OUTLINE STUDIES OF SOME FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND TESTED POLICIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS BY PAUL SUPER Secretarial Bureau, International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Associations ^sisioctatton $ref(s! New York: 124 East 28th Street London: 47 Paternoster Row, E.C. Copyright, 1917, by The International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Associations FOREWORD. The recent rapid growth of Training Centers to provide instruction and coaching for preparatory and supplementary training of the local Association staff has demanded material for teaching purposes. Pending the publishing of a series of text-books on Association work that it is hoped will be available within a year, an outline for the teaching of principles and policies has been urgently needed. The following pages embody the studies made by the author while a local secretary and used by him in the Training Center of the Honolulu Association. They are not intended to be more than a mere guide to the thoughts of the teacher as he further prepares the various lessons. The actual method in their use will be influenced by the teacher’s habit of mind and experience in teaching. These statements cover the essential and tested elements in our Association i^olicies—on which points every secretary ought to have a clear understanding. The student, by marking in his copy of Morse’s History each reference to that work and making note in its pages of the meaning of each reference, would strengthen both his understanding and his memory of the fundamental referred to in each case, and would appreciate also the historic setting of each fundamental. The work here presented is largely editorial. It has not been considered necessary to state the source of cvi'ry quotation; indeed, many sentences are taken bodily from standard Association literature without quo¬ tation marks, as the text aims to be a compilation of principles rather than an original essay on them. The fundamental statement of each principle is the result of criticisms of a tentative statement submitted to sixty leading Association secretaries, and returned either approved or modified by forty-six of these men. The outline represents somewhat of a consensus of opinion that all these things are fundamentals, and practi¬ cally all the fundamentals. Discussion of methods is avoided as far as the inteix'sts of clearness will permit. The statement of a great gc'iieral was not without truth, when he said, “Get your principles correct; the rest is detail.” With correct principles, capable and earnest men will find siiewssfiil methods. 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Supervisory Agencies. 22 XL The Association Building, and Non-equipment Work. 23 XIL Financial Support. 23 XIII. Work Among Special Classes and Groups. 24 XIV. Social Service Principles. 33 XW Relation to the Missionary Enterprise. 35 * ■ J ’ ' , ^ - ,1 I • V'. ‘ . • ■ • '• ■«, -• • • X. __ Vu." \L p■*•• . • ' '. • '. '■■ ''i2 ■ ?''< '■ ■" ' >y ■•'^^, r . . ■ ,4is t ' A >■• •- ?'■ •■ r’ ■ A *' * .axviaTwoo :r s-c . , ■" •; u- i-’- '.T V ^ ' .-'''■ ‘fi ->: ‘‘*,v' .• , r, ; Nr.<‘ (.*^‘% # . ‘ ■'IK ..• W>' ' •1. T .•»■_• • i t • • m \^, .<-..< t ► •^■y > •)(**• '‘Vo. ^ -J ■ i » « • 9 I ».« X. , it .1 ' '• - ..i) • - 4 :•; -• ' '"S ' ’• ■' ' ' ' '”■ ’ ’ ' '■ ’■ ' - ’■* .-s. .. "’■-■•<■. ?i ' '' 'A*. ,,...*’ -s.,- , . rr romrjg^i^. a>ri Mon'^^jsril .fit *,'1 ' i® . . A . .r I ...... ......... wAil-*. .k>: V!A kiM Hf/f uno f/ ,'fJ ~ .5^ i' . , .v.-^ .--VL,' ’ * . / •. • * 'X* • •"!?■. ..'A 7f : . .•.0?.;...-;,. V ."^’,. .-- ‘OVlA, 4*a«T3C7a<>'/ . •V ' ’ ‘V*■ ’ ’V ' -• ■ ', A- '■■..^ -"** . ’^ '■ . ' • .?,* 8t . . £1^.^. . •.,. V.>, r ... . r .. ^'., vy,. ,Illi4siwuir^JL >?ar/aw.ii3 aaKiAnT , ‘* k -•' -C::a’ » V. ;*r, ' iti ■ • i--.'rf, • -' It ; :■ ■ ■ ... ..r.'j -.v-i...._1 _ m.*. (UWi-rtJoU y i / :l: ilV ■ V.'. ■\ -rf-A ■’ - ’•■•i' ^ .. .i .C -, -r ' f ' ■ ■'• r , /Ji. . . V...... >4*k-,-»% >, H... ».v► .iWJ.lAi'i ytdvi A'IU’^kK* xii'r JU7 ■.■/■: ■ ’■ " -■ ■'•' . -■^'' fSt , ... ..f-HaurSvv^ t. ... ^.u.’>«\f. cvwavrii'THupl ka. ivi/Xi ^|v.vri«' ;■ ... ’ V'■ , •. ^ .’'I' -a t ^ ^.- ^' !Iv'^5t': ■ t V , • .A S ir • f .* •<’ vM i." A,r ■ '«>11 • v:*j*d (.A--, / 1 4 jnl*. ^ f r 1. •• ■ 4^^^ ^ ‘ j2 . 'f' CK- ^ 2 W * ♦> >' ■ -A i iVl •..I'J.'' A:; •AVJ. •' . A. #1 I CHAPTER I. THE PARIS BASIS AND THE CENTRAL OBJECTIVE. References: “Principles and Organization of the Y. M. C. A.” IMurray. 8-11, 28-37. “Relation to the Churches.” R. C. Morse. 10-13. “Y. M. C. A. Hand-book.” 18. “History of the North American Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 21, 112, 279. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Doggett. 176-178. American Youth, June, 1915. 104. “Asilomar Conference Report on the Central Objective.” I. The Paris Basis, and its Use. 1. “The Young Men’s Christian Associations seek to unite those young men who, regarding Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour, according to the Holy Scriptures, desire to be His disciples in their doctrine and in their life, and to associate their efforts for the extension of His Kingdom among young men.” Morse, 279. Murray, 8 and 9. 2. Adopted in Paris, France, August 22, 1855, by the first Convention of the World’s Alliance of Young IMen’s Christian Associations. Ratified by the North American Associations at Montreal, Canada, 1856. Reaffirmed unanimously fifty years later in Paris, 1905. Morse, 112. 3. It is used by the North American Associations as the basis of their union with the National Associa¬ tion Movements of other countries. In some countries it is used as the test of active membership. It is a test of membership applied to the individual rather than to the church of which he is a mem¬ ber, a personal test rather than a church test. “While recognizing that in Europe the ecclesiastical feature of the American test (the evan¬ gelical basis) was not practicable, the (North American) convention could not find in the Paris Basis a substitute for this test, because it lacked that recognition and acceptance of church membership which was fundamental in the American test. Indeed by this recognition the American Associations avoided what would have been considered the reproach of formulating and enforcing a new creed of their own, a creed which would give the misleading impression of their having formed another denomination. The Paris Basis therefore did not supersede on this continent the Evangelical Test; it was accepted and adopted as in entire accord doctrinally with that test, and as furnishing an excellent basis of world fellowship.”—“Relation to the Churches,” R. C. Morse. II. Its Meaning. 1. It embodies three principles. a. Personal and vital Christianity on the part of Association active members. “Vital Piety.” b. The spirit of evangelical alliance uniting members of all evangelical churches. John 17-21. “Interdenominational comity.” c. The members’ activity in, and responsibility for, the extension of the Kingdom of Christ among young men. “Lay responsibility and control.” 2. It states the fact that the Young Men’s Christian Association is fundamentally an organization to win men to Christ and the program of His Kingdom. This is called the “Central Objective” of the Association. 3. The Paris Basis shows our three-fold aim: a. To train Christian young men in right thinking and right living—“His disciples in their doctrine and in their life.” 7 b. To save non-Christian young men. c. To enlist and train men in active Christian service. 4. It involves (a) voluntary association: (b) union effort of Christians; (c) young men the aim: (d) doc¬ trine—know: (e) life—be: (f) the idea of training for service. 5. It shows the two forces at work in Christianity. a. Centripetal—“Come unto me.” b. Centrifugal—“Go ye.” 6. It means distinct Association work by young men and boys for young men and boys. 7. The field is all young men everywhere—a world field. Murray. 35-37. III. The “Central Objective.” With this as our basis, obviously the fundamental objective, the main issue of the Association, is the uniting of Christian young men in efforts to extend the Kingdom of Christ among other men. 1. The Development of the Central Objective. a. As indicated in the first London Constitution—1844. “Improve the spiritual condition of young men in the drapery and other trades.” b. As indicated in the first American Constitution—Boston, 1851. “The improvement of the spirit¬ ual and mental condition of young men.” c. As indicated in the Paris Basis—1855. See above. d. As indicated in “Principles and Methods of Religious Work,” 11, first paragraph. “Its con¬ trolling purpose is the making of Christian men.” e. As indicated in the “Central Objective” report—Asilomar, 1915. “To win men and boys to allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and to enlist and train them in service for the extension of His Kingdom.” 2. The Force of the Central Objective. a. Dominating all departments. All departments of the Association work have their chief value to the Young Men’s Christian Association to, and just to, the extent that they serve this end. There is great danger that Asso¬ ciations will regard their departments as their chief end. Departments must be regarded as means to the end stated in the Paris Basis and Central Objective. The Association must do the thing it set out to do. b. Inspiring all activities. The Central Objective must inspire all activities and features, and be a basis upon which their value is judged. Results secured in departmental work—Educational, Physical, Boys’ Member¬ ship—should be judged or measured more frequently by their relation to the accomplishment of the chief end of our work. For instance, fifty renewals this month, ten Bible Classes, four hundred men in gym classes, three hundred night school students, six boys joined the church. What rela¬ tion do these facts have to associating young men to extend Christ’s Kingdom? They must all be made to have a bearing on evangelism. We must learn to relate all activities to our main issue, use equipment to get spiritual results, give every activity religious value. c. Guiding in the choice of employed officers and directors. They should be chosen because of their ability to promote this chief end. d. Attracting an increasing number of volunteer workers. The promotion of the Central Objective as our aim will draw big men to our cause and add a large number of earnest men and boys to our ranks. More men and boys should be solicited for membership on this basis of Christian service. More time of executives should be given to the promotion of activities uniting these men to extend Christ’s Kingdom. The fees should be based on some men and boys joining for this purpose and should be low enough to admit of it—a fee distinct from payment for the use of privileges. (See American Youth, June, 1915, 104, and November, 1916, 1.) e. Holding us to our task. Subscriptions are solicited by us and money given to us and taken by us on the basis of doing such work as the Paris Basis suggests. We must realize the expectations of those who give for this work. f. Serving as a standard. Results secured along the line of the Central Objective should be a standard of Association effi¬ ciency, and also a basis of measuring the success of an employed officer. 3. Things that threaten the Central Objective. a. Material prosj^erity— The addition of $75,000,000 worth of property in 15 years. b. The need of strong executives—chosen sometimes at the expense of religious zeal. c. Operating departments with definite aims in addition to the spiritual aim. d. The large influx of uninstructed active members and undigested associate members. e. The tendency of great organizations to “lose edge.” “We have added rooms. Have we arranged to heat them?—to heat new departments with the fires of old religious zeal? Let us not do a lot of useful things and fail to do the chief thing.”— Bishop McDowell. f. It has been said of the old monastic orders that they were first pious, then learned, and then decadent. Let the Association keep its religion warm while scholarly. 4. Has the Association been loyal to its objective? a. There is criticism that some Associations are not effective spiritually. b. Some employed officers are not promoting religious work as they should. c. Yet the Association as a whole is today the most religious organization it has ever been. (See “Annual Survey of Religious Work” for Bible Study and Religious Work figures.) d. Whereas the Associations’ material equipment increased 345 per cent from 1900 to 1915, the stu¬ dents in Bible Classes increased 445 per cent, and the contributions to Association foreign work over 1,200 per cent. The “evangelize the membership” movement and the “religious interview system” have produced the most thorough religious work the Association has yet achieved. IV. Some Comments. “It seems to me that the Paris Basis, if accepted, pledges the Association not merely to be a religious organization, but to be an evangelistic organization.”—A. S. Allen of Seattle. “The spiritual aim should pervade everything which the Association does.”—Report of the International Committee, 191G. “The enlisting of men for the Christian life and volunteer service is the dominant purpose in every feature of this program.”—From the report of an Industrial Secretary. “To vitalize this movement and to dominate its vast material interests with spiritual passion should be a matter of chief concern to all who have at heart the welfare of the Brotherhood.”—John R. Mott. “Fidelity to the central objective emphasizes the importance of a specialization on the religious work by qualified workers who make this specialization their vocation, and thus promote the efficiency in religious work of all Association workers in all the departments.”—R. C. Morse. II. THE EVANGELICAL TEST. References: “Relation to the Churches.” R. C. Morse. 8-16, 22-34. “Y. M. C. A. Hand-book” 48, 49, 105. “Principles and Organization of the Y. M. C. A.” Murray. 11-27. “History of the Boston Y. M. C. A.” Doggett. 11, 12. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Doggett. 114-116. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 15-21, 91-93, 124-133, 279-281. “Report of the Washington Convention” 109-132. “Report of the Toronto Convention” 102-114. “Report of the Cincinnati Convention” 76-93. I. The Principle Stated. 1. Active or voting meml)ership in the Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America is gov¬ erned by the Evangelical Test. It is stated in the combined Detroit and Portland Resolutions of 1868 and ’69. (“History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 279.) “Resolved: That, as these organiza¬ tions bear the name of Christian, and profess to be engaged directly in the Saviour’s service, so it 9 is clearly their duty to maintain the control and management of all their affairs in the hands of those who profess to love and publicly avow their faith in Jesus the Redeemer as Divine, and who testify their faith by becoming and remaining members of churches held to be evangelical. And we hold those churches to be evangelical which, maintaining the Holy Scriptures to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice, do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (the only begotten of the Father, Kmg of kings, and Lord of lords, in whom dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and who was made sin for us, though knowing no sin, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree) as the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved from everlasting punishment and to life eternal.” 2. The Evangelical Test is embodied in the constitutions of the local Associations usually in some such words as this: . “Those members eighteen years of age and over who are members in good standing of Evangelical Churches as defined by the International Conventions of the Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America, and they only, shall have the right to vote and hold office.” (“Model Constitution,” Article 2, Section 2.) Or the provision may read that members may be divided into active and asso¬ ciate members ,—that active membership is limited to members in good standing of evangelical churches and that only active members can vote and hold office. 3. The object of the Evangelical Test is to keep the control of Association affairs in the hands of mem¬ bers of those churches whose creeds are sufficiently in harmony to allow them to work together without embarrassment or friction or compromise. The decision as to which churches the Evangelical Test includes is left ultimately to the evangelical churches in each field. If the evangelical churches in any city decide that the Universalist church of that city, for instance, is evangelical, the Universalists are granted active membership in that local Association. 4. The Evangelical Test is the basis upon which the North American Associations affiliate with each other as an international organization and only “Evangelical Test Associations” are allowed to send voting delegates to the International Conventions. 5. It is a church test rather than an individual test. It puts up to the churches the question of whether a man is eligible for active membership in the Association. It is not an individual test such as the Paris Basis applies. That is, it leaves the decision upon a man’s character in the hands of the church which grants him good standing within its membership. II. The History of the Evangelical Test. 1. The American Associations began with the Evangelical Test as a basis. It is embodied in the first constitution of the first Association, organized in Boston, Dec. 29, 1851. (“History of the Y. M. C. A.” Doggett. 114-116.) 2. It was recommended to all Associations by the convention of the Confederation held in Buffalo, June 7, 1854. The Conventions of ’56, ’66, and ’67 took similar action. (“History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 91.) 3. This recommendation was re-enforced by a resolution at the Detroit Convention of 1868. (“History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 279.) 4. The Evangelical Test took its present form in a resolution adopted by the Portland Convention of 1869, defining an evangelical church and admitting to future conventions only such new Associa¬ tions as adopted the Evangelical Test. No existing Associations were excluded. (“History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 91.) 5. In recent years there has been felt a desire for a re-phrasing of the Portland Evangelical Test on the ground that it is too theological and polemic. There has also been a desire in some quarters to sub¬ stitute the Paris Basis for the Evangelical Test. Certain Student Associations have chafed under the Evangelical Test. Those holding views adverse to the Evangelical Test agitated the question and had the matter made one of the leading issues of the Washington Convention of 1907. As the dis¬ satisfaction was chiefly on the part of the college delegates, a limited exception was made in favor of student Associations, and it was voted to appoint a committee to consider a re-phrasing of the defini¬ tion of evangelical churches. (See report of Washington Convention, 109-132.) 6. Toronto Resolution—1910. The report of this Commission came before the Toronto Convention of 1910, but action was post¬ poned to the next International Convention as the Commission report was neither adequate, unan¬ imous, nor satisfactorj\ (The Toronto Report. 55, 102-114.) 10 7. C'iiiciiiiuiti — IDlli. The question of the Evangelical "JVst was thoroughly debated at the (’incinnati ('onvention, which decided to make no change whatever and the Evangelical Test stands as phrased at the i’ortland Convention of 1869. It was thought by many that the purpose of the Portland Test was quite clearly understood and that it was undesirable to tinker with what has become an historic document. (Cin¬ cinnati Convention Keport, 76-93. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 281.) III. Comment. 1. The real debate in recent years has been more on the phrasing of the Portland Test than on the fact of the Evangelical Test itself. Wide experience over a long period of years has fully justified tiic wisdom of the Evangelical Test. a. It was acceptable to the majority. b. Associations on this basis have grown in membership and local influence far more than those which tried a so-called “broader” basis. c. The large majority of gifts of money and property have with rare exceptions been made to Evan¬ gelical Test Associations. On this basis they have acquired over $100,000,000 worth of buildings and equipment in North America. d. It is these Associations that have drawn into the secretarial ranks men of character and ability who have made the profession their life-work. e. The majority of Associations on other than the Evangelical Test basis have either died or adopted the Evangelical Test. f. A controversy of years’ standing in the Young Women’s Christian Association was settled by the adoption of an Evangelical Test in 1906. 2. There are some who object to the term “active member,” thinking that all who join the Association should become members and desiring to create a class of members designated “Voting members.” The Young Women’s Christian Association has attempted a solution of this problem by dividing its members into “Members” and “Electors.” 3. Some Associations require an additional test of active membership. They state that a man must not only be a member of an evangelical church, but, further, that he must assume volunteer duties in the Association to be an active member. The Boston Association is an illustration of this. III. THE RELATION OF THE ASSOCIATION TO THE CHURCH. References: “Relation to Churches.” R. C Morse. “Y. M. C. A. Hand-book.” 18-21, 61-64. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 16-21, 124-133. “Principles and Methods of Religious Work.” 11, 13-16. “Principles and Organization of the Y. M. C. A.” Murray. 16, 38-42. “Chicago Y. M. C. A. Oflicial Bulletin,” July, 1915. “Central Objective Report.” 3, 16, 22. “Working Together.” Bosworth-Hutchinson. I. The Principles Stated. 1. The relation of the Young Men’s Christian Association to the Church is supplementary, cooperative, and interdenominational, with identity of interest. 2. “In its work it recognizes the church as a primary agency in permanently caring for the religious life of men and boys.” (“Principles and Methods of Religious Work.” 14.) 3. “The Association is not a church, does not substitute or perform the functions of the Church, but exists primarily to serve the Church.” (John R. Mott.) 4. It is not a rival of the Church nor a substitute for the Church, but an arm of the Church for reaching men and boys. 0 . “It is outside only of the divisions sejjarating the denominations. It is loyally within their mem¬ bership and fellowships.” (Morse. 19, 136.) 11 II. The Association Loyal to the Church. 1. This is seen by the adoption of the Evangelical Test and the tenacity with which the Association has held to this test. 2. Resolution at the Albany Convention. 1866. “The churches to which our members belong have a prior claim upon their sympathy and labors.” This was included by McBurney in a list of principles which he formulated in 1888. (“Life of Robert McBurney.” Doggett. 145.) 3. Association men have always taken an active part in church and inter-church organizations and movements. 4. The Commission on the “Central Objective” gives the following as the second of the two objectives of the Association: “To lead the men and boys in the Association membership and those related to its activities to vitally cooperate with the church in winning and retaining the young men and boys of the community for its activities and membership.” They state the second of two fundamentals as: “Unless our employed officers take the church more seriously and more clearly demonstrate that we are here to help build up the church and vitalize her activities as well as to influence the lives of men religiously, the church will not take us seriously.” This last comment,of the Commission is an exhortation to those secretaries and leaders who have been loyal to the Church in theory only, actually to “make good” on their protestations of loyalty. III. Relation to Churches. In addition to the above, the following points are of importance: 1. The Association is a church organization, but it does not exist for any one church. It is inter-church and interdenominational. It is not, however, non-denominational. “It is the cooperative institu¬ tional work of all the churches.” (E. E. Stacy.) 2. The Association avoids points of controversy or differences between evangelical denominations. This point is covered in many constitutions by the provision of Article 4, Section 6, in the “Model Constitution”—“No question of a sectarian or political character shall be acted upon or discussed in any meeting of this Association or of its directors.” 3. The Association should cooperate in the organization and federation of church brotherhoods. “We recognize in the brotherhood movemerit and in such other movements as that of organized classes for men and boys in the Sunday School great potentialities for accomplishment. We rejoice in any measure of success which has attended them and we desire and purpose to work in perfect harmony with them whether in the ranks or in the furnishing and training of strong and loyal leaders for their activities.” (Declaration of the Employed Officers’ Conference, 1911.) 4. The relations of any specific church to the Association are likely to be the result of the attitude of its pastor. The Association Secretary should cultivate the friendship and cooperation of the pastors of the churches. One of the best ways of securing such cooperation is the giving of cooperation. 5. What have the churches a right to expect of the Association? a. That the Association will lead men into the Christian life and into church membership. b. That it will discover and train leaders for all sorts of church and Sunday school activities. c. That it will relate newcomers to the church of their preference. d. That it will arrange its activities so as not to conflict with established church customs and gath¬ erings. e. That it will help in inter-church movements. f. That it will lead men into the ministry. g. That the Association will counsel with church officers concerning Association plans, and give counsel in return when sought. h. That the Association building will be available for certain church and inter-church gatherings of men. i. That it will cooperate in evangelistic campaigns. j. That it will cooperate in unified publicity. 6. Rev. Charles W. Gilkey has expressed the matter of the relation of the Association and the Church in this way: Me lia« urged the cultivation first of a sense and eonseiousuess of identity with the Church -that “she belongs to us and we belong to her, and we both belong to Cdirist.” Second, that w(‘ cultivate a sense of subordination to the Churefi—-think of ourselves as an arm reaching out for things for the Chureh, and remember that the arm must consider the interests of the liody. Third, that we cultivate a spirit of service to the Church. IV. WORK FOR MEN AND BOYS ONLY. References: “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 75-79, 82, 120, 121, 140. “Association Hand-book.” 16, 44, 59, 255. “Principles and Organization.” Murray. 46. American Youth, June, 1915. 110-113. I. The Principles Stated. 1. The Association is a work for young men and boys by young men and boys. This was the first of McBurney’s “Settled Principles” formulated in 1888, but then stated “that the work shall be for young men only.” Within the past twenty-five years the boy has come to be recognized as of equal importance with the man, and this fact receives due recognition in the present day statement of principles. It is primarily for men and boys between the ages of twelve and thirty-five or forty. 2. Prior to 1880 a number of Associations undertook general work in which activities for women and girls were included. It was not until well into the 80’s that the Chicago Association eliminated women from its active membership. The old “Association Hand-book,” published in several editions around 1890, stood clearly for the restriction of our field to men and boys only. (“Hand-book.” 16, 17, 44, 45, 59, 60.) Since 1880 it has been recognized as a fundamental principle that men and boys only constituted the field of the Association. (“Principles and Organization of the Y. M. C. A.” Murray. 46. ) 3. The facts about young men show the great need for an organization to devote all its energies to work for men and boys only. a. They are the most important element for good or evil in a community. Young men have physical power, financial power, power as leaders, and poAver due to having many years to live. These powers will be either dissipated or directed, wasted or conserved. This task of conservation and direction justifies such a movement as the Young Men’s Christian Association. The magnitude of the undertaking necessitates consecration to work for men and boys only. I). Young men as a class are more exposed to evil influences than any other class, c. Large numbers of young men are absent from home and its influence. (1. The ordinary ag(mcies of the Church have not successfully reached young men. Church leaders agree that they need such an agency as the Young Men’s Christian Association. , e. Young men properly approached are very open to good influences. They are easily reached and jAowerfully influenced by other young men. They are readily as.sociated in an organization, and can thus most effectively bring one another under good influences. The Association utilizes this tendency. 4. Over seventy years’ experience shows that the permanency and success of individual Associations dcpi'iid upon tlieir confining themselves to this one definite object, work for young men and boys. II. The Question Reappearing. J. Within the past five j^ears tliere has been a tendency for some Associations to allow their equii)nient to be used l)y women and girls under several conditions. a. In some small towns the constituents of the Association have demanded that its privileges Ixi opened to women and girls for limited afternoons and evenings several days a week. Some Asso¬ ciations have yielded to this, but only under severe pressure. b. In industrial and rural communities the complete solution of the problems of men and boys at times reciuired that something be done for the women and girls. Tlie family has frequently to be treated as a unit, and the men and boys as part of the family. 13 e. Some of our leaders are entirely willing to have the equipment usetl by women and girls when such use does not affect the Association’s work for men and boys. “The use of its institutional equipment and privileges need not be withheld from women and girls at such hours and under such conditions as will not impair the Association’s service to men and boys.” (W. M. Wood.) 2. Under none of these circumstances are women and girls counted as members or given a voice in the control of the affairs of the Association. 3. The fundamental things seem to be: That the Association must not be diverted from its work for men and boys. That the use of the privileges by women and girls must not interfere with their regular use by men and boys. That at times efforts to serve the men and boys really require that something be done for the women and girls. These conditions rarely arise in the typical city Association, but are confined largely to community, industrial, and rural fields. III. Another Phase of the Question. The Association has for a long time regarded all the men and boys of its community as its field, including those of various races and social conditions. The question is now seriously raised whether we are not keeping a large number of men and boj^s out of our membership by basing the fees upon the use of privileges rather than upon the mere fact of membership in the Association. Every city contains large numbers of men and boys who could be enlisted in the enterprise of extending Christ’s kingdom, the central objective of Associa¬ tion work, who do not care and cannot afford to use and pay for our building privileges. A number of Asso¬ ciation leaders think there should be a form of membership which would include all men and boys who could be enlisted in the enterprise of extending Christ’s kingdom, irrespective of the use of building privileges. {Amer¬ ican Youth, June, 1915, 110-113, and Nov., 1916, 1.) V. THE FOUR-FOLD WORK. References: “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 75-79, 120-121, 140. “Life of Robert R. McBurney.” Doggett. 140-2. “Central Objective Report.” 8 and 10. “Association Educational Work.” George B. Hodge. 10-25. I. The Principles Stated. 1. The Association should do a four-fold work—Educational, Physical, Social, and Religious—to build symmetrical Christian character in men and boys and give opportunity for its expression. 2. Each of these phases of Association work has a definite part to i)lay in building Christian manhood, and no phase of the complete program of the Association should be allowed to suffer or remain un¬ developed. 3. The doing of this four-fold work is the fundamental purpose of the Association, and Association leaders should- not allow themselves to be diverted from this four-fold work by other attractive and necessary pieces of service, which are not part of the Association program. 4. The work of each department must be of religious value and contribute to the central objective of the Association. “It is a recognized fact that education as such or physical training as such does not lead to a personal acceptance of the Christian ideal.” Association leaders must find Avays of securing religious results in every department. 5. Each department head must be a director of religious work in his department whether the Associa¬ tion employs a religious work secretary or not. 6 . The social appeal is the basis of many activities in each department, wholesome social resort. The Association is a place of 14 7. Some Secretaries say that every department should do a four-fold work: For instance, that the edu¬ cational department should have social, relif>;ious, and recreative activities; and that the physical department should have social, religious, and educational activities. 8. Many leaders think the religious work should not be a dejxirtment, but a feature of each department. They do away with a man calk'd tin' “lieligious Work Secretary” and assign chief res])onsibility for the ])romotion of n'ligious work to an Asso(*iat(' (leiu'ral Secretary. On any basis, then' must be one se(*retaiy, at least i)art of whose duties it is to see that department heads are gc'tting religious work done in their departments, and to cany on miscellaneous religious activities. 9. Some Association leaders are beginning to think of the "five-fold” work, raising the employment work to a full department, sometimes called "Vocational Department.” H. W. Stone of Portland has demonstrated that the employment department has all the characteristics of a full department of the Association, namely: it secures members; furnishes opportunity for religious work; produces income, and subscriptions; advertises the Association; heads up in a committee and employed staff; and in other ways has all the characteristics fundamental to any department. II. Some Fundamental Principles of the Present Four Phases of Work. 1. Educational. (The following principles will guide an educational committee in the development of its program and policy.) a. Association Educational Work meets the needs of men and boys whose normal fundamental education has been interrupted or unsatisfactory. It provides industrial, commercial, and pro¬ fessional courses having special vocational value. b. In relation to other good educational facilities its efforts, as a by-product, supplement and strengthen them. c. It acquaints men and boys with their owm capacities and helps them wisely to develop these. d. It pioneers work to meet new educational needs and is something of an educational experiment station. e. It is based upon a careful study of local needs. f. It enables men and boys to use wisely their leisure hours. g. It inspires men and boys to a larger usefulness and greater efficiency. h. Its effective administration provides for both day and evening classes, includes the best Christian t(?achers and leaders, and seeks to keep closely related to present day methods of commerce and industry. i. It affords a field for volunteer service, though the great bulk*of teaching is done by regularly employed teachers—^teachers, however, who are inspired with high ideals of Christian service. j. It will give men and boys what they most need next. Its curriculum will have cultural as well as purely utilitarian features. k. Paid experts for supervision are recognized as essential. l. Finally, its wise conduct will so permeate all features and processes with the spirit of Christ that results will be seen in the development of Christian manhood and the relating of men and boys to Christ and the Church. 2. Religious Work Fundamentals. In addition to the principles developed under the "Paris Basis” and "Central Objective,” the Evan¬ gelical Test and relation to the Church, the following principles are now generally regarded as funda¬ mental in Association religious work: a. "Our first obligation is to our members.” Asilomar "Central Objective Report,” p. 6. One of the effects of the great extension movement in religious work a dozen years ago was the cen¬ tering of attention upon groups outside the building, frequently to the neglect of groups within the building itself. For the past five years there has been a growing sentiment, now general, that our first obliga¬ tion is to the men within our buildings and within our membership. The common phrase "evan¬ gelize the membership” expresses the modern thought. In the evangelization of our own membership we lay a foundation for service to the whole city. b. The danger of emphasizing this principle lies in the fact that Associations may again swing to an extreme and consider that the only religious obligation of the Association is to its members. The Association should continually keep before itself the fact that all the men and boys of the city are its field—and a complete policy provides for the meeting of the needs of groups and races in all parts of the city. c. Croat emphasis is being laid upon the "religious interview plan” as the best means of carrying 15 out the recognized principle that “no religious work policy is adequate which does not provide for an organized campaign of personal evangelism.” “Principles and Methods of Religious Work,” p. 104. Some form of the interview system based on personal religious relations to members is the only way of fulfilling our complete obligation to them. d. The Association should think of its religious work as a problem in religious education, and should base its plans and activities on the best findings of the modern religious education movement. e. The Bible is the standard text book of religious education and will ever continue to hold this position. The place of Bible study in the Association program has always been recognized as fundamental. Its teachings are the only basis of a Christian social order, and a knowledge of them must precede constructive social work. The Bible must be studied also for personal, spirit¬ ual, and moral growth. f. The Association has a special obligation to young men in non-Christian lands. This will be developed in a separate section. g. The responsibility for the promotion of the religious education program in the Association must be definitely located as all or part of the responsibility of a definite employed officer, who may or may not bear the title of Religious Work Secretary. h. The Association must always be a sort of experiment station for the discovery and testing of new methods of religious work for men and boys. 3. Physical Work Fundamentals. a. Health is fundamental to the full and symmetrical development of Christian manhood and boy¬ hood, and exercise is fundamental to health. b. Physical education and training have a definite contribution to make toward Christian character, in the developing of poise, self-confidence, and self-control. c. Physical activities furnish healthy enjoyment and recreation for idle hours, and so safeguard the characters of young men during periods of leisure. d. Physical training is a potent factor in preventing the breaking down of the moral and religious standards of men, brought about by lowered physical efficiency. e. Carefully prescribed and supervised exercise is an important factor in helping a growing boy to attain full and proper physical development. f. The Central Objective of the Association, the winning of men and boys to the Christian life and service, should find its place in the program of the Physical Department. g. The Association recognizes the character values to be derived from supervised play, such as control of temper, team play, and working together for a common end. h. The Physical Director should be considered a religious leader and held responsible for religious work in his department. i. The idea of the Association is physical education and recreation for a large number of its members, rather than of the development of a few experts and record-breakers. j. All the physical activities of the Association should, with few exceptions, be conducted under trained and expert supervision. The Association carmot stand for an unsupervised gymnasium or playground. k. The Association believes in a program of education that will result in the reduction or curtailment of preventable disease. 4. Social Work Fundamentals. a. Man is a gregarious animal and finds much of the pleasure of life in social groups. The Associa¬ tion believes in providing a proper social resort for young men and boys, both for constructive sociability and to serve as a counter attraction to the evils of the city, such as the saloon. It can thus protect young men from many of the evils of modern life. The modern Association building is the expression of the idea of the Association as a social resort for young men. Here they may make and meet clean friends. It is also the home of the man away from home. b. The building as a social resort should be neat in appointments and attractive in atmosphere. It should not be elegant beyond the normal desires of the group it is to serve. c. All features and activities of the Association can be given a social value. Wholesome sociability should characterize all Association gatherings. d. The value of an Association social feature may be judged by the following standards suggested by W. M. Wood: It should attract, assimilate, socialize, recreate, and produce culture. The word “culture” should not be taken in too heavy a sense. It is doubtless a protest against “rough-house stunts.” e. The wise Association will recognize the fact of “consciousness of kind” and will promote its socia¬ bility along lines of natural grouping, bringing together men who are socially congenial. Social IG congeniality can be overlooked in very large groupings; but the most effective social work is l)robably done with small groups of men who have some common interest and fundamental con¬ geniality. This does not mean the cultivation of snobbishness, but a frank recognition of what Professor Giddings has called the fundamental social fact, “the consciousness of kind.” f. The same social activity will not appeal to all men, and a variety of features and activities will be needed to serve the different tastes within our membershij). g. The growth of gangs or cliques within the Association is not to be fought against and discourag('d, but recognized as normal, and fostered under proper supervision. VI. VOLUNTEER CONTROL AND LEADERSHIP. References: “Principles and Organization.” Murray. 73 to 79. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 3-7, 14, 15, 6G-70, 80, 81. “Y. M. C. A. Hand-book.” 90-104, 114, 135. “Lay Leadership.” Employed Officers’ Conference Report, 1912. I. The Principle Stated. The Association activities should be determined upon, managed, and carried on by volunteer laymen, through a system of officers, directors, and committeemen, assisting the employed officers in the leadership of the organization and its work. II. The Place of Volunteer Workers. 1. They hold all legal and administrative power. This control they should never surrender to employed officers. 2. They are guarantors of and sponsors for the Association. They give it dignity and standing, and inspire confidence in it. 3. They are responsible to the community for the safeguarding of trust funds and buildings, and for the maximum use of Association facilities. 4. They are the final judges of what the Association should do for its members and for the community, the service it should undertake, and its attitude on disputed questions and to other movements. 5. “The successful Association is a laymen’s organization.” C. “The real power of the Association has rested in the fact that the work was done by laymen—as part of the daily life and service of Christian men engaged in various secular pursuits. If the Associa¬ tions are to maintain their progress and their power, they must be continued under lay control, as distinguished from secretarial control.”—Cephas Brainerd, for twenty-five years Chairman of the International Committee. III. The Relation of Secretarial to Volunteer Leadership. 1. The layman’s place of leadership is threatened by the growing amount of work delegated to, or as¬ sumed by, employed officers. The secretary should be a discoverer and trainer of volunteer lay workers, directing their activities, rather than caring for a large amount of detail himself. He should give the largest possible place to volunteer workers. This usurping of the place of the lay worker McBurney labelled secretarialism, and warned the Association of its dangers as early as 1882. 2. The proper function of the secretary is that of expert adviser. This does not mean that he will not have plenty of good hard work to do. It does mean that he will not do all the work. 3. Ability to find and use committeemen is a real measure of a secretary’s success. 4. The secretary’s leadership should not be based on authority. Mr. R. C. Morse said in 1908, “He must lead by moral, intellectual and spiritual suasion, not by being in authority himself, but by commanding the intelligence and the conscience of those who are in authority.” He should not be a member of boards or committees and should not have a vote. He must sit with them as counsellor and one of the leaders, however. 17 5. The opportunity of finding and developing lay leaders is one of the most fascinating features of the secretaryship, and the line of largest service to the kingdom of God. It is one of a secretary’s most important duties. IV. Associate Members as Committeemen. Some Associations do not allow associate members to serve on committees. To many this seems an. unwise policy. According to our constitution, the associate member cannot have a voice in determining fundamental Association policies; but there are scores of things he can do for the Association, to the benefit of both the Association and his own spiritual development. Many men have found their way into the Chris¬ tian life through Christian service, and we should not shut this door into the Kingdom. V. Service Membership. A large number of men should be asked to join the Association for the purpose of serving on specific com¬ mittees. Some men are asked to become members because we need money. We solicit others to get them to use privileges. One of the great undeveloped membership fields of the Association is that of getting men to join the Association to render service. The getting of these men to continue their membership will be a simple matter. They will become the backbone of the Association. Some of our finest pieces of service to the community have remained unperformed because we have failed to push this phase of Association activity —the enlisting, training, and using of lay workers. One of the largest developments ahead of us lies along this line. VI. Sources of Volunteers. 1. Boys. In school, in stores and offices, in industries. 2. Students. Undergraduates. Recent graduates. 3. Business men. 4. Wage earners. Clerical, industrial, agricultural. 5. Professional men. Ministers, teachers, lawyers, engineers, doctors, social workers. C. Civic officials and emploj^ers. VII. Spheres of Volunteer Service. 1. Committees, both executive and advisory. 2. Commissions, to make surveys and studies. 3. Delegated personal work. 4. Leadership for special lines of service. VII. TRAINED EMPLOYED LEADERSHIP. References: “A Vocation With a Future.” Soares. “The Secretaryship as a Life Work.” Springfield College. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” R. C. Morse. I. The Principle Stated. Expert employed executive officers are indispensable to the proper promotion and development of the modern Young Men’s Christian Association. These employed officers should be technically trained in Asso- 18 ciation History, Principles, and Methods, in addition to having a well-rounded general education, and if pos¬ sible some business experience. .The Association secretary should know the history and philosophy of the Association Movement and of his own function. II. The Growing Demand for Men. The first emi)loyed officer was engaged by the London Association in 1845—six months afb'r its organiza¬ tion. The first employed officer in America was engaged in 1853 by the Poston Y. M. C. —fifteen months after its organization. In 1880 the number of employed officers was 178. In 1900 the thousand mark had been passed. In 1910 there were 2,927. In 1916 the North American Associations had 4,600 secretaries in their employ. During the next few years not less than two secretaries every three days will be needed to fill major secretarial positions in the North American Associations. Including assistants, over 700 new men are needed each year. Parallel with the growth in the number of secretaries has been the growth in the demands made upon the secretary and an increasingly higher ty]re of man is being demanded for this work. The necessity for securing properly qualified employed officers is the most imi)ortant problem before the Association. The famous Stone Commission report said, “Many leaders continue to feel that the employed officer is still the most pressing problem of the present time.” Not only has the number of employed officers grown—the sub-divisions of the secretaryship, or kinds of specialists within the secretaryship, have also multiplied until today, for instance, the Boys’ Department and Industrial Department each have five or six distinctive kinds of specialists. The term “secretary” is used in these outlines as including all employed officers of an Association. III. Functions of the Employed Officer. The work of promoting a modern Association requires that the executive officer function in most or all of the following capacities: 1. He is the organizer and director of a force of volunteer workers, engaged in the enterprise of extending the Kingdom of Christ among young men. As such, he is primarily a religious leader. 2. He is manager of a corporation handling in many instances tens of thousands of dollars. 3. He is the head of a popular college—the educational department. 4. He is charged with the care of a large building. In many instances he has had both to juomote th(‘ financing of this building and to suggest its main architectural features. 5. He is a brother-confessor and counsellor—the pastor of a parish of young men. 6. He is a social engineer, using Christianity as a social force, and the Association as an agency in re¬ constructing society. 7. He is a social host of a great club. 8. He is the manager of a hotel. 9. He is the promoter of a system of physical education, affecting the lives of thousands of men and boys. 10. He is the exponent and representative of a world-wide brotherhood, having its own history, prin¬ ciples, and technique. IV. The Training for these Functions. A consideration of the above functions suggests the lines of preparation for the secretary who would fully meet the requirements of his position. 1. A liberal education for the sake of general training and culture—if possible, a Bachelor of Arts course in a first class college or university. 2. A knowledge of Association History, Principles, and Methods. 3. A knowledge of fundamentals of religion, religious education, and the great text-book of religious education—the Bible. He must know the religious thought, point of view, and experience of his age. 4. He should have a knowledge of general education, pedagogy, and psychology. 19 • 5. As an executive he must understand promotion, organization, and the fundamentals of leadership. 6. As a business manager he must be acquainted with business administration, finance, and publicity. 7. As a social engineer he needs to know the modern city and its problems, and have some knowledge of sociology, economics, history, and modern methods of welfar.e work. V. Training Agencies. The Association has developed three agencies for the training of men in its own work. 1. The Association colleges at Springfield, Mass., and Chicago, Ill., with four year and three year courses respectively, and two year courses for men with A. B. degrees. 2. Summer Schools at Silver Bay, N. Y.; Lake Geneva, Wis.; Blue Ridge, N. C.; Estes Park, Colo.; Chesapeake Summer School; Canadian Summer School, at Lake Couchiching; Asilomar, Cal.; Sea- beck, Wash.; Hollister, Mo. 3. Training Centers. Thirty of the leading city Associations of North America have organized as the Federation of Training Centers for putting on thorough courses of study for the training of men for the secretaryship. Each of these thirty Associations follows a standard outline of study. Col¬ lege men recruited on the Fellowship Plan are sent to these training centers for two years of class instruction, coaching, and experience with the recommendation that a third year be spent in grad¬ uate study, preferably in an Association college. VI. Ethics of Changing Positions. 1. It is customary first to sound a man to see if he would consider a change of fields, and after finding that he is willing to consider such a change, he is extended a call, if on further consideration he is desired for the place to be filled. 2. It is commonly recognized as proper to consult frankly with a General Secretary before approaching a man on his staff with reference to changing fields. There are times when supervisory secretaries should also be consulted. 3. On the other hand, justice to the man under consideration will as a rule lead general and supervisory secretaries to feel that the decision should be left not to either or both of them, but to the man him¬ self. 4. Industry is increasingly turning toward the plan of training its own men for executive positions— developing them through the understudy relationship, and following the plan of promotions from within. The adoption of this policy by local Associations would make unnecessary much of the indiscriminate taking of secretaries from other Association fields. 5. To attend one of the summer schools at the expense of the local Association a secretary is serving, and while there either to seek another position or to throw oneself open to approaches from other fields is considered a breach of the trust reposed in a secretary by the Association employing him. VII. Recruiting for the Secretaryship. The important problem of supplying a sufficient number of properly selected recruits for the secretaryship is receiving nation-wide attention. State committees are promoting aggressive recruiting campaigns. The Association colleges are searching for good men. The Fellowship Plan of recruiting college men is now in its seventh year. The Secretarial Bureau of the International Committee is devoting much time to the work of recruiting. Local secretaries are realizing their obligation and privilege in this regard. Uniformity of standards and processes has not yet been attained, but distinct progress is being made in that direction. VIII. Further Literature on the Employed Officer. L. W. Messer is preparing a book on “The Secretary.” C. K. Ober is preparing one on “The Secretary¬ ship.” A commission will report at the Employed Officers’ Conference, at Springfield, Mass., June, 1917, giving recent material and opinions. The Secretarial Bureau of the International Committee is preparing a series of booklets to be used in recruiting. 20 VIII. THE OCCUPATION OF METROPOLITAN FIELDS. References: “Life of McBurney.” Dogfijett. 145, section 9. “Principles and Organization.” Murray. 61. First ('onference of Metropolitan Cleneral Secretaries. 14. Second C'onference of Metropolitan General S('cretari('s. 12. “Y. M. C. A. Hand-book.” 76-77. “History of the Y.M. C. A.” Morse. 14.3-6. I. Principles Stated. 1. There should be only one city Young Men’s Christian Association in each city. The various fields within the city are occupied by branch Associations or departments, all operated under the authority and direction of a common Board of Directors except as noted in the next section. The detailed administration of each branch is in the hands of a Committee of Management appointed or approved by the Metropolitan Board of Directors. Each branch has its own secretarial staff. The secretaries of the Metropolitan staff have equal relations to all branches. 2. Special Associations are organized to meet the need of special groups—either as branches of the City Association or as group Associations, as authorized by International Convention action: viz.. Col¬ lege, Railroad, Soldier, Sailor, Colored men, etc., and certain foreign groups, Chinese, Japanese, etc. 3. Some cities, e. g., Chicago, prefer the term “department” to “branch.” 4. This scheme of organization is commonly called the “Metropolitan Plan.” 5. One of the chief objects of this form of organization is to prevent the development of competitive Associations within one city, and so to avoid overlapping in the solicitation of funds. Among its beneficial results are: a. Comprehensive and unified city-wide policies. b. Economy in business administration. c. Uniformity of dues, and interchange of membership privileges. (1. Adequate supervision. e. Greater confidence and support of citizens. f. Stability. The International Convention recognizes only one city Young Men’s Christian Association in any city. (Kansas City Resolution, 1891, Morse’s History. 280.) II. Reason for Special Branches. A fundamental principle in life is that men associate on the basis of social congeniality. Special branches for Railroad, College, Colored, Army, and other groups are built partly in recognition of this fact of life and partly because each special group has particular needs that are l)est met in separate buildings. Proximity to the men is also at times a determining factor. Care must be exercised in applying this principle. Class or race feeling must not be encouraged, nor generated; but a tacit recognition of these facts brings good results. IX. EACH ASSOCIATION AN INDEPENDENT LOCAL UNIT. References: Buffalo Convention Report, 78-81. Boston Convention Report, 80-81. “Principles and Organization.” Murray. 53. “Association Relationships.” Messer. 24. “Association Hand-book.” 391. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 281-284. 21 I. Principles Stated. “The local Association is the original and independent unit in the Brotherhood of Young Men's Chris¬ tian Associations.” (Grand Rapids Resolution, 1899.) Its control of its own legal and administrative affairs is complete. “The individual Association has absolute local jurisdiction.” Asso. Hand-book. 391. “The historic and well-settled autonomy and independence of the local Association should and will con¬ tinue unquestioned.” (Buffalo Resolution, 1904.) “The relation of the su])ervisory agencies (State and International Committees) to the local Association is as a rule advisory.” The local Association has the status of an independent unit and as such has the right to apply for aid to either agency of supervision. (Buffalo Resolution, 1904.) While independent, the local Associations are closely bound together in these state and international relationships. The Association as a whole is a real Brotherhood. X. SUPERVISORY AGENCIES. References: “Association Hand-book.” 391^40. “Principles and Organization.” Murray. 53-59. Buffalo Convention Report, 81-82. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 25-34, 57-58, 82-93, 243-60. Boston Convention Report, 80-81. Messer’s Silver Bay paper, 1912, 6-12. I. Principles Stated. The local Associations are united through State and International Conventions. These Conventions elect Executive Committees to carry out a policy of counsel, cooperation, supervision, promotion, and ex¬ tension. “The relation of the supervisory agencies to the local Association is as a rule advisory.” (Grand Rapids Resolution, 1899.) “From the beginning no authority over the local Association was granted to the federated agencies. Their relation to the Association was defined as advisory or counseling—counsel based upon expert knowledge and oversight of the whole field and of the local work in its best estate. It was an advisory supervision without authority.” (Morse’s History, 249.) II. History and Procedure. 1. The Associations instituted this international relation to each other at the Buffalo Convention of 1854—three years after the organization of the first Association in Boston. State Conventions date from 1866, recommended by the International Convention of that year. 2. The form of organization and procedure of State and International Conventions is explained in Morse’s History, pp. 243-248. • 3. State Conventions are generally hekl yearly. The State Committees are spoken of as exercising close supervision over local work. The International Conventions are held triennially. The International Committee is spoken of as exercising general supervision over local work. 4. These two groups of conventions are the only legislative bodies of the Associations, and their acts are limited to the field of matters relating to State and International Conventions and Committees. 5. State and International Conventions elect Executive Committees which make their work effective in their territories through the employment of State and International Secretaries who become clearing¬ houses of the best experience of the Association and make it available for all. When a specialist in a limited field of work is needed, he is usually supplied by the International Committee and his ser¬ vices made available for the whole country. The stronger State Committees are gradually developing staffs of s]:)ecializing secretaries also, as student, railroad, bo 3 ’^s’, county, and educational. 6. For a discussion of the “relationshijjs controversy” see Morse’s History, pp. 256-259, and the report of the business session of the Buffalo Convention Report. Also “The Polity of the North American Young Men’s Christian Association,” R.. C. Morse, and “Association Relationships,” L. W. Messer. 22 XI. THE ASSOCIATION BUILDING, AND NON-EQUIPMENT WORK. References: “Association Hand-book.” 158-161. “History of Y. M. C. A.” IMorse. 76-77. 136-143. “Personal Memoirs.” L. C. Warner. 107. “Life of McBurney.” Doggett. 74-78, 85. “The Association Building.” Jallade. I. Principles Stated. 1. For its proper development the City Association demands a modern building specially planned and built for its use and owned by the Association. 2. In cities where the work is new the building should as a rule be built simultaneously with the be¬ ginning of the Association. “Now it is the recognized principle that wherever there is a field for an Association, its success is more wisely promoted by securing at the outset a suitable building.” (War¬ ner, “Memoirs.” 107.) II. Three Methods of Association Evolution. 1. Many Associations have evolved through rented quarters in a rented building into a modern building owned by the Association. 2. A number of Associations have begun their histories with modern Association buildings, secured by the short-term or whirlwind campaign method, developed by C. S. Ward in 1906. 3. There is a modern tendency in some places, more especially rural fields and small towns and in com¬ munity branches of city Associations, to begin with non-equipment work and secure a building at a later time. III. Principles of Arrangement. 1. A few fundamental principles of arrangement have been clearly established: the principle of control from a central office, giving maximum supervision with a minimum of employes. The large lobby is the central feature. Simplicity and dignity of exterior—as contrasted with the type of twenty years ago with its towers, dormer windows, etc. Revenue-producing features—sometimes called “endowment features”—arc incorporated in all mod¬ em buildings. The dormitory is the most common of these. Buildings should be built with the amount of money provided and dedicated debt free. Some first- class disasters have resulted from the failure to observe this principle. Jallade’s pamphlet “The Association Building” gives a good discussion of some fundamental prin¬ ciples of construction. IV. Non-equipment Work, or Community Work. The Association is adaptal)le to rural conditions, small towns and districts of citic-s, through non-equip¬ ment work under strong trained leadership and supervision. Association Men, Aug., 1912, is partly devoted to the presentation of this plan. This form of work is discussed in “Community Boys’ Work”—published by Association Press. In fields where non-e(|uipment work is carried on the Association depends for its success almost entirely upon the personality and skill of the secretary and his ability to see and develop the local resources of equipment and voluntary workers. In the promotion of these Community Associations, the City Department of the International Commit¬ tee will cooperate in city fields and the County Department in the country fields. For special groups, such as colored, railroad, and industrial, in city or country fields, the appropriate department will cooperate with the city or county department in the promotion of the Community Association. 2 . 3. 4. 5. XII. FINANCIAL SUPPORT. References: “Association Hand-book.” Ill, 191, 199-214. “Life of McBurney.” Doggett. 143. 23 I. Principles Stated. ''riie Association is not expected to be self-supporting. The revenue from members’ fees ami building l^rivileges is not expected to be sufficient to maintain the Association. The money needed beyond the income from membership and other fees, dormitory rent, and endowment, is best secured by direct solicitation. Undignified and cheap methods of raising money should be avoided. The directors of a successful Association must secure annually subscriptions to meet the cost of: a. Many activities for which there is no charge to members or the public. b. Adequate upkeep of building, repairs, and alterations. The fundamental appeal for financial aid will be on the basis of the large contribution the Association is making to the young manhood and boyhood of the city, and the necessity for keeping the membership fees within the reach of the average young man. When this appeal is properly presented as an opportunity to have a part in a great enterprise, men will give large sums. The importance of drawing up a budget in advance of the year’s work—of getting it adopted by the Board of Directors and of raising the budget early in the year, should be treated in the course on business administration and management. XIII. WORK AMONG SPECIAL CLASSES AND GROUPS. A. MEN IN INDUSTRIES. Reference; ‘‘Among Industrial Workers.” Hand-book of the Industrial Department. I. The Field of Industrial Workers. 1. It includes artisans and apprentices; semi-skilled laborers and machine-operators; unskilled laborers; foremen and superintendents and works’ managers; persons engaged in commercial, professional or managerial work in operating or producing departments. It includes all men in manufacturing and mechanical work; men in transportation not reached b 3 '^ the Railroad Associations; and men in the extract occupations, such as forestry, mining, fishing, oil, and natural gas production. Such men in trade as draymen, hackmen, hatters, hostlers, porters, telegraph linemen; and men in personal service such as boot-blacks, elevator men, launderers, stevedores, and waiters. The field includes nearly 15,000,000 males-—two thirds of the male workers in our cities and towns. 2. The Association began its work among clerks. IMany City Associations have never gotten beyond this group and are neglecting 66 per cent of their field. The best Associations are now getting a vision of their duty to industrial workers, 3. There are three elements in the industrial population. Almost one half—44 per cent—are native Avhite men and boys; 7 per cent are colored; 49 per cent are foreign-born. The Association should reach all three of these groups—not selecting any one at the expense of the other. I 4. Much of this field should be reached with work outside the Association building—by immigrant work, various forms of extension work, and the work promoted through the “Industrial Service Movement.” II. Some Principles. 1. As to employer and employee. In relation to employer and em])loyee the Association is non-partisan and 3 X't it is more than neutral. It is mutual. We should not cater to either party, but shoukl eliminate partisan fei'Iings, action, and talk from our intercourse with industry. The Association’s work slioukl be confined as a rule to those activities which benefit both employer and employee, or which have the approval of both. Our field in industry lies, as Charles R. Towson says, “in the zone of agreements.” The Association will cooperate with trade unions in appropriate forms of service just as it will with manufacturers’ associations and boards of trade. 2. As to all-round service. The Association should render its all-round service and deliver its full message in each field, sur¬ rendering no phase of its services—educational, physical, social or religious, either completely or to another agency, unless the other agency ckairl}" does this work better than we can; and untler no circumstances surrendering the religious part of our })rogram. It is for this that we exist. 24 3. As to finances. Industry holds the resources to meet the nec'ds it luis creat('d. Ultimately the cost of much industrial work will be paid by the industries—not by the Association. This means the employer and employee jointly—not the one to the exclusion of the other. Industry is increasingly showing a willingness to cooperate with the Association in financing Industrial Association work. 4. As to lay workers. If ever the services of the Association are to be adequate, the industrial workers themselves must be enlisted and trained as volunteer leaders. We must seek to develop the local resources within the men themselves, giving responsibility and expecting results. 5. As to social problems. The attitude of the Association in industrial fields toward the social problems of the day is, in general, that expressed in the social service program of the Federal Council of Churches of Cdirist in America. Secure this from C. S. Macfarland, 105 East 22nd Street, New York City. 0. As to the relation of industrial work to women and children. In many industrial fields, to meet properly the needs of the industrial worker, he must be considered in connection with his whole family. The program of much industrial work will frequently include provision for women and children. The fundamental principle that the Association is for men and boj's only finds a legitimate exception in some phases of industrial work. Under these circumstances care must be exercised to see that the Association does not lose its distinctive character as a work for men and boys. III. Applications of the Principle. There are six fundamental methods of serving industrial fields: 1. In a branch of a City Association, located so as to serve industrial workers, supported by the com¬ munity in which located. 2. In a building provided by a single industry or group of industries, supported jointly by employer and employees. 3. General extension work conducted by a City Association, financed as seems best. 4. Specially organized Industrial extension work, with an Industrial Committee and an Industrial Sec¬ retary, whose budget is generally provided by the industries. 5. Plant extension work. A Secretary attached to the staff of a local Association and giving all or part of his time to work in a single industry or plant. 6. The System Plan, in which an industry having several plants takes the full time of a Secretary to establish and supervise Association work in the several plants. There may also be a Secretary in each plant, under the Supervisory Secretary. IV. Guiding Principles in Undertaking Industrial Work. 1. Know the local industrial field—make a survey, but do not get lost in it. 2. Know what other Associations are doing. 3. Adjust the plan anti activities of the local Association to fit industrial workers. Three things will be necessary—adaptation of: a. The Association facilities. b. 'File Association atmosphere. c. The plans and fees. 4. Secure the interest of the employed officers of the local Association and its Board of Directors. 5. St'cure the financial and personal cooperation of employer and employee, largely by personal contact and conversation. 6. Learn to mix with and like the ‘‘flannel shirt” groups, and to understand their point of view. 7. Trained Secretaries adaptable to industrial fields are essential. 8. Avoid official relations to the industrial workers, as representing the employer in welfare work for 25 ('iii])lo 3 T('. 'Jlie Asyociatioii i)laii is an urgaiiizatioii representing the employee as well as tlie employer. J3evelop i)ersonal, not official, contacts. 0. Study methods of cooperating with other agencies in industrial fields, without surrendering important elements in the Association plan. 10. Secure and study the new booklet, “Among Industrial Workers,” issued by the Industrial Depart¬ ment of the International Committee and published by the Association Press in the fall of 1916. B. MEN AND BOYS IN RURAL FIELDS. Pefcrences: “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 238. “Field Work of the Y. M. C. A.” 41. Cleveland Convention Report. 27. I. The Field of County Work. 1. The 2,953 counties in the United States, and the corresponding units in Canada. 2. The 4,105,656 inhabitants of the 1,172 incorporated places of 2,500 to 5,000 population. 3. The 8,118,825 inhabitants of the 11,784 incorporated places of less than 2,500 population. 4. The 41,230,058 other inhabitants of other rural territory, the “Open Country.” 5. The total of 53,454,539 people,* 58.1 per cent of the entire population of the United States. 6. The 7,483,635 males from twelve to twenty-five years old, inclusive. 7. The 10,760,875 males in agricultural pursuits, working 6,361,502 farms, worth $40,991,449,090, and l)roducing annually $8,296,741,000 worth of products. II. General Principles. 1. The recognition of the inherent value of country life in and for itself. 2. A more scientific type of crop production and farm administration as esscaitial to greater satisfaction in rural life. 3. A redirected educational system which will fit for life in the countr}". 4. Better health and sanitation in farm homes and country communities. 5. A wholesome development of the recreative life. 6. Increasing the power of the Church. III. Principles of Supervision, Administration, and Promotion.. 1. The organization of Associations with the county as a unit, 2. The approach to the rural problem a community approach. 3. A recognition of the resident forces as the redemptive forces. 4. The maximum development of constructive forces in community lih'. 5. The elimination of waste. 6. Cooperation rather than competition. 7. A task for every man and a man for every task. 8. The discovery, enlistment, and training and utilization of volunteer leadership. 9. Material equipment is a liability compared with the asset of a personality as a vital center. 10. A recognition of the primary institutions of the community as the home, the school, and the church, and the Association as supplementary thereto. 11. IMembershii) is based uj)on what is given in service rather than what is secured in privileges. 12. A dominance of Christian ideals in tlie character of the manhood and boyhood of the country. 26 C. WORK AMONG STUDENTS. References:_“Hi.story of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 187. “Field and Work of the Y. M. C. A.” 25. Cleveland Convention Report. 29. I. The Field. 1. The 1,390 institutions of higher learning—collegiate, graduate, and professional, enrolling 227,103 male students; and the corresponding student body of Canada. 2. The 2,199 private secondary schools in the Ihiited States, enrolling 80,047 boys; and the correspond¬ ing secondary schools of Canada. 3. In a more remote way, in cooperation with Boys’ Departments, the boys in public high schools. II. Distinctive Significance. 1. The leaders in American life—business, civic, and professional, are increasingly being drawn from college graduates. It is of vital importance to the nation that this significant group of men become followers of Christ and members of the Church, that their leadership and service may be Christian. III. Fundamentals. 1. The Student Association work is based on undergraduate initiative and direction. It is not a mission from without, but an indigenous movement within the student body. Students are recognized as a group having peculiar needs, best reached as a group, and most effectively by their own companions. 2. The Association occupies an important place in the student field. It can there serve the interests of the Kingdom of God and of the Church better than the Church itself by its ordinary processes, or in its regularly organized form. In this connection, however, the Association looks upon itself as the means and the Church as the end. In its relation to the evangelical churches, the Student Association cooperates with them, using every effort to relate men to the Church as members and workers. 3. The Student Association aims to reach each student generation as freshmen, and hold them through¬ out their college life, and to send them out trained for Christian service. Four college classes effec¬ tively reached in this way make the atmosphere of the institution predominantly Christian and friendly to the Association. 4. College life is not just a preparation for life, but is a part of life itself. Realizing that permanent habits and relationsliips are established while in college, the Association aims to develop in men the fundamental Christian habits of daily Bible study and prayer, church membership, interest in mis¬ sions, and the giving of money and time to Christian work. 5 The Student Association recognizes the value of great evangelistic and social service campaigns con¬ ducted within the university itself as a means of winning college men to be disciples of Jesus and workers in His Church. These campaigns are not isolated events, but part of a unified program. 0. Special effort is made to interest men in the world-wide extension of Christianity, and to lead stu¬ dents into a permanent interest in missions, based on definite information about other lands. , 7. The training of the future lay leaders of the Church is recognized as one of the big opportunities be¬ fore the Student Association. 8. The obligation to recruit men for the ministry, the Association secretaryship, and to be foreign mis¬ sionaries is recognized, and efforts to this end are systematically promoted. 9. The Association promotes the study of the social problem and enlists students in social service, both on and beyond the campus; the Industrial Service Movement is an illustration of this. 10. The opportunity of helping to Christianize other nations, by winning to the Christian life foreign students resident in American colleges, is recognized. Special efforts are made to serve these foreign students. 11. The Student Association feels it to be part of its duty to find employment for students having insuffi¬ cient funds to carry them through school. 12. The Association seeks to make college life Christian, not only by winning individual students to 27 Christ, but by systematic efforts to eliminate evil college customs and to establish a college standard favorable to Christ. 13. The cooperation of the university officers and faculty is sought as an important factor in the work of the Association. 14. The Student Association emphasizes service more than privileges in enlisting men in membership. 15. The Student Association seeks to project itself in two directions beyond college walls. a. To reach boys before they enter college, it tries to make its influence felt in the life of high schools and preparatory schools. b. To follow men after they leave college, it endeavors to relate each year’s alumni to the Christian work of the community to which each alumnus goes. 16. The secretaryship of the Student Association is increasingly being recognized as a life work. The need of experienced and trained men as permanent secretaries of Student Associations has become recognized as a fundamental. D. WORK FOR COLORED MEN. References: “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 226. “Field and Work of the Y. M. C. A.” 53. “Present Forces in Negro Progress.” Weatherford. 167. I. The Field. 1. The 10,000,000 colored people in the United States, 10.7 per cent of the whole population. No North¬ ern State has as many as 5 per cent colored population, but in the South the colored population runs from 11 per cent in Kentucky to more than 50 per cent in Mississippi and South Carolina. A few Northern cities, however, have large colored populations, such as Chicago and St. Louis. 2. There are seven cities of over 10,000 population whose population is 25 per cent or more colored ])eople. In addition to this, there are twenty-one cities of from 25,000 to 100,000 population, in which the colored people are 25 per cent or more of the population. 3. 49.5 per cent of all colored people in America are males. Of these males 2,500,000 are twenty-one years old and older, and 2,000,000 fall within the ages of eighteen to forty-four. II. Policies. 1. The work for colored men and boys is practically a duplication of the work of the Association in general, for it necessarily must have its Student Work in the colleges. Industrial Work, County Work, Physical, Educational, etc., to meet the needs of this particular group of our population. 2. This department differs from others in that it not only deals with practically all the usual Association problems, but it is also environed by a serious racial problem. 3. Working with colored men has been found far more effective than working for them. Forces and leadership within the colored population itself must be discovered and developed. The complete development of colored men increases as race consciousness and self-respect grow. The Associations for colored men work to produce this feeling of racial solidarity and dignity. ♦ 4. The Colored Associations aim to produce mutual respect and confidence between the white and colored people in the communities in which they operate. 5. The Colored Associations seek to secure for colored men buildings affording colored men opportunities equal to those enjoyed by their white fellow citizens. 6. Constant effort is made by this department, as by others, to keep in close touch and harmony with the Church. E. WORK FOR RAILROAD MEN. References: “Railroad Association Work.” “History of the North American Young Men’s Christian Associations.” Morse. 207-13. “The Modern Railroad.” Hungerford. 28 “Railways in the United States/’ Sterne. “The Care of a House.” Clark. “The Working of the Railroads.” McPherson. “Railway Problems.” Ripley. I. The Field of the Railroad Department. 1. The 2,000,000 railroad men of the United States and Canada. 2. The railroad men of Mexico, South America, China, Japan, India, etc. 3. The sons of all railroad men in the countries mentioned above. 4. The families of railroad men—carrying on a type of community work—wherever possible. 5. The 375,000 employees of over 1,000 Street Railway Companies of the United States and Canada, together with their families. II. Fundamental Principles. 1. A recognition of the importance of conducting an all-around type of work carefully adapted to the peculiar needs of the men served by the Railroad Department. 2. A fearless declaration of the fundamental Christian truths for which the Young Men’s Christian Association stands. 3. A thorough study of the business of railroading to become acquainted with its history, development, operation, and problems. 4. A spirit of cooperation established between employer and employee, as illustrated by each bearing a share of the cost of buildings and the expense of operation. 5. A business administration of the Railroad Association of a standard that will compare favorably with that of the railroad corporations. 0. An attractive, clean, and well-ordered building providing a comfortable home for the railroad man away from home, giving him the advantages of a wholesome Christian atmosphere. 7. An effort to serve the sons and families of the railroad men wherever possible; the work of the Rail¬ road Association, under those conditions, a type of community work. 8. The supervision of the Railroad Association work by a division of the whole American field into dis¬ tricts with a traveling secretary of the Railroad Department of the International Committee assigned to each district, and by cordial cooperation with State and territorial committees. 9. The Railroad Brotherhood kept thoroughly advised on all Association matters by means of lectures, printed matter, and by the generous use of Railroad Association Magazine, the official publication of the Railroad Department. III. Adaptations. 1. By establishing a point of contact with the Railroad Companies at the earliest possible stage, such as the pioneer work for the Government Railroad in Alaska and the construction camp work. 2. By recognizing the need for Association work among the neediest classes of railroad men, as evidenced by the work for the colored men at Bluefield, Virginia. 3. By doing work for special foreign groups of railroad men, as Japanese, Mexicans, and others. F. WORK FOR ARMY AND NAVY MEN. References: “History of North American Y. M. C. A.” R. C. Morse. Pp. 219-2G. “Fifty Years of Federation.” R. C. Morse. P. 68. “Christian Work for Men and Boys as Carried on by Young Men’s Christian Associations.” Pp. 47-52. Report of Army and Navy Department, 1899. “Ten Years with the Army and Navy; Jubilee of Work for Young Men, Boston Convention Report.” Pp. 152-66. 29 I. Field. 1. United States Army, 131,752 men. Various service bills now being discussed will increase this to possibly 500,000 men in training with 2,500,000 reservists. 2. United States Navy, 101,019 men. 3. National Guard: United States, 129,398 men. 4. Training Camps: Contemplated for 1917, 57,000 men. From 5,000 up to 500,000 boys of the one million reaching the age of eighteen each year. II. Unusual Characteristics of the Army and Navy Field. 1. Army and Navy national in character. 2. Authority, custom, and methods follow analogy of Federal Government, with centralized authority and relationship. General relationship must therefore be through one channel of communication to headquarters at Washington (Acts of Congress—Revocable License, Quartermaster Department, Transportation, Assignment of Sites, etc.) 3. Enlisted men form a contrasted field to City Association in these respects: Uniform in age, mentality, and training. Abnormal in environment and life. Subject to strict discipline. Clothed in national uniform. Easily shifted from place to place. Unusual group consciousness. III. Finances. 1. Navy. a. Need for ample provision for temporary sleeping quarters necessitates large buildings operated on a twenty-four hour basis, involving liberal budgets. 1). Fleet movements result in crowded conditions followed by greatly reduced use of buildings, c. Secretarial and operating force must be organized, budget adopted, and equipment secured to meet these conditions. 2. Army. a. In the Army a larger degree of permanency and regularity exists and smaller buildings and bud¬ gets are feasible. b. Limited pay (about $13 per month) makes impracticable any material income from the soldiers themselves and necessitates larger proportionate contributions to total budget. 3. National. Ample general provision must be made for national finances, either through large endowment or otherwise, owing to the fact that many branches are isolated and can never be self-supporting; and self-supporting branches are subject to occasional, sudden, and complete depletion of constituency, necessitating national aid. IV. Methods. 1. Being deprived of home life, the men require ample provision for social comforts, ample substitutes for temptation in the way of amusements and recreation, and organized provision for the best use of leisure time. 2. Committee service should not only be based on the temporary and local opportunity afforded at any one point, but should be coordinated and nationalized as far as practicable so as to utilize enlisted men at various posts and stations in similar lines of service. 30 V. General Principles. 1. Technical Approach. a. The field should be studied from the standpoint of the Army and Navy and the technical needs of the men. b. Methods should be adapted to the accessibility and abnormal environment of the enlisted per¬ sonnel. c. All-round service must be rendered in the light of a changing personnel, shifting constituency, and irregular use of activities. (Captain Plunket: “Thirty-five per cent of officers and men are shifted each year on a battleship.”) d. Large numbers of enlisted men fail to re-enlist after term of three years in the Army and four years in the Navy. e. This necessitates: (1) Brief courses in educational classes, Bible classes, and physical work. (2) Coordination of methods and privileges between branches. (3) National membership. (4) National organizations, like Enlisted Men’s Bible and Prayer League, Total Abstinence League, etc. f. Buildings and methods should be used for the entire personnel rather than for either a local en¬ listed constituency or any group, such as a membership group. g. While membership is feasible and desirable, it should be on the basis of service rather than priv¬ ilege, and in no sense should it be exclusive, as the nominal constituency of the Army and Navy Associations is the entire enlisted personnel passing through their fields. h. This entire group is a selected constituency, as it is uniform as to age, profession, national rela¬ tionship, and peculiar need. 2. Government and Officers. The Association stands for the enlisted man and his best all-round development. While therefore; always projecting its work from the standpoint of the enlisted man, it must always regard official relationship, military discipline, and exigency. Its opportunity exists largely therefore in the leisure and off-duty time of the men. While recognizing its activities for the good of the men, it necessarily conserves also the interests of the Government and of the Army and Navy, inasmuch as whatever develops better men produces more efficient soldiers and sailors. VI. Organization. 1. Navy. From the beginning, in 1898, only one form of organization has been found feasible—that is, a na¬ tional Navy organization with a national board of managers, at present coincident with the Army and Navy Committee of the International Committee. Each branch of this national organization is administered by a local committee of management composed of local business men. Owing to the peculiar situation and national character there is no active membership for the enlisted personnel in either Army or Navy, but the active membership is confined to members of the committee of man¬ agement of the various branches. 2. Army. Three methods of organization have been followed in the Army: a. As branches of City Associations. b. As branches of State Committees. c. As branches of the International Committee under national plan as followed in the Navy. After years of experimentation, no Associations are left under State Committees, and today only four City Associations are continuing to administer Army branches. The reasons for this are apparently found in the national characteristics already mentioned and possibly indicate that the natural basis of organization is a national plan, as in the Navy. 3. Secretaries. a. Must have technical training. b. Must possess knowledge of the service. c. Must be kept in close touch with national standards and tlepartment methoils and should be subject to quick and easy transfer. 31 4. National. A national organization is necessary. A very large section of the field will always be isolated from existing Association agencies. This includes: Shipboard Work. Expeditionary Work. National Encampments. Emergency Work (such as at Texas Border). Manoeuver Work. Foreign Work (Alaska, Hawaii, Philippine Islands, China, Canal Zone). Isolated Posts and Stations. Of forty-eight unorganized Army posts, only eleven are near organized City Associations, the other thirty-seven being at places that will never have regular City Associations. G. WORK FOR BOYS. Ileferences: “Boy Life and Self-Government.” G. Walter Fiske. “Adolescent Boyhood.” Hanford M. Burr. “Boyology.” H. W. Gibson. “Wage-Earning Boys.” Clarence C. Robinson. “Community Work.” Frank H. T. Ritchie. High School Pamphlets. Arthur N. Cotton. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 233-238. Files of Association Boys and American Youth. (See also special list of books published by Association Press.) I. The Boys’ Work Field. The Boys’ Division of the Young Men’s Christian Association properly relates itself to hood life of the community between twelve and eighteen years of age. In many cases the retains its contact with boys until the end of the high school course, even though this be as Employed boys’ groups, likewise, composed of boys sixteen to twenty, are increasingly being Boys’ Divisions. In a few Associations the Boys’ Work Secretary maintains a relationship to the so-called Intermediate group, namely, those who are eighteen to twenty-one years of age. Besides age groups, the Boys’ Division deals with interest groups, such as Employed Boys, Grade School Boys, and High School Boys; with geographical groups as found in community and district community areas; wdth occupational groups, such as messenger boys, department store boys; with race groups such as colored boys, Italian boys; with less fortunate groups, such as court charges, including dependent, defective, and de¬ linquent boys. The Association ministers to the highly-privileged, the privileged, and the non-privileged boys of the community. II. Fundamental Principles. 1. The boy’s needs. The Association should render its maximum service to the boy at the point of his greatest need, whether this is accomplished by (a) directly touching his life, or by (b) indirectly touching his life Ihrough other agencies renth'red more effective by Association cooperation. The good of the boy should be paramount to the good of the Association or other ag('ney. 2. All-round development. 'Fhe work should be symmetrical, bringing the boy to a rounded maturity; illustrated for instance, in the American Standard Program and the Canadian Standard Efficiency Tests, in which provision is made for the definite development of the boy along mental, physical, social, and spiritual lines. 3. By boys for boys. The work should be with boys rather than for boys; this should evolve into work hy boys for other boys. 4. Personal growth and social outreach. The work should be (a) individual, with a view to securing for each boy the development he particu¬ larly needs to reach symmetrical manhood, and should be (b) social, with a view to relating each boy most helpfully to his home, his school or Avork, his church, his companions, and his leisure time recreations. the entire boy- Boys’ Division late as twenty, reached by the 5. Associated elTort. The group of boys known as Association members sliould be associated in reality, and not in name only, in the common cause of allegiance to the Christian ideal and of service, rather than gathered together as privilege-buyers. This does not prevent a second group being related to the Association as privilege-buyers, who by this means may be brought into contact M'ith Association influence. 6. High-grade leadership. The highest grade leadership obtainable, both secretarial and lay, will be required to carry on the work, in order that Association contact with the boy should bring to him the greatest possible en¬ couragement in all elements of character-building, such as punctuality, honor, purity of life, thrift, unselfishness. These ideals will best be imparted to him through personal contact. 7. An agency of the Church. The Association should conduct itself as an agency of the Church: (a) supplementing the work of the (fliurch with church boys, and (b) reaching large numbers of boys not now reached by the Church and helping them to become working members of the Church. Thus the Association should be ac¬ cepted as one clearly defined expression of the Christian Church in specified work with boys. 8. For Christ and the Church. The Association’s greatest contribution to the boy must alwa 5'^8 be counted as the ability to join with others in leading him to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Saviour, into fellowship with the Christian Church, and into definite service in the Christian cause. XIV. SOCIAL SERVICE PRINCIPLES. References: “Life of McBurney.” Doggett. 145. “Religious Work for Men.” Bronxville Report. 101. Messer’s Silver Bay Paper, 1912. 30. “Association Hand-book.” 70. “Principles and Organization.” Murray. 33. “Principles and Methods of Religious Work.” Atlantic City edition. 135-141. I. General Observations. 1. Jesus sought to transform society by transforming individuals. 2. Jesus also sought to transform those social conditions which destroy life. 3. The Association has an obligation along this line of changing social conditions. 4. Social service is the most difficult and most dangerous of all religious work. A worker easily loses his balance: it is easy to go astray; it is easy to “see red” and act unwisely. The solution of difficult problems is frequently undertaken without sufficient experience or training. II. The Association’s Attitude Toward Social Service. 1. “What impressed the young men from Montreal and Boston and led them to organize the first Asso- tions in North America on the London plan was the combination in that plan of effective religious appeal with a humanitarian social service emphasis upon a better environment for the tempted young man.”—“History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 2. At the 1871 International Convention the following resolution was adopted: “Resolved, That Young Men’s Christian Associations are organized specially to labor for and among young men; that they constitute a Union Board of the Church of Christ, charged with the performance of a specific duty; that in the prosecution of their work, the Associations, as such, have no politics, and know no distinctions among men except between those who love Christ and those who love Him not; and that it does not fall within the sphere of their duties to take part in any con¬ troversy, or to make official deliverance upon any topic, however commendable in itself, or however it may appeal to the Christian or humanitarian sympathies of individuals, which does not relate directly to the work of evangelization among young men by the agencies appropriate to their own organization.” 3. In 1888 McBurney gave as a settled principle: “When questions of moral reform become political party questions, our Associations, as such, can have no connection with them.” 33 4. Tlic lironxville Ki'port of 11)07, afior iiidicjitiiig certain tyi^es of social service thought to be expe¬ dient, says: “p]xpcricnce conclusively shows that the Associations, as such, ought not to engage in the following kinds of service designed for social betterment: a. Movements to secure the enactment of laws. b. The enforcement of present laws. c. The settlement of disputes between capital and labor. d. Movements of a political nature.” (Religious Work for Men, p. 101.) 5. Mr. Messer, in his recommendations to the Employed Officers’ Conference at Silver Bay in 1912, ad¬ vocated a continuance of this conservative position. (Relation of the Employed Officer to the Present- day Problems of the North American Associations, 30-33.) 6 . The Men and Religion Forward Movement resulted in many of our Secretaries feeling a duty to take a more aggressive stand in matters of social betterment, and to be willing to relate the Association more actively to the changing of fundamentally wrong social conditions. 7. The Religious Work hand-book, resulting from the Atlantic City Conference of 1913, reflects this changing attitude toward social service, by the omission of the warnings and prohibitions of the 1907 Bronxville Report, and states that “the Association, by its very form of organization, believes in the unity of man, in the saving of the whole man, and, to this end, the betterment of his environment. Thus, the program of its service must seek to include all the forces which bear upon the life and spirit of man for his uplift.” Since that time many Associations and Association Secretaries have taken a more active part in reform movements, especially the Temperance Movement. The attitude of a number of leaders is changing. However, the historic position of the Association, of non-affiliation with other agencies and movements, should be abandoned, in any specific instance, only after the most careful considera¬ tion of all that is involved; for it is this policy of non-affiliation that has enabled us to unite for our own specific purpose men of divergent religious, social, economic, and political views. III. Characteristics of an Association Social Service Program. 1. A positive program to promote constructive agencies or institutions. 2 . A “fighting” program, striking at evils that destroy men and boys. 3. An educational program to inform as to evils and cures. 4. A cooperative program, working with, or through, other agencies. 5. A sane, well-considered program. IV. Factors in Social Life to Which We Have a Relation. 1. The Home—^to make it universal, Christian, reproductive, permanent, sanitary. 2 . The School—to make it available for all, practical in training for life, used more generally by the whole community. 3. The Church—to make it a factor in promoting social righteousness, a factor in the lives of all the people. The State—to make it moral and righteous, representing the people; serving all the people. Health — to make it general, by i>ronioting sanitation, hygiene, rcicreation, prevention of disease, droi)ping of quack ads, temperance, sick visitation, etc. Work or Employment—to make it available, safe, profitable, efficient, permanent, remunerative, and affording promotion. 7. Play—to make it available for all, moral, safe, character-building. The Association can have a relation to each of these factors in social life by promoting a constructive program and by fighting evils which destroy the home, the school, the church, the state, health, work, and play. 4. 0 . 34 XV. RELATION TO THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. Roforoncos: “Principles and Methods of Religious Work.” 143-152. “History of the Y. M. C. A.” Morse. 133-136, 193-205, 261-273. “Principles and Organization.” Murray. 35-36. Cleveland Convention Report. 171-174, 364-396. I. The Principle Stated. 1 . The North American Associations are under moral and spiritual obligation to extend their work into non-Christian lands. 2. We have a stewardship of methods, men, money, and ideals. 3. We owe it to our members to interest them in this big enterprise, foreign missions. 4. All arguments for the Association being established in America apply on the foreign field: ease of approach to young men, interdenominational, etc. II. The Principle Recognized. At the Cleveland Convention of 1916, in a now historic resolution, the local Associations decided to as¬ sume a larger share of the responsibility of the foreign work than they had ever before carried. This was the result of the work of a special commission, with L. Wilbur Messer, of Chicago, as Chairman, and was in no small measure the outcome of Mr. Messer’s personal inspection of many of the foreign Associations. The resolution is printed in full on page 173 of the Cleveland Convention Report. Its first paragraph reads: “That the North American Associations recognize and hereby declare that the obligation for the foreign work program rests primarily upon our Associations, and that each Association annually, through its Board of Directors, should adopt an adequate foreign work program.” The rest of the recommendation has to do with methods of making this policy effective. The whole report should be read, 364-396, Cleveland Convention Report. III. Policies. Among other standard policies, the following three are fundamental: 1 . Our Foreign Secretaries are stationed only in those countries where the missionaries with unanimity invite and urge such cooperation. (Cleveland Convention Report, 365.) 2 . The policy of the Foreign Department is: “To plant and develop self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating Young Men’s Christian Associations, or unions of Associations, and to hold them to the fundamental aims of the Young Men’s Christian Association.” 3. Each American Association should be related to some foreign Association, carrying all or part of a Secretary’s budget, or the whole staff of an Association, or, as in the case of Detroit, taking responsi¬ bility for a whole country (Turkey). 4. See the Cleveland Convention Report, 173, for elements in the policy of a local Association. XVI. THE CONSTITUTION. This course might well include a careful detailed study of the Association constitution, taking up both the local one and the model constitution published by the Association Press. 35 3 HT OT KOtTAlSH' ..VZ ^:tC:i;v 2 A’l .^>.1/::. 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