; Proposed FOREIGN Mission Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/proposedforeignmOOunse PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES A REPORT of the SPECIAL CONFERENCE of DELEGATES from the BOARDS of MANAGERS and the TEN MISSIONS of the AMERICAN BAPTIST FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY and the WOMAN’S AMERICAN BAPTIST FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY HELD IN NEW YORK CITY. NOV. 18-DEC. 2, 1925. ••y ’ ' , ■ t • t V r i . f / o' * "*■ * ' '*» Js.^ K> ^.•' « I \ >; r, . - « y ./, /■* *V ■i:'h' . ■■'''^1 " -ji. »:! n r.. .! 140IE3IIC, kieiriJCH:^ p Cr I' )■ T r: * * O .-^1 1 V 1. '^n- ■ •-. •.'iTADi/.irRf V, . ■ f,\OA «J<\v. ■rJStc:''.; y.'l ; ',0', v-ru, / /V -•: * ♦ ' Vy /-. ^ I /'• 1 ,VI r., y* A ^// ''/V •'/Vi “• ■ '■ ' ,ve .v.>V) vV.; >'•' ^/•S; ‘V 9 *. T’ ;■ ■/ *** » '■ .** •»’— ■ Tr.i w .o.^-,,»'» w . n 7-y j |«».i y^ ^; » i| ii>~ :y ' "'wW •^'iVT *i4 ^00^' ■y. y v j Table of Contents Page Foreword ........... 5 Findings: The Churches on the Mission Field ..... 7 Leadership .......... 10 The Place of Women in the Churches . . . . .12 The Place and Work of the Foreign Missionary in the Light of Changed Conditions ....... 12 Christian Education on the Mission Fields . . . .17 Medical Work ......... 19 Administrative Problems' ....... 22 Financial Problems ........ 29 Cultivation of the Home Base ....... 38 Our Spiritual Resources ........ 44 Summary of Conference Proceedings . . . . . .46 Tentative Statement of Policy of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society ......... 51 A Statement of the Policy of the Woman's American Baptist Foreign Mission Society ..... . . 53 V 3 I / '' f- 'i, < \ > \ > V Foreword I X THE summer of 1912 the Boards of Managers of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Alission Society held a conference extending through several days at Newton Center, Mass., in which representatives of the various mis¬ sions of those organizations discussed certain administrative questions. This brief conference proved so helpful that a more formal meeting was held at Newton Center, Mass., April 25—May 8, 1917. To that conference all of the ten missions of the two Societies appointed delegates, who sat with representatives of the Boards. The discussions and the findings were far more comprehensive than those of the gathering in 1912. For several years it has been apparent that still another conference would be required. The changes of the last decade have been almost start¬ ling, and it was fully recognized that representatives of the various fields of the two Societies needed to assemble and to inquire as to modification of methods or policies required to enable the Boards and the missions to realize the more quickly and surely the missionary ideals of the denomina¬ tion. Accordingly, after nearly two years of preparation, the third con¬ ference was held in New York City, November 18—December 2, 1925. This volume presents the conclusions reached and the recommendations made to the missions and the Boards of Managers. The findings themselves are of primary importance and therefore are given first place. The next section of the report is a summary of the pro¬ ceedings of the Conference. It has been deemed advisable also to include the tentative statement of policy of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and a statement of policy of the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. While it was fully recognized that conditions are arising in the world at large which require changes in methods of administration, there could be no change in the great objective of the Christian missionary enterpr^^e, which is to lead men everywhere to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, through whom they may find the Father. While it was felt that certain changes in methods may be urgently required, it was recognized that our greatest needs are in the realm of the spirit. I» ^ •> • r ' 1 .*♦ - < ' >» ,/• If 't ^ , J • %i' *. 4:^ \r: * •» I ► 1 » r •1 • h :■ --hi.'. *1HT K H f v-c'.'iif i«!i' 5 i/>-5'v,'- 4* i-.^.r. ‘ ' ;ytjVv >Vl^ iti i#l‘».y >’>■’ jf •' r. <4 •» ’■ ^ •!■’/ ■* ■ ■ ‘I fV ! j. 4 ’'(..O'. ;ifl ■. '■ "V 'i.-a. *»v#‘ v'« T..Sf^r . ’ ' -,^s ' -* t .'tl,:' ,' V-'.>iC ’v ♦//.":>^ i' i . / J i.'*-^ ,i'’* lie f ...I. ^ ■”- \ ^ ^ <4.' ,V '•1/. '•'•'a.i' T... V( ,.• ::{!i t %^ff. ».’;•' J’•'"/■ I .rj.crt '■t-V , * r'Sii!^,. , "‘'W' ■'’V' ( , ; 4*ii »f < >f^//'' *<'3W;i>Trt?'', •'■ . * “ \. \ ■ii' ' y.., •jcn I 4+ w • „ « 1 ‘ I t f«4 i. j '-•w . ■f'l- oi M«,'; . 'f'^'-■tf^3.'.'y^'ii -'jb'>.K*n*'*i, - : . ’IN ' special Mote Special attention is called to the fact that the material published herewith represents simply the findings of the Conference. These findings become operative only after they have been adopted by the Boards of Managers. They have now been referred to the missions for study and comment. After the recommendations of the missions have been received the Boards will consider the policies with a view to final action. In order to give opportunity for consideration of the findings by the annual conference in each mission, final action by the Boards has been postponed until after May 1, 1927. Since it is quite possible that as a result of study by the 'missions and the Boards changes both in language and substance might be made, the findings as printed herein should be considered as proposed policies only until final action is taken by the Boards. urr:. 1 . I" ■.•rf -W-V I . 1 f T' .'f- V' ^ .iia •-. i. ^•:iO <: . ■:^'V ■ AT ' ■• " . t m\p »\-- 'S- -hVi.: : ■ .y-ri ■ x • • - - --- ,, «>i-.->:-!a ■..vi5|ife< -..■I -'- '^'v^ .•■*> 5 -^ " ■ '''r,^ ,t p-11 »fli lvi« lur,'.-fni Al ^''T !“***':^..- '.(ii .,.iv-t<-•«! 'S^’'''if!||^ ■ ■. '■'' ' '-^ •■’■"'■ •'• d FINDINGS THE CHURCHES ON THE MISSION FIELD I. Importance of the Church The paramount aim of the Christian missionary enterprise is to lead men everywhere to accept Jesus Christas Saviour and Master, through whom they may find the Father. Those who have thus accepted Christ, naturally band themselves together for Christian nurture and mutual fellowship and for propagating the gospel and leading mankind to apply the teachings of Christ in all of life’s relationships. There is occasion for sincere gratitude to God that so many Christian churches are now forming on mission fields, with evidence of genuine vital¬ ity and promise of becoming truly indigenous. It seems clear that it is the first duty of Christian missionary agencies to co-operate with the churches which give evidence of real life, with a view to their becoming chiefly responsible for Christian work in their own lands. Since the foreign mis¬ sion organization in any land must be regarded as a temporary structure, success in the work of foreign mission agencies may be measured by the progress attained in the establishment of truly indigenous churches. II. Characteristics of an Indigenous Church Although an indigenous church is not easily defined, yet there are certain characteristics which are clearly discernible. While such a church is com¬ monly described as self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating, yet the essential characteristics of a truly indigenous church are spiritual. It will be conscious of its own direct relationship to Christ and responsibility to Him, and will have full confidence in the power of the Spirit alone to energize and direct it. A church may be small in membership, simple in its organization and activities, and even partially dependent on foreign financial aid, but if it has real life and is doing its utmost to express such life it may properly be considered indigenous. This essential life inevitably seeks to express itself, however, in complete self-government, self-support and self-propagation. It follows that a truly indigenous church will not merely appropriate those values which have been brought to it by others, but will make use of any permanent values in its own heritage and will endeavor to make its own contribution to the world’s knowledge of the riches available in Christ. ^ p III. Evidences of Progress Toward Indigenous Churches While it must be confessed that the churches on the mission fields in general lack much of measuring up to these ideals, yet it is true that there are already large numbers of village, rural and jungle churches which indi- 7 8 PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES vidiially are aggressive spiritual forces in their own areas and, united, afford possibilities of great power in widespread and effective evangelism. Also, in some towns and cities, there are churches which are themselves actively supporting evangelistic and other forms of Christian work. Weak though many churches are, they possess life and aspiration. The birth of a genuine church has taken place. The chief concern should be to give it careful nurture until it reaches the attainment of full churchhood in Christ. While financial independence is not the chief, nor the only, goal of the church, progress in self-support is convincing evidence of vitality. The giving of the churches on the mission field is by no means a matter for discouragement. When numbers and economic conditions are considered, it is a question whether the churches in the foreign fields are not more generous in their support of Christian work than the churches jn America. Furthermore, a powerful Christian influence is already being brought into the national life by the relatively large number of individuals who have been trained in Christian institutions or who have in other ways been brought into allegiance to Christian ideals and who are holding positions, many of which are of great importance, in political, economic and social affairs. The church as a body has also already attained a position of importance in influ¬ encing many phases of community life. IV, Some Problems Confronting the Indigenous Churches 1. While churches and schools on the mission field have had a large share in the quickening of national consciousness and have manifested a growing appreciation of the need for more aggressive evangelism, yet one of the most urgent tasks before them is the deepening of the sense of respon¬ sibility for the spiritual welfare of the entire nation. 2. On some fields, the organization and the programs of the churches do not make a sufficiently vital appeal to the students from our schools and colleges. On the other hand, churches more directly connected with the schools, while often large in membership and apparently vigorous in local activities, are too frequently lacking in broader outlook, evangelistic pas¬ sion, and correlation with the denominational life. The Conference recom¬ mends, therefore, that measures be taken to secure a more effective correla¬ tion between schools and churches so as to make possible on the part of the churches a more careful direction, and a larger place for the activities of students and graduates of our schools. 3. The success of education during the past twenty years in winning students to Christ has secured for us position, power, influence, leadership and opportunity. This has rendered more necessary than ever before the strengthening of the churches in spirit, purpose and organization that they may more effectively meet their evangelistic and social opportunities. PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 9 4. The Conference is confident that the churches on the mission fields are already possessed of such resources in spiritual life, administrative ability and leadetship that they can and should increasingly undertake the responsibility for Christian work in their own lands. The Conference is therefore of the opinion that every mission should take immediate steps to prepare for the ultimate assumption of full proprietorship as regards Christian work by the native churches. V. Claims of the Indigenous Churches on the Churches in America (Note: The following finding was adopted by the Conference in order to correct any possible impression that the increased emphasis on self-support would lead to an early decrease in the financial assistance needed from the churches in America.) The Conference feels that we have reason to be profoundly grateful to God for the evidences which are now apparent on many of our fields that the churches are coming to a realization of their own power and responsibilities. The willingness to take a larger part in the conduct of the work, the move to organize indigenous bodies for the direction of the Christian movement, and the advance in self-support are developments which may be considered wholly normal and desirable. It must be borne in mind that the readjustments required by these developments cannot be accomplished hastily, but that on most of the fields many years will pass before the indigenous churches can be expected to reach such a stage of development as will justify the American churches in withdrawing their support. The history of our own work gives one happy illustration of a field ultimately reaching entire self-support. In Sweden work was begun some seventy-five years ago. It has now been a good many years since we have found it needful to expend any large amount of money in that country. Baptists have increased to the number of 60,000, and the work is not only self-supporting but foreign missionaries have been sent to other countries in the proportion of one to every 600 members in the Baptist churches in Sweden. The situation in non-Christian countries, however, is quite different from that which was the case in Sweden. In the latter country our work was carried on with a Christian and even Protestant background, while in the Far East, British India and Africa nothing could be taken for granted but foundations have had to be laid in the minutest detail. It is obvious, there¬ fore, that a far longer period will be required for the full development of the churches on these fields. At present the churches on the mission fields are, for the most part, few in number, and not great in financial power. The intensive policy pursued by the Boards during the past years has had for its aim the bringing of the churches and native organizations to the place where they can take the leadership in the evangelization of their own lands. The num¬ ber of Christians is so small, when compared with the great mass of the 10 PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSlOX POLICIES non-Christian population and their economic position is so low that it is clear that greater, not less, aid should be extended to the churches in their effort to evangelize the communities in which* they have been planted and for which Baptists are definitely responsible. Missionaries moreover will still be needed to act as counsellors and examples of faith¬ ful, energetic service. When the strength of the native organization has increased to such a degree as to justify us in withdrawing any substantial part of our sup¬ port, it should be borne in mind that there will still be large areas of un¬ occupied territory throughout the world and that Baptists as well as other evangelical groups will have an obligation towards these neglected fields. It is clear, however, that for years to come, unless the funds at our com¬ mand are considerably augmented, the needs of the fields where we are now working will require all our available resources. LEADERSHIP I. General Policy The Conference believes that all branches and activities of the church and all its wider influences in community and state should become truly indigenous. In pursuance of this end, it is evident that there are on the mission fields nationals of ability and consecration who are able to assume ^ a larger share of responsibility in the upbuilding of the church. Therefore, the use of well-trained native leaders should be encouraged in all depart¬ ments of the work. Each mission is urged to make a fresh investigation of the conditions in its field with a view to determining methods to be pursued in securing a larger participation by native leaders in the respon¬ sibility for all phases of the work. II. Securing and Training of Leaders It is important that the best gifts within the growing Christian com¬ munity should be claimed for Christian leadership. It is recognized, of course, that along with ability there must go a spirit of humility and con¬ secration. When young men and women who possess the gifts and spirit requisite to effective Christian service are found they should be encouraged to use their gifts and should be challenged with opportunity to augment their powers in Christian service. This fundamental work of securing and training leaders should be car¬ ried on with all grades of workers from village deacon or young teacher to • the college graduate. Truly qualified leaders who have emerged into a limited sphere of activity should be given the additional training which shall fit them for more effective leadership. PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSION POLICIES 11 In view of the necessity for a trained leadership, all Christian agencies are urged to recognize their responsibility for fostering and supporting efficient schools and such other agencies and activities as may prove of value for the training and nurture of Christian leaders. III. Higher Training of Leaders It is becoming increasingly possible for native leaders to secure adequate post-graduate work in their own countries, thus securing at the same time the conservation of desirable national traits of character and the attainment of high standards of education. It will still be necessary, however, to supplement the training of leaders on the field by providing for further study in America by a limited number of exceptionally qualified Oriental students. Those sent abroad for study should possess sound character and genuine Christian experience, should be proved in active service, should have fully availed themselves of facilities for higher education on the field, and should have an adequate knowledge of English. It should be clearly understood that provision for the financial support of students aided in study abroad should be assured, and the form of service for which they are preparing, as well as the period of their study abroad, should be carefully determined before they leave their own country. Upon their return from America, a normal relationship should be established with the administrative bodies on the field. IV. Training Lay Leaders The modern foreign mission movement has undoubtedly placed undue emphasis on pay for Christian service. It is necessary, therefore, that the responsibility upon Christians of all grades of culture to exercise their gifts for the kingdom be clearly taught and promoted by every available means, and that opportunities for their training be provided. From among such volunteer workers leadership of the greatest value may confidently be expected. V. Leadership in Community and State Baptist polity, tending to democracy in all aspects of the work, furnishes a training providentially favorable to wider influence in these days of grow¬ ing social and political democracy in the Orient. The tendency of native Christians to find places of service in community and state is viewed with approval. j 12 PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSION POLICIES THE PLACE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCHES The elevation of women in Oriental lands has been in a very large meas¬ ure due to the Christian message. In almost all fields there are outstanding women in educational circles. In Japan and Burma, especially, women have also been active in reform movements. There are indications in India that women with higher educa¬ tion are beginning to take active part in political councils. The progress of the churches on the mission fields depends far more than is generally realized on the reaching and training of women for participa¬ tion in the life and work of the church. There are many and convincing evidences of progress in gathering women into the churches, in educating girls and women in our schools and in developing leadership among women in local, provincial and na.tional organizations. There still remain many disturbing conditions. In some of the fields, fewer than forty per cent of the church members are women. On most fields, there is a serious lack of trained evangelistic women workers. The evangelization of the family unit has often been neglected. As a result it is very difficult, in the home where only one parent is Christian, to train the children in Christian ideals or to interpret Christ convincingly to the people of the community. The wives of many Christian workers have had insufficient training to enable them to make positive contributions to evan¬ gelism. The Christian women are still, in many instances, ignorant of the simple laws of hygiene and sanitation. The Conference would, therefore, emphasize the following needs in the work for women; 1. More women missionary evangelists. 2. More missionary nurses with special training in health education. 3. More stress upon the training of women for evangelistic work and of wives of pastors and teachers. 4. More effort in the schools and churches to train women for partici¬ pation in church life, to follow up and enlist in kingdom service those who go out from the schools, and to emphasize the rightful place of work for and by women as an integral part of the entire church activity. THE PLACE AND WORK OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY IN THE LIGHT OF CHANGED CONDTIONS I. Functions The primary work of the missionary is to lead men to accept Christ as personal Saviour and Lord. In this age when missionary service is more highly specialized than it was a generation ago, it is particularly important PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 13 that whatever may be the method employed by him, the missionary should never lose sight of his supreme mission. His contribution is spiritual; its fruitage is Christian faith and purpose, a new life, a new devotion to God. It is this result alone which justifies all the more obvious activities of the missionary. Without it, specialization, administrative efficiency, numerical results—important though they all are—lose their real significance. The missionary should be pre-eminently a source of inspiration to leaders in the native church, and should emphasize the nurture of the spiritual life of the people in the churches. II. Attitude Tov/ard National Ideals and Movements The missionary is also an exponent of international justice and good will. As such he should be free from all racial prejudice and should endeavor to appreciate that which is good in the cultural heritage of those among whom he works. He should make every effort to understand their national ideals and aspirations and to encourage every movement that is in the in¬ terest of their welfare. III. Attitude Tov/ard Other Faiths Confident himself of the unique place that Jesus Christ holds as the one and only hope of the world, the missionary will yet gladly acknowledge that God “hath not left himself without witness” in any land. The missionary will, therefore, sympathetically study the religions of the pepole among whom he labors, that he may be able better to realize their religious back¬ ground and more effectively to lead them into the fullness of Christian truth. IV. Relationships 1. With the Native Christians. The relationships of the missionary with the people of the Christian community should be both friendly and cooperative. As far as possible, he should push aside the accidental barriers which hinder genuine friend¬ ship and Christian brotherliness. His influence should not be dependent ^ upon the authority of office or of financial relationship. On every field the missionary and the native Christian should regard each other as co- workers, brothers and fellow-servants of Christ. The missionary should be an exponent of equality and fraternity. 2. With the Native Community. In accepting a place among the people of the mission field, the mission¬ ary should identify himself as far as possible with the community in 14 PROPOSED POREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES which he lives. It is his to share the common interests and problems of the community and so to conduct himself as to win the respect and affection of the people as a whole. In order to promote more natural and unimpeded fellowship with the people on the mission fields, it is urged that mission residences and the general style of living be kept as simple as is compatible with health and efficiency. Every effort should be made to minimize the foreign aspects of the missionary’s life and work and to remove the hindrances resulting therefrom. 3, With Fellow Missionaries. The relations between missionaries should be the highest exemplifica¬ tion of the Christian spirit. Older missionaries should make the new missionary cordially welcome from the time of his first arrival in the country. No effort should be spared to enable him to acquire the language and to obtain such other assistance and guidance as will best prepare him to make the largest contribution to the advancement of the kingdom. Before the new missionary leaves America it should be made clear to him that only by a willingness to seek and accept the advice and help of others can he profit by their experience and be of the greatest usefulness. It is incumbent on the mission administration and the Boards to spare no pains to remove every condition which is not conducive to happy personal relationships in missionary service. 4, To the Mission Organization. The missionary should be willing to cooperate fully with the mission organization, and the Boards should satisfy themselves of such willing¬ ness before sending him to the field. In the interest of such cooperation, any assurance regarding designation and work which may be given can¬ didates prior to leaving America should be in accordance with previous understanding with the missions and should be officially communicated to the missions. 5, To the Board and the Home Constituency. The individual missionary on the field should maintain a close touch with the Boards but with due regard to the need of thorough and hearty cooperation with the mission organization. The touch with the home constituency should be kept intimate to the end that the missionary may render the most valuable assistance in the cultivation of the home base. Every missionary should be given opportunity to meet the Boards dur¬ ing furlough. Those charged with special administrative responsibility should be brought into unhurried conferences with the B'^'^ds, their com¬ mittees and officers. V PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 15 V. Language Study The Conference would urge that all missions take all practicable measures to insure the acquisition by all missionaries of the vernacular of the people among whom they work, whatever the form of their service may be. A wilful neglect of language study or inability to acquire a working knowl¬ edge of the language might well be adjudged a sufficient reason for the recall of a missionary. All such cases should be reported by the reference committee to the Boards. VI. Study During Furlough As a rule some portion of each furlough should be spent by each mis¬ sionary in systematic study. Deputation work should be so arranged as to make possible cultural and inspirational, as well as physical, recreation. Plans should be made to enable missionaries to gain practical experience along lines that will contribute toward increased effectiveness in their special line of work. VII. Qualifications 1. Spiritual. Whatever the specialized task, indispensable qualifications of every missionary are a constant, personal experience of God, a clear spiritual outlook on life and a desire above all else to lead men into the joy and freedom of the life of fellowship with Christ. 2. Educational. The growing magnitude and complexity of missionary activity, coupled with the ever rising standards required for leadership on the field, make it more imperative today than ever before that the missionary be possessed in large measure of clear vision, broad sympathies, intellectual balance and self-control. These qualities should be developed by a general college course or its equivalent, supplemented by the best possible professional training for special work. The courses of study should include foreign languages and there should be proven ability to acquire a language with reasonable ease. Certain other qualifications are highly desirable for missionary service, such as a general familiarity with bookkeeping, methods of church work, and the religious history and ideals of the people to whom the missionary is sent. All missionaries should have a thorough knowledge of the Bible. 3. Health. The importance of sound physical condition, temperamental balance and a rational attitude toward the whole question of care of health should be emphasized. 16 PROPOSED FOREIGX MLSSIOX POLICIES 4. Personal. a. Cooperation. The relationships of missionaries are so intimate and vital and have such important and far-reaching influence on the work of the mission as a whole, that the fullest and most complete co¬ operation of the missionary with his fellow missionaries and the mis¬ sionary organization is essential to the work in every mission field. It is a question whether a missionary who has clearly shown that it ih impossible for him to cooperate with his fellow missionaries should not be recalled. Certainly no one should be appointed as a missionary who cannot give assurance of a purpose and definite determination to co¬ operate to the fullest extent with his fellow workers, both native and foreign. b. Alertness of mind. The missionary task is becoming continually more and more involved, delicate and difficult. To meet this situation the missionary must be intellectually alert and have a mind open to the currents of modern thought and world movements. Every missionary should cultivate habits of reading and study such as will provide for continuous intellectual growth. c. Capacity for friendship. The missionary should have the ability to make and retain friends, for without this, one can hardly enter sympathetically into the life of another race. The cultivation of friend¬ ships is the privilege and duty of every missionary. VIII. Conference for Outgoing Missionaries The Conference recommends to the Boards of Managers serious consid¬ eration of the practicability of holding a summer school lasting two weeks or more for new appointees. The subjects for study might include among others, care of health in the tropics and Orient, mission policies, accounting, phonetics, etc. IX. Emphasis in Recruiting Missionaries In view of the changing conditions on the mission field and the nature of the work which the missionary must undertake, the Conference recom¬ mends that in recruiting missionaries a clear statement should be made con¬ cerning the qualifications and functions of the missionary in the present changing conditions and that special emphasis be placed upon the require¬ ment of willingness to serve rather than desire to direct. PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 17 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION ON THE MISSION FIELDS I. Objectives In the program of evangelizing the world Christian education occupies an indispensable place. While the schools are a direct and conscious evangelistic agency, bringing to their students the challenge of the Chris¬ tian gospel, their primary educational aim is to develop a strong Christian / community with an adequately trained leadership and an intelligent and responsible laity. II. Extent of Educational Program The above mentioned objectives determine the lines along which educa¬ tional work should be developed. The extent of the work must be deter¬ mined by taking into account the available resources, human and financial, both from America and on the field, and the educational facilities provided by the government or by private bodies. To fulfil this central purpose of building a Christian community, Chris¬ tian education, for the present, and probably for some time to come, must conduct schools of all grades from the lowest to the highest. The number / and types will vary according to the needs and resources of the various mission fields. Some or all of the following types will be included:— kindergartens, primary, high and normal schools, vocational schools, colleges, Bible schools and theological institutions. It would seem that the time has come when increased attention should be given to vocational training by means of the rural-middle, agricultural, industrial, commercial and mother-craft courses or schools, and also to adult education in mass movement areas. The program of Christian education should not be so extensive as to make impossible the maintenance of the work at a high level of efficiency or the preservation of a proper balance with other phases of work. More¬ over, in developing large educational institutions the goal of ultimate trans¬ fer of authority to the native Christian community should be kept in mind. The Conference approves the policy of cooperation with other denomina¬ tions in colleges or other institutions wherever such cooperation makes possible a larger and better equipped institution. Such cooperation should take into consideration local conditions and should never involve sacrifice of principle. The Bible training school and the theological seminary should have a prominent place in each mission. III. Standards for Curriculum and Instruction The standards fixed either by the government or by educational associa¬ tions should be adopted so far as they do not conflict with our objectives. 18 PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSION POLICIES However, such standards should be recognized as minimum requirements and efforts should be made to set standards and work out methods better adapted to the development of Christian character. The Conference emphasizes the necessity of professional training for missionaries and nationals engaged in educational work. Since there is a serious lack of trained teachers on many fields, it is urged that, where needed, the mission schools provide this training. Missionaries should take advantage of the opportunity of furlough in America for study and ob¬ servation of the best educational methods so that the work abroad may be of the highest quality. IV. Maintaining the Christian Character of Mission Schools / 1. Every educational missionary should be evangelistic in spirit. 2. The Conference urges as an immediate goal that all schools be staffed with Christian teachers and have enough Christian students to insure a Christian atmosphere sufficiently strong not only to dominate the schools but to reach beyond the students to their homes. 3. The claims of religious education should be first in conducting all the activities of the school, the selecting of the staff, the planning of the budget, the shaping of the curriculum, the conduct of religious exercises and the general life of the school. To this end Bible study should con¬ tinue to hold a preeminent place in the curriculum. However, whether or not such courses should be made compulsory is a question which must be settled according to the best judgment of each mission in the light of conditions which prevail on its field. Extra-classroom activities such as scouting and athletics should be organized in such a way as to bring the greatest and broadest possible Christian impact upon the lives of the pupils. 4. If schools face the situation of accepting money from any private source under conditions which would, by stipulation or implication, seriously abridge the opportunity of the schools to offer religious instruc¬ tion, or control the character of its teaching, the financial aid should be rejected. V. Transfer of Administration of Schools to the Christian Community The administration and responsibility for mission schools should be in¬ creasingly transferred to local churches or associations or to Christian boards of control. Along with this transfer, local support, including en¬ dowments, should be secured until the schools can be supported entirely without aid from America. In making such transfer the Christian character of the institutions should be safeguarded. PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 19 VI. Relations to Governments ^ 1. Missions should seek government registration and recognition for , their schools so far as this is possible without imperilling the efficiency ^ or Christian character of their work. 2. The Christian forces should seek all possible cooperation with government education. Such cooperation may consist, for example, in the training of teachers who will find their sphere of usefulness in govern¬ ment schools, or in the exertion of a moral and religious influence on the students in government and non-Christian institutions. 3. The Conference is in agreement with the present practice of the Boards of Managers that grants-in-aid may be accepted for mission schools wherever the missions concerned consider them advisable. How¬ ever, in view of the gradual acquisition of political power by the nationals of India and the effects which that change may produce in educational policies, school managements on the various fields should be awake to the dangers of the present situation, and if they find that such cooperation is destroying the distinctively Christian nature of the schools, the Con¬ ference would favor the rejection of government grants. MEDICAL WORK I. Objective The paramount task of medical missions is the winning of men and women to Jesus Christ. The Conference therefore recognizes with gratitude to our Lord and Master the earnest evangelistic spirit pervading our medical work all over the world. II. Program The following are recognized as the important features of the medical program : 1. Medical Practice. Considering the long and severe training that doctors have undergone ^ and the great importance and need of medical work on the foreign field, the Conference recommends that every effort be made by the mission organization to enable mission doctors to carry on their work with the greatest possible efficiency and along modern scientific lines. To this end attention is called to the following points : a. That unless some special reason exists, duplication should be avoided in the location of medical work in order that as many as ^ possible may be reached with medical aid. 20 PROPOSED EOREICX MlSSlOX POLICIES b. That for purposes of record and comparison, the forms for the report of hospital and dispensary statistics be standardized. c. That in attempting to secure complete self-support, care should be taken that this effort should not result in meagre equipment and insufficient number of hospital assistants, d. That in view of the varying needs of the field and of the neces¬ sity of adequate equipment, each field should be asked to prepare a list showing what would be an adequate equipment, with an estimate of the approximate cost of the same, and that each hospital indicate its needs to reach this standard. e. That the offer of the Woman’s Board to supply hospitals of both Societies with such articles as are prepared by the White Cross Depart¬ ment be noted with thanks and that all mission doctors be urged to do their part in keeping the Woman’s Board informed as to the kind and quantity of such material needed. f. That a medical missionary in order that he may do the best possible professional work should be freed from other responsibilities, except as he himself may choose to undertake them. g. That the medical missionary be urged to take post-graduate work on every furlough, in order that he may keep abreast of the times and be fitted for his difficult task. 2. Medical Care of Christian Workers. a. The care of the health of missionaries is a joint task of the field organization and the medical service department at home. The Confer¬ ence believes that the importance of a proper medical examination and the care of missionaries is out of all proportion to the amount of time it is possible for the present staff at the home office to devote to that task. While the progress made and the difficulties are recognized, it is the opinion of the Conference that there is still room for improvement in the quality of the medical examination both of new appointees and mission¬ aries returning on furlough and in the general provision for their care. The Conference therefore recommends: (a) That the Boards be strongly urged to appoint to the staff of the home offices a physician who can devote sufficient time to the medical questions that arise. (b) That there be consultation which will lead to better correla¬ tion between the mission doctors on the field and the medical depart¬ ments of the Boards. PROPOSED EOREION MISSION POLICIES 21 (c) That, on all fields where there is medical mission work, the de¬ tails connected with the annual medical examination of missionaries on the field, including the keeping of records, be handled exclusively by the physicians. (d) That the present practice concerning medical allowances be continued except that in the first filling of an optician’s prescription lenses be chargeable in the medical bill. b. Recognizing the importance of conserving the health of Christian workers on the field and the pupils in mission schools, the Conference recommends that practical measures looking to better provision for this need be taken. 3. Public Health Education. As a large proportion of sickness and suffering in mission lands is due to preventable causes, the Conference urges that in training native leaders preventive medicine be recognized as a definite part of the work. The fol¬ lowing are suggested as valuable means to this end: a. Courses in primary and middle schools emphasizing dietetics, village sanitation and the prevention of tuberculosis and other com¬ municable diseases. b. Courses for girls in high, normal and Bible schools emphasizing child welfare and midwifery. c. Popular medical teaching at public gatherings by means of lantern lectures, health talks and chart demonstrations. d. Encouragement and development of public health measures and the training of Christians to service along this line. 4. Medical Education. Believing that increasingly larger portions of the work should be done by the people of the country, the Conference recommends the furtherance of medical education and suggests: a. That the medical needs of the country and .Christian community be presented to the boys and girls graduating from mission schools together with the opportunities for Christian service offered by the medical profession. b. That great stress be laid on the training of nurses and other hospital assistants, such as compounders and laboratory workers. PROPOSED POREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES c. That the training of native physicians be emphasized and that there be full cooperation in existing union medical schools. 5. Transfer of Medical Work. With the progress of medical education in the East, the time when foreign physicians may be eliminated from the staff of mission hospitals can easily be envisioned, but, seeing that these institutions are a trust committed to us by the Christians of America for the propagation of the Christian faith, any transfer ^of administration must be in harmony with the rules of transfer in force with the Boards and so safeguarded as to preserve the evangelistic character of the work. 6. Development of Medical Interest at Home. The Conference recommends that effort be made,to secure one or more physicians to serve as members of the Boards with the hope that they may associate with themselves a medical group who would-be asked to pro¬ mote interest in medical missions among the members of the profession. ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS I. Place and Function of the Boards of Managers 1. It is fully recognized that the Boards of Managers of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society have final responsibility for the determination of policies and the administration of the work on the foreign fields. 2. Experience on all fields has shown that the best results in the dis¬ charge of these obligations can be secured only as the Boards consult freely with the missions and depend on the largest and most effective co¬ operation of the missionaries. 3. It is important, therefore, that the Boards cooperate with the missions in developing the largest sense of responsibility and in effecting such field organizations as will guide the Boards in the formulation of general policies and will represent them in the administration of the work. II. Field Administration 1. Unified administration on the field is absolutely essential to secure the best results. It is important, therefore, that there should be such close consultation and cooperation between the two Boards as to make this possible. PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 23 2. The experience of a number of missions has shown that unified administration within the mission is promoted by; « a. Adequate representation of missionaries of the Woman’s Board on all mission committees and especially on the reference or executive committee. b. Appointment by the mission of a woman’s committee to serve as a sub-committee of the reference or executive committee to advise on matters pertaining to work for women. c. Dependence of the Boards, as far as possible, on the reference or executive committee for guidance in all matters of policy and ad¬ ministration. 3. The progress already made by most missions in delegating admin¬ istrative functions to a reference or executive committee, while reserv¬ ing for the annual mission meeting the determination of policies and the right of review of the actions of its committees, is most encouraging and suggests the advisability of further efforts along this line. 4. The following recommendation of the Newton Center Conference of 1917 has been put into effect by four of our missions with much satis¬ faction and benefit; In the light of the experience of some of the missions, a mission which assumes large responsibility for administrative work might well consider the question of releasing one of its members fromi other responsibilities sufficiently to enable him to give his attention to the task of familiarizing himself thoroughly with the condi¬ tions and needs of the entire mission with a view to giving information to the refer¬ ence or executive committee in order that the work of the mission may be properly conducted and a consistent policy pursued. The wisdom of this policy is emphasized at the present time by the following conditions: a. The increased emphasis on field administration by missions of a number of other denominations. b. The enlarged responsibilities being offered to the missions by our own Boards. c. The need of the Boards for accurate and more comprehensive data regarding conditions, methods, and progress of the work. d. The increasing necessity for more effective and more frequent adjustments in activities and approach to meet nationalistic movements in various countries. 24 PROPOSED EOREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES In order that the mission secretary may render the most effective ser¬ vice, the mission should make adequate provision from its budget for help in this work.* 5. If the best results are to be secured in developing policies and in providing for adequate administration of the work or in maintaining the most helpful relations between the missions and the Boards, the missions need more extended visits to the fields of the Foreign Secre¬ taries of both Boards. Consideration should also be given to the question of making possible more frequent brief visits to the home land of field secretaries when in the judgment of the reference committee and the Boards this seems necessary. The increased service which can thus be rendered to the missions, to the Boards and to the constituency at home will in the judgment of this Conference more than justify the expenditure of time and money required. The Conference believes that a Foreign Sec¬ retary cannot render his best service either at home or on the field unless it is possible for him to visit the field at least once in three years. III. Frequency and Length of Furloughs The Newton Center Conference in 1917 made the following recommenda¬ tion : The Conference recommends that missions so desiring be permitted to make trial of the plan of shortened term of service and shortened furlough. This experiment in allowing the missions to adjust furloughs to meet exigencies of the work has been tried with much satisfaction by several of the missions. The Conference recommends that further experiments along this line be made embodying the following principles; 1. That a furlough schedule for each mission be established by the Boards with the advice of the mission, based upon a term of service within certain maximum and minimum limits. 2. That the determining factors for fixing furlough schedules within these limits be: a. Health considerations. b. The welfare of children. c. The best interests of the work in which the person concerned is engaged. d. Furlough schedules of colleagues in the same station or unit of work. PROPOSED POREJCX MISSIOX POLICIES 25 e. The use to be made of the furlough period, e. g., study or special task under the direction of the mission or Boards. f. The necessity for the mission to keep within its total appropria¬ tions including salaries, furlough passages, etc. 3. That in approving each furlough the mission and Boards should set a definite limit to the period of absence from the field. Absence should not be extended beyond this limit, except as authorized by the medical departments of the Boards, without definite approval by both the mission and the Board concerned. 4. That the rule long in practice with some other boards be adopted, to the effect that any person extending his or her furlough absence beyond the limit fixed and without definite approval in writing from the Board for such extension shall forfeit salary for the period of excess. IV. Retiring Age of Missionaries The Conference recommends that the retiring age of missionaries be sixty-five, with the provision that the period of service may be extended by agreement between the missions and the Boards, such extension to be reconsidered every three years. V. Indigenous Churches and Administration" 1. While originally the work of foreign missions centered about the person of the foreign missionary, increasing cognizance should now be taken of the organized churches that have developed on the mission fields, and administration of Christian work in those lands, including the work of the organized missions from America, should be transferred to the indigenous church as rapidly as it is prepared to accept and able to discharge the obligations so incurred. 2. Nationals should not as a rule be brought into the administrative work of the mission by being coopted or elected to mission committees or mission conferences, as this tends to weaken the indigenous organi¬ zation and to strengthen the impression that the church is a foreign institution. On the other band the personnel and form of organization should be strengthened in such a way as to make possible the effective transfer of administrative responsibility. 3. Since the aim is to build up churches of nationals charged with the responsibility of winning their own lands for Christ, missionaries should welcome and do their utmost to forward the development of 26 PROPOSED POREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES native initiative and responsibility and should use every endeavor to hasten the day when the church is prepared to direct its own activities. 4. It is agreed that immediate wholesale transfer of the work is not generally desirable or practicable. Pending the arrival of the day when all work can be transferred to exclusively native bodies, it is recognized that there is a transition period when there should be direct cooperation between the church and the mission. During this period the authority and responsibility of the mission for organization and administration of such w^ork as may be transferred, together with the appropriations from the Boards for the same, should be transferred to some committee or some appropriate and responsible organization on which both church and mission are represented, as rapidly as responsibility for administration can be developed. While in certain instances such organizations may be temporary or purely transitional, the effort should be to build permanent indigenous organizations in each case. Since it is our aim to foster a sense of proprietorship in the indigenous church, each field must decide in the light of local conditions to what extent and for how long a period mis¬ sionary representation on such bodies should be continued. 5. Such experience as has bedn accumulated seems to show that cer¬ tain forms of work can be more readily and effectively transferred than others. In certain fields progress has been made in the transfer of evangelistic and hospital work and various phases of school work. These seem to offer the natural line of approach to transfer. In making transfer it may be wise to gain experience in the transfer of work appropriations in any given department before responsibility is assumed for such mat¬ ters as the following: a. Designation and transfer of missionaries. b. The relationship of missionaries to the responsible organization. c. The request to the Boards for missionary reinforcements. d. The opening of new work or the continued maintenance of exist¬ ing work. 6. During the period of cooperative administration, for the present at least, the following general principles are suggested: a. National representatives on controlling bodies should be selected by the convention or some related group and should report back to their own constituency. b. Power of distributing budgets should include the responsibility for raising funds locally and meeting deficits. PROPOSED PORE]a.\ MISSION POLICIES 27 c. Missionary representatives on these controlling bodies should be chosen by the mission and should be responsible to the mission and the Boards. d. Administrative relationships of the Boards in America with the indigenous church should still be through the mission, though the Boards will naturally maintain direct fraternal relations with the church and foster a sense of comradeship in the common task of establishing the kingdom of God on earth. 7. Financial Relationships During the Period of Cooperative Adminis¬ tration. '*a. During the transition period, in the interest of the fullest fellow¬ ship between missionaries and native leaders, responsibility for fixing salaries should be transferred from individual missionaries to properly constituted committees and financial administration should as rapidly as possible be so adjusted as to make it unnecessary for the individual missionary to have financial relationships with native workers or local churches in such matters as the payment of salaries, rent, travel, etc. b. As a condition of transferring to cooperative organizations rep¬ resenting both the churches and the mission the administration of appro¬ priations made by the Boards, provision should be made for such financial reports and review of accounts as will give to the Boards adequate assurance that the funds are expended in harmony with poli¬ cies approved by the Boards. 8. Transfer of Property. Ultimately the ownership of church, school and hospital buildings erected on the mission field with funds appropriated, in whole or in part, by the Boards, should be transferred by sale or otherwise to the indi¬ genous Christian community on conditions to be mutually agreed upon. During the period of cooperative administration, however, the transfer of such properties should proceed gradually and should be accompanied by adequate safeguards against misuse or alienation. While the wide differences in conditions on the several fields make it difficult to suggest specific rules covering cases of transfer, the situation in certain of the fields is such as to require early and careful consideration of this prob¬ lem and it is therefore recommended that the Boards undertake corre¬ spondence with each mission with a view to working out a policy suited to the local conditions. N In the study of this problem such questions as the following call for consideration: 28 PROPOSED FOREIGX MfSSIOX POLICIES a. At what stage in the development of native responsibility in administration of the work should property be transferred to the native bodies ? b. To what extent will the fact that a building has been provided through specific gifts affect the transfer? c. Is it advisable to make the transfer in two processes? (a) Management and control of the property under agreed condi¬ tions, the Board retaining legal title but giving to the native body a written statement that the property is held in trust for that or¬ ganization. (b) Complete transfer of title to a native body formed as a juridical person under the laws of the country. d. To what indigenous organization should the management and ultimately the title to the property be transferred? (a) Should church properties be transferred to the local church organization or to the convention or other organization formed as a juridical person? (b) In the case of mission institutions, such as schools and hos¬ pitals, having local boards of trustees, should the transfer be made to those boards formed as juridical persons or to the convention? e. What safeguards can be secured in the case of transfer of prop¬ erty to an indigenous organization against diversion from the original purpose or complete alienation in view of possible changes in political situations or attitude of native bodies? f. What conditions of reimbursement, if any, to the Boards should be attached to the transfer of control or ownership of mission prop¬ erty to the indigenous organization? (a) Complete or partial reimbursement? (b) Reversion of funds to the treasury of the Boards or creation of a building fund on the field? g. How can the transfer of control and ownership of property be made a means of fostering initiative, leadership and responsibility on the part of the indigenous churches? PROPOSED EOREIGX MISSION POLICIES 29 FINANCIAL PROBLEMS Without in the least degree overlooking or minimizing the spiritual torces available under right conditions for the prosecution of the mission¬ ary enterprise, it may be stated as an undeniable principle that such human personalities and material resources as are sought and secured should be applied to the task with the best wisdom and under the most favorable conditions possible, in order that the largest and most worthwhile results may be attained in the direction of our primary objectives. I. Readjustments in Work on the Fields 1. The present resources of the two Foreign Mission Societies and their prospective income for the immediate future, even assuming a moderate increase, are so manifestly inadequate to meet the financial requirements for missionary staff, mission work and property equipment needed to carry out the programs of work and field occupation now held by the missions as to make imperative readjustments in those programs. 2. Response to providential and promising opportunities that may pre¬ sent themselves and to unforeseen situations that are likely to arise out of the nationalistic developments so in evidence on many of the fields cannot be assured except as funds can be released from work now being maintained. 3. Effective work along the lines of the general policy of the Boards and the missions as a whole may require, in the absence of increased in¬ come, the transfer of funds from certain units of the work to the support of other units deemed by the mission more vital to its program. 4. Readjustments within the missions might involve the discontinuance or reduced support of stations, institutions or phases of work. Such readjust¬ ments should be made by the Boards only after an exhaustive study of conditions and full consultation with the missions concerned. 5. In making these readjustments within the missions, the following possibilities, with others, may well be considered : a. Transfer of a station or institution to indigenous organizations. b. Substitution of nationals for missionaries in the conduct of work. c. Combination of two stations or such arrangement of work that one missionary or national leader can care for more than one station. d. Transfer of a station, institution or work to some other mi«6ion prepared to accept the responsibility. 30 PROPOSED POREIGX MISSION POLICIES e. Discontinuance of a station or work that is relatively unfruitful after long cultivation. f. Discontinuance of a station or work in which the cost of mainten¬ ance is disproportionately high as compared with the results secured. g. Xon-replacement of missionaries retiring from stations where meager results are shown. h. Discontinuance of native workers least capable of effective service. The Conference therefore recommends that each mission without delay study afresh and most carefully its objectives and program of work and decide which phases or units are most worthy of continued and increased support and what readjustments can be made in case it is necessary to re¬ lease funds for this or other p-urposes. The Boards should be kept con¬ stantly informed of the progress and results of such studies. II. Basis of Distribution by the Boards of Total Funds Available 1. Considerations of equity among the mission fields and the develop¬ ment of greater responsibility on the part of the organized missions make it desirable that some method be adopted for dividing the total funds avail¬ able each year for appropriation by the Boards for the work of the mis¬ sions in such manner as to ensure to each mission a proportionate and relatively stable budget. 2. The equitable or proportionate share of each mission in the total funds should be determined after full representations by the missions indi¬ vidually, and unitedly if possible, in the light of such principles as: a. Average proportion actually received by each mission over a period of years, e.g., five. (See Exhibit C, Tables I and II.) b. Age, condition and history of the work. c. Degree of success in realizing the primary aims of the mission as approved by the Boards. d. Adequacy of programs and personnel for accomplishment of these aims. e. Cost of conducting work in a given area, including cost of travel to the field. f. Proximity, strength and character of work of other agencies or denominations. g. Peculiar opportunities. PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 31 3. The fixing of the proportionate share of each mission will result in the establishment of a series of percentages which may be taken as a basis of distribution for a period of 3 ''ears. 4. The total amount to be allocated on the percentages thus established should include all of the normal expenditures of the mission, i.e., mission¬ ary salaries, passages (except in case of emergency furloughs), work appropriations (including higher institutions of learning), care of property, new appointees and a portion, at least, of property additions. A portion of the funds for property additions and a contingent fund for emergencies should be reserved for direct appropriation by the Boards. 5. The percentages governing the distribution should be revised from time to time in the light of changing conditions and needs on the fields. III. Increased Responsibility of the Missions in Administration of Funds The mutually satisfactory results of the adoption by nearly all of the missions of the plan of “appropriations in gross,” covering funds for mis¬ sion work and care of property, suggest the advisability of transferring to the missions, provided practicable means can be devised, additional powers and responsibilities in the distribution and administration of appropria¬ tions. 1. The mission should be held responsible for keeping its expenditures within the amount of the budget representing its proportionate share of the funds available. 2, The mission should have responsibility for maintaining a proper balance of expenditures among the general budget classes, such as mission- arj’ salaries, passages, mission work, care of property, new appointees, additions to property^ and for the allocation of released or new funds among these items. This would include the transfer of funds, in harmony with plans and conditions approved by the mission and the Boards, from the support of missionary staff to the support of indigenous agencies. IV. Extension of Appropriations in Gross The Conference therefore recommends that as a means of accomplishing the aims expressed in II and III above, the following plan for extension of the principle of appropriations in gross be submitted for the favorable consideration of the missions and the Boards: 32 PROPOSED EOREIGX MISSION POLICIES 1. Objects sought. a. Proportionate and more carefully planned distribution of funds among the missions. b. Larger responsibility on the part of each mission for the distribu¬ tion of its total budget. 2. Main features of the plan. a. As related to action by the Boards. (a) Determination of total amount of budget. Determine the total amount which can be appropriated to all the missions together each year from regular budget funds. This amount will include field and home salaries of missionaries, passages to and from the field (except in case of emergency furloughs), mission work and care of property, new appointees. Oriental students and a definite part of the provision for land, buildings and equipment. Appropriations for the maintenance of colleges and union institu¬ tions, except woman’s colleges where so desired by the Woman’s Board, will be included in the percentage distribution, with the clear understanding that no change will be made in the amount allotted to any such institution unless approved by the Boards. (b) Determination of proportionate share of each mission in total budget. Calculate the proportionate share of each mission in this total sum on the basis of the average percentage each mission has received of the total appropriations to the missions during the past five years. These percentages may be modified by the Boards, if and as deemed best, after careful study, with the advice of the missions, as to whether the trend of the past five years represents the proper relative emphasis for the immediate future. (c) Annual appropriations to the missions for budget items. Make final budget appropriations to the missions as heretofore, pro¬ viding for the normal field and home salaries, for passages due under the established rules and for mission work and c^re of property on the same basis as for the preceding year. These appropriations may include an adjustment reserve fund for the mission designed to care for salary and passage adjustments during the year. (d) Relation of actual appropriations for each mission to its pro¬ portionate share. Compare the total of such actual appropriations for each mission with the proportionate percentage share of the mission as previously determined. PROPOSED FOREJGX MISSIOX POLICIES 33 Any margin between the percentage share and the actual appropria¬ tions for items indicated in section (c) will be made available to the mission for work appropriations, new appointees. Oriental students or land, buildings and equipment on the basis of requests received from the mission arranged in the order of priority. Any supplementary appropriations during the year, including salary and passage adjust¬ ments, with the exception of those due to emergency furlough or for emergency items, shall also be applied against the percentage share of the mission. (e) Transfer of excess or savings to following year. Any excess of actual appropriations and expenditures over the percentage share of the mission will be carried as a first charge against the percentage share of the following year and any savings under the percentage share will be carried forward as an addition to the per¬ centage share of the following year. For the accomplishment of this purpose the Treasury Department will maintain memorandum accounts with each mission based on its percentage share of distributable funds. (f) This procedure will be repeated from year to year. (g) Adjustment of continued excess over proportionate share. Any mission that appears to be accumulating over a period of two or three years an excess of expenditures above its percentage share which cannot be adjusted within that percentage share shall have its attention called to the situation and the Board concerned will decide as to the best method of meeting the situation. (h) Revision and modification of percentages. The Boards shall be free, at any time, to alter the percentages after consultation with the missions specially concerned in the light of decision to strengthen or to reduce the work in any mission. The Boards should consider the practicability of arranging for periodic conferences with representatives of the various missions for the review of the percent¬ age distribution. (i) Items withheld from percentage distribution. The Boards will withhold from the percentage distribution a certain portion of the general budget item for land, buildings and equipment and may allocate this amount to particular needs at their discretion. The Boards will also withhold from the percentage distribution a substantial contingent fund for the purpose of meeting extraordinary emergencies either in foreign field or home expenditures. b. As related to action by the missions. A mission may adopt any one of the following courses: 34 PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES (a) Continuance of present procedure, A mission may continue to submit its estimates in the same manner as at present for mission work and care of property and its statement of needs for missionary reinforcement and for land, buildings and equipment. Each group of needs, however, should be arranged in order of priority. (b) Expression of choice as to use of margin. It may undertake, when presenting its estimates, to indicate how any margin between its percentage share and the actual requirements for normal salaries and passages and for work and care of property appropriations as in the preceding year should be applied, i.e., for increased work appropriations, new appointees. Oriental students or land, buildings and equipment. A mission may also undertake to ad¬ just furloughs where practicable so as to maintain a desired margin for the purposes suggested. (c) Preparation of estimates covering entire mission budget. It may undertake when presenting its estimates to cover its entire budget or share of distributable funds, including field and home sal¬ aries, passages, mission work, care of property, new appointees. Oriental students and land, buildings and equipment. This last procedure should be approved only when the Boards are satisfied that the mission has the proper organization to undertake such a responsibility. V. Miscellaneous 1. Children’s Allowances. The Conference recommends that the present basis of calculating the additions to the basal missionary salary for children’s allowances, which is that the allowance be figured from the actual day of the month on which the birthday occurs, be changed, and that children’s allowances be figured from the first day of the month in which the birthday occurs. That the present percentage rate for children’s allowances on the field, namely for children between 1 and 6, 10% of full local salary 6 and 12, 15% “ “ 12 and 16, 20% “ “ “ “ ' 16 and 20, 25% “ “ he changed, and that a definite amount be determined for each field, which would approximate the amount of present rates. PROPOSEf) FOREIGX MISSION POLICIES 35 2. Exchange on Salaries and Home Remittances. The Conference recommends that the present ruling in connection with the guaranteed rate of exchange on salary be reaffirmed and that the fol¬ lowing interpretations be made as to the application of this rule: a. That the missionary be charged at the guaranteed rate of ex¬ change for all payments made in America from salary account. b. That the missionary be charged at the guaranteed rate of ex¬ change for all purchases of the mission treasurer’s sight drafts for payments made from salary account. c. That balances of outfit and refit appropriations remaining unex¬ pended be made available to the missionary on the field at the guaranteed rates. d. That the missionary be allowed to pay for goods purchased from mission work appropriations, either by drafts drawn by the Home Treas¬ urer on the missionary or by the purchase of sight drafts through the mission treasurer at the current rate of exchange. 3. Missionary Accounts and Overdrafts. a. The necessity for the keeping of proper accounts and the render¬ ing of adequate reports to the Boards covering the receipt and expendi¬ ture of all mission funds is clearly recognized. Assistance in securing an elementary knowledge of bookkeeping and particularly the preparation by the Boards of a simple manual of instructions in the keeping of mission accounts would be heartily welcomed. b. The accounts of mission treasurers and of the larger mission institutions should be audited by public accountants where this can be done without excessive cost or by other competent disinterested persons, and a report of the audit should be sent to the Home Treasurers. The accounts of smaller institutions and of all the individual mission¬ aries should be on some uniform system and should be reviewed by the reference or executi’'?e committee of the mission or by a special auditing committee or in some other manner arranged by the reference com¬ mittee and approved by the Boards. The results of the audit should be communicated to the Home Treasurers. c. The overdrawing by missionaries on salary account beyond the advance of one month provided under the present rule cannot be justified except in an extraordinary emergency. The Boards may properly enlist the cooperation of the reference committee with the mission treasurer in an endeavor to prevent such overdrafts and to secure their reduction 36 PROPOSED POREICX MISSIOX POLICIES if incurred. In certain frontier fields and stations an advance of two or three months’ salary may be allowed on vote of the reference committee and the Boards. The overdrawing of work accounts is in essence a demand for preferred treatment as against the effort of the reference committee to maintain an equitable distribution of funds. No overdraft in work appropria¬ tions should be permitted except as approved by the reference com¬ mittee and that committee should deal with all overdrafts and deficits in connection with the allotment of appropriations for the following year, such overdraft to be a first charge on account of appropriations for the year. It is suggested that the Boards consider the establishment, in mission* where advances to meet special requirements are shown to be necessary, of a special fund under the control of the reference com¬ mittee from which loans or advances may be made, the committee to be responsible for the reimbursement and restoration of the fund to its full amount at the close of each fiscal year, d. Under no circumstances should a missionary or mission institution loan funds or borrow funds locally or otherwise financially involve the mission or Boards, either with or without giving security, unless specifi¬ cally authorized to do so by the Board concerned. 4. Class of Steamship Accommodations. The Conference approves the policy of the Boards as published in The Messenger of August 1, 1922 with respect to passages and suggests the following interpretations: a. Class of passage. That the classes of steamer accommodations at present in use be ap¬ proved as follows: Trans-Atlantic: one class cabin or second class on larger steamers. Great Britain to India and Burma; P, & O. Mail: second class. P. & O. Intermediate: first class. ^ B. I., City, Hall, Anchor and Henderson Lines; first class. Trans-Pacific: first class. It should be explained that no second class is offered by the American Lines in Trans-Pacific service, and that first class on these lines is com¬ parable to one class cabin on the Atlantic in point of accommodations and cost when we consider the length of voyage. b. Arrangements for passage and passage allowance. It is requested that all passage accommodations to and from the field rROrOSEl) FORIiJCX MISSfOX POLICIES 37 shall be arranged through Home or Mission Treasurers. Missionaries may, however, receive a fixed travel allowance and make their own ar¬ rangements. Any deviation from the direct route that involves unusual risk to health or a considerable lengthening of the time required for the journey, shall be subject to approval by the Boards and missions. When travel to or from the field is taken by any other than the direct route, the allowance shall be an estimated amount by the usual route and the basis of figuring the allowance shall be as follows: Ca) Mission station or home in America to usual port of departure. (b) Steamer ticket usual route. (c) Steamer tips. (d) Hotel bills for approved stay at port of departure or arrival and approved stop-over port and cost of handling baggage. (e) Minimum direct rail ticket from port of arrival to station or home. (f) Pullman ticket or corresponding ticket for above. (g) Meals enroute on railroad. (h) Passport with usual visas. (i) Customary allowances expended for contingencies via usual route. The final settlement of the travel account should always be made by the home office. It is found that a more equitable adjustment can be made when an abbreviated travel statement is furnished for the jour¬ ney, even though it is by an indirect route. The acceptance of a travel allowance made on the basis of the class of accommodations in the pre¬ ceding paragraph implies that the same or similar class of passage be used on the indirect route. The reasons for using the above class of accommodations when a missionary is traveling at the expense of the Society apply equally when the missionary is making his own arrange¬ ments. Therefore, when a missionary uses accommodations inferior to those approved by the home office, the difference between the cost of the approved accommodations and the accommodations used shall be applied to the reduction of the calculated allowance. The mission treasurers are to be furnished with such information as to enable them to estimate for the guidance of the missionary the approx¬ imate travel allowances. 5. Endowment Funds for Mission Institutions. Experience in all lands has shown that educational institutions of higher 38 PROPOSED POREIGX MISSION POLICIES grades can not maintain high standards without large financial support over and above that received from tuition fees. The Conference believes that the time has certainly arrived when mis¬ sion administrators should include in the program for mission colleges on the foreign field the building up of endowments to supplement the re¬ sources otherwise available and if possible to release a larger proportion of regular funds for the immediate work of evangelism. Those responsible for colleges on the mission field should use every endeavor to secure the assistance of the community the school serves, interesting individuals in the project and building up groups that will help to provide both buildings and endowments. The Conference recommends that the Boards give consideration to the wisdom and practicability of working out some equitable arrangement whereby the higher educational institutions on the mission field may have the same measure of freedom of appeal to interested individuals that is now accorded Baptist academies, colleges and universities located within the territory of the Northern Baptist Convention. 6. Adequate Supervision and Control of Building Operations. The Conference recognizes that one of the outstanding problems of field administration is that of adequate supervision and control of building operations. It therefore recommends that the Boards and the missions give care¬ ful attention to the formulation of new rules and regulations governing the expenditure of property appropriations. CULTIVATION OF THE HOME BASE I. Objective The Home Base Departments of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society seek the development of missionary interest among the churches throughout the home field and in general execute the plans of the two Boards for the enlargement of resources in cooperation with the Board of Missionary Cooperation. II. Prayer a Factor in Home Cultivation The Conference gratefully recognizes the manifest blessings which God has given to the work during recent years in answer to prayer. These include progress in the direction of self-support and willingness upon the part of the native churches to assume responsibility for organization and conduct of the work, great spiritual awakenings and large ingatherings PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 39 upon many fields and the hearty response of the constituency at home to the Lone Star appeal. In view of these and many other evidences of God’s faithfulness in answering prayer the Conference recommends that prayer be given a larger place than ever before in the program of for¬ eign missions, both in group organizations and by individuals, realizing the supreme importance of keeping warm and vital the current of com¬ munication between the great source of power, Jesus Christ, and the individual soul. III. The United Denominational Program The Conference is convinced that the principle of cooperation in present¬ ing the needs of our various denominational beneficences to the constituency is both wise and right and believes that the two Foreign Mission Boards should continue their relation to the cooperative movement. The danger of our cooperative organization’s becoming mechanical and ineffective, however, should be clearly recognized together with the fact that the presentation of a unified budget in which details are lost has little power to awaken interest and stimulate generous giving. Effort should be made to insure a sufficient measure of flexibility in the machinery of promotion so that the work and needs of foreign missions may be placed graphically and vividly before our people. Effort should also be made to preserve a proper balance in the emphasis laid upon the various departments of our denominational activity. It should be recognized that the agencies laboring in the homeland are many, those abroad but two; also that the foreign mission work has blazed the trail for many of our other activities and continues to throw into high relief the principles of service and sacrifice. A dwindling emphasis upon foreign missions would in all probability result ultimately in a dimin¬ ishing support of all other denominational activities. IV. Interpreting the Situation Abroad to the Churches at Home 1. The Present Day Emphases. In the presentation of the work at home by missionaries on furlough or by members of the Board, whether in private conversation, public addresses or the use of the press, every effort should be made to bring the denomination into sympathetic understanding of the rapidly changing conditions on the field which necessarily affect the conduct of the work. The Conference therefore recommends that in foreign mission pub¬ licity fresh emphasis should be given to such points as the following: The establishment of international cooperation; the abolition of war; the eradication of race prejudice; the thorough application of Chris- 40 PROPOSED PORE/CX MESSlOX POLICIES tianity to industrial relations the world around; the protection of weaker peoples from unscrupulous exploitation by economically stronger nations; the development of an indigenous Christianity free to make its own interpretation of Christ as the Divine Spirit directs its thought; gradual and ultimately complete devolution in mission administration; and the Christianization of nominal Christianity already in existence in the Western nations. Now that native leaders are emerging with ability to assume a verv large measure of responsibility for the work in their own countries, it will be necessary to lead the churches at home to a deep and grateful interest in such leaders and their work and to as great a readiness to help support them as to send out foreign missionaries. It is important that the denomination be led to understand that the formation of autonomous Baptist bodies in the Orient is a most encouraging develop¬ ment and that it increases rather than lessens the obligation to continue financial support to such groups. Above all else, it is important that in the new emphases in publicity, we shall not fail to continue to stress individual evangelistic effort for individuals. It is one thing to emphasize the glittering generality of the elevation of the womanhood of India; it is another thing to remember that the womanhood of India consists of individual mothers with the same instinct that we honor in the mothers of America. We must indeed safeguard the childhood of the race from economic exploitation and from future war, but we need also to remember that we must save children. Christ came to save manhood but manhood consists of indi¬ vidual men. 2. Impact of Missionaries on the Home Constituency, a. Publicity. There is need throughout the home constituency for a more adequate knowledge of the exact situation abroad, promoted by publicity material, more effectively prepared and distributed. The Conference therefore recommends; (a) That a wider use be made of carefully prepared foreign mis¬ sion publicity material. (b) That a publicity committee be appointed in each mission. This committee should promote the preparation of articles, pamphlets and stereopticon lectures to be forwarded to the Home Base Departments for publication. It is understood that with all such material th^ Home Base Departments shall have the privilege of editing, provided the meaning of the author is not altered. PROPOSED POREIGX -1//.S\S70A' POLICIES 41 (c) That, in order to avoid duplication of effort, no publicity material be published on the field for circulation among the home constituency except annual reports of the missions, and for missions so desiring, not more than one periodical. In these cases, the editors should use the utmost care to avoid even indirect appeals for specific gifts. They should also ascertain in advance of publication, if pos¬ sible, the number of copies which can be used effectively hy the Home Base Departments. (d) That the missionaries at each station plan for the sending of a station news letter to the Home Base Departments at least as frequently as every three months, with the understanding that copies of such letters shall be sent to all interested in the work of that station and to such friends as the missionaries may indicate. (e) The Conference points out that adequate foreign mission pub¬ licity is entirely dependent upon the hearty cooperation of the individual missionary, the publicity committee of the mission, and the Home Base Departments. b. Deputation work. (a) In the interest of a broader knowledge of the work abroad and of a clearer understanding of its problems on the part of the home constituency, the Conference recommends a more systematic use of missionaries on furlough in deputation work. This effort should include, among other measures, the following: (1) The planning of deputation work in such a way that each section of the home field may receive its adequate and proportionate share of deputation work. To this end definite plans should be initiated by the Home Base Departments and the Board of Mis¬ sionary Cooperation in place of the present policy which consists largely of acceptance of invitations from the churches. (2) An endeavor to reach the smaller churches to a much greater extent than at present. (3) Week-end conferences in carefully selected centers under the leadership of a missionary deputation team. (4) Full cooperation with the Department of Missionary Educa¬ tion in summer assemblies and missionary education conferences. (b) The Conference offers the following suggestions with a view to the better preparation of missionaries engaged in deputation work: (1) Unless there is some constitutional disability or an absolute lack of ability for such work, which would make it unwise or impos- 42 PROPOSED POREICX MLSSIOX POLICIES sible to attempt it, missionaries while on furlough ought to give as large an amount of time to deputation work as is consistent with the requirements of health, study, etc. (2) Inexperienced missionaries might be sent out into deputation work with experienced missionaries in order that the experience of the latter might be of service to the inexperience of the former in the actual field tryout. (3) A central training conference or sectional training con¬ ferences, preferably the latter, should be arranged by the Home Base Departments, at which Board secretaries, state officers. Board mem¬ bers, experienced pastors and sympathetic laymen could make their accumulated experience available for deputation workers attending such conferences. (4) The Conference would also reaffirm the finding of the New¬ ton Center Conference that the Home Base Departments should pre¬ pare a manual for deputation workers. V. Vitalizing the Work 1. Visualization of the Budget. The Conference believes that any marked increase in missionary giv¬ ing depends largely upon closer and more vital relationship between the churches at home and the mission fields and workers, and therefore recommends that the missionaries cooperate more fully with the Home Base Departments by furnishing material descriptive of definite items or phases of the work, human interest stories, and incidents of difficulties and obstacles encountered in the work, in order that the Home Base Departments may make a vital presentation of the work to the home constituency. 2. Designated Gifts. a. The following statement concerning the relation of designated gifts to the unified denominational budget is given to clarify the meaning of designated gifts: Designated contributions shall be understood to mean all contributions desig¬ nated for any participating organization (in the Northern Baptist Convention) and applicable to the support of its regular operating budget. b. The Conference recommends, in view of this understanding, the continuance of the present plan of applying all regular designated gifts for mission work to the work appropriation of the missionary or station PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 43 to which they are designated and of notifying the missionary concerned of the receipt of such gifts. c. In view of the fact that the confidence of donors has sometimes been seriously impaired by correspondence of missionaries direct with them concerning mistakes in the application of designated gifts, the Con¬ ference recommends that in such cases correspondence be directed to the department making notification of the gift, with a complete statement of facts and that sufficient time be given for full investigation and for readjustment. 3. Specific Gifts. a. The Conference recognizes the distress which the individual mis¬ sionary on any field must often suffer for lack of sufficient means to meet compelling needs or to enter attractive avenues of service and the temptation to approach the constituency for funds for special purposes outside the limits of the regular budget. Attention is called, however, to the following important principles governing the subject of specifics: (a) The needs on every one of the fields are practically boundless. (b) The resources for meeting these needs are strictly limited. (c) Tasks of primary importance should as far as possible be in¬ cluded in the regular budget. (d) The number of enterprises requiring the raising of specific funds outside the budget should be reduced to a minimum. (e) In the relatively small number of cases in which the need is so urgent as to justify the efforts to secure specific funds outside the budget, the missionary should refrain from making any appeal to the constituency until after the project has been approved by the field organization and the Boards. The appeal should then be made in accordance with plans made by and in close cooperation with the Home Base Departments. It is of course understood that action of the reference committee alone is not sufficient authorization for seek¬ ing specific gifts. b. Since in some fields there has grown up through the years the practice of caring for a considerable proportion of the work through specifics, the Conference recommends: (a) That all gifts for the work, whether received by the missionary direct or through the regular channels, should be at once reported to the reference committee and the Boards and, in case the proposed expenditure is deemed unwise, the specific should be held pending cor- 44 PROPOSED POREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES respondence with the donor and the Board concerned. All specific gifts, whether received direct or through the Boards, should be accounted for in the same manner as regular appropriations. (b) That an inquiry be made by the reference committee upon each field to ascertain whether a lack of balance has been brought about through the receipt of a large amount in specific gifts. (c) That if this inquiry reveals the fact that any station or indi¬ vidual profits to an unusual extent by specific gifts the reference com¬ mittee make allowance for income thus received in apportioning the funds received through appropriations in gross. (d) That missionaries endeavor to induce donors to allow gifts offered as specifics to apply on the regular budget. VI. Miscellaneous 1. Student Groups. The Conference places itself on record as being greatly interested in the efforts of student groups in this country to achieve a more adequate understanding and appreciation of the Christian church and its activities. It is hoped that the energy and enthusiasm of the youth of all lands may find within the church a channel of expression that shall call forth every element of its courage and vision to deal with the complex problems of the present day. Every effort should be made to cooperate with these groups in all lands to help them not only to find their place in, but also to make their contribution to, the kingdom enterprise. 2. Manual for Missionaries. The Conference recommends, in order that the relations of the mis¬ sionary to the Boards may be clear to all, that a complete manual for missionaries be prepared. This should include not only matters pertain¬ ing to the missionary’s contacts with the home constituency but also all phases of his activity. Plans should be made for revision at frequent intervals, either by means of the publication of new manuals or the bringing up to date of a loose-leaf manual. OUR SPIRITUAL RESOURCES 1. The Conference renders thanks to our Heavenly Father for the rich spiritual feasts we have enjoyed during the devotional periods of the Con¬ ference and the spiritual help for our tasks that this fellowship with our Master and each other has brought and the fresh vision we have had of our abounding spiritual resources in God, our Father. PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSIOX POLICIES 45 2. The Conference firmly believes that our great and supreme task is to preach salvation through Jesus Christ and that only as He is exalted in word and deed both in individual and church life will our work succeed. The Conference heartily rejoices in the present emphasis on evangelism at home, believing that this will prove a great stimulus both to missionaries and to the Christian churches on our mission fields, leading them to dedicate themselves anew with greater zeal to the service of the Master. 3. In view of the evidences of wealth on every side and remembering the power and purpose of Christ to transform our selfish ideals, the Confer¬ ence wishes strongly to emphasize: a. That the missionary appeal for self-denial both in life and gifts at home and abroad will ever point the way along which lies the great hope of the church. For the sake of the nation and church at home, as well as of our missionary work, this fact must never be forgotten. b. That in view of the present emphasis on stewardship of life and money in the churches at home we take great courage, having confidence that the Christians of America will more and more realize their responsi¬ bility for giving the gospel to all the world. c. That the Conference regards it as most significant in the leading of Providence that just at the time when the American people are entrusted with wealth such as never before has been known, the hearts of non- Christian peoples are ready in an unprecedented degree to receive the gos¬ pel of Jesus Christ. 4. The Conference recognizes the sympathetic world outlook and many other encouraging elements in the youth movement of today and calls upon the churches in every way to seek a sympathetic insight and understanding of it lest, leaving them unaided, we fail to secure for Christ’s kingdom in all lands the fine enthusiasm and aspiration present in our best young people today. 5. The Conference deeply feels in our great task the need for mobilizing all resources of power and earnestly calls upon all Christians both at home and on the foreign field so to live as to bring to our aid the promised power of the Holy Spirit and the results of persistent prevailing prayer. SUMMARY OF CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS Preparation for the Conference began early in 1924 when notices were sent to the various missions asking them to appoint representatives to a confer¬ ence. In the meantime a preliminary announcement was prepared and sent, in December, 1924, to all missionaries of the two Societies. This announce¬ ment outlined the object of calling a conference and gave the topics which it was proposed to discuss. Each mission was asked to appoint a special committee to study the questions raised and prepare as full a statement as possible, which would represent the views of the mission on these important topics. Early in i\Iarch, 1925 such of the appointed delegates as could be con¬ veniently brought together met with the executive officers for a brief preliminary conference in New York City with the result that an agenda committee was appointed with W. E. Wiatt as chairman and R. L. Howard as secretary. This group also divided the topics for discussion along somewhat different lines from those given in the preliminary announce¬ ment and assigned the various subjects to committees as follows: 1. The Churches on the Mission Field; A. F. Groesbeck, Chairman, 2. Leadership; D. C. Holtom, Chairman. 3. The Place of Women in the Churches on the Mission Field; Miss E. J. Peterson, Chairman. 4. Christian Schools on the Mission Field; H. I. Frost, Chairman. 5. Medical Work on the Mission Field; A. H. Henderson, Chairman. 6. Financial Problems; C. B. Tenny, Chairman. 7. The Home Base; F. W. Harding, Chairman. 8. Administrative Problems; W. E. Wiatt, Chairman. 9. Devotional Committee; H. J. Openshaw, Chairman. 10. The Place and Work of the Foreign Missionary in the Light of Changed Conditions; A. J. Tuttle, Chairman. Each of these committees was asked to prepare a report, not in the form of definite conclusions, but as a survey of the field under discus¬ sion, which would give a background for the deliberations of the Con¬ ference. These committees did a great deal of serious work during the summer months and presented extensive reports which gave most important mate¬ rial on which the findings were based. Personnel The basis of representation was the same as that adopted for the second Newton Center Conference. Each mission was entitled to one delegate for every ten men (or major fraction of ten) in regular active service. 46 PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 47 with five representatives as a maximum from any mission. Each mission was entitled to one single woman delegate (with one additional single woman delegate from Burma and South India) to be nominated by the woman’s committee to the mission conference for election, in those mis¬ sions where such a committee exists, otherwise by a special committee of women appointed for this purpose. In line with this basis of representation each mission appointed its rep¬ resentatives as follows: Burma: W. E. Wiatt, A. H. Henderson, A. J. Weeks, L. W. Hattersley, C. L. Conrad, Miss Mary E. Phillips, Miss Marion A. Beebe. Assam: A. J. Tuttle, H. O. Wyatt, F. W. Harding, Miss Charlotte A. Wright. South India: C. R. Marsh, J. A. Curtis, L. C. Smith (unable to attend), Miss Jennie L. Reilly, Miss Olive E. Jones, Mrs. C. R. Marsh (co-opted). Bengal-Orissa: H. R. Murphy, H. I. Frost, J. H. Oxrieder. South China: A. F. Groesbeck, G. E. Whitman, B. L. Baker (co-opted). Miss Melvina Sollman. East China: P. R. Bakeman, J. T. Proctor, Miss Ethel L. Lacey (co¬ opted), Miss Ellen J. Peterson. West China: H. J. Openshaw, J. C. Humphreys, Miss Minnie M. Argetsinger. Japan: D. C. Holtom, C. B. Tenny, Miss Mary D. Jesse. Belgian Congo: W. H. Leslie, Mrs. W. H. Leslie, Henry Erickson (unable to attend). Philippine Islands: H. F. Stuart, Miss Selma J. Lagergren. A number of other missionaries attended some of the sessions as visitors. In addition, the Boards of Managers and the executive staffs of the two Societies were represented as follows: From the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society: F. L. Anderson, H. B. Robins, W. A. Jameson. From the Board of Managers of the Woman’s American Baptist For¬ eign Mission Society: Mrs. H. E. Goodman, Mrs. H. W. Smith, Mrs. N. R. Wood, Mrs. Cornelius Woelfkin, Mrs. G. W. Doane, Mrs. George W. Taft. From the staff of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society: J. H. Franklin, J. C. Robbins, P. H. J. Lerrigo, G. B. Huntington, R. L. Howard, H. F. Cawthorne, P. E. Alden, Forrest Smith, R. D. Stafford. From the staff of the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society: Miss Mabelle R. McVeigh, Miss Alice M. Hudson, Mrs. L. J. P. Bishop, Miss J. W. Dayton. Conduct of Business The Conference convened at the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, New York City, on the morning of November 18, 1925, with Mrs. L. J. P. 48 PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSION POLICIES Bishop in the chair. Other presiding- officers during the Conference were Dr. Franklin, Mrs. Goodman, Dr. Lerrigo, Miss McVeigh, Dr. Hunting ton, Mrs. N. R. Wood, Mrs. C. D. Eulette, Mrs. H. W. Smith, and Dr. Robbins. In order to give a greater continuity in the conduct of business when the important matters of the findings were being considered, the business committee asked Dr. Robbins to preside during the last half of the Conference. Rev. L. W. Hattersley and Aliss Ethel L. Lacey were asked to act as secretaries of the Conference, Miss Olive E. Jones taking Miss Lacey’s place during the latter part of the Conference. A business committee was also appointed consisting of C. B. Tenny, chairman. Miss Mabelle R. McVeigh, A. F. Groesbeck, H. F. Stuart, Miss Melvina Sollman, J. C. Robbins, P. E. Alden, and R. L. Howard, secre¬ tary; their duty being to provide for any changes in the tentative program and for the general guidance and conduct of business. On the recommendation of the agenda committee, the following find¬ ings committees were appointed, with the proviso that the delegates from the Boards and the executive officers be ex officio members of all these committees: Findings Committee “A” to consider the topics assigned to the com¬ mittees on The Churches on the Mission Field, Leadership, The Place of Women in the Churches on the Mission Field, and The Place and Work of the Foreign Missionary in the Light of Changed Conditions: D. C. Holtom, A. F. Groesbeck, Miss Melvina Sollman, A. J. Tuttle, C. L. Conrad, A. J. Weeks, J. H. Oxrieder, J. A. Curtis, Miss Selma G. Lager- gren, H. J. Openshaw, P..R. Bakeman, W. H. Leslie, Miss Mary E. Phillips. Findings Committee “B” to consider the topics assigned to the com¬ mittees on Christian Schools on the Mission Field, Medical Work on the Mission Field, and the Devotional Committee: H. 1. Frost, B. L. Baker, L. W. Hattersley, J. C. Humphreys, Miss Ellen J. Peterson, A. H. Hen¬ derson, Miss Charlotte A. Wright, H. O. Wyatt, Miss Jennie L. Reilly, H. F. Stuart, Mrs. W. H. Leslie, Miss Olive E. Jones, Miss Marion A. Beebe. Findings Committee “C” to consider topics assigned to the committees on Financial Problems, The Home Base, and Administ’^ative Problems: C. B. Tenny, C. R. Marsh, Miss Minnie M. Argetsinger, J. T. Proctor, Miss Ethel L. Lacey, G. E. Whitman, W. E. Wiatt, H. R. Murphy, F. W. Harding. Part of the first day of the Conference was taken up in a review of the present world situation. Miss McVeigh speaking for the Woman’s So¬ ciety, Dr. Robbins, Dr. Franklin and Dr. Lerrigo for the General Society from the point of view of India, the Far East and Africa, respectively; PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES 49 Mr. I'rost lor Bengal-Orissa; Miss Reilly, South India; Mr. Stuart, the Philippine Islands; Mr. Proctor, East China; Mr. Baker, South China; Miss Argetsinger, West China; Dr. Leslie, Belgian Congo; Mr. Wiatt, Burma; Mr. Tuttle, Assam; Mr. Tenny, Japan. After this general survey, the business of the Conference was con¬ ducted in the main as follows: the chairman of each committee gave a brief resume of the work of his committee, answered questions and led discussions on the main points concerned. After this preliminary survey the reports were referred to the findings committees for the purpose of drawing up definite resolutions to be presented to the Conference as a whole. All the evenings except the first two, as well as many odd times between sessions, were given to the deliberations of the findings committees, either as a whole or in the sub-committees into which they divided them¬ selves. These committees began presenting findings on November 27, and the consideration of such findings occupied the two daytime sessions of the Conference until its end on December 2. Marked differences of personal judgment and of practice on the part of the missions appeared, as was to be expected in view of the widely varied conditions on the mission fields represented. Yet there was a strong feeling of brotherhood and fellowship in a common task even over the most keenly disputed questions, and the very bringing together of these differing points of view constituted one of the most valuable features of the Conference. From the foregoing resume of the method of conducting the Con¬ ference business it will be seen that a great deal of earnest thought and serious consideration was given to every one of the findings adopted. They were thoroughly discussed by the Conference as a whole and were voted upon paragraph by paragraph with frequent amendments. When any marked differences of opinion occurred, the findings were recommitted for restatement in such form as could command practically the unanimous consent of the Conference. Not once during the Conference did a dele¬ gate ask to be registered as opposing the statement accepted by the Con¬ ference as a whole. The findings, therefore, may be taken as representing practically the unanimous judgment of the Conference. It must be held in mind, however, that they are findings and require further action before they become operative. An editing committee consisting of W. E. Wiatt, Miss Mabelle R. McVeigh, G. B. Huntington, Miss Olive E. Jones and B. L. Baker was appointed. The Conference put on record its special gratitude to the Madison Avenue Baptist Church for the use of the lOom and for many other courtesies, to Dr. and Mrs. Curtis Lee Laws for graciously entertaining the entire Conference at luncheon at the Hotel Le Marquis, to Dr. and 50 PROPOSED FOREIGN MISSION POLICIES Mrs. Cornelius Woelfkin, who most hospitably entertained a group of the delegates for Thanksgiving dinner at the International House, to Dr. J. C. Robbins who bore the heavy burden of presiding over the Conference, and to R. L. Howard, the secretary of the Agenda Committee. Devotional Services The preliminary announcement of the Conference included a Call to Prayer and stated as one of the topics to be considered Our Abounding Spiritual Resources. It was deeply felt that with the problems which the Societies now face solutions could only be found, and those solutions put into practice, if the Master “walked and talked” with each and every one present. It was the rare privilege of the Conference to have outstanding men and women lead the devotional services with which each day’s sessions began. The leaders of these services were Dr. George Caleb Moor, Dr. G. Arvid Hagstrom, Rev. A. C. Thomas, Dr. A. Ray Petty, Dr. Howard « B. Grose, Dr. Cornelius Woelfkin, Mrs. George Caleb Moor, Mrs. H. E. Goodman, Dr. J. H. Franklin and Dr. J. C. Robbins. Sunday, November 29, was set apart as a day for meditation, prayer and reconsecration. The Conference joined the Madison venue Baptist Church in its morning service of worship. In the afternoon and evening Dr. E. W. Hunt led in two memorable services. It was the feeling of all present that the Spirit of God did guide in the conduct of the sessions, and it was the earnest prayer that through His Spirit every missionary and every member of the executive staff should have renewed vision and power for the work of His kingdom. TENTATIVE STATEMENT OF POLICY OF THE AMERICAN BAPTIST FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY The following suggested modification of the Statement of Policy of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society as adopted September 12, 1912, was adopted by the Board on April 10, 1923, with the understanding that it be sent to the several missions for approval or for suggestions as to modification. The American Baptist Foreign Mission Society holds: That in the process of realizing its objective, defined in the charter of the Society as “diffusing the knowledge of the religion of Jesus Christ by means of missions throughout the world,” it shall be guided by the following policy: 1. That intensive development of the v/ork in sections already occupiea is for the immediate future a more imperative duty than entering upon new fields. Many of the stations of the Society are inadequately supplied with workers and equipment, with the result that the field cannot yield returns in proportion to the effort expended. The Society should strictly limit its responsibilities and work to that for which reasonably adequate provision can be made, even to the extent of making serious readjustments in work already undertaken. The entrance upon new fields or even the assumption of new obligations within a given mission, if demanded by the clear indications of Divine Providence, will demand definite increase of resources or readjustments in existing work, leading to cancellation of some features. 2. That effort should be directed to the establishment, within strategic areas, of strong Christian communities which shall be permanent forces of evangelization and education and which will gradually assume full responsibility for the extension of the kingdom in their own lands. Preaching of the gospel by foreign missionaries must continue, but should in each region give place as soon as practicable to evangelization and education by the native bodies in selecting, training, placing and inspiring native workers. 3. That education, especially of the Christian youth and the children of Christian parents, is a matter of pressing importance. Only by Chris¬ tian education can the Christian community become and remain a potent force in the life of the people, or leaders be provided to carry forward the work of evangelization and the building up of the Christian community. 4. That wherever it is practicable there should be cooperation with other Christian bodies working in the same fields. Such cooperation is of special importance in the department of higher education, where stu¬ dents are relatively few and education expensive. 51 52 PROPOSED FOREIGX MISSION POLICIES That in meeting problems of international significance such as the rela¬ tions of missions to governments and kindred questions, there should be cooperation between duly appointed representatives of recognized mis¬ sionary organizations and native Christian agencies in various countries. All interdenominational and international cooperation is to be on such a basis as will not compromise our denominational principles nor affect the autonomy of the Society or of the native churches. 5. That the increasing readiness of the churches on the mission field and of their own representative bodies to assume full responsibility for the support and conduct of the Christian work in their own lands should be encouraged. That the aspirations of these churches for self-expression and complete autonomy should be recognized as indicative of growth and in harmony with New Testament teaching and Baptist principles. That pending the assumption of full responsibility by the churches, there should be formed as rapidly as possible administrative bodies com¬ posed of representatives both of these churches and of the mission. That the general conventions of the churches on the mission fields should have an increasingly intimate and fraternal relation with the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. 6. Permanent funds should be secured on proper conditions the income of which should be allocated by the Board for the partial support of edu¬ cational institutions which are being developed in connection with the several missions. Contributions should also be sought from local donors on the mission fields toward the support, the equipment and the endow¬ ment of specific institutions. 7. We recommend that the missions study the problem of raising the standard in the Christian ministry so as to attract to that service men more thoroughly trained and that with this end in view they should con¬ sider the provision of adequate salaries in the ministry as compared with the teaching profession, aiming to secure local support. While in special cases it may be necessary that native leaders should be supported directly by funds from the mission treasury, it should be recog¬ nized that such an arrangement is but temporary, and that as early as practicable provision should be made whereby such leaders will receive their support from or through native Christian organizations. 8. That although the Society does not send foreign missionaries to Europe, it should temporarily give limited financial assistance and counsel to groups of Baptists which have sprung up in European countries, who are contending for the historic principles of our denomination. A STATEMENT OF THE POLICY OF THE WOMAN’S AMERICAN BAPTIST FOR¬ EIGN MISSION SOCIETY I. The Purpose The purpose of the work of the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society in mission fields as expressed in its by-laws is “the eleva¬ tion and Christianization of women and children in foreign lands.” The method of accomplishing this purpose was outlined in the by-laws and has been consistently followed, namely, “by sending out and supporting women missionaries to do evangelistic, educational and medical work on the foreign fields; in developing and employing native Christian teachers and Bible women, physicians and nurses, and in erecting such buildings as may be deemed necessary for the prosecution of the work.” II. Evangelism The primary object of the Society being the elevation and Christianiza¬ tion of women and children in foreign lands, its devolves upon its repre¬ sentatives so to present the appeal of the Gospel as to lead to the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. This has been and is being accom¬ plished not only through the lives and teaching of missionaries, but by the Bible women whom they have trained, and the women and girls who, having set out on the Christian life, have been the means of winning others to the same faith in Christ. Evangelism through industry has also been a principle in various stations, where by means of handcraft and various industrial lines poverty has been relieved and a contact has been established for the teaching of the Gospel. III. Education Realizing that women cannot in most instances adequately teach the Gospel, improve their surroundings or train their children unless they receive Christian education, the Society has provided and maintains kinder¬ gartens, elementary schools, high and normal schools, colleges, Bible and nurses’ training schools, thus seeking to make it possible for the Christian women of the Orient to have every adequate opportunity for training and service. IV. Medical Work The relief of suffering is preeminently a task for Christian women, aticl the ministry of healing occupies an important place on the program of work for women and children of the Orient. The hospital is a great evangelizing force in the lands where women have not received proper medical care in the past. The medical missionary, whether doctor or nurse, finds doors opened to her and opportunities for evangelistic work offered which would not be to any other. The training of native doctors and nurses is an important factor in medical missions. 53 54 PROPOSliL) PORPIGX MISSlOX POLICIES V. Intensive Policy It is the policy of the Woman’s American Baptist Foreign Mission Society to strengthen its work at points where both the need and the response to the Gospel have proved to be greatest and to make such ad¬ justments and curtailments as may be necessary in order to care for the work adequately at the strategic centres. It is deemed wiser to do this rather than to establish new work, especially at times of financial stringency. We realize, however, that the meeting of new opportunities, particularly when special provision is made for them, may be indicative of the definite leading of God so often proved in the planning of our work. VI. Native Leadership The prime necessity of all the work of the Society in foreign fields is to develop native Christian workers to such standards of efficiency and such strength of faith and knowledge of the Gospel that they shall be responsible for evangelizing and educating their own people. In view of the important place of women in society in any land it is self-evident that every effort must be made to develop Christian women leaders in every mission field. VII. Cooperation In order to secure the best and largest results from the investment of life and money in foreign lands it has seemed necessary and advisable to cooperate with other Christian bodies in some educational institutions (especially colleges) and in international and interdenominational relation¬ ships, bearing in mind in all cooperative movements the ideals of salva¬ tion through Jesus Christ for which Baptist missions have always stood. Among the most important relationships is that with the American Bap¬ tist Foreign Mission Society in which close cooperation in unity of ideals and methods of work make for strength in the Christian churches on the field. f r V