CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, SOCIETIES OF. 



165 



The Christian Endeavor Yearbook, published 

 a few weeks before this enumeration was made, 

 gives somewhat smaller numbers, but the differ- 

 ence is not greater than might be allowed in con- 

 sideration of the difference in dates of publica- 

 tion. In this work the progress of the Christian 

 Endeavor movement in prisons is especially men- 

 tioned as a feature of the work of 1898. The 

 first prison society was formed in the State prison 

 at Waupun, Wis., where nearly a thousand pris- 

 oners had been enrolled. At the time of the com- 

 pilation of the Yearbook there were about 20 

 such societies, chiefly in the United States. 



International Convention. The eighteenth 

 annual International Convention of the United 

 Societies of Christian Endeavor was held in De- 

 troit, Mich., July 5 to 10, the Rev. Francis E. 

 Clark presiding. The report of the secretary, 

 John Willis Baer, showed that there had been a 

 gain during the year of nearly 2,000 societies, 

 with additions of more than 100,000 members. In 

 America, Pennsylvania had, including the junior 

 organizations, more than 5,000 societies; New 

 York more than 4,000; Ohio and Illinois more 

 that 3,000 each; Indiana and Ontario, 2,000; 

 Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, and Massachusetts, more 

 than 1,500; and California, Missouri, and New 

 Jersey more than 1,000 each. The society had 

 now been organized in Russia, the only consider- 

 able country in the world to which it had not 

 been extended. Great Britain had more than 

 6,000 societies; Australia more than 2,000, being 

 represented in the convention by 2 delegates; 

 India, 454; China, 148; Africa, 156; Mexico, 108; 

 the West Indies, 103; Germany, 101; Madagas- 

 car, 93; Japan, 73; Spain, 36; and other coun- 

 tries were represented in the organization by 

 larger or smaller numbers of societies. There 

 were 979 Intermediate Societies, 14,680 Junior 

 Societies, 85 Mothers' Societies, and 49 Senior 

 Societies. More than 100 societies were to be 

 found on ships, including merchantmen and men- 

 of-war; societies in soldiers' camps, prisons, 

 schools of reform, workhouses, almshouses, asy- 

 lums, institutions for the blind and for the deaf, 

 schools, and colleges; among car drivers and 

 motormen, policemen, traveling men, life savers 

 on the coast, men employed in lighthouses, in 

 large factories, etc., to the number of more than 

 200. The entire official enrollment of the socie- 

 ties was 55,813, with a total membership of 3,500,- 

 000. The report of President Clark represented 

 that in many respects the last year had been 

 the best in the history of the association as re- 

 garded advance and increase and the magnitude 

 and character of the convention. The denomina- 

 tional drift had been more decidedly than ever 

 toward the society's interdenominational move- 

 ment; the growth in foreign lands had never been 

 so encouraging ; and the thought of the " quiet 

 hour " of personal communion with God had 

 taken a strong hold of the membership. The 

 adoption of new plans and new methods of work, 

 however, did not mean that the societies would 

 take up every alluring scheme that enthusiasts 

 would present, and many such had been declined. 

 There were many denominational societies that 

 would come into the fellowship of this movement 

 if they only understood that it sought no control 

 and demanded no money or allegiance, but only 

 asked their brotherhood, that they " all be one." 

 No business is transacted at the international 

 conventions, or action taken. The meetings are 

 religious and social, for the stimulation of the 

 religious spirit and the promotion of acquaint- 

 ance among young Christians of different regions. 

 The headquarters of State, Territorial, and pro- 



vincial delegations were so arranged that in each 

 of them local representatives of distant and wide- 

 ly separated communities should be grouped to- 

 gether. Each day's sessions were opened with 

 a. " quiet hour," in which, after an address by 

 the leader of the meeting, the rest of the hour 

 was spent in meditation. In the sessions them- 

 selves the addresses were followed by ten minutes 

 of " quiet meditation " and prayer. The ad- 

 dresses, constituting the principal feature of the 

 sessions, were on subjects relating to religious 

 life and work and the development of the En- 

 deavor movement and its objects. Besides these 

 daily features, there were occasional conferences 

 pastors' conferences, junior workers' confer- 

 ences, officers' conferences, floating society con- 

 ferences, travelers' union conferences, and other 

 meetings together with the special " denomina- 

 tional rallies," in which the members of each of 

 the religious denominations whose societies were 

 represented in the convention held separate meet- 

 ings. Twenty-seven such denominational rallies 

 were held during the present meeting of the con- 

 vention. Under a change in the constitution of 

 the body in 1898, the presidents of the State, 

 Territorial, and provincial societies are ex-officio 

 members of the Board of Trustees of the United 

 Society. They assume no control over local so- 

 cieties or unions, but give counsel when asked, 

 and furnish information and aid in local work. 

 Instead of the passing of resolutions by the con- 

 vention, it is the practice of this board to pre- 

 pare upon occasion expressions upon subjects to 

 which it is thought proper to direct attention, 

 to be read in the convention for information. 

 Such an expression, read at the present conven- 

 tion, declared that the admission of Brigham H. 

 Roberts as a member of the House of Representa- 

 tives of the United States from Utah " would be, 

 and would be generally understood to be, a con- 

 donation of the crime of polygamy, a blow at 

 the sanctity of the marriage relation, and a peril 

 to the purity and integrity of the family, upon 

 which our civil and religious institutions so 

 largely rest," and urged his rejection as a meas- 

 ure " in defense of our reputation and character 

 as a law-abiding people." 



German (American) Society. A national 

 German (American) Christian Endeavor Society 

 has been organized, and held its first meeting in 

 Quincy, 111., July 12 to 16. It consists of 250 socie- 

 ties, with 8,340 members. By denominational 

 classification, 101 of the societies are of the German 

 Evangelical Synod, 23 Presbyterian, 22 Congrega- 

 tional, 45 Reformed, 11 United Brethren, 30 of 

 the United Evangelical Church, and 8 of denomi- 

 nations not specified. 



Convention of British Societies. The an- 

 nual convention of the British Societies of Chris- 

 tian Endeavor was held in Belfast, Ireland, be- 

 ginning May 19. Besides the Irish members, more 

 than 200 delegates were present from Great Brit- 

 ain, and also visitors from America, New Zealand, 

 Armenia, and the Congo. Nearly 200 meetings 

 were held immediately in connection with the 

 convention, as well as numerous special services 

 and open-air meetings. The annual report of the 

 union showed that 590 societies, with more than 

 21,000 members, had been added during the year 

 in the British section bringing the whole num- 

 ber of societies up to 6,195 and 40 new socie- 

 ties in Ireland. The greatest denominational in- 

 crease was among the Congregationalists, who 

 returned 138 new societies, and the next greatest 

 among the Baptists. The financial report showed 

 a balance in hand of 250. Schemes for exten- 

 sion work at home, and in India, Ceylon, and 



