(logo)
(navigation image)
Home American Libraries | Canadian Libraries | Universal Library | Project Gutenberg | Children's Library | Biodiversity Heritage Library | Additional Collections

Search: Advanced Search

Anonymous User (login or join us)Upload
See other formats

Full text of "The Home Base Of Missions Report Of Commission VI"

266 v.6 61-19258 



,l _ -- *l JJ (?_. 



266 v.6 61-19258 
World Missionary Conference 
A he Home Base of Missions 




PUBLIC LIBRARY 







REPORT OF COMMISSION VI 



World Missionary Conference, 1910 

(To consider Missionary Problems in relation to the Non-Christian World) 

REPORT OF COMMISSION VI 

THE HOME BASE OF 
MISSIONS 



With Supplement : Presentation 

and Discussion of the Report In 
the Conference on 23rd June 1910 



PUBLISHED FOR THE WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE BY 

OLIPHANT, ANDERSON & FERRIER 

EDINBURGH AND LONDON 

FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 

NEW YORK, CHICAGO, AND TORONTO 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

LIST OF MEMBERS OF COMMISSION . . vii 

LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS . . . ix 

INTRODUCTION ...... i 

CHAP. 

I. THE SPIRITUAL RESOURCES OF THE CHURCH . 6 

II. THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE 
THROUGH REGULAR CHURCH SERVICES AND 
AGENCIES . . . . . .17 

III. THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE 

THROUGH NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS . . 43 

IV. THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE 

THROUGH SPECIAL LITERATURE . . -55 

V. THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE 

THROUGH MISSION STUDY CLASSES . . .64 

VI. THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE 
THROUGH INSTRUCTION IN EDUCATIONAL IN- 
STITUTIONS . ..... 79 

VII. THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE 

THROUGH VISITS TO MISSION FIELDS . . 96 

VIII. THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE 
THROUGH CONFERENCES, EXHIBITIONS, AND OTHER 
METHODS . . . . . .104 

IX. THE ENLISTMENT OF AN ADEQUATE FORCE OF MIS- 
SIONARIES 

1. Demand and Supply of Candidates , ,120 

2. Methods Employed . . . ,125 

3. Motives. . . . . .133 

4. The Student Volunteer Movement . , 137 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAP, PAGE 

X. THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE MISSIONARY 

ENTERPRISE . . . . .146 

XI. HOME LEADERSHIP , . . . .161 

1. The Ministry . . . .162 

2. Laymen . . . . .181 

3. Women . . . . .201 

XII. PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 

Relation of Needs Abroad and Receipts at 
Home .... . , 207 

XIII. PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 

Women's Boards and General Church Societies 222 

XIV. PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 

Missionaries at Home on Furlough . . 235 

XV. PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 

Native Missionaries .... 246 

XVI. THE SCIENCE OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES . . 249 

XVII. THE FUNDAMENTAL VALUE OF MISSIONS TO THE 

CHURCH ...... 258 

XVIII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . 269 

APPENDIX 

Proceedings of Medical Missionary Conference 
in Edinburgh . . . . .285 

SUPPLEMENT 

Presentation and Discussion of the Report in 
the Conference . . . .291 

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . 331 

GENERAL INDEX ..... 559 

INDEX OF SPEAKERS WHO TOOK PART IN THE DIS- 
CUSSION ...... 567 



MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION 

Chairman 

The Rev, JAMES L. BARTON, D.D., Foreign Secretary of 
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 

Vice -Chairmen 

Herr Missionsinspektor F. WURZ, Evangelische Missions- 

gesellschaft, Basel, Switzerland. 
Sir GEORGE W. MACALPINE, Chairman of the Baptist 

Missionary Society, London. 
The Rev. J. P. MAUD, St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, 

England. 

The Rev. J. FAIRLEY DALY, B.D., Honorary Secretary of 

the Livingstonia Mission, United Free Church of 

Scotland. 
Dr. KARL FRIES, Chairman of the World's Student 

Christian Federation, Stockholm, Sweden. 
The Rev. R. T. GARDNER, Honorary Secretary of the 

Central Board of Missions of the Church of England. 
The Rev. A. WOODRUFF HALSEY, D.D., Secretary of the 

Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church 

In the U.S.A., New York. 
The Rev. A. N. JOHNSON, M.A., Home Secretary of the 

London Missionary Society. 
Dr. HERBERT LANKESTER, Lay Secretary of the Church 

Missionary Society, London. 



viii MEMBERS OF COMMISSION 

The Rev. J. SCOTT LIDGETT, D.D., Ex-President of the 
Wesleyan Methodist Conference, London. 

Mrs. WILLIAM A, MONTGOMERY, Women's Baptist 
Foreign Missionary Society, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 

Mr. J. LOVELL MURRAY, M.A., Educational Secretary, 
Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 
New York. 

Mr. J. R. PEPPER, President of the Laymen's Missionary 
Movement of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
(South), Memphis, Tenn., U.S.A. 

The Rev. W. H. RANKINE, Titwood, Glasgow, Scotland. 

Mr. N. W. ROWELL, K.C., Toronto, Canada. 

Mr. L. H. SEVERANCE, New York. 

The Rev. Canon BULLOCK- WEBSTER, Parkstone, Dorset, 
England. 

Mr. J. CAMPBELL WHITE, General Secretary of the Lay- 
men's Missionary Movement, U.S.A., New York. 

Mrs. ROBERT WHYTE, Hampstead, London, 

Mr. JOHN W. WOOD, Corresponding Secretary of the 
Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. 



CORRESPONDENTS OF THE 
COMMISSION 

The Commission has received valuable and important 
papers from nearly all the leading Missionary Societies 
in Europe and America, and from many hundreds of 
individual ministers, laymen, and women workers. The 
list of correspondents is so extensive that it is impossible 
to print it in full, and the Commission must be content 
with a general acknowledgment of its immense debt to 
the many correspondents whose help has made its work 
possible. Those whose names are given below have not 
only supplied information, but have carried out special 
investigations with regard to some particular depart- 
ment of the subject entrusted to the Commission, and have 
prepared material which the Commission has made use 
of in this Report 

The Rev, Enoch F. Bell, Assistant Secretary, American 

Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 

Boston, Mass. 
The Rev. F. G. Benskin, M.A., Baptist Missionary Society, 

London. 
Professor R. P, Bowles, Victoria University, Toronto, 

Canada, 

Mr. E. C. Carter, New York City. 
Mr. W. E. Cule, Baptist Missionary Society, London* 
Mr. Morris W. Ehnes, New York City. 
Professor Charles R. Erdman, D.D., Presbyterian Church 

in the U.S.A. 



x COBKESPONDENIS OF COMMISSION 

The Rev. Principal A. Gaudier, D.D., Presbyterian 

Church in Canada. 
Monsieur A. Grand jean, Secretaire de la Mission Romande, 

Lausanne, Switzerland. 
Mr. Charles A. Gunn, Laymen's Missionary Movement, 

New York City. 
Missionsdirektor J. W. Gunning, Nederlandsche Zendeling 

Genootschap, Rotterdam, Holland. 
Mr. T. R. W. Lunt, Church Missionary Society, London. 
Mr. David M f Conaughy, Presbyterian Board of Foreign 

Missions, New York City. 
The Rev. G. T. Manley, M.A., Church Missionary Society, 

London. 

Mrs. Janet M'GiUivray, Toronto, Canada. 
Mr. S. J. Moore, Baptist Foreign Mission Board in Canada, 
The Rev. Cornelius H. Pattern, D.D., American Board of 

Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Boston, Mass, 
Mr. Delavan L, Pierson, Editor, Missionary Review of the 

World, New York City. 
Pastor F. Rader, Hermannsburgher Missionsgesellscliaft, 

Germany. 
Mr. T. H. P. Sailer, Ph.D., Presbyterian Church in the 

U.S.A. 
Missionsdirektor A. W. Schreiber, Norddeutsche Missions- 

gesellschaft, Germany. 
Mr. E. D, Soper, Methodist Episcopal Church, New York 

City, 
The Rev. John Timothy Stone, D.D., Presbyterian Church 

in the U.SJL 
Mr. S. R. Warburton, Secretary, Baptist Missionary 

Union, Boston, Mass. 
The Rev. Stanley White, D.D,, Secretary, Presbyterian 

Board of Foreign Missions, New York City. 
Missionsinspektor M. Wilde, Berliner Missionsgesellscliaft, 

Germany. 
Mrs. J. B. Willmott, Toronto, Canada, 



THE HOME BASE OF 
MISSIONS 

INTRODUCTION 

THE foreign missionary enterprise, as its name implies, 
aims at carrying the Christian Gospel to foreign lands. 
In order to accomplish this, there must be an organisation 
at home which will secure the formation of a constituency 
upon which dependence for support can be placed ; the 
creation and circulation of a literature that shall keep 
interest alive and at the same time broaden and deepen 
it ; the training of the young people in the Church, that 
reinforcements may not be lacking ; and above all else, 
the creation and perpetuation of such a spiritual atmo- 
sphere throughout the Church and among all classes, that 
the very temper and spirit of Jesus Christ shall live 
anew in the hearts of all His followers, and that through 
them His life may flow forth to the world lying in 
darkness. 

Without this HOME BASE there could be no permanent 
foreign missions. The Home Base is the widely extend- 
ing organisation in Christendom through which foreign 
missions are supported and directed, and this statement 
must stand as true until the foreign missions of the Church 
in Christian lands are absorbed into home missions in 
the countries at present non-Christian. 

We have, therefore, for our consideration the organisa- 
tion of Missionary Societies with their Boards of Directors, 

COM. VI. I 



2 INTRODUCTION 

secretaries, treasurers, and editors; agencies both de- 
nominational and inter-denominational, auxiliary to the 
work of these Missionary Societies ; and the problem 
of bringing the whole of the home Church to give 
the cause of foreign missions a central place in its life 
and work. 

SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE REPORT 

It was early manifest that this Commission, in the time 
at its disposal and the space allotted, would not be able 
to investigate all of the principal questions of methods, 
policies, and problems of administration which almost 
daily confront the executive officers of Missionary 
Societies. Neither was it possible, even if desirable, to 
endeavour to make this Report a handbook upon home 
administration. There is, no doubt, a place for such a 
handbook which would be of great value to administrators 
of missionary organisations, but while much valuable 
material for such a work has been collected by this Com- 
mission, it must be largely excluded from the final Report. 

The Commission, after careful deliberation, decided 
to pursue its investigations primarily along the line 
of fundamental principles and policies. In order to 
accomplish this with thoroughness the investigation 
necessarily covered a vast area and produced a large 
amount of material which was not used in the Report ; 
in some cases because it belonged to what might be 
called methods of administration, in others because it 
was too exceptional to be of general value, and yet in 
many others because the limits set for the Report made the 
elimination even of some most valuable matter imperative. 
Let no one expect, therefore, to find all questions and 
problems connected with the Home Base of Missions 
considered in the following pages. At the same time, 
the great home questions* that lie at the centre and 
foundation of the missionary enterprise of the Christian 
Church have been extensively pursued, and are here 
fundamentally and practically treated. 



INTRODUCTION 3 

The amount of correspondence involved In the collection 
of data for this Report will be apparent when it is re- 
membered that the entire ground covered by the subject 
of this Commission has necessarily been gone over many 
times once each for Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, 
Germany, Switzerland, France, Holland, Scotland, 
England, and North America. Nine languages have 
been involved. The Commission naturally divided 
itself into two principal parts, the European and the 
American sections. The former, under the general 
direction of the three vice-chairmen, undertook the 
collection of the material from Europe, while the latter 
gave its attention to North America. 

This Commission, compelled to deal with its subject 
in relation to the very different conditions prevailing in 
America and the countries of Europe, has been beset 
with peculiar difficulties. At first it seemed necessary 
that there should be separate Reports for America, Great 
Britain, and the Continent of Europe, but it was seen 
that in spite of the different conditions there was a great 
deal that was common to the work in all countries, and 
that to offer three separate Reports would involve a large 
amount of repetition, and would greatly increase the 
total length of the Report. The decision to aim at 
producing one common Report, however, was attended 
with great and almost insuperable difficulties, especially 
in view of the shortness of time for the preparation of the 
Report. It was found to be impossible for the different 
sections of the Commission so to keep in close touch with 
one another that equally full data upon all topics could 
be obtained from Europe and America, although much 
was gained from a visit paid to Great Britain by the 
Chairman of the Commission in December 1909. Inas- 
much as the Executive Committee of the Commission 
was in America, and the initiative lay with the American 
members, it was almost inevitable that the investigations 
should have been more thorough upon that side of the 
Atlantic, and that the dominant tone and standpoint of 
the Report should be American. While the European 



4 INTRODUCTION 

members of the Commission regret that more information 
regarding the operations of the Missionary Societies in 
the countries which they represent was not provided, 
they desire it to be stated that in their judgment the 
predominance of data from America and the American 
point of view in the Report is not without compensating 
advantages, inasmuch as the Missionary Societies in 
Europe have much to learn from some of the methods 
which have been so successfully developed by the Mission 
Boards in America. 

Since it was impossible for the twenty members of the 
Commission to cover personally all departments of these 
wide investigations in all these countries, experts in the 
various departments under consideration were drafted 
into the service. These have given themselves to the 
task with an enthusiasm, and have taken up the work 
with a thoroughness, that is beyond all praise. Some of 
these specialists have each sent out hundreds of enquiries 
to those who, in turn, were specialists in a narrower 
sphere, and have obtained, in many instances, data and 
opinions of exceptional worth. These returns, after 
careful comparison and selection, have been compressed 
into reports rendered by these corresponding members 
to the Commission as a whole. Not a few of the lines 
of research have never before been attempted, and the 
returns obtained, which, in many instances, reveal 
conditions and situations that are most surprising, 
cannot fail to be of permanent value to Missionary 
Societies and Boards. This is the only Commission 
which has not been largely dependent for accurate 
information upon returns from missionaries and experts 
in the mission fields. In only a few instances have we 
been able to appeal to missionaries for aid in our work. 
The information to be secured was so completely connected 
with the home offices, and had to deal so exclusively 
with home constituencies, that the sources from whicli 
data must be sought were at home and not abroad. 

There is another phase of this Report which needs 
to be explained and safeguarded, that is the large 



INTRODUCTION 5 

amount of space given to material ways and means of 
extending information, securing candidates, raising up 
effective leaders in the Churches, and administering the 
Societies at home, as contrasted with the comparatively 
brief references to the Holy Spirit and His perpetual 
guidance and aid, without which all the plans and 
devices of men must come to nought. It is taken for 
granted by the Commission that everything must depend 
upon Divine guidance, wisdom, and power. Whoever 
neglects to grasp this truth, and to act in accordance 
therewith, must fail. In the preparation of missionary 
literature, in the promotion of missionary study, in all 
endeavour to enlist the hearts of young people in the 
cause of personal service, in the details of administration 
of the Societies and Boards, and in the appeal to the wide 
constituencies for financial support, every plan must be 
made, and every step taken as the Holy Spirit shall 
direct. All, in order to succeed, must begin, continue, 
and end in waiting upon God, and everything must be 
bound to the throne by that golden chain of prayer and 
intercession, which makes us partners with the Father, 
Son, and Spirit in the Divine task of redeeming the world. 



CHAPTER I 

THE SPIRITUAL RESOURCES OF THE 
CHURCH 

IN dealing with, the Home Base of Missions, the Commis- 
sion is concerned with the whole subject of the means 
by which the Church at home may adequately discharge 
its responsibility for the evangelisation of the world. 
It is evident that this problem is not one of machinery, 
but of life. The mere multiplication of machinery does 
not necessarily increase power. The subject which has 
been entrusted to the Commission to investigate drives us 
back at every turn to the question of the spiritual con- 
dition of the home Church, Has that Church sufficient 
vitality for the tremendous task to which it is called ? 
Wherever a belief is intensely and passionately held it 
naturally and inevitably propagates itself. It does not 
need wealth or numbers to cause it to spread. Re- 
peatedly in history one man with a conviction has been 
more powerful than a mighty host. The Christian 
Church, if it were possessed, mastered, and dominated 
by the faith which it professes, could easily evangelise 
the world. When, therefore, we direct out attention to 
the Home Base of Missions, we realise that the funda- 
mental problem is that of the depth and sincerity of the 
religious experience of the Church, the quality of its 
obedience, the intensity and daring of its faith. 

It is certain that the spiritual resources of the Church 
are more than sufficient for the accomplishment of the 
work if the Church will avail itself of them. To be con- 
vinced of this we have only to take time to reflect upon 



SPIRITUAL RESOURCES 7 

what we mean when we speak of GOD. Can God be 
defeated ? Can His purpose fail ? Nineteen centuries 
have passed, yet the Church has not put fully to the 
test of experience the words of Christ : " Have faith in 
God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto 
this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea ; 
and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what 
he saith cometh to pass ; he shall have it." For the 
early Christians the resurrection of Christ signified the 
breaking in upon human life of a new world of triumph 
and hope. They were conscious of a spiritual experience 
which they described in such terms as these : " We know 
that we have passed from death unto life." The " power 
of His resurrection "is a spiritual reality, the full 
meaning of which Christian faith has yet to discover. 
Nor have we yet proved in sufficient measure the power 
and influence of the Holy Spirit, as the indwelling and 
vitalising energy of a new, abundant, and constantly 
expanding life. 

It is not necessary for us to dwell at length on these 
things, for they lie at the foundation of the whole Con- 
ference and do not belong to the sphere of any single 
Commission. It is necessary, however, that we should 
recall them to our minds, at the outset of our considera- 
tion of the subject entrusted to us, to which they 
stand in a vital and fundamental relation. 

While it would be outside the scope of this Report to 
dwell at length on the means by which the Christian 
Church may learn to avail itself more fully of the spiritual 
resources open to it, one aspect of the subject demands 
our special consideration, viz., the promotion of prayer 
for missions. 

This is not the place to enter into the grounds for 
believing that prayer is an irresistible force. It is sufficient 
to say that any view of the conduct of the work of the 
Church that does not place supreme reliance upon prayer 
is at variance with the entire teaching of the New Testa- 
ment. No thoughtful reader of the Gospels can fail to 
recognise the pre-eminent place which Jesus Christ gave 



8 THE HOME BASE 

to prayer both in His teaching and in the practice of His 
own life. The greatest leaders of the missionary enter- 
prise have been men of prayer. The volume of testimony 
is overwhelming that " Prayer is power ; the place of 
prayer is the place of power ; the man of prayer is the 
man of power." 

The need of prayer for missions is evident when we 
give thought to the circumstances under which missionary 
work is carried on. Were missionaries to go forth, a 
company of strangers and foreigners, to ask the peoples 
of Asia and Africa to change some habit of dress or social 
custom, their task might seem almost impossible. How 
infinitely more difficult it is to ask these peoples to accept 
a teaching that will revolutionise their whole life ! There 
is nothing magical in the crossing of the seas that renders 
missionaries immune from the temptations, the weaknesses 
of character, the unbelief that deadens the life of the 
Church that sends them forth. The project might well 
seem hopeless, unless we believed in the spiritual resource 
of prayer. The neglect of prayer by the Church at home 
means defeat at the front of the battle. " We know not/' 
it has been truly said, "when the missionary stands 
before his greatest opportunity. We know not when 
fierce temptation may sweep in upon him like a flood.' 1 
If he is to be victorious in his great adventure, he needs 
the prayers of the Church at home. Not less great is 
the need of the native Church for prayer. The battle 
with the world, the flesh, and the devil is at least as stern 
and difficult for the members of that Church as it is for 
those who live in Christian lands. They are without the 
traditions and sacred associations and Christian atmo- 
sphere that aid the building of character in Western 
countries. In many instances their lives have been 
wrenched from their old moorings and from social supports 
on which men naturally lean. Beset by difficulties 
without and within, the Christians of these lands are 
called to the gigantic and humanly impossible task of 
winning their own nation for Christ. Without the help 
of prayer how can they be sufficient for these things ? 



SPIRITUAL RESOURCES 9 

The widespread enquiries of the Commission on this 
topic have shown that the use of special forms of missionary 
intercession, in the shape of manuals and cycles and 
calendars, is very general. Every missionary agency has 
come to regard it as a first concern in organisation to 
gather together bands of praying men and women, and 
to supply these with helps to regular and intelligent 
intercession. The American section of the Commission 
has gone further and has given considerable attention to 
the possibility of organising " A Common Prayer Cycle 
for all the World," in order that all those who are engaged 
in the missionary enterprise should be united, not only 
in one heart, but in one voice in promoting the cause. It 
is possible that this Conference may prove to be the 
origin of some such prayer cycle, though it does not seem 
desirable, at the present juncture, to do more than 
mention the proposal. 

Experience would seem to show that if prayer cycles 
and calendars are to be of the greatest service "to those 
who use them, they should contain, in addition to the 
suggestion of special subjects for prayer, explanatory 
notes designed to make prayer more intelligent and to 
help prayer by making the subjects appeal more vividly 
and powerfully to the imagination. It is further worthy 
of consideration whether the issue of a fresh prayer 
calendar annually, monthly, or quarterly is not of ad- 
vantage, giving newness and variety in place of a stereo- 
typed list of subjects, which is in danger of losing, through 
familiarity, its power to stimulate. The form in which 
such prayer calendars or intercession papers are issued 
needs careful attention. Their use may be furthered or 
hindered according to the ease or difficulty with which 
they can be kept constantly at hand in a Bible or Prayer 
Book. We would, moreover, emphasise the fact that the 
encouragement and direction of the prayers of Christian 
people is one of the highest and most difficult forms of 
Christian service, and constitutes a special vocation. It 
is important that those to whom this work is entrusted 
should be chosen on account of their special gifts and 



10 THE HOME BASE 

aptitudes, as those are who are called to organising, 
administrative, or editorial work in connection with the 
missionary enterprise. It may be doubted whether the 
whole subject of the best and most helpful means of 
promoting systematic prayer for missions has yet received 
the careful thought and serious investigation that its 
importance deserves, 

EDUCATION IN PRAYER 

To have arrived at the universal recognition of the 
necessity of intercession, and of securing a widespread 
and intelligent scheme of intercession based on knowledge, 
such as is evidenced by the prayer cycles now so commonly 
in use, is to have made very substantial advance ; but it 
needs to be borne in mind that, after all, the issue of aids 
to prayer, however numerous, and of incentives, how- 
ever excellent, is not thereby to have created a body of 
praying men and women. The free distribution of 
musical instruments does not create a body of musicians, 
nor can the free circulation of missionary prayer manuals 
and cycles make missionary interceders. These are 
only aids to those who can and who desire to intercede, 
and only those will experience this desire and power 
who have learned something, not only of the value, 
but also of the art of prayer. This leads to a final con- 
viction that none can pray their best few can pray 
with any fulness of effect who have not received some 
careful training in the practice of prayer, and who have 
not acquired as well the grace of holy perseverance in it. 
Professor Gustav Warneck of Halle reminds us in his 
paper on Prayer for Missions of a truth which we are 
in constant danger of overlooking, viz., that " it is much 
more difficult to pray for missions than to give to them. 
We can only really pray for missions if we habitually 
lead a life of prayer, and a life of prayer can only 
be led if we have entered into a life of communion with 
God." 

The question then which -calls for the serious attention 



SPIRITUAL RESOURCES 11 

of the Church seems to be how best to develop and train 
in the Christian soul the desire and the capacity for 
prayer. The Commission would lay special emphasis 
on the fact that the real problem is not the increase 
or the improvement of aids to prayer or the multi- 
plication of exhortations to prayer, but the securing 
of a body of Christian people who by earnest and 
sustained effort have become proficient in the practice 
of prayer. 

The Catholic Church has from the earliest ages recog- 
nised this vital need for her children and has endeavoured 
to supply it by forms of prayer. The Day Hours of the 
Church, consisting of Psalms, Bible lections, and prayer 
devotions, have from the earliest times formed part of 
the Church's daily worship and devotions. These in 
many branches and provinces of the Catholic Church 
have remained in their unaltered form from time im- 
memorial. In the Church of England they have in 
recent centuries been united into the present offices 
of Morning and Evening Prayer, which are enjoined to 
be used daily throughout the year. These devotions 
serve a double purpose. They are not only a daily prayer 
meeting, morning by morning, and evening by evening, 
where praise and thanksgiving, supplication and inter- 
cession all find a place, but they are at the same time 
the training schools of the Christian soul in the holy art 
of prayer. The constant part which the people are called 
upon to take in versicle and response, in united repetition 
of the Psalms, and in the joint devotions by minister 
and people, all have as their object the training and 
cultivating of the soul in the practice of prayer ; while 
the intercessions which form a not inconspicuous part of 
the daily offices, serve in developing in the worshipper 
the habit of intercession. 

Further, the Holy Communion has from apostolic 
times formed part of the weekly, frequently the daily, 
worship of the Catholic Church, and the liturgies of 
East and West which enshrine this Holy Sacrament, 
abounding as they do in petition, supplication, adora- 



12 THE HOME BASE 

tion, and intercession, have reared up countless souls in 
the habit and practice of prayer. 

But forms of prayer have their serious dangers, and 
the formalism of forms has produced in many cases a 
not unnatural reaction. The majority of those taking 
part in the Conference are probably connected with 
branches of the Christian Church which eschew forms 
of prayer and seek for free and spontaneous expression 
in the systematic habit of extemporary prayer. There 
are dangers, it is readily recognised, along this course too, 
and while those who have in the past laid special stress 
on extemporary prayer are not indisposed at times to 
use time-honoured forms, those who have clung perhaps 
too tenaciously to forms of prayer are recognising the 
value also of more inspirational and spontaneous 
devotions. 

Where public worship is conducted independently of 
prescribed forms of prayer, greater freedom and variety 
are possible in leading the thoughts of the congregation 
in prayer for missions. It is the experience of many 
pastors that a genuine missionary spirit in their people 
can be cultivated by directing their thoughts in prayer 
to the great missionary task of the Church more than in 
any other way. If this education is to be successfully 
carried out, the pastor himself must be possessed of a 
missionary spirit, and must give special thought to the 
preparation of his prayers so that he may avoid mere 
formal petitions and make his people feel that he is giving 
utterance to a deep and real and urgent need. Whether the 
form of service be liturgical or follows no prescribed form, 
there should be, Sunday by Sunday, definite remembrance 
in prayer of the missionary work of the Christian 
Church. 

Prayer gatherings for intercession on behalf of the 
missionary work of the Church, whether held monthly or 
weekly, or at more frequent intervals, serve an invaluable 
purpose. They are useful occasions for the regular use 
of the missionary prayer cycles and prayer topics which 
are now so numerously issued. But more than this, 



SPIRITUAL RESOURCES 1$ 

they are the training schools of prayer, where prayer 
habits may be fostered, prayer exercises may be prac- 
tised, and prayer lessons may be learned. 

There can be no doubt that side by side with the 
issue of prayer leaflets, with prayer teachings and prayer 
exhortations from the pulpit, with the daily services 
and devotions of the Church, should go the united 
prayer practice, and the united prayer offerings of 
weekly prayer meetings. The time has plainly shown 
itself to be ripe for increasing and developing such 
gatherings. 

The growing conviction of the necessity of prayer 
as the one victorious force in the great campaign, the 
daily calls which come from the advance guards for the 
reinforcements of prayer, the extreme difficulty and 
many obstacles which are experienced by all who seek 
to advance in the holy art, and the inspiration and in- 
centive to be derived from such united acts all 
these point to the pressing importance of maintaining, 
developing, and enlarging as occasion offers, these prayer 
meetings of the Church. Prayer Conventions, whole 
day prayer gatherings, annual weeks of prayer, all 
these are possible enlargements and outgrowths which 
have already been tried, and already proved fruitful 
in blessing. 

It is often forgotten by those who are responsible for 
the conduct of prayer meetings for missions that careful 
preparation is needed on the part of those in charge. 
Prayer is never easy, and cannot be entered into without 
definite preparation of mind and heart. This is necessary 
not only for the leader of the meeting, but for all present, 
if they are to participate in the ministry of intercession. 
The whole plan of the meetings needs careful thought. 
The subjects for prayer must be explained and set before 
the people, so that they feel inwardly stirred to pray, 
and preparatory exercises are necessary to make vivid 
to the mind the privilege of prayer and to awaken a 
sense of God's presence. Pains need to be taken to make 
all realise that it is a serious business in which they are 



14 THE HOME BASE 

engaged, and that in Christ's teaching prayer is 
not the utterance of vague aspirations, but has been 
divinely ordained to receive definite and unmistakable 
answers. 

It is an advantage when on special occasions Christian 
people can join unitedly in intercession for the missionary 
work of the Church. In the Church of England, a day 
of intercession for foreign missions was inaugurated 
in 1872 at the suggestion of the Society for the Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel, which was then suffering from a lack 
of recruits, and the Church Missionary Society cordially 
accepted an invitation to co-operate. In the first few 
months following its first observance, both Societies 
received a large number of offers of service. The move- 
ment has been observed with regularity ever since, a.nd 
has been fruitful in almost every parish in increasing 
the volume of prayer for foreign missions. 

A special opportunity for remembering the world-wide 
work of the Church is afforded by daily family worship. 
The use of a missionary prayer cycle at family prayers 
will daily bring the needs of the world before the house- 
hold, and will both prove a spiritual education to those 
who assemble for worship, and afford help and strength 
to those who are toiling at the front. 

That those who love this work and bear it upon their 
hands and hearts will follow the scriptural injunction to 
pray unceasingly for its triumph, we take for granted. 
To such, not only the morning watch and the hours of 
stated devotions, but all times and seasons will witness 
an attitude of intercession that refuses to let God go until 
He crown His workers with victory. Such praying souls 
impart their life of faith to those with whom they come 
into contact, and thus the circle of devout and faithful 
disciples will widen, until all who believe and labour 
and wait will also pray. 

For the accomplishment of the evangelisation of the 
world the supremely important thing is not a great 
number of missionaries, nor an unlimited amount of 
financial support, but spiritual power in the Church. 



SPIRITUAL RESOURCES 15 

The Church is not straitened in God. It is implied in 
our very thought of Him that with Him all things are 
possible. What paralyses the energies of the Church 
and allows it to suffer defeat is its own unbelief. The 
work of evangelising the non- Christian world cannot be 
done until the Church learns again to believe in the living 
God to believe with childlike simplicity and unfaltering 
trust. 

Therefore, as in this Conference the Christian Church 
ooks with a greater seriousness than ever before at the 
problem of the non-Christian world, the call that is most 
urgent and most insistent is that Christian men and 
women should deeply resolve to venture out and make 
trial of the unexplored depths of the character and the 
resources of God. The missionary enterprise has led 
many adventurous spirits to explore unknown territories 
and tread unbeaten paths. The same spirit of adventure 
is needed to discover the wealth and resources of life 
in God. The work of evangelisation must wait 
until Christian people resolutely set themselves to 
put to the proof the availability of God for faith. 
Many who cannot go to the mission field may have 
a real share in the missionary labours of the Church 
if they will give themselves to the mighty ministry 
of prayer. 

It is not sufficient in an hour of vision and aspiration 
to dedicate ourselves to the work of intercession. Prayer 
is the putting forth of vital energy. It is the highest 
effort of which the human spirit is capable. Proficiency 
and power in prayer cannot be attained without patient 
continuance and much practice. As has already been 
urged, the primary need is not the multiplication of 
prayer meetings or the more extensive circulation of 
prayer calendars, but that individual Christians should 
learn to pray. If this work is to be taken seriously, 
the hour of prayer must be definitely set apart and 
jealously guarded in spite of weariness and many dis- 
tractions. The secret and art of prayer can only be 
learned from the teaching of the Master Himself, and by 



16 THE HOME BASE 

patient study of the best books on the subject. 1 If the 
Conference in Edinburgh should lead some resolutely 
and irrevocably to enter into the school of prayer, the 
spiritual power of the Church for the accomplishment of 
its great task would be immeasurably increased. 

When the Church sets itself to pray with the same 
seriousness and strength of purpose that it has devoted 
to other forms of Christian effort, it will see the Kingdom 
of God come with power. 

1 Special reference may be made to : Andrew Murray, With 
Christ in the School of Prayer (Nisbet, is. ; F. H. Revell Co.). 
M'Clure, A Mighty Means of Usefulness (F. H. Revell Co., 50 
cents) ; Austin Phelps, The Still Hour (Gardner, Paisley ; Lothrop 
and Lee and Shepard Co., 60 cents); Moule, Secret Prayer. Two 
pamphlets also deserve attention : Warneck, Prayer for Missions ; 
Speer, Prayer and Missions (both published by the Student 
Volunteer Missionary Union and the Student Volunteer Move- 
ment, 5 cents each). 



CHAPTER II 

THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY IN- 
TELLIGENCE THROUGH REGULAR 
CHURCH SERVICES AND AGENCIES 

THE Church itself as an organisation is fundamentally a 
Missionary Society. It prays " Thy Kingdom come," and 
its commission is to "preach the Gospel to every creature/' 
While the formation of organised societies is essential to 
the proper conduct of the business of missions, the Church 
itself in all its branches is by right and commission 
responsible for the dissemination of a true missionary 
spirit among its members. There is no society or 
organisation that can do the work of the Church in 
this respect. Outside organisations may aid the Church 
in the performance of her functions through her 
regular officers and leaders in the promotion of mission- 
ary knowledge and interest, but it is the Church itself, 
alert and aggressive, that is the legitimate and true 
director. In all this work /the pastor is the proper 
and recognised leader. 

I. THE WORK OF THE PASTOR 

In the work of the home ministry is found the secret 
of the real condition existing in the Church. If the pastor 
is a missionary enthusiast, his people are sure to gain 
much of the same spirit and become a missionary force. 
If, on the other hand, he is indifferent and thoughtless, 
nothing by way of organisation can make up for the lack, 

COM. VI. 2 



18 ~ THE HOME BASE 

And if his interest is simply the result of a perfunctory sense 
of duty to present the subject without the real inspiration 
that comes from an intelligent understanding and know- 
ledge of the world field, the result is superficial and forced. 
One of our ablest students of the subject writes : " The 
real lack with the pulpit is not in the intention or willing- 
ness of the pastor, but in the genuine enthusiasm which 
grows out of a thorough knowledge and heart touch with the 
fields and with the cause" 

Where there is a wealth of information there is always 
force in the presentation of the subject, and the people 
become aroused and actively responsive. Many pastors 
preach regularly missionary sermons, and a still greater 
number preach missionary sermons on special occasions. 
Many others report that such sermons are preached about 
the time of the annual or special offerings. From some 
of our correspondents we learn that many pastors have 
found large results from giving missions a place in their 
public prayers. 

A very general influence in awakening enthusiasm is 
found in the continued use of missionary illustrations 
in pulpit work. The pastors who keep in living touch 
with the present missionary literature and regularly read 
some of the new missionary books constantly use incidents 
in the mission field for purposes of illustration, and 
without relegating the presentation of missions to one or 
two sermons during the year are continually giving to their 
people the facts of missionary work without any professed 
treatment of the subject. The result is that the people 
are being reached and convinced without their recognising 
it, which is certainly one of the favourable conditions for 
securing results. Some pastors are giving missionary 
travel talks on week nights, as well as on Sunday 
evenings. 

Some are trying to break down the unreasonable 
prejudice which has arisen from the fact that missionary 
addresses are usually connected with an appeal for an 
offering. The people should be accustomed to the idea 
that it is a part of the Christian's daily thought and 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 19 

responsibility, and that the gift of money though of 
large importance is but one part of the responsibility 
of the Christian steward. The influence of the missionary 
sermon printed and distributed by the pastor through the 
post to each member of the congregation is always very 
great. 

The conclusion as to the influence of the pulpit is 
summed up in a sentence by a prominent American 
pastor: " I am becoming persuaded that the simpler 
the methods the better, and that no amount of machinery 
can take the place of an earnest and passionate de- 
termination that Jesus Christ may reign in the hearts 
of men." 

As a suggestion of some of the methods employed by 
pastors to arouse the interest of their congregation in the 
cause of missions, we would add that frequently many 
pastors allude from the pulpit to particular articles which 
have appeared in periodicals, magazines, and books as 
of special interest. Many of the leaflets especially pre- 
pared by Missionary Societies are enclosed by pastors 
in personal letters to friends whom they wish to interest. 
Some pastors find means of approach to their congrega- 
tion in the church and parish papers, as well as local 
denominational papers in some of the larger cities. 
Through these papers, letters received from missionaries 
supported by the local churches are printed and find 
a wide reading because of the local personal interest 
in the writer. 

Church calendars and announcement sheets have been 
used calling attention to certain articles of general as well 
as personal interest in the wide field. Many pastors use 
printed personal letters addressed to every member of 
the congregation, frequently signed with their own hand, 
calling attention to articles, tracts, and books upon the 
subject of missions. Investigation shows that the alert 
pastor is able to discover a multitude of personal avenues 
of approach to his congregation through which he can turn 
their thought and attention to the great world missionary 
problem. 



20 THE HOME BASE 



II. THE MISSIONARY AWAKENING OF 
BOYS AND GIRLS 

As the promotion of mission study among young men and 
young women by means of mission study classes is dealt 
with in a separate division of our Report (see pp. 64-78), 
that phase of the work will not be especially treated here. 

It has seemed to the Commission that any attempt to 
combine the careful Reports which have been prepared in 
Great Britain and America on the question of promoting 
missionary knowledge among boys and girls would be 
beset with difficulties and would destroy the unity which 
each report possessed. It has been decided, therefore, 
to present separate Reports on this subject dealing with 
the two countries, although each will be found to contain 
matter that is of general interest and value. 



(a) THE IMPORTANCE OF WORK AMONG CHILDREN 

The leaders of the missionary enterprise are unanimous 
in their judgment as to the imperative importance of 
interesting the boyhood and girlhood of the Churches 
in the work of foreign missions, although the extent to 
which they have been able as yet to give expression 
to their convictions considerably varies. It is coming to 
be recognised as a scientific fact that the future depends 
upon the education of the childhood of the race, in 
missionary matters as in all others. 

In recent years psychologists and religious educationists 
have introduced another factor which has reinforced 
their arguments as to the profound importance of mis- 
sionary teaching in education. They have shown not 
only that a comprehensive policy of missionary education 
of the young is a necessity to missionary propaganda, 
but that the missionary ideal has a unique contribution 
to make to religious education, and is, in fact, a necessity 
for the building of true Christian character. 



REGULAK CHURCH AGENCIES 21 

These arguments do not need any further development 
here. We would only point out : (j) That, in the opinion 
of many of those best able to judge, the present inability 
and ineffectiveness of the Church, in view of her great 
opportunities, is directly traceable to the lack of any 
policy of missionary education of her children in the 
past. (2) That the very greatness of the demands made 
upon the Church at the opening of the twentieth century 
constitutes an imperious necessity for comprehensive 
and scientific propaganda for reaching the rising genera- 
tion with the inspiration of the missionary idea. 

It is taken for granted that in order to reach children, 
teachers must be especially trained. Any plan for effect- 
ively bringing to the attention of children the great 
work of missions cannot fail to make provision for the 
proper training of those who are to be the children's 
teachers. At present practically nothing is done in this 
direction. 

(b) THE DANGERS 

In laying the result of our enquiries before the Confer- 
ence, we feel that we must insist from the first upon one 
thing that has stood out in tremendous proportion from 
all our investigations, viz. : that the work of interesting 
boys and girls in foreign missions is not only full of hope 
and possibilities, but fraught with very serious dangers. 
Two of these demand a special emphasis. 

(1) It is as easy in our well-meaning efforts to make 
children dislike the whole thing as like it. In the mis- 
sionary appeal we are handling what educationists agree 
is in itself the most forceful religious appeal that can 
come to a child, and if it fail to grip, the injury 
to its faith and personal religion may be serious. 
Success or failure depends, from the educational point 
of view, upon the personality of the teacher and the 
degree to which the methods adopted are suited to the 
children. 

(2) In other branches of education the teacher has 
studied the child, and learnt to relate his subjects to those 



22 THE HOME BASE 

instincts, interests, and activities which are most alive 
at each stage of the child's development. The secular 
educationist has learnt to capture children's imagination 
by suiting his methods and grading his teaching to 
their capacity and instincts, from the kindergarten to 
the sixth form. If we do less in missionary propaganda 
we must fail accordingly. 

In the face of these serious, and, we believe, imminent 
dangers, we would point out that it is inadvisable 
to carry out any missionary propaganda among boys 
and girls apart from the study of the child and the 
laws of education. To attempt to transfer adult mis- 
sionary ideas into the thoughts of a child is courting 
failure. Hence it is most desirable that the leadership 
in work among young people should be entrusted by the 
Missionary Societies to workers who have time and 
opportunity to specialise upon child study. 

With the above facts in our minds, we have set ourselves 
not so much to count as to weigh what is at present 
being done throughout the Churches to interest young 
people in foreign missions. We have tried to discover 
what methods are being employed by the various Societies, 
\vhat methods have been most successful in the past, 
and what methods they consider promise to be most 
fruitful in the future. We have also consulted with those 
who are acknowledged experts of the Churches upon the 
religious education of children, with a view to unite their 
judgment with the experience of the Societies^ in an 
outline which we venture to put forward as indicating 
the lines of a sound and worthy policy for the future. 

(c) SUNDAY SCHOOLS OF AMERICA 

One of the most encouraging features of missionary 
advance is the rapid development of the work in the 
Sunday School field during the last five years. The 
unique opportunity in the Sunday School lies both in 
\vhat it can do for missions at the present time, and also 
for the effect of this work of education on the Church 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 23 

of the future. It has developed from two main sources 
the activities of the Mission Boards and of those 
organisations distinctly connected with Sunday Schools. 

The Activities of Mission Boards 

(1) The Young People's Missionary Movement. 
Through this movement there has been in the United 
States a federation of the Mission Boards for the work 
of missionary education. To this movement probably 
more than to any other agency is due the credit of awaken- 
ing the Sunday Schools of America. Four special summer 
conferences have been held for the consideration of this 
subject, and it has received attention at all of the numerous 
conferences and institutes of the Movement. 

Probably the greatest contribution of the Movement 
has been the preparation and publication of a high grade 
literature for the use of the local Sunday School. 
Libraries, study books, pictures, maps, charts, and pro- 
grammes are provided for any and every use. 

(2) The Denominational Societies. There are now 
in America nearly thirty salaried officers in almost as 
many Mission Boards, giving their time to the work 
of missionary education among young people. The 
Sunday School has a large claim on their efforts. Several 
of the Missionary Societies have special Sunday School 
secretaries. 

Education in denominational work both at home and 
abroad, with appeals for offerings, both systematic and 
occasional, is a part of the activities of the educational 
departments of the missionary organisations. 

The Missionary Activities of the Sunday School 
Organisations 

(i)" The last three triennial conventions of the World's 
Sunday School Association, held respectively in Jerusalem, 
Rome, and Washington, D.C., have emphasised the im- 
portance of the Sunday School in mission work* and the 



24 THE HOME BASE 

corresponding obligation upon the Sunday Schools at 
home to know about it and contribute to it. 

(2) The International Sunday School Association, 
adopting a far-sighted missionary policy, has created a 
missionary department and appointed a missionary 
superintendent. Through these agencies the missionary 
message will be brought to the attention of all the Sunday 
School leaders. 

(3) Following the example of the International 
Association, about one-half of the States and provinces 
of North America have created missionary departments, 
and hundreds of counties have fallen into line. 

(4) The denominational Sunday School Associations 
have begun to create a missionary literature, and are 
supplementing the denominational work of the Mission 
Boards. 

(5) The study of missions is finding a larger place 
in the many lesson systems now offered to Sunday Schools. 
The old International Uniform Lessons are now selected 
with a view to giving more opportunity for the study 
of the missionary message of the Bible. The new Inter- 
national Graded Lessons are providing for the study of 
missions "in course," in the Primary, Junior, Intermediate, 
and Senior grades. 

(6) The Sunday School Editorial Association of North 
America has created a missionary department for the 
purpose of studying the place of missions in the Sunday 
School literature of all denominations. In both the 
Lesson Helps and the Story Papers the missionary 
message is finding prominent place. 

Such great Churches as the Methodist-Episcopal 
have organised all their Sunday Schools as Missionary 
Societies. This has done much to increase missionary 
interest and intelligence in their schools ; and although 
this method has not been adopted by many other de- 
nominations, still the general study of missions in the 
Sunday School has become a matter of fact and of re- 
cognised worth. 

Some few schools have devised ways and means of 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 25 

their own to study particular portions of the work, 
forming courses adapted to their own use. Recent 
publications have done very much in this line. Our 
correspondence reveals the fact that the Sunday School 
feels to-day the need of just the stimulus and incentive 
which will come from a world- wide study of the kingdom. 
The various denominations both in Europe and in America 
seem alive to the importance of emphasising this depart- 
ment. 

(d) SUNDAY SCHOOLS OF GREAT BRITAIN 

We have been in correspondence with the secretaries 
of Sunday School and Young People's Departments 
of the various Churches, and the inter- denominational 
Sunday School Unions. The place that is given to 
foreign missionary work varies very greatly among them. 
It cannot be denied that the three great inter- denomina- 
tional Associations which perhaps command the greatest 
expert opinion are far in advance of most of the de- 
nominational Unions. 

One of the fundamental aims of the World's Sunday 
School Association is " to keep the world view of 
Sunday School work before school officers and teachers, 
and, further, to extend such work by co-operation with 
missionary and Sunday School organisations in different 
parts of the world." 

The Sunday School Union keeps the idea of missions 
to the front in its conferences, and to some extent in the 
syllabuses it issues. Among its literature is a very valu- 
able pamphlet entitled, How a Sunday School hetys 
Foreign Missions, showing "how an individual school 
of 900 scholars by systematising and vitalising its methods 
increased its giving to missions from 80 ($392) per year 
to an average of over 387 ($1896) per year." The Union 
also, no doubt, gains fresh inspiration from the similar 
Unions with which it is linked, and which it helps to 
support in some parts of the mission field. 

The Scottish National Sabbath School Union includes 
missionary subjects in the programme for its Convention, 



26 THE HOME BASE 

and its syllabus provides more material, perhaps, than 
any other upon missionary teaching. The leaders in 
these associations place emphasis on the fact that the 
missionary idea is necessary to a complete religious 
education. 

With this lead it is surprising to find how very small 
a place most of the denominational Sunday School 
organisations give to foreign missions, and that in many 
of their syllabuses and outline lessons there is practically 
no distinct teaching on foreign missions whatever. 
This they would justify, in many cases, by saying that 
they " leave it to the Societies/' The result seems to be 
better than the theory, for in a very large number of 
Sunday Schools the outline missionary lessons issued by 
the Societies are used on several Sundays in the year* 
and seem to be greatly valued. 

The position is one that should be recognised in the 
Sunday School world, and as long as the Sunday School 
syllabuses in the various denominations do not provide 
for adequate teaching concerning the primary duty of 
the Church of Christ, superintendents and teachers 
should set aside certain Sundays for this teaching (al- 
though they have to break in upon a " course " to do so), 
and apply for outline lessons to the Missionary Societies 
of their denominations. 

At the same time, we would point out that a great change 
of attitude in the Sunday Schools with regard to foreign 
missions may be expected when the missionary teaching 
of the Bible finds its place in the syllabuses, when missions 
are an essential and normal part of every Sunday School 
curriculum, and the meaning and necessity of world 
evangelisation is clearly taught. Even if a great deal 
more were done than at present to give missions a place 
in the Sunday School, this alone would not be sufficient 
to train the Church of to-morrow for the task that lies 
before it. In the nature of the case it is the function of 
true religious teaching to lay the foundations of missionary 
building. 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 27 

(e) WORK AMONG BOYS AND GIRLS IN GREAT 
BRITAIN OUTSIDE THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

It can hardly be expected that a school curriculum 
should include, for instance, systematic teaching about 
non-Christian faiths, or attempt to give that accurate 
knowledge of missionary problems, methods, and results 
that makes a properly equipped home worker, or gives 
a sound preparation for work in the foreign field. Nor is 
it generally possible within school hours to draw out 
those activities of children, the exercise of which teach 
the deepest and most lasting lessons. 

Limitations to school teaching are also imposed by the 
facts as they are to-day, and of these the most important 
feature is the character equipment of the teachers. The 
teacher cannot lead children beyond the point which he 
has himself reached. This imposes a limit to missionary 
teaching in the Sunday School. A teacher can teach 
purity and truth only if he is pure and true himself ; and, 
similarly, he can teach missionary duty effectively only if 
he be himself in some sense a worker for foreign missions. 
Our correspondence has revealed the fact that in a great 
number of instances in Sunday Schools, the most serious 
hindrance to missionary teaching, and its severest limit, 
lies in the apathy of nominally Christian teachers to 
their own responsibility as regards foreign missions. 

Within the last few years there has been a great advance 
in the policy of the Missionary Societies as regards Young 
People's work. A few have appointed secretaries to give 
their whole thought and energy to it, have established 
Young People's Departments, and have a thought-out 
policy as regards it. But, considering that the whole 
future of the missionary enterprise is bound up with the 
training of our young people, it is a most serious thing 
that in a large number of Churches the whole responsi- 
bility of missionary work among children is left to an 
already overworked official, who has no opportunity to 
specialise upon children or time to study education ; 
and that not a few Societies trust to the holding of an 



28 THE HOME BASE 

occasional missionary meeting, or the unco-ordinated 
efforts of local friends, to train up the rising generation 
for the evangelisation of the world. 

The true missionary motive, namely, loyalty and 
obedience to the Master in reference to His great resur- 
rection command, should be kept prominently before 
children at the time when their moral character and 
religious life are developing. It would seem to be a 
policy of the worst extravagance to impair, for the reasons 
of supposed economy, the efficiency of missionary work 
among children of the Churches at this time. 

Methods of Enlisting the Interest and Service of Children 

A series of questions were sent out to those who are 
responsible for the work that is done among boys and girls 
in connection with the larger Missionary Societies of 
Great Britain, and also to representative successful workers 
among children nominated by them. 

The first two questions were aimed at eliciting what 
they considered the most efficient methods of interesting 
children in missions. A list of methods was given, 
and they were asked to put these and any others in what 
they considered to be their order of importance. 

The result is to give a practically unanimous first place 
to 

" Consecutive courses of missionary instruction or 
study apart from Sunday School lessons/' 

" Children's working parties or similar outlets for 
active help " comes out second. 

" Definite missionary lessons in Sunday School and 
constant illustrations of Bible teaching by reference to 
missions " come out together third in the voting, and 
should no doubt have a primary place of fundamental 
importance if they were more widely encouraged, or even 
permitted, in Sunday Schools. 

" Missionary addresses to children " conies next, with 
significant riders added in the majority of cases " if 
good " and " if followed up by other methods. 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 29 

In this connection an important suggestion is made by 
more than one correspondent that there is need of a 
manual for missionary speakers to children, written by 
an expert for inter- denominational use. 

The following methods were difficult to assign to a 
proper place upon the list, because the answers with 
regard to them varied very widely with the experience of 
the Societies and their own propaganda and methods, and 
the answers were often hedged in by conditions and 
suppositions such as " if good/' " if possible/ 1 "if 
allowed " : 

" Children's missionary intercession services or prayer 
meetings." 

" Giving vital and spiritual meaning to children's 
gifts to missions/' 

" Children's literature." 

" Missionary recitations and entertainments given by 
children." 

We have sought to gather together the experience of 
the Societies as regards each of these methods, and from 
this to draw out the vital principles of these methods and 
the conditions of their success. 

(i) Consecutive Courses of Missionary Instruction and 
Missionary Study. The two names seem to be used to 
connote the same idea, which is to get the children them- 
selves to concentrate their niinds upon a consecutive 
course of missionary instruction planned out on educa- 
tional lines. The ideal thing where the leader works 
with a few children is called a " study band," and, 
where circumstances make this impossible, and the course 
is taken with larger numbers of children, it is spoken 
of as "missionary instruction." The term missionary 
study will be used to include both. 

Modern methods of missionary study for children are a 
growth of the last five years, although some Societies 
had been moving previously in that direction. Several 
useful text-books for the purpose have already been issued 
by various Societies. There was need of more co-opera- 
tion and co-ordination of these efforts in the way that is 



30 THE HOME BASE 

now being done by the United Conference on Missionary 
Education. Up to the present only two grades of text- 
books have been attempted, a Junior and an Inter- 
mediate, but we believe that there should be three or 
four grades of missionary text-books for children, as there 
are of text-books on other subjects. The large majority 
of our correspondents are of opinion that for the Junior 
grades text-books should be provided for the teachers 
only, but that in the Intermediate grades the text-books 
should be such as the boys and girls themselves can 
possess and read, with outlines for study circles provided 
for the leaders. 

The experience of three Societies which have promoted 
and cultivated children's missionary study we believe 
has proved : 

(a) That it is practicable. (In connection with one 

Society alone over 20,000 boys and girls were 
taking one of these courses last year.) 

(b) Its pre-eminent value as a means of reaching 

children deeply with the missionary appeal, 
resulting in many setting their faces towards 
the foreign field, in eager work and increased 
gifts. 

(c) That missionary study bands are a most effective 

evangelistic agency. Many boys and girls 
who have before been deaf to all appeals, 
have in them heard the voice of Christ calling 
them to lives of heroism and devotion for His 
sake and the world's. 

(d) That the conduct of such scientific missionary 

study on lines which are psychologically 
sound has very greatly improved the teaching 
in many Sunday Schools. 

(2) Children's Working Parties and Similar Outlets for 
Activity. It is coining to be recognised that the 
importance of these things which enlist a child's activity 
unselfishly lies in their value for training and for char- 
acter building, and that the spirit of love can only effectu- 
ally be cultivated by the activities of love. 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 31 

Our correspondence shows that both educational 
experts and experienced workers consider them an 
essential feature of any propaganda for the missionary 
education of children. 

They maintain that there is no graver mistake than 
to arouse children's keenness about foreign missions 
and then not to give them some useful service to do 
for the cause. We believe that no missionary appeal 
to children can be lastingly fruitful which ignores the 
keen desire for useful activity so characteristic of child- 
hood and adolescence, inasmuch as it is contrary to the 
law of psychology, which declares that there is no lasting 
impression without expression. 

(3) Missionary Teaching in Sunday School, and Other 
Bible Instruction. The question of definite "Mis- 
sionary Lessons " in the Sunday School course has 
already been discussed (see pp. 24-26). The even more 
important point is that the missionary thought which 
runs right through the Bible, and the great missionary 
intent and contents of the New Testament, should be 
clearly brought out in the ordinary course of Scripture 
teaching. Granted that this cannot be done until 
Sunday School teachers themselves see it, feel it, and 
live it, some very definite outlines are needed to show 
teachers how to express it and teach it to their children. 
More should be done in this direction also by suitable 
lectures to Sunday School teachers. 

Similarly, much more use should be made of missionary 
stories to illustrate Bible truths. As children learn most 
from pictures in strong colours, so the best illustrations 
come from where the light of the Gospel is seen against 
the dark background of heathendom. Therefore, if those 
who prepare Sunday School courses draw more largely 
upon the mission field for their illustrations, the teaching 
would be enriched, and the reflex action upon foreign 
missions would be very considerable. 

(4) Giving Vital and Spiritual Meaning to Children's 
Gifts. We have had a great deal of correspondence upon 
this point. There is wide divergence of opinion as to 



32 THE HOME BASE 

how it should be done, but there seems to be unanimous 
opinion upon two points : 

(a) That the gifts which children give in Sunday 
Schools can be used as a means and channel 
of education and inspiration. 

(5) That at present, in the vast majority of cases, the 
giving to missions in Sunday Schools is 
mechanical and uninspired, and often meaning- 
less to the children. 

Our investigations lead us to the conclusion that in 
the Sunday Schools and Young People's Societies, 
Christian giving is very seldom regarded as an act of 
worship, and that children need much more to be taught 
the spiritual meaning of giving to God. 

The whole burden of our correspondence, both with 
Societies and with educational experts, leads us to depre- 
cate strongly any system of reward for children's work 
and gifts. 

The other point to which we have devoted special 
attention is the policy of inviting children's gifts to 
special objects. There is conflicting practice and opinion 
among the Societies on the point. That it immediately 
" pays " is not denied. Some Societies, however, de- 
precate the system, not merely on the grounds of its 
producing embarrassment in administration, but as being 
a bad education for children and tending to missionary 
" parochialism." They consider that children should 
be trained to give to the work of their Church, and to 
trust the Societies to administer the money in the wisest 
way. 

We have, therefore, taken the advice of expert educa- 
tionists upon this subject, not as a question of finance 
or convenience, but of education ; and we find them to be 
unanimously in favour of the gifts of children being 
devoted to special objects in the mission field (pre-sup- 
posing that the objects are well chosen, the scheme 
carefully managed, and the contact between the " object J) 
and the children is kept well alive), as calculated to 
give the children a better understanding of missionary 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 33 

problems, a keener sense of the whole field, and a more 
personal responsibility thereto. 

It is true to the law of child psychology that children's 
minds move from the concrete to the abstract, from the 
particular to the general, and from the example to the law. 
On the other hand, from the standpoint of administra- 
tion, it must be admitted that there are serious difficulties 
in the way of tying up the gifts of children to specific 
objects. 

(5) Children's Corporate Prayer for Missions. It 
appears from our correspondence that, except in one 
or two Societies, very little attention has been given as 
yet to training children in the privilege of united In- 
tercession for Missions. All our correspondents agree 
that much more could and should be done. 

Missionary Literature for Children 

We have examined the missionary literature (books, 
magazines, and pamphlets) at present available in Great 
Britain, both those issued by the Missionary Societies 
and by other publishers. We have also taken the opinion 
of educationists and of missionary workers upon its 
use, its suitability, and its adequacy. 

There is unanimous opinion that a children's magazine 
is (at least ideally) the most useful form of literature 
for children. Books come next, and pamphlets third. 
There seems to be strong opinion that there are far too 
many free pamphlets of very poor quality issued, and that 
this indiscriminate use is wasteful extravagance, and 
calculated, on the whole, to be injurious to the cause. 

Magazines, We have sought to get together some 
constructive suggestions upon children's missionary 
magazines. There appears to be unanimous agreement 
upon the following points : 

I. That no one children's magazine can hope to cover 

all ages of children from six or seven to eighteen 

years of age, and it should not attempt to do 

so. A magazine can only succeed if it aims 

COM. vj. 3 



U THE HOME BASE 

directly either at younger or older children, 
(If the latter, a special page or inset might be 
provided for the younger ones.) Two grades 
of missionary magazines for young people are 
really needed. 

2. The magazine should be issued not less frequently 

than monthly. 

3. On the whole, specialising on a subject or a 

country in one number, or in a few con- 
secutive numbers, is a wise plan. 

4. An intimate human touch of a " personal " kind 

in child journalistic form is most valuable as 
an introduction or setting for articles on 
missionary work. In other words, an Editor 
who writes in the first person direct to his 
readers (e.g. "Uncle Toby," i{ Aunt Minda," 
etc., in the secular press), and seeks in his 
person to bridge home service and the foreign 
field. 

Books. We have received many indictments and many 
commendations of the missionary books at present avail- 
able for children of all ages, and also many suggestions 
on ; the subject. 

After carefully sifting the evidence, we find that there 
is unanimity of opinion that 

(r) The standard of children's missionary books 
leaves much to be desired, in view of the 
quality of other books for children in these 
days. 

(2) That the supply would be fairly adequate (but 
for one or two notable deficiencies, e.g. in 
books suitable for the kindergarten age and 
for public schoolboys) if all that is published 
were generally known and generally available, 
which is not the case at present. 

The only adequate remedy of these very serious con- 
ditions is united action by the various Missionary 
Societies with regard to missionary books, and we would 
add that this is an immediate and urgent demand. 



EEGULAE CHURCH AGENCIES 35 

Small editions of books published by the Societies, 
limited in sale by their own imprints, cannot hope to 
compete with the big editions issued by the modern 
publishers, either in quality, or appearance, or price. 

Moreover, there are many books published by different 
Societies having a message for other constituencies and 
denominations which are unknown outside the clientele 
of the Society which publishes them. 

Only by united action is it possible to survey the 
literature in existence, and supply the deficiencies. 

Moreover, co-operation would enable the Societies to 
lead public opinion in this matter instead of being obliged 
to follow it ; to create the right demand by offering the 
right supply. At present, generally speaking, they are 
often only strong enough to supply whatever may happen 
to be in demand. 



(/) POLICY FOR THE FUTURE 

The Church is straitened to-day, conscious that 
ignorance, apathy, and a low standard and ideal of the 
Christian life are at the root of her inability to meet 
responsibility towards the world. 

We venture to ask its leaders to consider to what extent 
this is due to lack of sound missionary education and 
training in its childhood. 

Moreover, when the task of enlisting sufficient support 
from the home Church even for present comparatively 
meagre missionary propaganda becomes increasingly 
difficult, we submit that the field of work among children 
and young people is open, responsive, and more full of 
hope for the future than any other, and that at 
present what is being done to cultivate it is utterly 
inadequate. 

We ask the Edinburgh Conference to consider whether 
a strong, deliberate, worthy policy to win the children 
to the cause and train them up from childhood as workers 
in it, is not the only hope for a Church strong enough 
and true enough to evangelise the world. 



36 THE HOME BASE 

We submit that the following are the principles of a 
worthy policy for the Churches and Societies in young 
people's work : 

(1) That all methods should be shaped with regard 

to the future. 

(2) That their dominant note and aim should be 

character building. 

(3) That the efforts of the Societies and the Churches 

should be directed towards extensive educa- 
tion and intensive cultivation. 



Extensive Education 

We believe that the foundation of a new spirit regard- 
ing foreign missions should be laid in the religious 
teaching of our day and Sunday Schools, and that the 
Christian conscience of the country should declare 
that Christian education which is not missionary in 
spirit and character is not worthy of the name, and 
that the leaders of the Churches should see to it that 
definite teaching concerning missionary work is included 
in every syllabus of religious education. 



Intensive Culture 

Even though missionary teaching were universal, we 
submit that the richest fruits will be lost unless there go 
with it a policy of concentrating upon and cultivating 
the few those boys and girls whose hearts God has 
manifestly touched, and who will make in future days 
the foreign missionaries and staunch home supporters 
of foreign missions. We believe that herein lies the 
secret of securing an adequate supply of both. Children 
need personal attention, personal study, and personal 
educating in the fullest sense. 

The intensive cultivation which we believe will yield 
the best results will aim at enlisting and cultivating 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 37 

devotion, thought, activity, and responsibility In the child 
for the evangelisation of the world. 1 

III. MEN'S AND WOMEN'S LOCAL 

ORGANISATIONS 
WOMEN'S ORGANISATIONS 

Under another section of this Report in which the 
relation of the women's Boards to the general denomina- 
tional Societies is discussed, the great value of women's 
missionary organisations to the cause of missions is 
acknowledged. But in addition to these, within a local 
church itself, in many cases, the women direct the only 
missionary organisation that exists. In many congrega- 
tions in England they are the principal collectors of the 
funds used for the foreign missionary enterprise. In 
America in many instances they are the organisers of the 
young people into mission bands, and the promoters of 
mission study among the young. Another section discusses 
the work of women's organisations. 

MEN'S ORGANISATIONS 

On both sides of the Atlantic men's associations and 
societies are beginning to consider seriously the relation- 
ship of men to the evangelisation of the world. Many of 
these associations have been organised on purely social 
grounds ; some on Bible study grounds ; others on the 
basis of personal evangelism. All, however, are beginning 
to awake to a sense of responsibility in the world field, 
and we judge from various reports that this department 
of endeavour among the men will receive much attention 
during the next few weeks. 

In America the denominational brotherhoods are 

1 We have not given the Sunday School separate treatment in 
the consideration of this phase ol our subject, but leave to each 
denomination in all countries to apply these universal principles 
of training to the children under their care, always including the 
Sunday School, which we regard as one of the most important 
departments of the Church, and the most promising field for the 
successful application of missionary instruction. 



38 THE HOME BASE 

devoting definite attention to the subject of world- wide 
evangelisation. Through the circulation of missionary 
literature and the conducting of missionary meetings they 
are promoting missionary intelligence in the congregations. 
Large Bible classes for men in some of the city churches 
are also taking on departments for missionary propaganda 
and the study of world problems. Not a few local 
brotherhoods and Bible classes are maintaining their own 
representatives on the foreign field. In the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States of America a vigorous and 
effective work has been carried on for a number of years 
among the laymen, one of the secretaries of that Mission 
Board being set apart to direct the movement. Since 
the formation of the Laymen's Missionary Movement 
these missionary efforts among men have been greatly 
stimulated and accelerated. 

In Great Britain also men's missionary organisations 
have proved attractive and productive. For example, 
since 1882, Lay Workers' Unions have been in existence 
in connection with the Church Missionary Society. Their 
object is to increase practical interest in the Society and 
to unite laymen in prayer and for mutual help. Such 
Unions exist in London and in all the large towns in the 
provinces. In some parishes and congregations, t( bands n 
of lajrmen are organised for definite missionary study and 
for giving missionary addresses to Sunday Schools. 



IV. THE WORK OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES 

(l) VISITS FROM SECRETARIES 

Visits to individual congregations by the officers of a 
Missionary Society are of special value. It is obvious 
that board secretaries, in consequence of their numerous 
duties, can have only a limited amount of time available 
for this work. Secretaries are in a position, however, to 
present a systematic and ordered view of the work for 
which the denomination is specially responsible, and to 
lay this responsibility on those who are called to discharge 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 39 

It. It has been suggested by a number of our corre- 
spondents both in Europe and America that it is important 
that secretaries should aim at giving a statesmanlike view 
of what missions are, as a whole, accomplishing, and should 
present in a broad and effective way the actual facts as 
regards what is being done on the mission field, rather 
than limit themselves to exhortation as to modern 
opportunity and individual responsibility for the work. 
It is also suggested that much more might be accomplished 
by using the experience of certain parishes and congrega- 
tions as a stimulus and example to others. 

(2) DEPUTATION WORK OF MISSIONARIES ON 
FURLOUGH 

While the pastor must himself accept the responsibility 
for educating his people with regard to missions, much 
help may be obtained from the visits of missionaries on 
furlough. These are very generally appreciated, and 
reports come from all parts of Europe and America as 
to their value. The suggestion has been made from 
many quarters, however, that the ability of individual 
missionaries to make a popular presentation of their 
work should receive more careful consideration. It is 
further suggested that greater pains should be taken to 
instruct missionaries as regards the kind of information 
likely to be most effective in quickening the missionary 
interest of the home Church. The general impression 
gained from a wide correspondence is that the visits of 
missionaries are doing more than any other single agency 
to increase interest throughout the Church, and under 
present conditions are indispensable. 

Experience has made it clear that as a general rule 
missionaries when on furlough should, for purposes of 
deputation work, be under the general direction of some 
officer of the Missionary Society who understands the con- 
dition and needs of the local churches visited, and who will 
be able to give valuable suggestions to the missionary before 
his visit as to the real object to be accomplished by it. 



40 THE HOME BASE 

The whole question of the most suitable manner ^of 
presentation of the subject of missions, by the secretaries 
of missionary Boards and Societies and by individual 
missionaries, is referred to by a large number of our 
correspondents as demanding fuller consideration and 
more careful thought than it has yet received. 

(3) LITERATURE OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

There are three main literary avenues of approach to 
the Church membership which the Missionary Societies 
may freely use. 

(a) The Official Periodical 

Nearly every Society has its own official organ. The 
missionary periodical is separately treated in this Report. 

(b) Pamphlet Literature 

This important means of missionary education is also 
discussed elsewhere in the Report. 

(c] Annual Reports 

The annual report is a problem to most Missionary 
Societies. There is no consensus of agreement as to the 
best form of such a report, although most Societies, by 
the rule of their organisation, prepare annually a report 
for their constituencies. The two general ideas under- 
lying the report are : 

" That it is a historical and official document including 
the formal, official, and historical facts of the work of the 
Board or Society for the year under review. To this is 
added in nearly every case the names and addresses of 
all the missionaries, and frequently an outline of the 
policy of the Society for the year to come, or for a series 
of years. Many of these reports contain maps, a few 
have pictures, and some have an index. A financial 
statement is usually attached giving the treasury balances 
with the receipts more or less in detail. This kind of 
report contains authoritative information on the work of 
the Board or Society for the year covered. 



REGULAR CHURCH AGENCIES 41 

Another form of report Is prepared not primarily for 
official record, but to furnish material for missionary 
sermons and addresses, to arouse a new interest 
among constituencies, and to lead to larger giving on 
the part of all whom the report may reach. Some 
Societies endeavour to combine these two purposes in a 
single report, while others keep them fairly separate. 
In the case of the former or more official report, fewer 
copies are usually printed and the distribution is con- 
siderably limited. One leading Society in America 
publishes less than 2000 copies of its annual report, 
which is of a more formal kind and without illustrations. 
On the other hand, another Society representing a much 
smaller constituency publishes 12,000 copies a year, and 
still another 32,000 copies. These latter reports are 
of a more popular character. It is evident from our 
correspondence that there is hardly a Missionary Society 
which is not perplexed over the question of the form and 
character of its annual report. 

There is no question whatever that the annual report 
of a Missionary Society or Board is essential and produces 
valuable results, even though the statistical report is not 
widely read. The investigation reveals the importance 
of each Society settling first the purpose which its report 
is to serve. If it is to be merely a book of reference, then 
the statement should be comprehensive and yet as brief 
as is consistent with thoroughness. If, on the other 
hand, it is to be a document appealing to the popular 
taste, it needs to be more anecdotal and well illustrated, 
with fewer figures and more general and interesting facts. 
If it is designed to cover both purposes, then without 
question the more official details must be put into the 
background and many of them eliminated, while the 
more popular and general features of the year's work are 
given first place. The impression seems to prevail that 
in most Societies both kinds of report are called for ; 
the one for reference, and the other for arousing interest. 
The suggestion has been made that the latter should not 
be called an " annual report," or in fact a report at all, 



42 THE HOME BASE _ 

but that it should be given an attractive title each year 
and contain all the popular and interesting features of 
the work of the Society, both at home and abroad. In 
any case, it should be well indexed. No Society can afford 
to allow an opportunity to pass for preparing and issuing 
such a publication ; neither can it fail to put on record 
the more historical and official, yet less generally interest- 
ing facts of the work of the year. 

V. PERSONAL TOUCH WITH THE MISSION 
FIELD 

An important means of maintaining and increasing 
interest in individual parishes or congregations is through 
the establishment of personal contact with the mission 
field. This has been carried out largely in America by 
the plan of linking a local church at home to a particular 
mission field rather than to an individual missionary. 
As interest in the parish abroad has grown, there has been 
an increased interest in the missionaries who represent it 
on their return home. Much advance has also been made 
through getting individual churches to accept respon- 
sibility for the support of a missionary or group of 
missionaries. 

All existing points of contact with the mission field 
should be made use of as far as possible. It is reported 
from Germany and the Netherlands that there is a steadily 
growing interest among merchants and traders who have 
dealings with colonial possessions in which missionary 
work is carried on. In many congregations interest has 
been stimulated through the visit of individuals to the 
mission field, through the collection and exhibition of 
curios, and especially through the creation of a con- 
gregational missionary library. Such libraries are 
effective and useful in proportion as the librarian 
and those in charge of the library make themselves 
familiar with their contents and make a personal 
effort to interest others. 



CHAPTER III 

THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY 
INTELLIGENCE THROUGH NEWS- 
PAPERS AND PERIODICALS 

CORRESPONDENCE and conferences with missionary 
leaders both in Europe and America has made it clear 
that the value of reliable missionary information of every 
class and character in the daily and secular weekly press 
cannot fail to be of great aid to the cause. Investigation 
along other lines of this Report has made clear the fact 
that one of the greatest disabilities under which the 
missionary cause suffers is the lack of accurate knowledge 
of what is being done, and the consequent prejudices 
growing out of that ignorance. Most of the general and 
unsympathetic criticism from public men, travellers, 
editorial writers, and newspapers editors can be traced to 
this cause alone. At the same time, there are thousands 
and tens of thousands of Christian people who not only 
are non-supporters of missions, but who entertain dis- 
tinctive prejudices against both missionaries and the 
cause. 

One of the problems before Missionary Societies is to 
remove this prejudice and transform the critics into 
allies. How can they be reached ? Surely not through 
the regular missionary periodicals and literature, for 
critics seldom see these, and they would not read 
them if they saw them. Some, though probably only a 
small proportion, read some religious journal, but the 
utterances there found upon missions are regarded as 

43 



44 THE HOME BASE 

prejudiced or professional. It is apparent that if such 
persons are to be reached at all it must be through some 
agency not now employed to any great extent, and that 
will secure their attention and command their respect 
and confidence. 

This agency seems to the Commission to be the 
secular press. It is only within comparatively recent 
years that it has come to be known that missionary 
information may be regarded by newspaper men as live 
news. It is during this period that there has arisen a 
new general interest among all Christian nations in the 
great Eastern races, which interest is increasing rather 
than diminishing. At the same time it has become more 
and more apparent that the work of missionaries has had 
no small part in the development of those races. These 
are facts that not only should be used for the good of the 
cause, but which Missionary Societies are tinder obligation 
to give to the general reading public for their information. 
In the foreign mail of every corresponding secretary of a 
large Missionary Society there is to be found material 
which, if properly prepared and offered, would be gratefully 
used by newspaper editors not only to their own enlighten- 
ment, but to the edification of the readers of their journals. 
For a certain and extensive class even of Church members, 
to say nothing of that other large and influential class 
of critics, an occasional favourable notice of mission work 
in a newspaper will have more influence than whole 
missionary magazines of articles and letters. 

It is true that little immediate result in the way of 
new contributions can be expected from these sources, 
and yet many illustrations might be given of considerable 
sums of money corning to Societies from unexpected 
sources and traceable directly to a brief favourable news- 
paper report of a simple fact of missions. 

As has already been stated, there has been a marked 
change during the last few years in the attitude of the 
secular press toward foreign missions. This is especially 
true for America, but a somewhat similar change is 
noticeable in Germany, especially with reference to her 



NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS 45 

colonial enterprises. Ten years ago the characteristic 
attitude of the press was either indifferent or critical. 
References to the missionary enterprise in the daily 
papers were rare, and when they did occur the tone was 
more likely to be hostile than sympathetic. The harsh 
criticisms of " globe-trotters " frequently came to the 
front, and if any one had a bitter word to say of missions 
or missionaries the doors of the secular press were generally 
wide open for its admission. The situation to-day has 
changed so materially in America as to constitute almost 
a revolution. As a rule the best secular editors are 
sympathetic toward foreign missions, and an increasing 
amount of space is devoted to the treatment of the subject, 
not only through news reports and special articles, but 
also through favourable editorial comment. This is 
the opinion of those who are in a position to speak with 
authority. A member of the editorial staff of one of the 
leading American daily papers writes : "It is obvious 
that within a decade there has been a decided change 
of attitude on the part of managers of journals, daily, 
weekly, and monthly, toward the work of the foreign 
missionary. " Another, who is engaged exclusively in 
American newspaper work, and who is in constant touch 
with newspaper people, remarks : "A comparison of the 
newspapers and magazines of to-day with those of ten 
years ago shows a marked increase in the amount of 
space devoted to religious matters, and especially to the 
missionary enterprise. ' ' 

Perhaps even a better evidence as to the more favour- 
able attitude of the press in America is the fact that a 
leading Missionary Society employs a press agent, and has 
entered into arrangements with eighty newspapers in 
different parts of the land, under which plan live mis- 
sionary information is furnished at intervals of one or 
two weeks. These papers were selected with reference 
to locality, and each is given exclusive right in its own 
field. In many cases this material is eagerly sought for, 
and is usually printed without abbreviation or change* 
Not infrequently the articles furnished are used editori- 



46 THE HOME BASE 

ally. Such an arrangement as this ten years ago would 
have been impossible. 

When we come to enquire as to the causes of the changed 
attitude of the press, we find that many different influences 
have been at work. The editor of a Boston daily states 
that he thinks the principal influence has been " the 
altered attitude of statesmen and public men toward 
the missionary/' 

Naturally the fact that America, during the last decade, 
has become recognised as an interested participant in 
far Eastern questions, and that world matters are occupy- 
ing the attention of her citizens as never before, may be 
counted one of the leading factors in securing in 
that country attention to the foreign missionary 
enterprise. 

Another reason exerting paramount influence both in 
Europe and America is the new conception of the breadth 
and reach of foreign missionary agencies. The editors 
of secular papers who refuse missionary articles or give 
them scant attention for the most part are those who 
have not yet discovered the modern aspect and bearing 
of the missionary propaganda. 

These features of missionary work have not as a general 
rule been made prominent in missionary magazines and 
religious journals. Naturally, officers of Missionary 
Societies recoil from putting emphasis upon that phase 
of the work that must be regarded as an indirect result 
of missionary effort. They naturally and rightfully say 
that Missionary Societies were not organised to build 
up commerce, to establish systems of education, or to 
reform nations, but to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
to those who do not know Him. It has been far from 
satisfying therefore to see the secular press emphasise, 
with display headlines, a feature of missionary work 
that is incidental Managers and editors of secular j ournals 
have learned that in the great movements in the East 
educational, sanitary, moral, social, and national the 
missionary and the institutions he has planted there have 
played no small part, and they are ready to make use of 



NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS 47 

properly prepared material, setting forth these facts and 
conditions. 

From the standpoint of the missionary, as well as of the 
officers of the Societies, the presentations of the work 
made by the secular and especially by the sensational 
press are most unsatisfactory. It appears to the specialist 
as distorted and even untrue in the impression it gives 
of the purpose of the missionary propaganda and the 
results of that work. On the other hand, we have the 
fact that what seems to the missionary so inadequate 
and even unworthy, to a vast number of readers who 
have been and are absolutely opposed to missions, seems 
an unqualified approval of missionary effort, and in their 
minds leaves an impression of the value and importance 
of missionary work. 

As sentiment and feelings towards missions change, 
the secular press will be eager to secure and use more 
of the solid facts of missions ; but this cannot be expected 
so long as the sentiment of its readers is anti-missionary. 
Missionary Societies and missionaries must be content 
to let the press have the superficial and even sensational 
features of their work as a step in the direction of the 
future wide use of that which is fundamental and sub- 
stantial. 

The changed attitude of the press toward religious 
matters generally may account for a part, at least, of its 
change toward missions. The fact that nearly all lead- 
ing American journals now have religious departments 
with editors in charge is distinctively favourable to the 
reporting of missionary news. 

To the present time separate Missionary Societies and 
individual secretaries have dealt directly with the secular 
press. If the officer of the Society is a man with news 
instincts he has invariably succeeded in securing for the 
cause he represents a wide and favourable hearing. 
This is illustrated in the case of one leading Scottish 
Society as well as three or four American Boards. 

Investigation has revealed the fact that at the present 
time there is no organised effort to get the facts of missions 



48 THE HOME BASE 

before secular journals, while it is evident that coming 
daily to the headquarters of Missionary Societies, both 
in Europe and America, there are facts of real journalistic 
value which would be widely used for the general enlighten- 
ment of the public, if proper connections could be made 
between the missionary headquarters and the editorial 
offices. 

We have already reported the employment, by one 
Society at least, of a press agent and the success of the 
plan. There is little, doubt that it would pay each one 
of the leading Missionary Societies to employ such an 
agent, whose chief duty should be to select and arrange the 
information of general news value coming to the office 
and to furnish it to the secular press. 

Objection is sometimes made to this method by the 
editors of missionary periodicals, who naturally desire 
the first use of all missionary material coming from the 
field. This is a real difficulty. The Missionary Societies, 
however, that have employed the press agent are con- 
vinced that the publication of interesting matter in the 
secular press not only does not detract from interest in 
the missionary magazine, but rather adds to it. Press 
notices are necessarily brief, giving only the barest of 
facts. Interested parties anticipate the missionary 
magazine in which they expect to find extended explana- 
tions and interpretations. The advance press notices 
prove, in actual practice, to be a good advertisement for 
the denominational missionary magazine. 

From widely divergent sources the suggestion has been 
made that the Missionary Societies of the United States 
should unite in the employment of a man of genuine 
Christian character, a student of, and believer in, missions, 
and a journalist not a mere reporter of well-known 
ability to act as managing editor of the publicity depart- 
ment of the Missionary Societies of the United States. 
Such a man should have an office, probably in New York 
City, and should receive a salary which would enable him 
to give his entire time and strength to this subject. To the 
desk of an editor of this character would come daily, 



NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS 49 

both by post and by telegraph, items of interest from all 
parts of the world. ' Distinguished missionaries returning 
home on furlough would be interviewed by him, and 
articles upon special topics prepared by missionaries 
and missionary experts would be put into his hands for 
his use. 

It is clear, from the nature of the work to be done, that 
such an editor could not act for all the Missionary Societies 
of the world. At the same time it is thought by many 
missionary experts, in the United States especially, and 
also in Europe, that the experiment is well worth trying 
in a single country like North America. There is much 
reason to believe that it would be a success from the 
beginning if the proper editor could be found to take the 
place. Besides the giving out of information as above 
suggested, editors throughout . the country would prob- 
ably soon come to look upon the central news office 
for missions as a bureau of missionary information to 
which they would apply as occasion demanded. 

It is evident that there is in this matter of getting 
fresh missionary information before the readers of 
the secular press a great lack of effort upon the part 
of the Missionary Societies. The field has been most 
scantily occupied, while all evidence goes to show that 
it is a field full of real value to the cause as well as to 
the public. The missionary offices have the facts in 
which the general public is interested, and the problem 
is to get those facts out. However much we may put 
confidence in the missionary and religious publications, 
we must not lose sight of the limited character of their 
circulation. On the other hand, there are about 2300 
daily papers in the United States alone, and 26 of these 
have a circulation of 100,000 or over. One well- 
known journal issues over a million copies each month. 
To reach and influence this vast army of readers with 
missionary literature is a consummation devoutly to be 
wished. 

The country newspapers also may be considered as 
furnishing an especially valuable field for missionary 
COM. vi. 4 



50 THE HOME BASE 

cultivation. While the city paper is read rapidly, and 
often only by headlines or by leading articles., the country 
weekly is frequently read through at leisure and left 
upon the family table. 

The attention of Missionary Societies is called to this 
practically open and unoccupied field, and the vast 
multitude of readers who are waiting for instruction. 
Each country will need to devise its own plans for 
accomplishing the task, but it is evident that the 
way is opening for what is practically a new and almost 
untried method of propagating missionary information 
among a wide range of readers who cannot be approached 
in any other way. 

In Holland the daily newspapers lend themselves to 
the service of missions, and many of the leading papers 
regularly publish missionary matter. The great perio- 
dical reviews, while not loth to print articles hostile to 
the missionaries, nevertheless place high value upon the 
sociological side of the missionaries' work. These reviews 
often treat with sympathy colonial questions dealing 
with the private rights of native Christians. For twenty- 
one years in Holland there has been published a missionary 
weekly paper, strictly inter-denominational and containing 
the current missionary news from different fields. 
Recently the editorship of the paper has been given to 
the committee formed for the promotion of missionary 
study, and is proving itself of much value in that work. 

In Switzerland the religious press is widely open for 
the use of the different Missions. Several of the leading 
political journals are quite willing to publish articles 
written by missionaries, especially if they are at all 
picturesque. Different reviews frequently solicit articles, 
and have more than once devoted an entire number to 
articles written by missionaries. 



RELIGIOUS PERIODICALS 

It is taken for granted that the religious newspapers 
are more accessible and reach a more interested class of 



NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS 51 

readers than the secular press. These papers are and 
should be cultivated by the Missionary Societies as their 
friends and allies. Important and striking news should 
not be withheld from editors of these papers, but on the 
contrary should be freely furnished. For the most part 
the editors are glad to get everything of this kind. The 
time will probably come when the great religious news- 
papers will each have a missionary editor giving much 
of his time to the missionary department of the paper. 
It is an interesting and hopeful sign that the religious 
papers of all countries are already devoting so much 
attention to missionary work. The causes which have 
brought about the changed attitude of the secular 
press have also been at work in interesting religious 
editors. In addition to these causes, there is the 
steadily growing interest of the religious public in 
the great extension work of the Church. Foreign 
missions offer to the religious papers the very best 
field for news features. 



MISSIONARY MAGAZINES 

No amount of publicity in the secular and religious press 
will make up for the lack of full and complete reports 
coming to the constituency from the headquarters of its 
Missionary Society. It seems to be the consensus of 
opinion that it is not practicable, except among the 
larger denominations, and rarely then, to maintain 
several magazines of different character and addressed 
to different classes. Ordinarily one magazine for adults, 
another for children, with possibly a third covering the 
distinctive field of woman* s work, will be all that can be 
wisely maintained. 

It is clear that the aim in the missionary magazine 
should be not so much to interest those who are unin- 
terested or hostile as to develop the interest of friends 
already made, upon whose fidelity rests the stability 
of the work that is being described. Unless a reader has 
already become interested in missions to some extent, 



52 THE HOME BASE 

it is not likely that he will subscribe to or read the 
missionary magazine. 

It is urged that the denominational or Society missionary 
magazine should be pre-eminently a news magazine, 
for portraying in vivid and crisp manner what is actually 
being done in the field. Its articles should abound in 
incident and action, and be amply illustrated with pic- 
tures that have the same characteristics. One magazine 
editor urges that a characteristic of a denominational 
missionary magazine is that it is a bond of union be- 
tween missionaries and their more immediate circle of 
friends and well-wishers, as the people who write for it 
are known personally to many of its readers. 

There is not a little complaint with regard to missionary 
magazines, the grounds of which have been revealed in 
part at least by the correspondence upon this subject. 
For the most part the missionary magazines are edited 
by one of the corresponding secretaries of the Society, 
already overloaded with responsibilities other than 
editorial. It would seem that some Societies look upon 
the editorial work as a kind of by-product of the efforts 
of an already overworked secretary, and then they wonder 
why the missionary magazine is not more widely taken 
and read. The statement is ventured that until Mission- 
ary Societies are alive to the supreme value of their 
missionary periodicals, and put them in charge of able 
men whose chief duty is editorial, we shall not see them 
command the respect and exert the influence to which 
their theme and cause entitle them. We are convinced 
that the trouble is not with the subject or with the re- 
sources of information and inspiration open to the 
missionary magazine, but that it lies in the fact that 
except in a few cases proper emphasis has not been put 
upon this form of imparting information. 

With proper and efficient editorial oversight, there is 
no reason why, with the whole world to draw upon for 
matter, and the entire denomination to appeal to for a 
constituency, the missionary magazines of the larger 
denominations should not be more than self-supporting. 



NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS 53 

Instead of being issued as most of them are at present- 
at an actual financial loss. 

It is probably true that no magazine dealing with any 
conceivable subject could expect to prosper under 
voluntary editorial service supported by unpaid con- 
tributors. Has not the time come when a missionary 
magazine should cease to be regarded as an advertising 
medium for the cause, and be put upon a thorough, 
practical business basis ? This is a problem which each 
Society must consider and work out for itself, but it is 
one that is most vital to the success of the work at 
home and abroad, and well worth early and serious 
consideration. 

Several denominations in the United States are 
struggling with the question as to whether or not there 
should be one magazine jointly for both home and foreign 
missions. Many pastors urge that it is impracticable 
to secure subscribers for more than one missionary 
magazine, and the joint idea has been pushed in certain 
quarters with a good deal of ardour. Much can be said on 
both sides of this question, but the consensus of judgment 
is that it seems wisest to allow a special treatment of the 
foreign work on account of its distinctive character and 
the vastness of its operations. But, if there be only one 
magazine, it is clear that each distinct organisation must 
have in that magazine sufficient space adequately to 
present its own work. If this is to be done in the larger 
denominations, it is likely to mean a magazine of too great 
bulk to be acceptable to the average reader. Where 
denominations combine their various missionary publica- 
tions into one magazine, the tendency is for each Board to 
multiply subsidiary publications by way of making up 
for the lack. The outcome is an increase rather than a 
decrease in publications. 

Is there a place for the non-denominational English 
missionary magazine or review ? It would seem that there 
is clearly such a place, and some vigorous opinions have 
been expressed both in Europe and America as to the scope 
and importance of such a general review. If such a 



54 THE HOME BASE 

publication were started, it should make its principal 
appeal to students of missions, the missionaries them- 
selves, the officers connected with the Missionary 
Societies, pastors and leaders of missionary activities in 
the Churches, editors of religious papers and magazines. 
Its field then would be clearly among those who are in a 
measure missionary experts. There is at present no 
magazine in the English language that adequately covers 
this ground. 

It is a most interesting fact that suggestions for such 
an inter-denominational missionary monthly or quarterly 
have been made from Great Britain, Germany and the 
United States. For gathering up and making effective 
the good work of the Edinburgh Conference, a magazine 
of some such character as that suggested above would 
seem almost necessary. 

In the German language there are already four such 
general missionary magazines, two of them of a scientific 
character, while two are more popular. There is one also 
of a popular character in the United States. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY IN- 
TELLIGENCE THROUGH SPECIAL 
LITERATURE 

I. BOOKS AND LIBRARIES 

IN the line of this investigation extensive enquiries 
were instituted in America among leading publishers, 
public libraries, and college and theological seminary 
libraries well scattered over the country. The principal 
agencies in America for the publication and sale of mis- 
sionary books are the Student Volunteer Movement, the 
Central Committee for the United Study of Missions, 
and the Young People's Missionary Movement. These 
agencies distributed about 200,000 books last year, and 
other publishers, it is estimated, published 75,000 more. 
While as yet the call for missionary books in the libraries 
is not large, there is general testimony that the sale of 
such books is upon the increase. They are put by 
publishers upon about the same plane as other religious 
books. 

As yet most of the libraries of the country are lacking 
in missionary literature, although a large number of 
public libraries have some. It is recognised by librarians 
that the demand for such books is upon the increase. 
The revival of mission study has increased the demand for 
general missionary books. This is especially true in 
colleges and universities. 

The correspondence of the Commission has brought out 



56 THE HOME BASE 

some expert suggestions regarding missionary books 
which are of great value. A few of these are : " Mis- 
sionary books are not written with that scientific approach 
to the subject which convinces the student that he is 
getting something worth while." " The sociological 
aspect of missions should be emphasised, and the fact 
recognised that mission work is a profession requiring 
special training." "The story form of book seems the 
more popular, but missionary stories often lack most in 
literary qualities." <c There should be an annual volume 
upon the development of Christian civilisation, showing 
world development and statesmanship." " To reach 
theological students, missionary literature must be on a 
level of excellence reached by the best text-books in the 
other departments of theological study." " Missionary 
books must subordinate irrelevant detail to the vital 
aspects of the topic." " They should be reliable, enter- 
taining, well-illustrated, printing and binding of the best, 
liberal and sympathetic." 

Expert testimonies such as these are of value to 
makers of missionary books, and suggest reasons why 
the demand for this kind of literature is not larger. At 
the same time it is clear that the chief reason for the 
neglect of missionary reading is the prevailing ignorance 
of the fact that the subject of missions is possessed of such 
great importance, wide bearings, and thrilling interest* 
and that there is such a wealth of fresh, reliable, and 
readable literature on the subject. 1 

Librarians say that the friends of missions might aid 
materially the circulation of missionary books already 
in the libraries by making announcements of what is 
available, and organising courses of reading that will 
lead to their wider use. Information regarding recent 
missionary books that are of distinct value should be 
furnished in some appropriate way by pastors and secre- 
taries of Missionary Societies. 

Travelling missionary libraries are also suggested, 

1 See the annotated bibliography published as an Appendix to 
this Report. 



SPECIAL LITERATURE 57 

One State Library has out some fifty mission books in 
travelling libraries to Sunday Schools. Some State 
Sunday School secretaries are doing the same thing for 
rural districts. Classified and reference libraries have 
proved to be of great value. It is clear from this research 
that promoters of missionary intelligence should familiarise 
themselves with the number and character of missionary 
books available in the libraries near at hand, and that this 
information should be put into such form that it can be 
widely published for stimulating their more general use. 

II. PAMPHLET LITERATURE 

This subject is too broad for an exhaustive report by 
this Commission, although it is of great importance 
to the cause of missions. Many Societies depend more 
upon occasional literature than upon their periodicals. 
The extent of the subject and the impossibility of ade- 
quate treatment here is manifest from the fact that there 
are at present ready for distribution by the Mission 
Boards of America approximately 5,000,000 copies of 
leaflets and pamphlets. 

During the last fiscal year 3,533,540 copies of pamphlets 
and leaflets have been issued, one Society reporting more 
than 1,000,000, six Societies 200,000 or over. 

The cost of the distribution has been for five years 
$209,951 (42,000) and for the last year $52,418 
(10,484) or about i| cents, a little less than one penny, 
per leaflet. Undoubtedly, part of the explanation of this 
rather extravagant cost lies in the fact that each Board, 
in issuing its own literature, is not able to get the benefit 
of the reduction obtained when large quantities are 
ordered, and also that this 'amount includes not only 
leaflets but illustrated pamphlets, reports, etc. 

The money spent in issuing pamphlet literature is 
about 1$; per cent, of the total receipts of the Boards, 
the average being brought up by three of the Societies, 
which spend respectively 6 per cent., 4^ per cent., and 3 
per cent. The smaller Boards are naturally at the 



58 THE HOME BASE 

greatest disadvantage, the larger reporting about i per 
cent, or under. , 

The facts for Europe have not been fully obtained. 
The Church Missionary Society issued last year 3,204,876 
pamphlets at a cost of less than | per cent, of the total 
income of the Society. It is evident that, on the whole, 
practically the same conditions prevail there in this respect 
as are found in America. Leaflets, tracts, booklets, 
and reports are looked upon as means of imparting 
information to those whose substantial aid is sought, and 
the preparation and wide free distribution, for the most 
part, is regarded not only as a legitimate expenditure 
of missionary funds, but as necessary for the successful 
propagation of the work in the home constituency, ^ 

As to the form in which literature should be published, 
there is practical unanimity as to the superior value of 
the Illustrated pamphlet. Only one Board in America 
frowns upon it, while the others advocate it, with varying 
degrees of enthusiasm, expressed in such phrases as <f far 
superior/' " absolutely indispensable/ 1 and " the only 
attractive form." 

SPECIAL LITERATURE FOR THE CLERGY 

Many Societies report that they make some effort to 
give special information to ministers to aid them in 
fitting themselves for the pulpit presentation of foreign 
missions, but the replies, almost all of which begin with 
an apologetic "sometimes/* indicate that but slender 
effort is being put forth in this direction. Germany is 
doing more than any other country in producing mis- 
sionary periodicals calculated to interest and inform the 
clergy. For sixteen years there has been published 
in Holland a high grade inter-denominational magazine 
contributed to by missionary leaders and experts. Two 
or three of the Societies in Great Britain have been in the 
habit of making special effort to aid and interest the 
clergy through a specially prepared literature, but no- 
where do we find the Missionary Societies alive to the 



SPECIAL LITERATURE 59 

need of special literature for the use of the clergy alone. 
One Missionary Society in America issues a magazine 
twice a year for clergymen alone, in which material is 
furnished for one or more missionary addresses upon 
some subject of living interest. This is sent free, and is 
appreciated and much used. Apart from the two or 
three other cases above mentioned, we find no trace of 
special effort upon the part of Missionary Societies to 
inspire the clergy, who are the natural leaders of the 
Church, to new missionary zeal and enthusiasm by 
providing them with an especially prepared literature. 
At the same time, it is expected that they will preach at 
least one missionary sermon a year. To those who are 
students of missions this is no task, but the great majority 
of pastors confess their inability to do this without some 
direct assistance. Speaking generally, the ministry is 
not being used or cultivated as it should be, and the 
Christian Church is being bereft of the enormous spiritual 
stimulus of a world-comprehensive vision. Delicate and 
difficult as is this matter of awakening lethargic and 
preoccupied ministers, it must not be shirked: The 
effort to make such view the Kingdom of God from a 
mountain-top instead of from their own parish belfry is 
imperative. 

LITERATURE FOR THE EDUCATED CLASSES 

Another class of people, not being cultivated as 
it should be, is composed of the highly educated 
and cultured. This, broadly speaking, would include 
college graduates, both men and women, and Readers in 
the social and professional life of our time. One Board 
has a special " mailing list for such persons " ; another 
" sends literature to leading people in the Churches " ; 
another has parlour meetings and gatherings for men. 
There are two magazines in England The East and The 
West and The Church Missionary Review and two or 
three in German-speaking countries, which are calculated 
to interest this class, and the British and Foreign Bible 



60 THE HOME BASE 

Society publishes special pamphlets from time to time 
intended to reach thoughtful people. The large majority 
of the Societies, however, report that they are doing 
nothing to capture the interest of this important class. 
In this the Missionary Societies are distinctly short- 
sighted, and might well learn a lesson from the methods 
of secular business houses. Modern missions need 
make no apology, and have a right to ask a hearing 
from the intellectual leaders of the generation. 

LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN 

It is a surprise also to note that the effort to enlist 
the interest of children in missions is not as widespread 
as might be supposed. Of the fifteen Boards in America 
replying, only five report regular efforts to instruct the 
children ; nine either give no answer or report no special 
literature. The others either have a few tracts for the 
young, or commit the work to the Women's Boards, One 
cannot escape the conclusion that the Church of the future 
will suffer if this condition is not changed and the 
problem handled with vigour and at once. Too much 
cannot be said in favour of what many of the Women's 
Boards are doing in America in the way of instructing 
children in missions. In Great Britain and in Germany 
all of the larger Missionary Societies issue magazines 
or special literature for children. Even the smaller 
Societies in Europe are apparently doing more for the 
training of the children in a knowledge of missions than 
the larger organisations in America. But even these 
freely confess the inadequacy of their effort. 



METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION 



Passing next to the plans adopted to get literature 
into the hands of the people, we find that the majority 
of the Societies in America use one of two methods. 
They either send literature in bulk to be distributed 
through the churches, or mail direct to individuals. 



SPECIAL LITERATURE , 61 

About 50 per cent, of the literature is distributed in the 
latter way ; a large portion of these pamphlets is free, 
not even the cost of postage being covered. The replies 
would indicate that not even 10 per cent, is paid for. 
It is significant, however, that some of the larger Societies 
are now beginning to make a small charge, which, 
instead of limiting their output, rather increases it. 
While as an advertising medium it would probably be 
legitimate to send out free literature on the ground that it 
will be paid for in enlarged contributions, the danger on 
the other hand should be avoided of cheapening the 
literature to such an extent that people consider it 
worthless. The destination of the unsealed envelope 
is liable to be the waste-paper basket. What people 
pay for, they are apt to value. When people look 
upon missionary literature as advertising material, 
its influence will be broken and its virtue destroyed. 
Probably this difficulty cannot be wholly obviated, 
although there are some Women's Boards in the United 
States that have succeeded in putting their special 
missionary literature upon such a business basis that 
the income from sales has almost, if not quite, 
covered the cost. 

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 

This entire subject is one that is worthy of exhaustive 
investigation upon the part of the Missionary Societies 
in each country. Probably little that is international 
can be done in the way of combination that will be of 
value, but the figures given at the beginning of this 
paper cannot but give the impression that there is now 
great waste in the production of special missionary 
literature. If some method could be devised for 
following up these publications, the Societies would 
probably be astonished to find how little is read, or 
accomplishes anything whatever for the cause it is 
supposed to serve. From many sources the suggestion 
has come that the Missionary Societies should give more 



62 THE HOME BASE 

expert attention to their general and special publications 
in the way of better editing and especially in the line of 
elimination. Inferior publications bring discredit upon 
the Society whose imprint they bear and awaken pre- 
judice against all missionary literature. 

Not more but better missionary literature of all classes 
is needed. In fact, there is a general opinion that the 
quantity should be diminished, while the quality, both 
in matter and in form, should be greatly improved. ^This 
can mean nothing less than expert editorial supervision. 
Missions have now reached a stage when only the best 
will meet the requirements of the case. 

We would not be misunderstood. No one would 
recommend extravagant expenditure in the production 
of the most highly artistic leaflets and small books. 
But there is a demand for such a literature that, when 
it falls into the hands of a person of taste and refine- 
ment, the first inclination will not be to cast it into the 
waste-paper basket, and when it comes to the home of 
the less educated it will in itself be an element in the 
general education and refinement of all. 

It is believed that if the same amount now ex- 
pended by the Missionary Societies of the world in the 
production of literature, some of which is excellent but 
which includes at the same time an enormous amount 
of poor, inartistic, and even slovenly leaflets and pam- 
phlets, were used with skill and discretion it would be 
ample to provide a special literature of far greater value 
to the cause. 

A matter that needs careful attention in the pro- 
duction of pamphlet literature is that there should be 
close co-operation between those who produce and 
those who have to use the pamphlets supplied in other 
words, between the editorial and the organising side of 
the staff. Those responsible for the production ought 
to keep closely in touch with what the home workers 
are doing. They should not consider only whether a 
manuscript is good from a literary standpoint, but 
whether it is the kind of thing that is needed by those 



SPECIAL LITERATURE 63 

who are responsible for organising the Society's efforts 
in the constituencies. 

The question of the adoption of new and modern 
methods is one which suggests at once the idea of 
unification and combination. Is there any opportunity 
for inter-denominational advertising and inter-denomi- 
national distribution of missionary information ? When 
so much progress is being made in this direction both on 
the mission field and in the Home Church, it would 
seem that there might be a chance for the Missionary 
Societies to get together and so save both money and 
labour in this matter of the production of literature. 

It has been suggested that there should be a com- 
bination among Missionary Societies working in the same 
country in the preparation of a missionary literature 
common to all, to which each denomination can add its 
own features before distribution among its constituency. 
In this way much first cost of preparation and production 
might be saved and probably a higher grade of literature 
produced. This plan might apply to the preparation 
of large and small outline maps, picture cards, general 
descriptions of countries, the story of the Christian 
conquest of the world, the preparation of lantern 
slides, and much other matter of this type. The Young 
People's Missionary Movement in the United States and 
the United Conference on Missionary Education in Great 
Britain are doing a measure of this work, especially in 
the preparation of mission study text-books. 



CHAPTER V 

THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY 
INTELLIGENCE THROUGH MISSION 
STUDY CLASSES 

IN addition to the diffusion of general information 
through newspapers and periodicals and the preparation 
of special literature for the general reader, it is essential 
that there should be a large body of Christian people 
who, by a systematic study of the subject, have passed 
beyond the stage of persons merely interested in missions, 
and have become intelligent and enthusiastic advocates 
of the cause. 

A movement for the promotion of such systematic 
study has developed in recent years in America and 
Europe, and has gained acceptance with remarkable 
rapidity. The present section of the Report will be de- 
voted to giving an account of this movement and of its 
aims and methods. 

The aims of the movement here set forth derive great 
reinforcement from the present missionary situation. 
The pressing and immediate opportunities abroad, and the 
lack of a sufficiently widespread spirit of sacrifice at home 
to give an adequate response, constitute a serious position. 
The need is for something to produce a zeal among home 
workers which shall be deep, permanent, and impelling, 
because based upon a true and honest study of the ques- 
tion. The Mission Study Movement attempts to meet 
this situation. 

i. In the first place it stands for intensive as opposed 

64 



MISSION STUDY 65 

to extensive work. It stands for consecutiveness and 
concentration, for serious study and discussion. It 
deals with only a few people at a time, but it undertakes 
to give those few an intelligent interest in some part 
of missionary work. In these days of superficiality 
in religious education, there is a place for an agency 
that seeks to supply the Church with a few workers 
who have deep convictions and clear knowledge on the 
subject of foreign missions. For the great majority of 
persons, the study class 1 will be the principal dynamo 
of missionary enthusiasm, and an instrument by which 
there shall be provided means for more effective 
missionary instruction in every organisation of the 
Church. 

2. In the second place it stands for the application of 
educational principles to the study of missionary work. 
The field is so vast and so remote from the experience of 
most persons that clear and deep conviction can only 
with difficulty be attained by the casual and superficial 
methods often employed. 

A vast amount of literature now exists on education, 
and some principles are well established, such as the 
value of stimulating self-activity and self-expression, 
the value of definite aims in study, the need of utilising 
existing interests to create new ones, and the need of 
training the intelligence and active powers concurrently. 
In the study class method all these are being applied, 
and are taught in an elementary manner in the Manuals 
and Helps provided for the leaders of study classes. 

3. In the third place the movement stands for training 
the younger generation. The ages of youth and young 
manhood are the great formative periods of life. It is 
then that the ideals are formed and the intellectual 
powers are at their keenest for learning. This movement 
aims at presenting missionary ideals during the decade 
of enthusiasm. It would teach young men and young 
women to see the world as Christ sees it, and feel for it 

1 In America, the term "class" is in general use; in Britain, 
"circle" or " band.' 1 

COM, VI. 5 



66 THE HOME BASE 

as He feels for it. It would train them to be active and 
thoughtful workers. 

Further, it appeals to the intelligent in all classes, 
looking for its Morrisons and Careys amongst the poor, 
as well as for its Keith-Falconers amongst the rich. 
It has not yet even approached its possible limit of ex- 
pansion- If pastors would resolutely push it, if well- 
qualified persons would take the training for leadership, 
there might be several classes each season in almost every 
congregation, as there are now in some places. 
4. In the fourth place the movement stands for reaching 
the many through the few. It aims at those who possess 
moral earnestness and open minds. It is proving a means 
of reaching many such who were formerly indifferent or 
even opposed to missions, and turning them into keen 
supporters. 

5. In the fifth place the movement stands for a co- 
operative spirit of unity. Its text-books are written from 
the standpoint of the progress of missionary work as a 
whole, and not from that of a denomination or society, 
In the long-run such literature will produce a rich 
harvest. 

A possible peril Is that it might become too exclusively 
intellectual. The heart must be trained to missions 
as well as the head. But the discussion method rightly 
employed may yield as strong an emotional result as an 
address. Its real peril is of leadership so inefficient that 
no interest is aroused leading to life consecration and 
active service. Crude opinions may be created by the 
discussions, but even these are better than sheer ignor- 
ance* 

Without laying emphasis upon the history of what is a 
>mparatively new movement, it may be claimed that so 

* it has stood the test of experience in the results 

Sieved. 

MISSION STUDY IN AMERICA 

3 first attempt in America to provide a systematic 
of study for mission study classes was in connec- 



MISSION STUDY 67 

tion with the Student Volunteer Movement. In the winter 
of 1894-95 the use of a text-book was recommended, 
and since then a series of text-books on various subjects 
has been published. Intended primarily for volunteers 
for the mission field, these books have been increasingly 
used by non-volunteers, and have proved a most efficient 
means not only of securing recruits, but of enlisting the 
intelligent sympathy and advocacy and effort ol those 
who were not in a position to volunteer. In 1908-09 
there were in America 2084 classes in 488 higher educa- 
tional institutions, with 25,208 students enrolled. The 
mission study class idea has not only made headway 
among students, but has reached out into other con- 
stituencies and also into other lands. 

At the Missionary Conference, held in New York in 
1900, representatives of the Women's Foreign Mission 
Boards of North America planned a series of text-books 
for their own constituencies. The committee having 
this series in charge is known as The United Study of 
Missions Committee. The first text-book was published 
in the fall of 1901. Seven text-books dealing with the 
great world fields were published, one appearing each 
year. In the fall of 1908 a new series was commenced* 
Nearly 500,000 of these books were sold between 1901 
and February 1909. 

These text-books are more generally used in connection 
with the monthly meetings of the Women's Missionary 
Societies. The method of presentation is usually by a 
series of talks sometimes followed by discussion. By 
this means the topics of the year have been guided and 
supplemented by the text-books, and an immense amount 
of missionary information has been diffused ; but the 
conditions have made it difficult and often impossible 
to secure the regular preparation and free discussion 
which are characteristics of the study class proper. The 
text-books are also used, however, by a larger number of 
small circles which meet for thorough study. 

After text-books for juniors had been published by 
various individual Boards, the United Study of Missions 



68 THE HOME BASE 

Committee began In 1906 to issue a series of Inter- 
denominational text-books for juniors. 

As early as 1896 the text-books of the Student Volunteer 
Movement were used by study classes of young people 
outside the colleges. The first denominations to push this 
work with vigour were the Methodist Church in Canada 
and the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, 
the latter of which appointed a special secretary in 1898 
to take charge of the promotion of missionary interest 
among its young people, using the study class as a princi- 
pal instrumentality. Other denominations soon devel- 
oped similar departments, so that at the present time 
forty-one salaried workers in the United States and 
Canada are giving all or part of their time to the pro- 
motion of systematic mission study under the auspices 
of the home and foreign Missionary Boards and Societies 
of the two countries. It is estimated that 175,000 
young people have been engaged in North America 
in study class work during 1908 and 1909. Various 
denominations report a growing interest in this 
work. 

In 1902 the Young People's Missionary Movement was 
organised, an agency which undertakes to supply to the 
Missionary Boards and Societies such helps for the pro- 
motion of mission study as can best be created on an 
inter-denominational basis. This Movement has secre- 
taries of its own, but its policy is controlled by a com- 
mittee representing forty-three of the leading Missionary 
Boards of America. It issues each year for adults at 
least one text-book on foreign missions and one on home 
missions, with reference libraries and pamphlet helps 
for leaders, and has also published several text-books 
for adolescents. It is giving special attention to the 
creation of missionary material for the Sunday School. 
Under its auspices inter-denominational conferences are 
held each year at several different places, at which normal 
study classes for teachers of mission courses are con- 
ducted, and also briefer " institutes " are held during the 
winter in cities and towns. In the first seven years of 



MISSION STUDY 69 

its existence the Movement has published over 500,000 
volumes upon missions and for the promotion of mission 
study, which, like all its literature, are sold only whole- 
sale to the Missionary Boards. Over 35,000 sets of 
mission reference libraries have also been sold, and great 
quantities of accessory literature. 

MISSION STUDY IN EUROPE 

What is known as the Mission Study Movement is of 
recent development in Great Britain, but during the 
last three or four years it has given great impetus to the 
study of missions. Several of the British Societies 
began the work by organising departments for the study 
of missions, in some cases under an appointed officer, 
to have special oversight over the work. In some places 
the young people's organisations in the different de- 
nominations have taken up the work. In both England 
and Scotland, during the last few years, mission study 
has made great advance, having won the favour 
and co-operation of the principal missionary leaders. The 
introduction of the study circle and text-book method 
has been of great assistance, though the movement dates 
back to an earlier period. 

Many informal conferences took place between the 
representatives of the various movements for promoting 
missionary study, and resulted, in the year 1906, in the 
formation of a committee, since called the " United 
Conference on Missionary Education," which, while it is 
not officially recognised by any of the Missionary Societies^ 
is composed of those especially responsible for mission 
study in the leading Societies. The primary object 
which this committee set before itself was to secure 
co-operation between the different bodies which were 
organising missionary study. 

Since 1907 this United Conference on Missionary 
Education has published text-books on China, India, and 
Islam which have been largely used by all the leading 
Missionary Societies as well as in the universities and 



70 THE HOME BASE 

colleges. More than 60,000 copies of these three text- 
books have been sold, 

The text-book on China has been translated into 
German and Danish, and that on India into Welsh and 
Danish. In Wales, and also in Germany, Denmark, and 
Norway, small missionary study movements have been 
inaugurated. In Germany, mission study has found & 
favourable field amongst the Teachers' Union, and in 
Denmark in Young Men's Christian Association circles 
and elsewhere. An energetic committee for the promo- 
tion of missionary study has been formed in Holland, 
and has issued a Dutch translation of the English text- 
book on Islam, besides helps for mission study in Sunday 
Schools and other literature. This summer, 1910, it is 
organising a summer school for mission study, the first 
of its kind in Holland. The Student Missionary Move- 
ment, which primarily aims at the promotion of mission 
study among students, edited and published a text-book 
on the Dutch East Indies. 

In Germany short courses of study, especially designed 
for pastors, are held in the Society Mission House. These 
courses are deemed of great value for the promotion of 
missionary intelligence and for the development of leader- 
ship at home. Along the same line are the " Lehrer 
cursus " for training missionary teachers in the home 
field. 

THE KIND OF TEXT-BOOKS REQUIRED 

As mission study develops there will probably be need 
of at least two grades of text-books for adults, one of 
introductory character and the other implying more 
general information and greater maturity upon the part 
of the student. 

Most of the text-books for mission study so far have 
been written by authors who have never taught a study 
class. It is advisable in all such cases that the manu- 
script should be carefully edited by those who are familiar 
with the actual conditions. Attention should be called 
to some important respects in which a mission study 



71 

text-book should differ from the college text-book, after 
which it is most likely to be modelled. 

The college text-book has usually to present a whole 
section of human knowledge. Its ideals are complete- 
ness, accuracy, preservation of perspective, and clearness 
to minds which are accustomed to study and to deal 
with generalisations. It lays down an outline to be filled 
in with lectures and collateral readings. It presupposes, 
as teacher, a specialist who may omit or expand accord- 
ing to the needs of his class, sessions at least semi-weekly 
for fifteen to thirty weeks, graded classes, required 
attendance, and ample reference libraries. Its tone is 
usually intellectual and authoritative. It is more special- 
ised and concrete than formerly, and does more to 
arouse a spirit of enquiry ; but the best of these more 
recent developments in text-books are often unknown 
to those who write text-books for mission study. 

When the difference of aims and conditions are taken 
into account, it should be clear that text-books for mission 
study should differ from college text-books in the follow- 
ing particulars : 

1. They must be much more restricted in scope, since 
they must usually be covered in less than ten sessions. 
They should present a series of studies rather than a 
complete survey. Maps, charts, statistics, chronological 
tables, and brief introductions should be used to furnish 
setting and perspective for these studies. 

2. The topics selected must have most vital bearing 
on the missionary problem. Geographical, historical, 
political, or economic facts that are not of first-rate im- 
portance from the missionary standpoint should be 
scrupulously omitted. Every chapter should contribute 
to the emotional and volitional, as well as to the intellectual 
appeal, by striking its roots deep into issues that call for 
the prayers and gifts and service of the Christian Church. 

3. Each topic must be well illustrated with many 
concrete details. These should be on the one hand vivid, 
so as to appeal to the imagination and live impulses of 
the class, and on the other hand numerous, connected, 



72 THE HOME BASE 

and significant enough to lead to generalisations of large 
importance. We must avoid both picturesque items 
that are irrelevant and disconnected, and bald generalisa- 
tions that take no grip on imagination or understanding. 
Real insight demands the possession of the essential data 
upon which a generalisation is based. In general it 
seems best to select a few instances which are truly 
typical of great missionary problems, and to present 
them in sufficient detail to enable the reader to appreciate 
the arguments on both sides of the case. 

4. The activity of the class should be stimulated. 
The life of the study class is the free discussion, and the 
text-book must do everything possible to stimulate this. 
It should announce only enough conclusions to promote 
Independent thinking. Remembering that those con- 
clusions make the deepest impression which we discover 
for ourselves, it should furnish problems without answers 
rather than answers without problems. It should select 
facts that are capable of more than one interpretation 
and combination. It is better to pique curiosity with 
the difficulty of some missionary problem than to present 
solutions that lead to nothing further. 

In America it is conceded that text-books for college 
students should take advantage of the broader average 
culture which their constituency represents, especially 
as compared with that of the rural communities in the 
churches. They have no reason, however, to be merely 
advanced hand-books. 

Text-books for children and adolescents need to be even 
more carefully written than those for adults, and should 
be based on a thorough study of genetic psychology. 

THE CONDUCT OF A MISSION STUDY CLASS 

The study class is a group of people who meet 
regularly for the united study of a missionary text-book. 
In every point of its constitution it is elastic. Usually 
the number of members is between six and twelve, the 
meetings weekly, and their length an hour. One of the 



MISSION STUDY 73 

members is appointed leader, and he presides over and 
generally constructs the programme of each meeting. 

It is an essential feature that every member should 
read through the selected chapter of the text-book in 
readiness for the meeting, and make such other prepara- 
tion as may be assigned him by the leader. The meeting 
then consists of the informal discussion amongst them- 
selves of the subject-matter prepared, along certain 
directions previously laid down by the leader. 

In order to give unity to the discussion and leave a 
strong single impression, an " Aim " or central thought is 
carefully thought out and chosen beforehand. The aim, 
having been chosen, is allowed to dominate the subject, so 
that whatever is irrelevant to it is treated as secondary. 
To secure the co-operation of the members, questions 
are given, the answers to which will contribute to the 
elucidation of the aim. These questions are generally 
such as can be answered by the use of the material in 
the chapter, when arranged and properly considered. 
Sometimes outside reading will be required. 

At the meeting, the chapter itself and the assigned 
preparation form the material of a discussion. This 
discussion will itself have a spiritual objective, and some 
at least of the assignments will send members to their 
Bibles for answers. Prayer forms an essential part of 
the meeting. 

The main advantages of calling the members together 
in class sessions are (a) the explanation and assignment 
of work to be done between sessions. The personal 
interest of the class must be aroused in this, (b) The 
study of the members by the leader, (c) The inciting 
of activities that shall lead to the formation of habits. 
(d) The expression and criticism of ideas, (e) The exercise 
of the influence of personal and social contact. 

In many classes work done outside the session by the 
members will do more to promote habits of study than dis- 
cussion in the session. The class work must therefore be 
carefully planned to enlist the strongest impulses of the 
members in the preparation outside. The discussion to 



74 THE HOME 

be held at the following session should be so clearly 
and attractively presented before the class separates 
that the members shall feel stimulated to prepare for it 
to the extent of their ability. 

The spirit of the meetings should be a social and co- 
operative one. Great pains should be taken to provoke 
only debates that axe really profitable. 

The personal responsibility of each member to God 
should be made clear. Many things will arise for which 
the only solution is specific prayer. 

The aim before the leader must be the formation of 
habits which will effectively promote the missionary 
enterprise. The primary aim of mission study is th* 
accomplishment of the enterprise. This differentiates it 
from manysubjects which are undertaken from intellectual 
curiosity or a desire for general culture. It is designed 
to secure volunteers, prayer, giving, service, and further 
study. A secondary aim is the development of Christian 
character. This cannot be achieved without active and 
effective response by the class. Development comes 
not from mere reception but from reaction. He gets 
greatest Christian growth who does most and best for 
Christ's Kingdom. These aims are supplementary, and 
cannot be realised apart from one another. For the sake 
of the cause and of personal character alike, we seek the 
cultivation on the part of the class of permanent and 
effective habits of missionary service. 

THE SECURING AND TRAINING OF LEADERS 

The principal need of the whole study class problem 
is competent, enthusiastic, prayerful leaders. The 
work has advanced most rapidly where most careful 
provision has been made for training such leaders. 

Summer Conference Work 

The best work has been done at Missionary Con- 
ferences and summer schools, because the atmosphere 



MISSION STUDY 75 

is most congenial to the aim of the class. An hour and a 
quarter should be given each day to mission study. The 
members should be so grouped that no leader need handle 
more than thirty persons. Better training can be given 
in yet smaEer groups. The leaders should be those who 
are not only well versed in the subjects they present, but 
who will set forth methods of teaching that should, and 
can be, followed by others. Six or seven consecutive 
days should be given to the subject. 

The elements that have proved most valuable in 
training leaders are 

(a) The observation of object lessons under con- 

ditions as close as possible to those of the 
prospective work. 

(b) Practice in leading by those desiring training. 

(c) Subsequent discussion and criticism of the 

methods used. 

(d) The assignment of the leadership of each session 

to a small group of three or more persons 
rather than to a single individual. 

Classes working along the four lines suggested above 
have been held successfully, sometimes with two -hour 
periods each day for from six to eight sessions. 

The above methods of training leaders are widely 
used at missionary conferences. Normal classes for 
leaders are also held at summer conferences in America 
under the auspices of the United Study of Missions 
Committee and in the various summer schools in Britain. 



Conferences of Shorter Duration 

In conferences or institutes of shorter duration the 
main opportunity afforded is to inspire people to take up 
the work. The methods employed are either a modi- 
fication of those here mentioned, or may consist merely 
of a single model study class held on a platform as an 
object lesson. An interesting variety is what is known 
as a " relay conference/' This usually meets for six 
or eight hours of a single day in one or more groups. 



76 THE HOME BASE 

At each group of the conference six or eight chapters of 
a mission text-book are presented during consecutive 
hours by methods similar to those of the study class, 
with such changes of leaders as fatigue may make neces- 
sary. Those who attend are free to come and go as they 
like. 

Local Normal Class Work 

Normal classes have been successfully held in America 
by travelling secretaries, who remain three consecutive 
weeks in a place. With semi-weekly sessions, a stay of 
this length permits six meetings of each class. In very 
large cities enough classes can be organised to fill all the 
time of a secretary. In other cases, two or more cities 
or towns which are not more than two or three hours apart, 
may constitute a single circuit. If enough travelling 
secretaries could be secured, this would be the best solution 
of the rural problem. Classes could be held at central 
points, attended by delegates from surrounding towns 
and villages. The difficulty in most cases is to find 
competent leaders for normal classes. 

THE LOCAL ORGANISATION OF MISSION STUDY 

Summer conferences have been found to be one of 
the most effective agencies in promoting the organisa- 
tion of mission study classes, not only on account of their 
training of leaders, but also by inspiring delegates 
to undertake or join classes. Those engaged in the 
promotion of mission study miss a great opportunity 
when they permit this subject to occupy an inconspicuous 
place in the programme of a conference, or to be allowed 
only two or three hours of time. 

For those who cannot attend summer conferences, 
shorter local conferences or institutes are useful as being 
more easily prepared for and multiplied. Much of their 
value depends upon the way they are followed up by the 
local or campaign committee. Where the conferences are 
of longer duration, this committee is started with more 



STUDY 77 

training and inspiration ; where they are shorter, they 
touch more people. 

The main aim of all these agencies, as of the visits 
of a travelling secretary, should be the organisation, by 
personal contact, of committees in districts and individual 
churches. Local conditions will determine the extent 
to which fusion is possible between various organisations. 
Sometimes existing committees, such as those of local 
Christian Endeavour Unions, etc., can be utilised ; in 
other cases an entirely new committee will be more 
effective. 

Much of the success of a local mission study campaign 
depends upon the previous creation of an atmosphere 
in which it can live. Special meetings and addresses, 
conferences with influential persons and active workers, 
may help greatly both in the preparation, and in the 
organisation of classes afterwards. In a local church 
a series of live missionary meetings, or an active circulation 
of missionary books, is often a most useful preliminary to 
securing members for classes. 

The first missionstudy "season" begins about themiddle 
of September and lasts until the middle of December. 
Leaders are usually advised to hold weekly sessions 
consecutively within this period rather than to permit 
their courses to be interrupted by the Christmas holidays. 
The second season begins in January and lasts till June, 
with time for two courses. It is desirable, and increasingly 
the custom, for a leader to take more than one group over 
the subject. The first attempt prepares the way for 
more effective work with subsequent classes. Some 
leaders have five or six groups or circles every year. 

In American colleges and universities the most effective 
method of enlisting students in the study of missions 
appears to be a systematic canvass of the student body by 
a carefully selected committee. This is done usually 
within the first college month of the year. Often a 
preliminary canvass is made in the spring. Correspond- 
ence during the summer months secures the interest of 
a great many. In most cases a c< rally " is held just 



78 THE BASE 

before the autumn canvass is made, at which the claims 
of mission study are strongly and attractively presented, 
and members for the classes are often enrolled at this 
meeting. The work is advertised in the college paper, 
on bulletin boards and posters, at chapel services, in the 
college hand-book, by literature on the subject, including 
specially prepared folders, and sometimes in the official 
calendar of the institution. The annual student con- 
ferences also afford an excellent opportunity for the 
promotion of this study, entire college delegations being 
often enlisted as a nucleus for the enrolment in their 
institution. 



THE VALUE OF THE MISSION STUDY MOVEMENT 

While this Report has dealt more directly with the 
more systematised, and it may be more scientific methods 
of mission study, there is no desire to depreciate any and 
all kinds of " missionary reading circles/' and the more 
irregular and unsystematic study of the subject. Any- 
thing that will lead Christian men and women and 
youth to the personal investigation of the facts and 
principles of missions cannot fail to have its value. Yet, 
when everything is said, we shall probably all agree that 
the more systematic and thorough the study, and the more 
in conformity to the known laws which govern all educa- 
tion, the greater and more lasting will^be the value of 
the work accomplished. 

It is recognised that the future success of foreign missions 
depends in no small measure upon the promotion of an 
intelligent appreciation among the young people in the 
Churches throughout the world of the facts, principles, 
and purpose of missions. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY 
INTELLIGENCE THROUGH INSTRUC- 
TION IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITU- 
TIONS 

I. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN AMERICA 

THIS subject Is of such prime Importance to the cause 
of missions and to its future success that the most thorough 
investigation of the subject was made both in America 
and in Europe, Owing to quite different conditions 
prevailing in the two countries, the methods of approach 
to the subject materially differ. At the same time the 
information secured in both cases Is of supreme value to 
those who are studying this subject with a view to the 
provision of better missionary educational facilities in 
preparatory and collegiate Institutions. 

In the treatment of the material obtained It has seemed 
best to separate the so-called secular institutions from the 
theological colleges and seminaries. The special mis- 
sionary instruction given in the latter class of insti- 
tutions is treated under that section of this Report 
which deals with the leadership of the clergy in the 
missionary enterprise. 

The investigation of the provision for missionary 
Instruction in the academic institutions of America was 
conducted by means of correspondence with five hundred 
and fifty universities, colleges, schools, and academies. 
A special correspondence was also conducted with a 

79 



80 THE HOME BASE 

number of leading American educators. Of these five 
hundred and fifty institutions, four hundred and five 
sent definite replies to a series of questions. Three 
hundred and eighteen make no provision for the study 
of missions ; but of these, sixteen provide courses in 
comparative religion or in the history and philosophy 
of religion. Six treat of missions incidentally, in con- 
nection with the following departments or subjects : 
Comparative Religion, Pedagogy, History, Sociology, 
Political Science, and Ethics. One institution mentions 
occasional lectures by visiting missionaries, and one 
speaks of an extensive mission library. 

Of the eighty-seven institutions which make some 
specific provision for the study of missions, thirty- 
seven are theological schools or mission training schools, 
or have special departments for training ministerial 
students. A large number of these institutions make 
reports which properly belong to the consideration of 
theological seminaries. The almost uniform provision is 
for two hours per week of instruction, and this by means 
of lectures, the course extending through one year. In ten 
cases, attendance is required of students for the ministry, 
but in all cases the classes are open to all students. 

Thirty-eight reports are from denominational institu- 
tions which are in the direct control of some branch of 
the Church. Six of these provide occasional lectures in 
missions, averaging some two hours a week for one year ; 
nine report required courses, averaging some two hours 
per week for one year. Five of the reports are from 
" academies," and suggest elementary studies in mission 
history and occasional lectures by visiting speakers. 

Of the four hundred and five institutions reporting, 
when we except the academies, denominational institu- 
tions, and theological and Bible training schools, only 
seven report any specific missionary instruction. Four of 
these mention brief and occasional elective courses, 
George Washington University of Washington, D.C., 
provides an optional course, attended chiefly by those 
not enrolled in the University. Yale University at New 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 81 

Haven, Connecticut, however, provides, in connection 
with its divinity school, a very comprehensive course of 
missionary instruction, and has a full professorship in 
missions. Harvard offers, in connection with the 
department of Modern History, an elective course covering 
one hour per week for one year, in " The Expansion of 
Christendom in the Nineteenth Century. 3 ' Wooster 
(Ohio) University has a professorship in missions, by 
which elective courses in mission study are offered to all 
University students. Hiram College, Ohio, has a Depart- 
ment of Missionary Service with five men on the faculty. 
One State university for a time offered an elective course 
in modern missions for which due credit was given by the 
university. This was discontinued, not because of any 
opposition to the course upon the part of the trustees 
of the University or any one else, but because of a vote 
passed covering another subject which, without the 
intention or purpose of the mover of the resolution, pre- 
vented further recognition of the course in missions. 

On examining the replies from the educators, to whom 
reference has been made, the consensus of opinion seems 
to be that no separate department of missionary instruc- 
tion should be established in academic institutions, but 
that the subject of Christian missions should be treated 
incidentally, in connection with cognate departments, 
such as Comparative Religion, History, Sociology, etc. 

The evident conclusions from a careful study of all 
the reports submitted, may be summarised as follows : 

First, very little is being offered in the line of specific 
courses on missions in the curricula of the academic 
institutions of America, with the exception of the de- 
nominational schools, 

Second, an increasing effort is being made to treat the 
subject more or less exhaustively in connection with the 
following departments, most of which have already been 
mentioned : Comparative Religion, Pedagogy, Anthro- 
pology, History, Sociology, Sacred Literature, Political 
Science, 'Ethics, History of Religion, Philosophy, Oriental 
Civilisation. 

COM. VI. 6 



82 THE HOME BASE 

Third, while much is being done by denominational 
schools, they might be encouraged greatly to increase the 
number and scope of their courses in missionary study. 

Fourth, the supreme value and the absolute necessity 
of the work of the student Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion and Young Women's Christian Association in 
America in the establishment and conduct of mission 
study classes is emphasised by every reference to the 
submitted reports. In cases where no mission study is 
included in the curriculum, instructors bear witness to 
the broadening and educative effects of the courses con- 
ducted by these Associations, and in the great proportion of 
all the institutions of higher learning in America the whole 
matter of mission study is left to these voluntary agencies. 

Fifth, an increasing interest in and a widening apprecia- 
tion of the necessity of mission study are expressed by a 
very large percentage of those who are leading in educa- 
tional work. Not only do they cordially endorse the 
establishment of optional classes, but they recognise that 
any scientific investigation or instruction in History, 
Philosophy, Political Science, and kindred subjects, must 
include the intelligent treatment of a factor of such deep 
significance, and such vast proportions, as that of the 
modern missionary enterprise of the Christian Church. 

There is no department of education to which the 
attention of college and university students can be directed 
which contains in itself the elements of a more broadening 
character than the subject of modern missions. A thorough 
course in this department must perforce consider such 
subjects as, " Religion, its Substance and History/' 
"The Ethnic Religions/* Relation of Religion to 
National Life/ 1 " Characteristics of the Eastern Races/' 
" Religion and Sociology/' " Relation of Christianity to 
the other great Religions," " Advance of Christianity 
into the East during the Last Century/' " The Influence 
of Christianity upon the Social, Intellectual, Moral, 
Economic, and National Life of a Nation/' and many 
allied topics, all of which belong to the proper treatment 
of modern missions. There are few courses offered in 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 83 

the curriculum of any college or university that open a 
wider and more rewarding field of study and investigation, 
that would be more disciplinary in character and more 
scholarly in substance than this, or more worthy of the 
most intelligent, thorough, and broad-minded treatment 
possible. There is reason to believe that such courses, 
if of ered, would be widely chosen. 

This matter should have the unbiased and serious 
consideration of those who are influential in shaping the 
curricula of higher institutions of learning, not as a 
question of religion or of personal missionary service, 
but as a matter of a broad and comprehensive education. 
We are of the opinion, and this opinion is based upon 
correspondence with all of the leading academic institu- 
tions of America, after extensive investigation among 
students in widely separated colleges and universities, 
that such courses, if offered by recognised competent 
instructors, would prove to be from the first popular, 
attractive, and of the greatest educative value, while at 
the same time of supreme importance to the early Christian 
conquest of the world. 

In the secondary schools in America, apart from those 
that are strictly denominational, there is and has been 
no attempt whatever to introduce the subject of missions 
in any form to the attention of the pupils. As most of 
these schools are national, and supported from public 
funds as such, they must be free from any form of religious 
teaching, and Protestant missions would necessarily be 
regarded by Roman Catholics and Jews as a phase of 
religion. In this respect conditions in the United States 
differ widely from those found in Great Britain. 

II. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, HIGH SCHOOLS, AND 
OTHER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN GREAT 

BRITAIN 

The question and problem of missionary propaganda 
in relation to the generation which is growing up in the 
big Secondary Schools of Britain is a quite separate and 



84 THE BASE 

distinct one. For the most part these boys and girls 
do not Attend Sunday Schools or any similar organisation. 
Therefore, if the missionary idea is to lay hold of them, it 
must come to them in their home life or in the school life. 
The Committee has received valuable guidance and help 
in this matter from the headmasters of the leading 
Public Schools and several Grammar Schools, also from 
some masters of Private Schools who were known to be 
in sympathy with missionary work, and from head- 
mistresses of Girls' High Schools and Private Schools 
who are acknowledged authorities on matters of religious 
education. For the purposes of this Report we shall 
treat these together, as forming, in the main, one problem, 
only particularising where thers seems special reason for 
doing so. 



THE PRESENT POSITION 



In answering a list of questions which was sent out to 
some fifty masters and mistresses, every one gives aa 
answer in the negative, usually in very emphatic form, 
to the question: "Are you satisfied with the extent to 
which the appeal of ttie Church's duty to the non-Christian 
warld is gripping the rising generation in our schopls ? J> 

The replies to the other questions reveal not only a 
dissatisfaction with the present state of things, but an 
obviously genuine readiness and desire to consider any 
suggestions for an advance in the direction of giving the 
missioaary idea a mo-re vit^l place in school education. 
Not am Public School headmaster suggests that all is 
being done that can or should be done? in our Public 
Schools in this direction, though almost all earnestly 
insist upon the need of caution, lest false or ill-considered 
methods create a dislike for what they are iatended to 
commend, or produce a morbid and delicate condition 
instead of a healthy and vigorous growth. 

The failure of the missionary propaganda to grip the 
rfetag generation in our Secondary Schools throughout 
the country doss not need insisting upon or illustrating. 
It is obvious. Tto present indifference of leading Christian 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 85 

aymen In the Churches is clear proof, although head- 
masters are of opinion that there has been a great advance 
in recent years. 

Three aspects, however, of what is peculiarly the Public 
School Question are of special concern to schoolmasters. 
(a) The very obvious failure to prepare thfe young 
men who go out into civil, military, and im- 
portant commercial positions in non-Christian 
countries to take a definitely missionary (i.e. 
a truly Christian) view of their opportunities. 
(6) The fact that a very large proportion of the men who 
go up to the Universities from our Public Schools 
have not even an intelligent interest in missions. 
(c) The dearth of candidates for missionary work, 
as indeed for all the altruistic professions. 

In Relation to Home Influences 

In the opinion of our correspondents the cause of this 
failure lies at least as much in the homes as in the schools, 
and not only in homes where there is indifference to the 
cause, but often where there is real earnestnfess about 
foreign missions. 

Two points in connection with home training have 
emerged with strong emphasis from our correspondence 
with leading Christian educators. 

(a) There is great need in hotne training of clear 
and definite presentation of foreign missions 
the reason of missions, the tnethods of missions, 
and the results of missions as part of the 
religious training of children, and as a part of 
the world's great appeal for Christian service. 
(&) Together with the efforts to gain children's 
interest, some channels of practical service 
or sacrifice for the cause must be provided 
within the child's scope tod suited to his 
instincts. The cause must be presented in 
: such a way as to invite his immediate and 

continuous personal help. 



86 THE HOME BASE 

These two elementary conditions constitute an appeal 
to the Christian parents of all the Churches. 

In Relation to School Life 

The Commission has endeavoured to elicit from school- 
masters and schoolmistresses a candid criticism of what 
is at present being done by the Societies, in the schools, 
and also suggestions as to lines of advance. It did 
not succeed in drawing out any criticism of the methods 
at present employed, except that they are not adequate. 

On the second point it was discovered quite clearly that 
masters and mistresses looked to the Societies to take 
the initiative in forward steps, and expressed themselves 
as very open to consider any further practical and suitable 
methods which might be employed. 

THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES 

Without attempting to be exhaustive, we consider it 
important to point out that in the opinion of education- 
ists the following are lines within which advance may 
reasonably be made : 

(a) The subject of foreign missions should be treated 
not as a separate thing, but as part of a boy's 
religion, an " ergon " not a " parergon " of 
the Christian life. 

(6) It must not be dissociated in boys 7 minds from 
the whole great appeal of Christ and of the 
world for Christian service. 

Missionary propaganda must not be a rival to home 
claims for social and spiritual service, but, in spirit at 
least, uniting itself with all these other needs, make the 
one imperious appeal to Christian schoolboys for lives 
of sacrifice and service. 

(c) It is of the utmost importance that missionary 
propaganda should ally itself closely with the 
life, and especially with the religious life, of 
tbe schools. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 87 

For this and other -reasons the headmasters of Public 
Schools which are denominational would not welcome 
any inter-denominational agency to any close relation- 
ships with their schools, though they rightly abhor any 
narrow or denominational spirit. Therefore this field 
is essentially the sphere of the Societies of the various 
denominations to which the schools belong. 

The Societies can only hope for permanent influence 
if they are prepared to work in complete accord and in 
full co-operation with the school authorities. A boy's 
and a girl's school life is already full enough, and addi- 
tional mental exertion should not be given except with 
the approval of those who have it in charge. 

This principle also emphasises the importance of the 
Societies appointing special men and women for this 
work who can gain the confidence of the authorities, 
instead of leaving it entirely to deputations, however 
good, who change continually and can provide no 
continuity of policy. 

METHODS OF ADVANCE 

We would again clearly state that, from our corre- 
spondence with leading representative headmasters and 
mistresses, it is evident that they would welcome a sane, 
healthy policy to permeate the whole school life with the 
sense of Christian service, of which foreign missionary 
work is admittedly a large part. We have received from 
them a great number of most valuable suggestions as to 
methods. We have selected those about which there is 
an influential consensus of opinion, and, while all the 
methods may be impossible in any one school, we would 
earnestly commend them to the Edinburgh Conference, 
and through it to the Teaching Profession, as those which 
(in the opinion not of Society agents but of leading edu- 
cationists) are most likely to produce healthy, robust, 
and truly 'I Christian convictions about missions 
in the young men and women fwhich our great 
schools pour forth into the world, These methods fall 



88 THE HOME 

naturally Into two divisions: (I) Those which depend 
chiefly upon the Societies; (2) those which depend 
chiefly upon the School authorities. It must be clearly 
understood that each method must finally depend upon 
the co-operation of both the School and the Society, 

i. Methods of Advance for the Societies 

(1) The custom of having, at least annually, a Mission- 
ary Lecture, or an address or sermon (generally both), is 
adopted in all the large English Public Schools where the 
boys are boarders. Most have at least two a year. An 
address or lantern lecture is also given each year in the 
more important Grammar Schools, and in many of the 
larger Girls' Schools, and in Private Schools for boys and 
fifirls ^ 

There are many evidences that these lectures, addresses, 
and sermons have done much good. There are not a few 
men at the Universities now, members of the Student 
Volunteer Movement, who acknowledge that their first 
call to the mission field came through a lecture, or 
address, or sermon *' in their school chapel. In a great 
number of cases prejudice has been broken down and a 
bias in favour of missions given, which has left both 
boys and girls open to more definite influence in later 
days. But we would emphasise that annual addresses 
have only a very limited value, and cannot of themselves 
be relied on to alter the whole tone and attitude of the 
boys and girls who leave our schools. 

(2) Missionary Study Circles. We have been astonished 
to find how warmly the suggestion we made as to the 

1 In Girls' Schools especially there seems need of a speaker 
who can speak definitely, as one schoolmistress points out, of 
" (i) the nature of the work abroad, e.g. educational, medical, 
etc. (2) The training needed. (3) The existence and nature 
of missionary training colleges. (4) The existence of Unions 
to help and" guide probable candidates during waiting, (5) 
Financial 1 arrangements with regard to workers/* She adds, 
" Present' methods certainly secure that only the very keenest 
who struggle on till they gel the needed help a,nd information 
offer themselves/* 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 89 

usefulness of these lias been received. Not one English 
Public School headmaster has negatived the suggestion 
either as unsuitable or impracticable, or on any other 
account. That fact we consider to be of great signifi- 
cance, as the first text-book suited to this purpose had 
only been published for two months when the enquiries 
were made. 

Those of our correspondents who have made the ex- 
periment report most favourably upon it as an agent of 
great educational as well as spiritual value, and several 
have already declared that they believe it will prove the 
most fruitful as it is the most reasonable and scientific 
method of presenting the cause of missions to boys and 
girls. 

2. Me&ods of Advance for School Authorities 

The methods suggested under this head must emanate 
from the School Authorities. Initiative suggestions, 
assistance, suitable literature, etc., may come from the 
Societies and, it seems, are expected from them, but they 
depend for their working upon the masters and mistresses 
in the Schools. 

(j) The School Atmosphere. The first and most 
essential point of all is that which no method can prescribe, 
for it concerns the atmosphere or spirit of the School, 
which again depends very largely on the personnel of 
the staff. 

In this connection one important remark has been 
made by several headmasters of high standing, viz. : 
That the need of truly missionary-hearted men, as masters 
in our Public Schools, and the great opportunities that 
would He before them are not at all fully recognised. 
For instance, one pertinently asks-" Why should not 
such a man, if debarred on health or other grounds front 
going to the mission field, regard it as his missionary 
vocation ? " Another " Why should not the Student 
Volunteer Movement recommend a two years' junior 
mastership as training lor the Foreign Field and a most 
fruitful field of service ? It might give at least as useful 



90 THE HOME BASE 

an experience as a two years' curacy, more particularly 
for those who look forward to doing educational work in 
the mission field/' 

There is no doubt that to have a sane, sound, missionary 
enthusiast on the staff of each of our schools would do 
very much to change their whole tone towards foreign 
missionary work. One headmaster points out lt It 
is not the Head who has the most direct influence, the 
House and Form Masters have the closest touch ^ with 
the boys and the opportunity for personal influence/' 

The whole of this argument may be applied with equal 
force to Girls' Schools. 

(2) In th& Regular School Services. Vfe have had much 
illuminating correspondence from headmasters on this 
point. There is great variety of opinion as to how the 
missionary idea may be given a larger place in the Chapel 
services or other devotional exercises of the School, but 
apparent unanimity that more should be done than is 
being done at present. 

How it can be done depends upon the character of the 
School. In a Church of England School, a Free Church 
Public School, or an undenominational School, the solution 
is quite different, though the problem is essentially the 
same. 

Some of the suggestions which we have received are 
so valuable that we tabulate a few of them : 

A Missionary Colled or prayer introduced into the 
School Service or Prayers daily, or once a week. 

The use of a Prayer Cycle in connection with the School 
service, the names of Old Boys working in the mission 
field to be mentioned by name. 

A special Service of Intercession held at regular intervals. 
(In Church of EnglandJSchools the opportunities of the 
Day of Intercession seem specially suitable.) 

A simple Missionary Prayers-Meeting of masters and 



. , 

A Missionary Litany composed largely of petitions 
which the boys or girls themselves suggest in writing 
beforehand. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 91 

The mention of the names of Old Boys in the Mission 
Field for silent prayer on special occasions (some suggest, 
at Holy Communion). 

(3) In the Ordinary Religious Teaching. Masters and 
mistresses agree that no " method " is so fundamentally 
important as that Bible teaching should kindle a glow of 
missionary enthusiasm. 

It appears not to be feasible to include missionary 
teaching as a " set subject " in the religious curriculum, 
but headmasters and mistresses consider that it is of 
prime importance that the Bible should be taught as the 
Missionary Library that it is. This is not easy to secure 
unless the teachers have themselves the true missionary 
spirit, and have considered their religious teaching in that 
light. 

(4) At Special Occasions of Religious Teaching. It is 
probable that masters can do as much in their regular 
school preaching as any deputation in his special sermon 
to instil true and worthy ideals concerning missionary 
work, and inspire high ambitions for Christian service. 

Schoolmasters themselves lay special emphasis on other 
occasions when they have opportunities of personal 
contact with their boys on spiritual matters. For 
instance, in the Church of England they recognise in the 
period of preparation for Confirmation the opportunity 
of the schoolmaster for teaching and inspiring boys 
about their missionary duty. They feel, however, that 
these opportunities are not sufficiently recognised and 
utilised. Some have found it a wise and helpful plan to 
invite a missionary or special missionary speaker to 
address their Confirmation candidates on the subject. 

(5)' School Missions in the Mission Field. A few leading 
Public Schools have for some time past supported in 
varying degrees and senses their " own mission " in the 
mission field, in much the same way as schools support 
their " own mission " in the poorer parts of our great 
cities at home. We asked a question with regard to the 
wisdom and practicability of extending and further 
developing this scheme. Considerably more than half 



92 THE HOME BASE 

tlie replies endorsed It, or at least some effort In this 
direction, as being calculated to draw out active sympathy 
and help of boys and girls, and to lead them to an in- 
telligent appreciation of missionary problems and policy. 

It is probably not possible or wise to aim at a thing 
demanding too large an annual contribution at first, 
though as it becomes known, and sympathy is drawn 
out, and " Old Boys " take their share, a considerable 
amount can safely be raised. Two or three schools 
already give 150 a year or more, although the authorities 
of these declare that the system has never been 
thoroughly worked. 

We earnestly commend this plan as well calculated 
to instil into the British schoolboy and schoolgirl a sense 
of their Imperial and Christian missionary duty, and, if 
well worked, to draw' out their enthusiasm about it. 

(6) In "Old Boys'" Guilds. If by such methods as 
have been suggested the missionary idea permeates the 
spirit of our schools, it will find its place in the Old Boys' 
Guilds and religious " Unions/ 1 One schoolmistress 
says : " Every School Guild of Old Girls should have a 
circle for missionary study letters from Old Girls who 
are now in the mission field and from friends of the girls 
connected with the School Mission being circulated 
monthly by the School Missionary Secretary/' 

In this way the missionary idea may ally itself with 
and help to mould the school esprit de corps, which has so 
much to do with the making of an Englishman, 

CONCLUSION 

It would seem, then, from the above summary of methods 
suggested by leading educationists that the following 
are the principles by which we should be guided in the 
effort to win the young life of the great Schools to take 
its share in the great task before the Church, 

First, to avoid all that savours of forcing, pressure, or 
false emphasis, and to aim at cireating throughout our 
schools a serious conviction that life is a call to service 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 93 

on a basis as broad as the purposes of God, and that 
sacrifice and selflessness are the measures of a life's value. 
Secondly, so to relate the appeal of foreign missions 
to this awakened conviction that it shall win by its own 
Christian naturalness its predominantly urgent claim, 
antt by the magnificent attractiveness of its call to un- 
selfishness, shall lead to heroic endurance in service. 

III. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN GREAT BRITAIN 

An extensive enquiry has been made to discover what 
place teaching about missionary work has in the religious 
instruction in elementary day schools, both provided 
(schools that are the property of the State and con- 
trolled by the County Council) and non-provided (schools 
that belong to Churches by which the religious syllabus 
is controlled). 

For provided schools in England and Wales we have 
only been able to discover one County Council Syllabus 
which in any way includes the idea of missions. Almost 
all appear rigidly to exclude it, even where in the ordi- 
nary course of Bible, teaching its introduction seems 
inevitable. 

The one exception in which the idea of foreign missions 
i introduced in some places where the Bible teaching 
demands it, and must be incomplete or meaningless 
without it, seems proof enough that it should be done, 
and can be done. The subject is essentially non-con- 
troversial and non-denominational, and there appears 
to be no reason why, if Christians will unite in this 
demand and in seeing that it is met, definite teaching 
upon the meaning* motives, and duty of missionary 
work should not be included in every County Council 
Syllabus for the religious teaching in provided schools. 

In non-provided schools belonging to the Christian 
Gypffch the opportunities would seem to be even greater. 
But here, again, though not a little is done in individual 
schools, we find that there is but the laintest recognition 
of the missionary idea in the syllabuses of religious. 



9d HOME BASH 

teaching issued in connection with the various denomi- 
nations. One widely used syllabus in its course upon 
the Acts of the Apostles omits chapter xiii. altogether. 
The Established Church and the Free Churches appear 
to be equally at fault. Again we have found one notable 
exception one Diocese of the English Church which 
includes the history of modern missions in its excellent 
Church History Syllabus, and also provides a special 
missionary prayer and hymn for school use. 

We venture to call the attention of the leaders of 
the Church to the grave injury and injustice which is 
done to the children in its schools when Christian teaching 
is thus warped and cramped and mutilated by the ex- 
clusion of one of its essential ideas. 

IV. THE POSITION ON THE CONTINENT 

Upon the continent of Europe the general rule is 
that public schools and universities are neutral 
upon this subject. This is the case in Holland, al- 
though the Government gives a subsidy to particular 
schools which are entirely free as to religious instruction. 
While many of these schools are distinctively Christian, 
the missionary instruction is most inadequate. There 
is a growing tendency, however, to put more emphasis 
upon this subject. The historical instruction touches 
upon the introduction of Christianity into the father- 
land, and, as a teacher of these schools recently suggested, 
there seems to be no reason why it should be deemed 
out of order to give teaching upon the introduction of 
Christianity into the colonies. In France there is no 
missionary instruction in secondary schools, and only 
in theological departments of the universities. In 
Switzerland there is no missionary instruction in the 
week-day schools. In the University of Lausanne and 
in the Academy of Neuchatel there is a course in mis- 
sionary history. In Norway, while there is no official 
missionary instruction in the public schools, many 
Christian teachers use the opportunities offered in geo- 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS &5 

graphy or religious instruction to create an interest in 
missions. The situation in Sweden is especially interest- 
ing in that the history of Christian missions is taught in 
secondary schools in connection with instruction in 
Church history. In Germany successful efforts are made 
to introduce a limited amount of missionary matter into 
the curriculum of elementary and night schools ; and, at 
same time, the Schoolmasters' Missionary Union (the 
Lehrermissionsbund), which has been rapidly growing in 
the last few years, gives reason to hope that the missionary 
influence of many individual teachers will grow stronger. 
Missionary lectures are given at several of the German 
Universities, and at the University of Halle a special 
missionary professorship has recently been created. 

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 

From this survey it is apparent that a large and un- 
occupied field is open in the public, private, secondary, 
and primary schools of Christendom, to say nothing 
of the colleges and universities, for the introduction of 
courses of study bearing directly or indirectly upon 
the subject of the Christian conquest of the world, 
Nothing could be more natural than to introduce the 
subject in the schools of those countries that have 
colonies in mission fields, and, for all, the subject contains 
much available material that is not controversial and 
that has in it elements of broad educational value. 
The attention of leaders in missionary organisations is 
urgently called to these significant facts. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY IN- 
TELLIGENCE THROUGH VISITS TO 
MISSION FIELDS 

INFORMATION has been secured upon this subject from 
a long list of missionaries and secretaries of Missionary 
Societies, as well as from pastors, laymen, and women 
who have made extensive visits to mission countries. 
The testimony oi these witnesses is based upon over three 
thousand visits in the aggregate, made to more than nine 
hundred mission stations. 

VISITS OF BOARDS' SECRETARIES 
Advantages to the Mission Field 

The missionaries speak with deep conviction of the 
encouragement and inspiration to themselves and the 
Native Church resulting from the visits of the secretaries 
oi Missionary Societies. Many difficulties may be re- 
moved as the result of a secretary's visit. 

Advantages to the Home Base 

If the secretary visits mission lands as a learner, 
getting into touch with the ordinary details of routine 
work and coming into the closest personal sympathy with 
the workers, he gains a knowledge which could never come 
by correspondence. This will enable him. to direct the 
work far more efficiently on his return. One corre- 

00 



TO MISSION 97 

spondent advocates secretarial visits, because people at 
home attach more weight to the addresses and appeals of 
those secretaries who have frequently visited their fields. 
Some missionaries only favour more frequent secretarial 
visits if the object is to get fresh information and give 
encouragement to the missionaries. They would depre- 
cate more frequent visitation if the object is to continue 
to control at home the details of the work on the field. 
It is clear that these visits enable the home Boards better 
to understand the communications they receive from 
the field. On the part of a majority of the missionaries, 
there is a strong conviction that each secretary should 
not only visit the fields for which he is respon- 
sible at the beginning of his administration (unless 
he himself has been a missionary), but should also 
revisit them at least once in ten years. Many mission- 
aries maintain that these visits should come once in five 
years. 

Some Missionary Societies in all countries have adopted 
a general policy of occasional official visitation to the 
mission fields for purposes of information and administra- 
tion. Some send such a commission or deputation only 
when some local condition abroad seems to demand it. 
In such a case the visiting body usually comprises a 
secretary, a member or two of the executive committee 
or Board, and possibly a pastor or influential layman 
from outside the committee. Other Societies send 
now and then a commission., usually including a 
secretary, upon a general tour of inspection with 
the expectation that those who compose it will visit 
a large number of stations in different countries, 
inspire those to whom they go to the extent of their 
ability, and bring back a wide range of general 
information for the benefit of the Board and of the 
Church. 

One Society in Scotland is planning for a regular 
yearly visitation by a deputation of the controlling com- 
mittee to the mission stations in a particular country, 
while another sends annually two home ministers to a 

COM. vi. 7 



98 THE HOME BASE 

group of stations in some country to study the work on 
the spot, to encourage the missionaries, and to bring back 
material for the encouragement of their constituency. 
To the effectiveness and value of this plan strong testi- 
mony is given. 

There are other Societies that plan systematically 
for occasional visits of members of the executive official 
staff to specific fields for the purpose of prolonged and 
thorough study of the conditions and needs of that field. 
Such a deputation is not expected to visit any other 
country than the one to which it is specifically sent. 
Before starting out, it is expected to familiarise itself 
not only with the missionary work of its own Society 
there, but, as far as possible, with the general history of 
the country and the people and their religious conditions, 
as well as the work done in that country by other Mis- 
sionary Societies. The visit of the deputation is prepared 
for by the missionaries on the field, so that the greatest 
amount of exact knowledge may be obtained with ^ the 
least loss of time and strength. This deputation visits 
every missionary centre and inspects every institution 
of its own organisation and also looks into the work 
carried on by other Societies, as well as any Government 
institutions which have a relation to the work of the 
missionaries. Upon its return, it renders a carefully 
prepared report to the executive committee of its own 
Board, containing suggestions regarding the future of the 
work and making whatever recommendations it may 
deem' wise and proper. In many cases, besides this official 
and confidential report, a general and popular report is 
made for wide use among the constituency. In this 
latter report only matters of popular general interest are 
included, and these are frequently illustrated by photo- 
graphs. 

In the general practice of Missionary Societies two 
distinct classes of deputations are recognised. First, 
the administrative deputation sent by ^the executive 
Board for the purpose of the better administration of the 
work ; and second, a general deputation, whose object 



VISITS TO 99 

is to secure information for presentation to the con- 
stituency at home to increase its interest. For the 
latter purpose it is becoming more and more important 
that every Missionary Society officer should have the 
opportunity of seeing personally at least some phases 
of missionary work in actual operation. It is becom- 
ing increasingly difficult for one who knows nothing 
of the missionary work abroad from personal obser- 
vation and experience to command a hearing with 
the constituency upon the character and needs of that 
work. 

As regards the work of administration, it is now 
accepted as a principle that the wisest and most 
economical administration of the work abroad in 
any field demands a measure of personal knowledge 
upon the part of some at least of those by whom the 
work is directed and controlled at home. The leading 
Missionary Societies all over the world are recognising 
these needs and conditions, and are shaping their policies 
accordingly. 

As to the source from which the expenses of such de- 
putations should be met, there are divergencies in practice. 
Several leading Societies regard this expense as a proper 
and legitimate charge upon the general treasury. These 
quote instances where a deputation has recommended 
action that saved the Society more money than the 
entire cost of the whole expedition. There is practically 
no difference in judgment that as an administrative 
measure the properly constituted occasional deputation 
is a necessity to the wisest and most effective conduct of 
the work abroad. At the same time, in most instances 
reported the expense of such a body has been met in 
whole or in part by special gifts for the purpose, and thus 
a heavy charge upon the treasury of the Society has been 
avoided. Churches that have missionary bishops upon 
the field who return periodically and put themselves into 
close relations with the executive Committee and the 
home constituency, do not feel the same need of an 
occasional visitation as non-Episcopal bodies. 



100 THE BASE 

VISITS OF PASTORS 

Advantages to the Miss-ion Field 

A fortnight's visit from one who is keenly interested 
in missions is one of the greatest tonics a mission can 
receive. The whole mission is refreshed by such a visit ; 
helpful suggestions are made, and permanent links are 
formed. Several missionaries write that when the pastors 
are public speakers of exceptional strength and men of 
real spiritual power, their visits are a blessing to the 
missionaries and a still larger one to the Christian com- 
munity. The visits to India of such men as the Haskell 
lecturers are of great value in giving educated Indians 
an opportunity of meeting and hearing prominent re- 
ligious leaders of the West, and enabling them to realise 
the intellectual and moral forces of Christianity in 
Christian lands. The identification of Christianity almost 
exclusively with missionaries is apt to give Indians too 
limited a view of the present place and power of the 
Christian religion. 

We would lay special emphasis upon the value of an 
occasional visit to mission fields of Christian leaders of 
wide reputation, good judgment, and sound piety who are 
ready to do everything in their power for the promotion 
of the work. 

Advantages to the Plonie Base 

The attitude of most of the missionaries is summed up 
by a missionary from India : " Would that many more 
pastors were sent out, that they might come into personal 
touch with the missions they must advocate and support/' 
When the pastors come as students of missions, preparing 
to impart to others the knowledge they receive, they are 
not only welcomed by the missionaries, but, as a rule, 
they use their time to such good effect that their church 
and neighbourhood feel the stimulus for years to come, 

Visits to the mission field by pastors qualify them to 
give substantial aid to the officers and directors of the 



VISITS TO MISSION 101 

Societies on their return. Their information is usually 
of an intimate kind, and they are frequently able to 
indicate in a confidential fashion the weaknesses or 
elements of special strength which they may have dis- 
covered in the men or in their work. They are frequently 
able to make a helpful comparative estimate of the value 
of the work carried on in the various missions in the 
same field, and to balance the methods of one station with 
those of another, 

VISITS BY LAYMEN AND WOMEN DEFINITELY 
INTERESTED IN MISSIONS 

One layman writes strongly favouring the visits of 
other laymen : (< I will do and give much more for having 
gone/* Another : " Encourage these visits in every 
practicable way. Still another : '* Every interested 
layman should go." It is of great value for a missionary 
at home on deputation work to meet with those who 
have visited the work abroad. It is good to have as a 
chairman of a missionary meeting one who can say " I 
have been there myself, and can bear witness to what I 
have sepn." 

Great as is the enthusiasm on the part of laymen and 
women who have visited the field, there is an even greater 
desire on the part of the missionaries for the promotion 
of these visits. Several testify to the great value to 
Christian congregations in the mission field and the 
educated non-Christian community of meeting Christian 
laymen. A considerable number of young Americans 
and Englishmen, on graduation from college, make a 
prolonged tour before deciding upon their life-work. 
Cases are reported where visits have resulted either in 
forming or confirming a resolve to offer for mission service, 
or in creating a living interest which results in regular 
service and support at home. Several report that visits 
to the mission field have given greater vividness and de- 
finiteness to the daily intercession of praying people. 
This is clearly the most potent result of these visits. 



102 THE HOME BASE 



VISITS BY GENERAL TOURISTS 

The greatly improved facilities for travel have led in 
recent years to a great extension of the practice among 
Americans and Europeans of making tours to non- 
Christian countries. It is important that those who make 
such tours should have the opportunity of seeing some- 
thing of missionary work. Tourists who return home 
prejudiced against the work are apt to find a too ready 
ear in the home constituency, while opponents of missions 
have often been converted to a lifelong enthusiasm for 
the cause as the result of a single visit which enabled 
them to see what was actually being done. It is of the first 
importance that those who visit the East should leana 
to see the relations between the Christian and non- 
Christian peoples on their higher and spiritual side. 
It is desirable that missionaries and Missionary Societies 
should encourage such personal contact between tourists 
and missionary work to the utmost extent in their power. 
On the other hand, it is essential that tourists should 
refrain in every way from treating missionaries as a 
mere convenience and imposing unfairly upon their 
hospitality, and should bear in mind the value of mis- 
sionaries 1 time, and avoid adding to their burdens by 
distracting them unnecessarily from their regular work 
or by expecting the arrangement of special meetings. 

Whatever the disadvantages, the permanent and 
widespread value of frequent visits to the mission fields 
upon the part of officials of Missionary Societies, pastors, 
and Christian laymen, is recognised. These visits are 
becoming increasingly important both^ for purposes of 
administration and for general information. The officers 
of mission Boards might well prepare a general pamphlet 
giving suggestions to those who contemplate such visits, 
that they may recognise and guard against embarrassing 
the missionaries and the work by their conduct on the 
field, and by their reports after returning. In this way 
the greatest possible good may result from such visits, 

The same pamphlet might contain also suggestions to 



VISITS TO MISSION FIELDS 103 

the missionary as to the best methods of introducing the 
traveller to the work and field. With such instructive 
and precautionary measures, there is no question that this 
is one of the most valuable methods of securing first-hand 
information and experience, for extensive use among the 
constituency at home. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE PROMOTION OF MISSIONARY IN- 
TELLIGENCE THROUGH CONFER- 
ENCES, EXHIBITIONS, AND OTHER 
METHODS 

THE growth of the missionary enterprise and the fuller 
realisation of the great demands which it makes upon the 
Church at home have called forth new methods, whose 
function it is to strengthen the root growth of the mis- 
sionary tree in the home Churches. This section deals 
with some of these methods, the aim of which is to train 
leaders in home work for foreign missions, and to impart 
a truer vision of missionary opportunity and privilege 
to the rank and file of Christian people. What follows 
represents conclusions reached after extended corre- 
spondence and consultation with a large number of persons 
known to be experts in the matters covered by these 
particular enquiries. 

I, MISSIONARY CONFERENCES, CONVENTIONS, 

AND SUMMER SCHOOLS 

The modern missionary conference or convention no 
doubt owes its origin to the older conventions, such as 
those at Northfield and at Keswick. The avowed 
purpose of these conventions was the deepening of the 
spiritual life of those who attended; but their leaders 
have come increasingly to realise that the missionary 

duty of the Church and the individual is inseparable 

101 



AND 105 

from this aim, and In recent years they have given in- 
creasingly large and definite place to the missionary 
appeal, and are sounding more and more clearly the 
call of Christ to service and consecration for the 
world. The debt which the missionary cause owes to 
Northfield and Keswick and their now numerous off- 
shoots is indeed incalculable. Few agencies have been 
more used of God in calling forth missionary recruits 
and in leading Christians at home to a life of holiness and 
personal experience of the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Indispensable as these conventions for the deepening 
of the spiritual life are to our modern life, it is evident 
that there are other necessary functions which are beyond 
their range. Missionary leaders have recognised that 
some similar agency was needed which would allow of 
more specialised concentration upon the demands of 
missions and sound yet more specifically the call tQ 
Christian consecration. 

Hence the growth in recent years of directly missionary 
conferences and conventions, both inter- denominational 
and denominational, in America, Britain, the Continent 
of Europe, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. 
Their characteristic notes have been the setting forth of 
the world's need as Christ's call to a deeper, truer, and 
more comprehensive consecration to Him, and the study 
and consideration of the response of the Church and the 
individual to the world 1 s demand. As a result, there is 
no doubt that they have been used to lead God's people 
to a deeper and fuller experience of Christ. 

The occasions, arrangements, programmes, and details 
of missionary conventions and conferences are almost 
as varied as the conferences themselves. Some are 
periodic, synchronising with the annual meetings of the 
Missionary Societies, or held at certain fixed dates as 
summer camps. The occasion for others arises out of 
some special call from the foreign field or some special 
aeed in the home work. Some are organised for special 
classes or types, such as students, Young Men's or Young 
Women's Christian Association workers, Sunday School 



106 THE HOME BASE 

teachers, etc. Some are inter-denominational, and some 
are denominational in character. 

Our correspondence with the organisers of a large 
number of these conferences and conventions makes it 
clear, however, that the objects they have in view may 
be fairly classified under two heads : (i) The training of 
leaders, and (2) the imparting of vision and inspiration. 
Further, it is evident that experience endorses the necessity 
for keeping these two objects quite distinct, and for 
preparing the programme accordingly. It has therefore 
become recognised that every conference should have 
one primary aim, towards which the main features of 
the programme should be directed. Missionary confer- 
ences and conventions can be divided under these two 
heads according to their primary aim. 

(l) CONFERENCES WHICH AIM PRIMARILY AT EDUCATION 
AND THE TRAINING OF LEADERS 

The demand of to-day is for specialists in every branch 
of thought and activity. It is increasingly recognised 
that the cause of missions cannot be strong unless there 
be found in the Church at home men and women who 
will give it the first place in their life, and unless oppor- 
tunity is provided for them to be trained in the knowledge 
of missionary problems and in the methods by which 
they can most effectively use that knowledge to awaken 
and cultivate the interest of others. 

How to provide this training is the problem to which 
these conferences and conventions are addressed. 

The question of the number of delegates to such a 
conference is of great importance, and is one upon which 
there is a variety of opinion and practice. But where 
education and the training of leaders is the primary 
aim, we find that judgment and experience increasingly 
favour smaller conferences. 

One leader reports that the most effective conference 
he ever knew had one hundred in attendance all told. 
On the other hand, some of the student conferences run 



CONFERENCES AND 107 

up almost to a thousand. Judging from the experience 
of a number of conferences through a series of years, 
several experienced leaders have agreed that three 
hundred is an almost ideal number. Five hundred can 
be handled provided a sufficient number of good leaders 
is secured. The advantage of a small conference of two 
hundred and fifty to three hundred is that by the time 
the conference is well under weigh, the delegates have 
begun to become fairly well acquainted with one another. 
This makes for unity of purpose and mutual helpfulness, 
which are so necessary to a successful conference. 

The question whether these conferences, conventions, 
and schools should be denominational or inter- denomina- 
tional, is not one for which any universal law can be laid 
down. It must be settled according to the aim and the 
circumstances for which each particular conference is 
designed. The position in Europe and in America is 
somewhat different. 

The following advantages are cited for inter-denomina- 
tional conferences. 

(1) Interchange of plans and methods. 

(2) Establishment of fellowship on the common 

ground of salvation by Christ alone and service 
to Him. 

(3) The vision of a world-wide campaign and of 

statesmanlike methods of conducting it. 

(4) Saving of machinery and expenditure in accom- 

plishing much work among the various 
branches of the Church. 

On the other hand, many leaders of the missionary 
enterprise would argue that small denominational con- 
ventions or conferences with definite objects clearly 
worked out in the programme (as, for instance, for various 
sides of home work, e.g., missionary study or children's 
work) may be at least as useful as the larger and inter- 
denominational conventions which have done so much for 
missions in recent years. 

A strong case can also be made for further specialising 
these conferences, whether denominational or inter- 



108 THE BASE 

denominational, by limiting them to certain classes or 
groups and by making them most definite in aim and 
programme. 

With regard to the programmes of these conferences, 
little can be said of general application. There is almost 
unanimity as to the general division of hours at a summer 
conference. It is this : " Morning for work. Afternoon 
for recreation. Evening for inspiration/ 1 It is agreed 
that mission study should have the largest place in the 
missionary programme. In the morning mission study 
should have the best hour, and an adequate time should 
be given for round table or open parliament on practical 
methods in various departments of missionary organisa- 
tion. In the case of inter-denominational conferences, 
time must also be given for denominational meetings 
where missionary society secretaries meet with their own 
delegates and outline the work for the coming season. 

It is taken for granted that every programme will 
make provision for time for united intercession every 
day of the conference. It is coming to be more fully 
recognised, too, that provision should be made for 
definite teaching upon prayer and Bible study, for upon 
the formation of strong habits of personal devotion, 
meditation, Bible study, and prayer the power of the 
leadership which the conference seeks to foster must 
depend. There seems to be a grievous lack in this direc- 
tion which conferences and conventions, whose aim is to 
train leaders, must seek to supply. 

The question of securing delegates is also one of great 
importance. It is not so much a matter of securing them 
in such numbers as to make the conference a success, but 
of being able to secure those for whom the conference is 
intended and planned. Advertising in denominational 
papers brings the conference to the attention of^some, but 
can in no wise be relied upon. By far the most effective 
agency in securing delegates is the work of delegates of 
previous years. Good, well-printed literature is also 
valuable. In addition to these methods, it has often 
been deemed wise to send a secretary into the field to 



109 

hold workers* meetings la which the securing of a proper 
delegation is laid upon the leaders. 

(2) CONFERENCES, THE PRIMARY AIM OF WHICH IS 
INSPIRATION AND THE AWAKENING OF INTEREST 

The justification of these conferences, some of which 
stand out as marking epochs in the history of Christendom, 
is not far to seek. Their keynote may be said to be 
" vision/' their object to impart to the rank and file the 
visions God has given to the leaders of the Church, the 
prophets and seers of modern times. The last forty 
years are notable for the awakened, enlarged, and deepened 
vision of the world, of the opportunity of the Church and 
of the meaning of Christ's Kingdom which has come to 
the leaders in the Church. But these greater visions and 
deeper motives have not as yet laid hold of the Church 
as a whole or gripped the average church member the 
man in the pew. There is universal testimony that in 
this matter the people " are destroyed for lack of know- 
ledge/' The average Christian has not realised the great 
world movements that are going on around him, and still 
less does he see their meaning for the Church of Christ 
or their bearing upon world evangelisation. 

To this condition these conferences are addressed. 
They aim at the awakening of Christendom to its oppor- 
tunity and privilege, and to the manifest call of God from 
the non-Christian world. They make for an awakened 
Christian conscience in this matter. They summon 
Christians to a true consecration to God for the world's 
need. 

CONSERVING THE RESULTS OF CONFERENCES 

The science of missionary conferences is not yet old, 
but the science of following them up so as to deepen 
impression and conserve interest is in its infancy. Yet, 
without proper methods for following up conferences 
upon some comprehensive scale, much of the seed sown 
will be lost. Leaders agree as to the necessity, but as yet 



110 THE HOME BASE 

experience has not led them to regard any specific system 
(if, indeed, there can be such a thing) as generally 
applicable. They, however, do agree that much can be 
done to conserve results by (i) getting the delegates to 
commit themselves to some definite line of missionary 
activity, growing out of what is learned at the conference ; 
(2) the efforts of leaders to keep in touch each with a 
group of delegates, so as to stimulate them in the months 
following the conference to put the impulse of the con- 
ference into action ; (3) the careful following up of the 
plans projected at such a conference. This in turn places 
a responsibility as well as a burden upon the Missionary 
Societies, whose plans for missionary campaigns throughout 
a given year must be properly related to the individuals 
present at the conference of the preceding summer. 

In the case of inter-denominational conventions, it seems 
clear that much more careful arrangement should be made 
by the organisers for putting the members into touch with 
the denominational Boards and with the work in their 
local churches when the convention is over. 

II. MISSIONARY INSTITUTES 

An " Institute" is the term used in America for a 
gathering for the purpose of training teachers. It has 
been adopted in missionary circles as a name for a series 
of meetings designed to train missionary workers in 
methods of work. The name is unfamiliar in Great 
Britain, and this kind of gathering has not as yet been 
largely developed. 

The method grew out of the large conference and has 
the same purposes. Institutes are an attempt to bring 
to the missionary workers of a city or large town method 
and inspiration for their work. Usually they are inter- 
denominational, but very excellent campaigns have been 
held in various cities by the missionary representatives 
of a single denomination. An institute is primarily 
intended for instruction in methods of work, such as 
training leaders of mission study classes and leaders in 



CONFERENCES AND 111 

missionary work In the Sunday School and other mis- 
sionary activities. It is not to be thought, however, that 
the inspirational element is neglected. 

Institutes are of so many kinds and are conducted in 
such a variety of ways, that it is well-nigh impossible to 
make definite statements that will cover all cases. All 
that can be attempted is to point out the general lines 
along which these agencies have been successfully used. 

Three or four workers are required to make an institute 
successful. An ideal group of speakers consists of a 
secretary or a representative of the Missionary Society, a 
missionary from the field, an exponent of missionary 
methods, and a local pastor or layman. This statement 
is made with a denominational deputation in mind, but 
very little change is necessary in an*inter-denominational 
meeting. It is always well, if possible, to have present a 
Missionary Society secretary. In cases where mission 
study is to be emphasised, several class leaders of experi- 
ence become necessary. 

Sometimes an institute is devoted almost exclusively 
to mission study, the -classes meeting for three or four 
nights and having a full hour and a half for the class 
session. A brief devotional session, before the classes 
separate to their meeting-places and before they leave 
at the conclusion of the evening, brings unity into the 
institute. At times an institute of a single day, including 
afternoon and night sessions, is held. Variations of these 
plans can be made in almost any direction, according to 
the emphasis which is desired for that particular meeting. 
Sometimes one leader conducts a series of institutes with 
no assistance, limiting the meetings to night sessions and 
spending two or three days in a place. 

These meetings are financed in most cases by local 
committees. This is true particularly of inter-denomina- 
tional campaigns. When the institute is denominational, 
it is usual to meet the expense out of the regular budget 
of the missionary society or by special funds secured by 
it. 

The aim in these institutes is not only to inspire, but 



112 THE BASE 

to secure the commitment of the local workers ^to a 

definite policy of missionary education or of the raising of 
missionary money, usually and preferably the former. 

Institutes and deputations can rarely be^ arranged for 
by correspondence, unless a similar meeting has been 
held under the same auspices at some previous time. A 
personal visit on the part of a secretary, going over all 
plans most carefully with the local committee, seenis to 
be necessary. 

An institute should not be considered a regular and 
normal part of missionary work for any single city; 
an institute held in a city for two consecutive years need 
not be repeated until after a few years, when new needs 
have arisen and new workers need to be trained. It is 
intended to start work in the right way, not to follow up 
the plans from year to year. This following up may be 
done by a workers' conference held locally for an after- 
noon and an evening each year. 

III. MISSIONARY EXHIBITIONS 

If the " educational ' or " training " convention be 
primarily intended for the man in the pulpit or the 
teacher's chair, and the inspirational conference for the 

average church member the man in the pew- the 
missionary exhibition may fairly be described as in- 
tended primarily to reach the man in the street. It is 
its function to arrest attention, to gain a hearing for 
information regarding the non-Christian world and the 
results of missionary work. Its appeal is to the man or 
woman whose knowledge of foreign lands is small, and 
who for this reason is particularly hard to reach with 
missionary ideas. Exhibitions provide the vivid con- 
crete teaching which childhood craves. They have 
also, in the second place, an educative value for missionary 
workers. Thirdly, the demand which they make for 
stewards who will submit ^to careful preparation, intro- 
duces many local church members to their first study of 
missions and their first work for the cause. 



CONFERENCES AND EXHIBITIONS 113 

That missionary exhibitions are producing results in 
each of these directions which abundantly justify their 
existence, is universally admitted. In places where 
interest had been at a very low ebb, there has been a 
marked quickening of sympathy. The work of the 
missionary has been more intelligently appreciated, and 
doubters have been convinced. 

In connection with these exhibitions children's demon- 
strations have been arranged, at which missionary dia- 
logues, hymns, and cantatas and recitations were given 
by children to audiences of children. These demonstra- 
tions have been among the most popular features of the 
exhibition, and the interest created has been remarkable. 
In one case some 3000 children were present at the 
gathering in quite a small place, and on Children's 
Day in another small exhibition over 4000 children were 
present. The appeal presented in pictorial form, both 
by exhibition and demonstration, has deeply impressed 
children, and the fruit has been seen in offerings which in 
many cases have involved real sacrifice. 

Many people have been trained to act as stewards by 
means of mission study circles meeting regularly for 
three months before an exhibition, thus gaining informa- 
tion and quickening and illumining their interest. For 
some exhibitions as many as 9000 stewards have been 
carefully trained, and have received a missionary educa- 
tion to which they would not have submitted on any other 
grounds. When stewards have been thus trained for 
service in connection with a court representing one field, 
their interest has been so stimulated that after the ex- 
hibition study circles have been formed by them for 
acquainting themselves with missions in other parts 
of the world. 

In the United States and Canada exhibits have been 
conducted as one of the features of conventions, summer 
conferences, institutes, or other gatherings. Notable 
exhibits were held in connection with the Ecumenical 
Missionary Conference in New York in 1900, and in 
connection with the conventions of the Student Volunteer 
COM, vi. 8 



114 THE HOME 

Movement, and also with the general conferences of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church at Los Angeles in 1904 and 
in Baltimore In 1908. Exhibits on a smaller scale have 
been a feature of the summer conferences of the Young 
People's Missionary Movement. 

The exhibits may be classified under two general 
heads 

(1) Articles of all kinds from mission fields, to 

illustrate the condition and life of the people ; 
the religions which oppose the advance of 
Christianity ; methods of mission work, and 
results attained, 

(2) Literature of all kinds books, periodicals, maps, 

charts, stereopticon slides, report forms of 
all kinds, and all similar material used at 
home to stimulate missionary interest, and 
in the actual administration of missions. 
Besides these regular exhibits, provision is often made 
for addresses at certain hours, steteopticon and moving 
picture lectures, demonstrations with natives dressed in 
their distinctive garb, and other popular and educative 
features, 

But all these features need trained workers and careful 
supervision. It is almost a truism that no article ex- 
hibited is of any value unless it is understood. This 
requires a force of workers who are in constant attendance 
and who never grow weary of telling the same story 
many times, and who never lose their enthusiasm. Mis- 
sionaries can thus be used very successfully in the booths 
representing their various countries. Besides the mis- 
sionaries, however, other trained workers are needed. 
This requires much careful work begun long in advance 
of the actual holding of the exhibit. It is important 
to remember that great good Is done in this preliminary 
work, Many men and women get a_ clear knowledge of 
the mission field and methods of work which they would 
get in no other way. 

Little has been done in America in the way of gehetal 
missionary exhibits. All that have hitherto been held 



CONFERENCES AND 115 

have been In connection with some conference or con- 
vention, and so have been only a side leature of the main 
organisation. 

In Great Britain less has been done, until quite 
recent years, in preparing exhibits in connection, with 
conferences and conventions ; but missionary exhibitions, 
often on a Idr'ge scale, have for many years formed an 
important feature of home work of several of the larger 
Societies. The Church Missionary Society aims at 
visiting the big towns and occupying the largest hall 
therein at least every ten years. On the Continent of 
Europe the Utrecht Missionary Union, halving achieved 
a great success in 1909, is adopting the exhibition as a 
permanent feature of its policy, and a plan is bri foot for a 
large exhibition illustrating the work of all the Dutch 
missionary operations. One of the leading German- 
speaking Societies has had an exhibition in several Mrge 
towns with increasing numbers of visitors. Success is 
attributed to the efficient explanatory work done by 
missionaries and stewards. 

A remarkable exhibition was held m the Academy of 
Science in Stockholm from May to September 1907. 
It was organised by the Royal Ethnographical Mhseiim, 
and consisted of objects given or lent by all of the mis- 
siondry organisations of Sweden. It -greatly lielpecl to 
centre public attention upon missions, and to chahge the 
opinion of many who had hitherto despised the cause. 

The results of these exhibitions (separate from any 
convention or conference, but in themselves serving as a 
rallying ground and training school for local workers) 
are such as to commend them strongly for more extensive 
adoption. 

In addition to immediate Financial profits; there has 
been usually an increase of annual income traceable to 
the (exhibition. Oiie Society has seven missionaries oil 
the field to-day to whose support, as an outcome of ex- 
hibitions, nearly 1400 per annum is bontributed. Even 
iii the cases of failure to realise inihiediatfe money profit, 
Sii additional annual income has been gained. There 



HOME BASE 

has usually been a permanent increase in subscriptions 
in addition to donations for special objects. 

One clear evidence of the great value of exhibitions is 
to be found in the fact that many offers of service for the 
foreign field have come through their influence. After 
''Africa and the East" in London, there were between fifty 
and one hundred offers of service to the Church Missionary 
Society as a result. Men and women have been led to 
face seriously the claims of the foreign field upon them for 
personal service; and although all were not found suitable 
for the work, a number have been consecrated as mis- 
sionaries in each of the Societies holding exhibitions and 
as their direct result. 

It is essential that in this exhibition work a high 
spiritual tone should be preserved, and it is obviously 
not always easy to do this. A frank recognition of the 
necessity and the danger has been the great safeguard. 

The spiritual aim has, with very rare exceptions, been 
consistently kept in mind. It has been the practice in 
all these Societies to have regular meetings for prayer and 
intercession for a long period prior to an exhibition ; and 
every day during the exhibition devotional gatherings have 
been held for the workers, at which the supreme import- 
ance of the spiritual side of the work has been emphasised, 
and in the Church Missionary Society exhibition mentioned 
above a room was set apart solely for private prayer, 
These assemblies have been the acknowledged means of 
quickening the spiritual life of those taking part in the 
exhibition, and in some cases of leading to direct conver- 
sion to mission service. The addresses given during ex- 
hibitions have been spiritual in tone, and numerous 
instances have occurred of ultimate decisions for Christ 
through them. It is difficult adequately to estimate the 
full value of exhibitions, for, as in all work where spiritual 
fruit is concerned, no statistics could ever be compiled 
that would convey a complete idea. 

One further point is of considerable importance. Al- 
though small general exhibitions are, in the nature of the 
case, less profitable financially, we find many of those 



CONFERENCES AND 117 

whose experience enables them to Judge, inclined to 
regard them as more really fruitful than the very large 
exhibitions. They are more easy to keep in hand, it 
is not so hard to preserve a high spiritual tone, opportunity 
for personal contact and influence is greater, and it is 
more easy to follow them up. Moreover, the small ex- 
hibition can invade the country district, where its work 
is sorely needed and where its coming will be warmly 
welcomed. 

All that was said of the importance of following up 
conferences and conventions is true, and even more 
urgently true with regard to exhibitions, where the 
tendency is inevitably strong to regard the exhibition as 
a spurt or a special effort. The presence at the exhibition 
of some Board secretaries, who are experts in various 
branches of home work, may do much to prevent this and 
may be able to commit the local workers to methods of 
advance, e.g., in seeking for candidates for the field, in 
missionary study, in children's work, in consolidating 
the interest of men and in calling forth increased support. 
The exhibition should be followed up by stewards' rallies 
and conferences on how to take advantage of the conditions 
produced by the exhibition, and the interest may be 
carried on from year to year by an annual social gathering 
for those who have been workers and stewards. 

IV. PICTORIAL PRESENTATION 

Among other methods for promoting missionary interest 
which should find place in this Report, are different forms 
of optical lanterns. The stereopticon is widely used in 
the United States and Canada at the present time, but 
seems to be passing out of use in Great Britain, its place 
being taken by the kinematograph. The latter is coming 
into use in America to some extent, and is probably 
destined to increase in influence. But the moving 
picture exhibition has so displaced the magic lantern in 
England, that its effectiveness and power have been 
clearly demonstrated. The emphasis put upon it in 



118 THE BASE 

England is based upon the fact that it presents the 
pictures of mission work as it is actually taking place, 
while it also reveals the local conditions of heathenism 
with a vividness that no still picture can show. One 
British Society has a very complete set of films illustrat- 
ing its work in India and Uganda, and is now obtaining 
views of China and Japan. Animated pictures of mission 
scenes can now be supplemented in England, and in. .a 
less "degree in the United States, by films obtained ^ from 
commercial companies, but taken in the various mission 
countries and representing the real life of the people. 
This does away with the necessity of Missionary Societies 
going to the expense of having general films made of the 
various mission countries. They itiay concern themselves 
now almost wholly with securing pictures which represent 
aspects of the mission work as it is actually carried on. 
While the expense of the kinematograph and the films 
is greater than that of the magic lantern and the accom- 
panying slides, the cost will probably be reduced in the 
future, as this method comes into more popular and general 
use. The animated picture has already taken a leading 
place in the secular community- There is a general 
feeling that it ought not to be left for secular purposes 
alone, but should be used with effectiveness and power 
for arousing interest in world evangelisation. 

V. MISSIONARY DINNERS AND LUNCHES 

A method of bringing specific phases of missionary 
work to a chosen company of those whose interest is sought, 
and which is employed more extensively at the present 
time in America than in Europe, is the missionary lunch or 
dinner! The plan generally adopted is to invite a selected 
group to a private house where entertainment is afforded? 
and in connection with which the purpose of the gathering 
is presented by experts. In cases where the^lunch or 
dinner is at an hotel, frequently each one attending meets 
t^e'cost of his own meal, but occasionally some individual 
furnishes the entertainment even there, the same method 



CONFERENCES AND 119 

being followed that is followed in private houses, namely 3 
either while the guests are dining or afterwards the cause 
is presented. Sometimes these lunch or dinner gather- 
ings continue for two or three hours. It is frequently 
stated in the invitation that there will be no solicitation 
of funds at the time, otherwise some would remain away*; 
but the names of those present are taken,* and the subject 
is followed up by personal visitation at the home or office. 
Sometimes a group of only half a dozen men are thus got 
together, and again several hundred are often assembled. 
The Laymen's Missionary Movement is making wide use 
of the dinner, at whicji upon special occasions more than 
two thousand men have dined together and afterwards 
listened to missionary addresses. The method is elastic 
and is proving to be effective. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 

UNUSUAL importance attaches to the consideration of 
this question since the success or failure of the work of 
foreign missions depends largely on the missionary body. 
If a Mission Board has a strong, and able, and devout 
missionary force, its work will succeed. However much 
time and strength may be devoted to the raising of funds 
and the preparation of a missionary literature, no Board 
can afford to relax in the least its efforts to secure for 
service abroad such men and women as the Lord Himself 
shall call and whose labours He will crown with success. 
After all is said, this great mission work depends more 
upon persons than upon money. In this section of our 
Report we are dealing with the question of persons. 

L DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF CANDIDATES 

The first question to decide is, Have the Mission Boards 
as many applicants for appointment as they can appoint 
and send to the field? This phase of the subject has no 
relation to the question as to how many more missionaries 
would be required adequately to occupy the unoccupied 
or under-occupied fields of the world. We are dealing 
simply with the matter of the supply and demand as 
recognised in the home offices. 

In practically all fields the number of missionaries 
needed is increasing. Is the number of qualified candi- 
dates applying to the several Boards likewise increasing, 
or is it diminishing ? The answers received from the 

120 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 121 

secretaries of the leading Societies in North America 
show conclusively that, in general, the number is in- 
creasing. Of the twenty Societies reporting, fourteen 
stated that an increase could be noted. Two reported 
no marked change, and four "possibly diminishing." 
In Great Britain the reports indicate a decided shortage 
of ordained men, properly trained medical men, and 
qualified teachers, and the tendency at present appears 
to be in the direction of a diminishing supply. In 
Scandinavia the applicants equal the ability of the 
Societies to send out, and in France the supply is short 
of the needs of the work abroad but about equal to the 
funds available for their support. It is clear from the 
extensive investigations made that, as a whole, the 
supply of properly equipped candidates for missionary 
appointment is not keeping pace with needs upon the 
field or even with the call of the Societies for recruits. 

The tendency to an increase of the missionary forces 
available for appointment is more marked in America 
than anywhere else, and yet even there it is quite inade- 
quate to meet the needs abroad. 

The reasons given for the increase reported in America 
are instructive and suggestive. Several mention the 
work of the Student Volunteer Movement, and credit also 
is given to the Young People's Missionary Movement, 
and the Laymen's Missionary Movement. 

Some of the general causes suggested are the follow- 
ing : greater familiarity with the needs and results 
abroad ; fuller information and clearer apprehension of 
personal responsibility ; clearer recognition of the mission 
of the Church ; growing recognition of the attractiveness 
of the call to well-trained young men and women ; 
general increase of interest on the part of Church 
members ; revival of the missionary spirit throughout 
the Churches ; more missionary education and missionary 
interest in the colleges ; the appeal of the heroic both to 
the Church and to candidates. 

Among the specific factors mentioned are : women's 
educational work in juvenile Societies ; mission study 



122 THE 

classes ; addresses of missionaries in theological schools 
and collegiate institutions ; more effective organisation 
of the work of the Societies ; the recent general diffusion 
of missionary information. 

The emphasis laid by many of the Societies upon 
mission study is mentioned as the chief factor in bringing 
about an increase in the number of candidates applying, 
and suggests the probability of larger results in the near 
future. 

As indicated above, six of the twenty American Societies 
replying were unable to report an increase in candidates, 
and four of these reported a decrease. It is interesting 
to note the causes suggested for this falling off. 

Among these are the raising of the standard of require- 
ments ; decrease in the number of students for the 
ministry ; emphasis on the work at home ; unwarranted 
criticism of foreign missions and foreign mission organisa- 
tions ; the general rush for material success. 

Among the special reasons given for the shortage of 
candidates in Great Britain are : lack of powerful 
spiritual impulse in the Church at home ; a want of 
missionary interest especially among teachers and 
medical students ; inadequacy of the stipend offered ; 
the absence of proper qualifications on the part of those 
who apply, together with the raising of the standard of 
fitness, and the increased strictness of medical tests ; 
less urgency in motive, stress being " laid rather upon 
the humanitarian and philanthropic side of missions 
than upon the urgency of saving the heathen " 

RELATION OF SUPPLY TO DEMAND 

More important than the simple question of the increase 
or decrease of qualified candidates is the question whether 
the increase, if there be such, is keeping pace with the 
unquestionably increasing Tdemand. Encouraging report 
as to the increase in the number of candidates isjsomewhat 
counterbalanced by an equally general report that^the 
demand is increasing more rapidly than the supply,- But 



ENLISTMENT OF 123 

few Boards are able to report that the supply and the 
demand are fairly balanced. 

In reply to the question whether the demand in any 
particular department is increasing more rapidly than, in 
others, the replies of the Boards are interesting and 
significant. In nearly every case, upon both sides of the 
Atlantic, the answer given is that the demand is increasing 
more rapidly for educational missionaries, 

A few Societies report that the call for evangelistic 
workers (ordained men) is increasing the most rapidly, 
but, in general, as stated, there is a growing demand for 
teachers. 

In many cases the demand for medical missionaries 
is increasing much more rapidly than the supply, while 
iji oth^r instances the supply of medical candidates is 
greater than the demand. This i an illustration of a 
fact which appears in tie reports, n^ijiely, that some 
Societies have a greater supply of candidates for one 
form of work than have others,* while these other Societies 
in turn have a greater supply for another form of service. 

While the demand for educational workers is increasing 
more rapidly than that for workers in other branches, 
the number of applicants for educational work seems to 
be likewise increasing more rapidly in some denominations 
thai| in others. It is most significant, however, that this 
increase is limited to but a few of the Societies. The 
rapidly growing importance of educational work in some 
of the Eastern lands does not seem to have laid hold of 
the Christian youth in the universities and theological 
schools with the strength of appeal necessary to cause 
them to give their lives to that work in sufficiently large 
numbers. 

RELATION OF SUPPLY TO FINANCES 

An important question in the consideration of the 
subject in hand is the bearing and influence of the state 
of the finances of the Societies upon the number of quali- 
fied candidates. Effort was made to discover whether 
the declining of candidates on acqpunt of lack of 'funds 



124 THE HOME BASE 

had any direct influence upon the number applying. 
Ten of the twenty American Societies reported that during 
the last ten years no qualified candidate had been declined 
because of lack of funds. The remaining ten stated that 
they had declined qualified candidates during the last 
ten years because of lack of funds, and that this reason 
had been made known both to the candidates and to 
others. Conditions have not been so critical in Europe. 

More important is the experience reported by the 
various Societies in answer to the question whether any 
evidence had appeared that the number of applicants 
was affected by the state of the finances. A dozen 
officials state that the known condition of the treasury 
has an effect upon the number applying. The experience 
of the Boards seem to be conclusive on this matter. It 
would not appear necessary for a Society to announce 
definitely its inability to send out missionary applicants 
in order for properly qualified young men and women to 
hesitate to make application. The very fact that it is 
known that the Society or Board has a large deficit, or is 
otherwise financially embarrassed, causes would-be candi- 
dates to hesitate. Probably the influence is more often 
somewhat unconscious. 

Possibly also, in many cases, certainly m some cases, 
the depressing financial condition affects the eagerness 
and thoroughness of the search for candidates. 

After an exhaustive study of the full reports received 
from Societies that are carrying on by far the larger part 
of the foreign mission work in the world, we are irresistibly 
carried to the conclusion that two-thirds of them are 
finding it difficult, if not impossible, to secure the number 
of qualified candidates they are ready to send out, and 
all are agreed that no Society has as many properly 
equipped recruits as the work already in hand demands 
to say nothing of its enlargement. There is a dearth 
of candidates on all sides, both of men and of women, 
for regular evangelistic work as well as for more special 
departments. 

While the young men and women in the colleges and 



ENLISTMENT OF MISS10NAEIES 125 

universities are increasing in numbers, the work of foreign 
missions languishes because of the fewness of those who are 
ready to go to the front. It has been suggested repeatedly 
that an increased and increasing number of candidates 
would probably help most materially in arousing a new 
and substantial interest among the supporting con- 
stituency. Some missionary leaders go so far as to say 
that a new missionary usually brings with him a new 
contributing constituency adequate to supply his entire 
support. This suggests the enlisting of a larger body of 
young men and women for the service with the confident 
expectation that the example of their consecration will 
move Churches and individual donors to new sacrifice. 



II. METHODS EMPLOYED TO SECURE 
CANDIDATES 

IN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES AND COLLEGES 

The questions bearing upon the methods of reaching 
the students in educational institutions have brought out 
the fact from the Society secretaries that the theological 
seminaries and colleges are almost the only educational 
institutions where any measure of systematic effort is 
made to reach the students. In England this effort 
seems to be without system. The methods employed 
are varied, but may be summed up under correspondence 
and personal visitation by secretaries and others. 

Visitation seems to be the principal method, the visits 
including both addresses and interviews. Besides the 
visit by the secretary alone, some Societies in America 
hold " institutes " at the various seminaries. These are 
conducted in the interest of all the denominational 
Missionary Societies, home and foreign, and the semin- 
aries usually give up a day to the institute. The speakers 
include secretaries, pastors, and professors. 

Correspondence by the secretaries is the other method 
chiefly employed, and includes letters to applicants, 
prospective or actual, and correspondence with the 



126 THE HOME BASE 

presidents and professors, the secretary of the Christian 
Association, and the leader of the Student Volunteer 
Band. 

Contact with the students is secured by some Societies and 
in some denominations through a department of missions. 
Voluntary mission study classes are also found valuable. 
Two American theological seminaries report that each 
month a day is devoted by the faculty and students to 
conference and prayer for missions. This day gives an 
opportunity for the Board secretaries to reach the students. 

In Holland and Germany and France most of the 
missionary candidates are not drawn from the ^ class of 
theological students, but are trained by the Missionary 
Societies themselves. One or two British Societies also 
train men in this way. But in Great Britain, speaking 
generally, conditions regarding theological colleges are 
very much the same as in America, although reports 
show that Missionary Societies are in even less close 
and intimate relations with the faculties and students 
of some of these schools. The investigation Has made 
it clear that, while the recruits for missionary work are 
expected, for the most part, to come from the theological 
colleges, little systematic and persistent effort is made 
to bring the work of foreign missions forcibly arid per- 
sonally to the attention of these students and to put the 
burden of the work upon their hearts and consciences. 

We are not here referring to the work of the Student 
Volunteer organisations, which will be considered in 
another section of , this Report. We are concerned just 
now with the direct approach of the officers and members 
of Missionary Societies to students in training for their life 
work, with the purpose of iriipressirig upon them the great 
need and opportunity of the work of foreign missions. 

IN MEDICAL AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS 

The theological seminaries and colleges are practically 
all closely affiliated with one or another of the denomina- 
tions. Other professional schools are just as generally 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 127 

independent of denominational affiliation. This makes 
approach to them by denominational Societies difficult. 
In fact, the close co-operation which exists between the 
faculties of the theological seminaries and the secretaries 
of the Missionary Societies cannot be expected in the case 
of medical and other professional schools. Medical schools 
particularly present a problem. Yet the lack of medical 
candidates, reported by many of the Societies both in 
Europe and in America, finds at least a partial explanation 
in the corresponding lack of systematic effort, on the part 
of the Societies, to present to the medical students the 
claims of foreign missions. How to reach the students 
of the professional schools will require study, but the 
increasing need of the mission field for medical mission- 
aries, and especially qualified teacliers, demands that this 
study be given. Possibly, more effective use could be 
made in this connection of the aid which the Student 
Volunteer Movement or trie Young Men's CHristiaii 
Association may offer. 

IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES 

More is being done toward reaching the students in 
the colleges and universities in America than in the 
professional schools other than the theological seminaries. 
So far as can be learned from the information received, 
however, not more than two or three Missionary Societies 
are making systematic effort to present the claims of foreign 
missions to the students even of their denominational 
colleges, much less to the state and other undenomina- 
tional universities. Secretaries practically agree that in 
the general effort to secure applicants the emphasis should 
be laid, at least equally, upon the college and the profes- 
sional schools, and rhost place the college before the 
professional school in order of importance of emphasis. 
In view of this fact, the lack of systematic effort among, 
it least, the denominational colleges would seem seriously 
open to criticism. 



128 THE HOME BASE 

REASONS FOR LOSS OF CANDIDATES 

A certain proportion of those who, at some time or 
other during their school or college course, have indicated 
a purpose to give their lives to foreign mission work, 
never reach the field. This fact has been no small 
hindrance to the enlistment of others in the enter- 
prise. Of course, it can never be expected that all who 
form the purpose, especially those who do so early in 
their student course, will finally get to the field. The 
principal reasons suggested for this falling away of 
candidates are first, ill-health, and second, engagement 
or marriage to one who is unwilling or unable to go. 
These are difficulties which are met with by every Society. 
Other causes suggested are lack of close touch with 
secretaries ; insistence by officious friends, not infre- 
quently ministers, that they are more needed at home ; 
attraction of prospects in the home land ; family relation- 
ships, including opposition of parents and responsibilities 
for the members of the family ; unwillingness to face 
the difficulties of the foreign field ; debts ; stagnation 
of motive and weakening of conviction ; spiritual atrophy. 

Some of these difficulties are inevitable and cannot 
be removed entirely. It is not at all certain, however, 
that changes in policy on the part of the Societies might 
not aid in removing some of the other obstacles sug- 
gested. If means could be employed to prevent the 
stagnation of motive, many might be saved to the 
work, who now find their purpose grown cold before 
the time comes for making application. " Lack of 
touch with secretaries " is a most suggestive cause. A 
plan now being tried by one American Mission Board 
in one or two of the theological seminaries may possibly 
have in it some elements of helpfulness along this line. 
A carefully chosen missionary, at home on furlough, 
spends a month in residence at the seminary, living 
with the students, meeting them at their meals, in their 
rooms, and on the campus, giving talks or addresses as 
may be desired, answering the many questions which 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 129 

are asked regarding the life and work of the missionaries, 
and attempting in every way to arouse and maintain a 
personal interest on the part of the students. The plan 
has not been developed sufficiently to prove its value, 
but it is at least suggestive. In Great Britain, some 
of the Societies designate one of their ablest missionaries 
one who has power to interest students for special 
deputation work among students in their various institu- 
tions. This plan has met with encouraging success. 

In connection with this enquiry the question is per- 
tinent how to retain hold upon prospective applicants 
during their period of preparation. Many names come 
to the secretaries of all Societies of those who, after the 
completion of their preparation, expect to apply to the 
Board for appointment. What can be done to retain 
and to strengthen the hold which the Board has upon 
these possible missionaries ? Correspondence .seems to 
be the principal method now employed. Visitation of 
the colleges by the secretary is also emphasised. Some 
Societies keep a detailed record of prospective applicants, 
so that all data regarding them is constantly available. 
Others try to keep the men interested by having them 
present the cause of missions in neighbouring churches. 
No Society, however, reports a systematic plan. We 
probably underestimate the influence and inspirational 
power of a young life which has been consecrated to the 
service and is only biding the time until it can enter 
upon service abroad. 

Graduates who have been prevented by any reason 
from carrying out their purpose to become foreign mis- 
sionaries might be employed in deputation work more 
generally than is now the case. In fact, the replies 
received indicate that no Society whatever has any 
definite plan for utilising these young men and women. 
These men, during their college or seminary course, were 
deeply interested in foreign missionary work, and in 
many cases were actively engaged in the efforts of the 
Student Volunteer Band. The Societies were in touch with 
them during their course, and perhaps utilised their 
COM. vi. 9 



130 THE HOME BASE 

services, but as soon as they graduated they were lost 
track of. Doubtless, not a few of them might ulti- 
mately be appointed if closer hold could be retained upon 
them after they have taken up service at home, and, if 
rightly used by the Societies, they could at least be made 
a powerful force for increasing missionary interest in 
the Church. The whole subject of missionary deputa- 
tion work by students deserves careful study. 

Most of the Societies apparently do not encourage 
applications for appointment from students until near 
the completion of their course. The suggestion is made 
that this may be a mistaken policy. There are, of course, 
dangers and possibly embarrassments in making appoint- 
ments many months in advance of sailing, but it may 
be that the advantages may outweigh the disadvantages. 
Those appointed would thus be in more official touch 
with the Society, and would probably give themselves 
more earnestly to preparation for their work. The 
Society or Board would know more definitely on whom 
it can count. Probably less leakage would appear among 
volunteers. An appointed candidate is a more striking 
object lesson, especially to young people, than one who 
hopes to go some time. Some Societies make a distinc- 
tion between accepted and appointed candidates. 

It is evident from the replies received from the secre- 
taries that there is much yet to learn in the matter of 
.retaining hold upon prospective applicants. The prin- 
cipal difficulty lies in the fact that the secretary's time is 
already full to overflowing, and any new work such as this 
entails would come upon an already overburdened official. 

THE PLACE OF EMPHASIS IN SEEKING CANDIDATES 

Where should emphasis be principally laid in the 
general effort to secure applicants ; the preparatory 
school, the college, the professional school, the church, 
or the home ? The replies received indicate the con- 
viction on the part of most that missionary training 
in the home is supremely important, 



ENLISTMENT OF MSSIONAEIES 131 

A somewhat surprising result of this enquiry was the 
disclosure that most of the missionary secretaries seem 
to be convinced that in the efforts to secure applicants 
the college and university is more important as a place 
of emphasis than the theological seminary. One says : 
" Without any hesitation whatever, I would reply that 
the chief emphasis in the effort to secure applicants 
should be laid upon the college and particularly upon 
the last three years of the college course. }> Another 
says : ' l The critical time in the life of a missionary 
candidate is when he is finishing his Arts course, and 
entering upon his course in theology/' These state- 
ments would probably meet with general approval. 
Yet, as pointed out earlier in this paper, practically 
no organised or systematic effort is made by any of the 
Missionary Societies, with the possible exception of one 
or two, to reach the students in the colleges and 
universities. This is true throughout Europe as well as 
in America. 

It is a fact worthy of careful consideration that a 
very large number of missionaries, including many of 
the most eminent, received their first conscious " call " 
during the days of boyhood or girlhood. This would 
point to the need of giving much greater attention to 
the development of missionary interest in secondary 
and elementary schools. Prejudice against missions 
hardly exists among the young in the home. As youth 
develops into maturity, an attitude has been adopted 
either in favour of or against them. If a generation 
of students should go up to the college or university 
prejudiced against missions, it would be largely inac- 
cessible to appeals for missionary service. 

WHERE THE CANDIDATES COME FROM 

Some of the correspondents in Great Britain speak 
of the influence of keen, spiritual missionary parishes 
and congregations in turning the thoughts of young 
people to missionary work, and especially of the value, 



132 THE HOME BASE 

In this direction, of the actual departure of a member 
of such a parish or congregation to the foreign field. 
There is evidently more effort in Europe to turn the 
thoughts of youth to this service than appears from 
the correspondents in America. 

Investigation was made as to the proportion of 
college - trained candidates who have come from the 
smaller colleges. Some Societies in America receive by 
far the greater number of their missionaries from colleges 
and schools of their own denomination which are usually 
comparatively small. The question becomes rather one 
as to the value of the denominational college as a feeder 
to the mission field than as to the size of the college. 
Naturally the denominational colleges and missionary 
training schools have furnished most of the candidates, 
the State universities in America providing com- 
paratively few. The fact is that neither the Churches 
nor the foreign Missionary Societies have made effort 
to cultivate the State institutions and general uni- 
versities along missionary lines. Here is a large open 
field. Many of the strongest young men and women 
are students in the State institutions. 

THE STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT AND THE SUPPLY 
OF CANDIDATES 

All American Societies freely acknowledge the 
assistance the Student Volunteer Movement has 
rendered in their effort to secure candidates. The new 
Candidate Department of the Movement is mentioned 
in a number of the replies as having brought many 
applications which probably otherwise would not have 
been received. All join in giving credit to the Move- 
ment for most effective aid in awakening and strengthen- 
ing impression during the preparation of the students 
by the holding of Student Volunteer Conventions ; 
cultivation of Volunteer Bands ; the education of Student 
Volunteers by means of literature and mission study 
classes; the definiteness of the Student Volunteer 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 133 

Declaration as a help In maintaining the purpose to 
go abroad ; correspondence maintained by the Move- 
ment with candidates and with the Board, bringing the 
two into touch with each other. 

Naturally the subject of the qualifications of the 
missionary would call for consideration at this point, 
but as another Commission is dealing with this important 
matter at length, we merely refer to its Report. 

III. MOTIVES 

AMERICA 

This subject has been investigated because the state- 
ment is frequently made that the motives for mission 
work are not the same as they were a generation ago. 
One is given to understand that some new spirit has come 
into missions bringing with it a new motive for entering 
the service as well as for supporting the cause. It may 
be taken for granted that the motive that prompts the 
giving of money for the support of the work does not 
materially differ from the motive that leads to the con- 
secration of a life. 

This question has been widely investigated, and the 
replies that have come from practically all Missionary 
Societies in America are impressively unanimous in their 
evidence and convincing in the conclusions to which they 
lead. 

We can give but a brief list of the chief motives given 
by candidates applying for missionary appointment : 
" A profound sense of a definite call, to refuse which would 
be direct disobedience to God ; a longing for the salvation of 
the souls of the heathen who are perishing without Christ ; 
a deep and abiding desire for a life of the largest possible 
usefulness and service to humanity ; the experience of 
fellowship with some missionary ; the admiration of the 
candidate for some missionary character ; obedience to 
Christ's command ; the supreme need of the foreign 
fields ; a desire to serve as Christ served, and to pass on 
His love to others ; a desire to bring Christ's Kingdom 



,134 THE HOME BASE 

upon earth, and to win souls to Him ; the love of Christ ; 
the wish to alleviate suffering and to ameliorate social 
conditions ; the call for heroic sacrifice/ ' 

We might add to these quotations, but there would be 
a general sameness emphasising the sense of obligation 
to preach the Gospel to every creature, to go where one 
is most needed, and to place one's life where it will count 
for the most for eternity. 

In their appeals the different Societies follow the same 
general line of motives. They emphasise the command 
of Christ to His Church ; the fact that this command 
has not yet been fully obeyed ; the desperate need of 
the non-Christian world ; the marvellous and rewarding 
opportunity of this age for missionary activity ; and the 
wide scope which missionary service furnishes for the 
best investment of life. No Society seems to take the 
position that the burden of proof lies with the man who 
decides to stay at home, or, in other words, that unless 
every man can give a reasonable excuse for staying at 
home he must offer himself to go abroad. This is hardly 
a modern appeal, though it has exercised tremendous 
power. 

Space will not admit of quotations from the papers of 
a large number of missionary candidates, showing the 
purposes that moved them to offer themselves for service, 
but taken together they clearly reveal a realisation of 
what Christ has done and can do for the world; the 
transforming power of His Gospel ; a conviction of the 
necessity of making Him known unto every creature ; 
" the power/* as the martyred Daniel Miner Rogers, said, 
" of the Gospel to satisfy men's deepest needs, and the 
obligation resting upon the Church and every individual 
Christian because of this fact and because of the oppor- 
tunity to give men the Gospel." 

Therefore there remain as principal motives to foreign 
missionary service investment, need, Christ, and the 
greatest of these is that which is embodied in the word 
Christ. One young missionary summed up the matter 
in his own statement when a candidate : " I desire to 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONABIES 135 

fulfil the commission of our Lord because I believe He 
died for all irrespective of race ; because the need and 
opportunity are greatest upon the foreign field ; because 
I wish to make the most fruitful investment of my life ; 
and because my own inner convictions and my sense of 
consecration to the Saviour lead me toward that work." 

While the old motive may have been primarily to 
prepare men for the life after death, the present-day 
motive lays emphasis rather upon saving the individual, 
the community, the nation, for life here upon earth until 
this world shall be transformed into the likeness of 
heaven, the supposition being that one who is prepared 
to live will necessarily be prepared to die. While the 
expression of the modern purpose may differ somewhat 
from the expressions used by the men who volunteered 
a half-century and more ago, yet the same fundamental 
motives of investment, need, Christ have always actuated 
the missionary volunteer. 

What then shall constitute our persuasive appeal for 
men and women ? It must be the comprehensive three- 
fold motive Christ, need, investment. The first is, of 
course, the determining motive. Even though the young. 
Christian would inevitably have gone into Christian 
service, even though he may have had a sense of the need 
and opportunity abroad, he would not actually have gone, 
into far-off lands, there to abide for a lifetime, unless, 
driven by his personal obligation to his Lord. For it is, 
responsibility that is the mother of activity, and when, 
the obligation is laid upon the disciple by the Master^ 
the " call " is irresistible. 

Our appeal then is to the moral and religious needs of 
the foreign lands, the call for heroic sacrifice, the scarcity 
of qualified men and women for the enormous unfinished 
task, the story of what men and women have done and 
can do, the love of Jesus Christ. Above all, however, 
we must seek to lead young men and women up to the 
mountain- tops to be with Christ alone, whence they may 
look out upon the world from His point of view, catch 
His vision, listen to His voice, feel their own personal 



136 THE HOME BASE 

obligation, and respond in love and faith, " Here am I, 
send me." 

GREAT BRITAIN 

The British members of the Commission communicated 
with seven of the leading Societies as to the motives 
which had led the men and women who had been accepted 
during the last two years to come forward. Three 
Societies were unable to give any information. Some 
details of 160 cases were given by the other four. Of 
these it is interesting to note that a considerable number 
dated their desire for missionary work to their early 
days. In one list more than half decided in the early 
stages of their career " from boyhood's days ; result of 
a sermon at school ; desire from boyhood ; received the 
command clearly when quite young ; ever since ten ; 
the time of my conversion ; from schooldays ; when 
fourteen I heard a missionary preach our annual sermon 
and I heard God's call ; from earliest childhood my 
ambition was to give myself to missionary work ; from 
early years I have hoped to be a missionary ; from a 
child." The actual motives seem to fall under three 
heads : (i) obedience to Christ's command ; (2) a sense 
of the need in the mission field ; (3) a realisation of the 
great things Christ has done and a desire to make them 
known. Perhaps the women refer more frequently to 
their motive being a desire to obey Christ's command, but 
among the men in many cases there is evidentlya profound 
sense that God has called and they have answered. 
Others seem more impressed with the great need of the 
non-Christian world, and, there being no good reason 
why they should not go, have offered for service. Some 
say that they " would need a call to stay at home " ; 
" cannot settle in this land when the need abroad is so 
great ; " " there are so many at home and so few 
abroad ; " " a reasoned-out sense of the need." Others 
again, realising that Christ has done great things for them, 
are seized with a desire to pass on the good news " an 
earnest desire to extend His Kingdom " ; "a desire to 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 137 

tell others what I myself have learnt ; J> " a desire to 
spend my life where it will count most/' 



IV. THE STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT 

As the Student Volunteer Movement upon both sides 
of the Atlantic has for its object the securing of candidates 
for the work of the regular Societies, and as the organisa- 
tion has already assumed international proportions, 
it is essential that the work should have consideration 
in connection with this section of our Report. In Great 
Britain and upon the Continent the same movement is 
called " The Student Volunteer Missionary Union/' Both 
in Europe and in America it is an interdenominational 
organisation of students, with the object of leading 
students in colleges, universities, and theological schools 
to volunteer for personal missionary service and to offer 
to the Missionary Society of their own denomination. 
As the movement began in America, we will first out- 
line its present scope in that country. 

THE MOVEMENT IN AMERICA 

The Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign 
Missions originated at the first international Conference 
of Christian college students, which was held at Mount 
Hermon, Mass., U.S.A., in 1886, at the invitation of the 
late Dwight L. Moody. Of the 250 delegates who 
attended, twenty-one had definitely decided to become 
foreign missionaries when the Conference opened. 
Before the Conference closed, one hundred of the dele- 
gates had put themselves on record as being " willing and 
desirous, God permitting, to become foreign missionaries." 

The Student Volunteer Movement is in no sense a 
Missionary Board. It is simply a recruiting agency. 
Those who become student volunteers are expected 
to go out as missionaries of the regular established 
missionary organisations of the Church to which they 
belong. It is unswervingly loyal to the Church, and 



138 THE HOME BASE 

has received the endorsement of every leading Missionary 
Society in America. 

Student volunteers are drawn from those who are 
or have been students in institutions of higher learning 
in the United States and Canada. Each student 
volunteer signs the " declaration " of the Movement, 
which is as follows : 

" It is my purpose, if GOD permit, to become a foreign 
missionary." 

The field for which the Student Volunteer Movement, 
as an agency of the Church, is held responsible, is the 
promotion of missionary life and activity in the 1000 
institutions of higher learning in the United States and 
Canada, in which more than 250,000 students are matri- 
culated. 

It works among all denominations and all the in- 
stitutions of higher learning. It is, therefore, inter- 
denominational, intercollegiate, and international, and is 
thoroughly organised for the successful accomplishment 
of its work. 

The student volunteers in an institution are organised 
into a volunteer band. The objects of the volunteer 
band are to deepen the missionary purpose and spiritual 
lives of the members, to secure other volunteers, and to 
promote mission study in the college. Connected with 
each Young Men's or Young Women's Christian Associa- 
tion in the college there is a missionary committee whose 
duty is to cultivate the missionary life of the institution. 
The educational department of the Movement, under 
the direction of the educational secretary, has to do with 
the conduct of the mission study classes in the colleges. 

In order to be of greater service to all the Missionary 
Societies in helping them to secure the very best men and 
women to go as missionaries, a candidate secretary 
was appointed, in the fall of 1907 ; his work is to 
familiarise himself with the various posts on the mission 
field for which missionaries are needed, and to suggest 
men and women qualified for these places to the various 
missionary agencies. Almost every American Board 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 139 

has been aided during the past year in finding properly 
qualified candidates. 

The volunteers in cities which are large student centres, 
and, in some States, are organised into unions. The 
purpose of these unions is to promote the missionary 
interest in the different colleges represented in them. 
In the United States and Canada, there are held each 
year seven student conferences for men and five for 
women. At each one of these conferences special atten- 
tion is given to developing the missionary life and 
activity among students. At these conferences mis- 
sionary " institutes " are held to train the leaders of 
volunteer bands, of mission study classes, and other 
missionary activities of the institutions represented. 

Once in four years an international convention is 
assembled. To this come students and professors from 
the leading institutions of higher learning in North 
America. Five such conventions have been held. These 
conventions have been from the beginning powerful 
factors in developing the missionary life and activity 
among students, and in leading them to offer themselves 
for missionary service. 

The Volunteer Movement has touched nearly, if not 
quite, 1000 institutions of higher learning in North 
America. Upon 800 of these institutions it has brought 
to bear one or more of its agencies with such constancy 
and thoroughness as to make an effective missionary 
impression. This includes nearly all of the American 
and Canadian colleges and theological seminaries of 
influence. 

The number of students intending to become mis- 
sionaries is over five times as great in the colleges, 
and fully twice as great in the theological seminaries, 
as was the case when the Volunteer Movement was 
inaugurated. 

The Movement has on its records the names of 4377 
volunteers who, prior to 3ist December 1909, had reached 
the mission field, having been sent out as missionaries 
of more than fifty different Missionary Societies of the 



140 



THE HOME BASE 



United States and Canada. About one-third of the 
volunteers are women. 

Including the regular denominational Societies under 
which nearly all of the volunteers have gone out, and 
also certain undenominational and special Societies, the 
number of different agencies under which volunteers are 
serving is very nearly one hundred. While the greatest 
proportion are engaged in evangelistic work, a large 
number have entered medical and educational missions, 
and every other phase of missionary activity is re- 
presented in the forms of service in which the volunteers 
are occupied. It is estimated that about 75 per cent, 
of these assign the Student Volunteer Movement as the 
determining cause of their entering foreign mission work. 

The American student volunteers who have already 
sailed have gone to the following countries : 



Mexico 

Central America 

South America 

West Indies . 

Latin and Greek Church Countries 

Africa 

Turkish Empire 

Arabia 

Persia 

India, Burma, and Ceylon 

Siam, Laos, and 

China 

Korea 

Japan 

Philippine Islands . 

Oceania 

Miscellaneous 

Total 



[ Straits Sett ements 



of Europe 



136 
28 

265 
130 

21 
469 
158 

21 

39 
848 

79 

1254 

2OI 

379 

I3i 

57 

161 

4377 



In addition to those who go abroad, thousands of 
young men and women in the colleges are, year by year, 
entering other callings with the missionary spirit. 

As soon as the Movement entered the field, it in- 
augurated an educational missionary campaign which 
has become increasingly extensive and efficient. Few, 
if any, Christian students pass through college without 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 141 

being brought face to face with the most important 
facts about the non-Christian world and the missionary 
responsibility of the Church. 

By far the greatest service, however, in promoting 
missionary education has been through the mission study 
department which was organised sixteen years ago. 
At that time an investigation revealed that in all the 
institutions of higher learning in the United States and 
Canada there were less than a score of classes carrying 
on a progressive study of missions. Since then the 
Movement has organised mission study classes in 600 
different institutions. During the past year there were 
2084 mission study classes with an enrolment of 25,208 
students. 

During this period the Movement has authorised the 
use of forty different courses of mission study either 
written or adapted for use among students. Prior to 
this there were no mission text-books available. Thirty 
of these courses have been prepared entirely under the 
auspices of the Movement. The promotion of mission 
study has greatly stimulated reading on missions. This 
in turn has led to the formation of large collections of 
missionary books in many of the colleges and seminaries. 

Not a little has been done by the Movement to improve 
the provision in theological seminaries for missionary 
instruction. Conferences of theological professors for 
the discussion of this most vital question have been held 
under the auspices of the Volunteer Movement. To these 
special conferences, as well as to the discussions in the 
meetings of professors at the international conventions, 
is traceable no small part of the progress made in this 
direction. 

Some denominations, through their own organisations, 
are developing this movement among their own students 
in large universities and in their denominational colleges. 
To all such endeavours the Student Volunteer Movement 
lends every assistance in its power. 

The growing missionary interest among students has 
culminated in the organisation of large Mission enter- 



142 THE HOME BASE 

prises in some of the leading Universities, such as the Yale 
Mission, the Oberlin missionary educational undertaking, 
the Princeton Movement on behalf of the literati of China, 
the plan of the University of Pennsylvania to establish a 
Medical College in Canton, China, and the Harvard 
University effort for a medical work in China. 

Important as has been the work among students in 
America as an agency to promote the evangelisation of 
foreign mission lands, many consider that it has exerted 
an equally indispensable influence on the development of 
the best Christian life at home. Its direct and indirect 
influence on the religious life of the student communities 
has been indeed great. It has strengthened their belief 
in the fundamentals of Christianity. It has enlarged 
the content of their faith by its contribution in the sphere 
of apologetics. By bringing before them the difficulties 
involved in the evangelisation of the world, it has exer- 
cised and developed their faith. By bringing their 
attention to the triumphs of Christianity in the most 
difficult fields, it has strengthened faith. By exhibiting 
to them the present-day power of Christ among the nations, 
it has tended to steady faith at a period when, in the case 
of so many students, the foundations of belief are shaken. 

When this work began, interest among students in the 
world- wide programme of Christ was confined almost ex- 
clusively to the theological seminaries and a few scores of 
denominational colleges, and, with the exception of a few 
medical student centres, was a matter of concern chiefly to 
those expecting to enter the ministry; now, the missionary 
spirit is as strong in State and undenominational institu- 
tions as in most of the Christian colleges, and students 
of all faculties or departments of learning alike are 
recognising their common opportunity and responsibility 
for spreading the knowledge of Christ throughout the 
world. 

THE MOVEMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN 

The Student Volunteer Missionary Union of Great 
Britain was organised in 1892, and its aims and methods 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 143 



correspond in the main to those of the American Move- 
ment. Since its formation, the number of students who 
have volunteered up to March 1909 is shown in the follow- 
ing table : 



Sailed to the mission field 

In College 

Still in preparation 

Temporarily hindered 

Permanently hindered 

Withdrawn 

Waiting classification 

Missing . 

Died before sailing 



Men 


Women 


Total 


1040 


345 


1385 


. 495 


197 


656 


189 


187 


375 


104 


65 


169 


163 


5i 


214 


*94 


75 


269 


83 


13 


96 


67 


20 


87 


24 


8 


32 



2323 



961 



3284 



Great care has been taken in Great Britain in the use 
of the Declaration Card, and the number of those who 
volunteer and do not reach the mission field, for reasons 
other than physical unfitness, does not amount to more 
than about 8 per cent, of the whole. 

As in the American Movement, large international 
conferences are held every four years, and the claims of 
foreign missionary work are urged at the annual Summer 
Conference of the Student Christian Movement. 

Missionary study has been developed in recent years 
with great success in most of the colleges. There are 
at present more than 250 Mission Study Circles in the 
colleges, with a membership of about 1600 students. 
One outcome of the work of missionary study has been 
the carrying out by students of missionary campaigns 
in different centres in England and Scotland. In a recent 
campaign in Aberdeen, upwards of 150 students took 
part. 

The Executive Committee of the Union plans that 
every college in the British Isles should, so far as possible, 
be visited at least once a year by a secretary f the Union, 
the chief business of the visiting secretary being to lay 
the claims of the mission field before students by public 
address and by private conversation. These secretaries 



144 THE HOME BASE 

are sometimes recent graduates and sometimes missionaries 
who are at home on furlough. 1 

THE MOVEMENT UPON THE CONTINENT 

Upon the continent of Europe the making of a declara- 
tion or the signing of a volunteer card has not met with 
favour. Such an act is regarded in the light of antici- 
pating God's leading and the projection of the human 
will into the Divine plan. In Holland there is the feeling 
that one who has given himself over to God's guidance 
cannot make a declaration as to what he will do in the 
future without being disloyal to God. 

In Switzerland, Germany, and Holland a modified 
form of the Volunteer Movement has been reorganised 
into a kind of sub-union of supporting friends, embracing 
those who are especially interested in missions, but who are 
not ready to make a statement regarding their life-work. 

In Holland, under the old plan, there were never more 
than eight volunteers. In 1908 the reorganisation 
with the Student Missionary Movement took place, 
including those who are earnestly interested in missions, 
and who wish to co-operate with the aims and purposes 
of the Movement, to promote the study of missions, to 
deepen the sense of personal responsibility, and to put 
before students the importance of personal consecration 
to that work. Volunteering is not discouraged. The 
organisation now has over sixty members, of whom 
twelve are volunteers. There are others whose earnest 
desire is to become missionaries. 

The situation is still different in France. There exists 
in Paris a union of "the Friends of Missions." These 
different methods are attempts to solve the problem 
of insufficient missionary candidates in a manner suited 
to the conditions in each country, 

1 The address oi the Student Volunteer Missionary Union in 
Great Britain is 93 Chancery Lane, London; that of the Student 
Volunteer Movement in America is 125 East 2/th Street, New 
York. 



ENLISTMENT OF MISSIONARIES 145 

DEVELOPMENT OF PLANS FOR RECRUITING STUDENTS 

The Commission is convinced that it is of supreme 
importance that work for and among students in all 
colleges, universities, and theological schools should be 
vigorously pressed. We regard this plan of work as the 
most effective possible for winning recruits for the service 
and permanent friends for the cause. At the same time, 
we are convinced that there should be closer co-opera- 
tion between the various denominational Missionary 
Societies and the Student Volunteer Movement. It is- 
essential that the student volunteer should early become 
connected with a Missionary Society, under which he 
will probably go to the field. The time has come for the- 
Societies to open a new department in their home organisa- 
tions for the recruiting of student forces and for thek 
wise direction into the place of greatest need. 



COM. VI. 10 



CHAPTER X 

FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE 
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE 

THE success of foreign missions largely depends upon 
the financial support it receives and upon the candi- 
dates available for appointment. The investigation 
by this Commission reveals the fact that there is not 
a leading Missionary Society in Europe or America that 
is properly supported. In the judgment of the officers 
of all of these Societies, work that ought to be done is 
left undone, open doors are unentered, and even what 
has been begun is often disastrously neglected because 
of the insufficiency of the financial support. This is a 
condition that confronts the great Missionary Societies 
of the world to-day. In order that there may be no 
misunderstanding, it should be stated at this point that 
there is no Missionary Society which believes that success 
depends wholly upon financial support. There is a uni- 
versal expression of opinion that it is through the Divine 
Spirit that missions will and must succeed. No matter 
how abundant the funds, or how many the worthy candi- 
dates for appointment, unless the work itself is owned 
of God and the workers at home and abroad are under 
His direct guidance, the work will fail. With this state- 
ment at the outset we can return to the discussion of 
the financial side of the question, which is indeed an 
important element in the operations of every Missionary 
Society. 
It has been characteristic of the foreign missionary 

146 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT 147 

enterprise as a whole that it has been carried on to a 
large extent by Societies within the Church rather than 
by the Church itself acting through its official machinery. 
Even where foreign missionary work has been conducted 
by a Committee appointed by the recognised ecclesiastical 
authorities, as in Scotland, interest in the work has been 
confined to a comparatively limited circle of people 
and has not characterised the Church as a whole. 
Until the Church realises its missionary obligation to 
evangelise the world, and until it enters upon the fulfil- 
ment of the same with all its corporate strength, it will 
never attain full power upon earth as the living body 
of its Lord. 

APPORTIONMENT PLAK 

A movement has recently been started in America 
in several denominations which, if successful, will put 
responsibility for the support of the foreign missionary 
work upon the Church as a whole. It is called the 
Apportionment Plan. The plan contemplates 

1. A decision on the part of the denomination as to 
what its immediate responsibility is for the support of 
its foreign missionary work. 

2. The apportionment of that responsibility among the 
local churches in the different civil or ecclesiastical 
areas. 

3. The subdivision of this apportionment among the 
individual churches, so that each church will know its 
assigned share of the amount to be raised for the support 
of foreign missions for any particular year. 

In favour of this plan is the fact that it answers the 
question so often raised by local churches when asked to 
contribute to the foreign work, " What is our share ? " 
There is a feeling on the part of some that they do not 
wish to give more than a legitimate proportion, while 
wishing to give all that they should give properly to 
support the denominational missionary work. This plan 
is meeting with some opposition, but upon the whole 
with unexpected success. Under the plan many local 



148 THE HOME BASE 

churches at the beginning of the year officially decide 
that during the year they will raise a certain fixed amount 
for the support of the foreign missionary work of the 
denomination, and then plans are inaugurated for securing 
from the congregation the amount thus voted. 

In estimating the amount to be raised for the support 
of the missionary work of any communion, the plan has 
not been generally adopted of making an appeal to the 
denomination to provide the total amount which the 
Missionary Society ought to have in order fully to occupy 
the field abroad for which it is responsible. One strong 
advocate of the plan of a full and comprehensive state- 
ment of the actual needs claims that progress has been 
greatly hindered by the lack of a comprehensive policy 
and a clear statement of the amount which, in the judg* 
ment of those who are most familiar with the field, would 
be adequate for the accomplishment of the task of 
evangelising the world. On the other hand, there are 
many who believe that the statements which Missionary 
Societies would thus furnish would appear at once to be 
so far in advance of what is possible that it would tend 
to paralyse effort. Many claim that the plan would 
appear so ideal and impracticable that it would discredit 
the missionary work in the eyes of many leading con- 
tributors, if not of Christians generally. 

In the United States and Canada several denominations 
have made announcement of the amount of money 
they require each year to accomplish the task of evangel- 
isation to which they have set their hand. These represent 
from two to six or seven times the total present receipts 
of the respective Societies. Other Societies have declined 
to issue such comprehensive statements. At the same 
time, all the Societies freely declare that they need a 
better and more liberal support in order to carry on 
their work abroad. In Great Britain one leading Society 
asks its constituency for an increase of some 20 per cent, 
to support its work, while it declares that " adequately 
to meet the needs in the fields for which it is responsible 
it ought to have a sixfold increase/' Another great 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT 149 

Society in England is confident that it should have, 
in order to fulfil its obligations, a fivefold increase. 
Neither of these organisations, however, is putting 
these maximum figures before its supporters and calling 
upon them for that large advance at once. Those 
Missionary Societies that have endeavoured to deter- 
mine their maximum annual needs hope to reach the 
end they have in view by a proportionate increase each 
year. 

The Apportionment Plan above referred to, which is 
at the present time being widely adopted in some of the 
denominations in America, is meeting with marked success. 
This plan puts the responsibility for its missionary work 
upon the Church as a whole, while at the same time it 
assures the Missionary Societies of certain fixed amounts 
for their future work. Many local churches under the 
inspiration of this plan have more than doubled their 
regular contributions for the support of the work, and 
have done this without apparent difficulty. The plan 
has brought into the support of foreign missions many 
who have hitherto stood aloof. It has made the contri- 
bution for the foreign missionary cause no longer dependent 
upon the moving character of the address given on the 
day the offering is made, or upon the weather affecting 
the attendance at that time. The money pledged is 
collected during the year by different methods, according 
to a plan devised by each local church, the one thing 
constantly kept to the front being that the amount 
decided upon at the beginning of the year is to be secured. 
In most local churches a missionary committee is organised 
which has for its object the seeing of every individual 
connected with the congregation, and soliciting from 
each a contribution towards meeting the obligation for 
world evangelisation that has been accepted. 

EVERY MEMBER A SUPPORTER 

In recent years in both Europe and America the idea 
has been suggested of securing from every member of 



160 THE HOME 

every parish or congregation a contribution for the 
support of foreign missions. There are a few individual 
instances in every denomination in which that ideal has 
been nearly reached, but they are comparatively rare. 
But all agree that effort should not be relaxed until all 
members or communicants have a share in the support 
of a work the responsibility for which belongs to the 
Church as a whole, and should not rest upon a com- 
paratively small number. 

It must be evident that missions cannot reach the 
height of their success until every member of every local 
church or parish contributes to this work to the extent 
of his ability. Until such genera] interest and support 
is secured, the Church as a whole will not be doing its 
duty in carrying the Gospel of Christ to the nations of 
the earth. While many Missionary Societies have set 
before them the ideal of securing an adequate gift, not 
only from every congregation, but from every member 
in each congregation, this standard has not been reached 
or even approached. 

In some of the denominations in the United States 
from one-tenth to one-third of the local churches have 
no share in the foreign missionary work of the denomina- 
tion. In considering this statement we must not lose 
sight of the fact that in America there are many con- 
gregations recently planted in the newer sections of the 
country which are still themselves receiving financial 
assistance in the conduct of their own work. Even 
these aided churches should, for their own sakes, have 
a substantial share in the larger work, although many, 
as yet, are non-contributors. One of the extreme cases, 
which is acknowledged to be unusual, is the case of a 
single denomination containing 21,291 congregations, of 
which 10,118 gave nothing last year for the support 
of the foreign missionary work. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that the average giving per capita for foreign 
missions for that entire denomination last year was only 
$*22, or less than one shilling. There are also in the United 
States, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Danish, and other 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT 

foreign congregations which have not, as yet, become 
affiliated with the general work of their denomination. 
Here is a wide field for education and cultivation, that 
these churches may grow in spiritual knowledge and 
vision. Yet, even after making allowance for these 
exceptional cases, there is still immense room for improve- 
ment in respect of the congregational support given to 
missionary work. 

In Europe there is not the same disproportion between 
the contributing and the non-contributing parishes or 
congregations. There are denominations in Great 
Britain in which practically every local church con- 
tributes something annually for the support of its Mis- 
sionary Society. Upon the Continent also the con- 
gregational support of missions is more general than in 
America. In America there are home missionary problems 
of a special kind* In most of the denominations in 
America larger sums are given for home missions, or for 
the extension of the Church upon the frontiers and 
among the poorer sections, or among foreign populations 
in the country, than are contributed to foreign missions. 
There is hardly a communion that does not contribute 
as much for church extension within the borders of 
America as it gives for the same work ia foreign countries. 

The Commission has been able to secure a mass of 
data from individual churches in the United States 
which warrants the conclusion that but a small propor- 
tion of the church members make an annual offering 
for foreign missions. It is probably well within the 
truth to say that nine-tenths of the funds raised in the 
United States for foreign missions are contributed by 
one-tenth of the members of the Protestant bodies, 
the remaining nine-tenths of the members giving the 
other one- tenth. This statement is accepted as true by 
several of the leading denominations. The average 
amount given by each church member for the support 
of the foreign missionary work is so low as to show either 
that the giving of most of the members is inadequate 
or that a large number give nothing at aH. 



152 THE HOME BASE 

While it has been impossible to secure general statistics 
for any one country showing the average amount given by 
each church member for the support of foreign mission- 
ary work, nevertheless some denominations have, after 
careful investigation, secured reports which are fairly 
accurate. It is also reasonable to assume that the reports 
thus secured represent, to a degree, the situation in all 
other denominations. The Baptist Union of Great 
Britain and Ireland reports its average receipts per church 
member for foreign missions from living donors to be 
3s. 5jd. or about $-85. The Wesleyan Methodist Mission- 
ary Society of England reports the average receipts per 
member from living donors to be 55. 9|d. or $1-44. 

The contributions from the living donors of the follow- 
ing communions in America for the support of their 
foreign missionary work is, on the average per capita 
of church membership, as follows : 

$ s. d. 
Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the 

Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. . '66 or 3 8 
American Baptist Foreign Mission Society . -65 J- 2 /f- 
Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist 

Episcopal Church '$3$ > * 6 f 

American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 

Missions (Congregational) .... 1*03^ 4 if 
Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian 

Church in the U.S.A. .... 1-05 4 2 1 

Foreign Missions Committee Presbyterian 

Church in Canada '85 3 5 

Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, 

Canada '63 2 6 

Executive Committee of Foreign Missions of the 

Presbyterian Church in the U.S. . . . i'6o 6 5 
Board of Foreign Missions of the United Presby- 
terian Church of North America . . . 2*25 9 o 
Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed 

Church in America i*54 6 2 

Society of United Brethren for Propagating the 

Gospel among the Heathen (Moravian Church) 1*23 ,, 4 n-J- 

Taking twenty of the leading denominations of the 
United States whose returns are the most complete, we 
find that the living members of these denominations 
together gave last year, for the support of their own work, 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT 153 

and for the propagation of the Gospel In the United States, 
an average of $11*40 per member, and that the same 
constituency gave for foreign missionary work an average 
of a fraction over $72 about three shillings per 
member. In making this estimate, the amount given for 
interdenominational efforts both at home and abroad is 
not included. 

These facts would seem to demand some practical 
plan to bring the claims of missionary work to the personal 
and serious consideration of every communicant. We 
frequently speak of the necessity of giving every person 
an adequate opportunity to know Jesus Christ as his 
Redeemer and Lord ; we should also plan to give every 
communicant of a Christian Church an adequate oppor- 
tunity to contribute to the work of making Jesus Christ 
known to all men. 

In order to accomplish this worthy and necessary end 
there must be careful organisation and persistent effort 
by men, not leaving the task to women and children. 
Growing out of the Laymen's Movement and the Appor- 
tionment Plan in America there is a tendency, which seems 
to be gaining ground, to organise collecting committees 
of men in every congregation to undertake the personal 
visitation of every church member who is able to give a 
substantial sum for missions, and secure his subscription. 
This plan, although making heavy demands upon the 
men who serve upon the missionary committees, is most 
successfully widening interest and increasing the con- 
tributions. 

GIFTS FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES 

In the consideration of the financial support of missions 
there are few questions that are more persistently at the 
front than that connected with the reception and use of 
special gifts, made not to the general treasury of the 
Board, but to some particular object or special phase of 
the work. In many cases no embarrassment follows, and 
the gift is gladly received and appropriated ; but in other 
instances the object may not be worthy, or not in pressing 



154 THE HOME BASE 

need, or it may be that the appropriation of the gift in 
accordance with the wishes of the donor will involve the 
Board and the Mission in future obligations which they are 
reluctant to accept. 

Still more serious is the proposal frequently made to 
extend the regular operations of the Society by the 
opening of a new mission, or a new station, or the sending 
of a missionary to a new centre, all of which involve an 
increased and permanent outlay upon the part of the 
Board. In every instance the donor expects that the new 
work thus inaugurated will be continued and properly 
supported. Many Societies have thus been saddled with 
heavy burdens of expenditure by friends of the cause, who, 
in their zeal, have practically dictated to the Boards, 
compelling future appropriations from its regular funds 
for the purpose of continuing what has thus been begun. 

In addition to this there is the increasing desire upon the 
part of local churches and individuals to support a 
missionary in the field, the contributing party giving an 
amount decided upon as an equivalent for the mis- 
sionary's support. 

The replies, while making it clear that all Societies 
are facing the same general situation, clearly indicate 
that they are not dealing with these questions in any uni- 
form or systematic way. The marked increase of desig- 
nated contributions for objects outside of the approved work 
of the Board is viewed with no little anxiety by the officers 
of nearly all of these Societies. Endeavour is made by 
most Boards to induce the donor to allow his gift to go 
in support of the regular and systematic work; but, 
failing that, unless the gift is for purposes quite contrary 
to the regular work and policy of the Society, or liable 
to involve the Board in new obligations it is unwilling 
to assume, it is usually accepted and appropriated for 
the object designated by the donor. At the same time 
an effort is made to keep the special objects in line with 
the regular work. 

While these facts are accepted, we must also recognise 
that so long as donors are constituted as they now are* 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT 155 

they will give more liberally to something that is specific 
than to a cause in the abstract or to the general work 
of the Society. We know it to be a fact that after all 
has been given that can be expected for the regular 
work of the Society, there will still be many who will 
quickly and liberally respond to a personal appeal for 
some special object, provided that the object be clearly 
and effectively presented. This reveals a side of human 
nature that Missionary Societies must reckon with in 
their endeavour to secure funds for the support of their 
missions. They must recognise the power and value of 
the concentrated appeal for an object that is clearly 
defined. 

In full recognition of the value of the special appeal,, 
many of the Mission Boards in America have adopted 
what is called " the station plan," by which the work 
of some single station, or even of an entire mission, is 
divided up into shares, and these shares are assigned to 
local churches, societies of young people, Sunday Schools, 
and individuals for support. The division is so made 
that generally a single share costs about $30 or 6. All 
who take a single share or more receive periodically 
a report from the station or mission they thus aid in 
supporting. This plan has the advantage of a specific 
appeal, while at the same time it guards the general 
appropriations of the Society. In making the specific 
appeal in this case the work of the entire station is used,, 
and each one taking a share assumes a proportionate 
proprietorship in the work of the station or mission. 
A mission is taken for this purpose only in the case of 
some very liberal donors, or where a large special class 
is appealed to, such as young people's societies or Sunday 
Schools. 

When all the shares for the support of one station 
are taken, another is opened, and thus it is possible that 
the general budget of the Society may be apportioned 
out to shareholders who become annual subscribers to 
the work. Most Mission Boards offer, at the same time* 
shares in stations in different countries, in order that 



156 THE HOME BASE 

supporters may have a choice. This " station plan" 
has proved attractive to many who have been hitherto 
inclined to insist upon knowing definitely the objects 
supported by their gifts. The reports from the stations 
have been sufficiently specific to satisfy them and to 
hold their interest and their support. 

Another method adopted by some Societies is to 
select from the list of objects calling for support under 
the regular annual appropriations of the Society, some 
specific things which have had the approval of the mission, 
and reserve them for presentation to those who insist 
upon having some special object presented before they 
make their gifts. These include objects like school 
buildings, hospitals, houses for missionaries, or a fund 
for the support of ill or disabled missionaries. Many 
Societies have found it profitable to have constantly 
on hand a list of such approved objects for presentation 
to those who are seeking for such, or for use in public 
appeal where specific emphasis is desired. 

Another plan with the same end in view, which has been 
adopted by some Societies upon both sides of the Atlantic, is 
to assign missionaries to individuals, local churches, and 
organisations within the Church for their specific support. 
The missionaries of some women's Societies are almost if 
not entirely supported by local branches or organisations. 
The plan has much in its favour, and has resulted in calling 
out many enthusiastic gifts that otherwise could not 
have been secured. Some Societies that were not at all 
inclined to adopt this method of raising funds for the 
support of their missionaries, have been compelled to 
do so by congregations and individual donors asking to 
be assigned a missionary for their support. Under the 
impulse of this personal appeal many congregations 
have easily doubled and even quadrupled their gifts. 
While there are incidental disadvantages in the plan, 
upon the whole it is proving effective in providing the 
special object demanded by so many in order to enlist 
and retain their interest, while it maintains the unity 
of the work abroad. Of course it is understood in every 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT 157 

case that the missionaries thus supported do not thereby 
change in any degree their attitude and relations to 
their directing Board. Their relations to the supporting 
body are personal, and not official. One American Society 
that has under appointment 990 foreign missionaries 
has assigned 927 of these for support to churches, groups 
of churches, Sunday Schools, young people's Societies, 
theological seminaries, women's Boards, and individuals. 
Missionary Societies are practically agreed that, for 
the best interest of the work, all gifts should go through 
the regular channels, subject to the appropriation and 
control of the executive committee. At the same time 
they are convinced that the desire to locate gifts and to 
hear directly from the individual supported is so natural 
and general that it cannot be ignored, but must be 
indulged in a measure and provided for by some such 
plans as those suggested above. None of the Societies 
hesitate to decline to, receive jifts that cannot be wisely 
used, or such as would involve in an unwarranted manner 
the future interests of the Boards as a whole. All are 
compelled to meet and answer the enthusiastic individual 
who is eager to contribute for " new work/' It is easier 
to secure funds for a new enterprise than it is to support 
what is already established. There seems to be a general 
desire to send a missionary where none has ever gone, 
establish a native preacher where there was none before, 
open a school for children that never studied, and send 
a physician where the people never saw a doctor. 
Hundreds will give freely for an object like the above 
who can hardly be persuaded to take an interest in main- 
taining a preacher, teacher, hospital, or missionary 
already established in his work and successfully pro- 
secuting it. As it would be ruinous to any Society 
continually to be opening new work unless increased 
gifts can be secured for its permanent support, great care 
must be exercised in accepting the " new work " offerings. 
Not infrequently some one of the plans outlined above 
can be so presented to such friends that they can be 
induced to abandon the " new work " idea. To meet 



MS THE HOME BASE 

these conditions and conserve the work with the least loss 
on the one hand, and substantial gain on the other, it is 
generally agreed that there is much advantage in assign- 
ing regular work for specific support. While this increases 
correspondence and requires much attention to details, at 
the same time it conserves the unity of the work and 
informs and encourages the contributors. Missionary 
Societies might well take into consideration provision 
for meeting this demand for closer relation between 
donors of special funds and the object for which con- 
tributions are made. Even entire departments, like 
medical work, have been successfully set aside under a 
special secretary who makes appeal to, and receives re- 
sponses from, those who wish for something more definite 
than a gift to the Society as a whole. In the case of 
one Society the whole cost of its medical work, amounting 
to over 39,000, is covered by the special medical fund. 

In aU this method of appeal the loyalty and co-opera- 
tion of the missionaries In the field and at home on 
furlough is absolutely essential. 

There is no Missionary Society that does not feel the 
importance of having the young people in the Sunday 
Schools and in the Young People's Unions and Societies 
so trained that they will in early youth form the habit 
of giving for missions. This subject has been touched 
upon in another part of this Report. In the practical 
application of this idea to the Sunday Schools and young 
people there is general agreement that no ideal method 
for accomplishing this has yet been discovered. Here is a 
broad and fruitful field for investigation and study. It 
is only by holding the young loyal to the cause that we can 
ever expect a loyal Church in the future. The Missionary 
Societies as a whole are not paying sufficient attention to 
this matter. There are bright spots in the picture, as, for 
example, one large denomination in the United States, in 
which every Sunday School is organised into a missionary 
society, and every scholar in each school is a member of 
the society. On the other hand, in some denominations 
there is almost no systematic effort to secure gifts from 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT 

the Sunday School scholars and from the young people 
as such, and, as one might anticipate, the amount actually 
received is very small. During recent years there has been 
a marked growth of giving among the students of North 
America. It is of great importance that the habit of 
systematic giving should be developed [among college 
men and ^women, \ some of whom will later^ become 
possessors of great wealth, and many of whom will occupy 
places of leadership in the thought and activity of the 
Church. 

It has been suggested that by the proper use of the 
" station plan/' or the attractive presentation of special 
objects, the young people and children may become 
enthusiastic supporters of missionary work. The plans 
suggested in other parts of this Report for mission study, 
if properly carried out, ought in time to bring about a 
change in the situation. 

MOTIVES FOR GIVING 

With regard to the motives for giving, the Commission 
has made extensive enquiries. There is no question that 
a large proportion of the funds given to foreign missions 
is given from the highest and best motives. On the 
other hand, it cannot be denied that in every congregation 
there are men and women who give because they " suppose 
they ought to give to foreign missions/' or because they 
are asked, and who certainly would not offer the gift if 
it were not applied for. 

Seventy per cent, of the answers received place the 
religious motive first, while the remainder lay emphasis 
on the philanthropic or humanitarian motive, or upon 
motives of a more incidental and indirect kind. 

One secretary of a Society states that the appeal to 
humanitarian instincts frequently secured the best 
results financially. Among the more casual motives of 
which mention is made are an intellectual interest in 
foreign countries, the belief that missions promote com- 
merce and are a "paying investment," and a general 



160 THE HOME BASE 

feeling that it is the correct thing to support work under- 
taken by the Church. 

It has to be borne in mind that even when a right motive 
for giving has been supplied, it is necessary that definite 
steps should be taken to establish and maintain the habit 
of giving. 

There are vast resources in the Church for the evangelisa* 
tion of the world that have not yet been made available, 
but which should be and may be brought into the treasury 
of the Lord. It is the privilege and the duty of those 
who are engaged in the work of missions so to plan that 
proportionate giving shall be the rule of the Church and 
not the exception. 

There is no question of the ability of Christendom to 
provide the material means necessary for the accom- 
plishment of the task. An annual increase in offerings 
should be secured to enable all the Missionary Societies 
to advance in their work each year, to the limit of wise 
and safe enlargement, until all the non-Christian world 
shall be adequately occupied. There is no reason, apart 
from selfish indifference, why, within ten years, or before 
the next general Missionary Conference, sufficient re- 
sources should not be forthcoming to carry to the remotest 
corner of this earth the message of the Christian GospeL 



CHAPTER XI 

HOME LEADERSHIP 

THE success of the missionary enterprise tinder God 
must rest with the efficiency of the leadership at home. 
If the leadership is strong, aggressive, and effective, the 
cause will prosper ; if it is hesitating, half-hearted, and 
weak, the work of foreign missions will halt. The key 
to the situation is in the quantity and quality of the leaders 
in the Church. There are three distinct classes who are 
exerting, or who should exert, special influence in leading 
the Church to a right conception of its duty and privilege 
in the work of missions*. These classes are the ministry, 
laymen, and women. 

Apart from the young people, these constitute the 
total membership of the Christian Churches, and it is 
among them that we must look for organisers 
and leaders of the young people in their missionary 
endeavour. 

The committee that had in charge the collection of 
material for this topic enquired diligently of the secre- 
taries of foreign Mission Boards, the chairmen and 
secretaries of the Laymen's Missionary Movement, 
the chairmen of city co-operating committees of 
laymen, officers of Women's Societies, leading 
clergymen, and individual and unofficial laymen of 
different denominations. In addition, the Commission 
carried on a system of personal enquiry among re- 
cognised experts of all classes, and made a study of 
general literature bearing upon the subject of this 
investigation. 

COM. VI. II 



162 THE HOME BASE 



I. THE MINISTRY 

THE EXTENT OF MISSIONARY INTEREST AMONG 

MINISTERS 

The first question raised was one of fact : " Are the 
clergymen and ministers cognisant of the prime Im- 
portance and the possibilities of their leadership In 
missionary work ? " 

It has become a common saying all over the world that 
" the minister holds the key to the situation " as far as the 
Interest of the Church in missions is concerned. It was 
the purpose of the Commission to shed further light on 
the situation. The replies received are clear and direct. 
As one might expect, there is great variety in the replies, 
coming as they do from different denominations and 
from all parts of Europe and America. In regard to the 
comparative number of ministers who are aware of the 
importance and possibilities of their leadership, one 
denominational leader reports that only about 5 per cent, 
of their clergymen are vitally interested in missions. 
Others report an interested body ranging from 10 per cent. 
to 75 per cent, of the entire number. Only one, however, 
reports the last figure, while a few report that not more 
than one-quarter is vitally Interested. Others declare 
that this interest "is only beginning/' "some of the 
younger men are Interested, but not the older," " not to 
a large extent, but improving/* " better in the cities 
than in the country parishes/' "not wholly awake/' " a 
small amount are/' "a few are/' "a limited number 
are/' while more than one-fourth of the laymen reporting 
say frankly that their pastors are not interested and so 
exercise little effective leadership. At the same time, a 
considerable number report an increasing interest, in 
which they find much encouragement. We will quote 
more at length from some of these replies. 

One well-known denominational leader says ; 

" The ministers of our Church as a whole are not wholly owak* 
to the prime importance of their leadership in missionary work. 



HOME LEADERSHIP 163 

Nor are they realising the possibilities of their position for mis- 
sionary leadership. There are, however, many notable and 
delightful exceptions. I am happy to believe, also, that the 
tendency in recent years has been upward, and that our ministers 
are much more deeply interested and active in the advocacy of 
missions than they formerly were." 

Another leader, widely known outside his own denomi- 
nation, says : 

" I regret to write that I fear many of pur ministers are not 
sufficiently interested in world-wide missions. My experience 
in the last few years has shown me that, while many of these men 
are enthusiastic in their leadership, there are many who seem 
to be timid and unwilling to take any very decided stand. In a 
number of instances lately in America the laymen have been far 
in advance of the minister in determination to have the Churches 
to which they belong do larger things." 

Still another : 

"To a very large extent both clergymen and ministers are 
realising the necessity of their being the leaders in missionary 
work, and more and more are they beginning to realise what 
leadership by them will mean for their congregations/* 

A leader of another great denomination writes : 

" The clergymen and ministers of the various Churches are not 
seized by the prime importance of their leadership in missionary 
work. To an extent hitherto unknown the ministers whom I know 
are realising their position as leaders, but this is a long way from 
realising it to the full." 

A leader in one of the largest American denominations 
says : 

" Our ministers are not cognisant of the importance of their 
position as missionary leaders, but there is a decided awakening 
and enquiry. I believe there is soon to be a decided and helpful 
change throughout our Church." 

Another eminent leader says : 

11 The vast majority of the ministers do not appreciate the 
importance of their leadership. Too many seem to work with 
little thought beyond their congregational environment, and are 
satisfied with mere local progress. Pastoral leadership means 
everything in missionary success." 

These quotations fairly represent the contents]|and 
tenor of the replies received, and they come from^the 
leading denominations of the world. 



164 THE HOME BASE 

From Great Britain the general tone of the replies 
received is one of hopefulness, but, on the other hand, 
it is felt that a revived ministry is more needed than 
anything else. To the lack of proper ministerial 
leadership is attributed the deadness and lack of interest 
in the congregations. The general testimony is that 
congregations are ready to respond if summoned to 
action by their recognised leader. 

In Germany the same condition prevails, but the 
growing popularity among ministers of special con- 
ferences for enquiry into missionary problems is an en- 
couraging sign of improvement. A minority of German 
ministers are, and always have been, promoters of the 
cause of missions. 

From France the report comes that, while some ministers 
have missionary interest really at heart, yet their number 
is comparatively small. The greater number do nothing, 
except to receive the deputies that are sent them, and 
transmit gifts put into their hands for the purpose by 
their parishioners. It is encouraging to note that a 
growing interest during the last few years can be reported. 

CAUSES OF LACK OF INTEREST 

Assuming then that, as a whole, the ministers and 
clergymen of Christendom are not exercising their full 
power of leadership in the interest of missions, we 
naturally enquire what are the causes of this failure, and 
the remedies for it. The answers to this enquiry are most 
illuminating and suggestive. 

The replies will not admit of clear classification. Among 
the reasons given, the most prominent are, " pressure of 
local work," "local financial burdens," "lack of proper 
training," " indifference and selfishness/' " lack of the true 
conception of the contents of the Gospel/' " timidity/' and 
"improper sense of obligation." As this part of the 
subject is of such vital importance, we will give somewhat: 
at length a few characteristic quotations from our 
numerous correspondents, selecting in such a way that 



HOME LEADERSHIP 165 

the principal denominations and all countries shall be 
represented. 

A well-known leader writes : 

"(i) The training given in our theological seminaries has had 
too little reference to the great work of missions, the preparation 
of missionary candidates, and the training of the missionary spirit. 

(2) The shamefully limited salaries of many of our ministers, which 
makes them, upon the one hand, unable to be leaders in giving, 
which some of them would like to be, and, on the other hand, 
makes them timid in pressing the cause upon the attention of the 
people." 

Another leader gives as reasons : 

" (i) A failure to have received a missionary vision at the 
period in life when life ideals were being formed. This takes 
us back to the home life and to the age of youth. (2) Concession 
to, or compromise with, the non-missionary or anti-missionary 
conceptions of the average congregation or Church. (3) A pre- 
vailing false conception of the general character of Christianity 
which dominates, to a great extent, the whole of Christendom, and 
influences also the leaders in the Church." 

A well-known leader gives as reasons : 

" (i) Theological controversy; (2) failure in earlier days to 
give missionary instruction in theological seminaries; (3) the fear 
upon the part of many ministers that, if they press missions too 
hard, they^may interfere with the prosperity of the local Church 
and so lose their hold upon it." 

A secretary of a Missionary Board writes : 

" (i) The many demands made upon the pastors in the work 
of the parish ; (2) the tendency of some to magnify this work unduly ; 

(3) the failure to see clearly the chief and supreme business of the 
Church." 

Another secretary writes : 

" (i) A lack of a true conception of the spirit of the Gospel 
in its breadth and entirety. (2) Lack of information. (3) Provin- 
cialism. (4) Lack of proper theological instruction." 

A leading layman writes : 

" A failure to realise the benefit, financial as well as spiritual, 
that their own congregations will derive from helping on Christ's 
work outside." 

Another layman says : 

" Contentment with things as they are ; reliance upon 
machinery ; decadence of personal earnestness and devotion." 



166 THE HOME BASE 

Another gives as a reason for lack of interest : 

" The failure upon the part of the Board ^ to furnish the pastor 
with systematic and necessary information." 

Without repeating reasons already given, we will mention 
a few only in addition : " The lack of funds with which 
to purchase missionary books and magazines/' " over- 
shadowing local requirements/' " persistent effort for 
local betterment/' " lack of natural capacity for leader- 
ship," "lack of outlook and a tendency to move along 
the lines of least resistance." 

The statement of the case carries with it a suggestion 
of the remedy. It is quite probable that ^ Missionary 
Societies themselves are at fault for not devising means 
of reaching uninterested pastors and ministers. The 
class is so large, and the place of leadership it occupies 
is of such supreme importance, that Missionary Societies 
may well give this subject most careful and continuous 
consideration until this great block to aggressive progress 
has been converted into a vital missionary force. As 
the pastors in a large measure hold the key to the situa- 
tion, it is to this point the attention of Missionary Societies 
should be directed. 

THE INFLUENCE OF A PASTOR INTERESTED IN MISSIONS 

Full replies were received in response to the questions 
as to the effect upon a parish or congregation of the 
pastor's enthusiasm or indifference, and they are practic- 
ally alike. When the pastor is awake and exercising 
his prerogative as a leader, the congregation is awake 
and beneficence flourishes ; on the other hand, when 
the pastor is indifferent, the congregation becomes cold, 
and giving is meagre. There is also a general agreement 
that local interests flourish under a missionary pro- 
paganda by the pastor. A few quotations are essential 
to a proper emphasis of the subject. 

A bishop writes : 

" It is possible to trace some men from church to church by 



HOME LEADERSHIP 167 

the influence they have exerted in missionary enthusiasm. Un- 
fortnnately it is possible to trace some other men by the opposite 
effects and the deadening result of their efforts." 

Another : 

" Invariably a missionary pastor makes a missionary church. 
I can follow the trail of missionary pastors, as they have moved 
from congregation to congregation, by aroused missionary effort 
and zeal." 

Another : 

" Almost without exception, real leadership upon the part of the 
minister arouses the congregation." 

A well-known layman : 

" Wherever the minister has been aggressive in missionary 
leadership, it is almost certain to bring great general prosperity 
to his church ; and when the minister has been indifferent, the church 
has declined." 

A secretary of a large Mission Board : 

" The church never fails to respond when the minister gives 
due attention to the cause of missions." 

A volume might be filled with quotations from the 
evidence in hand, but it would all be in line with 
what is here given. The facts are too obvious to require 
extended proof. 

We cannot but regard this phase of our subject as one 
of the most important, if not the most important, en- 
trusted to this Commission to investigate. Unless the 
ministers, who are the natural leaders of the Church, 
accept that leadership so far as it relates to foreign 
mission work, the endeavour to bring the Church up 
to a high standard of beneficence must fail. Had we 
quoted from all of the replies received from every im- 
portant evangelical denomination in the world and from 
secretaries of Missionary Societies, church officials, 
pastors, laymen, and educators, no doubt whatever could 
remain in the mind of the reader, if, indeed, any now 
remains, that, in order to arouse the Church to a sense 
of its opportunity and privilege, the clergy must be reached 
and their enthusiastic co-operation secured. Other 
parts of this Report show that few Missionary Societies 



168 THE HOME BASE 

are making direct and special effort for this influential 
class of leaders who bold the key to the situation. The 
Commission urgently calls attention to these conditions 
and facts as set forth in this section of our Report. 

In considering what can be done to remedy the 
present condition, it is impossible to go into details. 
There has undoubtedly been, and is, a great lack of mis- 
sionary instruction in theological seminaries and colleges. 
All are agreed that such instruction in the training of 
the ministry of to-day is indispensable. There is also 
a general belief that colleges and universities should 
offer elective courses in missions (cf. pp. 179-180). In 
the meantime, officers of Missionary Societies and Boards 
must devise measures suited to the conditions prevailing 
in their particular denomination and country to secure 
the co-operation of the clergy. The Commission is 
convinced that a comparatively large expenditure of 
money on special literature and on conferences for pastors 
would be amply justified in the effort to secure the support 
of the natural leaders of the Church, not only on account 
of the new spiritual life this would inevitably bring to 
the Church itself, and the added contributions of money 
that would come in for the support of the work, but also 
for the sake of the young people who are so greatly 
needed at the front. 

Evidently most of those with whom correspondence 
was carried on have caught the new vision of the kingdom 
and the new standard of service and sacrifice. Judged 
by this standard and interpreted in the light of the new 
vision, the clergy are not yet as a whole seized by the 
prime importance of their leadership, nor are they realis- 
ing the possibilities of their position. This does not 
mean that there are not many noble and notable excep- 
tions. There are many ministers in all denominations 
who are doing their full duty. Cognisance is also taken 
of the fact that many of these non-active ministers 
are overwhelmed with local difficulties of various kinds. 
At the same time, the fact remains that the rank and 
file of ministers and clergymen of the world are not 



HOME LEADERSHIP 169 

exercising the missionary leadership they should, and 
the task- set for the various denominations and their 
Missionary Boards is to correct this wrong, and so 
organise the Church of Christ into the aggressive army 
of the Lord. 

MISSIONARY TRAINING OF STUDENTS PREPARING FOR 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 

Our enquiry into the general attitude of the Christian 
Ministry to the missionary work of the Church necessarily 
involved some investigation into the amount and kind of 
missionary instruction given in the theological colleges 
and halls where these men receive their training. If it 
be the case, as the evidence before us seems to show, that 
a very large proportion of the ministers and clergy do 
lack missionary enthusiasm and missionary vision, to 
what extent is this failure to be traced back to any defect 
in the training which they received as students ? Are 
our theological colleges turning out men who are inspired 
with the missionary ideal and keenly alive to the problems 
which confront the Church in the foreign field ? What 
means are employed to bring home to the students the 
world- wide mission of the Church and the urgency of the 
task which confronts her, in view of such facts as the 
awakening of the Far East and the opening up of the 
continent of Africa ? What instruction is given with 
reference to the history and principles of the modern 
missionary enterprise ? What suggestions are offered as 
to how they may best educate and arouse the congrega- 
tions over which they will later be set in charge ? Are 
they trained in habits of prayer, and giving, and 
systematic study in this matter ? These are important 
and vital questions, and seem to the Commission ta 
merit a careful and thorough enquiry. 

Great Britain 

The investigation carried out by the Committee ap- 
pointed for the purpose covered, in Great Britain, some 



170 THE HOME BASE 

thirty-four different colleges. Although these by no means 
exhaust the number of such institutions, yet they may 
be taken as thoroughly representative, at least of England 
and Wales, for they include the strongest colleges of all 
the leading denominations. As might be expected, we 
are confronted with a great variety of types, extending 
from the six or seven year course, found in some of the 
Congregational colleges, to the one year post-graduate 
system which prevails in the many colleges of the Church 
of England. It might be questioned whether any useful 
conclusions could be drawn relating to such diverse 
conditions, and it must be admitted at the outset 
that it would be difficult to make any statement 
which would apply to all the colleges. Nevertheless, 
we consider that our enquiry has brought to light 
some very significant facts which deserve serious con- 
sideration. 

A first reading of the evidence which indicates the 
amount of attention paid to missionary questions in our 
theological colleges is certainly disappointing. Apart 
from the incidental references and allusions which may 
occur in the ordinary lectures which are given in Church 
History, Comparative Religion, and Pastoral Work, there 
are only four colleges which report any attempt to give 
definite and systematic instruction in modern missionary 
problems and methods. Indeed, the general opinion 
seems to be against the inclusion of any such subject in 
the college curriculum, either on the ground that it is 
superfluous, or that the curriculum is already over- 
crowded with more important subjects, or that it would be 
difficult to find men competent to lecture on it. Over 
against this we may set the experience of the four colleges 
above mentioned, where the plan was followed of inviting 
a leading missionary to come and deliver a short course 
of lectures on some missionary topic. If we may accept 
the testimony of the students who attended these lectures, 
this method certainly proved successful in these colleges. 
And, while we recognise the difficulties involved in such 
a course, we are of opinion that the plan of arranging for 



HOME LEADERSHIP 171 

short courses of lectures by missionary experts might, in 
many cases, be adopted with advantage. 

But although very little is undertaken by way of 
systematic instruction in distinctively missionary subjects, 
a good deal more is done in other ways to awaken a 
missionary interest in the men. Attention is called in 
the replies we have received to the importance of the 
personal influence of the Principal and of the college 
staff in bringing home to men who are preparing for 
the Christian Ministry, their responsibility towards the 
missionary enterprise of the Church. One or two colleges 
refer to the advantage they have gained in this direction 
through having professors or tutors who have had some 
experience of foreign missionary work. But more 
important still is the influence of the missionaries on 
furlough who visit the colleges from time to time. 
Practically every report contains some reference to this 
matter, and, indeed, it would be difficult to over-emphasise 
its importance, for the personal factor is essential to the 
creation of any living interest. It is unfortunate that 
we have not fuller information as to the character and 
length of such visits, and the extent to which they afford 
opportunities for the missionary to come into personal 
and intimate contact with individual men. In one college, 
at least, it is the practice to arrange that once a year a 
missionary should be invited to stay for a week at 
the college as the guest of the men. This is a 
most valuable method for awakening a missionary 
interest and fostering a missionary spirit, and, in view of 
the central importance of the theological colleges, we 
hold that the Missionary Societies ought to set aside their 
most influential missionaries, when they return home on 
furlough, for this special work. 

The need for assisting the students to develop the 
habit of prayer for foreign missions is recognised in, all 
the colleges, though the methods adopted are different. 
In the Free Church colleges it is not uncommon for the 
students to arrange for special missionary prayer-meetings 
among themselves, but, at the same time, emphasis is also 



172 THE HOME BASE 

laid in the replies we have received to this question on 
the importance of constant reference to the missionary 
work of the Church in the ordinary prayer life of the 
college. 

With few exceptions all the colleges cultivate the habit 
of missionary giving among the students. In several 
cases the students undertake the responsibility of raising 
considerable sums, in some instances amounting to over 
300, or $1500 per annum, for the funds of their Missionary 
Society. This service is undoubtedly valuable in stimulat- 
ing their missionary enthusiasm. 

The general opinion among the Free Church colleges, 
however, seems to be that, on the whole, it is best to allow 
missionary enthusiasm to grow up spontaneously among 
the men themselves apart from any attempt to cultivate 
it officially. Attention is called to the missionary study 
circles which have been organised in many colleges with 
very considerable success under the auspices of the Student 
Christian Movement. The statistics supplied by the 
central office of the Student Christian Movement show 
that in the year 1908-9 some 376 theological students 
were members of registered study circles. The number 
is not large, but it is steadily increasing, and the 
reports indicate that the work done in the study 
circles is thorough. The "Missionary Campaigns/' 
organised by the Student Christian Movement, have 
also proved very effective means for arousing missionary 
enthusiasm among the men. The opportunity of engaging 
in some definite service for the cause of Foreign Missions, 
and of bringing before the Churches the needs of the foreign 
field, inevitably results in the deepening of the convictions 
of the men themselves. Both these activities are carried 
on apart from any control on the part of the college 
authorities, though with their entire sympathy. We 
believe they are likely to become increasingly important 
factors both in educating and inspiring the students with 
missionary ideals, and we are of opinion that both mis- 
sionary study circles and missionary campaigns should 
be encouraged by every possible means. 



HOME LEADERSHIP 

We made some enquiry as to the missionary literature 
available to theological students through their college 
libraries, The replies were not altogether satisfactory. 
Practically every college library contains some missionary 
books, but in very few colleges is there any serious attempt 
to keep the college library abreast of the best missionary 
literature in the same systematic way as is done in other 
departments. In many cases the colleges are seriously 
hampered in this direction through lack of funds. 
Still it is possible that more might be done, not merely 
in placing the best missionary books at the disposal of 
the students, but also in encouraging and guiding them 
in their reading. 

America 

In America an exhaustive investigation was made 
among one hundred and twenty-eight theological training 
institutions. The enquiries related to " Mission Study 
Courses in the Curriculum/' " Mission Lecture Courses/' 
" Cost of Missionary Instruction/' " Voluntary Mission 
Study/ 1 " Missionary Literature. " Replies were re- 
ceived from one hundred and fifteen institutions, and the 
information afforded is summarised as follows : 

Thirty-eight institutions, or 33 per cent, of the whole 
number, reported that they did not include the study 
of missions in their curricula, either in the form of re- 
quired or elective courses ; and, furthermore, that they- 
had no mission lecture course foundations, and provided 
no regular course of mission lectures. Nine of these 
reported no provision of any kind for missionary in- 
struction or missionary study. Nine reported that the 
subject was treated incidentally to the course in Church 
History or Practical Theology. Eleven reported occa- 
sional lectures or sermons. Two reported " Reading 
Courses " under the supervision of members of the 
faculty. Eleven reported voluntary mission study 
courses, conducted by students or professors. 

While it may occasion regret or surprise to learn that 
no provision for systematic mission study is made by 



174 THE HOME BASE 

one-third of tlie American theological seminaries, and 
while many of the replies indicated indifference to the 
subject, yet, on the other hand, in many of these in- 
stitutions an ardent missionary enthusiasm is being 
maintained by the general spirit which pervades all the 
instruction, by the influence of occasional lectures, 
and by the efforts of student organisations. 

Fifty-eight institutions, or just 50 per cent, of the 
whole number, reported that the study of missions forms 
an integral part of the required curriculum. In most 
cases, however, the required courses are brief and often 
fragmentary. They deal for the most part with some 
one of the following subjects : " General History of 
Missions/ 1 " The History of Religion," " Comparative 
Religion/' " Current Missionary Literature/* or " The 
Pastor and Missions/' The time usually allotted for 
these courses is one hour per week, during one year of 
the three years' course, or about 2 per cent, of the whole 
number of curriculum hours. This amount of time is 
exceeded in eleven instances, in which two hours a week 
is occupied, and in six instances, in which mention is 
made of from two to three hours a week during one year ; 
but this increase is discounted by the eleven instances in 
which the courses are continued during but one-half of one 
year. In most cases the instruction is given by members 
of the faculty in the form of lectures ; but in some 
cases text-books are used, and occasionally students 
are required to write essays on [assigned missionary 
topics. 

Of the fifty-eight institutions which have required 
courses, eleven have elective courses in addition, and nine- 
teen other institutions give all their instruction in the 
form of elective courses. In all but seven of these 
instances the courses usually cover one hour per 
week for one year, and the subjects specified are of 
a general missionary character. These elective courses 
are attended in those cases where numbers have been 
reported by about one-fourth *of the students. 
While the average amount of missionary instruction 



HOME LEADEBSHIP 175 

in all these required and elective courses is evidently 
not very considerable, there are certain institutions 
which are doing work of an especially important char- 
acter, and are giving to mission study courses a very 
prominent place. Omaha (Nebraska) Theological Seminary 
(Presbyterian), the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 
(Louisville, Kentucky), and the Episcopal Theological 
Seminary at Cambridge, Massachusetts, have full 
missionary professorships. 

M'Cormick Seminary (Presbyterian, Chicago), San 
Francisco Seminary, the Christian University (Eureka, 
Utah), and the Union Theological Seminary (New York) 
report part professorships. 

Eureka College (Illinois) and the Berkeley (California) 
Bible Seminary have instructorships in missions. 

The most extensive courses and the best equipment 
for missionary instruction seem to be afforded by the 
Yale University Divinity School (New Haven, Conn.) 
and by the Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary. 
While Hartford maintains no special chair of missionary 
instruction, a very large number of courses are offered 
by different professors in the theory and method of 
missions, the history of missions, special missions, and 
the history of religions. Those courses are so arranged 
that any of them can be chosen as electives by students 
in the regular course, and some of them are expected to 
be included in every group. They also may be pursued 
altogether by themselves, by specialising students, form- 
ing in that case a full year's curriculum. This Seminary 
also has special lecturers who give annually to all students 
who elect, courses upon " The Science and Methods of 
Foreign Missions/' " Missions and Sociology," etc. 

At Yale University a chair of missionary instruction 
has been established under a professor whose title is 
" Professor of the Theory and Practice of Missions." 
Elective " Lecture-reading courses " are given on " Factors 
in Missionary Efficiency," " The Missionary's Use of the 
Bible/' " Missionary Makers of Nations/' " Indigenous 
Chinese Religions/' and "Chinese Mandarin." All of 



176 THE HOME BASE 

those are one-hour courses, except the last, which is a 
two-hour course. 

Twelve institutions, or 10 per cent, of the whole number, 
report regular " Missionary Lecture Course Foundations/* 

The number of lectures afforded on these foundations 
is usually five each year. In addition to these courses, 
some forty-eight report " special " and " occasional " 
lectures, given by members of the faculties or by specially 
invited guests, particularly by missionaries at home on 
furlough, and by secretaries of the Mission Boards. 

In addition to these regular and occasional courses, 
or in the place of these courses, missionary instruction 
and inspiration are furthered, in several seminaries, by 
special conferences held monthly or annually. For this 
purpose, seminary exercises are, for the time, totally 
suspended, and students and faculty meet for the con- 
sideration of exclusively missionary topics. For example, 
in one a full morning of each month is devoted to the 
meeting of the Missionary Society, composed of faculty 
and students. The mission fields of the world are studied. 
At another the first Tuesday of each month is observed 
as a missionary day, with lectures in the afternoon and 
evening. In another from one to three lectures are given 
on the first day of each month, when all regular lectures 
are suspended. One day of each month in another 
seminary is devoted to a free conference on mission work. 
Class work is suspended for the day, and several hours 
are spent by the faculty and students in the discussion 
of various subjects relating to home and foreign mission 
work, and in seeking to foster the missionary spirit in 
the seminary. This has done more to quicken interest 
in missions than all other causes combined. Work is 
suspended in another for one day each month, and the 
day is wholly devoted to studying missions ; both 
faculty and students attend these mission-day exercises 
and^take part, and also the officers of the Board of 
Missions. 

Eighty- three institutions, or 70 per cent, of the whole 
number, report voluntary classes for mission study. 



HOME LEADERSHIP 177 

About three-fourths of these classes are conducted by 
students and the remainder by professors. They are 
usually organised under the auspices of the Young Men's 
Christian Association, and use, in many instances, the books 
published under the direction of the Young People's 
Missionary Movement. These classes are largely attended. 
In three instances they include all the students in the 
institution. There are frequently a number of classes 
conducted simultaneously in the same seminary. Prince- 
ton Seminary, for example, in addition to the required 
course in missions and its special courses, has a large 
number of mission study classes enrolling a large pro- 
portion of the students. Some forty-two seminaries 
give the number enrolled in these voluntary classes as 
1662, or about 40 per cent, of the entire number of 
students. These classes usually meet for one hour each 
week, but during only a part of the seminary year. 

Sixty-eight seminaries report the number of missionary 
books in their libraries as aggregating 41,000, or an average 
of 603 each. In addition to these, a number of seminaries 
report special missionary libraries, provided by the Young 
Men's Christian Association or the Student Volunteer 
Band. Special yearly appropriations for the purchasing 
of new missionary books are reported by twenty-three 
seminaries. Most of the seminaries report the regular 
provision of a number of missionary magazines for the 
library or reading-room. The average number of such 
missionary periodicals received by each institution is 
nine, although two receive upwards of eighty each. 

The Continent of Europe 

In Holland the history of missions has, since 1877, had 
a place in the curriculum of the theological studies of 
students in preparation for the ministry in the Dutch 
Reformed Church, to which half of the people in the 
country belong. Mission professors are appointed to 
this task by the Church, and some are reported as not 
especially interested in the subject. One of these, how- 

COM. VI. 12 



178 THE HOME BASE 

ever, at the University of Utrecht, is just now publishing 
his Prolegomena to a Protestant Science of Missions. 

In the two faculties of theology at Paris and Montauban 
courses of lectures upon missions have been given by 
special lecturers, and in the latter institution a missionary 
recently gave a course upon the religions of the inferior 
races. This practically comprises the academic mission- 
ary instruction offered to students for the ministry in 
France. 

In the Free Church theological faculties in Switzerland 
it is arranged that each generation of students has the 
opportunity of hearing something about missionary 
history either from one of the professors or from a specialist. 

For the last six years the theological faculty of the 
University of Copenhagen has of ered an annual series 
of lectures on missions. In the theological seminary of 
the University of Norway lectures upon missions are 
regularly given. At the University of Upsala, in Sweden, 
the History of Missions is studied in connection with 
Church History, and the Theory of Missions is made a 
part of the course in Pastoral Theology. Lectures are 
also given upon the history and theory of missions. 

It must be borne in mind that in Europe many of the 
strong Missionary Societies have missionary training 
schools in which most of their candidates receive their 
education. In such cases the missionary receives his 
education largely apart from the candidate for service 
in the Church at home. This is especially true of 
Germany and Holland. To these candidates for mis- 
sionary service missionary instruction is given. While 
this materially aids the future missionary to the proper 
equipment for his life-work, it is of no service to the 
young men who do not have the foreign field in view. 

As the great majority of these receive their 
general and theological training at the State universities, 
the question of their missionary instruction is dealt 
with under the head of Academic Instruction. In 
many parts of Germany, however, young ministers, 
after completing their university course in theology,. 



HOME LEADERSHIP 

spend one or two years in a theological seminary for 
training on more practical lines. Nearly all of these 
seminaries include in their official course the study of 
missions, either in connection with some other discipline 
or in a separate course of lectures. One seminary reports 
that the graduates hold missionary meetings under the 
supervision of the principal. 

In Germany, where theological faculties are established, 
there is no general provision made for missionary lectures, 
but occasional courses are given in Berne and Lausanne, 
while at Basel one of the Basel Missionary Secretaries 
has quite recently been officially appointed as missionary 
lecturer. At Halle University there is a professorship 
of Missions. 

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 

What is being done by some seminaries and theo- 
logical colleges suggests what may be done by others, 
and even those by which the most is now undertaken 
indicate that the work is of recent growth. Many of 
those now attempting little are suggesting hopes and 
even plans for enlargement in the near future. 
Conditions in different seminaries are so diverse, and the 
theological curriculum is already so crowded, that 
specific or radical recommendations may seem useless, 
yet it may be allowable to point out a few apparent 
possibilities. 

1. A prescribed course of instruction in Christian 
missions may well and even should form an integral 
part of the curriculum of every theological seminary or 
college. 

2. The extent of such courses is a matter upon which 
opinions may differ. It would seem that the allotment 
of one hour a week, for only one year, is quite in- 
adequate ; and that such courses should be continued 
through the three years of study, increasing the fraction 
of time expended upon missions from one-fiftieth to one- 
fifteenth. 

3. The content of the courses need not differ from 



180 THE HOME BASE 

that already suggested. They should certainly include 
the History of Missions (apostolic, medieval, and 
modern), the Biblical Basis of Missions, the Apologetic 
Defence of Missions, the Apologetic Significance of 
Missions, the Science and Methods of Missions, Com- 
parative Religion, Christianity and Social Progress, the 
Pastor and Missions, Modern Missionary Movements in 
the Home Church, Special Missionary Fields, ajid the 
Missionary Work of the denomination with which the 
particular seminary is connected. 

4. The conduct of the courses might well include the 
use of both text-books and lectures, and should suggest 
collateral reading. The courses should be under the 
direction of a special professor or instructor, or form a 
definite part of the assigned duties of such an instructor. 
Modern missionary movements are so rapid and their 
problems so numerous and so complex as to demand 
the attention and consideration of a specialist. 

5. Effort should be made to secure endowments for 
lecture courses, and for the continued enlargement of 
missionary libraries. 

6. The organisation of classes for voluntary study 
should be encouraged. These classes are found to 
flourish, and to be of incalculable service, even where 
missions have a regular and important place in the 
curriculum. 

7. In conclusion, while the study of missions has 
such wide ramifications that it can be profitably taught 
in connection with any one of a large number of the 
usual theological disciplines, the need for its further 
emphasis in these courses, or its more extensive treat- 
ment in a distinct department, is made evident by the 
simplest reference to the specific purpose of all theological 
education, viz. : to prepare men to be able and efficient 
preachers of the Gospel among all nations. Nothing 
will tend more definitely to develop interesting preachers, 
skilful organisers, or consecrated missionaries, than such 
instruction as imparts missionary information, suggests 
missionary illustrations, and inspires missionary zeal. 



HOME LEADERSHIP 181 

8. It has been shown in a preceding section of this 
Report that the missionary zeal and activity of a parish 
or local church is supremely dependent upon the leader- 
ship of its pastor. If he has had little or no missionary 
instruction in his training course, it cannot be expected 
that he will be able enthusiastically and intelligently 
to lead the church. If the Church of Christ is to have 
able leaders in its missionary endeavours It must itself, 
through its institutions of learning, provide the training 
required for efi ective leadership. 

II. LAYMEN 

It is cause for new courage and faith that, during the 
last five years, especially in the United States and 
Canada, there has appeared a marvellous uprising of 
laymen under the leadership of laymen, in the interest 
of foreign missions. There is no attempt upon their 
part to supersede the pastor in his position as leader, 
if he is ready to catch the larger vision and throw him- 
self into the advance. If, on the other hand, the pastor 
fails to catch the spirit of the new era of missions, there 
is danger that he may be left in the rear as the great 
army of laymen move on to the conquest. 

It is necessary in the discussion of this subject to 
give a brief but comprehensive review of the organisa- 
tion of this movement of leadership among laymen, 
first among the Churches of America, followed by what 
is being done along a similar line in Europe. 

This movement among the laymen has made such 
rapid advance in the last three years, is arousing such 
interest, is attracting so much attention, and is so full 
of encouragement and promise for the cause it serves, 
that as an organisation it demands special mention. 

THE LAYMEN'S MISSIONARY MOVEMENT IN AMERICA 

In the year 1902, at the Decennial Conference of 
Missionaries in India, the men on the field decided it 



182 THE HOME BASE 

was their duty not only to ask for such reinforcements 
as they thought the Home Societies might be able to 
furnish, but to endeavour to estimate the total force 
required adequately to man the fields under their charge, 
and to Inform the Home Societies of the actual needs. 
In the same year, at the Student Volunteer Convention 
in Toronto, a layman from Boston urged that the time 
had come for the organisation of the laymen of all the 
Churches to secure the moneys necessary adequately 
to man the whole field. 

From 1902 to 1906, in both the United States and 
Canada, suggestions were made by different missionary 
leaders that the laymen of the Churches should con- 
stitute the most fruitful supporting constituency of the 
Missionary Societies, and that special efforts should be 
made to enlist them as leaders, and to secure from them 
a larger measure of active support. In some Churches, 
notably the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
men's Missionary Conventions were held, which demon- 
strated the possibilities of arousing the men of America 
to the urgency of the missionary problem and the 
importance of their leadership in helping to solve this 
problem. 

A young business man of the city of Washington, D.C., 
while in attendance at the Student Volunteer Convention 
held in Nashville, Tennessee, in the year 1906, was pro- 
foundly impressed with the thought that if the business men 
of the country could only catch the vision of the world's 
need, and realise that the students were prepared to give 
their lives to meet this need, the money would be given, 
and that the greatest need in the missionary propaganda 
was to arouse the men of the Church to a consciousness 
of their privilege and responsibility in leadership in the 
work of world-wide evangelisation. 

On I3th and I4th November 1906, there was held in 
New York an interdenominational meeting in com- 
memoration of the centennial of the Haystack Prayer 
Meeting, which led, a hundred years ago, to the organisa- 
tion of the American Board of Missions. On the after- 



HOME LEADERSHIP 183 

noon and evening following, there met in the chapel of 
the same church a company of laymen. The invitation 
to this meeting was in the form of " A Call to Prayer/' 
and was issued by a committee of laymen. In this 
it was stated that the need of the hour was for the 
consecration of laymen to the work of missions, and 
those invited were asked to join with other laymen of 
various denominations in this great work. This meeting 
was the result of the suggestions of this young business 
man of Washington. The afternoon and evening were 
spent almost wholly in prayer. As a result, the following 
preamble and resolutions were adopted and a committee 
appointed : 

WHEREAS, in the marvellous Providence of God, the One 
Hundredth Anniversary of the beginnings of the American Foreign 
Missionary Movement finds the doors of every nation open to the 
Gospel message ; and 

WHEREAS, the machinery of the Missionary Boards, women's 
Boards, student and young people's Missionary Movements is 
highly and efficiently organised ; and 

WHEREAS, the greatly increased participation of the present 
generation of responsible Christian business and professional 
men is essential to the widest and most productive use of the 
existing missionary agencies, and is equally vital to the growth 
of the spiritual life at home ; and 

WHEREAS, in the management of large business and political 
responsibilities, such men have been greatly used and honoured ; 
and 

WHEREAS, in but few of the denominations have aggressive 
movements to interest men in missions been undertaken : 

THEREFORE BE ix RESOLVED, that this gathering of laymen, 
called together for prayer and conference on the occasion of the 
centennial anniversary of the Haystack Prayer Meeting, designate 
a committee of twenty-five or more representative laymen to 
consult with the secretaries of the Missionary Boards of all the 
denominations in the United States and Canada, if possible at 
their annual gathering in January, with reference to the following 
vitally important propositions : 

1. To project a campaign of education among laymen to be 
conducted under the direction of the various Boards. 

2. To devise a comprehensive plan (in conjunction with said 
Board secretaries) looking toward the evangelisation of the world 
in this generation. 

3. To endeavour to form, through the various Boards, a Cen- 
tennial Commission of laymen, fifty or more in number, to visit 
as early as possible the mission fields and report their findings 
to the Church at home. 



184 THE HOME BASE 

A committee of representative laymen was formed, 
which held its first meeting in New York on I3th December 
1906. 

Its Aims 

1. It is not a new interdenominational Missionary 
Movement to collect or administer funds, or to raise 
up or to send out missionaries. It is an inspiration 
rather than an organisation. 

2. It is a movement to enlist all men of all branches 
in the Church in cordial and active support of the mission 
work of their own missionary organisation. 

3. It seeks to broaden the basis of support of these 
organisations and merely augment their income by 
letting every member of the Church be a contributor 
to missions, on a scale adequate to enable the Church 
to carry out our Lord's great commission, to make 
disciples of all nations. 

Its Methods 

1. By holding city, district, state, and national inter- 
denominational men's Missionary Conventions to awaken 
the interest, enlarge the vision, stimulate the enthusiasm, 
and develop the sense of stewardship of time, talent, and 
possession of the mission of the Church, and to lead them 
to adopt an adequate financial missionary objective for 
the city, district, state, or country. 

2. Emphasising everywhere that mission work is the 
supreme business of the Church, and urging the clergy- 
men or pastors, as the recognised leaders of the Church, 
to assume their rightful place of leadership, and really 
lead the Church forward in its missionary operations. 

3. Organising in each city, community, and district 
an interdenominational co-operating committee 

(i) To collect and publish accurate statistics of the 
home and foreign missionary contributions, and con- 
tributions for local church or parish purposes of all the 
churches in the city, district, or county. This informa- 



HOME LEADERSHIP 185 

tion enables the men to see how little they are doing 
compared with what should be done, and what they are 
able to do, and how little some of the Churches are 
doing as compared with others. 

(2) To promote an adequate missionary policy in all 
the local churches within its jurisdiction. 

(3) To secure the appointment of a men's Missionary 
Committee of the leading men of every congregation 
to co-operate with the clergymen or pastors 

(a) In the work of missionary education in the local 
church. 

(6) In carrying out a programme of prayer for missions 
whereby the prayer life of the congregation may be 
guided and stimulated. 

(c) In securing the adoption by the local church of an 
adequate financial objective. 

(d) In enlisting every member as a supporter of 
missions by means of personal canvass, and securing 
from every member a worthy weekly offering for 
missions. 

4. Encouraging laymen of position and standing to 
visit foreign mission fields and study the conditions of 
the ground so that they may be the better able to 
advocate the cause of missions among their fellow-laymen 
on their return. 

5. Encouraging laymen of position and influence to 
become public as well as private advocates of the cause 
of missions. This non-professional- advocacy, which busy 
men freely give their time to, has been one of the greatest 
sources of strength of the movement. 

6. Securing co-operation of all branches of the Church 
in its campaign ; one of the most impressive features 
of the movement has been the spirit of unity and co- 
operation among the branches of the Church. 

7. Presenting the claims of the whole world upon the 
whole Church as well as the work of the particular 
societies co-operating in the campaign. 

8. Emphasising the urgency or present opportunity 
for world-wide evangelisation, the imperativeness of our 



186 THE HOME BASE 

Lord's command, that the Church has spiritual resources 
.adequate for the task if she will but use them, and that 
the men of the Churches have the financial resources 
adequate for the whole task, that the enterprise offers 
to every man his largest opportunity for Christian 
service. 

Its Relation to the Foreign Mission Boards 

In January 1907, so soon as the General Committee of 
the movement was formed, it submitted a statement of 
its aims and methods of work to the Annual Conference 
of the secretaries and members of the Foreign Mission 
Boards in the United States and Canada, representing 
forty-nine Societies. This Conference unanimously and 
cordially endorsed the movement, and now has a strong 
Standing Committee appointed to co-operate with the 
movement in carrying on its work. At a large Conference 
of Board secretaries held in New York on the 20th of 
April 1910, the Conference unanimously requested the 
movement to continue its good work with increasing 
vigour, to develop its organisation so as to make larger 
effort possible, and agreed that the Boards should co- 
operate with the movement in all its campaigns. In 
Canada, at the request of the laymen, the Board secretaries 
and laymen representing the Boards sit with the Com- 
mittee and unitedly plan the campaigns of the movement. 

Some Results of the Movement 
National Missionary Campaign in Canada 

In the year 1908, the movement in co-operation 
with the Mission Boards in Canada planned the National 
Missionary Campaign, and meetings or conventions were 
held in all the most important centres in every province 
from Atlantic to Pacific. The question everywhere 
submitted for consideration was " Will Canada evangelise 
her share of the world ? " and everywhere the response 
from the men was clear and emphatic, " Canada can, and 



HOME LEADERSHIP 187 

will." The culmination of this campaign was the Men's 
National Missionary Congress held at Toronto in April 
1909, when over 4000 commissioners, the majority of 
whom were laymen, representing all the Protestant 
Churches of Canada and every province of the Dominion, 
met to consider the missionary problem and adopt a 
missionary policy. The secular as well as the religious 
press agreed that no more representative or virile body 
of men ever gathered together in Canada* 

The Congress unanimously adopted the following 
declaration and statement : 

" In view of the universality and finality of the Gospel 
of Christ, and in view of the spiritual needs of mankind, 
we believe that the Church of our generation should 
undertake to obey literally the command of Christ to 
preach the Gospel to every creature. 

" According to their several ability and opportunity, 
we believe that the laymen of the Churches are equally 
responsible with the ordained ministers to pray and to 
work for the coming of the Kingdom of God upon earth. 

" We believe that every Christian should recognise the 
world as his field, and to the full measure of his ability 
work for its evangelisation. 

" We recognise the clear duty of the Churches of Canada 
to evangelise all those in the Dominion, and who come 
to our shores, who have not been led into the Christian 
life, and also to provide for the adequate preaching of 
the Gospel to forty millions of souls in the non-Christian 
world. 

" We accept the estimates of our missionary leaders, 
that at least $1,300,000 (260,000) annually should be 
contributed towards our home mission work, and 
$3,200,000 (670,000) annually to foreign mission work 
by the Churches represented in this Congress, aggregating 
a communicant membership of about nine hundred 
thousand. 

"We confidently believe that the spirit of unity and 
co-operation so manifested in this movement will find 
expression in practical methods of co-operation in both 



188 THE HOME BASE 

the home and foreign field, so that unnecessary duplication 
of work may be avoided, 

" We believe that the call to make dominant and 
regnant in all human relationships, personal, national, 
and racial, the principles and spirit of Jesus Christ, 
presents to every man his supreme opportunity 
of development, usefulness, and satisfaction, and we 
appeal to men everywhere to invest their intelligence, 
their influence, their energy, and their possessions 
in the effort of combined Christianity to redeem the 
world. 

4 ( Remembering that the promises of blessing are 
conditional upon obedience to the will of God, and 
recognising the deep spiritual quickening which has 
already come to our Churches through the awakening 
of the missionary spirit, we call upon the whole member- 
ship of the Churches here represented to unite with 
us in discharging our personal and national missionary 
obligations. 

" Assembled in the first National Missionary Congress of 
modern times, and deeply persuaded of the power of 
combined and co-operative Christianity to solve all the 
problems of human society, we desire to unite the 
Churches of our sister countries throughout Christen- 
dom as loyal servants of the King of kings, in a com- 
prehensive and adequate crusade for the winning of 
mankind to Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, 
and the Life, the Desire of the nations, and the Light 
of the world." 

This declaration and statement has since been ap- 
proved of by all the Anglican synods of the ecclesiastical 
provinces of Canada, by the Baptist Conventions of 
Canada, by the Congregational Union of Canada, by 
the Conference of the Methodist Church, and by the 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, so that 
the policy may now be truly described as a national 
missionary policy, and forms a practical working creed, 
which all the co-operating branches of the Church 
cordially accept 



HOME LEADERSHIP 189 

National Missionary Campaign in the United States 

Between September 1909 and May 1910, a similar 
National Missionary Campaign was carried out by the 
Laymen's Movement of the United States. Seventy- 
five men's Missionary Conventions were held in the 
important centres of population, in almost every State 
of the Union, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. There 
were in attendance at these Conventions over 71,000 
registered delegates representing over 5 3 ooo,ooo 
communicant members, who contributed to foreign 
missions, on an average, 73 cents annually per member. 
At all these Conventions, as well as at all the Conventions 
in Canada, the principles and methods of the movement 
were cordially endorsed, and co-operating Committees 
were appointed to carry out these principles and to 
apply these methods. The culmination of this campaign 
was the men's National Missionary Congress, held in 
Chicago in the month of May 1910, when over 4000 
registered delegates, representing all branches of the 
Christian Church in the United States other than the 
Roman Catholic, were present, and after mature delibera- 
tion adopted a national missionary policy. 

THE NATIONAL MISSIONARY POLICY 
FOR THE LAYMEN'S MOVEMENT 

In view of tlie Fatherhood of God, the unity of the human 
race, and the sufficiency and finality of the Gospel of Christ ; 

Knowing that the field is the world and that this is the only 
generation we can reach : 

This first NATIONAL MISSIONARY CONGRESS in the United 
States, representing more than twenty millions of Church mem- 
bers, recognises the immediate world-wide presentation of the 
Gospel message to "be the central and commanding obligation 
resting upon all Christian Churches, and declares its conviction 
that the Church of our generation can and should obey literally 
the great commission of our Lord, to preach the Gospel to every 
creature. 

As indicating the measure of effort required among the non- 
Christian peoples of the earth, we accept as a working policy, the 
standard that, in addition to the native agencies, there should be 
provided from the Churches of Christian lands an average of at 



190 THE HOME BASE 

least one missionary to every twenty-five thousand of the people 
to be evangelised. This would require the quadrupling ^ of our 
present force of workers, and a corresponding increase in con- 
tributions from approximately $11,000,000 (^2,200,000) last year 
to about $45,000,000 (^9,000,000) annually. This estimate 
indicates the measure of personal duty at home rather than the 
method of missionary work abroad, in determining which, diver- 
sities of conditions in the work, dissimilarities of equipment and 
gower among the workers, the part to be taken by the native 
hurches which are to be raised up to do the great bulk of the 
work as self-supporting and self-propagating agencies, must all be 
taken into account. 

We declare our conviction that, according to their ability and 
opportunity, the laymen of the Churches are equally responsible 
with the ministers to pray and to plan, to give and to work for 
the coming of the Kingdom of God upon earth. We believe that 
the call to share actively in extending the knowledge of Christ 
presents to every man his supreme opportunity for development, 
usefulness, and satisfaction, and we appeal to men everywhere 
to invest their intelligence, their influence, their energy, and 
their possessions in the united effort of the Church of Christ to 
evangelise the world. 

While seeking the enlistment of all the laymen of the Church 
in fulfilling the missionary task of our generation, we declare 
our belief that this work is the work of the organised Church, 
and that the natural leaders in it are the ministers and the 
missionary agencies of the various Churches ; and it is our con- 
viction that all that is done in the name of the Laymen's Missionary 
Movement should help to strengthen these leaders and the 
agencies through which the Churches as such must discharge their 
missionary responsibility. 

We urge the adoption by every Church of regular and thorough 
methods of missionary education and finance, culminating once 
each year in an organised personal canvass of each congregation, 
with the earnest purpose of securing the systematic and propor- 
tionate contributions of every member toward the world-wido 
propagation of the Christian evangel, and we recommend for 
universal adoption the Scriptural plan of a missionary offering 
every week, in order that this vast world enterprise may be kept 
constantly in the minds and prayers of all Christians, and that 
funds for the work may be adequate and steadily available. 

We recommend that there be formed in each individual Church 
a strong Missionary Committee, charged with the responsibility 
of promoting missionary intelligence, intercession, and contribu- 
tions, and that in each city or county where work is undertaken, 
a Co-operating Committee of the Laymen's Missionary Movement 
be formed, composed of laymen, selected so far as possible by 
the various Churches to represent their constituency in the 
territory covered, and that the Laymen's Missionary Movement, 
through its Executive Committee, in co-operation with the 
established missionary agencies of the several Churches, be 
authorised to provide such measures for the supervision and 



HOME LEADERSHIP 191 

assistance of these Co-operating Committees as the providential 
developments of the work may require. 

We earnestly remind all Christians of the duty of habitual 
prayer for missionaries ; for native Christians ; and for pastors 
and churches at home ; that labourers may be thrust forth into 
all harvest fields ; that the unity of the Church may be realised 
and that the glory of God may be universally revealed. 

Remembering that the promises of Divine blessing are con- 
ditioned upon obedience to the will of God, and recognising the 
deep spiritual quickening which has already come to the Churches 
in many parts of the United States and Canada, through the 
awakening of the missionary spirit, we call upon the whole 
membership of the Churches here represented to unite with us 
in discharging our personal and national missionary obligations. 

Assembled in this NATIONAL MISSIONARY CONGRESS, and deeply 
persuaded of the power of Christ through His united Church to 
solve all the problems of human society^, we desire to unite with 
the Churches of Canada and of our sister nations throughout 
Christendom, as loyal servants of the King of kings, in a com- 
prehensive and adequate campaign for the conquest of the world 
by Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, th& 
Desire of the nations, and the Light of the world. 

This Congress has been described as the most significant 
religious gathering ever held in America. 

Simultaneous with this work in the cities and by States,- 
the men have been organised in several of the denomina- 
tions, and the officers of the Movement have been the 
helpers in all such organisations. 

One of the first denominational movements to be 
organised was in the Presbyterian Church South, which 
held a convention at Birmingham, Alabama, lasting three- 
days, with over a thousand delegates present. This 
conference accepted and endorsed the standard of an 
average of $4 or 16 shillings per member to foreign 
missions. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church South has begun an. 
organisation. A convention was held at Chattanooga, 
Tennessee, attended by about one thousand men, who 
have set as their financial goal the increase of their 
missionary offerings from $750,000 or 150,000 to 
$3,000,000 or 600,000 annually. This Movement 
employs a general secretary. 

The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, which met in Baltimore in May 1908, endorsed 



192 THE HOME BASE 

the Movement and provided for the organisation of a 
Methodist Laymen's Missionary Movement. They also 
voted to increase their scale of giving to foreign missions 
from $2,000,000 or 400,000 in 1908 to $6,000,000 or 
1,200,000 annually by 1912. The Methodist Laymen's 
Movement employs two secretaries. 

Great conventions of men connected with the Presby- 
terian Church North have also been held at Omaha and at 
Philadelphia under the leadership of the Forward Move- 
ment. In both of these conventions recommendations 
were passed that the offerings of their entire denomination 
be increased to an average of $5 or i a member for foreign 
missions, which would be more than quadrupling their 
present gifts. The Southern Baptist Church and the 
Reformed Church of the United States have each organ- 
ised a Laymen's Missionary Movement, and each employs 
a secretary to devote his time to the organisation and 
extension of the work. The American Board, the 
.Baptist Missionary Society, the Board of Missions of the 
Episcopal Church, the Dutch Reformed Board, t and the 
Foreign Mission Board of the Associate Reformed 
Presbyterian Church have appointed committees to co- 
operate with the Movement. 

The Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, 
and Presbyterian Churches of Canada have organised 
their own separate Laymen's Missionary Movement, each 
with its own secretary, in addition to supporting heartily 
the interdenominational Movement., which also has a 
general secretary in Canada. 

Effect of the Movement on the Men of the Churches 

(a) The attitude of thousands of men towards foreign 
missions has been entirely changed. The men who have 
hitherto been apathetic and critical, and many even 
positively hostile, have been changed into sincere and 
active supporters. 

(6) To thousands of men engrossed in business and 
professional life, and in danger of losing their hold upon 



HOME LEADERSHIP 1&5 

the great spiritual realities, there has come a new vision 
of life and its opportunities. 

(c) Statesmen like President Taft, his Excellency the 
British Ambassador, the Governor-General of Canada, 
the Governors of several states in the United States, the 
Lieutenant-Governors of several provinces in Canada, 
judges, and leading business and professional men have 
spoken at these laymen's conventions and gatherings as 
cordial supporters and advocates of the cause of foreign 
missions. 

(d) The attitude of the secular press towards foreign 
missions has been radically changed. More missionary 
information has appeared in the secular press of the 
United States and Canada in the last two or three years 
than in the preceding ten or, possibly, twenty-five years, 
and most influential journals in both the United States 
and Canada have editorially most cordially endorsed the 
movement and have become advocates of the cause of 
foreign missions. 

(e) It has released prayer forces in the Church, and 
hundreds of men to whom prayer had become a formal 
exercise have, through the movement, been led to realise 
that prayer is a vital reality, and they have been led into 
a deeper spiritual life. 

(/) The spirit of Christian unity and co-operation 
everywhere manifested and most cordially expressed is a 
practical demonstration of the essential unity of the 
various branches of the Christian Church. Never before 
in the history of either the United States or Canada have 
all branches of the Christian Church, other than Roman 
Catholic and Greek Orthodox, co-operated in a common 
religious movement. No feature of the movement has 
created a more profound public impression than this 
evidence of unity and co-operation. The 'movement 
has given, and will continue to give, to the^ Missionary 
Societies a largely increased income. In Canada, in 
the Anglican Church, the offerings to the work of the 
M.S.C.C. in 1909 reached the total of $121,336 (24,267), 
an increase in two years of $26,000 (5200), as compared, 
COM. vi. 13 



194 THE HOME BASE 

with an increase of $22,000 (4400) in five years, and the 
gifts to all dioceses of foreign mission work in 1909 were 
$328,387*68 (65,677), a most gratifying increase over 
previous years. The Presbyterian Church in Canada 
gave to home and foreign missions, in 1907, $472,075 
(94415), This was increased in 1909 to $665,966 
(133,193). The Methodist Church, in 1906-7, gave 
$509,409*44 (101,882) ; in 1908-9, it gave $633,753-28 
(126,751). Baptist Churches gave, in 1907, $206,703 
(41,341) ; in 1909, $262,000 (52,400). The Congrega- 
tional Churches, in 1906-7, $10,282 (2056) ; in 1908-9, 
$15,954 (3191). The best illustration of the increase 
given to missions in a large city under the influence of 
the movement is Toronto, in Canada. The financial 
years of the several Churches are not identical, but for 
the last recorded year, prior to November 1907, the con- 
tributions to home and foreign missions were about 
$200,000. or 40,000. For the last recorded year, prior to 
April 1910, the contributions were $387,5*5 '33 or 77,503- 
The following is a statement of the four largest com- 
munions : 

COMMUNION. Year 1907. Year 1909. 

Anglican . . . . $51,786 $71,000 

(10,357) ! (*4>200) 

Baptist . . . . $23,225-82 $60,877-9 

(4605) (12,175) 

Methodist (1906-7) . . $61,753-45 $102,754-24 

(12,350) (20,550) 

Presbyterian . . . $46,322-13 $in ? 6ii 

(9264) (22,322) 

For the whole of Canada the increase for the past two 
years has been about 33! per cent, 

In the United States the best single illustration of 
the results of the Movement in one denomination is that 
of the Southern Presbyterian Church, which was the 
first to organise its own Laymen's Missionary Movement* 
while at the same time co-operating fully with the Inter- 
1 For year closing 3oth April 1909. 



195 

denominational Movement* In the year 1907, the total 
contributions to foreign missions amounted to $276,263 
(55> 2 53) 3 or $ I9 9 (4 s - 5&) P^ member. This amount 
has been increased in the year 1910 to $420,602 (84^x20), 
or $1*50 (6s.) per member. In twenty-three churches 
of the Southern Presbyterian Church, represented in 
twenty-three different cities or towns in the Southern 
States 9 where the principles and methods of the Move- 
ment have been applied, with an aggregate membership 
of 5023, the. average contribution per member in the 
year 1906 amounted to $2*28 (95, 2d.). In the year 
1909-103 this amount had been increased to an average 
of $6 -33 (x, 5$. 4d<) per member, and in one hundred 
and four churches, representing nineteen different cities 
or towns, where conventions were held in connection 
with the National Missionary Campaign, the aggregate 
amount contributed last year to foreign missions amounted 
to $81,519 (16,304). This year there has been already 
subscribed or voted by these same churches $134,961 
(26,992), and in seventeen cities in the Southern States, 
where conventions were held and all branches of the 
Church carried on a simultaneous canvass immediately 
following the conventions, the aggregate amount con- 
tributed to foreign missions for the past financial year 
amounted to $211,696 (42,339). As a result of the canvass, 
the aggregate amount so far subscribed by the same 
churches of these cities amounts to $366,691 (73,338). 

It would not be reasonable to assume that the above 
increases are all due to the Laymen's Missionary Move- 
ment, but in all cases where figures are given the secre- 
taries of the different Missionary Societies attribute the 
increases very largely to the Laymen's Missionary Move- 
ment some entirely to the Movement. 

In some of the branches of the Church where the 
Movement has only recently been introduced, it is too 
soon to expect any immediate advance in missionary 
contributions ; but the evidence is that, during the current 
year and in the following years, these branches all expect 
very substantial increases. It is a however, not without 



196 THE BASE 

interest to note that in the statistics for the last financial 
year published in January 1910, showing the receipts for 
missions from the Protestant Churches, the contributions 
of Great Britain increased to 63,931, or $319,653, and 
the gifts of other Christian Churches increased to 38,203, 
or $191,017. In the United States and Canada, where 
the Laymen's Movement has been especially active, 
the increase during the same period was 251,281, or 

$1,256,405. 

All those engaged in the Movement recognise that 
the financial results are the least important in this mis- 
sionary awakening. There have come to the men of the 
Churches, where the Movement has gripped them, a new 
sense both of privilege and responsibility in being co- 
workers together with Christ in the work of world redemp- 
tion ; a new conception of stewardship that involves love 
and business talents as well as the possession of a new 
consciousness of personal relationship to Christ and a new 
sense of loyalty to Him. 

The Future 

The information before the Commission appears to 
justify the conclusion that, if the work of the Movement 
is continued in the future with the co-operation of the 
Mission Boards, there is good ground for belief that the 
men of the Church will place at the disposal of missionary 
organisations all the moneys necessary to enable the 
Societies of the United States and Canada to do their 
full share in planting Christian Missions throughout 
the entire non - Christian world* As, however, the 
Mission Boards must collect and administer these funds, 
their active and sympathetic co-operation is essential 
to follow out the work of education and inspiration done 
by the Movement. The Movement sows the seed ; the 
Mission Boards must gather in the harvest. 

The possibilities for the Church and the cause of 
missions that already begin to appear in this Movement 
are beyond estimation. Its success as a mighty national 



LEADBESHIP 197 

movement is assured. Great diligence is required that 
its practical methods may reach every local chwch> and 
that the influence of the organisation make itself felt upon 
every layman of every communion. 

THE MOVEMENT IN SCOTLAND 

The experience of the Laymen's Missionary Movement 
in Scotland is comparatively limited. Active work was 
commenced only in the autumn of 1908, and as since 
then the Secretary has given the larger part of Ms time 
to the work of organising the World Missionary Con- 
ference, it is difficult to lay down any clearly established 
principles with the proper weight of experience behind 
them. 

The Movement is conducted by a General Committee 
consisting of about a hundred men of various denomina- 
tions. This Committee has appointed an Executive 
Committee and a Secretary, with offices in Edinburgh. 
In promoting the work in the various districts, groups 
of leading men are got together to push the Movement 
systematically in individual congregations, but there the 
matter of separate organisation ends. The necessary 
finance for its promotion is provided by members of the 
central committee and others interested. 

Although the experience of the Laymen's Movement 
in Scotland has been so comparatively limited, the 
financial results in individual congregations interested 
are as striking as those obtained on a larger scale in 
America, and three things clearly emerge : 

First, that the want of interest on the part of so 
many men of our Churches is due not so much to 
indifference or hostility as to lack of knowledge of the 
situation. 

Second, that men who have hitherto failed to take any 
deep interest in the missionary work of the Church can 
be effectively reached by a broad presentation of the 
situation in the world at the present day in its relation 
to the Kingdom of God. The experience of the Lay- 



198 

men's Movement is that the surest way of interesting 
a man in the missions of his own Church is to get him 
to understand clearly the world-wide task confronting 
Christianity. 

Third a there is a large amount of dormant life in the 
Churches which can be aroused^ and there are a number 
of very earnest-minded men who are prepared to do 
what they can in the way of arousing interest if they 
are suitably led and guided. 

In those congregations where representatives of the 
Laymen's Movement have had meetings with the office- 
bearers, emphasis has been laid on the desirability of 
closely overhauling the congregational organisation for 
promoting interest and liberality on behalf of foreign 
missions, and the necessity of making a committee of 
men responsible for this work. In some cases it is found 
that no missionary committee exists, and little or nothing 
is done by the office-bearers to promote interest and 
liberality beyond appointing a foreign mission treasurer. 
The absence of proper organisation paralyses the interest 
even of those who are sympathetic and disposed to do 
something. In many cases the Movement has seen the 
realisation of strength for service that conies to individuals 
interested when they are banded together in an effective 
organisation. Again, the practical work is too often left 
entirely to lady collectors, and the Movement urges that, 
where a congregation takes steps to put the foreign mission 
fund on a better basis, the office-bearers should dignify 
the proceeding in the eyes of the members by carrying 
out a regular visitation of their districts in the interest 
of the fund* This has already been done with striking 
effect. 1 

THE MOVEMENT IN AUSTRALIA 

When the Laymen's Missionary Movement was intro- 
duced into Australia^ there already existed in the Anglican 

1 The address of the Laymen's Missionary Movement in America 
is i Madison Avenue, New York; in Great Britain, 100 Princes 
Street, Edinburgh. 



HOME LEADERSHIP 199 

and Congregational Churches of Victoria Laymen's 
Missionary Unions. These were stimulated into new 
life by the news of the Laymen's Movement in North 
America, and regular branches of the Movement were 
formed in connection with all the evangelical denomina- 
tions in Victoria* Immediately the question arose as to 
whether the financial side should be pressed, and a cam- 
paign on the American lines inaugurated. 

After proper consideration it was definitely decided to 
make no such endeavour, but to pray and work directly 
for the consecration of lives to the cause. 

More than a year of prayer and quiet work by the 
denominational movements, all of which are equally 
represented on a General Council, led to what has been 
characterised by careful and competent judges as the 
deepest spiritual movement that has ever come to 
Victoria. 

It was not made easy to gain membership. Men were 
informed that the aim was not primarily to secure money, 
but to bring about the dedication of life to the absolute 
mastery and guidance of the Holy Spirit, The men 
counted the cost, and a large proportion of the men of 
each congregation, to which the cause was presented, 
responded. 

The aspect of presentation which was found to appeal 
most strongly to Victorian laymen was 

(1) The crisis in the field. 

(2) The place held by laymen in the plan of God for 
the evangelisation of the world. 

Of the four points in the pledge of the Movement, those 
of prayer and study were most manifestly blessed. The 
only work spoken of was the enlistment of fellow Church 
members. Increased giving was mentioned last of all. 
But, as was anticipated, it was found that through 
renewed prayer and increased knowledge there followed, 
in the most striking way s an increase in the amounts 
given. 

As soon as the Movement was well established in the 
capital, a year's campaign in all the cities, and even towns 



200 THE HOME BASE 

of size, in Victoria was begun in February 1910. No town 
failed to respond to the call to co-operate. The Move- 
ment has now spread to New South Wales and to South 
Australia, and plans are being made for an Australian 
National Convention at an early date. The heart and 
centre of the Laymen's Movement in Australia is the 
personal dedication of life that it advocates. 

The principles of the Movement in Australia are set 
forth in the following terms : - 

The Laymen's Missionary Movement is based upon the convic- 
tion that it is the duty of the Christian Church to carry the 
Gospel to all mankind, and it seeks to do this by binding the 
manhood of the Church into the great brotherhood, knit together 
by a fourfold purpose : 

(a) To pray for the evangelisation of the world in this 

generation. 
(6) To study the progress of the missionary enterprise, that 

prayer may be definite and intelligent. 

(c) To engage in active service as the Holy Spirit may guide 
in answer to prayer. 

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 

The Commission has only commendation for this 
awakening among the laymen. It urges upon the 
various denominational Societies that they take steps to 
co-operate with the Movement in the organisation of the 
laymen of their own body for effective advance work. It 
would constitute an irreparable loss if, after the laymen 
in any one communion had been aroused by the National 
Movement, that denomination should fail to organise its 
own laymen for the most effective work. Some denomina- 
tions are alert to their opportunity and responsibility, 
one having very thoroughly organised its laymen in 
advance of the national movement. Others have not 
yet completed their denominational organisation. The 
Movement is wholesome, sane, and Christian, but in order 
that itmay realise its purpose, the denominational organisa- 
tion must be so complete as to include the local church 
and provide ample opportunity for every layman to have 
a distinctive share in the work of missions. Here oppor- 



201 

tunity and responsibility is laid upon Mission Boards. 
They must not fail to act, and to act promptly and 
effectively. 

III. WOMEN 

For the consideration of the question of Women's 
Missionary Boards or Societies and their relation to the 
parent Boards, we refer to the section of the Report 
dealing with that subject. At the same time, the question 
before us of the leadership of women in the foreign 
missionary enterprise of the Church is so intimately 
associated with the above, that it has been difficult some- 
times to distinguish between them. 

It has been generally accepted in all denominations 
that woman's distinctive sphere of missionary work in 
the local congregation is among women and children; 
and yet, to the shame of men and the lasting glory of the 
women, it must be stated that in not a few congrega- 
tions the only missionary interest discernible is that 
engendered and kept alive by devout women, while most 
communions are indebted to their women for a large 
measure of their missionary activity. 

In many denominations, especially in America, women 
are the chief promoters of missionary interest in the local 
churches. But, beyond this, they have perfected mission- 
ary organisations to such an extent that they are able to 
reach quickly all the women connected with the work. 
They have the means at their command to bring special 
information and a call for help to the attention of all 
their constituency with speed and precision. They practi- 
cally never fail to secure a response that speaks well, not 
only for their organisation, but for their devotion. When 
the men of America organised the Laymen's Missionary 
Movement, they studied the women's organisation and 
adopted much of it. The women have been real leaders, 
both in wide plans of organisation and in details of 
execution. As to the beneficent results of the organisa- 
tion of Women's Societies on the missionary spirit in 



202 THE HOME BASE 

the Church, and home, in diffusing information, in pro- 
moting the spirit of prayer, and in increasing mission- 
ary contributions, our correspondents speak with one 
voice. 

The question as to what are the special characteristics 
and the most helpful features of women's work in the 
Church may be answered in a variety of ways. At the 
same time, there is more or less similarity in the methods 
adopted by the women's Societies for developing leader- 
ship among women, and among these the following deserve 
special mention : 

I. CONFERENCES 

In almost every case the separate congregations in 
different districts or areas are grouped together in auxiliaries 
or presbyteries or dioceses, etc., and periodical confer- 
ences are held in central churches to which secretaries, 
treasurers, and interested workers are summoned, when 
new methods are discussed, reports given, and all matters 
concerning the work are dealt with. These conferences 
are held sometimes monthly, sometimes quarterly ; 
while, in connection with the annual missionary meetings 
held in the different auxiliaries and larger towns, a special 
conference and meeting of women workers is generally 
convened. Residential conferences for women and girls 
are also held by some Societies at various centres, and 
they reach women and girls of wide social influence, and 
bring foreign missions into touch with home life. The 
Church Missionary Society of England reports meetings of 
a directly educative character, at which the training of 
women for efficiency in committee work receives attention, 
and at which special subjects are considered. Books are 
recommended for study. Experts attend the meetings 
to answer questions and give information upon the 
larger problems of mission work. 

2. MEETINGS FOR PRAYER 

In many of the auxiliaries or presbyteries special 
meetings of women for prayer and intercession for foreign 



203 

missions are held from time to time, while prayer unions 
have been formed and prayer cycles and manuals have 
been issued to aid memory and stimulate earnestness in 
private prayer on behalf of the missionaries and their 
work. One Anglican Society writes : " On Good Friday, 
for some years past, our whole Girls' Movement has set 
apart three half-hours for missionary intercession. This 
year 2000 copies of the Intercession Paper have been 
applied for." 

3. COLLECTION OF FUNDS 

It has been the province of women in the administration 
of their own households to deal with details ; they have 
been taught not to despise small things, and the training 
thus received has perhaps fitted them for the kind of 
ministry to which they have felt themselves called in 
the service of Christ. In the collection of funds this 
attention to details has been marked. Every women's 
society and committee has endeavoured to organise the 
systematic collection of small sums of money, and to 
encourage gifts of one penny or two cents per week, as well 
as of larger amounts, their aim being to secure that every 
individual woman in connection with a Christian congrega- 
tion should realise her responsibility and duty in connec- 
tion with the missionary enterprise. Different methods 
have been adopted for the collection of these small sums 
collecting books or cards, missionary boxes, mite or 
thanksgiving boxes. The most effective method wher- 
ever this is possible is the personal call, since in all work, 
but especially in women's work, it is the personal element 
which counts. As it is not always possible to secure a 
sufficient number of collectors to carry out this some- 
what difficult and self-denying method, the missionary 
box, so familiar to more than one past generation, is 
still to be commended, especially for family use, where 
the periodical opening of the box in the presence of the 
assembled children is sure to make a lasting impression 
on their minds. It is hardly necessary to add that this 
impression will need to be strengthened by the judicious 



204 THE HOME BASE 

reading and telling of stories from the mission field and 
of incidents in the lives and experience of missionary 
heroes. A mother who is herself instructed and full^ of 
missionary fervour will have no difficulty in inspiring 
her children with enthusiasm for the cause. 

Too much importance can hardly be attached to this 
matter of a mother's influence, and of awakening in 
mothers an adequate sense of their opportunity and, 
therefore, responsibility, since it is noteworthy that in a 
large percentage of the replies received to the question 
put to candidates for missionary service, " What motives 
led you to desire to become a missionary ? " the answer 
has been, " I was brought up in a missionary atmosphere/* 
or " My mother's ambition was that one of her children 
should become a missionary/' or " My mother's prayers 
influenced me," or some similar answer. Unfortunately, 
as one English correspondent writes, " the average woman 
knows so little of missions herself, that she is not at all 
likely to interest her children/ 1 

There can be no doubt that many methods of home 
work for foreign missions are common to both men and 
women, and among these are the study circles and classes 
which have aroused so much interest among women 
and girls that they should not be passed over without 
reference here. At the same time, they are so fully dealt 
with elsewhere that it is not necessary to do more than 
name them. 

4. WOMEN'S WORKING MEETINGS 

There is one method which is so distinctively feminine 
that it must be mentioned, especially as it has been 
found useful both in raising funds and in promoting 
interest in the cause. We refer to the women's working 
meetings. These gatherings common in both Europe 
and America are more or less of a social nature, gener- 
ally held in turn in the different homes of the members 
of the congregation, whenjlarticles of clothing are made 
for sale either at home or abroad, and '' also articles 



HOME LEADERSHIP 206 

suitable for presents and prizes for school children, or 
for use in the mission hospitals. A correspondent writes : 
" These meetings for work appeal to women whom it 
does not seem possible to interest in any other way. 
Periodical meetings are certainly necessary to keep up 
interest." At these gatherings addresses are sometimes 
given by a missionary at home on furlough, or by some 
member ofijthe auxiliary, or letters from the field are read, 
and in other ways fuller information is imparted and 
interest is deepened. One correspondent says : " Wher- 
ever possible I would suggest addresses by women (not 
missionaries) who have travelled in any mission field and 
can speak of what they have seen/' 

5. OTHER ACTIVITIES 

It is to women as leaders and initiators that the Churches 
have looked for the formation and conduct of children's 
missionary bands. They train the little ones in missionary 
recitations and dialogues, and the representation of 
missionary scenes. They seek to interest mothers 1 
meetings in the sufferings and sorrows of their sisters in 
other lands. " Everything depends/' says a correspondent, 
" on whether the leaders of these meetings are themselves 
keen on foreign missions." It is women who manage for 
the most part the missionary library in connection with 
the congregations, and have charge of the distribution 
of missionary periodicals among the members, often hi 
England combining this with the calling for the regular 
offerings at the homes of the subscribers. 

In these various ways women are bringing their influ- 
ence to bear in furthering the interests of foreign missions 
in the home and in the Church. 

From the consideration of this subject of the home 
leadership of women, two principles become apparent : 
(i) that in order to develop the work it is necessary first 
to develop the woman in mind as well as in spirit, 
and(2) that, as one correspondent points out, " a steady 
policy of training leaders carried forward at headquarters 



206 THE, HOME 

tends to develop women who will bring new life into old 
methods, and express the old principles through new 
activities/ 5 

It is evident, from this survey of the forces capable of 
leadership in the Churches, and only waiting to be inspired, 
instructed, organised, and set to the task, that here in 
itself is a field for effort and prayer that is full of promise 
for the future. When these forces are completely organised 
and on fire with the living Spirit of service and sacrifice, 
there will be no halting in the progress of the Kingdom 
as it moves on to the consummation of the Divine 
plan. 



CHAPTER XII 

PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 

RELATION OF NEEDS ABROAD AND RECEIPTS 
AT HOME 

(The Problem of Deficits) 

SIMPLY stated, the problem of deficits is the question 
whether a Foreign Missionary Society should do the 
work that ought to be done and that can be done in its 
field of operation, expecting its constituency to supply the 
needed funds, or, closing its eyes to need and opportunity, 
should first enquire of the supporting constituency how 
much it may spend for the promotion of the work ? The 
former plan creates deficits, expecting the Church to 
reimburse when the facts are known; the latter plan 
precludes any advance the Church has not authorised* 

In many respects this is one of the most, if not the 
most, perplexing department of missionary administra- 
tion. The executive committees and the officers of the 
Mission Boards are necessarily the most thoroughly 
informed regarding the needs of the populations in the 
mission fields for which they regard themselves as re- 
sponsible, as they are also well aware of the opportunities 
open to advance the work at the front. There can be no 
question that the recognition of a real need constitutes 
in itself a call to do everything possible to supply 
that need. When that need is moral and spiritual, the 
call has unusual significance to those who have, in a 
special manner, given themselves to the moral and 
spiritual uplift of the world. 

207 



68 THE HOME BASE 

When we have In addition a situation in which sonte 
cataclysm or sudden change in the attitude of the people 
brings within the reach of spiritual influence thousands, 
or even millions, who have hitherto been cut off from 
any possible aid, then it is imperative that the officers of 
Missionary Societies decide whether such a condition 
constitutes in itself a call of God to advance by making 
the necessary expenditure of money, trusting that when 
the situation and opportunity are made clear the sup- 
porting constituency will respond. 

There are those who hold the position that it is the duty 
of the officers and executive committees of Missionary 
Societies to appoint and send out every worthy candidate 
that applies for service, and to enter every door opened 
to the Christian teacher, quite independently of the 
question of income. These would say that Missionary 
Societies are to be the judges of the amount of mission 
work a denomination should do, basing their action upon 
the manifest will of God, as revealed to the officers and 
executive committees through their missionaries, and 
that the constituency of each Society is under divine 
obligation to provide its mission organisation with funds 
sufficient to meet all of its requirements. Some frankly 
say that a Society that refuses to appoint a worthy 
candidate, simply because its funds are inadequate, or 
to take up new work that is presented as a privilege and 
responsibility, because its treasury is empty, shows there- 
by its lack of faith in God, who led the candidate to apply, 
and who has removed the barriers and opened the doors 
to new fields of conquest, If God can and does thus lead 
men to offer themselves for service, and at the same time 
prepare the way for an enlarged and growing work, surely 
He can and will do the simplest thing of all, namely, move 
the hearts of His stewards to provide the funds to com- 
plete the work. It is also affirmed that not to follow 
manifest divine guidance in this work is to walk by sight 
and not by faith. 

There is more reason for this position now that in 
so large a measure the non-Christian world has been 



PROBLEM OP DEFICITS 209 

mapped out, the territory delimited and responsibility 
agreed upon by the different Missionary Societies and 
Boards, so that, if within the territory of any one Society 
there is timidity and halting, it cannot be expected that 
another will come in and complete the task. Under 
present arrangements, for the most part, if one Society 
fails to enter an open door, that door stands open in vain, 
and the Gospel is bound and restricted by the lack of 
faith of those v/ho bear the responsibility, whether it be 
the officers of the Mission Board or the constituency that 
fails to supply the funds, 

Missionary Societies are set for a particular task that 
no one else will do. This includes ministering to those 
who are sick and in dire need of physical relief, as well as 
to those who are in peril of moral death and in need of 
spiritual light and consolation. The attitude taken 
by many is, that no matter what the need may be, no 
matter what the physical or spiritual peril, or how easily 
and effectively relief can be given, if the affording of that 
relief is to involve the Missionary Society in a financial 
deficit at the end of the year, then the relief must not be 
given, and the physical and spiritual loss must follow. 

Owing to the complexity of this question and the two 
sides strongly taken by different parties, there have come 
to be two classes of Missionary Societies, the one including 
those Societies which are sometimes distinguished from 
others as " faith missions/' the other, a much larger 
class, which, while they do not bear this label, would, 
nevertheless, deny that they are any less faith missions 
than their co-workers who are so designated. The Societies 
in the former class announce that they never have debts 
because they expend only what they receive, and as they 
receive it, so that when their income decreases through 
depleted receipts, by so much the less do the officials 
send out funds for the support of the missionaries and 
the work. 

Their missionaries go out with the full understanding 
of the case, and accept what they receive as the indication 
of the will of God as to what they ought to have. It is easy 
COM. vi. 14 



210 THE HOME BASE 

to understand that any marked diminution of receipts 
of such Societies for any single year, through any cause 
whatever, must necessarily bring extreme suffering upon 
these missionaries, many of whom are at remote and 
interior stations, to escape from which they have no 
funds, while they are unable to supply themselves with 
the bare necessaries of life. Such a situation is im- 
possible with the other class of Missionary Societies, who 
themselves guarantee each year to their missionaries at 
the front the minimum amount they will send them for 
that year, and then, if for any reason the receipts of the 
Society experience a marked diminution, the amount 
promised to the missionaries is sent them, even if funds 
have to be borrowed for the purpose. The missionaries 
supported by a pledged allowance are not infrequently 
called upon in times of special distress to give material 
aid to those who belong to the so - called " faith 
missions/* 

It must be borne in mind that when these Societies 
promise a large sum for the support of their missionaries 
and their work, they do so in faith, for none of the funds 
thus pledged are in hand at the time, but the officers of 
the Society have faith that the supporting constituency 
will supply the money as it is needed, and in most cases 
this is done. 

In the one case, that last mentioned, the officers and 
executive committee of the Missionary Society exercise 
faith in that they pledge to the missionaries in their 
difficult and even perilous positions the payment of an 
assured amount for their support and for the work. In 
the case of the other class of Societies, the officers and 
executive committees seem to throw the burden of faith 
upon the missionaries themselves. In the former case, 
if the faith exercised has seemed to be larger than results 
warrant, the officers find themselves burdened with a 
deficit for which they become responsible, while in the 
latter case, if the receipts are not equal to expectations, 
it is not the officers who suffer but the missionaries. In 
both ca^es the ejitire work is one of faith, 



PROBLEM OF DEFICITS 211 

We have then three distinct views regarding the financial 
policy of a Missionary Society or Board, namely : 

1. That the responsible officers of a Society are bound 
to undertake the work presented to it, irrespective of the 
state of its finances, trusting God to provide for all 
needs. 

2. That no work shall be undertaken until there is 
reasonable assurance that the pledges made by the 
Society will be met by the supporting constituency before 
the close of the fiscal year. One Society carries this 
theory to such an extreme that it raises and banks its funds 
one year in advance of its expenditure, thus eliminating 
all chances of a deficit except in case of some general 
disaster. 

3. That the Society is primarily a transmitting agency 
whose duty is to forward whatever funds are contributed, 
but with no financial responsibility for the support of its 
missionaries or for the upkeep of the work. 

The problem we are considering confronts every Mis- 
sionary Society to-day. Every missionary and every 
officer of a Missionary Society knows what it is to stand 
in the face of marvellous God-given opportunities and be 
compelled to halt because of the warnings that come up 
from the constituency that a deficit must not be incurred 
and will not be tolerated. We all know too well the 
struggle that this has cost as we have agonised in prayer 
and waited for guidance until at last we have stopped 
our ears to the call from the depths, and closed our eyes 
to the vision of souls helplessly straggling for life, and 
turned away, even beating a retreat, because we feared 
a deficit more shall we say ? than we feared the warn- 
ing, " Inasmuch as ye did it not unto these, ye did it not 
unto Me." 

At the present time Missionary Societies, with few if 
any exceptions, have adopted the general policy of keep- 
ing their expenditure so far as seems possible within the 
probable limit of their income. In other words they are 
accustomed to base their missionary activities not upon 
the needs of the field, but upon the probable income from 



212 THE 

the constituency. They have practically ceased to ask 

the Lord to lead into the fields He would have them win 
for Him, but they rather enquire of the home constitu- 
ency how much it plans to give during the year. 

It would seem that under this principle the Missionary 
Societies and the missionaries become not servants of the 
Lord to do His untrammelled will, but rather the agents 
of the Church to execute its measure of desire and purpose. 
Most of the Societies take a medium ground, avoiding 
launching out in new and large enterprises which demand 
greatly increased expenditure of money, without having 
first consulted their constituency and secured encourage- 
ment, while, at the same time, they bring influences to 
bear upon the constituency to multiply contributions 
that they may more nearly reach the standard 
required. 

While this is generally true, but lew of the Societies 
in Europe and America have been able to carry on their 
ever-widening work without an occasional deficit, occa- 
sionally amounting in some cases to 10 per cent, or even 
more of the entire income of the year. In the last ten 
years in the United States twelve Societies have reported 
deficits. The debt of one of these covered the entire 
ten-year period, while two had deficits for nine years, 
one for eight, one for seven, etc. The China Inland 
and the Alliance Missions are practically the only Societies 
that so conduct their finances that no deficit is incurred, 
although in case of a heavy falling-ofi of receipts they 
would be compelled to advance funds to prevent their 
missionaries from perishing. The China Inland Mission 
for forty-five years has received funds sufficient to meet 
its needs, while the officers at home as well as the mis- 
sionaries are pledged to keep free from debts. The 
Society that has carried a deficit for the entire ten years 
reports that its aim is to avoid debts. Another report 
from one of the strong Boards in America says : 

*' It is just as impossible for a successful Mission Board to carry 
on its work aggressively -without incurring the necessity of occa- 
sionally going into debt, as it is for any other kind of business 



0! 213 

enterprise of large proportions. We hold that it is our duty as a 
Board or Executive Committee to exercise due caution, and not 
to plunge our Church, with reference to its foreign missionary 
work, needlessly into debt. We often, however, send out a new 
missionary on the confidence we have that the Church will pro- 
vide for his support, when there is no money in the treasury for 
that purpose at the time he is sent. On the other hand, we do not 
do this unless it is a real emergency." 

Another American Society reports : 

** There is a divided opinion in our Board of Missions with regard 
to the matter of debts." Speaking generally, the Board is of the 
opinion that as long as the appropriations are so far within the 
ability of the Church to give, it may be held back from entering 
upon new work only by the dictates of prudence/* 

A spokesman for an old American Society says : > 

" As a rule, I think it is the duty of a Mission Board always to 
keep ahead of the Church in planning and doing its work, and seek 
to bring the Church up to such advance as is called for. Just how 
far it should act upon this principle or adopt this policy is a ques- 
tion of reasonable prudence. Our whole work is a work of faith, 
so far as the means to carry it on are concerned. For some years 
our Board pursued the policy of not appropriating more in any 
given year than the average receipts for the previous five years. 
This made it impossible to embrace new opportunities or engage 
in new work that opened to us, and sometimes necessitated serious 
and distressing retrenchment. Happily we have been led and 
enabled to pursue a different policy for the last few years, and 
have as a rule appropriated in advance all that the missions 
have asked for, of which the executive committee approved. In 
this our faith has been rewarded by the increased contributions 
of the Churches/' 

This Society has had no deficit for the last eight years* 
An English Society official says : 

" I regard deficits as neither unavoidable nor inexcusable, but 
rather as in the category of natural, though eminently unpleasant, 
results of the difficulty of duly co-ordinating the needs of the field 
and the realisation of them by the Church at home." 

Another European Society reports : 

** Deficits are unavoidable and must ever follow devotion and 
daring/' 

An officer of a women's European Society writes : 

** We are disposed to regard deficits as to some extent unavoid- 
able, and even, on the whole, as a healthy stimulus to increased 
prayer and effort on the part of the Church and encouraging 



214 THE HOME BASE 

evidence of the life and growth of the work itself. No doubt 
a large deficit recurring year after year might tend to discourage 
and even paralyse effort, but the aim of the missionary committee 
should be to equalise receipts and expenditure rather by raising 
the income to meet the needs of a growing and expanding work 
than by cutting down expenses." 

Another European Society reports : 

" We cannot know beforehand exactly what the year's income 
will be and count on a modest increase. Should there be decrease 
instead, it is not the committee that is to blame. Our policy 
is to spend a little more than the last year's income, but we should 
think it inexcusable to launch out to any great extent with a 
stationary income," 

The British and Foreign Bible Society, which for 
eight years had deficits amounting in the aggregate to 
120,000 or $600,000, and which depleted both the 
Society's reserve fund and its stock of books, writes : 

"These years of deficiency have been a disguised blessing. 
A very careful review of all the methods employed and much 
reorganisation took place. This resulted in valuable economies 
as well as greater efficiency. The determination of the committee 
to so manage their affairs that there should not be piteous appeals 
to meet debt was productive of increased public confidence, which 
is a valuable asset." 

One "of the leading Missions of Scotland reports : 

"As a Committee and a Church we have always thought it 
right to see our way through financial obligations, before in- 
curring the same, as we have so often seen the so-called ' policy 
of faith * result in financial disaster ; but we are specially careful 
to watch that we do not allow ourselves to be content with simply 
meeting from year to year old claims, and we do everything we can 
to quicken the Church to press forward to new undertakings and 
to provide increased contributions." 

One of the great Boards in America reports : 

" The work of any Board should be governed by its resources 
carefully estimated. A reasonable advance, based upon the 
growth of the Church in ability and willingness to respond, is safe 
and wise." 

Another leader reports : 

"A reasonable advance beyond the income of the past year 
should be undertaken from time to time, until we have grounds 
to believe that the Church is doing its maximum amount for the 
evangelisation of the world." . , 



PROBLEM Of DEFICITS 215 

Another well-known leader and expert writes : 

" If there is weak support by the Church, a Board should 
conform its expenditure to probable income. If the denomina- 
tion is tolerably loyal to missions, the acceptance of prudential 
openings and new lines of effort would, or at least could, lead to an 
increased support of the cause." 

Another well-known authority in mission circles, 
speaking for one of the large Mission Boards, writes : 

" Every effort is made to avoid a deficit at the end of the year. 
We are compelled, as are other Boards, to make appropriations 
for the work a year in advance, and we always do so after care- 
fully canvassing the probable receipts. The appropriation is 
made with the confident expectation that it will be covered by 
receipts. No provision is made for extraordinary expenditures 
or for diminution of receipts, so that now and then a deficit 
appears at the close of the fiscal year. However much this is 
deplored by the officers and Committee of the Board, it is so 
apparent that further reductions on the field would work physical, 
moral, and spiritual disaster, that the energy of the Board is 
directed to efforts for increasing the sources of regular income rather 
than to the organisation of retreat. We are confident our Church 
is abundantly able to meet all needs if we use proper methods of 
cultivation, and if the God of Missions direct our effort through 
His Holy Spirit. We believe our obligation is to the Church as 
well as to the pagan." 

This statement fairly represents the position taken by 
the leading Missionary Societies both in Europe and 
America. These principles apply equally to the sending 
out of new missionaries and to appropriations made for 
the support of the work as a whole. 

These quotations are a fair sample of many that might 
be given. There are none who advocate a general and, 
what might be called by some, a reckless advance and 
enlargement of the work abroad without a reasonable 
assurance that the added funds for such work will be 
provided. On the other hand, to continue year by year 
to appropriate and use the same amount of money that 
was used the year before, is to destroy in the Church any 
idea of growth, and can but confirm the Church members 
in the belief that they have reached the limit of demand 
and their limit in giving, while at the same time the work 
abroad will tend to stagnation and the missionaries to 
discouragement. 



216 THE HOME BASE 

After an exhaustive survey of this most vital subject, 
we are led to the following conclusions as fairly repre- 
senting the general attitude of the leading Missionary 
Societies upon both sides of the water : 

i. Missionary Societies, executive offi-cers, and missionaries 
are not alone responsible for the success or failure of the 
work abroad, but the responsibility must be shared with the 
supporting constituency. 

Officers and committees of Missionary Societies, while 
painfully aware of the unseized opportunities and the 
unentered open doors, are powerless to advance unless 
the men and women for the work are available, and 
unless the needed funds are provided. Hence follows 
the position that the. responsibility does not rest wholly 
upon the officers of Societies, but upon the Church, which 
should provide the funds. If advance is not made, the 
failure belongs to the Church. 

2,. One of the chief duties of the Missionary Societies 
and their officers is to keep the Church informed of the needs 
and opportunities abroad, and to inspire in it the spirit of 
the larger beneficence, 

It is an error to assume that the only duty of the Mission 
Board is to direct the work abroad, and to use in that 
service only such funds as are voluntarily provided by 
the Church. The Societies stand upon the watch-tower, 
and from their position of vantage take note of the advance 
of the Kingdom in the remote parts of the earth. What 
they observe and believe and feel, they are in duty bound 
to impart to the contributing constituency, that the 
responsibility may be passed to those to whom it belongs. 
It is the privilege and business of a Missionary Society 
to arouse and inspire and even compel the Church to a 
larger and more liberal beneficence, as much as it is its 
duty to conduct with efficiency and economy the work 
abroad. The Church has a right to look to the officers 
of the Missionary Society for a new vision of duty and 
opportunity, and to expect from them such presentations 
of the needs and opportunities abroad that to increase their 
gifts will seem to its members a privilege, and but the 



OF 217 

natural result of the new life of hope and faith into which 
they have entered. When a Missionary Society fails to 
advance its work, it is fair to ask if the Society itself has 
been properly alert and faithful in its relation to the 
supporting constituency. 

3. The Missionary Society must keep before the Church 
the need of a continual advance until the fields for which 
the denomination is responsible have been adequately 
provided for. 

No Society and no Church can afford to stand still in 
its missionary work. To do so would be disastrous to 
both. Aside from the demoralising and de-spiritualising 
effect of stagnation, both in the Society and in the 
Church, the moral effect upon the missionaries and the 
native Christians would be most unfortunate. To be 
placed as a small minority in, the midst of paganism 
with all its aggressive opposition, and in that condition 
to be warned that they are not to be reinforced or given 
supplies for advance, but that they are expected only to 
hold indefinitely the positions now occupied, is to demand 
of men and women a courage and strength and faith that 
is more than human. The most discouraging and even 
impossible positions can be maintained for a time if there 
is assurance that opportunity for advance will soon be 
afforded. No army can be held indefinitely in the field 
passively and under fire and in the face of overwhelming 
opposition. The only hope of missions lies in unceasing 
advance along every line of Christian endeavour, through 
every crumbling barrier, into every strategic centre, 
increasing in volume, courage, faith, and power as it 
advances, until the very gates of hell cannot prevail 
against rL 

What is true of the missionaries and native workers at 
the front is equally true of the Church at home. A Church 
that is not enlarging its effort for the conquest of the 
world, and pushing out its forces in increasing numbers, and 
multiplying its contributions for their support, is either a 
dead or a dying Church. These facts must be understood 
by the Societies and, alert with every energy God gives 



218 THE HOME BASE 

them, they must bring the Church into co-partnership 
with them in the campaign for the Christian conquest 
of the world, which campaign cannot fail to increase in 
cost and effort until the victory is won. 

4. The Societies must teach the Churches that a mere 
trifling advance, not in proportion to increased membership 
and added wealth, can in no measure meet the demands of 
the case. 

In these days when there is such rapid growth in 
national wealth, accompanied by perhaps a larger increase 
in expenditure for personal comfort and for luxuries, a 
mere trifling advance from year to year in the contribu- 
tions of a Church for the cause of missions can never 
satisfy either the cause or the Church. It is the province 
of Missionary Societies to gather the facts of the increase 
of wealth and of numbers in the Christian Church, and 
to make the Church see wherein the path of privilege and 
duty lies. While it is true that the people are to be 
reached mainly through the pastors, still the responsi- 
bility to mass and array the facts and to make the appeal 
belongs to the Missionary Society and the officers that have 
the work in charge. 

5. The Society is bound to move forward as rapidly as 
it is confident that, by its efforts and by the grace of God, 
the following of the Church and supporting constituency can 
be commanded. 

The Society stands upon the walls, and to it the Church 
looks for reports of the progress made at the front as well 
as for the signals to advance. It must maintain a position 
of recognised leadership commanding the confidence and 
the following of its constituency. It cannot af ord to be 
unprogressive or to give the Church the impression that 
it is doing all it is able to do (unless perchance this be a 
fact, which would indeed be a new thing under the 
sun), and that there is no need of increased effort 
and sacrifice for the sake of the multitudes abroad yet 
unreached. 

In order to accomplish this, the Society itself will be 
compelled to make advances with the assurance that the 



PROBLEM OF DEFICITS 219 

Church can and will be brought up to the new standard. 
To determine the degree of advance over the past year 
requires an intimate understanding of the condition and 
spirit of the constituency and its financial ability, as well 
as a knowledge of the number and temper of those con- 
gregations and individuals who have never become sup- 
porters of the cause, and to reach whom plans should 
always be made. 

The Missionary Societies are the standard-bearers of 
the Churches as they advance with the gospel of Christ 
for the conquest of the world. It is imperative, therefore, 
that the standard be kept to the front of the marching 
forces, while it is equally necessary that it be not so far 
in front that the Churches become disheartened or even 
lose sight of it altogether. If non-supporting Church 
members in every Christian country could be led to give 
as liberally as the one-tenth of the Church members who 
now give the greater part of all that is given for foreign 
missions, the work of every Board would advance with 
leaps and bounds. The nine-tenths must be won while 
the interest of the one-tenth is not allowed to wane. 
Under these principles now and then a deficit may occur 
at the end of the fiscal year, but this will not be because 
it is a policy of the Board to incur debt, but generally 
because the Church has not responded as was anticipated 
to the call for a forward movement. 

6. Deficits may be caused by some overwhelming disaster 
calling for an immediate expenditure of funds, 

In such an emergency the Missionary Society has no 
alternative but to do what wise administration and the 
spirit of humanity and Christianity demands, even though 
a deficit result. We refer to events like the massacres in 
Turkey in 1895 and 1909, and the Boxer uprising in North 
China in 1900. In all such cases the missionaries must be 
cared for and the native Christians shown the Christian 
spirit of sympathy and fraternity. Usually when the facts 
are made known to the supporters, emergency funds will 
be provided to meet the new needs. However this may 
be, any Board that failed adequately to meet the needs 



220 

of suet a disaster, would be recognised by the world as 
recreant to its great trust* Let it always be understood 
that a deficit is not a crime, that it does not necessarily 
indicate poor business management, and that in fact it 
may show the far-seeing and sober wisdom and Christian 
devotion and wise statesmanship of those who bore the 
responsibility at the time, A debt is no more a disgrace 
to a Mission. Board than to a business house, or to a 
hospital, or to a nation. 

7. Legacies, through their ftuduaiion, often disappoint 
expectations and lead to a deficit. 

Some Societies hold that it is better to set aside this 
uncertain and irregular income for special objects, such as 
buildings, that can wait from year to year in case receipts 
fall off. Some Societies have reached the point where 
they are able to put all legacies in any one year into a 
legacy fund, so that each legacy is extended over a period 
of years. This method greatly reduces the fluctuations 
in this item for any one year, and helps to equalise and 
make more certain what naturally is filled with such 
uncertainty. One large Board in the United States has 
secured a fund of 250,000, or 50,000, to which each 
year all legacies are carried, and at the close of the fiscal 
year one-third of the entire sum is taken from the fund 
and put to the credit of the current account. 

Whatever may be said against Missionary Society 
deficits, and much can be said against them, it is probably 
not as demoralising or disastrous to the enthusiasm and 
spirit of advance in the Church as would be a repeated 
credit of considerable proportions. It would be fatal to 
have the Church believe that the work abroad is abund- 
antly sustained, and so not in need of a more liberal 
and increasing support. 

Our investigations lead us to the inevitable conclusions: 
First, that persistent debts or deficits in Missionary 
Societies bring discouragement, for the most part, to 
their constituency, 

Second, that in spite of overwhelming calls for advance, 
Missionary Societies should do everything consistent 



OF 221 

with their moral obligations to close each fiscal year 
without a deficit. 

Third, that the officers and executive committees ol 
Missionary Societies and Boards are the legitimately 
constituted leaders to keep before the Church the needs 
and opportunities that are appearing abroad, and to 
educate their rightful constituency to see and appreciate 
the need, and to become loyal and liberal supporters of 
that work. 

Fourth, that Missionary Societies should possess such 
faith in the God of missions, and so live their faith 
in the presence of their constituency and inspire it in 
the missionary body and in the hearts of the native 
Christians, that a new life of faith shall be begotten in 
the Church and in all who come into contact with the 
work, until, with irresistible power, it shall seize upon all 
who bear the name of Christ, and, sweeping away every 
obstacle, become itself the dominant life of the Church. 



CHAPTER XIII 

PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 

RELATION OF WOMEN'S BOARDS TO GENERAL 
CHURCH SOCIETIES 

IN view of the importance of the large number of 
Women's Missionary Boards and Societies existing in all 
the great Christian countries, it is essential that we 
should give brief attention to the questions of their 
organisation, work, and present place in the effective 
prosecution of the work at home. It is not within the 
province of this Commission to give special attention to 
the work of these Societies in the foreign field. It is, 
however, imperative that we should give a place to the 
consideration of the relation of these Societies to the 
parent or general Societies of each denomination. 

It seems to have been the early thought that the foreign 
missionary must necessarily be a celibate. While many, 
if not most, of the first male missionaries married sooner 
or later, there was little effort made to extend interest 
among women at home, and as little indication that the 
conditions and needs of pagan women abroad were to 
have any special consideration. It is not strange that 
this was the case, since the entire work of missionaries 
abroad was in an uncertain state, practically without 
definite policy. Married men were sent to the great 
mission fields, but almost no single women were commis- 
sioned, and no systematically organised efforts were made 
to reach the women of the East. 

Nearly two generations of missionaries passed away 



WOMEN'S BOARDS 223 

before women of Europe and America became aroused 
to the great need, as well as to the overwhelming oppor- 
tunity of work among women in non-Christian lands. In 
the meantime, much effective work had been done by 
women in collecting funds through local Societies, and in 
promoting missionary interest in the Church as a whole. 

Within the last half- century denominational and inter- 
denominational Women's Societies or Boards have 
rapidly multiplied, both in the United States and in 
Europe, some of them wholly independent, while others are 
more or less organically related to the general denomina- 
tional Society or Board, until at the present time there 
are over sixty Women's Societies in active operation. 

Foreign missions received a great impulse at home and 
abroad through the formation of these Women's Societies, 
and the bringing into this work of a great number of 
devoted, able, and energetic women, who had hitherto 
hardly been aware of the fact that among their sisters 
of the East there was a specific work for them. By far 
the larger part of the officers and secretaries of these 
Societies were, and continue to be, voluntary workers. 
The watchword, " Women's Work for Women/* proved 
to be of mighty potency in arousing the Christian women 
of Europe and America to effective effort. They were 
able, as only women can, to arouse other women to 
a new conception of their privilege, and, in multitudes 
of cases, to awaken a new interest in men who had been 
unmoved by the appeals of existing Missionary Societies. 
To the number of married missionaries at the front 
there were gradually added, in some instances, half as 
many more single women whose work lay among the 
women, girls, and children, for whom the missionaries 
hitherto had been able to accomplish but little. 

The organisation of Women's Missionary Societies, 
both in Europe and in America, is too varied to admit of 
any kind of satisfactory classification here. In a few 
instances the Women's Societies are wholly independent 
of the general denominational Society, raising their own 
money, appointing and directing their own missionaries, 



224 MOMMAS! 

and managing their own affairs. Others have an auxiliary 
relation to the parent Society although they themselves 
have a complete and separate legal existence. In 
these cases there is a close co-operation in the selection 
and appointment of missionaries, the placing of appro- 
priations, and in the direction of the work in the field. 
While upon their committees men are seldom found, 
yet there is constant conference with the officers of the 
parent Society, and a regular reference, by that Society, 
of questions relating to the special needs of women's 
work to the women's organisation, while, on the other 
hand, important action taken by the women's committee 
comes for approval also before the committee of the 
general Society. Connected with practically all the 
regular denominational Missionary Societies in America 
there are corresponding Women's Missionary Societies, 
for the most part working more or less in co-operation 
with them and raising money for the support of single 
women missionaries. In almost every case the work 
abroad is regarded as practically one with that of the 
general Society, and is so directed. While there is con- 
siderable difference in the details of the working, both at 
home and abroad, of the different Women's Societies in 
America, this may be taken as a fair general statement. 

In Great Britain there is far greater divergence of 
method than in America. The practice of the various 
Societies is so different that the more important instances 
must be described separately. 

The Church Missionary Society had, in 1886, only twenty 
single women on its staff, and il has now four hundred and 
forty. The work of these women, so far as headquarters is 
concerned, is administered entirely by the committees 
which have charge of the men's work, and there are no 
women on these committees. There is, however, a 
women's department at the headquarters of the Society, 
with a lady assistant-secretary in charge. She acts as a 
consultant to the other secretaries with regard to women's 
work abroad, and with a staff of workers, several of whom 
are honorary, she strives to stimulate the work of women 



WOMEN'S 225 

throughout the country. The women supporters of this 
Society work for its general funds and not for any special 
fund for women's work. The women missionaries in the 
mission field meet together in their own conferences, and 
make their opinion known to the parent committee 
through the men's or general conference. There is also, 
in connection with the Church of England, an independent 
Zenana Society, the work of which at home is quite 
separate from that of the Church Missionary Society, 
although both Societies work in close co-operation abroad. 

The constituency represented by the London Missionary 
Society is alone among the leading Societies in 
Great Britain in having no independent or partially 
independent Society for missionary work among women 
by women. On the Board of Directors women have an 
equal place with men, and are equally eligible to serve 
upon every committee, except that of finance. While 
there is some discussion as to whether more funds would 
not be secured were there a separate women's organisa- 
tion, there is a strong feeling that the present arrangement 
is of real value to the work of the Board, and that the 
plan of the closest organic union is the wisest one. 

Although several unmarried women are on the staff 
of the Baptist Missionary Society, the work of single 
women is, for the most part, directed by the Baptist 
Zeaana Mission, which is managed by a committee com- 
posed wholly of women. The officers of each Society 
are members of the committee of the other, and thus a 
knowledge of the policy and procedure of the two com- 
mittees is gained by each. In the opinion of the officers 
of the Baptist Zenana Mission a greater amount of work 
is done at less cost, and a larger amount of money is 
raised by this separate management than would be the 
case under one Board. The need for closer co-operation 
between the two Societies has been felt from time to 
time, and plans for bringing this about are at present 
under consideration. 

The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society has a 
Women's Auxiliary managed entirely by women. This 

COM. VI. 15 



226 THE HOME BASE 

Auxiliary sends out its own workers, although the general 
Society also employs women missionaries. The mission- 
aries sent out by the Women's Auxiliary work in the 
mission field under the direction of the general super- 
intendent of the mission in the area where they are 
stationed, so that on the mission field there is no separate 
local administration of the work. Difficulties have been 
felt from time to time, and when these arise the officers 
of the two committees meet for consultation. 

In the Presbyterian Churches the Women's Associa- 
tion or committee is an independent organisation, appoint- 
ing its own agents, collecting and administering its own 
finance, and directing its own operations. Its relation 
to the Foreign Mission Committee of the Church, 
however, is of an intimate kind. In the Church of 
Scotland, and in the United Free Church of Scotland, 
members of the Foreign Mission Committee sit on the 
Women's Committee, and the two organisations are thus 
kept in close touch with one another. In the United 
Free Church, representatives of the Women's Foreign 
Mission attend the meetings of the Foreign Mission 
Committee. In the mission field the work is under the 
direction of the local Mission Council, of which the 
women missionaries are members, at least when matters 
relating to women's work are under consideration. In 
the English Presbyterian Church the Foreign Mission 
Committee and the Women's Committee meet frequently 
in conference, and conferences are also held between the 
men and women workers in the mission field. In this 
Church the desirability of establishing a more intimate 
connection between the two home Committees is now 
under consideration. 

In Holland auxiliary women's associations provide 
for the equipment of the missionaries. The number of 
these auxiliary unions is upon the increase. Defined 
sections have the right to send a representative to the 
General Assembly, where they have fuU voting power. 

In Germany there are at present nineteen Women's 
Missionary Societies, none of them large, but several of 



WOMEN'S BOARDS 227 

them of long standing. It is only recently that the 
general Societies have begun to form alliances for work 
with these women's organisations, and some of the 
latter are still wholly independent. All the German 
Missionary Societies recognise the great importance of 
the work of unmarried women in the mission fields. 

Almost all the women's missionary organisations in 
Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are directly auxiliary to 
the more general Societies. 

As a substantial indication of the interest aroused 
and maintained by these various Women's Societies 
over the world, we have to glance only at the enormous 
sums of money which they have raised and distributed. 
Last year these sixty or more women's organisations, 
the oldest of them beginning only a little more than a 
generation ago, raised over four millions of dollars, or 
over 800,000. In addition to raising this remarkable sum 
annually, Women's Societies have done a great deal in the 
United States and Canada to create an interest in the 
united study of missions by the preparation and publica- 
tion of books prepared by a committee of women con- 
stituted for this purpose. During the past ten years, 
since this special form of work assumed prominence, 
more than five hundred thousand volumes of these 
various works have been sold for use in mission study 
classes, largely among women and girls, besides some 
fifty thousand missionary maps and a still larger number 
of pictures as aids in the study of missions. 

With the increasing recognition by the Church of its 
corporate responsibility, there comes a tendency to dis- 
courage the multiplicity of organisations and to unite 
the forces of the Church in a more concentrated effort. 
While it was probably not anticipated at the outset that 
the Women's Societies would appeal through the regular 
Church channels for the support of their special work, 
it is not surprising that, under the pressure of enlarging 
work, these Societies should, with increasing frequency, 
seek the support of the denomination either by asking for 
a collection, or by endeavouring to divide individual gifts 



228 THE BASE 

with the general Society^ and thus divert to the treasuries 
of the women's organisations gifts which many pastors 
feel should go through the regular channels of Church 
beneficence. A large number of pastors and recognised 
leaders speak of the confusion this method causes, and 
ask for some kind of adjustment of mission appeals, so 
that there shall not seem to be a rivalry between the 
women's foreign missionary organisations and the regular 
Missionary Societies. Though this condition is by no 
means universal, it has become so common, according 
to reports received from a wide variety of sources, that 
it cannot be ignored. It is not the fault of any organisa- 
tion, and, under the old apathy of the Church as a whole 
upon the subject of foreign missions, raised BO questions, 
It is a good sign indeed, and one full of promise, that the 
Church is beginning to realise its corporate responsibility 
for the Christianisation of the world, and that it is jealous 
of any movement that would seem to divide its efforts. 

At the same time, upon the foreign field the work that 
once appeared to be so distinctively women's work for 
women under the natural processes of development and 
growth, is not now so clearly differentiated. Even in 
the East the old hard and fast lines that separated the 
men from the women are in a measure disappearing, and 
Christian effort for both men and women presents 
a far more unified front. Not a few missionaries, 
therefore, urge that the attempt to maintain longer what 
they call an " artificial division " between work carried 
on by the general Societies and that carried on by women's 
Societies, should be abandoned. 

These conditions have raised in the minds of many 
the question whether the distinct purpose for which 
Women's Boards were originally formed as separate or 
independent organisations has not now been, in a measure 
at least, accomplished. 

Attention has already been called to the fact that there 
are widely different methods of organisation among the 
Women's Societies, and especially in their relations to the 
general Societies. The tendency seems to be among 



WOMEN'S BOARDS 229 

some Independent Societies to put Increasing emphasis 
upon the separate and independent phase of their con- 
stitution. Most of the Women's Societies, however, are 
" auxiliary " to the regular Church Boards, and thus 
work In closer co-operation. 

The question is asked, however, by large numbers of 
missionary workers at home and abroad, both men and 
women, pastors and laymen, whether the time has not 
arrived when an effort can wisely be made to unite more 
closely the women's foreign missionary societies or organ- 
isations and the general or parent or denominational 
society, without sacrificing anything that is valuable. 
This has recently been done in one denomination in 
the United States, where the Women's Board, hitherto 
independent, has now become an organic part of the 
regular Missionary Society of the Church. 

The mission leaders in the various denominations in 
America are not united in their judgment as to what can 
best be done at the present time, or as to whether anything 
should be undertaken. One says : 

" In the present stage of development of the foreign missionary 
movement, when the tendencies are to enlist the entire local 
Church in a weekly system of giving for foreign missions, and 
where the whole Church is being educated through the mission 
study class work and through the Sunday Schools, it seems that 
the time has arrived when women can do a greater work by 
identifying themselves with the work of the whole Church. Their 
training in the past will serve to assist the pastor, in enlisting the 
men in this might}'' enterprise. This will bring the entire Church 
into sympathy with all the work abroad.*' 

Another reports : 

" The administration of work by rnen is so radically different, 
at least in its point of view if not in its methods, from that which 
obtains in administration by women, that I do not believe that 
men's Boards and women's Boards could be effectively formed 
into a single organisation/' 

Another reports : _ 

" Women, having different methods of work, different methods 
of approaching a thing to be accomplished, and knowing better 

how to organise women for giving ad working, do better and larger 
work In separata Societies/*' 



230 THE HOME BASE 

Another : 

" I am coming: to the conclusion that the time is rapidly ap- 
proaching when a single organisation would be desirable in the 
interests of economy and efficiency.'* 

Another : 

" I can see no more reason lor a separate women's Board for 
women, than for a separate men's Board for men." 

Still another says : 

" The feeling of dissatisfaction at the presentation in the Church 
and among the Church members of double appeals for what is 
regarded as the same work, seems to increase, while upon the field 
we sometimes have the spectacle of double administration. If a 
combination could be brought about that sacrificed none of the 
present effectiveness and power, it would be well." 

We will quote one more : 

" In my judgment the work of foreign missions would have 
been better done under a single organisation, because the policy 
of mission work at home and abroad would be a unit ; there would 
be economy in administration ; antagonism which now exists 
in some fields would be eliminated. A union of the Boards is 
now proposed in our Church." 

The above quotations are from missionary leaders of 
the General Missionary Boards of the principal denomina- 
tions in the United States. They show a wide difference 
of opinion, which is based in each case upon the peculiar 
conditions prevailing in the denomination to which the 
writer belongs. 

There is perhaps a greater variety of opinion among 
the leaders and officers of the Women's Foreign Missionary 
Societies, We quote from some of those who have con- 
sidered this subject at length, and who speak out of 
their long and intimate experience. Those quoted 
represent a large part of the work of Women's Societies 
carried on in America. 

An able secretary of a Women's Society writes : 

" My own experience, through twenty years as secretary, 
has been that pastors who are doing the best work are most sym- 
pathetic with the efforts of women, and we have all appreciated 
the generous co-operation and interest of the brotherhood of our 
general Mission Boards which has helped to make the women's 
work a success. So far as the women have met opposition from 



WOMEN'S BOARDS 231 

any of these sources, it has been from, a lack of understanding and 
an occasional arbitrary or ambitious masculine temperament, or 
from a lack of judgment or excess of aggression on the part of 
frail womankind, which can, in nine cases out of ten, be corrected 
by suggestion to the Women's Board." 

Another says : 

"One of 'the troubles of our Society is that the organisation 
has not been able to keep pace with the growth of the work. We 
feel very greatly the necessity of some reconstruction, but can 
scarcely anticipate just what it must be." 

The officers of one of the leading Women's Boards 
write : 

" The success of Women's Boards has been dependent 
"ist. Upon their full and distinctive organisation. 
** 2nd. Upon their methods of approach to the women, girls, 

and children of the Church. 
"3rd. Upon their persistent, unremitting efforts in these 

particular lines. 

" It is difficult to see how these essential features could be 
grafted upon one general organisation which would include the 
work of both men and women," 

Another leader writes : 

" Our women would never work and give as they do without 
the spur of intimate knowledge of problems on the field and of 
absolute financial responsibility. We are convinced that our 
efforts to organise, develop interest, and educate, lacking these 
spurs, would soon relax and result finally in the abandonment 
of Women's Boards, and a corresponding loss to the cause of 
foreign missions. 

" If the present methods are not accomplishing results on the 
field, then changes may well be made if they are accomplishing 
the work, we may let well alone." 

Another eminent Women's Board official writes : 

" To amalgamate the Women's Boards and the Church Board 
would, to my mind, be a most disastrous mistake. I heartily 
favour complete co-operation between the Women's Boards and 
the general Board, and I shall welcome the day when emphasis is 
placed only upon the important and not upon the petty details of 
the work in all of its branches. I do not think the Men's Boards 
and the Women's Boards could be formed into a single organisation 
without great loss to both and inadequacy in results." 

Another woman of recognised authority writes : 

" It is well known that every Church Missionary Board has been 
exclusively a ' Man's Board/ and Christian women have been 



232 THE HOME BASE 

led out into a larger place of service by having their own organisa- 
tions. To-day, while the sentiment among men regarding the 
place of women in the Church is greatly changed from that which 
ruled in 1 86 1, there are certain practical advantages in still keeping 
up the Women's Society. 

" I do not stand, however, in the position of one who is opposed 
to change ; and if it comes in the form of progress, is evolutionary 
rather than revolutionary, I think the majority of women will 
accept it easily." 

Another official says : 

" From experience, therefore, we endorse the advantages of 
the amalgamation of the Women's Societies with the parent 
Board, or the ' Church Board.' The value of a solid front 
is so great that plans for further unification would be heartily 
considered. 

" Speaking in general terms, on the foreign field the work has 
passed beyond the old divisions of women's work for women. 
In my opinion the really important work being done now by 
our women's organisations is in the Church at home." 

A clear-headed leader of one of the strongest Women's 
Boards writes : 

" There is, no doubt, waste of energy through duplication of 
machinery. Some form of readjustment is bound to come. One 
of the present problems is to see a way to make this readjustment 
with as little friction and misunderstanding as possible, 

" The fear which 1 have heard expressed is that in Boards 
exclusively managed by men there could not be that recognition 
of the woman's angle of vision, nor of the needs of the work which 
has developed through these Women's Boards. 

" I would like to see some strong men on the governing Boards 
of the Women's Societies, and some clear-headed women on the 
general Boards. Both need to see through the other's eyes." 

It seems clear that the time lias come lor the careful 
consideration of the question whether economy of 
administration both at home and abroad, and efficiency 
and effectiveness in execution would not be greatly 
enhanced if what has hitherto been regarded as practically 
two branches of the work appealing to the same con- 
stituencies within the same Church, were so combined 
that a united front should always be presented, and the 
Church be enabled to advance as a unit to its task of 
evangelising the world. 

The question naturally arises, would it be wise to 



WOMEN'S BOARDS 233 

attempt to amalgamate the Women's Boards with the 
regular Church Boards, so that the result would be but a 
single Board ? Undoubtedly the time has not arrived 
for so radical a step, which would manifestly deprive the 
cause of missions of much of the organising and enthusi- 
astic energy now exhibited in the administration of the 
Women* s Boards. 

At the same time the Commission is convinced that 
steps should be taken to avoid the impression of divided 
interest or even rivalry that sometimes now appears upon 
the field, and to remove at home from the minds of many 
pastors, Sunday-School superintendents, and leaders of 
young people's organisations, the impression that the 
Women's Boards and the general Boards are rivals for 
their support. 

The Commission, therefore, would suggest that within 
the same denominations there be formed a Board of 
Reference and Counsel, consisting of duly elected delegates 
from the Women's Board or Boards and the general 
Board, by which questions of co-operation and even of 
federation may be discussed, and methods of harmonious 
work devised. 

Where there are various Women's Boards within the 
same denomination we would urge that these create a 
Council for the consideration of all questions pertaining 
to their mutual relations. 

The suggested Committee of Reference and Counsel 
might consider the questions of : 

1. The administration of the work abroad so as to 
maintain it as a unit, to prevent waste, and to secure 
harmony in policy and methods of operation. 

2. The. relation of the different Boards and Societies 
to the Churches as such, as well as to the different organ- 
isations within the Church. 

3. The responsibility of each Society in the selection, 
appointment, and support of candidates. 

This Commission believes that conferences of this kind 
would remove most of the difficulties between the two 
classes of Societies, and that the work at home in raising 



234 THE HOME BASE 

funds, and the work abroad in administration, would 
become more and more a co-operating whole. It must 
be left to each denomination through protracted experi- 
ence to decide when the time has arrived for bringing 
these two branches of the same work into closer organic 
unity. 



CHAPTER XIV 

PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 
MISSIONARIES AT HOME ON FURLOUGH 

MISSIONARY Societies are practically agreed that 
missionaries should take occasional furlouglis in the home 
land. Nearly all the Boards provide for this, although 
they do not agree as to the length of a term of service 
in the field between furloughs. In the earlier days 
missionaries went out for an indefinite period, many of 
them expecting never to return home. It is an interest- 
ing fact that in the United States the general idea of an 
annual vacation for professional and business people is 
of comparatively recent date, and it was but natural that 
Missionary Societies at first should have made no provision 
for the missionaries to leave their work at stated periods. 
Some of the older missionaries still cling to the old idea. 
A veteran of one Board has not been home for over 
thirty years ; another took only one furlough in sixty-nine 
years of service. There are many others who do not take 
the regular furloughs arranged by their Societies. 

The idea of unbroken service no longer prevails. It 
has been learned that from an economic standpoint a 
vacation is good business. While many Societies provide 
for an annual holiday in the mission field, all are agreed 
that a longer and more complete change at stated periods 
is essential. Some of the reasons for such a furlough for 
missionaries are : 

I. The physical necessity for a complete escape from 
the burdening, grinding, and even depressing character 
of the work. T 

235 



236 

2. Change of climate from that experienced in the 
mission field, which is often debilitating and enervating. 

3. Medical treatment, dentistry, and general physical 
and nerve repair. 

4. Mental stimulus and inspiration to be gained by 
contact with the best that is offered in great intellectual 
centres. 

5. Spiritual renewal to be secured by association and 
co-operation for a period in the spiritual life and work 
of the Home Church. 

6. Family reasons. 

7. Imparting a new missionary stimulus to the pastors 
and the Church at home by bringing them into contact 
with one recently from the field. 

8. Co-operation with the Societies in deputation and 
campaign work in aid of special efforts. 

9. Informing the officers of the Board of the conditions 
of the work in the field and the creating of a closer mutual 
personal acquaintance between the Society and the 
missionaries. 

It will be noticed that out of the nine reasons given 
above for occasional furlough for the missionary, the 
first six relate to the missionary himself, and only three 
to what lie may be able to accomplish at home in direct 
aid of the work on the field* It must be borne in mind, 
however, that the six reasons which apparently relate 
to the missionary personally have an immediate bearing 
upon his equipment and greater effectiveness as a 
missionary. 

It may not be regarded as within the province of this 
Commission to discuss the question, of the frequency of 
furloughs, but it may be well, since the subject is not 
likely to be mentioned by any other Commission, to record 
that all Boards agree that stated furloughs are desirable 
and wise in order to command the highest results from 
the missionary through a lifetime of service under con- 
ditions that are especially exacting and trying. It is 
practically a question of economy and efficiency. The 
principle is well recognised that it is wiser to retain in 



ON 237 

the service for many years a missionary of weU-known 
strength, and effectiveness, than to compel him or even 
allow him to use up his physical, intellectual, and spiritual 
powers in a briefer period s replacing him with a new and 
untried successor. 

There is no doubt that the length of a safe and effective 
term of service must depend in some measure upon the 
climate and local conditions that prevail at the place 
where the missionary is stationed For instance, it 
would be manifestly unwise, if not inhuman, to insist 
that missionaries dwelling in the tropics, especially in the 
fever districts, or in isolated islands of the Pacific, should 
remain at their post without relief or change for the same 
length of time as missionaries who dwell in such 
climates as those of North China, Japan, and Turkey. 
At the same time, the nervous as well as the physical 
strain must be taken into consideration. 

Many changes have taken place in the large and im- 
portant mission countries during the past half-century 
which make the surroundings of the missionaries more 
tolerable, such as the provision of places of retreat to 
which they are expected to retire during the hot^season 
for rest and recuperation, more sanitary and better 
equipped homes, better facilities for travel, more access 
to the outside world, and more contact with people of 
their own race as travellers or as permanent residents in 
the country. Also in many countries satisfactory medical 
help is available and western markets are accessible. 
Missionaries not infrequently take temporary leave of 
absence from their field during the annual vacation period 
and visit another country and meet there a new circle 
of missionaries, or enjoy complete separation from the 
people and the language of their own mission station. 
These facts have direct bearing upon the frequency of 
furloughs to the home land. 

It will probably be impossible, even if deemed advis- 
able, for the various Missionary Societies supporting 
missions in the same countries to agree upon what they 
regard as a " regular term ofjservice " before furlough. 



238 THE HOME BASE 

If, however, such agreement could be obtained, it might 
tend to allay some dissatisfaction that now exists, where, 
among missionaries working side by side, in the same 
field and under similar conditions, some are allowed a 
year's leave of absence after half the years of service 
that others are expected to render before furlough. 

This Commission is more concerned, however, with the 
length of the furlough and the way it is spent at home. 
Although there is a wide difference in practice among the 
different Societies, one year has come to be regarded by 
many Societies as the normal furlough period after a 
normal term of service. Some Societies, however, make 
the ordinary furlough one and a half years. Some 
Societies reckon one year's absence from the field, while 
others add to this the time taken in making the return 
and outward journey. In more tropical missions where 
there are summer resorts to which the missionaries 
are expected to go for a month or two during the hot 
season, it is usually expected that the missionaries will 
start upon their journey home just before the regular 
annual vacation period, and return the following year so as 
to begin work with the others at the end of that period. 
This would ordinarily give an absence from the field of 
about fourteen months. 

The question has been often raised as to whether 
more frequent furloughs, with a shorter period at home, 
would not be more helpful and satisfactory. Some 
Boards, whose term of service is at present front 
eight to ten years, followed by one year's furlough or 
fourteen months' absence from the field, are now con- 
sidering this subject. The financial side of the question 
is not an easy one to solve, especially when the Society 
is unable to make appropriations that are at all adequate 
to meet the needs of the regular work upon the field. 
This is emphasised when, as in America, most of the 
mission work is conducted at the other side of the world 
with long and expensive journeys to the home land. 
Frequent furloughs would materially increase the already 
large amounts required for travelling expenses. The 



MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH 239 

question, however, is important, not only as it bears upon 
the health, efficiency, and spirit of the missionaries, but 
as it relates itself to the task of arousing and sustaining 
interest in the Church at home. 

Careful statistics have been collected from forty-seven 
Missionary Societies in North America upon the subject 
of term of service between furloughs, length of the vaca- 
tion or furlough period, and allowances for support while 
at home. These returns show a great lack of uniformity 
in the practice of different Boards, as for instance, the 
home allowances for a year for a single man range from 
$125 to $1100, and for a family from $250 to $1750, 
while the terms of service between furloughs are from five 
to ten years and the length of furlough from six to eighteen 
months. Several Societies have no fixed rale and deter- 
mine each case by itself. The custom as to allowance 
for children and medical care differs widely. 

It has been suggested that the missionaries when at 
home should have the same salary as when upon the 
field. Since, with many Societies the salary upon the 
field is determined by the cost of living at the place where 
the missionary is located, and therefore is widely variable, 
it would be manifestly unjust, when they return home, 
where all would have practically the same expenses, to 
perpetuate the distinction. It would appear that the 
home allowance should not necessarily have any con- 
nection with the amount of salary upon the field. It 
should also be evident that when upon furlough, in order 
to get the advantages that such a furlough is intended to 
convey, the allowance should be sufficient to enable the 
missionaries to live as comfortably as do the average 
pastors of the supporting Churches, and near their own 
denominational centres, that they may be able to come 
into close relations with the spirit, thought, and life of 
those whom they represent abroad. It would be mani- 
festly wrong for a missionary to be compelled to bury 
himself in an obscure country home where, perchance^ 
the cost of living would be cheap, when his entire nature, 
as well as the work he is set to do, calls for mental, social, 



240 THE HOME BASE 

and spiritual stimulus that will send him back to his 
work fired for a new and supreme effort. An apparent 
economy at this point may prove to be most wasteful. 

Primarily the missionary is at home to put himself 
into the fittest condition possible for another term of 
service abroad. It seems to the Commission that this 
purpose of a furlough should not be lost sight of by the 
Societies. At the same time we cannot fail to see that 
the home Church is also in crying need of the missionaries. 
That need must in a measure be met. The problem then 
is so to use the knowledge, ability, and spiritual power of 
the missionary that the very service to which he is put 
shall prove stimulating and inspiring to both parties. 
The mistake is frequently made of sending a missionary 
back to his field more in need of a furlough than when he 
left it. When excessive campaign and deputation work 
is demanded of the missionary at home, it would be no 
more than fair to add to the length of his furlough a 
period sufficient to permit him fully to recuperate Ms 
depleted vitality and powers. Many Societies are careful 
to do this, and more are learning the importance of it. 
Unless this is done, so far as the value of the furlough to 
the missionary is concerned, it may be worse than none 
at all, 

It is certainly true that the most precious asset of any 
Board is its missionaries. It is they who direct the work 
abroad and represent it to the constituency at home. A 
Society with a strong body of missionaries will have a 
strong work, and a Society with a weak and inefficient 
body of missionaries will have a weak work ; all this is 
regardless of the amount of funds available. It is therefore 
wise economy to appoint able and devoted men and women 
to this work and then to care for them, both upon the 
field and at home, in a way to enable them to work at 
their highest efficiency wherever they are. It certainly 
is not sound economy to permit a missionary to turn aside 
from his high calling to secular pursuits to earn a stipend 
by which he may live and support his family either at 
home or abroad. It is even more unwise to^compeljhim 



MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH 241 

to devote time and strength and anxious thought to 
methods of earning his support in part while serving as 
a missionary. One who has given himself wholly to 
this service should be supported in it. 

Most Societies expect their able-bodied missionaries to 
be at the service of the Society when at home, in so far as 
that service is consistent with proper rest and recupera- 
tion. Many Societies have a special secretary or secre- 
taries in the home department who have charge of all 
deputation work, and to whom the missionaries look for 
suggestion and direction in their public appearances. It 
is generally agreed that all such campaign work should 
be directed from a central office, and not be left to the 
missionary himself to arrange. With the increased 
activity at home in promoting foreign missions, and the 
greater demand for first-hand information from the 
field, the effective missionary speaker is in danger of 
using up too much strength and vitality in public 
work. 

Returns indicate that there is great need of a more 
careful direction of missionary speakers at home, so that 
those who are best suited to interest particular bodies 
be detailed for that service. Some missionaries have 
the ability to interest and hold the attention of students, 
others to command the attention of popular assemblies, 
others to arouse an interest in men, while still others 
may show unusual power in addressing children. Effec- 
tive and wise use of the missionary upon furlough would 
at once suggest that each speaker should be set apart 
for that line of public address to which he is best adapted, 
which in probably every instance will be the one most 
agreeable to him. 

The fact must be recognised that in most cases the 
missionary has been away from home for a long time 
and is not conversant with the state of mind of his 
audiences, and has little idea of what phases of the work 
abroad are best calculated to hold their attention and 
create a permanent interest. Unless he is coached by 
one who is familiar with the home situation, his efforts 

COM. VI, 1 6 



242 

at public address may be a failure for months, if not for 

the entire time of his furlough. One Missionary Society 
has prepared a leaflet of suggestions to missionaries about 
their addresses, warning them of what should be avoided, 
and suggesting lines of genera! address in which people 
as a whole are interested. It must also be recognised 
that now and then a missionary, whose work upon the 
field is of the greatest value, is not able to speak of that 
work in a way to command the interest of the average 
audience. It would be manifestly wrong to insist that 
such missionaries should be pressed into deputation work. 
Without doubt one who cannot effectively address an 
audience can be used while upon furlough in some other 
form of useful service to the Society. It is not kindness 
to such a missionary, nor is it just to the Home Church, 
to press such a speaker to the front. 

There is lack of uniformity in the custom followed by 
various Boards in the amounts given for the support of 
missionaries' children at home. Some Societies make no 
special allowance for children at home, while others give 
as much as $250 or 50 each annually until the child 
reaches the age of twenty years. The differences are so 
great there can be no possible value in tabulating here the 
returns received from the different Societies. Some of 
these have homes for the children of missionaries which 
are sustained, in part at least, by annual gifts and by 
income received from endowment funds. Others, especi- 
ally in England, have schools into which the children of 
missionaries are taken, and where they receive support 
from the Society. In still other cases the allowances for 
children are quite separate from the question of the 
furlough of the parents. 

The Missionary Societies of North America, through 
their annual conference, and by the preparation and 
publication of statistical tables setting forth the practices 
of the various Societies in the matter of salaries, allow- 
ances, furloughs, support of children, and many other 
matters of like character, axe coming to understand better 
each other's point of view. The tendency is to a more 



ON 243 

uniform method of dealing with such matters as are of 
common interest. 

The Commission would suggest that in all countries 
where the physical and language conditions make it 
possible, periodic conferences among the officials of all 
evangelical Missionary Societies be held, where these and 
all similar matters of common interest to all Societies 
can be freely discussed, and that comparative tabulated 
statements be published, when deemed desirable, for the 
general information and help of all Societies. 

In the last few years in the United States there have 
been held many great foreign missionary mass meetings 
which were interdenominational in character, and in 
which missionaries of various Societies and other leaders 
in this work took part. At such assemblies no particular 
work carried on by any denomination was especially pre- 
sentedj but the great fundamental principles of missions, 
the general progress of the Kingdom in the world, and 
the call for advance were boldly set forth. These meetings 
have proved most popular and impressive, attracting 
eminent speakers and commanding the attention of the 
general public and the secular press. Incidentally they 
have given an impression of the oneness of the work 
abroad, and have awakened an interest that no denomina- 
tional gathering could have done. Such use of the best 
missionary talent in the interests of the widest hearing 
and the most profound impression is heartily commended. 

Nothing has been said in this part of the Report re- 
garding the use of missionaries upon furlough in securing 
new recruits for the field. Many of the Societies provide 
that each year some leading missionary or missionaries 
shall visit their denominational theological schools and 
colleges, spending some time there for the purpose of public 
address, courses of lectures, and personal conference with 
the students. From another section of this Report it 
appears that none of the Societies are cultivating the 
colleges and universities and professional schools, other 
than theological, as they should be cultivated, in order 
to keep in the minds and hearts of the students the 



244 THE HOME BASE 

missionary ideas and spirit. All leading Societies have 
men and women who are connected with educational 
institutions in the mission fields, and who are quite 
capable of exerting a strong missionary influence over 
university students. Societies are agreed that the colleges 
and universities present the most fruitful and promising 
field for the cultivation of candidates, while almost nothing 
is done for them. Here is a promising field of special 
service at home in which properly selected missionaries 
upon furlough could effectively be used. 

Another nnworked field at home is that covered by 
technical and medical schools. More and more Mis- 
sionary Societies are coming to demand the services 
of technically trained missionaries, and there is a con- 
stant demand for medical missionaries. Hitherto no 
systematic ef!ort s so far as we can ascertain, has been 
made by Missionary Societies for these two classes. 
Probably no missionary speaker would be so acceptable 
in a medical school as a returned medical missionary, 
and there can be little doubt that such a man, with a 
wide experience in the field and ability and tact properly 
to present this to studeiits > could command a hearing 
among medical students, and exert over them a deep 
and 'abiding influence. Also many Societies already 
have missionaries at home who either had technical 
training before going out, or who have had wide experience 
in mechanical enterprises in their mission work. As 
the missionary physician is used in medical schools, these 
men might be used in technical schools, in a way to 
attract attention to the fact that in not a few of the great 
mission lands there is an opportunity for service on the 
part of those whose training has been mainly along the 
line of applied sciences. It is evident that in the quest 
for candidates, as well as in the endeavour to broaden the 
circle of supporters, the most effective use has not been 
made of the missionaries who have special training and 
experience to fit them to make a direct appeal to 
special classes. 

As the women's Boards effectively employ women 



MISSIONARIES ON FURLOUGH 245 

to arouse and sustain an interest among women, why 
should not missionaries engaged in any particular de- 
partment of missionary activity be used to approach 
men whose natural interest centres in that particular 
department ? It seems to the Commission that more 
careful classification and discrimination needs to be 
made in assigning returned missionaries to special tasks 
and among special classes, that the message and the 
appeal may be more in harmony with the character- 
istics of those whose interest is solicited. 



CHAPTER XV 

PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION 

THE APPOINTMENT OF NATIVES OF FOREIGN 
COUNTRIES AS MISSIONARIES TO THEIR 
OWN PEOPLE 

WHEN foreign missions were begun the policy was at once 
adopted, especially in the United States, of bringing to 
that country people from the lands to be evangelised 
for the purpose of training them to return as missionaries 
to their own race. In practice this plan has proved to 
be a failure. It has been clearly demonstrated that this 
is not an effective, wise, and economical way to carry on 
missions. There has been now and then a striking ex- 
ception to this general conclusion standing out in isolated 
prominence among a multitude of failures,. 

We would not venture to introduce this topic here, 
were it not for the fact that many outside the circle of 
the directors of missions still entertain the old idea that 
the ideal missionary must be the man from the field, 
trained in the West, and sent 1 back as a missionary 
to convert his own people. At the same time there are 
large numbers of students in the colleges and theological 
schools in Europe and America who have come from 
mission fields, many of whom 1 "would be glad to return 
to their homes as missionaries,- 1 and who are encouraged 
in this desire by zealous friends, " 

It should be made clear that, in the consideration 
of this topic, by " native missionary " is meant one ap- 
pointed by the " home society " as natives of Europe 

246 



NATIVE 247 

and America are appointed, the support coming wholly 
from the appointing Society, and the future conditions of 
themselves and their families being the same as those now 
existing between the Missionary Society at home and its 
missionaries abroad. There should be no confusion 
between the terms " missionary " and " trained native 
Christian leader." All Societies and missions welcome 
the latter, and are supremely dependent upon them for 
the success of the work. But these are nqt appointed 
missionaries^ although at least one Society in England 
gives some of these able and distinguished native leaders 
the title of " missionary/ 1 without changing their rela- 
tion to the Society or to the native leaders. The 
question is not of the same importance to Societies in 
Europe as it is to those in America, where far more young 
men born and reared in the East, after pursuing a course 
of education in the United States, apply to the Societies 
to be sent back to their home with the status of an 
American missionary. 

One of the chief reasons why Missionary Societies do 
not appoint such as missionaries to their own people is 
the jealousy with which they guard the dignity and value 
of native leadership. Necessarily the foreign missionary 
in any and in all countries is temporary. He must 
decrease, while the trained native force must increase in 
number and in authority. Ultimately the work of the 
foreign missionary will come to an end, while that of the 
native leader will continue* It would be manifestly 
wrong, and on this practically all Societies and Boards 
agree, to remove a man from the ranks of the permanent 
leaders of the Native Church in any country and put him 
into the ranks of the temporary foreign workers. The 
dignity and strength of the native pastors should be main- 
tained at the highest possible level, and it appears to the 
great Missionary Societies that to take from that exalted 
class men of influence with peculiar qualities for leader- 
ship, would be to strike a blow at the Native Church itself. 

Another reason for this position is that it is the pro- 
vince of the Missionary Societies to build up and strengthen 



248 THE HOME BASE 

the force of trained local leaders. No Society should 
make drafts upon the ever-increasing number of this 
class to supply deficiencies caused by the failure of the 
Church at home to provide the men needed abroad in 
the missionary ranks. Among some of the peoples of 
the East the position of missionary is looked upon as 
higher than that of the native pastor. Through the 
appointment of a student of the country as a mission- 
ary, with his support coming directly from abroad and 
himself apparently clothed with authority and possessing 
privileges beyond those possessed by others of equal 
devotion and ability, it is but natural that leadership 
in the Native Church would be discounted. 

There are many other reasons which need not be given 
here, revealed by the experience of leading Missionary 
Societies, why it is not wise to appoint as missionaries to 
their own people natives of any of the countries in which 
foreign missionary work is carried on. Among these are 
disparity of support, inability to represent the Christian 
body whose commission they bear.smce they are of another 
country and race, the impossibility of making the position 
of such an agent clear to his own people, and the special 
temptations which necessarily come to one thus removed 
from his natural environment and put into conditions with 
which he must be unfamiliar. This does not mean that 
the position of the foreign missionary is a more exalted one 
than that held by the native leader, but quite the contrary. 

The Commission is of the opinion that Missionary 
Societies should not appoint natives of eastern countries 
as " missionaries " to their own people, but that they 
should use every means in their power to encourage all 
such, who seem qualified, to return to their own country 
as Christian leaders and workers in connection with the 
Native Church and native institutions. This attitude 
should be taken with the understanding that salaries 
and support shall come from the Native Church or com- 
munity, and not from the Mission Board, even though 
for the immediate present some financial aid may be 
given from mission funds. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE SCIENCE OF MISSIONARY 
SOCIETIES 

THE science of missions is much, more advanced in its 
bearings upon the work abroad than in its relations to the 
operations of the Societies at home. 

Interest in missions as a science has largely centred 
hitherto in the activities of missionaries and the institu- 
tions which they have organised abroad, and not in the 
organisation of the Societies or their plans for disseminat- 
ing information at home, creating and holding the con- 
stituency, securing missionaries needed for the work, 
and raising funds for its support. These more common- 
place matters have been too close at hand to command 
much general and systematic attention. The general 
missionary Conferences in Christian countries have for 
the greater part fixed attention upon the remote points 
of missionary work. In the Mildmay Conference of 
1878 there were about forty distinct papers and addresses 
given, only one of which could by any interpretation 
be made to apply to the home base, or the operations 
of Missionary Societies at home. In the London Con- 
ference of 1888 there was hardly a phase of the home 
side of the work of Missionary Societies that received any 
attention whatever. The thought of the entire body of 
delegates for the ten days of its session was directed to 
the ends of the earth, and held there to the closing hours 
of the Conference. In the Missionary Conference held 
in New York in 1900 much more attention was given to 
questions bearing upon the home side. The printed 

249 



250 THE HOME BASE 

report oi the Conference covers about 1000 pages, 168 of 

which are devoted to matters belonging to the home base 
of the missionary enterprise. It seems that, so far as 
general Conferences in Europe and America are concerned, 
the science of the home base (or the science of Missionary 
Societies) began to emerge only at the beginning of the 
last decade. 

The general Conferences held in missionary countries, 
as the various Decennial Conferences in India and the Cen- 
tennial Conference in Shanghai in 1907, have necessarily 
dealt with the advancement of the work in the countries 
in which the Conferences were held, and not at all with 
the science of the operation of Missionary Societies at 
home. These have been most valuable in developing 
the science of missions as related to the work abroad, but 
only indirectly have they any bearing upon the relation 
of missionary science to the work at home. 

The annual Conferences of the Missionary Societies 
of North America, which have been held usually in New 
York for the last sixteen years,, have covered with a 
considerable degree of thoroughness, and with a proper 
recognition of values, the wide field of missionary 
endeavour, both in foreign countries and at home. 
As would be expected, however, the emphasis has 
necessarily been placed upon the home side of mis- 
sionary work, and only indirectly upon the work abroad s 
since the Conference has been composed of the executive 
officers and members of the controlling committees 
of the Societies at home. Naturally all missionary 
problems, under the circumstances, would be viewed 
and discussed from the outlook of the home base. 
These Conferences have given more than half their 
time and attention to the consideration of questions in 
which the various Missionary SocietieSj as Societies^ were 
particularly interested, and which had to do with the 
administration of their work at home* So far as they 
have dealt with questions of the field, it has generally 
been with a view to throwing light upon phases of 
those questions which affected the attitude of the partici- 



SOCIETIES 251 

pating Societies. These Conferences have been of incom- 
parable value to all participating Societies in placing 
them upon a common working basis s and in giving to 
each the experience and wisdom possessed by all. 

One does not need to study this question for any length 
of time to learn that we are yet far from a true and gene- 
rally accepted science of missionary work abroad, and 
even farther from a science of the operations of Mis- 
sionary Societies at home. The lack of such a science 
' is wasteful in the extreme, since it compels all Societies 
to conduct experiments by themselves and to learn by 
their own successes and mistakes alone, There is no 
general organised plan by which the failures and successes 
of one Society may become the common property of all, 
nor is there a place in which the missionary organisa- 
tions of Christendom with any regularity or precision 
can discuss by their representatives questions that are 
of general interest to alL 

This Edinburgh Conference is the first attempt at a 
systematic and careful study of missionary problems of 
the world, including those that bear upon both the work 
abroad and the operations of the Societies at home. 

The question naturally arises as to how the results of 
the Conference are to be best conserved and made of 
value for all future missionary operations- It is true 
that the Reports of the Commissions and of the Con- 
ference, after the Conference has dissolved,, wiE be printed 
in a set of volumes. It is also true that the Report 
will become antiquated in comparatively few years. 
The advance of the science of missions which will have 
been made at Edinburgh, unless something is done to 
prevent it, will necessarily come to a standstill until 
another similar general Conference is held a decade 
hence. In the meantime, much ground gained by this 
Conference will be lost, and information obtained and 
principles established by common agreement will be 
forgotten* or at least become inoperative, 

A general desire has been expressed by eminent mis- 
sionary leaders on both sides of the Atlantic that some 



252 THE HOME BASE 

arrangement may be made which will result not only 
in a continuous systematic study of missionary questions 
and problems, but which will draw together the active 
missionary forces of the world in the consideration of 
questions of common interest. The hope is freely expressed 
that provision may be made for embodying the conclu- 
sions reached in this Conference in some form that will 
make them permanently valuable, and thus present to the 
Christian world the spectacle of systematic and scientific 
co-operation in the work of the Missionary Societies in 
all communions such as will command the confidence of 
all, raise to the maximum the efficiency of the great 
missionary enterprise, and present to the non-Christian 
world the spectacle of the united advancing forces of 
Christendom. 

It seems to the members of the Commission on the 
Home Base, as it does to a great circle of missionary 
experts with whom they have communicated upon this 
subject, that the time has now arrived when steps leading 
to this end may wisely be taken. They will go even 
farther than this and say that to many who have 
freely spoken upon this subject it would seem to be a 
mistake if, out of this Conference, there should not emerge 
some form of organisation or organisations that will be 
competent to deal with this matter and produce some 
general and permanent Committee, international and 
interdenominational in character, to which the Mis- 
sionary Societies of the world shall look, to whose work 
all will contribute, and from which all will receive direct 
benefit. 

It is the judgment of the Commission that this can 
most naturally be brought about by 

1. The formation in each country where such 

organisation does not now exist of a Con- 
ference composed of the foreign Missionary 
Societies organised in that country, and 

2. The creation of a standing International Com- 

mittee made up of representatives chosen 
by these various Conferences. 



SCIENCE OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES 253 

This suggestion is based upon what has already been 
accomplished in the United States and Canada,, and also 
in the organisation of Missionary Societies and Committees 
on the Continent of Europe. 

The Quadrennial Bremen Continental Missionary 
Conference and the German and Continental Executive 
Committee are illustrations of the successful endeavour 
for interdenominational union in the interests of great 
efficiency. There are in addition two other organisations 
of a similar character, the Northern Lutheran Missionary 
Conference, meeting every fifth year with some seven 
hundred delegates from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and 
Finland for the consideration of missionary topics, but 
with no power of legislation, and the Netherlands Mis- 
sionary Conference meeting every autumn. This last- 
named Conference held its twenty-third session in 1909. 

As a further illustration of what can be done in this line, 
we cite the progress already made in the United States 
and Canada through the organisation now known] as the 
Conference of Foreign Mission Boards of the United 
States and Canada, which has recently held its seventeenth 
annual session in New York City. This Conference was 
organised for the consideration of questions of administra- 
tion pertaining to foreign missions. Its membership is 
confined to executive officers and members of Foreign 
Mission Boards and Societies having separate denomina- 
tional constituencies in the United States and Canada, 
duly elected by their respective Societies. Other official 
members, as well as foreign missionaries who may chance 
to be present, may be elected corresponding members, 
but without power to vote. Some fifty Missionary 
Societies were represented in the seventeenth annual 
session recently held. The sessions usually occupy two 
days. 

There are few questions bearing upon the problems of 
administration of foreign missions that have not been 
thoroughly investigated and discussed. In many in- 
stances strong representative interdenominational Com- 
missions have been created by the Conferences for the 



254 HOME BASE 

careful and exhaustive investigation and report upon 
such important subjects as " Self-support on the Field/' 
" Should Laymen be sent as Missionaries?" "The Higher 
Education in Missions/' " Women's Missionary Societies/' 

" The Unoccupied Fields/' " The Mohammedan Problem/' 
" Furloughs/' " Missionary Education in the United 
States/' "Relations of Missionaries and Missionary 
Societies to Governments/ 1 u Anglo-American Com- 
munities in Foreign Ports/' " Missionary Periodicals/' 
and many other practical and vital topics, The principal 
subjects were presented in written form, and afterwards 
were discussed with great frankness, all discussion being 
taken down in shorthand and included with the paper 
in the printed report of the Conference. These reports 
are printed with paper covers* and are sent by the Mission- 
ary Societies to their missionaries and to the leaders of 
their respective constituencies. All agree that these 
reports have been most influential in promoting self- 
support and self-government among the Native Churches 
connected with the American Missionary Societies, and 
all unhesitatingly acknowledge that these reports are of 
great value because of the information they contain as 
the result of the enquiries made. They have a strong 
influence in unifying the policies of the Missionary Boards 
in America, and have resulted in a saving of time and 
strength and money to all the Societies participating. 
It goes without saying that the Conference has no 
power to legislate in any way for the Missionary 
Boards represented, or to commit the Boards to any 
act or policy. 

For many years there was a conscious and frequently 
expressed need upon the part of the smaller Societies 
for a central and representative organisation to speak 
for foreign missions as a whole, especially in questions 
that might arise in relation to the Government, There- 
fore a permanent Committee was created, called the 
Committee of Reference and Arbitration, but subse- 
quently changed to the Committee of Reference and 
Counsel. The duty of this Committee is to keep itself 



OF 255 

informed regarding all general questions of a national or 
international character, such as would be of interest 
to the Missionary Societies as a whole, and to make fall 
report eacli year to the Conference. This Committee 
makes it Its business to secure reliable data regarding 
any and all laws, both in the home country and in the 
mission field, that affect the missionaries, and to investi- 
gate all questions that may arise in the country with 
relation to any subject that bears directly upon the work 
of missions. In case of a general public attack upon 
missions this Committee prepares and puts out a reply, 
In case a law is passed by the national government that 
affects the standing of the foreign missionary, it Is the 
duty of the Committee to ascertain the bearing of that 
law, secure an official Interpretation, and send to all the 
Missionary Societies the results of its investigation. For 
example, a law was passed recently in the United States 
relating to the " Expatriation of Citizens, " which, upon 
the face of it, appeared to denationalise any mission- 
ary who remained away from home over two years. 
The Committee of Reference and Counsel opened cor- 
respondence on behalf of all the Boards with the 
Department of State, secured a copy of the Rules and 
Regulations which had been issued to consular and 
diplomatic agents abroad, and later obtained an official 
communication from the Bureau of Citizenship which 
cleared up all difficulties. These facts were communi- 
cated to all the Missionary Societies In the United States, 

Incidentally another valuable outcome greatly appreci- 
ated by all officers of Missionary Societies In America 
is that through these many Conferences the executive 
officers of the Missionary Societies become personally 
acquainted with each other. The spirit ol co-operation 
thus developed is deep-seated and abiding. No regrettable 
incident has ever occurred in all the seventeen sessions 
held, although at times delicate subjects, upon which 
the members of the Conference widely differed, have been 
discussed with great fulness and freedom. 

The question was raised a short time ago as to whether 



256 THE HOME BASE 

the sessions of this Conference should be held biennially 
instead of annually, but the vote was overwhelmingly 
in favour of the annual gathering. Missionary Societies 
have come to depend upon the Conference, and the united 
judgment of those who assemble, for the settlement of 
important questions relating to policy and methods of 
work. This Conference has become in America one of the 
regular organisations for the scientific study of missions, 
especially as relating to the home side of their administra- 
tion, and for the application of the facts thus obtained. 

The Committee has no power to originate business 
belonging exclusively to any one Board, nor has it the 
right to interfere in any way with the work of any Mission- 
ary Society. It can, however, lend its services to any 
Missionary Society asking its aid. 

In view of the valuable results which have been secured 
from these annual Conferences in America, and from the 
Conferences of Continental Societies in Europe, the 
Commission raises the question as to whether the time 
has not come for the better organisation of Missionary 
Societies throughout the world, with a view to a more 
scientific study of missionary problems at home and 
abroad, and closer co-operation in the application of 
missionary policy and principles. 

The Commission thinks that this might be achieved by 
the appointment of an International Committee, in a 
manner satisfactory to all participating Societies, the 
functions of which might include the following : 

1. To study such international questions as are of 

general interest and value to all Missionary 
Societies. 

2. To formulate the results of their investigation 

from time to time for the benefit of all 
Missionary Societies. 

3. To act on behalf of the united Missionary Societies 

of the world as necessity may demand. 

4. To act for and on behalf of any single Missionary 

Society or any group of Missionary Societies 
when requested to do so. 



SCIENCE OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES 257 

5. To take such steps as may seem wise for the 

conservation of the results of this Edinburgh 
Conference. 

6. To provide for and issue such publication or 

publications as circumstances may seem to 
warrant and demand. 

7. To give its services for the closer unification of 

the work at home and abroad, and for greater 
economy and efficiency in matters of ad- 
ministration. 

This statement of facts and opinions cannot but be of 
interest to those who are concerned with the question 
of co-operation among the Missionary Societies of the 
world in the interest of better and more effective results. 
Many who at the outset entered the American Conference 
did so with grave doubts as to its probable value. To-day, 
so far as your Commission has been able to ascertain, 
there is no one who does not place great value upon the 
results of this annual gathering. 

The suggestion has been made from Great Britain as well 
as from the Continent of Europe, that similar conferences 
should be organised upon that side of the Atlantic in order 
that the Missionary Societies of Europe and the general 
cause of missions throughout the world may experience a 
similar and even greater benefit. If that were done, it is 
possible that some relations between the missionary confer- 
ences of all Christian countries might be established in the 
interests of a general and comprehensive survey of foreign 
missions as a whole, a more thorough study of its problems, 
and a more scientific practice in the methods employed. 
There are many who believe that economy and effective- 
ness in all lines of missionary work would inevitably result 
from some such method of study and investigation. 

The Commission has no recommendations to make 
at this time, but it desires to call the attention of the 
Edinburgh Conference and the Missionary Societies of 
Christendom to these facts and suggestions, leaving the 
delegates from different Christian countries to take such 
steps as circumstances may warrant and demand. 

COM. VI. 17 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE FUNDAMENTAL VALUE OF 
MISSIONS TO THE CHURCH 

IT is impossible for the Commission to give attention to 
tlie home side of missionary organisation without devot- 
ing consideration to the influence of the missionary enter- 
prise upon the general work and life pf the Church at 
home. The benefits which have come to the home 
Church from its work abroad add little to the argument 
for foreign missions, for disinterested giving is of the 
essence of Christianity, and we are bidden " to do good 
and lend, hoping for nothing again/* But the reflex 
influence of foreign missions on the home Church is so 
marked and far-reaching, that an examination of the 
nature and extent of that influence must be full of 
encouragement to those who believe in that work, and 
must go far to remove the difficulties of those who think 
that the development of the work abroad must be pre- 
judicial to that which so urgently needs to be done at 
home. 

When a proposal was brought before the General 
Assembly of the Church of Scotland in the year 1824 to 
start foreign missionary Vork a "proposal which resulted 
in the following year in the sending out of Alexander 
Duff to India there was before the Assembly at the same 
time a scheme for the increase of schools in Scotland and 
especially in the Highlands. The two schemes were 
regarded by many as rivals, and there was consi4erable 
discussion as to which should liave precedence. Dr. 

' 238 



VALUE OF MISSIONS 259 

Chalmers, however, Declared In a speech in the Assembly, 
that in his judgment the schemes were not antagonistic 
but helpful to one another, and it did not matter which 
^as takep, first, since charity works not by a process of 
exhaustion, $ut by one of fermentation. 

A similar argument to that employed by Dr. Chalmers 
was used to meet an objector to the work of foreign 
missions, when the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions was organised in Massachusetts in 1810. 
A charter was asked for it, and one of the members of the 
Massachusetts legislature made an earnest speech against 
granting the charter on the ground that the object of the 
Society was to export religion, whereas all were agreed 
that th$ State of Massachusetts h^d none to sp^re. The 
argument temp