CONFERENCE 
 
 ON 
 
 THE SITUATION IN 
 
 CHINA 
 
 UNDER THE AUSPICES OF 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OE REEERENCE AND COUNSEL 
 
 NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 29, 1912 
 
 EVENTY-FIVE officers, members and furloughed missionaries of 
 twenty-eight Foreign Missions Boards of the United States and 
 Canada having work in China met in New York, February 29, 1912, 
 — ' at the call of the Committee of Reference and Counsel, to consider 
 the extraordinary situation in China and the consequent duty of the home 
 Churches. Much preliminary studying had been done by appointed 
 speakers and there were carefully prepared papers and able discussions on 
 such subjects as: “The Present Situation in China, Its Causes, Elements, 
 and Possible Outcome” — by the Rev. John E. Williams, Vice-President of 
 Nanking University, China; “Effect of the Situation on Mission Work, 
 Attitude and Policy of Missions and Boards” — -by the Rev. James L. Barton, 
 D. D., Secretary of the American Board, Boston; “Survey of Present 
 Missionary Occupation and Distribution of Forces, and Llnion Movements" 
 — by the Rev. D. MacGillivray, D. D., Editor of The China Mission Year 
 Book, Shanghai; “Duty and Opportunity of the Boards in Developing a 
 Christian Medical Profession and in Promoting Philanthropic Work and 
 Social Service” — by Robert C. Beebe, M. D., Superintendent of the Methodist 
 Hospital, Nanking, China; “Enlarged Need of the Bible and a Christian 
 Literature in the New China and How It Is to Be Met” — by the ReAu 
 William 1. Haven, D. D., Secretary of the American Bible Society, New 
 York; “How Shall the Boards and Missions Prepare for the Enlarged 
 Evangelistic Opportunity Which Is Following the Political Readjustment 
 in China” — by the Rev. Thomas S. Barbour, D. D., Secretary of the Baptist 
 Society, Boston; “How Shall the Boards and Missions Prepare for the 
 Enlarged Educational Opportunity Which Is Following the Political 
 Readjustment in China” — by the Rev. Frank D. Gamewell, D. D., Educa- 
 tional Superintendent for China of the Methodist Church ; “The Chinese 
 Churches and Their Relation to Present Problems” — by the Rev. S. H. 
 Chester, D. D., Secretary of the Southern Presbyterian Board, Nashville; 
 “Special Methods Which the Situation Demands” — by the Rev. Homer 
 C. Stuntz, D. D., Secretary of the Methodist Board, New York; and 
 other topics. 
 
 The Conference felt that more time was required to draw up a statement 
 of policies and methods and asked the Committee of Reference and Counsel 
 to do this important work and submit its recommendations to the Boards 
 for their approval. As an aid to the Committee, and in view of frequently 
 published statements that the Boards are often disposed to obstruct union 
 
movements on the foreign field, the Conference adopted the following 
 resolutions as an unofficial expression of its opinion : 
 
 “1. This Conference desires to assure the Missions in the strongest possible manner of 
 Its unreserved approval of the effort to accomplish the union of the Christian Church in 
 China and promises the Missions that they will have in such efforts the hearty support of 
 the members of this Conference. 
 
 "2. The Conference approves of the fullest possible measure not only of co-operation 
 hut of union in all forms of mission work, such as education, preparation and publication 
 of literature, hospitals and philanthropic work. 
 
 "3. With deep satisfaction at the establishment and development of the Church of 
 Christ in China, and recognizing the supreme place which the Chinese Church must occupy 
 in the evangelization of the nation, this Conference expresses its sympathy with every 
 purpose of the Church itself to unite in the interests of increased strength and econom> 
 and of the effective propagation of the Gospel of Christ.” 
 
 The spirit of prayer was a marked characteristic of the Conference. 
 'Idle day began with an uplifting devotional service conducted by the 
 !\ight Rev. Arthur S. Lloyd, D. D., President of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Hoard, and one of the most solemn periods of the day was the noon hour on 
 "Intercessory Prayer” under the leadership of the Rev. R. P. Mackay, D. D., 
 Secretary of the Canadian Presbyterian Board, Toronto. At the close of 
 the Conference, the following “Message to the Home Churches, the Missions 
 and the Chinese Churches,” which had been drawn up, at the request of the 
 Committee, by Mr. Robert E. Speer, was adopted by a rising vote, after 
 which the Conference closed with a brief service of prayer and consecration. 
 THE MESSAGE OF THE CONFERENCE. 
 
 “The representatives of the Foreign Mission Boards of the United States 
 and Canada which are carrying on missionary work in China having 
 carefully considered together the situation which China presents at this 
 hour to the Christian Church, desire to address this word to the Christian 
 forces which are at work in the new republic and to the Christian agencies 
 in North America to which China has looked and is looking now for her 
 main sympathy and assistance. 
 
 “The whole world is agreed in recognizing in the transformation of 
 China one of the greatest movements in human history. Whether we 
 consider the immensity of the population affected, the character of the change 
 that is taking place, the magnitude of the interests which are involved, the 
 comparative peacefulness of the crisis, or the significance of the fact that a 
 great and ancient race is undergoing in the period of a decade a radical 
 intellectual and spiritual readjustment, it is evident that it is given to us to 
 witness and have part in a vast movement whose consequences will affect 
 the whole world and be unending. 
 
 “This movement, we believe, may become, by God’s grace, if the 
 Christian Church is faithful, the regeneration of a nation. For no change of 
 institutions, of political principles, of social order, or of economic conditions 
 can avail to satisfy the deep needs of which China has now become conscious. 
 Political reformation requires a new moral and religious life. All that China 
 has had that is worthy she needs now, and with it she needs also and seems 
 now prepared to receive, the new conceptions of the Gospel, and not these 
 conceptions only but also the power of God in Christ by which alone they 
 may be realized in the life of the nation in this new and wonderful day. 
 
“The time, for which we have long worked and prayed, appears to have 
 come at last in a measure and with a momentum beyond our faith, and we 
 rejoice with the Christian agencies at work in China, with the 11,661 leaders 
 of the Chinese Christian Church, with its 278,628 members, and with the 
 4,299 missionaries from Western lands, in the unique opportunity which 
 they possess of meeting an inquiring people with the light and life which 
 they are seeking, and of offering to them and to their rulers the knowledge 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one true Leader and King of men. 
 
 “We rejoice in the measure of unity already attained by the Christian 
 forces in China and in their ability in this hour, without waste or discord, to 
 present to the Chinese people the one faith which we all hold and the one 
 Lord whom we all follow. We rejoice that so many of the men who have 
 wrought for China in this time of national need have been Christian men 
 who have borne their great responsibilities with Christian fidelity and sought 
 to serve their country with Christian unselfishness. With a Christian 
 Church united in its mission and with Christian men serving the State in 
 patriotic and religious devotion, we believe that the prayers of many hearts 
 will be answered that, on the one hand, a pure and unconfused Gospel may 
 be preached to the nation, and that on the other hand the Christian spirit, 
 unmixed with secular misunderstanding or personal ambition, may control 
 the minds of the men who are to bear rule and authority in the new day. 
 
 “In the effort to which the Christian forces of the nation will now give 
 themselves with a new zeal, to carry the Gospel far and wide over China 
 and deep into the life of the people, we desire to assure them of the sympathy 
 and support of the Church in the West, and we now make appeal to the 
 Home Church to meet the emergency with unceasing prayer and unwith- 
 holding consecration. 
 
 “We earnestly renew the appeal made by us in January and supported 
 by President Taft, the American Red Cross, and the China Famine Relief 
 Committee for generous contributions to save the lives of the 3,000,000 
 people in China who face starvation unless help is given at once. (Contri- 
 butions may be sent to any Foreign Mission Board, to the Red Cross, or to 
 the China Famine Relief Committee, 1 Madison Avenue, New York City ) 
 “Especially we ask the Church to pray : 
 
 For the people of China, this great and virile nation which, 
 awakened from the torpor of ages by the quickening forces of the 
 modern world, is now called upon to deal with enormous legislative, 
 economic, educational and moral readjustments. 
 
 For the Chinese Christians, who share in full measure the 
 privations and problems that are the common lot of their coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 For the missionaries and their work, the adequate expansion 
 of Christian education and evangelization, and the adaptation of 
 mission methods to the needs of the present situation. 
 
 For full religious liberty in China. 
 
 For perfect union among the Christians of every name. 
 
 For a spirit of true independence on the part of the Church in 
 
China and of perfect co-operation with the Missions of the Churches 
 of the West. 
 
 For guidance of the new leaders of China, that they may be 
 Christian men and may lead their land forward in wisdom and peace. 
 
 For the purity of the Gospel in China, that it may not be 
 misconceived, but that it may be known and experienced as the 
 power of God unto salvation. 
 
 For a right attitude on the part of all governments toward the 
 government of China. 
 
 For the Manchus and the Chinese alike, that they may find 
 Christ. 
 
 “So great an opportunity as God now offers in China is a sovereign 
 summons. It demands of us the enlargement of our horizons, the expansion 
 of our faith, the acceptance of our duty, and the eager and joyful exercise of 
 our fellowship with Christ in ministering to the need of an awakened nation, 
 and in hastening the coming of His world-wide kingdom by an unprece- 
 dented advancement. May the Church in China and in the West be found 
 equal to this opportunity ! 
 
 “We request pastors to read this message to their people, and we appeal 
 to the men and women of the churches by their prayers, their counsels and 
 their enlarged gifts, to aid in meeting the call which is now coming from 
 our Lord in China.” 
 
 The Conference was marked throughout by breadth of view, a 
 pervasive spiritual atmosphere, and a profound sense of responsibility and 
 privilege. This epitome of its proceedings is sent out in the earnest hope 
 that the message herein given will be widely read and that all the people of 
 God will unite with us in the earnest and prayerful effort to meet aright the 
 extraordinary emergency to which God is summoning His people. 
 
 Arthur J. Brown, Chairman. 
 
 Charles R. Watson, Secretary. 
 
 James L. Barton. 
 
 Thomas S. Barbour, 
 
 W. Henry Grant. 
 
 \\' alter R. Lambuth, 
 
 Arthur S. Lloyd. 
 
 Robert P. Mackay. 
 
 Alexander McLean. 
 
 John R. Mott. 
 
 F’aul de Schweinitz. 
 
 T. E. Egerton Shore. 
 
 Homer C. Stuntz. 
 
 Committee of Reference and Counsel 
 
 Copies of this pamphlet may be obtained at the rate of $5.00 a thousand by addressing the 
 Rev. Arthur J. Brown, D.D., 156 Fifth Ave., New York.