CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, SOCIETIES OF. 



CHRISTIAN S( 'IKXT1STS. 



129 



<leavorers," the report said, " is seldom challenged, 

 and on the contrary we find it officially and heart- 

 ily commended in many ecclesiastical courts and 

 assemblies in many denominations." Fifteen 

 countries were mentioned in which national Chris- 

 tian Endeavor unions had been formed, and Chris- 

 tian Endeavor leaflets and constitutions might 

 be found in more than 20 languages, in Indian 

 dialects, and the dialects of India and Africa. A 

 larger number than ever of the societies had 

 adopted some systematic and proportionate plan 

 for giving money to the cause of missions, to 

 their home churches, and to other benevolences. 

 The two-cents-a-week-pledge plan had worked 

 well wherever it had been tried. More than 20,000 

 members were enrolled in the Tenth Legion, 

 contributing at least one-tenth of their income to 

 religious causes. Eighty-five hundred and twenty- 

 six societies had contributed, as societies, $200,- 

 216 directly to the denominational mission boards, 

 $247,858 to their home churches, and $56,387 to 

 other benevolences. There were now 26,000 

 Comrades of the Quiet Hour, pledged to make 

 it the rule of their life to spend at least fifteen 

 minutes in private devotion at the beginning of 

 the day. One hundred and sixty thousand young 

 people had in the last twelve months joined the 

 church from the ranks of the societies. The num- 

 ber of junior societies was now 16,000, with 483,- 

 000 members, and that of intermediate societies 

 1,285, with 38,500 members. The usual general 

 and sectional meetings were held. Three large 

 auditoriums and as many churches as were re-, 

 quired were used for the meetings. On the first 

 day methods were considered, The Twentieth Cen- 

 tury Home was the topic of addresses, and reports 

 were made. The subject of Twenty Years of 

 Christian Endeavor was treated in pulpit ad- 

 dresses on Sunday, and evangelistic meetings were 

 also held on that day. On Monday, July 9, 26 

 denominational rallies were held, and addresses 

 were delivered and five-minute speeches made in 

 the auditoriums. At noon the Christian Endeav- 

 orers participated in the noon-day evangelistic 

 work in the tenement and factory districts. Simi- 

 lar exercises were continued on the last day of the 

 meetings. 



Twentieth Anniversary. The twentieth an- 

 niversary of the Young People's Society of Chris- 

 tian Endeavor was celebrated Feb. 2, with 

 -special services at Portland, Me., where the first 

 society was established in the Williston Church, 

 Feb. 2, 1881. A memorial tablet was erected in 

 this church as a part of the celebration. 



The semiannual meeting of the Board of 

 Trustees was held in Portland in connection with 

 the anniversary celebrations, and plans were made 

 for unifying the work in city, district, county, and 

 State unions. It was decided to hold the interna- 

 tional conventions, after 1901, biennially, instead 

 of annually, as heretofore, in view of which the 

 trustees recommended to the State unions that 

 they consider the advisability of holding biennial 

 State conventions, alternating with the Interna- 

 tional Convention, and that special attention be 

 given to the county and district conventions dur- 

 ing the year when the State convention is not 

 held. The following minute was adopted : " Since 

 Christian Endeavor has become a world-wide 

 movement it appears to us wise, on this, its 

 twentieth birthday, to make plain the flexibility 

 and adaptability of the organization to the vary- 

 ing needs of churches in all lands. The funda- 

 mental principles of the Society of Christian En- 

 deavor are the following: First, personal and 

 avowed devotion to our divine Lord and Saviour 

 Jesus Christ. Second, the covenant obligation as 

 VOL. XLI. 9 A 



particularly embodied in th<- prayer-meeting 

 pledge, to do what Christ would like to have us 

 do. Third, constant religious i raining for all 

 kinds of Christian service in the prayer-meeting 

 and by various committees. Fourth, loyalty to 

 the local church and denomination with which 

 each society is connected. Fifth, interdenomina- 

 tional spiritual fellowship, through which wo 

 hope to fulfil our Lord's prayer for spiritual 

 unity, that they may all be one. Sixth, Christian 

 Endeavor makes no attempt, nor never has at- 

 tempted, to legislate for the individual conscience, 

 and neither the united society nor any State or 

 local union regulates, controls, or imposes con- 

 ditions upon any society of Christian Endeavor. 

 These unions are for fellowship, instruction, and 

 inspiration, and not for legislation or for the ex- 

 ercise of control. If any society is in doubt as to 

 methods of organization and service, it should 

 turn for authoritative instruction to the pastor 

 and church with which it is connected. The 

 united society does not insist upon uniform con- 

 ditions of organization or a particular form of 

 pledge, which shall constitute a Christian En- 

 deavor Society. So long as a society holding the 

 fundamental principles of Christian Endeavor enu- 

 merated above is working for Christ and the 

 Church as its church directs, and is making the 

 young people ' more useful in the service of God,' 

 it is in fact a society of Christian Endeavor, and 

 will be heartily welcomed into the fellowship of 

 the movement." 



The Rev. Dr. Francis E. Clark, founder of the 

 societies, spoke at the anniversary meeting on 

 Christian Endeavor in the Twentieth Century, 

 and at the quiet-hour services the subjects of 

 The Gains in Twenty Years of Christian Endeavor, 

 The Essentials of Christian Endeavor, A Cam- 

 paign of Education, Making the Most of Our 

 Forces, Revivals of Spiritual Interest and of Civic 

 Righteousness, and Advance Steps for the New 

 Century, were discussed. 



British Societies. The British National Chris- 

 tian Endeavor Convention met at Sheffield, May 

 25. The report showed that during the ten 

 months since the World's Convention of 1900, 533 

 new societies, including 119 junior societies, had 

 been formed. 



CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS. The adherents 

 of Christian Science declare that more than 1,000,- 

 000 persons are interested in their faith, and that 

 their journal, Science and Health, has a circula- 

 tion of 211,000 copies. Three new Scientist 

 churches were dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1901 

 one in New York, which it was estimated would 

 cost, when completed, $725,000; one in Chicago, 

 111., costing $120,000; and one in Toledo, Ohio. 

 A movement was quietly set on foot in the au- 

 tumn of 1901 to raise the whole amount of the 

 cost of the church in New York in advance of its 

 completion, and $400,000 was secured in four 

 weeks, $100,000 having been subscribed at one 

 meeting. There are 7 churches in Greater New 

 York and 3 in Chicago. The oldest church of 

 the Scientists is in Boston, Mass., and cost $250,- 

 000. The United States census of 1890 gave the 

 Christian Scientists 8,724 members and 26 pas- 

 tors or readers (2 to a church). The census of 

 churches for 1900, prepared by Dr. H. K. Carroll, 

 who was chief of the Department of Religious 

 Statistics in the census of 1890, gave them 

 10,000 ministers, 579 churches, and 90,000 mem- 

 bers, membership being understood to include 

 not all adherents, but only persons who have 

 signed the Church tenets. The Christian Scientists 

 have churches or organizations in the larger 

 American cities, Australia, England, and Ger- 



