/ . 2-0 . IS'. ^ tut llic<»lagrai ^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^jj Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. BV 625 .T5 1914 Tippy, Worth Marion, 1867 The church, a community force LIBRARY OF CHRISTIAN PROGRESS Volumes Issued The Church a Community Force. By Worth M. Tippy The Church at the Center. By Warren H. Wilson The Making of a Country Parish. By Harlow S, Mills Cloth^ 50 CentSy Prepaid ADDITIONAL VOLUMES TO BE ISSUED ^*(i£* NN- JAN 20 1915 //-,. :%, THE CHURCH A COMMUNITY FORCE ^^ A Story of the Development of the Community Relations of Epworth Memorial Church, Cleveland, Ohio BY WORTH M. TIPPY PASTOR NEW YORK Missionary Education Movement of the United States and Canada 1914 Copyright, 1914, by Missionary education Movement of the United States and Canada TO MY FATHER OREN TIPPY STRONG AND HIGH-MINDED AND TO MY MOTHER MARY ISABEL TIPPY DEVOTED AND SELF-FORGETFUL CONTENTS HAPTER Foreword . . . . PAGE ix I Preconceptions I II What Are Community Rela- tions? 4 III The Church as I Found It . 7 IV Pastors Must Lead . 13 V The Social Awakening of the Church .... 20 VI Pushing Out Social Workers 29 VII The Church and Organized Charities .... 39 7111 A New Attitude toward City Authorities .... 44 IX Community Campaigns . 50 X The Church and Its Neigh- borhood ..... 56 XI Public Morality . 69 XII Afterword .... 74 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Epworth Memorial Church Frontispiece Epworth Memorial Church Office i6 Epworth Memorial Church and Its Relation to the Welfare Move- ments OF THE City .... 34 The Epworth Neighborhood . • '58 FOREWORD When the invitation to write this book was issued to Dr. Tippy, he was reluctant to attempt the story of the work that had been his very life for so many years. The achievements of Epworth Memorial Church in Cleveland are not for the glory of either the people or their min- isters. Epworth is a working plant adapting itself to the needs of its com- munity. It has gained its life by los- ing it. It seemed, therefore, quite contrary to the spirit of the whole enterprise to ask for a statement for the public of what had been done at Epworth, and for the secret of her growing influence. But Dr. Tippy was finally persuaded that a sim- ple, straightforward account of the de- velopment of the community relations of Epworth Memorial might prove helpful [xi] FOREWORD to other churches that are desirous of re- adjusting their message and method to present-day social conditions. In the spirit, therefore, of Epworth's service for the common good, this story is told. The invitation carried the request also that the account be told in the first person, as if the minister were reviewing his experi- ences to a company of personal friends. Dr. Tippy's preconception of what a church ought to be, his analysis of the church as he found it, the social awaken- ing of the church, the development of social workers among the church-mem- bers, the organization of its Charities Council, the new cooperation with city officials, the opening of the church as a neighborhood center, and the uplifting of the standards of public morality — the story of a nine years' experience — make a most constructive and stimulating docu- ment marking a new path for the church as a social force. Epworth has not neglected her spirit- [xli] FOREWORD ual functions. These are really her greatest power. They have never been put to one side for social work. Dr. Tippy's theory has been that spiritual work has its greatest power when tied up with heavy social responsibility, and conversely that social work has its great- est power of regeneration when associated with spiritual activities. Editors. [ xIII ] PRECONCEPTIONS WHEN I came to Cleveland, nine years ago, it was with positive con- victions as to what a church ought to be in relation to its community. These con- victions had begun back in the university and had been clarified by the experience of several pastorates. I had a conception of a church filled with the spiritual earnestness and living faith of the apostolic Church, but planted squarely on the earth, with its outlook upon the oncoming Christian civilization; a church open to truth; a church unselfish, fearless, free; a church sympathetic to the life and achievements of humanity, and [I] A COMMUNITY FORCE organized as a fighting unit of the new so- cial order. I saw it broken away from the parish selfishness which has been so long the besetting weakness of American churches, and, with generous sympathies and alert vision, carrying the community in its heart, alive to all that makes for the good and happiness of its city or countryside. I had also a strong assurance that here lay the way of the future, and that some- where along that way is to come the long hoped for and prayed for spiritual awak- ening. The real gospel of the kingdom, it seemed to me, was not the good news of eternal salvation alone, paramount as that is, nor was it the social transformation by itself, but the two fused together in a new passion of love. This I was convinced was to be the outlook and spirit of the church which was to bless the world, [2] PRECONCEPTIONS which was sure to have the respect and affection of the people, and I was con- fident that once realized it would de- velop unusual power. [3] II WHAT ARE COMMUNITY RELATIONS? IT is well at the beginning of this story to ask the questions: What is a com- munity, and, what are community rela- tions? lest these living and significant words become abstractions, lifeless and impotent, as has happened to many an- other phrase of the social awakening. A community is a group of people liv- ing together. It may be thousands con- gregated in a city, or hundreds living pleasantly in a village, or the scattered families of a countryside which find their common social life in the same school- house or the same church, or whose young people meet together socially in one an- other's homes. Community relations are [4] COMMUNITY RELATIONS primarily human relations, carrying with them all the force which inheres in the association of human beings. But a community is something still larger. In the case of a municipality, it includes all the vast interests of a city's government; its industrial organization — factories, stores, transportation, chamber of commerce, trade associations; public schools, colleges, and private educational institutions; the forces of religion; the various organizations by which society combats disease, vice, crime, poverty, neglected children, broken homes, and by which it undertakes constructively to se- cure social well-being. But these also have their end in the happiness, welfare, and opportunity of individual men, women, and children. Their objectives are a part of the same great objectives for which religion is [5] A COMMUNITY FORCE striving. No social agency can ever be- come a machine to people of heart and imagination. How significant then to bring a church into closer relations to these great interests, to make it a power in the setting up of the kingdom of heaven upon the earth! [6] Ill THE CHURCH AS I FOUND IT TJ^EW men ever entered upon a pas- -■- torate with better opportunities, or with everything more completely made ready. I found in Epworth Memorial, nine years ago, a strong symmetrically de- veloped church with slightly over a thou- sand members. It had a fine building, thoroughly well conceived, representing an investment of $150,000. The indebted- ness had been reduced to about $40,000, which was soon paid. I cannot speak too highly of the work of my immediate predecessor, the Rev. Ward Beecher Pickard, who had been pastor of the church for nine years. He had shown rare administrative ability [7] A COMMUNITY FORCE and had gathered about him an unusual group of men and women, loyal, capable, and aggressive. He had created a church office, a good business system, and a salaried staff of four whole-time and one part-time workers, exclusive of very able musicians. The main departments of the church were strong and the institution was known and respected throughout the city. Its community relations were not highly developed, but it had a community outlook. Intellectually also. Dr. Pickard had carried the thinking of the congrega- tion over upon a scientific basis, without sacrificing its spiritual power. In short, the church was ready for a forward movement, and it had been so well conceived and so carefully developed that there was nothing to tear down. It was only necessary to strengthen certain departments of the work, to enlarge [8] THE CHURCH AS I FOUND IT others, to push the membership campaign, to add a few more departments, and to relate the church in a thoroughgoing way to its neighborhood and to the larger life of Cleveland. That of course was a diffi- cult task, and doubly so in the midst of a changing parish and a rapidly shifting membership. But it was a challenge which tested to the limit the principles upon which the work developed. The church itself is located in the center of the lower east side of Cleve- land. It verges upon a fine residential section on the east and upon a boarding- house section on the west. Originally it was in the heart of the residential section of the east side. Nine years ago it was semi-downtown and the exodus of the population to the far east side and to the Heights had begun. In these nine years a transformation [9] A COMMUNITY FORCE had been worked in that part of the city. The church is now in the center of a rooming-house district stretching west to the business center of Cleveland. To the south the population is almost solidly Jewish and colored, with a recent ap- pearance of Greek and Italian families, and the better Jewish families have swarmed over the east side for two and three miles east of the church. This ter- ritory is now a thorough mixture of the original population and Jewish families. Those who constituted the original membership of the church have now largely moved to the new residential sec- tions of the Heights or to East Cleveland, or to the Wade Park and Glenville sec- tions of the northeastern part of the city. The actual center of the membership of the church is now three miles northeast of the church building. The center of the [lo] THE CHURCH AS I FOUND IT Sunday-school, which has an enrolment of 1,100, is not far east of the church, and the membership itself has been re-en- trenching south and west by careful parish methods ; for in that large territory, which was once solidly Protestant, there are still many Protestant families. They are of a character also which very much needs the ministries which the church has to offer. The development of Epworth during the last nine years, its broadening work and rapid growth, has been in the face of this situation. The membership losses have been heavy and would have been disheartening, except for the larger gain and the missionary spirit of the church, which makes it a joy to work for people even though their stay in the church is often brief. We formed a habit of in- stant and intensive action, doing all the good we could and offering every possi- [II] A COMMUNITY FORCE ble opportunity for service, and then sending on these Epworthians with our blessing, cherishing the hope that they would become missionaries of the ideals and methods for which the church has stood. [12] IV PASTORS MUST LEAD 'T^WO important considerations lie at -*- the foundation of the community relations of a church. The first is a conviction that these relations are as truly a part of the work of the church as are its other activities. They are not matters of indifference or choice that may be taken on or omitted without unfaith- fulness to the gospel. They are funda- mental and are to be planned for and worked out with great patience and ear- nestness, and the sacrifices involved are to be made as a matter of course. The second is, that, if ever a church is to have a community spirit, if it is to become a community force, its pastor [13] A COMMUNITY FORCE must lead it there. Theoretically laymen might carry through the program inde- pendently of the cooperation of their pas- tor; but as a working fact the pastor is the key man. If he does not lead his church, it will not go. And if the pas- tor is to lead, it is necessary for him to become personally involved in the social movement of his community. He must know its uplift forces and its social work- ers, and, in order to know and to lead, he himself must be one of them. The first problem, therefore, at Ep- worth, when we began to push the church out into the community, was for me to know the city, and to acquire my own citizenship by getting my personal touch with its social movement. To accom- plish that it was necessary to go to work down in the city. There is no other way to the heart of the need of a city [14] PASTORS MUST LEAD and to the confidence of the men and women who are working at the great problems of modern society. To attempt this relationship by sensational methods, when one first comes to a city, is pre- sumptuous and is almost sure to fail of its object. One must work humbly and patiently. I once heard Edward Devine say that ministers, as a class, are not considered good social workers on account of the fact that they are not, as a rule, dependable upon committees. His words, casually spoken, came with something of a shock to me, but later became a great stimulus to thoroughgoing service. I will not now accept a place in an organization when I cannot give it adequate service. By a gradual course of events I became involved in the social movement of Cleve- land; with the Associated Charities; with [IS] A COMMUNITY FORCE the Chamber of Commerce, first on its Housing committee and later on its Recreation committee; with the Humane Society, as chairman of its Child Pro- tection committee, one of its directors, and a member of the Executive commit- tee. The moving picture investigation, w^hich resulted in a general clean-up and finally in a public censorship, began in our Children's committee, and the West- ern Reserve Child Caring Conference had close relations to the same society. I was chairman of the organizing committee of the Federated Churches, and, through my membership on the Social Betterment committee of the Ministers' Association, which began the dance hall investigation, became a member of the Dance Hall Commission. I served as president of the Federated Churches for one year in its formative period, during which time [i6] PASTORS MUST LEAD it was necessary to disconnect myself with other responsibilities down in the city. My interest in civic matters led to my becoming one of the directors of the newly organized City Club, a member of the Mayor's committee of citizens ap- pointed to select the Charter Commis- sioners, and a member of the joint com- mittee representing the city government, the Board of Education, and private rec- reational interests, in devising a scheme of recreation for the entire city. These have involved heavy responsibilities, but they have not all come at once, although sometimes they have bunched to a tempo- rary sacrifice of the church. One speaks of such matters with diffi- dence, but they serve to illustrate the im- portance of the pastor's leadership, and of his being personally involved in the social movement. For myself such work [17] A COMMUNITY FORCE is an inspiring religious duty and an obli- gation involved in my citizenship. But the knowledge of Cleveland acquired in the process was absolutely essential to the development of the community relations of my church; and the associations formed enabled us later to bring the resources of the city to bear upon the cases that were being handled by our Charities Council. We knew where to go for help, and we had the confidence of the organization to which we made appeal. Pastors often hesitate to assume such responsibilities, fearing that the time re- quired will cut into pulpit preparations, and will also limit their ability to min- ister as pastors to their own people. This may easily happen : but it may be avoided either by a strict limitation of one's out- side work, or by the congregation sur- rounding its pastor with sufficient salaried [i8] PASTORS MUST LEAD assistance, or by both. One should also say that the knowledge of life and affairs acquired in such social work is an in- valuable preparation for the highest pul- pit efficiency. [19] V THE SOCIAL AWAKENING OF THE CHURCH T T is possible for a pastor with a loyal -■■ church to accomplish much by him- self, for he has large resources at his command. His pulpit offers a great op- portunity. He has individuals who are ready to back up his work, and his church lends an influence to his efforts irrespective of its direct cooperation with them. But no church ever realizes its great power for the common good until it also is in the fight; and no pastor can feel satisfied until his people are with him heart and soul by their own con- victions. That was the real and difficult problem [20] SOCIAL AWAKENING at Epworth; for, while there have always been many in the congregation with the new vision, and while the church itself had a generous spirit, yet my friends used to say to me, " It is not your church that is doing this work, it is you yourself." I realized that this was partly true and that my real problem, if the church was to realize its maximum of power for the city, was to undertake an education of the convictions of the church which should gradually lift it over to the new point of view. The work was begun with no very posi- tive assurance of how far it could be carried and no very clear realization of the possible power of an educational propaganda in a church. I presume the most positive factors at the beginning were that my own mind looked steadily out upon the city as a whole and that my [21] A COMMUNITY FORCE own emotional nature was saturated with the community spirit. Under such cir- cumstances all one's teaching is colored by the consciousness of these larger relation- ships. One dislikes excessive attention to social questions from the pulpit. Such questions raise difficult problems of administration and distressing problems of human need, which give little relief from week-day burdens and perplexities to the worshiper in a service. The supreme message of the church is to the inner life and to personal morality. The problem is to preach a balanced gospel, to discuss social ques- tions with inspiration, to keep ever fore- most their human meanings, and to see that every service carries the atmosphere of the presence of God as its first objective. But social questions are as truly a part [ 22 ] SOCIAL AWAKENING of the gospel as the message to the inner life, and I have carried them resolutely into the pulpit. I have the more often, however, chosen to bring them in by the vs^ay, in the midst of other messages, and to give to every service the consciousness of these vaster multitudes, and these larger tasks of the kingdom of God. The educational propaganda, which finally changed the spirit of the church, was carried into the various organizations of the church, particularly into the Men's Club, the young people's society, the Sunday-school classes, the instruction classes for converts, and the clubs for boys and girls. For example, in the instruction classes, which are in effect confirmation classes, converts old and young are taught public spirit, personal and social service, and the necessity of taking one's share in the so- [23] A COMMUNITY FORCE cial regeneration. Individual classes and clubs study city problems by visitation of settlements, playgrounds, city institutions, and by the use of stereopticon pictures. Certain meetings of the Men's Club are given over to community problems having immediate importance, and the same plan is carried into the devotional meetings of the young people's society. One of the most interesting of these developments vs^as the organization, in the winter of 1913-14, of an adult Sunday- school class in Community Problems, un- der the leadership of Mr. W. H. Winans, Secretary to the department of Welfare in the city government. This class took up the study of city problems from the point of view of their influence upon the home, and it has also undertaken definite expressional work. For example, when the question of unemployment was up for [24] SOCIAL AWAKENING consideration, three members of the class, experienced social workers, made an ex- haustive study of the state employment bureau, which had taken over the problem of unemployment for the city, but which had proved inefficient. Their findings were forwarded to the state commission and became the basis for a reorganization of the office. The church has also been powerfully educated by getting into the fight; by its members taking places on boards and committees of the great social organiza- tions of the city; by participating in pub- lic campaigns, such as the bond issue for playgrounds, and the new Tuberculosis Sanitarium at the Cooley Farms; by the growth of the church as a social center for its neighborhood; by the outreach of its charities. Another influential factor in the awak- [25] A COMMUNITY FORCE ening of the church was found in the Epworth Outlook, our weekly church pa- per. This periodical is newly written each week, has a circulation of one thou- sand copies, and is self-supporting. It was decided to give the general reading- matter of the Outlook to the social move- ment in Cleveland, and for several years it was the only paper of its kind in the city. It is easily seen that such activities could not but result in an aroused and in- telligent interest in city affairs. As a matter of fact one of the greatest things that have been accomplished at Epworth is this very work. The church is now thoroughly permeated by the community spirit, and it has been so for so long that we take it now as a matter of course. The main problem at present is to indoctrinate the two or three hundred new people who [26] SOCIAL AWAKENING enter the membership every year, and the young people of the Sunday-school as they come along. It is gratifying to find that the atmosphere of the church is able to accomplish this result, in the main, by itself. The education of the congregation has taught us a great lesson. It is, that it is possible to change the convictions of a church on important matters, sometimes almost to the point of transformation, or to arouse an interest in important new lines of work, by resolute educational campaigns. Again and again, after this first experience we have set about pre- paring the people for some forward move- ment; as for example, when the new rec- reational and social rooms were built, when the church needed to become a greater force in the connectional develop- ment of Methodism in the city, and finally [27] A COMMUNITY FORCE when it became necessary to double the giving of the congregation for current ex- penses over a period of years in order to care for its enlarged work and to pay for the new social and recreational rooms. [28] VI PUSHING OUT SOCIAL WORKERS THE Christian life has a twofold out- look, that of the inner life with its windows open heavenward, and that of Christian service with its windows open earthward. Ideally, every follower of Christ would be in the service of hu- manity and a living church would be a church of workers. It is not possible, however, for a church to offer opportu- nities for service to all of the members, particularly service that is worth the strength and time of busy people. It is a question whether insignificant work, given simply to keep people busy or to hold them, is not wrong. But it is not necessary to give people [29] A COMMUNITY FORCE trivial work in the church when such vital things are to be done outside. Wel- fare work is also God's work. It is the second great commandment put into ac- tion. It is better, therefore, to let the church-members swarm out from the parent hive into the community. Early in my pastorate I began sys- tematically to push out workers from the church into the social movement of Cleve- land. I did this by talking about it in the pulpit, by personal interviews, by as- sistance to organizations seeking workers, and by taking up the matter in the so- cieties of the church. This was done, not only at the beginning, but it has been steadily carried through all the years since. It was necessary to guard the strength of the church by giving it first considera- tion, since the church under such a pro- [30] SOCIAL WORKERS gram is the fundamental organization, upon the power of which depend the number and spirit of those who enter social service. But I have not hesitated to urge persons who were manifestly fitted for special forms of community work to give to it practically all their free time, with the exception of the hours devoted to worship. I have deemed it important to recog- nize this community service as if it were a part of the work of the local church, and to consider these workers as, in a sense, loaned to the community. I have sought to recognize and honor them in every way possible. We have tried also to make the church attractive as a place of worship, not only to these, but to all social workers; and it has gradually come about that many have made their religious home with us [31] A COMMUNITY FORCE and have found inspiration and happiness in the friendships of the church. These in turn have helped to strengthen the con- victions and to steady the vision of the congregation. It has been a great joy to me personally to observe the social awakening of ca- pable persons who have gone out from the church to give valuable service to the city. One fine woman became a mem- ber of my staff as an assistant in parish visitation. She gradually worked over into poor relief, later became an agent of the Associated Charities, and finally passed to the headship of an important society. Another of my young women is head worker of a settlement. A young man who came to us from a university course entered the work of the Associated Charities upon my recommendation, be- came its superintendent, and now holds a [32] SOCIAL WORKERS position of influence in the Welfare de- partment of the city government. In 1912 the missionary exposition, "The World in Baltimore," asked that an exhibit be made of the social work of the church, and in particular that a study should be made and charted of these relationships, in workers and serv- ice, with the various charitable and civic organizations of Cleveland. I requested two of our experienced social workers to make the study. The results were a revelation to us, as well as to those who studied the map and the charts which went with it. It was found that the church was in definite affiliation through salaried or volunteer workers, and usually in other forms of service, with forty-one civic and charita- ble organizations of the city. It was rep- resented by forty-two salaried workers [33] A COMMUNITY FORCE and seventy-two volunteer workers, a total of one hundred and fourteen. It was later discovered that the list was incom- plete. At present the totals reach ap- proximately one hundred and seventy-five workers and a few more institutions. It is to be understood that these work- ers are not selected by the church, nor, except in the case of the Federated Churches, are they official representatives. Paid workers are not of course paid by the church. Nor do these lists include the large numbers of physicians, teachers, and business men whose vocations verge upon the borderland of true social service. But the church's relations to the chari- ties of a city should go further than send- ing them workers, and should extend to financial support. This is always difficult because of the financial pressure which is constantly brought to bear upon the [34] „ 1 , , '}' t \\ T .? - ■ ^ •> V • 1 '1 . ■ 1 t' ' * 1 XV o M ; • - • •^,,v-. • < \\'\ ' \ \ ■» SOCIAL WORKERS churches. It is impossible to allow nu- merous appeals for money from the pulpit in addition to those which are necessarily involved in the church's own budget, and connectional causes of a philanthropic and missionary character. And yet these great communal movements must depend in the main upon church people. The policy which we gradually worked out is to make the church an educational force for these institutions, both in the matter of informing the congregation about them, and in giving them support, but to make few public appeals for money. It is intolerable for worshipers in a church to be continually approached for money for special causes. Local charities, reform organizations. Christian associations, and social organizations in general should as a rule go directly to individuals and corporations through a [35] A COMMUNITY FORCE financial system of their own, or through a Federation of Charities, such as has now been established in many cities. The deeper need is an aroused and in- telligent public support, and this the church has the power to give and to pro- mote. In the first place, few laymen know much about the local charities of their city. They do not know which are vital, which are well managed, which are inefficient. They give as they are ap- proached or not at all. Through the Epworth Outlook, from the pulpit, and in the various organiza- tions of the church, and privately, we have sought to supply this information and to arouse this sentiment. The Out- look has kept our people abreast of what is being done in the city and of the work and needs of its charities. The congrega- tion has been urged to give generously [36] SOCIAL WORKERS but carefully, with a due sense of the need and importance of the appeals which are made. I have always stressed the necessity of supporting the Associated Charities, since the work of that organiza- tion is fundamental in a community and since it lacks the imaginative appeal which other less necessary organizations are able to make. When certain charities have been cam- paigning for an enlarged budget possibly under a scheme of reorganization, as for example at one time the Humane Society and at another the Associated Charities, we have given them unusual publicity. At the same time we have followed a stifif policy with regard to inefficient or- ganizations and those whose methods we could not approve; resisting all appeals for help, quietly counseling givers against their support, standing with the Commit- [37] A COMMUNITY FORCE tee on Benevolent Associations of the Chamber of Commerce when it has refused cards to particular organizations. The influence of a single church thus handled is considerable, but the real power of the churches is never shown until church federation unites the congre- gations of a community on the same lines of policy. Then the churches of a city may become the most powerful single educational force for the support of its charities. [38] VII THE CHURCH AND ORGANIZED CHARITIES THE affiliation of the church with many of these charities was made closer by the organization of the church's own charities. We have believed with deepening conviction that the brotherli- ness of the church must inevitably express itself in abundant ministries of kindness, — to the sick, the aged, the unfortunate, and to those in either temporary or pro- longed need. It was for a time a question as to whether the care of the poor and unfor- tunate of the congregation should be turned over entirely to the Associated Charities, or whether the church should [39] A COMMUNITY FORCE undertake to look after its own cases of need. We decided on the latter course, partly because the church needs some such concrete expression of the spirit of love in its own work, but more because a church is able to bring to bear upon the recon- struction of families certain extra and powerful forces. It adds to the usual constructive forces the influence of per- sonal religion, the strength of public wor- ship and religious instruction, the envi- ronment of a wholesome and ennobling social life in natural age and sex groups, in which the members of families in trou- ble are treated not as dependents but as friends and associates. In other words, their identity as dependents is lost in the association of hopeful, vigorous, inde- pendent persons. We therefore organized the Charities Council of the church, under the chair- [40] ORGANIZED CHARITIES manship of the Deaconess, an experienced worker, and gathered about her a group of ten friendly visitors, a lawyer, and several physicians and dentists. This Council has met fortnightly for several years, sitting in council on the problems of poor relief, with particular emphasis upon the reconstruction of dependent homes. It has gradually learned to do nothing which people can do for them- selves; to seek for its people better em- ployment, better housing, and to recon- struct homes that are submerged by drunkenness; to assist in the education of children and in securing employment when they must enter industry. The standards of the Associated Chari- ties, with its system of records, were set up, a loan fund was created, and a system of financing established. All cases are telephoned down to the Associated Chari- [41] A COMMUNITY FORCE ties for registration and no new cases are taken up without getting information about the same from the registration bureau. The Council has also kept in close touch with the Welfare department of the city government, both to avoid du- plication and to receive and give assist- ance, for no church can work alone. This affiliation was gradually extended to a wide circle of institutions in the city, — hospitals, Juvenile Court, Humane So- ciety, Visiting Nurse Association, Legal Aid Society, and child caring institutions. The plan has worked so well that it has become permanent. It has, I think, con- tributed to lighten the burden of the city's need which falls very heavily upon its present charity organization. We have limited ourselves rather strictly to our own congregation, and have as a rule referred all transients down-town. But [42] ORGANIZED CHARITIES the work has inevitably broadened into the neighborhood until in matters of em- ployment, sickness, kindness to the aged, and relief, the church has worked as a true neighborhood organization. But all has been kept in the most careful coopera- tion with the city, particularly with the Associated Charities, and it has been coin- cident with the most loyal support, often amounting to campaigning, for these great charities. These activities have been a blessing to the church as well as to the families involved. They have opened fountains of love, aroused a sense of duty toward the unfortunate, brought a realization of the broader program of Christianity, and served to interpret anew the works of mercy which have so great a place in the narratives of the Gospels. [43] VIII A NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD CITY AUTHORITIES /^NE of the discouraging features of ^^ American institutions has been a very general loss of confidence in munici- pal government and want of respect for local authorities. This sentiment is as pronounced in villages and towns as in cities, where so often corruption and incompetence have gone to shameless lengths. Suspicion of public officials has been deepened by the unfairness of the sensational press, and by the continual criticism of opposition speakers and news- papers. Few newspapers at the time of an election ever attempt to give their readers unbiased statements of facts about [44] CITY AUTHORITIES public officials. The same may also be said of campaign speakers. While such an attitude toward local government has not been without cause nor without long and bitter experience of misrule, it is no longer justified by- present conditions. A transformation is in progress in American cities which is making for honesty and efficiency, and is giving to the people a powerful instru- ment for their own advancement. The continuance of partizan attacks upon offi- cials and of unfair and violent newspaper agitation is now retarding the progress of efficient government. The church also has been caught up in a general spirit of denunciation. The prevailing attitude of the pulpit and of ministers' meetings for a generation has been non-cooperative and critical, often to the point of censoriousness. Many evan- [45] A COMMUNITY FORCE gelists have been gravely at fault in this particular in that they have sought to draw their crowds in the beginning of their meetings by sensational attacks upon city officials. The pulpit must be courageous and it must reserve its right to publicity and de- nunciation. But that right is won by citi- zenship and by participation in public affairs, and it does not exist for men who have been in a city for a week. It is to be held in reserve and not used indis- criminately. The policy for the future, as the government of our municipalities is rising in honesty, efficiency, and com- prehension of the people's needs, is a constructive policy of sympathy, co- operation, and the preaching of a new citizenship. I made up my mind when I came to Cleveland to follow such a policy: to C46] CITY AUTHORITIES get into personal touch with city officials, to try to understand their problems, to be patient, and to make of my church a cooperative force whenever I was con- vinced that officials were working con- scientiously and intelligently for the public good. It seemed to me also that where offi- cials most need help is in the extension of the machinery of government to do greater things for the people at large, and in fighting against entrenched privilege. Here the churches are most often led astray, for the upper classes are usually suspicious of what the body of the people demand. Three-cent fare, three-cent light, farmers' markets, popularized re- creation, look differently to a workingman than to many of the people who go to the better-class churches. These principles led me to support a [47] A COMMUNITY FORCE local administration representing a party with which I had never previously voted, and to stand by the same administration through a storm of criticism. I have al- ways been careful about bringing political matters into my pulpit, and about making public statements of a controversial char- acter. It has not been necessary in order to let my position become known and to exercise whatever influence I possessed. An influential group of ministers and laymen have stood for these principles in the Federated Churches and in the Min- isters' Union of the city, and against cru- sading societies. In matters involving the authorities they have sought thorough information and a fair and amicable ap- proach, reserving publicity as a last re- sort. We have also done our best at Epworth to interest our people in public questions, [48] CITY AUTHORITIES to stimulate pride in the city, to campaign for important improvements, and to keep the congregation informed, particularly upon the development of the welfare work of the city government. In doing this large use has been made of the Ep- worth Outlook, so that it has not been necessary to burden the pulpit with these affairs. With regard to other civic questions, such as the budget, control of vice, public health, conduct of departments, and the relation of the city to the public utilities and private corporations, the church has worked with the Chamber of Commerce, or with the Associated Charities, or with special organizations like the Civic League, rather than singly. It would seem presumptuous for an individual church to assume such large functions. [49] IX COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS ^ I ^HE previous chapters suggest the ■^ large possible value of the Church for the formation of public opinion and in campaigns for great social objects, such as the Peace Movement; a day of rest in seven; the purposes of the Consumers' League; the fight against tuberculosis; agitation for public welfare institutions, such as playgrounds; and the evangeliza- tion of foreign sections of the city. The significance of the power of the Church is illustrated by the religious sit- uation in Cleveland. With a population approximating six hundred thousand, the city has two hundred and sixty Protestant churches with a membership of about [50] COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS ninety thousand, and a much larger circle of adherents. Their parishes cover the city completely and their buildings are in the center of every neighborhood. They are also organized bodies of people, trained to think and act together. In addition to the Protestant churches there is a powerful Jewish religious or- ganization with many synagogues, and a very strong and highly organized Roman Catholic population. All these religious bodies in Cleveland are gradually finding a certain point of contact. These churches represent a great actual and a greater possible influence for social and religious movements, for creating public sentiment, for striking at social dangers, for arous- ing the citizenship of a community. The realization of this function of the church is rapidly dawning upon the world. It led Mr. Andrew Carnegie to [51] A COMMUNITY FORCE create a Peace foundation of $2,000,000 to work for international peace through the churches. It has flooded pulpits with requests for assistance in public cam- paigns and for the setting aside of days to be observed in the interest of important causes. I made use of my pulpit and my church paper for such purposes as soon as I had been in the city long enough to get my points of contact, to know where to strike, and what to do. I began to turn the at- tention of the congregation to important movements; to the exhibitions of the School of Art, to university addresses and courses, and slowly brought my or- ganizations into cooperation with cam- paigns such as have been mentioned. But a single church cannot have com- manding influence in such matters: they are so great and difficult, and involve the [52] COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS awakening of such masses of people. Churches must be federated, and their federations in cities must have salaried officers and well-appointed offices. To strengthen the connectional organizations of the denominations in a city and to unite these in a compact federated force become matters of first importance and a true community service. Our relations with the Federated Churches have been intimate from the beginning. The organizing committee held its sessions in our building and the pastor was its first Vice-President and second President. We have done every- thing in our power to strengthen the or- ganization, to back it up financially, and to give it support. I have pushed the strength of my peo- ple into these activities and into the con- nectional work of my communion some- [53] A COMMUNITY FORCE times almost to the breaking point. They have taken some of our best workers and have drawn heavily upon the financial resources of the congregation. I have done this because the need has been so great, and because I am convinced that in no other way can the church approxi- mate the devotion of the Apostolic Church, or Christians themselves rise into the largeness and power of real disciple- ship to Christ. The recognition of the value of the Church in the agitation of public ques- tions, and in campaigns for social objects, is coming so rapidly that our pulpits are already overwhelmed with appeals for the observance of Sundays devoted to par- ticular causes, and for the presentation of other causes. I have found it necessary to protect the hours of public worship against un- [54] COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS due interference from outside causes, and the congregation from the danger of too many appeals. We have given the ser- mon period to a selected number of the most important causes, but have resorted more and more to the use of our church paper and to brief statements from the pulpit. Every good cause has had our sympathy and as many as possible our ac- tive support. [55] X THE CHURCH AND ITS NEIGHBOR- HOOD A DISTINCTION may be made be- tween the community relations of a church with the city at large and with its own neighborhood, although the two overlap. The former are largely insti- tutional, the latter more intimate and per- sonal. The ideal which has inspired the work at Epworth has been the parish ideal, that is, a church which ministers to its entire neighborhood instead of to unre- lated people scattered over a wide area. In its completeness it is an impossible ideal under modern conditions, even if there were no competing churches in the [S6] NEIGHBORHOOD same territory; and it would of course be presumptuous for any church to as- sume an attitude of exclusive responsibil- ity for its parish, territorially. But the spirit of a parish church may nevertheless be carried out with effectiveness and with entire brotherliness. In developing our neighborhood work at Epworth we have extended our services of public worship, our Sunday-school fa- cilities, our club activities, and the social opportunities of our societies to the peo- ple about us with friendly aggressiveness. We have done this partly by publicity but mainly by organized methods, especially by heavy parish visitation. For example, within the last few years the number of boarding and rooming houses about the church has increased very rapidly. This has brought into the parish large numbers of young men and [57] A COMMUNITY FORCE women, who have come to Cleveland from other cities and towns. Their home life is in the atmosphere of the boarding- house, and we discovered to our surprise that in many instances young women had no use of parlors in which to receive call- ers. On Sunday evening meals are sel- dom served, and on this the happiest day back in the old home they are very much alone. We finally decided to open the Friend- ship room late Sunday afternoons under the direction of the young people's so- ciety, and to serve a light supper at half past five preceding the young people's meeting. This plan took from the be- ginning. From one hundred to one hun- dred and fifty young people come together every Sunday during the busy season. The league officials have carefully or- ganized the matter of acquaintance, and [S8] Mi^/ ''IP A / Kilt } KKrpi \' a r- i S \ ; NEIGHBORHOOD the staff has seen that older members of the church were always present. These social hours have been happy and above criticism, and they well illustrate the type of social work undertaken by the church. We have now from three to four hun- dred families having no connection with the church excepting that their children are in its clubs and Sunday-school classes. As an indication of its wider reach, the church, with a membership of sixteen hundred, has twenty-seven hundred dif- ferent persons in its organizations, and a thousand and more besides who make it their religious center. Forty per cent, of the members of the Men's Club are outside the church. Amongst these associates are a number of Roman Catholics and Jews. Their presence raised a serious question: should [59] A COMMUNITY FORCE we change the character of the work so as not to offend these people? After serious conference it was decided that we must keep the church free for its highest work, that we must maintain a broad but earnest Protestant type of church, absolutely un- trammeled to do the most vigorous Chris- tian teaching. To compromise the pos- sibility of doing this in order to furnish social center activities to a few persons, seemed a betrayal of trust. Jewish and Roman Catholic children have been wel- comed, but with the understanding that the church is to be free, that they are to take the common instruction, but that the church will be respectful of their rights and convictions. We have never had trouble in carrying out this policy. In determining what to undertake for the good of the neighborhood, we have been guided by a few simple principles; [60] NEIGHBORHOOD to study the needs of the people around us; to do nothing that is being well done by another organization when that or- ganization meets the need of the neigh- borhood ; to be brotherly, especially where there is inevitable competition due to the presence of two or more churches minis- tering to the same territory. We have established no day nursery because the Lend-a-Hand Mission, a few blocks east of us, has an excellent nursery. We have no night schools on account of the close proximity of Central High with its pub- lic night schools, and of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associa- tions. We have given special attention to the development of the church as a neighbor- hood social center. We have done this because it is a natural expression of the Christian spirit, because it is a great way [6i] A COMMUNITY FORCE to build a modern church, because it is one of the highest services that a church can give to the people coming to a great city, because a church building might better be used for happy gatherings of the people than to lie idle, and because abun- dant and wholesome recreation is one of the most pressing needs of large cities. Two years ago the first floor of the church was rebuilt at a cost of $45,000 to provide a series of social and recrea- tional rooms. These are arranged in suites with intervening hall, store room, and machinery room, so as to allow sev- eral events to be held at the same time. They include in the social rooms, a spa- cious and beautiful dining-room. Friend- ship room, library, kitchen, serving room, and retiring rooms; on the recreational side, gymnasium, den, athletic office, showers, and locker rooms for both sexes. [62] NEIGHBORHOOD We have paid little attention to simply- opening rooms to the public, but have thrown all our power into organized ac- tivities. It has seemed better to take peo- ple into regular activities rather than into groups classified by employment or social position. For example, instead of having a working girls' club, we put working girls into mixed societies and organized Sunday-school classes, where their identity as working girls is lost in a larger fellowship. The Associate Pastor found a family about a year ago who had become badly disorganized and discouraged. They knew nobody and were very much alone, and the effect had been to dishearten them. They were brought into the church and the various members of the family placed in organizations. The effect was almost magical. They began to dress [63] A COMMUNITY FORCE neatly again, they became very much at home, and they were to be observed in the morning services greeting their new friends with manifest pride. Work of this sort after a while grows of itself by an inner spirit. It has filled the church with ministries of friendship, and has led out into unusual forms of service. We have gradually come to have a watchful eye over saloons, billiard halls, places of public amusement, houses of call, within the parish. We are be- ginning agitation for a public playground and branch library for the neighborhood. The library might be had at once if room could be found for it in the church build- ing. The church in much the same spirit be- gan to seek employment for those out of work. In times of unusual idleness the Charities Council has formed the custom [64] NEIGHBORHOOD of calling up homes and offices of the people asking casual work, sufficient to keep its own unemployed at work for three or four days of the week, until times are better. But under ordinary industrial conditions there is always much tempo- rary unemployment; and so gradually, without ever establishing a bureau, we have made connections with factories, of- fices, and stores, and have been able to place a large number of people every year. The way in which such work grows is shown by the fact that calls are frequently coming in for workers, and we have been able often to better our own young people by opening new positions. Such work also soon goes beyond the limit of a con- gregation out into the neighborhood, and often people come to us from distant parts of the city. We desire to restrict our- [65] A COMMUNITY FORCE selves to our own parish, but it is im- possible not to help men in distress. When the new city charter was up for adoption, the Men's Club, at my sugges- tion, held a neighborhood meeting on a green near the church, at which the reg- ular charter speakers explained its pro- visions. This led later to the establish- ment of a monthly Community Service on Sunday evenings; this to a class in the Sunday-school on community problems; and this to a determination to make the church a center for the discussion of civic problems for the citizenship of the ward. The first Community Service was very interesting. The Associate Pastor, Mr. Shattuck, who directs the neighborhood activities of the church and its visitation, had made a survey of the territory about the church, and reported it to the meet- [66] NEIGHBORHOOD ing. He gave all sorts of interesting facts and followed with specific recom- mendations. Successive meetings have taken up control of vice from the point of view of children and young people, the housing situation in Cleveland, and the provisions of the new housing code. The objective of these meetings is to bring Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jew, and non-Christian together for the considera- tion of common problems. The plan for the education of the electorate in citizenship began with a series of patriotic meetings held for seven successive Sunday afternoons beginning with Easter of 1914. Their purpose was to arouse the patriotism of the young peo- ple by bringing before them the issues of and sacrifices of the Civil War. Well- known veterans of that war were brought to Cleveland from various parts of the [67] A COMMUNITY FORCE nation, and the church was packed with great audiences to listen to them. These meetings were financed and directed by one of the laymen of the church, Mr. Frank M. Gregg, who is also working with me at the plans for the Community Night Services next year. It is expected to make these meetings centers for the discussion of municipal problems, with particular emphasis upon information. Where subjects are of too controversial a character to bring into the evening serv- ice special meetings will be held on week- day evenings. Such movements go slowly because of prejudice against the Church and because of the divided condition of American citi- zenship, but the difficulties are gradually giving way before a sustained and public- spirited policy. [68] XI PUBLIC MORALITY r^OUBTLESS every pastor has the ^^ experience of living in the presence of great facts day by day, but yet not realizing their true significance; until some day he awakens to them suddenly. They have long been forming themselves subconsciously, until finally they emerge full-formed into consciousness, carrying with them a sense of newness and sur- prise. Two years ago I began to sense keenly the positive need of lifting the standards of public morality of the city, particu- larly as related to young people. This was forced upon my attention in many ways but in particular by two experiences. [69] A COMMUNITY FORCE The first was a long first-hand study of the problems of illegitimacy, desertion, divorce, and neglected children through membership on the Children's Committee of the Humane Society. The second also came gradually, and mainly by observing young people on street-cars and inter- urbans on my way back and forth from the city to my country home by the lake. In each of these experiences there was observable an alarming amount of irre- sponsibility, looseness, and lax moral habits, and in the latter of unembarrassed freedom in the presence of passengers which meant an unquestioned repetition of the experiences of the Humane Society. Then, too, business men kept saying to me, " Young people are not as dependable as they used to be. They lack ambition and a high sense of honor. They look for advances in salary and wages without [70] PUBLIC MORALITY any corresponding desire to render serv- ice." Among my own young people I found a good many who proved out badly when positions were secured for them. It finally came to me almost as a shock, that back of these phenomena lies a great problem of moral education; that upon no institution does the responsibility for this education rest more heavily than upon the church; that we are not measuring up to this social obligation in the large way which is easily possible. As I examined my own work I became conscious that we were failing largely to realize the New Testament emphasis upon the plainest kind of moral teaching. So I began to recast my pulpit teaching and to carry a stronger ethical instruction into the Sunday-school and into clubs for boys and girls. At the same time we un- dertook to organize a more thorough [71] A COMMUNITY FORCE shepherding of our young people. We began asking teachers to become real pas- tors of their little flocks, to go into the homes of their pupils, to know when they pass through moral crises, and thus to keep in touch with them week by week. We shall not subordinate the spiritual to the moral, but we shall henceforth un- dertake to send into the city a stream of young people who are morally instructed and disciplined, and who are ambitious, dependable, God-fearing, and prepared for citizenship. That I conceive to be one of the church's highest community functions. And when one considers the machinery and strategic location of the churches of every city, and the tens of thousands of young people who are committed to them for religious instruction over a long period of years, one is convinced that once [72] PUBLIC MORALITY aroused and united, the churches are strong enough to change the moral atmos- pheres of their communities within a reasonable period of years. [73] XII AFTERWORD T)EOPLE sometimes ask me, as I go ^ about speaking before congregations which are starting out on a program of broader social work, Do these forms of social service result in drawing people to the church and into its membership? The question is more legitimate than may appear at first glance, for a church which loves its community and works for its interest ought in turn to be attractive to the community. Such is the truth. One answers the question, first, by say- ing that community relations, as other forms of social service, are worth while in themselves, and are a bounden duty of the church. It may easily be that the [74] AFTERWORD church must undertake certain great pieces of work with a sacrificial spirit, realizing that it will lose and not gain. But the experience of these nine years have been that a community spirit and neighborly parish work add greatly to the church's influence. Epworth Memo- rial is crowded with young life and is almost uniformly strong in the propor- tions of each age and sex. We have not failed to receive persons into the church a single Sunday for now nearly three years. Five churches have moved out of the neighborhood in the last four years, but Epworth had a net gain in 191 3 of 147, and received a total of 247 persons into its fellowship. These results are to be accounted for in the main perhaps by other activities of the church, — notably by its Sunday-school, its parish visitation, and its services of public worship, — but [75] A COMMUNITY FORCE the social spirit and work of the church have been heavy factors. One has another conviction, however, with regard to community relations. It is, that to have a community spirit and to work cooperatively with public offi- cials and social agencies is the peculiar glory and power of Protestantism. Its point of view makes of the Roman Catholic Church a non-cooperative body. It is in a large sense a community within a community: secretive, unsympathetic to public education, exclusive with regard to other religious bodies, and subject to suspicion from the public on account of its attitude. In most parliaments of Europe, those of Roman Catholic as well as non-Catholic countries, it is a dissonant factor; this along with all the splendid and immense religious and social work which it carries forward. [76] AFTERWORD But Protestantism stands for freedom, for openness, for public education, for the institutions of democracy, for co- operation and social sympathy. If we can maintain this spirit, if we can break away from temptations to selfishness and religious isolation, if we can mix up with publicans and sinners, if we can be courageous and straightforward, as was our Master, we shall have the fu- ture. In the turmoil of the social revo- lution which is upon us we shall be a constructive force of inestimable value. If some minister who feels himself in- experienced were to ask where to begin and how to proceed in extending the community relations of his church, I should answer that there is no set pro- gram to follow. Every neighborhood has its own problems and every church its peculiar spirit, its way of doing things, [77] A COMMUNITY FORCE its reserve power. I should go to work taking whatever offered itself; for when one goes to work he soon knows what to do. I should study my own neighbor- hood carefully and the possibilities of my own church. In a larger community I should begin with the Associated Charities and Wel- fare departments of the city government, and should work out from these. In the neighborhood, I should begin by pushing out my standard activities — services of public worship, Sunday-school, parish visitation — with an unsectarian and neigh- borly spirit; and I should then develop club activities, charities, employment, ministries of kindness, recreational and social features, according to the need of the neighborhood and the resources of my congregation. I should do big things first and I should not be in a hurry nor [78] AFTERWORD over-ambitious, for such work matures slowly and requires an extended program for its greatest power. Pastors of small congregations with limited resources, particularly inexperi- enced pastors, may be tempted to say: Such a program is possible to a powerful city church, but it is not for me and my congregation. But if such men will consider carefully, they will perceive that they are mistaken. Experience comes from work and study, and there is always one price to pay for that. The size of the church and its location have little to do with its community relations, ex- cept in the magnitude of what is accom- plished. The open country, the village, the rural town, the small city, are as rich fields for community service as the large city; sometimes far richer, on account of the frequent backwardness of social [79] A COMMUNITY FORCE organization in such places. It is fun- damentally a question of the interest of a given church and its pastor in the wel- fare of their community and of their will- ingness to work. The program of the smaller church may not be so extensive — it will be necessarily modified to suit dif- ferent circumstances — but the essential work to be done is as possible to the small as to the large church. One who is familiar with what is be- ing accomplished in this field knows also that a vast amount of fine social work is being done outside of big cities. Two of the most perfect examples of com- munity service that I have ever known are in the open country — at South Athol, Massachusetts, and in the town of Lin- coln, New Hampshire, far up in the White Mountains. [80] Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 01091 7336 Date Due ^^-1^ r ijuji- MMMii» '' [ ' 1 ^