THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION « Studies in Missions OUR BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETIES (FOREIGN). •M- ...Published by... THE AMERICAN*BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION, Tremont Temple, Boston. STUDIES IN MISSIONS The Conquest Missionary Course is a series of studies in missions which presents in fonr years a summary view of the work, at home and Canada, of our Baptist Missionary Societies of the United States and Canada. It will include the varied work carried on by our Women’s Societies as well as by the general organizations. The studies are pre¬ pared primarily for use by our Young People’s Societies in their Conquest Missionary Meeting. They will prove equally helpful for missionary meetings of any kind. The price of these leaflets is 3 cents each, 25 cents per year; in orders of ten or more to one address, 214 cents each per month, 20 cents per year. Published monthly by the Baptist Young People’s Union of Amebica, 324 Dearborn St., Chicago, ILL. LITERATURE FOR REFERENCE IN THE MONTH’S STUDY. “The American Baptist Missionary Union”, five cents; “Origin of the American Baptist Missionary Union”, three cents, (a limited number only of this pamphlet: can be had as long as thmgupply holds out); “Hand¬ book : God With us”, free. (American Baptist Missionary Union, Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.) “Rise and Progress of the Foreign Mission Board, S. B. C.”, “The For¬ eign Mission Board, Its Administration and Policy”, “Plain Questions Ans¬ wered as to the Foreign Mission Work”, two cents each . (Baptist Mis¬ sion Rooms, 304 N. Howard St. Baltimore, Md.) Leaflets on work of Foreign Mission Board, S. B. C., free, (send stamp for postage). (R. J. Willingham, D. D., Richmond, Ya.) “Historical Sketch of the Foreign Missionary Enterprise of the Bap¬ tists of the Maritime Provinces”, three cents. (Rev. J. W. Manning, St. John, N. B.) Do not send to B. Y. P. U. A. Headiuarters for any of this literature. Send direct to addresses given, and enclose money with order. Conquest Missionary Course. OUR BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETIES (FOREIGN). (February Topic.) I. A Story of Beginnings. Preparation. The last decade of the eighteenth century and the opening years of the nineteenth were marked by a gracious quickening of the missionary spirit in the churches. The foundations of great Societies were laid. The English Baptist Missionary Society, organized at Kettering, October 2nd, 1792, heads the list in the new movement. Others followed in quick succession. Before the dawn of the present century, there were six new Societies in operation, with headquarters in England, Scotland and Holland. The awakening was not confined to these coun¬ tries. The echoes of Carey’s bugle-call: “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God”, sounded across the seas. One year after the formation of the English Baptist Missionary Society, Rev. William Staughton, a Baptist minister, born in Coventry, England, who was present at the historic meeting in Kettering, emigrated to America, During his resi¬ dence in this country, he carried on correspondence with Fuller, Ryland and other pioneers in the missionary movement. He lost no opportunity of imparting to others the inspira¬ tion which filled his own soul. Interest in this new movement was further stimulated by visits from missionaries. The East India Company carried its opposition to the missionary enter¬ prise so far as to prohibit the sailing of missionaries on its wessels. Some of the pioneer workers were obliged to com© first to this country, and then to set sail for the East in American ships. Their visits were occasions of great inter- —3— est, and fanned the kindling fires of missionary zeal. Contri¬ butions for the work of Carey and his colleagues at Serampore were made by American Christians. As early as 1804 Female Mite Societies and Cent Societies were organized, the income of some of them being donated to foreign missions. The Mas¬ sachusetts Baptist Missionary Society was organized in 1802, primarily for home mission purposes, yet foreign mission work did not lie wholly beyond the horizon of its founders, and in the magazine which they published— The Massachusetts Bap¬ tist Missionary Magazine —were letters of absorbing interest from Carey and Fuller and Ryland. As yet, indeed, the Baptists of America had not come to a con¬ sciousness of unity or of power, equal to the task of projecting and maintaining a separate mission to the heathen. They were few in number, poor in resources, and scattered along the Atlantic seaboard from Boston, Mass., to Charleston, S. C. They were just emerging from stern struggles for the establish¬ ment of great principles, and were overshadowed in numbers and influence by other religious bodies. There was as yet but one Baptist educational institution in the land. There was no general Society to bind the churches in a union of sympathy and effort. There was no Baptist periodical of any sort except The Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine. In the providence of God the way was being prepared for a united effort. In the year 1812 there was organized the “Salem Bible Trans¬ lation and Foreign Missionary Society”, to aid in the transla¬ tion of the Bible then being made by Carey and his co-labor¬ ers, or, “if deemed feasible, to assist in sending a missionary or missionaries from this country to India.” This was the first, strictly foreign mission society formed by the Baptists of America. Events were steadily moving towards an unseen end. Within this year—1812—occurred an event which caused the stream of missionary enthusiasm and beneficence to flow forth as the touch of the rod of Moses brought water from the rock in Horeb. Among the missionaries who went out in 1812 as the first representatives of the newly formed “American Board of Com¬ missioners for Foreign Missions” were Adoniram Judson, with his wife Ann Hasseltine. and Luther Rice. In January, 1813. the ship Tartar brought to Boston the news that during their —4— long sea voyage, these missionaries, as a result of special and independent study of the New Testament teachings concerning baptism, had embraced Baptist views and had been baptized in Calcutta. This news of glad surprise flew swiftly over the land. The situation was without precedent. The mission¬ aries in the far East had by their action severed relation with the American Board. They naturally turned to the Baptists of America for help. Writing to Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D.D., a Baptist pastor in Boston, Mr. Judson said: “Should there be formed a Baptist Society for the support of a mission in these parts, I should be ready to consider myself their mission¬ ary.” Such an appeal could not be resisted. The providence of God was too plain to be misinterpreted. Without any plan - ning of their own God had thrust upon the Baptists of the United States a missionary opportunity and obligation. God called: they responded. The summons sent currents of new life tingling in the veins of the denomination. It called out latent forces. It quickened the consciousness of a common life. Organization. Missionary societies began to spring up. At a conference of leading Baptist ministers of Massachusetts in the house of Dr. Thomas Baldwin, there was formed “The Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel in India and other Foreign Parts.” This Society at once assumed the support of Mr. Judson, who, in the meantime had established an independent mission in Rangoon. Luther Rice returned to America to begin a missionary crusade. Landing in September, 1814, he entered at once upon his campaign. The time had come for concerted action. At a meeting of the Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1813, it was suggested that a meeting of delegates from the several Baptist Foreign Missionary Societies which had sprung into being be called at Philadelphia in June, 1814, to form a general committee for the management of the mission in India. This proposal met with favor. The meeting was held May 18th, 1814. Thirty-three delegates, seven of them laymen, re¬ sponded to the call. They came from eleven different states and the District of Columbia. Some of them had travelled more than three hundred miles by carriage to attend the meet¬ ing. They were men of light and leading, whose names are —5— worthy to be held in undying remembrance. The convention: was one of great earnestness and spiritual power. On the fourth day, May 21st, 1814, a constitution was adopted, and the Baptist denomination was organized for the work of missions. The Triennial Convention. The name chosen for the new organization was “The General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions.” Its mem¬ bership was to consist of delegates from Societies which contributed at least one hundred dollars per annum to the missionary treasury. A board of twenty-one commissioners was elected to serve for three years, to be called “The Baptist Board of Foreign Missions for the United States”, and to be charged with “the executive part of the missionary concern.” Rev. Richard Furman, D.D., of Charleston, S. C., was chosen president, and Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D.D., of Boston, Mass.* secretary. The headquarters of the Board were fixed at Phil¬ adelphia, with Rev. William Staughton, D.D., as correspond¬ ing secretary, and Mr. John Cauldwell, of New York, as treas¬ urer. Rev. Adoniram Judson and Rev. Luther Rice were formally appointed missionaries, the latter being instructed “to continue his itinerant services in these United States for a reasonable time”, for the quickening of interest in missions. In view of the difficulty of communication between different parts of the country it was deemed advisable that the Con¬ vention should meet only once in three years; hence the title by which it came to be commonly known—“The Triennial Convention.” Thus by a direct providential call were the Baptist churches in the United States summoned to the great mission enter¬ prise. The field was selected; the pioneers were on the ground. The response of the churches to the Divine call drew them together, and knit them in bonds of fellowship and co¬ operation. “In fact, the enthusiasm for the new mission mado the scattered and separate Baptists of America a denomina¬ tion.” In the earlier years of the Convention the scope of its work was not definitely fixed. Its methods were tentative. At its second meeting, its constitution was so altered as to allow tho — 6 — Board “to appropriate a portion of the funds to domestic mis¬ sionary purposes.” The work of theological and higher educa¬ tion was taken under its wing. It was a time of beginnings. In 1826 the Convention decided to return to its primary work of Foreign Missions. The headquarters of the Board were transferred to Boston. For twenty years the organization of the Convention remained substantially without change, and its work was canned on with encouraging, though varying, meas¬ ures of success. During this period there arose in the country at large, and among Christian people, a heated discussion of the question of slavery and its relations to Christianity. The general Conven¬ tion represented the Baptists of the entire country. There were pro-slavery men, and anti-slavery men, and non-commit¬ tal men, in its constituency. The question could not be evaded. It was only a matter of time when the issue would be clearly defined and the forces lined on each side. The action of the Alabama State Convention brought the question to an issue. That body, at a meeting held in Marion, Ala., in November, 1844, called upon the acting Board for a “distinct explicit avowal”, as to the rights and privileges of slave-holders in the Convention and in its appointments to service. The explicit reply was made. The Board, while recognizingtheequal rights of all members in the general Convention, claimed for itself the right under the constitution to pass judgment upon candi¬ dates and make appointments, adding frankly: “If any one should offer himself as a missionary, having slaves, and should insist on retaining them as his property, we could not appoint him. One thing is certain, we can never be a party to an agreement which would imply approbation of slavery.” This definite utterance brought the Convention to a parting of the ways. The Baptists of the South withdrew. The Southern Baptist Convention was organized in Augusta, May 8th-12th 1845. A special meeting of the general Convention was called in New York in November, 1845, to take such action as seemed necessary under the changed conditions. At the final meeting of the Convention in 1846, a new constitution was adopted, and the name was changed to “The American Baptist Missionary Union.” ■ 7 — THE QUIZ. What spirit marked the close of the eighteenth and opening of the nineteenth centuries? What incidents helped to kindle that spirit in America? What was the condition of the Baptists of America at this time? What society was organized in 1812, and what was its object? Tell of the experience of the Judsons and Luther Rice, and its effect upon the Baptists of America. What society first assumed the support of Mr. Judson? Whence came the suggestion for concerted action in missionary work? Where was the first meeting held? What delegates were present? What was the new society named? What was it afterward called? Tell of its work. What cause of disagreement arose? What was the outcome of this? II. The American Baptist Missionary Union. Since 1846 the American Baptist Missionary Union has been the recognized channel through which the Baptists of the Northern States have carried bn their great foreign mis¬ sion enterprises. Its headquarters are in Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass. Membership. The Union, as a corporate body, is composed of annual members and honorary life members, with all its missionaries during their term of service. Any one may become an honor¬ ary life member by the payment of one hundred dollars during one financial year. Any regular Baptist church making an offering to the funds of the Union during the year is entitled to appoint one annual member, with an additional member for every hundred dollars above the first hundred. Annual Meeting. The Union holds an annual meeting in the latter part of May, the exact date being fixed upon by arrangements with other denominational societies. At this meeting reports of the work of the year are received, the general officers of the Union—a president, two vice-presidents and a recording sec¬ retary—elected, and necessary business transacted. In the na¬ ture of the case, business of such importance and variety as that of the Union cannot receive the necessary attention in gather¬ ings so loosely organized as are our Anniversary meetings. To provide for this, there is elected a — 8 — Board of Managers. This is composed of seventy-five elected members, together with the general officers of the Union, and the presidents of the four Women's Baptist Foreign Missionary Societies aux¬ iliary to the Union, and three members of the Executive Com¬ mittee. This Board is required to meet annually. The elected members must include ministers, laymen and women, one-third of the entire number to be elected at each annual meeting and to serve for three years. The Executive Committee. The Executive Committee, appointed by the Board, consists of fifteen persons, ministers and laymen. Two-thirds of the number must be residents of Boston or vicinity. Upon this committee falls the great burden of the interests of the Union. They are charged with a general oversight of the work, both as it involves questions of missionary policy, and in all its prac¬ tical details and bearings. This means a large draft upon the time and thought of busy men. All this, too, is done with no recompense other than that which comes from the thought of helping to extend our Redeemer’s kingdom. Corresponding Secretaries. •a It would manifestly be impossible for pastors, with the care of churches on their hands, and leading business men, with great financial interests depending upon them, to attend to this work in all its details. This is entrusted to Correspond¬ ing Secretaries, who devote their entire time to the study and outworking of all the problems which arise, and who, of course, receive a salarv for the same. These offices are filled by men of high standing in the denomination. By a mutual arrangement one of the secretaries attends to the work on the foreign side, the other on the home side. The former depart¬ ment is at present entrusted to Rev. Thomas S. Barbour, D.D., and the latter to Rev. H. C. Mabie, D.D., who are commonly spoken of respectively as Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary. Editorial Secretary. A missionary literature is a necessary adjunct to the mis¬ sionary enterprise. The facts concerning the needs of heathen lands and the progress of Christian v/ork in them need to be — 9 — as widely circulated as possible in order to quicken interest. Leaflets must be prepared and histories of the several fields compiled. This has led to the creation of another office—that of Editorial Secretary. This is filled at present by Rev. E. F. Merriam, D.D. The organ of the Union is The Baptist Mis¬ sionary Magazine , now in its eightieth volume, and ninety- seventh year, and improving with age. It is the oldest Baptist periodical in America. There is issued also every month a little illustrated four-page paper, The Kingdom. Treasurer. Mission work costs. It means money as well as service. The men and women who stay at home must support those who go. The handling of this money, the investment of per¬ manent funds, and the making of payments call for the ser¬ vices of a Treasurer, who must be at once a man of highest integrity, and of sound judgment and experience in financial matters. For many years this office has been filled with painstaking fidelity by Mr. Elisha P. Coleman. District Secretaries. It has been found necessary, in order to the efficient working of the home field for the support of missions, to appoint secre¬ taries, who shall look after the interests of the work within given districts. They are not mere collectors of money. Their great business is that of giving information about missions an d quickening interest in missions. It may seem strange, and yet it is a fact, that people need to be reminded of the claims of missions. There are pastors, even, who would forget to take an offering in their churches, or to inform their people about missions, unless they received a reminder. At present there are eight of these District Secretaries, who, in turn, are aided by a large number of Associational Secretaries, who render helpful voluntary service. Young People's Department, Within the last twenty years there has been a remarkable quickening of the young life in our churches. It is not at all strange that the enterprise of missions should appeal strongly to the warm sympathies of the young. Our missionary socie¬ ties have not been slow to recognize this. Whatever differ¬ ence of opinon there may be as to methods, there can be no -—10 — question as to the importance of enlisting the young in mis¬ sions. It has seemed wise to the Missionary Union to employ a representative. Miss Ella D. McLaurin, whose time is de¬ voted to this end. Mission Fields. The first foreign field occupied by the Baptists of the United States was Burma, and the efforts of the first mission¬ ary were directed towards the Burmans. But the spirit which prompted this first mission could not be confined to one people or to one land. There were other races in Burma that needed the Gospel, and to them also the good news must be carried. Burma, in turn, with its many races, was but a stepping stone to regions beyond. To-day, in Asia, the Mis¬ sionary Union has its stations and men in Burma, Siam, As¬ sam, China, Japan, and on the western side of the Bay of Bengal in India. It was natural that attention should early be directed toward the Dark Continent—Africa—and though the Missionary Union to-day has no stations in the original section of mission work in that land, it has taken up work on the banks of the Congo. The religious condition of the con¬ tinent of Europe made appeal, too, to the sympathies of our people. The sunny land of Greece was the first European country to which the Union turned, but before a mission was established there, a beginning had been made in Prance and Germany. Prom the fire kindled in Germany sparks flew into the lands of the North,—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden,— and soon leaped into flame. Spain, too, was included, though but' little has been attempted there. To-day the Missionary Union is contributing to the support of work in Prance, Ger¬ many, Spain, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Denmark, and Nor¬ way. The expenditures in these European fields are, however, but slight, amounting for the year ending March 31st, 1899, to only $41,082.32. Varied Work. The primary work of the Union is the preaching of the gospel. The conditions under which this work is carried on make it complex an