Report of the Traveling Secretary for the American Inter-Seminary Alli- ance, for the year 1894-95 By REV. JAMES EDWARD ADAMS Report of the Traveling Secretary for the American Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance, for the year 1894-95. Origin of the But few words are necessary concerning the pur- Work. pose of the work attempted by the Alliance among the seminaries during the past winter. At its Convention at Springfield, Ohio, in November, 1894, the conviction found expression that the work of the Church in the world as a mission- ary organization could never be accomplished except through the agency of a missionary ministry in the home Church; that also the ministry as a body could never be surely and effectually reached except through having the missionary stamp put upon it while in its training period. The theological seminary was recog- nized as the strategic point for accomplishing this end, and it was believed that the most certain method was through systematic courses of instruction in the seminaries which could be calculated to deepen conviction and to thoroughly equip the minister for dis- charging this supreme obligation. A Secretary To this end it was determined to investigate the Chosen. condition of instruction on missions in our semi- naries and the results of the methods now in vogue; also to arrange for a traveling secretary to work personally among the seminaries, stimulating the students to a more thorough study of missions themselves, and agitating the question of more thorough and systematic instruction on the subject. Status of Missionary In pursuit of the investigation a series ot Instruction. questions was sent out to members of the faculties of our seminaries. And in as many cases as possible the same questions were sent also to a leading student in each institu- (2) tion in order that both views of the existing agencies and condi- tions might be obtained. About sixty seminaries responded, with the following results: 1 . In only one was there an entire chair given to the sub- ject of Missions. 2. Six had the subject as an officially recognized integral part of a chair. 3. Thirty-four reported the subject as unofficially included in the teaching of some other chair, as of Church History, Pastoral Theology, etc. 4. Out of thirty-four catalogues examined, eighteen made no mention of the subject in their printed courses of study; one reported a course of several terms in the specific History of Mis- sions, and several had specially endowed lecture courses for the occasional treatment of missionary themes. In the seminary spoken of in class 1 the present incumbent is teaching Systematic Theology and gives no time to the subject of his chair. Under class 2, of the six, three either never have had or have not now the missionary part of the chair in active operation. In the remaining three the average amount of time given to the subject is thirty-six hours for the three years’ course. Under class 3, twelve state that they refer to what is given to the subject of the history of missions in the general instruction in Church History; nineteen reported as having it in Practical Theology, and the average amount of time given to the subject was eight lecture periods for the entire course. Results Also Show The efficiency of the amount and methods Little Instruction. of the missionary instruction now given in our theological seminaries, so far as it tends to convince and edu- cate the ministry, may be clearly shown by the parallel effect of this same instruction in turning men to the missions fields. The two lines of effect go together. Fifty-six seminaries in the last three years have graduated 2,371 students. Of these 126, or slightly over five per cent., have gone to the foreign field. Per- is) sonal investigation was made in thirty-six of these seminaries where 1,529 had graduated in the last three years and eighty-six had gone to the foreign field, and it was found that certainly fifty-six, probably more, had the purpose of becoming mission- aries before entering the seminary. This is to say that less than thirty, or less than two per cent. , were influenced in their decision by the instruction of the seminary. We cannot look over the list of the seminaries, which we personally know, without realizing that so far as systematic instruction in missions is concerned, as a discipline for training the ministry, there is a most lament- able lack. The Secretary’s Work The local work done in the institutions of Visitation. has been as follows: Twenty-two insti- tutions have been visited. Twenty-three public meetings have been held in which both students and members of the faculty were present; seventeen where only students were present. Sixteen conferences with small bodies of leading students have been held in which the local conditions have been discussed; and in ten of these the men have agreed to take upon themselves the personal responsibility of working for more thorough missionary instruc- tion. Forty-three personal interviews with members of seminary faculties, directors, trustees, prominent pastors, etc., have been held, and the condition and need placed before them and dis- cussed. Five seminaries either have enlarged, or have expressed themselves through their authorities as intending to enlarge their courses of instruction on missions. And in a much larger num- ber of institutions such conviction and interest has been aroused as to make it but a question of time and pressure until the same end is worked out. The Secretary’s Work Aside from the local work done in stir- at Office. ring the interest of the students in mis- sionary study and deepening their sense of ministerial obligation at this point and also in converging the local lines of influence for more systematic instruction, an effort has been made along another line. In January’a printed statement in pamphlet form covering the (4) results of the investigation up to that time, was issued for private circulation. Copies were sent to the members of faculties and of the boards of trustees and directors in some forty leading semi- naries. In addition a copy accompanied by a personal letter was sent to each of six of the leading pastors in each denomination. The result of this extended correspondence has been that a number of very strong articles on this subject have been written for the denomi- national press by leading men. Resolutions have been adopted in a number of ecclesiastical meetings memorializing the seminaries for the establishment of courses of study in missions. rieans Now Adopted to With regard to the various means Deepen Missionary employed in our seminaries to accom- Conviction in plish the end of deepening the student’s Seminaries. conviction concerning his ministerial missionary obligation and equipping him to discharge it, the fol- lowing conclusions are given, based upon the winter’s observation among the seminaries. Where outside influences brought in Occasional Addresses. and conver g ed u P° n * h e students (such as addresses of board secretaries, returned missionaries, etc.) are relied upon as the primary agency for the accomplishment of this end there is an unquestionably vicious ele- ment in the result as well as more or less of a necessary failure in accomplishing the desired end. The method is essentially unsystematic. No claim can be laid for it as furnishing a sys- tematic discipline through which to equip the student. It may serve to entertain and even inspire with a missionary spirit. But the recognition of the fact that a man may have great zeal to accomplish the ends of the ministry and get little wisdom or knowledge for doing it, is the reason we establish theological seminaries. Besides the spirit, he must have the equipping disci- pline. Its other fault is that from the fact that the influences converged are from the outside. The naturally unmissionary student is confirmed in the belief that missions is no essential part of his ministerial training. Of course missions is a good thing, one of the beneficences of the Church to which he intends to have his (5) congregation contribute, but it is not part of his required course and is not, therefore, an essential part of his equipment for the work of the ministry. This has contributed as much as anything else to the drawing of the unwarranted line of demarkation which exists in many seminaries between the men who are going to the mission field and those who are going into the home ministry. Part of Church Where the instruction on missions is his- History Department, torical and simply mixed in with the gen- eral instruction in Church History, it is also of very little value. For practical equipment for developing the Church’s missionary life, almost the only historical material which is of especial worth is in modern missions. This comes at the end of the course and very often is but lightly touched because of a lack of time. Unless time is allotted to this specific study, as to history of doctrine, it is swallowed up and lost in the general historical instruction. Missionary Lectureships. In several seminaries there are Agu- iar endowed lectureships -on which foundation, courses of from six to twelve lectures are given each year on special themes in missions by qualified men. Frequently a book is subsequently issued based upon the lectures given. In the institutions investigated where this method was adopted, it was agreed by both students and members of the faculty, that as an agency for educational equipment, it was a failure. In lectures not purely educational, the personality of the lecturer counts for as much as the substance of the lectures. In this case the lecturer changes from year to year. There is no cumulative effect or sys- tem about it. The men best qualified to speak on missions are by no means always men calculated as lecturers to hold the student. The resulting books may be excellent while the lectures are of little effect. In two institutions, the missionary lectureships of which are known all over the country because of the books which have resulted from them, professors expressed themselves as convinced that the chief profit of the foundation was the mak- ing possible of these valuable missionary books. Even the students they thought secured more from these than they did from the (6) lectures. While this agency is most excellent as a subsidiary one, it cannot most effectually accomplish the end desired. This we are convinced can only be done by the subject being given a specific place in the regular curriculum instruction of the institution. What Shall be Done While the Alliance has abundant reason for Next Year? praising God for the fruits vouchsafed to its efforts during the past year, there still remains much to be done. When the work was entered upon, a winter of little more than mere agitation was anticipated. Our Lord has granted much more than this in results already materialized. The larger fruits of the work however are still to come. Theological seminaries, like other great bodies, move slowly, and this is perfectly proper. In the greater number of the institutions visited it was impossible in the short time at command to hope to accomplish definite results. In many God gave a profound stirring of local interest. Convictions were deepened, interest aroused and agencies of agi- tation established. If, however, the work of the winter is to reach its largest fruition, these must continue for some time to be stimulated, intensified and directed; else their effective power in gaining the desired end will be largely dispersed and lost. It was impossible also to include in the tour many institutions of equal importance with those visited. The beginnings of the work remain yet to be inaugurated in these. There is certainly sufficient work to be done to command the time of a secretary for another season; and it demands to be done if we are to gather in the harvest of what God has been pleased to make spring up from the first sowing. I strongly recommend that if possible a suitable secretary be secured for an additional season’s work. Under What Immediate A word may not be amiss concerning Supervision? the policy of the work as developed during the winter and the lines which it would be advisable to pursue in the future. For the pursuit of definite, aggressive work requiring fixed lines of policy and experience in cultivating financial resources, there is a fatal defect in the organization of the Alliance in its annually shifting executive. The cumulative ( 7 ) value of experience and influence is lost. There is only one office which has within it the possibility of being in any sense perma- nent. It is that of the representative of the Alliance upon the Executive Committee of the Student Volunteer Movement. The effectiveness of this work in the local institution depends a great deal in getting hold of the right man among the students. The Student Volunteer Movement in pursuit of its work has come into touch with the missionary interests of most of the seminaries, not only those in the Alliance, but also those which are not. The privilege of using its agencies has contributed very largely to the efficiency of our work this year. Moreover, the two organizations are bound together by such strong ties of common interest, that not only is it desirable that the experience and machinery of the one should accrue to the advantage of the other, but it is impera- tive that their labors should be based upon perfectly harmonious policies, if the largest fruits are to be gathered for the Master. We would strongly recommend, therefore, after the experience of the past winter, that the work be continued in the hands of the official representative of the Alliance on the Executive Committee of the Student Volunteer Movement. I may say in conclusion that the year has A Year of Blessing. , c . . r . , , . been one of most manifest blessing upon our work. The Alliance may well thank God and take courage as it sees with how little effort, on the part of its agents, the Lord has opened this great door before it. We must not fail to enter in. He has yet greater things for us. In mar^y ways has His hand been most manifest in the winter’s work. This is but the seal of what He purposes to give us in the year which is before us. May the spirit of understanding, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of council, and the spirit of might be poured out in great measure that the object of this work may be accomplished and the Church of our Lord be given a missionary ministry. James Edward Adams. So Institute Place , Chicago , III. , May /, 1S95. Note. — Mr. Adams is now en route for Korea, the field of his life-work. He sails from San Francisco on May 4. The foregoing words constitute his last message to the theological students of America. — D. IV. L.