His Ministry 153 
 
 flat on his back. I am offering no note of complaint. My 
 wife is doing everything in her power for my recovery and 
 it was exceedingly fortunate that she came to me. 
 
 F. M. Rains. 
 
 Miami, Florida. 
 March 19, 1919. 
 Dear Bishop: 
 
 The World Call has been received, and I thank you 
 more than I can express for your appreciation of my poor 
 effort in the world. I wish I might have done more, and 
 I am especially desirous of doing more now. 
 
 I am still in bed. I hope all is going well. I should 
 like to know the progress that is being made in uniting the 
 societies and if any breakers have developed, what they are. 
 
 Miami, Florida. 
 March 24, 1919. 
 I am some better, I rejoice to report. I am sitting up 
 part of the time. I took a short auto ride yesterday. I 
 am hoping to get along. I am sorry not to be in the con- 
 test for the March offering. 
 
 Miami, Florida. 
 March 30, 1919. 
 Our plan is to leave here next Tuesday night and be in 
 Cincinnati Thursday morning about nine o'clock. I am 
 going home because I feel much better at home and be- 
 sides I am very weak and am hoping to get stronger by 
 the change, though I have every possible comfort here. 
 
 Arriving at Cincinnati April 10, he was confined 
 to his bed for several weeks. His life being de- 
 spaired of, the two boys, Ernest and Paul, were 
 sent for. Their presence seemed to give him new 
 courage and almost immediately he sufficiently im- 
 
154 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 proved so as to be able to get up. Although very 
 feeble, he was able to get around through the fol- 
 lowing summer. The last article he ever wrote was 
 written the following September and published in 
 an October issue of The Christian-Evangelist. 
 
 A CONTRAST 
 
 The first National Christian Missionary Convention of 
 our people I attended, was held here in Cincinnati in 1874. 
 It made a deep impression upon me. I was only twenty 
 years of age. I have attended about all of the National 
 Conventions since. That convention was forty-five years 
 ago. It was eight years after the death of Alexander 
 Campbell, the first President of the American Christian 
 Missionary Society. It was the twenty-fifth anniversary 
 of the Society. 
 
 Thinking of the 1874 gathering, I have been contrast- 
 ing it, as far as I can, with the one that is to be held here 
 in October. That convention was held here in the ' ' Christian 
 Chapel at the corner of Eichmond and Cutter Streets." 
 It was a small building. The convention this year will be 
 held in Music Hall, one of the best buildings for such a 
 gathering in the whole country. It is centrally located, 
 easily reached, and the acoustics are almost perfect. You 
 can be heard in this building if you can talk. The women 
 can be heard! It will accommodate 5,000 or more. Many 
 who attended the Jubilee Convention will remember the 
 building. 
 
 The attendance in 1874 waa small, less than two hundred. 
 Many county and district conventions are larger now. 
 About all present in '74 have passed on to their final re- 
 ward. There are a few that remain. 
 
 W. K. Pendleton, the scholar and eloquent orator, de- 
 livered the chief address. It was an interpretation of the 
 missionary situation among our people, and a strong de- 
 
The Close of His Ministry 155 
 
 fense of Alexander Campbell's missionary record. Being 
 President of Bethany College, and a successor of Mr. Camp- 
 bell, the address naturally attracted much attention. He 
 spoke out against those who opposed organic missionary 
 work with clearness and conviction. In that address, Presi- 
 dent Pendleton said: "Nothing is better known to those 
 familiar with the life and hopes of Alexander Campbell 
 than that among the concerns of deep solicitude with him, 
 this of the organic cooperation of the entire brotherhood 
 for the spread of the gospel, was the most constant and 
 profound. It was in his conversation, in his preaching, 
 in his prayers." 
 
 It was at this convention that our Christian Woman's 
 Board of Missions was organized, and it was also at this 
 convention that plans were made for the organization of 
 the Foreign Society, which took place the following year 
 at Louisville. Many of the brethren were very cordial to- 
 ward the new organization, the Christian Woman's Board 
 of Missions. Isaac Errett offered the following resolution, 
 which was unanimously adopted: "That this Convention 
 extend to the Christian Woman's Board of Missions 
 their recognition and hearty approval, assured that it 
 opens a legitimate field of activity and usefulness, in 
 which Christian women may be active and successful co- 
 operants of ours in the great work of sending the gospel 
 into all the world. We pledge ourselves to help these women 
 who propose to labor with us in the Lord. ' ' 
 
 And this reminds me that I have been present at the 
 organization of every board among us, except, of course, 
 the American Christian Missionary Society. 
 
 There were differences of opinion among the brethren 
 during the convention, being talked about in a quiet way. 
 As I recall, there were no serious public discussions. One 
 of the topics of interest was the use of the organ in the 
 public worship. Many opposed women talking in public. 
 Mrs. Pearre was on the platform making an address, when 
 
156 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 a brother, whom I know well, sat down beside me and said 
 in substance: "What are we coming to? See that, woman 
 talking here before all this assembly, when Paul positively 
 prohibits such a practice?" This brother still lives and 
 has since urged many sisters to talk in public. 
 
 The growth in the receipts of our missionary work has 
 been nothing less than wonderful. C. W. Plopper, Treasurer 
 of the Foreign Society, often receipts for as much money in 
 a single day as the American Christian Missionary Society 
 receipted for in a whole year, and the same is true of the 
 income of other boards. We have gone beyond the million 
 dollar line for all our work. The total gain last year 
 cheered all hearts. The receipts for ten months of this year 
 amounted to $1,179,161, a gain of $315,803. We are en- 
 couraged to hope the gain will amount to $500,000 by 
 September 30th. 
 
 At the time of that convention we had no converts or 
 property or missionaries, on all the foreign field. Many 
 of us have witnessed the growth of all the great things 
 wrought by the gospel in all the pagan lands. Our great 
 schools and colleges and hospitals and printing presses 
 and orphanages and farms and industrial plants, have come 
 into being within forty years. 
 
 Graves of our loved missionaries are found in all the 
 lands we have cultivated. A number of brave men and 
 women have returned completely broken in health. The 
 experiences of our brotherhood in taking the gospel into 
 the regions beyond have sanctified the churches. 
 
 And what wonders have been wrought here in America! 
 Only forty years ago we had one church in Kansas City, 
 which was divided over the organ! We were a feeble 
 folk all the way from the mouth of the Missouri Eiver to 
 its source. Now we are a mighty army. We could hardly 
 be seen in states like Texas and Kansas and Nebraska and 
 Iowa. Now lift up your eyes and behold what has been ac- 
 complished. 
 
The Close of His Ministry 157 
 
 And you sometimes discouraged brother, think of the 
 men we have produced — men of valor, men of faith, men 
 of the highest character and scholarship, resourceful men — 
 men who are determined to lead on until all the world is 
 Immanuel's land. 
 
 Many thousands will be in Cincinnati October 13th to 
 plan for future campaigns. They know, as Mr. Campbell 
 taught, and as the New Testament teaches, that the preach- 
 ing of the gospel is the one overmastering business of the 
 whole church of God. 
 
 Mr. Rains looked forward many months with 
 great anticipation toward attending the sessions 
 of the Cincinnati Convention. The following let- 
 ter was addressed to Paul and his wife : 
 
 Dear Paul and Clara: 
 
 Your letter received. Come on as soon as you can. We 
 are going to ask you to occupy your old room on the third 
 floor. We will have other company during the conven- 
 tion. 
 
 Let us know the exact time when you will arrive — time 
 of train and road, and we will meet you if we can. 
 
 My improvement is very slow. May not be able to at- 
 tend sessions of the convention. 
 
 Tell that boy, Gregg, and that country girl, Clara, that 
 they will come to a real city and that they may not know 
 just how to do at first. 
 
 Your affectionate father, 
 
 F. M. Eains. 
 
 On Friday, the day before Paul was to arrive, 
 he was stricken again when attempting to go out 
 to the Ford sedan which he called the "Black 
 Mare. ' ' He wanted to go to a barber shop for a 
 shave. The next morning he said, "Two things I 
 
158 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 must do today ; one is to go to the barber shop and 
 the other is to go down to the station tonight to 
 meet Paul." However, it was not possible for him 
 to do either. He never again was able to get up, 
 but for nearly two weeks, all during the sessions 
 of the convention and a few days following, lay 
 there while life slowly ebbed away. Saturday 
 night when Paul, his wife, and Gregg, their three 
 months old boy arrived, Mr. Eains was sitting up 
 in bed, and laughed and joked about the baby in 
 much his characteristic way but never after was 
 able to think or act as normally as at that time. 
 
 Concerning his life none could more fitly give 
 an account than A. McLean, his comrade in 
 the work for twenty-six years. The following 
 chapter is selected from the funeral sermon which 
 he preached in the Norwood, Ohio, Christian 
 Church. 
 
Taken in 1916 at the Des Moines, Iowa, National Convention 
 
CHAPTER TEN 
 
 HE DID GOOD IN ISRAEL 
 
 (Selected from the funeral sermon which was later 
 
 published in the January, 1920, issue of the 
 
 World Call, entitled: "A Record of the Life 
 
 and Ministry of Francis Marion Rains," 
 
 by Archibald McLean) 
 
 And they buried him in the city of David among the 
 kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God 
 and toward his house. — 2 Chron. 24:16. 
 
 Jehoiada, the hero of this passage, was not a 
 king but a priest. In a time of national apostasy 
 he was a political and a religious reformer. He 
 overthrew the idolatrous and murderous queen who 
 had usurped the throne and placed the rightful 
 sovereign upon it. He made a covenant between 
 himself and all the people and the king that they 
 should be the Lord's people. Because of his teach- 
 ing and influence all the people went to the House 
 of Baal and broke it down and broke his altars and 
 his images in pieces, thoroughly, and slew the 
 priest of Baal before the altars. As long as Je- 
 hoiada lived, the king and the people were mind- 
 ful of their covenant and did that which was right 
 in the eyes of the Lord. Jehoiada did another 
 notable thing. While idolatry was prevalent the 
 house of God was broken up, and the dedicated 
 159 
 
160 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 things belonging to it were bestowed npon Baalim. 
 At the suggestion of the king, Jehoiada collected 
 large sums of money and repaired the breaches in 
 the house of the Lord, and with the surplus pro- 
 vided vessels of gold and silver wherewith to min- 
 ister and to offer. The record shows the nation 
 offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord 
 continually all the days of Jehoiada. One other 
 thing is recorded of this distinguished servant of 
 the Most High God. He restored the temple wor- 
 ship as it had been established centuries before. 
 As a result of these reforms the people of the land 
 rejoiced, and the city was quiet. At the age of 
 one hundred and thirty Jehoiada died, and they 
 buried him in the city of David among the kings. 
 This unprecedented honor was in recognition of his 
 eminent services to Church and State. In this same 
 chapter we read of a degenerate king who died. 
 They buried him in the city of David, but they did 
 not bury him in the sepulchers of the kings. Be- 
 cause of his high crimes he was deemed unworthy 
 of the burial given the good priest. 
 
 The text fitly describes the ministry of the good 
 man whom God has taken to himself, Francis 
 Marion Rains did good in our Israel, both toward 
 God and toward his house. 
 
 While the work of the Foreign Christian Mis- 
 sionary Society had the first claim upon him, Mr. 
 Rains was interested in every department of the 
 work of the Kingdom. He was an advocate of 
 
He Did Good in Israel 161 
 
 every political and every social and every moral 
 reform. He was an advocate of nation-wide and 
 world-wide prohibition, of universal suffrage, and 
 of every other cause that had as its objectives the 
 welfare of humanity and the glory of Christ. In 
 increasing the receipts of the Foreign Society, he 
 made it easier for every other society to increase 
 its receipts. The methods he invented were bor- 
 rowed by others, and with good results. 
 
 Mr. Eains was " given to hospitality." And 
 what a genial and gracious host he was! He was 
 never happier than when he had his friends under 
 his roof and at his table. Most of the missionaries 
 of the Society and missionaries of other societies 
 were entertained by him and Mrs. Rains. He 
 wanted to know the missionaries more intimately, 
 to learn of their problems and needs, and what the 
 Society could do to meet their needs and increase 
 their influence. To missionaries on furlough, and 
 to missionary candidates, a visit in his home was 
 like rivers of waters in a dry plaice, like the shadow 
 of a great rock in a weary land. And because of 
 his hospitality, there are men and women in the 
 fields who were refreshed and heartened by him in 
 his home who will mourn with us when they hear 
 of his departure to be with the Lord. 
 
 No one saw Mr. Rains at his best who did not 
 see him in his home. It was there that all the 
 gentleness and tenderness and chivalry of his na- 
 ture found expression. He loved his wife and chil- 
 
162 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 dren with a surpassing love. Canon Kingsley used 
 to say that there was more laughter in his home 
 than in any other home in England. It is safe to 
 say that there were few homes in America in which 
 there was more contagious laughter and more riot- 
 ous mirth than in the home of our friend. There 
 a guest found what Milton called "jest, and youth- 
 ful jollity." Mr. Eains was a boy to the last, and 
 it was in his home that the boy side of his nature 
 was seen to the best advantage. But there was 
 another side ; his life was not all mirth and gayety. 
 There was a serious element, and that was in evi- 
 dence also. On the breakfast table there was the 
 New Testament. Before partaking of food, the 
 word of God was read and prayer was offered. 
 When the Daily Altar was published he procured 
 a copy and was delighted with it. He used it as 
 long as he was able to go to the table. More than 
 that, he spoke to his friends and visitors of this 
 book and urged them to use it in their family wor- 
 ship. Not only so, but he went before his children 
 in the way of holiness and said to them, "This is 
 the way, walk you in it." 
 
 It should be said, and said with emphasis, that 
 Mr. Rains was a genuinely religious man. Strang- 
 ers were not always impressed with this fact. 
 There was so much fun in his make-up that they 
 thought he was all fun. The fun was there, but 
 the fun was the foam on the surface of the sea. 
 Those who were closest to him and knew him best 
 
He Did Good in Israel 163 
 
 appraised him differently, and more justly. He 
 was educated by Robert Graham, Isaiah Grubbs 
 and John W. McGarvey, and was by them in- 
 structed in the fundamentals of our holy religion, 
 and from these fundamentals he never departed 
 by so much as a hair's breadth. He held the sov- 
 ereignty of God, the Deity and Saviorhood and 
 Lordship of Christ, the agency of the Holy Spirit 
 in conversion and sanctification, the inspiration 
 and all-sufficiency of the Scriptures, the observance 
 of the ordinances as given to us, the church as 
 God's instrument to bring in the Kingdom. His 
 reading, and his experiences broadened his horizon 
 and modified some of his early opinions and views, 
 but they did not affect the fundamentals. He kept 
 his mind open to truth from all sources ; he was a 
 forward-looking man; in the best sense he was a 
 modern man ; but he was as loyal to the faith once 
 for all delivered to the saints as any of his illus- 
 trious teachers in the College of the Bible. As the 
 end approached he could make Paul's words his 
 own, ' ' I have fought the good fight ; I have finished 
 my course ; I have kept the faith. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Eains loved the Lord, and the Lord 's house, 
 and the Lord's people, and the Lord's day. He 
 loved the church, he honored the church, he sup- 
 ported the church. As long as he was able he at- 
 tended the morning service, the evening service, 
 and the midweek service. He was ever the staunch 
 and loyal friend of the minister in charge. Mr. 
 
164 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 Rains was a man of faith and prayer. He read the 
 Bible and guided his life and conduct by its teach- 
 ing. One of the last things that he asked for was 
 his Bible. Because of the "mortal mist" that cov- 
 ered his eyes he could not read a word of it, but 
 it was a satisfaction to handle the Book of God, 
 the Book whose teaching had made him wise unto 
 salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, the Book 
 he had read and preached for so many years, the 
 Book whose precepts were more precious to him 
 than gold, yea, than much fine gold, that were 
 sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. He fon- 
 dled and caressed the Holy Book as lovingly as he 
 did his little grandchild a few days before. 
 
 Sometimes Mr. Rains was misunderstood and 
 misrepresented. He could not always stop to ex- 
 plain why he did or why he did not do certain 
 things. He had a great work on hand and could 
 not stop for explanations. The soldiers at the 
 Argonne could not stop to explain their move- 
 ments; had they done so all would have been lost. 
 Some thought him cold and unfeeling. No man was 
 more easily or more deeply touched by a generous 
 deed or a noble sentiment. His eyes would fill, the 
 ground-swell of emotion prevented utterance, and 
 he turned away to hide his tears. 
 
 But while some criticised his actions, no one 
 questioned his integrity. He handled millions and 
 gave an account for every penny. He went in and 
 out among the people, and the breath of suspicion 
 
lie Bid Good in Israel 165 
 
 never rested on his name. Like Tennyson's ideal 
 Prince, he ever wore the white flower of a blameless 
 life, in that fierce light that beats upon a public 
 man and blackens every blot. No father could 
 wish for an only son a career more stainless. Mr. 
 Rains had a clean heart, and he lived a clean life. 
 He had troops of friends. In the churches that he 
 dedicated there were those who believed in him 
 absolutely. And so it can be confidently affirmed 
 that honor and love, and the good repute that fol- 
 lows faithful service as its fruit, were his portion. 
 He was loved and he loved in return. He was 
 proud of the religious people of which he was a 
 member. He rejoiced in the principles for which 
 they stood, and believed in their ultimate triumph. 
 A week before his translation, when speaking was 
 difficult, he kept murmuring the phrase, "I love 
 the brethren. ' ' That was his thought as the splen- 
 dors of eternity fell upon him thick and fast, and 
 he caught glimpses of the King in his beauty. He 
 loved the missionaries and wore himself out in his 
 efforts to provide them the equipment they needed 
 for the most successful prosecution of their work. 
 All through his life he loved our ministers and 
 maintained that they constituted the finest body of 
 preachers in the world. He had been in hundreds 
 of their homes, and he spoke what he believed to 
 be God's truth concerning them. 
 
 Four years ago, because of the great service 
 which he had rendered, and because of the condi- 
 
166 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 tion of his health, the society in convention assem- 
 bled elected him Secretary Emeritus for life. It 
 was understood that he was free to come and go 
 as he pleased, to do much or little or nothing at 
 all as it suited his taste and convenience. He was 
 grateful for this honor, but he was unwilling to be 
 idle. He wished to live and serve for at least ten 
 years longer. He thought that all that had been 
 done thus far was preparatory, that we are living 
 in the rich dawn of an ampler day and that we 
 are to see larger things, and it was his ambition to 
 have a share in bringing these larger things to 
 pass. While he was weak, he was not an old man 
 either in spirit or in appearance. His father died 
 at the age of eighty-one years, and he saw no rea- 
 son why he might not live as long as his father. 
 He had no organic disease; he had done the work 
 of three ordinary men, and he died from sheer ex- 
 haustion. Measured by the calendar Mr. Rains 
 was comparatively a young man ; measured by his 
 achievements he lived longer than the oldest of the 
 Patriarchs. He was eager to live on and to assist 
 in the work of the Society and at the same time 
 he realized that he was in God's hands, and that 
 God knew what is best. At noon on Friday, Octo- 
 ber 24, 1919, God called him, and like Valiant-for- 
 truth in Bunyan's immortal allegory, he passed 
 over and all the trumpets sounded for him on the 
 other side. 
 
He Bid Good in Israel 167 
 
 "And they buried him in the city of David 
 among the kings, because he had done good in Is- 
 rael, both toward God and toward his house/ ' 
 When Livingstone 's body was brought to England, 
 the nation wished to pay him the highest honor of 
 which it was capable. The supreme honor was a 
 burial in Westminster Abbey. The sentiment of 
 the people expressed itself in the lines : 
 
 "Open the Abbey doors, and bear him in, 
 
 To sleep with king and statesman, chief and sage, 
 
 The missionary come of weaver kin, 
 
 But great by work that brooks no lower wage." 
 
 And so the sacred dust of Livingstone rests in 
 Westminster Abbey, the Pantheon of the British 
 Empire, among kings and statesmen, among the 
 greatest men the Empire has produced, the men 
 that fertilized the world with their inventions and 
 discoveries and services. 
 
 If among the Disciples of Christ there were a 
 Westminster Abbey, or a Pantheon, or a Hall of 
 Fame, undoubtedly Francis Marion Rains would 
 be assigned a place of highest honor in it, a place 
 among the kings. We have no royal sepulchers. 
 How then can we show our regard for this heroic 
 servant of the king, this mighty missionary leader ? 
 We deposit his wasted form in beautiful Spring 
 Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio, beside those 
 whom he loved long since and lost a while ; and we 
 shall enshrine him in our hearts and keep him 
 
168 Francis Marion Rains 
 
 there till the walls thereof shall moulder and 
 crumble to dust away, because he did good in Is- 
 rael, both toward God and toward his house. 
 
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