* I. €oti4ue$t$ Cbrougb Tnter^Ctiurcb Tn Cities Counties States nation Historical Sketch THE Executive Committee of the Federal Council at its annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia, 1914, authorized the formation of a Commis- sion on Federated Movements, and appointed the fol- lovi'ing named men as a Special Committee: Fred B. Smith, Chairman. John M. Glenk, Alfred Wms. Anthony, Albekt G. Lawson, Samuel Zane Batten, Charles S. Macfarland (ex-officio), Secretary. This Special Committee, after interviewing the leaders of national organizations doing inter-Church work, held a conference with representatives of these organizations at St. James's Protestant Episcopal Church in Atlantic City, N. J., June 3rd and 4th, 191 5. This conference approved the formation of this Commission the same to be appointed by the Federal Council, all representation of Participating Organiza- tions to be unofficial. The recommendations of this conference are embodied in the Program of Action. The organizations thus represented are named on page 6. The report of the Committee on Findings was cordially and unanimousl); adopted. The following named persons were the members of this committee : Harry Wade Hicks, Chairman. Hubert Carleton, William Shaw, Albert G. Lawson, Fred B. Shipp, C. J. Meddis, Mrs. Robert E. Speer, W. C. Pearce, Wm. B. Millar, Secretary. The President of the Federal Council, Prof. Shailer Mathews appointed this Commission, the nominations being made by the Special Committee and the Partici- pating Organizations. Mr. Fred B. Smith was ap- pointed Chairman. The Commission held its first meeting in the Broadway Tabernacle, West Fifty-sixth Street and Broadway, New York City, on Tuesday, September 21st, 1915. The following officers were elected: the Rev. Roy B. Guild, Executive Secre- tary; Mr. James A. Whitmore, Field Secretary; Mr. Alfred R. Kimball, Treasurer. The Commission will meet annually. Between meetings the affairs of the Commission will be in charge of the Committee of Direction. GREETINGS IT is the firm belief of many men and women wlio have a discerning knowledge of the issues that are vital to the Kingdom of God that the work herein proposed is the most fundamental of the present gen- eration. The changing Christian program presents a series of tasks to the Church, the accomplishment of which is an idle dream except by co-operative effort. The achievement wrought through the Federal Council in bringing thirty evangelical bodies into na- tional co-operation for Christian service is a greater and grander consummation than can be fully realized except from the viewpoint of decades of time. This new Commission is to put forth its best en- deavor to the carrying of that same principle into per- manent living action, so far as possible, to every State and on to every county, city, and village. It is the judgment of this Commission that, without further delay and in closest co-operation with the pres- ent denominational organizations, wherever two or more Churches are located in the same community, some form of inter-Church organization should be de- veloped which will care for those Christian opportuni- ties that are peculiar to the whole community, and can only be met by united effort. The largest success seems possible only by the as- sistance of the accredited denominational and inter- denominational organizations listed upon another page. With great cordiality they are unofficially participat- ing, thus advancing materially the hope of success. The members of this Commission are fully aware of the tremendous difficulties to be encountered. They are conscious that the work undertaken will require years of patient, persistent effort, but are confident that God is calling for this next great step in Christian unity in service. With the prayerful sympathy and counsel of an immense number of the farthest seeing men of His Church we move expectantly into the work. The prayers of all who love and are seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness are ear- nestly solicited. Fred B. Smith, Chairman, Commission on Federated Movements. I The Significance of This Leaflet Christian cooperation has become a reality, nation- ally and locally. The developments have been so grad- ual and so natural that the mass of people are ignorant of this fact. Bitter denunciations of the divided Church fill the public press and are thundered forth from pulpit and platform. True, the situation is one of which we cannot very well be proud, but a knowl- edge of the unifying forces now at work will give greater courage to those who pray and work for the spirit of unity in the Church of Jesus Christ. The purpose of this leaflet is to report not the failures but the successes of the Church in presenting a united front to the forces that would prevent the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The formation of the Commission on Federated Movements and the earnest spirit of fellowship mani- fested by all interested in it, is a prophecy of the greater day for the Church. As the reader notes " The Forces United " in this aggressive undertaking, it is hoped that he will have a vision of its possibilities. The " Program of Action " has been wrought out with great care in two important meetings of representative workers. In cooperation with the Commission on State and Local Federations this new Commission will labor for the progress of Christian efficiency through team play. Since the formation of the older Commission, notable work has been done. Brief reports of this work are in the following pages. The various phases of federation work have been gathered from different cities. It must he borne in mind that each federation reporting is working along all these lines. The pro- grams have been worked out locally, not by the Fed- eral Council. Another great fact set forth in this leaflet is the realization of Christian cooperation on a national scale. The very brief statements concerning the work of the Participating Organizations are only suggestions of what is being done. Catch the inspiration of these Christian successes and pass it on to others. MAKE CHRISTIAN COOPERATION A REALITY IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Roy B. Guild, Executive Secretary. 2 The Program of Work I. An Analysis of Federated Efforts. Many communities have adopted programs for Christian cooperation between churches and other re- ligious and social organizations. A survey of the present status of federated work will form the basis for future programs. II. Cooperation With Existing Federations. The knowledge that others are trying to do similar work helps us in our undertaking. The reporting of methods which secured good results, or which failed, will be welcomed by those attempting federation. Thus this Commission becomes a much-needed clearing house for all communities. III. Organizing New Federations. Where a city is ready to undertake organized in- ter-church work, the officers will help so far as they may be able. In many places it will be possible for the secretaries of Participating Organizations to be of great assistance. IV. Messages on the Community Problem. From time to time this Commission will arrange for the deliverance of great messages before conferences and communities on the principle of Christian unity in service. Men with this message can do much toward crystalizing into action the heart longing of many for an end to much of the wasteful competition of today. V. Local Problems and National Workmen. This Commission can bring together on terms of mutual understanding and mutual service the local and the accredited national leaders. The possibilities of this cooperation are unlimited. VI. Motive Power and Mechanism. This Commission will give forth, through the mes- sages of the secretaries and the members throughout the country and through literature, a Christian appeal that is as comprehensive as the interests it represents. It recognizes and proclaims the need of increased Christian passion and improved Christian programs. The dual purpose is to have fiercer fires under the boiler and finer mechanism to utilize the developed power. And to have them both at the same time. 3 The Forces United I. Organizations Represented (Unofficially) in The Commission on Federated Movements. Adult Bible Class and Brotherhood Movements. (Denominational and inter-denominational) American Sunday School Union. Council of Women for Home Missions. Home Missions Council. International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations. International Sunday School Association. Laymen's Missionary Movement. Local, County, and State Federations. Missionary Education Movement. National Board of Young Women's Christian Asso- ciations. Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations. Young Peoples Organizations. (Denominational and inter-denominational) II, The Constituent Bodies of the Federal Coun- cil. Baptist Churches, North Moravian Church National Baptist Convention Presbyterian Church in the U, Free Baptist Churches S. A. Christian Church Presbyterian Church in the U. Congregational Churches S. (South) Disciples of Christ Protestant Episcopal Commissions Friends on Christian Unity and So- German Evangelical Synod cial Service Evangelical Association Reformed Church in America Lutheran Church, General Synod Reformed Church in the U. S. Mennonite Church Reformed Episcopal Church Methodist Episcopal Church Reformed Presbyterian Church Methodist Episcopal Church, General Synod South Seventh Day Baptist Church African M. E. Church United Brethren Church African M. E. Zion Church United Evangelical Church Colored M. E. Church in America United Presbyterian Church Methodist Protestant Church Welsh Presbyterian Church Federal Council Commissions The Church and Social Service The Church and Country Life Peace and Arbitration Temperance Evangelism ^ State and Local Federations Christian Education Foreign Missions III— COMMISSION ON FEDERATED MOVEMENTS Committee of Direction and Officers Fred B. Smith, New York Chairman Rev. Roy B. Guild, New York Executive Secretary 4 The Forces United — Continued James A. Whitmore, New York Field Secretary Alfred R. Kimball, New York Treasurer Frank L. Brown New York Rev. Henry Sloane Coffin New York Harry Wade Hicks New York J. Edgar Leaycraft New York James H. Post New York Gifford Pinchot Milford, Pa. F-dwin L. Shuey Dayton, O. Ainslie, Rev. Peter, Baltimore, Md. Long. R. A., Kansas City, Mo. Anderson, Rev. Neal L., Winston- McAfee, Jos. Ernest, New York Salem, N. C. City Anthony, Prof Alfred Wms., McCornack. F. A., Sioux City, Lewiston, Me. Iowa Atkinson, Rev. Henry A., Bos- Mathews, Shailer, Chicago, 111. ton Mass. Millar, W. B., New York City Baker, Rhodes S., Dallas, Texas ' i-, 'i -i? To1,„.i Barbour, Rev. C A. Rochester, ■ Milhken, Carl E., Island Falls, N Y Me. Batten, Rev. Samuel Z., Philadel- ^"^'^ ^J, ^ew York City phia Pa North, Rev. Frank Mason, New Bennett,' W.' S., New York City ^.^^orkCity Best, Nolan R., New York City O'ds- Ransom E., Lansing, Mich. Bovard, Rev. Wm. S., Chicago, 111. Pearce, W. C, Chicago, 111. Brewbaker, Rev. Chas, W., Day- Pierce, Lyman L., San Francisco, ton, Ohio Cal. Brockman, Fletcher S., .New York Poling, Daniel A., Columbus, Ohio City Potter, Rev. R. H., Hartford, Brown, George Warren, St. Louis, Conn. Mo. Remensnyder, Rev. J. B., New Bulla, Chas. D., Nashville, Tenn. York City Cannon, James G., Golden Bridge, Rice, Rev. E. W., Philadelphia, N. Y. Pa. Cole. Whiteford R., Nashville, Roberts, Rev. Wm. H., Philadel- Tenn. phia, Pa. Coleman, Hon. Geo. W., Boston, Robins, Raymond, Chicago, 111. Mass. Shaw, William, Boston, Mass. Covert, Rev. W. C, Chicago, 111. Sheridan, Rev. W. F., Chicago, 111. Cratty, Miss Mabel, New York Shipp, Fred B., Pittsburgh, Pa. City Speer, Robert E., New York City Crouch, Rev. Frank M., New York Speer, Mrs. Robert E., New York City City Deever, O. T., Dayton, Ohio Speers, James M., New York City Diffendorfer, R. E., New York Steele, Joseph M., Philadelphia, City Pa. Eagan, J. J., Atlanta, Ga. StoU. Chas. C, Louisville, Ky. Everhard, Nathan S., Wadsworth, Sturges, E. B., Scranton, Pa. Ohio Swasey, Ambrose, Cleveland, Ohio Fisher, George J., New York City Thompson, Rev. Charles L., New Gilkey, Rev. Charles W., Chicago, York 111. Tasker, Fred E., New York City Goethe. C. M., Sacramento, Cal. UUand, Jos. S., Fergus Falls, Haven, Rev. William I., New Minn. York City Vance, Rev. J. I'., Nashville, Tenn. Henderson, Bishop Theo. S., Vermilye, Miss Elizabeth B., Chattanooga, Tenn. Montclair, N. J. Herring, Rev. Hubert C, Boston, Wallace, Henry, Des Moines, Iowa Mass. Ward, Rev. Harry F., Boston, Hill, Fred B.. Northfield, Minn. Mass. Hudson, M. A., Syracuse, N. Y. Webb, George T., Philadelphia, Pa. Hyde, A. A., Wichita, Kansas Wells, Fred A., Chicago, 111. Isely, C. C, Cimarron, Kansas White, Rev. Jas. A., Chicago, 111. Joy, Clyde R., Keokuk, Iowa Williamson, Rev. W. J., St. Louis, Lampe, Rev. W. E., Philadelphia, Mo. Pa. Wilson, Rev. Warren H., New Lanning, Kenneth H., Trenton, York City N. J. Wood, Rev. Charles H., Washing- Lawrance, Marion, Chicago, 111. ton, D. C. Lawson, Rev. Albert G., Jamaica, Commission on State and Local N. Y. Federations Training the Coming Men The Commission on Federated Movements has such an unHmited field of operation that it will be necessary to consider paths of greatest opportunity as well as those most needing friendly cooperation. The field of 'teen age boys' work is in grave danger of being hindered by two facts : First — The great number of organizations calling for loyalty and endeavor from the boys, these organi- zations often unrelated and seemingly not desiring cooperation. Second — The great, splendid insistence on the small group should not be allowed to hinder the develop- ment of the community ideal, which calls a boy in the group to stand with other 'teen age boys for Christ, and against sin in his community. This Commission has a large part to play in the ad- justment of these two problems. The cultivation of understanding through study and conference, the plan- ning and execution of united work. The challenge to the older boy in conference and by literature will bring loyalty to the Church and to the community. James A. Whitmore, Field Secretary. To accomplish an effective piece of work with the boys of the churches, one of the fundamental prin- ciples of boys' work was recognized, — " It takes boys to get boys." Consequently, at the Kansas City Older Boys' Conference in November, 1912, the Inter- Church Older Boys' Council was organized and has been largely responsible for the program of boys' work among the churches. The older Christian boys of the churches have been united in an effort to reach their fellows for the Christian life and the Church, and to inspire and help train the older Christian fellows to lives of leadership and service in the Church. The most constructive piece of Inter-Church Boys' Work is the annual Inter-Church Camp for repre- sentative older Christian boys. The purpose is to inspire the boys for Christian leadership and service and to help them to see their place in the Sunday School and church program. It was evident that a group of men from the churches was needed to stand by the boys in their program. The Inter-Church Boys' Workers' Council was organized. The two organizations are vital factors in the development of the boys' work. R. L. Flynn, Boys' Work Secretary, Y. M. C. A. 6 The Church and Civic Action The Pittsburgh Plan To get Christian men to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's as a part of rendering unto God the things that are God's, and to have a prac- tical, organized way of bringing it about; this is our " Civic Action " work. The lines have been drawn carefully so that the churches have neither gone into politics nor become a law and order society, but they have become a powerful factor in the political life of the community as they never have been before. From the politicians we learned the value of organ- ization. Experience had shown us that good govern- ment suffers most from the good citizen who does not vote, seconded by him who is misled. Ordinarily the church man will try to vote right if he knows the real issues and votes at all. We therefore organize down through districts and congregations to the in- dividual voter to see to it that he is registered, votes,, and knows the issues of human interest involved. With that we stop. We never endorse a candidate or espouse a party or faction. So long as we observe this limit we do not become political. We do not undertake law enforcement which is the duty of paid officials, but we do undertake to see to it that they do the things for which they are paid and to let the people know when they do not. We under- take to keep the people informed concerning real moral and poUtical conditions and we have unhesi- tatingly exposed officials who were remiss to their duties and championed the cause of others being at- tacked for doing theirs. By this means a number of undesirable officials have been forced to resign, others attacked by the vice interests have been sustained, the city administration has been made to eliminate the tenderloin, moral and human interests have been brought to the fore in local politics, and to-day the average candidate in Pittsburgh is as anxious for the good will of the church folk as the proverbial candi- date is for that of the saloons. Charles Reed Zahniser, General Secretary, Christian Social Service Union. / Christian Comity in Cleveland We consider the Comity division of our efforts the heart of the Federation. If we fall down here, the Federation will of necessity receive its greatest set- back. The cooperation we have received from all the denominational bodies has made this the strongest department of the Federation. The denominational superintendents, the leading pastor, and a layman of each denomination constitute this committee. We re- tain the members from year to year. The committee has no legislative authority, yet the moral effect of its decisions is such that no one of our denominations has as yet refused to accept its deliverances.. "Be It Resolved, That we deem it inadvisable to locate a new church enterprise within a radius of one-third of a mile of an organization already well established on the field. That the intention of the committee is not to fix hard and fast rules, but rather to provide a flexible standard and leave the way open for giving full weight to the merits of each case as it is reported to the Comity Committee. That we lay spe- cial emphasis upon the importance of inaugurating new enter- prises wholly in the spirit of unity and Christian harmony. * * * That so far as is consistent with the purpose of the federation the recommendations of the Comity Commit- tee with reference to the location of new church enterprises be given publicity in the daily papers and the bulletin of the Federated Churches, for the purpose of creating comity senti- ment and thus obviating the necessity for future entangle- ments." When the Congregational Union took an option on property at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Coventry Road, the pastors of the Cleveland Heights Methodist and Presbyterian Churches made a vigor- ous protest on the ground that they had been struggling in the field for a dozen years and had just come to the point of self-support, but that they needed the as- sistance of all the families living in their combined parishes. The Congregationalists in a beautiful spirit of Christian harmony surrendered the option they had taken and announced that they would not purchase any site in the Heights without first obtaining the approval of the Comity Committee. This approval has since been asked and obtained, and the CongregationalUnion is now drawing up plans for a new building enterprise. Duplication and overlapping are prevented, and in- vestments in new church properties are safeguarded. The principle of comity looks first to the highest in- terests of the Kingdom and then considers denomina- tional advancement. Edward R. Weight, Executive Secretary. 8 For More Efficient Bible Schools Des Moines, Iowa THE Des Moines Sunday School Institute is one of the five factors in the Des Moines City System of Rehgious Education. These factors are: i. A City Superintendent of Religious Education. 2. A City Board of Religious Education. 3. A Model Sun- day School. 4. A Common Standard. 5. A City In- stitute for the Training of Religious Teachers. Des Moines has already established points two, four, and five, and it is only a matter of a very short time until this entire system will be in successful operation. The City Institute is based on the conviction that the training of the religious teachers of a city is a com- munity problem, which can only be solved by co-opera- tive effort. There are problems of specialization which cannot be solved by training in the local church. The Des Moines Institute is a night school of re- ligious education doing a high grade of university extension work. It is managed by a city Board of Re- ligious Education, which sustains the same relation to the Sunday schools of the city as a Board of Education sustains to the public schools. A faculty of fifteen trained specialists offer a three years' course of instruction, which includes five Bib- lical classes, five professional classes, and five classes in departmental specialization. The school meets one evening a week for thirty weeks each year, and there are two class recitation periods each evening, the ses- sion lasting from 7.30 to 9.15 o'clock. The Institute is beginning its fifth year. It has had an average attendance of 150 Sunday school teachers each Monday evening for the entire four years. The- enrollment represents 41 Sunday schools and 12 re- ligious bodies. The University of Chicago Press has published a manual setting forth in detail the methods used in the Des Moines Sunday School Institute. The Des Moines plan has been adopted by about eighty cities, and the International Sunday School Association has adopted standards, and is prepared to issue International di- plomas to pupils completing three years of supervised study in accredited institutes of this character. Walter S. Athearn. 9 Applied Christianity Through Team Work Atlanta, Ga.— I9ii-i9i5 THE PURPOSE OF THE COMMITTEE. " Provide machinery for co-operation of Churches in any work that Churches may undertake to advance the Kingdom of God." SOME THINGS DONE. I Elimination of " Red Light " District. "It has caused closing of ' Red Light ' dis- tricts in Atlanta and other cities." II Houses for Unfortunates. " It provides shelter and clothes for unhappy inmates of the houses who would accept these when houses were closed." III Training School for Girls. " It led the State to build the Georgia Train- ing School for Girls. Forty-two girls living in a home valued at more than $40,000. Real value cannot be estimated, so great good being done." IV Home for Unemployed Girls. " It opened a home in Atlanta for girls with- out work, and girls whose wages are too little, where sixteen girls are now living." V Prison Reform. " It brought about the study of conditions among convicts in Georgia, leading to a more humane treatment of prisoners, and the begin- ning of a change that will eventually remodel the prison system of Georgia." VI Probation Laws. " It led the Legislature to enact the Probation Law, enabling judges and probation officers to save first offenders from becoming habitual criminals." THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLE. These things have been done not by dictation, but by learning the facts and laying them before law mak- ers, public officials, and citizens, and asking them to consider them in the light of the teachings of Jesus Christ. From the Atlanta Men and Religion Bulletin, No. 189. 10 Taking the Gospel to Men The main difficulty with most factory meetings has been that they did not tie the people to the church. We have planned our work so that as far as possible we could put a pastor in charge of a shop that was somewhat near to his church or parish. It is understood that no man presents sectarian or denominational viewpoints but we are very anxious that the personality of the speaker and his association with the men should be such as to draw those who are unchurched into fellowship with his church. We have impressed upon our speakers that their job was not merely to present an address, but also to come into personal relationship with the hearers. Another point of view was, that no organization except the church ever had any recognition in the shops. Incidentally it may have been known that such an organization as The Church Federation was be- hind the movement, but there, as everywhere, we em- phasize the fact that the Church Federation merely means the churches themselves in united action. This avoids the common difficulty that men will say, " the churches do not care for us but such and such an or- ganization, as the Church Federation, does." Our street meetings have been remarkably success- ful. In the neighborhood of fifty or sixty thousand people have been addressed by sixty pastors from the ten leading denominations in St. Louis. Meet- ings were held at two centers practically every night during the summer. We did not use automobiles or anything that would seem to separate us from the people. We came in nightly contact with speakers from the I. W. W., Brotherhoods Welfare Association (Hobo Association), Socialists, Mormons, Russellites, and fifty-seven other varieties. While there was much courtesy in regard to times of speaking and little in- terruption or heckling, we met such destructive doc- trines as that of " No God," " No Moral Law," and " Class Hatred." Great good was done to the ministry itself in the presentation in a sane, forceful way of the funda- mental ideas of religion and Christianity, and in break- ing down much of the prejudice on the part of the unchurched toward the church and the ministry. Clair E. Ames^ Executive Secretary. The Church Federation of St. Louis. II The New York Federation The Federation's Population Research Bureau is the oldest of its eleven active departments. Its program is " The study of reHgious, racial, social and living conditions in every section " of Greater New York's five boroughs. When the Federation started its work, in 1895, the " sections " were either " assembly districts," change- able by state law every ten years, or " wards " of perhaps under 100 acres, laid out in the seventeenth century. Neither the State nor the Church could get comparable information from units so variable in area and so inconstant in outline. The Federation therefore devoted itself, beginning in the year 1906, when it had made a house to house visitation of over 120,000 families in eleven different assembly districts or wards, to securing from the Fed- eral Census Bureau an area unit for its tabulations of racial and living conditions in New York. If that could be effected the Church and the State would have comparable information, simultaneously secured, scientifically tabulated and periodically re- secured and tabulated at the expense of the nation. That effort succeeded. New York's Census of 1900 had 77 assembly dis- trict and ward units; that of 1910, published by the Federation, 707 tract units, 460 of them averaging a little over 50 acres each and 247 of them twelve times as large; but the census of 1920 will have over 3,500 tract units, each averaging about 50 acres each. These units the Board of Health uses for disease and death-rates, and the Mayor of the city has given directions that all departments make their districts conform as closely as possible with groups of tracts designed by the Federal Census and the Federation. The Federation is using the same tracts for re- ligious education and community service districts in the Clergy and Laity League department of its work; and for preventing overlooking and overlapping in the Church Distribution department. " Responsibility Districts," assumed by the churches, still need to be surveyed for religious and social con- ditions ; but the tract system has provided the churches of New York, as well as the City Departments, with information, at Government expense, which would have cost either of them $500,000 to secure. Walter Laidlaw, Executive Secretary. 12 Men's Federation of Louisville Organized Morality vs. Organized Vice This Federation has been in existence for five years. One hundred and three churches out of a possible one hundred and fifteen are represented in it. Some of the committees have done excellent service vi^ithin the past year. We are building slowly and constructively, and believe the Federation is to become the mightiest power for good in our city. Much of the Secretary's time is spent in the Police and Juvenile Courts, and in prisons and jails, working in conjunction with the charitable and benevolent in- stitutions in the city. The Federation is becoming the medium through which the Church is expressing its protest against im- moral and unlawful conditions in the city, and we have accomplished some very definite work along these lines. The Federation has to its credit the appoint- ment of a vice commission in this city which has been in session for the past several months. This com- mission presented its report in December, 1915. A banquet was tendered to the commission. Nearly five hundred representative Protestants, Catholics and He- brews pledged their support to the program. The Federation has been instrumental in bringing to Louisville experts from New York City, who have appeared before the Vice Commission and given them valuable information as to lines of procedure. The Civics Committee of Louisville is studying vice and prison conditions, and will bring before the next legis- lature for its action, bills for the amelioration of the present situation. To keep the public and especially our immediate constituency informed, we publish a paper called " Men's Federation News." The above is only one line of work carried on. The range of activities is very wide and the influence of the Federation is felt in many directions. A con- sciousness of strength has come to the churches even to the smaller ones by this actual fellowship in doing things. C. J. Meddis, Executive Secretary. 13 The Federation and Missions The Cincinnati Laymen's Missionary Movement Convention closed November 17, 191 5, with 3,075 registered delegates. Six years ago the enrollment for the Convention, held at that time, was about 750. The increase in attendance can be attributed almost entirely to the new Missionary Spirit of the city, due largely to the work of the Federation of Churches cooperating with the national missionary organiza- tions. The Federation assumed the entire manage- ment of the campaign from the first " Set Up " meet- ing. The Federation reaching every church, with lists of workers in every line of church work, was able to turn the combined power of its religious appeal to the aid of the convention. One Committee now has in preparation a book for the Mission Study Classes for next year which will deal entirely with the requirements and resources of Cincinnati. This book, prepared by the Federation, studied in all churches and followed Jay mission work- ers, will have a profound influence on the life of the city. The Federation supports the " Every Member Can- vass," and is able to render great service to all the churches in securing the interest and support of the membership. As Mr. W. E. Doughty said to the Convention the last session : " In all my travels up and down North America, for ten years, I have never seen such a work for missions as the work done by the Cin- cinnati Federation." The secret of success in the campaigns thus far in- augurated by the Federation can be said to be in this that the Cincinnati Federation seeks to do all that is possible to strengthen the work of every congregation, with special emphasis upon the needs of the smaller churches and the downtown churches. Then, in all dealings with churches, the Federation acts through the Denominational Representatives, and thus has available at once the denominational machinery of each communion. By working in this way the Fed- eration has at all times and in all work the complete and hearty support of the denominational leaders. No Federation that seeks to cut across Denominational lines can hope for success or efficiency. Frederick L. Fagley, Executive Secretary. Topeka Learning the Facts The Survey initiated by the Federation of Churches and made by the Russell Sage Foundation is all that we hoped of it. It gave us in black and white an authentic statement of municipal conditions, water and milk supply, sewerage and sanitation, the police organ- izations, the moral and physical conditions of the city with regard to cleanliness and order and public health, the industrial conditions, together with an outline of a city plan of future development and growth, and with this report on each separate subject recommendations of needed and feasible improvements and how they might be wisely gone about. The findings of the Survey were printed. As a further factor of publicity, displays were made by wall charts which were inspected by 20,000 visitors, and explained by speakers. An almost immediate consequence of the sanitary report was the resignation of the city milk inspector, and the appointment of a thoroughly trained man who has now held the position for more than a year, with the most creditable results. The city possesses a milk supply of high standard. The city has gone abroad to secure a city physician specially trained for this public service. This work is organized on a broader and more scientific plan. The city physician gives constant attendance on city health work, has introduced modern methods, apparatus and facilities for the more efficient administration of the function of the department of health. Petitions are being circulated for an issue of $50,- 000 in bonds to purchase land and construct buildings for a model work home for county charges, a work farm in connection. The Rotary Club has drafted a plan for a municipal farm, where persons convicted of minor offences, first offenders and " repeaters " who come before the police court primarily because of their industrial inefficiency, may be segregated from the chronic criminals and become self-supporting. The Survey has broadened the foundations of exist- ing welfare organizations and awakened a larger and more sympathetic popular confidence in systematic and organized methods of welfare work, as well as a deeper consciousness of municipal responsibilities and capabilities, a profounder sense of the city's unity. Harold T. Chase, Secretary, Civic Improvement Committee. The Varied Tasks of a Federation Buffalo Federation of Churches Established weekly " Church Page " in Buffalo " Express" ; imitated later by " Times " and " News." Provided regular religious services at Perrysburg Tuberculosis Hospital. Managed Laymen's Missionary Convention, and as- sisted in management of National Religious Education Association Convention. Secured passage of Dance-Hall Ordinance, putting out of business seventy-five low dancing places, and bringing all the rest under supervision and control. Established Teacher-training Groups in four dis- tricts, averaging twelve churches in a group, eight more districts, to cover entire city, in process of or- ganization. Represents Churches in Buffalo National Board of Censors of Moving Pictures. Provides speakers for Men's Clubs. Prepared authentic list of churches and pastors. Keeps for loan and reference files of church, calendars, year books and similar publications. Has taken the lead in moral reform, securing re- cently through the Injunction and Abatement Law the closing of fifty disorderly houses, with more to follow. Active in the suppression of objectionable signs and posters, at theatres, and elsewhere. Furnishes general information as to religious con- ditions, movements, and organizations, in city and State. Has assisted in formation of two " Community Churches," and has advised with representatives of various religious bodies as to new enterprises, loca- tion, etc. Cooperates in various ways with twenty other organ- izations, civic, religious, charitable, and philanthropic. Has been influential in closing one hundred dis- orderly saloons, and in abolition of side rooms and ladies' drinking parlors in connection with others. A good deal has also been done which it is difficult to chronicle, and I believe much good has resulted in the line of mutual considerateness and understanding, through the work of the Federation, which is worth more to the Kingdom than any more tangible thing. Edward C. Fellowes, Executive Secretary. i6 Cooperative Church Advertising One outstanding feature of the Church Federation work in Indianapolis has been " Church Advertising." Beginning on December 13th, 1913, the Federation has been the editor of the " rehgious page " in the Indian- apoHs News, which page appears each Saturday. On condition that the Federation would edit the page and furnish proper material for same each week, the man- agement offered to furnish the page free of cost. The offer was accepted, and the work continues to this day. The page carries a large type church editorial each week, four columns wide and a half page deep. In this block, the Federation presents virile messages to the people of the City and State. Around this block, the religious news of the week is gathered. At the bottom of the page are the church cards of the city churches. This page is exerting a powerful in- fluence for the Church and Christianity and is popular- izing both in a remarkable manner. In addition to this form of advertising, the Federa- tion was given the privilege of editing the full edi- torial page of the Indiana Times for one entire week last January. The Times is a daily paper with a large City and State circulation. The venture was most successful and attracted much favorable attention through the City and State. For two years, the Federation, through the Ameri- can Press Association, has furnished about forty cities in the State, where pastors were agreed, church-going editorials in plate form, ready for use each week in local papers. These editorials ran through a series of eighteen weeks. These were most helpful and led in many instances to great evangelistic meetings and larger church attendance. The Indianapolis Church Federation believes thor- oughly in Church Advertising. It uses not only the newspapers freely, but window cards, street car ads, overhead banners and all other legitimate methods to- influence non-churchgoers to attend divine worship. Morton C. Pearson, Executive Secretary, Church Federation of Indianapolis. 17 How to Organize a Federation THE CHURCH FEDERATION OF ST. LOUIS I. Voluntary Association for Service, 208 Churches, 12 Denominations. II. The Council. Delegates appointed by, or elected from churches. III. The Executive Committee, elected by Council, to vfcfhom Executive Secretary and the Stand- ing Committees are responsible. IV. Executive Secretary and Executive Office. V. Standing Committees. 1 Bible Study a. St. Louis Training School for Sunday School Workers. b. Survey. All forms of Bible Study. (1) Subject Matter. (2) People Reached. (3) People not Reached. c. Co-operation, City and State Sunday School Associations. 2 Evangelism and Religious Extension a. Church Campaigns, b. Shop Meetings, c. Street Meetings. 3 General Financial Appeals Investigate Organizations and Individuals Soliciting Funds (Co-operating with the Business Men's League). 4 On Location of Religious Enterprises (Committee of Comity) a. Arbitrates Locations, City and County. b. Surveying, Studying Problem of Congested District. 5 On Publicity. Conducted Extensive Campaign i6 On Social Service a. Work for Local Churches — Surveys, Maps, etc. b. Social Service Lectures in Churches. c. Legislation, Moral, Social, Industrial. d. Executive Social Service Work (Employed Secretary). (1) Juvenile Court Representative of Protestantism, Reaches Families, Coordinates Institutions for Delinquent or Neglected Children. (2) Big Brother Movement. Paralleling Roman Cath- olic Cliurch Work. (3) Relationship with Provident Association. a. Raised $10,000. 1914. Relief through Provident Association. b. Provident Association Reports non-Catholic, non- Jewish Families. (Churches and pastors may help make religion constructive force in lives.) (4) Religious Work City Institutions. Coordinating Establishing Religious Teaching and Ministry. (5) Miscellaneous Social Service Work on Social Prob- lems. (6) Relationship with Other Bodies in Conference of Federations Uniting Catholics, Jews, Federations for Social Betterment, Civic Welfare, Trade Unions, Women's Clubs. (7) Bureau of Statistical Information of Churches. Clair E. Ames, Executive Secretary. i8 Glimpses of Five Fruitful Federations The Christian League of Methuen, Massachusetts, the oldest of local federations, suggested by Dr. Glad- den's celebrated article with similar title, has united its churches for over twenty years in a quarterly even- ing meeting, in religious canvasses, and on moral is- sues. When fake insurance orders were defrauding its citizens, it called a public meeting by the State In- surance Commissioner, killing the craze, thus saving the community ten times its total cost ! An Episcopal rector deliberately went to Ipswich in order to form a federation. At its first meeting a stereopticon lecture on tenements and back-yards led it to ask the town-meeting to adopt the optional model housing law and to appeal to the voters by a forcible hand bill. The president of the Braintree Federation was told by his barber of an illegal poolroom next door. Going out he met one of the select-men and informed him that he intended to lay it before the Federation. The next time he was in the shop, the barber asked: " How did you stop it so quick ?" The very fact that the churches are organized, produces results. A State legislator said : " Tell the churches of Worcester that they are asleep ! Hotel men seek a law to allow bars to be open till midnight; and church members signed their petitions." The Worcester Fed- eration replied : " We have taken a straw vote of 20,000 church members against it; sent a deputation and killed the bill in committee ; and then rebuked the signers from the pulpit." The Hyde Park Federation works the " Coopera- tive Parish Plan"! A Methodist exclaimed: "You do not know what a strength it is to a pastor to be- long to such a federation ! To have Baptist or Con- gregationalist phone : ' We have a new family for you you on A street. ' " E. T. Root, Secretary, State Federation. 19 The County a Christian Unit Mifflin County, Pennsylvania The County Inter-Church Federation has in it all the strength of the ministerial association, and more. Though the latter is valuable for discussion of min- isterial problems, it has this fundamental weakness : when it attempts to do other work, the members are apt to be regarded as expressing the sentiments of ministers and no others. 1. Reform. Sabbath laws have been well enforced. Lewistown is one of the most quiet and law-abiding county seats in the State. In Milroy where the Sabbath law was being openly violated, a Federation of Men's Bible Classes has made its influence powerfully felt. Evidences of the white slave traffic have been investi- gated, and the Social vice has been attacked with such force that the District Attorney, realizing the growth of public sentiment, has of his own accord prevented immoral shows and disorderly carnivals from entering the county. 2. Church Attendance. There has been a great increase in the churches and Sabbath Schools. Many who had never been at church were present on a Go- To-Church Sabbath, and their interest has been held. In Lewistown, with a population of over 9,000, the Sabbath Schools have shown an attendance equal to half of the population. 3. Missions. Last fall in Lewistown a series of six lectures were given. The interest and spirit of unity was shown through the attendance, which totaled six thousand. 4. Evangelism. The county was never in a better spiritual condition. Encouraging increases in mem- bership are being experienced by all demoninations. Among those who have lately joined have been several who have been well known in the community, not only for their intemperate habits, but also because they have sold liquor illegally and have been sentenced. The churches of Lewistown and vicinity joined in a United Evangelistic Campaign. The pastors did the preaching. 5. Church Unity. Not only has there been will- ingness to cooperate in all movements for the common good, but there has been developed a delightful spirit of love and Christian fellowship. William L. Mudge. 20 The Task for State Organizations The Federated Movement in Maine found expres- sion in 1890 in the organization of the Interdenomina- tional Commission, a representative body, composed of sixteen delegates, three each, one elected annually for a term of three years, from the State organizations of Baptists, Congregationalists, Christians, and Free Baptists ; and four Methodists, two from each of the annual conferences in the State, each for a term of two years. Later the Yearly Meeting of Friends for New England appointed one member to the Commis- sion. The first task of the Commission, and one not yet completed, was to adjudicate between denominations in cases where friction had arisen due to over-crowd- ing or to competitive methods practiced by denomina- tional agents. A second task came in the recognition of unchurched areas, either in sparsely settled com- munities or in towns experiencing sudden expansion, because of developed water powers. In these in- stances plans of cooperation have been followed either by assignment to different denominations of direct responsibility for neglected communities, or by actual partnership in the suddenly expanding communities, the permanent character of whose population and con- sequent religious needs could be known only after some interval of time. Other tasks taken up by the Commission have been the assignment of responsibility for specific groups of foreign-speaking people, the stimulation of local com- munity surveys, and the formation of a plan of recip- rocal exchanges by which denominations have under- taken to " give and take," in small communities, their church possessions and privileges, one retiring for the benefit of the other because of an equal benefit in the reverse order in another community. All of these tasks have been executed with varying degrees of success. The old spirit of rivalry and com- petition does not always remain exorcised. New men coming into the State, new officials clothed with power, present constantly recurring primitive condi- tions; and yet the spirit of cooperation and comity through the last quarter century has made constant progress in the councils of the different denominations, and throughout the membership of the churches. Alfred Wms. Anthony, Secretary. 21 State Denominational Initiative The important' action of the Pennsylvania Synod of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., which has pro- duced splendid results. The following recommendations were unanimously adopted : " In view of these unquestionable signs of progress and the manifest blessings of the Spirit of God upon the work, the Synod once more puts itself on record as commanding most heartily the Federation Move- ment as the best means of promoting the spirit of unity and cooperation among the different branches of the Church of Christ. That the Moderator be directed to appoint such representatives of the Synod as may be necessary to give the Presbyterian Church its full representation in the Council of the State Federation. That the Synod calls the special attention of each Presbytery to the great need of financial support for the important work of its Committee, and recom- mends again that the Presbyteries set aside a small sum each year so that the cause of Church Unity, for which Christ is still earnestly praying, may no longer be hindered for lack of funds. That the Synod urges Presbyteries, which do not have Committees of Inter-Church Federation, to ap- point them and those which have them and are not actively prosecuting their work to most prayerfully consider the situation within their own bounds, so that realizing their great responsibility in the matter, both overlooking and overlapping may be avoided, and needless and most sinful waste may thus be prevented in the administration of the affairs of the Kingdom. That the Synod also gives its hearty endorsement to the Organizing of Inter-Church Federations both in cities and counties as most effective instruments for advancing evangelism, reform, social service, and the other broad interests of the Kingdom whose com- ing can alone bring the world the blessing it so deeply needs." 22 The Mobilizing of Our Manhood The Young Men's Christian Association has been privileged to contribute much to the Christian Church, but perhaps no contribution it has made has been, more valuable than the demonstration that it is possi- ble for men holding very divergent views on many- subjects, but particularly on ecclesiastical and theo- logical questions, to dwell together in unity and to co- operate in a common task, for the extension of the Savior's Kingdom. The Association was the first great interdenomina- tional organization and paved the way for all the rest. It has united the members of almost every evangelical church in Christendom, in over forty different nations, in the work of winning young men and boys to Christ. The fundamental principle binding these societies together throughout the world is the basis adopted at Paris in 1855, viz, " The Young Men's Christian As- sociations seek to unite those young men, who, regard- ing Jesus Christ as their God and Savior, according to the Holy Scriptures, desire to be His disciples in their doctrine and in their life, and to associate their efforts for the extension of His Kingdom among young men." To this individualistic Basis, the Associations of North America, in 1859, added the Church Basis known as the Evangelical Test, which requires that active members, i. e., voting and office-holding mem- bers, must be members in good standing, of evangelical churches. Next in importance, perhaps, is the principle that the work must conserve the welfare of the whole man — body, mind and spirit. Other principles there are, which cannot for lack of space, be referred to here. Upon this foundation the work has grown until in North America alone there are now 2,583 Associations with a total membership of 620,799 of whom 283,754 are active members. These Associations own buildings and other prop- erty of a net value of over $90,000,000, and employ 4,400 officers who have been characterized by a noted clergyman as " a new order of ministry in the Church of God." George T. Coxhead. International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associations. 23 How Bible Study Binds Togetlier The International Sunday School Association was formed to help bring to Evangelical Christians of all denominations the best plans of organizing, instruct- ing and managing Sunday Schools. With it are affil- iated the World's Sunday School Association (which is mainly missionary in its purpose and scope), and the state, provincial, county and township Sunday School organizations in the United States and Can- ada. The International Association does no work out- side of North America, while the World's Associa- tion, as the name would indicate, is world-wide in its scope. All these associations work on the same gen- eral plan — holding conventions and training-institutes to which workers of all denominations are invited, and ministering through paid secretaries to the needs of all Sunday Schools within their territory regardless of denomination. They aim to be the unofficial Sunday School specialization arm of the Church. In the conventions delegates represent individual Sunday Schools rather than denominations. The dele- gates work in such harmonious accord that an ob- server might think they were all of the same denom- ination. In the organized Sunday School work inter- denominational fellowship is perhaps at its best, and the pleasant relations of Sunday School workers of different denominations have paved the way for other cooperative inter-church movements. The International Sunday School Association and affiliated bodies are not in organic union with the denominations as such, and the members of the execu- tive bodies, while made up of members of various de- nominations, do not officially represent their denomina- tions on these governing bodies. They do not establish union Sunday Schools nor, in fact, schools of any kind, but work to help those already operating to improve themselves. The estab- lishing of union Sunday Schools in communities where the denominations are not strong enough to work ad- vantageously separately is left to the American Sun- day School Union, with whose purposes the Interna- tional Association is in hearty accord. In the preparation of Graded Courses for Sunday Schools several denominations cooperate through the Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations. 24 Team Play in Home Missions The Home Missions Council, composed of repre- sentatives of thirty Home Missionary organizations of twenty denominations appointed a Committee on the Survey of Neglected Fields. Its object was not the settlement of old contentions, but the securing of cooperation in meeting urgent needs. Five or six men from the National Home Mission administrative headquarters of as many denominations went to fifteen Western States, holding in each a con- ference with all the local home mission executives. In each State a Committee was created to make a co- operative study of the field. The work was so well carried out in five States that as many bulletins were published giving the completest conspectus of their religious want and supply ever published. After that had been done the Committee went again to a number of the States and held Institutes with the executives. At the second visit decided growth in the co-operative spirit was observed and further culti- vated. In several States co-operative organizations were formed. In some States plans have been ma- tured by which some religious body has accepted re- sponsibility for every neighborhood. Plans varied according to local needs and desires. The Committee had no cut and dried scheme, but simply sought to aid and advance the co-operative tendencies of the men leading in the work. One such man pithily put the whole trend this way : " I came up to the first of these conferences with my fighting clothes on, but I have come up to this one in my working clothes." The most elaborate plan, unless it be the one in Western Washington, is the one adopted by the workers in the unique mission field of Utah. The central feature, the Workers' Institute, is in opera- tion ; the other features, except those involving appro- priations, are under way. This is only one of the great national missionary problems being dealt with by the Home Missions Council. The last annual report of this Council is an inspiring tribute to the earnest and sympathetic team play of recognized denominational leaders. L. C. Barnes. 25 Unity in Foreign Mission Fields On the foreign field conditions are newer and more plastic. Denominational lines have not had so much time to harden. Missionaries who are confronted, not by rival missionaries of other denominations, but by an enormous mass of heathenism, instinctively turn to the most vital elements of the Christian faith. Rela- tions with neighboring missionaries of other com- munions are often closer than with a home church on the other side of the world. It is natural, therefore, to cooperate with them on the subjects on which there is agreement, which usually happen to be the ones that chiefly concern the exigencies of the work. In these circumstances, the missionary body as a whole has developed a unity that is considerably in advance of that which prevails in the lands from which the mis- sionaries came. It is significant that the foreign missionary platform is the only one thus far on which all evangelical com- munions have been able to unite, the one interdenomi- national platform as distinguished from undenomina- tional ones. Missionary workers should be thankful for this, and yet they should be solemnized by the- responsibility which it imposes. The spirit of unity was manifested in various conferences and field or- ganizations in Asia before it found expression in Europe and America, and when that spirit began to demand expression at home, it was in conferences on foreign missions. We may fairly conclude, therefore, that coopera- tion and unity may now be characterized as the estab- lished policy of the foreign missionary societies of the world. Some societies do not feel prepared to com- mit themselves as fully as others, but only a very few deem it their duty to hold back. Even these societies are glad to have their officers and members actively participate in interdenominational conferences and committees, in all matters which do not appear to in- volve questions that lie beyond the scope of the powers that the ecclesiastical bodies concerned have entrusted to their missionary agencies. " Unity and Missions." Arthur J. Brown. 26 Releasing Latent Man-Power The Laymen's Missionary Movement is in itself an answer to the question " Is Christian Cooperation a Reality, Nationally ? " It is a cooperative effort upon a national and inter- national scale. The laymen of Canada and the United States are joined together in this Movement. The men of other Christian nations have started similar movements, and all of these are bound together by a single burning, indomitable purpose to make Christ known throughout the world, and to hasten the day when He shall reign from sea to sea. In the national campaign of the present season in the United States there are united all of the great agencies of the different Evangelical churches in the presentation from pulpit and platform of the one mighty central task of the Church in its various phases. One of the outstanding accomplishments of the Movement has been the promotion of church unity and cooperation by uniting men in a common and vital undertaking. Suspicion, misunderstanding and divisions disappear in the fusing power of a united task. The Movement has also helped to discover to the laymen his place in the work of the Church, and the absolute necessity of his assuming his share of that work, if the world is to be saved. It has promoted plans for keeping the Church in- telligent regarding the progress of Christian activity at home and abroad. It has led thousands of churches to adopt system- atic, businesslike methods of finance, with the attend- ant result of a large increase in the offering for all church purposes. It has led countless laymen to entirely change their ideas as to standards of Christian stewardship, the stewardship of life and money. It has sought to deepen the spiritual life of laymen by stressing the necessity for Bible study and prayer, as well as the need for Christian activity and service. In all of its work, the Movement desires to co- operate in warmest fellowship with every agency that seeks to broaden and strengthen the life of the Church. In united effort lies the pathway to success. Wm. B. Millar, General Secretary. 27 Studying a Common Problem The Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada was organized on July i8, 1902. It now federates sixty-two home and foreign mission boards in united promotion of missionary education. Its aim is to foster missionary training of all ages within the local church by systematic instruction, the promotion of giving and prayer for missions, and actual personal service in the home, church and com- munity. Its chief activities are the editorial preparation and publication of missionary literature for leaders, com- mittee workers, and all of those who receive in- struction, including literature on both home and for- eign missions. This literature is designed for use by pastors, Sunday schools, young people's societies, men's and women's organizations and all other agen- cies withm the local church. Further activities are the training of leaders in in- terdenominational missionary summer schools, of which there are nine in Canada and the United States ; the extension of summer training through institutes, normal class campaigns, interdenominational and de- nominational Sunday schools, young people's and gen- eral church conventions ; the enlistment of young men and women in Christian work as a life-service; co- operation with governing committees of all kinds of religious agencies concerning their missionary educa- tional policies and programs; the publication or dis- tribution of interdenominational missionary magazines and reports ; and in general serving as a clearing-house in missionary educational matters for the mission boards and their respective denominations. The Movement is supervised by a Board of Man- agers of sixty-five mission board secretaries and lay- men representing twenty denominations. It has a staff of eight secretaries. Its support is received chiefly from personal donations. Its literature is published at cost price. Since the Missionary Education Movement federates the mission boards on a national scale, it can co- operate effectively with a local Federation of Churches in carrying on within the community a continuous pro- gram of missionary education in harmony with the plans adopted in common by the denominational boards and the Movement. Harry Wade Hicks, General Secretary. 28 The Women's Work for Women The National Board of the Young Women's Chris- tian Associations of the United States of America is the executive body of the Associations in this country. The budget of this Board indicates, in part only, the magnitude of the work, as so much is done through unsalaried officers. The budget for 1915 calls for $444,082, for the headquarters and the field work, and $44,072 for foreign work. A glance at the departmental reports reveals a won- derful growth in Inter-Church work by women for women, since the first association was formed, March 3rd, 1866. For instance, the Conference Department maintains fifteen summer conferences and cooperates in eight camp councils for industrial club work and high school girls. These conferences are strategically located. The attendance in 191 5 was 4,589 and for camp coun- cils 1,509. These six thousand were returned better equipped and with renewed Christian zeal for their year's work as leaders. The Secretarial Department recruits, trains and rec- ommends employed officers through training centers under field committees and the National Training School in New York City. This year the latter en- rolls students from Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan, Australia and Canada. Through the Field Work Department the eleven field committees covering the country cooperate. Thus there is supervision of local Associations by workers who can specialize on local problems. The Headquarter's secretaries deal with 245 city, 721 student, and 13 county associations having a total membership of 342,385. The Foreign Department secures candidates and support for secretaries sent out under the World's Committee to India, China, Japan, each country hav- ing its own national committee ; and for South Amer- ica and Turkey. In 191 5 the National Board carried on a remarkable work for employed women and visitors on the grounds of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Information bureau, rest rooms, cafeteria, a club house on the zone, a Sunday afternoon vesper service and even a day nursery for children were among the prominent activities. Elizabeth Wilson. 29 Our Youth Learning Fellowship The United Society of Christian Endeavor unites the Christian Endeavor activities of more than forty- five denominations in the United States, and more than sixty in the world. This is brought about by the most thorough-going co-operation in the city, county, district, and State Christian Endeavor unions, where all activities are shared by the young people of all churches without thought of denominationalism. As to the national body, the United Society of Christian Endeavor, its trustees are of four classes. First, the denominational trustees, consisting of lead- ing clergymen from the different denominations, nu- merically proportioned to the number of Christian Endeavor societies in those denominations. Second, the secretaries of yotmg people's work in the different denominations, who are ex-officio trustees of the United Society of Christian Endeavor. Third, the geographical representatives, who are presidents of the different State unions, including the Provincial Unions of Canada. Fourth, a limited number of trus- tees-at-large. The Trustees of the World's Christian Endeavor Union are of practically all denominations, and rep- resent the various countries. As to the young people's religious societies of the various denominations where the denominations have their own young people's organizations, all of these, I think, with one exception receive Christian En- deavor societies without change of name. In the Commission on Federated Movements the secretaries of the denominationally young people's so- cieties of the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren Churches and of the United Society of Christian Endeavor represent these vital interests of the future church. Too much credit cannot be given to this fellowship of the young people for a generation or more for the developing of the fraternal spirit among the churches of to-day. Thus they came to know each other hy crossing denominational lines in the time when life convictions were being formed. Knowing each other they realized that the mutual interest in the Kingdom of God made the things in which they differed of small importance. Wm. Shaw, General Secretary. 30 The Women Winning America The Council of Women for Home Missions was formed in November, 1908, in response to many sug- gestions and petitions from Women's Home Mission Bodies in all parts of the country. Its object was to give a medium through which National Women's Home Mission Boards and Societies might unite in wider plans, and cooperate in action, for the redemp- tion and up-lift of the Homeland. The Council is made up of representatives from eleven National Boards which constitute " Constituent Members " ; five smaller Boards, with two representa- tives each, are termed " Corresponding Members." The Young Women's Christian Association is a " Con- sulting Member" of the Council. Seven Summer Schools are affiliated, and receive aid as needed. The Council does its work largely through Stand- ing Committees whose chairmen, together with the offi- cers representing all the Constituent Boards, constitute an Executive Committee. These committees have charge of Home Mission Study Courses and Litera- ture ; Home Mission Summer Schools ; Home Mission Interests in Schools, Colleges and Young People's Conferences; Home Mission Interests among Chil- dren ; Home Mission Comity and Cooperation ; Home Mission Interests among Immigrants ; and the Annual Day of Prayer for Home Missions. Each year since its formation the Council has issued two text-books — for adults and juniors. The stand- ard of these books has been uniformly high, with such writers as Rev. Bruce Kinney, Rev. and Mrs. L. C. Barnes, Francis Leupp, Mrs. John S. Allen, and a symposium from experts, on the Conservation of National Ideals, with Ray Stanard Baker, Prof. Steiner, Prof. Rauschenbusch, and Rev. Charles L. Thompson among the contributors. The use of these books has steadily increased from less than 10,000 to over 60,000 annually. The Council of Women, in con- junction with the Home Missions Council, supports a Supervisor for religious work at the Ports of Entry. Its interdenominational activities are steadily on the increase. In conjunction with the Federation of Women's Boards for Foreign Missions, and local com- mittees, a very successful " Congress of Missions was conducted at San Francisco in June. Elizabeth B. Vermilye, Corresponding Secretary. 31 Where All Meet " In the providence of God, the time has come when it seems fitting more fully to manifest the essential oneness of the Christian Churches of America, in Jesus Christ as their Divine Lord and Savior, and to promote the spirit of fellowship, service and co- operation among them." This is the why, the what and the how of Christian efficiency through the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. In accordance with this state- ment thirty Ecclesiastical Bodies are bound together. The difference between the Federal Council and organizations of similar general purpose which pre- ceded it is that it is not an individual or voluntary agency or simply an interdenominational fellowship, but it is a body officially constituted by the Churches. Its differentiation from other movements looking towards unity is that it brings together the various denominations for union in service, rather than in polity or doctrinal statement. The Federal Council is, therefore, the sum of all its parts. It is not an unrelated organization. Its function has been to express the will of its constituent bodies and not to legislate for them. Were this, how- ever, to be construed as precluding the utterance of the voice of the churches upon matters, in regard to which the consciousness and the conscience of Chris- tianity are practically unanimous, the Federal Council would be shorn of the power given it by the constitu- ent bodies when they adopted as one of its objects: " To secure a larger combined influence for the churches of Christ in all matters affecting the moral and social condition of the people, so as to promote the application of the law of Christ in every relation to human life." It is the function of the Council, not so much to do things, as to get the denominational bodies and the interdenominational movements to do the work of the churches in cooperation. Here its function is not that of overseer and director, but that of an agency for the correlation and the co-ordination of existing forces and organizations, and so far as it may be per- mitted, it is to recommend, give guidance and point out the way. Charles S. Macfaeland, General Secretary. 32 The Evangelistic Triumph of Laymen Wichita, Kansas This chart tells the story of the spread of the Gospel Team Work from Wichita to Woodward, Oklahoma, and farther to other communities. Wood- ward is only one of many cities thus reached. —Clifford Pierce, Secretary Y. M. C. A. The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America CHARLES S. MACFARLAND, General Secretary The Commission on Federated Movements Address communications to ROY B. GUILD, Executive Secretary, 105 East 23d Streetp Nnw Vor^ City PRICE OF THIS LEAFLET Single Copy, 5 cents Dozen Copies, 50 cents One Hundred Copies, $4.00 Postage Prepaid LSa. a