The ^reign Missions Convention OF THE United States and Canada Washington, D. C. January 28 to February 2, 1925 Preliminary cAnnouncement •To . .. V_yHE Foreign Missions Conference of North America, attended by the representatives of the foreign mission organizations of Canada and of the United States, in session at Atlantic City in January, 1924, unanimously resolved to hold an interdenominational Foreign Missionary Convention at some convenient time during the winter of 1924-5, and referred to the Committee of Reference and Counsel (the Standing Committee of the Conference) “all the arrangements as to date, place, personnel, and program.” It was also decided that the Foreign Mission Boards of Canada and of the United States should be invited to send dele¬ gates to the Convention on the same ratio of representation as is set forth in “Article V” on “Membership” in the constitution of the Foreign Missions Conference. The Committee of Reference and Counsel was instructed to make provision for all other delegates. The Committee of Arrangements, appointed by the Committee of Reference and Coun¬ sel, makes the following preliminary announcement with regard to the Convention: 1. Purpose: The primary purpose of the Convention is for the information and inspiration of the churches of Canada and the United States. It will be an educational, not a delibera¬ tive or legislative assembly. It will not deal with questions and problems of admin¬ istration on the mission field. Its messages will be designed to enlarge the interest and deepen the conviction of the Christian people at the home base as to their foreign mission responsibilities and obligations. 2. Dates: January 28 to February 2, 1925 (inclusive). The first session of the Convention will be held at 3 o’clock on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 28, and the Convention will close with the session to be held on the evening of Monday, February 2. 3. Place: The Convention will be held in the Washington Auditorium, in Wash¬ ington, D. C. This is a new Auditorium which has been built for convention purposes which will be ready in the fall of 1924. It is of improved fire-proof construction and is ad¬ mirably adapted for meetings of the Convention. It is located at New York Avenue and Nineteenth Street. A cordial invitation to Washington has been extended by the Pastors Association of Washington. 4. Personnel; The Foreign Mission Boards and Societies of Canada and the United States are invited to send delegates to the proposed Convention on the same ratio of representation as is provided in the article on “Membership” of the constitution of the Conference (see pages 366-367 of the Thirty-first Report of the Foreign Missions Conference, 1924—“Article V—Membership”), Attendance at the Convention will be limited to 5,000 delegates representing Boards and Societies. This means that participating Boards will be entitled to send to Washington twelve times as many delegates (including representatives of both the General Boards and the Women’s Boards) as they are entitled to send to a regular annual meeting of the Foreign Missions Conference; for example, if the General and the Women’s Foreign Boards of a denomination, on the basis of rep¬ resentation provided for by the constitution, be entitled, to ten delegates (not in¬ cluding corresponding members) at the regular annual meeting of the Foreign Mis¬ sions Conference they may send 120 delegates to the Convention at Washington, including both men and women. Each delegation should include the following: (a) Officers and members of Foreign Mission Boards (both men and women). (b) Pastors of churches. (c) Laymen and laywomen in equal numbers. (d) General church officials. (e) Theological and college professors. (f) Foreign Missionaries at home on furlough. (g) Student Volunteers and other candidates for the foreign mission field. It was further agreed, at a recent meeting of the Committee of Reference and Coun¬ sel, that the attention of the Boards and Societies should be called to the wisdom of appointing as delegates men and women, lay-workers and pastors, who are under 35 years of age. In addition to the delegates provided for in the above, provision will be made for (a) Representatives of churches on the mission field. (b) Representatives of national foreign mission organizations of Great Britain, Con¬ tinental Europe, South Africa and Australasia. 5. Registration Fees; In order to meet the general expenses of the Convention, the Committee decided that there should be a registration fee of $6 for each delegate. Applica¬ tion for credentials must be sent to the Secretaries of the participating Boards. 6. Hotel Accommodations and Elntertainment; The Convention will be self-entertain¬ ing. There are in Washington a great variety of hotels and boarding houses. A local committee on entertainment will be appointed in Washington to cooperate with the delegates and with the Board officers in arranging hotel accommodations. Full information will be sup¬ plied at a later date. 7. Railway Arrangements: Application is being made to the railways for a reduced rate on account of the Convention, Information with regard to railway rates will be issued when the arrangements have been completed. i 8. Program: The Convention Program will have the following features: (a) There will be two platform meetings each day in the Auditorium during the forenoons and evenings. The best available speakers will be secured for these meetings. (b) There will be on each afternocn simultaneous conferences, each with its own complete program. (c) Provision will be made on the afternoon of Monday, February 2, for meetings of the representatives of the different denominational groups and Boards for the purpose of considering the best methods of gathering up the results of the Conven¬ tion and carrying to the churches and to the membership of the different denomi¬ nations the inspiration of the Convention. 9. Admission to the Convention: Admission to all sessions of the Convention will be by ticket. Tickets will be furnished only to delegates presenting credentials issued by the Secretary of the Foreign Missions Conference and countersigned by the Secretaries of the Mission Boards appointing the delegates. Credential cards will be supplied to Boards on receipt of registration fees for all delegates appointed up to the number to which the Boards are entitled under the rule governing the basis of representation. To illustrate: If the foreign missionary organizations of any denomination be entitled to 150 delegates, delegate credentials will be issued up to the total of 150 on receipt of the registration fees. The benefits of this interdenominational Missionary Convention to the churches of the Canada and United States cannot be estimated. Held at this opportune time in the history of the Church, bringing together so many of the leaders of the different denominations of these two countries as well as the leaders of the Christian forces in many other lands, the Foreign Missionary Convention at Washington cannot fail to give a mighty impulse to the spiritual life of the churches and inspire them to greater sacrifice for the missionary objec¬ tive and make possible a notable advance in the foreign missionary movement. If this inspiring hope is to be realized, it is essential that all who are interested in the progress of Christ’s Kingdom give themselves faithfully to prayer on behalf of the Con¬ vention arrangements, exercising large faith in God, the source of all power. On behalf of the Committee of Arrangements: James L. Barton, Chairman Fennell P. Turner, Secretary Address correspondence to Fennell P. Turner, Secretary Foreign Missions Conference of North America, 25 Madison Avenue, New York City.