MONTANA PAST AND PRESENT Twenty years ago there were 310 communicants, 404 Sunday- school scholars, 4 Church Buildings, 6 Clergy and 36 persons con- firmed in a year. To-day the record is 2,650 communicants, 2,053 Sunday-school scholars, 30 churches. 25 Clergy, and 364 confirmations. The Sunday- school children gave an average of 72 cents each to the Lenten Of- fering of 1902, an amount far larger than that given by the children of any eastern diocese. The gifts from the district to the general missionary work of the Church were more in proportionate amount than the gifts of the people in most of the organized dioceses. WHAT MONTANA NEEDS 1. Money to support at least fifteen additional Missionaries. 2. Aid for its Episcopal Endowment Fund. 3. Aid in cancelling the debt on St. Peter's Hospital. Published by the Domesttc and Foreigfn Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America at the Church Missions House, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York No. 918 THE EIGHT REV. LEIGH R. BREWER, S.T.D. BISHOP OP MONTANA Twenty Years of the Church in Montana BY THE RIGHT EEVEBEND L. E. BREWER, S.T.D., BISHOP OF MONTANA M' ■ ONTANA is an empire in itself. With an area more than three times as large as the State of New York, with its triple in- terests of mining, stock-raising and ag- riculture, its wonderful climate, and with its beautiful and diversified scenery, it ought to have a grand future. But at present its population is small, and al- ways will be small in proportion to its extent. One-third of it is taken up with mountains. Another third is composed of prairie and bench land, suitable only as a range for stock. It cannot be irri- gated, and crops are only certain where irrigation is possible. But the time will come when Montana will be peopled by millions. It is well, then, that the Church began her work here as early as she did. When Bishop Tuttle came out, in 1867, Mon- tana contained but a few thousand white people, and there were not many towns. But by 1880, the work had so enlarged that he found the overseership of three territories too much for the time and strength of one man, and therefore asked for division. When I became Bishop, in 1881, railroads were just en- tering Montana on two sides. In 1883, the Utah and Northern Railway had come up from the south until it reached the important mining camp of Butte, and in 1883, the Northern Pacific joined its two ends in Montana, thus connecting St. Paul with the Pacific Coast. Since that time developments in all material things have moved forward with increasing pace through each added year. New towns have been springing up all over the State, and more people have been coming in to settle in min- ing-camps, on the prairie and in valley towns. The Church has had a struggle to keep even pace with this material de- velopment. But notwithstanding the A BUSINESS STREET IN DILLON, MONTANA small working force available, and the inefficient means provided, I believe we have accomplished it in a reasonable de- gree. In 1880, 310 communicants were reported and the census gave the popula- tion as about 40,000. In 1900 we had 2.400 communicants, and the census enumeration made the number of people about 243,000. Let me answer a few questions that I hope people who are iaterested in mis- sions will be glad to have answered about this portion of the Church's great missionary field. AN OLD-TIME MONTANA RESIDENCE I. What are We Doing? We are trying to carry the Gospel to all the people we can reach and to all who will listen to our message. We aim to plant the Kingdom in every part of Montana where a mission can be started or a parish organized. We are planning to build up a self-respecting constituency by supporting our own services, and once in two months, and often times on week-days at that. But it is the only way that we can reach them at all. I have never had more than twenty cler- gymen at work at any one time. Just now the number is seventeen, though I hope it may soon be increased to twenty- one. But with twenty- one clergymen for sixty places, some of them must min- ister at from four to six stations. It is A LONELY SHEPHERD AND HIS TWO THOUSAND SHEEP During the winter these men frequently lose their lives in their efforts to care for their fioelis building our own churches and rectories just as far as we possibly can. We are working to make a diocese for the Church in Montana which shall do its own work and take care of its own mis- sions. We are trying to teach our people that all the missionary work of the Church belongs to them, and that they have a responsibility for its maintenance, and that it is a privilege to contribute toward its support. II. How are We Doing It ? 1. We are reaching sixty places with services by our clergy, and the Bishop reaches fifteen or twenty more with a service once or twice a year. This means that in many of these places the services are held but once a month or the only way to do the work. It is the fashion nowadays to call general mis- sionaries, archdeacons. Adopting that terminology we are all archdeacons in Montana, and the Bishop is only an archdeacon with the rest. 2. We try to inculcate the virtue of self-support. Last year we raised for parochial objects, that is, for the support of services, the building of churches and rectories, the improvement of church property, and the payment of debts, nearly $44,000. Some of our churches are poor and plain, and none of them are extravagant or costly. But for the most part we have built them ourselves. We have but four parishes, all the rest are missions. A mission cannot become a parish until it is self-supporting. But ST. PETER'S HOSPITAL, HELENA. DESTROYED BY FIRE MARCH 16TH some of the missions are working up toward self-support, and I hope before long the number of our parishes will be increased. 3. We are gradually building up en- dowments in order that we may become a diocese. In my judgment, it would be most unwise to organize a diocese with- out reasonable endowments. This will be missionary ground for long years to come. The Church in Montana could not support its own work without help from outside, or an income from endow- ments. In 1883, we began our endow- ment of the episcopate with an offering of twelve dollars taken at convocation. To-day we have about |18,000 invested for that purpose, all of which was raised in Montana, except between three and four hundred dollars sent us from Grace Church, Orange, in the Diocese of New- ark. A few years ago a missionary en- dowment was begun by the gift of a per- sonal friend, and has been added to since by one or two small legacies until now we have nearly $10,000 invested for that purpose. We propose to keep on adding to these endowments as best we can, and we hope the day will soon come when we can say to the Board of Managers, We AN UNUSUALLY 600D MISSION CHAPEL AT SHERIDAN no longer need help from the missionary treasury of the Church. 4. Recognizing the fact that we are a part of the whole Church and have a cer- tain responsibility for all its work, we try to do our part in raising money for mis- sions. Four years ago we adopted the pledge system for this purpose. As we work it it means this: A.t our annual convocation we obtained pledges from every clergyman as to what he would undertake to raise in his field for general missions during the coming year. And then we made a pledge to the Board of Managers of a certain sum that they might expect Montana to give to apply vent and Lent, from the gifts of the Aux- iliary, and from the offerings of the con- gregations. If this plan were adopted throughout the whole Church I believe it would result in a very large increase in the offerings for missions. And I do not see why it cannot be adopted. There- fore, I rejoice over the circular recently sent out from the Church Missions House. 5. We are trying to do a little work of a more general, philanthropic and missionary character. In 1887 St. Peter's Hospital was built in Helena.* It has been, I believe, a great blessing to the city and to this part of the State. It is JlJfiAVJiJiHEAD KOCK: ONE OF THE NATUKAL WONDERS OF MONTANA on their appropriations. Before we adopted this plan we raised from eight to ten hundred dollars. Since its adoption we have pledged the Board $1,500, and each year have exceeded our pledge. This year our pledge is $1,600, and we shall keep it. Last year we adopted the same plan for diocesan missions and found it equally successful. Before its adoption our offerings for diocesan missions taken at the Bishop's visitations amounted to five or six hundred dollars. After its adoption we received more than eighteen hundred. This money comes from the offerings of the Sunday-schools in Ad- fllled to overflowing almost all the time, and often we have to turn patients away. We ought to enlarge the building, but, as we have a debt of $15,000, we cannot do it until the debt is paid. For a dozen years or more we have had Chinese under instruction in connection with St. Peter's Church, Helena. They meet on Sundays for religious teaching, and on week day evenings to learn to read. As a result of this work sixteen Chinamen and one Japanese have been * Destroyed by fire March Kith, after this article was written. confirmed, and three others baptized. As a rule, they have proved most faithful to their vows. III. How Can Others Help Us? First: By sending us means to enable us to put more men into the field. A ser- vice once a month will do a little, but only a little. More services, more work, more supervision are needed to accom- plish the end desired. Instead of the twenty-one clergymen that I hope to have soon, I should be glad to have thirty-flve at work within the next year. Secondly : I should like to have help in increasing our endowments, so that we may become a diocese. I have tried one plan after another for getting this help, but not one of them has brought success. If it does not come, we shall go on our way working as we have done in the past, and doing the best we can to get the endowments ourselves. But in that case the diocesan organization will be likely to be deferred longer than I hoped for. Thirdly : I should like to see the debt on our hospital paid. Then I hope we could go on to enlarge our building. But the needs are pressing always and everywhere. From every quarter of the vast field which the Church is trying to cultivate laborers are called for, and help is asked. Which call is most pressing, who can say ? Out of it all, the Church will be moved to do her duty in larger measure, fortunes will be consecrated to God's service, and lives will be devoted to the proclaiming of the message, the extension of the Kingdom and the lifting up of humanity to a higher life. This Leaflet may be obtained from THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, 281 Fourth Ave- nue, New York, by calling for Leaflet No. 918. All offerings for missions should be sent to Mr. GEORGE C. THOMAS, Treasurer, Church Mis- sions House, 281 Fourth Avenue, New York. 2nd Edition. November, igo2 (3 M.).