/J?2- 
 
 MANUAL 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 AND BY-LAWS 
 
 -OF THE- 
 
 MISSION BOARD 
 OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 CHURCH in AMERICA 
 
 REVISED and ADOPTED 
 OCTOBER 19, 1916 
 
OUR ANNUITY PLAN 
 
 FOR THE DONOR IT IS 
 
 Better than a farm, as there are no 
 taxes to pay or repairs to make. 
 
 Better than a mortgage, as there is no 
 care, anxiety or uncertainty in mak¬ 
 ing investments. 
 
 Better than cash in hand, as it is 
 constantly bringing an income. 
 
 The annuitant enjoys a certain fixed in¬ 
 come while his money is on its mission of 
 usefulness for the Lord’s cause. 
 
 FOR THE MISSION BOARD IT IS 
 
 Better than small gifts. 
 
 Better than occasional gifts. 
 
 Better than a bequest. 
 
 It insures the best possible use of money 
 during life or at death. 
 
 A bond is executed for the prompt and 
 faithful payment of the interest. 
 
 You want to know more about it? A 
 postal card or letter will bring you a leaflet 
 giving further information, with a blank 
 form of the bond that is executed. 
 
 OMER S. THOMAS, M. T. MORRILL, 
 
 Mission Secretaries, Dayton, Ohio 
 
MANUAL 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 AND 
 
 BY-LAWS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MISSION BOARD OF THE 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH 
 IN AMERICA 
 
 Revised and Adopted October 19, 1916 
 
 DAYTON, OHIO 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE MISSION BOARD 
 C. P. A. BUILDING 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/manualconstitutiOOchri 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Mission Board of the Christian 
 Church is elected quadrennially by The 
 American Christian Convention, the Home 
 Mission Secretary and four members consti¬ 
 tuting a board of directors for the Home 
 Mission Department, and the Foreign Mis¬ 
 sion Secretary and four other members a 
 board of directors for the Foreign Mission 
 Department. This Board is charged with 
 the duty of “managing with energy and 
 prudence” the missionary interests of the 
 denomination known as “The Christians” or 
 “The Christian Church”of the United States 
 and Canada, whether those interests be at 
 home or abroad. The Woman’s Board for 
 Home Missions and the Woman’s Board for 
 Foreign Missions are auxiliary to The 
 American Christian Convention, and work 
 in harmony with the general Mission Board. 
 
 The spiritual aspects of the missionary 
 work are entitled to the foremost place in 
 the thought and affections of all who engage 
 in it. Applicants for missionary appointment 
 should be under a sense of divine call, and 
 should seek their reward in their blessed 
 Lord’s approval. For His sake they should 
 be willing to make sacrifices, meet hard¬ 
 ships, endure privations, accept a life of 
 steady, unnoticed labor, expecting to con¬ 
 tinue until death, looking for reward and 
 rest in the world to come. In these and 
 similar purposes, endeavors and hopes, they 
 and the Board and all friends of missions 
 
 3 
 
should stand together in mutual sympathy. 
 Harmonious and pleasant relations and co¬ 
 operation between missionaries themselves 
 and between them and the Board and its 
 executive officers, depend far less on formal 
 rules than on their common experience of 
 God’s love and love for God’s creatures, and 
 mutual interest in the cause for which 
 Christ gave His life. It is in no sense un¬ 
 dervaluing these principles, but rather to 
 further them, that this Manual is given 
 chiefly to the business relations of the Board 
 and its missionaries. 
 
 4 
 
MANUAL 
 
 This Manual is for the guidance of the 
 Mission Board of the Christian Church, and 
 its missions, missionaries and applicants for 
 appointment to mission service. 
 
 FOREIGN MISSIONS 
 
 I. Foreign Missionaries 
 
 DUTIES OF 
 
 1. The functions of the missionary are to 
 preach the Gospel, found churches, teach 
 and train native workers, translate the 
 Word of God when necessary, create and 
 circulate Christian literature and whatever 
 else may be necessary for the promotion of 
 Christianity in his respective field. 
 
 2. He should not become pastor of a na¬ 
 tive church, but should labor to secure com¬ 
 petent native pastors for the native 
 churches, while he himself should go on win¬ 
 ning converts to Christ and establishing and 
 founding new churches as he may be provi¬ 
 dentially led. 
 
 3. The wives of missionaries, and espe¬ 
 cially if under appointment, are expected to 
 do all they can, consistent with their domeg- 
 
tic duties, to promote the work of the mis¬ 
 sion. They, with all lay helpers, should 
 make all their work subservient to the one 
 great aim of giving the Gospel to the people 
 and bringing them to Christ. 
 
 QUALIFICATIONS 
 
 4. The following qualifications should be 
 possessed by those who seek appointment as 
 missionaries: 
 
 1. Strong faith in God and an unshaken 
 belief in His Word. 
 
 2. Earnest love for God and fellow men. 
 
 3. A self-sacrificing devotion to Christ 
 and His cause. 
 
 4. Sound judgment of men and things. 
 
 5. Good intellectual training, preferably 
 collegiate or its equivalent. 
 
 6. An aptitude for learning languages. 
 
 7. A hopeful and cheerful spirit. 
 
 8. Tact, and adaptability to people of all 
 classes and conditions. 
 
 9. Ability to work harmoniously with 
 others. 
 
 10. Persistent energy in carrying out 
 plans once well formed. 
 
 11. A sound physical constitution. 
 
 12. A conviction that God is calling to 
 this special line of work. 
 
 13. A reliance on the Holy Spirit to 
 make efficient all other qualifications and 
 give success in the work. 
 
 (Missionary candidates should apply to the Foreign 
 Mission Secretary for application and medical exam¬ 
 ination blanks.) 
 
 6 
 
5. Ordinarily, missionaries, before being 
 sent out, should have the test of practical 
 work at home; for if one has not tact and 
 ability in winning souls at home, the proba¬ 
 bilities are that he will have little abroad. 
 
 It is recommended that, when practicable, 
 before going to the field at least one year’s 
 course should be taken in some good mission¬ 
 ary training school, and some experience 
 had in city mission work. 
 
 SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT 
 
 6. In case of ministerial applicants, before 
 any appointment is made, the Board should 
 have official recommendation from the Chris¬ 
 tian conference of which the applicant is a 
 member, that he, or she, is in every way 
 worthy, and possesses the qualifications and 
 aptitude for the work which the appoint¬ 
 ment contemplates. If unordained, or not a 
 member of a conference, then an official 
 statement from the Christian church of 
 which the applicant is a member should be 
 had that he, or she, is in good standing in 
 the same, is in hearty sympathy with the 
 denomination, and possesses the qualifica¬ 
 tions as above. 
 
 7. Conference and church officers should 
 recommend such, and only such, as they 
 would select and be willing to support, if 
 able to do so, as their own representative 
 in the field; and should always seek by 
 earnest prayer the guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit before making such recommenda¬ 
 tions. 
 
 Other testimonials may be had from min¬ 
 isters, professors or other Christian work¬ 
 ers, who have had opportunity to know and 
 judge of the character and qualifications of 
 the applicant. These testimonials should be 
 
 7 
 
sent directly to the Foreign Mission Secre¬ 
 tary and are to be held as private and con¬ 
 fidential. Applicants should forward to the 
 Foreign Mission Secretary the names and 
 addresses of persons who may be corre¬ 
 sponded with in reference to the testimo¬ 
 nials. 
 
 8. As a rule application should be made 
 one year before time to start for the 
 field. 
 
 SUPPORT 
 
 9. From the time he enters the field until 
 he leaves it, the missionary will be paid the 
 salary fixed by the Board. It is expected 
 that the salary will be sufficient, with wise 
 economy, for the support of the missionary; 
 not sufficient to compensate for defects in 
 the missionary’s financial ability, nor so 
 small that the more prudent may not have 
 something to spare. Special needs may 
 sometimes arise which may require special 
 provision. 
 
 FIELD SALARIES 
 
 10. All salaries shall be determined by the 
 Board, and shall take into consideration the 
 needs and expenses of missionaries accord¬ 
 ing to countries, fields and stations where 
 they are located. 
 
 (1 ) For Japan: Married men shall re f 
 ceive flytOO per year, and single men $8007* 
 single womeu^OO per year. 
 
 For Porto Rico: Married men shall re- 
 ceive $1,000 per year, single men $800, and 
 single women $660j-——- —'• * 
 
 (2) Children’s Allowance: For depend¬ 
 
 ent missionary children in Japan, up to the 
 age of twenty years, the following sched¬ 
 ule shall apply: $4-00 for each child under 
 
 
/ i^/jr 
 
 years; $460- for each child over - S&-~ 
 years; and $200for each childlsent to Amer¬ 
 ica for schooling 3S~* 
 
 For missionary children m Porto Rico, $50 jjj. ^ 
 each, up to the age of twenty years. 
 
 (3) Rent: Mission homes or a reason- J 
 
 able equivalent in rent shall be provided for 
 
 all missionary families and single mission¬ 
 aries. 
 
 (4) Medical bills: The Board will pay 
 
 the medical bills of missionary families^ and^, J £ 
 single missionaries in-exo©ss-of-$25'per year. £\s g 
 Such bills shall be reported to the Missions, 
 and the Missions shall authorize payment. 
 
 (5) Where the child of a missionary on 
 the field is being sent home for education, 
 his traveling expenses shall be paid the 
 same as if he were traveling with his par¬ 
 ents on furlough. 
 
 FURLOUGH SALARIES 
 
 11. (1) The furlough salaries of all mis¬ 
 
 sionary families shall be $@00-por-year r :sAuih 
 c h il dren ’s -alkwanees. of $.50 per- year for ' 
 oa ch dep endent-ohild up talhe.age of twenty ' . 
 
 years,—except that -allowance for children 
 at—school—in— America shall be as above 
 s tate d. Reasonable house rent shall also be 
 provided. Single men shall have- $700 per 
 year. Single women sh-aH have $450 per 
 
 y«m 
 
 (2) Regular salary shall cease when a 
 missionary leaves his field, and furlough 
 salary shall begin when he reports from his 
 home in this country. Furlough salary 
 shall cease when he leaves home, and regu¬ 
 lar salary shall begin when he reaches his 
 field. 
 
 (3) Furlough accounts shall be kept by 
 the Treasurer of the Mission Board in 
 America. 
 
 9 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 (1) It is understood that the Board shall 
 amply provide for the maintenance of mis¬ 
 sionaries and their expense in going to and 
 from the field, and hence the cessation of 
 salary during travel. 
 
 (2) The Board shall be free to make 
 special grants for missionary support, as 
 emergencies on the field may require. 
 
 (3) The Board will pay for the neces¬ 
 sary outfit of missionaries going to the field 
 for the first time. The question of outfits 
 after furlough shall be submitted to the 
 Board as cases arise. 
 
 (4) Furniture bought with outfit money 
 shall be mission property. 
 
 (5) The Board will pay traveling ex¬ 
 pense and freight on a reasonable amount of 
 household goods by the nearest and most 
 practicable route to the field. It is under¬ 
 stood that travel shall be by the most direct 
 routes, unless the Board otherwise deter¬ 
 mines. 
 
 (6) The Board will pay for necessary 
 language teachers and interpreters. 
 
 FURLOUGHS 
 
 12. The appointment of missionaries con¬ 
 templates service for life, if the Lord wills. 
 Occasional furloughs, however, are in com¬ 
 plete accord with such service. Therefore, 
 at appropriate times, and for sufficient rea¬ 
 sons, consent will be given to the return of 
 the missionary, the Board paying the neces¬ 
 sary cost from the field, by the most direct 
 route, to the missionary’s home in this coun¬ 
 try. Such returns may be beneficial to the 
 missionary and to the home churches. 
 
 10 
 
Missionaries to Japan: For unmarried 
 ladies six years of service shall entitle them 
 to a furlough of one year, and m case of 
 families seven years of service shall entitle 
 
 them to a furlough of one year. 
 
 • 
 
 Missionaries to Porto Rico: On account 
 of the debilitating effect of the continuously 
 hot climate and the consequent more urgent 
 need of a change, a furlough of from two to 
 three months at intervals of from two and 
 one-half to three years, as the physical 
 needs may require, may be allowed. 
 
 (For other countries the periods for fur¬ 
 lough may be fixed as the wisdom of the 
 Board may indicate.) 
 
 Where a critical condition of health, or 
 other extreme cases, exist, furloughs may be 
 granted at other periods. In such cases the 
 request, with a statement of the reasons 
 therefor, with the approval of the Mission, 
 should be submitted to the Board. In cases 
 that do not admit of delay the approval of 
 the Mission shall be deemed sufficient, the 
 action to be promptly reported to the Board. 
 
 Unless otherwise fixed by the Mission 
 Board, the furlough shall not continue be¬ 
 yond one year from the time of leaving the 
 field. Missionaries home on furlough are 
 expected to give such time to the interests of 
 the work among the home churches, under 
 the direction of the Foreign Mission Secre¬ 
 tary, as may be deemed consistent with 
 needed rest and recuperation. 
 
 RIGHT TO RECALL 
 
 13. The Board reserves the right to recall 
 missionaries or revoke their appointment for 
 sufficient reasons. When the usefulness of 
 any missionary on the field where he has 
 
 11 
 
been laboring is open to serious question, it 
 shall be the duty of the Mission to make in¬ 
 vestigation, and report its judgment to the 
 Board. After the connection of missionaries 
 with the Board has terminated, no payment 
 of money on their account shall’be made by 
 the Treasurer of the Mission, except by au¬ 
 thority of the Board. 
 
 II. The Mission 
 
 EEFINITION 
 
 14. A Mission shall consist of the mission¬ 
 aries appointed by the Board and located 
 within certain specified territory, and or¬ 
 ganized for the transaction of business. It 
 shall meet once a year, or oftener if neces¬ 
 sary, at the call of the Chairman of the 
 Mission, or of three missionaries, and shall 
 keep a full and accurate record of its pro¬ 
 ceedings, a copy of which shall be forwarded 
 to the home Board. 
 
 VOTING 
 
 15. All commissioned missionaries and mis¬ 
 sionaries’ wives shall have equal privileges 
 in the meetings of the Mission, except that 
 no missionary shall be entitled to vote until 
 he shall have been in the field six months, 
 and no person suspended or dismissed from 
 service shall have any voice in Mission 
 meetings. 
 
 AD INTERIM COMMITTEE 
 
 16. The Mission may, if thought needful, 
 appoint an Ad Interim Committee to trans¬ 
 act such business as may require action be¬ 
 tween meetings of the Mission. But its ac¬ 
 tion should be submitted to the next meeting 
 of the Mission. 
 
 12 
 
OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES 
 
 17. Each Mission shall have a chairman, a 
 secretary, and a treasurer. One person may 
 be eligible to the office of both secretary and 
 treasurer. The Mission may elect its own 
 officers, as above provided for, and station 
 secretaries and sub-treasurers when they 
 are considered necessary. The station sub¬ 
 treasurers shall be held accountable to the 
 treasurer of the Mission. 
 
 18. The Chairman shall preside at all meet¬ 
 ings of the Mission, call special meetings of 
 the Mission when necessary, and perform 
 such other duties as usually devolve upon 
 such officers. 
 
 It). The Secretary shall keep a true and 
 faithful record of all the proceedings of the 
 Mission, in a suitable book provided for that 
 purpose, and transmit copies of the same to 
 the Foreign Mission Secretary; collect and 
 forward promptly the annual statistics of 
 the Mission, at the time designated, and 
 such other work as may be required by his 
 office. 
 
 20. The Treasurer shall be custodian of 
 the funds of the Mission, paying out the 
 same under direction of the Mission, as per 
 appropriations made by the Board, and in 
 no other way; taking vouchers for all pay¬ 
 ments, which shall be regularly marked and 
 numbered and filed convenient for exami¬ 
 nation by the Auditing Committee. He 
 shall be the custodian of all deeds or evi¬ 
 dences of property which are not transmit¬ 
 ted to the Mission Board. He shall keep 
 accurate and faithful account of all the 
 financial transactions of the Mission, and 
 make monthly report thereof to the Treas¬ 
 urer of the Mission Board. Such reports 
 
 13 
 
shall give the balance at the beginning of 
 the month, an itemized statement of receipts 
 and expenditures, and the balance at the 
 end of the month. He shall keep unexpend¬ 
 ed money in some bank approved by the Mis¬ 
 sion. He shall keep such other accounts as 
 may be necessary for a perfect understand¬ 
 ing of the financial affairs of the Mission, 
 and shall preserve all letters received and 
 copies of all letters sent, on the business of 
 the Mission. These accounts, books and let¬ 
 ters shall be open to the inspection of any 
 member of the Mission at any reasonable 
 time. He shall in no case loan money be¬ 
 longing to the Mission. He shall in no case, 
 either directly or by assuming obligations 
 for the future, allow to be expended more 
 than was authorized by the Board, except in 
 emergencies arising from sickness of mis¬ 
 sionaries or their families, or like circum¬ 
 stances of urgency; in which case a vote of 
 the Mission should be obtained and at once 
 reported to the Board for its sanction. At the 
 close of each year, he shall forward to the 
 Treasurer of the Mission Board a balance 
 sheet duly audited, corresponding with his 
 monthly statements, showing the exact con¬ 
 dition of the treasury, and a certificate of 
 the Auditing Committee of the Mission as 
 to the correctness of his account and his 
 final showing. 
 
 21. At the end of the year, the unexpended 
 balance of the (Japan) general appropria¬ 
 tion shall become part of a maintenance 
 fund for the Mission. 
 
 JURISDICTION AND DUTIES OF A MISSION 
 
 22. The Mission has the general care and 
 supervision of all missionary work within its 
 limits. All questions of policy, methods and 
 
 14 
 
expenditure, are subject to its judgment, 
 and all requests requiring the action of the 
 Board should be accompanied by the action 
 of the Mission upon the same. Tours of 
 exploration or any unusual work should be 
 undertaken only with the advice of the Mis¬ 
 sion. 
 
 The Mission assigns, and in general, su¬ 
 pervises the work of the individual mission¬ 
 aries, to the end that all forms of labor may 
 have the benefit of united counsel and may 
 promote the interest of the work as a whole. 
 It is proper, of course, that the views of all 
 missionaries regarding their location and 
 work should be heard and fully considered; 
 and if any missionary shall be dissatisfied 
 with the action of the Mission, an appeal to 
 the Board for final decision can be made. 
 The Mission may suspend a member, pend¬ 
 ing an appeal to the Mission Board. 
 
 23. At each annual meeting, the Mission 
 shall carefully prepare plans and estimates 
 for the following year, for the work as 
 already inaugurated. Following this, a 
 contingent statement may be made of addi¬ 
 tional objects and needs, arranged in the 
 order of their importance, any or all of 
 which may be provided for as the income of 
 the Board may allow. 
 
 STATIONS 
 
 24. A station is a field with one or more 
 missionary residences. Each station shall 
 have control of the missionary work within 
 its field, under the direction of the Mission. 
 New stations may be established only on the 
 action of the Board, but recommendations 
 of the Mission are always to be carefully 
 considered. The force assigned to such sta- 
 
 15 
 
tions should, if possible, include one mis¬ 
 sionary of experience. 
 
 Each station may have its own Sub-treas¬ 
 urer and Secretary. (See Section 17.) 
 
 OUT-STATIONS 
 
 25. Regular established preaching places 
 within the bounds of the station are desig¬ 
 nated as out-stations. 
 
 III. General Rules 
 
 STATISTICAL AND FISCAL YEAR 
 
 26. The statistical year shall begin July 1 
 and close June 30; the fiscal year shall com¬ 
 mence January 1 and close December 31. 
 
 REPORTS 
 
 27. Each missionary is required to send 
 quarterly (quarters to run with the statis¬ 
 tical year) to the Foreign Mission Secretary 
 at least a brief report of work done and 
 condition of his field, with such facts, inci¬ 
 dents, etc., as may be interesting and help¬ 
 ful to create and maintain interest in the 
 home churches. At the close of the statis¬ 
 tical year, an annual report shall be sent, 
 which may take the place of the last quar¬ 
 terly report. 
 
 STATISTICS 
 
 28. The Secretary or other person desig¬ 
 nated by the Mission, shall see that the sta¬ 
 tistics of the entire Mission are collected 
 just as quickly as possible after the close 
 of the year (June 30), and forwarded to the 
 Foreign Mission Secretary not later than 
 the middle of August following. 
 
 16 
 
THE VERNACULAR 
 
 29. The ability to read, but especially to 
 speak, the native language is an essential 
 qualification for the best missionary service. 
 
 All missionaries sent out by this Board 
 shall be required to pursue study courses 
 equivalent to those adopted by other mis¬ 
 sions, in order that they may gain good 
 working command of the vernacular. 
 
 This rule or its equivalent shall apply to 
 all Missions and missionaries in regard to 
 the native language of the Mission. 
 
 RENTALS 
 
 30. All rents for necessary buildings for 
 missionary residences, for schools and 
 preaching places, shall be paid by the Mis¬ 
 sion. Buildings occupied by married mis¬ 
 sionaries for residences that are owned by 
 the Mission Board or the Mission shall be 
 free of rent. 
 
 Expenses incurred in meetings of the Mis¬ 
 sion, or committees thereof, shall be paid 
 from the treasury of the Mission. 
 
 OTHER WORK 
 
 31. No missionary shall engage in any em¬ 
 ployment other than that approved by the 
 Mission Board. In case of outside work so 
 approved, all remuneration therefrom shall 
 be paid into the treasury of the Mission. 
 
 The following was adopted by the Board 
 at its session in October, 1899: 
 
 “That we allow our missionaries to do 
 extra work in teaching, when by so doing 
 they can really advance the interests of 
 legitimate work, but in no case shall such 
 work be allowed simply for a money consid¬ 
 eration.” 
 
 17 
 
CAUTION 
 
 32. To avoid confusion, missionaries should 
 refrain from making personal solicitation 
 for missionary objects from churches, Sun¬ 
 day-schools, Endeavor Societies, or individ¬ 
 uals, in the home field, except for those ob¬ 
 jects approved by the Board, and in all cases 
 the funds shall go through the regularly au¬ 
 thorized channels. 
 
 SHOULD SETTLE WITH THE MISSION ON 
 LEAVING THE FIELD 
 
 ,33. Missionaries leaving the Mission, 
 whether on furlough or otherwise, should 
 always bring a certified statement of their 
 account with the Treasurer of the Mission, 
 settled up to the time of departure, so that 
 their accounts with the Mission may be 
 closed. Afr-thq— g a k tr y ce a ses wbm—they 
 l eave - " the - fiicld -j yhe expense of the home¬ 
 coming and the home allowance is to be 
 charged to the general appropriation for the 
 work of that field. Furlough accounts shall 
 be settled with the Treasurer of the Board 
 in America. 
 
 HOME MISSIONS 
 
 To further the interests placed in charge 
 of this department, the Mission Board has 
 adopted the following rules for its guidance: 
 
 GENERAL AIM AND POLICY 
 
 34. The general aim of the home work of 
 the mission department of The American 
 Christian Convention shall be to foster and 
 develop self-propagating, self-supporting 
 churches among and for the people called 
 Christians, to secure proclamation of the 
 
 18 
 
Gospel among the unevangelized in our home 
 land, and to secure the co-operation of all of 
 our churches and people in our mission en¬ 
 terprises. 
 
 WHAT WORK SHALL BE SUPPORTED 
 
 35. It shall be the policy of this Board to 
 lend aid to the following causes, and such 
 others as the growth of the general work 
 may demand: 
 
 1. Support of missionaries in working up 
 new fields. 
 
 2. Assistance of weak churches in old 
 and new fields. 
 
 3. Development of the home mission in¬ 
 terests of the brotherhood, and the enlist¬ 
 ment of all of our churches in support 
 thereof. 
 
 4. Support of city mission work. 
 
 5. Securing for congregations church 
 properties by buying sites and erecting 
 church buildings, or assisting in so doing. 
 
 METHODS OF SECURING SUPPORT 
 
 36. The Board shall follow the direction of 
 The American Christian Convention in se¬ 
 curing one general offering for Home Mis¬ 
 sions each year, and in addition may adopt 
 such special methods as may be necessary. 
 The following are approved: 
 
 1. Creation of interest-bearing funds for 
 general work. 
 
 2. Securing legacies, bequests and other 
 special gifts. 
 
 3. The Annuity Plan. 
 
 4. Accumulation of special funds for 
 church building and similar purposes. 
 
 19 
 
5. Securing the co-operation of the 
 Woman’s Board for Home Missions, its aux¬ 
 iliaries, and other societies. 
 
 SUPPORT OF HOME MISSIONARIES 
 
 37. Wherever the needs of a section of the 
 country may seem to demand and Christian 
 comity may permit, new fields may be 
 opened under direction of this Board, by 
 employment of persons to be called “home 
 missionaries.” Such missionaries may re¬ 
 ceive support from the treasury of the mis¬ 
 sion department in sums to be determined 
 by the Board, or by a scale of salaries to be 
 hereafter formulated. 
 
 HOME MISSIONARIES 
 
 38. Ministers or others in charge of 
 churches receiving home mission support, or 
 engaged in opening up new fields and estab¬ 
 lishing new churches, or conducting city 
 missions, and field work which includes the 
 care and strengthening of weak churches, 
 wholly or partly under the direction of the 
 Board and receiving compensation from it, 
 shall be termed Home Missionaries, and 
 shall be amenable to all the rules governing 
 the work of home missionaries under this 
 department. 
 
 APPOINTEES 
 
 39. No minister shall be employed by this 
 Board unless he shall at the time of employ¬ 
 ment be a member of some Christian con¬ 
 ference, and shall be endorsed by his confer¬ 
 ence or by the Executive Committee of the 
 same, as being in every way worthy, and as 
 possessing adaptabilities for the work which 
 his appointment contemplates. 
 
 20 
 
TERM OF APPOINTMENTS 
 
 40. Unless otherwise specified, appoint¬ 
 ments of home missionaries shall be for the 
 term of one year. 
 
 APPLICATIONS OF MISSIONARIES 
 
 41. All persons desiring home missionary 
 work and support shall apply in regular 
 form, like churches. (See Applications of 
 Churches.) 
 
 REPORTS OF HOME MISSIONARIES 
 
 42. All missionaries in the home field who 
 receive financial help from this Board shall 
 be required to give a statistical report quar¬ 
 terly, as per blanks furnished by the Mis¬ 
 sion Secretary; also, at least quarterly, and 
 on a sheet separate from the statistical re¬ 
 port, items, facts, incidents, concerning the 
 field or the work, that may be given to the 
 public in view of creating and maintaining 
 an interest in home mission work. Failure 
 to so report shall be sufficient cause for re¬ 
 voking or withholding payment of appro¬ 
 priations. 
 
 CHURCHES ELIGIBLE FOR SUPPORT 
 
 43. Weak churches in both old and new 
 fields, or churches which have suffered from 
 unavoidable calamity, are eligible for home 
 missionary aid, in conformity with the sec¬ 
 tion on “Applications of Churches.” 
 
 WHAT ARE MISSION CHURCHES? 
 
 44. All churches receiving home mission 
 aid shall be called “home mission churches,” 
 and as such shall be amenable to all the 
 rules governing home mission churches. 
 
 21 
 
APPLICATIONS FOR AID 
 
 45. All applications of churches for aid 
 should be made by the church itself and be 
 endorsed by the conference of which the 
 church is a member, or by its Executive 
 Board. Such certified application should be 
 in the hands of the Home Mission Secretary 
 not later than October 1 of each year. 
 
 Conferences or other organizations apply¬ 
 ing for aid for churches or missionaries un¬ 
 der their immediate direction should make 
 application in the same manner as churches. 
 
 The Home Mission Secretary shall require 
 of all applicants full information concern¬ 
 ing the field or work involved, and shall pre¬ 
 sent the same to the Board or Council as 
 requested. 
 
 (Question blanks to accompany applica¬ 
 tion for aid should be secured from the Mis¬ 
 sion Secretary.) 
 
 REPORTS OF MISSION CHURCHES 
 
 46. All churches receiving missionary aid, 
 not otherwise reported, shall report in writ¬ 
 ing to the Home Mission Secretary, in the 
 same manner as required of Home Mission¬ 
 aries. 
 
 CONFERENCE MEMBERSHIP OF CHURCH 
 
 47. All home mission churches seeking 
 financial aid from this Board must be mem¬ 
 bers of some Christian conference, unless so 
 isolated as to make such membership im¬ 
 practicable. 
 
 MISSION CHURCHES TO TAKE COLLECTIONS 
 
 48. All ministers and churches receiving 
 aid from the home mission funds of this 
 Board shall be required to take or cause to 
 
 22 
 
be taken all the general collections required 
 by The American Christian Convention. A 
 failure to take any of said collections shall 
 forfeit any further payment by this Board, 
 unless a reason satisfactory to the Home 
 Mission Secretary can be given therefor. 
 
 MISSION CHURCHES ENGAGING OR 
 DISMISSING PASTORS 
 
 49. Mission churches shall be required to 
 consult the Home Mission Secretary con¬ 
 cerning the engagement or dismissal of pas¬ 
 tors, and no payment shall be made to any 
 pastor until he has been approved by the 
 Board or Council. Failure to so consult the 
 Secretary may be deemed sufficient cause 
 for revoking appropriations for help from 
 mission funds. 
 
 DEEDS OF MISSION CHURCHES 
 
 50. Section 1. The Board may require as 
 a further condition of appropriations that 
 churches deed their property to the Mission 
 Board of the Christian Church, the same to 
 be held by the said Board in trust for the 
 exclusive use of the church so deeding dur¬ 
 ing its visibility as a Christian Church, the 
 same to be controlled by the local Board of 
 Trustees of the church, with rights and 
 privileges unmolested. 
 
 Section 2. The Mission Board not claiming 
 any rights in the property thus deeded to 
 them during the visible existence of the 
 same, as a Christian church, will not hold 
 itself liable for taxes, insurance, repairs or 
 damages to the same; but may if deemed 
 best, make appropriations as may be neces¬ 
 sary to save the property from decay or de¬ 
 struction. 
 
 23 
 
Section 3. A church deeding its property 
 as in Section 1, shall be deemed to have lost 
 its visibility as a Christian church when it 
 ceases to occupy the property for regular 
 religious services for a period of two years, 
 or shall have united with another denomina¬ 
 tion, or shall have ceased to co-operate with 
 the Christians as represented by The Amer¬ 
 ican Christian Convention. A failure for 
 two consecutive years to represent itself at 
 the conference of which it is a member, or 
 refusal to take the collections as ordered by 
 the General Convention for two years, shall 
 be interpreted as having ceased to “co-oper¬ 
 ate.” The Mission Board may then proceed to 
 take possession of said property and to sell 
 the same as soon as practicable. The Board 
 may proceed sooner than above stated, if the 
 church shall formally give up its claim. 
 
 Section 4. The money obtained from the 
 sale of said church shall be placed at inter¬ 
 est or otherwise invested where it will bring 
 an income, the income to go into the Mission 
 Treasury for general use, the principal to 
 be kept for a period of five years subject 
 to the following rules: 
 
 If a new church shall be built in the same 
 locality where one has been sold as above by 
 the Mission Board, within the period of five 
 years, then the proceeds of the former sale 
 shall be returned to them to be put into the 
 new house, always providing that the deed 
 of the new property be made to the Mission 
 Board as above, subject to the rules of this 
 article, and in this and above Sections. If 
 at the end of five years the money is not 
 returned for the benefit of new property, 
 then it shall be retained as a permanent 
 fund, only the income to be used for mission¬ 
 ary purposes, under the direction of the 
 Board. 
 
 24 
 
The above rule shall apply to all mission 
 property acquired for meeting purposes. . 
 
 TERM OF MISSION HELP 
 
 51. 1. Churches shall be urged and en¬ 
 couraged to assume all pastoral support and 
 other legitimate obligations at the earliest 
 possible moment, to relieve the mission 
 treasury. 
 
 2. Mission help shall be withdrawn as 
 soon as, in the judgment of the Board, the 
 best interests of the work will warrant. 
 
 3. Five consecutive years shall be the 
 general limit during which any home mis¬ 
 sion church may receive appropriations from 
 this Board. 
 
 CONDITIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS 
 
 52. 1. Regular appropriations shall be for 
 one year from January 1 following the 
 Board meeting. Special appropriations 
 shall be for the length of time specified. 
 
 2. No appropriations shall be made ex¬ 
 cept upqn application setting forth definitely 
 the financial and other conditions of work of 
 churches to be helped, and stating the spe¬ 
 cific object for which appropriations are 
 asked, and giving sufficient information to 
 enable the Board to form a just conception 
 of the situation and need. Failure to com¬ 
 ply with this rule shall be deemed sufficient 
 ground for denying an application. 
 
 This rule must be strictly observed. 
 
 3. In general the Board shall avoid mak¬ 
 ing appropriations to square up church 
 debts or make up arrearages in pastor’s sal¬ 
 aries; provided always that the Board may 
 relieve distress caused by calamity or con¬ 
 tingencies not avoidable. 
 
 25 
 
4. The policy of the Board shall be to 
 follow the rule of putting a large sum an¬ 
 nually into some center where a strong 
 church can be built up. 
 
 5. All appropriations for work in the 
 home field are considered due at the end of 
 each quarter or fractional part thereof for 
 work done and reported by the regularly ap¬ 
 pointed missionary or missionary pastor. If 
 said missionary or missionary pastor shall 
 cease work in the church or field for which 
 payment of appropriation is made, payment 
 of appropriation shall thereupon stop until 
 another pastor or missionary shall begin 
 work. All appropriations end with the fiscal 
 year for which they are made, and no money 
 will be paid for such time within the year 
 as shall not be occupied by regular pastor 
 or missionary. 
 
 PRO-RATA PAYMENTS 
 
 53. If at any time the available amount of 
 cash for payment of appropriations shall be 
 insufficient to meet the appropriations, then 
 ■pro-rata payments shall be made on the sev¬ 
 eral appropriations, it being understood that 
 the deficits shall be made up as soon as the 
 funds will warrant. 
 
 BUILDING FUND 
 
 54. 1. A fund shall be created, to be 
 known as the “Building Fund,” for the pur¬ 
 pose of assisting churches in securing sites 
 for church buildings and parsonages, and 
 erecting the same, preference in this work 
 to be given to Mission churches organized 
 under direction of the Board. 
 
 2. The Building Fund shall not be given 
 outright, but shall be loaned under regula- 
 
 26 
 
tions made by the Board, provided that gifts 
 may be made from interest on said funds. 
 
 3. The Board shall make and publish 
 rules for the administration of the Building 
 Fund, which shall be a part of the By-Laws 
 of the Board. 
 
 BUILDING FUND REGULATIONS 
 
 55. 1. Soliciting funds. In the creation 
 
 of the Building Fund the following methods 
 may be used: 
 
 (1) Direct appeal to churches and indi¬ 
 viduals. 
 
 (2) Solicitation of gifts from churches, 
 individuals, conferences or other organiza¬ 
 tions for special funds to stand in the name 
 of the donors. 
 
 (3) By annuities. 
 
 (4) By securing bequests, and notes 
 payable at death. 
 
 (5) The Board may fix a certain per¬ 
 centage of the regular receipts of any one 
 year to be turned into the Building Fund. 
 
 2. Applications for aid. (1) Loans 
 shall be made to applicants in the order that 
 the applications are made, except that 
 churches under the care of the Mission 
 Board shall be given the preference, and 
 provided that donors may give certain local¬ 
 ities a preference in the creation of special 
 funds. 
 
 (2) Churches applying for aid must be¬ 
 long to a Christian conference, or be under 
 the care of the Mission Board directly. If 
 the former they must have the endorsement 
 of the conference the same as applicants for 
 other aid. 
 
 (3) Loans shall not be made for 
 amounts to exceed one-third the value of the 
 
 27 
 
property when completed, and shall be for 
 final payments on the same, the property 
 having no other encumbrance. 
 
 (4) No loans shall be made to pay a 
 debt contracted more than two years previ¬ 
 ous to the time the application is made. 
 
 3. Repayment of loans. (1) Provision 
 shall be made for repayment of loans, with 
 interest at not less than one-half of the cur¬ 
 rent rate in the locality where the loan is 
 made. 
 
 (2) Loans may be made for a period not 
 longer than ten years. Not less than ten 
 per cent, of the loan must be repaid each 
 year with the interest, provided that prin¬ 
 cipal and interest may be paid in equal an¬ 
 nual installments, and provided that a re¬ 
 bate of a portion of the final payment may 
 be made if all previous payments have been 
 promptly met. 
 
 (3) Funds secured by the annuity plan 
 shall not be loaned at a lower rate of inter¬ 
 est than that paid to the annuitant. 
 
 4. Security. (1) Churches applying for 
 loan must furnish abstract of title and all 
 necessary information concerning the same. 
 
 (2) The loan shall be secured by a first 
 mortgage on the property, and by collecta¬ 
 ble subscription, or by personal bond, or 
 both, as the Board may require. 
 
 (3) Buildings upon which loans are 
 made must be fully insured in a company, 
 or companies, approved by the Board and in 
 its favor. 
 
 (4) In case of a failure to repay the 
 loan, or any part of it, the Board shall take 
 legal proceedings to collect the same, pro¬ 
 vided that the time of payment may be ex¬ 
 tended in case of emergency. 
 
 28 
 
5. Co-operation. Churches receiving aid 
 by gift or loan will be expected to conform 
 to the regulation of the Board the same as 
 churches receiving aid for pastor’s salary, 
 or current expenses. 
 
 RULES GOVERNING CITY MISSIONS. 
 
 WHAT IS A CITY MISSION? 
 
 56. Any work undertaken at the instance 
 of this Board, or supported by mission 
 funds, in cities, looking either to the estab¬ 
 lishment of city churches or to the procla¬ 
 mation of the Gospel and reclamation of 
 mankind without hope of thereby establish¬ 
 ing city churches, shall be called a “city 
 mission.” 
 
 CITY MISSIONS 
 
 57. City missions and missionaries shall, in 
 general, be subject to the rules governing 
 home mission churches and other home mis¬ 
 sionaries (the exceptions being such as the 
 nature of the work may necessitate), as to 
 support, appointment, application for aid, 
 etc. 
 
 AUXILIARY HELP 
 
 58. It is deemed advisable to secure the co¬ 
 operation each year of the Woman’s Home 
 Board, and any other home mission boards, 
 in behalf of some specified home mission 
 work. 
 
 29 
 
CONSTITUTION 
 
 3 
 
 
 Article I. Name. The name of this 
 association shall be “The Mission Board of 
 the Christian Church,” being the same as 
 and including “The American Christian 
 Church Extension Society,” “The Children’s 
 Mission,” “The Missionary and Church Ex¬ 
 tension Department of The American Chris¬ 
 tian Convention.” 
 
 Art. II. Object. The object of this 
 Board shall be to diffuse the knowledge and 
 religion of Jesus Christ by means of mis¬ 
 sions through the world. 
 
 
 Art. III. Membership. The members of 
 this Board shall be the Home Mission Secre¬ 
 tary, the Foreign Mission Secretary, and 
 «-erght other persons, elected quadrennially 
 by The American Christian Convention; and 
 such other persons as may in the future 
 be designated for Board duty by The Amer¬ 
 ican Christian Convention. Said Secre¬ 
 taries and'-eight; other persons shall be di- 
 rectors of the Home Mission and Foreign 
 Mission Departments, as hereinafter pro¬ 
 vided for. 
 
 The Board may, for cause, declare vacan¬ 
 cies in its membership (except that the 
 Home and Foreign Secretaries shall be 
 removed only by action of the Conven¬ 
 tion or its Executive Board), and may fill 
 vacancies by election at any annual meet¬ 
 ing. 
 
 30 
 
Art. IV. Officers. The officers of this 
 Board shall be a President, a Recording 
 Secretary, two Executive Secretaries (who 
 shall be the Home and Foreign Mission Sec¬ 
 retaries respectively), a Treasurer, and 
 such other officers as the Board may deem 
 necessary. Either Executive Secretary 
 shall be eligible for the treasurership. 
 
 Art. V. The Mission Council. The 
 Mission Council shall consist of three per¬ 
 sons from each Department, including the 
 President of this Board, the Home and For¬ 
 eign Mission Secretaries, and such other 
 members as the Board may elect. 
 
 Art. VI. Duties of Officers, (a) It 
 shall be the duty of the President to preside 
 at the meetings of the Board and of the 
 Council. 
 
 (b) The Recording Secretary shall keep 
 a faithful record of all proceedings of the 
 Board and the Council; furnish the Mission 
 Secretaries and the Treasurer with a tran¬ 
 script of such portions of the proceedings of 
 the Board and Council as may be necessary 
 for their information, give notice of meet¬ 
 ings, and such other duties as might proper¬ 
 ly pertain to such office. 
 
 (c) It shall be the duty of the Home and 
 Foreign Mission Secretaries (also called 
 Executive Secretaries) to exercise general 
 supervision and management of their re¬ 
 spective departments of the missionary 
 work of the Convention, and to perform 
 such other duties as the Board or the Mis¬ 
 sion Council may require. 
 
 (d) It shall be the duty of the Treasurer 
 to take charge of the money and other prop¬ 
 erty belonging to the Board, and to give 
 receipts therefor; to keep safely all the 
 money and funds of the Board, and all 
 
 31 
 
evidences of property; to keep fair and 
 accurate accounts of all the sums received 
 and expended; to invest money with the 
 advice and consent • of the Board or of a 
 standing committee appointed for that pur¬ 
 pose, and make payments and remittances 
 according to the directions of the Board, 
 to exhibit his books, accounts, vouchers, and 
 evidences of property whenever required by 
 the Board or its Auditing Committee; to 
 make annual statements of receipts and 
 payments, and of the condition of the per¬ 
 manent funds, for the information of the 
 Board, and to perform such other acts as 
 may be required for the full and faithful 
 discharge of the duties of his office, and to 
 give such bonds as shall be satisfactory to 
 the Mission Board. 
 
 (e) The Mission Council shall be Execu¬ 
 tive Committee of the Board, and shall do 
 such work as is delegated to it; but it shall 
 have power to appropriate money only upon 
 direction of and within limits set by the 
 Board. It shall keep records of each meet¬ 
 ing and transmit them to the Recording 
 Secretary of the Board. 
 
 Art. VII. Department Organizations. 
 The Home Mission Secretary and the four 
 persons elected by The American Christian 
 Convention to serve with him, and the For¬ 
 eign Mission Secretary and four persons 
 similarly elected to serve with him, shall 
 form Boards of Directors for their respec¬ 
 tive departments, and each Board shall or¬ 
 ganize by electing annually President, Re¬ 
 cording Secretary, Treasurer, Mission Coun¬ 
 cil consisting of three members, and such 
 other officers as may be deemed necessary. 
 The Home and Foreign Mission Secretaries 
 shall be ex-officio Executive Secretaries 
 and Council members of their respective 
 departments. 
 
Art. VIII. Duties of Department Or¬ 
 ganization Officers. All officers of the 
 above-named departments shall perform 
 duties respectively similar to those herein¬ 
 before specified for officers of the General 
 Board. 
 
 Art. IX. Board and Council Meetings. 
 This Board shall meet annually, or oftener, 
 if it shall so elect. Its meetings may be 
 held at any convenient or suitable place 
 in the United States or Canada. The De¬ 
 partment Boards of Directors shall hold 
 their annual meetings at the same time and 
 place, separately or jointly, until such time 
 as they become separate corporations. 
 Council meetings may be held as necessity 
 demands. 
 
 Art. X. Rules and By-Laws. The 
 Board may adopt such By-Laws or Rules of 
 Order for the government of its own pro¬ 
 ceedings, and of the Mission Council, as it 
 may deem needful, if such regulations be 
 not contrary to this Constitution. The De¬ 
 partment Boards of Directors shall be at 
 liberty to adopt such By-Laws and Rules of 
 Procedure as may be consistent with this 
 Constitution, and the general purpose of 
 this organization. 
 
 Art. XI. Quorum. A majority of the 
 members, either of the general or depart¬ 
 ment Boards or the Mission Council, shall 
 constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
 business in their respective bodies. 
 
 Art. XII. Amendments. This Consti¬ 
 tution may be altered or amended at any 
 annual meeting by a vote of two-thirds of 
 the members present, provided notice of 
 said amendments shall have been given in 
 writing to each member three months prev¬ 
 ious, or upon the recommendation of the 
 Mission Council. 
 
 33 
 
BY-LAWS 
 
 Article I. Meetings. 
 
 The Board and its Home and Foreign 
 Departments shall hold meetings annually, 
 in October, except in Quadrennial year, 
 when the time may be a month later, or 
 as may be fixed upon; special meetings of 
 the Board may be held on the call of the 
 Mission Council, and meetings of the Coun¬ 
 cil may be held on call of the President. 
 Department Council meetings shall be called 
 by the respective Executive Secretaries. 
 The meetings shall be held at the Mission 
 Rooms in Dayton, Ohio, or where they may 
 be appointed. 
 
 Article II. Duties of Mission Board. 
 
 Section 1. It shall be the duty of the 
 Board to have the general supervision of the 
 missionary work under the auspices of The 
 American Christian Convention, both under 
 what is called “Home Missions,” (in the 
 United States and Canada) and “Foreign 
 Missions,” (in Japan and other foreign 
 countries). 
 
 Section 2. To devise and work plans, 
 with the co-operation and aid of the Wom¬ 
 an’s Home and Woman’s Foreign Boards, 
 for increasing and maintaining missionary 
 interest in the home churches and for ad¬ 
 vancing and enlarging the missionary work 
 of the denomination, both in the home and 
 foreign fields. 
 
 Section 3. After considering carefully 
 the financial condition of the Board, to 
 make such appropriations for the work for 
 the current year, both in the home and for¬ 
 eign fields, as the needs may demand and 
 the funds justify. 
 
 34 
 
Section 4. To appoint home mission¬ 
 aries; and counsel and assist in securing 
 pastors for home mission churches; and 
 appoint missionaries to the foreign fields, 
 as suitable persons may be secured and 
 funds may be provided for their support. 
 
 Section 5. To fix the salaries of mis¬ 
 sionaries, the Recording Secretary, the Mis¬ 
 sion Secretaries, and Treasurer of the Mis¬ 
 sion Board, and provide for such clerical 
 help as the work may require; also provide 
 for the necessary administrative expenses, 
 Board meetings, printing, etc. 
 
 Article III. Auditing Committee. 
 
 At each annual meeting the Board shall 
 appoint an Auditing Committee for the cur¬ 
 rent year, not necessarily members of the 
 Board, who shall make thorough quarterly 
 examinations of the accounts of the Treas¬ 
 urer and the securities of the Board, certi¬ 
 fying to their correctness, and report to 
 the Board. 
 
 Article IV. Standing Committees. 
 
 The Board may appoint standing commit¬ 
 tees as it may deem wise, to report at the 
 next session after appointment on specific 
 fields or lines of work. 
 
 Article V. On Avoiding Debt. 
 
 The Board shall studiously avoid con¬ 
 tracting debt. In view of this it may be 
 considered safe, as a rule, to make the re¬ 
 ceipts of one year the basis for appropria¬ 
 tions the following year. 
 
 Article VI. Funds to Be Kept Separate. 
 
 All moneys contributed specially for 
 “Home Missions” shall be used only for the 
 work in the home field, and all moneys con- 
 
 35 
 
tributed for “Foreign Missions” shall be 
 used only for work in foreign lands. Each 
 fund shall bear its legitimate proportion of 
 the administrative expenses. 
 
 Article VII. Who Shall Execute 
 Official Papers. 
 
 Whenever it is necessary for this incor¬ 
 poration to execute deeds or other legal 
 papers, the President and Secretary of the 
 Board, as such, are hereby empowered to 
 execute the same, provided that in case of 
 deed or transfer of property the Mission 
 Board shall, by special resolution, authorize 
 the same. 
 
 Article VIII. Correspondence Votes. 
 
 Necessary business may De transacted by 
 correspondence vote; but one negative vote 
 shall defeat a measure. 
 
 Article IX. Manual a Part of By-Laws. 
 
 The Manual adopted by the Mission 
 Board, giving rules and regulations where¬ 
 by its work of missions shall be conducted, 
 shall be, and the same is hereby made, a 
 part of the By-Laws of this incorporation. 
 
 (On quorums see Constitution, Article 
 XI.) 
 
 Article X. Order of Business. 
 
 The following shall be the order of busi¬ 
 ness for meetings: 
 
 1. Devotions. 
 
 2. Reading of minutes. 
 
 3. Unfinished business. 
 
 4. Routine matter. 
 
 5. Report of Mission Secretaries. 
 
 6. Report of Mission Treasurer. 
 
 7. Report of Auditing Committee. 
 
 8. Report of Standing Committees. 
 
 36 
 
9. Report on The Christian Missionary 
 and other missionary literature. 
 
 10. Report of Home Department. 
 
 11. Report of Foreign Department. 
 
 12. Report of special committees. 
 
 13. New business. 
 
 Article XI. General Board to Ratify. 
 
 Before the close of annual sessions, each 
 department shall report to the general 
 Board its proceedings, including money ap¬ 
 propriations, for ratification; and such rati¬ 
 fication shall be necessary before appro¬ 
 priations may be paid. 
 
 Article XII. Field Secretary. 
 
 1. A field secretary may be put into the 
 general field to work up general missionary 
 interests and spirit, develop missionary en¬ 
 terprises, secure funds by any of the meth¬ 
 ods approved by the Board or specified in 
 the Manual or these rules, and to superin¬ 
 tend local field work, under the direction 
 of the Board or Mission Secretaries, in 
 fields already being worked or hereafter to 
 be opened or developed. 
 
 2. The said Secretary shall be paid a 
 reasonable salary and expenses as may be 
 agreed upon; provided that the said agent 
 shall not be kept in the field to incur debts 
 above the probable sum the current receipts 
 applicable for said purpose for the year will 
 warrant. 
 
 Article XIII. Duties of Mission Council. 
 
 The duties of the Mission Council shall 
 be to advise with the Mission Secretaries as 
 to the work, both in the home and foreign 
 fields, and whatever else may be assigned 
 to it by the Board, and to keep record of its 
 proceedings, reporting to the general Board 
 at its annual session. 
 
 37 
 
Article XIV. Permanent Funds. 
 
 Permanent funds bearing interest shall 
 be created by means of endowments, an¬ 
 nuities, legacies, etc., which shall be invest¬ 
 ed and managed after the conservative 
 manner now followed by this Board. 
 They shall not be used to meet current bills. 
 
 Article XV. Amendments of the Manual. 
 
 The rules of the Manual shall be subject 
 to change or addition from time to time, 
 as growth may demand, and shall be in effect 
 immediately upon their adoption by this 
 Board. 
 
 Article XVI. Amendments of By-Laws. 
 
 The By-Laws may be amended at any 
 regular meeting of the Board by a vote of 
 two-thirds of all the members present, 
 notice having been given one month 
 previous. 
 
 38 
 

FORM FOR BEQUEST 
 
 Persons disposed to make bequests for 
 mission purposes, by will, are requested to 
 observe the following form: 
 
 I give and bequeath to the “Mission Beard 
 of the Christian Church,” incorporated 
 under the laws of the State of Ohio, the 
 
 sum of. Dollars, (if for any 
 
 special line of work mention it here), to be 
 paid to the Treasurer of the Board, whose 
 receipt shall be a sufficient discharge for 
 the same. 
 
 FORM FOR A DEVISE OF 
 REAL ESTATE 
 
 I give and devise to the “Mission Board 
 of the Christian Church,” incorporated un¬ 
 der the laws of the State of Ohio, the 
 following lands and premises, that is to 
 
 say: . 
 
 To have and to hold the same, with the 
 appurtenances, to the said Board, its suc¬ 
 cessors and assigns forever. 
 
YOU NEED 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY 
 
 A monthly missionary magazine, well illus¬ 
 trated, each issue filled with general mis¬ 
 sionary information and special articles 
 about the Home and Foreign Missions of 
 the Christian Church. 
 
 50 GENTS A YEAR 
 
 Cash commission paid to authorized 
 solicitors. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY 
 
 Dayton, Ohio 
 
 CHURCH FINANCES 
 
 Everybody helping. 
 
 Weekly offerings. 
 
 More money raised. 
 
 Benevolences easily cared for. 
 
 Good spiritual effect. 
 
 Successful tested method. 
 
 Good Christianity using good business. 
 
 Write the undersigned for information 
 about the Every-Member Canvass and 
 Weekly Offering, the best plan for church 
 finances so far employed. 
 
 OMER S. THOMAS, M. T. MORRILL, 
 
 C. P. A. Building, Dayton, Ohio