RISING msi '■'v. • BY WILLIAM E. DOUGHTY INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF , k NORTH A \ AMERICA/ THE RISING RIVER By WILLIAM E. DOUGHTY INTERCHURCH WORLD MOVEMENT OF NORTH AMERICA 111 Fifth Avenue New York City Price: 5 cents each, 50 cents per dozen, $2.75 per hundred. 168.1. 100. Nov. 1919 The Rising R iver X N an ancient took tkere is a message {or tke new time. Tke Old Testament propket Ezekiel describes tke power and blessings of tke kingdom of God in terms of living streams flowing out of tke temple. Tke story is full of msigkt and inspiration. “He krougkt me out by tke way of tke gate nortk- ward, and led me round ky tke way witkout unto tke outer gate tkat looketk toward tke East, and kekold! tkere ran out waters on tke rigkt side. Wken tke man went fortk eastward witk tke line in kis kand, ke measured a tkousand cubits, and ke caused me to pass tkrougk tke waters, waters tkat were to tke ankles. Again ke meas¬ ured a tkousand, and caused me to pass tkrougk tke waters, waters tkat were to tke knees. Again ke measured a tkousand, and caused me to pass tkrougk tke waters, waters tkat were to tke loins. Afterward ke measured a tkousand; and it was a river tkat I could not pass tkrougk; for tke waters 4 The Rising River were risen, waters to swim in, a river tliat could not l>e passed through." (Ezekiel 47:2-5.) It is proposed in tke pages tkat follow to give a modern setting to tins striking picture by thinking of it in relation to the rising river of the mission¬ ary life of tbe American churches; first, to out¬ line the development of that life; and second, to pomt out the abiding principles upon which every genume spiritual movement must rest. First let us make a swift review of the progress of the ideals and of the plans for world service among the American churches. Four phases in the expansion of this life-giving stream are evident: 1. The Springs There was a time when American Christianity had no world-wide reach. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was not a single mis¬ sionary supported by the American churches at work anywhere m the non-Christian world. Three of the five continents and a large part of a fourth were almost untouched by the work of any evangelical missionary. Facing such a situation, companies of students at Andover Seminary and at Williams College were stirred to action as they contemplated the needs of the world and the lack of vision in the home church. They began with The Rising River 5 that most powerful of all human agencies, inter¬ cessory prayer, All tlie Christian world lias felt the thrill of the story of those gatherings at Prayer Meeting Rock, at Andover, and of tke meeting during a storm under tke skelter of a kaystack at W illiamstown. Tke reack and power of tke influences wkick kave radiated from tkose centers no man kas keen akle to measure. On tke sixtk of Fekruary, 1812, five young college men were ordained at Salem, Massackusetts, and ky tke side of two of tkem went fortk two keroic young brides. On tke nineteentk of Fekruary of tkat Bame year tke first company of tke u Immortal Seven” sailed for distant India. Tke pioneer missionary agency in tke western kemispkere wkick sent tkem fortk was tke Ameri¬ can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Tke board kad five hundred dollars in tke treasury and only twelve hundred more in sight when tke venture began. Soon came tke organization of tke American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, tke Mis¬ sionary Society of tke Methodist Episcopal Ckurck and others. So began tke era of tke organization of missionary societies m America and of tke worldwide propagation of tke f aitk. W aters tkat were to tke ankles. * 6 The Rising River 2. United Streams. The second phase of the rising river of God is found in the organization of a number of inter¬ denominational agencies. The Young Mens Christian Association and the Young Women s Christian Association, with their broad platforms of service to the whole life of men and women without regard to denominational affiliation or distinction, have given a most powerful and practical demonstration of the practicability of strong leaders of many faiths working together on great common tasks. It was m June, 1844, that the first Young Men s Christian Association was organized in London. On November 25,1851, in Montreal, and on December 29, 1851, m Boston, this mighty agency of the kingdom came into being m America. Out of the great revival of the fifties came the Youn tfW omen s Christian Association. To these organizations more than any other is due a debt of gratitude for preparing the churches to cooperate in their common tasks. The Sunday school organizations and young people’s movements have performed the same service in a different way. Their united plans for the religious education of youth, their litera¬ ture, their conventions and conferences have widened the horizon of millions of young people; The Raising River 7 have given them added loyalty to tlieir own com¬ munions, while at tiie same time broadening tbeir sympathies and contacts with all the other churches. The Student Volunteer Movement, together with the candidate departments of the mission boards, has lifted to a new plane the whole question of the dedication of life to Christian callings. They have contributed enormously to the carrymg of the message of Christianity to fields afar and have exerted an immeasurable spiritual influence on successive college generations since the organization of the Movement m 1885. Then came the Young People's Missionary Move¬ ment, afterward renamed the Missionary Educa¬ tion Movement. Its field was the masses of young people m the churches who were not being adequately reached by any agency with the mis¬ sionary message and vision. The summer confer¬ ences and other field campaigns of this Movement, its missionary text boohs and other educational materials have set new standards of missionary education and have helped mightily to prepare the mmd and heart of the modern church for the new era expansion which is now upon us. The senes of world missionary conferences, TKt Rising Rjvsr culminating in tlie greatest of tliem all at Edin¬ burgh in 1910, which marked a distinct era in the world-wide propagation of Christianity, have been powerful factors in giving a more adequate view of the task of the churches, in international¬ izing the thinking of Christian leadership and in helping the church to recognize and appreciate the essential spiritual unity of the evangelical forces. The Continuation Committee of the Edinburgh Conference, with its unprecedented chain of mis¬ sionary conferences in the great mission fields; its gathering and marshaling of data regarding the world situation; its promotion of international fellowship and understanding, has made a contri¬ bution to the world civilization the value and power of which it is difficult to over estimate. The interdenominational missionary councils, such as the Foreign Missions Conference, the Home Missions Council, the Federation of Women's Boards of Foreign Missions and the Council of Women for Home Missions, have been outstanding examples of the new spiritual and intellectual unity of Christian leaders. Their plans for co¬ operation, their emphasis upon the power of a united program and message in the missionary and social concerns of the churches, have demonstrated 9 The Rasing River beyond question tlie feasibility of united consider¬ ation of, and action on, questions of common interest. ■' Another of the powerful agencies in bringing the churches together is the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. Many efforts and movements for federation culminated in Phila¬ delphia in 1906, when the Council took its present form of organization. Mo single influence has been more powerful in expressing the mind and will of the whole evangelical constituency on great moral and religious questions. The social creed of the churches adopted by the Council is a not¬ able illustration of religious comity. Then, ten years ago, the Laymens Missionary Movement came with its insistence upon the practical facing by the church of its whole task in terms of an adequate budget. Its conventions were the greatest gatherings of professional and business men, to consider international Christian questions, that have ever been held. Its emphasis upon the principles and practise of stewardship; its insistence upon business methods of education and finance, -including the weekly offering and the every-member canvass, resulted in greatly lifting the missionary vision and output of the American churches. 10 The Rising River Each of these Movements Las made its contribu¬ tion and others that might be mentioned have added their share to the rising tide. The period of time thus briefly sketched above has been the world s most notable era. of mterdommational organization and service. The hour is evidently about to strike for some great new advance by means of a coordination of all these forces. tk MVaters that were to the knees, 3. Deepening Currents. Attention has just been called to the fact that the outstanding phenomenon of the religious life of America during the last half century has been the successful development of powerful interdenomin¬ ational agencies. From a period in which the attitude of the different communions toward one another was often one of open hostility; through a later period of over zealous competition to a period of mutual respect and cooperation, is a long step toward the coming of the kingdom of God on earth* It began to look as if the day for separate, denom¬ inational propaganda had passed. One of the unexpected and rather paradoxical re¬ sults of this new interdenominational outlook and the deepening sense of responsibility in the churches has been what some have looked upon with trepid- The Rising River 11 ation as the recrudescence of denommationalism. Separate communions Lave organized special de¬ nominational campaigns on a scale undreamed of m all CLnstian Listory. TLe pioneer m tins field was tLe Men and Mill¬ ions Movement of tLe Disciples of CLnst, witL its appeal for six million dollars and a tLousand new workers. TLis was followed Ly otLer movements in Canada and tLe United States, notably tLe Northern Baptist Laymen's Movement, tLe New Era Move¬ ment of tLe Presbyterians, tbe Enlistment Cam¬ paign of tbe United Brethren and tbe Joint Mis¬ sionary Centenary of the Methodists, North and South. Budgets have been lifted from a few hun¬ dred thousand dollars to many millions; the call for life investment has expanded proportionately, and programs Lave been carried through with dimen¬ sions so vast that all previous efforts seem but child s play. The remarkable success of these enterprises has demonstrated the feasibility of campaigns on a scale and with objectives larger than have ever before been contemplated Ly the church m all its Listory. These denominational movements have revealed with new vividness that all the commun¬ ions are working m a common field; that mdepen- 12 r jThe Rjsing R.iv§r s*. dent competitive effort mean* enormous wasteful¬ ness and loss of power; tkat tkere are vast areas tkat can ke adequately occupied only ky a united program; tkat tke relationskips are tkose of inter¬ dependence not independence, and tkat tke united call for and training of workers results in great gains in efficiency and economy. “Waters tkat were to tke loins." 4, < The Floocl-'T'jdt. Wkat next? Tke re is one otker measurement: “It was a river tkat I could not pass tkrougk; for tke waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river tkat could not ke passed tkrougk." (Ezek. 47:5.) Are we at last on tke kank of tkat nver? Are tke streams at last to unite in one migkty tide? Is tke Interckurck "World Movement of God? So it seems to multitudes. Tke words of Dr. Hukert C. Herring voice tke convictions of many wken ke says; “Tkere is no need to say more except to empkasize one element wki ck kas keen common to all gatker- ings of tke Movement from tke kegmning. Tkis element is tke pervasive and commanding impres¬ sion tkat in it all tke Spirit of God is calling us to do a new and greater tking. Again and again in confronting tke puzzles, tke proklems, tke perplex¬ ities and colossal demands of tke undertaking, I The Rising River 2$ Lave found myself hesitating, only to Le lifted out of Lesitation Ly tLe assured confidence Lorn in me and borne in upon me tLat we Lave come to a place wLcre Goi is speaking a new word of command wLicL we dare not refuse to Lear. Here on tLe LitLer side of tLese years of agony CLrist stands witL us today and Lids us go forward to a new and greater thing.” Is tLe IntercLurcL Movement Lut tLe introduction to tLat glad day wLen tLe knowledge cf tLe glory of God sLall cover tLe eartL as tLe waters cover tLe sea? We trust so, Lut tLe answer lies deeper tLan we Lave yet gone. We must understand tLe conditions for tLe manifestation of power suffi¬ cient for sucL an Lour and sucL a program. As Dr. J. Campbell WLite says: “’Unless tLe Movement and preparation for it are providential we will want to Lave* nothing to do with it. If Loth the preparation for it and the Movement it¬ self are providential then we Lave everything to do with it and all our future is hound up in it. I am one of those who is willing to stake every¬ thing on the conviction that God is moving now in Lis church in a mighty way. TLe conviction Las been deepening that since the churches can do so much more Ly working together than they can do Ly working without intelligent regard to each 14 The Rising River otkcr, it is tlieir clear duty to cooperate to tke fullest extent. Tkis duty kas come to multitudes of earnest Cknstians as a profound moral and spiritual okligation. Forward-looking leaders of tke ckurck m every part of Nortk America kave felt tkat some new measure of ckurck cooperation was kotk imperative and mevitakle, Tke Inter- ckurck World Movement seems to ke tke answer to tkeir longing and prayer/’ To tkese words we add only a statement from Dr. Jokn R. Mott wko says: ^A practical plan of cooperation, entered into intelligently ky tke leaders of tke aggressive forces of tke evangelical forces and adkered to loyally witkout any com¬ promise or sacrificing a single vital principle, would make possikle tke easy world-wide occupa¬ tion ky pure Ckristianity of all tkose fields tkat now concern us. In fact, I see no reason wky five years skould pass witkout our kaving m posi¬ tion m every dominant place tke gospel agents and tke gospel agencies on k otk sides of tke sea in suffi¬ cient strengtk and working witk sufficient preci¬ sion to knng tke victory well witkm our sigkt and witkm our day/' ^Zhy the Living Stream? As one penetrates deeper into tke meaning of tke The Rising R iver 15 living stream, its origin and destiny, tke clearer kecomes tke conviction tliat liere we are dealing witk eternal principles upon wkick any genuine spiritual movement must rest. Wkat are tlie secrets of all tkose keneficient streams tkat kave klessed our world? We go kack again to tke Ezekiel story. 1. The Presence of God. You will recall tkat tke propket says tke stream flowed out of tke east gate. In seeking for an ex¬ planation turn kack to an earlier ckapter in Ezekiel and tkere you will read: '^Xke glory of Jekovak came into tke kouse ky tke way of tke gate wkose prospect is toward tke east. And tke spirit took me up and krougkt me into tke inner court; and, kekold, tke glory of Jekovak filled tke kouse. And I keard one speaking unto me out of tke kouse; and a man stood ky me. And ke said unto me. Son of man, tkis is tke place of my tkrone and tke place of tke soles of my feet wkere I will dwell in tke midst of tke ckildren of Israel forever. (Ezekiel 43:4-7.) All tke gates of tke temple are descnked ky tke propket, kut out of only one of tkem tke life-giving river flows. It is out of tke gate tkrougk wkick God enters tkat tke streams come fortk. Tke Ckristian movements tkat live come out of tke keart of God. Many fair pro- 16 'The Rising River jects lie wrecked by tlie side of the long trail by wLicL men are rising to power, because tbey lacked or lost tbe divine presence. In tbe light of this truth a passage in the Acts has taken on new meaning: “If this counsel or this work he of men, it will be overthrown: but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God. (Acts, 5:38, 39.) In a stirring poem entitled. “^Vhat Did You See Out There, My Lad?', John Oxenham records the experiences of a young soldier in the world war. The closing lines are as follows: “I have sped through hells of fiery hail. With fell red-fury shod; I have heard the whisper of a voice, I have looked in the face of God. 1 You've a right to your deep, high look, my lad. You have met God in the ways; And no man looks into His face But he feels it all his days.” We too must see the face of God if this Move¬ ment reaches its goal, for only an unshaken con¬ viction that the Movement is of God will be powerful enough to carry it through. This is the The Rising River 17