236 



FEDERATION OF CHURCHES. 



Feb. 4 and 5. Seventy-five delegates were enrolled, 

 representing 7 States, 11 denominations, and 15 

 organized federations of States and cities. In 

 response to an address of welcome by the Rev. J. 

 N. Butler, of Washington, Mr. J. Cleveland Cady, 

 president of the National Federation, said that he 

 believed that great as might be the practical power 

 gained for rignteousness by the cooperation of the 

 several branches of Christ's Church, the greatest 

 gain would be the spiritual gain born of " peace 

 and good-will toward men.'' The report of the 

 secretary, E. B. Sanford, gave a detailed account 

 of the work of the year, mentioning the estab- 

 lishment of federations in a considerable number 

 of cities and towns, and of State federations in 

 New York and Ohio. Different methods of work 

 were taken up in different places according as cir- 

 cumstances might suggest. Among those men- 

 tioned in the present report were house-to-house 

 vi-itation, the general canvass of neighborhoods, 

 efforts to bring various churches into closer fellow- 

 ship and cooperation, and measures for preventing 

 overlapping and collision. A part of the duty of 

 the general secretary had been to make what 

 might be called missionary tours, in which he 

 would visit a number of cities and towns, meet 

 pastors and laymen of the several churches, and 

 explain to them the principles and methods of or- 

 ganization under the plan of federation. Speaking 

 of The Possible and Impossible in Church Federa- 

 tion, the Rev. L. C. Barnes, of Pittsburg, char- 

 acterized as the impossible, and indeed, undesir- 

 able thing, ecclesiastical union, saying that it 

 concentrated attention on points of difference, and 

 this was sure to result in wider ecclesiastical 

 divergence. The possible and desirable thing was 

 Christian cooperation, which drew mind and heart 

 away from the things in which Christians differ, 

 to those in which they could join heartily as work- 

 ers together with Christ. In an address on the 

 way in which churches can unite for social work, 

 the Rev. Walpole Warren, of New York, main- 

 tained that the denominations were desirable, in 

 that each had its own particular work to do. 

 Other subjects of discussion concerned Home Vis- 

 itation, Church Federation in the Interest of So- 

 cial and Civic Righteousness, Why a New Eng- 

 land City needs Federation, Federation from a 

 Layman's Point of View, Cooperation in Home 

 and City Mission Work, and Interdenominational 

 Affiliation. In the last paper the suggestion was 

 made by Mr. Benjamin G. Welch that members of 

 the church who move away from home be given 

 letters to the church of their choice as fraternal 

 associates, while they still retain their connection 

 with the home church. 



At the meeting of the Executive Board of the 

 National Federation held in New York city Nov. 

 5, the secretary made report of two trips he had 

 made to the Middle West one in the spring and 

 one just completed covering together about 

 10,000 miles of travel. The way had been pre- 

 pared by correspondence for meetings which 

 brought together many of the men who had in 

 charge the home mission and church extension 

 interests of denominations representing nine- 

 tenths of the English-speaking church-member- 

 ship in the States of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, 

 Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, and 

 Nebraska. With entire and earnest unanimity of 

 action steps were taken in all those States to se- 

 cure the appointment of representatives from the 

 denominational bodies, to meet in conference and 

 decide the question of organization. 



A meeting of delegates appointed by the leading 

 denominations, held in Lincoln, Neb.'. Oct. 29, by 

 unanimous vote, organized the Nebraska Federa- 



tion of Churches, with a constitution similar to 

 those of the New York and Ohio federations. 

 Similar conventions were to be held at Barraboo, 

 Wis., Nov. 11; Lansing, Mich., Dec. 10; and 

 Chicago, 111., Dec. 15. In Chicago, Milwaukee, 

 Minneapolis, St. Louis, Peoria, Kansas City, 

 Topeka, and Omaha the interests of local federated 

 action and organization had been placed under the 

 care of committees. The General Conference of the 

 Methodist Episcopal Church, South, had provided 

 for the appointment of representatives to attend 

 the meeting of the National Federation in 1905. 

 The General Missionary Convention of the Dis- 

 ciples of Christ had, by resolution, approved the 

 spirit and purpose of the work of the Federation. 

 In a summary of the work of the Federation and 

 what it has done during the term of its operations, 

 published by the national secretary, its work is 

 defined to be to promote the formation of federa- 

 tions in every State and community for the pur- 

 pose of securing cooperation between churches and 

 Christian workers of all denominations and of 

 making more effective the prosecution of their 

 common interests. During its career it had 

 brought about the organization of State federa- 

 tions in New York, Ohio, Nebraska, Massachu- 

 setts, and California; had prepared the way for 

 action in other States Michigan, Illinois, Wis- 

 consin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas; 

 and had aided the work of State organizations in 

 Maine, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Local 

 federations had been organized in 24 cities, having 

 an aggregate population of nearly 6,000,000. Of 

 these 24 federations 13 had sprung from the 

 direct initiative of the National Federation. Sev- 

 eral federations had taken effective action for 

 civic, social, and moral righteousness, and by put- 

 ting a stop to sources of corruption had accom- 

 plished results that were possible only by united 

 action. In some cases federations had made their 

 work the elimination of needless and competitive 

 churches and the establishment of churches in 

 destitute places; and it was believed that through 

 mutual understanding and wise counsel a better 

 and more economical use might be made of funds 

 contributed for missions, church extension, and 

 charitable purposes. Federation in no way in- 

 terfered with, denominational belief or practise, 

 but was intended to furnish a means by which 

 churches of different creeds can cooperate for ends 

 which all have at heart, but which none could 

 attain by themselves. Among the advantages 

 of this plan set forth by the federation of Hart- 

 ford, Conn., are that it is permanent rather 

 than transient, systematic rather than spas- 

 modic; that it draws all the churches together 

 for united effort, bringing all their activities 

 into relation with one another; and that it 

 furnishes a convenient medium for expressing 

 the Christian sentiment of the community in 

 support of officers of the law and other func- 

 tionaries who desire to do their duty, but are un- 

 able to work successfully without a strong moral 

 support. House-to-house visitation by voluntary 

 workers has been carried on in several cities and 

 arrangement* are making for it in many others. 

 Its principal purpose is to bring all the people into 

 sympathetic contact with some church; to seek 

 out persons who have become alienated from the 

 Church and restore them to its influence. Work 

 of this kind has been systematically prosecuted in 

 the city of New York, where numerous conditions 

 exist which illustrate the need of it. Among 

 these conditions, as described in a report of the 

 city federation, are the frequent changes of 

 families from one apartment or tenement house to 

 another; the uneven distribution, not correspond- 



