THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 7>fc*TJt*/--rc0- 
 
 . 
 
 /t/V. /f,
 
 REPORT OF COMMISSION II
 
 World Missionary Conference, 1910 
 
 (To consider Missionary Problems in relation to the Non-Christian World) 
 
 REPORT OF COMMISSION II 
 
 THE CHURCH IN THE 
 MISSION FIELD 
 
 With Supplement : Presentation 
 and Discussion of the Report in 
 the Conference on i6th 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 
 
 PREFACE ........ i 
 
 INTRODUCTION ....... 4 
 
 CHAPTER I. CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION OF THE 
 
 CHURCH . . . . . . .11 
 
 CHAPTER II. CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP . . -39 
 
 CHAPTER III. CHURCH DISCIPLINE . . . -93 
 
 CHAPTER IV. EDIFICATION OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, 
 
 ADULT AND JUVENILE ..... 122 
 
 CHAPTER V. TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OF WORKERS . 171 
 CHAPTER VI. CHARACTER AND SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS OF 
 
 CHRISTIAN LIFE ...... 207 
 
 CHAPTER VII. CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AND THF.OLOGY . 234 
 CHAPTER VIII. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS . 266 
 
 APPENDICES 
 
 A. ENQUIRIES SENT TO CORRESPONDENTS . . . 277 
 
 B. FORM OF AGREEMENT DRAWN UP BY MISSIONARIES OF 
 
 THE BAPTIST^MISSIONARY SOCIETY AT SERAMPORE, 
 1805 . . . . . . .284 
 
 1236193
 
 vi CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 C. CONGREGATIONAL UNION IN AMOY AND MADAGASCAR . 286 
 
 D. CONSTITUTION OF THE NIPPON SEI KOKWAI . . 289 
 
 E. RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE ANGLICAN 
 
 COMMUNION IN CHINA AND HONG-KONG . . 290 
 
 F. CONFESSION OF FAITH AND CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH 
 
 OF CHRIST IN JAPAN .' ( . . . 294 
 
 G. CONFESSION OF FAITH AND CONSTITUTION OF THE PRES- 
 
 BYTERIAN CHURCH IN INDIA . , . 297 
 
 H. DECLARATION AND RESOLUTIONS OF UNION OF THE 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CHRIST IN CHINA . 305 
 I. DECLARATION AND PLAN OF UNION AND CONFESSION OF 
 
 FAITH OF THE SOUTH INDIA UNITED CHURCH . 309 
 J. INSTANCES OF STEPS TAKEN AT VARIOUS STAGES OF DE- 
 VELOPMENT TOWARDS CO-OPERATION AND UNITY . 312 
 K. TREATMENT OF PROBLEM OF CO-OPERATION BETWEEN 
 CHURCH AND MISSION IN FIELDS OF THE CHURCH 
 MISSIONARY SOCIETY .... 317 
 
 L. PRONOUNCEMENTS ON POLYGAMY . . . 321 
 
 M. RESOLUTIONS OF THE CHINA CENTENARY CONFERENCE, 
 
 SHANGHAI, 1907 ..... 328 
 
 SUPPLEMENT : PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE 
 
 REPORT IN THE CONFERENCE .... 339 
 
 GENERAL INDEX ...... 375 
 
 INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS AND AUTHORITIES QUOTED AND 
 
 OF SPEAKERS IN THE DISCUSSION . , . 379
 
 MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION 1 
 
 Chairman 
 
 The Rev. J. CAMPBELL GIBSON, D.D., Swatow, China 
 Mission of the Presbyterian Church of England, 
 British Chairman of Centenary Missionary Con- 
 ference, Shanghai, 1907. 
 
 Vice- Chairman 
 
 The Rev. WALTER R. LAMBUTH, D.D., M.D., Secretary 
 of the Board of Missions, Methodist Episcopal 
 Church (South), Nashville, Term., U.S.A. 
 
 The BISHOP OF ABERDEEN and ORKNEY (The Right 
 
 Rev. Rowland Ellis, D.D.), Aberdeen. 
 The Rev. F. BAYLIS, Secretary of the Church Missionary 
 
 Society, London. 
 The Rev. S. H. CHESTER, D.D., Secretary, Foreign 
 
 Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 
 
 Nashville. 
 The Rev. Canon B. K. CUNNINGHAM, Warden of the 
 
 Bishop's Hostel, Farnham, England. 
 Mrs. CHARLES H. DANIELS, Woman's Board of Missions, 
 
 Congregational Churches, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 
 
 1 The following were also appointed members of the Commission : 
 Herr Missionsinspektor F. Frohumeyer, Evangelische Missions- 
 
 gesellschaft, Basel, Switzerland (resigned, January 1910). 
 The Right Rev. Bishop Hine, late Bishop of Zanzibar (resigned, 
 
 June 1909). 
 Herr Missionsinspektor Spiecker, Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft, 
 
 Barmen, Germany (resigned, November 1909). 
 vii
 
 viii MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION 
 
 The Rev. Principal EDWARDS, Bala, Wales. 
 
 Herr E. FOLKE, Svenska Missionen i Kina, Sweden. 
 
 The Rev. WM. GOUDIE, Wesleyan Methodist Missionary 
 
 Society, London. 
 Mr. HARRY WADE HICKS, General Secretary of the Young 
 
 People's Missionary Movement of the United States 
 
 and Canada, New York. 
 
 Miss MARY MATHESON, Hampstead, London, N.W. 
 Mr. DUNCAN M'LAREN, St. Oswald's, Edinburgh. 
 Mr. WALTER B. SLOAN, Assistant Home Director of the 
 
 China Inland Mission, London. 
 The Rev. ALEX. SUTHERLAND, D.D., Secretary of the 
 
 Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in 
 
 Canada, Toronto. 1 
 The Rev. R. WARDLAW THOMPSON, D.D., Secretary of the 
 
 London Missionary Society. 
 
 The Rev. DUNCAN TRAVERS, Westminster, London, S.W. 2 
 Missionsinspektor Pastor WEGNER, Rheinische Missions- 
 
 gesellschaft, Barmen, Germany. 
 The Rev. R. J. WILLINGHAM, D.D., Corresponding 
 
 Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of the 
 
 Southern Baptist Convention, U.S.A. 
 The Rev. C. E. WILSON, B.A., General Secretary of the 
 
 Baptist Missionary Society, London. 
 
 1 The Rev. Alex. Sutherland, D.D., died July 1910. 
 
 2 The Rev. Duncan Travers was unable, through illness, to attend 
 
 meetings of the Commission.
 
 LISTS OF CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 JAPAN AND KOREA 
 
 The Rev. J. E.Adams (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.), 
 
 Fusan, Korea. 
 The Rev. C. L. Brown, D.D. (Lutheran General Council), 
 
 Kumamoto. 
 The Rev. J. L. Gerdine (Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 
 South), Seoul, Korea. 
 Mr. Geo. Gleason (Young Men's Christian Association), 
 
 Osaka. 
 The Rev. Alfred T. Howard, D.D. (United Brethren in 
 
 Christ), Tokyo. 
 President K. Ibuka, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Tokyo. 
 The Rev. C. A. Logan (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Tokushima. 
 The Rev. E. Rothesay Miller (Reformed Church in 
 
 America), Tokyo. 
 The Rev. Samuel A. Moffett, D.D. (Presbyterian Church 
 
 in the U.S.A.), Korea. 
 The Rev. J. W. Moore (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Susaki. 
 The Rev. D. A. Murray, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in 
 
 the U.S.A.), Osaka. 
 The Rev. J. F. Preston (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Mokpo, Korea. 
 The Rev. Julius Soper (Methodist Episcopal Church), 
 
 Tokyo. 
 
 Mr. August Youngren (Free Methodist Church), Osaka. 
 The Rev. R. E. M'Alpine (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Nagoya.
 
 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 CHINA 
 
 Mr. J. R. Adam (China Inland Mission), Anshunfu. 
 
 Mr. G. Andrew (China Inland Mission), Lanchowfu. 
 
 The 1 Rev. T. Barclay, M.A. (Presbyterian Church of 
 
 England), Formosa. 1 
 
 The Rev. Aug. Berg (Svenska Missionen iKina), Yuncheng. 
 Miss E. Black (Presbyterian Church of England), Swatow. 
 The Rev. C. Bolwig (Danske Missionselskab), Takushan. 
 Mrs. E. F. Brewster (Methodist Episcopal Church), 
 
 Hinghwa. 
 
 Mr. J. Brock (China Inland Mission), Chowkiakow. 
 The Rev. R. T. Bryan, D.D. (Society for the Propagation 
 
 of the Gospel), Shanghai. 
 The Rev. A. H. Butzbach (Evangelical Association), 
 
 Shenchowfu. 
 The Rev. W. Campbell, F.R.G.S. (Presbyterian Church 
 
 of England), Formosa. 1 
 Pastor Chang (United Free Church of Scotland), Tiehling, 
 
 Manchuria. 
 The Rev. G. A. Clayton (Wesleyan Methodist Missionary 
 
 Society), Hankow. 
 The Rev. Heinr. Coerper (Liebenzeller China Inland 
 
 Mission), Hunan. 
 Miss Luise Cooper (Hildesheimer China Inland Mission), 
 
 Hong-Kong. 
 Mr. Robt. J. Davidson (Friends' Foreign Missionary 
 
 Association), Chengtu. 
 
 The Rev. William Deans (Church of Scotland), Ichang. 
 The Rev. George Douglas, M.A. (United Free Church of 
 
 Scotland), Liaoyang, Manchuria. 
 
 The Rev. G. F. Easton (China Inland Mission), Hanchung. 
 The Rev. W. O. Elterich (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Chefoo. 
 Mr. A. Orr Ewing (China Inland Mission), Kiukiang. 
 
 1 Messrs. Barclay and Campbell, working among the Chinese in 
 Formosa, and reporting on Chinese work only, are included here 
 under CHINA, though their mission field belongs to the Empire of 
 JAPAN.
 
 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS xi 
 
 The Rev. C. E. Ewing (American Board of Commissioners 
 
 for Foreign Missions), Tientsin. 
 The Rev. J. Campbell Gibson, D.D. (Presbyterian Church 
 
 of England), Swatow, China.. 
 The Rev. W. H. Gillespie, M.A. (Presbyterian Church in 
 
 Ireland), Kwanchengtze. 
 Dr. R. H. Glover (Christian and Missionary Alliance), 
 
 Wuchang. 
 The Rt. Rev. Bishop Graves, D.D. (Protestant Episcopal 
 
 Church in the U.S.A.), Shanghai. 
 The Rev. R. H. Graves, M.D., D.D. (Southern Baptist 
 
 Convention), Canton. 
 
 Mr. C. H. S. Green (China Inland Mission), Hwailu. 
 Mr. Joh. Grohmann (Kiel China Inland Mission), Canton. 
 The Rev. J. L. Hendry (Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 
 South), Huchow. 
 
 Mr. D. E. Hoste (China Inland Mission), Shanghai. 
 The Rev. E. Hunt (China Inland Mission), Wenchow. 
 The Rev. Jas. Inglis, M.A. (United Free Church of Scot- 
 land), Kaiyiian. 
 The|Rev. O. L. Kilborn, M.A., M.D. (Canadian Methodist 
 
 Mission), Chengtu. 
 The Rev. A. W. Lagerquist (China Inland Mission), Lao- 
 
 hokow. 
 The Rev. James Y. Latimer (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Huchow. 
 The Rev. S. H. Littell (Protestant Episcopal Church in 
 
 the U.S.A.), Hankow. 
 
 Mr. A. Lutley (China Inland Mission), Hungtung. 
 The Rev. M. Mackenzie, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in 
 
 Canada), Changte Ho. 
 The Rev. J. Macgowan, D.D. (London Missionary 
 
 Society), Amoy. 
 
 Mr. J. J. Meadows (China Inland Mission), Shaohingfu. 
 The Rev. S. E. Meech (Church Missionary Society), 
 
 Peking. 
 
 The Rev. G. Miller (China Inland Mission), Ningkwofu. 
 The Rev. D. S. Murray (London Missionary Society), 
 
 Tsangchow.
 
 xii LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 The Rev. H. W. Oldham (Presbyterian Church of 
 
 England), Amoy. 
 
 Dr. H. L. Parry (China Inland Mission), Chungking. 
 The Rev. E. Pearse (China Inland Mission), Kiangsi. 
 The Rev. W. B. Nance (Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 
 South), Soochow. 
 The Rev. H. V. Noyes, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in 
 
 the U.S.A.), Canton. 
 The Rev. P. F. Price, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Tungshiang. 
 
 The Rev. R. Rohm (China Allianz Mission), Tsinyiin. 
 The Rev. John Ross, D.D. (United Free Church of 
 
 Scotland), Moukden. 
 
 The Rev. A. R. Saunders (China Inland Mission), Yang- 
 chow. 
 The Rev. J. E. Shoemaker (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Ningpo. 
 
 Mr. O. H. Soma (Norske Missionsselskab), Honan. 
 The Rev. A. Sowerby (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 
 Taiyiianfu. 
 The Rev. C. G. Sparham (London Missionary Society), 
 
 Hankow. 
 The Rev. Jacob Speicher (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Kityang. 
 Miss Eliz. M. Strow (Methodist Episcopal Church), 
 
 Foochow. 
 The Rev. S. G. Tope (Wesleyan Methodist Missionary 
 
 Society), Canton. 
 The Rev. G. M. Wales (Presbyterian Church of England), 
 
 Amoy. 
 The Rev. W. C. White (Church Missionary Society), 
 
 Foochow. 
 Heir Heinrich Witt (China Inland Mission), Yiianchow 
 
 Hunan. 
 The Rev. H. M. Woods, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A.), Hwaianfu.
 
 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS xiii 
 
 INDIA 
 
 Miss A. S. Aitken (Zenana Bible and Medical Mission), 
 Kasur, Lahore. 
 
 The Rev. J. Ali Baksh (Church Missionary Society), 
 Lahore. 
 
 The Rev. Herbert Anderson (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 Calcutta. 
 
 The Rev. Adam Andrew (United Free Church of Scotland), 
 Chingleput, Madras. 
 
 Prof. J. R. Banerjea, M.A. (United Free Church of Scot- 
 land), Calcutta. 
 
 The Rev. W. B. Boggs (American Baptist Missionary 
 Union), Ramapatam. 
 
 Miss Kheroth M. Bose (Church of England Zenana Mission), 
 Amritsar. 
 
 The Rev. W. H. Campbell, B.A. (London Missionary 
 Society), Gooty. 
 
 The Rev. E. S. Carr (Church Missionary Society), Palam- 
 cottah, Tinnevelly. 
 
 The Rev. Lewis B. Chamberlain (Reformed Church in 
 America), Madanapalle. 
 
 The Rev. John S. Chandler (American Board of Com- 
 missioners for Foreign Missions), Madura. 
 
 The Rev. K. C. Chatterji, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in 
 the U.S.A.), Hoshiarpur, Punjab. 
 
 Miss L. C. Coombs (Free Baptists), Midnapore. 
 
 The Rev. J. E. Cummings (American Baptist Missionary 
 Union), Henzada, Burma. 
 
 The Rev. A. G. Danielsson (Evangeliska Fosterlands 
 Stiftelsens), Chhindwara. 
 
 The Rev. N. Devasahayam, B.A. (Leipziger Missions- 
 gesellschaft), Madras. 
 
 The Rev. A. E. Dibben (Church Missionary Society), 
 Colombo, Ceylon. 
 
 The Rev. R. B. Douglas, M.A., B.D. (United Free Church 
 of Scotland), Jalna. 
 
 Mr. J. Sherwood Eddy (Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion). Madras.
 
 xiv LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 The Rev. J. Ceredig Evans, Shillong, Assam. 
 
 The Rev. Robert Evans (Welsh Calvinistic Methodists' 
 
 Foreign Missions), Assam. 
 The Rev. W. L. Ferguson, D.D. (American Baptist 
 
 Missionary Union), Madras. 
 Miss Josepha Franklin (Foreign Christian Missionary 
 
 Society), Harda, C.P. 
 The Rev. I. H. Hacker (London Missionary Society), 
 
 Travancore. 
 The Rev. Geo. H. Hamlen (General Conference of Free 
 
 Baptists), Balasore. 
 The Rev. J. Harpster (American Evangelical Lutheran 
 
 Mission General Council), Rajahmundry. 
 The Rev. W. H. Hannum, Vengurle, Kolhapur. 
 The Rev. P. E. Heberlet (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 
 Sambalpur, C.P. 
 The Rev. E. Hedberg (Evangeliska Fosterlands Stiftel- 
 
 sens), Langer, Bitul, and Chhindwara. 
 The Rev. J. Heinrichs (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Ramapatam, Nellore. 
 Dr. A. H. Henderson (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Mong Nai, Burma. 
 The Rev. P. Ireland Jones (Church Missionary Society), 
 
 Lahore. 
 The Rev. John P. Jones, D.D. (American Board of 
 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions), Madura. 
 The Rev. D. L. Joshi (Church Missionary Society), Bombay. 
 The Rev. S. V. Karmarkar (American Board of Com- 
 missioners for Foreign Missions), Bombay. 
 The Rev. W. L. King (Methodist Episcopal Mission), 
 
 Hyderabad. 
 Miss Anna Lucas (Society of Christian Education in the 
 
 East), Chapra, Bengal. 
 The Rev. J. H. Maclean, M.A., B.D. (United Free Church 
 
 of Scotland), Conjee veram. 
 The Rev. Jas. M. Macphail, M.A. (United Free Church 
 
 of Scotland), Chakai, Bengal. 
 
 The Rev. John G. McGavran (Foreign Christian Mission- 
 ary Society), Bilaspur.
 
 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS xv 
 
 The Rev. John McGuire (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Insein, Burma. 
 The Rev. D. G. Malhar (United Free Church of Scotland), 
 
 Poona. 
 
 The Rt. Rev. the Bishop of Madras (Church of England). 
 The Rev. Samuel Martin, D.D. (United Presbyterian 
 
 Church of North America), Sialkot. 
 The Rev. Canon S. Nihal Singh (Church Missionary 
 
 Society), Raj pur. 
 Miss Harriet Phinney (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Insein, Burma. 
 Mr. Krishna Rau (Wesleyan Methodist Missionary 
 
 Society), Madras. 1 
 Miss Ruth W. Ranney (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Insein, Burma. 
 The Rev. E. P. Rice, B.A. (London Missionary Society), 
 
 Bangalore. 
 The Rt. Rev. Bishop J. E. Robinson (Methodist Episcopal 
 
 Mission), Bombay. 
 The Rev. N. L. Rockey (Methodist Episcopal Mission), 
 
 Gonda. 
 Principal S. K. Rudra (Cambridge Mission), St. Stephen's 
 
 College, Delhi. 
 
 Mr. F. H. Russell (Canada Presbyterian Mission), Dhar. 
 Miss Therese Schultz (Society of Christian Education in 
 
 the East), Kotgarh, Simla. 
 Miss Jane M. Small (United Free Church of Scotland), 
 
 Nagpur. 
 The Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D.D. (American Baptist 
 
 Missionary Union), Insein, Burma. 
 The Rev. J. S. Stevenson, B.D. (Presbyterian Church in 
 
 Ireland), Rajkot, Kathiawar. 
 The Rev. H. C. Saum (Foreign Christian Missionary 
 
 Society), Damoh. 
 The Rev. Ba Te (American Baptist Missionary Union), 
 
 Keng Tung, Burma. 
 
 1 Died before completing his replies to the enquiries of the 
 Commission.
 
 xvi LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 The Rev. S. S. Thomas (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 
 Delhi. 
 The Rt. Rev. C. H. Gill, D.D., Bishop of Travancore and 
 
 Cochin (Church Missionary Society). 
 Mr. A. C. Veeraswamy (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Nellore. 
 The Rev. A. P. Veeraswamy (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Ongole. 
 The Rev. H. C. Velte (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.), 
 
 Saharanpur. 
 The Rev. H. U. Weitbrecht, D.D. (Church Missionary 
 
 Society), Simla. 
 Miss Sarah M. Wherry (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.), 
 
 Jagraon, Ludhiana, Punjab. 
 The Rev. E. F. E. Wigram (Church Missionary Society), 
 
 Lahore. 
 The Rev. W. A. Wilson, D.D. (Presbyterian Church in 
 
 Canada), Indore. 
 The Rev. J. A. Wood (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Lahore. 
 The Rev. John H. Wyckoff, D.D. (Reformed Church in 
 
 America), Vellore, Madras. 
 
 MOHAMMEDAN LANDS 
 
 The Rev. Henry S. Barnum, D.D. (American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions), Constantinople. 
 
 The Rev. Herman N. Barnum (American Board of Com- 
 missioners for Foreign Missions), Harpoot, Turkey. 
 
 The Rev. J. K. Browne (American Board of Commis- 
 sioners for Foreign Missions), Harpoot, Turkey. 
 
 Miss Maria Ericssen (Kvinnlige Missions Arbetare), Tunis. 
 
 The Rev. W. H. T. Gairdner (Church Missionary Society), 
 Cairo. 
 
 Miss Anna Harnack (German Orient Mission), Khoi, 
 Persia. 
 
 The Rev. J. H. Nicol (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.), 
 Tripoli, Syria.
 
 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS xvii 
 
 The Rev. R. Sundstrom (Evangeliska Fosterlands Stiftel- 
 sens), Italian E. Africa. 
 
 The Rev. H. Sykes (Church Missionary Society), Pales- 
 tine. 
 
 AFRICA 
 
 The Rt. Rev. the Bishop Nils Astrup (Norske Kirkes 
 
 Mission ved Schreuder), Natal. 
 The Rev. Jas. M. Auld (United Free Church of Scotland), 
 
 Cape Colony. 
 The Rev. W. Behrens (Hermannsburger Missionsgesell- 
 
 schaft), Rustenburg, Transvaal. 
 The Rev. J. Bouchet (Missions Evangeliques de Paris), 
 
 Barotsiland. 
 
 The Rt. Rev. Bishop Cameron (Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel), Cape Town. 
 The Rev. Jhn. Chilembwe (National Baptist Convention), 
 
 Blantyre. 
 The Rev. Alex. Cruickshank (United Free Church of 
 
 Scotland), Calabar. 
 The Rev. Wilhelm Eich (Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft), 
 
 Swakopmund, Okahandja, German S.W. Africa. 
 The Rev. W. A. Elmslie, M.B., C.M. (United Free Church 
 
 of Scotland), Livingstonia. 
 The Rt. Rev. Bishop Elwin (Church Missionary Society), 
 
 Sierra Leone. 1 
 The Rev. Cyril S. Green (South Africa General Mission), 
 
 Sembuland. 
 The Rev. Harold Green (South Africa General Mission), 
 
 East Pondoland. 
 
 The Rev. B. Groh (Easier Missionsgesellschaft), Accra. 
 The Rev. the Hon. Alex. Hetherwick, D.D. (Church of 
 
 Scotland), Blantyre. 
 The Rev. Johannes Johnson (Norske Missionsselskab), 
 
 Antsirabe, Antananarivo, Madagascar. 
 The Ven. Archdeacon Melville Jones (Church Missionary 
 
 Society), Lagos. 
 
 1 Died before meeting of Conference, 
 COM. II. b
 
 xviii LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 The Rev. E. B. P. Kote (National Baptist Convention), 
 Queenstown. 
 
 Mr. K. E. Laman (Svenska Missionsforbundet), Congo 
 Beige. 
 
 The Rev. A. A. Louw (Dutch Reformed Church of S. 
 Africa), Victoria, S. Rhodesia. 
 
 The Rev. James Luke (United Free Church of Scotland), 
 Impolweni, Natal. 
 
 The Rev. Majola Agbebi, Ph.D. (National Baptist Con- 
 vention), Lagos. 
 
 The Rev. W. Millman (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 Haut Congo. 
 
 The Rev. D. E. Murff (National Baptist Convention), 
 Cape Town. 
 
 The Rev. W. H. Murray (Dutch Reformed Church of S. 
 Africa), British Nyasaland. 
 
 The Rev. J. E. Norenius (Svenska Kyrkans Mission - 
 styrelse), S. Africa. 
 
 The Rt. Rev. W. G. Peel, D.D., Bishop of Mombasa 
 (Church Missionary Society). 
 
 The Rev. H. C. Prigge (Mission der Hannoverschen Frei 
 Kirche), Transvaal. 
 
 The Rev. Fr. Reuter (Berliner Missionsgesellschaft), 
 Transvaal. 
 
 The Rev. Walter Searle (South Africa General Mission), 
 Cape Colony. 
 
 The Rev. J. Sibree (London Missionary Society), Mada- 
 gascar. 
 
 The Rev. James D. Taylor (American Board of Com- 
 missioners for Foreign Missions), Natal. 
 
 The Rt. Rev. A. R. Tucker, D.D., LL.D. (Church Mis- 
 sionary Society), Bishop of Uganda. 
 
 The Rev. J. H. Weeks (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 Congo Beige. 
 
 The Rev. J. J. Willis (Church Missionary Society), 
 Uganda. 
 
 The Rev. Kenred Smith (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 Congo Beige.
 
 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS xix 
 
 OTHER FIELDS 
 
 The Rev. John R. Denyes (Methodist Episcopal Church), 
 
 Batavia, Java. 
 The Rev. W. Clifton Dodd, D.D. (Presbyterian Church 
 
 in the U.S.A.), Chiengrai, North Siam. 
 The Rev. A. A. Forshee (Evangelical Union), Occidental 
 
 Negros, Philippine Islands. 
 The Rev. James M. Hoover (Methodist Episcopal Church), 
 
 Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia. 
 The Rev. Robert Johnstone, B.D. (United Free Church 
 
 of Scotland), Jamaica. 
 The Rev. Sanford B. Kurtz, San Fernando, Philippine 
 
 Islands. 
 The Rev. R. P. Mahon (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 
 Morelia, Mexico. 
 The Rev. J. E. Newell (London Missionary Society), 
 
 Samoa Islands. 
 M. le Pasteur L. de Pomaret (Missions Evangeliques de 
 
 Paris), Tahiti. 
 The Rev. James B. Rodgers (Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A), Manila, Philippine Islands. 
 The Rev. C. E. Romig (Moravian Missions), Antigua, 
 
 West Indies. 
 
 The Rev. A. B. Romig, St. Thomas, Danish West Indies. 
 Rev. Lie. Theol J. Warneck (Rhenish Mission), late of 
 
 Sumatra. 
 The Right Rev. Bishop Westphal (Moravian Missions), 
 
 Jamaica. 
 
 FURTHER CORRESPONDENTS l 
 
 Mrs. Mary L. Daniels (American Board of Commissioners 
 
 for Foreign Missions), U.S.A. 
 Herr Missions-director M. Gensichen, D.D. (Berliner 
 
 Missionsgesellschaft). 
 Herr Missions-director Haccius, D.D. (Hermannsburger 
 
 Missionsgesellschaft ) . 
 
 1 Those included in this list have supplied papers relating 
 to several fields.
 
 xx LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 The Rev. Dr. J. Lepsius (German Orient Mission), Pots- 
 dam, Germany. 
 Heir Missions-director W. A. Schreiber (Norddeutsche 
 
 Missionsgesellschaft), Bremen, Germany. 
 Herr Missions-director von Spiecker, D.D. (Rheinische 
 
 Missionsgesellschaft), Barmen, Germany. 
 The Rev. J. R. M. Stephens (Baptist Missionary Society), 
 
 London. 
 The Rev. Pfarrer Stursberg (Neukirchner Missions- 
 
 anstalt), Rheinprovinz, Germany. 
 The Rt. Rev. Bishop J. M. Thoburn (Methodist Episcopal 
 
 Church), Pennsylvania, U.S.A. 
 Miss Agnes Whitehead (American Baptist Missionary 
 
 Union), Trenton, N.J., U.S.A.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IN reporting to the Conference, this Commission has to 
 acknowledge indebtedness to a large number of corre- 
 sponding members who have greatly helped us by the 
 full and painstaking replies which they have sent to our 
 enquiries. 
 
 We issued, to a large number of missionary workers in 
 all parts of the world, letters covering a series of enquiries, 
 (See Appendix A, p. 277.) We received in return more 
 than 200 sets of replies, some partial, but many of them 
 covering the whole ground. A list of these correspond- 
 ents is published at the beginning of our Report. With 
 the replies were sent also a considerable number of 
 printed papers and documents in illustration of the 
 matters discussed. In many cases the replies were 
 written under circumstances of considerable difficulty, 
 due to over-work at undermanned stations, and, some- 
 times, they were written in ill-health, or under the draw- 
 backs and restraints of prolonged travel by sea and land. 
 
 For all the material put at our disposal with so much 
 care and labour, the Commission records its very hearty 
 gratitude. 
 
 We regret that, in making use of this material, we cannot 
 enter largely into detail, nor indicate in particular the 
 sources from which our information and the ideas evolved 
 from it, have been derived. We can only make this 
 
 COM. II. I
 
 2 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 general acknowledgment, and beg those who have so 
 greatly helped us to be assured that we have taken pains, 
 to the best of our ability, to present the results of their 
 labours to the Conference. 
 
 The subject on which we report is THE CHURCH IN THE 
 MISSION FIELD. It is perhaps one of the most encouraging 
 signs, both of the progress of mission work itself, and of 
 the advance which has been made in the thought of the 
 Church at home with regard to it, that " The Church in the 
 Mission Field " now occupies so prominent a position in 
 the discussion of mission questions and methods. It is 
 easy to recall the time when the work of foreign missions 
 was commonly regarded by Christian people as the 
 sending of a small forlorn hope into the midst of great 
 masses of darkness and superstition, from which very 
 little could be looked for in return. The missionaries' 
 work was conceived to be a continual struggle with 
 heathenism, and at the best the converts gained were 
 thought of as little groups of unimportant people, whose 
 conversion was gratifying for the sake of the individuals 
 gained, but who had no important share in the missionary 
 enterprise as a whole. 
 
 Now, happily, the Church at home sees further into the 
 true state of the matter, and the most important general 
 conclusion which we draw from the replies made to our 
 enquiries is that henceforth this view must be entirely 
 abandoned. We have now to think of the Church on 
 the mission field not as a by-product of mission work, but 
 as itself by far the most efficient element in the Christian 
 propaganda. The words of Christian people, spoken to 
 their own countrymen in all lands, are the most efficient, 
 as well as the most extensive, preaching of the Gospel, 
 and their lives are everywhere the most conspicuous and 
 conclusive evidence of its truth. 
 
 In many of the greater mission fields the Christian 
 people are now recognised as a definite community whose 
 social life and ideals, as well as their personal faith and 
 character, are already becoming a powerful element in 
 the reshaping of national life. They arej everywhere
 
 PREFACE 3 
 
 subjected to a watchful scrutiny on the part of the non- 
 Christian communities, and there seems to be a general 
 acknowledgment that the life thus jealously watched 
 affords a real vindication of the spiritual power of the 
 religion which they profess. 
 
 In this state of things it is necessary to recognise that 
 the problems of the future differ in kind, as well as in scope 
 and dimensions, from the problems of the past. We have 
 no longer to think only of teaching to a few humble people 
 the elements of Christian truth. Attention must be 
 concentrated rather upon carrying them on to higher 
 levels both of knowledge and of Christian practice ; and 
 this must be done on a scale more commensurate than 
 heretofore with the conspicuous and responsible place 
 into which they have come, as influential guides in great 
 social and moral movements, which are stirring the whole 
 mass of their fellow-countrymen. 
 
 In short, the Church on which we report presents itself 
 no longer as an inspiring but distant ideal, nor even as a 
 tender plant or a young child, appealing to our compassion 
 and nurturing care. We see it now an actual Church in 
 being, strongly rooted, and fruitful in many lands. The 
 child has, in many places, reached, and in others is fast 
 reaching, maturity ; and is now both fitted and willing, 
 perhaps in a few cases too eager, to take upon itself its full 
 burden of responsibility and service. 
 
 For these reasons we lay emphasis, not so much upon 
 the evangelistic work by which new members are added 
 to the Church, a subject which falls rather within the 
 scope of other Commissions, but rather on the questions 
 of organisation, Church membership, discipline, and 
 edification, the training and employment of workers, the 
 development of the new life within the Church in char- 
 acter and spiritual fruitfulness, and its deepening and 
 strengthening by means of an adequate Christian litera- 
 ture in all its departments. These are the principal 
 topics covered by our enquiries, and the Report which 
 we now submit to the Conference will follow, in the main, 
 similar lines.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 IT might seem that in logical order we should begin with 
 the planting of the Christian Church, and the evangelism 
 of which it is the fruit, but these subjects are being dealt 
 with by the Commission on CARRYING THE GOSPEL TO 
 ALL THE NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD, and on another side 
 by the Commission on THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE IN 
 RELATION TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS. We therefore 
 confine ourselves to the product, the first-fruits of the 
 spiritual life, as it takes shape in the young Church that 
 is growing and maturing on so many mission fields. This 
 Church is the Ark of God, and its companies of worshippers 
 are the centres of the manifestation of His glory in the 
 redemption and sanctification of the wandering children 
 of men. 
 
 Before going into details, it would be well to endeavour 
 to gain a general impression of what " The Church in the 
 Mission Field " really is. It should be remembered, 
 however, that our use of the phrase " mission field " is 
 inexact. The whole world is the mission field, and there 
 is no Church that is not a Church in the mission field. 
 Some Christian communities are younger and some are 
 older, but that is all the difference. All alike are companies 
 of redeemed souls who have passed from death into life, 
 and who, amid the perils and temptations of a world not 
 yet " brought under," are seeking to cherish the new life 
 and to perfect its fruits. 
 
 The Commission has perforce accepted the popular but 
 inexact usage of calling only those regions " the mission 
 field " where the Church has been more recently planted, 
 and where its history falls, roughly speaking, within the 
 last two centuries.
 
 INTRODUCTION J 5 
 
 Our brethren in the United States prefer to regard 
 the evangelisation of the North American Indians as a 
 department of then: " Home Mission " work ; and others 
 regard work within the borders of old Churches in the 
 nearer East and South America, however corrupt the 
 Church life among them may be, as revival work within 
 the Church, rather than as a " Foreign Mission " enter- 
 prise. We have not attempted a precise definition of 
 our field of view. The range of interest and the variety 
 of material is only too great in any case, and we confine 
 our discussion to those fields and forms of labour which 
 are by common consent most typical of the work of 
 " Foreign Missions." 
 
 Perhaps the most obvious criterion by which we may 
 recognise a Christian community as falling within the 
 scope of our Report is neither chronological nor geo- 
 graphical. It may be found rather in two features which 
 are common to every part of " The Church in the Mission 
 Field." On the one hand it is surrounded by a non- 
 Christian community whom it is its function to subdue 
 for the Kingdom ; and on the other, it is in close relation 
 with an older Christian community from which it at first 
 received the truth, which stands to it in a parental rela- 
 tion, and still offers to it such help, leadership, and even 
 control, as may seem appropriate to the present stage of 
 its development. 
 
 But this criterion fails on either side to yield a rigid 
 definition of " The Church in the Mission Field." In 
 some smaller fields the whole population has been so 
 completely gathered into the Christian fellowship that 
 no non-Christian community remains outside, and in 
 some the early relation of mother and daughter Church 
 has practically merged in that of sisterhood, the younger 
 Church being now no longer dependent for the mainten- 
 ance of its activities on the older. This stage may not 
 be capable of precise definition, but when it is fully 
 reached the younger may be regarded as passing out of 
 the domain of " Missions," and its future course lies in 
 the region of general Church history.
 
 6 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 While it remains in pupilage to the Home Church, the 
 relation between the two is essentially temporary, and 
 the organisation of " The Church in the Mission Field " 
 must be regarded as transitional and not permanent. 
 
 If follows that, until the stage of adolescence is reached, 
 the forms of organisation should remain as simple as the 
 services required of them will permit, in order to con- 
 serve, as far as possible, the spontaneity and self-deter- 
 mination of the nascent spiritual life. If too little control 
 is given, the life may develop in wrong directions ; if 
 too much, it may lose the power of developing at all. 
 
 To the delicate and varied adjustments which these 
 principles suggest our enquiry is first directed in the 
 chapter which follows. 
 
 We have said that the existence of " The Church in 
 the Mission Field " has hardly been known hitherto to 
 many Christian people, and even where it is known, its 
 extent and its significance are very much under-estimated. 
 We have, ourselves, in preparing this Report, shared the 
 common experience that in our best efforts to study this 
 great Church, so many special questions present them- 
 selves, and these questions are so differentiated in different 
 countries, or by the points of view adopted by those 
 belonging to different communions, that the impression 
 of the whole is lost in the intricacy of the details ; the 
 trees prevent us from seeing the wood. 
 
 Perhaps the simplest and yet most impressive way of 
 realising the wide fellowship in worship and service of 
 the Church of God, is to take into account what happens 
 week by week in the course of the Lord's Day. The day 
 first dawns about sunset of our Saturday, in longitude 
 180 degrees east of Greenwich, and the first inhabited 
 country where the day's call to worship is heard and 
 answered is in the Fiji Islands, in the heart of the Pacific. 
 The period is not very remote when these islands were 
 typical of the darkest depths of heathenism ; now the 
 Fijian Church leads the world in the worship of the Lord's 
 Day. 
 
 It is followed in New Zealand by the Christian section
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 of the remnant of the Maori race, and next come the 
 worshipping thousands of the aborigines of Australia, 
 in Christian fellowship with as many Polynesian labourers 
 from their island homes, and Chinese immigrants from 
 the ancient seats of their race. Close upon these follow 
 the Christians of New Guinea, gathered out from a wild 
 and savage race, and won at a heavy cost of precious 
 life by European and Polynesian fellow-labourers. 
 
 From New Guinea the day passes with hardly an in- 
 terval to Japan, where a vivid contrast is presented. 
 Here the Christian Church is found, not amongst bar- 
 barous tribes, but in the midst of an ancient civilisation. 
 In Japan, too, the opposition to the entrance of the 
 Gospel was fierce and long continued, being unhappily 
 intensified, in the time of the earlier Roman missions, 
 by the political complications into which the missions 
 were drawn. Now we can rejoice over hundreds of 
 thousands of Christian worshippers, who have made the 
 name of Christ to be known and honoured throughout 
 this reconstructed Empire, and are bearing a worthy 
 part in working out the great future of their race. 
 
 One hour later the Church of Manchuria begins its. 
 worship ; and here we find a Christian community which 
 has passed through fire and water, repeatedly scattered 
 and broken up by war and persecution, and coming out 
 of these sufferings to enter almost at once into a move- 
 ment of spiritual revival of strange power. Almost 
 contemporaneous with the worship of Manchuria is that 
 of the Korean Churches. It has been gathered in a field 
 long closed against the Gospel, and its whole history falls 
 within the lifetime of one generation. Next in order of 
 time come the worshippers of the Philippine Islands, and 
 with these is associated an old and interesting Christian 
 community in the Moluccas and the Celebes Islands. 
 
 In close succession to the Philippines comes Borneo, 
 with its contingents of Christian Dyaks, Malays, and 
 Chinese ; and the rich island of Java, where, too, a 
 worshipping Church is found, though feeble as yet, amid 
 the many millions not yet evangelised.
 
 8 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Long before the day has traversed the length of Java 
 it has begun in China and Formosa, and over a vast 
 territory are scattered congregations which to speak 
 only of those represented at the Shanghai Conference 
 number at least 200,000 communicant members, and a 
 Christian community of one million souls. A little 
 earlier tha.ii Java, the day has begun in Mongolia, but 
 although evangelistic journeys have been made in its 
 wide territory, Mongolia is still silent, and its scattered 
 population takes no part in the day's service of Christian 
 worship. 
 
 With China may be associated Siam, the Malay 
 Peninsula, and Sumatra, closely followed by Burma and 
 Assam, where multitudes of souls continue the strains 
 of Christian worship. 
 
 But in these longitudes, too, occur the great blank 
 spaces of Tibet and Turkestan, in which as yet scarcely 
 a single voice of Christian worship is found. Immedi- 
 ately on Burma follows the great Christian Church of 
 India and Ceylon, whose yearly increase is more than 
 four times as rapid as that of the total population, and 
 which is rapidly gathering into Christian fellowship even 
 the long despised pariahs of the South. 
 
 As the day passes over the western frontier of India, 
 it enters the small but solid blocks of untouched ground 
 in Baluchistan and Afghanistan. For them apparently 
 the time of evangelistic effort and triumph has not yet 
 begun. 
 
 Immediately in their rear comes the old kingdom of 
 Persia, with its great history of literary and political 
 glory, where only a small proportion of its interesting 
 people acknowledge Christ as Lord ; while in Arabia 
 also another name has usurped the place due to His 
 alone, and few of the " desert rangers " yet bow the knee 
 to Him. 
 
 Passing over Arabia, the day almost immediately 
 enters upon Africa, one of the widest and most varied 
 of all the mission fields of the world. The old tradition 
 that Africa was the home of wonders has been fully
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 maintained in the history of the Church, both in the 
 islands of its eastern coast, and within the borders of the 
 continent itself. 
 
 First on its eastern threshold the martyr Church of 
 Madagascar hails the return of the Lord's Day. On the 
 continent itself vast spaces are yet unreached by the 
 Gospel. But the Church, planted at many points with 
 untold labour and sacrifice, maintains across the inter- 
 vals, through Livingstonia and Uganda to Congoland 
 and Old Calabar, the far-reaching succession of Christian 
 worship, and hands on the day of rest from the Indian 
 Ocean to the Atlantic, its day of worship coinciding with 
 that of the old Mother Churches of Europe. 
 
 Greenland in the far north, with its Christian Church, 
 fills up the interval between Africa and Europe on 
 the east of the Atlantic, and the Americas on the 
 west. So by Eskimos and Aleutians and American 
 Indians, by Christian negroes in the West Indies and the 
 United States, and by Patagonians in the farthest south, 
 joining with all the American Churches, the strain of 
 worship is continued unbroken, till finally, when the 
 day has completed its long circuit, it ends, as it began, 
 in the Pacific Ocean, and the last lingering worshippers 
 in the world-wide House of God are the Christian 
 people of Samoa and the Friendly Islands. It is 
 these simple people of the Islands savages a century 
 ago who first greet the Lord's Day with their songs of 
 praise, and it is they who close it with their lingering 
 prayers. 
 
 It is inspiring to reflect how the younger Christian 
 communities make good the lack of service of the older, 
 and the older join with the younger, so that throughout 
 the Lord's Day, from the rising of the sun to the 
 going down of it, incense and a pure offering ascends un- 
 ceasingly to God, land answering to land as each in 
 turn takes up the chorus. So under God's ordinances of 
 day and night it has already come to pass that not for one 
 day only, as we commonly say, but for more than thirty- 
 six hours every week " The Holy Church throughout all
 
 10 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 the world " keeps her sacred watch in solemn commemora- 
 tion of the Resurrection of her Lord. 1 
 
 The Commission humbly desires that it could so 
 present a true vision of the great " Church in the mission 
 field " as to give a new inspiration to Christian thought, 
 so that all should sing with a new and intenser emotion 
 our ancient hymn : 
 
 " We praise Thee, O God : we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. 
 All the earth doth worship Thee ; the Father everlasting. 
 
 The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge 
 Thee." 
 
 1 When the Lord's Day dawns in the Fiji Islands and New 
 Zealand, it is only the evening of Saturday in England, and when 
 it ends in Samoa and the Friendly Islands, it is already the 
 morning of Monday in England.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 
 OF THE CHURCH 
 
 IT was necessary at the outset to take special pains 
 in framing the questions addressed to our correspondents 
 as regards the terms employed, in order to prevent 
 confusion from the ambiguous use of technical terms. 
 Without such care the valuable replies received from 
 the mission field might have been rendered unsuitable 
 for systematic use and comparison, and similar care 
 must be taken in the study of the replies themselves. 
 
 So varying are the senses attached to " Church," 
 " self-government," " self-support," and many other 
 words, that men accustomed to different usages, even 
 when reporting each in his own customary terms on 
 the same facts, would be likely to make apparently 
 contradictory statements. 
 
 For example, a bishop speaking of a province of the 
 Anglican Communion says there is one all-inclusive, self- 
 governing Church there with its ten dioceses ; while a 
 Baptist or Congregationalist dealing with the same facts 
 would naturally speak of churches by the score, and not 
 one of them " self-governing." Again, in one well- 
 known instance, the Church is often described as wholly 
 self-supporting, because its thirty native clergy and two 
 thousand lay workers are supported without any foreign 
 money ; while a parallel in a German Mission would in all 
 likelihood be said to provide only some 10 per cent, of 
 the funds needed for self -support. One view instinctively 
 excludes, as the other includes, foreign missionary agency. 
 
 It is therefore necessary to exercise great care lest
 
 12 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 confusion or misapprehension arise ; but the replies 
 constitute a unique and informing set of documents, 
 and though their technical vocabulary is not common 
 to them all, yet it can, by careful use of the explanation 
 given, be reduced to one common measure, so that a 
 harmonious result is reached. They form a very 
 satisfactory basis for comparative study of ideals and 
 methods of Church constitution and organisation in the 
 mission field. 
 
 Such study reveals, of course, a number of different 
 ideals of the Church and its organisation, each employing 
 methods appropriate to itself. It shows how remarkably, 
 to judge from the replies, the constitutional ideal is apt, 
 thus far in the history of missions, to prevail over environ- 
 ment, however varied, and over racial peculiarities, 
 however deep seated. Our consideration of the 
 organisations described to us does not lead to the 
 recognition of an Indian system, a Chinese method, or 
 an African type of Church organisation. Geographical 
 considerations, and distinctions of race, seem to afford 
 little or no guide to classification. On the other hand, 
 when it is said that a mission originated from an Anglican, 
 Methodist, Presbyterian, or Congregational Home Church, 
 there is already defined, at least in regard to the general 
 outline, an ideal and method of local Church organisation. 
 Much has been written, both in missionary and other 
 literature, about racial temperaments and endowments, 
 and high hopes have been formed as to how these 
 varieties of gift should enrich and deepen Christian 
 thought and religious experience. It is, we think, 
 disappointing that the native mind in the countries 
 concerned has not made a deeper mark on Church 
 organisation. We know that these hopes have not 
 been absent from the minds of missionaries, but it is 
 evident that, in practice, attention must be steadily 
 directed to the development of the native gifts of 
 spiritual and mental energy, and a wise self-repression 
 must also be maintained, to secure for the Church in 
 the mission field, in every case, room for its own charac-
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 13 
 
 eristic development. It will appear from later portions 
 f this Report, that this is likely to be one of the pressing 
 iroblems of the immediate future. 
 
 For adequate comparison of ideals and methods, it 
 > necessary to keep in view the several quarters from 
 fhich authority and control, as well as influence and 
 upport, may be brought to bear upon the congregation 
 f Christians in the mission field. Attention must be 
 iaid to its relations with the following bodies, each of 
 rfiich exercises more or less authority : 
 
 (1) The ecclesiastical authority of the parent Church. 
 
 (2) The administrative Board or Committee of the 
 iarent Missionary Society. 
 
 (3) The local governing body of the mission, i.e. 
 be mission " Conference," " Council," " Local Com- 
 littee," or like administrative authority on the mission 
 ield. 
 
 (4) The ecclesiastical authority, incipient or fully 
 stablished, of the local Church itself. 
 
 We find it not uncommon for our correspondents to 
 eply to our enquiries from a point of view which takes 
 i no more than one or two of these inter-related bodies. 
 r or instance, a missionary in South India dealing with 
 elf -government has his thought full of the Mission Board 
 .t home, and explains how it has systematised certain 
 neasures of self-government, as distinct from Mission 
 Joard government, for the fifty to sixty thousand Church 
 tiembers in his field ; whereas, in contrast, a bishop 
 n South Africa takes his stand as a member of the 
 cclesiastical authority of the local Church, and explains 
 ts relation to the home ecclesiastical authority, showing 
 hat, subject to certain important facts of federation 
 n the world-wide Anglican Communion, the Church of 
 he Province of South Africa is a really autonomous 
 'hurch. Each of these witnesses might well have had 
 nuch to say from the point of view taken by the other, 
 >ut, as a matter of fact, each confines himself mainly 
 o his own aspect of the problem. It needs an effort 
 o keep the whole in view. It is perhaps one of the
 
 14 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 principal services which this catholic Conference can 
 render, to bring these varying points of view to the 
 notice of all. We may thus have our partial conceptions 
 corrected and adjusted, and learn that even where we 
 differ widely in method, we aim at common ends. 
 
 It would be improper for us to discuss on abstract 
 or theological grounds the different forms of polity 
 reported to us, but one kind of comparison may be 
 made without offence to any. It will appear in the 
 course of this section of our Report that some of the 
 problems which confront all missionaries seem to find 
 an earlier or a more complete solution under one form 
 of Church polity, while others are more readily handled 
 by another. In recognising this result, which lies on 
 the face of the information supplied to us, we shall none 
 of us be guilty of disloyalty to that form of polity to 
 which we belong, or to what we have been led in con- 
 science to receive as the New Testament ideal of the 
 Church, which is to all of us the Body of our common 
 Lord. Even while we differ from the system adopted 
 by others, or note, on experimental evidence supplied 
 frankly by themselves, elements of weakness in their 
 work, we shall be saved from the spirit of sectarian 
 criticism, and recognising also our own shortcomings, 
 we shall think of their difficulties with sympathetic 
 respect, while we continually repeat to ourselves in 
 Christian humility the reminder, " both their Lord and 
 ours." 
 
 We do not therefore hesitate to lay before the Con- 
 ference the impression made upon us by reviewing the 
 different forms of Church organisation illustrated in the 
 information before us. 
 
 I. CONGREGATIONAL POLITY 
 
 If now in comparing ideals and methods, we look for 
 the system which would seem, at least at first sight, to 
 have taken the course involving the fewest complications, 
 we turn naturally to the Congregational polity, which
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 15 
 
 is followed also by most Baptist Missions, and by some 
 others. By the first principles of thart system the local 
 congregation, once duly organised, is free from the control 
 of every one of the authorities in our list. The only 
 recognised ecclesiastical authority is that of each several 
 congregation itself. That kind of authority exercised 
 by the congregation cannot therefore at any stage be 
 described as exercised over a congregation. It is true 
 that for a time the local Mission authority, or at certain 
 points the Mission authority at home, may exercise 
 influence that really amounts to control. Sometimes it 
 is the " power of the purse " that obliterates for a time 
 the line of demarcation between influence and control. 
 Sometimes this line is overstepped by sheer weight of the 
 inevitable and honourable personal influence of the foreign 
 missionary, who has been everything, and done every- 
 thing, for the converts in the early days of their Christian 
 life. Yet it is clearly held by all concerned that ecclesi- 
 astically the organised congregation is independent and 
 self -governed. As the foreign Mission has from the 
 beginning no authority over the local Church, there can 
 be no transference of authority, whether gradual or rapid. 
 Theoretically, at least, there is no process of becoming 
 self-governing, no gradual passing of authority from one 
 centre to another. Whenever a Church is planted in a 
 mission field it is, and on this system must be, self- 
 governing. 
 
 It says much for the wisdom and foresight of the 
 pioneers of the Baptist Missionary Society in India that 
 the " Form of Agreement," drawn up by them at Seram- 
 pore in 1805, has remained for the whole century a guide 
 to the practical organisation of the work that has grown 
 from the small beginning made at that date. (See 
 Appendix B, p. 284.) The picture it draws is of a number 
 of native congregations growing up to independent 
 government, under the fostering parental influence of 
 a body of missionaries who superintend, but do not 
 officially govern. It is typical of the congregationalist 
 system^on the mission field, and this is confirmed from
 
 16 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 many countries by all its representatives among our 
 correspondents. 
 
 The comparison would be incomplete if we did not 
 also report the evidence of a growing tendency to organise 
 unions of such Churches, so as to develop a sense of 
 corporate life, and to evoke the power, if not the authority, 
 of a federation. In the Congregational system anything 
 of the kind is jealously guarded from any interference in 
 theory and principle with the independence of the in- 
 dividual congregation, but there are notable instances of 
 the recognition of a need, and of the actual growth of 
 unions and federations in various forms. 
 
 For example, among the 200 Churches of the Baptist 
 Missionary Society in different parts of India, there are 
 reported to us at least four " Unions," and a " movement 
 is on foot for extending this organisation to a Union of 
 such Unions, so that there may be a Baptist Union to 
 cover the whole sphere of operation in India. These 
 Unions have their own officers, hold annual meetings, 
 collect funds for united efforts, and aim at creating a 
 corporate life of believers holding the same truths, and 
 practising the same Church ordinances. These Unions 
 have no authority over the local Churches connected with 
 them." 
 
 The last sentence shows that, whatever benefits of 
 corporate life may be secured by these wide Unions, this 
 does not imply any surrender of the principle that the 
 individual congregation is autonomous, and is still re- 
 garded as the only seat of authority. At the same time 
 we learn from another correspondent, that to each large 
 group of congregations a " supervising missionary " is 
 designated ; and though he has no ecclesiastical authority, 
 yet, " working through the pastors and with them, and 
 by the authority of moral suasion alone, he none the less 
 successfully insures adhesion to those principles and 
 policies which the Mission deems essential." 
 
 Again of the Congregational Churches of the American 
 Board in South Africa it is said 
 
 " Each local congregation is self-governing. Once
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 17 
 
 each year, and oftener if necessary, the Churches meet 
 together by delegates for the consideration of matters 
 affecting the Churches as a whole, or of local problems 
 which may affect or be of interest to the Churches as a 
 whole. For the ordination of pastors, and the settle- 
 ment of purely local questions which have proved too 
 much for the local Church ; neighbouring Churches are 
 invited to form a Council of pastors and delegates to 
 advise local congregations, and such advice, while nomin- 
 ally only advice, is practically binding." 
 
 These Councils, which we take to be only temporary 
 and ad hoc in each case, are evidently of growing im- 
 portance. 
 
 In Japan, again, " the Congregational Churches are 
 organised into a national union, called the ' Kumiai 
 Church of Japan.' . . . The union has nothing to do 
 with the internal management of individual Churches, 
 but the ordination of ministers is performed in the annual 
 general council [of the union]. The union has the 
 management of the missionary work of the Nippon Deudo 
 Kaisha, or Japan Missionary Society, and the publication 
 of the organ Kiristo-Kyo-Sekai, or The Christian World." 
 
 These instances are typical of an aspect of the Con- 
 gregationalist system which becomes increasingly pro- 
 minent. Its most developed and interesting phase is 
 perhaps seen in the London Missionary Society field of 
 Samoa. 
 
 The foundation in Samoa rests on congregational 
 principles, maintained for a " town or local group of 
 adjacent villages forming a township." From its origin 
 in 1837 down to 1870, this system prevailed, with the 
 usual missionary oversight, developing perhaps into 
 something analogous to Presbyterian methods, but in 
 1870 a new status of importance was given to certain 
 native pastors, and in 1875 an " Assembly " of delegates 
 of the Churches was " established as a kind of Presbytery 
 with legislative and disciplinary powers." In 1890 
 lay representatives were brought to the Assembly ; 
 and, for the purposes of representation, the Churches were 
 COM. n. 2
 
 18 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 grouped in Unions : and in 1907 there was also set up a 
 representative " Advisory Council " of leading pastors 
 and laymen, with some missionaries. 
 
 An appreciation of the system by one of our corre- 
 spondents points to the value of the Council in dealing 
 with the relations of the Church to Government, and to 
 other religious bodies, with general regulations for worship, 
 with theological education, and with finance, so far as it 
 is general and not purely local. Here again the Con- 
 gregational principle is guarded by the provision that 
 " matters of grave import, affecting any district " can 
 only come before the Advisory Council " provided that 
 the missionary and pastor of that district agree to refer 
 the matter to the Council." The same correspondent 
 takes occasion to report that " the Congregational 
 principle of Church government has proved to be both 
 practicable and sound only when small village church 
 communities have been associated in convenient groups " ; 
 and adds that " united Church action, as embodied in the 
 recommendations of a representative assembly, has been, 
 and must continue to be, necessary to the stability and 
 growth of the Church." He suggests on the other 
 hand that a Presbyterian polity would appear to be liable 
 to encourage a native tendency to evade personal re- 
 sponsibility, and rely on a law or an authoritative body. 
 On this last point we do not pronounce any judgment. 
 (See Appendix C, p. 286.) 
 
 II. POLITY OF CONTINENTAL CHURCHES 
 
 In marked contrast with the Congregational system 
 stands that characteristic of the missions of the 
 Evangelical Churches of Germany, Scandinavia, and 
 other^continental countries. With these missions it is 
 customary for the congregations in the mission field to 
 be under strong control. The controlling power is ulti- 
 mately that of the home ecclesiastical authority, which 
 delegates powers on a large scale to a missionary authority 
 at home, and this in turn directs an ecclesiastical authority
 
 in the mission field, by which the congregations are 
 ruled. 
 
 Sometimes the missionary authority at home acts 
 primarily through a corresponding authority in the field, 
 which then governs the ecclesiastical authority of the 
 local Church. 
 
 A typical statement is this : " The parent Society, 
 through its representative body in India, called the 
 ' Kirchenrath,' governs the affairs of the local Church. 
 The missionary in a locality, under the name of the 
 District Senior, holds the reins in his hands, and makes 
 things move." 
 
 Or this : " The mission at home deals directly with 
 the missionaries' Conference on the field. The Con- 
 ference deals first of all directly with all mission work, 
 and also decides upon the main lines whereupon the 
 Native Churches will be organised." 
 'tf Sometimes the statements made seem to indicate that 
 in the field " Mission " and " Church " are one thing, 
 and that the aim in view is the ultimate self-govern- 
 ment of the whole Church. This, it is said in one 
 case, will be bestowed on it by the Home Missionary 
 Board when the time has come. There is often a 
 Constitution, a " Kirchenordnung," ready for application 
 to all congregations which make a beginning towards 
 self-support ; it is the provision of the Home Mission 
 authority endorsed by the home ecclesiastical authority. 
 
 In some respects this system must appear backward 
 compared with others in self-government and self- 
 support as affecting local congregations. It was quite 
 normal for a correspondent under this system to say that 
 in the Church on which he reported there was no self- 
 government, no self-support, no self -extension. 
 
 The following statement from an Indian correspondent 
 might not be endorsed by his foreign brethren, and is 
 given as an extreme view : 
 
 >*/' There are no indications whatever of a gradual or 
 rapid transference of authority from the foreign Mission 
 to the local Church. Native agents, from the highest
 
 20 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 to the lowest, are so many puppets under control of 
 European wire-pullers, or machines set in motion by 
 European engineers." ^ 
 
 The true perspective is, perhaps, attained if it be re- 
 membered that these missions have before them a very 
 developed ideal of Church Constitution. The ideal slowly 
 shaping itself now in many mission fields, approximates 
 to, without necessarily exactly imitating, the lines of the 
 Home Churches, already repeated many times in European 
 countries and elsewhere. Each congregation has but a 
 subordinate part in the scheme, and it is for the scheme 
 as a whole that the Mission and Home Church are working. 
 It is therefore in a specialised sense that self-government 
 tarries. Gradual severance between the Mission and 
 individual congregations, or groups of congregations, is 
 not sought as it is in some other systems. Self-govern- 
 ment, when it comes, is to be that of the whole communion 
 in the field in question, and the Church when con- 
 stituted will be at once the sister of the Home Church in 
 Europe. 
 
 It must, indeed, be admitted that, partly on account 
 of the system as such, lessons early learned in some 
 missions are here not set before the leading native 
 Christians till much later. 
 
 For instance, in one excellent account of an advanced 
 Mission (Gold Coast), two local Synods are described, 
 one with 139 congregations and 246 native agents, some 
 of them ministers, the other with 41 congregations and 
 80 agents, side by side with 7 Europeans. The Mission is 
 some eighty years old. Yet it is only " for the future " 
 that some natives are to have a share in the local Mission 
 authority, and this new departure is not escaping criticism 
 from the anxious. 
 
 On the other hand it is clear that in this case the Synods 
 are doing good subordinate work, and it is said, " In a 
 few years our Native Church will be entirely ' self- 
 supporting.' " 
 
 Other cases, too, are reported upon, where similar 
 Synods (South Africa) with subordinate Councils and
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 21 
 
 Congregational Sessions form a network of organisation 
 wherein the native Christians are being trained in the 
 management of their own Church and its finance. 
 
 III. MORAVIAN POLITY 
 
 Closely akin, if that be enough to say, to the last 
 described system, is that of the Moravian Missions. The 
 remarkable success of the West Indian Missions, that in 
 Jamaica, or the " Western Province," and that in the 
 other islands, the " Eastern Province," is strong 
 evidence of the possibilities of ultimate success upon these 
 lines. The Mission in the Eastern Province, planted in 
 1732, and that in Jamaica, planted in 1754, are now 
 integral parts of the Moravian Church, with their local 
 Provincial Synods sending delegates to the General 
 Assembly held every ten years at Herrnhut, just as does 
 a Synod in England or America. The Home Church 
 grants some 13 per cent, of the local annual expenditure, 
 and still carries some share of responsibility for 
 pensions of missionaries, and for the education of their 
 children. But in general terms the Church in Jamaica, 
 and that in the Eastern Province, have attained their 
 full status and organisation, and have achieved that 
 towards which other missions of this body, as also many 
 other continental missions, are working upon lines like 
 those sketched above. 
 
 It is a matter of peculiar interest that at the Herrnhut 
 Assembly, last held in the summer of 1909, comparison 
 of their methods with those of other bodies led the 
 Moravian Brethren to feel that their system should, 
 at least in some cases, be modified in the direction of 
 throwing more responsibility upon the native Christians 
 early in a mission's history. 
 
 It should not be overlooked that in one respect a Moravian 
 Mission differs from a typical mission from a continental 
 Church. With the Moravians there is provision for a 
 permanent organic unity throughout the whole com- 
 munion. In the West Indies there is not so mucli
 
 22 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 a Moravian Church, as two provinces of the Church, 
 one throughout the world. 
 
 In the types of scheme thus far considered, atten- 
 tion is, in each case, concentrated mainly upon one 
 plane, on which autonomy is to develop. In the one case 
 it is the plane of the individual congregation, in the 
 other the plane of the whole local communion. In other 
 systems the corresponding problem is being worked out 
 on more planes than one. 
 
 IV. ANGLICAN POLITY 
 
 To take next a somewhat intricate case, the Anglican 
 scheme. Here, as a rule, efforts are being made for the 
 self-government both (a) of the whole local communion 
 as in relation to the mother Church, and (b) of the local 
 congregation or group of congregations as in relation to 
 the Mission authorities at home and in the field. 
 
 Taking the latter first, the aim, generally speaking, is 
 to develop in the congregations capacity for an adequate 
 share in the government of the local Church when it 
 becomes ripe for autonomy. 
 
 The Mission may at first dominate these congregations 
 in all save purely ecclesiastical matters, which are always 
 kept to an ecclesiastical authority on the spot, or failing 
 that, at home. This is, apparently, more true of the 
 Missions of the Church of England than those of the 
 American Church. In these latter the strength of ecclesi- 
 astical authority in proportion to Mission authority is 
 more felt in the field. 
 
 But it lies largely with the Mission, and is its steady 
 aim, to train the native congregations, with their native 
 clergy and other agents, for their share in the democratic 
 side of Church government, which is a reality in allfthe 
 sister and daughter Churches of the Church of England. 
 This training involves the growing self-government of 
 groups of congregations, and in some respects of individual 
 congregations, in many matters originally dealt with by 
 the Mission.
 
 Meanwhile, as success is attained in these directions 
 the " Church Councils " and other bodies, set up by the 
 Mission for the purposes indicated, are used as subordinate 
 authorities by the bishop (or other ecclesiastical authority) 
 for such functions that they become an integral part of 
 the Church's local organisation. They thus prepare the 
 way for Diocesan Synods and other permanent authorities 
 of the future. 
 
 In many cases in the more pioneer districts the local 
 Mission retains, under a Mission Conference, Board, or 
 Committee, its own agency and sphere of operations, a 
 sphere near at hand to, or interlacing with, that of the 
 Church Councils. But there are notable exceptions, e.g. 
 the C.M.S. Mission in the Punjab, and, on other lines, 
 in Uganda. There the Mission retains no sphere separate 
 from that of the Councils. 
 
 Next, however, it must be realised that the most im- 
 portant steps towards self-government in Anglican 
 Churches deal with the relations of the home and the 
 local ecclesiastical authorities. At first the Home Church 
 exercises authority over each of its Missions. Autonomy 
 is therefore a matter of mutual arrangement between 
 mother and daughter Church, the position being some- 
 times complicated, as in Japan and China, by the fact 
 that one Church, ripening for independent organisation, 
 springs from more than one mother Church. Thus to 
 China the Churches of England, America, and Canada 
 have all sent bishops and clergy, and those of Ireland, 
 and several of the Colonies, have sent clergy, if not 
 bishops. It lies in such a case with each diocese to 
 organise its own constitutional government severally, 
 the bishop securing the concurrence of any authority in 
 the Home Church to whom he owes allegiance. Further, 
 it is open to the groups of dioceses to combine in pro- 
 vinces, with mutual arrangements with any Home 
 Churches concerned, and one or more provinces may 
 as a " Church " attain complete autonomy, taking 
 its place as one of the group of sister Churches 
 which, with their Missions still awaiting constitu-
 
 24 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 tional government, make up the world-wide Anglican 
 Communion. 
 
 This process, long ago completed in the United States, 
 and in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South 
 Africa, is provisionally complete in Japan, is on the way 
 to completion in China, and has made rapid strides in 
 West Africa and Uganda, where dioceses, but not yet 
 provinces, are constitutionally organised. In India 
 peculiar problems abound, and diocesan organisation is 
 not yet far advanced. (See Appendix D, p. 289, and E, 
 p. 290 ; and compare p. 38, and Appendix K, p. 317.) 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN AND METHODIST POLITIES COMPARED 
 
 There are elements in the Anglican system which tend 
 to the growth of comparatively large sister Churches, 
 and there is no instance at the present time of a fully 
 organised Church on any but an extensive scale. 
 
 In the case of the Presbyterian and the Methodist 
 polities there is, on the other hand, a tendency to reach 
 full organisation on a smaller scale. The two planes of 
 the self-government problem remain, in a broad sense, 
 the same as in the Anglican scheme. There is the effort 
 to train congregations to subordinate self -management, 
 and there is the effort to provide a local ecclesiastical 
 authority over a wide area, in a proper independence of 
 the Home Church or Churches, retaining however, as a 
 rule, at least federal relations therewith. 
 
 V. PRESBYTERIAN POLITY 
 
 Among Presbyterians much stress is laid on the early 
 self-management of the individual congregations. With 
 each " Church " and its " Session " as the unit, there is 
 built up of such units the Presbytery, repeating itself 
 in area after area, then the Presbyteries are grouped 
 under the Synod or Assembly, which is often at a com- 
 paratively early stage an independent sister in relation 
 to the Assembly in the Home Church.
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 25 
 
 So soon as the time comes for a duly constituted Pres- 
 bytery, the organisation seems to have its life secured, 
 its goal well in view ; the lines are laid for other Presby- 
 teries, and the Synod or Assembly arrives as the assured 
 sequel and completion. 
 
 The Mission tends to attach great importance to the 
 independent ecclesiastical authority of the Session and 
 of the Presbytery : that independence is almost as jealously 
 guarded as in the Congregational system, but is not, of 
 course, quite of the same order or extent. 
 
 The Presbyterian Missions have been pre-eminent in 
 the federation of Churches arising in one mission field 
 from several mother Churches. The unified Presbyterian 
 Churches in Japan, India, and China may be cited. (See 
 Appendix F, p. 294, G, p. 297, and H, p. 305.) That 
 in China owes its origin to no less than eight Churches, 
 one in England, two in Scotland, one in Ireland, one in 
 Canada, and three in the United States of America. 
 The Presbyterians have also been among the first to share, 
 as in the united Church in South India, in a definite 
 organisation unifying in the mission field the Churches 
 originated from Missions of more than one denomination. 
 (See Appendix I, p. 309.) 
 
 Perhaps comparison of these facts as to federation 
 with corresponding ones for Anglican and for Methodist 
 Missions may suggest that the less close-knit federation 
 of mother and daughters, in the case of Presbyterian 
 Churches, facilitates the unification of what would 
 otherwise be sister Churches, locally adjacent to each 
 other. 
 
 VI. METHODIST POLITY 
 
 In the Methodist type a key to the understanding of 
 the system is found in the strength of the " Connexional " 
 idea, and of the functions of the body in the mission field 
 called by Wesleyan Methodists the " Synod," by Episco- 
 palian Methodists the " Conference." This Conference 
 or Synod carries the chief local ecclesiastical authority,
 
 26 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 and is regulated by the general principles and organisa- 
 tion of the Connexion, which by the hand of its 
 general " Conference " in England or in America, retains, 
 and apparently will long retain, a measure of ecclesiastical 
 authority over the Church in the mission field. 
 
 Comparatively early in the progress of a Mission, the 
 time arrives for the constitution of the Annual Conference 
 or Synod, representing a group of circuits, carrying sub- 
 ordinate ecclesiastical authority. These circuits gather 
 up the elements of Church and Mission work, which are 
 ready for joint organisation, but as in other systems, no 
 difficulty is found in leaving, even in their own area, 
 certain functions like medical missions, educational work, 
 pioneer evangelisation, etc., to a separately organised 
 local " Mission Committee," responsible to the Home 
 Society or Board. 
 
 It is important to notice that from the first origin of 
 the Annual Synods, or Conferences, and of the circuits, 
 they are ecclesiastically in dependent of any local Committee 
 of the Mission, and there is no aim at, and no room for, 
 the growth of such independence. The chief feature is 
 that of a strong local Conference or Synod : the raising 
 up of men of character and capacity to this end is the 
 essence of the Methodist " Connexion." The Connexion 
 is " a communion of a specific character, constituted to a 
 specific kind of work, and having no necessary relation 
 to national and race differences." So that equality 
 of status is always given to missionaries and to natives 
 " of the same ordination " ; and the same probation 
 for membership and for ordination applies to all alike. 
 Membership of the Conference or Synod, and responsi- 
 bility to it, belong alike to missionaries and to their 
 native brethren. 
 
 There may be here, as in other systems, an influence 
 of the local Committee or Council of the Mission over 
 the young Synod or Conference ab extra, but it does not 
 take the form of control in ecclesiastical affairs. 
 
 The following account of one case may be taken as 
 normal in regard to principles.
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 27 
 
 The local " Mission Meeting " or Council of the Mission, 
 presided over by the bishop, is convened yearly at the 
 same place and date as the Annual Conference, and com- 
 prises some only of the Conference members. It is 
 notable that, as a correspondent reports, " the Mission 
 meeting is made as little of as possible. Many missionaries 
 think too little authority has been granted to it, but it is 
 likely, whether intended or not, that the very slight atten- 
 tion given to it, in comparison with the Conference, has 
 been for the good of the latter, which is regarded as a 
 permanent, in fact, the only permanent, organisation 
 among us." The recognition of this permanent status 
 of the Synod or Conference, already in being, is the 
 essential point. i&3 
 
 It is noteworthy that an Indian correspondent bears 
 testimony to the value of this equality of treatment 
 under the Methodist polity, as follows : 
 
 " The foreign missionaries have their place in the 
 governing bodies of the local Church as others have, and 
 they are there more as advisory members, to guide and 
 help the building up of the Church. They have no special 
 authority or responsibility. . . . The local Church does 
 welcome foreign guidance, though on occasions it might 
 think it might do without. Foreign influence is on the 
 whole good for the Church, and it should continue to be 
 exercised for some years to come, provided it is exercised 
 in brotherliness of spirit." 
 
 This feeling, however, is not confined to any one form 
 of polity. We infer from the evidence that the cordiality 
 with which foreign influence is welcomed is, under all 
 forms of polity, directly proportional to the cordiality 
 with which the missionaries recognise the gifts of the 
 local Church, and show themselves ready to lay on it 
 its due share of authority and responsibility. 
 
 The same correspondent points out a danger which is 
 apt to be overlooked, in his remark that " temptation 
 exists for the foreign missionary to stand aloof, throwing 
 the whole burden upon the infant Church."
 
 28 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 VII. POLITY OF THE FRIENDS' MISSIONS 
 
 The Friends should, perhaps, be considered as shaping 
 their Missions mainly upon Methodist lines, but with a 
 very exceptional degree of democracy in the local govern- 
 ment. All Friends have equal rights in the government 
 of the Church, and " the sense of the meeting," not a 
 formal vote, is relied on as indicating the guidance of 
 God in the questions that arise. 
 
 VIII. POLITY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH OF FRANCE 
 
 The Missions of the Reformed Church of France fall 
 to be grouped with those of the Presbyterian order, 
 though they possess features which give the home Society 
 more control on the mission field than is usual in Presby- 
 terian Missions ; and, on the other hand, there are 
 elements in their administration which lean rather to a 
 Congregational polity. 
 
 Thus a French missionary in Madagascar writes : " To- 
 day (Communion Sunday) some new converts, baptized 
 three months ago, have been joined to the Church. ... In 
 this matter I admired the attitude of the communicants 
 who were assembled to discuss the admission of others. 
 Some hands remained towered while a decision was given 
 in the case of one woman, . . . and three women, com- 
 municants, were appointed to visit her, and they announced 
 to her that her admission was postponed. Is not this 
 ideal, that members of the Church should themselves watch 
 over the honour of the Church to which they belong ? " 
 (Journal des Missions Evangeliques, 1903, p. 211). But 
 another missionary of the same Mission speaks of a 
 '" Supreme Council of Tahitian Churches," exercising 
 authority in the " Windward Islands " of Tahiti and 
 Moorea, with apparently official State recognition ; 
 while a " Missionary Conference " "keeps strict watch " 
 over the similar Churches in the " Leeward Islands," 
 the Marquesas, and other groups. Under the " Supreme 
 Council " there are three " District Councils " and
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 29 
 
 twenty-two " Parish Councils." Again, the same Society, 
 working in Madagascar, in intimate relations with the 
 Missions of the Friends, Congregationalists, and Norwegian 
 Lutherans, unites with them in holding " four-monthly 
 meetings," and " six-monthly unions " (nominally ad- 
 visory, but recognised as practically authoritative), of 
 which a correspondent in that field remarks that they 
 may be compared with the Congregational Union, the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian bodies, and the 
 Conference of the Wesleyans, adding that for forty years 
 their influence has been " most salutary in promoting 
 unity of action and discipline among the Churches, and 
 in preventing abuses in various directions." He sug- 
 gestively sums up the situation thus : 
 
 " The Presbyterian system of the French Protestant 
 Churches has made it easy for them to adapt their organisa- 
 tion to what had grown up in Madagascar. For . . . the 
 Church Constitution in Madagascar has not been anything 
 arranged cut and dried beforehand, but has grown up 
 gradually out of the circumstances of the case, and so has 
 adapted itself to the needs of the Native Churches." 
 
 IX. POLITY OF INTERDENOMINATIONAL MISSIONS 
 
 There remains the question of the organisation of 
 Interdenominational Missions. Only in the earlier stages, 
 or in small areas, can there be a persistent effort to abstain 
 from organising the Church on some model that must be 
 more or less definitely denominational. Where such an 
 effort is made, a great degree of influence, or even control, 
 is inevitably retained in the hands of the individual 
 missionary. In such cases combined Church organisation 
 comes slowly into operation. 
 
 The Interdenominational Mission on a larger scale, like 
 the China Inland Mission, tends to divide its field and its 
 work into sections which are themselves practically 
 denominational. But these sections, though practising 
 different forms of Church order, are linked together as 
 component parts of one Mission. Members of^each
 
 30 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 section are thus influenced by the sense of brotherhood 
 to restrain the development of differences, and to approxi- 
 mate as far as possible to other sections. Workers may 
 be transferred from one section to another, and the lines 
 of demarcation must tend to become dim. It is interest- 
 ing to speculate whether these sections will ultimately 
 tend to unite with other bodies of their own Church order, 
 outside of the Society, or whether the habit of brotherly 
 association will so far prevail as to lead to the modification 
 of distinctive features, and the union in Church organisa- 
 tion of the different elements which have developed 
 within the bounds of one Missionary Society. These 
 are questions the solution of which must be left to the 
 future. The China Inland Mission, including Anglicans, 
 Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and others, 
 is the most notable instance of this type. The Anglican 
 diocese of Western China contains an important section 
 of this Mission, and the adjustment of its relation with the 
 Mission on the one hand, and with the rest of the Anglican 
 Communion on the other, may be expected to yield 
 valuable lessons for future guidance. 
 
 It is claimed for the Interdenominational system that 
 it brings to light, and helps to realise, the keen desire 
 of the native Christians for a united Christianity, free 
 from the separatist tendencies of developed denomina- 
 tional bodies. We cannot say that the evidence before 
 us altogether justifies this claim, though the desire of the 
 Church in the mission field for unity is unmistakably 
 growing. But the present seems to be markedly a period 
 of denominational organisation, as a process tending 
 towards unity rather than towards separatism. The 
 attainment of unity within the denominational lines 
 seems to beget the desire for the wider unity in which 
 alone the Christian mind can ultimately rest. 
 
 URGENT PROBLEMS 
 
 Having presented this slight comparison of ideals and 
 methods of organisation under different forms of Church
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 31 
 
 polity, we proceed to indicate a few of the pressing 
 problems which now confront all portions of the Church 
 in the mission field. 
 
 The First Problem 
 
 The first problem to which we call attention is as old 
 as the Missions themselves, universal, and always urgent, 
 but demands special attention at present, because in the 
 complexity of competing interests what is elementary, and 
 therefore fundamental, is apt to receive less than justice. 
 
 It is the problem of the due development of the 
 individual Christian and the individual Congregation. 
 
 So familiar is this subject, and so absorbing, that many 
 of our correspondents seem hardly able to see that there 
 is any other of urgency or importance, and they bring 
 straightway to this application all questions about self- 
 government, self-support, and self-extension. We cannot 
 here measure or tabulate the results that have been 
 attained. Some of them will appear in a later section, 
 dealing with the fruits of the Christian life (see pp. 207-33). 
 It is only possible for the Commission to say at this 
 point that we find no serious neglect of the obvious duty 
 of leading the converts to full-grown Christianity. Every- 
 where there is anxious and diligent fostering of a right 
 spirit, and inculcation of a right standard. It is not 
 meant that all missions and all missionaries have the 
 same methods, the same ideals, or success always pro- 
 portionate to their opportunities. But it is abundantly 
 clear that, save in a few cases, perhaps of inexperience, 
 or of exceptional policy, or of the over-tenderness of the 
 missionary or mother Church, it is the accepted principle 
 of missions that everything possible must be done to lead 
 the Christians of every congregation to self-government, 
 so far as the congregation as such carries authority ; 
 to self-support, in a sense that precludes any idea of 
 permanent or normal dependence on any other people 
 than themselves ; to self-extension, not only to the bounds 
 of their own habitation, but also out into the unevangelised 
 world, wheresoever it may be practically within their reach.
 
 32 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Here and there, in dealing, for example, with the 
 question of self-extension, a salutary warning is given not 
 to pay such attention to the " organised " as to fail to 
 see the spontaneous and unorganised. A bright word 
 comes from a Lutheran missionary on this point : 
 
 " We refuse to believe that, after a nucleus has been 
 formed, and a few thousands gathered into the Churches, 
 the missionary or his paid agents continue to be the main 
 factors in the propagation of the Gospel. Quite apart 
 from the direct, or technical preaching of the Gospel, 
 one man, simply by breaking with the old religious 
 system and becoming a Christian, influences another 
 man to do so. This influence is brought to bear in many 
 ways ; through family ties, through marriage, through 
 the various relationships of communal life, through the 
 personal regard of one man for another, through a father, 
 mother, brother, sister, friend, having taken the step, 
 and in India through the relationship of caste. All this, 
 we say, quite apart from technically so-called ' preaching 
 of the Gospel.' Of the 15,000 and more baptized members 
 of this Mission, full three-fourths, we believe, were 
 brought into the Church through one or the other of 
 these different ways." 
 
 The Second Problem 
 
 It can hardly be questioned, however, that the present 
 epoch of Church life in the mission field is marked more 
 deeply as that of the due development of whole com- 
 munities, of Churches in the wider sense. The principal 
 contributions made towards the solution of this problem 
 in recent years in Japan, China, and India have been noted 
 in the Appendices to this Report, and we cannot enter 
 into details here. It will be seen by reference to the par- 
 ticulars given there (see Appendices D, p. 289, E, p. 290, 
 F, p. 294, G, p. 297, H, p. 305, and I, p. 309) that sub- 
 stantial advance has been made towards the visible 
 embodiment of ideals of Church life and corporate unity 
 on a large scale.
 
 JCONSTITUTION^AND ORGANISATION 33 
 
 It is worthy of note that this newer stage of develop- 
 ment seems in some cases to be the occasion for a new 
 dependence on the guidance and help of the foreigner. 
 Even in places where, previously, the cry for the inde- 
 pendence of the " congregation " was loudest, there is 
 sometimes a very ready trust reposed in the missionary 
 when the problem arises of the evolution of corporate 
 Church life. 
 
 There are not wanting instances where the missionaries, 
 having at first expected to give their best help to the 
 Church in the form of an influence ab extra, have found 
 the exigencies of wider organisation demand their whole- 
 hearted co-operation within the constituted body. 
 
 Upon a kindred question a little light has been thrown, 
 namely, the question whether the local Church in the future 
 is to be " native " to the exclusion of resident foreigners 
 of the same denomination. The references to the subject 
 in the papers received are too incidental and few to 
 justify a generalisation, but it is worth noting that what 
 references there are seem to be usually in favour of in- 
 clusion of races. There is this much limitation, that here 
 and there separate services and ministry may be arranged 
 for, say, English or German speaking members, but not 
 of such a nature as to imply two corporate Churches 
 of the same communion in the same field. 
 
 The Third Problem 
 
 Of the movement towards general corporate unity, 
 Dr. Julius Richter (History of Indian Missions, English 
 translation, p. 434) remarks : " The question received 
 special and enthusiastic attention at the General Mis- 
 sionary Conferences held at Allahabad in 1872 and Bombay 
 in 1893, but without getting any further than catching 
 the echoes, so to speak, of music that was still a long way 
 ahead. Since that time the movement has lost much of 
 its importance." 
 
 This may seem at first sight disappointing, but is there 
 not in the nature of things a sound reason for it ? When 
 this wider unity is sought the Church comes, for the first 
 COM. n. 3
 
 34 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 time, in contact with the barriers to its development and 
 organic unity which have been created by the divisions 
 of the Church in the West. Two courses are then open 
 to it. One is to ignore these divisions, to walk over the 
 barriers, and hasten its own unity without regard to its 
 western founders and teachers. The other is to seek 
 still their advice and co-operation, and to lay on them in 
 part the duty of removing the barriers to unity which 
 their own ecclesiastical history has created, and which 
 involve old and complicated questions with which the 
 younger Church is unfamiliar. Surely the latter is the 
 wiser and more Christian course. For, after all, while we 
 lament our divisions, let us not be so untrue to Church 
 History as to represent them as perverse and wanton 
 breaches of Catholic unity. They have arisen in some 
 cases rather from the external relations of the Church 
 than from any internal division. Where they are really 
 internal, and touch matters of doctrine, they have been 
 created not by two hostile camps, one right and the other 
 wrong, whose quarrel must be d routrance,l>ut by two bodies 
 of men, each holding loyally to a truth, perhaps over- 
 emphasised, or taken out of its due place and proportion 
 in the analogy of the faith. The remedy will not be 
 found in condemning either party, nor by ignoring both, 
 but by the western Church, now old in experience and 
 ripe in wisdom, clearing her own mind as to what pure gold 
 is left now that the fires of old controversies have cooled, 
 and saying frankly to the younger communions in the 
 mission field, that it is only the gold, tried and purified, 
 that we recommend to their acceptance. Then the 
 young Church will be free to act, and will be ready to 
 realise her own truly Christian instinct in a wider unity 
 of the Church in the mission field, without losing what is 
 of permanent value in the rich historical experience of 
 the Church. 
 
 These are indeed the principles suggested in Dr. 
 Richter's own words : " It is remarkable that the various 
 great groups of Missionary Societies, the Baptists, the 
 Methodists, the Lutherans, etc., have hitherto made so
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 35 
 
 few attempts to unite within their own immediate circles." 
 They are the guiding principles of great movements actu- 
 ally in progress (see Appendix J, p. 312), notably in India, 
 in China, and hi Japan, of which details will no doubt be 
 found in the Report of the Commission on CO-OPERATION 
 AND THE PROMOTION OF UNITY, to which these matters 
 have been allotted. We refer to them here only to 
 point out that as regards the next stage in the development of 
 Church organisation on the mission field, an urgent duty lies 
 on the Church at home. The Church in the mission field 
 in this matter may be waiting for us, and we should not 
 ask them to wait long. If we prove tardy we may find 
 ourselves ere long compelled to follow in the footsteps 
 of the younger Church, which, free from our preposses- 
 sions, may see with a clearer vision, and act with a bolder 
 purpose, than we are yet able to do. 
 
 The Fourth Problem 
 
 The fourth problem is the critical one of making transi- 
 tion from the elementary stage of dependence on a foreign 
 Mission to that of the self-support of the young Church. 
 We are glad to find that the aim of achieving " self- 
 support " is now almost invariably put before the young 
 Church even at the earliest stages, although the methods 
 employed and the success as yet attained vary widely. 
 To this subject we return in a later section of this Report, 
 and do not here enter into details (see p. 198). It is 
 enough to mention the subject here as one of the great 
 problems relating to organisation, which must be to a 
 large extent solved before we reach the next, and for our 
 present purpose the last problem which we desire to 
 indicate. 
 
 The Fifth Problem 
 
 It is delightful to be justified in reporting that what 
 we have noted as the fourth problem has in some cases 
 advanced so far towards solution that a fifth emerges, 
 which may be regarded as the last of this series. This 
 problem, already pressing in some fields, and of intense
 
 36 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 interest, is that of the right adjustment of co-operation 
 between the Church in the field and the Mission which 
 remains within its borders. The very enunciation of the 
 problem indicates an advanced stage of organisation. 
 The Church in the mission field has become the pre- 
 dominant partner. The Mission has to adjust itself to the 
 new position, has to take the place of handmaid where 
 once it carried chief authority. 
 
 It is obviously somewhat far on in the story that the 
 Mission Church, as a corporate body, can see and feel and 
 undertake its work in this sense. But the time for the 
 application of the principle has come in many fields. 
 
 This has, for example, become a very definite issue for 
 the " Church of Christ in Japan," where for some 
 fifteen years most interesting negotiations for co-opera- 
 tion have been on foot. 
 
 The principle was stated thus, in February 1906, by a 
 Committee of the Synod of the " Church of Christ in 
 Japan " : 
 
 "It is now more than thirty years since the Church 
 was first founded. ... It extends from one end of Japan 
 to the other, and carries on its work through a Synod 
 and Presbyteries. It has a Board of Missions actively 
 engaged in the work of evangelisation and the establishing 
 of Churches. Therefore it seems to it reasonable to 
 claim that it has a right to a voice in all work carried on 
 within its organisation or closely connected with it. 
 That is the principle for which the Synod stands ; and 
 for which it believes that Churches in other lands, under 
 like circumstances, would stand." 
 
 The same Committee put thus the issue about the 
 meaning of co-operation : 
 
 " The fact that the Missions employ evangelists, 
 establish and maintain preaching places, while at the 
 same time they also in fact practically retain such matters 
 solely within their own control, does not in itself constitute 
 co-operation, if by co-operation is meant a co-working 
 which recognises the principle for which the Synod 
 stands. Even though the work done extends the
 
 CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION; 37 
 
 Church, the system as a system is that of an imperium 
 in imperio." 
 
 In response to this appeal a reply of remarkable in- 
 terest was given by the Boards of Foreign Missions of the 
 Presbyterian Church (North) U.S.A., and the Reformed 
 Church (Dutch) in America. " We do not see," wrote 
 these Boards, " why there should be any hesitation in 
 accepting this principle. We accept it heartily. We 
 would accept it in the case of a Church far less advanced 
 in autonomy and independence than the Church of 
 Christ in Japan." 
 
 But they raised questions about definitions of " voice," 
 " all work," and " closely connected.'' In fact the 
 practical working out of the accepted principle was found 
 by these Missions, as by several others concerned, to raise 
 many knotty problems. We find that after these pro- 
 longed negotiations the proposals of the Japanese Synod 
 were agreed to, in some cases with modifications acceptable 
 to the Synod, by most of the negotiating Missions con- 
 cerned, and that harmonious co-operation has thus been 
 secured during the last few years. 
 
 Both in itself, and in its intricate bearing on the 
 problems of Missions in other lands, this matter of co- 
 operation makes a claim that cannot be resisted for the 
 prayers of the whole Christian brotherhood on behalf 
 of the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 
 To quote again from the letter of the Boards in 
 America : 
 
 " The problem now raised is inevitable. It has arisen, 
 or it will arise, in every land where the work of founding 
 the Christian Church is under weigh. We are sure that 
 the problem can be solved, and we believe that the 
 privilege of solving it is now given to the Church of 
 Christ in Japan the problem of cordial, harmonious, co- 
 operative work with the missionary force in the field, 
 during the period intermediate between that of the first 
 founding of the Church and that of its full establishment, 
 when Foreign Missions shall be needed no more, because 
 their places will have been taken by Home Missions in
 
 38 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 power. The solution of this problem in Japan will be a 
 rich gift to the Church of Christ in other lands." (See 
 Appendix K, p. 317.) 
 
 THE RESULTING POINT OF VIEW 
 
 We close this brief review of polities and problems on 
 the Mission Field, by calling attention to the significant 
 point on which they all converge, as already indicated 
 in our preface : namely, that an organised Church in 
 the Mission Field is no longer only a distant ideal, but 
 is now clearly in view as an actual Church in being. In 
 our enquiries and our Report we have dealt chiefly with 
 the opportunities, functions, and duties of the foreign 
 missionary. But the broad result shows that the Church 
 on which we report may justly claim continuous recogni- 
 tion from us of its organised existence, of its corporate 
 life and action, of its needs and problems, and of its 
 stable and effective influence upon its own members and 
 upon the non-Christian peoples among whom it has 
 taken root. 
 
 We turn, therefore, to review in detail, in the following 
 chapters, the life of the Church in the Mission Field, 
 joyfully recognising that in all its aspects, as regards its 
 membership, the conditions required of catechumens 
 and the instruction given to them, the discipline and 
 edification of its members, their character and spiritual 
 fruitfulness, with all the arrangements for its finance, 
 support, and government, everything must now be 
 looked at as from within the young and growing Church 
 itself, and no longer mainly from the standpoint of the 
 missionary, or of the Home Church.
 
 CHAPTER II ; 
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 
 
 BEGINNINGS OF CHRISTIAN LIFE 
 
 WE now go back almost to the beginning of the Christian 
 life in the mission field. We are not now dealing with 
 the organisation of the community, but with the spirit- 
 ual life of the individual who stands on the threshold 
 and seeks admission to the Church. It would be of 
 intense interest to go still further back, and trace the 
 first movement of his mind and heart towards the new 
 life, and the mysterious dealings of the Spirit of God 
 with the human soul, at the stage where it begins to 
 pass from darkness to light. But this enquiry belongs 
 rather to the task of the Commission on THE MISSIONARY 
 MESSAGE IN ITS RELATION TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS, 
 and it will no doubt be fully considered by them. We 
 therefore refrain, and take the matter up where they 
 will leave off, when the first step has been taken, and 
 the individual man or woman has become an enquirer, 
 or even an applicant for baptism. How is he at this 
 momentous stage to be dealt with ? We do not ask 
 what motives or experiences have brought him thus 
 far, but, having reached > t this point, how shall we deal 
 with him ? 
 
 SIFTING THE MATERIAL 
 
 We may observe in passing that this problem is one 
 entirely ignored in the criticism of Missions, commonly 
 offered by those whom we may call outside critics. 
 They suppose that a missionary's sole endeavour is to 
 
 39
 
 40 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 " make converts," and that the number of the converts 
 is the measure of success. They assume that those 
 who are received are an unsifted mass of all who, for 
 any reason (and they usually assume that the reasons 
 must be purely selfish ones), are willing to profess them- 
 selves Christians. These critics are quite unaware that 
 a large department of missionary effort consists in the 
 rigorous testing of all such applicants, the rejection of 
 the majority of them, and the instruction and spiritual 
 guidance of those who give good evidence of sincerity. 
 To such critics it will be surprising to learn that the 
 missionary's anxiety may almost be said to begin when 
 the hearer professes himself a " convert." He is not 
 accepted as a matter of course, nor do missionaries 
 work-chiefly with a view to statistics. Most missionaries 
 of experience will acknowledge that they have spent 
 more time, and far more toil of heart, in anxiously 
 keeping people out of the Church, than in gathering 
 them into it. To the thoughtful student of missions, 
 the importance of close scrutiny at this stage will be 
 apparent. The whole character of the Church is im- 
 measurably affected by the care with which men are 
 prepared for baptism, and admitted to her communion. 
 
 During the days of probation, of training, and of 
 discipline, that precede baptism, the Christian evangelist 
 is laying the foundations of Christian character in the 
 individual. He is giving to a life direction and bent 
 that will tend to permanence, and to a large degree 
 determine the colour and quality of the man's character. 
 He is door-keeper of the fold of the Good Shepherd, 
 and as the strength of the Church depends upon the 
 wisdom with which her foundations are laid, so the 
 character of the flock will depend on the care and dis- 
 crimination with which seekers are admitted to the 
 fold. 
 
 Experience and enquiry alike show that it is impos- 
 sible in this matter to do more than lay down general 
 principles. The danger lies in extremes, whether of 
 laxity or of severity. When desire for expansion, and
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 41 
 
 a too eager craving for the numerical growth of the 
 Church, foster leniency and a lack of sound discipline, 
 the Church is apt to be swamped in a flood of baptized 
 heathenism. Too great severity, on the other hand, 
 may discourage and exclude many who might have 
 been led by more gentle handling to a sincere and 
 fruitful Christian life. 
 
 In spite of the utmost care, mistakes will be made 
 in both directions, and both the strict and the lax 
 must acknowledge that they sometimes admit, and 
 sometimes exclude, the wrong persons. One case is 
 reported to us of a missionary who laboured with 
 devotion in a certain town for more than twenty years, 
 so scrupulous that he only twice ventured to baptize 
 an enquirer, and after all found himself grievously 
 deceived in both cases. During the same years other 
 men working by his side, by other methods, baptized 
 many hundreds of " converts," and built up a strong 
 Christian Church. 
 
 To ascertain how much knowledge a candidate 
 possesses is comparatively easy, but who can search 
 the secrets of his heart, or recognise with sure insight 
 the movement of his spirit towards God ? One comes 
 who has fought his way into the Kingdom, over whole 
 battlefields of dialectic, and over whom the Word of 
 God must first vindicate itself as a true system of 
 thought before it can operate as the power of a new 
 life. We have report of others, wandering from shrine 
 to shrine in search of the good for which they were 
 longing, until, in disappointment and despair, they have 
 at last found peace in obeying the call of the Gospel. 
 Another, perhaps, has only dimly felt the unreality 
 of the old gods, and with but little spiritual aspiration 
 of any kind, is feeling his way to a surer foothold. He 
 may have some vague apprehension of the mercy of 
 God, or may be led by an undefined and only half- 
 conscious sense of unrest. Some are moved by a desire 
 for social betterment ; some are drawn by the kindly 
 atmosphere of a Christian community. We do not find,
 
 42 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 in the evidence before us, that a real sense of sin is 
 often the impelling motive. Among the Vegetarian 
 Societies or Sects in China, most of which are of Buddhistic 
 origin, there are a few men, and more women, who seem 
 to have reached some sense of sin, or at least a feeling 
 of being burdened by its consequences ; and there are 
 doubtless not a few isolated cases of similar experience 
 among religious devotees in India. To all such, the 
 offer of forgiveness, in the name of Christ, must make a 
 direct appeal, but these cases are of exceptional occur- 
 rence. We recognise everywhere the profound truth of 
 the statement, so far as the mission field is concerned, 
 that it is not usually a profound sense of sin that brings 
 a man to Christ, but rather that coming to Christ creates 
 within him, for the first time, the deeper consciousness 
 of sin. 
 
 To the careful missionary, anxious not to build " wood, 
 hay, stubble," into the fabric of the Church, it must be 
 a matter of grave concern to have brought to his hand so 
 much material of this mixed quality, very little of which 
 can be thought of as purely spiritual. But it is to be 
 remembered that of the motives now indicated, none is 
 illegitimate, or in itself wrong, and that even enquirers 
 who are still far from being consciously on a wholly spiritual 
 plane, may yet be already as plastic material in the 
 hand of God, and truly worthy of a welcome by those 
 who guard the doors of His House. 
 
 PRINCIPLE OF PROBATION 
 
 We are glad to be able to report that there is evidence 
 of a full recognition of these responsibilities in every part 
 of the mission field, and though there are instances to the 
 contrary, these may be regarded as exceptional. 
 
 To begin with an extreme type, there are a few corre- 
 spondents who state that their habit is to baptize and 
 admit to the Church all who seriously seek baptism, 
 without probation, and without further tests. One 
 correspondent within whose Mission this practice exists,
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 43 
 
 attributes it to a theory " which regards the Church 
 mainly as an institution for the saving of those who enter 
 it, and depends upon instruction in doctrine and training 
 in Christian activity after entrance by baptism." But 
 this writer does not himself accept the theory nor approve 
 the practice, and we find among the replies made to us 
 very little evidence given in support of it. 
 
 Nearly all our correspondents, on the contrary, speak of 
 a period of probation longer or shorter, with a course of 
 instruction and training in knowledge and Christian life 
 as an essential feature of their work. Their reports have 
 reference to work among peoples of almost every known 
 type of religion, they represent every form and stage of 
 non-Christian civilisation, including the lowest depths 
 of barbarism and socal depravity. But with all this 
 variety of conditions, and a wide variety of views and 
 methods, there is, with the exception noted above, an 
 almost universal acknowledgment of the need of pro- 
 bation, although its length is seldom strictly defined. 
 Speaking generally, the replies received indicate the 
 term of six months as a generally accepted minimum, 
 with two years, sometimes three, as an indefinite maximum 
 for the probationary period. It is found, of course, every- 
 where, that individual cases occur, which cannot be 
 brought under any rule ; but, in^the great majority of cases, 
 this interval of from six months to two years is found 
 necessary, on the one hand, for purposes of testing the 
 enquirer, and gaining an understanding of his actual state 
 of mind, and, on the other, for purposes of instruction and 
 for the fuller development of his Christian life. 
 
 VARIETY OF PRACTICE 
 
 With this almost universal adoption of the principle 
 of probation, there is a great variety of practice as to the 
 mode in which it is applied, and as to the use made of the 
 probationary period, and the status of the enquirer during 
 its course. These matters are sometimes determined by 
 the home authority of the Church, or Missionary Society,
 
 44 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 or by its local authority on the mission field ; but 
 sometimes by the governing body of the local Church, and 
 not unfrequently they are left to the discretion of the 
 individual missionary. It is perhaps not to be desired 
 that there should be everywhere a rigid uniformity in 
 these matters, but the present practice appears to us to 
 err rather in the opposite direction. It is not advan- 
 tageous that Missions working side by side in one field 
 should present to those outside a very obvious and 
 marked divergence in their methods of dealing with 
 enquirers. Especially when the divergence shows itself 
 in greater strictness and caution in one Mission, and a 
 markedly lower standard of requirement in another 
 among the same people, the effect is injurious. It is 
 noticed, and remarked upon, not only by would-be 
 enquirers, but even by the non-Christian community, 
 and the Church whose practice seems more lax suffers 
 in reputation accordingly. It suffers still more if the 
 difference is such that the rejected candidates and the 
 "undesirables" of the other Mission are permitted to 
 find shelter within its communion. Not only does the 
 laxer body thus suffer deterioration in the standard of its 
 own enquirers it tends also to lower the standard of the 
 other. Especially in the frequent case of a Church 
 which is making a stand for righteousness of life in some 
 matter of difficulty, and is obliged often to delay a 
 candidate till temptation is overcome, the hands of the 
 Church are weakened, and the conscience of the enquirer 
 blunted, by the knowledge that he can easily pass over 
 to another communion, where things will be made easier 
 for him. 
 
 Churches working near each other should make it a 
 point of Christian honour that, whatever their own views 
 may be, they will not make it easy for enquirers to evade 
 or escape from the more exacting requirements which a 
 sister Church deems it right to make. The utmost care in 
 this matter is demanded, both by brotherly courtesy, and 
 by loyalty to the common cause of the Church Catholic, 
 which should always prevail over denominational prefer-
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 45 
 
 ences. In not a few cases there is a great deal of indefinite- 
 ness as to the status and treatment of catechumens, 
 sometimes no roll of enquirers and catechumens is kept, 
 and no definite status is given to them. They attend 
 the public services of worship, gradually come to under- 
 stand what is taught, their presence and their desire are 
 known to the pastor in charge, and their regular attend- 
 ance is taken as a proof of their sincerity. This method, 
 if it can be called so, unsatisfactory as it is, is often forced 
 upon missionaries by the fewness of their numbers, and 
 the impossibility of their visiting with sufficient frequency 
 the many out-stations under their charge. On the other 
 hand, their local brethren, catechists, preachers, and even 
 pastors, are often not yet sufficiently taught and dis- 
 ciplined to carry out this work in a systematic and 
 efficient manner. The remedy is not to be found in 
 urging upon missionaries a higher conception of their 
 duty in this vital matter, but hi pressing upon Churches 
 at home the necessity of strengthening their Mission 
 staffs, so as to render possible the closer watch, and more 
 systematic instruction, which are so much to be desired. 
 More efficient training of preachers and pastors, to which 
 we shall refer in a later chapter (see p. 182), will further 
 contribute to the same result. 
 
 PRELIMINARY STEPS 
 
 Where better methods prevail, the usual procedure 
 is to make some preliminary enquiry as to motives and 
 character, and afterwards to admit the candidate, if 
 approved, in a formal manner to a list of catechumens. 
 It is only after a period of instruction as a catechumen 
 that the question of admission to baptism comes into 
 view. 
 
 Local requirements, therefore, lead to some variations 
 as to the emphasis placed on the several steps of this 
 process. Thus, in Africa, in the Livingstonia Mission, 
 there is a preliminary step in the process by which an 
 enquirer is advanced towards membership. He is first
 
 46 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 admitted to a " hearers' class " definitely, though not, 
 so far as appears, through any public act of enrolment. 
 He continues in this class for six months, or a year, and 
 then, on satisfying certain tests of knowledge and conduct, 
 he is admitted to the catechumenate, where he remains 
 not less than two years, thus passing in all through a 
 course of probation of not less than three years. This 
 plan of dividing the process into two stages results in a 
 very long period of probation, which may perhaps be 
 justified, or even necessary, where a hitherto untaught 
 and barbarous race is being dealt with. In most Mis- 
 sions, however, the usual course of procedure is something 
 like the following : When enquirers seek instruction 
 and baptism, they are put on probation for a time, 
 while their case is thoroughly investigated, and they are 
 taught the meaning of the step which they propose to 
 take. If they give proofs of sincerity and stability of 
 desire, they are next called upon to make a public avowal 
 of their determination to abandon heathenism for ever, 
 and to enter the Christian Church, claiming its privileges, 
 receiving its teaching, and submitting to its discipline. 
 In places where a Christian Church has been already 
 established, this confession is made before the congrega- 
 tion, and the enquirers are exhorted to continue steadfast 
 in the things they have promised. They are then 
 commended to God in prayer, and formally enrolled 
 in the catechumens' class. Where no Church has been 
 previously formed, the public service is held sometimes 
 in a tent, sometimes in a temporary shed, or a hired 
 room, or in the open air, and the candidates, as described 
 above, are required to take their first public stand for 
 the Master they are choosing and the faith they are 
 confessing. This act of public enrolment as catechumens 
 is often a very trying ordeal for them, and requires not a 
 little courage, knowing as they do the obloquy and per- 
 secution that such a public act is likely to bring upon 
 them. But if the ordeal is trying, the discipline is whole- 
 some. It is an act of public self -committal, and there 
 is a solemnity, and often a sense of the Divine Presence
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 47 
 
 in these services for enrolment, that sends the candidate 
 away renewed in strength, and uplifted for the trial and 
 discipline that await him. 
 
 After this public confession of discipleship, the cate- 
 chumens' class meets at appointed times to receive 
 instruction. Its members also attend public worship 
 regularly, and in some Churches are expected during 
 worship to occupy certain seats specially set apart for 
 them. Their position becomes publicly known in the 
 general community, and they are required to separate 
 themselves from heathen practices, and to conduct 
 themselves in all things as professed Christians. Where 
 no local Church as yet exists, the catechist or evangelist 
 who is at work in the locality gives much of his time to 
 the preparation of these catechumens for baptism. 
 Wherever possible they are gathered together daily for 
 early morning prayers before the day's work begins, and 
 are invited to meet again in the evening for prayer and 
 definite instruction. In country districts, among poor 
 and hard-working people, it is often difficult to find the 
 necessary time for continuous instruction. After long 
 days spent in hard toil it is difficult for them when night 
 comes to attend to what is said to them, and they are 
 often hardly able to keep awake. To meet this difficulty 
 we are informed that some missionaries in certain areas 
 bring their enquirers together for instruction at some 
 selected spot for a considerable period, their daily work 
 being for the time given up, and a small allowance 
 of food being given to them. It is pointed out, 
 however, that this plan has very distinct dangers, and it 
 is not followed by the majority of missionaries. It is 
 dangerous to allow their first lessons in the teaching of 
 Christ to become associated in the minds of thejenquir,ers 
 with the giving of a material consideration. Regarded 
 as a probation, this process meets a twofold need. On 
 the one hand, it gives the Christian teacher the oppor- 
 tunity of testing the sincerity and stability of the 
 enquirer's purpose. On the other hand, ^it gives the 
 enquirer an opportunity of judging whether he L had not
 
 48 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 been mistakenly hoping to find in Christianity an easy 
 road to comfort of a kind, which it does not really promise, 
 and seldom even permits. The unspiritual man is slow 
 to accept the Christian life as a hard and upward pil- 
 grimage. Whether he is hoping that the " Christian 
 God " will keep all his children in life, and make all his 
 fields fruitful, or whether he is trusting that the missionary 
 will be a father to him and bear all his burdens, he accepts 
 disillusionment reluctantly, and needs patience and a 
 prolonged probation to bring the truth home to him. 
 The missionary, on his part, also needs time to enable 
 him to make sure that the enquirer who is seeking ad- 
 mission to the Church is not taking this step in ignorance 
 or in guile, or on the impulse of the moment, but with 
 understanding and with determination, such as to give 
 some assurance of stability in the new life. 
 
 The probation is needed also for another reason. Those 
 who are in the first stages of emerging from a low moral 
 state in which the emotional and passionate elements 
 of their nature have governed their habits, while they are 
 capable of living for a time on a higher plane of con- 
 science, yet find it difficult, or even impossible, to mam- 
 tain as the permanent atmosphere of their life the pure 
 air which they have begun to breathe. It is perplexing, 
 too, to a beginner in Mission work to learn how much 
 of the old life may still continue to cling to the " new 
 man." Thus many considerations conspire in showing 
 the necessity for patience and thoroughness in training, 
 and an extended probation. 
 
 At the same time probation must not be extended 
 unduly, lest baptism should be made to seem the goal, 
 rather than the starting-point of the visible Christian life. 
 After all, it is impossible to prevent some cases of back- 
 sliding, and the most careful worker cannot escape the 
 sorrow of disappointment at times. A too scrupulous 
 caution may discourage some who from humble begin- 
 nings might have become genuine Christians. It is 
 necessary too, to avoid giving rise to the idea that the 
 element of time in the life of the spirit is itself fundamental.
 
 CONDITIONS OP MEMBERSHIP 49 
 
 
 
 There is danger lest catechumens untrained in the spiritual 
 life may, while passing through a lengthened and care- 
 fully ordered probation, learn to measure their own 
 spiritual life in terms of time, rather than in those of 
 moral and spiritual progress. They will be tempted to 
 feel, in regard to holiness of life, that they are as yet only 
 on probation, and not finally committed, and that they 
 are therefore not under the same obligations as those 
 who have actually received baptism. If they are really 
 in earnest, and longing to enter into the full privileges of 
 Church membership and Christian service, the exaction 
 of too long a probation must discourage them, and may 
 seriously hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in their 
 hearts. Also, if the probation be unduly prolonged, 
 fresh difficulties will arise from time to time, in regard to 
 family relationships, questions of betrothal and marriage, 
 and other matters of social obligation. 
 
 These considerations fully justify the variety of prac- 
 tice which is reported to us from different parts of the 
 mission field, both in regard to the length of probation, 
 to methods of instruction during it, and to the require- 
 ments that are made before the administration of baptism. 
 
 VISITATION OF CATECHUMENS 
 
 It may be said here that it is important that during 
 the period of probation, whether longer or shorter, the 
 candidate should be visited by the catechist, preacher, 
 or native pastor, and sometimes by the missionary. Such 
 visits offer an opportunity of seeing the enquirer in his 
 home relationships and surroundings, and thus often 
 throw light upon impressions already formed as to his 
 character. But visitation of this kind must be done 
 with extreme caution, and never without consultation 
 with those who are most familiar with local circum- 
 stances. Sometimes such visits have greatly helped and 
 encouraged the enquirer. Cases occur where the non- 
 Christian neighbours suspect the reality of a man's 
 Christian profession, or taunt him with not being recog- 
 COM. n. 4
 
 50 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 nised as a Christian, on the ground that he has not been 
 visited by any authorised Church teacher. " You are 
 only pretending to be a Christian," they say ; "if you 
 were a real one, they would have come to see you." A 
 visit in such cases removes this suspicion, and authen- 
 ticates the Christian profession which has been made. 
 Such a visit may also do good service, by committing a 
 waverer, who has been worshipping in secret, to a public 
 profession, and give him courage to avow his new faith. 
 Sometimes, on the other hand, a visit paid prematurely 
 may do harm by bringing on a weak brother a storm of 
 opposition ; while in the case of a cunning schemer, who 
 is trying to make use of the Church's name for some 
 private end, it may do no less harm, by creating amongst 
 his neighbours the belief that the Church authorities are 
 coming to intervene on his behalf in some matter of 
 dispute. These possibilities prescribe careful enquiry 
 and great discretion in visits of this kind, but they will 
 often do great good, by affording an opportunity for 
 showing the friendly and peaceful spirit of the Christian 
 teacher, and removing the fears and jealousies of non- 
 Christian people. 
 
 SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION OF CATECHUMENS 
 
 We pass on now to consider the kind of instruction 
 which is given to catechumens during this probationary 
 period. Dr. Warneck rightly insists that communication 
 of knowledge is not the main object, as the possession of 
 it could never be the main test for admission to baptism. 
 There is a great need of care lest, as reported to us from 
 Japan, candidates should come to regard the ordinance 
 of baptism as a " graduation ceremony," after which the 
 baptized Christian has no need of further teaching. 
 This idea is no doubt met with also elsewhere. The first 
 object of the instruction given is to give guidance to the 
 nascent Christian life, and so much of an understanding 
 of the nature of Christian baptism as shall enable the 
 catechumen to go forward to it with due intelligence, with
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 51 
 
 a sense of responsibility, and with a well-grounded hope 
 of spiritual profit. It must be made clear throughout 
 that the course of instruction is not to be regarded as an 
 intellectual exercise, and that the examination of can- 
 didates is by no means intended as a test of intellectual 
 progress. The first stages of this teaching may perhaps 
 appear to be ethical rather than spiritual, and to the 
 candidate the most important element of it may appear 
 to be the prohibition of certain characteristic faults and 
 sins of the non-Christian life out of which he has come. 
 On the other hand, it will naturally contain positive rules 
 and requirements for the manifestation and ordering 
 of the new Christian life. The endeavour must always 
 be made to give these prohibitions and requirements 
 their right character as not being arbitrary precepts, but 
 the natural embodiment of spiritual principles, upon 
 which the mam stress is always to be laid. 
 
 Illustrations from the Mission Fields 
 
 In examining the replies sent to us, we find that the 
 attainments required of candidates for baptism are 
 usually in accordance with this view. The test of faith 
 in Christ on the one hand, and of sincerity in the renun- 
 ciation of idolatry, and of the habits and customs of an 
 ungodly life, on the other, are thorough, and in the main 
 satisfactory. Emphasis is rightly placed upon repent- 
 ance, faith, and evidence in the life of a genuine desire 
 to forsake all and follow Christ. 
 
 In illustration of this it may be convenient to bring 
 together here the following statements from correspond- 
 ents representing various communions in different parts 
 of the mission field : 
 
 i, From India. The true nature and order of the 
 tests is well stated by a correspondent in Southern India 
 (Anglican) thus : " The tests are spiritual, moral, and 
 intellectual. The candidates for baptism should have 
 spiritual motives, consistent moral conduct, and know- 
 ledge of the elements of the Christian faith. The con-
 
 52 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 ditions are a renunciation of all evil, a whole-hearted 
 determining to follow and worship God through Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 So again, from a correspondent (Presbyterian), we 
 have the following : 
 
 " It is required of applicants for baptism, (a) that they 
 should have an intelligent knowledge of Christ, and the 
 way of salvation. (6) That they are well reported of by 
 the people among whom they live, (c) That they do 
 not seek to be Christians from unworthy motives, (d) That 
 they are willing to give up all idolatrous practices. 
 (e) That they are willing to place themselves under 
 Christian instruction, and that, according to their ability, 
 they will contribute towards the support of such means 
 of grace. 
 
 2,. Front Africa, Nyasaland, a correspondent (Presby- 
 terian) writes : " Applicants for baptism have to pass an 
 examination on the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and 
 the Lord's Prayer, as well as on a small Catechism, and 
 the main facts of our Lord's life, before being admitted 
 into the catechumens' class. In the catechumens' class 
 they are instructed further in the above, in the main 
 facts of the Old Testament history, in the Doctrines of 
 the Sacraments, and in the Larger Catechism, which has 
 been prepared for such classes. . . . The test of life and 
 character is the essential element in the qualifications 
 necessary for baptism." 
 
 From Congo Beige, Africa (Baptist), we have the 
 following : " Applications for baptism are only accepted 
 from persons who have been for at least six months 
 members in some ' Christian Endeavour Society.' ... It 
 is thus required that the applicant prepares himself for 
 examination in the Catechism, and in the handbook. 
 For this purpose a weekly class is held in connection with 
 each village school, and examinations are held for six 
 months. When the applicant has passed this oral examina- 
 tion, his name is presented to the Church, and considered 
 in the light of reports of the outpost teacher, native 
 district superintendent, and of the visiting missionary.
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 53 
 
 If the Church members present at the meeting agree to 
 accept the applicant as a member, he is baptized and 
 admitted to Communion on the following Sunday." 
 
 From Zululand we have the following : " The con- 
 ditions required of the applicants for baptism are shortly 
 these : 
 
 "A. Old Folk. (a) To have shown in their lives the 
 proofs of a real repentance, and a real desire to become 
 new men and women, (b) To have acquired a passable 
 knowledge of the main points of the sacred history, and 
 also to know by heart the Smaller Catechism of Luther. 
 
 (c) To have passed a probation time of one year or more. 
 " B. Young Folk. (a) To have shown a real desire 
 
 to become Christians, and to live Christian lives, (b) To 
 have learned to read passably, (c) To know the Scripture 
 History abridged, and the Smaller Catechism, together 
 with a short introduction of our Lutheran Doctrine. 
 
 (d) To have passed a probation time of two years or 
 more." 
 
 3. From Japan : " Persons desiring admission to the 
 Church are examined as to their knowledge of the truth, 
 their sincerity and manner of life. If the examination 
 is satisfactory, they are admitted if not, admission is 
 postponed. They are required to accept the Confession 
 of Faith of the Church, and to promise that so long as 
 they remain members of this Church, they will submit 
 to its Constitution and Canons. 
 
 4. From Korea (Presbyterian), we have the following : 
 ' ' There is a preliminary admission as catechumens on 
 personal examination as to repentance, faith, and know- 
 ledge. Faithful attendance at the services of the Church 
 for several months previously (usually not less than six), 
 evidence of repentance in the putting away of idols and 
 heathen customs, and ability to repeat the Lord's Prayer, 
 the Commandments, and Apostles' Creed, are some of 
 the requirements for admission to the catechumenate. 
 After six months or so in the catechumenate, the candi- 
 dates are subjected to a thorough examination on experi- 
 mental piety, religious zeal and activity, and knowledge
 
 54 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 of the New Testament Scriptures (such as the Life of our 
 Lord), the Sacraments, and the Person and work of the 
 Holy Spirit. Evidence of testimony to the truth, de- 
 votional Bible study, and the habit of prayer, are required 
 of all." 
 
 5. From China (Wesleyan Methodist) : " When an 
 enquirer has completely ceased to worship idols or observe 
 other idolatrous rites, has taken down his ancestral 
 tablet, and has abandoned all habits which are forbidden 
 by the rules of our Society, and when he has some under- 
 standing of our Doctrines, and some knowledge of the 
 Word of God, and has learned to pray, and when the 
 class-leader is sure that his sole object in desiring to enter 
 the Church is the salvation of his soul, then the class- 
 leader shall ask the pastor to place him on trial for Church 
 membership. After a member on trial has continued 
 steadfastly to serve God, has shown that he understands 
 the great themes of the Gospel, has given evidence of 
 faith by his works, has manifested zeal in instructing 
 his family in the truth, has opened his house for the 
 preaching of the Gospel, and in other ways demonstrated 
 that he desires to be Christ's holy follower, the class- 
 leader may ask the pastor to baptize him." 
 
 Again, from another correspondent in China (Anglican), 
 we have : " Every catechumen should spend, at least, 
 twelve months in regular attendance at service and 
 receiving instruction. At the end of that period, if his 
 character be good, he will be examined by the Priest 
 on the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and other important teaching 
 of the Church, and if approved may be baptized." 
 
 And once more, from a correspondent hi China (China 
 Inland Mission), we have the following : " Candidates 
 must give evidence of repentance, faith in Christ, and of 
 being born again, before they can be received into the 
 Church by baptism. There is no time limit, or knowledge 
 test. They all, except the very aged, are expected to answer 
 questions on the main facts and truths of the Gospel, 
 and if they cannot do this, it is regarded as a proof of 
 lack of real life and earnestness for the truth."
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 55 
 
 6. From the Philippine Islands (Baptist) : " Candi- 
 dates for baptism are required to show evidence of 
 a real change of heart before baptism. Habits must 
 be changed, and the whole manner of life that was 
 formerly characteristic of them. No certain time is 
 demanded ; it differs with different people." 
 
 There is thus evidence from every part of the mission 
 field of an earnest desire to make wise use of the pro- 
 bationary period, for the quickening of spiritual life and 
 evangelistic desire, as well as to furnish a necessary basis 
 of knowledge on which an intelligent faith may rest. 
 
 A correspondent writes : " Where possible, classes 
 are held for the instruction of catechumens, and, 
 in some country districts, where distance makes it 
 impossible for the missionary in charge to do this, 
 the converts are trained by the evangelists in charge 
 and the leading Christians. Before baptism every 
 convert is carefully examined by the missionary and the 
 Church leaders, and has to show an intelligent grasp of 
 the fundamental truths of Christian Doctrine, as well as 
 to afford evidence of a changed heart and life. The 
 convert is then re-examined by the Church, and the witness 
 of some Christians is taken." With such painstaking 
 effort as this, we have at least some guarantee of the faith 
 and character of the membership out of which the Church 
 is built. Initial progress must necessarily be slow, but 
 in the end the effort will be fully justified. The method 
 has the advantage of throwing the burden largely upon 
 the local Church and its leaders. This must tend to 
 develop in them a sense of responsibility, and of obligation 
 to establish the claims of the Gospel, and to advance the 
 true spiritual interests of the Church. 
 
 PROFESSION OF FAITH 
 
 In the act of baptism itself, a special opportunity is 
 given to the candidate to make a public profession of 
 faith. This is sometimes done in the form of a very 
 simple testimony of faith in Christ as Redeemer and Lord,
 
 56 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 with the promise of obedience to the Law of God, in 
 humble trust in the promised grace of the Holy Spirit 
 to uphold, to guide, and to sanctify. In the Missions 
 of the Anglican Communion, and in some others, the 
 Apostles' Creed without addition is invariably used for 
 this purpose. Sometimes, again, a more detailed state- 
 ment of doctrinal belief, and specification of Christian 
 duties is required, and often the candidate is called upon 
 to promise obedience to the governing authorities of the 
 Church, and submission to their teaching and censure. 
 This last requirement seems reasonable, and well within 
 the understanding of any intelligent candidate, but we 
 note a tendency in some cases to go beyond this, which 
 requires caution. We have occasionally statements like 
 the following : " Candidates are required to accept the 
 Confession of Faith of the Church, and to promise that 
 so long as the}' remain members of the (specified) Church, 
 they will fully submit to its constitution and canons." 
 Where the Confession of Faith is extremely simple, 
 embodying only the first elements of the Christian 
 faith, this may be a legitimate demand, but when it 
 enters on the domain of theology, there is great danger 
 of injuring the conscience of the candidate, who is only 
 on the threshold of his Christian life. Still more clearly 
 is the limit overpassed where, as reported to us, it is 
 the custom to exact the solemn promise that the candi- 
 date for baptism will not, at any time, enter another 
 communion of Christians. Such a pledge can be of 
 little meaning to the candidate at the moment of baptism, 
 when his horizon is naturally bounded by the Christian 
 communion in which he has found the light of life. 
 But it may be a sore entanglement of his conscience, 
 when he afterwards comes to know of other communions, 
 and to rejoice in spiritual fellowship with their members. 
 Or, in the case of his removing to a new area, might not 
 such a promise prove disastrous by leading him to turn 
 away from the only Christian fellowship within his 
 reach ? To exact such a promise at baptism is to sow 
 the seeds of sectarianism and suspicion at the moment
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 57 
 
 when all the thought should be turned to love and devo- 
 tion to the one centre of Christian faith. 
 
 Of course we here touch upon the questions What 
 is essential to the Church ? What constitutes com- 
 munion ? for all of us would claim of new converts that 
 they shall profess their intention to abide in the faith 
 and practice of the Christian Church. 
 
 As to the essentials of communion there will be some 
 differences among us, but the question has been asked 
 whether those who administer the sacraments should 
 not be regarded as really acting as trustees for the whole 
 body of the Church Catholic ; so that a convert from 
 heathenism is baptized, not as a Congregationalist, or 
 a Presbyterian, or a Lutheran, but simply, on the ground 
 of repentance and faith, as a member of the Church of 
 Christ. If this view could be generally accepted, it 
 might become possible to give, in a commonly arranged 
 form, certificates of baptism which would be generally 
 recognised, and would make the holder free to enjoy 
 Christian fellowship, wherever he might be, due precau- 
 tions being taken to prevent abuse of such certificates 
 by fugitives from discipline, or by those who from un- 
 worthy motives were seeking to pass from one jurisdiction 
 to another. 
 
 INSTRUCTION IN CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE 
 
 Thus far we have seen that the chief stress is laid upon 
 evidence of repentance and a new life, and that in the 
 usual practice of missions only a secondary place is given 
 to knowledge as a requirement for admission to baptism. 
 But knowledge is not undervalued, and so far as means 
 and opportunities allow, the effort is made to give such 
 instruction as is needed to nourish a well-grounded and 
 intelligent faith, and to strengthen the practice of godly 
 living. 
 
 The duty of teaching catechumens is sometimes under- 
 taken by the foreign missionary, but more frequently 
 by the pastor or evangelist of his own race in charge of
 
 58 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 the station at which he presents himself ; but in all cases 
 this important work seems to be always under the super- 
 vision and direction of an ordained native minister, or 
 ordained foreign missionary. Where the enquirers have 
 been led to the truth by fellow-countrymen who are 
 official or voluntary workers of the local Church, their 
 instruction is usually undertaken, in the first instance, 
 by local pastors and evangelists. There is general 
 evidence of a desire to leave this work of instruction, so 
 far as possible, in the care of qualified local workers, 
 rather than to keep it in the hands of the missionary, 
 whose time is largely absorbed in the direction of the work 
 as a whole. It is evident, however, that in this, as in 
 most other departments of Mission work, an almost 
 universal understanding of the Missions compels a some- 
 what makeshift, rather than a systematic and well- 
 planned method of working. We can only say in general 
 terms, that such instruction as is possible is given by 
 such agents as are available. In most Missions, if there 
 were^a more adequate staff of workers, both the amount 
 and ^the quality of this instruction might be greatly 
 improved. 
 
 The materials of instruction are determined partly 
 by the powers of those who give it, partly by the 
 capacity of those who receive it. The young, the old, 
 the educated, the uneducated, those who are naturally 
 intelligent, and those who are naturally dull, members 
 of civilised and advanced races, and those of communities 
 only emerging from barbarism, men and women, 
 especially where, as in most non-Christian countries, 
 the women form a special depressed class by them- 
 selves, cannot all be taught under one uniform system. 
 The instruction must often be " line upon line, line 
 upon line, here a little and there a little," and it 
 must be varied, both in matter, and in the standard 
 to which it is carried, so as to meet the widely vary- 
 ing requirements of all these and other classes of cate- 
 chumens. 
 
 The foundation of all Christian instruction is laid
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 59 
 
 in the simple essentials of the Gospel, and a wise dis- 
 crimination is to be made between enquirers who differ 
 widely both as to religious attainments and as to 
 mental capacity. These essentials must be regarded 
 as including in one form or another the knowledge of 
 God, the sense of sin, and the appreciation of redemption. 
 But the good news of the Cross cannot always be the 
 missionary's first message. Without some knowledge 
 of God and His character, men can have no true sense 
 of sin. In many mission fields, and notably in India 
 and in China, there are elements of the knowledge of 
 God in the minds of men, to which appeal can be made ; 
 but any clear revelation of His character must come to 
 them from the revelation of Himself which He has made 
 in Christ. There may be a dim knowledge, and partial 
 admission, of the fact of sin and wrong in general, but 
 there is little sense of personal guilt, or strong sentiment 
 even against habits which are admitted to be wrong, 
 and no rational understanding and dread of the con- 
 sequences of moral wrong - doing. These have to be 
 created and deepened in the enquirer during his 
 catechumenate. It is in the light of a dawning know- 
 ledge of God that a sense of sin is born, and it is to the 
 man made conscious of his sin, that the story of the 
 Incarnation and the Cross becomes a transfiguring 
 revelation of the Divine goodness. It remains true in the 
 main, as we have said above (p. 42), that it is not usually 
 the acute sense of sin that brings a man to Christ in the 
 mission field, but rather that coming to Christ creates 
 within him for the first time the deeper consciousness of 
 sin. Over all the mission field the great facts of the 
 holiness of God, the offensiveness of sin, the lost and 
 hopeless condition of unrenewed man, and the new hope 
 of eternal life based on a spiritual regeneration, must be 
 taught and emphasised, the truth being from the first 
 imparted in its simplest forms. But it is impossible 
 to lay down a definite order of time in which these 
 great Christian conceptions must be imparted to 
 enquirers.
 
 60 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Speaking generally, either of two lines of instruction 
 may be followed, one which may be called doctrinal, 
 or one which may be described briefly as historical, 
 though the distinction must not be too sharply drawn. 
 The practice of the Apostles, and the example of the 
 ancient Church, as well as modern experience on the 
 mission field, seem all alike to place the historical before 
 the doctrinal method of instruction. The usage of the 
 missions of the Anglican Communion and some others, 
 in employing the Apostles' Creed as the basis of instruc- 
 tion at this stage, is no exception to this view, since this 
 Creed is itself rather a narrative or recital of the essential 
 " Christian facts," than a doctrinal definition of their 
 dogmatic implications. Doctrine flows from the know- 
 ledge of the great Christian facts, but the facts themselves 
 must first be appreciated, as they have been taught to 
 men by the historical revelation of Himself, which God, 
 in His condescention to human infirmity, has made at 
 sundry times and in divers manners. This is the view 
 stated by Dr. Gustav Warneck in his Evangelische 
 Missionslehre, in. 2 (p. 257) : " The choice and arrange- 
 ment of catechetical subjects may, on the whole, follow 
 the example of the ancient Church, Bible history, Old and 
 New Testament lessons on the Life of Christ, the Creed, 
 the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacraments. The Bible stories, 
 and in them the story of Jesus, remain the indispensable 
 foundation, even when the catechumens have already 
 become acquainted with them in the mission school : they 
 are the key to the doctrine of salvation, and the doctrine 
 of salvation is nothing else than the interpretation of the 
 facts of salvation. There is nothing to be objected to if, 
 especially in the case of unintelligent catechumens, the 
 whole of the instruction so follows the thread of the Bible 
 stories, that the whole doctrine of faith and life is embodied, 
 and only at the end, for the sake of a conjunct view, is 
 summarised in the main parts of the Catechism. But 
 even if one gives to these main parts an independent 
 position and more detailed treatment, the Bible stories 
 will again and again have to be introduced for vivid
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 61 
 
 illustration, and that indeed in the fullest measure. 
 Nothing is so suitable as these for the exposition of 
 the Catechism. For the fundamental treatment of the 
 Bible stories three things must be laid to heart : 
 i. Vivid narrative, skilful questioning and recital, and 
 the application of the story to faith and life. 2. A 
 general view of the connection between the Old and New 
 Testaments, as a consistent revelation of God. 3. An 
 appropriate choice of the single stories, which are to be 
 treated in detail." 
 
 It is obvious, however, that in " the application of the 
 story to faith and life," to which Dr. Warneck rightly 
 gives a foremost place, the instruction given must at 
 once pass from the historical to the doctrinal, and neither 
 is vital and complete without the other. 
 
 A good deal of the evidence before us, relating to the 
 subject of instruction given to catechumens, is somewhat 
 meagre, not more than one-fifth of our correspondents 
 having given us any reply as to the precise subjects 
 taught to catechumens as an essential preparation for 
 baptism. Some correspondents who have sent us the 
 fullest replies about other points have scarcely touched 
 upon this. This indefiniteness is, no doubt, partly due 
 to the differences already referred to between the con- 
 ditions of different fields and different classes of cate- 
 chumens, and partly to the varying standards required 
 by various Missions. It may, however, be said generally, 
 that the differences are more geographical than denomi- 
 national. 
 
 Without too minute differentiation, which might not 
 be fully borne out by the evidence in our possession, we 
 note a fairly general recognition of the Ten Command- 
 ments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed, as the 
 documentary basis for the instruction of catechumens. 
 To these are added the Life of Christ, taught either 
 directly from the Gospels, or from briefer summaries, 
 while other correspondents speak in more general terms 
 of Bible history, the meaning of the Sacraments, and one 
 mentions specifically the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's
 
 62 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Gospel, and a synopsis of the Gospel of St. John. Others 
 again mention, with varying degrees of frequency, " The 
 Catechism," which in some cases indicates the Shorter 
 Catechism of Westminster, or in the Lutheran Missions, 
 the Catechism of Luther. In Uganda the Gospels of 
 St. Matthew and St. Luke are taught in the earlier stages ; 
 while those of St. Mark and St. John are taken at a 
 more advanced stage, after baptism, and in preparation 
 for confirmation. In a few areas a more extensive course 
 appears to be given even to the more ignorant cate- 
 chumens, covering a considerable system of Christian 
 Theology, including Old Testament History ; and in 
 some missions catechumens are required to commit to 
 memory both the questions and answers of the Catechism 
 of the Church. 
 
 It is interesting to note what a wide recognition there 
 is on the mission field of the Apostles' Creed, as not only 
 a venerable Church document, but as a valuable practical 
 summary of the main contents of Christian teaching. 
 The place which it holds in the instruction of the cate- 
 chumenate already constitutes a real bond of unity 
 throughout the greater part of the Church in the mission 
 field. 
 
 We especially urge that in all the mission fields persistent 
 effort be made to teach and encourage the Christian 
 people to learn to read the Bible for themselves. This 
 is enforced by a correspondent from the Moluccas, who 
 bears strong testimony to the good results of this practice 
 in the Dutch missions there. The experience of the Church 
 Missionary Society in Uganda, and that of other missions 
 elsewhere, supplies forcible confirmation of the same 
 principle. 
 
 DISQUALIFICATIONS AND HINDRANCES 
 
 From T this brief review of the positive attainments in 
 faith and knowledge which are required of those who 
 present themselves as applicants for baptism, we pass on 
 to notice briefly the disqualifications which are most
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 63 
 
 frequently met with amongst them. We find in the 
 various mission fields a long list of practices belonging to 
 heathenism which are either discouraged or prohibited, 
 and in regard to some of these there is evidently room 
 for differences of opinion within the Christian Church 
 itself. In determining what should be considered a bar 
 to admission to baptism, the greatest care must be taken 
 to awaken a spiritual conscience in the local Church, so 
 as to secure the enlightened sympathy of its members 
 with the practice that is adopted in regard to prevailing 
 faults. We can only note here some of the principal 
 evils and vices belonging to the heathen life which have 
 to be renounced and overcome by all who seek member- 
 ship in the Christian Church. The difference of opinion, 
 to which we have referred, is not a difference as to the 
 moral quality of those things in themselves, but as to- 
 whether they must be completely overcome as a pre- 
 liminary condition to admission to the Christian Church, 
 or whether they are to be gradually removed by art 
 advancing experience of sanctification amongst the Church 
 members themselves. About most of them, indeed, there 
 is no room for doubt, but some must be treated with 
 careful discrimination. Among these grosser faults 
 reported from the various mission fields, the renunciation 
 of which affords some testing of the sincerity of candidates 
 for baptism, we find the following : idolatry, infanticide, 
 immorality or impurity of life and speech, violent 
 language and cursing, having recourse to charms and 
 fortune-telling, falsehood, quarrelling and litigation, 
 drunkenness and the use of opium or hemp, dishonesty 
 and theft, gambling, bigamy, and polygamy. 
 
 This list might be indefinitely extended, and it is not 
 too much to say that these and similar vices, with all 
 those mentioned in the dark catalogue given by St. Paul 
 in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, may be 
 spoken of as characteristic of pagan life. 
 
 Most of those evils are so manifestly part of the old 
 heathen life, and so directly hostile to the new life 
 in Christ, that they do not call for any discussion
 
 64 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 and do not give rise to any differences of view in Church 
 practice. 
 
 A few, however, are of a less definitely vicious character, 
 and may need more careful discrimination and tenderness 
 of handling. Others, while absolutely wrong in them- 
 selves, are so interwoven with the whole structure of 
 social life, that they cannot be dealt with by bare pro- 
 hibition, however emphatic, and very careful guidance is 
 needed in order at once to secure the purity of the 
 Christian Church and, on the other hand, to help the 
 enquirer, with due tenderness and consideration, in the 
 early stages of his Christian life. 
 
 BIGAMY AND POLYGAMY 
 
 In connection with those vices and faults of the 
 heathen life which are forbidden in all parts of the 
 Christian society, we have now to deal with the com- 
 plicated and difficult problems presented by the 
 bigamy and polygamy which, under a variety of 
 conditions, are still so widespread in most non-Christian 
 lands. 
 
 In dealing with this subject, it is necessary to recognise 
 fully the extraordinary delicacy and difficulty of the 
 questions which arise. We are called to face a problem 
 which was but little known to the Early Church, and to 
 apply the high standard of Christ to matters in regard to 
 which we find little clear guidance in the teaching of the 
 Apostles ; while it has also to be borne in mind that, in 
 touching these questions relating to marriage, we touch 
 the very foundations of all social life, whether civilised 
 or uncivilised. One great difficulty is, that in most non- 
 Christian lands the practice of polygamy is not contrary 
 to the natural and unenlightened conscience. You can 
 show a man without great difficulty that an idol is 
 nothing, or a witch doctor an impostor, but you cannot 
 easily lead him, as it were from without, into our Lord's 
 high and spiritual view of Holy Matrimony. As Bishop 
 Callaway remarks : " It is not so much that polygamy
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 65 
 
 hinders conversion, as that it is the converted man alone 
 who can see that polygamy is wrong." Once again, when 
 polygamy has been thus entered upon by both parties in 
 the times of ignorance, and where there are children 
 recognising the two parties as their parents, for the Church 
 to insist on the breaking up of the relationship is to 
 deprive the children either, on the one hand, of the 
 protection of their father or, on the other hand, of the 
 care of their mother ; while the woman thus put away 
 finds herself, according to many letters before us, in the 
 position of gravest moral danger " relegated," as one 
 correspondent bluntly puts it, " to the position of a 
 prostitute." On the other hand, a custom so manifestly 
 inimical to the pure ideals of the Christian family cannot 
 easily be looked upon with any toleration when deter- 
 mining the principles on which the Christian Church is 
 to be founded. Such considerations help us to realise 
 the grave responsibility which is involved in the treat- 
 ment of this subject, and they account also for the 
 variety of views which have been expressed to us in the 
 replies which we have received to our enquiries on this 
 subject. It has, however, to be borne in mind that the 
 term " bigamy " is used very loosely. The social customs 
 of various countries differ considerably, and the relation 
 of the non - Christian man to his womenfolk is very 
 different, say, in Africa and the South Sea Islands from 
 what it is in China or in India. 
 
 In Africa we read of a chief having " three hundred 
 wives," and both in Africa and in Polynesia the wives 
 are often numbered by tens or by scores. Their social 
 status in these communities is practically that of slaves, 
 and there is no unity of family life nor evidence of con- 
 jugal affection or devotion. It is not surprising, there- 
 fore, to find that our correspondents in Africa view with 
 unanimous intolerance conditions of life which are not 
 only unchristian, but are at variance with the instinctive 
 feelings of natural morality. With them there can be no 
 " question " of polygamy. It is simply one of the gross 
 evils of heathen society which, like habitual murder or 
 COM. ii. 5
 
 66 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 slavery, must at all costs be ended. There it is necessary 
 to create the idea of family ties and the family life, and 
 it is rightly felt that the applicant for Christian baptism 
 must clear himself at once from this corrupt and bar- 
 barous environment. 
 
 In China polygamy is of a different character. There 
 is only one legal wife, married with elaborate social 
 observances and legal precautions. There can never be 
 any doubt of her indisputable right to recognition as the 
 spouse for life of the man to whom she has been given in 
 marriage. On this basis a really high ideal of family 
 life and of conjugal rights and obligations has been 
 created. Polygamy exists as a lower condition, tolerated 
 by law and by public opinion, but it can never bring into 
 doubt the secure position of the legal wife. 
 
 Where a second or third " wife " (or, as some would 
 prefer to say, " concubine ") is taken, her position 
 is not recognised by Chinese law and her children 
 are regarded as being those of the legal wife. Indeed, 
 if the latter is childless, the second wife is often taken 
 with her consent, or at her instance, and she regards 
 the arrangement with favour as needful to the con- 
 tinuance of the family line. In many cases the 
 relations between the legal wife and the others are at 
 first those of cordiality and friendship, though, in later 
 years, especially where children of different mothers are 
 growing up within one family, there is often bitter 
 jealousy and dispeace. 
 
 It is not disputed that a man in China who takes a 
 second wife has as truly broken the Divine Law of 
 marriage as the man in other types of society who takes 
 twenty or a hundred. On this, of course, there is no 
 difference of view either among missionaries or among 
 Chinese Christians. Ah 1 hold that bigamy, and polygamy 
 in all its innumerable degrees, are not two sins of varying 
 heinousness, but are both alike in equally flagrant 
 violation of the Law of God. But it cannot but be felt 
 that there are features of the Chinese system which, 
 while they in no way remove the guilt, yet render it
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 67 
 
 highly doubtful whether we can apply to it the simple 
 remedy of advising the man concerned to put away all 
 but one wife. 
 
 In most cases the second or third " wife " has been 
 taken under pressure of the dominating ideas of filial 
 piety and ancestor worship. Mencius said : " There are 
 three things which are unfilial, and to have no posterity 
 is the greatest of them" (Life and. Works of Mencius, 
 Legge, p. 250). This, of course, is said in the belief of the 
 necessity of offerings continued throughout successive 
 generations to secure the peace and happiness of the de- 
 parted in the world of spirits. All the parties to the 
 union, brought up in this faith, entered into it in the days 
 of then 1 ignorance. According to their lights, they have 
 been faithful to it, and lived in harmony with each other. 
 Further, the children are usually those of the second or 
 third wife, and while bound by natural affection to their 
 own mothers, they have also learned to reverence the 
 legal wife, and to look up to her as occupying the highest 
 place of honour in the family life. Some thoughtful 
 missionaries, holding the highest Christian conception 
 of the sacredness of marriage, consider the bond with 
 the second or third wife in such cases to be as indissoluble, 
 from the Christian point of view, as the bond with the 
 first. Without committing oneself to this conclusion, 
 it is at least possible to understand why many should 
 decline to advise the catechumen in these circumstances, 
 to begin his Christian profession by putting away one 
 or more of those whom he has led into a wrong position, 
 but who in that position have been faithful to him, 
 depriving his innocent children at the same time, either 
 of then- mother's care, or of their father's protection 
 and all this at the very moment when his new Christian 
 faith is making him solicitous, as never before, for their 
 temporal and eternal welfare. 
 
 We do not here argue out the subject to a positive 
 conclusion, but only indicate how it is that, in regard 
 to a matter so distasteful to Christian feeling, it must 
 still be recognised that a " question " of polygamy
 
 68 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 can be entertained at all in dealing with applicants for 
 Christian baptism. There is no " question " about 
 the sin of polygamy. The only question is, whether 
 the solution of putting away, where there has been no 
 unfaithfulness, may not be adding sin to sin. Or, to 
 put it in another form, the question is whether the heinous- 
 ness of the sin of polygamy does not consist in the very 
 fact that it is impossible to undo its results, without 
 fresh violations of Christian righteousness. 
 
 The whole question, however, as it affects candidates 
 for baptism, is much larger than that of simple polygamy or 
 bigamy. The domestic life of many is found to be grossly 
 irregular, and, from the Christian standpoint, immoral. 
 It is not uncommon to find among the candidates a 
 man who is living in concubinage with a woman who 
 had, years before, been married to another man from 
 whom she has never been divorced. She is bearing 
 children to the man to whom she is not married even 
 according to local custom ; while his legal wife, still 
 undivorced, is living with another man, and bearing 
 children to him. It is impossible to disentangle such 
 relationships by working back to first obligations, and 
 the missionary is sorely tempted, in disgust and im- 
 patience, to seek short and sharp remedies, and to judge 
 the individual sin too severely. He is dealing with a 
 people who have lived for centuries in animalism and 
 unchastity, and one of his hardest tasks, calling for 
 infinite patience and tact, is to teach them by the grace 
 of God to overcome their ignoble passions, and realise 
 a pure family life. Each case has to be judged on its 
 merits, with a persistent effort to secure, at least, that 
 such decencies as are approved in the non-Christian 
 community are observed. In cases like that outlined 
 above, when it is impossible to restore an earlier marriage 
 obligation, divorce according to local custom may first 
 be obtained. When this has been done it seems to be the 
 practice of some missions to baptize the couple, if other- 
 wise qualified, and marry them by Christian rites after- 
 wards. In others the family relation finally accepted
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 69 
 
 is made regular or legal outside of the Church before 
 baptism. In these cases, when the married couple 
 stand before the congregation for baptism, they are 
 required to acknowledge the legality of their marriage, 
 and to declare solemnly that they will be faithful to 
 each other, according to the law of Christ, until death. 
 
 Evidence from the Mission Fields 
 
 When we turn to the evidence, we thankfully record 
 that on some points of supreme importance there is 
 absolute unanimity among missionary bodies namely, 
 as to what constitutes Christian law on the subject, 
 and in the determination to uphold that law among 
 the members of the young Church in the mission field. 
 This can hardly be better stated than in the opening 
 words on the marriage question in the Book of Order 
 issued by one of the Synods of the Presbyterian Church 
 in China. 
 
 " By the Law of God, marriage in accordance with the 
 truth is that of one man and one woman, each fulfilling 
 a part in a lifelong union ; and they may not be separated. 
 Therefore, if a man who has a wife marries another woman, 
 or if a woman who has a husband is married to another 
 man, in both cases this is a breach of the Law of God." 
 Further " If any one who is a member of the Church, 
 while his wife still survives again marries another, he 
 must certainly be expelled from the fellowship of the 
 Church." (See Appendix L.) 
 
 The problem is thus confined to those who, before 
 they have heard the Gospel, have entered into relation- 
 ship with more than one partner. Are they to be 
 admitted into full membership of the Church, and, if 
 so, are they to be required to put away all wives 
 except one ? 
 
 It seems expedient to consider separately the answers 
 sent to us from the various countries. 
 
 In Africa polygamy is more prevalent than in other 
 countries, and the Church is placed at a disadvantage in 
 her warfare, owing to the fact that the Mohammedan
 
 70 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 with his easier views on the subject is more in accord 
 with the " average man " of Africa. 
 
 Indeed, the Christian law upon this subject may 
 be said to be the greatest obstacle to the acceptance 
 of our faith. In the face of this it is suprising to note, 
 that it is in regard to the evidence from Africa alone 
 that there is an almost complete unanimity of opinion. 
 Every Mission within our review refuses admission to 
 the Church in Africa to any man who is actually living 
 with more than one wife. 
 
 On the other hand, by no means do these missionary 
 bodies require, or even advise, such a man under all 
 circumstances to put away all his wives save one. They 
 would have the man wait for baptism until such time 
 as, in the providence of God, the difficulties are removed 
 by natural causes. Meanwhile, he is to receive full 
 instruction and every help to lead the Christian life 
 and, if he can do so, to make honourable provision for 
 his wives. 
 
 In some cases at any rate, it appears that the woman 
 can be put away without injury. Bishop Tucker, for 
 example, writes in reference to Uganda : 
 
 " I may say that, in Uganda, the position of the woman 
 has, until recently, been little better than a slave. In the 
 old days many so-called wives were taken in war, some 
 were kidnapped, some exacted as fines by chiefs from 
 their dependents, some received as gifts, and some were 
 purchased as slaves. In few, if any, cases was there 
 anything at all approaching a marriage contract or a 
 marriage ceremony. When a chief had two or three 
 hundred of such so-called wives, it necessarily followed 
 that wives were unattainable by many men, and women 
 were, so to speak, at a premium in the country. When 
 freedom for women came, and Christianity proclaimed, 
 as a principle, that there could be no baptism for poly- 
 gamists, there was no difficulty with regard to the eman- 
 cipated women. They hailed their freedom with joy, 
 and married men of their own choice. Thus it came about 
 in Uganda, that the rule of the Church with regard to the
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 71 
 
 impossibility of baptizing polygamists, has not only 
 entailed no hardship upon the women of the country, but 
 has distinctly tended to their elevation and consequent 
 well-being and happiness." 
 
 In reference to Congo also, a member of a Baptist 
 Mission writes : "In Congo, it must be remembered 
 that to a considerable extent the woman keeps the man, 
 and that the children of the marriage belong to the 
 mother's family, and that the father has very few rights 
 over them. It is not uncommon that, as the result of 
 some dispute, a woman will leave her husband and 
 return to her family. A woman who does this frequently 
 marries again, and there is no social ostracism, or 
 degradation, or real hardship for the woman who has 
 been put away by her husband, except in the case of 
 old age." 
 
 The evidence is by no means so unanimous as regards 
 the treatment of women candidates in Africa. When 
 a woman who is one of several wives seeks admission 
 to the Church, what is done in her case ? She is true to 
 one husband and is not personally responsible for his 
 habits ; and it may be argued that she has no legal 
 right to separate from the man to whom she is bound, 
 and, if she separates having children, she would not 
 be allowed to take the children with her. On these 
 considerations some argue that it is reasonable to admit 
 such a woman to baptism and the full privileges of 
 membership. Such, however, is by no means the line 
 universally adopted. 
 
 There is ample evidence, however, that in Africa 
 polygamy is on the decrease, and that its cessation as a 
 social institution is a mere question of time. Many 
 natural forces combine to fight against it. The progress 
 of civilisation means increase in the cost of living ; the 
 loss of cattle through disease makes it more difficult 
 for parents to find the needful dowry ; while the cessation 
 of internecine war among the natives has the effect of 
 making the proportion of the male to the female 
 population larger than hitherto. As time goes on and
 
 72 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 the leaven of Christian thought spreads, the women 
 themselves will have more of a voice in the matter. 
 
 In China, as we have noted (p. 66), the first wife 
 alone is recognised by Chinese law, and the secondary 
 wife has no legal rights as a wife, so that marriage 
 subsequent to the first may be regarded as concubinage. 
 This, however, does not touch the question of the moral 
 rights of these women a question which the Christian 
 Church cannot ignore. 
 
 Both in China, and in India where polygamy is, 
 however, not very prevalent, the matter is complicated 
 by the fact that, while it is the first wife whom the 
 Christian law would recognise, it is more often by the 
 second wife that the man has his children. As to the 
 line of action generally taken in these two countries, 
 the correspondence before us is somewhat conflicting. 
 The question seems to be left in many cases to the 
 judgment of the particular congregation or disciplinary 
 body. The Methodist Episcopal Church in India, 
 we are informed, " some forty years ago authoritatively 
 forbade the acceptance of polygamists, but experience 
 has modified the views of many of their missionaries." 
 
 In some cases authoritative statements have been 
 issued by Church bodies of local or of wider jurisdiction, 
 for the guidance of missionaries or of the governing 
 bodies of Churches. Instead, therefore, of giving a 
 selection of the varying personal views laid before us, 
 or attempting to lay down conclusions of our own, we 
 submit in the Appendix to this Report (see Appendix 
 L, p. 321) some of these statements as an important 
 contribution to the formation of opinion and the guid- 
 ance of practice. 
 
 We deem it wise to present these statements in some 
 detail, without comment of our own, calling attention 
 to the unity of aim which pervades them and to the 
 grounds which they afford for the hope that if the 
 Churches, in all the mission fields concerned, will 
 continue to emphasise the law of Christ, the day is not 
 far distant when by the action of various forces that
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 73 
 
 law will be universally recognised. While the Com- 
 mission is of opinion that the time is not ripe for a general 
 discussion on this subject, they believe that something 
 might even now be done in the direction of greater 
 uniformity of practice, if the various missionary bodies 
 were to formulate the principles which should govern the 
 action of their own workers in the various mission fields. 
 
 It may be convenient here to summarise the principal 
 views reported to us on this subject as follows : 
 
 (i) There is the view of those who refuse in any circum- 
 stances to receive, even as a catechumen, a candidate 
 who is living in polygamy. (2) The view of those who 
 would accept such a candidate and keep him under 
 Christian instruction, but without baptism, until he 
 shall be free from polygamous ties. (In the case of 
 either of these views being acted on, the Church assumes 
 no responsibility in suggesting any way of dissolving 
 the polygamous relationships.) (3) The view of those 
 who would take the responsibility of advising the man 
 to put away all but the first wife, either arranging for 
 the re-marriage of those put away or providing for 
 them a separate maintenance under suitable guardian- 
 ship, and who would admit the man to baptism when, 
 by compliance with such advice, he has become the 
 husband of one wife only. (4) The view of those who 
 equally condemn the practice of polygamy as a violation 
 of the law of Christ, but, regarding the sin as one com- 
 mitted hi ignorance and the sinful relation as one which 
 cannot now be undone without greater wrong, think it 
 right to accept a polygamist as a candidate for baptism 
 and to baptize the applicant, if suitable on other grounds, 
 under protest against the polygamous relation which 
 still exists, emphasising the protest by refusing to 
 persons thus baptized the right of holding any office 
 in the Church. (5) The view which is held by very few, 
 that such persons may be admitted to baptism without 
 any special conditions or precautions. 
 
 It will be noted that these views cover a wide range, 
 but all, including those last referred to, stand for the
 
 74 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 integrity of the Christian law, and agree in regarding the 
 polygamous relation as a gross violation of it, which is 
 not in any sense condoned or tolerated, but is looked 
 upon as an irremediable evil, even by those who admit 
 the polygamist to baptism without special restrictions. 
 
 We find, further, a good deal of evidence to show that 
 in many parts of the mission field missionaries have 
 deferred coming to any definite conclusion on the subject, 
 because applicants of this class have usually been com- 
 paratively few. There are two reasons for this circum- 
 stance : (i) In countries where polygamy is found, it is 
 usually confined to the wealthier classes, 1 and com- 
 paratively few of this class have generally been found 
 amongst applicants for baptism. (2) The knowledge 
 of the strict views and practice of the Christian Church 
 in regard to the institution of marriage has generally 
 deterred polygamists, even when attracted by the truth, 
 from offering themselves as candidates for baptism. 
 
 Now, however, when Christian teaching is spreading more 
 widely in non-Christian lands and many more hearers 
 from what are called the upper classes are yielding to its 
 influence, many missionaries feel that a reconsideration 
 of this question can no longer be deferred. 
 
 But we strongly recommend that wherever this subject 
 is discussed it should be done with the utmost con- 
 sideration, both for the candidates concerned and for 
 differences of view amongst missionaries or members of 
 the local Church, as well as for the view which may be 
 held in the parent Church, 
 
 WHAT AUTHORITY ADMITS TO BAPTISM ? 
 
 When the conditions of admission to Church member- 
 ship have been determined and the catechumen has been 
 instructed and has passed a good probation, the question 
 arises, on whose authority should he be admitted to the 
 
 1 This remark, we believe, does not apply to South India, where 
 polygamy is common among horsekeepers, household servants, and 
 others belonging to the poorer and outcaste classes.
 
 75 
 
 Church ? And here such answers as have been fur- 
 nished follow closely the constitutional features of the 
 Church represented. In the Episcopal and Presbyterian 
 Churches, including the Methodist, which is modified 
 Presbyterian in its mode of government, it is customary 
 to regard the responsibility as a pastoral function and to 
 deal with it accordingly. In the Episcopal Church the 
 candidate is admitted to membership by the native 
 clergyman or the missionary under the authority of the 
 bishop, and it is customary to require two sponsors to 
 witness for him and take responsibility on his behalf, 
 and these must be communicants in good standing in 
 the Church. In the Presbyterian Church the custom 
 is to present each case before the Kirk Session, which is 
 the Church's court of pastoral jurisdiction and adminis- 
 tration. In the Methodist Church the Leader Meeting 
 corresponds closely to the Kirk Session, and theoretically 
 new members ought to be admitted on the vote of its 
 members; but in practice Wesleyan Methodist mission- 
 aries conform more closely to the Episcopal rule, and 
 candidates are admitted on the authority of the native 
 ministers and the missionaries in consultation with 
 the local evangelist. In the Presbyterian Church it is 
 common to require witnesses to vouch for the bona fides 
 and general good character of the candidate, and these 
 must as a rule be his neighbours and closely acquainted 
 with his life. Thus Anglicans, Presbyterians, and others 
 agree in placing part of the responsibility of admission 
 on the members of the congregation by more or less 
 definitely consulting them. 
 
 In Baptist and Congregational practice, so far as the 
 answers show, it is the custom to present the candidates 
 before the congregation and admit them on the vote of 
 the whole membership. From a South Indian Baptist 
 Church the following statement is made : " Before admis- 
 sion to the Church by baptism, they (the catechumens) 
 are carefully catechised as to these facts (comprehension 
 of Gospel truths, and conversion of the heart and life) 
 and are only admitted if their testimony is acceptable
 
 76 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 to the whole Church." In some Lutheran missions 
 it seems to be the custom to require the recommendation 
 of the whole Church before a person is so much as 
 admitted to the catechumenate. 
 
 But in many cases there seems to be no fixed 
 habit as to the persons who should bear this responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 BAPTISM OF WOMEN BY WOMEN 
 
 The question whether women missionaries are ever 
 authorised to administer baptism has reference almost 
 entirely to India. From other parts of the field the 
 question is either ignored or rightly answered by the 
 simple statement, " We have no purdah women here, 
 and the question does not apply." In India the purdah 
 is a common institution, and very many thousands, 
 indeed, some millions, of women are kept strictly " gosha," 
 or in the zenana, to which men other than the nearest of 
 kin are never admitted. Even where "gosha" is not en- 
 forced and Hindu women move freely in public places, 
 they are only accessible to the Gospel through the ministry 
 of women. A great many foreign women missionaries, 
 and Indian zenana and Bible women, are engaged 
 in carrying the Gospel into the zenanas of the country, 
 both Hindu and Mohammedan, where their message 
 often meets with a ready hearing and their personal 
 kindness with a frank appreciation. It follows not 
 seldom that the learner becomes a disciple and the dis- 
 ciple a sincere believer, and the question arises, what 
 ought the Christian teacher to say to the Hindu or 
 Mohammedan woman who has come to believe in Christ ? 
 Sometimes the convert, feeling that she can neither deny 
 her Lord nor be true to Him in her old home, comes out 
 leaving all and not seldom at the risk of her life. Some- 
 times her purpose is discovered, when she either pays 
 the penalty with her life or her resolution is broken by 
 brutality and strict confinement. But there are cases, 
 not a few, when most missionaries would hesitate to 
 advise or even to approve of flight, and the duty of the
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 77 
 
 wife and mother would seem to be in the lot where the 
 Gospel found her. But she desires baptism, and it is 
 only possible to receive it from the hands of the woman 
 who has taught her. 
 
 The situation has often been discussed by missionary 
 conferences in India ; and though from a few correspond- 
 ents the answer is that a woman has no authority to 
 baptize, in other cases authority has been definitely 
 given, though apparently but seldom used, except in the 
 hour of death. The most representative answer on the 
 subject is the following, which comes from Harda in the 
 Central Provinces : " There is no objection to women 
 missionaries administering baptism. The point would 
 be whether the candidates were making an open and 
 honest confession or not, and whether they could live 
 consistent Christian lives in the privacy of the zenanas. 
 In most cases in India a woman would be cast out by 
 her people on becoming a Christian." On the other 
 hand, this correspondent reports one case where a woman 
 is living a consistent Christian life in the zenana, though 
 she came out to be baptized by the male missionary in 
 the Station a liberty this, which we trust time may 
 bring to all- the secret disciples of the Lord in the families 
 of India. For the present, however, they are doomed 
 to cherish their faith and keep their trust as best they 
 may in secret ; and the general view is that under these 
 conditions it is better not to baptize them, partly because 
 the very meaning and purpose of baptism are in a large 
 degree lost when the rite is administered in secret, and 
 partly also because it is essential in our work to avoid 
 all that would wear the colour of intrigue and secrecy. 
 
 STAGES IN THE CATECHUMENATE 
 
 In reviewing the method of treatment of catechumens 
 up to the point where in favourable cases they are found 
 ready for baptism, we have noted the following recog- 
 nised stages in the catechumenate : 
 
 i. First, we have the hearer of evangelistic preaching,
 
 78 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 or one who has heard the word in private, or perhaps 
 been attracted by what he has seen of the Christian life 
 in others, coming to join with more or less regularity in 
 Christian worship. 
 
 2. He next presents himself to the notice of some 
 evangelist, pastor, or other Christian, as desirous to 
 receive full instruction and to become a candidate for 
 baptism. 
 
 3. In some Missions there follows his registration as a 
 member of a " Hearers' Class " with a view to receiving 
 elementary Christian instruction. 
 
 4. Having spent some time in the " Hearers' Class " 
 (or, in some Missions, without this preliminary stage), 
 he is now recognised with more or less publicity as a 
 catechumen. 
 
 5. As a catechumen he receives further instruction, 
 while at the same time the evidences of his Christian life 
 are being noted. This process is continued till, after 
 repeated examination, he is judged to be ready to receive 
 baptism. 
 
 6. Baptism is now administered according to the 
 forms of the Church which the enquirer is seeking to 
 join, and, in all but a few exceptional cases, baptism is 
 administered publicly in the presence of a Christian 
 congregation and of others from outside as onlookers. 
 
 At this point a difference of practice emerges as to 
 whether the newly baptized are admitted immediately 
 to participation in the Communion of the Lord's Supper. 
 In the missions of the Anglican Communion the practice 
 is uniform. That Church claims the authority of Scripture 
 and of historic usage for the practice of laying on of hands 
 in confirmation, and regards the rite as having sacramental 
 value. Persons who have been baptized are not admitted 
 to the Holy Communion until they have been confirmed 
 by the Bishop of the Diocese. As a rule, a course of 
 careful teaching precedes confirmation. 
 
 In the Methodist Missions all baptized persons are 
 regarded as admitted to the Church as members on 
 trial, and after a further period of probation and instruc-
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 79 
 
 tion they are admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper. Such final admission is granted by the hands 
 of the ordained pastor in charge of each Church or group 
 of Churches, and it takes place, according to rule, by a 
 special " recognition service." It is noted, however, 
 that an exception to this rule of probation after baptism 
 would be made in the case of converts of marked intelli- 
 gence in whom also the signs of personal religious experi- 
 ence were unmistakable. 
 
 In Baptist, Congregational, and Presbyterian Churches, 
 the view usually held is that admission of adult catechu- 
 mens to baptism admits also immediately to the Com- 
 munion of the Lord's Supper ; but in these Missions there 
 is no fixed rule on the subject, and the practice varies 
 in different places. For example, we have the following 
 statement from a missionary of the London Missionary 
 Society hi South India : 
 
 " In our Mission it is only in exceptional cases that 
 men or women are admitted to Communion immediately 
 after receiving baptism. Exception is made in the case 
 of persons whose knowledge of Christian truth and experi- 
 ence in the Christian life leave no question as to their 
 fitness to enter upon all the privileges and responsibilities 
 of Church membership. In ordinary cases, those who 
 receive baptism are kept for a further period under 
 probation and are given further instruction before being 
 received into full communion. I believe this to be a 
 mistaken policy and one not only contrary to the custom 
 of the Early Church, but opposed to the fundamental 
 truths which find expression and realisation in and 
 through the Sacraments. All baptized Christians whose 
 lives are not plainly out of harmony with the law of 
 Christ are members of the Church, and as such have a 
 right to enjoy all privileges which membership involves. 
 Ignorance, and even moral weakness, so far from debarring 
 from communion, are reasons for participating in an 
 ordinance which is undoubtedly a means of grace, an 
 aid of faith, and an inspiration and stimulus to a higher 
 and holier life. This opinion is gaining ground among
 
 80 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 our missionaries, and the old idea that the Lord's Supper 
 is a privilege reserved for the few is dying out." 
 
 A correspondent in South Central India makes the 
 following statement : 
 
 "A few years ago a rule was passed in the local Church, 
 that no adult should be baptized till he was judged" 
 fit for full Communion. This has since been modified, 
 so that when the elders think fit, baptism may be ad- 
 ministered, and admission to Communion delayed, when 
 the candidate's faith seems genuine, though his knowledge 
 be limited. In such cases further instruction is given, 
 especially in the meaning of the Sacraments. I favour 
 delay of baptism till the candidate is ready for full 
 Communion, though the rule should not be hard and 
 fast." 
 
 These two writers agree in thinking that the same 
 qualifications should admit to both Sacraments, but they 
 do so from opposite points of view. The former would 
 restore harmony with ancient custom, as he understands 
 it, by admitting to the Table of the Lord on less rigid 
 conditions. He would bring the Sacrament of the 
 Supper as a means of grace, and as an inspiration to 
 goodness, nearer to the frailty and need of human nature. 
 The latter would rather make stricter the conditions of 
 baptism, and prolong the period of discipline and pro- 
 bation till the candidate should be judged fully qualified 
 for admission to the Lord's Table. Still another view 
 is presented to us by a Baptist missionary in China, who, 
 differing from the rule of his Church, holds the opinion, 
 that it is wise to place between the Sacrament of Baptism 
 and that of the Lord's Supper, an interval of instruction 
 and probation. 
 
 This point is evidently receiving the thoughtful atten- 
 tion of many missionaries, and it is one on which perhaps 
 it is well that a considerable amount of liberty should 
 be aUowed. Apart from any theological views upon 
 the need of the Sacraments, it will be generally agreed 
 that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper contains 
 lessons distinct from those of baptism, and enters into
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 81 
 
 other regions of Christian thought and life. This 
 suggests that, even in those Churches which do not 
 recognise a place for the rite of confirmation, the candi- 
 date, who has been seeking to realise the significance 
 of baptism, in the immediate prospect of receiving it 
 himself, should be allowed some further interval for 
 thought and preparation, with prayer, before he is 
 introduced to the fresh lessons of the Sacrament of 
 Communion. 
 
 ENQUIRERS NOT CANDIDATES FOR BAPTISM 
 
 Hitherto our enquiry has been occupied mainly with 
 methods of dealing with candidates for baptism definitely 
 desiring to obtain admission to the Christian Church, but 
 in every field where missionary work is carried on, there 
 are some who are influenced by the Christian message, 
 who desire some association with the Christian Church, 
 but are in no sense candidates for baptism, and cannot 
 yet be regarded as on probation for Church membership. 
 Their movement is towards the Church rather than into 
 it. Their position is not easily defined, and yet their 
 attitude suggests that special recognition might, with 
 advantage, be accorded to them in some form. There 
 is a certain Christianising of thought and sentiment which 
 proceeds widely on every mission field, which obscurely 
 influences many minds, but does not take the form of 
 a desire to join the Christian fellowship. Such persons 
 definitely acknowledge certain elements of truth in 
 Christianity. In some cases they would even admit 
 that the Christian religion is true, and that Jesus Christ 
 is all that He claims to be, the Son of God, the Saviour 
 of men. Their lives, moreover, are more or less influenced, 
 and that admittedly, by the things which they have 
 learned. They find Christian worship helpful, and the 
 company of Christian people congenial, but whether 
 from fear or for other reasons, baptism and a public 
 confession of Christian faith are not yet within their view. 
 
 Can any form of recognition be given to such a class ? 
 
 COM. II. 6
 
 82 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 The question is important, since such persons now form 
 on the mission field generally a large and growing class. 
 On the other hand it is difficult, because while care must 
 be taken not to discourage enquirers even at this ele- 
 mentary stage, yet care must also be taken not to allow 
 that half-truths can do duty for the whole, nor that the 
 human soul can find a permanent resting-place short of 
 the open confession of Christ as Saviour and Lord. Those 
 of our correspondents who touch upon this question 
 vary in their attitude to the problem according to the view 
 which they take of the danger on the one hand of dis- 
 couraging enquirers, or on the other of lowering the demand 
 for an open Christian profession. 
 
 A correspondent in Japan, for example, remarks : 
 " We have a great many adherents, who, for any number 
 of reasons, more financial than any other, I think, will 
 not make the outward profession." From the province 
 of Honan in China another correspondent writes : " We 
 have some persons who frequently worship with Christians 
 but are unwilling to be regarded as Christians. They 
 are well spoken of by the local Church, but we have not 
 been able to recognise them in any way." Again from 
 Batavia we have the following : " We are working among 
 Mohammedans and we find scores who have half broken 
 away from Mohammedanism. They come to Church, 
 and mingle with, and eat with, Christians." From 
 Constantinople we have a note of special interest : 
 " Under the old political regime, the Moslem who fre- 
 quently attended our service would have become a marked 
 man and liable to arrest. They are always welcomed 
 when they come to public service or to call on individuals 
 for religious conversation. In the vicinity of Constanti- 
 nople such instances have not been numerous in the past, 
 though they have occurred more frequently since the 
 peaceful revolution of last year." 
 
 It is in India, however, that this class seems to be most 
 numerous. This is perhaps due on the one hand to the 
 keen conflict of religious and philosophic thought through 
 which Christianity has to win its way among the repre-
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 83 
 
 sentatives of Hinduism, and, on the other, to the over- 
 whelming pressure which is exercised on the individual 
 by the community as a whole. 
 
 A correspondent writes from Hoshiarpur as follows : 
 " Most educated Hindus or Mohammedans are glad to 
 have social intercourse with Christians from the upper 
 classes. Many of them believe in Christianity, admire 
 its precepts, and profess to follow Christ in their lives, 
 but few are so strong as to join Christians in worship. 
 Those who come to church sit quietly and often reverently, 
 but do not kneel down in prayer. Some have gone so 
 far as to ask for private baptism." From Delhi, another 
 correspondent gives the following guarded statement : 
 " There are a few among upper class Hindus who have 
 broken partially with local customs, and do associate to 
 a certain extent with Christians, and occasionally even 
 attend Christian worship. But for oe reason or another 
 this class a growing class holds aloof at present. 
 Mohammedans have no objection to eating and drinking 
 with Christians, but I have not known of any Moham- 
 medan attending Christian worship. It thus appears 
 that both Hindus and Mohammedans are ready, in certain 
 numbers, and, on some occasions, to associate with 
 Christians ; the Mohammedans generally drawing the 
 line of separation at joining in worship, the Hindu drawing 
 it at participation in a common meal. 
 
 A remarkable state of things is reported to us from 
 Cuddapah, South India, as follows : "In many villages 
 where we have congregations, Hindus of the higher 
 castes, and even Mohammedans, are often to be found at 
 our services. Sometimes in visiting a village I have had 
 so many Hindus and Mohammedans present at the 
 service that it was hard to find room for our Christian 
 people. In some places where we have no congregations, 
 little companies of the higher class Hindus meet in the 
 evenings to read the Scriptures, and join in Christian 
 worship with a Christian convert or enquirer." Again 
 from North India it is reported that in rare cases there is 
 a more or less regular attendance of those who might be
 
 84 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 called " believing non-Christians " at church, but such 
 conviction as stops short of baptism is generally mani- 
 fested in the home by family worship, Scripture reading, 
 Sunday observance, and the like, while the old caste 
 customs and social relations are still maintained. 
 
 Similarly in China many persons are more or less 
 regular attenders at Christian worship and have a certain 
 intelligent knowledge of the outlines of Christian truth, 
 who are not yet prepared to take the final step of pro- 
 fessing themselves Christians. This is due in some cases 
 to social pressure, and, in not a few, to a recognition that 
 they are not yet morally prepared to face the high demand 
 of the Christian life. 
 
 There is thus a good deal of evidence from many 
 quarters that, on the mission field, the Gospel is exercising 
 a marked influence on many who are not yet prepared to 
 seek baptism, or to profess themselves as on probation 
 for admission to the Church, who yet more or less openly 
 seek to associate with Christians, and even conform in 
 some measure to Christian ideals of life. It is perhaps 
 one of the points in which our mission work is lacking 
 that the question how such persons should be dealt with 
 has not yet been seriously faced on the mission field 
 generally. It would seem desirable to give some recogni- 
 tion and encouragement to persons of this type without 
 waiting till they are prepared to make the full profession 
 of Christianity. They are not indeed as yet Christians, but 
 many of them are at least seekers after God, and it might 
 greatly help them if the Church could, in some way, bring 
 them together when possible for the study of religion, 
 and take opportunities to urge on them the duty of 
 following the light so far as they have seen it. Of many 
 such persons it may be said that the urgent need is not 
 so much of more light, as of courage to follow the light 
 already received. If such persons, with frank recognition 
 of the imperfection of their attainments, could be in 
 some way associated together and encouraged, much 
 might be done to promote their loyalty to the measure 
 of truth which is found in them, and so to lead them on
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 85 
 
 to a complete Christian life. Admission to " associate 
 membership " of the Young Men's Christian Association 
 is sometimes a helpful step in this direction. 
 
 MASS MOVEMENTS 
 
 Closely related to what has just been said are the 
 questions which are raised with regard to " mass move- 
 ments." These questions have brought out some 
 divergence of opinion among our correspondents. A 
 few of them are inclined to suspect all such movements, 
 maintaining that every true spiritual movement toward 
 God is that of an individual, and that each case must 
 be dealt with individually. Those, however, who have 
 had actual experience of " mass movements " do not 
 appear generally to take this view, and on the whole the 
 testimony of our correspondents gives an encouraging 
 view of such movements, and not a little testimony is 
 borne to the real and lasting fruit which has been gathered 
 from them. 
 
 The evidence before us shows that while mass move- 
 ments have been experienced in many parts of the mission 
 field, the most important at present are those in India, 
 in some parts of China, and in Korea. 
 
 The expression " mass movement " is intended to 
 indicate the movements towards the Church of families 
 and groups of families, sometimes of entire clans or 
 villages, rather than of individuals. The impulse that 
 gives rise to such movements is a ferment of some kind 
 of new life in the mass, rather than any definite aspiration 
 separately realised by each individual. In such cases 
 it must often be recognised that only a few out of a large 
 number have any definite idea why they are moving 
 towards Christian truth, while many seem to be moving 
 only because others have moved, and they are carried 
 along by a current which they themselves hardly under- 
 stand. 
 
 These mass movements are usually experienced among 
 people who are beginning to turn toward Christianity
 
 86 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 from a condition of degradation and ignorance, so that it 
 cannot be suggested that such persons are actuated by 
 motives of a high order. Often the motives are neither 
 spiritual nor moral in the earlier stages, but when it is 
 admitted that the impulse which constitutes such a 
 movement is one towards material and social betterment, 
 rather than towards ethical and religious advance, it is 
 still not to be assumed that such motives are sinister or 
 in themselves bad. It must be recognised that motives 
 may be elementary, and may operate on a comparatively 
 low plane of human impulse, without being unworthy 
 or evil. Even when the present level of life is a low one, 
 those who act upon the best that is known to them, 
 thereby reach levels which formerly were out of their 
 reach. A highly moral or religious impulse is, to begin 
 with, naturally impossible. 
 
 It must be recognised also that it is characteristic of 
 the condescending love of God in drawing men to Himself, 
 that it first becomes operative in reference to needs which 
 they already recognise, and so kindles hope and desire 
 in regard to needs of a higher order of which they were 
 formerly unconscious. Thus to an Indian pariah the 
 prospect of putting away sin makes no appeal, since he is 
 still unconscious of it ; but the recognition of his own 
 manhood, the hope of social betterment, and the easing 
 of his heavy burdens, form an appeal to which he responds. 
 He is not to be considered a bad man or a cheat because 
 he is drawn by the lower motives towards a system which 
 has for him a promise of good higher than he has yet 
 dreamed of, and leads him towards conditions which are 
 surely a part of the divine purpose for him. We know 
 that God uses the lower elements and movements of 
 human life as a means of ascent into the higher, and the 
 unrest which sometimes strongly arises in the general 
 mind of a degraded community while seeking mainly 
 social and material improvement, may well be a divine 
 unrest through which God is leading them to a nobler 
 life. Experience shows that many who have at first 
 sought the Christian life from low aims, have ulti-
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 87 
 
 mately grown to a life of noble and unselfish purpose ; 
 and this experience is confirmed by many of our corre- 
 spondents. 
 
 Both in India and in China the generous kindness 
 shown by Christian people in time of famine, and adminis- 
 tered by the hands of missionaries, has often turned the 
 hearts of many towards the Christian Church, and through 
 the Church towards God. The tyranny and oppression 
 to which the out-castes are subjected in India, as a result 
 of the caste system, is a material factor of the whole 
 movement. They find themselves admitted to a new 
 fellowship, treated as brothers and potentially equals. 
 They find thus offered to them a new dignity and a new 
 status. When the members of some families have dared 
 to join the Christian Church, their friends have at first 
 persecuted them, then have learned to watch them with 
 interest, and finally have been convinced that these 
 converts were changing in character as well as in outward 
 circumstances, and changing undoubtedly for the better. 
 Thus the family ties, which in the beginning formed a 
 hindrance, become helpful to the growth of the Church. 
 Families join themselves to the Christian movements 
 because their friends have done so, and in doing so have 
 prospered ; many come because they see that Christian 
 children are cared for and educated, and have in every 
 way a better prospect in life than children of the non- 
 Christian community around them. 
 
 Indeed, with regard to many of the mission fields, it 
 may be said that when a man becomes a Christian he 
 makes a step in advance in personal dignity. It becomes 
 at once less easy to treat him as a beast of burden, or to 
 exploit his ignorance in the interests of greed. In some 
 countries the peculiar conditions of local society lead to 
 unexpected results. Thus in China there have been not 
 a few movements of villages or clans desiring to profess 
 the Christian faith, in which a singular mixture of motives 
 were at work. The Chinese have a genius for combina- 
 tion, and love to form guilds, societies, and associations, 
 many of them for perfectly lawful purposes, while the
 
 88 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 reputation of others is more doubtful. The theory of 
 the law is that many of these societies are forbidden, or 
 openly suppressed, and the Christian Church being the 
 only important combination of men which enjoys as a 
 rule the tolerance of the Government, it seems to many 
 to offer a home and a shelter for those who are wronged, 
 or are in danger of collision with the law. Out of this 
 perplexing state of things many difficulties have arisen 
 for missionaries in China ; the difficulties are increased by 
 the fact that Chinese society, through all its grades, 
 recognises the distinct division of villages, clans, and 
 individuals into the " strong " and the " weak." The 
 strength referred to is that of social influence, and to many 
 of the Chinese life is a game whose chief object is to 
 accumulate as much social influence as possible, and to 
 form such alliances and connections as may enable one 
 to impose his own will upon others. These divisions 
 often lead to quarrels, and these again to open feuds, 
 the issue of which is decided by force of arms. When the 
 Church begins work in a new district it most frequently 
 encounters groups or classes of persons whose interests 
 predispose them either to welcome it as an ally, or to 
 resist it as a foe. With the best of intentions on the 
 part of the missionary, it is difficult to keep the Church 
 wholly disentangled from these complications. If any 
 enquirer suffers, in his own judgment, wrong or injustice, 
 he is tempted to represent this as an act of persecution, 
 and to seek the protection which he supposes the Church 
 is able to afford. In many cases also schemers of bad 
 character, seeing the Church growing into a socially 
 influential body, have tried to utilise it for their own 
 ends, not only in self-defence, but sometimes for the 
 purposes of wrong and oppression. Long experience has 
 taught the missions wisdom in regard to these matters, 
 but there is still need for the utmost watchfulness in 
 regard to all movements where there is reason to suspect 
 the existence of complications of this kind. 
 
 Even in the case of mass movements apparently sup- 
 ported by common consent, it must not be supposed that
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 89 
 
 individual Christians taking part in them must necessarily 
 escape persecution and wrong. 
 
 In India, for example, the Bishop of Madras gives us the 
 following statement : " It is a striking fact that Chris- 
 tianity has advanced most rapidly during the last few 
 years in precisely those parts of the Telugu country 
 where the Christian converts have been most bitterly 
 persecuted. The idea, therefore, that the people come 
 over to Christianity for what they can get is, so far as 
 my experience goes, quite untrue. Their motives may 
 not be highly spiritual, and they may not draw any very 
 sharp distinction between social advancement and spiritual 
 progress, but in the vast majority of cases the underlying 
 motive of their conversion is a genuine desire for a better 
 life." 
 
 In dealing with such a movement it is necessary for 
 the missionary first to discriminate the motives that have 
 brought the people to him, and to explain to them in 
 turn what things he feels free to do for them, and what 
 things he cannot take in hand. The people generally 
 may be divided into three classes. 
 
 First, those desiring interference on the part of the 
 missionary in things that are wholly beyond his province, 
 and in these he will refuse from the first to meddle. Under 
 this head come family disputes and law cases, with all 
 the forms of political interference. This duty is so care- 
 fully observed in China by most Missions that candidates 
 are not received, even to the catechumenate, while they 
 have any connection with a lawsuit. 
 
 Others come to the missionary seeking help in matters 
 where pity and philanthropy strongly appeal to him to 
 go to their aid. It may be needful in such cases to make 
 clear that if the service desired is rendered to them, it 
 is done on the grounds of spontaneous humanity, and not 
 in return for the implied pledge or willingness on their 
 part to abandon the old religion and adopt the new. Only 
 where these conceptions have been made perfectly clear 
 to all concerned can permanent and healthy mission work 
 be done. The same correspondent in Madras makes the
 
 90 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 suggestive remark : " The hardest work of the missionary 
 begins when the converts are made. The children have 
 to be taught, the men and women have to be laboriously 
 trained, in purity, temperance, and holiness of life ; and 
 it is absolutely essential that this great work should be 
 carried on systematically and vigorously from the first. 
 History teaches us the fatal influence which the gathering 
 in of large masses of uneducated people into the Church, 
 without proper provision for training them in holiness of 
 life, has had upon the moral and spiritual life of the Church 
 of the West." 
 
 Notwithstanding all drawbacks and dangers, it must 
 be said that the general impression made upon our 
 minds by the statements of our correspondents is, on 
 the whole, favourable and encouraging. All seem to 
 be quite alive to the dangers of mass movements, and 
 to the abuses which may spring up in connection with 
 them, but at the same time there is a general agreement 
 that such movements have yielded real and lasting 
 fruit in many mission fields. It seems to be generally 
 agreed, also, that mass movements should by no means 
 be discouraged, that they should rather be welcomed, 
 and that every effort should be made to secure from 
 them the best results, and to avert the evils and dangers 
 of which all experienced workers are too well aware. 
 The Bishop of Madras, whose words we have already 
 quoted, gives his counsel in the following words : 
 " A mass movement is an open door, and the Church 
 should press through it with all her might. . . . Press 
 forward the evangelistic work. When a mass movement 
 has been once begun, it should be kept going. It 
 creates a feeling of unrest through the whole district 
 that should be kept alive and never allowed to flag. 
 When once men's hearts begin to be stirred over a large 
 area, then is the time vigorously to preach the Gospel 
 to all classes and in every village." 
 
 Another thoughtful correspondent writes : " Hundreds 
 of our best people were swept in on the tide of the mass 
 movement, who. as individuals, would hardly have been
 
 CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 91 
 
 sought or reached by any other method." Another 
 says : " Nineteen-twentieths of our Christians are the 
 result of mass movements. Some fall away, more 
 remain, and the general result has been most encouraging. 
 We have many examples of true piety and loyal obedience 
 to Christ among those who came to us at first from 
 mixed motives." 
 
 On the whole, we may say that the general judgment 
 upon mass movements seems to be more favourable 
 than might have been expected, and when the testimony 
 of our correspondents is read in the light of what we 
 know of the history of the Church, we are led to hope 
 for great things from movements which often arise 
 obscurely, determined by motives of a low order, but 
 which at later stages develop the more spiritual 
 character, and by faithful and patient teaching may 
 evidently be made to contribute largely to the building 
 up of the Christian Church. 
 
 RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 We addressed some questions to our correspondents 
 with regard to the influence of racial characteristics, and 
 the various forms of social organisation that are met 
 with in different parts of the mission field. The subject, 
 however, is a large and difficult one, and the information 
 which has been placed at our disposal does not enable 
 us to deal with it thoroughly. We may say, however, 
 that on the face of the replies sent to us, there is 
 apparent a somewhat different point of view on the part 
 of missionaries in India as compared with that taken 
 by those in China and Japan. In India it is found 
 that the Hindus as a race have marked religious tendencies, 
 and are not slow to respond to religious teaching, but 
 the features of the social organisation greatly hinder 
 personal liberty. The individual is not the unit of life, 
 he is a mere fraction of an overgrown family, whom 
 custom constrains in all things to act together. On the 
 other hand, the village system in India is on the whole
 
 92 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 favourable to the spread and growth of Christianity, 
 though being a compact organism, it tends to resist the 
 profession of Christian faith on the part of its members 
 as a disintegrating force threatening its own existence. 
 Personal independence is, moreover, checked by the 
 gentle and submissive nature of the Hindu temperament. 
 It has, therefore, been difficult in India to raise up 
 strong, independent, self-supporting Churches, and the 
 tendency of Hindu Christians to continue to rely upon 
 the guidance and control of their foreign Mission is only 
 too apparent. 
 
 In China racial characteristics and the fabric of social 
 observances appear to be on the whole more favourable 
 to mission work. There, too, the village system allows 
 for the most part free access to the people on the part 
 of the missionary, while a very real democracy in spirit 
 and feeling enables all classes to listen together to the 
 new teaching. The solidarity of Chinese society is 
 perhaps not less than that of Indian society, but the 
 individual seems able, notwithstanding, to assert more 
 freely his individual will. In both nations the family 
 system is a great power. In India, in addition to this 
 closely knit society, the individual is restrained by the 
 powerful system of caste, which may be regarded as a 
 social observance, and also as a deep-rooted principle, 
 enshrined and dignified by religious sanctions. China 
 is entirely free from the domination of caste, and there 
 is, on the other hand, a very general sense of personal 
 equality and freedom, subject only to the wider interests 
 of the family and the clan. 
 
 As in part, at least, the result of these peculiarities, 
 it seems to have been easier to lead the Chinese Church 
 to take upon its own shoulders its own burdens without 
 leaning upon foreign help than it has been in India. 
 But, while the history of missions will vary greatly in 
 different fields, the winning of so many varied types will 
 ultimately be to the great enrichment of the universal 
 Church.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 
 
 A GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY 
 
 A DELICATE and grave responsibility rests upon mission- 
 aries in guarding the moral life of the Church which they 
 have founded, teaching the converts to walk worthily of 
 the Gospel, and so guiding the Church in its discipline 
 that by the wholesome influence of severity in love, 
 offenders may be corrected and restored, others be warned, 
 and the greatest good accrue to the cause of God in the 
 surrounding community. Our Lord committed to His 
 followers the power of binding and loosing, and of passing 
 sentence upon those who stubbornly break the bonds of 
 brotherly fellowship, and the resultant responsibility is 
 one which the Church cannot rightly shrink from fulfilling. 
 
 The life of the professing Christian should be a winning 
 message to the world, testifying to a religion of salvation 
 from the power of sin, and of fellowship with a most holy 
 God ; and a Church alive to its Divine calling must 
 jealously guard its purity, and keep on the highest level 
 its ideals of character and conduct. It will sensitively 
 remember that the children of God must be imitators of 
 Him, and that those who say they abide in Him who is 
 our life ought themselves also to walk even as He walked. 
 
 When it is remembered further that these ideals are to 
 become realities in a young and inexperienced Christian 
 community compelled to breathe continually the atmo- 
 sphere of surrounding paganism, it is seen how entire 
 must be the dependence on the sustaining power of the 
 Divine Spirit. 
 
 D3
 
 94 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 The Commission therefore approaches the subject of 
 Church discipline with a profound sense of its importance. 
 The privilege and duty of the Church is indeed to bear 
 witness to her Lord, but, to-day, as in earlier times, the 
 witness of the word and the witness of worship will avail 
 but little unless they be accompanied by the witness of 
 life. The witness of the Christian is to be unmistakable ; 
 he is to be as the salt, as the light, characterised in conduct 
 and standard of life by separation from the old life out of 
 which he has been called into fellowship with Christ. In 
 other words, to the Christian society has been entrusted 
 the duty of maintaining and handing down unimpaired, 
 not only that which has been committed to her in the 
 matter of doctrine, but also a peculiar standard of life. 
 This can be effectively guarded only by the exercise of 
 some form of what is commonly termed Church discipline. 
 
 Since the subject is one as important as it is delicate, 
 the Commission will approach it in the spirit of humble 
 expectancy, for in laying down the conditions for con- 
 tinuance in the holy fellowship in the exercise of the 
 power " to bind and loose," the Church may look with 
 full assurance for the guidance of her Divine Head. 
 
 Yet there is indeed need for us to humble ourselves 
 before Him. A study of the early history of the western 
 Church warns us how fruitful a source of strife and division 
 has been this matter of discipline, and in modern times the 
 Kingdom of God suffers in this respect perhaps more 
 than in any other alike from the divisions which prevail 
 among us, and from the spirit of individualism which is so 
 characteristic of the Anglo-American temper. 
 
 THE DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY 
 
 To turn to detail the authority which deals with 
 questions of discipline naturally varies according to the 
 form of government which obtains in any particular 
 Mission. A remarkable agreement is, however, to be 
 found in the general plan. Whether it be the session, 
 the presbytery, or the synod, as in the Presbyterian ; or
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 95 
 
 the class meeting, the leader's meeting, and the minor 
 district synod, as in the Wesleyan Methodist ; or the local 
 council, the central council, and the bishop, as in the 
 Episcopalian polity, there is, under different names, the 
 same ascending scale of courts of appeal as a security 
 against injustice. In German missions, and apparently 
 in Continental missions generally, though the conciliar 
 action is not always so apparent, the principle is recog- 
 nised, and the missionary always acts in co-operation 
 with the presbyters of the local congregation. In serious 
 cases the "praeses" or "Vorstand" of the local con- 
 ference, or the whole conference itself, or the home 
 directorate of the Mission, is the court of appeal. 
 
 In the case of the majority of the Missions the terms of 
 Communion and general principles of discipline are laid 
 down by the higher courts, while the actual dealing with 
 individuals is, in the first instance, in the hands of the 
 local court. On this latter point, however, we note a 
 difference of practice, for in some polities, while minor 
 offences are entirely committed to the local courts, in 
 the case of more serious offences, such as would involve 
 suspension or excommunication, the local courts can only 
 find as to the facts, the pronouncement of judgment being 
 reserved for the higher court. 
 
 Generally speaking, we notice a general movement in 
 the direction of delegating more and more the exercise 
 of discipline from the European to the native elements in 
 the Church, or at least of inviting the co-operation of the 
 native. Under the social conditions of Indian life in 
 particular this ought not to be difficult ; the Indian mind 
 is familiar with the village and caste fianchayats as 
 disciplinary bodies, and we rejoice to find that in almost 
 every case these are being taken up and utilised by the 
 Christian Church in India. Indeed, it is a wise policy to 
 translate our western titles, such as " council," " session," 
 and " synod," as far as possible by equivalent names that 
 are indigenous. In Missions where the panchayat system 
 prevails we note evidence to the effect that decisions 
 arrived at in these meetings carry a weight which does
 
 96 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 not in the same degree attach to the verdict of the mis- 
 sionary-in-charge, or of a council mainly European. In 
 a few cases we notice that it is still the European mission- 
 ary who is the sole officer of discipline, and perhaps this 
 is inevitable in the earliest days of a Mission. Plainly, 
 however, it ought never to be regarded as a permanent 
 feature, or be long acquiesced in. If we, as foreigners, 
 discipline the unruly, we may edify the individual, but 
 we fail to edify the community, for we destroy the sense 
 that it is the duty of the community to guard its own 
 morality. 
 
 THE OFFENCES DEALT WITH 
 
 The Commission has collected evidence on the most 
 frequent faults and offences dealt with in Church dis- 
 cipline. The evidence so gathered from all parts of the 
 world cannot but deepen within us the sense of the 
 deep corruption into which our nature has fallen, and the 
 universal need of a Saviour. There is a painful monotony 
 about the lists supplied to us, which might be summed 
 up in St. Paul's description of the works of the flesh in 
 Gal. v. 19. In certain countries the spirit of evil assumes 
 varying forms according to the character or circumstances 
 of the people, as, for example, in India (strangely perhaps 
 but very surely) quarrelling and strife and love of litiga- 
 tion ; while, in addition to these, the Church in China 
 has to face special temptations to gambling and opium- 
 smoking. 
 
 In reading the correspondence from Japan the word of 
 warning addressed to the Church in Ephesus comes 
 painfully to mind : " I have this against thee, that thou 
 didst leave thy first love." Worldliness and an in- 
 difference to discipline, consequent no doubt in large degree 
 upon superficial contact with the western world, seem to 
 threaten her spiritual life. If we desired to particularise 
 the perils common to the whole Church in the mission 
 field, we should, according to the evidence before us, have 
 little hesitation in repeating the apostolic admonition 
 to the Gentiles of their day " That ye abstain from things
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 97 
 
 sacrificed to idols " (with a wider interpretation perhaps 
 than in the days of St. Paul), "and from fornication," 
 for the spirit of uncleanness is still the characteristic 
 sin of the heathen world. 
 
 STAGES OF DISCIPLINE 
 
 As regards the stages, limits, and publicity of discipline, 
 there seems on the surface, at any rate, to be general 
 agreement. In almost every Mission the stages are, in 
 the first instance, remonstrance and rebuke privately 
 administered by the pastor, followed, if necessary, by 
 suspension for a period from the sacraments and privileges 
 of the community, and in the last resort by sentence of 
 exclusion, or excommunication, solemnly pronounced 
 in the face of the congregation. According to several of 
 our correspondents, a fine imposed by the community 
 is a common and effective mode of discipline for minor 
 offences. In India, where the offences against caste are 
 dealt with in the Hindu brotherhood meetings by means of 
 a fine, we notice that in not a few missions this practice 
 has been taken over into the Christian Church, and several 
 correspondents testify to its effectiveness. In view, 
 however, of the obvious danger, especially in a country 
 like China, of the native mind interpreting this to mean 
 that guilt can be commuted by a money payment, the 
 Commission hesitates to recommend any general adoption 
 of the method. 
 
 LIMITED OR INDEFINITE SUSPENSION 
 
 On the question whether suspension should be for a 
 definite period, or indefinitely continued until repent- 
 ance has been shown, there is some divergence of opinion 
 and practice. 
 
 Some correspondents are strongly of opinion that the 
 
 " definite period " system is harmful, inasmuch as there 
 
 is a tendency for those under discipline to regard the 
 
 period of punishment as in itself an atonement for the 
 
 COM. ii. 7
 
 98 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 offence ; and one Mission in Africa has deliberately 
 changed its methods so that now suspension is inde- 
 finite, and continues " until fruits of repentance are 
 shown." On the other hand it is argued that " there are 
 many cases of discipline which in their own nature hardly 
 give opportunity for any very definite manifestation of 
 penitence. The offence which has been dealt with may 
 be of such a nature that the harm done is done once for 
 all, and there is perhaps no temptation to repeat the 
 offence. In such a case it is very difficult to judge 
 whether discipline has produced penitence or no. There 
 is, on the other hand, an unwillingness to press the offender 
 for an expression of penitence which may not be entirely 
 spontaneous ; while he, on his part, may shrink from 
 professing a penitence of which he can give no positive 
 proofs. It may be better, at least in some cases, that 
 suspension should be pronounced for a definite limit of 
 time, at the expiration of which the whole case should 
 come up again for review." 
 
 PUBLICITY OF DISCIPLINE 
 
 It does not appear that minor offences or punishments 
 are in the practice of any missionary bodies notified 
 publicly to the congregation. Sentences of suspension 
 from communion or excommunication are in the great 
 majority of Missions notified to the congregation, and it 
 seems to be right and needful that this should be done, 
 in accordance with St. Paul's injunction, " Them that 
 sin reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be 
 in fear." Whether they are made known to those out- 
 side the Church depends generally upon the circumstances 
 of the case. If the offence has been the ground of public 
 comment and scandal, or has been an offence against 
 properly constituted civil authority, or has involved the 
 name of the Church in disgrace, this is generally done, but 
 otherwise it is not. Some missionary bodies, particularly 
 those of Continental Europe and the Churches of the 
 Anglican Communion, take a very strict line in this
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 99 
 
 matter. The following case, though perhaps an extreme 
 instance, is illustrative of the extent to which publicity 
 is sometimes carried : 
 
 " Suspension and excommunication are publicly notified 
 to Christians and non-Christians by a written statement 
 posted in a conspicuous place, like a church door, or a 
 notice board. In helping to restore penitents, we have 
 gone back to the usage of the primitive Church, and have 
 introduced public punishment for public sins. When a 
 man does wrong openly and grievously, we put up the 
 notice saying that such a man, a Christian, has done 
 thus, and so, and until he repents, cannot come to the 
 Communion, nor sit among the Christians in church. 
 In some of our churches the seats are divided into four 
 parts, each division being plainly marked ; the first, 
 ' Communicants sit here ' ; next, ' The baptized sit 
 here ' ; the third, ' Catechumens sit here ' ; and last, 
 ' Non-Christians and visitors sit here.' At one side is 
 the penitents' bench. Worshippers progress towards the 
 front according to their growth in knowledge and Christian 
 character. In one case a Christian was for sixteen months 
 under discipline for a grievous sin. He came to church 
 regularly, and sat on the penitents' bench near the 
 heathen. The Christians wanted to see him restored, 
 and helped him by sympathy and prayer. But he was 
 taught to realise that before he could be received again 
 he must confess his sins and apologise. On the appointed 
 Sunday he made his public apology and confession. 
 Coming up to the steps of the chancel, the bishop and he 
 knelt side by side, while the bishop prayed. Then the 
 young man stood and faced the congregation, and the 
 congregation arose. This is what he said : ' I confess 
 before the Almighty and Omniscient Father, before our 
 Lord Jesus Christ Who shall judge all men ; before the 
 Holy Ghost Who purifies the heart, Three Persons in 
 One God, and before the members of the Holy Catholic 
 Church, that I have grievously sinned.' Then he stated 
 his sins explicitly and said : ' I realise that these are 
 sins against God and His Church, that I deserve the
 
 100 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Church's punishment here, and God's everlasting punish- 
 ment hereafter. I earnestly repent and am heartily 
 sorry for these my sins, and I pray God for Christ's sake 
 to forgive me, and I beg you to pray for me. I also ask 
 forgiveness of all Christians for the shame I have brought 
 on them and on the Church. I purpose, by God's help, 
 hereafter to live as becomes a follower of Christ.' Then 
 he kneeled down, and the bishop pronounced the Absolu- 
 tion. As he arose to take his seat among the communicants 
 once more, the bishop announced that word would be 
 sent to all the churches of the Mission that the man was 
 to be received again amongst those who strove to be true 
 followers of Jesus Christ." 
 
 APPLICATION OF DISCIPLINE TO PARTICULAR MATTERS 
 
 As regards the application of discipline to some par- 
 ticular duties and offences, the Commission would be con- 
 tent to draw attention to a few outstanding points which 
 have been touched on in the replies to our enquiries. 
 
 A. Observance of the Lord's Day 
 
 The question of the due observance of the Lord's Day, 
 in so far as that observance is regarded under the aspect 
 of rest from labour, is one which must surely be considered 
 in relation to the social* conditions of each country and 
 the circumstances of the Christian converts. In China, 
 for example, while the helpfulness of a sincere spiritual 
 observance of the day is generally taught, and those 
 Christians who are in an independent position are expected, 
 if not required, to refrain from business on that day, it 
 would be unreasonable to exercise general discipline on 
 the subject ; especially in the case of persons in sub- 
 ordinate positions, who are not masters of their time. 
 The position is thus stated by one of our correspondents : 
 " One of the greatest difficulties among small traders, or 
 sellers of country produce in the market towns, has 
 always been that it was difficult for the tradesmen with 
 whom they dealt to know when the Lord's Day would
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 101 
 
 occur, and as it might often coincide with the customary 
 market-days, the relations between buyer and seller 
 became difficult, so that Christian people were sometimes 
 at a considerable disadvantage. So also with regard 
 to taking part in the fishing industry, and with regard 
 to taking their rotation in using the village system of 
 irrigation, or in joint work on a large scale, such as the 
 crushing of the sugar-cane during the sugar harvest. 
 The difficulty of observing the Lord's Day under these 
 circumstances has made this almost unavoidably a 
 special test of earnestness, and of willingness to suffer 
 loss for the sake of spiritual benefit. Such questions 
 need to be treated with great sympathy and consideration, 
 and we find the Chinese ministers, elders, and other 
 brethren very careful in insisting upon a Christian attitude 
 in the matter, and yet very sympathetic with those who 
 find difficulty in keeping the day holy." The same 
 social difficulties are keenly felt in very many Missions 
 in Africa. 
 
 In India we find considerable variety in the extent to 
 which labour is permitted, and this again is no doubt 
 partly due to the varying strata of society from which 
 converts in the different parts are drawn. Generally 
 speaking, the same difficulty presents itself as in China 
 and Africa. One correspondent expresses the position 
 vigorously : 
 
 " Upholding the sanctity of the Sabbath law is a matter 
 of extreme difficulty in a non-Christian community 
 where employers of labour pay no regard to it, and where 
 many Government operations of various kinds are con- 
 tinued on the Sabbath under the control of Europeans, 
 and where many Europeans bearing the Christian name 
 pay no heed to the claims of the day. The native 
 Christians who are poor (as most of them are), and de- 
 pendent for daily bread on their service for non-Christian 
 masters, are practically compelled to work at least a 
 portion of the day, and so are those in some cases in 
 Government offices and in State and railway employ." 
 In the case of various Missions in Northern India, who
 
 102 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 draw "their converts mainly from despised but independent 
 classes, such as chamars (shoemakers), the cessation from 
 work on Sunday is laid down as a definite rule of member- 
 ship, the breach of which is punished by fine or in other 
 ways. It is maintained that in practice this rule is 
 good, as what the Christian loses in time and money he 
 makes up for by his non-observance of the many Hindu 
 and Mohammedan festivals, and thus both spiritually 
 and materially he is the gainer. In South India, in the 
 Telugu districts, again, we are informed that " Hindu 
 masters will excuse their labourers from work on Sunday 
 if the principle is once established that this is part of 
 the Christian religion." " In Tinnevelly, on the other 
 hand, a large number of Christians are toddy drawers, 
 and climb palmyra trees every day during about six 
 months in the year, to draw the toddy juice. It is said 
 that if the tree is not cut every day the flow of the juice 
 is checked. The result is that during the season even 
 the Christians climb the trees every day. As they climb 
 upon an average about 6000 feet of palmyra trees each 
 day, it is not easy for them to observe the Lord's Day or 
 to attend religious services with profit during these six 
 months." 
 
 Another correspondent, writing on the same point, to 
 some extent modifies the view expressed : 
 
 " The climbing of the palmyra trees for some six months 
 in the year is a source of livelihood to a large number of 
 our Christians ; and, from time immemorial, climbing 
 on Sunday has been allowed (though not quite to the same 
 extent as on other days), as it is considered that it is 
 absolutely necessary. Opinions on this subject differ, 
 and I have known cases of men when truly converted 
 who have, of their own accord, practically given up all 
 climbing on the Lord's Day (i.e. from 6 a.m. on Sunday 
 morning to 4 or 5 a.m. on Monday morning), with the 
 result that they say they are so much better in body and 
 soul that, even if there is a slight loss in the produce, they 
 gladly bear it. This has only been done, however, in 
 very few instances, and the habit of climbing on Sundays
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 103 
 
 makes it very much more difficult to deal strictly with 
 other matters, such as irrigation (specially where the 
 Christians are partners with Hindus in wells and have 
 to take their turn, as it comes, for irrigation purposes), 
 and the like." 
 
 What may be termed the negative aspect of the Sunday 
 problem rest from labour must then, we would urge, 
 be everywhere considered in relation to the social con- 
 ditions of the converts. This, however, is not the only 
 governing consideration ; the various Missions cannot but 
 bring their respective traditions on a subject which has 
 assumed a very prominent position in the religious 
 history of the West during the last three hundred years, 
 to bear upon their work in the mission field. We are 
 very far from undervaluing the influence of the Day of 
 Rest upon religious life, and one correspondent, who is 
 not himself altogether in sympathy with the rigorous 
 line previously adopted by the Mission of which he is a 
 member, admits that " the strict practice in the early 
 years of the Mission has strongly impressed upon the 
 minds of the Chinese Christians the necessity for a due 
 observance of the Lord's Day," and that, " even in cases 
 where such observance seemed at first sight to be ex- 
 tremely difficult, those who were really in earnest always 
 found it possible to keep the sanctity of the day unbroken." 
 
 We would urge upon missionaries, with all regard to 
 the difficulties of present practice, the duty of keeping 
 that sanctity of the day before the mind of the Church 
 while young in the faith, so that when the Church attains 
 to social independence it may influence even heathen 
 custom in this direction. At the same time there is 
 surely a danger of being too negative in our teaching, 
 and we would press upon missionary bodies, alike in the 
 interests of truth and of peace, that they should rather 
 press the positive aspect of the Lord's Day as a day of 
 worship. Here we are on ground which is far less con- 
 troversial, and which surely needs to be emphasised. 
 As one of our correspondents truly points out, the observ- 
 ance of the day has even more vital bearing upon Christian
 
 104 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 life in eastern lands than is the case with the Christians 
 in the home lands : by reason of their illiteracy and domestic 
 conditions, which largely hinder the enjoyment of the 
 private means of grace Bible study and private prayer 
 they are the more dependent upon the public services 
 and the sacraments. Even where circumstances forbid 
 the observance of the day as one of rest from labour it 
 may still be possible to make time for worship, and this 
 point should always be emphasised. 
 
 It is remarkable that in China influences are at work 
 which give reason to hope that the Day of Rest may ere 
 long become a national institution. For many years, 
 under the control of Sir Robert Hart, the Imperial Mari- 
 time Customs' staff, both Chinese and foreign, have en- 
 joyed the privilege of the weekly Day of Rest. This, 
 along with the observance of the same day by the Chinese 
 Christians as their weekly " Worship Day," has made it 
 familiar to the general community. There is at least one 
 instance of an up-country enquirer who had hesitated 
 at the difficulty of keeping the day in his own employment, 
 coming down to one of the ports, and being greatly im- 
 pressed by seeing the whole Customs establishment 
 closed on the Day of Rest. " Why," he said, " if the 
 Customs can keep the Sabbath, so can I ! " The new 
 educational movement works in the same direction. 
 When, under the Education Decrees, the new curricula 
 were laid down for schools and colleges of all grades, in 
 imitation of western calendars, one day in seven, and 
 that the Lord's Day, was marked as a day of rest or 
 " dies non." Cases have occurred where the boys of 
 non-Christian schools were sent by their parents to 
 neighbouring churches on the Lord's Day, with the 
 request that, their own school being closed, they might 
 be permitted to attend church on that day to keep them 
 out of mischief ! 
 
 Such indications should encourage the Chinese Church 
 to hold fast by its precious Day of Rest, with a good hope 
 that by so doing they may help to win for their country 
 for all time this inestimable boon.
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 105 
 
 B. Drunkenness 
 
 The Commission would draw attention to the fact 
 that drunkenness is beginning to threaten the life of the 
 Church in the mission field, particularly in those places 
 where the results of contact with the West are most felt. 
 In China, indeed, the sin can hardly be regarded yet 
 as a common one within the Church. But from India, 
 warnings of the danger are frequent, although the climate 
 and the traditional habits of the people make it the less 
 excusable. 
 
 It is humiliating to record that more than one corre- 
 spondent speaks of the growth of this vice as mainly due 
 to western example. In parts of Africa, especially where 
 European liquor is obtainable, the Church is in great danger, 
 and deals most rigorously with the sin. 
 
 C. Litigation 
 
 We are glad to note that, while litigation as between 
 Christian and heathen is not forbidden, though strongly 
 discouraged, the evidence from China is unanimous 
 to the effect that neither the foreign missionary, nor the 
 Church as such, may take any part in interference with 
 the ordinary course of law. The ruling of the Wesleyan 
 Methodist Church in its Book of Discipline runs as 
 follows : 
 
 " Members and enquirers must understand that position 
 in the Christian Church does not alter the status of a 
 Chinese subject. A man who, according to Chinese 
 custom, has not the right of entry to a Yamen or the 
 power to send his card to the Yamen in ordinary cases 
 gains no such right or power because he has become a 
 member or enquirer." 
 
 D. Mixed Marriages 
 
 The question as to whether, and within what limits, 
 mixed marriages i.e. the betrothal or marriage of 
 Christians with non-Christians is to be tolerated, is 
 one on which some difference exists in practice, though
 
 106 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 all agree in the opinion that such marriages are undesir- 
 able. The tendency throughout the mission field is in 
 the direction of taking a more severe line. The question 
 is of primary importance, and demands careful considera- 
 tion. In the words of one of our correspondents : " As 
 the family is the basis of the community, so the adjust- 
 ment of community life to the Christian marriage-standard 
 is the pivot of discipline." In some Missions in China, 
 we are informed by several correspondents, it has not 
 been found practicable to forbid these mixed marriages. 
 Other Missions, possibly in a more advanced stage, 
 and therefore with a larger field for selection, while they 
 may tolerate the admission of non-Christian girls into 
 Christian families, do absolutely forbid the marrying of 
 Christian girls into non-Christian heathen families. 
 The position is well described by a correspondent thus : 
 " The persistent endeavour is made within the Chinese 
 Church that betrothals and marriages shall, so far as 
 possible, take place only between those who on both 
 sides are Christians. But as betrothals are often made 
 at a very early age, it not infrequently happens that 
 Christian people, younger or older, have been betrothed 
 before they became Christians, and as this is a kind of 
 contract to which the greatest importance is attached, 
 a betrothal being quite as binding as a marriage, it would 
 be impossible for the parties, even if both were willing, 
 to break off a contract of betrothal. In the case of a 
 man marrying a non-Christian young woman, we have 
 felt less cause for anxiety, because in such cases, the 
 bride usually comes into a Christian family and atmo- 
 sphere, so that, although brought up outside of the 
 Christian circle, she generally conforms to Christian 
 practice, and in very many cases becomes ere long a 
 sincere Christian. But we cannot help feeling much 
 anxiety in the converse case, where a Christian girl. 
 on account of an old-standing betrothal, is compelled 
 to be married out into a non-Christian family. It is 
 extremely difficult for her in such a case, in a family 
 whose members are all non-Christian, and amongst
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 107 
 
 whom she is an entire stranger, to continue to make a 
 Christian profession, and usually she would not be per- 
 mitted to attend Christian worship. But it is very 
 remarkable how even in such cases of extreme difficulty 
 not a few young women have not merely maintained 
 their own Christian profession, but have been the means 
 of bringing the non-Christian family of which they have 
 become members to the truth. The view taken by our 
 most enlightened Chinese brethren is that Christian 
 parents who deliberately betroth their daughters into 
 non- Christian families ought to be dealt with severely 
 by way of Church discipline, that those who propose to 
 take non-Christian girls as wives for their sons should 
 be advised against this course, but that if they fail to 
 take this advice, it can hardly be made a matter of 
 Church discipline. One point that is largely insisted upon 
 by the Christians is that the betrothal money, which is 
 a vital element in contracts of this kind, should among 
 Christian people not be fixed at so high a figure as to 
 create a difficulty in the way of arranging Christian 
 marriages." 
 
 If a girl is betrothed to a non-Christian man before the 
 conversion of her family she is, in some cases (though it 
 is admittedly a more difficult problem), not received into 
 the Church, unless it is understood that she will be allowed 
 freedom of worship. Until this stage of discipline has 
 been arrived at, there must surely be something un- 
 satisfactory in the life of a Church. The difficulty ex- 
 perienced in Japan is best illustrated by the following 
 extracts from the replies of a correspondent : 
 
 " In Old Japan there were no marriage laws whatever ; 
 the two families merely arranged such a matter among 
 themselves, and after a feast or exchange of presents, the 
 couple began to live together as man and wife. Now 
 there are laws on the subject which the people ma}' use if 
 they so elect ; but in perhaps half the cases they elect to 
 follow old customs, and merely begin to live together. 
 If pregnancy ensues, and on the whole the parties seem 
 suited to be man and wife, then before the child is actually
 
 108 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 born, the registration is effected, and they are legally 
 husband and wife. If, on the other hand, no pregnancy 
 ensues, or there is any other objection to the woman, back 
 she goes without any ceremony to her parents, and this 
 never is noted, of course, in the official divorce statistics, 
 seeing it was never a marriage." 
 
 " With such a low state of public opinion, our be- 
 lievers are often merely ignorant of what is proper ; and 
 before we know it they have been married off by their 
 family in the old-time way, and have been living in this 
 sort of wedlock for weeks before we hear of it. Then we 
 try to have a proper Christian ceremony and the legal 
 registration effected, but often as not the heathen families 
 are in control, and we are powerless to have anything 
 done. Thus it may happen that a man will trade wives 
 a time or two before we can overtake things enough to 
 have any effect, as the whole management of matters will 
 be in the hands of parties who care not for us or our 
 Gospel." 
 
 In India we find the same divergence of practice as in 
 China, though surely with less excuse. It is true that, in 
 the case of families converted to Christianity, serious 
 legal difficulties will be raised as regards the children 
 betrothed to Hindus in infancy, but the cases that arise 
 are generally more simple. Christian parents, from 
 motives that are quite intelligible, desire to marry their 
 children into Hindu families. Under the Christian 
 Marriage Act (India) the ceremony can be legally per- 
 formed either before the Registrar, or by some Christian 
 minister, but the evidence does not imply that mission- 
 aries would willingly officiate at such times. In one 
 Mission in South India an enquiry, instituted in 1908, into 
 such marriages in some four or five districts, resulted in 
 the discovery that out of ninety-nine such marriages only 
 twelve had been conducted with Christian rites ! The 
 experience of some of the strongest Missions in India has, 
 however, been bitter even on this point ; they have 
 started with what may be termed the " broader view," 
 and have permitted Hindu girls to marry Christian boys,
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 109 
 
 and the result has been in most cases disastrous ; the 
 woman is the stronger influence in the Indian home, and 
 the Christian life has grown feeble or died out entirely, 
 and the Mission has found itself compelled to forbid such 
 marriages on pain of exclusion. Our general conclusion 
 on this heading would be to endorse the recommendation 
 of the recent Lambeth Conference Committee, that " the 
 penalty of excommunication should be inflicted when the 
 marriages are celebrated with religious rites which are 
 inconsistent with a profession of Christianity, or in cases 
 where it is certain that such marriages will involve the 
 practical renunciation of Christianity" (Conference of 
 Bishops of the Anglican Communion : Encyclical Letter, 
 with Resolutions and Reports, 1908, p. 113). The 
 " penalty " referred to is, as appears from the previous 
 paragraph of the Report, to be inflicted on the Christian 
 parents on whose authority the marriage is contracted, 
 not on the young people themselves, who, by custom, 
 have little or no voice in the matter. Of course, such a 
 line of action assumes the existence of schools for the 
 education of Christian boys and Christian girls, and the 
 development of work among women, but this is only one 
 of many examples which go to show how intimately 
 bound together are all branches of missionary activity. 
 Mixed marriages will cease in proportion as Christian 
 schools and colleges produce in adequate numbers young 
 men and women in all classes of society, who are alike 
 fitted by Christian education and culture to realise in 
 their unions the high ideals of Christian marriage. 
 
 A matter which merits serious attention in this con- 
 nection is the Oriental institution of the " go-between." 
 These persons are usually elderly women, often widows, 
 who make a living by cultivating a wide acquaintance, 
 and arranging betrothals and marriages between families. 
 These treaties are too often made in the interest of the 
 " go-between's " fees rather than in the real interest of 
 those principally concerned, and parents often fatuously 
 allow themselves to be talked into the most unsuitable 
 alliances for their children. It might well be considered
 
 110 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 whether in the Christian communities this institution, 
 alien as it is to our western mind, should not be explicitly 
 recognised, and an effort made by the Church to secure 
 that in its own families this important social function 
 shall be exercised only by worthy women of tested 
 Christian character. It might, with other duties, be 
 entrusted to an order of deaconesses, or trustworthy 
 women might receive a certificate of character and fitness 
 from some suitable Church authority, ' and all Christian 
 parents might be urged to employ only these authorised 
 " go-betweens " in making betrothals for their children. 
 In one Presbyterian synod in China a rule has been made 
 that proposed betrothals should always be reported to the 
 local pastor or elders before they are concluded. 
 
 MATTERS OF DOUBTFUL EXPEDIENCY 
 
 The questions arising out of the attitude of the Christian 
 convert to customs or beliefs of doubtful expediency, while 
 too various to be gone into in detail by the Commission, 
 are yet of supreme importance. On the one hand, mission 
 work is, or ought to be, directly affected by national 
 customs as regards the methods it employs and the 
 forms in which it finds expression ; on the other hand, 
 whatever methods and forms are employed, national 
 customs cannot fail to be affected by mission work. 
 The whole subject has relation not merely to questions 
 of discipline, but also to conditions of admission to baptism 
 and to means of edification, yet it is under the head of 
 discipline that such questions are most constantly pressing. 
 The Church has to determine what customs are purely 
 social, and, therefore, though very different from those 
 familiar to the West, yet most certainly to be retained ; 
 what customs and beliefs, again, are essentially idolatrous 
 or immoral, and, therefore, to be forbidden on pain of 
 exclusion from the Christian society ; and finally most 
 vexed of all questions at what point the deterioration 
 of a custom or belief, which once may have enshrined a 
 real truth, has so far advanced that " the abuse
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 111 
 
 could not well be taken away, the thing remaining 
 still." 
 
 There is probably no cause which has worked more 
 disastrously to the acceptance of our Faith among the 
 more educated and cultured classes of pagan communities 
 than the idea that the Christian religion ignores native 
 social customs and thought, tends towards denationalisa- 
 tion, and is essentially a religion peculiar to the West. 
 On the other hand, it is by his break with such customs 
 of his people as are clearly contrary to the Christian 
 Faith, that the native convert gives most evident proof 
 of the reality of his conversion, and causes his light to 
 shine before men. Would that all customs were thus 
 easily divisible into these two classes ! 
 
 Two further points need to be borne in mind. It is 
 not infrequently the case that, for reasons purely local 
 and temporary, a disciplinary authority has to forbid 
 some custom of which, at other times and under other 
 circumstances, it would entirely approve. For example, 
 a missionary of wide experience cites a case in some 
 Maori villages in which cricket matches gave rise to such 
 abuses, and such entire neglect of duty, that, for the time 
 being, and for that particular locality, it was deemed 
 necessary to forbid cricket ! The same is the case, 
 though on a larger scale, in regard to dancing in Africa ; 
 in many localities night dances, and dances connected 
 with the rites of initiation into full membership of the 
 tribe, are so closely associated with what is evil often, 
 indeed, in themselves so absolutely vile that any 
 Christian known to have been present at them is at 
 once put under discipline. It would be easy, but entirely 
 unfair, from such cases to bring the charge of narrowness 
 and bigotry against the Christian missionaries. Rules 
 of discipline can only be criticised in connection with the 
 circumstances out of which they have arisen. 
 
 Once more, the aim of every missionary, in imposing 
 discipline, is, as we have constantly emphasised, to make 
 sensitive and to educate the conscience of the young 
 Church. The means by which this sensitiveness can
 
 112 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 best be effected will differ in proportion to the ethical 
 stage already attained by the people or race in question. 
 In childhood law plays and ought to play a far larger 
 part than in manhood. This is true no less of the nation 
 and of the Church than of the individual. The Anglican 
 Bishop of Melanesia, for example, records how in the 
 early days of the Melanesian Mission various customs 
 were absolutely forbidden, but there was one custom of 
 the native society, called sugu, as to which Bishop 
 Patteson felt doubtful ; he thought that the people when 
 they became enlightened would give it up of themselves. 
 In the third generation, however, just when that enlighten- 
 ment ought to come upon them, the old custom was 
 breaking out afresh. The present bishop is of opinion that 
 the wiser course would have been to have forbidden the 
 custom at the very beginning. It does not, however, 
 follow from this that such parental government would be 
 the wiser course amongst people in stages of ethical 
 development higher than that attained by Melanesian 
 islanders. 
 
 Indeed, it is plain that either of two contrary courses 
 might in such cases be justified. On the one hand, in 
 the infancy of a Church, while its members are evidently 
 in a condition of pupilage, it may be right and necessary 
 to lay down a strict rule and to require obedience to it, 
 until the outlook of the Christian community has been 
 widened, its tone raised, and its conscience instructed, 
 so that the rule as a strict precept may be relaxed, and 
 the decision left to the individual conscience, now purified 
 and alive to the issues at stake. Or, on the other hand, 
 some things that are judged undesirable may be tolerated 
 during the childhood of the Church, while intelligence 
 grows to a clear conviction, and then with the support 
 of the maturer judgment of the Christian community a 
 rule may be laid down which will be enforced by the 
 hearty consent of the people, as embodying their own 
 understanding of the mind of Christ. Both principles 
 are sound in themselves, though variably applicable as 
 circumstances differ, and the missionary will find the
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 113 
 
 highest exercise of his function of leadership in the wise 
 adaptation of methods to the occasions to which they 
 properly apply. 
 
 The Commission desires to draw attention to the 
 marked 'change in the way of regarding such questions 
 which is being shown, particularly by the younger genera- 
 tion of missionaries, and which is in itself due to certain 
 tendencies of thought which are being strongly felt in 
 the home field. 
 
 These may be briefly summarised, as they have direct 
 application to the matter before us. In the first place, 
 an increasing impatience is being manifested towards 
 mere negations. We should probably all agree that the 
 " Protestantism " of the West has, not indeed without 
 reason, hitherto been open to the charge of being too 
 negative, and this temper of mind has not been without 
 influence upon her attitude in regard to " doubtful 
 customs " in the mission field. When, however, a 
 system has fastened itself upon a great people we may be 
 sure that it has done so because it has in some way met a 
 felt want, that it has to some extent contributed to the 
 well-being of the nation. False systems do not live on 
 account of the falsehood they contain, but on account of 
 some truth they enshrine ; a missionary of our time 
 increasingly realises that they will not be content to be 
 met by mere negations. This healthy desire to be positive 
 rather than negative, to build up rather than to break 
 down, to fulfil rather than to destroy, has received 
 reinforcement from the theological teaching of our 
 time. Attention is being redirected to the doctrine of 
 the Incarnation ; and the religion of Christ, interpreted 
 in the light of the Incarnation, finds everywhere traces 
 of that Light which lighteneth every man, that seminal 
 Word giving fragments of Truth even to those not privi- 
 leged to know God in Christ. The missionary so in- 
 structed, asks of any custom, What is the truth in it by 
 which it has lived through these many centuries ? For 
 the religion of the Incarnation leaves no true instinct 
 without provision for its proper satisfaction. In this 
 
 COM. II. 8
 
 114 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 task of enquiry he is aided, to an extent far beyond that 
 of his predecessors, by the modern science of comparative 
 religion, and by the more careful canons of criticism in 
 modern times. 
 
 We make no apology for this digression into the field 
 of theology, because we feel that even if it were within 
 the power of the Commission to treat of the proper 
 attitude of the Church towards the multitude of doubtful 
 customs in many lands which it is not yet the more 
 important matter is to determine the principles of uni- 
 versal application which should govern practical action. 
 It must suffice to refer to two outstanding questions 
 which come under this section that of " Ancestor Wor- 
 ship " in China, and that of the " Observance of Caste " 
 in India. 
 
 The question of " Ancestor Worship " has been most 
 fully and carefully dealt with by the Shanghai Conference 
 of 1907, and the Commission would refer to the debate 
 which took place at that Conference, and more especially 
 to the scholarly and thoughtful paper by the Rev. James 
 Jackson, which is also printed with the Report of the 
 Conference. In that paper these principles which we have 
 enunciated are applied in detail to the subject in question. 
 The Chinese word usually translated " worship," for 
 example, is analysed and found to be no less question- 
 begging than its English equivalent ; the various customs 
 associated with the ancestral cult are examined and 
 discussed ; a scholarly attempt is made to get back to 
 the origin and underlying idea of a practice which has 
 been characteristic of almost all peoples in certain stages 
 of civilisation; and it is frankly recognised that "the 
 Chinese, accustomed to the ancestral cult for thousands 
 of years, will not be content with our merely telling them 
 that the Christian dead are in heaven, and that they have 
 no longer any need of us, nor we of them." 
 
 The Commission would call attention to the Resolu- 
 tions ultimately arrived at in the Shanghai Conference. 
 (See Appendix M, i, p. 328.) Some may consider they 
 go too far, many will consider that they hardly go far
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 115 
 
 enough, but it would be almost impertinent to again 
 traverse the ground which has been so recently and so 
 carefully covered by men fully qualified by personal 
 experience to speak on the subject. 
 
 The attitude of the Christian Church towards caste 
 is a problem which presses, particularly in the southern 
 mission fields of India. In its main outlines the prob- 
 lem of caste in India is parallel to that presented by 
 " ancestor worship " in China. It also, in the land 
 where it prevails, is the great social stumbling-block to 
 the advance of Christianity. It also, in its full modern 
 development, is quite incompatible with any real appre- 
 hension of the Christian faith ; and yet, as in the case of 
 ancestor worship in China, here also we feel it is not 
 sufficient merely to condemn, especially as we are not 
 yet in a position to elaborate a social scale in place of the 
 system which we would root out. 
 
 Several practical questions arise : How far is it wise 
 or right to place a pariah minister in charge of a congre- 
 gation drawn mainly from people of higher caste ? How 
 far is it wise or right to enforce the method of administra- 
 tion of the Holy Sacrament customary in some of our 
 churches upon a people who instinctively shrink from 
 placing their lips to any cup, especially in view of the fact 
 that the method of the Eastern Orthodox Church already 
 supplies an alternative ? These, and kindred questions 
 of deepest interest and importance, He outside this section. 
 Directly to our purpose, however, is the question of the 
 advisability of forbidding the retention or use of all 
 caste names among Indian Christians. Many Missionary 
 Societies refuse to use these names officially, and bring 
 pressure to bear upon their catechumens to abandon 
 them. On the other hand, it is asked whether we have 
 any right to obliterate family traditions and history, 
 and that self-respect which may, it is true, degenerate 
 into pride, but is in itself a virtue and an inspiration. 
 Why should not a baptized Brahman hand down the fact 
 of noble ancestry and pure blood in a family name to 
 his Christian descendants ? Or, again, is it wise or right
 
 116 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 to bring pressure to bear in the direction of inter-marriage, 
 or even of inter-dining, between persons of differing caste 
 or origin ? The subject in all its applications is delicate 
 and difficult, and we are not aware that it has been 
 fairly discussed in recent years by representatives of the 
 various bodies at work in South India. 
 
 If we compel outward compliance among a naturally 
 obedient people, straining it beyond the spirit, we induce 
 hypocrisy ; on the other hand, to allow the outward 
 form to remain unchallenged is to stifle the growth of the 
 spirit of reform. 
 
 Similar questions arise in Africa, and indeed in every 
 mission field, but neither the material in our possession, 
 nor the space at our disposal, will permit of our discussing 
 them in detail. 
 
 Such doubtful questions, generally speaking, are best 
 dealt with by kindly and sympathetic guidance rather 
 than by the exercise of any severe or strictly defined 
 course of discipline. " The missionary should bear in 
 mind that, on the part of the Christian pastor, it is of 
 greater value that the conscience should be made sensitive, 
 than that a discipline should be exercised which can only 
 appear harsh and uneducative, so long as conscience is 
 unenlightened. " 
 
 One of our correspondents, speaking of discipline 
 generally, makes the following suggestive remarks, which 
 are specially applicable to those matters which may 
 fairly be described as 'doubtful: 
 
 " On few things, perhaps, does the judgment of indi- 
 vidual missionaries differ more than upon this. This 
 is mainly due to difference of temperament, and also to 
 difference in the stage of experience. One type of man 
 tends to be too hasty and severe, and to become unduly 
 suspicious ; whilst another is apt to become too slack 
 and easy-going. An occasional source of evil is the 
 tendency of some foreign missionaries to get too much 
 under the influence of one or two native workers (not 
 always the most reliable), and to see everything with
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 117 
 
 their eyes. It seems desirable to emphasise the need 
 of instruction, exhortation, rebuke, and warning, before 
 Church action of any kind is taken. The words of our 
 Lord concerning ' the woman Jezebel,' recorded in 
 Rev. ii. 21, where He says, ' I gave her space to repent/ 
 furnish a striking illustration of this principle. The 
 officers of the Church should be taught to recognise 
 their personal responsibility to restore, if possible, those 
 who have gone astray ; and to this end the duty and 
 privilege of individual and united prayer on behalf of 
 such may with advantage be impressed upon them." 
 
 From another correspondent we have a further illustra- 
 tion of the spirit of charity and discrimination in which 
 discipline must always be administered. He says : 
 
 " I have a degree of hesitancy in making statements 
 as to the character of discipline for certain offences, lest 
 my remarks should convey the wrong impression of hard- 
 and-fast rules being applied to these various conditions 
 considered as so many separate offences, each prescribed 
 for rigidly by, so to speak, a penal Church code. The- 
 oretically we can conceive of a Church member being 
 sincere and satisfactory in every particular save one, 
 e.g. Sabbath observance, use of wine or opium, etc., etc. 
 In such a case it might naturally appear that such discipline 
 as is indicated above is harsh, and tends to the ostracism 
 of true though weak Christians. But in point of actual 
 experience we do not, as a rule, meet this theoretical 
 case, but find rather that the one fault of offence that 
 stands out most prominently to be dealt with is, aside 
 from its own seriousness, an indication of a general 
 condition of decadence along a good many lines. This 
 really is its worst feature. We seldom find some clean- 
 cut sin or moral evil standing out alone from a Christian 
 life otherwise blameless and healthy, but rather that a 
 number of sins and weaknesses go together. So that 
 after all it is usually the case, even when disciplinary 
 action is technically based upon some one of the above- 
 cited points, that its broader underlying basis is a sadly 
 unsatisfactory condition of spiritual life as a whole. In
 
 all our Church discipline we seek to be ready to recognise 
 such cases as Galatians vi. i mentions, viz. ' a man 
 overtaken in a fault,' and needing to be ' restored in a 
 spirit of meekness,' rather than injured and ostracised 
 by legal and indiscriminating discipline." 
 
 At the same time, the Commission is of opinion that 
 general principles would be of great value if consistently 
 followed within the limits of each missionary body or 
 Church ; and even more so if between the various bodies 
 on the field. To leave this entire question to the temper 
 in some cases of undue severity, in others of undue 
 leniency of the local leaders and local Church, is to 
 encourage a state of affairs which is detrimental to the 
 welfare of the whole. On the other hand, the general 
 failing is the tendency to make discipline too minute, 
 and so possibly to hinder the growth of the moral sense. 
 We constantly need to be reminded of the deep reverence 
 which our Lord and St. Paul paid to the personality of 
 those with whom they had dealings, and that the one 
 end of law, and of discipline as guarding law, is the 
 development of the sense of sin ; in other words, the 
 training of a Christian conscience within the Church 
 under our care. 
 
 But it must not be forgotten that there are questions, 
 in regard both to faith and morals, which cannot be re- 
 garded as in any degree doubtful, and the almost complete 
 disappearance of Church discipline in the West is not 
 commendable, or to be imitated among Christian com- 
 munities which are yet young in the faith. 
 
 It seems right to call attention to this matter, since 
 instances of apparent laxity in discipline are reported 
 to us by some of our correspondents. We gladly recognise 
 that the practice of discipline on the mission field is, in 
 general, both vigilant and faithful, while it is also 
 characterised by the spirit of forbearance and love, 
 which seeks rather to win and restore than to put offenders 
 to shame. This is the spirit of meekness which is com- 
 mended by the apostle, but we cannot but think that 
 the limit of reasonable forbearance is overstepped in
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 119 
 
 some cases like the following. One correspondent writes : 
 " At Holi, the most obscene and disgusting of all the 
 Hindu festivals, it is the duty of the Mahar to light the 
 fire at the commencement of the ceremonies, and some 
 of the Christian Mahars perform this service. The 
 problem is more acute in the case of Mangs. Their 
 principal duty is to beat a drum daily before the image 
 of Maruti or a Hanuman, and on this their living practically 
 depends. To give it up may mean if not actual perse- 
 cution, serious difficulty in gaming a livelihood. The 
 position of many, perhaps a majority, of missionaries and 
 leading native Christians in Western India is that the 
 abandonment of such customs should not be insisted on 
 as a condition of baptism, or even communion. They 
 are defended on the ground that in practising them the 
 convert is not performing an act of worship on his own 
 part, but only doing his duty as a village servant. It is 
 admitted that they are inexpedient, but it is argued that 
 with the spread of enlightenment they will disappear." 
 Again, " In one festival (Dasera) the Mang woman is 
 worshipped by Maratha women and receives a dole of 
 bread ; and Christian women (Mangs) allow this ceremony, 
 which is bound up with the Mangs' above-mentioned 
 idolatrous occupation. The whole matter of the Christians 
 engaging in these occupations of the Mangs has been 
 frequently before our Kirk-Session. Some time ago it 
 was resolved that Christians doing so should be excom- 
 municated, but this rule has lately been rescinded." 
 
 We are aware that ambiguities may lurk under the 
 word " worshipped," and that there may be other reasons 
 for tolerance known only to those on the spot, but we 
 are glad to learn that the existing practice is to be re- 
 considered. 
 
 To take another illustration, it is pointed out to us 
 that there are missions, in India for example, having a 
 large number of adherents on their rolls, whose cemetery 
 yet fills but slowly as compared with those of smaller 
 missions in the neighbourhood. The only conclusion 
 can be that those of their adherents who would, in the
 
 120 THE CHUKCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 course of nature, have been buried there, had been leading 
 lives only ambiguously Christian, and when death came 
 the family have shown themselves to be at heart Hindu, 
 by giving them non-Christian burial. 
 
 In all fields there are testing crises in family life, such 
 as marriages or burials, and any mission which allows 
 its adherents to lead the double life, which comes to light 
 on such occasions, comes short of its duty and causes 
 grave scandal, so doing injury to the whole Body of 
 Christ. 
 
 We do not venture to pronounce judgment on such 
 matters, with our insufficient knowledge, but as we have 
 pled for a measure of leniency and forbearance in some 
 things, so we feel it right to urge that where Christians 
 are in danger of yielding to things distinctly evil, and so 
 obscuring their profession, it is a vital duty of the Church 
 to " rebuke them sharply," and never to permit her 
 charity to wear the aspect df condoning sin. 
 
 Our review in Chapter II. of this Report of the practice 
 of the missions in regard to conditions of admission led to 
 the conclusion that with a considerable variety of practice 
 there is a substantial harmony of ideals, and a firm purpose 
 to establish the purity of the Church in faith and life, and 
 to give it a truly spiritual character. A similar conclusion 
 follows from our review of the prevailing practice of Church 
 discipline. We have thought it right to give a caution 
 against laxity, but what may be deemed laxity is not due 
 to indifference to sanctity of life, but to a certain variety 
 of view as to whether in some matters it may not be better 
 secured by tenderness than by severity. Here also 
 we are encouraged to suggest the possibility of common 
 action based on the harmony of aims which is clearly 
 recognisable. 
 
 It ought to be unnecessary to urge that where two or 
 more missions are at work in one field, they should respect 
 and uphold each other's discipline. We venture to express 
 the hope that the present Conference may lead to such 
 general agreement on the whole question of discipline 
 as will make it practically impossible for a member
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE 121 
 
 who is under the censure of his own communion to evade 
 it by removing to another. Members should no doubt be 
 free to seek transference, and on grounds of conviction, 
 to pass from one communion to another. But it might 
 be arranged that in all such cases a certificate should be 
 required stating clearly whether the person concerned 
 is a communicant member in good standing, or is 
 under suspension or other Church censure, or is only 
 an adherent or catechumen. No communion would 
 then receive a member of another without previously 
 enquiring, and obtaining the usual official certificate 
 duly authenticated. When the applicant is found to 
 be under Church censure, even if the censure be not fully 
 approved by the receiving communion, or may seem to them 
 unduly severe, it would still seem right to recognise it as 
 an existing fact. The responsibility rests on those who 
 inflict it. It should not be removed until a fuller know- 
 ledge of the person, and of the circumstances, has been 
 acquired, and thereafter a remission may be ultimately 
 granted, not as a revision of the previous sentence, but as 
 a testimony that the person received has now by humility 
 and a consistent life been approved to the satisfaction 
 of the communion which he, or she, has now joined. 
 
 Some such practice, if it can be generally agreed upon 
 and faithfully carried out.will remove one of the evils which 
 have resulted in time past from the division which we all 
 regret. Common action under the two heads of admission 
 to the Church, and the maintenance of its discipline, would 
 greatly strengthen within the Church itself, and in the 
 eyes of the outside world, the consciousness that even in 
 face of the divisions which we have not yet been able to 
 remove, the Church is still, for at least some purposes 
 fundamental to its life, a real spiritual unity.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 EDIFICATION OF CHRISTIAN 
 COMMUNITY, ADULT AND JUVENILE 
 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP ON THE LORD'S DAY 
 
 WHEN the fierce wave of persecution, which scattered 
 the early Church from Jerusalem after the martyrdom 
 of Stephen, had spent itself, the condition of the Church 
 was described in the words : " So the Church throughout 
 all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being 
 edified ; and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in 
 the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied " (Acts 
 ix. 31). 
 
 In considering the means and methods of the Church's 
 edification, it is important to keep in view that the 
 essential condition in which alone any true upbuilding 
 can proceed is expressed in the words " the fear of 
 the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost," and also 
 that the processes of multiplying and of edification are 
 intimately related, are mutual aids to each other, and 
 are both the outcome of one spiritual life. Among 
 the many methods of the edification of the Christian 
 community, we direct attention first to the services of 
 public worship on the Lord's Day, since these form 
 the common centre of congregational life, from which 
 all other efforts and influences must radiate outwards 
 in an ever-growing circle. From the replies to our 
 enquiries, we gather that throughout the mission fields 
 of the world these public services occupy a very large 
 
 place in the Christian life of the young Church. Usually 
 
 122
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 123 
 
 three services at least are held on the Lord's Day, and 
 other auxiliary arrangements gather round them. The 
 circumstances under which they are held, and the needs 
 towards which they are directed, vary widely in the 
 different mission fields. Sometimes these services are 
 designed to meet the requirements of a Christian 
 community concentrated in a large city, and perhaps 
 still more frequently to meet those of little groups of 
 scattered people in village communities, and in country 
 districts. Even in the case of large cities, it often 
 happens that part at least of the congregation is drawn 
 from surrounding villages, sometimes at a considerable 
 distance from the city. Worshippers must often walk 
 long distances in order to take part in the day's worship. 
 Probably in every mission field there have been, at 
 least in I the earlier history of some of the congregations, 
 cases of hearers and enquirers who left their homes on 
 Saturday morning, bringing their food with them, spent 
 two nights at the station, or as guests of friends in the 
 neighbourhood, and returned home on Monday, thus 
 giving up three entire days of their time, and spending 
 two of them in long walks, in order to join in the public 
 worship of the Church. 
 
 It is evident that, amid such a variety of circumstance, 
 nothing like a uniform time-table can be observed 
 among the Churches of the mission field. 
 
 Speaking generally, the most important and the most 
 formal service seems to be, by common consent, that of 
 the morning and early forenoon. This service, as soon 
 as a congregation has been formed, usually assumes an 
 aspect more or less similar to that of the public worship 
 of older Churches in the West. The service consists of 
 praise, prayer, reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and 
 the administration of the Sacraments. 
 
 With regard to the Sacraments we can only speak here 
 in general terms. We have in Chapter II. of this Report 
 given careful consideration to the subject of preparation 
 for the Sacrament of Baptism in the case of those received 
 into the Church from without, and for the Sacrament
 
 124 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 of the Lord's Supper in regard to those who have in 
 infancy and youth beea brought up under Christian 
 influences. The frailty of human nature has also brought 
 under notice in Chapter III. the discipline of the Church 
 in exclusion of offenders from participation in the Lord's 
 Supper. Here we can only refer briefly to the unique 
 position of the Sacraments as means of grace, essential 
 to the edification of the Christian community. It would 
 be out of place in this Report to discuss the theological 
 questions that have gathered round the Holy Sacrament 
 of the body and blood of Christ our Lord, or the times, 
 form, and manner of its celebration in the mission field. 
 We acknowledge with sorrow that we have allowed our 
 divisions to disturb this Holy of Holies of our worship. 
 But we are justified in recording to the praise of Him 
 who knew what was in man, that the bread which we 
 break and the cup of blessing which we bless are found 
 in the mission field by men and women of every race, 
 from the earliest days of their Christian experience, to 
 be indeed " a singular medicine for all poor sick creatures, 
 a comfortable help to weak souls," a means of sanctifica- 
 tion, strengthening, and comfort, a channel through which 
 the divine life is communicated to every member of the 
 Body of Christ. 
 
 Hymns are often provided by the translation of those 
 which have become classical throughout the Christian 
 Church, sometimes by the production of new ones adapted 
 to local circumstances and life. It is curious to note 
 that not unfrequently the first native contributions to a 
 Christian literature take the form of hymns, and these, 
 even when they show little of literary art, impress 
 themselves upon the memories of the worshippers, and 
 come readily to their lips. The work of the Bible 
 Societies, the great allies of all missions, provides through- 
 out the world copies of the Scriptures in the mother 
 tongue of the people, in convenient forms, and at prices 
 so low as to put them within the reach of all. 
 
 In regard to the service of praise, it must be admitted 
 that in the earlier years the congregational singing is
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 125 
 
 far from being what can be described as " grave sweet 
 melody," but even when it approaches the grotesque, 
 it has to be remembered that the people who are thus 
 trying to set forth the praises of God are bringing into 
 the sanctuary for the first time both minds and voices 
 that have hitherto been strangers to holy things. 
 
 The service of prayer varies widely in its form, and 
 naturally is liturgical or otherwise according to the 
 visage of the mother Church to which the local missionaries 
 belong. Prayer, whether personal or congregational, is one 
 of the first efforts to give expression to religious thought 
 and feeling. It is necessary to guard from the outset 
 against the merely mechanical repetition of words and 
 phrases, picked up and used without intelligence and 
 sympathy. For these reasons, there must be great 
 simplicity, and a somewhat wide liberty in the matter 
 of congregational prayer, while every effort must be 
 made to give it by degrees a wider range, and a more 
 reverent and ordered expression. For these reasons, 
 it may be natural and useful in the mission fields to 
 combine the two methods of free and liturgical prayer, 
 and it appears that this is often done. 
 
 One of our correspondents writes : " The mental 
 horizon of converts from amongst the heathen is apt 
 to be very limited, and it certainly seems desirable that 
 they should have the benefit of the pattern of prayers 
 that have proved helpful to the Church through many 
 centuries. On the other hand, it is necessary to guard 
 against the merely mechanical use of forms of prayer. 
 The desired end may be attained by calling attention 
 to such prayers as examples, and also by the occasional 
 use of them in public worship." 
 
 Of course in the worship of any Church founded by 
 Anglican missions, the use of such forms of prayer is not 
 only " occasional " but regular and systematic. But there 
 is no need for controversy between those who might pre- 
 fer for themselves the one or the other of these methods of 
 prayer. Amidst the variety of need and of experience in 
 missions founded by those whose own practice varies so
 
 126 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 widely, there is room and need for both methods. It is 
 interesting to note that even in the missions of communions 
 in whose own usage ''free prayer" predominates, it is often 
 found well on the mission field to make use of set forms 
 or models of prayer, and there are indications among 
 the replies which we have received that this use of forms 
 of prayer might with advantage be extended in the young 
 congregations of the mission field. 
 
 It is interesting, on the other hand, to note that the 
 need of some measure of freedom impressed itself 
 strongly on the minds of the Bishops of the Anglican 
 Communion at the Lambeth Conference of 1908. In 
 the report of their Committee on foreign missions, they 
 remark 
 
 " There is a wide-felt desire in many parts of the 
 mission field for the adaptation of the Prayer Book, or the 
 extension of its provisions to meet the spiritual needs 
 of the people, and a great deal of evidence was given 
 on this point from different parts of the world. While 
 fully recognising the educative value of the Book of 
 Common Prayer, and the importance of retaining it as a 
 bond of union and a standard of devotion, the Committee 
 think that every effort should be made under due authority 
 to render the forms of public worship more intelligible 
 to uneducated congregations, and better suited to the 
 widely diverse needs of the various races within the 
 Anglican Communion" (Conference of Bishops of the 
 Anglican Communion, 1908 ; Encyclical Letter with the 
 Resolutions and Reports, p. 113). 
 
 A similar blending of the usage of different communions 
 may be traced on the mission fields in regard to the 
 reading of Scripture lessons. The two faults of casual 
 and random selection of lessons on the one hand, and of 
 an over-rigid system on the other, must obviously be 
 avoided in the mission field. Such blending may be 
 illustrated from the practice that has grown up in one 
 Presbyterian mission. In this case, the lesson to be read 
 at one of the Sunday services is left to the free choice 
 of the local preacher, but at one service (usually the
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 127 
 
 principal forenoon service) lessons are read according to a 
 scheme carefully prepared from year to year. Every 
 alternate year, one Gospel, or the Book of Acts, is selected, 
 and is divided into convenient sections, so that it is 
 read through in the course of the year. In the alternate 
 years portions of the Old Testament, with some of the 
 shorter Epistles,or selections from the longer, are appointed 
 for the weekly lesson ; but usually on the first Sunday 
 of each month a passage of Scripture is chosen in illustra- 
 tion of some large topic of Christian doctrine, usually 
 taken from the successive clauses of the Apostles' Creed. 
 Special lessons are also chosen from time to time bearing 
 on the greater events of the Christian year. In this way, 
 hearers attending worship for any two years will hear 
 a complete Gospel, a variety of illustrative passages of the 
 Old and New Testaments, and some twenty lessons on 
 fundamental doctrines, so that they will have vividly 
 brought home to them the great events and facts which 
 lie at the foundation of the Christian Faith. Such a 
 blending of the freedom of Presbyterian practice, with 
 the well-ordered methods of the Anglican Communion, 
 in order to secure the benefits of both, is full of interest 
 and suggestion. Common work on the mission field 
 suggests not rivalry and controversy, but the bringing 
 together of the varied experience and thought which are 
 cultivated in different ways by different ecclesiastical 
 bodies. 
 
 In regard to preaching, it is evident that amongst 
 an uninstructed people, often unable to read for them- 
 selves, as is frequently the case in the earlier stages of 
 mission work, their instruction and edification must 
 largely depend upon what they hear in the services of 
 public worship. . Every effort must therefore be made 
 to make the preaching an effective instrument, both of 
 instruction and of spiritual stimulus. Not unfrequently, 
 the theme of the morning sermon is gone over in a simpler 
 form in the afternoon, in order that it may be thoroughly 
 understood by the hearers. The usual course of preaching 
 is often varied by intervals of catechetical instruction,
 
 128 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 so that, by means of question and answer, the intelligence 
 of the hearers may be developed, and the preacher may 
 ascertain that he is carrying his audience with him. 
 
 What has been said thus far relates to what we have 
 described as the principal service of public worship on 
 the Lord's Day, which generally occupies part of the 
 morning or early forenoon hours. It should be the great 
 event of the Christian week for all the members of the 
 Church, bringing together in an impressive whole the two 
 great functions of spiritual instruction and reverent 
 worship. 
 
 We observe a great difference of practice in regard 
 to the afternoon service. Often it is a repetition of the 
 morning service, sometimes shortened, and a little less 
 formal. Sometimes it has a distinct character, as 
 a catechetical service which aims at instruction rather 
 than at united worship. In the missions of the Con- 
 tinental Churches, the afternoon service is in many cases 
 devoted mainly to the instruction of the young people 
 of the Church, with or without the presence of those 
 who are older. In some cases, no afternoon service is 
 held, and in that case, preachers and other members of 
 the Church often occupy the hours of the afternoon in 
 evangelistic work amongst those outside. 
 
 In most mission churches the day closes with an 
 evening service, but this can only be attended by those 
 whose homes are not far distant from the place of worship. 
 This is usually a meeting mainly for prayer, at which 
 those who have assembled earlier in the day are com- 
 mitted again in prayer to the grace of God, and a blessing 
 is sought upon all that has been done. Other meetings 
 held on the Lord's Day are such as the following : 
 
 There is sometimes a very early meeting for prayer, 
 held by those who live in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of the church, who come together with the preacher or 
 pastor and seek in prayer a blessing on the services of 
 the day. Later in the morning, those who are beginning 
 to assemble for public worship are divided into classes, 
 and set down for an hour or so to learn, to read, to repeat
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 129 
 
 hymns, or to study in advance the Scripture lesson for 
 the day, before the principal morning service begins. 
 This often serves as a useful substitute for an adult Sunday 
 School, for those who cannot attend at a later hour. A 
 similar gathering, or a meeting of a more organised Sunday 
 School, sometimes occupies an hour before the afternoon 
 service, and separate meetings of this kind are held for 
 men and women. 
 
 When the foreign missionary visits a station, the usual 
 routine is somewhat modified. Generally a good deal 
 of time is occupied, in public or in private, with the 
 instruction and examination of catechumens or applicants 
 for baptism. The missionary also holds meetings for 
 consultation with the leaders and office-bearers of the 
 local church, enquires into cases of discipline, and meets 
 with offenders and backsliders for enquiry, remonstrance, 
 and rebuke. Often the whole or part of one of the ser- 
 vices must be devoted to the administration of the 
 Sacrament of Baptism or of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 In any case the hours of the Lord's Day in a mission 
 church must always be busy and crowded hours ; and it 
 needs not a little care to secure that, amidst all the pressure 
 of matters to which attention must be given, the spirit of 
 devotion, and the experience of spiritual quickening 
 and upbuilding, shall be fully realised. 
 
 A word should be said here in regard to the buildings 
 in which these services of worship are held. In many 
 places in the mission field, churches have now been 
 specially built, which, whether simple or ornate, are 
 well adapted to the purposes for which they have been 
 designed ; but it must long remain the case that in many 
 places the buildings in which the work of the church is 
 carried on are very ill adapted to their sacred use. To 
 begin with the lowest stage, we read of Christian people 
 meeting for worship in Africa, screened only by a rough 
 stockade, without even a roof overhead, the roof being 
 dispensed with in order to escape the " Hut tax " exacted 
 by the Government. In a much more advanced stage of 
 civilisation, as, for example, throughout China, the 
 
 COM. II. Q
 
 130 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 majority of the churches are simply native houses or shops, 
 which, with a minimum of structural alteration, have 
 been so far adapted to the uses of Christian worship. 
 They frequently lack light, air, and quietness ; though, 
 imperfect as they are, they are often the result of long 
 planning and labour. Their best feature is that, iri most 
 cases, there are attached to them a few small rooms 
 which can offer hospitality to worshippers coming from 
 long distances, and obliged to remain over-night. The 
 domestic character of the building is well adapted for 
 the use of those who bring their food With them, and cook 
 and eat a meal together, in order that they may be 
 present at the afternoon service. 
 
 But a great evil is the insufficiency of accommodation 
 provided for the women during public worship. It is 
 still requisite in most parts of China, as indeed to a large 
 extent throughout the East, that the men and women 
 should occupy different portions of the church. In 
 many cases, the necessary separation is provided by a 
 screen dividing the church into two parts, but often the 
 limits of space are such that, to secure privacy, the women 
 are compelled to meet in a side room, connected with the 
 main area only by windows cut in the partition wall, 
 or panels removed from the dividing screens. These 
 inconvenient arrangements are often viewed by mis- 
 sionaries with a good deal of impatience, but it has to be 
 recognised that local custom and decorum still require 
 the maintenance of this separation, and will probably con- 
 tinue to do so for a long time to come. Meantime, all 
 that can be done is to arrange matters, so as to afford to 
 the women the best possible opportunities of seeing and 
 hearing, and of joining in the worship with a minimum 
 of inconvenience. 
 
 CHILDREN'S SERVICES 
 
 In view of the information supplied to us from many 
 mission fields, we rejoice to note that much more is done 
 now than formerly for the spiritual care of the children
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 131 
 
 and young people of the Church. Amongst uneducated 
 people in some parts of the mission fields, all may be 
 regarded as children needing the most elementary in- 
 struction, and there is little need of making separate 
 provision for the young people ; but where attention is 
 paid to education, and amongst more cultured races, 
 the necessity for special services for the good of the young 
 people is soon felt. At the Decennial Conference, held in 
 Bombay in 1892 to 1893, the Rev. H. Anderson, in speak- 
 ing of this need, said 
 
 " We have much to learn here in India, as to this 
 agency. In very many cases the pulpit is no friend of 
 the children. Their claim is not recognised by it their 
 needs not met in it. ... We hear much of the difficulty 
 of keeping children in our schools after they reach the 
 age of fourteen or fifteen. In many cases this is because 
 of their want of recognition from the pulpit. One or 
 two of our Indian Missions have realised this, and are 
 making this agency a power." 
 
 It is seventeen years since these words were spoken, 
 and we can thankfully record that progress is being made. 
 Yet our present enquiry has called forth a statement 
 from a missionary in the Bombay Presidency, that he 
 has hardly ever met a native preacher who can preach 
 to children, and that few seem to make the attempt. 
 It is still evident that amongst British Missions in India 
 regular children's services are exceptional rather than 
 general, although the younger missionaries, and especially 
 those connected with the " Children's Special Service 
 Mission," are devoting more attention to this matter now 
 than formerly. In Palamcottah, we are informed, 
 " there is a children's mission in the district, a voluntary 
 organisation which pays three or four missioners, who go 
 about regularly conducting missions and services amongst 
 the children (both Christian and non-Christian) in the 
 district. The Children's Special Service Mission plan 
 for Bible reading is adopted, and some 4000 or 5000 
 children are reading the portion more or less regularly." 
 
 From China very few of our correspondents report the
 
 132 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 holding of regular children's meetings, but some do so, 
 and others state that a part of the Sunday services is 
 devoted to the interests of the children. An important 
 step has been taken by the Presbyterian Synod at Eastern 
 Kwangtung in setting apart, in all its churches, one 
 Sunday every year as a special " Children's Day," when 
 by special prayer, and by the exhortation both of parents 
 and children, an effort is made to lead the young people 
 to the Lord. The same custom has been observed also 
 for many years in Samoa. There the last Sunday of 
 June is set apart, " as a day of special prayer for the 
 young, and the services of that day comprise a service 
 for parents and others on the training of the young, 
 and a children's service." 
 
 In Japan special meetings for children seem to be 
 much more common than in China, but are apparently 
 attended to a large extent by those who are otherwise 
 outside the influences of the Church. In such places 
 as Sierra Leone in West Africa, where the missions have 
 been long established, large numbers of children attend 
 the meetings which are regularly held for their benefit. 
 In Uganda at every Central Station a service is held on 
 Sunday, at which the prayers, hymns, and addresses are 
 specially adapted for the children. It is very interesting 
 to note that while some correspondents belonging to 
 Continental Missions in different fields report " no 
 special Children's Service," this remark, if left unex- 
 plained, does much less than justice to the care of these 
 Missions for their young people. The matter is made 
 clearer by the following statement : 
 
 " On the Continent, some centuries back, almost in 
 all our Churches a second service on Sundays was intro- 
 duced, chiefly intended for children, but until recent 
 times there used to be a fair gathering of adults too in 
 these services. Now in most of our Continental Missions 
 this service has been introduced also in the foreign fields." 
 
 This meeting forms one of the regular public services 
 of divine worship, and, though designed specially for the 
 benefit of the young people, grown-up people also attend
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 133 
 
 it. It is further explained that this service is intended for 
 school-going children who are not yet confirmed. For 
 their benefit Luther's smaller catechism is used in many 
 cases as the text-book for explanation ; while, for the 
 benefit of newly admitted adults, Bible stories very 
 often take the place of the catechism. The instruction 
 given at this service is generally catechetical, but some- 
 times also takes the form of an address. In short, if 
 Sunday Schools and special services for children seem to 
 bulk less largely in the work of the Continental Missions 
 than in some others, this is really because very important 
 provision for the care of the young has been persistently 
 made by the devotion of the second public service on 
 Sundays wholly to their interests. 
 
 It is clear that, whether by holding special services for 
 children, or by means of Sunday Schools, or by the 
 adaptation to their needs of one of the ordinary public 
 church services, it is a vital necessity that careful pro- 
 vision should be made for keeping the children of Chris- 
 tian parents in touch with the life of the Church, and for 
 training and guiding them in Christian knowledge, and 
 in the practice of the Christian life. 
 
 ADULT SCHOOLS AND STATION CLASSES 
 
 A large proportion of the members of the Church 
 in the heathen world, is composed of those who are 
 brought to a knowledge of the truth in middle life. 
 They have grown up in ignorance of the Scriptures, and 
 in a large majority of cases are even unable to read. 
 For them the need of some means of instruction is obvious 
 and urgent. With a view to meeting this need, " adult 
 schools " and " station classes " are a special feature of 
 mission work in Korea, and in many parts of China ; to 
 these the people come from country districts, and reside 
 for some days, or a few weeks, at a central station. In 
 some cases they receive hospitality, either from the local 
 congregation or from private friends, and often lodging 
 is provided by the Church, while the people find their own
 
 134 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 food. In Korea very large numbers come during the 
 winter season to Ping- Yang and Seoul, where they re- 
 ceive a course of Bible instruction, accompanied by some 
 training in practical evangelistic work. 
 
 In the earlier stages of mission work in China, adult 
 classes prove most helpful, and the following description 
 of what was done in founding the work in Manchuria 
 is of interest : 
 
 '* The baptized members met daily for Bible reading 
 and exposition. Perhaps it should rather be said 
 that the daily classes in which they had been in- 
 tructed as catechumens were uninterruptedly con- 
 tinued. For at least an hour, daily, they were led 
 through a minute and systematic course of scriptural 
 instruction." 
 
 This method, however, belongs to the early stages, 
 when the converts are a small body living in close 
 proximity to the centre of a mission. When the Church 
 members are gathered out of a large number of places 
 scattered over a wide area, other methods have to be 
 adopted. It is under these circumstances that " station 
 classes " have proved so useful in China, and the 
 following words describe what is now being done in 
 varying forms in many parts of that field, in view of 
 the rapid increase in the number of Church members, 
 and their urgent need of instruction : 
 
 " Steps must be taken to secure a higher standard 
 of Bible knowledge amongst the Church members. To 
 this end, classes need to be arranged in out-stations for 
 the instruction in the Scriptures of selected companies 
 of local Christians. . . . Missionaries, whose knowledge 
 both of the language and the people qualifies them, 
 have been -set apart for this particular work in various 
 parts of the country, where there are Churches of con- 
 siderable size. . . . The results have been very en- 
 couraging, and the standard both of Scripture know- 
 ledge and spiritual life in the Churches has been distinctly 
 raised by this means. Qualified Chinese brethren have 
 also engaged in the same work, though, alas, at present
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 135 
 
 there are all too few of these latter " (China's Millions, 
 1909, pp. 132-133)- 
 
 The term " station class " is very little used in India, 
 but the work carried on by this means in China is accom- 
 plished by other methods. The Church members are 
 not regularly brought into central stations for systematic 
 courses of instruction. The need of such teaching is 
 met in the regular services of the separate congregations, 
 and also by means of Summer Schools, in which the 
 Christians are grouped together from a large district. 
 
 In Africa, while " station classes " are occasionally 
 employed, the condition of the Churches seems rather 
 to facilitate regular and constant instruction in the 
 Scriptures in stations or out-stations. A most interesting 
 plan for systematic instruction has been adopted in 
 Uganda. It includes the initial work of teaching the 
 heathen, as well as the instruction of those who have 
 already become Christians. What are termed " reading 
 schools " now exist to the number of over 2000 through- 
 out the entire country, in which the people meet daily 
 to be taught to read the Bible in their own language. 
 They also receive instruction in the elements of Christian 
 doctrine. These " reading schools " are conducted by 
 the local Christians under foreign supervision. Besides 
 these, Bible classes are held every day for the Christian 
 men and women, preceded by united morning prayer. 
 In West Africa there are daily classes lasting for an 
 hour, when both men and women receive instruction 
 in the Scriptures. 
 
 From Medingen in the Transvaal, we learn how 
 thoroughly the teaching of the Scriptures is carried 
 on by the Berlin Mission there. One of our corre- 
 spondents writes : " Old and tried members of the 
 congregation receive instruction in special classes, held 
 both during the day (Sunday) and in the evening. 
 Every Monday evening all the Christian men must 
 attend the class with their Bibles. They read in turn, 
 talk over and explain the subject. On the following 
 Monday one of the more experienced men is expected
 
 136 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 to discourse in his own way on the same subject, and 
 on the next Monday again to question the others on it. 
 They go on until all are convinced that they have a 
 more or less perfect apprehension of the portion of 
 Scripture under discussion." 
 
 DAY SCHOOLS, BOARDING SCHOOLS, AND HOSTELS 
 
 As another Commission is specially charged with 
 matters relating to education, we shall, under this 
 heading, only glance at a few points which have a 
 special bearing upon the edification of the Christian 
 community. 
 
 The necessity of day schools for the Christian education 
 of the young people of the Church in the mission field 
 has long been recognised, and the ideal kept in view 
 in most missions is to establish day schools, both for 
 boys and for girls, in connection with local congregations 
 wherever possible. Amongst less civilised peoples, the 
 education given in day schools is necessarily confined at 
 first to what is strictly elementary. In the more 
 cultured countries, and especially where there is a general 
 non-Christian system of education outside, the question 
 will arise whether the missions are called upon to 
 provide separate primary education for their own young 
 people or not ; but wherever the general education is 
 purely secular and non-Christian, the duty of providing 
 primary education under strong Christian influences 
 cannot be evaded. When it is undertaken, it is necessary 
 to maintain a standard at least as high as that general 
 educational system of the non-Christian community. 
 In China, for example, where the Government has a 
 carefully graded system of schools and colleges, primary, 
 secondary, and higher, it has become essential that 
 stage by stage Church schools should be maintained on 
 at least as high a grade as those of the Government. 
 Many far-reaching questions arise out of this state of 
 things, but it is unnecessary for this Commission to 
 enter into them. We need only quote in illustration
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 137 
 
 the following resolutions adopted by a conference of 
 missionaries held in Chengtu, West China (Province 
 of Szechwan), in 1908 : 
 
 " That this Conference desires to emphasise the special 
 responsibility devolving upon us as Christian mission- 
 aries, to adopt measures for instilling into the children 
 connected with our Churches, Christian standards of life 
 and conduct, and also giving them such instruction in 
 the Holy Scriptures and Christian truth as shall result, 
 in years to come, in a strong, intelligent Church member- 
 ship. And that this Conference, therefore, most heartily 
 recommends all missions to establish schools, both day 
 and boarding, with this end in view, in which, in addition 
 to special Christian instruction, secular education is 
 provided, corresponding to that obtainable by the same 
 class of Chinese outside the Church." 
 
 But we desire to point out that the need for providing 
 primary schools leads of necessity in most cases to the 
 provision of boarding schools also. It is continually 
 found to be impossible to provide a sufficient number of 
 competent teachers for the primary schools, and the 
 difficulty greatly increases when the higher grades are 
 reached. It thus becomes necessary to establish schools 
 of a higher grade into which pupils who are finishing 
 their elementary course may be drafted, and from which, 
 on the other hand, may be drawn from year to year a 
 supply of teachers qualified to carry education in local 
 schools to a higher standard of efficiency. Thus in two 
 ways the elementary school creates a necessity for the 
 boarding school. This view was clearly stated in resolu- 
 tions adopted by the South Indian Missionary Conference 
 which met in Madras in 1900, in the following words : 
 
 " (a) That in each mission there should be at least one 
 organised boarding school of suitable standard, in which 
 carefully selected Christian children may be educated, 
 some with a view to a return to their village life in order 
 to earn independent livelihood, and to raise the tone of 
 the community, and some with the view to after-employ- 
 ment in the mission.
 
 138 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 " (b) That each school of this kind should be under the 
 immediate supervision of an experienced missionary, or 
 other worker of high Christian character. 
 
 " (c) That to avoid the risk of pauperising the parents, 
 some fee, however small, in money or kind, should be 
 insisted on in all but very exceptional cases." 
 
 From the evidence before us, it is clear that the neces- 
 sity for " hostels " as well as for boarding schools is becom- 
 ing increasingly felt in some of the principal mission 
 fields. These hostels are not themselves institutions 
 for the supply of a general education. They provide 
 residences for students who are receiving education, 
 either in mission or in Government schools and colleges in 
 the vicinity. The value of such hostels as an evangel- 
 istic force is now well recognised, but does not fall under 
 the review of this Commission, but such hostels may 
 also be employed in two ways for the benefit of Christian 
 students. It is sometimes desirable that such students 
 should avail themselves of the education provided in 
 non-Christian government or other schools and colleges ; 
 and they may be able to do so without injury if the non- 
 Christian character of the education is balanced by a 
 strong Christian influence in the hostel in which they 
 reside. Such hostels may also enable Christian colleges 
 and higher schools to increase greatly the sphere of their 
 usefulness, by providing residence for Christian students 
 for whom the college or high school itself could not 
 provide sufficient accommodation. The increasing 
 pressure upon the accommodation in Christian boarding 
 schools tends to raise the question whether the problem 
 should not often be solved by means of non-resident 
 Christian colleges and high schools, intimately associated 
 with residential hostels for the accommodation of their 
 students. 
 
 The importance of residential institutions is well stated 
 in the following words, which, although originally 
 written with regard to evangelistic influence, are equally 
 applicable to the training of Christian students : 
 
 " Personal influence to be effective must be intense.
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 139 
 
 Now, how is this personal influence to be exercised ? 
 The classroom is one way, and a most efficacious way, 
 especially for the original obtaining of a personal hold. 
 But in dealing with the warm life of boyhood and young 
 manhood, it is not the only, nor perhaps the most potent, 
 way. The influence gained in the classroom will find its 
 most telling exercise in the closer personal contact of Jife 
 together in the college hostel. It is there that the power 
 of Christian personality will tell in its highest potency" 
 (Church Missionary Review, 1909). 
 
 To this we may add a brief summary of the objects 
 gained by boarding schools and hostels : 
 
 (a) The isolation of the student from the temptations 
 and influence of heathen life in his or her native place 
 gives opportunity for a fuller and higher development of 
 the young Christian life. It may be added that it is not 
 desirable that this separation should be too absolute, 
 and this condition is usually satisfied by returns home 
 during holiday periods. 
 
 (b) Residence in a boarding school or hostel introduces 
 the student to a world of new ideas created by experi- 
 ence of order, discipline, cleanliness, and the continual 
 direction of the day's engagements towards the attain- 
 ment of the highest ends. 
 
 (c) Opportunity is given for the formation of friend- 
 ships amongst a selected class of associates, and through 
 these friendships the stronger characters may exercise 
 a lifelong influence for good over the weaker. 
 
 (d) The personal influence of the best teachers, whether 
 native or foreign, is immensely greater where it pervades 
 and directs the whole daily life of the students, than when 
 it is confined to a few hours of classroom teaching. 
 
 Illustrations from Various Fields 
 
 The use made of boarding schools and hostels may be 
 further illustrated by a summary of information as to 
 existing practice, which we glean from the replies of 
 our correspondents in various mission fields. 
 
 In Japan, where the Government schools are exceed-
 
 140 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 ingly efficient, they are attended by many of the children 
 of Christian parents, and in some cases there are Christian 
 hostels in the vicinity of these Government schools, 
 maintained by the Y.M.C.A. and others. These hostels 
 are not confined to the use of Christian students. 
 
 The education of the young people of Christian families 
 in China being almost entirely in the hands of the mis- 
 sionaries, boarding schools have long been in common use, 
 but as matters are now progressing, it is evident that 
 hostels also will be required, and plans are already in 
 hand to provide them in connection with proposals for 
 the strengthening of Christian colleges, and the erection 
 of a Christian University. 
 
 In some of the leading centres in China there are 
 boarding schools where only a first-class education is 
 provided by those who are in a position to pay for it. 
 The Mission of the American Board in the Province of 
 Chihli provides boarding schools for boys and girls in 
 each of its stations, as a part of the educational system of 
 the mission. The English Presbyterian Mission in Fuhkien 
 and Kwangtung has a number of boarding schools in which 
 the secondary education of their young people, both boys 
 and girls, is systematically carried on. One correspondent, 
 in writing of the work of the South China Presbyterian 
 Mission at Canton, writes : " One of the most encour- 
 aging features in this direction (i.e. in regard to boarding 
 schools) is the increasing interest manifested by the 
 Christian Chinese in establishing their own schools, 
 mostly for boys, but some for girls. They are starting 
 boarding schools in connection with the stronger 
 Churches, either meeting the entire expense, or getting 
 partial help from the mission. In these schools thorough 
 evangelistic instruction is given ; in fact, the schools 
 established and carried on by the mission are taken as 
 models." 
 
 In India the hostel is now widely used in various forms. 
 A considerable number of the orphanages are utilised 
 to some extent as hostels for children who are in attend- 
 ance at the day schools, and the following statement
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 141 
 
 may be taken as representative : " There are hostels, 
 so designated, attached to the missionary high school 
 at Ahmedabad, the Mission Press at Surat, and one for 
 girls training as teachers in Ahmedabad ; but besides 
 these, most of the orphanages are partly hostels for 
 village children who have got beyond the village school." 
 Another correspondent writes : " Boarding schools are 
 common to the whole mission, one high school for girls 
 in Madras, and elementary schools for boys and girls 
 in Chingleput." 
 
 In Africa also the necessity for boarding schools is 
 widely recognised. The existence of such schools is 
 reported from the Gold Coast, the Congo, the Province 
 of South Africa, Natal, British and Italian East Africa, 
 and from Livingstonia and Blantyre. Few, if any, of 
 the schools are reserved for the children of Christian 
 parents only, but religious instruction is kept well to the 
 front, and the following reply summarises the situation 
 in many schools : " Religious instruction is given in all 
 of the mission's three boarding schools, as well as in the 
 day schools, some fifty in number. No distinction in 
 educational privileges is made between children of 
 Christian and those of heathen parentage." 
 
 In Samoa again the village schools are practically 
 boarding schools. A considerable number of the boys 
 and girls attending the schools reside with the pastors, 
 who are in charge of them. The distractions of Samoan 
 village life seem to be such that only in this way can a 
 regular attendance be secured. 
 
 Although it belongs more to other sections of this 
 Report, we may note here that there are frequent references 
 to the subject of the expense of education in boarding 
 schools and residence in hostels, and to the closely con- 
 nected subject of the danger of pauperising parents and 
 students by relieving them of expense which they ought 
 properly to bear themselves. For example, one corre- 
 spondent writes : " Christian parents would willingly 
 hand over their children to be boarded or educated at 
 mission expense, but this is not allowed." And another,
 
 142 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 writing from Blantyre, says : " Christians who are too 
 far away from school to be able to send their children to 
 a day school are urged to send them to the missionary 
 boarding school, where they pay for their support. None 
 are taken unless the parents are prepared to pay for 
 their education and board." 
 
 The practice seems to vary from the requirement 
 that the whole cost, both of board, clothing, and educa- 
 tion, should be met by the parents or students themselves, 
 down to that of accepting a larger or smaller proportion 
 of the whole, according to the estimate formed of the 
 ability of parents or students to pay it. It is evident 
 that in regard to this matter, uniformity of practice is 
 not to be looked for. The help given by missions ought 
 certainly to be reduced in all cases to a minimum, but in 
 all mission fields there are boys and girls whose thorough 
 education is a matter of vital importance for the 
 future of the Church, but whose parents are really unable 
 to pay for it. It has to be remembered also that, in the 
 case of boys and young men at least, a considerable 
 sacrifice is often made by parents in sending them to 
 school, and sacrificing the wages they might have earned 
 elsewhere, or the help they might have given in agri- 
 cultural or other pursuits. Perhaps the happiest of 
 contributions that can be made to the solution of this 
 difficulty, in cases where help is really required, is that 
 such help should be provided by the private benevolence 
 of native Christians, or from Native Church funds, and not 
 at the expense of the foreign mission. We can only 
 commend the subject to all missionaries, as calling for 
 the utmost watchfulness, and care that in the endeavour 
 to build up the future of the Church they do not give way 
 to the temptation of introducing elements of weakness 
 and dependence into it, in the early stages of its develop- 
 ment. 
 
 It is evident that the work accomplished in well con- 
 ducted Christian boarding schools and hostels promises 
 to be of the greatest service in creating a higher tone of 
 Christian character among the young people of the Church
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 143 
 
 in the mission field. Work of this class is capable of 
 great extension as to its amount, and calls also for great 
 improvement as to quality, and missions that give thought 
 and care to work of this kind are preparing the way for a 
 large harvest in the years to come. 
 
 FAMILY WORSHIP AND VILLAGE MEETINGS 
 
 For the edification of the Church, the subjects of family 
 worship and village meetings are of special importance, 
 because it is mainly by these means that the ordinary 
 daily life of the Christian community is kept in touch with 
 the divine and unseen realities. The regular and reverent 
 observance of family worship is essential to the cultiva- 
 tion of a true Christian family life. 
 
 In Korea, household worship is the rule, and its regular 
 observance is insisted on by the Presbyterian missionaries. 
 The Methodists report that it is generally practised and 
 that its desirability is constantly emphasised. 
 
 In Japan, although family worship is enjoined, it is 
 not regularly maintained, and in some districts it is 
 very infrequent. When both parents are Christians 
 there is less difficulty ; but when only one is so then the 
 family cannot easily be got together for this purpose. 
 Prayer meetings and Bible classes are regularly held, and 
 one missionary describes the weekly prayer meeting as 
 " the most prominent feature of Christian edification, 
 since everybody is expected to take part occasionally." 
 
 The Shanghai Conference of 1907 considered the 
 question of family worship in China, and its great import- 
 ance was fully recognised in the following statement : 
 
 " That the way to the evangelisation of China lies 
 in the development of personal devotion amongst Chinese 
 Christians, and the strength of the Chinese Churches will 
 be in direct ratio to the proportion of Christian parents 
 who erect the family altar, and bring up their children in 
 the nurture and admonition of the Lord." x 
 
 1 Centenary Missionary Conference, Shanghai, 1907, Records, 
 pp. 295-296.
 
 144 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 As to the prevalence of family worship, the following 
 facts were submitted to the aforesaid Conference, con- 
 cerning about 10,000 Christian families, situated in 
 sixteen of the provinces and in Manchuria and Hong 
 Kong. The parents were both Christians in about 
 25 per cent, of these families. In some Churches the 
 average was as high as 75 per cent., in others it 
 fell as low as 10 per cent. As far as the facts could be 
 ascertained, morning and evening worship was observed 
 in about 20 per cent, of the families whose cases were 
 enquired into. 
 
 The difficulties in the way are stated to be the " over- 
 crowding, lack of privacy, and want of system " which 
 characterise most Chinese homes, and similar conditions 
 prevail in most of the mission fields. 
 
 In many cases, where morning worship is impossible, 
 the family meet in the evening, and very frequently 
 there is a village gathering which takes the place of 
 household worship. 
 
 In view of the difficulty that the Chinese experience 
 in getting quiet for prayer in their own homes, a room 
 has been set apart for prayer in some stations. Those 
 attending do not necessarily pray audibly, nor is there 
 any stated leader, and all are free to come and go as their 
 duties demand. This method has proved a means of 
 real blessing. 
 
 In India, as in China, while the desirability of holding 
 family worship is kept in view, its observance is far from 
 being regularly established. The report by an Indian 
 clergyman of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Parse- 
 walkam, Madras, that " family worship is enforced in 
 every family " stands out as exceptional. He then goes 
 on to give interesting details as to how it is conducted : 
 " The head of the family gives out the hymn, which is 
 sung. When very ignorant ones assemble, the singing 
 is given up. The intelligent reader reads out the whole 
 hymn. Then a portion of God's Word is read. Only 
 in very intelligent families is the portion practically 
 explained. We have to wait for the time when able
 
 U5 
 
 and intelligent mothers shall rise up to their duty. 
 And then a devotional manual is read, and last of 
 all, the prayer is read or, in some houses, orally 
 delivered." 
 
 Again, we are informed that in Tinnevelly, " on account 
 of the ignorance of the people and their inability to con- 
 duct family worship, daily prayer, morning and evening, is 
 usually conducted in all our Churches. In some cases 
 morning prayer is conducted at 4.30 or 5 a.m., to catch 
 the people before they go to their work. These daily 
 services are not attended nearly as regularly as we should 
 like them to be." 
 
 In many Anglican missions Morning and Evening 
 Prayer is said daily, and in other communions also it is 
 found, as may be gathered from the above statements, 
 that village prayer meetings are used in many cases as a 
 helpful substitute for household worship. 
 
 The following important resolution was adopted by the 
 Decennial Missionary Conference, Madras, 1902 : 
 
 " The Conference most earnestly calls upon parents 
 to train their children in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord ; and would urge that private and united 
 prayer and Bible study be regarded by all as a daily 
 duty ; that the time thus spent be looked upon as a 
 sacred and essential feature of the home life, and that 
 all children should be impressed with the religious 
 significance of this duty." 1 
 
 In certain parts of Africa the observance of family 
 worship appears to be frequent. In Nigeria and on 
 the Congo it is adopted in many Christian homes. 
 Bishop Cameron states that amongst the Kafirs it 
 is a striking feature of their Christian life. In the 
 absence of any minister or catechist the head of the 
 family conducts it, and the prayer is extempore. In 
 confirmation of this interesting statement we are informed, 
 from the Transvaal, that the custom is for the father of 
 the family to lead his household to the Throne of Grace, 
 and in cases where the head of the household is old or blind, 
 
 1 Conference Report, p. 50. 
 COM. II. 10
 
 146 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 one of the children reads, after which the parent offers 
 prayer. 
 
 The condition of things in Livingstonia presents a 
 great contrast to this. Owing to the " hut " system 
 there is very often no separate family life, and on this 
 account it is very difficult to get the Christians to meet 
 in family worship. Progress is, however, being made, but 
 it is slow. 
 
 At Blantyre, in connection with the Mission of the 
 Church of Scotland, it is the custom to bring the import- 
 ance of this observance before the candidates for baptism. 
 In the same Mission the evening meeting for public 
 prayer is a marked feature of the village life ; and an 
 interesting and primitive condition of things is pictured 
 in the following words : "In many villages there are 
 small roofless enclosures (often, as of old, near the lake 
 or river) roofless to escape the hut tax and groups 
 have united for morning and evening prayers in these." 
 
 The Samoans regard daily worship as a " recognised 
 institution " in every household, in the evening 
 especially there is a devout and helpful service. Village 
 prayer meetings are regularly held, and owing to the 
 influence of the Society of Christian Endeavour these 
 are becoming more really seasons of prayer and less 
 opportunities of exhortation. 
 
 It seems evident that the prevailing social conditions 
 and also the illiteracy of the people are powerful 
 hindrances to the due observance of family worship. 
 On the other hand, much is being done by way of united 
 daily services where family worship seems for the present 
 impracticable. 
 
 But such services, however useful, cannot permanently 
 take the place of family worship in the household. 
 We trust that in all the mission fields, in spite of 
 hindrances, the effort will be successfully continued to 
 secure that every Christian home shall be hallowed by 
 family prayer. Only so can God be realised as a real 
 and welcome presence in the most intimate relationships 
 of life.
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 147 
 
 VISITATION OF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES 
 
 The visitation of families can be made a most efficient 
 means to the edification of the Church. Difficulties 
 and temptations are brought to light, and are often 
 dissolved by the atmosphere of Christian sympathy 
 which such visitation brings into the homes of the 
 people. It is a work which demands the utmost 
 delicacy, tact, and discretion, since in all lands the 
 humblest home is sacred, and anything that savours of 
 intrusion wih 1 be resented. 
 
 From Japan we have a useful reminder that pastoral 
 visits are sometimes in danger of becoming social rather 
 than religious. This is a difficulty too familiar in the 
 West as well as in the mission field, and can only be 
 overcome by the spiritual temper of the pastor, and 
 his vigilant use of his special opportunities. 
 
 The conditions of family life in many communities, 
 as in India and China, create difficulties of another kind. 
 These, too, can be overcome by the wise distribution of 
 the work, and the fitting use of the manifold gifts of 
 grace which the Church has at her disposal. Here, 
 especially, is a notable field of service for Christian 
 women. Women, whether native or foreign, often find 
 admittance and a welcome at doors that would be 
 jealously closed against any male visitor. 
 
 Correspondents in different parts of China report 
 that, in the cities, visits by the missionary to the homes 
 of Church members would be misunderstood, and apt 
 to cause suspicion, while in the country villages he 
 receives a warm welcome. Chinese workers can visit 
 freely everywhere, and do so with much advantage. 
 In India, too, the visitation of the Church members 
 and their families is regularly carried on both in cities 
 and in country districts. In both countries missionaries 
 take some part in this work, but it is carried on mainly 
 by the pastors, evangelists, and Bible-women, while the 
 missionaries' wives and other lady missionaries also take 
 a large share in it, and find it brings them into intimate
 
 and helpful relations with the membership of the 
 Church. 
 
 In many eastern villages separate household visitation 
 is practically impossible, not because a welcome is 
 lacking, but because, as a correspondent writes from 
 Kasur, in the Punjab, " village family life is lived in the 
 open air, and a visit to the Christians is one made to the 
 whole community, Who all gather to hear and see." A 
 similar experience is constantly met with in the villages 
 of China. 
 
 Systematic visitation is specially characteristic of some 
 Presbyterian missions, and a Presbyterian missionary 
 writes from Santalia : " The missionary and his wife, 
 as a rule, accompany the elders on their visitation of 
 the Church members to distribute the Communion 
 cards before each half-yearly Communion. On Sunday 
 evenings the elders in rotation report to the missionary 
 any cases of irregular Church attendance among the 
 Christians, and these are visited, either on the same 
 evening, or before the following Sunday. Regular 
 visitation by missionary, missionary's wife, and elders, 
 is carried on in cases of sickness." 
 
 In the Tinnevelly Mission (C.M.S.) the whole of the 
 visitation is under the charge of the Indian pastors, 
 catechists, and teachers ; and in their training the need 
 and desirability of visiting is specially brought before 
 them. An Indian pastor in Madras writes as follows : 
 " The pastor gives great attention to sick people and 
 to the backward members. His visits are eagerly looked 
 for. He generally tries to keep young members of 
 families in good remembrance of the Word they have 
 received, and instructs older ones in the graces of 
 Christian life." 
 
 Owing to the conditions of African life, visitation is 
 necessarily of a different character from what it is in 
 the cities of India, corresponding more closely with 
 what is done in the Indian villages. On the Gold Coast 
 and at Calabar, both the missionaries and the local 
 workers take part in it, the members who can read
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 149 
 
 sometimes visiting the illiterate, to interest and help 
 them. 
 
 In the work of the American Board in the Ottoman 
 Empire, visiting is regarded as very important. The 
 visitation of Church members in the cities is carried on 
 by the native pastors, while the missionaries visit the 
 scattered members in country districts. 
 
 CONFERENCES OR CONVENTIONS 
 
 Conferences of Church members and others, often 
 lasting over several days or a week, are fitted to give 
 stimulus and guidance to the life of the Church. Some- 
 times they are confined to a town and its neighbourhood, 
 sometimes they bring together the Christian people from 
 a wide district, and give them welcome opportunities 
 of making each other's acquaintance. In the latter case 
 accommodation has to be found for those who attend, 
 and it often happens that the growth of the Church soon 
 renders such gatherings impossible, because room cannot 
 be found for housing those who would attend. 
 
 It has often been noticed that distinct steps in the 
 forward life of the Church, and times of spiritual revival, 
 have dated from such meetings for prayer and conference. 
 They not only give the missionaries and leaders of the 
 Church precious opportunities of meeting with their 
 scattered people, but they often lead to the discovery 
 of gifts for mutual edification in members whose talent 
 might otherwise have remained in obscurity. They also 
 do a great service in making the Christian community 
 conscious of its corporate unity in brotherhood and 
 service, especially when they include those who are 
 attached to different missions. In many cases, too, 
 they make a strong and favourable impression on the 
 mind of the general community. 
 
 In Korea there is an annual convention for Bible study, 
 lasting for ten days or a fortnight at each station. This 
 is open to all members of the Church. There is also a 
 district meeting of a similar kind, and a quarterly con-
 
 150 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 ference is held for office-bearers and workers only, and 
 this lasts for about a week. 
 
 In Japan, such meetings are very popular. In con- 
 nection with the Methodist Episcopal Mission, district 
 conferences are held at least once in each year. Moral and 
 religious subjects of practical character are discussed, and 
 also the best methods of conducting prayer meetings, 
 Bible classes, Sunday Schools, etc. Special Sunday 
 School and temperance conventions are also held ; 
 and conventions for the deepening of spiritual life are 
 frequently conducted, and in this work the ministry 
 of some of the Japanese Christians has been greatly 
 blessed. 
 
 In China annual conferences are common in many 
 districts, and they usually last from three to four days. 
 The subjects to be considered are previously arranged, 
 and papers bearing upon them are read, the Chinese 
 taking their full share in the preparation of these papers 
 and also in the discussion. From Wuchang we have the 
 following account of conferences conducted in connection 
 with the work of the Christian and Missionary Alliance 
 in central China : " These conferences are devoted 
 mainly to devotional and systematic Bible study and 
 prayer, and also to the discussion of practical subjects 
 which most deeply concern our Church life and work. 
 They always include a special evangelistic effort at 
 the station in which they are held, the system being to 
 rotate from station to station in order. These con- 
 ferences have proved most fruitful and stimulating." 
 
 During the last two years a gracious movement of 
 God's Holy Spirit has been seen in many such gatherings, 
 and this has had the effect of lifting the lives of many of 
 the Chinese Christians to a new level of purity, zeal, and 
 devotion. In the Churches that have been longer in 
 existence, the Chinese are now able to undertake a large 
 measure of responsibility, and a correspondent in Canton, 
 after describing the conferences for preachers and other 
 workers held in the past, adds : " The leading men in 
 the Church are quite equal to making out a good pro-
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 151 
 
 gramme for such meetings, carrying out the arrange- 
 ments, and bringing all to a successful conclusion." 
 
 In various parts of India several large central con- 
 ventions are held annually. At Sialkot, in the Punjab, 
 very great blessing has been experienced by those meeting 
 together in recent years. At Jubbulpore, in the Central 
 Provinces, there is a convention held annually in friendly 
 connection with the Mid-India Missionary Association. 
 At Saugor in the Central Provinces a convention was 
 held at Christmas, initiated and conducted entirely by 
 the Christians of the locality themselves. Annual, 
 half-yearly, and quarterly conferences are reported from 
 many parts of India, mainly for the consideration of 
 methods of work, but also for devotion. 
 
 Conferences, occasional or periodical, are reported 
 from all parts of the mission field in Africa, the nature 
 of these gatherings necessarily varying in accordance with 
 the different conditions to be met with in the Churches. 
 These gatherings are held at central stations, and the 
 following notes will serve to describe their general 
 features. In connection with the work of the American 
 Baptists on the Congo we read : " During the first week 
 of April and the first week of October of each year, all 
 the teachers are invited to the station for a week of 
 special lectures, addresses, etc., and four hours of each 
 day are devoted to this work." At Blantyre, in the 
 Church of Scotland Mission, we are told : 
 
 " In most of our main Church districts, a convention 
 or conference is held every year or second year of all the 
 Christians who are resident there. The subjects that are 
 dealt with are those connected with the life of the Christian, 
 and his place and responsibility in the Church and com- 
 munity." At Medingen in the Transvaal : " About 
 every three months a conference is held at which reports 
 as to the work are submitted, and strengthening and 
 deepening of the work are sought through the Word of 
 God and united prayer." 
 
 While all conferences for the discussion of methods 
 and plans of work are helpful if wisely conducted, special
 
 152 THE CHUECH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 emphasis should be laid at present upon the value of 
 conferences for the edification of the Church members. 
 In Korea, Manchuria, China, and some parts of India, 
 such gatherings have witnessed wonderful outpourings of 
 the Holy Spirit ; and this may be taken as a token that 
 God's time has come to visit His Church. We would 
 therefore suggest that wherever Christians are gathered 
 together in conference throughout the mission field, 
 special consideration should be given to the subject of 
 the need for a fuller measure of the Holy Spirit's power 
 in their lives, the hindrances to His gracious working 
 should be pointed out, and the conditions of the mani- 
 festation of His power should be set forth. 
 
 WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS 
 
 Our enquiry has elucidated the fact that both weddings 
 and funerals are widely utilised to bring Christian ideals 
 of family life before the converts in all mission fields, and 
 also to set forth the realities of the life to come. In 
 Japan the strange idea prevails, in the country districts, 
 that the bodies of the Christians are crucified after death. 
 This arouses much curiosity, and advantage is taken of 
 the crowds who gather at the funerals to correct this 
 misapprehension, and a very deep impression is frequently 
 produced on the minds of the heathen. 
 
 In China much emphasis is laid upon the use made of 
 marriages and funerals. On both occasions there is 
 opportunity for bringing Christian truth home to the 
 hearts of the people who gather together. In a country 
 like China, where so much attention is paid to ceremony 
 and etiquette, the due observance of an orderly service 
 at marriages and funerals tends to produce a favourable 
 impression on the minds of the people. A young China- 
 man of noble birth who ventured, not without some fear, 
 to attend a Christian marriage service, was very favour- 
 ably impressed with its orderliness and reverence ; and 
 he felt that reading, prayers, and hymns touched a far 
 higher note than he had been accustomed to in Confucian
 
 EDIFICATION OP COMMUNITY 153 
 
 ceremonies. Christians are taught to see another view 
 of family life than they have known, and the duties and 
 privileges of the new relationship are carefully explained 
 to them. 
 
 The right use of suitable arrangements in regard to 
 Christian burial is of special importance in China, as 
 contributing to the solution of the difficulties which are 
 felt in regard to the abandonment of ancestor worship. 
 In this connection we refer again for a discussion of the 
 whole subject to the report of the Committee on that 
 subject presented to the Centenary Missionary Conference 
 held at Shanghai in 1907 (Records of the Conference, 
 pp. 215-246). The Chinese Church and the missionary 
 body are unanimously of opinion that the ancestor 
 worship of China cannot be retained by the Christian 
 community. All the more it is necessary to set forth in 
 connection with the burial of Christians right ideas, both 
 of regard for the departed, and of the Christian hope of 
 immortality. One of the common charges made against 
 the Christians in China is that they have no regard for 
 parents and ancestors, and show no respect to the dead. 
 Nothing can be a more effective answer to such charges 
 than a Christian burial conducted as it ought to be. 
 From the replies before us, we gather that not a little 
 attention is already devoted to this matter, and the 
 precise form which such observances should take may 
 well be left to the missionaries and Chinese leaders of the 
 Church. It is a frequent practice in Christian burials 
 that on the way to the grave, which generally lies at 
 some distance outside of the cities or villages, the company 
 of mourners sing as they go hymns which give expression 
 not only to natural sorrow, but still more to Christian 
 hope and rejoicing. Such hymns most fittingly displace 
 the harsh music of gongs and other instruments, with 
 noisy discharges of fire crackers, which accompany non- 
 Christian burials. These are really expressions of fear, 
 andareusedinthe hope of driving away evil and demoniacal 
 influences. Even to non-Christian onlookers the sobriety 
 and beauty of the Christian observances can hardly fail
 
 154 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 to commend itself. So also the reading of Scripture and 
 the offering of suitable prayers dispel the idea of unfeeling 
 disregard for the dead, and can be so arranged as often 
 to afford good opportunities both of comforting the 
 mourners, and of explaining to the onlookers the grounds 
 of their hope. The fact also that the poorest and most 
 friendless of Church members receives at death such 
 marks of respect is a striking expression of Christian 
 love, and these impressions may be further deepened by 
 due care being taken in the ordering of graves and 
 cemeteries and the maintenance of suitable memorials 
 of the departed. 
 
 An Indian pastor in Madras writes : " The Hindus, 
 quick at absorption, are fast trying to imitate Christians 
 wherever possible. They will never be able to give that 
 high hope after death to their co-religionists that the 
 Christians do. The Christian preaching and singing and 
 solemnity at funerals strongly attract the Hindus." 
 
 We are informed that amongst the Shans in Burmah, 
 the observance of Christian marriage and the teaching 
 connected with it, as also the teaching of the hope of 
 immortality in connection with Christian burial, has 
 produced a powerful impression on the minds of the 
 heathen ; and they are ready to admit that the Christian 
 customs and the Christian hope are far superior to their 
 own. 
 
 We have similar testimony from Central Africa, as 
 follows : " Every Christian marriage is conducted so 
 as to impress the parties with the solemnity of the rite, 
 and the sacred character of the vows which they under- 
 take. At funerals every care is taken to mark the dis- 
 tinction between Christian burial and burial according 
 to heathen rites. Services are conducted first at the 
 church, and then at the grave, by the minister or an elder, 
 and the whole burial rite is conducted with the utmost 
 solemnity, in strong contrast to the wild wailing of the 
 native heathen funeral."
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 155 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOLS 
 
 The vast importance of Sunday School work is now 
 universally admitted ; and nowhere is the need of this 
 method of edification more urgent than on the mission 
 field. If the children of the Church members are per- 
 mitted to grow up uninstructed and unshepherded, the 
 consequences must be disastrous, and the Church loses 
 one of the main sources from which her fresh member- 
 ship ought to be derived.- Children who have been 
 trained in Christian homes, and instructed in the Sunday 
 School, ought to be constantly passing on into the ranks 
 of her communicants, and they begin their Christian life 
 with advantages that those can never know who have 
 grown up under the blighting influences of heathenism. 
 
 In Korea the Sunday Schools are designed for the 
 children of the Christians, but non-Christians would not 
 be excluded, though few of these have thus far sought to 
 attend. Usually their parents would not like to permit 
 them to come under the influence of the missionaries. 
 In some cases, as we have pointed out above, pp. 132-3, 
 the second service on Sunday is a general Sunday School 
 in which the whole congregation participates ; in other 
 cases regular classes are organised, and the adults attend 
 as well as the children. 
 
 From Korea, too, we have report of extraordinary 
 activity in a form of work which can, perhaps, be best 
 classified under the title of " Sunday Schools," though 
 it differs widely from normal Sunday School work, includ- 
 ing the teaching and Bible training of men, women, and 
 children, in altogether exceptional numbers. The Rev. 
 S. A. Moffett, D.D., writes: "The chief factor in the 
 transformation of the spiritual life of the Koreans, and 
 what has placed the Korean Church in its]proper place 
 in evangelisation, has been the great y system of Bible 
 Training Classes. In these classes the whole Church, in 
 all its membership, young and old, literate and illiterate, 
 is given systematic education and training. Some of the 
 classes are central ones held in the mission station,
 
 156 THE CHURCH IN TJIE MISSION FIELD 
 
 designed for the whole field at that station, and taught 
 n the main by the missionaries. Some are local, for a 
 smaller district or for a single congregation, taught in 
 part by missionaries, but almost entirely by Koreans. 
 Classes for men and for women are arranged for, so far 
 as possible, in every one of the more than 2500 congrega- 
 tions or groups in the country. The attendance ranges 
 from 5 to 500 in these country classes, for which a large 
 force of the better instructed men and women is detailed 
 to the work as teachers. .The Bible is the text-book. 
 One station reports 262 such classes, with 13,680 enrolled, 
 another 292 classes, with 13,967 enrolled. Throughout 
 the land the total will be more than 2000 classes, with an 
 attendance of over 100,000 men and women." 
 
 The Sunday Schools in Japan are only in rare instances 
 intended exclusively for the use of non-Christian children ; 
 but they present a unique phenomenon as regards the 
 very large number of such children in attendance. The 
 proportion of Christian children in attendance is esti- 
 mated to amount only to eight or nine per cent, of the 
 whole. As this is a remarkable condition of affairs, we 
 call attention to the following statement as to the accessi- 
 bility of children in Japan. In a paper on Sunday 
 Schools read at the Tokyo Decennial Conference in 1900,* 
 Miss Buzzell states that : " The cities of this land 
 are full of children, and they spend much of their play- 
 time in the streets. There is hardly a neighbourhood 
 where you cannot gather together a group of children, 
 if you can find a room for the meeting, and some one 
 with tact and zeal to teach them. ... At present, in 
 Sendai, according to Mr. Noss, our statistician, one-tenth 
 of all the children are in the Sunday Schools." All the 
 missions take a large part in this work. In 1907 
 the Sunday School Association of Japan was formed. 
 An important part of the Association's work is the 
 preparation of literature for Sunday School, use and 
 the arrangement for the delivery of lectures in various 
 centres for the training of teachers. 
 
 i See Conference Report, p. 365.
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 157 
 
 In China the Sunday School work is on very different 
 lines from what it is in Japan. Owing to the common 
 attitude of suspicion towards foreigners, it has been 
 difficult in the past, and it still is so in many places, to 
 get the children of non-Christian parents to attend. On 
 this account the scholars are for the most part those whose 
 parents are in connection with the Church. There are 
 now, however, Sunday Schools for non-Christian children 
 in Peking, Chefoo, Tengchow, Shanghai, Soochow, and 
 Foochow. These schools are reported to be exercising 
 a very helpful influence, as " prejudice is removed, 
 and many homes are opened for evangelistic effort." 
 In Shanghai, Chinese young men, connected with a Church 
 which is self-supporting, carry on a Sunday School for 
 non-Christian children which is very largely attended. 
 
 In some cases a considerable number of adults attend 
 as well as the children. The important work of teaching 
 does not seem to have been taken up yet by the ordinary 
 Church members, and the staff of teachers is largely 
 derived from those who are in the employment of the 
 missions. 
 
 This branch of the work was carefully considered 
 by the Shanghai Centenary Conference, I907- 1 From 
 this Report it is manifest that there is very great room 
 for development and improvement in connection T vith 
 this department of work. The following resolutions 
 were adopted : 
 
 " Greater attention should be given to the spiritual care 
 of the young people of the Church and to the fuller use 
 of Sunday Schools, the latter being so arranged that 
 adults, as well as children, may attend." 2 
 
 And again : " Whereas we believe the Sunday School 
 to be of the utmost importance for the spread of the 
 Gospel, and the building up of the Church of Christ in 
 China, we therefore resolve : 
 
 " (i) That this Conference elect a Committee, composed 
 of not more than twenty members, whose duty shall be 
 
 1 Records of the Conference, pp. 236-295. 
 3 Ibid., p. 440.
 
 158 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 to take such steps as may seem necessary to improve and 
 extend the Sunday School work in China. 
 
 " (2) That this Conference heartily favours the securing 
 of a General Secretary to devote his whole time to the 
 promotion of Sunday School work throughout China, 
 under the direction of this Committee." 1 
 
 As an outcome of this resolution, " The China Sunday 
 School Union " has been formed, with Committees in 
 Shanghai and Great Britain. An office is to be opened in 
 Shanghai, and deputations are to be organised in order 
 to visit the different mission stations. Lesson notes 
 are being translated and issued for the use of the teachers. 2 
 
 Recent information supplied to us by the Rev. F. 
 Brown, Tientsin, who represented the Sunday School 
 Committee of the China Centenary Conference at the 
 World Sunday School Conference, Washington, 1910, 
 gives promise of great progress. In 1907 the figures 
 procurable seemed to show only 5000 Sunday School 
 scholars in all China, which was no doubt far below the 
 real numbers, but indicated lack of organisation. But 
 to the Washington Conference in 1910 it was reported 
 that there are now 80,000 scholars in Sunday Schools in 
 China. At that Conference, too, a secretary for China 
 was appointed, who goes out this autumn (1910) to China, 
 the expense being met out of the fund of $75,000 which 
 was collected by the Washington Conference. 
 
 India is certainly the best organised of all the mission 
 fields in the matter of Sunday Schools. 3 The first Sunday 
 School was opened at Serampore as early as the year 1803. 
 The commencement of organised effort took place at 
 Allahabad in 1876, when the Indian Sunday School 
 Union was formed by missionaries and others, represent- 
 ing eight different Societies. 
 
 The operations of this Union have extended widely, 
 and now it is co-operating with not less than sixty out 
 
 1 Records of Conference, p. 686. 
 
 2 Annual Report S.S. Union, London, 1909, p. 32. 
 
 3 Decennial Missionary Conference, Madras, 1902, Report, pp. 50, 
 51-
 
 of the seventy existing Missionary Societies. The 
 objects for which it exists have been briefly stated as 
 follows : " (i) To emphasise the spiritual character 
 of Sunday School training. (2) To consolidate and 
 extend Sunday School work. (3) To educate teachers 
 in the best principles and methods of Bible study and 
 teaching. (4) To produce and foster the growth of 
 English and vernacular literature, suitable for teachers 
 and scholars. (5) To encourage special services among 
 young people. (6) To unite for mutual help all 
 Sunday Schools conducted by Protestant Missions in 
 Southern Asia." 
 
 As an indication of the extent of Sunday School work 
 in India, the following figures may be taken, although 
 these do not include the statistics of Sunday Schools that 
 are not in association with the Indian Sunday School 
 Union. 1 In the year 1907 there were 14,352 teachers 
 and 421,089 scholars, and the number of scholars had 
 increased over those of the previous year to the remark- 
 able extent of 96,089. The I.S.S.U. now conducts a 
 Scripture examination in no less than twenty of the 
 languages of India ; and of 16,829 scholars, who 
 entered for this examination in 1907, 13,192 gained 
 certificates. 
 
 As a result of our present enquiry we find that the 
 existence of Sunday Schools is very general in India. 
 Only in one or two exceptional cases have we been 
 informed that Sunday Schools do not exist. In the case 
 of some Missions this branch of the work is remarkably 
 well developed. The Rev. F. B. Chamberlain of the Arcot 
 Mission, Madanapalle, is able to report that they have 
 176 Sunday Schools in connection with 181 Christian 
 congregations. The Rev. J. S. Chandler, of the Madura 
 Mission, states that : " Sunday Schools are universal, 
 not only among the Churches, bull also among the day 
 schools." 
 
 A similar reply is given by the Indian secretary of the 
 Baptist Missionary Society, who writes : " In all our 
 1 Annual Report S.S. Union, London, 1909, p. 30.
 
 160 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 large Churches, and wherever day schools are located, 
 Sunday Schools are invariably held." 
 
 These facts are most encouraging, and we call attention 
 to them as examples of what is attainable ; and as a 
 stimulus to those whose Sunday School work is not yet 
 so complete. 
 
 The Indian Sunday Schools are usually open to non- 
 Christian children ; but we are informed of one school in 
 Calcutta that is for the children of Christian parents 
 only. In some other cases, non-Christian children do not 
 attend, religious hostility still preventing them ; but this 
 is very exceptional. 
 
 A large number of Sunday Schools exist for the use 
 of non-Christian children. Such schools are frequently 
 held for those who attend the ordinary schools during 
 the week days. The result of this particular line of effort 
 appears to be satisfactory. A large amount of Christian 
 truth is imparted, much prejudice is removed, and in some 
 schools not a few conversions have taken place from time 
 to time. One reply states : " We have a number of 
 converts who received their first knowledge of the way of 
 salvation in these schools." 
 
 Another, referring to the opening of a day school and 
 a Sunday School in a village, writes : " Results are 
 somewhat mixed. Among out-castes such a school and 
 Sunday School are often the beginning of work among 
 parents, and result in the conversion of many, perhaps 
 the whole village or hamlet. Among caste people open 
 conversions seldom occur ; but there is constant en- 
 couragement when children refuse longer to worship 
 idols in the home, or at the shrines." 
 
 The teachers are largely drawn from those who are on 
 the staff of the mission ; but they look upon this part of 
 their work as being a voluntary service. In the cities 
 and large centres there are now a considerable number 
 of teachers who have no mission connection whatever, 
 and who are voluntary workers in the ordinarily accepted 
 sense of that term. 
 
 In Africa the work is necessarily carried on in sections
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 161 
 
 rather than as a whole. The many nations, tribes, and 
 races which constitute its population, have little or no 
 relationship with each other. On the West Coast, at 
 Sierra Leone, and Calabar, also on the Congo and in 
 Nigeria, Sunday Schools are conducted by the various 
 missions at work in these regions. In Sierra Leone, where 
 large numbers of children attend, and the schools are 
 open to all, the scholars are almost entirely from amongst 
 the Christian population, and very few heathen or 
 Mohammedan children attend. The teachers are all 
 volunteers, and many of them have received their educa- 
 tion in the older mission schools. In Nigeria the C.M.S. 
 have a Sunday School in connection with each church. 
 These are attended by adults as well as by children, and 
 the scholars are drawn from both the Christian and non- 
 Christian population. There are graded classes, those 
 who can read being taught apart from those who cannot. 
 In districts where the work is only beginning, and there 
 are as yet no Christians, there are some schools for non- 
 Christian children. 
 
 At Calabar there are classes for adults as well as for 
 children. The readers and the non-readers are separately 
 instructed, and the schools are open to all children ; but 
 there are none for non-Christian children only. 
 
 In the German missions special emphasis is laid upon 
 the religious instruction given in the day schools ; but the 
 Basel Mission at Aburi on the Gold Coast reports Sunday 
 Schools for adults and children in some of their stations. 
 These are open to both Christians and non-Christians : 
 and there is one school for non-Christian children by 
 themselves, the results of which have proved satisfactory. 
 There are only a few voluntary teachers. The Berlin 
 Mission at Medingen in the Transvaal has a Sunday School 
 with an attendance of 250, and 12 men and 12 women 
 of the congregation form the staff of teachers. These are 
 all voluntary workers. Non-Christian children attend, 
 and are taught in separate classes. 
 
 In Uganda great attention is given to the instruction 
 of adults in religious truth, in the reading schools which 
 
 COM. II. II
 
 meet daily. On Sunday special services are held for 
 the children, Christian and non-Christian together, but 
 they are not formed into classes. 
 
 At Livingstonia special Sunday classes for baptized 
 children are held in some districts. No Sunday Schools 
 exist for non-Christian children ; but the majority of 
 children attending the day schools are of this class. 
 In these the Bible is regularly taught, and this has 
 resulted in many of the scholars ultimately making 
 application for admission to the Church. 
 
 The Mission of the American Board in South Africa 
 has Sunday Schools at all station churches, and in some 
 cases at out-stations. These are open to non-Christians, 
 both adults and children ; but there are no schools 
 exclusively for non-Christians. The teachers are volun- 
 tary workers. In the Presbyterian Mission in Transkei, 
 South Africa, there are a few Sunday Schools for non- 
 Christian children only ; but their parents are usually 
 averse to the attendance of their children on Sunday. 
 The Sunday School work is retarded by the lack of 
 teachers who possess both knowledge and zeal, and by 
 the lack of earnestness on the part of the parents. The 
 Bishop of Mombasa states that there are Sunday Schools 
 at all the mission stations in his diocese. They include 
 non - Christian children, also hearers, enquirers, cate- 
 chumens, and Christians ; but these are taught in 
 separate classes. There are schools for non-Christians 
 exclusively in stations where the work is in the pre- 
 paratory stage of evangelisation. The exact results 
 of the Sunday Schools cannot be stated separately, 
 as these scholars receive regular religious instruction 
 in the day schools also. The teachers are in some 
 cases volunteers, in others they are members of the 
 mission staff. 
 
 In Samoa there are Sunday Schools in connection 
 with every Church and congregation. The International 
 Lessons have been in use for the last twenty years, and 
 Notes for Teachers are published in a monthly magazine 
 entitled The Samoan Torch. Regular examinations are
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 163 
 
 held, and the results have been very gratifying. The 
 teachers are all voluntary workers. 
 
 There are Sunday Schools connected with all the 
 Churches of the American Board in the Ottoman Empire. 
 These contain classes for both adults and children, and 
 also separate classes for men and women. They are 
 open to all who will attend. 
 
 The slight review of Sunday School work in the mission 
 fields which we have now given may suffice to show that 
 while a great deal of thought and effort are expended 
 upon it, there is still room for improvement. The need 
 in the mission field, as amongst the western Churches, 
 is for the systematizing of Sunday School work, the 
 increase of the efficiency of the teachers, and the giving 
 to the teaching imparted a higher educational quality, 
 as well as a more intense spiritual influence. Necessity 
 often compels the employment as Sunday School teachers 
 of those whose own training and preparation for such im- 
 portant work has been very inadequate. Among the more 
 ignorant peoples, a great deal of useful work may no 
 doubt be done with a very small intellectual equipment. 
 But wherever the standard of intelligence rises above 
 a low level, it becomes increasingly important that the 
 respect of the scholars should be won, not so much by 
 the official authority of the teachers as by their mastery 
 of the subjects which they are teaching, and ability to 
 impress their pupils by the force of their own personality. 
 Still more, as the more critical age is being reached, 
 when boys and girls are becoming men and women, the 
 Church will be unable to maintain her wholesome influ- 
 ence over them unless the teaching in the Sunday School 
 be such as to command their respect, and to answer to 
 their growing intellectual as well as spiritual require- 
 ments. There is need everywhere for increased attention 
 to the quality of the teachers, the suitability of the 
 accommodation, and the variety and fitness of the 
 literature provided, and it is in such directions as these 
 that we must look for a substantial improvement through- 
 out the whole field of Sunday School work.
 
 1&4 THE dHt&Oil IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 We need to lay to heart the solemn words of Mr. 
 Ruskin with regard to the period of youth, words 
 which apply with tenfold force to youth in the mission 
 field, " There is not an hour of it but is trembling with 
 destinies, not a moment of which, once past, the 
 appointed work can ever be done again, Or the neglected 
 blow struck on the cold iron. Take your vase of Venice 
 glass out of the furnace, and strew chaff over it in its 
 transparent heat, and recover that to its clearness and 
 rubied glory when the north wind has blown upon it ; but 
 do not think to strew chaff over the child fresh from God's 
 presence, and to bring the heavenly colours back to hifti 
 at least in this world " (Modern Painters- vol. iv. p. 411). 
 
 CONFIRMATION OR ADMISSION TO COMMUNION 
 
 We nOw come to the point towards which the influences 
 of the home and the Sunday School should lead the 
 young people of the Church their public confession of 
 their own faith and purpose to serve Christ, and their 
 admission by the Church to the grace and privileges of 
 Holy Communion. The Church in the mission field grows 
 by winning to itself men and women who have grown old 
 in pagan faiths, and we rejoice that the grace of God is as 
 freely given 1 " unto this last " as to those who come to 
 Him early. We can never accept the unspiritual thought 
 of those who say that in the mission field " the only hope 
 is in winning the children." But we gladly recbgnise 
 what a precious element in the membership of the Church 
 is found in boys and girls who grow up in Christian homes, 
 sheltered from the pollutions of pagan life, and devote 
 lives still unspoiled to the service of Christ. Here, too, 
 there are dangers, as in every department of spiritual 
 things. Older converts, with all their faults, have in 
 most cases taken a great decision and made a great 
 renunciation. They have often come through testing 
 fires of obloquy, and sometimes of persecution. These 
 experiences give some assurance of the sincerity of theft 
 faith. It is possible for young people in Christian homes
 
 N OF COMMUNITY 165 
 
 to follow heedlessly in the footsteps pf their parents, and 
 make a profession, noj: consciously insincere, and yet 
 devoid pf spiritual reality. Against this the Church must 
 be on her guard. Yet she must meet her young people, 
 not with suspicion but with a welcome, and offer them the 
 warning, guidance, ancj encouragement which, by God's 
 blessing, may give stability and reality to the fresh and 
 unspoiled life which they offer for His service. 
 
 Some of our correspondents of the Baptist communion 
 call our special attention to the danger indicated above, 
 pf young people being accepted, mainly on account of 
 the Church membership of their parents, rather than pf 
 evidence of their own faith, for admission, according to 
 Baptist usage, to Baptism and Holy Communion. The 
 means employed to avoid this danger are stated by one 
 Baptist correspondent thus : "By means of Christian 
 schools and the various services of the Church, it is hoped 
 to lead the sons and daughters of Christian parents to 
 an intelligent faith in Christ." Another reports the 
 co-operation of parents thus : " Christian parents are 
 usually very anxious that their children should become 
 Church members. Home influences, boarding schools, 
 Sunday Schools, preaching, religious text-books, serve to 
 keep the inatter of personal religion before all our young 
 people." 
 
 Among the other communions, all practising infant 
 baptism, the only distinction that need here be drawn 
 is that between those who do, and those who 4 not 
 require confirmation as a necessary step for admis- 
 sion to Holy Communion. We may add that the 
 statements made tp us suggest that, evpn where con- 
 firmation is not practised as a definite Church ordinance 
 under that name, yet the necessity is everywhere 
 acknowledged for like pare in the instruction and 
 examination of young pepple a|: this critical and solemn 
 step in their spiritual life. As regards instruction and 
 preparation for a persona} profession, the " Young 
 Communicants' Class" of Presbyterian and other cpm- 
 munions is meant to meet the same need as the '< pon-
 
 166 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 firmation class." We venture to urge that the Church 
 in the mission field should everywhere give the most 
 earnest and painstaking care to these responsible duties. 
 
 We give first a brief review of the practice reported to 
 us from the missions of the Anglican, the Lutheran and 
 Reformed, and the Moravian communions, all of which 
 practise confirmation and attach great importance to it. 
 
 In the missions of the Anglican Communion, prepara- 
 tion for confirmation is carried on with great regularity. 
 In the more advanced mission fields, the classes, prepara- 
 tory to confirmation, are taken by the pastors and 
 catechists. In the countries where the work is at an 
 earlier stage, the missionaries must necessarily prepare 
 the candidates. The duration of these classes necessarily 
 varies considerably. In one report from India the time 
 is stated to be about three months. In Uganda six 
 months' special instruction is received. 
 
 In the Lutheran missions great thoroughness marks the 
 preparation of their candidates in so far as knowledge of 
 Christian doctrine is concerned. Confirmation classes 
 commence, in some cases, when the children are over 10 
 years of age, but from 14 to 16 is more common. The 
 following quotation will serve to show the lines of the 
 instruction given : " The Lutheran Church makes it 
 its most particular duty to teach for a fairly long period 
 all the fundamental and saving truths of Christianity 
 according to Luther's smaller catechism. No one is 
 admitted to Holy Communion who has not fairly under- 
 gone this course." 
 
 In a reply received concerning the work of the Moravian 
 missions, attention is called to the fact that applications 
 for admission to the class in preparation for confirmation 
 must be entirely voluntary, and that no pressure is 
 brought to bear upon any one to become a candidate. 
 The instruction class receives some months' careful 
 teaching at the hands of the missionary. 
 
 Amongst the missions which practise infant baptism 
 but do not require confirmation, we note first the practice 
 of the Methodists. In this body, baptized children are
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 167 
 
 regarded as probationers, and in this way the Church 
 acknowledges her responsibility towards them. When 
 they are old enough to understand, their instruction 
 commences. The pastors are expected to watch over 
 them, carefully instructing them in Biblical knowledge 
 and the catechism. In some cases special classes are 
 organised, in others the children receive the same instruc- 
 tion and pass the same examination as that provided for 
 adult candidates. When the children are receiving 
 their education in mission boarding schools, they are 
 specially instructed there. With regard to the actual 
 point of admission to Communion, no very specific 
 information has been afforded ; but it must be the 
 result of a voluntary application on the part of the 
 young person seeking to enter into Church fellowship. 
 
 The Presbyterian missions, while not neglecting in- 
 struction, regard admission to Communion as a public 
 confession of discipleship. We are informed that " the 
 duty is urged from the pulpit " ; " they (baptized children) 
 are reminded of the promises made on their behalf by 
 their parents, and asked to take their stand publicly on 
 Christ's side." Again, " In addressing the children, 
 those of them who have been baptized are reminded of 
 the fact, and of the obligations they lie under on that 
 account." On the side of instruction, classes for in- 
 tending communicants are held from time to time in 
 preparation for Holy Communion. In some cases the 
 children of Christian parents pass through the hearers' 
 and catechumens' classes along with other enquirers and 
 candidates. 
 
 We call attention to a helpful custom which has been 
 adopted by one of the Synods of the Presbyterian Church 
 in China, and has already given promise of good results. 
 " Every year the names of all children baptized fifteen 
 years before, who are still in life and have not been 
 received to Communion, are copied out of the general 
 roll and printed, grouped under the congregation to 
 which they now belong. These lists are sent to ministers, 
 elders, preachers, teachers, and missionaries, with the
 
 168 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 request that during the current year those named shall 
 be specially reminded individually of their baptism and 
 its significance, dealt with as to their spiritual condition, 
 and encouraged to seek to be received to Communion" 
 (Centenary Conference, Shanghai, 1907, Records, p. 30). 
 
 In the Congregational missions, which have not a 
 close-knit uniformity of Church order, we do not find 
 any distinctive or fixed system for the preparation of 
 those baptized in infancy for admission to Holy Com- 
 munion, yet this important duty is by no means neglected. 
 The influence of Christian parents is called into play 
 and relied on, with good results. Young people who 
 have received their education in Christian schools pass 
 on from these to the enquirers' class. Pastors and others 
 keep the young people of the congregations under their 
 observation, and when they recognise signs of spiritual 
 awakening, they encourage them to present themselves 
 as candidates for admission to Communion. Some 
 correspondents report special classes in which Bible 
 teaching and personal instruction is given with the 
 distinct purpose of preparation for Communion. 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 
 
 We cordially recognise, as agencies which contribute 
 largely to the edification of the Christian community, 
 the various young people's societies, such as the 
 Young Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's 
 Christian Association, The Christian Endeavour 
 Movement, the Epworth League, Bands of Hope and 
 other societies, some of which are merely local, while 
 others form parts of a world- wide organisation. There 
 is a widespread and wholesome opinion amongst mis- 
 sionaries that the fewer western ideas and forms of 
 organisation we can impose upon the young Church in the 
 mission field the better ; and for this reason some even of 
 those excellent societies which we have named are looked 
 upon by missionaries with some hesitation. On the 
 other hand, they have so conspicuously approved them-
 
 EDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY 
 
 selves by real usefulness in many places, that they have 
 also many enthusiastic advocates, and these are usually 
 found among those who have had the largest experience 
 of their working. While we heartily commend the work 
 of such societies, we venture to suggest that the fear of 
 any evil results arising in connection with them will be 
 greatly lessened by careful attention to a few necessary 
 cautions. The larger and more efficient of these organi- 
 sations in particular have to bear in mind certain effects 
 which they are sometimes liable to produce locally, especi- 
 ally in the smaller missions. We must always regard 
 the local Church and its pastorate as chiefly responsible 
 for the spiritual care and guidapce both of old and young. 
 The wise leaders of these societies always make it their 
 aim to work through and in harmony with the pastorate 
 and the congregation with which the young people are 
 connected. Where this is overlooked, their work, how- 
 ever well intended, may sometimes weaken the pastorate, 
 and tend to detach young people from the congregational 
 life in which they ought to find a congenial home. 
 Similarly in regard to schools and colleges, it should be 
 recognised that the heads of these institutions are prim- 
 arily responsible for the care of their pupils and students, 
 and societies which seek to stimulate and guide the 
 Christian life of these young people, must be careful to 
 do it in such ways that discipline shall not be allowed to 
 suffer. 
 
 It is also necessary to note a danger which arises from 
 the multiplication of these societies. Where two of 
 them are established in one congregation, care must be 
 taken to avoid creating a rivalry, or separation of interests 
 between the two societies, or between either of them 
 and the local congregation. 
 
 In regard to some of these societies, special care must 
 be taken in view of local customs and requirements. It 
 is perhaps too readily assumed in some cases that joint 
 meetings of young men and young women can be held in the 
 mission field, as they may be in western countries. Mission- 
 aries who are in close touch with native life, and charged with
 
 170 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD, 1 
 
 the care of local congregations, are sensitively aware of the 
 vast difference between the social conditions of the East 
 and of the West. Christian workers who give their time 
 mainly to organisation of societies on the larger scale are, 
 by the nature of this work, prevented from having this 
 close and intimate contact with the life and feeling of 
 local communities, and are sometimes in danger of 
 resenting restrictions placed upon their work, which 
 appear absolutely essential to those who have a more 
 intimate familiarity with local conditions. Considera- 
 tions of this kind are specially important at the present 
 time of transition in many parts of the Oriental world. 
 In China, for example, there is a throwing off of old 
 restrictions, and a tendency to imitate the freedom of 
 the West. But where the moral atmosphere and con- 
 ditions have not yet been transformed by the working 
 of the Christian spirit, such freedom is in many cases 
 dangerous in itself, and apt to prejudice the non-Christian 
 mind against Christianity. 
 
 We would suggest that, in all cases, those responsible 
 for the work of young people's societies should be careful 
 to act in close connection with local missionaries, heads 
 of schools and colleges, and local Church authorities, 
 and that these, in turn, should be prepared to welcome 
 the important help, which, under right conditions, these 
 societies are able to give, in the work of edifying the 
 young people of the Church, and training them for 
 Christian service.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OF 
 WORKERS 
 
 (A) GENERAL TRAINING 
 
 IN the remit to this Commission, the Church in the 
 mission field is closely associated with " its workers," 
 and it is a true instinct that has so prominently drawn 
 attention to the dependence of the Church upon those 
 within its borders who " work " for its advancement. 
 
 It is needless to say that the workers of the Church 
 in the mission field should be as numerous as its members. 
 The Church is a spiritual body depending on a vast variety 
 of ministrations, and the most vital of these do not depend 
 mainly on pecuniary, social, or intellectual resources, but 
 upon some one or other of the manifold forms of spiritual 
 gifts. From this point of view, the matters treated of in 
 the present chapter might be looked on as identical with 
 the subject of Chapter IV., " Edification of Christian 
 Community, Adult and Juvenile." Wherever such 
 edification amongst old or young is being carried on, 
 there workers are being prepared to face the tasks which 
 everywhere await the Christian Church. We desire, 
 therefore, to emphasise the thought, which ought to be 
 deep-seated in all Christian minds, that the " workers " 
 of the Church are not a professional class or section. 
 They may be pastors and teachers, catechists, evangelists, 
 or Bible- women, but many of them occupy no official 
 position, and their names are not found on any pay-sheet. 
 Some of the finest work of the Church is done in silence, 
 upon sick beds, and by lonely persons who never appear 
 
 171
 
 172 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 to the public eye, and the results of whose work, though 
 welcomed by the Church, will never be connected with 
 their names. Such work, however precious, cannot be 
 tabulated and reviewed, and we confine ourselves to those 
 for whose work the Church assumes some definite responsi- 
 bility, and for whom it is bound to provide some form 
 both of preparation and of oversight. 
 
 We find therefore, under this head of our subject, that 
 the training of workers includes many stages and forms 
 of training, beginning so far back as the catechumen's 
 class, and the Sunday schools, many of which have adult 
 as well as juvenile pupils, and in its higher stages it leads up 
 to normal school training of teachers, and the theological 
 training of pastors. In no stage can precise lines of 
 distinction be drawn, and those received into a class 
 for an elementary form of training often so approve them- 
 selves that they pass on to higher stages, and some workers 
 of the widest usefulness have been gained in this way. 
 
 In the training of workers, some of the most efficient 
 work seems to have been done on behalf of the women 
 of the Church. Many of these have been received into a 
 class designed, in the first instance, for their own advance- 
 ment in Chrjstian knowledge, and after being thus tested 
 as to their capacity for receiving instruction, are advanced 
 to more complete and prolonged cqurses of training. 
 The earlier stages might be described as Sunday school 
 and Bible-class instruction, and this is often given on brief 
 visits paid by lady missionaries to country stations, as 
 well as during longer periods at mission centres. In such 
 classes there are always some, who, while receiving benefit 
 for themselves, do not shpw sufficient intelligence or 
 aptitude tq justify their being more fully trained, or 
 specially set apart for Church work. Members of such 
 classes are often widows, or others who are sufficiently 
 free from home ties to make it possible for them, when 
 found to be otherwise qualified, to give their whole tirne 
 to the service of the Church. Sometimes they receive 
 the course of instruction by attending classes held at 
 country stations, while still resident in their own homes
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 173 
 
 sometimes they are received for a short period of residence 
 at chapels and schools near their homes ; while sometimes 
 they are gathered to a mission centre, and reside for 
 several weeks, sometimes for some months, in a special 
 training school. Such methods permit a good deal of 
 elasticity and adaptation to the varying stations of those 
 concerned. All such pupils receive more or less benefit 
 for their own Christian life, and are thereby enabled to 
 exercise a stronger influence amongst their own friends 
 and neighbours. Some of those who specially approve 
 themselves are provided, under various arrangements, 
 with longer courses of more advanced instruction, with a 
 view to their becoming teachers in elementary schools, 
 Bible-women or visitors, matrons and assistants in 
 boarding schools or in hospitals, and evangelists. 
 
 It is more difficult to apply such a system to the training 
 of men, who are usually bound by the claims of their 
 industrial life. Agriculturists, fishermen, and shop- 
 keepers seldom have it in their power to give their time 
 even for a few weeks to receive instruction in such ways, 
 but amongst them, too, some work of the kind is done 
 in summer schools or winter Classes, as the case may be. 
 Agriculturists usually have some season during the year 
 when field work is at a standstill, and when they can give 
 their minds for a short time to class work. Whether 
 summer, winter, or other seasons may be best for this 
 purpose depends, of course, upon local climate and con- 
 ditions, but where such classes can be secured the methods 
 of instruction do not differ greatly from those adopted 
 in the classes for women. Among the men, too, some are 
 found who give such promise' of growing intelligence and 
 character that they are advanced to courses designed to fit 
 them for employment as evangelists, colporteurs, and 
 catechists, or in other posts in connection with the 
 hospitals, colleges, and schools. 
 
 One of the principal hindrances to the efficiency of 
 work of this kind arises from the fact that those under 
 instruction have not usually had the advantage of a good 
 elementary education. The teaching given must therefore
 
 174 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 often begin at the lowest stage of teaching to read and 
 write. On the other hand, the very fact that the teaching 
 must often be somewhat informal gives all the more free 
 scope for the influence of personal character and the 
 imparting of spiritual impulse. 
 
 The important place occupied by the somewhat 
 informal work at which we have now glanced in all parts 
 of the mission field may be judged from a brief summary 
 of the information supplied to us in answer to our 
 enquiries. It covers indeed a wide range, and helps 
 us to realise the ideal, never to be forgotten, that all 
 members of the Church should, in some way, be 
 " workers." " Would God that all the Lord's people were 
 prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them ! " 
 But we confine this review to those who are specially 
 set apart to the service of the Church, beginning with 
 those of more limited gifts. It will be seen that these 
 gifts range upwards to a level nearly reaching the higher 
 qualifications for the pastoral office, and the dividing 
 line is not easily drawn. But the more distinctive 
 theological training for preachers and for the pastorate 
 will be treated in a separate sub-section. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE MISSION FIELDS 
 
 Japan 
 
 In Japan there is a highly organised system in connec- 
 tion with the Nippon Sei Kokwai, by which Japanese 
 women workers are trained for two or three years, and 
 then receive the Bishop's licence, as the men catechists 
 do, only " for work among women and children." These 
 women workers are specially recognised in the Canons 
 and Constitutions of the Church. 
 
 Korea 
 
 In Korea there are Bible and training classes for 
 both men and women under the supervision of mission- 
 aries. These are held mostly for short terms of twenty days
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 175 
 
 or so. Some missions have a weekly class for Sunday- 
 school teachers ; in others, missionaries give instruction 
 at intervals. 
 
 China 
 
 In Manchuria evangelists have a curriculum extending 
 from four to six years ; the subjects of study include Old 
 and New Testament Doctrine, and Elementary Science. 
 There is an annual examination in these subjects, 
 preceded by a month's lectures delivered in various 
 centres by one of the missionaries. During the rest of 
 the year the evangelists study at home. Bible-women 
 have a regular course of instruction from lady mission- 
 aries, those from the country coming into the city for 
 several weeks at a time. Medical assistants have 
 Christian instruction in the hospitals, and conduct the 
 services for in-patients in rotation. Most of the Sunday- 
 school teachers are elders or students, some of them 
 study the next Sunday's lesson with the missionary 
 beforehand. 
 
 In China proper nearly all the missions give some 
 training to catechists and evangelists. In most cases 
 they receive instruction at Bible-study classes, training 
 classes or Bible schools, which meet in a central station 
 annually, sometimes oftener, for periods ranging from 
 one to three months. In isolated stations training is given 
 by the resident missionary. The London Missionary 
 Society have a training school at Tsangchow, at which 
 a three years' course is given, embracing geography, 
 history, arithmetic, Church history, Bible study, 
 homiletics, and some further teaching in the Chinese 
 classics. Students must have a sufficient knowledge 
 of their own language to understand the text-books, 
 and to write the answers when examined. The Church 
 of Scotland Mission has a training institute at Ichang. 
 Twice a year for one month, the catechists, colporteurs, 
 and evangelists receive instruction in Old and New 
 Testament history and exegesis, Christian doctrine, 
 Church history, elementary science, and geography.
 
 176 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Exercises are given out daily to be prepared for 
 the next day, and weekly examinations on the work 
 done are held. A course of reading is prescribed, 
 and exercises set to occupy the months the men are at 
 their stations. The China Inland Mission has estab- 
 lished Bible schools at Chengtu and three other centres for 
 training evangelists. The qualifications required are 
 an aptitude for evangelistic work, and the ability to 
 read and write. Hitherto no entrance examination has 
 been held, but in the futufe it is intended that candidates 
 must pass a simple examination in the four Gospels. 
 The men are drawn from all classes scholars, farmers, 
 artisans, and merchants. The course of study covers 
 two years of two terms each, and comprises Scripture, 
 Church history, universal history, geography, astronomy, 
 music, and homiletics. The whole Bible is expounded 
 according to a specially prepared course, and about 
 1 200 verses of Scripture are memorised. All teaching 
 is done in Chinese.' Practical work is combined with 
 study, two hours daily being devoted to evangelistic 
 work, a fortnightly trip into the country combines 
 exercise with preaching. The Central China Confer- 
 ence of the Christian and Missionary Alliance has pro- 
 vided a training institute, which is designed to furnish 
 instruction to students and intending workers. Many 
 of the latter are men converted in adult life, who have 
 not been able to avail themselves of the preparatory 
 course of training in the Mission, but who have given 
 evidence, by sound conversion and consistent Christian 
 life with a desire and aptitude for Christian service, 
 of a call to evangelistic work. The course extends 
 over one or two years. The American Board of Missions 
 has a " complete school system " in the province of 
 Chih-li, but for workers who have not taken the regular 
 course there are " occasional station classes." The 
 American Presbyterian Mission in Canton gives training 
 to catechists at the Fati Theological College. The 
 Wesleyan Methodist Mission holds weekly classes in 
 Canton for training workers.
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 177 
 
 All missions bestow much attention on the training 
 of Bible-women. In many of the large centres training 
 schools have been established, at many of which the 
 women are boarded. The American Board have provided 
 one at Peking, where women from other missions are 
 received ; the American Presbyterians have established 
 the " True Light " Seminary at Canton, and the English 
 Presbyterians have such schools in Swatow and Formosa, 
 and share another with the American Reformed Mission 
 in Amoy. In other missions the Bible-women come for 
 instruction for one or two months annually. Where 
 training schools are not yet provided, instruction is given 
 by the lady missionaries at their respective stations. 
 
 There is apparently no special provision for training 
 medical assistants as evangelists, but some missions are 
 considering what steps should be taken to supply this 
 need. One mission contemplates a " short cut " theo- 
 logical course. At present they rely on personal contact 
 with, and instruction from, medical missionaries. In 
 several missions, preparation classes for Sunday-school 
 teachers are held every week ; in others, only occasional 
 meetings are held. 
 
 India 
 
 In India considerable attention is devoted to the 
 training of catechists and evangelists. Many of the 
 missions have training institutions and schools, at which 
 systematic instruction is given, the course extending 
 over varying periods. At Palamcottah there is a cate- 
 chists' training class, in which the students have a two 
 years' course. There is no regular training for evangelists, 
 but the younger men are sent out with an itinerating 
 band of trained men under a missionary, and thus receive 
 practical training. In the Marathi Mission of the United 
 Free Church, boys who wish to be mission workers are 
 sent for two or three years to a normal school to be trained 
 as teachers. Selected lads go from it for three years to a 
 catechists' training school, which meets for three months 
 yearly. The Welsh Mission in the Khasi States begins 
 
 COM. II. 12
 
 178 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 the work of training in the elementary schools, thence the 
 future workers pass through the upper primary, middle 
 English, and normal or training schools. In Travancore 
 the brightest boys are taken from the elementary village 
 schools to the head station, where they undergo three or 
 four years' training ; the best are sent to the London 
 Mission Seminary at Nagercoil, which has been very 
 successful in training workers. The same Society has 
 a vernacular training institution at Gooty, where lads 
 from the Telugu district are prepared for the duties of 
 catechists. Boys of thirteen or fourteen (who have 
 finished the third standard), of good character, are selected 
 by competitive examination, and remain three or four 
 years. The Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Leipzig, main- 
 tains a seminary where young men who possess a certifi- 
 cate for having passed a lower course examination, are 
 admitted and undergo a three years' course in religious 
 study and training. The Evangelical and National 
 Missionary Society, Stockholm, has a training school in 
 two sections, one for catechists, the other for teachers. 
 The Serampore Baptist College has also two sections, 
 in one of which a course of from three to five years is 
 arranged for men preparing to be evangelists. Other 
 missions give similar training in their various districts. 
 Many missions hold occasional series of meetings. All 
 agents of the Madura Mission are gathered for monthly 
 meetings and annual conferences for the deepening of 
 spiritual life, training in Bible study, and instruction 
 in various subjects. The American Baptist Telugu 
 Mission holds " summer schools " which meet in central 
 stations for two or three weeks, at which regular courses 
 of study are given ; they are well attended and have been 
 found very useful. In Santalia, during the rainy 
 season, a class meets daily at one of the stations, attended 
 by the preachers and the hospital staff ; and another meet- 
 ing is held monthly, attended by all the workers. In 
 Simla, a " summer school " in harvest time is well attended 
 in some stations. Weekly Bible-classes are held for the 
 instruction of mission agents ; the necessity for training
 
 TRAINING OP WORKERS] 179 
 
 is universally acknowledged. As one missionary puts it, 
 " training all agents in devotional Bible study is the 
 greatest need and the most effective method." 
 
 The training of Bible-women and women teachers 
 is much on the same lines as that for men, except that 
 they do not receive theological instruction. There are 
 training homes and boarding schools ; training classes 
 and monthly meetings ; summer schools and occasional 
 gatherings. In the Bilaspur Mission men and women 
 are trained together in one institution, but unmarried 
 women are not admitted, as the classes are mixed. In 
 Travancore the brightest girls in the elementary village 
 schools are brought to the head station, where they have 
 five or six years' training in the boarding school. Courses 
 of study are sometimes prescribed to be carried on whilst 
 engaged in work, and examinations are conducted at the 
 annual conference. 
 
 Not much has been done to train medical assistants for 
 evangelistic work. In one of the London Mission stations, 
 in the Madras Presidency, in a school for the training of 
 medical assistants, they receive instruction in Biblical 
 subjects^and Christian evidences. In one of the United 
 Free Church stations in Santalia, a training class is held 
 annually, which the hospital staff attend. 
 
 For the equipping of Sunday-school teachers many mis- 
 sionaries hold weekly preparation classes, when the lesson for 
 the following Sunday is studied. In the Church Missionary 
 Society's Mission, Raj pur, the teachers meet periodically 
 for three or four days at the teachers' conference, when 
 lectures are given as to how to conduct Sunday-school work 
 with success. In another district there is a teachers' train- 
 ing school. In a mission in the Punjab, the older scholars 
 are set to teaching junior classes under supervision. 
 
 In Burma a man found with promising gifts is sent 
 touring with a tried worker to gam experience. If well 
 reported on, he is sent to one of the seminaries, of which 
 there are two, one for Karens, and one for Burmans and 
 others. Bible-classes are held by missionaries, mostly 
 during the rains, because in the dry season men are touring.
 
 180 THE CHUKCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 They receive practical training in house to house visita- 
 tion and in preaching. There are also two seminaries for 
 training Bible-women, to which those who are gifted and 
 approved are sent for four years' training. Medical 
 assistants attend the Bible - classes and conduct the 
 services in its dispensary. In the seminaries training 
 is also given to Sunday-school teachers. 
 
 Africa 
 
 East Africa. Uganda : Catechists and evangelists 
 undergo training in a district centre, of which there are 
 five. At Mengo there is an organised course of training. 
 Women, tested locally, receive training for one year. 
 Mombasa : Men receive instruction in the divinity school ; 
 women from European teachers ; Sunday-school teachers 
 in Bible-classes. Livingstonia : Besides the course noted 
 in the Prospectus there is at each station a Friday class 
 for helping voluntary evangelists in preparing addresses 
 for Sunday, which is found most helpful. There is also 
 a weekly class for Sunday-school teachers. 
 
 West Africa. Lagos : There is a class for training 
 evangelists, the course is for two years and the men engage 
 in itinerating and evangelising. Calabar: There are 
 annual and other classes at the stations. Gold Coast : 
 All Christian workers are prepared by attending one of 
 the two seminaries, the training in which lasts three years. 
 Congo : Every quarter a training class lasting for a 
 week is attended by the evangelists ; in another district 
 the evangelists receive training one month out of every 
 four, and unpaid workers one month yearly. A teachers' 
 weekly preparation class is held, and only those who 
 attend it are allowed to teach on the following Sunday. 
 
 South Africa : From the replies received, very little 
 systematic training for catechists, evangelists, Bible- 
 women, or Sunday-school teachers seems to have been 
 attempted. The answers from several missions may be 
 summed up in the words, "No pro vision for training workers 
 has yet been made." The Continental Societies appear 
 to have taken the initiative in this direction. The Paris
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS" 181 
 
 Mission in Barotsiland has two training schools, a normal 
 school for teachers, and a Bible school for catechists. 
 To obtain admission to the latter, candidates must pass 
 well in the second year's course of the former. The 
 Swedish Mission gives instruction to evangelists and 
 voluntary workers in their respective stations, where they 
 meet once a week and take part in a Bible-class. A 
 college has been recently erected to train teachers, 
 preachers, and pastors. The Hermannsburg Mission has 
 a seminary for training teachers in the Transvaal : 
 from among these, suitable men are selected as catechists 
 and evangelists, for whom schools are provided. Bible- 
 women are taught by the lady missionaries. The Berlin 
 Mission has a secondary school near Pretoria, under an 
 English director. Every Saturday an exposition of the 
 next day's lesson is given to Sunday-school teachers. In 
 Natal, young evangelists receive instruction in Bible 
 knowledge, and elementary points in Church history and 
 dogmatics. The United Free Church Mission in Natal is 
 about to open a Bible school for evangelists and a college 
 for preachers at Impolweni. The Transkei Presbytery 
 has instituted an evangelists' training scheme for the fuller 
 instruction of men who are already evangelists, but the 
 attendance is optional. The South African General 
 Mission has a training home for evangelists in Natal. In 
 Madagascar the Norwegian Missionary Society has a 
 weekly class for the instruction of catechists, who are also 
 Sunday-school teachers. 
 
 Islands 
 
 Philippine Islands: The Presbyterian Mission has 
 established Bible institutes or provincial classes for the 
 training of Church officers, elders, and evangelists, also for 
 Bible- women. Girls are trained as Sunday-school 
 teachers in the Ellingwood Bible School. The Baptist 
 Mission has a school for Bible-women ; evangelists gain 
 experience under the direction of a missionary. The 
 Methodist Episcopal Mission has a school for training 
 Bible-women in Borneo ; the missionaries train their own
 
 182 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 evangelists. Tahiti : The Paris Mission has a Bible- 
 class for " the brethren who wish to fit themselves to 
 perform the work entrusted to them." It has also a 
 preparation class for teachers in the Sunday-school. 
 
 The reports thus summarised give us an encouraging 
 impression of varied and inventive activity, and of a desire 
 to recognise and utilise every gift, however humble to 
 " gather up the fragments that nothing be lost." Faithful 
 perseverance in such training, even of the lesser gifts, will 
 do much to increase the spiritual fruitfulness of the life of 
 the Church. 
 
 () THEOLOGICAL TRAINING 
 
 We come now to the important subject of theological 
 training for the preachers and clergy of the Church in the 
 mission field. 
 
 INADEQUACY OF PRESENT ARRANGEMENTS 
 
 In reading over the replies under this head from all 
 parts of the mission field, we are strongly impressed with 
 the intimate relation that subsists between the prosperity 
 and vigour of the Church, and the provision which is 
 made for training leaders in theology and in practical 
 work. Perhaps we may venture to say that in no depart- 
 ment of mission work are the efforts at present made more 
 inadequate to the necessities of the case than in that of 
 theological training. It is startling to read of missions 
 long established in extensive mission fields, which have 
 not made any substantial arrangements for the training 
 of preachers and clergy. It further appears evident that 
 where efficient work of this kind has been lacking, the local 
 Church has correspondingly failed to grow in intelligence 
 and Christian fruitfulness. A weak and unaggressive 
 Church is both a cause and a result of an inefficient 
 ministry. 
 
 Of course, on the other hand, there are many places on 
 the mission field where there are excellent theological 
 colleges, or other efficient arrangements for training 
 preachers and clergy, but in most cases, even where it is
 
 183 
 
 evident that great attention is paid to this vital necessity, 
 we find complaints made, that on account of the fewness 
 of the missionaries, and they being heavily burdened with 
 other work, it is seldom possible to set men apart and 
 give them freedom to devote themselves entirely to 
 theological education. Often one man is designated for 
 this purpose, assisted more or less regularly by some of 
 his colleagues, but he, too, is very often hampered by 
 other responsibilities, and the college training suffers in 
 consequence. It is gratifying to note that increased 
 attention is evidently being given to this vital matter in 
 most mission fields. There are many instances where the 
 need of such work is being so strongly felt, perhaps after 
 long periods of neglect, that new colleges of this class are 
 being founded, and temporary and provisional arrange- 
 ments for training are giving place to more efficient 
 methods. 
 
 Here, too, it is gratifying to notice the drawing together 
 of the missions of different communions, and to note that 
 efficiency in theological education is, in not a few cases, 
 being secured by the various missions in one centre 
 combining to form one strong theological college, which 
 shall take the place of the more scattered and desultory 
 arrangements formerly in force. We suggest that the 
 attention of all missions should be strongly drawn to this 
 point. The local churches cannot be strongly built up 
 unless they are supplied from year to year with a 
 thoroughly trained ministry, and the co-operation of 
 different missions for this end is more easily arranged 
 than in some other departments of work, and gives at the 
 same tune promise of results, sure to be of the greatest 
 advantage to all concerned. 
 
 It is interesting to notice also that the younger men of 
 the mission Church in the mission field are themselves, 
 in many cases, eagerly desirous of opportunities of 
 receiving fuller equipment for their work. The general 
 spread of intelligence among the communities around 
 them, and the growing demands made even by non- 
 Christian communities for leadership and guidance, are
 
 184 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 making them feel that nothing short of the most thorough 
 equipment will fit them for the growing responsibilities 
 that rest upon them. 
 
 SUPPLY OF STUDENTS 
 
 On one point there is a very general agreement in the 
 replies which we have received. With few exceptions 
 our correspondents report that the supply of men of the 
 right type as theological students is not at all adequate 
 to the demands of the work. A few correspondents, on the 
 other hand, say that the supply is fairly adequate, but this 
 estimate seems to be the result of an acceptance both of an 
 inferior standard of qualification, and of a minimum 
 numerical supply. 
 
 It is evident that in all parts of the world the advance 
 of civilisation and the increasing complexity of life creates 
 a difficulty in securing a sufficient supply of qualified 
 students. The minds of inexperienced young men in the 
 mission Churches are naturally somewhat distracted by 
 their sudden introduction to wide ranges of knowledge 
 and interest, which are entirely new to them. At the 
 same time they are attracted by many opportunities of 
 turning their knowledge to account in commerce or in 
 Government employment, and these callings almost 
 invariably offer a much higher rate of payment than that 
 which is offered either by foreign missions or by those 
 native Churches which support their own workers. It is 
 quite evident that there is very generally a creditable 
 amount of loyalty to the Church and its work, and 
 inadequate as the supply of qualified students is, it would 
 be much more inadequate but for the fact that many 
 of them are willing to make pecuniary sacrifices for the 
 sake of devoting their lives to the service of the Church, 
 rather than engaging in more lucrative employments. 
 But this matter will be more fully dealt with in the next 
 section of our Report (see p. 201). 
 
 This important and very difficult problem is illus- 
 trated by one of our correspondents, who reports that 
 at his own station, an important city in North India,
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 185 
 
 no provision is made by his Mission for higher theological 
 training, adding, however, that there is a theological 
 school " of a humble grade " in another city. He goes 
 on to say " This institution prepares men to be cate- 
 chists, who ultimately become pastors and preachers. 
 Very few, if any, university graduates go to this school 
 for a theological training. Some under - graduates, 
 scarcely half a dozen, I think, have been through it 
 within the last twenty years. At present the preliminary 
 qualification required is of a low order. . . . Men of 
 higher qualification . . . are not forthcoming, because 
 there is no need of them. Men of the catechist type 
 are always available." Again, " In the - - Mission 
 there is only one native gentleman of superior standing 
 ordained." " The ordained clergy of the higher type 
 hardly exist." " The present scale of salaries is inade- 
 quate for men of this standing." " Upon the whole 
 the scale of pay is low and men have to struggle a good 
 deal to live. The worst feature of this is absolute de- 
 pendence on missions to the second and third genera- 
 tion." 
 
 This is a significant statement, which applies not only 
 to our correspondent's own field, but represents a general 
 experience both at home and abroad, and the remedy 
 is not easily found. The difficulty is characteristic of 
 our time, with its wider outlook and great variety of 
 keen intellectual activity. These features are specially 
 notable in Japan, China, and India, but similar effects 
 must be produced wherever the new leaven of Christian 
 teaching begins to work. The minds of the younger 
 Christian men are naturally attracted by the wide fields 
 of new knowledge which are thrown open to them. The 
 study of this, attractive in itself, is further stimulated 
 by the fact that it offers many new spheres of attractive 
 and lucrative employment. When at the same time 
 the Christian Church is only in its elementary stages, 
 and its membership perhaps confined to the humbler 
 and more illiterate classes, such men find it hard to 
 conceive that in the service of the Church they will find a
 
 186 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 worthy sphere for their powers. It is no wonder that 
 they feel drawn to throw themselves rather into the 
 wider movements, intellectual and political, which 
 are stirring the minds of the communities to which they 
 belong. Even the passion of patriotism itself tends 
 to the same result. It is not easy for young men, 
 however sincere and earnest in their Christian spirit, 
 to withdraw their attention from the dazzling oppor- 
 tunities that seem to lie within their reach, and confine 
 themselves to working within humbler limits for a far- 
 off spiritual result. 
 
 Even the reward of an adequate maintenance for 
 themselves and their families is often beyond the means 
 of the younger Churches, and cannot, without danger, 
 be adequately supplied by the missions which have 
 planted them. It says much for the Christian loyalty 
 of large numbers of the young men of mission Churches 
 that they have been able to deny themselves for the 
 sake of Christian service, and give themselves ungrudg- 
 ingly to the work of the Church. 
 
 But it is a pressing duty for all missions and mission 
 Churches to use every effort of a worthy kind to lessen 
 this difficulty. The question of an adequate remunera- 
 tion for workers of all grades in Church work we shall 
 deal with in another section, but something also may 
 be done in planning and carrying out the preparatory 
 and theological courses which are offered to young 
 men. 
 
 Sometimes the suspicion has been allowed to grow in 
 their minds that the mission is endeavouring to retain 
 its hold upon them by providing only an inferior educa- 
 tion, and so keeping them unfit to take their place in 
 secular callings. 1 
 
 Christian education on the mission field sometimes 
 also gives the impression that it has been too narrowly 
 designed, as if to keep from its pupils all knowledge 
 of the forces of unbelief and of the science and philosophy 
 which unbelief is so fond of claiming as its own. 
 
 1 See Right Rev. Bishop Roots, Chinese Recorder, 1910, p. 22.
 
 187 
 
 To meet these suspicions and impressions, and avert 
 the disquieting effect which they must have on eager 
 and enquiring minds, it is absolutely necessary that the 
 education which the Church offers to candidates for 
 its service, both in the preparatory and the theological 
 departments, should be as thorough and complete as it 
 is possible to make it. 
 
 Missionaries, and especially the heads of theological 
 schools, should make it clear that they are in the fullest 
 sympathy with the patriotic aspirations of the races 
 amongst whom they labour, and especially with all 
 movements of sound, intellectual, and moral reform 
 in which this patriotism finds expression. They should 
 make it plain also that they are holding nothing back, 
 whether in the higher regions of secular knowledge, or 
 in those of theological discussion, and that they make 
 it the aim of 'their lives to introduce those under their 
 care to the whole breadth of scientific, philosophical, 
 and theological knowledge. It may then be hoped 
 that a generous spirit will be kindled in the hearts of 
 the best of the young men growing up within the circle 
 of the mission Church. They will feel that within it 
 there is ample scope for all their energies, and that in 
 the highest region of things they have nothing to gain 
 by turning aside to secular pursuits. 
 
 It ought not to be felt in any mission Church, or in any 
 sphere of the Church's action, that there is no demand 
 for men of the highest qualifications, and that all the 
 service it requires can be adequately discharged by 
 men of the humblest attainments. A Christian idealism 
 should be cherished both amongst teachers and students, 
 which will create an irresistible attraction towards the 
 service of the Church, and command the devotion of 
 the keenest and best minds. 
 
 STAFFING OF THEOLOGICAL COLLEGES 
 
 But such ideals can only be made efficient by main- 
 taining an adequate staff at every principal centre 
 where theological education is undertaken.
 
 188 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 We strongly recommend that all missions, in esti- 
 mating the working staff required at principal centres, 
 should see that it is kept up to a strength which will 
 permit of at least two men being set apart for the special 
 work of theological education. Such work makes heavy 
 demands upon time and strength, and the time required 
 is very much more than that which is spent in the class- 
 room. Men who are burdened with all the variety of 
 detail which is unavoidable in the working of any con- 
 siderable mission centre, can never command the con- 
 centration of mind which is necessary to make their 
 college work thoroughly effective. 
 
 We recognise at the same time that there is another 
 side to this question. It is also important that men who 
 are training the future preachers and clergy of a mission 
 Church, should themselves be personally familiar with the 
 work of the Church, and in touch with its membership 
 all over its field. These conditions are better fulfilled by 
 men who are themselves giving some time and attention 
 to pastoral work than by men who are entirely restricted 
 to their college routine, and thus cut off from close 
 contact with membership and requirements of the 
 Church at large. It is difficult to suggest how these 
 conflicting claims may be reconciled, but probably all 
 theological teachers in mission colleges should continue 
 to take at least an occasional share in other departments 
 of mission work. 
 
 Attempts have sometimes been made to meet the case 
 by a division of the work between two or three colleagues, 
 each of whom gives one month to college work and one 
 or two to pastoral work, the work in the college itself 
 thus changing hands from month to month, but this 
 plan cannot be regarded as ideal. Whatever solution be 
 adopted, the conclusion is evident that the staff at every 
 important centre must be so planned as to provide 
 adequately for the demands of both departments, while, 
 at the same time, close personal contact is maintained 
 between them.
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 189 
 
 THEOLOGICAL COURSES 
 
 We have brought before us a good many samples of 
 the theological courses which are followed in colleges of 
 various grades in the mission field. Without discussing 
 the subjects taught in these courses, a few words may be 
 said on the main object to be kept in view in theological 
 teaching on the mission field. The primary end is to 
 provide a sufficient number of catechists or preachers, 
 sincere and spiritual men, with a sufficient knowledge 
 of the elements of Christian truth to fit them for guiding 
 enquirers and Christian people in the earlier stages of 
 their Christian life. But very soon the need will be felt 
 for a competent knowledge of Church organisation and its 
 working, such as will fit these men, not only for minister- 
 ing to individuals, but also for shaping and guiding the 
 life of the Church as a whole. A still further stage is 
 reached, and still larger demands are made upon the 
 preachers, when the Church reaches such dimensions that 
 it becomes a more or less influential element in the public 
 life of the general community around it. In this case 
 its leaders become men of influence in outside society, 
 and are called upon to guide and adjust the relations 
 between Christian people and the society in the midst 
 of which they live. These adjustments are often perplex- 
 ing and delicate, requiring on the one hand a keen and 
 spiritual conception of Christian truth and duty, and on 
 the other hand a sympathetic comprehension of the 
 circumstances and requirements of local social life. 
 
 The requirements thus slightly indicated in these three 
 stages range all the way from the simplest and most 
 elementary Christian evangelisation, up to the most 
 complex and difficult problems of Christian sociology. It 
 is for the missionaries in each mission field to determine 
 for themselves what are the most urgent local require- 
 ments for the time being, and to adapt their theological 
 training accordingly. But there is one danger both for 
 the teacher and taught which is to be met with in every 
 part of this wide range. The danger is that the teacher
 
 190 THE CHURCfl IN ME MISSION FIELD } 
 
 may seek at each stage to introduce from without, in an 
 external and mechanical way, systems of truth, knowledge, 
 and practice, which are the results of western experience, 
 but do not vitally appeal to the mind or even to the 
 Christian consciousness of the local Church. 
 
 In another part of our enquiry we have put the question 
 whether there are any indications of original and formative 
 native thought in theology, and the replies are, with 
 noticeable unanimity, in the negative. But surely the 
 production of such thought should be one of the principal 
 aims of any really living system of theological teaching. 
 
 Without venturing to criticise as a whole the theological 
 training given in the various missions, we may venture to 
 suggest to missionaries as a question to be considered, 
 whether this lack of originality and spontaneousness in 
 Christian thought may not be due to some of the char- 
 acteristics of theological teaching as usually given. Per- 
 haps inevitably, the text-books used are very frequently 
 translations or adaptations of western books, whose whole 
 sphere and spirit are necessarily widely remote alike from 
 the mind and from the needs of the peoples we are seeking 
 to train. Their western teachers appear to them to be 
 the official custodians of a religion in which truth has 
 already been fully gathered and systematised in theo- 
 logical forms, so that theology itself, instead of wearing 
 its true aspect of a search for the many-sided truth which 
 is vital to spiritual life, appears rather as a hortus -siccus 
 which has exhausted, and contains, in improved and 
 final form, all that is to be found in the Bible. 
 
 It is clear that if we are to elicit Christian originality, 
 and implant a living form of Christian knowledge, little 
 emphasis should be laid upon western types of thought, 
 and the main stress should be laid on teaching the Bible 
 itself largely and freshly. 
 
 With the danger for the teacher which has been indicated 
 above, are allied two others for the taught. There are 
 those of a more humble and submissive type of mind, 
 who, in their desire to commend themselves to their 
 teachers, will give their main attention to acquiring the
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 191 
 
 forms of thought, and even peculiarities of expression 
 adopted by their teachers, so that they will not venture 
 to reproduce any forms of Christian ideas fresh from their 
 own minds. Even when these have really laid hold of 
 them, they will feel that safety for them lies in confining 
 themselves to ideas and expressions which have received 
 the stamp of their teacher's approval. 
 
 Alongside of this will arise a contrary danger for a 
 different type of mind. Those of a more eager and a 
 bolder temperament, who sincerely love truth and rejoice 
 in following it, will feel the danger of this passive and 
 unfruitful method of submission to external forms of 
 expression. They will feel that teachers who welcome 
 such submission are doing an injustice to individual 
 liberty, and a spirit of revolt is apt to be created. 
 
 We might offend by particularising, and it may be 
 enough to say that every branch of the Church has standard 
 books in the theological courses at home, which have 
 played a large part in shaping the mind of generations 
 of students, and which it is tempted to transplant into' 
 the new soil of the mission field, in the expectation that 
 there they will yield fruit similar to that which they have 
 so long produced at home. It is necessary to recognise 
 that these expectations are not likely to be fulfilled. We 
 advocate no new Gospel, and our chief concern is with 
 the permanent and fundamental elements of theology. 
 These are neither oriental nor occidental, but in order to 
 build up the Church on these lasting foundations Christian 
 theology must be written afresh for every fresh race to 
 whom it comes, so that it may justify itself to all as the 
 abiding wisdom that cometh from above, ever quick and 
 powerful, and not be misrepresented as if it were no more 
 than a precipitation from the antiquated text-books of 
 the West. 
 
 PREPARATORY COURSES 
 
 Judging from the replies sent to us, there is a general 
 agreement in requiring of candidates for theological 
 study not only a primary school education, but also, in
 
 192 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 most cases, a higher course which is variously described 
 as " grammar school," " high school," " intermediate," 
 " lower secondary," but from the variety of the terms 
 used it is difficult to draw very precise conclusions as to 
 the standard of attainment which they indicate. Some- 
 times it is determined by the requirements of Government 
 standards of education, which the Church is bound to 
 follow, along with the rest of the community. 
 
 But where the Church has a voice in the matter, it is 
 obvious that in the interests of theological education two 
 aims should be kept in view in the preparatory course. 
 One is that subjects of useful knowledge which will 
 necessarily be excluded from the course of theological 
 education, should be carried as far as possible in the 
 preparatory course. The other is that the earlier course 
 should, as far as possible, be made truly preparatory, by 
 laying, in a broad and scholarly manner, those founda- 
 tions of scriptural and historical knowledge, as well as of 
 vernacular literary culture, which will adequately support 
 the specialised theological course of later years. 
 
 In practice a theological course is seldom planned on 
 ideal lines. It is conditioned to a large extent by the 
 quality of the candidates for admission and the prepara- 
 tory courses which they have already taken. In its 
 simpler forms it may be identical with the training already 
 referred to under section A, and, in many cases, men who 
 begin by taking the more elementary training have 
 qualified themselves, by natural and spiritual capacity 
 and hard work, for passing on to the higher standards. 
 There is therefore no sharp line to be drawn between the 
 general training referred to under section A, and the 
 simpler forms of what we have called " theological educa- 
 tion," under section B. 
 
 It seems to be generally recognised that simplified 
 courses in theology must be given for men whose pre- 
 paratory education has been defective. It continually 
 happens on the mission field that men become Christians 
 after reaching maturity, who have not had the advantage 
 of Christian education in their youth. Many of these
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 193 
 
 have natural and spiritual gifts which amply qualify 
 them for service, not only as colporteurs and catechists, 
 but as evangelists and preachers, and there are cases not 
 a few of such men ultimately filling places of honour 
 amongst the clergy. From the nature of the case these 
 simplified courses cannot be exactly defined, but must 
 be adapted from time to time to the growing capacity of 
 the men for whom they are provided, and they should be 
 promoted, when their attainments justify it, to pass into 
 the regular courses of higher theological education. 
 
 These courses themselves must vary largely according 
 to the requirements of the different mission fields. 
 
 OTHER TESTS OF CHARACTER AND FITNESS 
 
 The preparatory courses taken before entrance to the 
 theological college represent only one element of fitness. 
 It is rightly held by all missions that individual character, 
 and indications of a sincere desire to forward the spiritual 
 work of the Church, must, as far as possible, be ascertained. 
 Where there has been a preparatory course in the hands of 
 the missionaries themselves, it is rightly stated by many 
 of our correspondents that the observation of junior 
 pupils during their preparatory years supplies the best 
 guarantee of their Christian character and zeal. In many 
 missions also they have had opportunities of approving 
 themselves, either by temporary work in schools, or by 
 giving occasional help in evangelistic work. In cases 
 where such opportunities of observation are lacking, the 
 evidence of fitness relied on consists chiefly of com- 
 mendatory letters or certificates which are given, in some 
 cases, by the local church to which the candidate belongs 
 or by their pastors. These are supplemented by the 
 persona] knowledge of the missionaries acquired in the 
 course of pastoral work, and in some cases the formal 
 approval of a church body, such as a presbytery, council, 
 or conference, is required. It is to be presumed that the 
 final decision upon applications for admission rests with 
 the governing body of the college. We should have 
 COM. ii. 13
 
 194 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 supposed that, in all cases, full standing in the membership 
 of the Church would have been regarded as essential, and 
 it is rather surprising to find in one case that the remark is 
 made that " Church members are preferred," which seems 
 to imply that, sometimes at least, men are received as 
 theological students who are not yet members of the 
 Church ; but this we presume is very seldom the case. 
 In a few cases, we find it remarked that a satisfactory 
 medical certificate is required of all candidates. In view 
 of the cost of training given in theological colleges, and 
 the amount of time and labour spent upon it, this is a 
 precaution which should always be adopted, both in the 
 interest of the college, and in the interest of the candidate 
 himself. 
 
 Anotherprecaution sometimes followed is that of regard- 
 ing the student as on probation during his first term at 
 college, with the declared understanding that if this experi- 
 ence fails to demonstrate his fitness for pursuing his course, 
 he should not be permitted to enter upon a second term. 
 
 LANGUAGE EMPLOYED 
 
 With regard to the language employed the majority of 
 our correspondents indicate that the larger part, if not 
 the whole, of the instruction is given through the medium 
 of the local vernacular. Even in countries such as India 
 has long been, and as China now promises to become, it 
 is essential that the leaders of the Native Church should 
 not only retain the vernacular acquired in their childhood, 
 but also that all the substance of their Christian know- 
 ledge and experience should have been passed through 
 the same medium. Only in this way can they be qualified 
 for addressing themselves acceptably to the great masses 
 of their own people, whose only language is the vernacular. 
 The only exceptions are a few of the smaller fields, such as 
 the West Indies, where there is really no vernacular, and 
 English is the only possible medium. In countries where, 
 as in India, English occupies a substantial place in the 
 ordinary educational courses, it may be both necessary
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 195 
 
 and advantageous to give it some place also in theological 
 courses, but where this is done, it requires care and vigilance 
 to prevent this use of English from raising a barrier 
 between the mind of the student and the minds of those 
 amongst whom his life work is aftenvards to be done. 
 Theological teachers are also apt to be tempted to make 
 an undue use of English as a medium of instruction on 
 account of the facility which this affords for the use of a 
 great variety of existing English text-books. Wherever 
 facility in the use of English is likely to prove a natural 
 and useful acquisition, by all means let it be cultivated 
 during the terms of theological education, but this must 
 never be done to the detriment of the student's right use 
 of his own vernacular, not only for the common purposes 
 of daily life, but also for the expression of the whole 
 range of the religious knowledge, the acquisition of which 
 is the main purpose of his training. We find, in a few 
 cases, Greek, and, in some cases, Latin, have been added 
 in mission colleges, but in regard to these classical tongues 
 with Hebrew, nearly all our correspondents report that 
 they are not taught in the colleges upon the mission field. 
 
 PRACTICAL TRAINING 
 
 In the majority of cases theological students live in 
 the college to which they belong, and their living expenses 
 are met for the most part by the missions, with, in a 
 few cases, some contribution from the local Church. In 
 some cases also, married students live with their families 
 outside of the college, either in houses provided by the 
 mission or elsewhere. In one case at least, an interesting 
 experiment has been reported to us of the endeavour to 
 adapt the student's life to local circumstances and ideas. 
 In this case the college is framed on the model of a Poly- 
 nesian village community, distributed into twenty-six 
 households, each consisting of a married student, his wife 
 and children, one or two other students, and a school- 
 boy boarder, with a few others living in the college itself. 
 Each student is required to cultivate a patch of land, such
 
 196 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 as will produce an allotted number of bananas, tares, and 
 yams. The students in each household are required to 
 provide in rotation, from this source of supply, the wants 
 of the household for the day. These students, on the 
 completion of their course, can only secure their 
 leaving certificates on showing, amongst other require- 
 ments, that the plantations entrusted to them are left 
 in good condition for their successors. This very sug- 
 gestive experiment forms a much needed reminder that 
 great care should be taken lest the academic requirements 
 of education should separate men from the customary 
 life of their own people, and thereby disqualify them for 
 their future work. In the case referred to, these students 
 are expected, on becoming pastors, to be competent to 
 build the village church or schoolhouse, to contribute to 
 their own support by cultivation, and to be both teachers 
 and examples of the industrial work of the people to 
 whom they minister. 
 
 In most cases students, during their college course, have 
 opportunities for practice in preaching and experience 
 of teaching and other forms of Church work. These 
 opportunities sometimes occur casually, especially during 
 holidays, but such work is often organised and regulated 
 by the college authorities. Sometimes it takes the form 
 of stated ministration to out-stations, not too distant to 
 be accessible from the college itself. Sometimes students 
 during their holidays are appointed to relieve or assist 
 preachers or teachers at more distant out-stations, thus 
 giving much needed relief to the preacher in charge, as 
 well as giving the members of the Church the advantage 
 of contact with fresh minds and a fresh spiritual impulse. 
 Where the college course extends over a period of four 
 years, it has sometimes been found advantageous to send 
 students out for one year of practical work between the 
 second and third year of their curriculum. In all such 
 cases it will be of great advantage if the work done by 
 the student can be supervised, not only by the local 
 Church or teacher, but also by the college authorities 
 themselves.
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 197 
 
 HIGHEST GRADE TEACHING 
 
 Throughout this chapter of our Report we have fully 
 recognised that many congregations among the less 
 educated peoples may, for many years, be best served by 
 preachers and pastors of devout spirit who are not too 
 far removed in intellectual attainments from those to 
 whom they minister. Such men, as we have said, are 
 sometimes produced by what we have called the " general 
 training " given in various forms, and they may also be 
 suitably prepared by simplified courses in theological 
 colleges. 
 
 But, before closing it, we desire to emphasise another 
 view, not inconsistent with the former. From the com- 
 munications made to us it is evident that in the great 
 civilised countries, such as India, China, and Japan, the 
 time has fully come for giving greatly increased attention 
 to the highest grades of theological education. (See, 
 e.g., Speech of the Right Rev. Bishop Graves, Centenary 
 Conference, Shanghai, 1907, Records, pp. 450, 451.) The 
 new movements in these lands demand Christian 
 leadership of the highest kind. Again, the apologetic of 
 the mission field has hitherto mainly concerned itself 
 with the non-Christian religions of these countries, and 
 it has been assumed that western thought lies beyond 
 the horizon of the student. Now, however, as we learn 
 especially from our enquiries under the head of Literature 
 (see Chap. VII), books of all philosophical, religious, and 
 anti- religious schools are being translated into oriental 
 languages, and eagerly read. Many of them belong to 
 schools of thought whose attack has already lost its force 
 in Europe and America, and yet they are represented to 
 oriental students as the last word of western philosophy 
 and science. " Every anti-Christian breeze that stirs in 
 Europe or America," says a correspondent from Japan, 
 " is promptly felt here." Another, an Indian clergyman 
 from the Madras Presidency, writes, " Haeckel, Huxley, 
 and Schopenhauer are read by intelligent people, and 
 simple counteractives are not forthcoming." It is clear
 
 198 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 that we ought not to allow our students to learn first 
 from the hostile camp of this class of literature. Formerly 
 it may have seemed unnecessary to trouble them with 
 remote and temporary forms of thought, but now that 
 modern agnostic and unbelieving literature is forced on 
 their attention, Christian teachers must hasten to pre- 
 occupy the ground, and guide their students past the 
 pitfalls with which it is strewn. 
 
 For these and other reasons we urge on all missionaries, 
 and on their supporters at home, that theological learning, 
 in apologetic, biblical criticism, Church history, and 
 dogmatic, with relevant philosophy and ethics, should be 
 adequately taught in all theological colleges of the higher 
 grades. Now that the battle is joined, contentment with 
 makeshift courses of training for our best men in the 
 mission fields would be disloyalty to the Christian cause. 
 (See Appendix M, 2, p. 329.) 
 
 (C) SUPPORT OF WORKERS 
 
 SYSTEMS OF FINANCE 
 
 The question of the methods of training adopted on the 
 mission field in order to supply qualified workers leads to 
 the consideration of the arrangements made for their 
 support and remuneration. The difficulty of the subject 
 is greatly increased by the fact that two systems of finance 
 are involved. 
 
 In the earlier stages of mission work the support of 
 assistants depends mainly upon the funds supplied by the 
 parent Church or Society in Europe or America. At that 
 stage, there can be no question of divided authority, 
 and the workers themselves are comparatively few and 
 have not received an advanced special training. But 
 by the time a local Church is planted, a number of new 
 elements enter into the problem. The gifts of the young 
 Church become available for the support of Christian 
 workers in varying proportions, and soon the question 
 is clearly in view whether the local Church is to bear the
 
 . TRAINING OF WORKERS 199 
 
 burden of the maintenance of its own work, and how its 
 work is to be related with that of the mission. The view 
 taken of these matters depends in each case partly on the 
 principles put before the converts in the early teaching 
 of the missionaries, and partly also on the characteristics 
 of the race of people among whom the Church is being 
 formed. By the time this stage is reached there are 
 workers of very varying degrees of qualification ; some 
 of them have received a good preparatory education, and 
 it has been carried on and specialised in higher courses. 
 The men thus trained are fully qualified to hold positions 
 of responsibility, whether in the Church or in any calling 
 amongst the general community, but the education 
 which they have received has been, in most cases, a free 
 gift to them from the mission which has planted the local 
 Church. Without any explicit contract having been 
 made, the relation in which these men have stood to the 
 parent mission implies a certain obligation on their part 
 to make a return to the mission for the benefits it has 
 conferred, by devoting themselves to its service ; and 
 hence arise different and sometimes conflicting views of 
 mutual obligations. The worker himself may be led to 
 dwell upon the undoubted qualifications to which he has 
 attained, and to forget that he owes the possession of 
 these to the bounty of the mission. The mission, on the 
 other hand, may have too much in view the benefits which 
 it has conferred, and may forget that the mind which it 
 has liberated from an old bondage and introduced into 
 the freedom of wide spheres of knowledge, may, without 
 any wrong, feel itself drawn strongly in other directions 
 than those which the mission had tacitly marked out for it. 
 In these and other ways arise the many complicated 
 and somewhat delicate questions and problems which may 
 be conveniently summarised under the general title of 
 " self-support." We find from all parts of the mission 
 field that there is now a general recognition of the principle 
 that the Church in each part of the mission field ought 
 from the earliest possible period to undertake its own 
 maintenance and equipment. But while the principle
 
 200 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 is universally conceded, there is a variety of view as to 
 how far in each field the local Church is able to bear the 
 financial burden involved. It is generally recognised, 
 on the other hand, that in the infancy of a Church in the 
 mission field, it is perfectly reasonable, and even necessary, 
 that the mission should bear a considerable proportion 
 of financial responsibility until a Christian community 
 has been gathered, to whom the responsibility may be 
 transferred. The main difficulty in dealing with these 
 matters, both in theory and in practice, lies in determining 
 the limits of the responsibility of the two parties, and in 
 adjusting the methods by which the parent body may 
 gradually transfer the financial burden to the young 
 Church, which has now come into existence and is be- 
 ginning to realise its strength. As long as it depends 
 financially upon the mission it can neither realise its 
 responsibility, nor become conscious of its powers. On 
 the other hand, it can only gradually become fitted to 
 bear these responsibilities, and every effort should be 
 made to avoid a too sudden transition from mere pupilage 
 to self-support and independence. If the transition is 
 too suddenly made, it may appear to the members of the 
 young Church as if an unaccountable change in the 
 feeling and attitude of the mission towards them had 
 occurred. 
 
 We cannot enter into details as to the many methods 
 which have been adopted for cautiously effecting this 
 transition. Sometimes grants of fixed amount are 
 promised by the parent Church or Society, to be diminished 
 at a certain rate from year to year, and to terminate 
 within a reasonable period. Sometimes a more elastic 
 s} 7 stem is followed, the local Church being encouraged 
 to do all it can in the way of self-support, and the mission 
 holding itself, for the time being, bound to make good any 
 deficiency. 
 
 In the experience of some missions it has been found 
 that the establishment of an ordained ministry affords a 
 point at which the duty of self-support may well be laid 
 fully upon the local Church. The very fact that some
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 201 
 
 of its members have now acquired a sufficient intellectual 
 equipment, and also attained a sufficient religious experi- 
 ence, to exercise the high functions of the Christian 
 ministry, implies that some progress has been made in 
 the spiritual growth of the Christian community. It is 
 evident, too, that one who is to be an ordained minister 
 in spiritual things ought to be closely linked to his own 
 people, and placed in a position where he can command 
 both their sympathy and their respect. For these and 
 other reasons, it is much to be desired that with the 
 ordination of the Christian minister there should cease 
 any dependence upon the financial support of a foreign 
 Church or Missionary Society. It has been found too 
 that Christian people readily acquire so just a sense of the 
 value of a native and independent ministry, that they 
 are willing to make much larger efforts towards the support 
 of their own Church than they were at the earlier stages, 
 when everything seemed to depend on the bounty of the 
 foreign mission. The rule has, therefore, been laid down 
 in some centres that no one shall be ordained to the 
 Christian ministry until there is a congregation, or a group 
 of congregations, prepared to undertake his entire support. 
 Where this principle is followed the first ordination to 
 the Christian ministry becomes an epoch-making event in 
 the life of the local Church. The method has this further 
 advantage that under it none of the questions arise at a 
 later stage, which are sometimes felt so embarrassing, 
 of cutting off the aid from foreign funds upon which both 
 minister and people have been allowed too long to rely. 
 
 At the present time on many mission fields, and notably 
 both in India and China, the consciousness of nationality 
 and the spirit of independence are strongly felt, both in 
 the general community and within the Church itself. 
 Where this spirit is under the guidance of Christian 
 principles and feelings, it is wholly laudable, and may 
 well become an effective force in the development of the 
 life of the Church. The desire spreads among congrega- 
 tions to enjoy the benefits of a ministry that is really 
 their own, and it is astonishing how often, among appar-
 
 ently poor communities, the willing mind has found the 
 means for realising this most worthy ambition. 
 
 RATES OF PAYMENT 
 
 There is one aspect of the question of self-support to 
 which we desire to call the very special attention of all 
 missionaries and Missionary Societies, viz. : the rates of 
 payment, in salaries and allowances, to all classes of 
 workers in the Church in the mission field. We have been 
 supplied with a large amount of information which it is 
 hardly possible to set forth in detail, but we think it is 
 not too much to say that it leads generally to the con- 
 clusion that the rates of payment at present prevailing 
 are usually too low. Without imputing lack of con- 
 siderateness to any of those concerned, two circumstances 
 naturally lead to this state of things. In all parts of the 
 mission field, there is an almost overwhelming demand for 
 the spread of Christian work and an increase in the 
 number of workers. This again forms a strong temptation 
 to the missions to receive into mission or church employ- 
 ment all who can be regarded as in any way fitted for 
 some department of their work. Many are thus employed 
 whose qualifications are extremely meagre, and who, in 
 any secular calling, could only gain a living upon the lowest 
 scale. In these circumstances, it is inevitable that 
 salaries should be fixed at the lowest possible rates. This 
 tendency is further strengthened by the desire, laudable 
 in itself, not to let spiritual service among young Christian 
 communities appear to be an opportunity of easy and 
 exceptional pecuniary gain. Moreover, the low rate 
 of payment among a considerable number of the poorly 
 qualified tends to react unfavourably on the estimate 
 made of what may be just payment for those who are 
 really well qualified. There is an unwillingness to create 
 too wide a separation between those who are employed on 
 the higher and those on the lower scale. 
 
 The various considerations now touched on all combine 
 towards lowering the rate of payment. The other circum-
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 203 
 
 stance which tends in the same direction lies in the 
 straitened finances both of nearly all missionary bodies in 
 the West, and also of the young Church in the mission 
 field. Missionaries are constantly being urged to exercise 
 the strictest economy in the prosecution of their work, 
 and when deficits occur at home there is a too widespread 
 tendency to think that the remedy lies in sending out 
 instructions for the cutting down of the payments made 
 to workers in the mission field. The limited resources 
 of the young Church in the mission field have also made it 
 necessary to keep all expenditure at the lowest possible 
 point, in order that it may have some prospect of reaching 
 the stage of self-support. 
 
 With all these circumstances in view, we feel it our 
 duty to point out that the time has clearly come for 
 considering whether grave injustice is not being done to 
 native workers in many mission fields, an injustice which 
 must unavoidably have a most injurious effect upon the 
 character of the work that is done by their means. 
 
 This subject is of special and growing importance at the 
 present time. We welcome the tendency now manifested 
 in many portions of the Church in the mission field to 
 develop its independence, and to bear its own responsi- 
 bility. In such circumstances, the influence of the 
 mission and the usefulness of the missionary will depend 
 more than ever upon the degree of confidence and kindly 
 feeling maintained in each case between them and the 
 local Church. Anything that gives apparent ground for 
 suspicion that the missionary or the mission is making 
 unfair use of the services of native workers, and taking 
 advantage of their inability or unwillingness to seek more 
 profitable employment elsewhere, and on that account 
 giving them less than fair payment for the services which 
 they render, must have a disastrous effect upon the future 
 relations between the growing Church and the missions 
 which have planted it. We must beware of the tendency, 
 which has undoubtedly sometimes existed, to make the 
 control of the purse the basis of authority exercised by 
 the missions over the local Church and its workers. On
 
 204 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 this subject we may quote the following words from 
 a Report presented to the China Centenary Conference, 
 Shanghai, in 1907 : " Happily that basis of authority 
 (the control of the purse) is passing away, and becoming 
 less stable every year. Ill for the missionary, and ill for 
 the Church, where it has been cherished and relied on ! 
 But all missionaries who deserve it will be heartily 
 welcome to a place in the governing body of the Church. 
 They will be there in a minority among their equals, and 
 they must make their weight felt, not by the aid of a 
 delegated authority from home, or any outside power, 
 but 'in much patience, in labours, in watchings, in pureness, 
 in knowledge, in the Holy Ghost, in love unfeigned, in 
 the word of truth, in the power of God.' As long as they 
 can show these titles for their authority, it will stand, and 
 be owned by God and man. But if any man thinks he 
 can rule in the Church because, when his judgment is 
 questioned, he has the power to stop the pay of a chapel- 
 keeper or ' cut ' the salary of a preacher, he has yet to 
 learn what are the first principles of the government of 
 the House of God " (Records, p. 9). 
 
 For reasons such as these, the whole question of the 
 payment of workers is one which touches vitally the 
 cordiality of relations between missionaries and the 
 Church which they plant, and the spiritual fruitfulness 
 of the work of both may depend on its right solution. 
 
 But, while it may be recognised that, generally speaking, 
 the salaries of native workers in the mission field are lower 
 than they ought to be, it does not follow that the de- 
 ficiency ought to be made good from foreign funds. It 
 should everywhere be impressed upon the members of the 
 Church in the mission field that the remedy lies with them- 
 selves. They should be taught to regard the contribu- 
 tions of the foreign Church as a temporary aid, cheerfully 
 given during infancy, but not as the main or permanent 
 basis of support. If the subject is patiently and per- 
 sistently treated in a Christian spirit, it will be found 
 that the cases are very rare in which a growing 
 Christian community is not able to give adequate sup-
 
 TRAINING OF WORKERS 205 
 
 port to the ministrations by which it is spiritually 
 nourished. 
 
 On the other hand, it is needful for each mission to be 
 most careful in its selection of the workers whom it under- 
 takes to employ. It should refuse to employ any who 
 are so ill-qualified for their duties as not to deserve a 
 reasonable " living wage." Incompetence of workers, 
 balanced by attenuated wages, can only tend to produce 
 slackness and inefficiency, as well as suspicion and dis- 
 content. 
 
 The general result of the information supplied to us 
 seems to be that pastors, preachers, and teachers often 
 receive less than they might be able to earn in favourable 
 circumstances in other callings ; while, on the other hand, 
 their qualification to earn so much has often been con- 
 ferred upon them by the free or assisted education supplied 
 by the missions. Not unfrequently, this education has 
 led them to adopt quite rightly a better style of living, 
 and conferred on them a better social status, than that of 
 the class from which they are drawn. Again, women 
 teachers and Bible-women are often paid at rates which 
 seem relatively low, but, on the other hand, women of such 
 qualifications would probably find no demand for their 
 services in the general community. 
 
 The various considerations on which we have touched, 
 coupled with the fluctuating value of money in different 
 countries, and in the same country at different times, 
 make all general conclusions somewhat untrustworthy, 
 and these matters must be studied minutely in all their 
 details by the missionaries employed on each of the 
 mission fields. 
 
 One fact, however, seems to be generally well attested, 
 and is full of encouragement. Not a few of the workers in 
 the Church in the mission field, especially among those 
 who are qualified teachers and hospital assistants, afford 
 signal instances of loyalty and devotion to the Church 
 which they serve. When offered employment by Govern- 
 ment or other institutions, at very much higher rates of 
 payment than those they have been receiving from the local
 
 206 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Church or mission, they have frequently refused such 
 proposals and continued in the service of the Church at a 
 large pecuniary sacrifice. 
 
 The limits of our space and the insufficiency of the 
 information at our disposal prevent our going in detail 
 into the subject of the best methods of financing the 
 Church in the mission field and providing funds for its 
 support. A few suggestions drawn from experience in 
 China will be found in the Records of the China Centenary 
 Missionary Conference, Shanghai, 1907, pp. 12-15, an d 
 
 32, 33- 
 
 We may remark generally that where the local Church 
 has assumed the duty of supporting its own workers, 
 these usually receive larger salaries than those formerly 
 paid by the missions. But the missions have of purpose 
 avoided setting too high a standard, lest the local Church 
 should be discouraged and deterred from taking its proper 
 burdens on its own shoulders.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CHARACTER AND SPIRITUAL FRUIT- 
 FULNESS OF CHRISTIAN LIFE 
 
 CANONS OF CRITICISM 
 
 IN dealing with the evidence regarding the working of 
 the new life in producing character and spiritual fruit- 
 fulness in the young Church on the mission field, we are 
 struck with the extreme difficulty of forming a clear and 
 well -balanced judgment. Many of our correspondents 
 show in their replies that they fully appreciate the same 
 difficulty. The subject is also of supreme importance, 
 since the creation of a new life, evidenced by its ethical 
 results, is the ultimate aim of all mission work. Unless 
 the parent Church can satisfy herself that such results 
 are indeed being attained, her work in the mission field 
 must come to be regarded as a failure. Even then, the 
 Church might well feel bound in duty to carry on her 
 missions in obedience to the command of Christ, but the 
 inspiration and joy of the work would be gone. Those 
 also who regard mission work from an external point of 
 view, and in a critical spirit, instinctively demand, and 
 are justified in demanding, that such work should be 
 able to justify itself by its visible fruits. " By their 
 fruits ye shall know them," was the test sanctioned by 
 our Lord Himself as one which might fairly be applied 
 to all His followers. Religious profession, without a 
 correspondingly high tone of Christian life manifested 
 in daily conduct, had no value in His eyes, and the 
 
 unspiritual world is quite justified in demanding the 
 
 207
 
 208 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 impartial application of His test to all who bear the 
 Christian name. 
 
 The difficulty of which we have just spoken does not 
 lie in lack of evidence of new and better life and conduct 
 in the Church in the mission field. Such evidences 
 abound, but it is not easy to estimate with precision their 
 value and significance. In any community, as in any 
 individual life, the tokens for good exist side by side 
 with undeniable failure and too many proofs of the 
 continued working of the " old leaven of malice and 
 wickedness." Thus the evidence in every case must be 
 balanced, and it is difficult to estimate its weight. Again, 
 there enters into the problem the supremely difficult task 
 of discriminating clearly between what is natural and 
 what is spiritual. Even in pagan life, dark as it usually 
 is, it must not be denied that tokens of good exist, and 
 when these appear among the members of a young Church, 
 they cannot fairly be claimed as proofs of our success. 
 On the other hand, there is in pagan life so much that is 
 grossly evil, and that has eaten so deeply into the life 
 of whole races of men, that freedom from it may be a 
 real token of a new ethical life which is nothing less than 
 miraculous even when still moving on a low plane. In 
 old Christian communities, Christian ideals have so 
 impressed themselves on the general character that even 
 those who are not themselves Christians are profoundly 
 affected by them. We are thus led to regard them as 
 only natural proprieties of life without spiritual value, 
 and we fail to realise that similar manifestations in the 
 individual life in pagan lands may be indications of real 
 spiritual attainment and signal victory over sin. Un- 
 christian critics frequently demand of the converts in 
 the mission Church attainments in character which they 
 themselves owe entirely in their own case to the Chris- 
 tianity which they avowedly reject. 
 
 Further, it is undeniable that missionaries and friends 
 of missions, intensely sympathising with converts who are 
 emerging from the darkness of pagan life, and eager to 
 make the most of the tokens for good which appear in
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 209 
 
 their lives, must find it difficult to weigh the facts with 
 sufficient balance and restraint. Indeed the Christian 
 duty of refraining from harsh judgments, and viewing 
 with charity the shortcomings and failures of fellow- 
 Christians, teaches us to shrink from assuming the position 
 of judges. These and many other similar considerations 
 must be fully before our minds while we weigh the evidence 
 presented to us of the success of missions in the develop- 
 ment of new life and spiritual character in the growing 
 Church on the mission field. 
 
 In order to do justice to the evidences of Christian 
 life in the mission field, it would be necessary first 
 to make a deep and thorough study of the pagan 
 life, and to realise its degradation and darkness. 
 Just as the stars disappear in daylight, so do many 
 of the tokens of Christian life in the mission field fail 
 to catch our eye in the widely diffused though sober 
 light of western Christianity. It is when they are con- 
 trasted with the dark night out of which they shine in 
 the pagan world that we are able to appreciate the remark 
 of Origen with regard to the Christians of his own time : 
 " Compared with contemporary pagans, the disciples of 
 Christ shine like stars in the firmament." It is not the 
 partiality of partisan enthusiasm which leads the friends 
 of missions to attach great value and spiritual significance 
 to conduct amongst recent converts, which, if seen in our 
 own nominally Christian communities, might be regarded 
 as only the commonplace of natural life, and not sufficient 
 to prove the working of any spiritual power. In the 
 West, Christianity has created beaten tracks of moral 
 respectability in which multitudes walk without effort, 
 unaware that they owe the security of their path to the 
 influence of Christ, Whom they do not profess to serve. It 
 is altogether a different problem that presents itself in 
 the beginnings of Christian life among a pagan community. 
 The first step by which a pagan is raised out of the miry 
 clay, and touches the borders of the way of holiness, is of 
 infinitely greater significance than miles of progress, in 
 the spirit of routine and under the influence of heredity, 
 COM. II. 14
 
 210 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 along roads that have been trodden by the feet of genera- 
 tions. We make no apology then for regarding with feel- 
 ings of profound thankfulness the well-weighed and careful 
 testimony which has been submitted to us from all parts 
 of the mission field, as to the character and spiritual 
 fruitfulness of the Christian life there. We rejoice that 
 the member of our Commission whom we requested to 
 deal in the first instance with the replies under this head 
 begins his Report to us by saying : " The impression on 
 my mind is one of greater encouragement than I expected, 
 and I am grateful for the privilege of reading through this 
 mass of first-hand evidence." Some of the most thoughtful 
 replies give a warning against superficial judgments by 
 western Christians on the signs of spirituality in native 
 converts, on grounds similar to those which we have 
 noted above. They also urge upon us the important 
 fact that oriental Christianity will necessarily have its 
 own peculiar type of spiritual experience, that in India 
 especially the type will naturally be contemplative and 
 mystical, and its manifestations will often be far removed 
 from the bustling activity of the West. It is difficult for 
 men of these diverse tempers rightly to judge and appreciate 
 each other. To those of the West the oriental Christian will 
 seem inert and idle, while the western type of life will be 
 judged by the East as shallow, heedless, and worldly. 
 
 Bearing in mind, then, the necessity of being wary in 
 our judgments, we shall endeavour to summarise the 
 evidence before us of the true character and fruitfulness 
 of the Christian life in the mission field. 
 
 NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 We begin at the lower end of the scale by noting the 
 characteristics which are almost wholly negative in 
 themselves, and whose spiritual significance is apt to be 
 very much underrated. Amongst very degraded and 
 savage peoples we find in the giving up of loathsome 
 brutalities, such as cannibalism, infanticide, frequent 
 murder, and an almost continual state of war, the first
 
 211 
 
 evidences of the beginning of a new life. These abomina- 
 tions are characteristic of degraded savage life, but it is 
 startling to learn that in the non-Christian world they 
 are to be found also among civilised peoples, and have 
 survived through centuries of civilisation. With the 
 casting off of these savage characteristics, the observance 
 of decency of dress and behaviour is an indication to the 
 eye of a real inward change. Strange to say, in some 
 western literature, regarding itself as specially cultured, 
 this change is deplored, and the missions to which it is 
 due are charged with reducing life in the sphere of their 
 operations to dull and uninteresting commonplace. 
 Closely related to these upward steps is the casting off of 
 idolatry. Here again the Christian mission appears to 
 the dilettante mind in the character of an iconoclast 
 condemning to destruction interesting works of primitive 
 art, and emptying life of interesting adjuncts of myth, 
 folklore, and fairy tale. We might be tempted to sym- 
 pathise with some of these regrets, uttered in the name 
 of art and literature, were it not that a closer examina- 
 tion puts the whole matter on a different footing. We do 
 not doubt that idolatrous worship has in it a primitive 
 element of significance as a recognition of the super- 
 natural, and it is well that among missionaries and the 
 leaders of the young Church in the mission field a certain 
 restraint should be observed on this ground, even in 
 speaking of idolatry. It should be owned that the great 
 thought of the supernatural sometimes underlies it, though 
 often no longer recognised by the popular mind. But to 
 the western mind, it is hardly conceivable how universally 
 life and thought in the pagan world have been darkened 
 by terrors which give idolatry its hold over men. 
 
 CASTING OUT FEAR 
 
 This subject is too large to be entered on here, and it 
 must suffice to quote the following words : " Another 
 thing we must take note of in order to understand the 
 full depth of heathendom's estrangement from God is
 
 212 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 its subjection to the dominion of devilish powers. The 
 animistic heathen are not only in error, they are slaves. 
 . . . They are bound by three fetters fear, demon worship, 
 and fate. Fear, in various forms, tyrannises over the 
 Animist in every situation of life. . . . Even his own soul 
 is a hostile power against which he must ever be on his 
 guard. It is fond of leaving him ; it allows itself to be 
 enticed away from him ; it refuses to accept benefits for 
 him. She who is about to become a mother is rendered 
 miserable by fear. Her mother joy is embittered by fear 
 of her own soul and of the soul of her child, as well as of 
 envious spirits. The souls of relatives are easily wounded, 
 and woe to him who even unintentionally offends them. 
 Primitive man has to wind his way amid the throng of 
 the souls of the people around him, and must continually 
 bargain or fight with invisible and sinister powers. . . . 
 
 " To that must be added fear of the dead, of demons, 
 of the thousand spirits of earth, air, water, mountains, 
 and trees. The Battak is like a man driven in a frenzied 
 pursuit round and round. . . . The dead friend and 
 brother becomes an enemy, and his coffin and grave are 
 the abode of terrors. It is fear that occasions the worship 
 of the departed and the observance of their mourning 
 usages in its smallest details ; fear dictates that host of 
 prohibitions which surrounds every movement of their 
 daily life. Fear is the moving power of animistic religion, 
 in Asia as in Africa " (Lie. Theol. Joh. Warneck, The 
 Living Forces of the Gospel, pp. 108-110). 
 
 Still more strange is the fact that these ideas are not 
 confined to barbarous races, but abound also in bewildering 
 variety among the most civilised, and among those in 
 all the intermediate stages. Truly, as Warneck says 
 again, "It is a dismal picture that is unrolled before 
 our eye, every heathen a slave of fear, with no joy in 
 life, but bondage everywhere " (p. 112). 
 
 The friends of missions need not be distressed when 
 writers who pose as friends of the picturesque lament 
 the disappearance of these primitive thoughts of pagan 
 life. We may even admit that such ideas of the world
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 213 
 
 are much more picturesque than ours. But it is the 
 impure picturesqueness of delirium as compared with 
 the clean sanity of healthy life. 
 
 One of the first fruits then for which we rejoice in the 
 young Christian life is the abolition of these terrifying 
 thoughts, and the liberation of the soul from the horror 
 of them. This liberation does not always take place at 
 once, and haunting impressions and fears still revisit the 
 minds even of Christians, but the power of them is for 
 ever broken, and they are gradually disappearing. Said 
 a Chinese woman, " Before I was a Christian I was 
 always in fear, afraid of the spirits, afraid of the idols, 
 afraid of shadows, afraid of things moving in the dark, 
 but now, thank God, I am made free and am afraid of 
 nothing ! " 
 
 Thus, while we have hardly yet entered on the region 
 of morals, we find already this wonderful fruit of Christian 
 teaching, that the human soul is set free from haunting 
 fear, and is able to listen to the voice of the Gospel. 
 But since idolatry holds its votaries not by love, but by 
 their fears, dissipation of fear destroys at once the power 
 of idolatry. The worship of the idols is given up usually 
 without a pang of regret, and whatever forms of spiritual 
 declension may afterwards appear, a return to idolatry 
 of one who has once broken loose from it seldom takes 
 place. It is only right, however, to say parenthetically 
 that there are a few cases in which pagan objects of 
 worship, credited with more winsome characteristics, 
 are abandoned with regret ; but these cases are few, 
 and the members of the young Church in the mission field 
 almost invariably look back to the old life with horror, 
 and rejoice in their Christian freedom. 
 
 PURITY OF SPEECH 
 
 Still tracing the working of the Christian life from its 
 earliest and more negative manifestations, we note the 
 abandonment of violent and foul speech as a character- 
 istic mark of the Christian life in its earlier stages. A
 
 214 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 correspondent in China says : " It is a marked character- 
 istic of the Christians that they cease from this kind of 
 language. I have been told by the Chinese that one 
 can often know a man to be a Christian simply by the 
 purity of his conversation." Both in jest and in anger, 
 the use of the vilest language seems to be generally 
 characteristic of pagan life, whether civilised or barbarous. 
 Profane swearing is much less frequent, apparently 
 for two reasons : the lack of that general knowledge of 
 the Divine which seems to be needed to lend piquancy 
 to profane language, and the haunting fear which re- 
 strains it. Thus both outbursts of anger and ebullitions 
 of humour take the form of boundless impurity of speech 
 rather than of profanity. When we consider how habitual 
 this kind of speech has been in most mission fields, 
 familiar even to children from their earliest years, few 
 things are more striking than the sudden and almost 
 complete abstinence from it which usually characterises 
 the Christians. Nothing can be a more convincing proof 
 of the reality of the change of heart and spirit than this 
 control over the tongue, even in matters in which it may 
 well be said that it was formerly " set on fire of hell." 
 
 TRUTHFULNESS 
 
 It is natural to note next the victory obtained over 
 untruthfulness. Here again we have a condition of 
 things that is almost universal among pagan races. Truth 
 is extolled in the literatures of some. of them, but it is 
 seldom practised in actual life. Lying for the injury 
 of others is condemned as malicious and unfair, and lying 
 clumsily so as to be detected is ridiculed as a social 
 failure, but lying in itself is hardly thought of as wrong. 
 We find a general testimony that the Christians of the 
 mission field are generally known as practising truthful- 
 ness as well as purity of speech. But thorough truthful- 
 ness seems to be of slower growth than cleanness of 
 speech. There is an hereditary tendency to falsehood. 
 The temptations are numerous and pressing, and it takes
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 215 
 
 time for a high standard of truthfulness to impress itself 
 even on the Christian mind. Still we find ample testi- 
 mony that truthfulness is recognised by non-Christians 
 as one of the marks distinguishing their Christian neigh- 
 bours. Here again the Christians are liable to be mis- 
 judged by western critics. Strange to say, the Christian 
 who lies seldom is not unlikely to be detected in lying 
 more frequently than his non-Christian neighbour. It 
 is on record that an English lawyer practising in the East 
 once declared : " I hate to have native Christian wit- 
 nesses, because when they attempt to lie they always 
 become confused, and give the case away." That is, 
 the non- Christian lies consistently, solidly, and without 
 hesitation, whereas the first stage of truthfulness on the 
 part of the Christian is that of lying badly, and therefore 
 unsuccessfully. Against the judgment of the lawyer 
 above referred to may be placed the report which comes 
 to us from a correspondent in North Tripoli, as follows : 
 " There has come to be a general respect for the life of 
 the Christians on the part of the non-Christian population. 
 The former are acknowledged to be in the main much 
 more honest, pure, sincere, and morally correct than the 
 latter. There have been reported instances where the 
 word of a Christian witness in court has been accepted by 
 Moslem judges with the statement that the word of a 
 Christian was acceptable on its face." Similar testimony 
 is reported to us from Formosa, as having been borne by 
 Japanese officials to the character, and especially to the 
 truthfulness, of Chinese Christians there. As the growth 
 of the Christian life develops, truthfulness becomes 
 more and more a prevailing characteristic. 
 
 GENEROSITY 
 
 Avarice is another of the characteristic vices of pagan 
 life. The love of money is an insidious fault even within 
 the Christian sphere, and from its singular power of 
 blighting higher ideals, it is marked in the New Testament 
 as a root of every kind of evil. In the mission field, the
 
 216 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 new life plainly tends to throw off this vice, and generosity 
 and charity take its place. Material gain and the 
 necessaries of life no longer claim the concentration of 
 all interest and energy upon themselves. Both heart and 
 mind have found wider, higher, and less selfish interests 
 in other directions, and are able to form a juster judg- 
 ment of real values. It must still be remembered that 
 those who have grown up in communities where a vast 
 majority of the people are poor, or little above the level 
 of poverty, have necessarily inherited habits of thrift 
 which have been exaggerated into a narrow parsimony. 
 In such countries, the common currency has carried sub- 
 division to an extreme, and this again reacts on the char- 
 acter of those who use it. But we shall misjudge the 
 Christian people of such countries if we attribute a 
 carefulness in money matters which seems to us extreme 
 wholly to avarice. What we are tempted to condemn 
 as avarice may be only necessary and worthy thrift. 
 There is no room for question that many of the converts 
 in the mission field have made large sacrifices in becoming 
 Christians. Many of them have abandoned more or 
 less lucrative employments tainted with complicity in 
 idolatry, or which in some other way tend to hinder 
 their Christian life. Others have become outcasts from 
 their homes and incurred loss of property through the 
 resentment of their relatives, and all this in the earliest 
 stages of their Christian life. Such experiences must be a 
 corrective to avarice, and the more positive virtues of 
 generosity and charity are undoubtedly a marked char- 
 acteristic of the young Church in the mission field. Where 
 the matter is wisely put before them, the Christians in 
 many lands have responded well to the call to contribute 
 of their means for the support and extension of Church 
 work. The proportion of their gifts towards religious 
 objects often amounts to one month's wages annually, 
 from those who depend on their labour for their daily 
 bread. Those of ampler means also, besides their usual 
 contributions, often make generous gifts for special 
 purposes such as the relief of the poor, the help of sufferers
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 217 
 
 from famine or other calamity, and not unfrequently 
 they undertake to assist poor students in order to fit 
 them for usefulness in Christian service. 
 
 In a word, we have before us good evidence, gathered 
 from the experience of the Church in the mission field, 
 that " the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
 suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, 
 temperance." 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY 
 
 Turning from individual characteristics, we pass to 
 the effects of the new life upon the family and the rela- 
 tions of its members. To discuss the position and 
 character of the home in pagan life would take us too 
 far afield. In India, China, and elsewhere, the family 
 tie is strong and binding, and family affection is often 
 very apparent ; but the family is subordinated to the 
 clan or caste, and from causes too varied for discussion 
 here, the sanctity and privacy of the home is seldom 
 seen and little cultivated. In the growing Christian 
 communities, on the other hand, the family is reorganised 
 about a religious centre. There is a complete change of 
 ideas as to the right relations of husband and wife, the 
 proper place and honour of woman, the relation of 
 children, whether sons or daughters, to God on the one 
 hand, and to their parents on the other. A new and 
 enlarged interpretation is given to filial piety, which, 
 so far from being destroyed by the abandonment of 
 ancestor worship or caste rules, is for the first time put 
 on its true basis of devotion and loyalty to the Father in 
 Heaven. 
 
 In a previous chapter, we have discussed the difficulties 
 which arise out of the practice of polygamy, and have 
 shown how resolute is the action of the Church for the 
 complete removal of this deadly foe to pure family life. 
 Before the advent of Christianity the definition of the 
 family covers the gathering together under one roof, or 
 in neighbouring abodes of several generations of those 
 who are descended from a common ancestry ; and
 
 218 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 amongst such a large number of individuals, the ties of 
 common ancestry are not strong enough to bind it into 
 a real unity. Christianity tends to dignify the 
 individual life, and while not slackening any bonds of 
 natural affection, seems to lead in ah 1 lands to the narrow- 
 ing of the home circle to the parents and their own 
 children. When the children grow up, they form homes 
 of their own, each of which is again isolated and sacred, 
 and is not merged in the more heterogeneous aggregation 
 of the non-Christian family. One of our correspondents, 
 an Indian Christian leader, suggestively remarks upon 
 this reversal of social ideas which the Gospel has brought 
 to India, " The family circle becomes smaller, and indi- 
 vidual self-determination has developed in place of the 
 caste rule." It is clear that the Christian conception 
 of the family, by developing individual responsibility 
 and setting the will free from the domination of the clan 
 system, greatly favours the creation of a higher, freer, 
 and more spiritual type of character. Household worship 
 becomes possible under the new system, and the influence 
 of parents is increased tenfold when the children are 
 thus isolated from outside impressions. Greater care is 
 manifested in the training of the children, and greater 
 solicitude for their education. This is specially notice- 
 able in the case of girls, who, before the entrance of 
 Christianity, were not thought worthy of either name or 
 place in the family, and were allowed to grow up in a state 
 of subjection, if not of actual servitude a servitude 
 terminated only by marriage and a transference to 
 similar subjection, amongst strangers. It is pointed out 
 by not a few of our correspondents that the new life 
 is manifested even by the outward aspect of the Christian 
 home, where cleanliness and comfort often take the place 
 of the carelessness and disorder of non-Christian homes. 
 We fear, however, it must be admitted that this improve- 
 ment is not always so conspicuous as it ought to be, and 
 it ought to be set before the young Christian communi- 
 ties that cleanliness, order, neatness in dress, better 
 care of home, and more refinement generally ought to
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 219 
 
 prevail in Christian homes. They should be pervaded 
 by a purer atmosphere, and life should become more 
 hopeful and joyful. 
 
 RELATION TO THE GENERAL COMMUNITY 
 
 We have made enquiries as to the relations existing 
 between the Christians and the general community of their 
 own people. There are two mistakes into which the 
 Christians may fall, either on the one hand by separating 
 themselves from the non-Christian community and 
 assuming the attitude of alienation or hostility, or, on 
 the other, by allowing their relation to those outside to 
 continue nearly the same as it was before. It is evident 
 that in many things those who become Christians must 
 cease to have any part or interest in large departments of 
 the life of their fellow-countrymen. What interests 
 them most deeply is regarded by those outside with 
 suspicion and aversion, and it is very natural that in such 
 circumstances each should withdraw, as it were, behind 
 a barrier of reserve. It is reported to us also that 
 Christians are tempted to undue compliances, as 
 offering the line of least resistance, and allowing them- 
 selves to retain their place in general society at the loss 
 of much that is rightly distinctive, and vital to their 
 Christian testimony. Here, evidently, is a large field for 
 the exercise of wisdom and patience on the part of mis- 
 sionaries and local Christian leaders. It is after all 
 another form of the same problem which presents itself 
 to earnest Christians in the West, who feel it right to be 
 somewhat apart without being aloof, to be in the world 
 without being of the world. We are glad to be assured 
 that the shrewd non-Christian observer, whether civilised 
 or uncivilised, soon learns to distinguish genuine goodness. 
 Though he may be puzzled by many of the strange 
 features of Christian conduct, he has not much difficulty 
 in learning to respect those who are manifestly striving 
 after kinder, purer, and more unselfish character. In- 
 sincere professions of Christianity do not long deceive
 
 220 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 their neighbours, and wherever sound work has been 
 done, unbelievers themselves are prepared to admit 
 that converts are better rather than worse for their 
 change of faith. Sometimes, indeed, the Christians are 
 apt to have an undue idea of their own superiority over 
 others, and so lose the ornament of a meek and quiet 
 spirit. But, as a rule, being in a small minority, they 
 have to exercise much humility and the spirit of patient 
 endurance which is enforced by ostracism and even by 
 persecution. Sometimes this hostility is the more 
 bitter because ungodly men, seeing that the Christians 
 live on a higher moral plane than themselves, are pricked 
 in their conscience at the contrast of better lives than 
 their own, and are the more ready to persecute for 
 righteousness' sake. Sometimes, too, the impression is 
 made by the life of the Christian community that they 
 have become denationalised, and disloyal to their own 
 Government. Sometimes it is to be feared this view 
 has been needlessly strengthened by the unwise intro- 
 duction of western customs and institutions which 
 give the Church a European aspect. In Japan, before 
 the war with Russia, this view prevailed in the general 
 community, but during the war the devotion, patriotism, 
 and self-sacrificing spirit of the Japanese Christians, 
 both at home and on the field of battle, afforded a com- 
 plete refutation of the charge. A correspondent writing 
 from Jalna of a poor and illiterate Christian community 
 in the native state to which it belongs, reports : " The 
 Christians nearly always show themselves willing to live 
 at peace with their neighbours, and often in time they 
 win respect and influence. That the Christian life 
 impresses itself on those without is shown by the very 
 reproaches which are levelled against Christians. When 
 a Christian is discovered in dishonesty, it is made a 
 reproach against the community. A Hindu, arguing 
 with me in the bazaar, admitted that 90 per cent, of the 
 converts were better morally for the change. Hindus 
 of good caste will associate with Christians of low-caste 
 origin, and allow their children to be taught by Christian
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 221 
 
 teachers from low castes, though they would have 
 nothing to do with non-Christians of the same classes." 
 
 GROWTH OF CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE 
 
 The following words from a Presbyterian missionary 
 in Chingleput, South India, give what appears to be the 
 normal course of relations between Christians and non- 
 Christians, and there is confirmatory evidence from other 
 quarters to show that wherever the Christians really live 
 the Christian life, these relations tend to improve. Har- 
 mony is promoted not by compromise but by the mainten- 
 ance of a high spiritual tone. One correspondent says : 
 " The relations of professing Christians with those outside 
 are, as a rule, cordial and pleasant. Those in Madras 
 City and Conjeeveram and Chingleput are so, while the 
 village Christians at the outset, when they come over to 
 the Christian Church, are greatly opposed and persecuted. 
 This opposition dies down within a year or two, and then 
 indifference takes its place. In course of time, the change 
 for the better in the life of the professing village Christians 
 is seen and felt by the non-Christians around, and the 
 moral and spiritual work of the mission is appreciated, 
 with the result that friendship begins to appear. At the 
 last harvest thanksgiving services, held in connection 
 with the village churches, nearly 200 Hindus and Moham- 
 medans sent offerings to be put along with the offerings 
 given by the Christians themselves. We all felt this to 
 be a tangible proof of the interest non-Christians are 
 taking in the life of our Indian Christians." The same 
 view is given by another Presbyterian correspondent in 
 speaking of the Chinese Christians in Formosa under 
 the Government of Japan : " Their refusal to join in 
 ancestor worship, heathen worship, and idol plays, etc., 
 often made their relations to outsiders in the earlier days 
 very difficult. In the long-run, when the antagonism has 
 somewhat died down and people are inclined to judge 
 more fairly, the impression made is distinctly favourable 
 in those districts where the Christians are genuine. Out-
 
 222 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 siders acknowledge the superior morality of the Christians, 
 and are more willing to give them credit in purchases 
 and such transactions. The Japanese authorities say 
 the same. They bear testimony to the superior morality 
 of the Christians as more truthful, more law-abiding, and 
 more enlightened. From the point of view of Govern- 
 ment, they urge us and our preachers to go forward with 
 our work." 
 
 Another testimony may be quoted from Bishop 
 Robinson of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Bombay, 
 who writes : " Generally speaking, the conviction is borne 
 in upon non-Christians by the improved moral conditions 
 noticeable among those who have become Christians that 
 a Divine power is working among the disciples of Jesus 
 Christ. Of course this conviction is more or less deepened 
 according to the measure of spiritual life and moral 
 energy possessed by Christians. Caste forbids to any 
 large extent the association of Christians who are mainly 
 from the lower classes with non-Christians in works of 
 philanthropy or public utility, and it must be remembered 
 that the non- Christians who participate in public life are 
 altogether of the highest classes. There are pleasing 
 instances of Christians who, by sheer force of character 
 and recognised moral superiority, have won a place for 
 themselves in public life, and are highly regarded by 
 non-Christians. As the years go by, there will be a 
 constant improvement in this direction." One other testi- 
 mony may be quoted from the American Baptist Telugu 
 Mission, in the Presidency of Madras, as follows : " Some 
 individuals from the first present an entire change of 
 character, and are shining examples of grace, Christian 
 zeal, and love. In others, little change, except their 
 formal and persistent break with idolatry and a few tribal 
 customs, is seen. They count themselves as Christians, 
 claim all the privileges of the Church, and seem to enjoy 
 them, but so many remnants of the old life, its supersti- 
 tions and habits remain that the missionary's heart is 
 saddened. Yet if we only knew the depths out of which 
 they have come, I dare say we would wonder that their
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 223 
 
 life is changed as much as it is. Christian family life is 
 uniformly better than that of the heathen about them, 
 and often in sharp contrast with it. A true observer 
 commands respect among his neighbours generally. The 
 Hindus and Mohammedans expect a higher standard of 
 uprightness, truth, and honesty from Christians than 
 they do from their fellow-religionists." 
 
 In Africa the leaven has also been working. Bishop 
 Tucker writes : " Although the Christians are a minority in 
 Uganda, yet the legislation of the country is on Christian 
 lines. The Lord's Day as a Day of Rest is generally 
 observed ; the public markets under the control of the 
 National Council are closed on Sunday. The political 
 atmosphere is Christian, and heathenism hardly shows 
 its face." From other correspondents the testimonies are 
 also very encouraging. The conversation of the Christians, 
 " unmixed as it is with immoral suggestions, their not 
 beating their wives, their honesty in returning lost pro- 
 perty, their not mourning as the heathen mourn over 
 their dead, their kindness to outsiders (as, for example, 
 when a Christian helped to carry for five hours one sick 
 with a loathsome disease, though quite unknown to him)," 
 and other features of a better life make a great impression. 
 From Livingstonia this encouraging testimony is given : 
 "The Church has emerged from heathenism with a clear 
 unmistakable light, revealing and shaming the evil which 
 is disappearing, and evil customs are being supplanted 
 by Christian usages, even where the community is not 
 Christian. Christians have not separated themselves 
 from the village or tribal life, nor are they expected to 
 do so. Many instances are known where Christians are 
 chiefs, head-men, and councillors in tribes. In some com- 
 munities Christians are deferred to and their advice asked, 
 while in every community the Christians are instructed 
 as to social duties and the call to be leaders in every good 
 work for the raising or the help of the community." 
 
 Not less interesting and hopeful is the evidence that 
 comes to us from a few of our correspondents of Christian 
 leadership stirring up non-Christians to good works and
 
 224 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 a better life. An Anglican missionary writes from North 
 India : "In regard to philanthropy, the Christians no 
 longer hold the monopoly, as they did till quite recently, 
 of readiness to spend and be spent in such dangerous 
 service as plague camps and the like. Their zeal has 
 provoked others, and now the most determined outward 
 opponents of Christianity, the Aryo-Samajists, with 
 others, appear many of them to have caught the true 
 spirit of altruism, or at least of genuine patriotism, and 
 have thrown themselves with disinterested devotion into 
 the thick of the battle with epidemic disease." 
 
 We have now illustrated from various sources the 
 manifestations of the new life which unmistakably show 
 themselves in all the mission fields. They appear in 
 individual character, in family life, and in social influence, 
 and if they are not yet all that could be desired, they are 
 enough to give the assurance of a rich harvest in the future. 
 But, along with the testimony of life and character, the 
 Christians in the mission fields take a large part in evan- 
 gelistic work and testify both privately and publicly to the 
 word of the Gospel which is the secret of the transfigured 
 life. 
 
 EVANGELISTIC EFFORT 
 
 From some parts of the mission field the same danger 
 is reported to us which is so often regretted at home, that 
 members of the Church are too apt to look upon evan- 
 gelistic work as exclusively the duty of the official agents 
 of the Church, who are specially set apart to it. On the 
 other hand we are assured from most of the mission 
 fields, that the new life among the Christian people usually 
 manifests itself in a good measure of evangelistic zeal. 
 Thus from the Congo we are told : " All our Christians 
 are expected, on Sundays particularly, to visit the 
 villages near to their own town, and either by a definite 
 service or by conversation to seek to evangelise the 
 people. The work of an evangelist has always been 
 held up as one of high honour, one in which those who 
 are able should seek to engage, and we can say that there
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUllTULNESS 225 
 
 is nearly one in five of our Church membership who are 
 continually engaged in direct propagation of the Gospel." 
 
 The history of missions in Polynesia is full of records 
 of fervent evangelism, and of the courage and zeal of 
 many teachers and their wives, who faced stormy seas 
 and carried the Gospel to the most savage islands at the 
 continual peril of death. The Korean Christians set 
 a noble example, and the wonderful growth of the 
 Church there is due to the fact that they preach the Word 
 wherever they go. In Korea and part of Manchuria 
 the evangelistic spirit is so strong that one writer says : 
 " The entire Church is a missionary organisation." 
 
 In the wide fields of India, China, and Africa the degree 
 of evangelistic activity varies greatly, but everywhere 
 there are signs of its growth. It begins with the personal 
 testimony of individuals. Even if not deeply instructed 
 in the truth, and not showing a singularly spiritual tone, 
 they are always ready to talk to their neighbours of their 
 new faith. Then Christian people join together, and 
 without any formal organisation companies of friends"go 
 out into the villages and the streets of the cities to 
 speak to all who will listen. In China there are many 
 places where " preaching bands " are formed, consisting 
 of a few who are like-minded and seek to encourage each 
 other. Sometimes they meet on Saturday evening to 
 pray and plan for the work of next day. On Sunday 
 morning eight or ten of them set out on foot or by boat, 
 divide, two and two, and go through a circuit of villages, 
 preaching the Gospel. In the evening they return to 
 the Church where others await them, and all seek the 
 blessing of God on the seed sown. 
 
 We cannot here discuss methods of evangelistic work, 
 since matters of this kind will find their place in the 
 Report of the Commission on CARRYING THE GOSPEL TO ALL 
 THE NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD. We only note the evangelistic 
 movement here as one of the evidences of real religious life. 
 It begins with 1 the individual, then it groups together 
 like-minded friends, and finally it becomes the work of 
 Church Committees and Societies, by whom funds are 
 COM. ii. 15
 
 226 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 collected and the work is extended to wider fields. Hence 
 such organisations as the " National Missionary Society 
 for India," and others, which seek to foster and direct 
 the evangelistic energy of the Church. From all the 
 fields comes the unanimous assurance that the testimony 
 of the local Christians, confirmed by their consistent 
 lives, is the great evangelistic impulse by which the 
 Church grows. 
 
 BEARING PERSECUTION 
 
 The genuineness of Christian faith in the Church in 
 the mission field is often tested by the hostility of the 
 surrounding community, and sometimes by open and 
 violent persecution. There have been many martyrs 
 for the Christian faith among its members, and, without 
 going further back, ample illustration may be found in 
 the records of the great " Boxer Outbreak " in China 
 in the year 1900. Besides the ; many missionaries, 
 both men and women, who were killed in that memorable 
 year, many thousands of the Chinese Christians were 
 also put to death. The hatred of their fellow-countrymen 
 fell upon them, generally because of their connection 
 with foreigners, and in very many cases the opportunity 
 was given to save their lives by renunciation of their 
 Christian faith. Sometimes a cross was drawn upon the 
 ground, and they were called upon to trample on it. 
 Sometimes they were ordered to burn a stick of incense 
 before one of the idols, and sometimes they were offered 
 a certificate of having done so, even without having 
 actually performed the act of worship. It is undeniable 
 that during this fierce persecution not a few of the pro- 
 fessed Christians fell away from their profession, and so 
 saved their lives, but there were certainly many thousands, 
 though the exact number can never be known, who 
 refused to deny Christ, and willingly laid down their 
 lives. For instance, Mr. Chiang, sixty-seven years of 
 age, " a saintly Christian, and a great Bible student," 
 was seized by the " Boxers," and told that they would 
 kill him. He asked for a little time to pray, and falling
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 227 
 
 on his knees he began, " Father, forgive them," but his 
 prayer was not completed ; the knives fell upon him as he 
 knelt, and he was hacked to pieces. A noble example 
 of fidelity was given by Pastor Meng Chi Hsien, with 
 some of his associated teachers and college students. 
 For eleven years Mr. Meng had been ordained pastor at 
 Paotingfu, and was beloved and trusted by all. When 
 the storm of danger broke over Paotingfu, Mr. Meng, 
 who was absent at the time in attendance at the annual 
 meeting of the mission, returned at once overland, most 
 of the way on foot, in order to stand by the missionary in 
 charge in this time of peril. He and his associates 
 opened the street chapel daily, quietly continuing their 
 work as long as it was possible, but advising the Church 
 members meanwhile to leave the city and escape. " My 
 place," said Mr. Meng to a friend, " is here with our 
 missionaries. I shall stay ; but you must take my eldest 
 son and get away. If you escape, and he is spared, he 
 will represent me and carry on my work." The boy 
 escaped, but his father fell a victim, being seized by a 
 company of the Boxers, beheaded at the altar in their 
 temple, his head exposed as that of a criminal, and his 
 body buried in a pauper's grave. Space will not 
 permit us to multiply instances of similar courage on 
 the part of men and women, bo3's and girls, but these 
 martyrs, numbered by the thousand, justify our assur- 
 ance of the genuineness of the faith of the Chinese Church. 
 Afterwards, during the religious revival in the Church 
 in Manchuria, some of those whose faith had failed in the 
 time of persecution came forward in the prayer meetings, 
 confessing their sin with tears of sorrow, and begged 
 that they might be readmitted to Christian fellowship ; 
 but the faith and steadfastness of those who fell has 
 strengthened and enriched the life of the Church through- 
 out China. 
 
 TIMES OF REVIVAL 
 
 On the subject of spiritual revivals there is in the 
 correspondence before us much encouraging testimony.
 
 228 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 In almost all the mission fields there have been of recent 
 years marked periods of spiritual quickening among the 
 Christians, and consequent growth and increased fruit- 
 fulness in many directions. In Korea, Manchuria, and 
 in several provinces of China itself, there have been 
 strange demonstrations of contrition and public con- 
 fession of personal sin, accompanied with great intensity 
 and perseverance in fervent prayer. The marvellous 
 spiritual influences at work not only deeply move the 
 Christian community, but produce a profound effect 
 upon many of those outside. Sometimes non-Christian 
 people warned each other not to come near the Christian 
 meetings, because, they said, those who entered them 
 were compelled by some mighty spirit to confess openly 
 all their sins. But better than the strange manifestations 
 of these meetings is the assurance we have of abiding 
 results in genuine repentance, in reparation for wrongs 
 done, and in the new spirit of kindliness and thoughtful- 
 ness for others that has shown itself throughout the Church. 
 
 Times of spiritual revival and their fruits in the 
 Western Church have sometimes been brought into 
 disrepute by unwise exaggeration and a yielding to 
 unhealthy excitement. We cannot but rejoice, therefore, 
 that in the reports before us we recognise a reverent 
 caution in speaking of movements of this kind, and a full 
 recognition that the real working of the Holy Spirit 
 in the Church must manifest itself, not in the excitement 
 of meetings however profitable, or even in testimonies 
 however fervent, but by " signs following " in holiness 
 and elevation of spiritual living. 
 
 For fuller details we refer to a remarkable pamphlet 
 entitled Times of Blessing in Manchuria, published in 
 Shanghai in 1909. It consists of letters and reports by 
 various writers upon the strange experiences of that 
 year. We can only give here two illustrative examples 
 
 The first owes its special significance to the fact that 
 under Confucian teaching the highest possible duty of man 
 is filial piety, and it is laid down that one of the highest 
 examples of filial piety is the duty of revenge against
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 229 
 
 any one who has wronged a man's father or any of his 
 near of kin. A filial son, it is said, will not live under 
 the same heaven as his father's murderer, that is to say, 
 revenge must be the one object of his life, not to be 
 laid aside until he has slain the wrongdoer or is himself 
 slain. 
 
 An evangelist in Manchuria was the nephew of a zealous 
 preacher, " Blind Chang," who was cruelly murdered 
 many years ago. At one of the meetings, this evangelist, 
 in a moment of profound spiritual emotion, declared 
 that he had for the first time come to know the Lord. 
 " Do you forgive your enemies ? " he was asked by a 
 Chinese pastor. For a moment this was more than he 
 could promise. A Chinese friend arose and went to his 
 side, saying to him, " I want to help you ; I will do all 
 I can to help you. Forgive them ! " Still he could not 
 promise, and many silent prayers were offered for him. 
 At last he said very quietly, " I forgive them. Pray 
 for these men, all of you, that they may be saved ; and 
 pray for me that I may be given the victory over myself 
 and them. I shall first write and tell them of my forgive- 
 ness and hopes, and then at the earliest opportunity visit 
 them, and plead with them to repent and be saved." 
 
 It may seem little that a Christian man should abandon 
 the thought of taking a bloody revenge, but he was not 
 only giving up the impulse of present passion, but 
 breaking with the traditions of his race, and the 
 teachings of a lifetime. 
 
 A still more striking testimony is given by Liu Chuan 
 Yao, the ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church 
 in Moukden, of the effects of this time of revival upon the 
 members of the Church in that city, which had suffered 
 so severely, both during the Boxer outbreak, and during 
 the war between Russia and Japan. He writes as 
 follows : " Great numbers of our professing Christians, 
 both in the city and out -stations, have been powerfully 
 convicted of sin, have openly confessed the same with 
 deep contrition, falling prostrate on the ground and 
 weeping bitterly. In every place large numbers of
 
 230 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 enquirers have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and 
 some who were entirely unconnected with the Christian 
 Church have also been constrained to confess their sins, 
 have repented, and believed in Jesus. Those who have 
 been excommunicated, or had lapsed from ordinances, 
 are coming back and confessing their sin. Many members, 
 who formerly were proud and cold and self-centred, have 
 undergone an entire change of character. Those who 
 were ashamed to confess Christ before have now great 
 freedom and boldness in doing so. Many who neglected 
 the Sabbath, and cared little for the services of the sanct- 
 uary, now love the house of God, while others have put 
 up I the ' Sabbath sign.' The careless inattention of 
 former times has given place to alertness of mind to the 
 ministration of the Word of Life. Bible reading and 
 study, matters of little moment to them before, are now 
 regarded as of the first importance, and the deep things 
 of God are beginning to be better understood. Preaching 
 the Word, whether in church or chapel, on ordinary or 
 special occasions, was formerly unaccompanied with 
 power, whoever the preacher might be. Now the Word 
 of God has free course and is glorified. ... A new 
 anxiety for the spiritual welfare of friends and relations 
 has taken possession of men's hearts. Those who formerly 
 did nothing for Christ are now freely offering their ser- 
 vice, while others give of their means for this special 
 work. Women too are freely offering their time and 
 service, a thing never heard of before. Those who never 
 gave for the cause of Christ before have now become willing 
 to give, and many have devoted a tenth to Christ. . . . 
 All the people pray now with a new earnestness and 
 power. Prayers are not only fervent, they are effectual. 
 Formerly our prayers seemed without effect, now answers 
 are looked for and received. Many who have never 
 prayed before have learned to pray, and those whose 
 prayers were formal and lifeless have become sincere 
 and earnest. Family worship has been begun in many 
 homes where prayer was unknown till now. Prayer- 
 meetings for both men and women have been formed,
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 231 
 
 not only in the city but in all the out-stations, in the boys' 
 and girls' schools, in the men's and women's hospitals, 
 and most significant of all, some ten girls in the Govern- 
 ment school have formed a prayer union of their own. 
 When members go from home on any affair whatever, 
 they make it a matter of prayer, and ask others to pray 
 for them. All the office-bearers of the Church are in- 
 spired with a new zeal and devotion to Christ's cause. 
 A new inward peace, and a new outward joy, are manifest 
 in all the members." 
 
 This testimony to a quickening of spiritual life showing 
 itself in so many directions, and continuing when the 
 earlier time of excitement was over, impresses us with a 
 strong sense of reality and fruitfulness. This impression 
 is deepened by the assurance given by the Rev. James 
 Webster, of Moukden, who edits the pamphlet from which 
 we are quoting. As to the teaching which has borne 
 such signal fruit, he writes : " That which oppresses 
 the minds and hearts of the penitent is not any thought 
 of future punishment of the wicked. That thought 
 may have been present to them, but seldom has one heard 
 it expressed. Their minds seem full of the thought 
 of unfaithfulness, of ingratitude to the Lord who had 
 redeemed them, of the heinous sin of trampling on His 
 love. ... It is this that has pricked them to the heart, 
 moved them to the very depths of their moral being, 
 and caused multitudes, ' not being able longer to con- 
 tain,' to break out into a lamentable cry, ' God be merci- 
 ful to me a sinner.' " 
 
 The same writer justly adds : "A generation must 
 pass before a fair and true appreciation of the results 
 of this revival can be formed. Meantime we are glad, 
 and thankful to Almighty God for His grace to this 
 Church in Manchuria." 
 
 We have drawn our illustrations from one mission field 
 only, but such times of revival have been seen in many 
 parts of the world. 
 
 In Japan great religious movements were experienced in 
 1882-83 and 1901-02, with many cases of clear conversion,
 
 232 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 and a lifting of the Church to a higher level of Christian 
 experience. In the year 1905 a movement of very marked 
 spiritual power visited many parts of India, and con- 
 tinued at least two years. It seemed independent of 
 human leadership ; its first effect was deep conviction 
 and confession of sin on the part of Christians ; and its 
 most marked result was seen in greatly transformed 
 lives. Prior to that there was a marked revival in Travan- 
 core, South India, in 1881, and another some ten years 
 ago, described as a great spiritual wave of power with 
 lasting results. In 1893 there was a great religious revival 
 in Uganda, the result of which was a great extension of 
 the work of the Church. In South Africa a revival took 
 place in 1896, and in the Transvaal in 1899-1900. In 
 other parts of Africa, as Congo, Nigeria, Gold Coast, etc., 
 revivals have from time to time taken place. 
 
 Many missionaries express their longing for such mani- 
 festations of divine power in their own mission fields, 
 and the Conference will assuredly be of one mind to pray 
 that these longings may be fulfilled. Movements of this 
 kind can neither be commanded nor controlled. But they 
 come in answer to the prayer of faith, and the evidence 
 of their reality is seen in the fruits of holiness which they 
 produce. 
 
 PRAYER 
 
 Our enquiry whether the members of the Church in 
 the mission field have learned the secret and the power 
 of prayer is rightly handled with great caution by our 
 correspondents. Like the enquiry as to times of revival, 
 it touches the deep things of the Spirit, in regard to 
 which reverent watchfulness is more becoming than 
 confident affirmation. 
 
 There seems to be a general consent that the Christians 
 in the mission field are in a sense much given to prayer. 
 Their simplicity of faith, firm belief in the value of prayer, 
 their extensive use of it in daily life, and willingness to 
 gather together for united prayer, are all encouraging 
 signs of the reality of their Christian life.
 
 SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS 233 
 
 We are not surprised to be told that they at first give 
 to material needs a large place in their prayers. " Give 
 us this day our daily bread " is a petition taught us by 
 the Lord Himself, and if they begin by praying about 
 temporal concerns, we are ah 1 the more assured that when 
 they pray for spiritual blessings they mean what they 
 say, and, in the grace of God, will receive what they 
 pray for. 
 
 It is natural, too, for the Christians of many of the 
 mission fields to be more free and more simple of speech 
 than we of the West are. Hence a readiness and freedom 
 from reserve or restraint in public prayer to which we 
 are strangers. But let us not judge them, therefore, as 
 shallow or unspiritual, and let us not mistake our own 
 conventional or racial shyness of speech for spirituality. 
 
 The Fatherhood of God is a truth which has a firm 
 hold on those who are as children in His house, and they 
 bring to Him ah 1 their concerns with childlike simplicity 
 and directness. They firmly believe that their prayers 
 are answered, and so experience the joy of prayer to a 
 degree that many of us have not reached. 
 
 We are assured also, by many of our correspondents, 
 that there are men and women among their Christian 
 people who have gone much further than this. These 
 have learned the secret and power of prayer in a special 
 degree, and give time and strength to this ministry. 
 There are Church members in the mission field who are 
 thus a benediction and a power in the Church of God. 
 For them let us give thanks, while we seek to catch their 
 spirit and imitate their example. 
 
 As for the many whose prayers are as yet on a less 
 spiritual plane, every effort should be made to retain 
 the simplicity of their praying, while adding to it rever- 
 ence and spiritual depth. Forms or models of prayer 
 may often be helpful to them, and familiarity with the 
 great devotional language of the Scriptures will carry 
 them on from strength to strength in prayer.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AND 
 THEOLOGY 
 
 THE study of the spread of Christianity shows very 
 clearly that permanence in the results of Christian work 
 is bound up with the possession of the Bible in the verna- 
 cular of the people, and that Christianity has been most 
 intelligent, influential, and progressive when mental 
 activity has been most carefully nourished and stimulated 
 by Christian literature. The consideration of the pro- 
 vision which has been made for the instruction and up- 
 building of the Churches of non-Christian lands by the 
 provision of a Christian literature adequate to their needs 
 is therefore the final, and certainly one of the most 
 important parts of the enquiry into the condition and 
 prospects of the Church. 
 
 It is very satisfactory to have evidence that with rare 
 and slight exceptions all missionary organisations have 
 been alive to this duty, and have made some effort to 
 provide for the intellectual needs of those who have 
 been gathered out of heathenism through their instru- 
 mentality. In this great work they have received 
 assistance from two sources, the value of which is beyond 
 calculation. In the first place, the marvellous develop- 
 ment of the modern printing press is an asset which was 
 denied to workers of earlier tunes, and has enabled 
 modern Missionary Societies to produce literature attrac- 
 tive in form and at a minimum of cost. At a very early 
 stage in the development of modern Missions printing 
 presses were set up on all the principal mission fields 
 
 234
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 235 
 
 and at many mission stations, and were largely used 
 for the production of the earliest forms of literature 
 prepared by the missionaries for their converts. The 
 growth of a secular press has in more recent years con- 
 siderably reduced the necessity for work of this kind on 
 the part of the Missionary Societies. There are, however, 
 still a considerable number of presses in various parts 
 of the field, some of which have become large and 
 successful commercial undertakings. 
 
 The second line of assistance has been found in the 
 generous munificence and wise administration of work 
 and funds by the great Bible and Tract Societies. These 
 have brought resources of money and expert counsel 
 and help to bear upon this branch of missionary service 
 at many points. Without their aid it would not have 
 been possible to do a tithe of what has been accom- 
 plished or to do it so well. 
 
 PROVISION OF THE SCRIPTURES THE FIRST CARE OF 
 THE MISSIONS 
 
 The translation of the Scriptures has occupied the first 
 place in the provision made for the instruction and 
 building up of the converts from heathenism, and 
 the story of the translation of the Scriptures is a 
 very important and thrilling chapter in the missionary 
 enterprise of the Reformed Churches. It is remark- 
 able, how general has been the consensus of opinion 
 and of action on this subject. The first thing a 
 missionary tries to do is to teach his converts to read, 
 then to provide them with some portion of the Word 
 of God for the nourishment of their Christian life. The 
 work of translation has called out the highest and best 
 powers of a great variety and a great company of men. 
 Men who made no pretension to scholarship have found 
 themselves by the force of circumstances compelled to 
 begin the gracious work among ignorant people. Men 
 of the highest intellectual qualifications have devoted 
 their lives to the great task.
 
 236 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING TRANSLATION 
 
 Dr. Julius Richter, in his valuable History of Missions 
 in India (p. 287), says 
 
 " The work of translating the Bible has from the first 
 occupied a distinguished place on the programme of 
 Evangelical Missions. The work accomplished is of a 
 very high order ; in fact, it is in many ways perfect in 
 its kind. The task is a stupendous one. In India 147 
 different languages and dialects are spoken ; far and 
 away the larger number of these were not even reduced 
 to writing, or at any rate were not yet moulded into 
 shape for the purpose of literature, when the translation 
 of the Bible was commenced by the missionaries. In 
 many of them they were compelled first of ah 1 to compile 
 the most elementary auxiliaries, grammars, and diction- 
 aries. It cannot, therefore, be marvelled at if many of 
 the earliest translations soon proved unsatisfactory, and 
 had to be replaced partly by a succession of revised 
 versions, partly by wholly new ones." 
 
 In China the difficulty of the translator has not been 
 in the multiplicity of tongues but in the niceties of a 
 language varying from an antique classical style which 
 can be appreciated only by literary purists, through 
 various gradations of cultured expression down to the 
 many forms of vernacular speech used by the people in 
 various parts of that vast empire. The natural tendency 
 of the earlier translators in dealing with an ancient and 
 highly developed literary language is to render the Word 
 of God into phraseology which commends itself to native 
 scholars as really representing their highest culture. 
 The Delegates' Version, which was prepared between 1847 
 and 1855, was singularly successful. The classic beauty 
 of its style commended it to scholarly Chinese, though it 
 was too difficult for widely popular use ; and in adapting 
 the thought to Chinese idiom, exactness of rendering 
 was too often sacrificed. 
 
 This version was followed a few years later by that of 
 Bridgman and Culbertson, and this again by several
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 237 
 
 individual efforts, all showing a general desire for a 
 simpler style and a more faithful rendering than the 
 Delegates' Version had attained. The General Conference 
 held in Shanghai in 1890 made a resolute effort to produce 
 a standard version fitted to secure general acceptance. 
 Three companies of translators were appointed to prepare 
 versions in three different styles : (i) High Wen-li, in 
 the antique classical style similar to that of the Delegates' 
 Version ; (2) Easy Wen-li, in the more simple and modern 
 style of current literature ; (3) Mandarin, in the common 
 vernacular of the North, Centre, and West of China. 
 The New Testament in these three forms was completed, 
 printed in tentative editions, and reported to the Cen- 
 tenary Conference of 1907. It was then apparent that, 
 as had been anticipated, there was a close resemblance 
 between the " high " and the " easy " literary versions, 
 and the Conference pronounced it " highly desirable " 
 that these two should be combined in one standard 
 classical version, elegant without being too " high," and 
 " easy " without being vulgar. The possibility of doing 
 so is still sub judice, but the modern education movement, 
 the creation of a newspaper press, and the development 
 of a more popular literary style, all encourage the hope 
 that this can now be done. Meanwhile freshly appointed 
 companies of translators are at work upon one classical 
 and one Mandarin version of the Old Testament. It is 
 hoped that these protracted labours will put an end to 
 the confusion long caused by the use of various competing 
 versions, and, with the aid of spontaneous local efforts, 
 will give to the Church in China one classical version, 
 and one version in Mandarin and each of the other 
 principal vernaculars, all harmonised as to interpretation, 
 and together meeting the need of scholars and people in 
 all sections of the Empire. 
 
 What Dr. Richter has said of India describes accurately 
 what has taken place, and is still going on, all round the 
 mission field. First comes a tentative version of some 
 book or books of Scripture by an individual. This is 
 followed after a time by revision on the part of all the
 
 members of the same Mission. A second, and even a 
 third, revision is made in the course of years, especially 
 in the more important language areas. The growing 
 spirit of unity and mutual confidence and respect is 
 strikingly seen in the close association of men who differ 
 very widely in theological opinion and ecclesiastical order, 
 but who become collaborators to obtain the most accurate, 
 idiomatic and attractive rendering of the Word of God. 
 
 ILLITERACY PREVALENT EVERYWHERE 
 
 A very large proportion of the converts in every field 
 are illiterate, while in some all are entirely ignorant of the 
 mystery of letters, until the language has been reduced 
 to writing by the missionaries. It is not at all surprising, 
 therefore, to learn that their appetite for literature is not 
 great and that the New Testament and Hymn Book are 
 very often their whole library. 
 
 In India the poverty of the people is extreme, and the 
 difficulty of finding money to purchase even the cheapest 
 book is remarked upon repeatedly by those who have 
 furnished information. " It must be remembered," 
 says one in Western India, " that the ability of the rank 
 and file to purchase is very limited, while large numbers 
 are yet too illiterate to utilise very largely any kind of 
 literature." " Most of the Christians in this district," 
 says another, writing from the opposite side of India, 
 " being very poor and illiterate, there is no demand for 
 literature." 
 
 Notwithstanding the general impression that the 
 Chinese are all readers because they pay exceptional 
 honour to literature and the literary class, it is a fact 
 that nine-tenths of the people in their heathen state 
 are illiterate, and find great difficulty in learning the 
 book language. Hence we are told from Manchuria that 
 " most of the converts were illiterate as heathen. As 
 Christians they have learned to read the Bible and Hymn 
 Book, but do not read much else." 
 
 From Central China comes the statement, " Compara-
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 239 
 
 tively few can read pleasurably, and they almost never 
 get beyond their Hymn Book and New Testament." 
 
 From many stations in Africa such statements as the 
 following come : " The Bantu races are no great readers. 
 They read their Bible and Hymn Book, and some sub- 
 scribe to a newspaper." " The people are not yet 
 advanced enough to care to spend money on literature." 
 " The people do not read much Hymn Book, Prayer 
 Book, and Bible are in most cases their only literature." 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING DIFFICULTIES LITERATURE IS 
 PREPARED 
 
 Notwithstanding such drawbacks, the provision of a 
 Christian literature in the vernacular for devotional 
 purposes, for the broadening and enlightenment of the 
 Christian life, for definite instruction in Christian truth, 
 and for apologetic and polemic, has steadily and in- 
 creasingly occupied the attention of many missionaries. 
 It must be confessed that the Home Boards have not 
 been so much alive to the need as the workers in the field. 
 In fact the records of the papers and resolutions on the 
 subject at every Conference of missionaries in every great 
 mission field are a painful commentary on the lack of 
 adequate realisation of the importance of this branch of 
 missionary effort by those who have to provide the 
 funds for mission work. 
 
 Unfortunately the information furnished on this 
 subject has been very inadequate and very unequal in 
 amount and value, but enough has been given to bring 
 out some most interesting and suggestive facts. 
 
 Notwithstanding great limitation in means and pressure 
 of time the extent and variety of the literature already 
 provided is remarkable, though it varies, as might be 
 expected, under the diverse conditions of work in different 
 parts of the world. In the British Colonies in South and 
 West Africa, and still more in the West Indies, English 
 is so largely used jthat the provision of vernacular litera- 
 ture has been restricted, and is Limited very largely to
 
 devotional books and newspapers or magazines. " The 
 native ministers use English." " There is a great lack of 
 commentaries in English suitable for the use of pastors 
 and preachers," are statements from the Transkei and 
 Natal. From Livingstonia comes the following : " Beyond 
 a Hymn Book and Catechism there is practically nothing. 
 Too much value has been set on English, in which language 
 there is a very fair circulation of helpful books." From 
 the Gold Coast it is reported that English is largely used, 
 and that simple books in English are most needed." 
 Similarly, from Old Calabar we are told that " short, 
 simple commentaries in English are greatly desired for 
 pastors and others." It is evident, however, that even 
 in the Missions where English is largely used there is a 
 growing feeling that it has been a mistake to rely upon it 
 so largely. The lack of literature in the vernacular for 
 the use of the Christian people generally is being increas- 
 ingly felt, and efforts are now being made to remedy the 
 defect. 
 
 LITERARY PROVISION IN UNWRITTEN LANGUAGES 
 
 Passing from these exceptional cases to a general 
 survey of the whole field we find a clear line of distinction 
 between the Missions in lands where the languages have 
 in the first instance been reduced to writing by the 
 missionaries and those in which Missions have come into 
 contact with old civilisations and languages which 
 possess an indigenous literature. 
 
 In the first case, the Roman alphabet has been invari- 
 ably used, and phonetic systems of spelling have been 
 adopted, thus greatly facilitating the process of learning 
 to read, and ultimately fixing the orthography of the 
 language and the meaning of the written word in accord- 
 ance with the judgment of the teachers. 
 
 Each language area of this kind is usually occupied 
 by one Mission, or one Mission has been the dominating 
 influence in it. One mission press has usually done the 
 printing, and the literature provided for the Christian
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 241 
 
 Church is the expression of one dominant form of Christian 
 life, and of the ideas of one set of workers as to the in- 
 tellectual capacities and requirements of the Church and 
 of the people generally. It is instructive to observe how 
 thoroughly different companies of Christian workers, 
 labouring under very different conditions, have pursued 
 the same idea, and have provided for barbarous peoples 
 the substantial foundations of a varied Christian literature. 
 The following examples will illustrate this position : 
 
 Basutoland 
 
 The Paris Evangelical Missionary Society have had for 
 many years a printing press in connection with their 
 most interesting and successful Mission in Basutoland. 
 They first took the Gospel to those people, and 
 until quite recently they were the only Christian 
 workers among them. They have seen the nation lifted 
 out of barbarism into a well-ordered, prosperous, civilised 
 life, and they have given them all their books first the 
 Bible, then school books, and the beginning of a general 
 literature, a weekly newspaper which has now been pub- 
 lished for forty-three years, a Sunday-School paper, and 
 an important list of religious books and books for Biblical 
 study, including an Introduction to the Bible, a Dictionary 
 of the Bible, Old Testament History, New Testament 
 History, and Commentaries on various books of Scripture. 
 
 Uganda 
 
 The leaders of the great Mission of the Church Missionary 
 Society in Uganda have been fully alive to the importance 
 of providing mental food for the young Church in that 
 Mission, and have made a good beginning in no fewer 
 than seven languages. The most important of them is 
 Luganda, spoken by the Baganda people, among whom 
 the Mission commenced its work in 1877, and who are 
 the ruling race. Bishop Tucker writes, "It must be 
 remembered that thirty years ago Luganda was an 
 unwritten language, and that the first task which the 
 early missionaries had to take in hand was the reduction 
 COM. n. 16
 
 242 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD1 
 
 of the language to writing." He then gives a list of books 
 prepared by the Mission which, in addition to those 
 required for schools and for the study of the language, 
 contains the following, specially provided for the nurture 
 of Christian thought and life : the whole Bible with 
 marginal references, and notes, the Book of Common 
 Prayer and Hymn Book, Morning and Evening Prayer 
 and Litany, Children's Service Book, Daily Prayers, 
 two Catechisms, Oxford Helps to the Study of the Bible, 
 Old Testament History, several Commentaries, Robert- 
 son's Church History in two volumes, four volumes by 
 Norris on the Prayer Book, etc. 
 
 Madagascar 
 
 In Madagascar there is another great Mission much 
 older than that in Uganda, but with a similarly thrilling 
 and inspiring history. Here the London Missionary 
 Society were for many years the only workers, and still 
 hold the premier position in the number of their Churches 
 and adherents. The L.M.S. press in Antananarivo has for 
 many years been the chief vehicle for the provision of 
 literature, as the missionaries of that Society were the 
 first to reduce the language to writing and to provide a 
 translation of the Word of God. The Rev. James Sibree 
 has kindly furnished a comprehensive statement of the 
 nature and extent of the literature provided" for the 
 Malagasy people by the various Missions 
 
 " For many years past the different Protestant Mis- 
 sionary Societies working in the island have endeavoured 
 to give the Malagasy useful literature. At first, and for 
 some time after the re-establishment of missionary work 
 in the interior (the L.M.S. recommencing work in 1862 
 after an interruption of twenty-six years), such literature 
 was chiefly confined to elementary school books, cate- 
 chisms, and new editions of the hymn book prepared by 
 the first L.M.S. missionaries. In 1865 a magazine called 
 Teny Soa (Good Words] was commenced, at first bi-monthly, 
 but after a year or two with a monthly issue, and this 
 has been carried on uninterruptedly up to the present
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 243 
 
 time. While chiefly religions and scriptural in its char- 
 acter, a great deal of general information has always been 
 included in its articles, and it is greatly appreciated by 
 the Christian community. A quarterly magazine, with 
 articles of a fuller and superior character, has also been 
 issued by the L.M.S. for several years past, and for the 
 last four or five years this has been edited, and almost 
 all the articles written, by intelligent Malagasy. 
 
 " The other Protestant Societies the Friends, the 
 Anglicans, the Norwegian Lutheran, and the French 
 (Paris) Society also have their monthly magazines. 
 Of these, one of those issued by the Friends, is a children's 
 magazine, for long edited by Malagasy, and is illustrated 
 by lithographic pictures drawn by natives, while another 
 is a religious newspaper, devoted to news of the schools 
 and churches. For the last five or six years monthly 
 papers have been issued by the L-M.S. and Friends' 
 Missions, giving the substance of the International 
 Sunday-school Lessons for Sunday-school teachers, and 
 following the course of study arranged for each year. 
 
 " Very many editions, continually enlarged and improved, 
 have been issued of the L.M.S. Hymn Book, together with 
 the tunes in sol-fa notation, and a good many hymns 
 have been written by natives for special services. The 
 other Missions also have their hymn books, as well as 
 their liturgies, and books of prayers for marriage and 
 other occasional services have also been issued for the 
 use of pastors and for family worship by the L.M.S. Mission. 
 
 " The Pilgrim's Progress was (the first part of it) trans- 
 lated by the first L.M.S. missionaries about the year 1830, 
 and several editions of it, including the second part, have 
 since then been issued. It was a favourite book with the 
 first Malagasy Christians. The Holy War has also been 
 translated into Malagasy. . 
 
 " Chiefly for use as class-books for the L.M.S. Theological 
 College, but also for pastors, preachers, and students 
 generally, a number of books have been prepared on 
 systematic theology, Church history, liturgies, Scripture 
 introduction, the Romish controversy, apologetics, etc.
 
 244 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Very full exegetical and homiletical commentaries have 
 also been issued upon almost every book of the New 
 Testament, and upon several of those of the Old Testa- 
 ment. These have been chiefly by L.M.S. missionaries, 
 but also by those of the Anglican and Lutheran Missions. 
 A pretty full Bible Dictionary of 900 pages was issued 
 several years ago, and a fuller and more complete edition 
 subsequently, illustrated with maps and woodcuts. 
 To these have been added a number of very complete 
 science books, a zoology, botany, geology, chemistry, 
 physics, etc., mostly illustrated with lithographs done by 
 native lads. Some few Christian classics, such as the 
 Imitation of Christ, Paley's Evidences, and others, and 
 some of the Lutheran Confessions, have also been translated 
 into Malagasy. A full Concordance to the Bible is now 
 being printed by the L.M.S. press. Large numbers of 
 tracts, sermons, and smaller books are issued from the 
 mission presses. Good dictionaries, grammars, and helps 
 to the study of the language have also been prepared by 
 L.M.S. and other missionaries. 
 
 " Several books have been produced preserving the 
 traditional lore of the Malagasy, in the way of legendary 
 history proverbs of which there 'are large numbers 
 folk-tales, songs, fables, children's games, all, of course, 
 contributed by the people themselves." 
 
 Samoan Islands 
 
 Another illustration of the way in which missions 
 among primitive peoples have recognised their responsi- 
 bility, and have created an entirely new mental and 
 spiritual environment for those to whom they have 
 brought the knowledge of Christ, comes from the Samoan 
 Islands in the far-away Pacific. The Gospel was first 
 introduced to those islands by John Williams in 1830, 
 and at that time the people were ignorant, uncivilised, and 
 warlike, enslaved by the grossest superstitions. To-day 
 they are a Christian nation, who build their own churches 
 and school-houses ; support their own pastors and teachers ; 
 go as missionaries to Papua and elsewhere ; contribute
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 245 
 
 generously to Mission funds, and are growing in intelligence 
 and Christian character. 
 
 A number of school books, ranging from the most 
 elementary subjects to a text-book on natural science, 
 test-books for the use of the theological students in the 
 Malua Institution, commentaries on St. Matthew, St. Mark, 
 St. John, Acts, Romans, Galatians, and the Pastoral Epistles, 
 have been provided for the Church, in addition to a version 
 of the Scriptures, of which it is said, " The Samoan version 
 of the Bible is without doubt the best in the South Seas 
 for its close and beautiful rendering of the original, and 
 for the purity of its Samoan idiom," and an excellent 
 hymn book containing upwards of 400 hymns. 
 
 " In 1890 a monthly magazine was commenced, which 
 has been useful in promoting a taste for reading amongst 
 Samoans generally. The magazine is a 24 pp. 4to. tractate, 
 and has a circulation of 2500 monthly the subscribers 
 paying for the magazine at a price which meets all ex- 
 penses. Besides Church news, it supplies news of the 
 world of general interest, and contains at least one article 
 of a semi-scientific and technical character. Tropical 
 agriculture is one of the subjects regularly supplied by 
 one of the L.M.S. Staff. The magazine contains explana- 
 tory and illustrative comments on the International 
 Sunday-School Lessons for one or two months in advance. 
 
 " Several of the best-known stories from the Arabian 
 Nights, and some other works of fiction, have been trans- 
 lated for the magazine. Whilst these have been much 
 appreciated, especially in reading circles, the natives 
 prefer on the whole articles of permanent value, and 
 have an undying interest in articles of a religious 
 character." 
 
 The same kind of experience and the same strong sense 
 of the need of special effort to supply the awakened 
 intellectual hunger, and to provide for the nurture of the 
 young spiritual life of the converts, is evident in many 
 fields which are not yet so fully developed as those just 
 referred to. Unfortunately, the information furnished 
 from most of them is so scanty as to be almost useless.
 
 A GREATER TROUBLE AND MORE PRESSING NEED 
 
 When we turn to the larger language areas, and to the 
 regions where a written language and an indigenous litera- 
 ture and sacred books are to be found, the preparation and 
 provision of a Christian literature assumes a different 
 form and is of even more urgent importance. Among 
 the people who have no books until after the missionary 
 has begun his work, all vernacular literature, scanty or 
 otherwise, must for a long time be Christian in its origin 
 and in its tone, and more or less helpful to the upbuild- 
 ing of the Christian life. Where a literature already 
 exists, the thought and conduct of the people cannot 
 but be greatly affected by its character. Among 
 peoples accustomed to books the door is also open for 
 the introduction of anti-Christian literature. What is 
 involved in this in all parts of the Oriental world may be 
 gathered from the testimony of many witnesses. 
 
 Corrupt Literature in the East 
 
 The literature of Moslem lands is mostly impure and 
 frivolous, though Arabic is a language rich in lofty 
 expression and possessing many books of refined thought 
 and great power. Hence comes such humiliating state- 
 ments as : " With the new opening of the country under 
 the Constitution the pernicious post and picture card has 
 made its appearance in the most gross and immoral forms. 
 Not a few bad European novels have been translated 
 into the Turkish language and sold throughout the 
 country." 
 
 The moral influence of Hinduism is no better nor more 
 elevating than that of Islam. From all parts of India 
 comes testimony that it is filled with vernacular literature 
 of a corrupt and debasing kind, which is made worse 
 by the fact that most of it is stamped with the seal of 
 religion and issued in its name. This is being added to 
 daily by translations of the productions of Western 
 unbelief. 
 
 " The cheap books of the Nationalist Society, with
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 247 
 
 their arguments against Christianity, are distributed 
 among the students. The Arya Samaj publishes tracts 
 and little books in the vernacular retailing the objections 
 of Western unbelievers. Native presses flood the market 
 with booklets of vile stuff in poetical form which is 
 attractive to the people." 
 
 " Hindu books full of false teaching and false ideals 
 and translations of theosophical books, infidel, agnostic, 
 and anti-Christian works, and vile novels, poison the 
 minds of young and old alike and find many readers." 
 
 " Almost all the indigenous literature is religious and 
 filthy, in that it describes the lives of the gods, and 
 especially the amours of Krishna." 
 
 " There is considerable danger to the morals of the 
 people from the low and sometimes grossly immoral 
 character of the Hindu books published among them. 
 It is very desirable that in Christian literature we should 
 have a class of books that would in some way take the 
 popular place that some of these Hindu books now have." 
 
 Anti-Christian Literature in the East 
 
 " Of late, an ti- Christian literature has been finding 
 its way into the vernacular, including attacks on the 
 historicity of the Gospels, and objections of the ordinary 
 rationalist type. Mohammedans as well as Hindus are 
 using such weapons. They are also taking advantage 
 both of the unrest in the West and of the interest in 
 comparative religion. I heard recently of a Mohammedan 
 publication which printed in parallel columns extracts 
 from European writers in praise of Mohammed, and 
 quotations from recent Bible dictionaries, etc., seeming 
 to discredit the historicity of the Bible." 
 
 Even in countries where the indigenous literature has 
 not the gross and erotic character which it has in India, 
 it is being increasingly utilised in antagonism to the 
 spread of Christianity. A remarkable instance of this is 
 cited from Burma. 
 
 " An Australian who came to Burma some ten years 
 ago and put on the yellow robe, has been especially
 
 248 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 active in circulating infidel literature in English, and 
 he has had some of it translated into Burmese. He has 
 been supported in this by a Buddhist Tract Society." 
 
 The contrast between the position of the peoples 
 whose knowledge of writing and books has come entirely 
 through the labours of missionaries, and that of those of 
 the civilised Orient, is strikingly illustrated by the replies 
 which have come to the question, " Is there any danger 
 in your field from any form of pernicious literature ? " 
 
 From Africa, with only two exceptions, the answer is 
 " No," or " Not yet," the exceptions being districts 
 where the English language is so largely used that com- 
 paratively little has been done for 1 the vernacular. From 
 Sierra Leone comes the statement that infidel literature 
 in English is being introduced, and from Mombasa on 
 the East Coast we are told, " Not yet, except as the 
 people learn English." On the other hand, from China 
 and Japan the note of trouble is sounded continually. 
 
 The Japanese are a reading people. There has been 
 in recent years a remarkable development in the use of 
 newspapers and periodicals, and we are assured that 
 " the country is being flooded with pernicious literature," 
 that " materialistic and rationalistic literature is scattered 
 broadcast," " a free press offers a great temptation which 
 is constantly used," and " novels with an immoral bias 
 constitute a grave danger." 
 
 In recent years the influence of Japan in China has 
 been very great, and the testimony from all parts of 
 China is startlingly frequent and emphatic as to the 
 extent to which Japanese literature is affecting the 
 reading classes. In Manchuria, " Japanese versions of 
 western materialistic and agnostic literature flood the 
 country." In Shansi, " the student class are reading 
 much western atheistic and materialistic literature, so 
 that it is being commonly declared that the western 
 savants have discovered that there is no God." 
 
 In Wuchang it is felt that " there is great danger to 
 the student and other reading classes from a class of vile 
 and infidel literature chiefly imported from Japan."
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 249 
 
 In Kiangsu, " agnostic literature is spreading greatly 
 among the officials and literati of higher degree. The 
 Japanese have translated and scattered the works of 
 atheists," etc. 
 
 In South China, Japanese books against Christianity 
 are getting into circulation rapidly. 
 
 VARIED EFFORT TO MEET THESE NEEDS 
 
 The importance of making provision for an adequate 
 and suitable Christian literature in such lands and under 
 such conditions as these is self-evident. Not only are 
 books required as the weapons of the great Christian 
 apologetic and polemic, but it becomes increasingly 
 necessary that the converts and Churches should be 
 nourished and built upon their most holy faith. It is 
 not at all surprising, but it is exceedingly satisfactory, 
 to find that not a few missionary workers of all sections 
 of the Church have been fully alive to the need, and have 
 sectionally, and also unitedly, made great efforts to 
 meet it. 
 
 In Moslem Lands 
 
 In Moslem lands, the two mission presses at Beyrout 
 and in Cairo are employed to the utmost of their resources 
 and power, and it is reported by one of the ablest and 
 best known missionaries in Egypt that, " on the whole, 
 Arabic-speaking Christians are probably better supplied 
 with literature than any other Christians in the mission 
 field." 
 
 Provision made in India 
 
 In India, from the very beginning of Protestant mis- 
 sionary work in the eighteenth century, there has been 
 attention to literature in various forms. The great 
 Danish missionary pioneers in South India were fully 
 alive to the importance of this branch of their work, and 
 were generously helped by the Society for the Promotion 
 of Christian Knowledge.
 
 250 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century a great 
 impetus was given to literary effort by the Serampore 
 missionaries and their press. Carey's literary labours 
 were prodigious. 
 
 Ever since the foundation of the Religious Tract 
 Society it has been foremost in the encouragement of 
 Christian literature in India. In addition to the direct 
 help given by it in various ways, there are twelve Auxiliary 
 Tract Societies in India and Ceylon, each of which is 
 doing a great work. 
 
 The Christian Literature Society, which was founded 
 in London in 1858 as a Memorial of the Mutiny, under 
 the title, " Vernacular Education Society," is another 
 great helper in this department. It has developed an 
 enormous work in the preparation of books, chiefly 
 educational, but also instructive and apologetic, in 
 eighteen of the Indian languages. 
 
 Besides these two great interdenominational organisa- 
 tions, almost every large Mission makes provision by 
 means of its own press for the production of literature 
 specially adapted to its own requirements. There are 
 forty-five mission presses at work in India, Ceylon, and 
 British Burma. 
 
 It is said that " the mere titles of the books which 
 have been written by the representatives of Protestant 
 Missions in the languages of India would fill a thick 
 volume " (Richter). 
 
 Christian Literature in China 
 
 In China, literature has been a very prominent feature 
 in the Christian propaganda alike of the Roman and 
 the Protestant Churches. Early in the seventeenth 
 century Ricci and his colleagues poured forth books in 
 large numbers on many general subjects as well as on 
 religion. It is interesting and pleasant to note that 
 more than one of their theological books has been gladly 
 adopted by Protestants. 
 
 Premare's tract on God is issued by several of the 
 Protestant Tract Societies. It is said to be " the only
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 251 
 
 really sublime piece of writing in Chinese Christian 
 literature." 
 
 There are several Tract Societies which together cover 
 the whole of China with their operations, the annual 
 issue of one or two of which now amounts to millions of 
 pages. 
 
 The Christian Literature Society for China, founded 
 in 1887 as " the Society for the diffusion of Christian 
 and general knowledge among the Chinese," has added 
 enormously to the effective force of the Church of Christ 
 in this direction. 
 
 In connection with the Centenary Conference at 
 Shanghai in 1907, the Rev. D. M'Gillivray issued the 
 Union Catalogue of Christian Literature in Chinese. In 
 it there are 1114 titles, some only tracts, but the majority 
 substantial works, and most of them theological. " Some 
 are works of great erudition and research." 
 
 Rapid Literary Development in Japan 
 
 In Japan the educational and literary development 
 along modern and western lines has been phenomenally 
 rapid. At the Shanghai Conference it was reported 
 that " almost all the well-educated men in Japan read 
 English, and, consequently, Christian literature in the 
 original is available for them." Mr. J. L. Cowen, of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Publishing House, Tokyo, wrote : 
 " I think the larger part of our Japanese workers read 
 English well enough to prefer the original. As an 
 instance we sold about 150 copies of Dr. Fairbairn's 
 Philosophy of Religion last year, and many of the pur- 
 chasers were Japanese." The spread of the knowledge 
 of English has not diminished the demand for Christian 
 literature in the vernacular. Various mission presses 
 still continue their work, and there are a number of 
 Christian firms engaged in printing Christian books and 
 periodicals. There is a Committee on Literature appointed 
 by the Standing Committee of Co-operating Missions, 
 which is intended " to act as a clearing-house of informa- 
 tion and counsel about books that ought to be translated,
 
 252 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 or are being translated, into Japanese, as well as to 
 undertake the translation of certain important works 
 itself." 
 
 The catalogue of publications issued by the Christian 
 publishing houses in 1907 contains 475 titles of books, in 
 addition to a large number of tracts. 
 
 It is instructive to observe the nature of the literary 
 provision which has been made, and the lines along which 
 indigenous Christian literature is gradually springing up. 
 
 HYMNOLOGY AND AIDS TO WORSHIP 
 
 Apparently without exception Christian praise has 
 followed immediately after, if it has not synchronised 
 with, the provision of portions of the Word of God. The 
 hymn book is coupled with the Bible as a matter of 
 course in the information sent from every part of the 
 field. Not only so, but the universal attraction and 
 influence of rhythm and music is manifested in two 
 directions the love of singing, and the fact that the 
 earliest and most successful efforts in original composition 
 among native Christians everywhere are metrical. This 
 is remarkably the case in India, where the genius of the 
 national mind is poetical, and already the native lyric 
 and bhajan set to native music has become a common 
 and popular feature in worship. The testimony on this 
 point from all parts of India is very striking, and some 
 of it suggests a direction in which it may probably be 
 found helpful to develop Christian literature in the 
 future. A missionary among the Gonds says, " Our 
 people read too little ; they sing more. Their singing 
 has a distinct influence on their habits of devotion." 
 In Marathi a large and varied hymnology has been 
 provided. More than 750 hymns are in use ; about half 
 of these are translations of English hymns, the rest are 
 native, sung to native tunes. " Many of these are of 
 real poetic merit and of spiritually high tone, though 
 lacking in the deeper spiritual experiences." In Hyder- 
 abad many English hymns have been translated into
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 253 
 
 Kanarese, and used with English tunes, but the Indian 
 lyric is most popular. In the Tamil country there are 
 already several collections of hymns, translations from 
 the English and German. Sankey's hymns are in use. 
 There is a children's hymn book, but the native lyric 
 is the favourite. Among the Telugu people, " The native 
 Church is not producing an indigenous literature or 
 showing any signs of original thought. The only direction 
 in which there is any originality is in the production of 
 hymns and short poems." 
 
 The bent of the Indian mind is further indicated in 
 the statement that a Tamil Christian has produced a 
 version of The Pilgrim's Progress in Tamil dress, not at 
 all as a translation, but the idea has been taken and 
 presented as an ode on the lines of the Ramayan. 
 
 One of the most experienced missionaries in Calcutta 
 urges that there is special need of versified versions of 
 the Scriptures to suit the Hindu habit of mind. 
 
 Liturgies, books of prayers for family use, and cate- 
 chisms, have, of course, been provided by various Missions 
 for their converts, some distinctly associated with par- 
 ticular ecclesiastical or doctrinal views, others prepared 
 by men who felt that the converts, being ignorant and 
 illiterate, needed to have elementary Christian truths 
 stated and committed to memory in brief, concrete 
 form, and that they required some assistance in express- 
 ing themselves in simple forms of prayer. 
 
 AIDS TO CHRISTIAN THOUGHT AND LIFE 
 
 Next to the hymns which so richly embody the experi- 
 ence, and which are the cherished property of the uni- 
 versal Church, The Pilgrim's Progress seems to be the 
 book earliest and most widely provided for the converts. 
 It is to be found in every mission field and almost in 
 every language in which the Christian Church is being 
 formed. 
 
 The German missions have found a common ground, 
 and a clear and satisfying statement of their faith, in
 
 254 
 
 The Little Catechism of Martin Luther. This has been 
 translated into no fewer than fifty-nine languages. 
 
 A considerable number Of other familiar aids to the 
 Christian life have been translated into various lan- 
 guages. Most of them are evidently intended for people 
 who are still at an early stage in their Christian experi- 
 ence. Not a few biographies of eminent Christians have 
 been written or translated and are very popular among 
 converts in every part of the field. Scripture histories, 
 aids to the study of the Bible, and commentaries on the 
 Gospels and on several of the other books of the New 
 Testament are to be found in considerable numbers in 
 the catalogues of all the Tract and Christian Literature 
 Societies, and the list of Christian periodicals, either 
 weekly or monthly, some of which have a large circula- 
 tion, is a long and growing one. 
 
 MUCH MORE REQUIRES TO BE DONE 
 
 Satisfactory as the evidence seems to be that much and 
 very general attention has been paid to the provision of 
 literature for the use of the Christian converts from 
 heathenism, there is another and serious side of the 
 enquiry which demands careful consideration. 
 
 Four facts come out very clearly in the information 
 which has come from the field. 
 
 i. There is a growing demand for more literature, and 
 literature of a different character. 
 
 Notwithstanding the poverty, the illiteracy, and the 
 lack of any appetite for reading, which still mark the 
 great majority of the converts in every field, there is a 
 steadily increasing number of Christians of the younger 
 generation whose intelligence and whose spiritual appre- 
 hension demand the nourishment of a richer and more 
 varied literature than has been within their reach 
 hitherto. 
 
 At the Shanghai Conference in 1907 a criticism by 
 Dr. Sheffield was quoted with approval, which is cer- 
 tainly confirmed unconsciously by testimonies from many
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 255 
 
 fields. Dr. Sheffield said : " My impression is that the 
 bulk of Christian literature in Chinese is prepared not for 
 the Christian Church but for non-Christians, and that 
 much of the literature prepared for Christians is directed 
 towards babes in the Christian life, whereas the time has 
 fully come for more mature instruction, for meat in the 
 place of milk." 
 
 The demand to-day from every part of the mission 
 world is for more books on the devotional life, more 
 varied and instructive general reading, more complete 
 and suitable commentaries on Holy Scripture, more 
 advanced text-books for theological students. 
 
 " It is a hopeful augury of the future of the Church in 
 China that books on the deepening of the spiritual life, 
 such as Andrew Murray's books, translated by Mr. 
 M'Gillivray, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life 
 (Mrs. Mary Kwoh), and the devotional books issued by 
 the Young Men's Christian Association have had a large 
 sale and have been found so helpful by Chinese 
 Christians." Records of the Shanghai Conference, p. 197. 
 
 A somewhat similar statement comes from South 
 India. " The present need is to extend Christian litera- 
 ture, to publish original devotional books, not trans- 
 lations, and to produce vernacular Bible study text- 
 books along the lines of the Young Men's Christian 
 Association which will enable teachers, workers, and 
 Christians to study the Bible profitably for themselves." 
 
 Nor is the lack peculiar to South India. "The need 
 of a wholesome and varied literature is one of the most 
 pressing in the Marathi Church. It is being slowly, but 
 on the whole efficiently, met." 
 
 The complaint is made that, while there is in Hindi 
 a considerable amount of literature of a controversial 
 character intended for non-Christians, the books re- 
 quired for the nourishment of a growing Christian life 
 are few, and there is special need lor devotional books 
 and books on practical Christianity. 
 
 In Japan, notwithstanding all that has been done, one 
 writer says : " The Church is not fed ; it is starving for a
 
 256 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 wholesome and varied literature." He adds that " the 
 native workers declare the lack is simply overwhelming. 
 Many of them study English simply that they may have 
 access to English books." 
 
 From Africa also the cry comes for more books, though 
 in almost every case it is admitted that the number who 
 would be likely to use them would at present be very 
 small, owing to the general lack of interest in reading. 
 Bishop Tucker, after describing the work which has 
 already been done, goes on to say, " One great need of 
 commentaries in the vernacular for the use of our native 
 clergy; there is also a great need of books in the ver- 
 nacular for the edification of the Christian people, and of 
 text-books for use in our theological training work." 
 
 The demand for commentaries is universal and may be 
 taken as an indication that the Bible is much used and 
 prized by the converts. 
 
 MORE ORIGINAL WORKS, FEWER TRANSLATIONS 
 
 2. While there is thus a great and growing demand 
 for more spiritual and intellectual food, there is a very 
 general and growing feeling that there must be a differ- 
 ence and an improvement in literary form as well as in 
 the treatment of the subjects. The earlier literature of 
 the missions consisted necessarily, from the conditions 
 under which it was prepared, of translations of western 
 books, and it laboured under two serious disadvantages. 
 The books had been written for people in a totally different 
 mental and spiritual environment from those to whose 
 needs it was attempted to apply them, and by men 
 whose habits of thought and intellectual attitude towards 
 the questions dealt with were entirely those of foreigners. 
 Then they were translated by men who, though they had 
 in many cases gained a sound and scholarly acquaintance 
 with the language into which they translated, had not 
 been able to separate themselves entirely from the 
 manner of thought and the intellectual and spiritual 
 atmosphere of their own people.
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 257 
 
 The unsatisfactoriness of such work, however accurate 
 and good it may be, becomes increasingly apparent, 
 as the Christian communities grow in intelligence and 
 realise more clearly the responsibilities and the needs 
 of the Christian life. This becomes specially true of 
 translations of dogmatic teaching, because the mind of 
 the West looks at truth from an entirely different angle 
 from that of the East. The dissatisfaction with the 
 present provision is now very widespread and general. 
 One of the Indian native clergy writes : " The commen- 
 taries, vernacular or English, are not quite adapted to 
 Indian modes of expression and illustrations. They are 
 outright literal translations." Another Indian worker 
 says : " Translations are helpful, but they do not touch 
 the heart." The same feeling is expressed from other 
 quarters. One of the Manchurian missionaries says : 
 " Original work and not translations are greatly needed. 
 Translations as a rule miss fire, not from failure of language, 
 but from failure to appreciate the Chinese outlook." 
 
 Another missionary from China writes : " Effort should 
 be made to provide a literature definitely prepared for the 
 Chinese, and not mere translations of books prepared for 
 Europeans." 
 
 Many expressions of opinion similar to these come from 
 all parts of the mission field. The most striking of them, 
 on account of its context, is from the Rev. W. H. T. 
 Gairdner, of Cairo. 
 
 " The two best controversial apologetic books ever 
 produced in the Moslem East (probably) Sweet First- 
 Fruits and the Beacon of Truth (translated by Sir William 
 Muir) were both by a Syrian Christian and entirely 
 original works. They illustrate the intrinsic superiority 
 of such works (when we can get them) over foreign 
 works and translations ; the thought idiom, not merely 
 the language idiom, is there; heart speaks to heart." 
 
 The missionaries who are most thoroughly alive to the 
 great importance of providing a Christian literature are 
 most critical of what has been done, and most urgent 
 jn pressing for change and improvement. 
 COM. ii. 17
 
 258 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 At the Shanghai Conference, the Rev. J. Ross, D.D., 
 was quoted as saying: "The style in which Christian 
 themes are laid before the Chinese does not commend 
 the truth of Christianity to the Chinese. Speaking to a 
 Taotai a few days ago, who is a Chin-shm and a widely 
 read man, he complained of the style of our Christian 
 books, and asked why it was not as good as the style of 
 Buddhism, by which that religion was universally com- 
 mended to the Chinese people." 
 
 The Rev. J. R. Bacon, who has for some time been set 
 apart for the preparation of Telugu literature in con- 
 nection with the Christian Literature Society of Madras, 
 in a recent report to his own Society, says : " Very much 
 of this literature is of the age that is passing by, and which 
 with some of us has passed by altogether. The matter 
 is of the old order ; the presentation of the Gospel largely 
 dogmatic. Dogmas have the first place, and are thrust 
 upon the reader, while Christ is not brought into personal 
 relation with the reader, i.e. not presented as a Man 
 among men." 
 
 " Again, the Telugu style is too often crude, neither 
 colloquial nor literary, but such as has come to be used 
 by those of us whose knowledge of the language is limited. 
 Many of these books are translations from the English, 
 and as such miss their mark. The time for mere trans- 
 lations, if it ever existed, has passed by now. A literature 
 is springing up indigenous as well as exotic, and the 
 style of those Christian books will not compare with the 
 average style of the writing of to-day; they betray the 
 writers as those who have no real grip of the speech of 
 the people." 
 
 LACK OF INDEPENDENT THOUGHT AMONG NATIVE 
 CHRISTIANS 
 
 3. The Church in the mission field generally shows, 
 as yet, very little sign of literary power, and still less 
 of any original and formative thought on the great 
 questions of the Divine revelation and of spiritual life.
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 259 
 
 This is asserted too constantly and too definitely to admit 
 of doubt. There are, however, in every great field excep- 
 tions, sometimes brilliant exceptions, to the general rule. 
 Two have already been mentioned in Egypt. Yet the 
 statement of a leading Indian missionary may be quoted 
 as expressing the general experience : " It is one of the 
 serious defects of our Indian literature that our educated 
 Christians have not thus far separated themselves from 
 the leading-strings of western missionaries in matters of 
 Christian thought. ... I have hardly known one 
 Indian Christian thinker whose theology has revealed 
 definite constructive thought, who has been able to shake 
 himself away from the trammels of the West." 
 
 Such statements are very disappointing at first sight, 
 but they are not very surprising when all the circum- 
 stances are considered. Another Indian missionary 
 says : " The great dominating fact is, that the literary 
 classes have not yet in any appreciable numbers accepted 
 Christianity. Until they do so no indigenous literature 
 can be successful." 
 
 This is equally true of China, and in addition it may be 
 said that the whole system of Chinese education and the 
 whole training of the Chinese mind has hitherto discour- 
 aged original enquiry or independent thought. The 
 capacity has been there, but the habit of unquestioning 
 acceptance of the thoughts and precepts of the mighty 
 past has made the Chinese man a ready and unquestioning 
 pupil rather than an inquisitive and restless scholar. There 
 has not yet been time for the intellectual revolution of 
 the past seven or eight years to produce its fruit in free 
 enquiry and independent thinking and writing. 
 
 The Church in Japan has apparently given evidence of 
 more intellectual activity than either India or China, but 
 it has been so powerfully under the domination of its 
 acceptance of everything western in the earlier stages 
 of its modern life, that, while there is increasing freedom 
 in the use of the pen in contributions to magazines and 
 newspapers, there is not much sign yet of any independent 
 treatment of the great themes of the Christian revelation
 
 260 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 IS ORIGINAL THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION SUFFICIENTLY 
 ENCOURAGED ? 
 
 Unfortunately, there are not wanting indications of 
 other reasons which cannot be ignored, and which are 
 not quite so satisfactory, for backwardness on the part 
 of the native Christians in literary activity and the 
 expression of independent thought. Not a few Indian 
 missionaries do not agree with the general verdict that 
 there is a lack of intellectual wakefulness and activity 
 among the converts to Christianity, or that they are not 
 thinking deeply on the great questions which must arise 
 as the Christian revelation presents itself to the Oriental 
 mind. " Here and there may be found one who may be 
 said to think profoundly on theological subjects." "There 
 are thinkers among her members who could greatly 
 enrich her literature, and whose thoughts, because they 
 are characteristically Indian, are far more worth publish- 
 ing than nine-tenths of those imported from even England 
 and America." Unfortunately, the general illiteracy of 
 the converts, combined with their poverty, make the 
 publication of books on ordinary commercial terms, with 
 a view to remunerative sale, quite impossible. The 
 author is too poor to take the risk, and the clientele is 
 too poor to buy. At the same time, the impression seems 
 to be abroad, at least in some quarters, that the masterful 
 leadership of the European nature is an effectual barrier 
 to any free expression of opinions which may not be in 
 complete harmony with the missionary teaching. 
 
 A prominent Indian Christian says : " The Christians 
 who belong to the better classes are so few in number 
 that they are absolutely lost in the mass. These men 
 could act as leaders and thinkers in the community. 
 But in the present state of western dominance and 
 supremacy they cannot do so." 
 
 One missionary boldly writes : " The hand of the foreign 
 padris who hold the purse strings is too heavy for anything 
 like original and formative thought, or any other sort of 
 real originality in India. . . . Till Indians get loose from the
 
 261 
 
 bondage to foreign money, it is useless to expect much 
 or any really inspired general literature." 
 
 The majority of those in India from whom information 
 on this subject has been sought answer the enquiries 
 regarding the literary effort and evidence of original 
 thinking among the converts with a simple negative, or 
 with such statements as that, "at present, foreign theo- 
 logy is accepted bodily, however antiquated," or " it is as 
 much as they can do to master what they are taught," 
 or " there are no indications of indigenous and original 
 literature." 
 
 On the other hand, there are some who take a different 
 and more hopeful view. One makes the interesting 
 statement that " the Chinese get at the heart of a lesson 
 perhaps easier than the average westerner." 
 
 Two frankly admit : "The native Church has not been 
 encouraged to produce literature. Now there is a 
 movement in this direction." " This department is not 
 fostered by missionaries in general. There are slight 
 signs now and then of originality." 
 
 The same diversity in testimony comes from Japan. 
 While one says emphatically : " It is improbable that the 
 Japanese will do much original work," another writes : 
 " There is plenty of original thought, and also, fortunately, 
 there are coming leaders of a high order of ability." 
 
 A Subtle Danger to the Foreign Missionary 
 
 These divergent notes are suggestive of a danger which 
 subtly besets the missionary. Doubtless, those are quite 
 correct who say that the native Church is not giving much 
 evidence of literary gifts, and that original and formative 
 thought has not found much expression among their 
 converts, but it is possible that, in addition to the very 
 legitimate explanations of such defect which may easily 
 be found, there is also the subtle influence of that con- 
 sciousness of our western superiority in knowledge, and 
 in judgment and ability, which is often impatient with 
 the ignorance and the mistakes of converts from 
 heathenism ; which keeps them in leading-strings too long
 
 262 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 because it is afraid to trust them to manage their own 
 affairs; which seeks to order all the detail of ecclesiastical 
 order and life, because it finds this much easier than the 
 wise and patient leadership that gives large liberty and 
 takes great pains to correct mistakes, and which so takes 
 for granted its own superior knowledge in the things of 
 God that it practically forgets the free and effectual 
 enlightenment of the Spirit of God bestowed on all who 
 seek to know and do His will. When we realise for how 
 many centuries the vigorous, progressive races of the 
 West were under the domination of the Latin Fathers, 
 in their doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, their 
 canons of interpretation, and their whole system of 
 theological thought and statement, and how slowly, 
 partially, and with what mental and spiritual conflict 
 they have striven to attain to independence of thought 
 and interpretation, it cannot be surprising that those 
 who have received their knowledge of Christianity through 
 the English language and from the vigorous, dogmatic 
 teaching of the European races, should be for a long time 
 in bondage to European statements of Christian doctrine 
 and forms of Christian organisation. 
 
 May this not be one of the means God in His provi- 
 dence has ordained for preserving the substantial unity 
 of the faith in its transmission from generation to genera- 
 tion and from race to race ? 
 
 The present temper of western thought on all matters 
 of received opinion and critical enquiry will soon enough 
 communicate itself to the races of the world to whom we 
 have been the messengers of the universal evangel. 
 
 The advance of education will provide an ever growing 
 number who will desire to read, and of those who can 
 profitably and attractively write for the instruction and 
 enjoyment of their fellow Christians. The activity and 
 unrest of theological thought in the West is already 
 powerfully affecting many minds in other lands, and 
 probably not many years will have passed before the 
 free spirit of Oriental Christians will find expression in 
 views of truth and adaptations of Christian doctrine
 
 263 
 
 which may perhaps startle, and even for a time pain, 
 their teachers. 
 
 Meanwhile, the final fact which this enquiry should 
 press upon the attention of the Church is : 
 
 THE PRESSING NEED OF THE HOUR 
 
 4. There is pressing need for more worthy recognition 
 of and more adequate provision for the production and 
 circulation of literature suited to the growing require- 
 ments of the native Christian communities in all parts of 
 the world. 
 
 In many cases larger funds are required to enable the 
 Tract and Literature Societies to produce books at prices 
 suited to the means of the people. 
 
 Greater use should be made, wherever possible, of the 
 services of the intelligent, educated native Christians in 
 the translation and revision of the Scriptures, and in 
 translation of books for the instruction and edification of 
 the Church. They should also be encouraged to repro- 
 duce the substance of such books in the form best adapted 
 to the genius of their language and the modes of thought 
 of their people, and efforts should be made to stimulate 
 the production of original works by natives in their own 
 tongue. 
 
 Even where this can be done to a considerable extent, 
 it is evident that for some time to come missionaries will 
 have to be the leading workers in the field of literature, 
 and the Missionary Societies should be prepared to set 
 apart men of experience, ability, and linguistic power, 
 for this very important branch of work. 
 
 The venerable Bishop Thoburn says : " I have never 
 been able to account for the want of interest among 
 missionaries in India in the great work of publishing 
 missionary literature as an aid to their work." He goes 
 on to say : " The press is not used as it might be. In our 
 own Mission we have made this a prominent branch of 
 our work from the first, but we have never been aided 
 to any practical extent by grants from the Missionary
 
 264 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Society, and this important branch has been sorely 
 crippled for want of funds, almost from the first. In- 
 deed, I am not sure that any Missionary Society operat- 
 ing in India takes any special interest in this most im- 
 portant branch of missionary work. After an experience 
 of fifty years among the teeming millions of these vast 
 regions, I have no hesitation in saying that I regard this 
 agency as second only to preaching and teaching among 
 all the forms of labour employed in the missionary 
 world." 
 
 The Madras Conference of 1902 addressed a special 
 appeal to ah 1 Mission Boards and Committees in Europe, 
 America, and elsewhere, in which they pleaded : 
 
 "To continue the work in the Christian Church and 
 among the awakened thousands of the people and the 
 millions of educated youth, suitable literature must be 
 provided. You are aware that the indigenous literature 
 will do but little to stimulate and satisfy an awakened 
 conscience and a quickened intellect. Those who have 
 brought the new spirit into the East must meet the 
 new needs that have thus been called into being. In 
 other words, your missionaries and their fellow- 
 helpers must provide the publications that will give 
 clear views of God's word, quicken devotion, develop 
 the intellectual life, and form character. Some of 
 your missionaries are admirably fitted for this work. 
 Will you not relieve them to a great extent from 
 other branches of mission work that they may give 
 themselves to this one thing ? " 
 
 Similarly, the great Centenary Conference in Shanghai 
 in 1907 adopted a series of resolutions on Christian 
 literature, of which the first was : 
 
 " That, in view of the educational awakening and 
 unprecedented literary renaissance of China, the influx 
 of materialistic literature prepared in Japan, the slow- 
 ness of production by sporadic workers, and the clamant 
 need of the Church for new and helpful books, this 
 Conference strongly urges the various Missionary Societies 
 represented at this gathering to set free able men for
 
 CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 265 
 
 literary work. Unless this is done many of the reforms 
 advocated in this paper cannot be carried out." 
 
 The Rev. W. H. T. Gairdner, of Cairo, who is the 
 advocate of Missions to Moslems in this subject, after 
 stating fully his views on the needs of the mission press, 
 sums up : 
 
 "These are mere suggestions, quite crude. They are 
 worth little in themselves, as at the time of writing I 
 have not the advantage of consultation with a single 
 expert. But their real value is this : they show that the 
 World Missionary Conference must go into this question 
 of literature for mission lands in general, and Arabic 
 reading lands in particular. What is wanted is an 
 enquiry by experts into this matter from a missionary 
 and a financial point of view. The findings of this com- 
 mittee of experts should then be made the basis of an 
 appeal and a definite course of action, to be followed 
 immediately alter the enquiry has shown what should be 
 done."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 
 
 To prevent possible misunderstanding, we recall at this 
 point the position which we occupy as members of this 
 Commission and of the Conference. We frankly avow 
 that we are loyal members of different communions, and 
 are in brotherly conference with each other without any 
 relaxation of the responsibilities which such membership 
 implies. In our consultations we have come to a clearer 
 understanding of each other's principles and position, 
 and rejoice to recognise that we can all learn from each 
 other's teaching and polity, without being unfaithful to 
 our own. We should injure rather than foster the spirit 
 of Christian unity if we should appear to weaken the 
 bonds which unite us to the communions to which we 
 severally belong. We desire, therefore, that nothing in 
 our Report, or in the general conclusions here presented, 
 shall be understood as implying any disregard or forget- 
 fulness of principles and views of truth which, if not 
 ideally perfect, are for weighty reasons dear to us and 
 the communions which we represent. We find our 
 position accurately described in the Letter to the Faithful 
 in Christ Jesus, issued by the Lambeth Conference of 1908, 
 in the following sentences, which we cordially accept : 
 " We must set before us the Church of Christ as He 
 would have it, one spirit and one body, enriched with all 
 those elements of divine truth which the separated 
 communities of Christians now emphasise severally, 
 strengthened by the interaction of all the gifts and graces 
 which our divisions now hold asunder, filled with all the 
 
 266
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 267 
 
 fulness of God. We dare not, in the name of peace, 
 barter away those precious things of which we have 
 been made stewards. Neither can we wish others to 
 be unfaithful to trusts which they hold no less sacred. 
 We must fix our eyes on the Church of the future, which 
 is to be adorned with all the precious things, both theirs 
 and ours. We must constantly desire not compromise 
 but comprehension, not uniformity but unity " (Con- 
 ference holden at Lambeth, 1908, Encyclical Letter with 
 Resolutions and Reports, pp. 42, 43). 
 
 With these explanations we here summarise some of 
 the more important matters which have come under our 
 review in the chapters of our Report. 
 
 ON CHAPTER I 
 
 1. We recognise the good hand of God upon the mission 
 of the Church to the non-Christian world, not only in the 
 wide extension of Christian missions, but especially in 
 view of the remarkable evidence before us of the extensive, 
 stable, and effective corporate Church life which has 
 sprung up in all the greater mission fields. 
 
 2. We recognise in the existence and growing strength 
 of this Church life the great witness to the world of the 
 saving energy of the ascended Lord ; and feel that its 
 development calls for earnest and immediate study on 
 the part of all Church and mission authorities with a view 
 to the solution of the urgent and delicate problems 
 relating to it. These problems we take to be such as the 
 following : 
 
 The relation in which the Church life in the mission 
 field should stand in each case to the life and government 
 of the parent Church ; involving, on the one hand, 
 the recognition of the autonomy and liberties of the 
 Church in the Mission Field ; and, on the other hand, 
 the maintenance of such mutual affection and respect 
 between the young Church in the mission fields and 
 the older Church in the West, as shall enable the 
 latter to continue to give to the former helpful and
 
 268 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 sympathetic guidance when needful, lest, in the natural 
 eagerness of young life growingly conscious of its own 
 powers and capacities, and stimulated by racial and 
 national aspirations, it should be led by inexperience 
 and immaturity to break off hastily from old ties, and 
 so multiply the divisions of Christendom. 
 
 3. We rejoice to recognise a growing spirit of love and 
 unity among Christians, and call attention to the evidence 
 of its working, especially in India and in China. We 
 further note the fact that the present is apparently a 
 period of wider denominational organisation, and of closer 
 unity within larger denominational lines. We are assured 
 that the members of various communions in the mission 
 fields are generally in heartfelt sympathy with such move- 
 ments, as tending not towards further separation, but 
 towards that wider unity in which alone the Christian 
 mind can ultimately rest. As a minority in the face of 
 the non-Christian world they are strongly impelled to 
 seek fellowship with all Christians, whether within or 
 without the bounds of their own ecclesiastical fellowship. 
 We believe this impulse to be due to a true working in 
 them of the Spirit of Christ, and to be in no way incon- 
 sistent with due loyalty to the several communions to 
 which they belong. 
 
 4. While disclaiming, as we have done, any intention 
 to ignore the very real and weighty matters on which 
 Western Christianity is at present divided, we venture 
 to suggest that missionaries and Missionary Societies, 
 while cherishing the same loyalty, should by all judicious 
 means encourage this desire for unity, and make their 
 sympathetic desire to promote it evident to all the 
 Christian communities under their care. 
 
 ON CHAPTER II 
 
 i. As we have indicated, we find a considerable variety 
 of practice in regard to the conditions of admission into 
 the membership of the Church. But we find on all hands 
 a desire to guard the purity of the Church, and the
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 269 
 
 sincerity and holiness of life of its members. We recom- 
 mend the utmost diligence in this work of careful scrutiny 
 of those who seek admission to its membership, especially 
 now when in many mission fields the growth of the 
 Christian community in numbers and social influence 
 makes profession easier than formerly, and allows the 
 Church in many cases to escape the severe but wholesome 
 test of obloquy and persecution for the name of Christ. 
 
 2.. The practice of careful instruction and probation 
 of Catechumens before Baptism is generally observed, 
 with a few exceptions, and, in view of the circumstances 
 referred to above, should be continued with increasing 
 vigilance. 
 
 3. We think it right to express strong disapproval of 
 the acceptance as candidates for Baptism by any re- 
 sponsible body, of persons who are already in the cate- 
 chumenate of another mission within the same area, 
 and trust that such action, which, happily, is not 
 frequent, will be entirely abandoned by common consent. 
 
 ON CHAPTER III 
 
 1. We have only been able in our third chapter to indi- 
 cate how complicated and various are the questions that 
 arise under the head of Church discipline. We do not de- 
 sire to pledge the Conference to the views which we have 
 expressed on particular topics ; but record here our high 
 sense of the healing and salutary influence of the godly 
 discipline of the Church, when rightly administered, with 
 vigilance and firmness, in the spirit of tenderness and 
 sympathy. 
 
 2. It is of importance that Church discipline should 
 be mutually respected by all communions, and that care 
 should be taken to avoid receiving, even by inadvertence, 
 those who are fugitives from discipline. 
 
 ON CHAPTER IV 
 
 i. The matters referred to in our fourth chapter indicate 
 how wide of the mark is the common impression that
 
 when " a convert " is " made " the missionary's anxieties 
 in that individual case are over. 
 
 We are impressed, on the contrary, with the wide variety 
 of agencies which are in use, adapted with much ingenuity 
 and singular pliability to all types of communities for 
 building up in faith and godliness all ages and classes of 
 the Christian people. It is obvious, however, that many 
 of these agencies bear too much the character of make- 
 shift arrangements, adopted in order to meet, partially 
 and with insufficient means, urgent needs which can only 
 be adequately met by methods of a higher order of effici- 
 ency. We infer from this that all mission authorities 
 should see to it that full provision be made, by the main- 
 tenance of an adequate staff, to secure the due performance 
 of this urgent duty. Otherwise, not only must this duty 
 be imperfectly discharged, but further, the attempt to 
 overtake it will inevitably absorb the force which ought 
 to be available for directing and leading the work of evan- 
 gelisation. We must add an expression of our conviction 
 that at present such full provision is rarely made. 
 
 2. While, on the information before us, we find that 
 there is some danger of overloading the young Church in 
 the mission field by the over-multiplication of organisations 
 of Western type, yet we recognise that some of them, if 
 judiciously adapted to local conditions, and under proper 
 local guidance, are well fitted to render useful service. We 
 urge, as of especial importance, that for the edification 
 of the Church members, adult and juvenile, there is 
 everywhere need for increased attention to such matters 
 as the following : 
 
 (a) Day Schools and Sunday Schools. 
 
 (b) Family worship, and cultivation of Christian family 
 life. 
 
 (c) Reading, not only as an accomplishment, but as a 
 ready means of spiritual self-culture. 
 
 (d) The cultivation of habits of individual and social 
 prayer. 
 
 (e) The holding of conferences for discussion and prayer, 
 and the enforcement of these and similar duties.
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 271 
 
 ON CHAPTER V 
 
 1. In view of the considerations summarised above, 
 we feel that no part of the missionary's task is more vital, 
 or more urgent at the present time, than the training of 
 workers, both men and women, for all the forms of effort 
 by which the Church is built up and rendered fruitful 
 in every good word and work. Teachers, both in Day 
 Schools and Sunday Schools, catechists, evangelists, Bible- 
 women, visitors, assistants in hospitals, and boarding- 
 schools, colporteurs, and other workers, in larger numbers 
 and of much higher qualifications, are everywhere urgently 
 needed. 
 
 2. But it is in regard to theological education and 
 specialised training of preachers and ordained clergy that 
 we find the greatest deficiency. There are important 
 missions which have scarcely even begun work of this 
 class, and in all it is more or less starved by lack of a 
 sufficient staff of teachers, and of adequate educational 
 equipment. In particular the following points are to be 
 noted : 
 
 (a) That there is frequently difficulty in securing a 
 sufficient supply of students of the right stamp, men 
 spiritually and intellectually qualified, and willing to 
 receive the necessary training. The difficulty of support- 
 ing themselves and their families during the period of 
 preparation, and the inadequate remuneration, or even 
 maintenance, to which they can look forward after its 
 completion, deter not a few from offering themselves for 
 this form of self-denying service. 
 
 (b) That students who do offer themselves are sometimes 
 discouraged and disappointed by finding that the meagre 
 arrangements made for their training are insufficient to 
 prepare them for the great responsibilities which await 
 them. 
 
 (c) That there is here a great field for the liberality of 
 far-seeing friends of missions, who might be in a position 
 to endow, by large gifts, scholarships for the aid of worthy 
 students, and professorships and tutorships by which the
 
 272 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 teaching staff could be maintained independently of the 
 ordinary income of the missions. The Church in the West 
 has owed much to such foundations for the advancement 
 of sacred learning, and the young Church in the mission 
 field, consisting mainly of comparatively poor people, 
 and struggling with the initial problems of self-support, 
 can hardly be expected as yet to provide adequately for 
 a department of work which is necessarily costly, and of 
 whose importance its members cannot as yet be fully 
 aware. It could easily be arranged that such foundations, 
 while devoted for the present to a specified mission field or 
 college, might be given on terms which would permit of 
 their transference to other more needy places when the 
 local Church shall have become, by its growth, able to 
 take up fully its own burdens. 
 
 (d) We gladly note that it is reported in a number of 
 cases that two or more missions have been able to unite 
 their forces in carrying on theological education, with 
 great advantage. In this way one strong college takes the 
 place of two or three smaller institutions, and does much 
 more efficient work. We venture to recommend action 
 in this direction when circumstances and the principles 
 of those concerned permit. Since, however there are 
 missions which regard it as an important matter of 
 principle that their students should live together under 
 special conditions, it is suggested that in such cases the 
 provision of separate hostels may furnish what is desired 
 without prejudice to united action, at least in some 
 departments of teaching. 
 
 ON CHAPTER VI 
 
 In our sixth chapter we have found it necessary to lay 
 emphasis on a due appreciation of the non-Christian life, 
 religion, and social surroundings, out of which the Chris- 
 tian people have been gathered, in order to form a just 
 estimate of the standard of character and life to which as 
 Christians they have attained. In view of these elements 
 of the problem we have felt that Christian life on the
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 273 
 
 mission field fully manifests itself as a marvel of divine 
 grace, by bringing forth amidst the most unfavourable 
 environment forms of life and character which can only 
 be attributed to the regenerating and sustaining power of 
 the Holy Spirit. We urge all loyal Christian people to 
 give devout thanks to God for the attainments already 
 made, and to pray for these young Christian communities 
 that they may be made increasingly fruitful in all that is 
 lovely and of good report. 
 
 ON CHAPTER VII 
 
 We have touched in our seventh chapter on ground 
 which will be found further treated from another point of 
 view in the Report of the Commission on EDUCATION IN 
 
 RELATION TO THE CHRISTIANISATION OF NATIONAL LlFE (see 
 
 Report of Commission III., Chapter X.). We have regarded 
 Christian literature, apart from its other uses, as a power- 
 ful instrument for the enlightenment and edification of 
 the Church. In this department much has been accom- 
 plished, but much more still remains to be done. The 
 demand for a literature specially prepared to meet the 
 needs of the growing Christian life, as distinct from the 
 literature prepared for non-Christians, is becoming urgent. 
 Commentaries or other aids to the study of the Scriptures, 
 written with special reference to the intellectual condition 
 or capacity of the people for whom they were intended, are 
 urgently needed in every field. Devotional literature, 
 and books on Christian, especially missionary, biography 
 are also greatly in demand. We draw attention especially 
 to the following requirements : 
 
 1. That in the department of production there should 
 be co-operation and a wide outlook, so that work need not 
 be duplicated by different writers undertaking the same 
 task, while important subjects are overlooked by all. 
 In this way gaps would be filled up, and much economy 
 of labour could be effected. 
 
 2. For purposes of production Missionary Societies 
 should be encouraged to set apart men with the necessary 
 
 COM. ii. 18
 
 274 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 gift to devote themselves specially to literary work. It 
 can seldom be done well by men who are too busy with 
 competing duties to concentrate their powers upon it. 
 Encouragement should also be given to native Christians 
 of ability to write freely on subjects with which they are 
 familiar, and in which they are likely to express truth in 
 forms adapted to the thought of their own people. 
 
 3. The greatest lack is that of a well -organised and 
 centralised (but not over-centralised) system of distri- 
 bution. Under such a system inferior books would tend 
 to become superseded, and attention would be concen- 
 trated upon those which are of real value. Carefully 
 selected and well -arranged lists, with brief notices of 
 really helpful books, and facilities for their purchase by 
 the Christian people, would greatly add to the value of 
 existing literature, and stimulate the production of what 
 is lacking. Such organisation, in efficient hands, would 
 prevent good books from being lost and buried, as so often 
 happens at present, among a mass of dead and unsaleable 
 stock. 
 
 4. In almost every mission the need is keenly felt of 
 a fuller supply of Christian literature of the best kinds, 
 adapted both to the older and the younger, to the more 
 educated and the less educated of the Church members. 
 We note especially that books of the following classes 
 arejnost urgently needed : 
 
 (a) Brief, pointed, and scholarly commentaries on the 
 Books of the Bible, both Old Testament and New, with 
 Introductions. 
 
 (b) Devotional commentaries on Books or portions of 
 Scripture. 
 
 ~ (c) Collections of Hymns for use in Home, School, and 
 Church. 
 
 (d) Books of devotion and personal religion. < 
 
 (e) Missionary literature. 
 
 (/) Books of practical theology and Christian ethics, 
 (g) Books of Christian biography. 
 (h) Books on the planting and growth of the Church. "* 
 These should all be in the best attainable style, whether
 
 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 275 
 
 classical or vernacular, avoiding vulgarity on the one 
 hand, and scholastic affectation on the other. 
 
 There seems to be also a growing need for brief com- 
 mentaries in English on separate books of Scripture, 
 with introductions, designed for the use of teachers, 
 preachers, and pastors, who have only a moderate work- 
 ing knowledge of English. These might be planned by 
 Western scholars, and written, in consultation with them, 
 by competent missionaries selected from the several 
 fields, and published by the larger Book and Tract Societies 
 of Europe and America. They might be prepared in 
 several series, say, one for India, one for the Mohammedan 
 world, one for Africa, and one for China, Korea, and 
 Japan.
 
 APPENDIX A 
 
 (See p. i) 
 
 ENQUIRIES SENT TO CORRESPONDENTS 
 
 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD, AND ITS 
 WORKERS 
 
 I. CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION 
 
 1. Define the geographical position and limits of the Local 
 Church on which you are reporting. 
 
 2. When was this Church planted (approximate date), and what 
 was the Parent Church or Mission ? 
 
 3. What is the form of government of the Church on which you 
 are reporting ? (Here define only in general terms, as Anglican, 
 Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Reformed, 
 etc.) 
 
 4. Describe the working of this organisation in regard to 
 
 (a) The Self-Government of the Church. 
 
 (b) The Self-Support of the Church. 
 
 (c) The Self- Propagation of the Church. 
 
 5. Is the membership of the Church entirely indigenous, or docs 
 it include in its membership the foreign missionaries and their 
 families, or any other local foreign community ? 
 
 6. How is the Local Church constituted in relation to the Parent 
 Church or Missionary Society ? Has it an organised method of 
 self-government through its own governing bodies and officers, 
 apart from those of the Parent Church or Missionary Society ? 
 
 7. How are relations adjusted between the Local Church and 
 the Parent Church or Missionary Society, as regards 
 
 (a) The authority and responsibility of the foreign mis- 
 
 sionaries in the Local Church ? (E.g. Have the 
 foreign missionaries a place in the governing bodies 
 of the Local Church as constituent members, members 
 by courtesy, assessors, or corresponding members ?) 
 
 (b) The distribution of work, whether by division of the 
 
 field by areas, or apportionment of branches of work, 
 between the foreign Mission and its agency, and the 
 agency of the Local Church ? 
 277
 
 278 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 (c) The management of Mission funds, and the funds 
 
 contributed by the Local Church ? 
 
 (d) Appointment and ordination of Pastors ? 
 
 8. Are proceedings in the governing bodies of the Local Church 
 conducted, and records kept, in the vernacular language, or in 
 English or other European languages ? (If in any of the latter, 
 state the reason.) 
 
 9. Does the Local Church welcome foreign guidance or 
 influence, and is there cordial co-operation between foreign 
 missionaries and the officers of the Local Church ? 
 
 10. What indications are there of a gradual or rapid transference 
 of authority from the Foreign Mission to the Local Church ; and 
 how do the foreign missionaries generally view such indications ? 
 
 11. Has the Church on which you report adopted as its own 
 symbol of faith any of the historic Creeds, and if so, which ? Or 
 has it produced any new formula ? 
 
 12. Has the Church on which you report any organic links 
 with any other Church body of the same communion and order 
 in its own country or elsewhere ? 
 
 13. Is any recognised function, or any official position, as 
 deaconesses or otherwise, allotted to native women. 
 
 14. What is the position of foreign Women Missionaries in the 
 Local Church ? Where Mission Stations are under their charge, 
 what is their relation to the Pastorate of the Local Church ? 
 
 II. CONDITIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP 
 
 1. What probation, tests, or conditions are required of Appli- 
 cants for Baptism ? What provision is made for their instruction ? 
 
 2. Is there a preliminary admission to a list of Catechumens ? 
 If so, on what conditions are candidates admitted to this list ? 
 
 3. Does admission to adult Baptism admit immediately to 
 Communion ? If not, what further probation or training, or other 
 qualification, is required ? 
 
 4. In countries where Mohammedanism or Caste systems pre- 
 vail, can you recognise in any way persons, touched by the 
 Christian spirit, who have so far broken with local customs as to 
 be willing to associate with Christians, or to join them in worship, 
 but are unable, through fear or restraint, to seek Baptism ? 
 
 5. In countries where women are strictly secluded, are Women 
 Missionaries authorised in any case to administer Baptism in 
 Zenanas or other private places to women who desire to receive it, 
 and have duly approved themselves ? 
 
 6. What is your experience of " Mass movements " towards 
 Christianity, as regards 
 
 (a) Their causes and motives ? 
 
 (b) The best methods of dealing with them ? 
 
 (c) Their permanence, genuineness, and ultimate spiritual 
 
 fruitfulness ? 
 
 7. What is the bearing on the above topics under No. II. 1-6, 
 and on personal character and Church life, under VI. 1-9, of 
 
 (a) Racial Characteristics ?
 
 APPENDIX A 279 
 
 (b) Native Social Organisation ; as in the elaborate caste 
 
 systems of India, the democratic but highly organised 
 social system of China, and the individualism and 
 independence of less civilised communities ? 
 
 (c) Other economic, industrial, or political conditions of 
 
 native life ? 
 
 III. CHURCH DISCIPLINE 
 
 1. What authority deals with the Discipline of Members of the 
 Church ? 
 
 2. What are the most frequent faults and offences dealt with in 
 Church Discipline ? 
 
 3. What are the stages and degrees of Discipline employed, 
 such as Remonstrance and Rebuke, Suspension from Church 
 Fellowship, and Excommunication ? 
 
 4. Is Suspension for periods of time with a fixed limit, or is it 
 of indefinite duration ? Is it publicly notified (a) to the Members 
 of the Church ; (b) to those outside ? 
 
 5. How are such matters as the following dealt with in the 
 course of Church Discipline, namely : 
 
 (a) Questions relating to Observance of the Lord's Day ? 
 
 (b) ,, Temperance ? 
 
 (c) Quarrels and Litigation among 
 Christians, or between Christians and non-Christians ? 
 
 (d) Participation by Christians in Social or Public Move- 
 
 ments, Festivals, Celebrations, or Trades, not directly 
 or necessarily heathen, but of doubtful expediency ? 
 
 (e) Questions arising out of Mixed Marriages, or Betrothals 
 
 between Christians and non-Christians, and other 
 Social Relations ? 
 (/) Participation in Growth or Use of Opium ? 
 
 6. How are Bigamy and Polygamy dealt with 
 
 (a) Under the heads of Enquiry IT. 1-3, as regards 
 
 admission to Church Membership ? 
 
 (b) Under the heads of Enquiry III. 3, 4, as regards Church 
 
 Discipline after admission to Membership ? 
 
 (c) If Polygamists are admitted to Baptism, under what 
 
 safeguards or restrictions is this done ? Are they 
 admitted also to bear Office in the Church ? 
 (N.B. In answering these questions, be good enough to 
 deal with the subject on both sides, i.e. 
 
 (a) As regards the men concerned. 
 
 (b) As regards the women concerned.) 
 
 7. Do the Christian women take any part, officially or other- 
 wise 
 
 (a) In matters relating to Admission of Women to Mem- 
 
 bership of the Church, as under heads of Enquiry 
 
 II. 1-5 ? 
 
 (b) In matters of Discipline affecting Women, as under 
 
 heads of Enquiry III. 1-6 ?
 
 280 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 IV. EDIFICATION OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, ADULT 
 AND JUVENILE 
 
 I. What Methods are employed for the instruction of the 
 Members of the Church after Baptism and Admission to Com- 
 munion, such as 
 
 (a) Services of Public Worship and Children's Services ? 
 
 (b) Sunday Schools, and Adult Schools or Station Classes ? 
 
 (c) Boarding Schools and Hostels for children of 
 
 Christians ? 
 
 (d) Village Prayer Meetings or Bible Classes ? 
 
 (c) Family Worship ? 
 
 (/) Visitation of Families by Missionaries, Native Clergy, 
 
 or Preachers and Catcchists ? 
 
 (g) Periodical or occasional Conventions or Conferences ? 
 2. In these or other methods, is separate provision made for 
 the instruction of Women ? 
 
 3. Is advantage taken of Weddings and Funerals to bring 
 Christian ideals of family life, Christian regard for the departed, 
 and the Christian hope of immortality before the minds of 
 Christians and non-Christians ? 
 
 4. What special steps are taken for the instruction of the young 
 people of the Church in Sunday Schools or Classes ? 
 
 5. Is the Sunday School open to Children of Christians only, 
 or are non -Christian children also admitted ? 
 
 6. Have you any Sunday Schools for non-Christian children 
 only, and if so, with what results ? 
 
 7. Are the Teachers in the Sunday Schools voluntary workers 
 or otherwise ? 
 
 8. What steps are taken to bring forward to Confirmation or 
 Admission to Communion of young people baptized in infancy, or, 
 in Baptist Churches, of young people growing up in Christian 
 families ? 
 
 9. What use is made of the various forms of Young People's 
 Societies, and with what results ? Is there any danger of over- 
 burdening the Local Church with Western organisations ? 
 
 V. TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OF WORKERS 
 
 (A) GENERAL TRAINING 
 
 i. What provision is made for the more elementary training of 
 Christian workers, in Bible Schools or otherwise 
 
 (a) For Christian men, as Catechists, Colporteurs, or 
 
 Evangelists ? 
 
 (b) For Christian women, as Biblewomen or Evangelists ? 
 () For Medical Assistants, male or female, to increase 
 
 their efficiency as Evangelists in Hospitals and Dis- 
 pensaries ? 
 
 (d) For Sunday-School Teachers ?
 
 APPENDIX A 281 
 
 (B) THEOLOGICAL TRAINING 
 
 i. What provision is made in your field for the Theological 
 Education and Training of Preachers and Pastors 
 
 (a) Number of Colleges ? 
 
 (b) Number of Foreign Instructors ? 
 
 (c) Number of Native Christian Instructors ? 
 
 (d) Are any non-Christian Instructors in National Litera- 
 
 ture employed ? 
 
 (e) Number of Students ? 
 
 2. What Preparatory Courses are usually taken before 
 entrance ? 
 
 3. Is there an adequate supply of Candidates of the right type 
 for admission to Theological Courses ? 
 
 4. How is fitness tested or judged ? 
 
 5. Sketch an outline of the Highest Course given, with the 
 periods in which its stages are overtaken. 
 
 6. Is any provision made for a simplified course to be taken by 
 men whose preparatory education has been defective ? 
 
 7. What proportion of time is given 
 
 (a) To study in Vernacular ? 
 
 (b) To study of English or in English, or any other European 
 
 Language ? 
 
 (c) To the study of Hebrew, Greek, or Latin ? 
 
 8. Do the Students live in College or outside, and, in either case, 
 how are their living and other expenses met ? 
 
 9. Is the Theological Teaching united work, or is it in the hands 
 of a single Mission ? 
 
 10. Are the Foreign Instructors men set apart for College work, 
 or are they employed at the same time in other departments ? 
 
 ir. What opportunities have the Students, outside of the 
 College, for practice in Preaching, and experience of Teaching, 
 and other forms of Church work ; and is there any supervision 
 of such extra-mural work. 
 
 12. What qualifications are required 
 
 (a) As to learning and ability ? 
 
 (b) As to moral and spiritual character ? 
 
 (c) As to previous experience and success in Christian 
 
 work ? 
 
 (C) SALARIES 
 
 1. What Authority fixes amount of Salaries 
 
 (a) For Ordained Clergy ? 
 
 (b) For Preachers and Catechists ? 
 
 (c) For Teachers ? 
 
 2. What amounts are given, and are the Rates graded according 
 to seniority, efficiency, or otherwise ? 
 
 3. What amounts are given to women as Teachers, or Bible- 
 women, or to other female Workers ? 
 
 4. How do the rates of payment under i (), (fc), and (c), 
 compare with earnings of mon of equivalent competence in secular 
 callings, and with the average standard of living ia native society ?
 
 282 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 5. From what Funds, native or foreign, are the salaries of these 
 workers provided ? 
 
 VI. CHARACTER AND SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS OF CHRISTIAN 
 LIFE 
 
 I. How does the New Life show itself, and what evidence is 
 there of its reality as judged by its fruits 
 
 (a) In Individual Life and Character ? 
 
 (6) In Family Life ? 
 
 (c) In the Relations of professing Christians with those 
 
 outside ? 
 
 2. What Impression do the life and general character of the 
 Church Members and their families make on the community around 
 them ? 
 
 3. What attitude (of friendliness, aloofness, or hostility) do 
 the Christians take towards the non-Christian society around 
 them ; and how far do they fulfil their parts as citizens in works 
 of philanthropy or public utility ? How far is their co-operation 
 in such manners welcomed by non-Christians ? 
 
 4. How far do the Christians fulfil their part in Evangelistic 
 work 
 
 (a) Informally and individually ? 
 
 (b) Through any form of Church Organisation ? 
 
 (c) Do the Christian people look beyond their own district 
 
 and country, and help in sending the Gospel to the 
 world by their contributions or by personal service ? 
 
 (d) Do they help in Evangelistic work through the Medical 
 
 Mission, and in special Evangelistic work for Women ? 
 
 (e) Do they to any extent undertake " Mendicant " 
 
 Preaching ? 
 
 5. Is Voluntary Christian Service freely given, and is it under- 
 taken by the local Christian people on their own initiative ? 
 
 6. What works of Charity and Philanthropy are carried on by 
 the Christians, such as 
 
 (a) Care of their own Poor ? 
 
 (b) Orphanages ? 
 
 (c) Refuges for Lepers or other outcasts ? 
 
 (d) Help to the Blind, Relief in time of Famine, etc.? 
 
 (e) Medical Dispensaries and Opium Refuges ? 
 
 7. How far do the Christians assist converts from Heathenism 
 to procure for themselves an independent livelihood ? 
 
 8. What experience have you had in the Local Church of marked 
 religious Revival and notable spiritual power ? 
 
 9. How far have the Christians learned and used the secret and 
 power of prayer ? 
 
 VII. CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY 
 
 I. How far is the Native Church fed by a varied and wholesome 
 Literature ? What Classes of Books in Hymnology, Biography,
 
 APPENDIX A 283 
 
 General Information, or Books of Devotion are found most attractive 
 and useful ? 
 
 2. Is the Native Church producing an indigenous and original 
 Literature of its own, or is it likely to do so ? 
 
 3. Are there any indications of original and formative native 
 thought in Theology ? 
 
 4. Can you point out any special lack 
 
 (a) In Versions of Scripture, Classical, or Vernacular ? 
 (6) In Commentaries, Vernacular or English, for the use of 
 Preachers and Pastors ? 
 
 (c) In books for the general edification of the Christian 
 
 People ? 
 
 (d) In Text-Books for use in Training Schools and 
 
 Theological Colleges ? 
 
 5. Has anything been done in your field to simplify reading and 
 writing, by the use of any phonetic system or character ? 
 
 6. Has any literature been prepared for the Blind ? 
 
 7. Is there any danger in your field from any form of pernicious 
 literature ?
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 (See p. 15) 
 
 FORM OF AGREEMENT DRAWN UP BY MIS- 
 SIONARIES OF THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY 
 SOCIETY AT SERAMPORE, 1805. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM MR. WARD'S JOURNAL 
 IQTH OCTOBER, 1805 
 
 October 19. An idea has lately been suggested, and agreed to 
 amongst us, namely, that in planting separate churches, native 
 pastors shall be chosen, and native deacons ; and that the mission- 
 aries shall preserve their original character, giving themselves 
 up to the planting of new churches, and to the superintending 
 of those already planted. The benefits oi this plan are detailed 
 in a " Form of Agreement," which we are now printing. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM " FORM OF AGREEMENT " 
 
 VIII. Another part of our work is the forming our native 
 brethren to usefulness, fostering every kind of genius, and cherish- 
 ing every gift and grace in them. In this respect we can scarcely 
 be too lavish of our attention to their improvement. It is only 
 by means of native preachers that we can hope for the universal 
 spread of the gospel throughout this immense continent. . . . 
 
 Still further to strengthen the cause of Christ in this country, 
 and, as far as is in our power, to give it a permanent establishment, 
 even when the efforts of Europeans may fail, we think it our duty 
 as soon as possible, to advise the native brethren, who may be 
 formed into separate churches, to choose their pastors and deacons 
 from amongst their own countrymen, that the word may be statedly 
 preached, and the ordinances of Christ administered in each church 
 by the native minister, as much as possible, without the inter- 
 ference of the missionary of the district who will constantly super- 
 intend their affairs, give them advice in cases of order and dis- 
 cipline, and correct any errrors into which they may fall ; and 
 who, joying and beholding their order, and the steadfastness of 
 their faith in Christ, may direct his efforts continually to the
 
 APPENDIX B 285 
 
 planting of new churches in other places, and to the spread of 
 the Gospel in his district, to the utmost of his pcwer. By this 
 means the unity of the missionary character will be preserved, 
 all the missionaries will still form one body, each one moveable 
 as the good of the cause may require ; the different native churches 
 will also naturally learn to care and provide for their ministers, 
 for their church expenses, the raising places of worship, etc., 
 and the whole administration will assume a native aspect ; by 
 which means the inhabitants will more readily identify the cause 
 as belonging to their own nation, and their prejudices at falling 
 into the hands of Europeans will entirely vanish. It may be hoped 
 too that the pastors of these churches, and the members in general, 
 will feel a new energy in attempting to spread the Gospel, when 
 they shall thus freely enjoy its privileges among themselves. 
 
 Under the Divine blessing, if in the course of a few years a number 
 of native churches be thus established, from them the Word of 
 God may sound out even to the extremities of India ; and numbers 
 of preachers being raised up and sent forth, may form a body of 
 native missionaries, inured to the climate, acquainted with the 
 customs, language, modes of speech and reasoning of the inhabi- 
 tants ; able to become -perfectly familiar with them, to enter their 
 houses, to live upon their food, to sleep with them, or under a 
 tree ; and who may travel from one end of the country to the 
 other almost without any expense. These churches will be in no 
 immediate danger of falling into errors or disorders, because the 
 whole of their affair will be constantly superintended by a 
 European missionary. The advantages of this plan are so evident, 
 that to carry it into complete effect ought to be our continued 
 concern. That we may discharge the important obligations of 
 watching over these infant churches when formed, and of urging 
 them to maintain a steady discipline, to hold forth the clear and 
 cheering light of evangelical truth in this region and shadow of 
 death, and to walk in all respects as those who have been called 
 out of darkness into marvellous light, we should go continually 
 to the source of all grace and strength ; for if, to become the 
 shepherd of one church be a most solemn and weighty charge, 
 what must it be to watch over a number of churches just raised 
 from a state of heathenism and placed at a distance from each 
 Other.
 
 APPENDIX C 
 
 (See p. 18) 
 
 ACCOUNTS OF CONGREGATIONAL UNIONS IN 
 AMOY AND MADAGASCAR 
 
 (FURNISHED BY REV. WARDLAW THOMSON, D.D., 
 SECRETARY OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY) 
 
 THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF AMOY 
 
 The Congregational Union in Amoy for many years was composed 
 of a preacher or a pastor and a delegate from each of the organised 
 Churches in the Amoy region. A Church was considered to be 
 organised when it had ten members but not before. 
 
 Congregations that had fewer than these were required to 
 associate themselves with the nearest recognised Church. Their 
 members were recorded on their rolls, and when delegates were 
 annually elected to attend the Union, they voted with the rest in 
 the choice of a man. 
 
 For many years the Union was simply a consultative body, 
 and in any pronouncement upon questions that affected the welfare 
 of the Churches, the idea of authority was carefully kept in the 
 background. 
 
 This was entirely due to the influence of the foreign missionaries, 
 who desired to keep up the idea of the independence of the Churches. 
 The Chinese were very strongly opposed to this, and some of the 
 leading pastors protested against it. They could see no reason, 
 they declared, why any decision that the Union had come to after 
 long and serious discussion by the assembly should not be binding 
 on the Churches. These latter were always prepared for this 
 and practically acted upon it, and, in fact, I do not remember a 
 single instance of a Church refusing to carry out the decisions of 
 the Union, on the ground that it had no authority over it. 
 
 Within the last two years a great and vital change has taken 
 place with regard to both the Churches and the Union. 
 
 With regard to the former the whole have been organised into 
 five Church Councils, namely, the Amoy, the Huian, the Changchow, 
 the North River, and Tingchow Councils. 
 
 These Councils meet twice every year : the Union but once. 
 
 886
 
 APPENDIX C 287 
 
 Each Council consists of the preachers and pastors and foreign 
 missionary that may be in charge of the district. It discusses 
 the condition of the Churches within its bounds. It takes cogni- 
 sance of any irregularities, and it passes regulations that are 
 deemed necessary for the welfare of the Churches, and it makes 
 these binding on them. To all intents and purposes the Council 
 is very similar, though not entirely, to a presbytery. 
 
 One of the duties of the Councils at their Autumn Meetings 
 is to appoint delegates to the Union, who shall report to the 
 condition of the Churches within their jurisdiction, as well as the 
 decisions that have been come to in the various Councils. 
 
 The Union has power to rescind any of these latter, should 
 a majority of the delegates from the various Councils deem it in 
 the interests of the Churches to do so. It approximates to a 
 Synod in this respect. 
 
 Last year a series of rules and regulations was passed by the 
 Union, and having been accepted by all the Delegates from the 
 various Councils, are now binding on all the Churches. 
 
 The Union, therefore, is now composed of (i) the Delegates from 
 the Church Councils ; (z) the foreign missionaries ; and (3) the 
 foreign lady workers, and also all native pastors. 
 
 In the present transition stage slight irregularities may possibly 
 creep in, but the ultimate form of the Union is that described above. 
 
 P.S. One point in the rules and regulations referred to above 
 is that no Church can be fully organised until it has eighteen 
 members. 
 
 NY ISAN-ENIM-BOLANA (SIX-MONTHLY MEETING) : OR 
 THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF IMERINA 
 
 The first meeting of this Union was held in Antananarivo in 
 December 1868, and its meetings have been continued half-yearly 
 ever since. At first each city Church appointed twelve delegates, 
 and each country Church six ; but for many years now the numbers 
 have been, six delegates for each city Church, and three for each 
 country Church. The Meetings are held in the largest building 
 in the Capital, and usually 1300 to 1500 delegates attend them. 
 They are held on Thursday morning, commencing at 8.30, and 
 going on uninterruptedly for four or five hours. 
 
 THE OBJECTS OF THE UNION 
 
 These are, as laid down in the original Constitution of the 
 Union, and never since altered : (i) To meet together for United 
 Prayer to God, and for Mutual Counsel according to the Word of 
 God ; (2) To promote mutual love among the Churches, and to 
 show forth their unity in the faith oi Jesus Christ ; (3) To consider 
 how the practice of the Churches can bo improved, especially in 
 those matters which are great and essential ; nevertheless not to 
 lay down laws, but to give counsel ; (4) To consider what can be 
 done to promote and extend the Kingdom of Christ.
 
 288 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNION 
 
 The President of the Union is elected annually, and while 
 originally always a Missionary, has for many years now been 
 alternately a Missionary and a Malagasy. 
 
 The General Committee of the Union consists of all the Mission- 
 aries of the L.M.S., F.F.M.A., and Paris Mission, the Pastors of 
 the City Churches, one other representative of each Church in the 
 Capital, and representatives from each District, usually appointed 
 at the four monthly District Meetings, and varying in number 
 according to the number of Churches in any given District. This 
 General Committee meets quarterly, and, in addition to the election 
 of the Chairman of the Union for the year, it decides what subjects 
 shall be discussed at the great Meeting of Delegates, appoints 
 those who shall prepare and read papers on those subjects, con- 
 siders the Executive Committee's Reports and recommendations 
 both of a general character and relating to the business of the 
 Native Missionary Society, and generally arranges all the business 
 for the great Assembly. 
 
 The Executive Committee. The General Committee elects by 
 ballot from among its members those who form the Executive 
 Committee, consisting of a limited number of Missionaries, and 
 the most trusted native leaders, residing in or near the Capital, 
 who can easily be called together to deal with emergencies, inter- 
 view Candidates for Missionary Service, and arrange all details 
 for the consideration of the General Committee. 
 
 The Executive Committee reports to the General Committee, 
 and the General Committee to the Assembly, whose vote finally 
 confirms all business.
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 (See p. 24) 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 
 
 1. This Church is called the Nippon Sei Kokwai (Holy Catholic 
 Church of Japan). 
 
 2. The Nippon Sei Kokwai accepts the Scriptures of the Old 
 and New Testament, and believes them, as given by inspiration of 
 God, to contain all things necessary to salvation, and professes 
 the Faith as summed up in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' 
 Creed. 
 
 3. The Nippon Sei Kokwai teaches the Doctrine which Christ 
 our Lord commanded, and ministers the two Sacraments of 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper which He Himself ordained, and 
 also His Discipline. 
 
 4. The Nippon Sei Kokwai maintains the three orders of Bishop, 
 Priest, and Deacon which have been transmitted from the times 
 of the Apostles. 
 
 5. The Nippon Sei Kokwai holds a General Synod in every third 
 year, the date and place of meeting being determined by the 
 Bishops. The Bishops may also, after consulting with the Stand- 
 ing Committees of the several Districts, summon a special session 
 of the General Synod. 
 
 6. The General Synod is composed of the Bishops, and of 
 Clerical and Lay Delegates elected from each District. The method 
 of election shall be determined by Canon. 
 
 7. The President of the General Synod is elected by the Bishops 
 holding actual jurisdiction from among their own number. 
 
 8. In the General Synod the Bishops vote separately ; the 
 Clerical and Lay Delegates may vote either separately or com- 
 jpintly. Questions shall be determined by a majority of the 
 Bishops, and a majority of the Clerical and Lay Delegates. 
 
 9. The functions of the General Synod are as follows : 
 
 (1) The determination of matters that concern the welfare 
 
 and progress of the Nippon Sei Kokwai. 
 
 (2) The formation of a Society for Domestic and Foreign 
 
 Missions, and the control of the same. 
 
 (3) The amendment of the Constitution and Canon. 
 
 10. Proposals to amend the Constitution must first be brought 
 forward in a regular session of the General Synod, and receive 
 its assent, and then be passed by a two-thirds vote in the next 
 regular session of the Synod. 
 
 (There are in addition fourteen Canons.) 
 COM. II. 19
 
 APPENDIX E 
 
 (See p. 24) 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE ANGLICAN 
 COMMUNION IN CHINA AND HONG KONG, HELD IN 
 SHANGHAI, MARCH 27 TO APRIL 6, 1909 
 
 RESOLUTIONS I. AND II. ORGANISATION OF THE ANGLICAN 
 COMMUNION IN CHINA 
 
 Preamble 
 
 We, Bishops, Clergy, and Laity of the Holy Catholic Church, 
 representing the various Dioceses and Missionary Districts estab- 
 lished in China and Hong Kong by the Church of England and by 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, 
 in accepting the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and 
 believing them to contain all things necessary to salvation, and to 
 be the ultimate standard of faith, 
 
 professing the Faith as summed up in the Nicene Creed and the 
 Apostles' Creed, holding to the Doctrine which Christ our Lord 
 commanded, and to the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's 
 Supper which He Himself ordained, and accepting His Discipline, 
 according to the Commandments of God, 
 
 maintaining the ministry of the Church which we have received 
 through the Episcopate in the three orders of Bishops, Priests, and 
 Deacons, which orders have been in Christ's Church from the time 
 of the Apostles, 
 
 being here assembled in conference in ou this 
 
 . . . day of in the year of our Lord . . . 
 
 hereby agree to constitute a Synod which shall be called the General 
 Synod of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (Church of China), and 
 to this end set forth and establish the following : 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE GENERAL SYNOD 
 
 Article I. General Synod 
 
 The General Synod of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui shall be 
 composed of the Bishops of that Church and of clerical and lay 
 delegates elected by each Diocese or Missionary District. 
 
 280
 
 APPENDIX E 291 
 
 Article II. Form of the Synod 
 
 The General Synod shall consist of two Houses, the House of 
 Bishops and the House of Delegates, which shall meet separately, 
 or, by mutual agreement, together. 
 
 Article III. Officers of the Synod 
 
 Each House shall elect its own Chairman from among its 
 members : the Chairman of the House of Bishops shall preside at all 
 joint meetings of the two Houses ; the other officers of the Synod 
 shall be appointed in accordance with the provision made by 
 Canon. 
 
 A rticle IV. Voting 
 
 No Act or Resolution of the General Synod shall be valid unless 
 passed by a majority in both Houses. 
 
 A vote by orders in the House of Delegates may be claimed as 
 provided for by Canon ; and when so claimed, a majority in each 
 Order shall be necessary to the passing of any Act or Resolution in 
 that House. 
 
 A rticle V . Functions of the Synod 
 
 The Functions of the General Synod shall be as follows : 
 ( r ) The enactment of Canons and the amendment of the same 
 .and the amendment of the Constitution : 
 
 (2) The determination of matters that may be submitted to the 
 General Synod by Diocesan Bishops or Synods : 
 
 (3) The determination of other matters touching the general 
 welfare of the Chung Hua Sheng Hung Hui. 
 
 Article VI. Amendment of Constitution 
 
 Proposals to amend this Constitution must first be brought 
 forward in a regular meeting of the General Synod and receive the 
 assent of both Houses. They must then be brought forward again 
 at the next ensuing regular meeting of the Synod, and be passed by 
 a two-thirds majority in both Houses. 
 
 A rticle VII. Meetings of the Synod 
 
 The General Synod shall meet every third year : the date and 
 place of its meeting shall be determined by the Synod before the 
 close of each meeting. 
 
 The Chairman of the House of Bishops, with the advice and 
 consent of the Standing Committee, may summon a special meeting 
 of the Synod. 
 
 CANONS OF THE GENERAL SYNOD 
 
 CANON I. OF THE METHOD OF THE ELECTION OF DELEGATES OF 
 THE GENERAL SYNOD 
 
 Each Diocese or Missionary District shall be at liberty to send 
 lour of its clergy and four of its laity as Delegates to the General
 
 292 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Synod. Such Delegates shall be elected by the several Diocesan 
 Synods or Conference in accordance with the following regula- 
 tions : 
 
 (1) Each Diocesan Synod or Conference shall prescribe the 
 manner in which its Delegates shall be elected. 
 
 (2) No clergyman or layman shall be sent as a Delegate to the 
 General Synod unless he is a communicant in good standing of the 
 Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui, and has made and signed a promise 
 of conformity to the Constitution and Canons of the General 
 Synod of that Church as provided for in Form i attached to this 
 Canon. 
 
 (3) After the election has taken place, each elected Delegate 
 shall receive a Certificate of his election (see Form 2 attached to 
 this Canon) duly stamped and signed, and the Secretary of the 
 Diocesan Synod or Conference shall send a list of the Delegates 
 elected to the Secretary of the House of Delegates. 
 
 (4) Each Delegate shall hand the certificate of his election to the 
 Secretary of the House of Delegates before the ensuing meeting of 
 the Synod, and no Delegate shall take his seat in the General Synod 
 until the Secretary has reported that his election has been duly 
 certified. 
 
 Form i. Declaration of Conformity 
 
 I do hereby solemnly promise to conform 
 
 to the Constitution and Canons of the General Synod of the Chung 
 Hua Sheng Kung Hui. 
 
 Signed . 
 
 The above declaration has been made and signed on the . . . 
 
 day of 
 
 Certified 
 
 Secretary of the Diocesan Synod (or Conference). 
 
 Form 2. Certificate of Election 
 
 This is to certify that was duly elected 
 
 on the day of at the Synod (or 
 
 Conference) of the Diocese (or Missionary District) of 
 
 as a clerical (or lay) Delegate of the Diocese for the next ensuing 
 meeting of the General Synod of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui. 
 
 Signed . 
 
 Bishop, 
 seal or stamp 
 
 Secretary of the Diocesan Synod (or Conference). 
 
 CANON II. OF THE OFFICERS OF THE GENERAL SYNOD 
 
 The officers of the General Synod shall be as follows : 
 
 (1) The Chairmen of the two Houses : as provided for in the 
 Constitution (Article III.). 
 
 (2) Two Secretaries : each House shall elect its own Secretary at
 
 APPENDIX E 293 
 
 its first Session. Each Secretary shall hold office until the next 
 meeting of the Synod, and may be re-elected. 
 
 (3) The Treasurer of the General Synod : who shall be elected by 
 the House of Delegates, subject to the approval of the House of 
 Bishops. He shall hold office until the next regular meeting, and 
 may be re-elected. 
 
 (4) Recording Secretaries : to be elected by each House to hold 
 office during the current meeting, and to keep a record of pro- 
 ceedings in Chinese and in English. Such Recording Secretaries 
 need not be members of the Synod. 
 
 (5) The Standing Committee : to be constituted as follows : 
 Ex officio : 
 
 The Chairman of the House of Bishops, who shall be Chairman 
 
 of the Committee. 
 
 The Chairman of the House of Delegates. 
 The Secretaries of the General Synod. 
 The Treasurer of the General Synod. 
 Elected : 
 
 One Bishop elected by the House of Bishops. 
 One clergyman elected by the House of Delegates. 
 One layman elected by the House of Delegates. 
 The Standing Committee so constituted shall hold office until 
 the election of successors at the next regular meeting of the General 
 Synod. 
 
 It shall act as the Executive Committee of the Synod during the 
 interval between meetings, and shall attend to all matters com- 
 mitted to it by the General Synod. 
 
 II 
 
 I. That the Preamble, Constitution, and Canons of the 
 General Synod adopted by this Conference are provisional, and that 
 they be now referred to the Diocesan Synods or Conferences ; and 
 also to the authorities of the Church of England, the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the Church 
 of England in Canada, for provisional sanction. 
 
 2. That a Chinese translation of the Preamble, Constitution, 
 and Canons adopted be made by a committee elected by this Confer- 
 ence, and that this translation, together with the English version 
 adopted by this Conference, be preferred to the Diocesan Synods 
 or Conferences for their consideration. 
 
 3. That this Chinese translation shall form the basis of dis- 
 cussion at the next meeting of this Conference. 
 
 (Here follow Resolutions III.-XXIV.)
 
 APPENDIX F 
 
 (See p. 25) 
 
 CONFESSION OF FAITH AND CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 CHURCH OF CHRIST IN JAPAN 
 
 CONFESSION OF FAITH 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ, whom we worship as God, the only 
 begotten Son of God, for us men and for our salvation was made 
 man and suffered. He offered up a perfect sacrifice for sin ; and 
 all who are one with Him by faith are pardoned and accounted 
 righteous ; and faith in Him working by love purifies the heart. 
 
 The Holy Ghost, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped 
 and glorified, reveals Jesus Christ to the soul ; and without His 
 grace man being dead in sin cannot enter the kingdom of God. By 
 Him the prophets and apostles and holy men of old were inspired ; 
 and He speaking in the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testa- 
 ments is the supreme and infallible judge in all things pertaining 
 unto faith and living. 
 
 From these Holy Scriptures the ancient Church of Christ drew 
 its confession ; and we holding the faith once delivered to the 
 saints, join in that confession with praise and thanksgiving : 
 
 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and 
 Earth. 
 
 And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord ; who was conceived 
 by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under 
 Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, He descended into 
 Hades ; the third day He rose from the dead ; He ascended into 
 Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; 
 from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 
 
 I believe in the Holy Ghost ; the Holy Catholic Church ; the 
 communion of saints ; the forgiveness of sins ; the resurrection of 
 the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN. 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 A rticle I. The Church Invisible 
 
 God is gathering out of every nation a great multitude, in which 
 throughout the ages He will show forth the exceeding riches of His 
 grace and wisdom. This is the Church of the living God, the body 
 of Christ, the temple of the Holy Ghost, the fulness of Him that 
 
 394
 
 APPENDIX F 295 
 
 filleth all in all. As this innumerable company is made up of 
 the saints of all lands and ages, it is called the Holy Catholic 
 Church ; and since the members thereof are certainly known only 
 to Him who knoweth the heart, it is called also the Church 
 Invisible. 
 
 Article II. The Church Visible 
 
 The Catholic Church Visible is the whole body on earth calling 
 itself Christian and acknowledging the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost, one God blessed for evermore. 
 
 Article III. Particular Churches 
 
 A particular church is composed of such members of the Catholic 
 Church Visible as unite under some form of government, for the 
 worship of God, holy living, and the extension of the kingdom of 
 Christ. 
 
 Article IV. Local Churches 
 
 A local church is a company of members of a particular church 
 regularly organised and assembling statedly for public worship. 
 
 Article X Representative Assemblies 
 
 The Church of Christ in Japan administers government through 
 sessions, presbyteries, and a synod. All powers not granted in 
 the Constitution and Canons to these assemblies, or to the deacons, 
 are exercised by the churches. 
 
 A rticle XI. Sessions 
 
 The session is composed of the pastor (or pastors) and the elders 
 of a church. To the session belongs the care of the church. It 
 therefore examines and admits persons to the communion of the 
 church ; grants and receives letters of transfer and dismission ; 
 exercises discipline in accordance with the Constitution, Canons 
 and Confession of Faith ; provides for the preaching of the Word 
 and the administration of the sacraments when the church is 
 without a pastor ; has the care of the Sunday School and of all 
 evangelistic work carried on by the church ; and appoints elders 
 to the presbytery. 
 
 Article XII. Presbyteries 
 
 The presbytery is composed of all the ministers and one elder 
 from each session within a certain district. Sessions of churches 
 having three hundred members in full communion may appoint 
 two elders. Those ministers only may vote who are pastors, 
 evangelists or teachers. To the presbytery belongs the care 
 of the sessions, churches, ministers, lay preachers, and companies 
 of believers not organised as churches, within its bounds. It 
 therefore organises, transfers, unites, admits, dismisses, and 
 disbands churches ; ordains, retires, transfers, admits, dismisses, 
 and disciplines ministers ; installs and releases pastors ; licenses,
 
 206 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 retires, transfers, admits, dismisses, and disciplines lay preachers ; 
 reviews the records of sessions ; gives counsel and aid to sessions, 
 churches, and unorganised companies of believers ; decides 
 references and appeals regularly presented ; maintains order ; 
 carries on evangelistic work ; and appoints representatives to 
 the Synod. 
 
 Article XIII. The Synod 
 
 The Synod is composed of representatives appointed by the 
 presbyteries. Each presbytery shall appoint one minister and 
 one elder for every three churches within its bounds. The Synod 
 is the representative and counsellor of the Church of Christ in 
 Japan, and to it belongs the general care of all its work and interests. 
 It therefore organises, unites, and disbands presbyteries, fixes 
 their bounds, and reviews their records ; decides references and 
 appeals regularly presented ; interprets the Constitution, Canons 
 and Confession of Faith ; and maintains order throughout the 
 presbyteries and the churches. The Synod may also appoint 
 boards of home and foreign missions, and may undertake the care 
 of theological and other Christian schools and colleges. 
 
 Canon VII. Ordination of Ministers 
 
 1. Ordination is the solemn setting apart of a person to an office 
 in the church. 
 
 2. Ordinarily a candidate for the ministry shall be a graduate 
 of some theological school recognised by the presbytery. 
 
 3. Careful enquiry shall be made of the candidate touching his 
 religious life and the motives leading him to seek the office of 
 minister. He shall then be proved by a thorough examination 
 in the Old and the New Testaments ; in the various parts of 
 theology ; in the history of the Church, including that of this 
 church ; and in church government, particularly as exhibited in 
 the Constitution and Canons. He shall present a critical exposi- 
 tion in writing of some passage in the Scriptures, and he may 
 be required to preach a sermon. Ordinarily the text for the sermon 
 and the passage for exposition shall be assigned by the moderator. 
 A presbytery may conduct the various parts of the examination 
 at different times, and may omit entirely such parts as the clerk 
 of another presbytery shall certify as already approved. 
 
 4. The examination having been approved by the presbytery, 
 the candidate shall publicly declare his sincere acceptance of the 
 Constitution, Canons and Confession of Faith ; and shall promise 
 faithfully to perform all his duties as a minister of the Church of 
 Christ in Japan. 
 
 5. The ministers present shall lay their hands upon his head, 
 and the moderator or some minister appointed by him shall offer 
 the prayer of ordination. 
 
 6. The presbytery may appoint a committee to conduct the 
 ordination service. 
 
 (There are fourteen Articles in all, followed by twenty-five 
 Canons.)
 
 APPENDIX G 
 
 (See p. 25) 
 
 CONFESSION OF FAITH AND CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN INDIA 
 
 CONFESSION OF FAITH 
 
 Preamble 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in India adopting the following as its 
 Confession of Faith, to be subscribed by ministers, licentiates, and 
 elders, does not thereby reject any of the doctrine standards of the 
 parent Churches, but, on the contrary, commends them especi- 
 ally the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Welsh Calvinistic 
 Confession of Faith, and the Confession and Canons of the Synod 
 of Dort as worthy exponents of the Word of God, and as systems 
 of doctrine to be taught in our churches and seminaries. 
 
 Article I 
 
 The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of 
 God, and the only infallible rule of faith and duty. 
 
 Article II 
 
 There is but one God, and He alone is to be worshipped. He is 
 a Spirit, self-existent, omnipresent yet distinct from all other 
 spirits and from all material things ; infinite, eternal, and un- 
 changeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, good- 
 ness, truth and love. 
 
 Article III 
 
 In the Godhead there are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in sub- 
 stance, equal in power and glory. 
 
 Article IV 
 
 All things visible and invisible were created by God by the word 
 of His power, and are so preserved and governed by Him, that 
 while He is no way the author of sin, He worketh all things accord- 
 ing to the counsel of His will, and they serve the fulfilment of His 
 wise and good and holy purposes.
 
 298 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Article V 
 
 God created man, male and female, after His own image, in 
 knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the 
 creatures. All men have the same origin, and are brethren. 
 
 Article VI 
 
 Our first parents, being free to choose between good and evil, and 
 being tempted, sinned against God ; and all mankind descending 
 by ordinary generation from Adam, the head of the race, sinned 
 in him and fell with him. To their original guilt and corruption, 
 those capable of so doing have added actual transgressions. All 
 justly deserve His wrath and punishment in this present life and in 
 that which is to come. 
 
 Article VII 
 
 * To save men from the guilt, corruption, and penalty of sin, and to 
 give them eternal life, God in His infinite love sent into the world 
 His eternal and only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom 
 alone God has become incarnate and through whom alone men 
 can be saved. The eternal Son became true man and so was and 
 continueth to be true God and true man, in two distinct natures and 
 one person for ever. He was conceived by the power of the Holy 
 Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, yet without sin. For sinful 
 men He perfectly obeyed the law of God, and offered Himself a 
 true and perfect sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile 
 men to God. He died on the cross, was buried, and rose again from 
 the dead on the third day. He ascended to the right hand of God, 
 where He maketh intercession for His people, and whence He shall 
 come again to raise the dead and to judge the world. 
 
 Article VIII 
 
 The Holy Spirit who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, 
 maketh men partakers of salvation, convincing them of their sin 
 and misery, enlightening their minds in the knowledge of Christ, 
 renewing their wills, persuading and enabling them to embrace 
 Jesus Christ, freely offered to them in the Gospel, and working in 
 them all the fruits of righteousness. 
 
 Article IX 
 
 While God chose a people in Christ before the foundation of the 
 world, that they should be holy and without blemish before Him 
 in love ; having foreordained them unto adoption as sons through 
 Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His 
 will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely 
 bestowed on them in the Beloved ; He maketh a full and free offer 
 of salvation to all men, and commandeth them to repent of their 
 sins, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and to 
 live a humble and holy life after His example and in obedience to
 
 APPENDIX G 299 
 
 God's revealed will. Those who believe in Christ and obey Him 
 are saved, the chief benefits which they receive being justification, 
 adoption into the number of the sons of God, sanctification through 
 the indwelling of the Spirit, and eternal glory. Believers may 
 also in this life enjoy assurance of their salvation. In His gracious 
 work the Holy Spirit useth the means of grace, especially the word, 
 sacraments, and prayer. 
 
 Article X 
 
 The sacraments instituted by Christ are Baptism and the Lord's 
 Supper. Baptism is the washing with water in the name of the 
 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and is a sign and 
 seal of our union to Christ, of regeneration and renewing of the 
 Holy Spirit, and of our engagement to be the Lord's. It is to be 
 administered to those who profess their faith in Christ and to their 
 children. 
 
 The Lord's Supper is the partaking of the bread and of the cup 
 as a memorial of Christ's death and is a sign and seal of the benefits 
 thereof to believers. It is to be observed by His people till He 
 come, in token of their faith in Him and His sacrifice, of their 
 appropriation of its benefits, of their further engagement to servo 
 Him, and of their communion with Him and with one another. 
 The benefits of the sacraments are not from any virtue in them, 
 or in him that doth administer them, but only from the blessing of 
 Christ and the working of His Spirit in them that by faith receive 
 them. 
 
 Article XI 
 
 It is the duty of all believers to unite in Church fellowship, to 
 observe the sacraments and other ordinances of Christ, to obey 
 His laws, to continue in prayer, to keep holy the Lord's Day, to 
 meet together for His worship, to wait upon the preaching of His 
 word, to give as God may prosper them, to manifest a Christlike 
 spirit among themselves and towards all men, to labour for the 
 extension of Christ's kingdom throughout the world, and to wait 
 for His glorious appearing. 
 
 Article XII 
 
 At the last day the dead shall be raised, and all shall appear 
 before the judgment-seat of Christ , and shall receive according to the 
 deeds done in this present life whether good or bad. Those who 
 have believed in Christ and obeyed Him shall be openly acquitted 
 and received into glory ; but the unbelieving and wicked, being 
 condemned, shall suffer the punishment due to their sins. 
 
 FORM OF ACCEPTANCE 
 
 I receive and adopt the Confession of Faith of this Church as 
 based on and iu accord with the Word of God ; and I declare it to 
 be the confession of my faith. 
 
 Note. In administering this test the Courts of the Church
 
 300 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 exercise the discretion and charity that are required by the Word 
 of God and demanded by the interests of the Church. 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 Article I. The Church Invisible 
 
 God is gathering out of every nation a great multitude, in which 
 throughout the ages He will show forth the exceeding riches of His 
 grace and wisdom. This is the Church of the living God, the body 
 of Christ, the temple of the Holy Ghost, the fulness of Him that 
 lilleth all in all. As this innumerable company is made up of the 
 saints of all lands and ages, it is called the Holy Catholic Church ; 
 and since the members thereof are certainly known only to Him 
 who kuoweth the heart, it is called also the Church Invisible. 
 
 Article II. The Church Visible 
 
 The Catholic Church Visible is the whole body on earth calling 
 itself Christian and acknowledging the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost, one God blessed for evermore. 
 
 A rticle III. Particular Churches 
 
 A particular church is composed of such members of the Catholic 
 Church Visible as unite under some form of government, for the 
 worship of God, holy living, and the extension of the kingdom of 
 Christ. 
 
 Article IV. Local Churches 
 
 A local church is a company of members of a particular church 
 regularly organised and assembling statedly for public worship. 
 
 Article V. Worship 
 
 On the Lord's Day all the people shall assemble for the worship 
 of God. Among the ordinances of worship are prayer, praise, 
 the reading and preaching of the Word, the administration of the 
 sacraments, the offering of gifts, and the benediction. The sacra- 
 ments are Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which should be dis- 
 pensed by a minister except in extreme cases. 
 
 Article VI. Officers 
 
 The permanent officers of the Church are of two orders Elders 
 and Deacons. 
 
 Article VII. Elders 
 
 Elders are of two classes (a) the teaching and ruling elders, 
 generally termed " Minister," and (b) the ruling elder, generally 
 termed " Elder."
 
 APPENDIX G 301 
 
 Ministers are officers regularly set apart by ordination for the 
 preaching of the Gospel of Christ, the administration of the 
 sacraments, and the government of the Church. Ministers 
 installed over one or more Churches are called pastors ; those 
 appointed by a presbytery l to evangelistic work are called 
 evangelists. 
 
 Elders are representative officers set apart by ordination to join 
 with the pastor in the spiritual care and government of the Church. 
 They shall be male members in full communion. 
 
 Article VIII. Deacons 
 
 Deacons are officers set apart by ordination to join with the 
 pastor in the care of the poor and the administration of the finances. 
 They shall be male members in full communion. In Churches 
 which do not elect deacons, the functions of the office shall be 
 performed by the elders. While the care of the finances shall 
 ordinarily lie with the deacons, the elders shall sit with them in 
 council, with full voting powers, the body thus composed being 
 known as the financial board. 
 
 Article IX. Licentiates 
 
 Licentiates are men regularly licensed by a presbytery to preach 
 the Gospel. They shall labour under the direction of the presby- 
 tery or of such ministers as the presbytery shall appoint to oversee 
 them. 
 
 Article X. Church Courts 
 
 The Church administers government through sessions, presby- 
 teries, Synods, and a General Assembly. All powers not granted 
 in the Constitution and Canons to these courts, or to the deacons, 
 are exercised by the Churches. 
 
 Article XI. Sessions 
 
 The session is composed of the pastor (or pastors) and the elders 
 of a Church. To the session belongs the care of the Church. It 
 therefore examines and admits persons to the communion of the 
 Church ; grants and receives letters of transfer and dismission ; 
 exercises discipline in accordance with the Constitution, Canons 
 and Confession of Faith ; provides for the preaching of the Word 
 and the administration of the sacraments when the Church is 
 without a pastor ; arranges for the election of elders ; has the care 
 of the Sunday School and of all evangelistic work carried on by 
 the Church ; and appoints elders to the presbytery. Until a 
 Church is self-supporting there shall be, if desired by the mission 
 
 1 In the Constitution and Canon the words Presbytery and 
 Classis, and the words Session and Consistory are to be held as 
 synonymous, and may be used interchangeably.
 
 302 , THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 or 'presbytery which contributes to its support, a representative 
 (minister or elder) of that contributing body on the session and the 
 financial board. 
 
 Article XII. Presbyteries 
 
 The presbytery is composed of all the ministers and one elder 
 from each session within a defined district. Sessions of Churches 
 having three hundred members in full communion may appoint 
 two elders. To the presbytery belongs the care of the sessions, 
 Churches, ministers, lay preachers, and companies of believers 
 not organised as Churches within its bounds. It therefore organ- 
 ises, transfers, unites, admits, dismisses and disbands Churches ; 
 ordains, retires, transfers, admits, dismisses and disciplines 
 ministers ; installs and releases pastors ; licenses, retires, transfers, 
 admits, dismisses and disciplines licentiates ; superintends the 
 education of candidates for the ministry ; reviews the records 
 of sessions, gives counsel and aid to sessions, Churches, and un- 
 organised companies of believers ; decides references and appeals 
 regularly presented, transmits petitions and overtures to the 
 Synod or General Assembly ; deals with matters sent down by 
 superior courts ; maintains order ; carries on evangelistic work, 
 find appoints representatives to the Synod and General Assembly. 
 While ordained foreign missionaries and ministers would ordinarily 
 be expected to be full members of the presbyteries within whose 
 bounds they live, yet, owing to the objection of some Churches to 
 the severance of the connection which subsists between them 
 and their missionaries (Ordained Minister and Elders) who repre- 
 sent them, and also on account of the peculiar, varied, and tem- 
 porary position of foreign missionaries, each presbytery shall, 
 in conjunction with the Home Church or Churches concerned, 
 determine the nature of their relationship to the presbytery. 
 
 Article XIII. The Synod 
 
 The Synod is composed of representatives appointed by the 
 presbyteries. Each presbytery shall appoint one minister and 
 one elder for every two Churches or fraction thereof within its 
 bounds, and one missionary for every two missionaries or fraction 
 of two who are not pastors oi Churches. To the Synod belongs 
 the general care of all the work and interests of the presbyteries 
 within its bounds. It therefore organises, unites, divides and 
 disbands presbyteries, fixes their bounds and reviews their records ; 
 decides references and appeals regularly presented, and maintains 
 order throughout the presbyteries and the Churches. The Synod 
 may also appoint Boards of Home and Foreign Missions, and may 
 undertake the care of theological and other Christian schools and 
 colleges. 
 
 Article XIV. The General Assembly 
 
 The General Assembly is composed of representatives appointed 
 by the presbyteries. Each presbytery shall appoint one minister
 
 APPENDIX G 303 
 
 and one elder for every five Churches or fraction thereof within 
 its bounds, and one missionary for every five ordained mission- 
 aries (not otherwise reckoned) or fraction of five. To the General 
 Assembly belongs the general 'care of all the work and interests 
 of the united Church. It therefore organises, unites, divides 
 and disbands Synods, fixes their bounds and reviews their records ; 
 decides references and appeals regularly presented ; interprets 
 the Constitution, Canons and Confession of Faith, and maintains 
 order throughout the Church. The General Assembly may also 
 appoint Boards of Home and Foreign Missions, and may undertake 
 the care of theological and other Christian schools and colleges. 
 
 Article XV Amendment of the Constitution and Confession 
 of Faith 
 
 An amendment to the Constitution or the Confession of Faith 
 m ust first be recommended by a presbytery to the General Assembly. 
 The General Assembly may return the same to the presbytery that 
 recommended it ; or it may send it, either with or without amend- 
 ment, to the several presbyteries for decision . The vote in the presby- 
 teries shall be simply pro or con, and shall be taken at meetings 
 held not less than six months after the meeting of the General 
 Assembly. The clerks of the presbyteries shall forward to the 
 clerk of the General Assembly the number of votes pro and con. 
 If two-thirds of the entire number of votes cast be in favour of the 
 amendment, it shall become a part of the Constitution or Confes- 
 sion of Faith. 
 
 Canon VII. Ordination of Ministers 
 
 1. Ordination is the solemn setting apart of a person to an 
 office in the Church. 
 
 2. Ordinarily a candidate for the ministry shall have com- 
 pleted a course of study in some theological school recognised 
 by the presbytery. 
 
 3. Careful enquiry shall be made of the candidate touching 
 his religious life and the motives leading him to seek the office 
 of minister. He shall then be proved by an examination in the 
 Old and the New Testaments; in the various parts of theology; 
 in the history of the Church ; and in Church government, particu- 
 larly as exhibited in the Constitution and Canons. He shall 
 present a critical exposition in writing of some passage in the 
 Scriptures, and he may be required to preach a sermon. Ordin- 
 arily the text for the sermon and the passage for exposition shall 
 be assigned by the moderator. 
 
 4. The examination having been approved by the presbytery, 
 the candidate shall publicly declare his sincere acceptance of 
 the Constitution j and Canons, and of the Confession of Faith, in 
 terms of the formula appended thereto, and shall promise faith- 
 fully to perform all his duties as a minister of the Presbyterian 
 Church in India. 
 
 5. The ministers present shall lay their hands upon his head
 
 304 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 and the moderator or some minister selected by him shall read 
 the form and offer the prayer of ordination. 
 
 6. The presbytery may appoint a committee to conduct the 
 ordination service. 
 
 (There are twenty-seven Canons in all.) 
 
 There are seven Synods, namely: 
 
 1. South India. 5. North India. 
 
 2. Bombay and Central 6. Rajputana and Central 
 
 Provinces. India. 
 
 3. Bengal. 7. Punjab. 
 
 4. Assam.
 
 APPENDIX H 
 
 (See p. 25) 
 
 DECLARATION AND RESOLUTIONS OF UNION OF THE 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CHRIST IN CHINA 
 
 A. The delegates find as follows : 
 
 That we have been duly commissioned by the courts of the 
 Chinese Presbyterian Churches connected with the eight missions 
 named below, and that we are empowered by them to adjust and 
 consummate the plan of union submitted to them by the mission- 
 ary committee on Presbyterian Union ; the plan of union having 
 been generally approved by the Synods and Presbyteries. We 
 therefore are met at this time to effect the Union and transmit our 
 findings to all concerned. 
 
 B. We therefore declare : 
 
 1. That the several Churches which we represent agree in 
 holding the Word of God as contained in the Scriptures of the Old 
 and New Testaments to be the supreme rule of faith and life. 
 
 2. That the originating Churches have, as circumstances 
 required, drawn up and adopted several subordinate standards 
 of doctrine as Confessions of Faith, Cathecisms and other docu- 
 ments, to exhibit the sense in which they understand the Scriptures ; 
 and that these documents are the following : 
 
 Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The Westminster Confession 
 of Faith with slight revision, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. 
 
 Presbyterian Church in the U.S. The Westminster Confession 
 of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. 
 
 Reformed Church in America. The Belgic Confession, the 
 Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of the Synod of Dordrecht. 
 
 Presbyterian Church in Canada. The Westminister Confession 
 of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. 
 
 Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The Westminster Confession of 
 Faith. 
 
 Church of Scotland. The Westminster Confession of Faith. 
 
 United Free Church of Scotland. The Westminster Confession 
 Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms in the light of the 
 Declaratory Acts. 
 
 Presbyterian Church of England. The Westminster Confession 
 of Faith and the twenty-four Articles of Faith, with Appendix. 
 
 N.B. The independent Presbyterian Churches of Manchuria 
 and of Ainoy have also already adopted shorter creeds of their own 
 in harmony with the foregoing standards. 
 
 3. That iu view of the manifest consenus of these documents in 
 
 COM. II. 2O
 
 306 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 the great fundamental matters of faith, obedience, worship, and 
 polity, we rejoice to believe that the Chinese Presbyterian Churches 
 can heartily and with great advantage unite together in seeking 
 to advance the glory of God in the salvation of sinners and in the 
 planting and upbuilding of His Church. 
 
 4. That the Churches at present uniting are the Chinese Presby- 
 terian Churches connected with the missions of the above-named 
 parent Churches ; and that other Chinese Churches holding the 
 consensus of the Reformed Faith and the Presbyterian Polity will 
 be heartily welcomed in uniting in one Presbyterian Church of 
 China on the same footing ; and further, the united Church will 
 always hold itself ready to enter into conference with other 
 evangelical Churches with a view to union with them. 
 
 5. That while the documents enumerated above, under 2, are 
 binding on the Churches which have adopted them, and while they 
 are here referred to for the purpose of showing that in all essentials 
 there is a consensus of faith and practice among these several 
 Churches, in entering upon this union the distinctive subordinate 
 standards of any one Church are not necessarily adopted by the 
 others. 
 
 6. That the Presbyterian Church of China, being autonomous, 
 will have the prerogative of formulating its own standards ; but 
 these will, we believe, in the providence of God, and under the 
 teaching of His Spirit, be in essential harmony with the creeds of 
 the parent Churches. Until such standards are adopted, the 
 distinctive standards of each contracting party entering the union 
 shall be adhered to by that party. 
 
 7. The Westminster Shorter Catechism is commended to the 
 consideration of the Churches as being a brief digest of the leading 
 doctrines contained in the symbols of the contracting bodies. 
 
 C. In view of the decision come to by the Chinese Synods and 
 Presbyteries, and by the Assemblies and Synods of the originating 
 Churches, we further declare that the union of the Churches above 
 specified has now been duly approved by them ; and with humble 
 gratitude to God for His gracious guidance, we declare the union 
 of the Chinese Presbyterian Churches, as above specified, to be now 
 accomplished, and earnestly pray that the Head of the Church will 
 own it and use it for His own glory. 
 
 And in pursuance of this Union we further resolve as follows : 
 
 RESOLUTIONS 
 
 I. That the name of the united Church shall be " The Presby- 
 terian Church of Christ in China " (i.e. Chung Kwoh Ki Tu Sheng 
 Kiao Chang Lao Hui). 
 
 II. That the general opinion being in favour of postponing the 
 formation of a General Assembly, the Courts of the Church are 
 meanwhile as follows : 
 
 1. The Session. (Chang lao tu hui.) 
 
 2. The Presbytery. (Chang lao chung hui.) 
 
 3. The Synod. (Chang lao ta hui.) 
 
 . Local usage, which is not easily changed, may still be
 
 APPENDIX H 307 
 
 followed ; but in the records the official terms should be used for 
 the sake of uniformity. 
 
 III. That representation in these three Courts shall for the 
 present be on the following plan : 
 
 1 . The Session. Each Presbytery shall, under proper limitations, 
 determine the composition of Sessions within its bounds. 
 
 2. The Presbytery. The basis of representation in each Presby- 
 tery may remain as before the present union. 
 
 3. The Synod. The Synod consists of all Chinese ministers and 
 all missionaries, whether ministers or elders, having a seat in a 
 Presbytery within its bounds, together with one Chinese elder 
 from each session. Congregations having more than five hundred 
 members shall be entitled to be represented by two elders. 
 
 The Synods of the Church are for the present the following, viz.: 
 Kwantung (Manchuria) . . circ. I2,ooocomm. 
 Hwapei (North China) . . 8,050 
 
 Wusheng (Central China) . 
 Mingnan (S. Fukien) . 
 Tung Kwangtung (E. Kwangtung) 
 Si Kwangtung (W. Kwangtung) . 
 
 5,000 
 4,200 
 4,200 
 6,200 
 
 IV. That the Council of delegates which, under instructions 
 from the Presbyteries and Synods of the uniting Churches, met 
 in Shanghai on ipth April 1907, be recognised by the Courts of the 
 united Church as a permanent " bond of union, peace, correspond- 
 ence, and mutual confidence " among all their Churches, to be 
 continued with such changes in its organisation as may hereafter 
 be found necessary, until a General Assembly can be formed. 
 
 V. That this boclv shall be known as " The Council of the Presby- 
 terian Church of Christ in China." 
 
 VI. That the Council shall consist of ministers and elders, two 
 representatives from each Presbytery. 
 
 The Council, at any of its meetings, shall have power to associate, 
 as corresponding members without vote, any ministers or elders 
 from Presbyterian Churches not yet fully organised under Presby- 
 teries, or other Presbyterian ministers or elders, who may be present. 
 
 VII. That the term of office of representative members of 
 Council shall for the present be determined by each Synod in view of 
 local conditions ; and all vacancies arising from resignation or other- 
 wise shall be filled up by the Presbyteries and Synods as they occur. 
 
 VIII. That the officers of the Council shall be a Moderator, a 
 Chinese Permanent Clerk, a Chinese Recording Clerk, a foreign 
 Corresponding Secretary, and a Treasurer. 
 
 IX. That the ordinary duties of the Council shall be as follows : 
 
 1. To collect and preserve duly attested copies of the minutes, 
 statistics, and narratives of religion of all the Presbyteries and 
 Synods of the united Church, and to transmit one printed copy of 
 these records to the Stated Clerk of each Presbytery and Synod. 
 
 2. To collect, preserve, and transmit, in the same manner, copies 
 of all books of order or legislative or other documents of permanent 
 importance which may be issued from time to time by any of the 
 Synods of the Church. 
 
 3. To receive or initiate suggestions as to matters of common
 
 308 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 interest and importance and to transmit them to the several 
 Synods and Presbyteries for their consideration, with a view to 
 local or united action being taken upon them by the Synods and 
 Presbyteries, as they may judge necessary to the peace, welfare, 
 and purity of the Church. 
 
 M;X. Each meeting of Council shall, before adjournment, fix 
 the date of the next meeting ; and the Moderator and Correspond- 
 ing Secretary shall call a meeting upon a written request signed by 
 the Moderators and Stated Clerks of two or more Synods. In all 
 cases written notice of the date of meeting must be sent to all 
 Synod and Presbytery Stated Clerks not less than fifty days before 
 the date of meeting. 
 
 XI. Once annually the Council shall request the Synods of the 
 Church to provide such funds as may be required to meet the 
 working expenses of Council. These funds shall be received and 
 expended by the Treasurer of Council, who shall annually transmit 
 to the Clerks of each Synod a statement of account. Travelling 
 expenses of Chinese representative members of Council shall be 
 paid by the Presbyteries which they represent. 
 
 XII. We desire to express to our brethren of all other missions 
 and Churches in China our sense of the real unity that underlies our 
 differences, and our earnest desire that all branches of the Church 
 of Christ in China may ultimately come together in loyalty to truth 
 and devotion to our common Lord, in the manifested unity of the 
 body of Christ on earth. Recognising that existing differences of 
 ecclesiastical order and government, and other causes, prevent for 
 the present our expressing our unity in the vital doctrines of the 
 Gospel in the form of a common church organisation, we who are 
 of the Presbyterian order aim in the meantime at Presbyterian 
 union in no exclusive sense, but as the first step within our power 
 toward drawing together the various branches of the Church. We 
 shall continue to seek, by brotherly co-operation, to unite in 
 sympathy all branches of the Christian Church in China, earnestly 
 praying that all may be led into the unity of the Spirit, that fuller 
 union in work and organisation may naturally follow. 
 
 XIII. Whereas there is in the Christian Church in China to-day 
 a strong movement toward union of all denominations, which may 
 make it possible for Synods or Presbyteries belonging to this 
 Presbyterian Church of Christ in China to form local union with 
 the Churches of other denominations, therefore 
 
 Resolved, that this Council assures the Synods and Presbyteries 
 now entering into this union, of their liberty to enter into negotia- 
 tions for, and to consummate, local union with other Churches. 
 
 XIV. Finally, we now approve and confirm as a whole, the 
 Findings, Declaration and Resolutions set forth above, and instruct 
 the clerks to transmit them to the six Synods of the Church to be 
 sent down to the Presbyteries. We earnestly recommend that, in 
 order to the immediate efficacy of this Act of Union, the whole be 
 adopted and approved by all Presbyteries and Synods as they stand, 
 without amendments or alterations for the present ; and that any 
 admendments which are desired be afterwards proposed in due 
 form through Presbyteries and Synods and transmitted through 
 the Council for the judgment of the Synods and Presbyteries.
 
 APPENDIX I 
 
 (See p. 25) 
 
 DECLARATION AND PLAN OF UNION AND CONFESSION 
 OF FAITH OF THE SOUTH INDIA UNITED CHURCH 
 
 DECLARATION OF UNION 
 
 Whereas the Churches of the Madura and the Jaffna Missions 
 of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and 
 those of the South India District Committee and the Travancore 
 Mission of the London Missionary Society, in their organised 
 capacity as " The United Churches of South India and Ceylon," on the 
 one part ; and the Churches of the Arcot Mission of the Dutch 
 Reformed Church and those of the United Free Church Mission of 
 Madras in their organised capacity as " The South India Synod of the 
 Presbyterian Church," on the other part ; have determined for the 
 glory of God to unite organically into one body : 
 
 And whereas, in pursuance of this determination, the above two 
 bodies have agreed upon a common basis of union which has been 
 accepted by the Churches which they represent : 
 
 And whereas the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in India did at its meeting in Calcutta, December 28, 1907, 
 resolve to release its Synod of South India in order to become a 
 part of this Union : 
 
 Therefore, resolved that we, the duly appointed Representatives 
 of the two above-mentioned Bodies, under the authority vested in 
 us by our respective ecclesiastical organisations, being assembled 
 for the purpose of consummating the proposed Union, gratefully 
 acknowledging God's guidance in the past, and invoking His 
 blessing upon us at the present, do hereby constitute ourselves the 
 Provisional General Assembly of the South India United Church ; 
 and that as such we adopt as our own the following Plan of Union 
 and Confession of Faith : 
 
 PLAN OP UNION 
 
 I. Name. The South India United Church. 
 
 II. Object. To bind the Churches together into one body with 
 a view to developing a self-supporting, self-governing, and self- 
 propagating Indian Church, which shall present a united living 
 testimony to Christ, and worthily represent to the world the 
 Christian ideal. 
 
 309
 
 310 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 III. Confession of Faith. 
 
 Note. As the Confession is a human instrument, it is understood 
 that persons assenting to it do not commit themselves to every word or 
 phrase, but accept it as a basis of union, and as embodying substanti- 
 ally the vital truths held in common by the uniting Churches. 
 
 1. We believe in one God, who is a personal Spirit, the Creator, 
 Sustainer, and Governor of all things, infinite in love, wisdom, power, 
 holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. We acknowledge the mystery 
 of the Holy Trinity the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 
 
 2. We believe that God, who manifests Himself in Creation and 
 Providence, and especially in the spirit of man, has been pleased to 
 reveal His Mind and Will for our salvation in various ways with 
 ever-growing fulness, and that the record of this revelation, so far 
 as needful for our salvation, is contained in the Scriptures of the 
 Old and New Testaments, which are therefore to be devoutly 
 studied by all ; and we reverently acknowledge the Holy Spirit 
 speaking in the Scriptures to be the supreme Authority in matters 
 of faith and duty. 
 
 3. We believe that all men are made in the image of God, and are 
 brethren. We acknowledge that all have sinned and come short of 
 the glory of God, having in manifold ways offended against God's 
 good and holy law ; and that out of this condition no man is able to 
 deliver himself. 
 
 4. We believe that, to save man from the guilt and power of sin, 
 God the Father in His infinite love sent into the world His only- 
 begotten Son, who alone is the perfect incarnation of God, and 
 through whom alone men can be saved ; that the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, through words of grace, and through His perfect obedience, 
 even unto the death of the Cross, did reveal the Father ; and by 
 His life, death, and resurrection, did establish a way by which men 
 may obtain forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life ; that the 
 Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, maketh us partakers of 
 salvation, enlightening our minds, convincing us of our sins, per- 
 suading us to accept Jesus Christ, and working in us the fruits of 
 righteousness. 
 
 5. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has established a 
 Church for the realisation of the Kingdom of God, in which Church 
 all who follow Him in sincerity are members ; and that He 
 entrusted to the Church the duty of making known to all men the 
 Gospel of Salvation through His name. We also believe that He 
 instituted the ministry of the word, and the Sacraments of Baptism 
 and the Lord's Supper. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, 
 and in a judgment through Christ whereby all shall receive accord- 
 ing to the deeds done in the present life, whether good or bad. 
 
 Note. The South India United Church reserves to itself the 
 right to revise its general Confession of Faith whenever the consensus 
 of opinion of the United Body demands it. 
 
 IV. Constitution. 
 
 1. The South India United Church administers its affairs through 
 Local Churches, Church Councils, and a General Assembly. 
 
 2. Local Churches. A Local Church is a company of believers 
 regularly organised and assembling statedly for public worship.
 
 APPENDIX I 311 
 
 Its officers are a Pastor, set apart by ordination for preaching the 
 Gospel and administering the Sacraments, and Elders or Deacons 
 chosen by the Church, who with the Pastor constitute the Session 
 or Church Committee. To the Local Church belongs authority 
 to manage its own affairs either by the whole body of members, 
 or through its Session or Church Committee. It examines and 
 admits persons to the communion of the Church ; grants and 
 receives letters of transfer and dismissal ; exercises discipline ; 
 provides for the preaching of the word and for the administration 
 of the Sacraments when the Church is without a Pastor ; has the 
 care of the Sunday Schools and of all evangelistic work carried on 
 by the Church ; and appoints delegates to the Church Council. So 
 long as a Church has official connection with a Mission, the Mission 
 has the right to appoint a representative on the Session or 
 Church Committee. 
 
 3. Church Councils. A Church Council is composed of all the 
 ministers, and lay representatives of the Churches, within a denned 
 district. To the Church Council belongs the oversight and care 
 of the Churches within its bounds. It organises, disbands, and 
 recognises Churches ; ordains, installs, dismisses, and disciplines 
 ministers ; gives counsel and aid to Churches and unorganised 
 companies of believers ; decides references and appeals regularly 
 presented ; maintains order ; carries on evangelistic work ; and 
 appoints representatives to the General Assembly. 
 
 Each Church Council shall adopt its own system of rules, it 
 being understood that such rules shall not conflict with this general 
 scheme of union. Two or more adjacent Church Councils are at 
 liberty to form themselves into a Synod for mutual help and 
 effectiveness of work ; or for similar reasons a Church Council may 
 be divided into two or more Local Councils ; but in either case the 
 unit of representation in the General Assembly shall be the Church 
 Council, and not the Synod nor the Local Council. 
 
 4. General Assembly. The General Assembly, which shall meet 
 once in two years, is composed of representatives, ministers and 
 laymen, appointed by the Church Council, each Council being 
 entitled to one minister and one lay delegate for every three 
 regularly organised Churches. The General Assembly is the 
 representative body of the South India United Church, and its 
 counsellor. It assumes no authority per se over the Churches ; 
 but will consider references that come to it through and with the 
 approval of the Church Councils. Its general duties are : to 
 advise regarding the organisation and boundaries of Church 
 Councils, and to decide all matters referred to it by such Councils ; 
 to co-operate with the Missions in carrying on evangelistic and 
 other Christian work ; to unite in cordial fellowship all the 
 ministers of the Churches, and promote their intellectual and 
 spiritual development ; to tabulate statistics of the Churches and 
 publish a biennial report ; to devise ways and means for strengthen- 
 ing and advancing the interests of the whole Church. 
 
 Note. This Constitution may be amended by a vote of two-thirds 
 of the Church Councils connected with the Assembly. An amendment 
 must first be recommsnded to the Assembly bv one or more Councils.
 
 APPENDIX J 
 
 (See p. 35) 
 
 INSTANCES OF STEPS TAKEN AT VARIOUS 
 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS CO- 
 OPERATION AND UNITY 
 
 I. AT AN ELEMENTARY STAGE; VOLUNTARY CO- 
 OPERATION BY A GROUP OF MISSIONARIES. 
 
 CHINA INLAND MISSION AND CHURCH MISSIONARY 
 SOCIETY, TAICHOW. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF A UNITED CONFERENCE OF C. I. M. 
 AND C. M. S. MISSIONARIES WORKING IN THE 
 TAICHOW PREFECTURE, CHEKIANG, CHINA, HELD 
 IN TAICHOW CITY, OCTOBER JTH AND 8iH 1909 
 
 1. That we the Missionaries of the C. I. M. and C. M. S. in 
 Taichow, professing the faith in one God and Father of 
 us all, in one Lord Jesus Christ, and in one Holy Spirit ; holding 
 to the teaching of Christ our Lord, and to the Sacraments of 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper which He ordained ; accepting 
 the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and believing them 
 to contain all things necessary to Salvation ; do truly desire and 
 pray that a fuller Christian unity may be obtained in respect to 
 the work and converts of our Missions. 
 
 2. To further this, we recommend that occasional (at least 
 annual, if possible) united meetings for prayer and waiting upon 
 God, be held for the Christains in convenient centres, and for 
 workers, in some important centre or centres. 
 
 3. That an Annual United Conference of the Foreign workers 
 of the two Missions be arranged. 
 
 4. A Chairman alternately of the C. M. S. and C. I. M. and two 
 Secretaries, one from each Mission, shall be elected at the close 
 of each Annual Conference, these officers to form an Executive 
 Committee for the convening of the Conference, and the trans- 
 action of other necessary business. 
 
 5. That Dr. S. N. Babington of the C. M. S. be Chairman for 
 the coming year, and Dr. J. A. Anderson of the C. I. M. and Rev. 
 T. Gaunt of the C. M. S. be the Secretaries. 
 
 312
 
 APPENDIX J 313 
 
 6. We express our fervent desire for unity in Church Organisa- 
 tion, and for the adoption of a common name for the Church, 
 so that the Christians may realise they are members of one 
 Church. 
 
 7. Realising that the present development to which the 
 Christian Church has attained in the Taichow Prefecture, forms 
 the nucleus of a future united Native Church ; but at the same time 
 realising the present danger of overlapping, and consequent waste 
 of evangelistic and pastoral force, we consider that the spheres of 
 work of the C. M. S. and C. I. M. in the Taichow Prefecture, ex- 
 cepting Ninghai county, be delimited by apportioning parts of the 
 field to each Mission. 
 
 8. That in the case of stations of one Mission remaining within 
 the district allotted to the other, while we realise that too precipi- 
 tate action may prejudice the interests of Christian progress, yet 
 \ve feel that every influence should be brought to bear to transfer 
 such stations, as soon as possible, to the spiritual care of the 
 Mission working in that district, especially in the case where the 
 two Missions have stations in the same place. 
 
 9. That the drafts of the Committees appointed by this Con- 
 ference to delimit the work of the two Missions in the different 
 counties, be given our general approval, and be recommended to 
 the earnest consideration of the Chinese brethren, and others to 
 whom they will be submitted. 
 
 10. That permanent stations may not be opened within five 
 li of the boundaries of allotted districts, except by mutual 
 consent. 
 
 n. That the final agreement about delimination be put into 
 both English and Chinese, and both copies be considered authori- 
 tative ; but in cases of dispute the Chinese shall be interpreted 
 by the English. 
 
 12. No Church Member of one Mission shall be admitted to 
 the membership of any Church of the other, except by regular 
 written transfer. 
 
 13. No excommunicated person of the one Mission shall be 
 admitted to the membership of any Church of the other, unless 
 he be re-admitted by his own Church, and transferred. 
 
 14. Children of Christians of the one Mission may be admitted 
 to schools of the other Mission, after due consultation, and mutual 
 consent of the Missionaries in charge. 
 
 15. We heartily desire that as in the case of some Churches in 
 the North and other parts of China, union may be effected in both 
 medical and educational work. 
 
 16. If difficulties arise between the two Missions which cannot 
 be settled locally, they shall be submitted to arbitration, in the 
 first instance to the Annual United Conference arranged for in 
 resolution 3. In cases of very urgent necessity a special meeting 
 of the United Conference may be called for this purpose. 
 
 17. Without the co-operation of our Chinese Christians our 
 arrangements must be ineffective, and it is necessary that the 
 consent of the native Churches be obtained ; therefore we shall 
 use our best endeavours, affectionately to urge our Dative Churches,
 
 314 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Pastors, and other native helpers to accept these agreements as 
 binding upon themselves as upon us. 
 Signed 
 
 W. D. RUDLAND, C. I. M. 1 T 4. /n. TT -j. j /- t 
 
 EDWARD THOMPSON, C. M. S. ) J omt Chairmen United Conference. 
 
 T. GAUNT, C. M. S. \ c 
 
 JOHN A. ANDERSON, C. I. M. | Sccret anes of Umted Conference. 
 
 2. AT A MORE ADVANCED STAGE; CO-OPERATION BY 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE ON CHURCH UNION 
 IN WEST CHINA. (CHENGTU, MAY 7 TO 13, 1909.) 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE 
 
 I. PROPOSED COMMON BASIS OF CONDITIONS FOR CHURCH 
 MEMBERSHIP 
 
 Preamble 
 
 While the conditions of entrance to Church membership outlined 
 in the following scheme fairly represent the present practice of the 
 various Missions and their Churches, with an exception with regard 
 to the condition of baptism, it is understood that, as a whole 
 statement, it does not apply until the ideal of one united Church is 
 attained. 
 
 Conditions of Entrance into the Church 
 
 A. Repentance. A. sincere and heartfelt sorrow for sin, with full 
 purpose of and endeavour after obedience to God. 
 
 B. Faith. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour, 
 as evidenced in newness of life and a godly walk and conversation, 
 and involving a knowledge of the main facts of the Christian faith 
 as embodied in the Scriptures. 
 
 Among other things we regard this as involving a complete 
 break with idolatry, ancestral worship, certain vegetarian vows, 
 and other superstitious practices ; abstention from the use, sale, 
 and growth of opium, gambling, drinking of alcoholic liquors, 
 immorality, and all dishonest practices ; withdrawal from all 
 harmful secret societies ; and, in the case of parents, willingness 
 not to bind their children's feet. 
 
 C. Obedience to the Spirit and Teaching of our Lord 
 (a) in regard to the individual life and conduct ; 
 
 (6) in regard to baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost ; 
 
 (c) in regard to a due observance of the Lord's Day ; 
 
 (d) in regard to aiding in the propagation of the Gospel.
 
 APPENDIX J 315 
 
 2. CERTIFICATE FOR TRANSFER OF CHURCH MEMBERS 
 .... 19 .. .... 19 .. 
 
 Name To 
 
 Recommended to . . . . Pastor Church. 
 
 Church This certifies that 
 
 By Pastor is a member in good 
 
 Date of return of Acknow- standing of the 
 
 ledgment slip Church, in 
 
 and is recommended to the fellowship of 
 
 the 
 
 Church in 
 
 As soon as the appended Acknowledg- 
 ment slip is returned to us, the relation of 
 above-mentioned member to this Church 
 will cease. 
 
 Perforate 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT SUP 
 
 .... 19 .. 
 
 To 
 
 Pastor of Church. 
 
 You are hereby notified that 
 
 has been duly 
 
 enrolled as a member of this Church upon 
 a Certificate issued from the Church of 
 which you are the 1'astor. 
 
 Signed , 
 
 3. PROPOSED DECLARATION OF FAITH 
 
 Preamble 
 
 Our bond of union consists in that inward and personal faith in 
 Jesus Christ as our Divine Saviour and Lord on which all our 
 Churches are founded ; and also in our acceptance of the Holy 
 Scriptures as the inspired source of our faith and the supreme 
 standard of Christian truth ; and, further, in our consent to that 
 substance of Christian doctrine which is common to the creeds of 
 the undivided Church and to the confessions which we have 
 inherited from the past. But we humbly depend, as did our fathers, 
 on the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all 
 truth. 
 
 Declaration of Faith 
 
 I. God. We believe in one God, the Father, the Creator and 
 Preserver of all things, a Spirit, Who is love, infinite, eternal, and 
 unchangeable in every excellence.
 
 316 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 2. The Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in God the Son, Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, Who became incarnate, and by His life and death 
 as a sacrifice for sin, revealed the perfect will of God, and became 
 the Saviour of the world. He rose from the dead, ascended into 
 heaven, and ever lives as the one Mediator between God and man, 
 and will come again to judge the world. 
 
 3. The Holy Spirit. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, Who 
 moves on the hearts of all men, convincing them of sin, restraining 
 them from evil, calling them to good, whom the Father is ever 
 willing to give to all who ask Him. He enlightens men's minds 
 in the knowledge of Christ, leads into all truth, imparts spiritual 
 life to all those who follow Christ, and are obedient to the divine 
 will, and enables them to bring forth fruit unto God. 
 
 4. Man. We believe that God created man in His own image 
 meet for fellowship with Himself, free and able to choose between 
 good and evil, and responsible to his Maker and Lord ; that 
 through disobedience to the will of God, he came under the power 
 of sin and death, from which he can be delivered only by the grace 
 of God in Jesus Christ. 
 
 5. Revelation. We believe that God reveals Himself in creation, 
 in history, and by the Holy Spirit, in the hearts of men, and that 
 He has perfectly revealed Himself in Jesus Christ our Lord. We 
 receive the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the 
 inspired record of God's gracious revelations to man, and as the 
 supreme rule of life and practice. 
 
 6. Salvation. We believe God pardons and accepts all those 
 who, on hearing the call of divine love, and truly repenting of their 
 sins, put their trust in Jesus Christ our Saviour, and that through 
 faith in Him, and obedience to the will of the Father, they are 
 renewed in spirit, and become assured of their sonship with God. 
 
 7. The Church. We believe in one Holy Catholic Church, con- 
 sisting of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and 
 loyally follow Him ; and we believe that this Church should exist 
 as a sacred brotherhood, for the worship of God, the unbuilding 
 of the saints, and for the universal proclamation of the Gospel of 
 Salvation through His name. 
 
 3. AT AN ADVANCED STAGE ; RESOLUTIONS OF CHINA 
 
 CENTENARY CONFERENCE, SHANGHAI, 1907. These 
 will be found in the Report of Commission VIII., Appendix H, 
 pp. 166-170; and are not reprinted here. 
 
 4. AT A STILL MORE ADVANCED STAGE. See above, 
 
 Appendices D, E, F, G, H, I.
 
 APPENDIX K 
 
 (See p. 38) 
 
 TREATMENT OF PROBLEM OF CO-OPERATION 
 BETWEEN CHURCH AND MISSION IN FIELDS 
 OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY 
 
 MEMORANDUM ON DEVELOPMENT OF CHURCH 
 ORGANISATION IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 1. The design and aim of the C. M. S. in the organisation of 
 the Native Christian communities in its Missions are sufficiently 
 set forth in the Memorandum of 1901 and the " Regulations " 
 of November 1905 (which include the Memorandum of 1901). 
 They are to prepare them to form, or to be an integral part of, 
 the duly constituted local Branch of the Anglican Communion. 
 
 2. The Memorandum of 1901 and the Regulations of 1905, 
 however, do not seem to set forth sufficiently the steps which may 
 be taken in the way of such preparation for the future duly- 
 constituted Church. To indicate the position at present reached 
 in C. M. S. Missions in reference to these steps, and to make some 
 suggestions as to the guiding principles to be observed for the 
 future in taking them, is the object of the present Memorandum. 
 
 3. In the earliest stages of a Mission, while the converts arc 
 few, the \vhole burden of both evangelistic and pastoral work 
 falls on the missionaries, and the Mission funds necessarily support 
 all the branches of it, paying the first native agents and pro- 
 viding schools, etc. When small congregations begin to be formed, 
 with native pastoral agents (ordained or unordained), they are 
 naturally taught to support, or to contribute to the support of, 
 the local ministrations, and to administer their own local church 
 affairs. This is done by forming church committees or councils, 
 sometimes one for each congregation, sometimes for each " pas- 
 torate," which may comprise several small congregations. They 
 should also from the very first be encouraged to take up some 
 distinctly evangelistic work, whether near at hand or in some 
 suitable place at a distance. 
 
 4. But meanwhile important branches of the Mission are, for 
 the time, being worked entirely apart from the Church Councils, 
 namely. Education (certainly the Higher, in some cases even the 
 elementary), Medical, Women's work, Literary work. Training 
 oi Agents, etc, 
 
 317
 
 5. Three desiderata, therefore, come into view at this stage of 
 development, not, however, to be sought separately, but on 
 some lines which may lead to all three : 
 
 (1) Further combination of Church Committees and Councils 
 
 for their strengthening and stability. 
 
 (2) Suitable co-operation or, in due course, combination, of 
 
 the remaining Mission organisation with the Church 
 Committees and Councils. This being specially im- 
 portant in view of its bearing on the status and employ- 
 ment of native workers, ordained as well as lay. 
 
 (3) The best available preparation, through the Church Com- 
 
 mittees, Councils, or otherwise, for the future admini- 
 stration of the diocese by its own Synod. 
 
 6. If at this stage it becomes possible to organise an admini- 
 strative Synod for the Diocese, such a step affords much guidance 
 in all that has subsequently to be done. 
 
 This event has already happened in some C. M. S. Missions. 
 In the case of N.-W. Canada and of New Zealand the adoption of a 
 complete Church Constitution has made clear the course for the 
 C. M. S. to follow. Also in Japan the provisional constitution of 
 the Nippon Sei Kokwai, and in Ceylon the constitution of a 
 diocesan Synod, has created a situation quite peculiar in each 
 case, and of such a nature as to limit very considerably the need 
 for further C. M. S. organisation. In each of these cases the Com- 
 mittee have recently considered the problems awaiting solution 
 and have made their suggestions for the next steps. 
 
 7. Again, in a number of dioceses in Africa and China, cases 
 where, almost without exception, the Church work to be organised 
 is the outcome of C. M. S. Missions only, the time for the constitu- 
 tion of a Synod seems to have arrived. A constitution has been 
 adopted for the diocese of W. Eq. Africa, and the Committee are 
 aware of proposals for a similar step in Uganda, in Sierre Leone, 
 in Fuh-Kien, and in Cheh-Kiang. 
 
 In other fields in Africa and in China the position seems only to 
 be that of waiting for the proper juncture for similar action ; 
 there is not likely to be any serious difficulty in following the 
 precedents already set. 
 
 8. In all these fields, therefore, the Committee have not only 
 the guidance afforded by tracing the growth and development 
 of C. M. S. work to its present stage ; they can also, to a large extent, 
 see the future to which the C. M. S. organisation must shape its 
 course. The provisions of the Diocesan Constitution will, in great 
 degree, solve such problems as the delimitation of the area to be 
 assigned to each District Council or equivalent authority ; the 
 functions, powers, and authority of such Councils in both matters 
 of finance and of administration ; the provision of duly unifying 
 central authorities, or one authority, able to take cognisance, if 
 not control, of all that goes on in the diocese ; and the training 
 in actual Church government of competent Native Christians. 
 
 9. It may generally, also, be expected that the constitution 
 of the Synod will lay down the lines upon which a solution may 
 be found of problems about the mutual relations of the foreign
 
 APPENDIX K 319 
 
 Missionary Society and the local Church authorities. Such solu- 
 tion will carry with it a settlement of the question whether or not, 
 or to what extent and on what method, there may have to be a 
 dual system of native agency, some agents being in the employ, 
 say, of the Synod or of the Councils, others, perhaps, still in that 
 of the " Mission." 
 
 10. It is not implied that these problems will in every field find 
 the same solution, circumstances being too variable for that to 
 be probable. But provided that all concerned are steadily working 
 towards the growth and consolidation of Church life under a well- 
 organised Synod, the varieties of organisation need not involve 
 any divergence of principle, and some elasticity is desirable. 
 
 11. In some few Missions it is evident that the time has not yet 
 come for the adoption of an administrative Synod, and, perhaps, 
 that nothing is yet needed beyond the stage indicated above in 
 paragraphs 3 and 4. This applies to the Missions in Egypt with 
 the Egyptian Sudan, in Turkish Arabia and in Persia, and, in the 
 main, to that ia Palestine. 
 
 12. But it will be obvious that some most important cases have 
 not yet been faced, namely, those of the Missions in India. In India, 
 for a number of reasons, there may be delay in the organisation 
 of administrative Synods. Consequently in the Indian Missions 
 there seems more reason than elsewhere for carrying to a further 
 stage a distinctive C. M. S. organisation, though such a further 
 stage must be looked upon as only a temporary provision pending 
 the constitution of a Synod. The Committee have, therefore, 
 been led to make the following suggestions tentatively, with a view 
 to their being considered in the several Missions in India, so that 
 further consideration may be given to them by the Parent Com- 
 mittee when remarks from the Missions have been received. 
 
 13. Is it not desirable that some kind of united Body should 
 sooner or later be formed, comprising both missionaries and 
 leading Native Christians (whether elected from the first, or for a 
 time nominated), which can take cognisance of all branches of 
 the work ? It need not administer them all. On the one hand, 
 the smaller Councils or Pastorate Committees should continue 
 reasonably independent ; on the other, several branches of the 
 Mission e.g., the medical, or an outlying evangelistic effort 
 would be practically independent. But this Body would hear 
 of all the work, care for it, pray for it, and the members would tell 
 their local constituents about it and so enlarge their minds and 
 sympathies. Such a Body might be differently constituted in 
 different Missions, in view of their widely differing circumstances. 
 In some cases there might be more than one Body in a diocese. 
 
 14. It would be needful to consider whether, and if so how, 
 District and Central Councils and Mission Conferences should 
 continue to exist in co-operation with the new Body ; but, in any 
 case, the aim should be to call forth by its means the fullest expres- 
 sion of corporate Church life which is attainable for the time 
 being. 
 
 15. One advantage of such a Body would be that th? leading 
 Dative Christians would learn important lessons in regard to
 
 320 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 methods of debate and of administration from contact with the 
 missionaries on equal terms, more effectively than in a Council 
 of their own presided over by a single missionary. Another 
 advantage would be that the missionaries on their part would be 
 in touch with local Church affairs. 
 
 16. If to this Body were further entrusted the financial direction 
 of the work, without prejudice to the reasonable independence of 
 the smaller Councils and Pastorate Committees referred to hi 
 paragraph 13, its value in preparing the Native Christians for 
 the future would be all the greater. C.. M. S. control would be 
 preserved by earmarking its grants, or some of them. Local 
 Church contributions, if gathered into one central fund, could also 
 come under a system of earmarking so far as nesessary. Such 
 systems would require careful working out in detail. Of course 
 all personal allowances to missionaries would be entirely outside 
 the purview of the Body. 
 
 17. In the earlier years of such a Body the missionaries would 
 no doubt possess a controlling influence. As the Local Councils 
 multiplied, the number and influence of the native members would 
 increase. Then: eventual predominance should be regarded as both 
 certain and desirable. 
 
 1 8. A further advantage of the formation of such a Body must 
 be added. The question of Native Agency would settle itself. 
 The agents might, of course, be attached to different branches 
 and departments. This or that local Council would require 
 some. The Hospital and the College would require some. Evan- 
 gelistic work in this and that district would require some. Rates 
 of pay might vary. Paymasters might vary. But the agents 
 ordained and unordained would realise, more than they can under 
 the present arrangements in some Missions, that they belong to 
 one service, the service of their own Church. 
 
 19. Such a Body would not be in a strict 'ecclesiastical sense 
 representative of the Church in the Diocese to which it belongs, 
 but it would represent for the time that part of the Anglican 
 Christian community which is connected with the C. M. S. within 
 the area covered, including both the Christians connected with the. 
 smaller local Church Councils or Pastorate Committees and those 
 still under the direct Mission administration. It would, in fact, 
 for many purposes, unite the " Mission " and the " Church." 
 
 This Report was confirmed by the General Committee of April 
 13. 1009.
 
 APPENDIX L 
 
 (See p. 72) 
 
 PRONOUNCEMENTS ON POLYGAMY 
 
 I. ANGLICAN. CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS AT LAMBETH 
 1888 AND 1908 
 
 (a) EXTRACT FROM ENCYCLICAL LETTER, 1888 
 
 Polygamy. The sanctity of marriage as a Christian obligation 
 implies the faithful union of one man with one woman until the 
 union is severed by death. The polygamous alliances of heathen 
 races are allowed on all hands to be condemned by the law of 
 Christ ; but they present many difficult practical problems which 
 have been solved in various ways in the past. We have carefully 
 considered this question in the different lights thrown upon it 
 from various parts of the mission field. While we have refrained 
 from offering advice on minor points, leaving these to be settled 
 by the local authorities of the Church, we have laid down some 
 broad lines on which alone we consider that the missionary may 
 safely act. Our first care has been to maintain and protect 
 the Christian conception of marriage, believing that any immediate 
 and rapid successes which might otherwise have been secured 
 in the mission field would be dearly purchased by any lowering 
 or confusion of this idea. 
 
 (6) RESOLUTIONS, 1888 
 
 5. (a) That it is the opinion of this Conference that persons 
 living in polygamy be not admitted to baptism, but that they 
 be accepted as candidates and kept under Christian instruction 
 until such time as they shall be in a position to accept the law 
 of Christ.* 
 
 [* Carried by 83 votes to 21.] 
 
 (b) That the wives of polygamists may, in the opinion of 
 this Conference, be admitted in some cases to baptism, but that 
 it must be left to the local authorities of the Church to decide 
 under what circumstances they may be baptised.* 
 
 [* Carried by 54 votes to 34.] 
 COM. II. 21
 
 322 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 (c) REPORT OF COMMITTEE, 1888 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE * APPOINTED TO CONSIDER THE 
 SUBJECT OF POLYGAMY OF HEATHEN CONVERTS 
 
 Your Committee have approached the consideration of the 
 subject submitted to them with an overwhelming sense of their 
 responsibilities ; inasmuch as the question intimately affects 
 the sanctity of marriage, and therefore lies at the root of social 
 morality. 
 
 After" considering various representations which have been 
 laid before them from divers quarters, they beg leave to report 
 as follows : 
 
 1. Your Committee desire to affirm distinctly that Polygamy 
 is inconsistent with the law of Christ respecting marriage. 
 
 2. They cannot find that either the law of Christ or the usage 
 of the early Church would permit the baptism of any man living 
 in the practice of polygamy, even though the polygamous alliances 
 should have been contracted before his conversion. 
 
 3. They are well aware that the change from polygamy to 
 monogamy must frequently involve great difficulty and even 
 hardship, but they are of opinion that it is not possible to lay 
 down a precise rule to be observed under all circumstances in 
 dealing with this difficulty. 
 
 They consequently think that the question of time and manner, 
 which must depend largely on local circumstances, can only be 
 determined by local authority. 
 
 4. Your Committee recommend that persons living in polygamy 
 should, on their conversion, be accepted as candidates for 
 Baptism, and kept under Christian instruction until such time 
 as they shall be in a position to accept the law of Christ. 
 
 They consider it far better that Baptism should be withheld 
 from such persons, while nevertheless they receive instruction 
 in the truths of the Gospel, than that a measure should be 
 sanctioned which would tend to lower the conception of the 
 Christian law of marriage, and thus inflict an irreparable wound 
 on the morality of the Christian Church in its most vital part. 
 
 5. The wives of polygamists may, in the opinion of the Com- 
 mittee, be admitted, in some cases, to Baptism ; inasmuch as 
 their position is materially different from that of the polygamist 
 husband. In most countries where polygamy prevails they 
 have no personal freedom to contract or dissolve a matrimonial 
 
 * Names of the Members of the Committee : 
 
 Bishop of Durham (Chairman). Bishop of The Niger. 
 
 Central Africa. Bishop Perry. 
 
 Chester. Bishop of Sierra Leone. 
 
 Exeter. ,, South Dakota. 
 
 Guiana. ,, Travancore. 
 
 London. ,, Waiapu. 
 
 Meath. Zululand. 
 
 Missouri,
 
 APPENDIX L 323 
 
 alliance ; and moreover they presumably do not violate the 
 Christian precept which enjoins fidelity to one husband. 
 
 6. In carrying into effect the principles here laid down, with 
 due regard to the dictates of love and justice, serious burdens 
 will in some cases be imposed on the Churches; but no trouble, 
 or cost, or self-sacrifice, ought to be spared to make any suffering 
 which may be caused as light and easy to bear as possible. 
 
 7. Difficult questions of detail which may arise in following 
 these recommendations must be left to the decision of the local 
 authorities of the Church, whether Diocesan or Provincial. 
 
 8. Throughout this Report polygamy has been taken to mean 
 the union of one man with several wives ; but among some 
 tribes the union of one woman with several husbands is a 
 recognised institution. It will be plain that no such union can be 
 recognised by the Church. 
 
 9. It has been represented to your Committee that heathen 
 marriages in many cases do not imply a mutual pledge of life- 
 long fidelity ; and instruction has been asked as to the mode 
 of dealing with such cases on the conversion of the contracting 
 parties, so as to impart a Christian character to the contract. 
 The Committee think it best to leave the local authorities of 
 the Church to determine in what way this end may be best 
 attained ; but they deprecate any course which would tend to 
 impair the validity (within their own sphere) of contracts under- 
 taken prior to conversion, so far as these contracts are not 
 inconsistent with the law of Christ. 
 
 10. In laying down the principles which should rule the admission 
 of Christian converts for the future, the Committee have no 
 intention of passing any censure on those who have decided 
 otherwise in the past ; and they desire to leave to individual 
 Bishops the responsibility of dealing with difficulties which may 
 arise in any part of the mission field from the adoption of a 
 different line of action heretofore by those in authority. 
 
 J. B. DUNELM, Chairman. 
 
 (d) REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN MISSIONS, 1908 
 
 The Committee, consisting of fifty-two Bishops, appointed by 
 the Conference of 1908 to consider and report upon the subject 
 of foreign missions, included hi their report the following paragraph 
 as part of their pronouncement about Baptism : 
 
 The question of the baptism of polygamists in Africa was 
 carefully considered, and it was unanimously resolved that the 
 committee could not recommend either the modification or 
 amplification of the pronouncement of the Lambeth Conference 
 of 1 888 on the whole question of polygamy."
 
 324 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 2. BAPTIST. GENERAL COMMITTEE, BAPTIST 
 MISSIONARY SOCIETY, 1900 
 
 SPECIAL REPORT ON THE QUESTION OF POLYGAMOUS CONVERTS 
 AND THE CONGO MISSION 
 
 The Western Sub-Committee report that they have had under 
 their careful consideration for some months past important 
 questions relative to the admission of polygamist Converts into 
 the Congo Native Christian Church. They have had before 
 them letters on this question from most of the missionaries 
 connected with the Congo Mission. They have -held two special 
 sittings in conference with Congo Missionaries on furlough, and, 
 after mature deliberation, they have arrived at the following 
 resolutions, which they hope will secure the sanction and approval 
 of the General Committee, namely : 
 
 1. That in the judgment of the Sub-Committee the whole 
 question of the manner in which the applications from polygamists 
 for baptism and Church membership should be dealt with can 
 best be decided by the Native Christian Churches, in conference 
 with the Missionaries at each station. 
 
 2. That the Sub-Committee is also of opinion that it is most 
 desirable that the Missionaries should, so far as possible, agree 
 as to their general teaching on the subject of the relation of 
 Christianity to polygamists, so as to avoid confusion and con- 
 troversy among Native Christian converts and enquirers. 
 
 ( Signed) JOHN MARNHAM, Chairman. 
 
 The foregoing Report was adopted by the General Committee 
 of the Baptist Missionary Society, on Tuesday, 28th November 
 1900. (Signed) ALFRED H. BAYNES, 
 
 General Secretary. 
 
 3. MORAVIAN. GENERAL SYNOD OF MORAVIAN 
 CHURCH, 1879. RESOLUTION 
 
 RESOLUTION ON POLYGAMY PASSED BY THE MORAVIAN CHURCH 
 AT THEIR GENERAL SYNOD, 1879 
 
 " Polygamy and Polyandry are opposed to the idea of 
 Christian marriage. It is therefore the duty of our Missionaries 
 to bear a decided testimony against these heathenish customs." 
 While it could on no account be permitted that baptized persons 
 form such connections, the Synod was conscious that there might 
 be cases in which it would lead to yet greater sin if a heathen 
 before his baptism were obliged to dismiss all his wives except 
 one, and therefore resolved: "That in exceptional cases, and 
 only in such, polygamists may be admitted to holy baptism, 
 but polyandrists in no case. These exceptions are to be considered 
 and determined upon by the Missionary Conference of the dis-
 
 APPENDIX L 325 
 
 trict in which such cases occur. It is a matter of course that a 
 baptized man living in polygamy, cannot be appointed to office 
 in the Church." 
 
 4. PRESBYTERIAN 
 
 (a) CHINA. RESOLUTIONS OF SYNOD OF CHAO-HWEI-CHOW. (ONE 
 OF THE Six SYNODS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CHRIST 
 IN CHINA) 
 
 1. By the law of God, marriage in accordance with the truth 
 is that of one man and one woman, each fulfilling a part in a 
 life-long union ; and they may not be separated. Therefore, 
 if a man who has a wife marries another, or a woman who has 
 a husband is married to another man, in both cases this is a breach 
 of the law of God. 
 
 2. If any one who is a member of the Church, while his wife 
 still survives, again marries another, he must certainly be expelled 
 from the fellowship of the Church. 
 
 3. If any one, before he heard the Gospel, had taken a secon- 
 dary wife, then according to the spirit of the Gospel it is right to 
 have some consideration for his previous ignorance, and therefore, 
 whether the Church will receive him to Baptism or not is a matter 
 for minute enquiry and decision according to the true circum- 
 stances of the case, giving him to understand that he has indeed 
 broken the law of God, and that the Church can by no means 
 look upon it as a light matter. 
 
 4. If the secondary wife has no children, and is willing to leave 
 him and be married to another Christian, this may be done : 
 but it is necessary first to consult the local Session, who shall en- 
 quire minutely, and decide the matter, so that no further wrong 
 may be done to the woman concerned. 
 
 5. If this secondary wife has children, or if she is unwilling to 
 be married to another, then they cannot be separated. 
 
 6. If for such reasons they cannot be separated, then both 
 parties must be informed that the taking of the secondary wife 
 was truly sinful, and cannot be sanctioned by the Church. But as 
 the matter is already thus involved, so that it cannot be extricated, 
 if it appears that the man concerned is a sincere believer in the 
 Lord, and there is no other obstacle, then the Church may receive 
 him to Baptism, but he can never hold office in the Church. 
 
 7. Inasmuch as the consequences of these matters are extremely 
 serious, and are of great difficulty, therefore local Sessions must 
 not decide them of themselves. They must first petition the Presby- 
 tery, and await the Presbytery's minute enquiry and decision, 
 and after sanction has been given such persons may be admitted 
 to Baptism. 
 
 8. Ik-fore the rite of Baptism is administered, the clergyman 
 shall first read aloud the above seven rules, that all the members 
 of the congregation may hear for their instruction, and thereafter 
 Baptism shall be administered in the usual form. 
 
 Translated from Chinese original. J-..C. G.
 
 326 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 (6) INDIA. RESOLUTIONS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN INDIA, 1906 
 
 The General Assembly resolves, that it is not advisable to 
 legislate, debarring from admission to the Christian Church an 
 applicant for Baptism solely en the ground of his having more 
 than one wife to whom he was legally married before seeking admis- 
 sion to the Christian Church ; but that, in its opinion, it is right 
 to leave the responsibility of deciding in individual cases as they 
 arise with Sessions, which should, however, if the Presbytery 
 with which they are connected so desire, refer each case to the 
 Presbytery. 
 
 For their guidance, however, in dealing with such, the Assembly 
 agrees to lay down the following principles and regulations : 
 
 1. The Christian law of marriage, namely: the union of one man 
 with one woman should be strongly emphasised, and such moral 
 and spiritual pressure brought to bear upon the applicants that 
 when, without violating conscience or doing injustice to others 
 concerned, satisfactory arrangements can be made for separa- 
 tion from all but one wife, this will be done. 
 
 2. Before Baptism special care should be taken to ascertain 
 the sincerity and purity of the motives of the applicants, the 
 legality, the respectability, and the moral character of their 
 existing marriage relationship, and the impossibility of bringing 
 them into a state of monogamy without doing injustice or injury 
 to any person concerned. 
 
 3. Care should be taken to make it plain that the dual or plural 
 marriage relationship of such persons is tolerated as an evil only 
 to avoid greater evils, and as a temporary condition to be aban- 
 doned as soon as the way is clear to do so. 
 
 4. In no case should such persons receiving Baptism be ap- 
 pointed to any office in the Christian Church, or allowed any 
 share in its government. 
 
 5. In all dealings with such persons, Sessions and Presbyteries 
 should endeavour to bring the cleansing and renewing power 
 of the Christian life and teaching so to bear on the community 
 that all customs at variance with the Christian ideals of marriage 
 shall be more and more discredited and destroyed. 
 
 (5) RHENISH MISSION IN CHINA. 
 
 EVANGELICAL CHURCH ORDER FOR CONGREGATIONS OF THE 
 RHENISH MISSION IN CHINA 
 
 Polygamy 
 
 With regard to polygamy, the following principles are followed 
 in our congregations: 
 
 (a) Polygamy is contrary to the express and clear command 
 of Christ (Matt. xix. 4), and on this ground alone cannot be tolerated 
 in the Christian Church. On the other hand, however, poly- 
 gamous ties formed by a member of the Church before his con-
 
 APPENDIX L 327 
 
 Version (entrance into the congregation) are not to be looked on as 
 adulterous connections in the Christian sense, and there is there- 
 fore no ground for demanding their unconditional abandonment. 
 Polygamous unions shall be dissolved when there are no special 
 difficulties in the way, and when the persons concerned are will- 
 ing ; but they must be regarded as evils unavoidable in the period 
 of transition in which our congregations now find themselves, 
 when their dissolution appears impossible, or when new diffi- 
 culties would arise from it. So, for example, it would be utterly 
 unnatural to separate, by the dissolution of a polygamous union, 
 a mother from the young children for whose upbringing she is 
 responsible. 
 
 (b) If a separation is brought about with the consent of both 
 parties, it still remains the man's duty to provide for the woman, 
 either by the payment of one sum in settlement of all claims, 
 or by a regular allowance. If the woman should still be young, 
 and the opportunity of a second marriage offers in the congrega- 
 tion, should she be a Christian, she has not only full liberty to avail 
 herself of it, but it is very desirable that she should do so, for the 
 reasons given in i Tim. v. 11-14, with regard to young widows. 
 
 (c) After conversion to Christianity, and hence as a member 
 of the congregation, no man may take a second wife so long as the 
 first lives, whether because of childlessness, or with the consent, 
 or by the wish of the first wife. Any violation of this ordinance 
 is adultery, and must as such be followed by expulsion from the 
 congregation. 
 
 (d) In order to mark the unnaturalness and sinfulness of poly- 
 gamy, or, let us rather say, its lower moral standard, and in 
 accordance with the words of the Apostle (Titus i. 6) no member 
 of the congregation living in polygamy may hold any office in 
 the congregation, either as teacher, preacher, or elder. 
 
 Translated from German original. 
 
 J. C. G.
 
 APPENDIX M 
 
 (See Report, passim) 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF CHINA CENTENARY 
 CONFERENCE, SHANGHAI, 1907 
 
 Readers of this Report will be glad to have here appended such 
 of the Resolutions of the Centenary Conference, Shanghai, as 
 bear on the Church in the mission field and its workers. They are 
 not easily accessible, and will be found to throw much recent 
 light on the subjects treated in this Report. 
 
 i. ANCESTOR WORSHIP (seep. 114) 
 
 1. That, while the Worship of Ancestors is incompatible with 
 an enlightened and spiritual conception of the Christian Faith, 
 and so cannot be tolerated as a practice in the Christian Church, 
 yet we should be careful to encourage in our Christian converts 
 the feeling of reverence for the memory of the departed which this 
 custom seeks to express and to impress upon the Chinese in general, 
 the fact that Christians attach great importance to filial piety. 
 
 2. That, recognising the full provision made in Christianity 
 for the highest development and expression of filial piety, this 
 Conference recommends that greater prominence be given in 
 preaching, in teaching, and in religious observances to the practical 
 duty of reverence to parents, and thus make it evident to non- 
 Christians that the Church regards filial piety as one of the highest 
 of Christian duties. 
 
 3. Recognising that in replacing the Worship of Ancestors 
 in China by Christianity, many delicate and difficult questions 
 inevitably arise, we would emphasise the necessity for the continu- 
 ous education of the conscience of the members of the Christian 
 Church by whom all such questions must ultimately be adjusted, 
 expressing our confidence that through the leading and illumina- 
 tion of the Spirit of God, the Church will be guided into right lines 
 of action. 
 
 4. That this Conference recommends our Chinese brethren 
 to enco\irage an affectionate remembrance of the dead by beautify- 
 ing graves and erecting useful memorials to parents and ancestors, 
 by building or endowing" churches," schools/ hospitals, asylums, 
 
 328
 
 APPENDIX M 329 
 
 and other charitable institutions as is common in all Christian 
 lands, thus making memorials of the departed a means of helping 
 the living through successive generations. 
 
 2. THE CHINESE MINISTRY (see p. 198) 
 
 Whereas, China through intercourse with the Western world 
 is beginning to respond to its influence, and is seriously addressing 
 itself to problems of reform in its political and social institutions, 
 and whereas, this crisis in the history of China opens up before 
 the Christian Church a unique opportunity to inspire the new 
 civilisation with its ethical truths and religious life, therefore this 
 Conference, while recognising that the prime requisite for the 
 Christian ministry is the call of God which conies to varied 
 types of men for the varied offices of our Christian ministry, yet 
 resolves : 
 
 1. That the present status of the Chinese people emphasises 
 the need of producing a body of Christian men of such culture and 
 character that they shall take rank among the leaders of the 
 New China ; men who are fitted to cast the leaven of the Divine 
 life into the hearts of this people, that through individual renova- 
 tion Government and Society may be permanently renovated. 
 
 2. RESOLVED : That we urge upon missionaries and native 
 pastors the importance of bringing the subject of producing an 
 efficient Chinese ministry prominently before the Churches under 
 their care, enlightening Christian parents as to their duty and 
 privilege in giving their sons to the sacred ministry, and urging 
 upon teachers in Christian schools the need of producing such an 
 atmosphere of thought and purpose that the hearts of the pupils 
 will be open to the call of the Hcly Spirit to the office and work of 
 the ministry. 
 
 3. RESOLVED : That we make an earnest appeal to Christian 
 young men now in course of education, whose hearts are burning 
 with a desire to make their lives count most for China, that they 
 prayerfully consider the opportunities offered in the Christian 
 ministry to realise these desires, remembering that the highest 
 service to one's native land is best realised in the highest service to 
 the Divine Master. 
 
 4. RESOLVED : That while we should make use of men in 
 Christian work who have been brought into the Church in early 
 maturity, and have had only irregular and imperfect training for 
 their work, we should not trust to this source of supply to meet 
 the needs of the ministry, but, to this end, should train Christian 
 students through youth and early manhood in well cquipp<d 
 preparatory schools and colleges, directing their thoughts to the 
 ministry as a life-work of the highest usefulness and honour. 
 
 5. That this Conference gives hearty thanks to God for the 
 spiritual power and service rendered in past days, and at thf 
 present time by our Chinese brethren who have not had the privilege 
 of spocial college- training for the ministry ; and 
 
 WHEREAS, it is desirable to employ in Christian work men of
 
 330 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 different degrees of general education and special training ; and 
 whereas, it is a loss to both classes of students to associate in the 
 same grades young men of different stages of mental development 
 and of varying types of education, therefore, 
 
 RESOLVED : That we urge upon those who are in charge of our 
 theological colleges the importance of arranging for courses of 
 study especially adapted to the needs of students who desire to 
 fit themselves for Christian work, but who have failed to secure 
 early preparatory training ; such men to be employed according 
 to their fitness in association with more fully trained men in the 
 ministry. 
 
 6. RESOLVED : (a) That theological teaching, while it should 
 be rooted in the Bible as the Word of God, centred in the person 
 and work of Christ, and culminating in the abiding presence of the 
 Holy Spirit as the power who is to transform the world, should 
 be broad and comprehensive in its scope, should include the study 
 of other religions, of other forms of ethical thought, and should 
 open up to students new avenues of study as to human relation- 
 ships and responsibilities. 
 
 (b) That under usual conditions theological teaching should 
 be conducted in the vernacular of the people among whom 
 students are expected to labour, so that their education may be 
 towards and not away from those for whom they are preparing 
 to labour. 
 
 7. RESOLVED : (a) That we recommend the establishment 
 of special schools and correspondence classes for Bible study, 
 that through the inspiration of such study and of mutual fellow- 
 ship in the Christian life the Chinese ministry may receive a fresh 
 anointing of the Spirit, and be inspired with new hope and zeal 
 to take up and carry forward the work committed to their hands. 
 We would further recommend the holding of special or quarterly 
 conferences within limits of accessible areas where pastors and 
 preachers can unite in study, in listening to lectures, in discussion 
 and in religious fellowship. 
 
 (b) WHEREAS, The need for more Chinese preachers is so pressing 
 and so much depends upon the character of the education received 
 by the students for the ministry and the responsibilities of the 
 ministry are many and great. 
 
 RESOLVED : That all missionaries and Chinese Christians be 
 urged to pray : 
 
 (a) That God may lead greater numbers of the Chinese converts 
 to give themselves to the ministry. 
 
 (b) That He will guide and bless those who are engaged in the 
 work of educating the students for the ministry. 
 
 (c) That He will give wisdom and grace and the guidance of the 
 Holy Spirit to all Chinese pastors and evangelists. 
 
 8. RESOLVED : That missionaries in supervising the work 
 of Chinese preachers should seek to develop the spirit of self- 
 reliance and self-initiative, that they should strive to deepen in the 
 hearts of such preachers the conviction that they are the servants 
 ot Christ and of the Church, and that the missionaries are their 
 associates, sent of God to assist them in their work until such time
 
 APPENDIX M 331 
 
 as they are able to stand alone, and to bear the full weight of their 
 responsibilities. 
 
 9. RESOLVED : That we urge upon the missionaries and the 
 leaders of the Chinese [ministry, that both by instruction in 
 methods of Christian work, and by individual example in teaching 
 and influencing men, they seek to multiply Christian workers who 
 are skilled in the art of winning men to the obedience of Christ. 
 
 10. WHEREAS, the future Church of China will largely take its 
 type from the church gathered and trained at the hands of the 
 missionaries ; and whereas, the crowning mission work is the 
 creation of a worthy body of native Christian leaders, therefore, 
 
 RESOLVED : That great care should be exercised in selecting 
 men for the pastoral office ; that only men of unquestioned piety, 
 sound judgment, and of spiritual capacity to edify the church, 
 should be given this place of first responsibility ; and that in every 
 way missionaries should seek to strengthen their hands by counsel 
 and assistance to worthily discharge their important duties. 
 
 1 1 . WHEREAS, Missionary effort is necessarily limited in its 
 scope and the Christian evangelisation of China must be carried 
 on by the Church of China ; and 
 
 WHEREAS, The leaders in this great evangelistic work must be 
 produced by the Church, and receive support from the Church, 
 therefore, the Conference rejoices that the Chinese Church already 
 supports its own ministry entirely in many places and partially 
 in others, and resolves that for the sake of the independence of the 
 Chinese Church ; for its discipline in self-government ; for the 
 rapid and healthful expansion of its evangelistic work ; and for its 
 growth in spiritual life, we urge our missionary associates to impress 
 upon the local Churches the importance of doing their utmost, 
 even in their poverty and weakness, to take up their burden of 
 responsibility in the support of their ministry. 
 
 12. WHEREAS, The proper training of young men for the min- 
 istry, carrying them through the years of preparatory, collegiate, 
 and theological studies, is a long and costly one, requiring adequate 
 educational appointments, and a competent body of instructors ; 
 and 
 
 WHEREAS, This work is seriously embarrassed by the irre- 
 gularities and uncertainites of annual appropriations, 
 
 RESOLVED : That we recommend to Mission Boards, and to 
 individual friends of mission work, that these Institutions of 
 Christian learning be adequately endowed with funds for their 
 efficient support and administration, and that Christian people 
 be encouraged to found bursaries and scholarships in connection 
 with them. 
 
 13. RESOLVED : That for the sake of economy in the use of 
 money, to increase the efficiency of the teaching staff, and to draw 
 the educated young men of the Church into a closer mutual fellow- 
 ship, we recommend, where conditions admit, co-operation in 
 theological teaching.
 
 332 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 3. WOMAN'S WORK 
 
 General 
 
 1. Recognising the immense importance of placing the whole 
 word of God in the hands of all our converts, and believing that 
 we shall not see real spiritual growth among the women till they 
 become Bible students, the Conference urges on those concerned 
 in translation work that the whole Bible be prepared as soon as 
 possible in Standard Romanised Mandarin, and in any other of 
 the languages of China where it does not yet exist in a Romanised 
 form. The Conference strongly recommends the adoption of 
 the Scripture Union, or of some other method of systematic 
 Bible reading ; and begs all who supervise Biblewomen to im- 
 press on them the importance of teaching the women of the 
 Churches to read. 
 
 2. While it is impossible to lay down a hard and fast rule as to 
 the preparation of women for baptism, the Conference urges the 
 importance of allowing sufficient time to elapse for the candidate 
 to prove her emancipation from heathen rites and customs ; that 
 for this purpose a year is probably not too long ; that arrangements 
 be made for every candidate to have definite instruction in the 
 Truth, and in reading the Bible, but that personal spiritual growth 
 be in all cases the supreme test. 
 
 3. (a) The Conference notes with pain that the temptations 
 threatening the virtue of young women have in many ways increased 
 through the new conditions in China, specially at the open ports ; 
 that vice is encouraged by the introduction of immoral pictures, 
 largely in connection with the sale of cigarettes ; further, that 
 cigarette smoking by the young is a growing evil ; also that the 
 traffic in slaves between Shanghai and the interior has assumed 
 large proportions. It is therefore resolved that a representative 
 Committee be appointed to take all possible steps to wage war 
 against vice, to inculcate purity, and to save the fallen. 
 
 (b) It is resolved that we urge on the whole missionary body 
 the importance of enlisting the sympathies of Christian women 
 of China in the fight against opium, impurity, foot-binding, the 
 destruction of girl-babies, and early betrothals ; that we make 
 it our constant endeavour to waken the missionary spirit and teach 
 our sisters the joy of serving others, and that all spontaneous 
 effort be specially encouraged. 
 
 4. That in the training of Bible women we should aim at getting 
 earnest women who have been of good report since conversion, 
 and who have done some Christian work ; that we should give 
 them a good training covering several years, part of each being 
 spent in school, and part in Christian work ; that stress should 
 be laid on practical training, and on developing the spiritual life 
 of the workers. That, where practicable, the schools should be 
 united efforts, the joint work of the missions in the district ; 
 that they should not be confined to Bible women, and that mothers 
 with their little children may be admitted.
 
 APPENDIX M 333 
 
 5. The Conference rejoices to see the increased openings at 
 this time for evangelistic work among women of all classes, and 
 pleads with the Home Churches to send out many more workers 
 to undertake this work, or to set free older workers who may be 
 specially fitted to do it. 
 
 Education 
 
 1. RESOLVED : That while the development of the whole 
 woman, physical, intellectual and spiritual, is the aim of educa- 
 tion, the emphasis in mission schools should be laid on the spiritual 
 development and the strengthening of conscience and character 
 to meet the temptations and responsibilities which come to young 
 women under the peculiar new conditions of China. 
 
 2. RESOLVED : That in view of the new sentiment in favour 
 of the education of women in China, Christian schools for girls 
 should enlarge their scope, opening their doors more freely than 
 in the past to non-Christians, taking care that Christian standards 
 should not be lowered. 
 
 3. RESOLVED : (a) That we urge the leading Mission Boards 
 to unite in establishing in central localities a few well-equipped 
 colleges and normal schools, making it possible for young women 
 to acquire in their native land and under Christian influences the 
 best education which is demanded by the times, that these schools 
 should be opened both to Christian and non-Christian girls, but 
 that the latter should pay their expenses in full, as they cannot 
 pay their debt to the school by teaching in mission schools after 
 graduation. 
 
 (b) That a Committee of women be appointed to co-operate 
 with the General Education Committee appointed in accordance 
 with Resolution 4. under the general topic of education, with a 
 view to securing for schools for young women the same support 
 that is sought for young men. 
 
 4. RESOLVED : That more attention should be given to the 
 establishment of Kindergarten Training Schools, as well informed 
 Chinese favour kindergartens, and there is no place where 
 Christian influence counts for more than in the training of little 
 children. 
 
 5. RESOLVED : That in all the schools mentioned above we 
 aim to educate teachers for non-Christian as well as Christian 
 schools, provided that nothing inconsistent with Christianity be 
 required of teachers in such schools. 
 
 6. RESOLVED : That the influence of Christian schools should 
 be against the adoption of foreign dress and customs, and especially 
 that a stand be taken against masculine dress and manners ; 
 that the ideal woman be held before girls and young women in 
 schools is the wife and mother in the home ; and that though other 
 careers are now opening before the women of China, they should 
 be regarded as exceptional. In view of the misconceptions which 
 prevail in some circles as to women's " freedom and power " it 
 seems wise, while we encourage " New China " in the many wise 
 reforms advocated, to take a conservative attitude as to the 
 position, rights, and privileges of women.
 
 334 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 7. RESOLVED : (a) That " University extension " should be 
 an important department of every advanced school for women, 
 a special effort being made through lecture courses, study courses, 
 women's clubs, reading-rooms, etc., to come in touch with the 
 best element among Chinese women, and to help them hi their 
 pursuit of education and culture. Such lines of effort should 
 open opportunities for direct religious teaching, either public 
 or private, or where such opportunities do not come, should at 
 least show the futility of seeking physical and intellectual culture, 
 whilst neglecting the highest culture, the ethical. 
 
 (6) That the Young Women's Christian Association be asked to 
 undertake a work on behalf of students in government and other 
 non-Christian schools. 
 
 8. That while recognising the fact that educational work, 
 rightly conducted, is distinctly evangelistic, we urge upon every 
 educational missionary the importance of making opportunities 
 for engaging at intervals in direct evangelistic work. 
 
 4. THE STUDY AND USE OF THE BIBLE 
 
 I. WHEREAS, We believe the Sunday School to be of the utmost 
 importance for the spread of the Gospel, and the building up of 
 the Church of Christ in China, we therefore resolve : 
 
 (1) That this Conference elect a Committee composed of 
 not more than twenty members whose duty shall be to take such 
 steps as may seem necessary to improve and extend the Sunday 
 School work in China : this Committee to have power to fill its 
 own vacancies ad interim. 
 
 (2) That this Conference heartily favours the securing of a 
 General Secretary to devote his whole time to the promotion of 
 Sunday School work throughout China, under the direction of this 
 Committee. 
 
 II. Having regard to the paramount importance of Bible study 
 for the development of the spiritual life and efficiency of the 
 missionaries and of the workers and members of the Chinese 
 Church, this Conference suggests : 
 
 (1) That, where feasible, central libraries be established for the 
 use of missionaries, containing the best Biblical literature available, 
 in English, that will serve as aids to personal devotion and service. 
 
 (2) That with a view to making Chinese Biblical literature 
 more accessible to the Chinese Christians, where the number of 
 readers justifies it, circulating libraries be established. 
 
 III. Believing that greater emphasis should be laid on the 
 training of Chinese to teach the Bible, this Conference recommends : 
 
 (1) That a larger place in the curricula of our various educa- 
 tional and training institutions should be given to Biblical 
 pedagogy. 
 
 (2) That institutes, so far as practicable inter-denominational 
 in their character, be held at convenient centres, and at stated 
 times, for the normal training of Sunday School teachers and 
 others interested in Bible teaching.
 
 APPENDIX M 335 
 
 (3) That those attempting work along normal lines be asked 
 to place the results of their experience at the service of the mis- 
 sionary body, through the Sunday School Committee, in order 
 that a permanent literature of Biblical pedagogy in Chinese may 
 be developed. 
 
 IV. (a) In order that the Biblical literature already extant 
 in Chinese may become more widely and accurately known, this 
 Conference recommends that the scope of the Hand-book on 
 Biblical Literature, which is being prepared by the General 
 Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associations, be so 
 enlarged as to make it of service to the whole missionary body 
 of China and to the Chinese Church. 
 
 (6) In order to facilitate co-operation and efficiency in 
 the preparation of further Biblical literature, the Conference 
 recommends : 
 
 (1) That the Educational Association's Committee on Biblical 
 Instruction be asked to push forward more rapidly, if possible, 
 its work of securing the preparation of text-books on Biblical 
 subjects suitable for use in schools and colleges. 
 
 (2) That the General Committee of the Young Men's Christian 
 Associations be urged to redouble its energies in the direction 
 of supplying a Biblical literature for use in voluntary Bible 
 classes and in private study. 
 
 (3) That the Sunday School Committee be requested to take 
 prompt steps towards increasing the amount and efficiency of 
 Sunday School literature. 
 
 (4) In order to provide for the publication of the vast amount 
 of important Biblical literature demanded by the needs of the 
 rapidly growing and increasingly intelligent Chinese Church, the 
 Conference calls upon friends of mission work in China to place 
 at the disposal of the various societies responsible for the publica- 
 tion of this literature, funds sufficient to make possible such an 
 enlargement of their plans as to render them more nearly commen- 
 surate with the stupendous task and critical opportunity now 
 before them. 
 
 5. CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 
 
 1 . RESOLVED : That in view of the educational awakening 
 and unprecedented literary renaissance of China, the influx of 
 materialistic literature prepared in Japan, the slowness of pro- 
 duction under the present methods, and the clamant need of the 
 Church for new and helpful books, this Conference strongly urges 
 the various Missionary Societies represented at this gathering 
 to set free able men for literary work. 
 
 2. That this Conference makes a strong appeal to the Mis- 
 sionary Societies and Boards in the home lands to furnish money 
 enough to carry out the more pressing needs of Christian literary 
 work, so that the Church may not lose the opportunity of the ages. 
 
 3. That, as the dissemination of Christian literature is as 
 important as its production, this Conference recommends that 
 a Local Religious Literature Committee be formed in every centre
 
 336 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 of missionary activity, to promote the preparation and dissemina- 
 tion of religious literature by the opening of book-stores, reading- 
 rooms, colportage work, etc. 
 
 4. That this Conference requests the publishers and editors 
 of the periodicals mentioned in the paper, to consider the feasi- 
 bility of the scheme proposed by Mr. Ohlinger. 
 
 5. That a representative and permanent Committee be ap- 
 pointed to promote the interests of the various Religious Literature 
 Societies, and to secure writers for the new books called for by 
 the Chinese Church. 
 
 6. That a reference library being a necessity in the preparation 
 of Christian books, and the nucleus of such a h'brary being already 
 secured in the books presented by various publishing houses in 
 Great Britain and America to the Book Exhibit of this Conference, 
 it is resolved that a permanent library Committee be appointed 
 to take charge of the books in hand and secure additions from time 
 to time. 
 
 7. That this Conference, while earnestly appealing for funds 
 to carry on the work of providing and disseminating Christian 
 literature in China on a scale adequate to the present need, desires 
 at the same time to gratefully record its appreciation of the help 
 received in the past, especially from the Religious Tract Societies 
 of Great Britain, America, and Canada.
 
 At the Meeting of the Conference, 
 on Thursday, i6th June 1910 
 
 COM. II. 22
 
 CONSIDERATIONS of space have made it necessary to abbrevi- 
 ate the speeches made in the Discussion. In doing this, the 
 attempt has been made to preserve everything that sheds 
 fresh light on the subjects considered in the Report. In 
 some instances the speeches have not been well reported, and 
 this has necessitated the omission of certain sentences. It 
 has not been found possible to send the report of the speeches 
 to those who delivered them for their revision.
 
 PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION 
 OF THE REPORT 
 
 MORNING SESSION 
 
 Mr. JOHN R. MOTT in the Chair. 
 
 The Conference was opened with silent prayer, and after the 
 singing of the hymn " Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire." the 
 Right Rev. BISHOP BRENT, D.D., of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church U.S.A. in the Philippine Islands, led the meditations and 
 prayers of the Conference and read Psalm 139. Thereafter the 
 Conference sang the hymn " Praise to the Holiest in the height." 
 
 Rev. J. CAMPBELL GIBSON, D.D., presented the Report and 
 said : On behalf of Commission II. I have the honour of pre- 
 senting this Report, and in doing so there are a few matters 
 that require to be explained. The Report consists, as members 
 of the Conference will have seen, of a preface and seven chapters, 
 but one of these, the chapter on literature, is to be held over for 
 discussion on another day along with a similar chapter under the 
 Report of Commission No. III., so that we propose to-day that 
 only six chapters should be dealt with. We have added since 
 the Report was first drawn up a chapter VIII., which consists entirely 
 of general conclusions based upon the Chapters I. to VII. ; and from 
 the preparatory agenda as printed yesterday you would see that 
 it was proposed that the Conference should concentrate attention 
 this morning upon Chapters I., V., and III. of the Report. Per- 
 haps if during the discussion delegates will refer to Chapter VIII., 
 of general conclusions which has been circulated, you will find 
 that the most convenient way of directing your thoughts in the 
 discussion. Then it was proposed that Chapters II., VI., and IV. 
 should be reserved for the afternoon, and that these should be taken 
 together, as all referring to the great subject of Christian character, 
 in applicants for admission to the Church and in the members of 
 the Church, and to the work of missions for the development and 
 nurture of Christian character. Suggestions came in afterwards, 
 and you will notice in to-day's paper that the printed agenda 
 lias been somewhat altered, but I understand that the purpose 
 of the Business Committee in so altering it was chiefly to bring 
 out some definite questions, by way of assisting discussion, 
 rather than to change the substance of the matter for discussion 
 to-day. If delegates will look at the paper for to-day they will 
 
 839
 
 340 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 notice that the greater part of the agenda, as now printed, we hope 
 to cover at the morning's sitting, and that the afternoon sitting 
 will be occupied if possible chiefly with what appears here in two 
 lines at the foot of page 46, " The edification of Christian Com- 
 munity, adult and juvenile." I think there is perhaps one other 
 word of explanation I ought to give. A phrase has crept into 
 the agenda which is not used in the Report of the Commission, 
 and for which the Commission is not responsible, I mean the phrase 
 " The Native Church." Now there is really hi one sense no 
 objection to that phrase, except that one might say that the Church 
 of God is nowhere native to this earth ; it is exotic everywhere. 
 But the word " native," to our shame I speak of those of us 
 who are Westerns has been " soiled with all ignoble use," and we 
 have thought it right to abstain from using the phrase " The 
 Native Church." 1 would ask all delegates in their own minds to 
 correct this phrase in their references to the Church in the Oriental 
 field, and I would ask our foreign brothers to pardon the phrase, 
 which I confess I do not like. 
 
 Now I come to the Report itself. The Church in the Mission 
 Field is one of the greatest subjects which could have been put into 
 our hands. We feel also, considering the divisions which exist 
 among us, which unfortunately we cannot wholly forget, that 
 there are various points of view from which many of us may 
 feel that " the Church in the Mission Field" is not quite a correct 
 expression; or one that we could wholly justify. Here I would 
 like to say on behalf of the Commission that it is not itself respon- 
 sible for the phrase used, and it is to be understood that we desire 
 no theological inference to be drawn from the manner in which 
 that phrase has been used. The endeavour is to deal under this 
 phrase with the whole community in connection with the missions 
 represented in this Conference in all parts of the non-Christian 
 world. That is all we mean by it, and if it seems to convey any- 
 thing else, or anything that any delegate dislikes, we desire that 
 that should be set aside as an incidental implication to which we 
 do not bind ourselves. 
 
 In putting down Chapter I. as the basis for the whole discussion, 
 I have to point out that that chapter touches on questions of 
 organisation and of Church polity, and of course it is not with 
 the view of discussing these questions that we bring it before 
 you. We bring the Church on the Mission Field, its polity and its 
 organisation, before you, not with the desire that discussion should 
 settle upon the details of polity and organisation. We have 
 ventured with frankness, but we hope with perfect fairness, to 
 point out various ways in which different forms of Church polity 
 affect the development of the Church. What we desire to con- 
 centrate the mind of the Conference upon is this view, not details 
 of polity and organisation, but the fact that questions of polity 
 and organisation are impressing themselves upon the minds of
 
 DISCUSSION 341 
 
 Christian folk all over the world in" the mission field, and that it is an 
 epoch-making fact. That is to say, you recognise that the Church 
 in the Mission Field is a sphere of labour in which you are no 
 longer dealing with little scattered companies of unimportant 
 people, converts under the wing and under the charge of a mis- 
 sionary ; it is now a complex body, which has in some countries 
 already attained, and in others is fast attaining, a high degree of 
 organisation and of corporate life. The point on which we desire 
 to fix your attention is this great view of the corporate life of the 
 young Church in the Mission Field, because the recognition of this 
 fact we consider to be of vital importance in the conduct of all 
 foreign mission work. The stage is being gradually reached, but 
 we think it ought to be now somewhat suddenly, very definitely, 
 with great thankfulness to God, fully recognised. You have now 
 what we begin to call not a little but a great Church in the Mission 
 Field, and we desire to enlist the sympathy and good-feeling of all 
 our delegates, and of all the bodies that we represent, for that 
 Church, the great witness for Christ in the Mission Field. We 
 and our Societies rejoice to see that the time is coming when we 
 are no longer to be the leaders but the allies of the Church of Christ 
 in the Mission Field; and I venture to say that the situation is 
 not generally understood even by Christian missionaries, and still 
 less by those who look on from without. Men too often look 
 upon missions as if they were a piece of engineering in which you 
 try, as it were by pick and shovel, to remove from some vast 
 mountain mass separate particles of inorganic matter, and men 
 talk as if the results of missions could be measured by weighing 
 those separate particles against the enormous mass of paganism 
 from which they have been separated. Now, Mr. Chairman, and 
 friends, that view I take to be utterly wrong, and at this moment 
 the recognition of how wrong it is, is one of the vital issues for 
 mission work. Every soul separated from the mass of paganism 
 is a living organism, and. it immediately allies and associates with 
 itself other living organisms of the same type and character. This 
 is what we mean by the organisation of the Christian Church in the 
 Mission Field. It is the drawing together of life to life in its highest 
 form, spiritual life, which is life in its highest potency. We all 
 know how science is beginning to teach us, that even very obscure 
 and very minute forms of life, because of their life, are of enormous 
 potency in their aggregate and in their united working. So 
 it is that we desire the Conference to recognise the enormous 
 force that exists, now established in the very heart of the pagan 
 world, in the young Christian Church which missions have founded, 
 but which is itself now the great mission to the non-Christian 
 woild. 
 
 Well, sir, time is very brief, and I must pass on, although much 
 more might be said of importance upon this point ; but starting 
 from that view point, we ask the Conference to recognise the
 
 342 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 vast importance of the training of the workers in the mission 
 field, the training of more workers, and the carrying of their 
 training to a higher perfection. Here, again, a great deal of mission- 
 ary thinking, I venture to say, goes astray. There are very many 
 friends of missions who say, and say rightly, that in every country 
 the best evangelists are the men and the women of the country, 
 and so far they are undoubtedly right. But upon that another 
 argument is often founded. They say, " Now you have planted 
 your Christian Church, you have your congregations in all the 
 great mission fields, these are the evangelists in the mission fields, 
 and therefore our task is largely accomplished, and there is not 
 the same need for multiplying missionaries or multiplying agencies 
 for work." There, sir, I venture to say the thought again is 
 entirely wrong. Where a Christian Church has been founded 
 you have a fresh responsibility, and you have enormously larger 
 tasks laid upon you than when you were simply witnesses going 
 out and in among non-Christian people on whom you had no 
 permanent hold. You are at this stage largely responsible for 
 the efficiency I had almost said for the life of the young Chris- 
 tian Church in the Mission Field. As some member has said 
 I think it was our friend from Korea who used the expression 
 " the rapid increase of converts is a danger." Perhaps some 
 delegates might be wondering why that could be said. Is the 
 rapid increase of converts not a great joy ? Undoubtedly, but 
 it is a joy that brings a great responsibility with it, the responsi- 
 bility of " feeding my sheep," " tending my sheep." Remember 
 tliat the flock of Christ is a flock that has to be fed, and the responsi- 
 bility of the great Shepherd who laid down His life for His flock 
 is our responsibility. Therefore I say, in the interest of the young 
 Church on the Mission Field, you need to send more missionaries 
 from home, you need to send men with more specific qualifications 
 for the task you lay upon them, and you need through your 
 missionaries to help the young Church in the Mission Field in 
 training its own workers, men and women. That training, we 
 recognise, ought to take, as it were, two lines, the general 
 training of those whom we call catechists or preachers or some- 
 times evangelists, Bible women, colporteurs, and others, whose 
 chief duty it is to be witnesses of the elements of Christian truth 
 which have laid hold upon themselves, witnesses both by word 
 and by life, and then the special, even specialised, training of 
 another class of preacher, of pastors, of medical assistants in 
 mission hospitals, and teachers in missionary schools and colleges. 
 These two lines of training are different, and the difference ought 
 to be more frankly recognised and more fully observed. In 
 this way, words that were wisely spoken yesterday by my friend, 
 Mr. Hoste, might be given effect to, that you can have a good 
 and thorough training in one sense of a class of labourers whose 
 labour is in simpler matters, good and thorough in its way, but
 
 DISCUSSION 343 
 
 which is not to be confused with what you mean when you speak 
 of higher training of a more specially intellectual type. The two 
 forms ought to be recognised, the two forms ought to be continually 
 carried on, and we desire this morning, in laying our Report before 
 you, to put this as one of the greatest subjects to be grappled with 
 by all missionary Churches, by all missionary bodies, and by the 
 missionaries on the mission fields the training of the workers. 
 
 There follows upon that a matter into which I can hardly enter 
 at all, but which may be touched on in the discussion : how 
 these workers are to be supported, both as to the sources from which 
 the funds are to be found, and as to the standard of living which 
 ought to be aimed at for these workers, and how they are to be 
 enabled to adjust themselves to the conditions and demands of 
 the life of the country in which they are labouring, so as to give 
 their ministry free course. Let them neither be despised nor 
 be too far separated from the life of the bulk of the people round 
 about them. These are the general principles upon which we 
 think that matter of the support of workers ought to be deter- 
 mined. 
 
 Before I sit down, there is one other department to which I 
 would call your attention, because all I can do is to call attention 
 to points without discussing them, and that is the matter of 
 Church discipline. We have put that down in intimate associa- 
 tion with the recognition of the local Church in every mission 
 field, and in close connection with the subject of training, for this 
 reason : when you have the Church founded on any mission 
 field there is no more difficult and I appeal to all missionaries 
 whether I am not right in saying that there is no more difficult 
 and soul trying work than this work of the discipline of the Church. 
 We all know the temptations amid which the Christian life of 
 the members of the young Church is lived, we all know how they 
 are shut off from what is the life of many a Christian in this 
 country or other Christian countries, and is so helpful the tradi- 
 tion behind it, the hereditary examples and traditions, and the 
 Cliristian atmosphere. Those Christians in the mission fields stand 
 up without any of these helps. They stand up, to the eye of flesh 
 alone, to face an un-Christian world ; and can you wonder if they 
 sometimes stumble and fall ? No missionary, no friend of missions, 
 will be quick to remark the failings of these men, but we will be 
 quick to remark the working of the spirit of God in their hearts 
 and lives. We recognise that this duty of Church discipline is 
 to be exercised not as a harsh matter of judicial proceeding, 
 but rather as a tender, watchful, vigilant care, ready to warn, 
 ready to point out, eager to support by sympathy and by prayer, 
 so that the faults needing judicial action need not come. Vigi- 
 lance, unsleeping vigilance, in discipline of that kind is, I venture 
 to say, almost the supreme duty of every missionary, and therefore 
 we ask the Conference to allow its thoughts to dwell largely upon
 
 344 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 this side of Christian life in the mission field, and this function of 
 the Christian Church in the Mission Field. There is need of jealously 
 watching over that young Christian hie, need of interpreting 
 to it the law of Christ so that, in the many difficult and compli- 
 cated questions that arise, a Christian conscience may be created 
 which will judge for itself in wise conviction, and carry the 
 sense not of submission to a missionary or a mission, but of heart 
 and soul submission to the gracious and recognised will of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the only Head and Ruler of the Church. 
 
 These are the principal matters I am instructed to lay before 
 the Conference at this point My friend, the Vice-Chairman of 
 the Commission, Dr. Lambnth, will re-introduce the subject, and 
 caH attention to other parts of our Report in the afternoon. 
 I beg of you, in taking this Report into consideration, to give 
 earnest thought to those supreme spiritual issues to which I 
 have tried to turn your attention, and while there are many 
 matters of detail and administration of great interest and im- 
 portance, I venture to suggest that many of these are better 
 worked out slowly and patiently, in the courtesy of brethren, 
 in detail in the several mission fields, and are not so appropriate 
 to discussion in a general Conference like the present. One 
 word more. I ask you to join in fervent thanksgiving to God 
 that the unworthy labours, on the part of the Churches here 
 represented, in less than a century have resulted in so wonderful 
 a gathering together of men and women and children, called into 
 the name of Christ, separated from heathenism, and living out 
 there in the darkness, lives which shine like stars in the firmament. 
 Give them your love and your prayers, and the help of prayer is 
 all prevailing. (Applause.) 
 
 The CHAIRMAN : We shall follow the main outline of the Com- 
 mission instead of following the different sub-divisions. We 
 shall take a main division at a time, and speakers are at liberty 
 to dwell on such parts of that main division as they wish to touch 
 upon within the limits set for the time of speaking. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND ORGANISATION OF THE CHURCH 
 
 Rev. ARTHUR J. BROWN. D.D. (Presbyterian Church. U.S.A., 
 New York) : The development of the Church in the Mission Field 
 forms a distinctive era of our day. The growth of that Church 
 is our greatest joy, but the growth involves re-adjustments which 
 at the same time constitute our greatest difficulty. We have 
 always said that it was our aim to establish a self-supporting 
 and self-propagating and self-governing Church, but we have 
 thus far failed to realise the effect of that aim upon our methods, 
 and I hope that this Conference will mark the period of transition. 
 At first the Mi's^cm and to- Society were supreme. There was
 
 DISCUSSION 345 
 
 no native Church, and when the Christians began to gather to- 
 gether they were few and poor, and therefore the missionaries, 
 and the Missions, and the Missionary Society at home, were vir- 
 tually supreme. They determined everything. This was an 
 entirely congenial task to the white man, and he has been so 
 long in the habit of managing things on the foreign field that 
 it is not easy for him to adjust himself to the changed conditions. 
 Save in very few countries no Church polity is in practice on 
 the foreign field to-day. Too much real power has been exercised 
 by the Boards and Societies and by the Missions on the foreign 
 fields, altogether too much power for the conditions which exist 
 to-day. I have recently had liberty for the second time to visit 
 some Churches in Asia, and I have held long conferences with 
 the leaders of these Churches. More valuable still, I had long 
 conferences with experienced missionaries on this subject. Every- 
 where I found evidence of growing unrest, and in some cases of 
 irritation on the part of the leaders. I wish I might add two 
 other terms which ought to be abandoned. Those terms are 
 " native helpers " and " native agents." Helpers of whom, 
 agents of whom ? Of course, of the Boards at home. It is time 
 for us to abandon not only that terminology but the whole attitude 
 of mind which it represents. There are a great many difficulties 
 to be encountered. I very often hear a fear expressed that the 
 Church in the Mission Field would exercise its power unwisely, 
 but have we never exercised our power unwisely ? The fear 
 that the Church, if given more power would exercise that power 
 unwisely, seems to me to rest on four fundamental assumptions 
 which are radically wrong first, the assumption that we need 
 to be converted to our avowed aim, to establish a self-supporting 
 self-governing, and self-propagating Church ; second, that the 
 Church in Asia and Africa must be conformed to a particular type 
 of theology, as defined in Europe or America ; third, that we are 
 responsible for all the future mistakes of the Church which we 
 have once founded ; and fourth, that Christ who " purchased " 
 the Church, and who is its " Head," cannot be trusted to guide 
 it. Let us have faith in our brethren and faith in God. When 
 Christ said that he would be with His disciples always. He meant 
 His disciples in Asia and Africa, as well as His disciples in Europe 
 and America. The operations of the Spirit of God are not con- 
 fined to the white man. I heard a great deal during my tour 
 in Asia about the rights of the Boards and Societies in the Missions 
 which ought to be preserved. I would rather go to the other 
 extreme and say, " We have no rights in Asia and Africa, except 
 the rights to serve our brother in the name of Christ." The more 
 I saw of the Christians in Asia the more respect I had for them. 
 They are serving Christ, oftentimes amidst loss of business and 
 social ostracism, but they stand with splendid vitality, and I, 
 who was supposed to bring inspiration to them, more often found
 
 346 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 that they were bringing inspiration to me. I trust that this 
 Conference will mark the period of transition to a true recognition 
 of the functions and the rights of the Church of God in the non- 
 Christian lands. 
 
 Rev. R. A. HUME, D.D. (American Board of Commissioners, 
 Ahmednagar) : Unhesitatingly I advocate the desirability of 
 encouraging the organisation and development of the Indian 
 Church on national lines. This for three important reasons. 
 First., for the sake of non-Christians, especially educated and 
 thinking Christians. There are multitudes who are more and 
 more drawn to revere the Lord Jesus Christ, but who are averse 
 to the organisation and to some of the requirements of the Church 
 as at present constituted. I have the privilege of acquaintance 
 with not a few non-Christian leaders, and often have frank inter- 
 course with such men on religious subjects. Recently when I 
 asked the one who is easily the most influential political leader 
 in Western India, and who is also a religious man, what was his 
 personal attitude towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and what was 
 his estimate of the probable increase of a reverential attitude 
 to our Lord, he instantly replied, " Jesus Christ is hopelessly 
 handicapped by His connection with the West." That was an 
 exaggerated statement. But it is the simple fact that while many 
 thoughtful Indians are being drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 many are hindered and alienated by the organisation and by some 
 of the requirements of the Indian Churches. For their sakes it is 
 desirable that the Indian Church should grow on national lines, 
 with more Indian modes of worship, music, organisation, doc- 
 trinal statements, and leadership. 
 
 Secondly, for its own sake the Indian Church needs develop- 
 ment on national lines, and release from undue adhesion to 
 Western ways. The divisions of the Western Church have some 
 historical and geographical occasion and justification which 
 have little meaning or validity for the Church in India. Why 
 should this young Church have its outlook darkened and its 
 unity hindered by needless and petty considerations ? Unrest 
 in India is not confined to political matters. There is a growing 
 unrest in the churches also, due to their limitations and their 
 growth in indigenous ways. 
 
 Again the powerful motive of patriotism does not have its 
 legitimate effect in promoting the initiative and sense of responsi- 
 bility. One of the most gifted native Christian leaders in Western 
 India became a Christian not for his own salvation, but for the salva- 
 tion of his beloved native land. He knew that his country was 
 cursed by religious and social divisions, and when he began to 
 see that the Lord Jesus Christ is the great spiritual leader to 
 break down divisional walls and to unite men into one family 
 of the heavenly Father, this sensitive Indian became an open
 
 DISCUSSION 347 
 
 follower of the Lord under the inspiration of the Christian and 
 missionary motive of the good of his country and countrymen. 
 Have we realised that the great Apostle to the Gentiles became 
 Christian not for his own salvation, but from the missionary motive ? 
 For on the road to Damascus in the blinding splendour of the great 
 One whom he did not adequately apprehend, he characteristically 
 asked the question which a man of his temperament would 
 naturally ask, namely, what shall I do 1 The Lord's answer 
 was the one adapted to such a soul, which was substantially, 
 " Become a missionary. Serve." Just as the Apostle Paul 
 became a follower of the Lord primarily in order to become a 
 missionary both to his countrymen and to his fellow-men, so 
 this gifted brother became a pronounced Christian, not for his 
 own sake, but thereby better to serve his nation. Let us add to 
 the Indian Church this powerful motive of patriotism by allowing 
 it to develop itself on national lines. The most hopeful activity 
 of the present Indian Church is the recent organisation of the 
 Indian National Missionary Society, wholly administered by 
 Indian Christians, with sympathetic suggestions from missionaries 
 so far as asked for. I give two illustrations of how such organ- 
 isations promote the Christian and missionary spirit : Because 
 thus far his church and community had not been sufficiently 
 missionary, the pastor of the largest church in Western India 
 recently resigned his important post to accept, on an income one- 
 fourth less than he had been receiving as pastor, the position of 
 a home missionary to a neglected field in Western India. And 
 when in another part of India the Syrian Church also was stimu- 
 lated to missionary activity, it obtained a gifted Indian leader who 
 received but one-fourth of the income which he was receiving as an 
 independent professional man. Such devotion and self-sacrifice could 
 only have been inspired by an Indian National Missionary Society. 
 Also the Indian Church needs encouragement to develop itself 
 on national lines for the sake of the Church universal. What a 
 gain in a sound interpretation of our Holy Scriptures ; what an 
 endowment of spiritual vision ; what a wealth of humility and 
 hope liave come to the Western Church through realising that 
 there is in the New Testament a Pauline, a Patrine, a Johannine 
 and other types of theology. Even the Apostle Paul, the clearest 
 and greatest of Christian theologians, said of his own understanding 
 and preaching of truth : " We know in part and we prophesy 
 in part," i.e. I can only partially apprehend, and only measurably 
 interpret the entire truth of God. The Indian Church, the 
 Japanese Church and the Chinese Church, have each its own in- 
 terpretation of the truth, its own contribution to the Church universal 
 for its enrichment of thought and service. But this can best 
 be done by the Indian Churches when their nursing mothers of 
 the West trust the Holy Ghost of truth to enable them to make 
 their own interpretations, and to effect their own organisations.
 
 348 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 The third reason why I advocate that missionaries should 
 encourage the organisation and development of the Indian 
 Church on national lines is that this event is sure to come sooner or 
 later. At least one recent example of the development of the 
 indigenous church in another country is full of suggestion to both 
 foreign and Indian leaders of the Christian Church. Whether we 
 missionaries approve or disapprove, the time to create a national 
 Indian Church is sure to come. The main question is, will mis- 
 sionaries encourage or discourage such a movement. The main 
 accessions to the Indian Church have been from the depressed 
 classes who largely are not Hindu, but followers of animistic 
 religions. When large numbers of thoughtful Hindus and 
 Mohammedans become Christian, what may we not expect for the 
 enrichment of the church universal from the Indian church com- 
 posed of peoples who are the most religious of all men ? 
 
 In these latter days of the larger recognition of the dispensation 
 of a living, reigning Holy Spirit, shall we not interpret the splendid 
 vision in Isaiah by saying that not only the dromedaries of Midian 
 and Ephah, the flocks of Kedar and Nebaioth, but also that the 
 religious conscience and experience of Indian, Japanese, Chinese, 
 Korean and other Churches shall bring their wealth to the feet 
 of our God. Such visions and such encouragement imply not less, 
 but greater loyalty to our Divine Lord, because we missionaries 
 have not been disobedient to our heavenly vision, but like the first 
 great missionary have gone far hence to the Gentiles. The unpardon- 
 able sin is the lack of faith in a present guiding holy Spirit. 
 
 Rev. A. PIETERS (Dutch Reformed Church in America, Japan) : 
 I wish to address my remarks particularly to the one great sub- 
 ject of practical administration of missions, and I will begin 
 with Division 4, " What should be the relation of the mission 
 to the self-governing native Church independent; co-operative 
 or ministerial ? " My answer to that is that it should be all 
 three. It should be ministerial in that there should not be multi- 
 plied new organisations after the Church is established and self- 
 supporting ; that all missions should have as their aim to strengthen 
 the Church, to enlarge its bounds and to bring it into contact with 
 the entire population. It should be co-operative in that the two, 
 the Church and the mission, have one aim, and labour together 
 for the accomplishment of that aim in the manner in which 
 England and Japan co-operate together to preserve the peace 
 of the Far East. When we come to the position that the work 
 of the mission should be and should remain resolutely and absol- 
 utely independent, it should be that especially for three great 
 reasons. In the first place, that only this attitude is consistent 
 with a clear and scientific -appreciation of the difference in nature, 
 scope and office of the Church and of the mission. In the second 
 place, because only the independence of the mission, absolutely
 
 DISCUSSION 349 
 
 in administration of its own affairs, is consistent with the evan- 
 gelisation of the country. It is a mistake too readily made, that 
 after the Church in the field has got absolute self-government 
 and a very considerable degree of power, then the Church has 
 an exclusive right to the work of evangelising the country. That 
 it has great responsibility in having to complete the work is 
 granted, but the work is far greater than the native Church can 
 accomplish, and the work which that Church cannot touch is 
 just as much the absolute responsilility of the foreign Church 
 as ever it was. And further, because this policy is the only one 
 consistent with the independence of the Church. How can we 
 stimulate the independence of the Church ? I answer by not 
 allowing that Church to confuse its own duties and responsibilities 
 with the mission. That confusion comes about by the granting 
 of subsidy. Let us lay it down as one of the primary principles 
 that there should be no subsidy except for temporary and special 
 reasons. 
 
 Rev. BISHOP HONDA (Methodist Church of Japan), interpreted 
 by Mr. Galen M. Fisher : We who nourish and cherish the ideal 
 of nationality feel that the Church should express the national 
 spirit. This is an age of strong nationality. A country which 
 has not a strong national spirit will not progress. Our Master 
 and Lord recognised nationality in His last Commission when 
 He said " Go ye therefore and teach all nations." And no nation 
 which does not recognise the principle of the Kingdom of Heaven 
 and its righteousness can permanently prosper. In the idea 
 of nationality, and independence in nationality, is involved the 
 idea of independence and of personal responsibility, and the 
 missionary work which does not recognise the national spirit 
 and the spirit of independence will make weak-kneed and dependent 
 Christians, and it will give rise to persecution. But the ideal 
 of a nationalised Church by no means means that missionaries are 
 unnecessary, nor does it involve conflict with the missionary. We 
 have in Japan examples of these principles and facts which I 
 have stated, for there are four Churches which are practically 
 independent and self-governing, the Presbyterian, the Congrega- 
 tional, the Episcopalian and the Methodist. In the last of these 
 all the missionaries sent from the Mother Country and America 
 are full members of our Japanese Conference, and are given 
 appointments by it. They have all the functions of Japanese 
 clergy. This recognition of the nationalistic spirit in nationalised 
 Churches not only is of great value to the members of the Church 
 itself, but it has a powerful influence upon the outside non-Christian 
 world, and the contrary prejudices them against Christianity. 
 In a country like Japan where Christianity has an unfortunate 
 record, and where the national spirit is so strong, it may be 
 exceptionally necessary to build up a nationalised Church, but
 
 350 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 what country is there that does not cherish a love of country, 
 and have more or less of a national spirit ? And the missionary 
 enterprise, and the missionaries who ignore that or violate it, are 
 sure more or less to court disaster. The period when the Church 
 shall be made independent and self-governing cannot be settled 
 in advance, but as soon as the esprit de corps of the Church body 
 has become compact, then the day should not be postponed 
 until the reponsibility is put into the hands of those who have 
 the control of the Church in their hands. 
 
 Rev. D. A. MURRAY, D.D. (Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., in 
 Japan) : As Bishop Honda has just said, the larger part of the 
 Christians in Japan are united in the four practically independent 
 self-governing denominations. They all met this question of the 
 relationship between the missionary and the Japanese Church, 
 and each in accordance with the characteristic genius of the 
 Church. In the first place, the Congregational have met it on 
 the principle of independency. The Church and the mission 
 are practically independent, the missionary simply contributing 
 the fruits of his labours to the Church as far as he likes. In 
 the Churches that have grown from the Church of England and 
 other Episcopal bodies, and in the Methodist Episcopal body, 
 the process they follow is something as follows. All the activities, 
 including the work under the direction of the mission, is regulated 
 and directed by the appropriate Committees and Boards of the 
 National Church, and these Boards are very largely composed 
 of the Japanese pastors. Occupying an intermediate position 
 between this and the independent plan first mentioned is the 
 plan of the Presbyterian Church, the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 It is commonly called the plan of co-operation. The two bodies, 
 the mission and the Japanese Church, while not maintaining 
 independence of each other as in the Congregational body, and 
 yet not merged into each other as in the Episcopal, meet together 
 as a Board. This Board has the direction of all that part of the 
 mission work that can be properly considered as within or a 
 part of the Japanese Church. By some inadvertence an error 
 lias crept into the Report of the Commission which seems to me 
 to indicate that none of the Churches in Japan have acceded to 
 this line of co-operation. As a matter of fact two-thirds of the 
 Churches have taken up this plan. The mission must fully 
 recognise that the Church has the same full control within itself 
 as any other body of any kind. It seems strange that there 
 should be any hesitation in accepting this right of the Church 
 to be recognised as an autonomous Church. The Church is the 
 child of the mission, but it has become of age. The Church can 
 claim no right to restrict or control the work of the mission in 
 any way ; it is free to work where and how it pleases. But if 
 it chooses to work within the Japanese Church it should do so
 
 DISCUSSION 351 
 
 only on condition that it should be under the Church's super- 
 vision. As for the actual plan or basis of co-operation which 
 was adopted by our missions, its essential features is a joint 
 board consisting of an equal number of missionaries and Japanese 
 pastors. This has the power of the appointment of bodies, the 
 appointment and discharge of Japanese pastors, and the amount 
 of salaries. 
 
 Rev. W. NELSON BITTON (London Missionary Society, 
 China) : It is an evidence of the unity which underlies the pro- 
 blems which this Commission is discussing that we who know 
 something of the problem of the Church in China find our- 
 selves in entire agreement with the statements which have been 
 made from India and Japan regarding the problems there. Those 
 who have come much in contact with the Christian young men 
 of China, especially those of the educated class, feel that this 
 problem we are discussing to-day is one that is most vital to the 
 whole missionary situation in the Empire of China, because it is 
 certain that we shall never get that maximum of help in the 
 work of evangelisation from the indigenous Church of that land 
 until we have adopted for ourselves the line of promoting self- 
 government and independence. Wherever Chinese young men 
 are gathered together and are talking concerning the things which 
 make for their national progress, you will find them keenly inter- 
 ested in this question of the growth and independence of the 
 Chinese Church. They have frankly stated their ideal to be a 
 united Chinese Christian Church, and it is idle for us to ignore, 
 and it would be foolish for us to oppose that national sentiment 
 within the Christian Church, because it is our duty as Christians 
 to stand in line with it. There is already a movement from the 
 Church, not because those who are taking part in it are in any way 
 opposed to Christianity, but because they feel that the foreign 
 connections of the missionary churches in China are opposed to 
 the highest interests of their land. We find such a movement 
 as was last year spoken about among the Christian students 
 studying in Tokyo proposing the institution of a purely Chinese 
 Church which would carry on this work entirely apart from all 
 foreign influence and advice. We do not want to see rising in 
 China, or in a far Eastern land, a far Eastern Church separated 
 in sympathy and in aim from the Catholic Church of the Christian 
 world. The danger which I have spoken of is not one that is in 
 the air or is remote ; it is near, and it is pressing for immediate 
 attention. I, too, would hope with a previous speaker, that one 
 of the results of this Conference will be such a definite action 
 and practice on the part of the missionary Church in China as 
 shall make for the helping forward of the indigenous Church 
 df that land. There are two things that seem to me need 
 to Le specially done. We have to give proof of the validity of
 
 352 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 our expressions of sympathy. We are always imposing western 
 conditions when we are inviting our western brothers to come 
 and join hands with us. There we are wrong. We have to 
 recognise that the genius for government is not born with us, 
 nor is Christian knowledge, neither will it die with us. There 
 is as great a capacity not only for government but for an appre- 
 ciation of the essentials of Christian doctrine in the Chinese and 
 Japanese mind I am not able to speak of the Hindu as there 
 is with us. It is only a question of education and experience, 
 and these will come. Another thing that seems to me to stand 
 in the way is our denominationalism. I am not here to say that 
 we have to undenominationalise ourselves. We have to see that 
 we do not make it a part of our business to denominationalise the 
 churches we are endeavouring to institute. We must, of course, 
 stand as faithful stewards of the Boards that send us out. Is it 
 any part of our duty to see that the churches that grow up under 
 our hands are also in subjection to the Missionary Boards we 
 ourselves represent ? I think not. We are prepared to trust 
 surely the Spirit of God which sends us forth. 
 
 Mr. CHENG CHING Yi (London Missionary Society, China) : 
 The problem in China is the independence of the Chinese Church. 
 I use the word meaning nothing more than Church support and 
 Church management. Really there is no independence of the 
 Church. All Churches of Christ are dependent first upon God 
 and then upon each other. Some of our friends are a little afraid 
 of the Chinese Church movement. They are afraid of the inability 
 of the Chinese Christians to accomplish that which they have started, 
 and they are also afraid that the Christian Church in China 
 is still too young, and weak, and feeble, and cannot undertake 
 such a great responsibility. Speaking frankly, we are both 
 weak and poor, but experience shows that out of deep poverty 
 Christian liberality may abound, and again the feebleness of the 
 Chinese Christians will not be a hindrance in the way. Does 
 this mean the breaking of a friendship with those who have brought 
 out the Gospel, and is this foreign ? No. It is the principle 
 of mission work and the ground plan of the future Chinese Church. 
 We can never thank you enough for what you have done for us, 
 and your helping hand regarding the future of the self-governing 
 and self-supporting Chinese Church will be ever appreciated and 
 ever remembered by all the Christians in China. Is there too 
 great a burden on the shoulders of the Chinese Christians ? Surely 
 not. Every one here can testify that there is nothing so joyous, 
 so delightful as directly working for Christ. It is our privilege 
 and our joy, and not our burden. A little girl once was carrying 
 a little boy on her back. Some one said, " I see you have a big 
 burden on you, haven't you ? " " No," replied the little girl, " that 
 is not a burden ; that is my brother." In communicating with some
 
 DISCUSSION 353 
 
 of my Christian friends in different parts of China concerning 
 the Chinese Church question, I received letters from a number 
 of provinces which show very plainly the growing spirit in this 
 matter. They realise their responsibility ; they have grasped 
 the idea of being Christians. The controlling power of the Christian 
 Church in China has largely been in the hands of foreign mission- 
 aries, and there is no doubt that it should have been so in the 
 days gone by, but the time has come when every Chinese Christian 
 should realise and undertake this responsibility, when they should 
 know what it means to be a Christian and his relation to the 
 Church. What is the motive power of all this ? It is nothing 
 new. It is the working power of the same spirit as inspired you 
 to realise your responsibility towards men of other lands yes, 
 the same blessed Spirit of God. Every Christian in Christ should 
 be a soul winner, and every Christian is a part of the Church. 
 References have already been made to the recent spiritual awaken- 
 ing among the Chinese students of Peking, of which I was an eye- 
 witness. It will be our interest to watch with great expectation 
 the Chinese Christian students at home and abroad, and it is 
 in them we hope for the future of the Chinese Church. I hope 
 with all sincerity that this Conference will recommend and take 
 measures towards helping the Chinese Church movement. May 
 the Will of God be done in this matter. 
 
 Dr. HENRY T. HODGKIN (Secretary, Friends' Foreign Mission- 
 ary Association, formerly in Chengtu) : At the risk of repeating 
 some of the thoughts which have been already far better voiced 
 by Dr. Brown, I want to say one or two words about the attitude 
 in which we at home or as missionaries should face this growing 
 spirit of independence in the native Church. In the first place, 
 we should have a spirit of fellowship with this Church, and to 
 that end we must first recognise her personality. We wish 
 to recognise the individuality of this Church, and I take it 
 that the sentiment of this Conference is that we to-day take off 
 our hats to her, recognising the Church in all parts of the mission 
 field as a living vital force which has entered into the Church. 
 In the second place, we need to meet this growing spirit with 
 trust. We have been trying to do a certain work and we see the 
 result. Do we believe the Churches in all the parts of the mission 
 field to be our creation or that of the Spirit of God ? If the 
 former, we must watch every step with infinite solicitude ; if 
 the latter, we have no cause to be afraid. Our watching may be 
 more harmful than the errors we watch to prevent. The Church 
 will certainly make mistakes yes, and it will learn from them 
 as did our forefathers, and as to-day we, the infallible Church 
 of the West, may learn by our mistakes. Growing out of this 
 spirit of fellowship and trust we need to have consultation with 
 the native Church. We were told yesterday that we need to 
 COM. II. 23
 
 354 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION 
 
 develop to the highest pitch of efficiency the native young men. 
 When we have done so we need to give them a position in which 
 they can use to the fullest the training that we have helped them 
 to get. We need to show such men that we value their counsel. 
 May I make one or two definite suggestions to bring this thought 
 into shape in our minds ? Why cannot the home secretaries 
 do more to encourage the missionaries to take counsel freely 
 with the native leaders and with the Churches as a whole, and might 
 it not be a good rule that recommendations by the Church as 
 well as by the mission be regarded as of greater weight than 
 those coming from the mission alone. In the second place, cannot 
 more be done to suggest to new missionaries the value of 
 learning all they can from leaders in the native Church, and 
 deferring as far as possible to them, rather than assuming an 
 attitude of self-sufficiency and independence ? And in the third 
 place, when deputations visit the mission field, cannot they take 
 more time to consult, perhaps privately, with the native Christians 
 whom they may meet ? In the fourth place, might not leaders 
 of the Church in the Mission Field be brought over from time to 
 time to consult with the Board and its Committees on questions 
 of policy for education or evangelisation ? We need the help 
 of these men. We want also to give them more responsibility. 
 History is full of examples in which men have been made by the 
 responsibility which has been given them. Is this not also true 
 of native bodies ? 
 
 After the singing of the first three stanzas of the hymn " The 
 Church's one foundation " the discussion was resumed by 
 
 Right Rev. the BISHOP of BIRMINGHAM : I did not propose 
 to intervene in to-day's discussion, but I have been tempted 
 to do so, and have yielded to the temptation because it appears 
 to me that the more true the great opinion which has been almost 
 uniformly uttered this morning, the more important becomes 
 a consideration or class of considerations which has been in the 
 main left out of sight. I remember very early in my career 
 being told that my vocation was to make myself disagreeable 
 at public meetings. I have interpreted that rather uncharitable 
 view of my vocation to mean that it was in a way my business 
 from time to time to ask assemblies of all kinds to entertain a 
 consideration which they might appear for the moment to be 
 leaving out of sight. The consideration that is now in my mind 
 is this : the more true it is that we as Westerns should be doing 
 all we possibly can to foster the independence and indigenous 
 character of the Church in Eastern and African countries and 
 I believe that there can be no one in this hall who feels it is our 
 privilege and our duty more than I do, or who feels more than I 
 do, how much self-restraint and repression of our natural selves 
 that will involve for some of us but the more true that is, the
 
 DISCUSSION 355 
 
 more important it is that we should be having constantly in mind 
 what are those conditions which belong not to India, or to Japan, 
 or to China, or to England, but to the Church everywhere. I 
 mean if we, as foreign missionaries, are to hand over Christianity 
 to the Church of China, and Japan, and India with a good courage, 
 then we must have done more than at the present moment we 
 seem, I think, inclined to do, to contribute to a definition of what 
 the Church is, the definition of its essentials or real Catholic features. 
 I want to explain what I mean. I notice the extreme rapidity and 
 facility with which the Churches became indigenous in ancient 
 times. I notice that there was not any marked difficulty in 
 the transition. I notice that what the Church stood for was 
 more or less markedly definite, what its creed was, what its con- 
 stitution was, what its Bible was, what its sacraments were. 
 These were points upon which the mind of the Church fastened 
 itself. The definition varied from age to age, or from East to 
 West. At the time of the Reformation it varied in a good many 
 acutely different forms, but everywhere there was the instinct 
 that the body must know, and must assert, and be able with more 
 or less clearness to assert what its essential principles are. Now 
 no one can be at all acquainted with what has been going on in 
 Europe or the world during the last fifty years without seeing 
 that there has been an extraordinary and almost unprecedented 
 breaking down of what you may describe as denominational 
 standards, barriers, and exclusiveness. Do not let us endeavour 
 to denominationalise the young Churches, as was said enthusi- 
 astically just now, but at the same time if we are not going to 
 denominationalise the young Churches we must be playing our 
 part in saying what constitutes the Church. On almost all sides 
 I notice in respect of what might be called in the broadest sense, 
 the religion of Protestant Christianity, a tendency to drift. Men 
 are conscious that what they used forcibly to assert was essential 
 to Christianity they no longer are willing to assert. Now it 
 follows from that that they ought to be labouring patiently and 
 diligently to know what they are to substitute for the old asser- 
 tions. I am quite certain that no system, no religion, no body 
 can hope to stand unless it undergoes the painful intellectual 
 effort of defining what its principles are. To run away from 
 that obligation is to run away from something which is essential 
 for continuous corporate life. I am very far from meaning that it is 
 our business as Westerns to define this for Easterns or for Africans. 
 What I mean is that we have got to put into all bodies of Christians 
 the consciousness that continuous life depends upon continuous 
 principles, and that any period of deep intellectual change involves 
 and necessitates fresh effort to interpret in such intellectual form 
 as admits of statement and become a bond of union, what we 
 believe to be the real basis of a Christianity that can be propagated.
 
 356 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Rev. JAMES E. NEWELL (London Missionary Society, Samoa, 
 South Seas) : I am conscious that my contribution to this Con- 
 ference is merely one of testimony. The time when the Church 
 of any land realises its own corporate life and can initiate its own 
 activities in its witness for the truth constitutes an epoch in any 
 mission. That time, if it has not already come, is close at hand 
 in the development of the life of the Church in the Samoan Islands 
 a group in the centre of the South Pacific which has been the 
 scene of my labours for nearly thirty years. That develop- 
 ment has been slow as compared with some other lands, but it 
 has been sure and steady. The political conditions which were, 
 up to ten years ago as unsatisfactory as they could be, have been 
 partly responsible for the reluctance to give, or for the native 
 Church leaders to assume such responsibility as is proved to be 
 now possible under the changed conditions which a settled and 
 enlightened Government I refer more especially to Germany 
 has at last brought to our distracted islands. 
 
 The development of Church organisation of the last twenty or 
 twenty-five years has been to give the Church (or as we prefer to 
 say the Churches) real responsibility in self-government. The 
 leadership of the mission staff in relation to the native Church 
 has been chiefly exercised through the Annual Assembly of 
 delegates (pastors and laymen) of all the Churches throughout 
 the Group. The sociological reforms which Christianity has effected 
 in recent years have been great and beneficial, and these have 
 been, under God, effected through the influence of the Assembly, 
 as that has been constituted in the past ten or fifteen years. To 
 that Assembly of representatives of the Churches as to the most 
 enlightened and advanced of the native community we have 
 expounded Christian ideals for the home, for the clan communal 
 life of the village, and for the nation, and the mission printing 
 press (which is self-supporting) has done the rest for a people 
 already able to read and to appreciate the arguments advanced 
 in public exposition and discussion. As that function of the 
 popular Church Assembly has developed it became necessary 
 to establish and constitute a second which is correctly described 
 as the Native Advisory Council. That Council, composed of 
 tried leaders on which also the missionaries have a place, is 
 the real guardian of the united Church. It discusses and proposes 
 to the General Assembly those measures for which the Church 
 appears to be ready in the development and strengthening of its 
 own corporate life and testimony to truth. It has already proved 
 itself and won the confidence of the people as the true guardian 
 of the Church's life amid the ever-changing social conditions and 
 the ever-recurring social dangers which beset this still immature 
 Christian community. But the point I want to emphasise is 
 the relation this organisation bears to the Missionary Society and 
 to the life and work and testimony of the Universal Church of
 
 DISCUSSION 357 
 
 Christ. The development of the sense of responsibility and the 
 consciousness that we trusted them has not lessened but increased 
 the loyalty and love of the Samoan Church to the mission. With 
 the establishment of the Advisory Council and the expression of 
 our confidence, by which they were expected to assume and were 
 entrusted with real responsibility, included amongst other things 
 that administration of a general Church fund for work done 
 at the initiation of the Council. With that came an increased 
 desire to help the general work of the Society, and the contributions 
 rose at once from 1500 or 2000 to 4000, in addition to the 
 entire support of all the local and the newly centralised church 
 work, amounting to upwards of 10,000 for the past year. This 
 from a constituency numbering 28,000 people including a Church 
 membership of 8000. The missionary spirit has always been 
 a characteristic feature of the South Sea Island Christianity. 
 That has found in recent years a much more widely diffused ex- 
 pression. 
 
 Mr. T. E. DUCKLES (Wesleyan Methodist Church of South 
 Africa) : I want to describe an experience of the development 
 from a mission into a self-supporting, self-governing Church. In 
 1882 the work of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in Cape Colony, 
 Orange Free State and Natal was formed into what is called an 
 affiliated conference. It was said to take over all the work within 
 that area and to conduct and develop it and it received a grant 
 from the Home Missionary Society for that work, /i 4,000 to be 
 reduced from time to time until it passed away. In 1902 it had 
 been reduced to 250. The Home Missionary Society formed 
 by the new Church to take and administer the grant under the 
 Conference and to raise funds to replace that fading grant had by 
 that time raised a local income for that year of over 10,000. 
 The membership of the Church at the time of the change was 
 about 20,000 full members, members on trial and members in 
 junior classes, and about one-fifth of that was European. In the 
 year 1908, or at the present time we may say, the native member- 
 ship had risen to 78,000 full members, who had all been on trial for 
 two or more years before they were received into the Church, 
 about 36,000 members on trial, and an equal number of junior 
 members, making altogether i 30,000 natives with 10,000 Europeans. 
 I omitted to say that of that sum of 10,000 a good half was given 
 by native members. The Church has now something over 100 
 English missionaries, 120 native missionaries who have had some 
 training for their work, and 200 native evangelists who have had 
 a little training for their work ; these are all paid. Besides that 
 there are 5000 local lay preachers and 6000 native leaders, and 
 these are not paid, but they are a grand army for building up the 
 Church of Christ in Kaffirdom and in spreading it among their 
 heathen neighbours.
 
 358 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Bishop ROBINSON (Methodist Episcopal Church, U.S.A., in 
 India) : The policy in which I very strongly believe is that no 
 foreign mission should ever wait to have the Church in the foreign 
 mission field demand a larger share in the administration of its 
 affairs. From the very outset it should be the definite policy 
 of the mission to set before the Church the deliberate purpose of 
 that mission to invest the infant Church with all the responsi- 
 bility that it is capable of bearing, and this would refer to the 
 standing of ministers as well as to the share in Boards and com- 
 mittees and in the administration even of the funds of a conference. 
 Some years ago our Church, very hesitatingly perhaps, consented 
 to an arrangement in India, after a large measure of autonomy 
 had been granted, to add to the finance committees that were 
 entrusted with the administration of the contributions from 
 America, Indian missionaries of good standing, well proved and 
 who had won the confidence of their own brothers. And now 
 the question is asked, how has that worked ? It has worked 
 admirably well. In the olden days before that principle was 
 adopted there was a feeling among Indian missionaries that large 
 sums of money were coming into the hands of the missionaries 
 and that it was being very grudgingly dealt out in connection 
 with the Church, but just as soon as we added the Indian mis- 
 sionaries to these finance committees they grasped the situation ; 
 they saw that, instead of having a superabundance of funds, we 
 were very often sorely pressed to meet existing needs, and, when 
 we sought to put pressure upon the Indian Church to do more, 
 they could hear from their own brethren the existing facts the 
 actual conditions. I have never known a single case in twenty- 
 five years in connection with the finances from America (in which 
 these Indian brethren have equal votes in deciding with the 
 foreign missionaries) which gave rise to any real dissatisfaction 
 and I commend this policy. 
 
 Hon. YUN CHI Ho (Methodist Episcopal Church, South, U.S.A., 
 in Korea) : I am to speak from the standpoint of a native Christian 
 on the third division of the first topic : " Must all work carried 
 on by foreign money be under foreign control ? " I know it 
 is a very delicate question for a native Christian to speak about. 
 I know also that it is a first principle that money given by the 
 foreign Church through the missionaries representing the Church 
 should be under the control of those missionaries. I say it is 
 the first principle, but we sometimes find that there is a principle 
 which is higher than that principle, that is the principle of Christ, 
 and in order to carry on the work in any particular missionary 
 field successfully the missionary must see to it that the distribu- 
 tion of the money be so directed as not to arouse any suspicion 
 in the mind of the local Church and to make the money given 
 by the Christian people of these Christian lands do the most for
 
 DISCUSSION 359 
 
 Christ and for men. Missionaries have and must see to it that 
 native leaders are taken into frank consultation in the distribution 
 of the money, because that money is not for a selfish purpose, 
 but for the advance of the Kingdom of God in that particular 
 land, and that cannot be done unless you have the hearty and 
 sympathetic co-operation of the native leaders. 
 
 Rev. F. BAYLIS (Secretary of the Church Missionary Society) : 
 In Uganda it was a principle from the first that no foreign money 
 was to go in the payment of any of the native agents who were 
 employed in the mission or in the Church. The problem that 
 has been put before us from Japan especially, of the mission 
 helping the native Churches, takes on quite a different phase 
 in other cases, and I think that our brethren there should not 
 feel that they have found the only way of dealing with it. In 
 Uganda we missed that difficulty altogether because in Uganda 
 we required the Mission to become absorbed in the Church. The 
 missionaries are in the Church and are under its authority just 
 as the native leaders are. The difficulty of dealing with the 
 finances that go from England and that are raised locally is easily 
 got over in that case, because all the workers are from the Church's 
 point of view, honorary workers. We put the money into their 
 hands and the Church has nothing to do with that. 
 
 AFTERNOON SESSION 
 
 The proceedings were opened with prayer by Dr. Warcllaw 
 Thompson of the London Missionary Society. 
 
 Bishop WALTER R. LAMBUTH (American Methodist Episcopal, 
 South) : It falls to my lot as Vice-Chairman of Commission II 
 or THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD, to present that portion of 
 the Report which was not presented by Dr. J. Campbell Gibson 
 this morning. He reviewed sections, I, II. and III of the Agenda, 
 which sections refer to chapter I, III and V of the Report. I 
 invite your attention to chapters II, IV, and VI, summarised in 
 section IV of the Agenda, which reads : Edification of the Chris- 
 tian Community, Adult and Juvenile. 
 
 The question is well raised by the Committee, What means 
 have been found most effective in developing Christian character 
 and activity in the native Church ? The supreme and ultimate 
 object of edification is the development of character, and to 
 secure the most effective activity upon the part of the Church 
 in the Mission Field. 
 
 In the first chapter we deal with the corporate life of the Church. 
 But corporate life is made up of individual life, and the former 
 is not stronger than the integrity of the units which make it up.
 
 360 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Chapter II. Conditions of Membership treats, in the first 
 place, of the spiritual instruction of catechumens, and in the 
 second, of instruction in Christian knowledge. This looks both to 
 indoctrination and to qualification for leadership and for assuming 
 the responsibilities of an aggressive evangelistic Church. 
 
 Chapter IV. Edification of the Christian Community, Adult and 
 Juvenile : What are the agencies which promote such edification, 
 which build character and stimulate activity ? i . Public Worship 
 on the Sabbath. 2. Day Schools, Boarding Schools and Hostels. 
 The Young Men's Christian Association has been notably active in 
 utilising the latter, especially in India and in Japan. 3. Family Wor- 
 ship and Village Meetings : The neighbours are frequently invited 
 to morning and evening prayer, and whole sections of the country 
 are being influenced in some fields through religious meetings 
 held for several days in succession in hamlets and villages. 4. 
 Conferences or Conventions for Workers or leaders : It is by 
 means of these agencies that edification and totalisation of church 
 and community have been effected to a marked degree, thus 
 increasing the activity of the local church. Such conferences 
 give large place to study of the Word and to prayer for catechumens, 
 catechists and the missionaries themselves. Plans are laid and 
 policies outlined which look to the direction of increased activity 
 of the church. In Korea and in some missions in China it is the 
 custom to hold annual conferences for Bible study for ten days 
 in every station. 5. Sunday schools : India takes precedence 
 with 435,441 officers, teachers and scholars in 1907, which number 
 had increased to 96,089 by the end of the following year. Japan, 
 which makes a close second, organised a Sunday School Association 
 in 1907, and China the same year, at its Centennial Conference 
 at Shanghai, secured a large standing Committee on this work, 
 and arrangements were authorised for the employment of a 
 General Secretary for its promotion. The World's Sunday School 
 Association held in Washington City i9th to 24th May sub- 
 scribed with great enthusiasm /i 5,000 a year for three years for 
 the promotion of Sunday School work in mission lands. 6. Young 
 People's Societies. The Commission gratefully record the fact 
 that in the main these have conspicuously approved themselves 
 by real usefulness in personal work in soul winning and in the 
 deepening of the prayer life. At the same time we would raise 
 the caution against the introduction of too much Western 
 machinery in Church work, and against the multiplication of 
 local societies. 7. The W r omen of the Church in Mission Lands. 
 Any statement would be incomplete which did not include the 
 contribution native women are making to the spread of the Gospel. 
 Women's elevation is one of the most striking credentials of Chris- 
 tianity in the Church in Asia, and her service is probably the truest 
 measure of the power of the Gospel working through the Church. 
 
 Chapter VI. treats of the Character and Spiritual Fruitfulness
 
 DISCUSSION 361 
 
 of Christian life. " By their fruits ye shall know them." were the 
 significant words of the Great Master. What are some of the 
 results or fruits of the Gospel as manifested in the lives of our 
 converts on the fields ? First. Fear cast out. Professor War- 
 neck says, " Fear is the moving power of animistic religion, in 
 Asia as in Africa." Instead of fear there is constant and un- 
 mistakable evidence of joy, deep-seated and abounding. Second. 
 Speech made pure. Not profanity so much as foul and vile language 
 is heard upon the streets and in the homes of heathenism. To 
 the amazement of their heathen neighbours it disappears from the 
 speech of the Christians and the tongue is no longer an unruly 
 member. Third. Truthfulness. Lying is an art in heathendom. 
 But Moslem judges in North Tripoli are on record as saying that 
 " The word of a Christian witness was accepted on its face in the 
 Court." Fourth. Family Prayer. This may be styled the sheet 
 anchor of the Christian home on the mission field. There are 
 as many as seventy-five per cent, who have family prayer in some 
 fields, and the average would not fall below twenty-five per cent. 
 From Abyssinia there comes the beautiful story in more than 
 one case of husband and wife settling their domestic troubles 
 on their knees at the family altar. Fifth. Liberality. AS was 
 true of those in Macedonia it may be said of many mission Churches 
 of our day, " their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their 
 liberality." Chinese schoolboys denying themselves a Sunday 
 mid-day meal in order to save a few copper cash for evangel- 
 istic work, can be placed by the side of the crop of arrowroot 
 raised by converts from cannibalism in the New Hebrides for the 
 publication of their New Testament. The Korean Christians 
 in a single year contributed out of their poverty ^25,000 for the 
 furtherance of the Gospel, which according to Commission II 
 translated into terms of the wages of the West would amount 
 to 1 7S> 00 - Sixth. Fervent Evangelism. The Congo, Uganda, 
 and perhaps in a special manner Polynesia, have been striking 
 illustrations of the power of the Gospel to stimulate to almost super- 
 human activity in the effort to seek and to save the lost. Seventh. 
 The Martyr Spirit under Persecution. Edification solidifying 
 into enduring Christian character character refined by suffering 
 acute and agonising. Where is there an example in the recent 
 annals of the Church more conspicuous than that in the Chinese 
 Empire during the Boxer movement ? The Church on the mission 
 field is safe in the character and activity of such Christians as 
 these. The old method at last is the best and will win " Preach 
 Christ and Him crucified." 
 
 THE TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OF WORKERS. 
 
 Rev. J. P. JONBS, D.D. (American Board of Commissioners, 
 Madura, India) : If the Church is to grow in character, in piety
 
 362 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 in self-support and in self-propagating power it must be through 
 the inspiration and leadership of the Christian worker trained 
 in our mission institutions. There are 26,000 men and women 
 of the soil in India who are engaged in constant Christian service ; 
 and I know of no nobler or more inspiring work than that of adding 
 to the number of men of God well equipped for this service. Having 
 engaged in this definite work for two decades, I wish to emphasise 
 a few things : 
 
 (1) The training given should be broadly Christian and not 
 dominantly denominational. A few years ago I studied the 
 curricula of all the Protestant Divinity Schools of India and was 
 surprised and saddened to see how much time was consumed in 
 the training of the men in strictly denominational lines. Our 
 men need to be broad in their views and sympathies. It will 
 be useless for the Church at home and for the Missions them- 
 selves to speak of Christian union, if the Indian workers are taught 
 to emphasise sectarian shibboleths and to exalt above all the politics 
 of the denomination. 
 
 (2) This education should be modern and up to date. I knew 
 a very few years ago a divinity school in India which had as one 
 of its text-books " Paley's Christian Evidences " a book whose 
 influence and blessings were great in the past but which has long 
 become antiquated. 
 
 (3) The students should be made familiar with the dominant 
 faiths and philosophies of the land. They can never successfully 
 contend against Hinduism without being taught as to the chief 
 contentions of that religion. The teacher should constantly, in 
 teaching his own faith, hold up and explain the related teachings 
 of Hinduism and Mohammedism. 
 
 (4) And above all else the training should be on Oriental lines. 
 The mental bias and prepossessions of the East must be con- 
 sidered. Our western emphases must be avoided and the definite 
 need of an Oriental Church be held before the men constantly, 
 and their mind and heart be prepared and trained to meet the 
 great enterprise of building up an Eastern Church and an Eastern 
 confession and presenting our faith to non-Christians in a way 
 which will appeal to their Oriental mind and heart and win them 
 to Christ. 
 
 Above all, these men must be trained in deep piety and be 
 helped to become burning lights of our faith in India. 
 
 Rev. J. R. CHITAMBER (American Methodist Episcopal Mission, 
 Reid Christian College, Lucknow) : I wish to speak briefly on ques- 
 tions (3) and (4) of Section No. II of the Agenda for to-day. " How 
 are these workers in large numbers to be supported and what 
 standard of living should be aimed at for them ? " In this con- 
 nection the following important question arises : should the 
 Missionary Societies employ as missionaries native workers who
 
 DISCUSSION 363 
 
 have received education equal to that of the foreign workers in 
 western universities ? Although in the Scriptural sense we are all 
 missionaries, in our vocabulary the word " missionary " is used 
 for a worker sent out into a foreign field by a Board in Great 
 Britain, America or other Christian countries. I am not pre- 
 pared to suggest that our native workers, male or female, should 
 be employed as " missionaries," even though they may have re- 
 ceived education equal to that of the foreign missionary in Western 
 universities, (i) This action on the part of the Missionary 
 Societies will divide the native workers into two classes, first, 
 those who by virtue of their having received a university training, 
 will be employed by their Boards as their agents ; and second, 
 those who, perhaps equally efficient but not privileged to have 
 had the same advantages, will be under their native church 
 councils or conferences. I am afraid that distinction will create 
 discontent among the native workers, and for an educated minister 
 thus connected with the " Home Boards " the temptation will 
 be to disregard their own church councils or conferences as they 
 will feel no obligations toward them. (2) Neither the foreign 
 missionaries nor their Boards are going to be permanent fixtures. 
 The time will come when the missionaries will have to withdraw and 
 the churches in the field will control everything. The burden 
 of the support of all the native workers will eventually fall on 
 their own churches. Unless I am very 'sadly mistaken the 
 missionaries and their Boards are looking forward, to the time 
 when the Churches in the mission fields \\ill be autonomous in 
 every way, and they, having made themselves unnecessary, will 
 withdraw. Now if this step be taken will it not delay the realisa- 
 tion of this expectation ? " 
 
 (3) To my mind there is absolutely no need for such an action 
 on the part of the Missionary Societies. It does not require 
 one to be a missionary connected with the Board " at home " 
 in order to be an efficient winner of souls, for after all our work 
 is that of soul saving. I do not mean that the educated native 
 workers should not be given their rights and privileges. Far from 
 that, 1 say with all necessary -emphasis that indigenous leadership 
 should be encouraged. They should be given positions of respons- 
 ibility as the foreign missionaries are. There should be nothing 
 to divide the missionary from his native fellow-worker. There 
 should be perfect unity and co-operation on the part of both. 
 
 Rev. OTTO HERTZBERG (Gossnersche Missionsgesellschaft, 
 Pommern, Germany) gave an account of the educational work 
 of the Gossner Mission in its mission field among the aboriginal 
 tribes in Chota Nagpur in Bengal. He continued : 
 
 The aim of all this educational work is to bring up worthy and 
 obedient workers for the Mission, for the Government, and for private 
 services. All our school boys are aboriginal Christians to whom
 
 364 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 we try our best to give a sound Christian education. The aim 
 of all mission work should be to make itself unnecessary, i.e. to 
 lead the converts to a certain degree of independence so that, if 
 at any time left alone, they would neither relapse into heathenism 
 nor turn to a form of religion contrary to the sound doctrine 
 of Holy Scripture. One of the means to accomplish this purpose 
 and, as far as I understand, the first and the most certain means 
 to reach such aim is education through school, but not only 
 education in " litteris " but chiefly in " moribus " because there 
 is no real education in " litteris " without education in " moribus," 
 for " plus proficit in litteris et deficit in moribus, plus deficit 
 quam proficit," i.e. improving in knowledge and failing in morals 
 is no improvement at all. 
 
 Rev. B. FULLER (Bombay) : It seems to me in this matter 
 of the support of the great army of workers needed in the field, we 
 need to keep in mind one great fact, and that is the actual 
 unity of the Church of Christ. I do not believe that the 
 English Church and the Scottish Church and the American 
 and the Indian and the Chinese Churches are in their separate 
 compartments in the mind of our Master. I believe that, as the 
 head of all these Churches is one, so the body is one and when 
 one member suffers, all the other members suffer with it. I do 
 not like the thought of making differences on this matter on 
 national or racial lines. I believe where there is need it is for 
 the Church of Christ to meet it and for the whole Church of Christ. 
 There are over 100,000,000 unreached people of India who are 
 not yet touched and cannot be touched by the forces there. If 
 there is this need of men, then the call comes to all Christian coun- 
 tries and to the individual men and women who are free to go, 
 and it also comes to the brethren in India so far as they 
 can meet that need, and it seems to me that the matter of 
 where the money comes from, is a very small matter. Personally, 
 I believe that the steward of God who knows that he has 
 God's money ought to give that money into the hands of those 
 who have been chosen to carry on this work, and I have 
 great faith in the committal of that money to the men on the 
 spot. I do not believe that we can lay down hard and fast rules. 
 What we have heard to-day shows us that we have to deal with 
 facts and not with ideals or theories with the facts in the fields 
 as we find them. Let the money be given into the hands of those 
 responsible for the work and let it be used where it is most needed, 
 whether for the support of foreigners or of the indigenous workers. 
 
 Right Rev. BISHOP BRENT (Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 U.S.A., Philippine Islands) : I venture to draw the attention of 
 the Conference to the danger of universal negatives. It seems 
 to me that that danger has already declared itself when the word
 
 DISCUSSION 365 
 
 " native " was put under the ban. If in the course of what I 
 have to say I use that word, I use it in its most dignified and 
 noble sense. I am a native Canadian and I am proud of it. If 
 after the privilege of birth by the privilege of choice I became 
 American and by the call of God a Philippine, I am still a native 
 Canadian. There are just one or two points that I wish to empha- 
 sise, and I shall strive to do so in the briefest possible manner. 
 With regard to the subject of not merely training native workers 
 but selecting before we train, it would appear to me that we 
 allow our missionaries to lose a tremendous stimulus by waiting, 
 instead of looking with discerning eye upon all the Christians 
 before us and laying our hands upon this one and that of dis- 
 tinguished piety and ability and saying " God and the Church 
 want you." Having called men it is for them to commune with 
 God and see whether He confirms the voice of the Church. 
 I venture to think that if we follow this principle more closely 
 we will get a higher grade of native leaders. Then again surely 
 when we look at the method of our Master, Jesus Christ, we will 
 be led to emphasise the training of the picked few in the most 
 thorough manner rather than have a large number trained in a 
 loose manner. Jesus Christ chose his Twelve. If in every mission 
 field we would take the greatest pains to get only the best and 
 then to give our best to the best, in due season the evangelisation 
 of the world would be accomplished as God desires it to be accom- 
 plished. Then may I suggest the danger that all of us are liable 
 to, of finding some noble young character with great intellectual 
 ability and sending him home for his education. There may have 
 been a day when it was necessary to send to the Western world 
 the Oriental who was seeking for education. That day, thank 
 God, is fast passing away. A man gets his best education among 
 the people and in the country where he is to live and do his labour. 
 Then again let me suggest that we must try not to allow that 
 barrier to arise between the professional mission worker in 
 the native field and the great body of Christians, such as I regret 
 to say has arisen in the Western world. Man is a missionary 
 O noble title because he is a Christian, and the very moment 
 we specialise too much and put it into the heads of men that there 
 is such a thing as a professional missionary, we are very apt to 
 lower the estimate that the Christian ought to have of his mission- 
 ary vocation. The missionary spirit and the missionary activity 
 is never an avocation, but it is always a vocation and it is because 
 our people at home do not realise this fact that missions are 
 to-day as weak as they are, and it is because a few do not recognise 
 that fact that missions are as strong as they are to-day. 
 
 Just one last word regarding the standard of living and I will 
 try to put it in the most succinct way possible. Those who have 
 come from the midst of primitive peoples realise that when we 
 go to Europe or America we are going from simplicity to com-
 
 366 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 plexity, and sometimes we are inclined to believe that the dangers 
 of what is called civilisation far exceed the blessings. But the 
 standard to set wherever we are, at home or abroad, is simplicity, 
 and by that I do not mean disregard of God's blessings, be they 
 material, intellectual or spiritual, but I mean simplicity that 
 enables a man to choose and gives him the will to aim to be a 
 good servant of God. Luxury cannot be denned. If I may con- 
 tradict what 1 have already said, I would define it as an un- 
 disciplined use of God's gifts to allow the material to dictate 
 terms to us. 
 
 Mrs. EDWARD BICKERSTETH (Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel, Japan) : In the Report as it stands it would appear 
 that the Christian Missions in Japan make no provision for the 
 training of their teachers and I venture to submit that the con- 
 trary is the case. I can only speak for the Nippon Sei Kokwai, 
 a Christian body, a branch of the Church which is in Japan and 
 which is in full communion with the Church of England and the 
 Episcopal Church of America. That body does make provision 
 for the training of workers, and I know that all our friends in 
 other Christian lands in Japan do make very special provision 
 for the training of their workers. I wish to say one word about 
 the training of women workers. The women workers are recog- 
 nised in our canon as women evangelists and they have a training 
 in a way which I think is very different from what it would be 
 in other Eastern lands, on account of the comparative freedom 
 of the women. Our women are taken for three years, 
 and there are three or four training schools supported by the 
 Church Missionary Society and the Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel. After they receive that training they receive their 
 licences from the Bishop just as the men catechists do, and then 
 they too become recognised workers in the Japanese Church. 
 
 Rev. GEORGE HEBER JONES, D.D. (Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 U.S.A., Korea) : I want to speak on the lessons that have 
 come to us in connection with the training of the workers of the 
 Church in Korea. Up to the present time, as has been indicated 
 here, stress has been laid largely upon the training of the profes- 
 sional workers in the Church, but we have found out that to 
 depend upon the various classes of workers such as we know them 
 for the projection of the Church on to the unchristianised life 
 of the nation, would be the same as for an army in the midst of 
 a great campaign to simply send out the officers to fight while 
 the men remained in camp. There is no doubt but that there 
 should be instilled into the great body of the membership of the 
 Church an ideal of personal activity. Twenty-five years ago 
 there was no Church .in Korea. To-day, in the various classes 
 of membership there are 250,000 followers of the Lord Jesus
 
 DISCUSSION 367 
 
 Christ. There has been an average of one convert an hour for 
 every hour of the day and night since the first missionary set foot 
 on Korean soil twenty-five years ago. This has been achieved 
 by the activity of the great body of the membership in Korea, 
 and I think that in the training of that membership three great 
 forces have been emphasised. The Bible has been installed in 
 the thought of the native Korean Christian and in our training 
 of them in these Bible institutes that are mentioned incidentally 
 in the native Church. During last year 50,000 members of the 
 Church, or one in every five, enrolled to take those courses of 
 instruction. The Bible plays a large part also in the training 
 of the children. Then the second force has been the power of 
 prayer, and that certainly plays a large part in the training and 
 development of the members of the Church. Previous to the 
 Pentecostal descent upon the Holy Spirit of the Church of 
 Korea in 1907, prayer was regarded largely as a great and precious 
 privilege on the part of the native Christian. Since then a 
 change has apparently come over the attitude of the native 
 Christian towards prayer. He now regards it as a primary 
 method of work for our Lord. As the result of that there is an 
 emphasis upon the power of prayer which sends the great mass 
 of membership out empowered to achieve many things for Jesus 
 Christ, as his workers in his vineyard. In the third place, our 
 laymen have done marvellous things in the way of contributing 
 from their temporal resources to the support of the Church. But 
 they have done more than that, they have discovered a new form 
 of collection consisting in the giving of days of service. Men 
 will give ten days or fifteen days, say one day out of each ten 
 days or two weeks. Instead of going to their business they go 
 about among their unconverted friends to talk to them of Jesus 
 Christ and indicate their need of Him to them. In one case 
 sixty-five days of service were given to be paid off during this 
 coming year. 
 
 Rev. C. H. FENN (American Presbyterian Church, North, Peking, 
 China) : In the Scriptural tense all Christian workers are mis- 
 sionaries, but in our vocabulary the word " missionary " lias come 
 to have a special significance which is probably intended to make 
 distinction between foreign and indigenous workers in the foreign 
 fields. We use the word " missionary " for a man or a woman 
 who goes out as a worker into a foreign field from America, Great 
 Britain or some other Christian country, and who has his or 
 her direct connection with the Home Board, \vhich lias sent him 
 or her out. In employing as " missionaries " such workers as 
 liave received education equal to that of missionaries in Western 
 Universities several things will have to be carefully considered. 
 In the first place such a step will necessarily divide the native 
 workers of a country into two classes one would be the natives
 
 368 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION 'FIELD 
 
 of the country who by virtue of their education will have their 
 connection with the Home Board, and the other would also be the 
 natives, perhaps equally efficient, but, unfortunately, not so 
 highly educated, who will be under their native Church Councils 
 or Conferences. I am afraid that such a distinction is likely to 
 create a little discontent among the native workers. Besides 
 this the Churches on the mission fields will be deprived of men 
 belonging to the former class, for then the temptation will be to 
 discard their own Church Councils because they will have no 
 obligations towards them. In the second place we should re- 
 member that the foreign missionaries will not be permanent fixtures 
 in the foreign fields, nor will Home Boards connected with the 
 various Missionary Societies be permanent. A time will surely 
 come when the missionaries will have to withdraw and their 
 places will be taken by the native agents, the burden of whose 
 support will eventually fall upon their own Churches. Unless 
 I am very sadly mistaken, I believe our foreign missionaries and 
 their Home Boards are anxious to build up Churches on their 
 mission fields and are looking forward to the time when they will 
 be independent of all foreign help. Now if this step were taken, 
 would it hasten the realisation of this expectation ? In the third 
 place, " Is it essential for me to be a missionary under the 
 Home Board in order to become an efficient worker ? A 
 man can surely be a successful soul winner without being so 
 for after all his work is that of soul winning bringing his own 
 native brothers and sisters into the fold of the Good Shepherd. 
 Let me not be misunderstood. I do not mean that our educated 
 native Christian workers should be deprived of their rights and 
 privileges. We need highly educated men and women, both 
 foreign and native, for our foreign fields. Our native agents 
 should be afforded every educational facility in their own country 
 and also abroad if possible. Indigenous leadership should be 
 encouraged everywhere. The native workers should be taken 
 into confidence and trusted with the control and management 
 of all affairs pertaining to their Churches, and should be given 
 positions of responsibility in our fields as foreign missionaries are ; 
 the latter, if need be, may not be directors so much as advisers 
 and co-operators. I do not mean that we do not require any 
 help from the missionaries or the Home Boards. We earnestly 
 ask you to send us as many men, and as much money as you can, 
 for the foreign fields are very needy fields. There has never been 
 a more opportune time for you to turn your eyes to them than the 
 present one. The Churches on the mission fields are not yet 
 strong enough to support their own agents. What is the remedy 
 then ? Help liberally the Churches OK the mission fields to the 
 best of your powers until they need your help. You will, of 
 course, have to give better positions and better salaries to the 
 workers who have received a University education than to those
 
 DISCUSSION 369 
 
 who are not so favoured. This will surely be expected of you. 
 But let them all be under their own Churches as their missionaries. 
 It will be yours to subsidise liberally these Churches in order to 
 enable them to employ these men and keep them comfortably, 
 according to their needs. The same I will say about educated 
 native female workers. Let the Churches on the mission fields 
 have full control in every way over all their workers, I would 
 go a step further even those native agents who have been 
 educated abroad, and let these agents feel their obligation towards 
 them. To use the words of Dr. Gibson : Let them not be des- 
 pised nor let them be too far separated from the people among 
 whom they live. This is my personal opinion, but if some think 
 that the difficulties hinted at can be overcome or that the present 
 conditions in their fields demand that this question be answered 
 in the affirmative, let them go ahead, and do what they think will 
 hasten the evangelisation of those fields, for after all this is 
 the end towards which we are all working. In conclusion I 
 would respectfully suggest that all Christian workers, whether 
 foreign, connected with the Home Boards, or native under the 
 Churches in the field, should work with the spirit of love and 
 co-operation, for humanly speaking the secret of our success will 
 lie in our sympathetic, nay brotherly co-operation. 
 
 Rev. Prof. J. I. MARAIS, D.D. (Dutch Reformed Church in 
 South Africa) : I am glad for the opportunity of appearing on this 
 platform. I am sorry to have to strike a somewliat discordant 
 note, but I do not speak in my individual capacity, nor as the 
 representative of a particular Church. I am voicing, at their 
 request, the opinions of several Missionary Societies labouring 
 among the Bantu races in Africa. At a meeting held during 
 the hour for luncheon certain clauses of the Report bearing on 
 the admission of polygamists to the membership of the Chris- 
 tian Church came under discussion. The statement that 
 " the practice of polygamy is the deadly foe of pure family 
 life " was heartily endorsed by all. On page 73, however, a 
 distinction is made between " the more severe view " on this ques- 
 tion, and the " more lenient " view. We would respectfully 
 submit, that this pronouncement of the Conference might have 
 an effect not contemplated by the Commission, inasmuch as 
 Christians among the Bantu are not accustomed to discriminate 
 between polygamy as practised elsewhere and the hideous forms 
 of polygamy " practised before their own doors." In our humble 
 opinion, what is called the " more severe view " is the correct 
 view at least in its bearing upon the Bantu races in Africa. We 
 would request the insertion of a paragraph in the Report to that 
 effect, so that the opinions expressed by this Conference may not 
 be misunderstood in Africa, and hamper the work undertaken 
 by us. A clause like the following would satisfy the Missionary 
 COM. II. 24
 
 370 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Societies in whose name I speak : " The experience of mission- 
 aries in Africa has led them to the support of the views expressed 
 in paragraphs (2) and (3) on page 73 of the Report. 
 
 Rev. J. A. SHARROCK (S.P.G., South India) : I too must 
 strike a discordant note. There are two references to caste in 
 pp. 115 and 1 1 6, both of which are favourable. We must hear the 
 other side. Nothing makes a man so unpopular as touching 
 caste. But we have come here to learn and to take action in 
 dealing with evil, and this evil prevails all over India, especially 
 in South India ; and it is caste in the Christian Church that is 
 the great curse we have to deal with. People come over in tens 
 of thousands they are held back for years by caste, then it is 
 caste that pushes them into the Church by mass movements, 
 and it is caste that causes the terrible stagnation that prevails. 
 Our Christians even our clergy and lay agents will not for 
 the most part dine together, much less marry outside the limits 
 of their caste. When a strange Christian arrives the first question 
 asked is " Do you belong to us ? " As Bishop Sargent of Tinne- 
 velly used to say, " Caste is Hinduism and Hinduism is caste." 
 While a Christian holds on to Hinduism, he can only be a half and 
 half Christian. When a branch is half broken, how can the sap 
 flow and how can good flowers and fruit be expected ? How can 
 the Church of South India be a strong, living Church while this 
 evil continues ? 
 
 The history of South Indian Missions is very largely a history 
 of caste troubles and caste relapses. Caste is felt more or less 
 strongly in different places and missions, but it is killing the life 
 of the Church everywhere, and always. How then are we to 
 deal with it ? I say by united, corporate action. Cannot the 
 missionaries of India all unite and overcome this great evil ? 
 Until they do, the Church in India will never be a strong, living, 
 self-supporting and self-governing body. 
 
 Rev. LEONARD DAWSON (S.P.G., formerly Missionary to 
 Canadian Indians) : In dealing with the native Christians one 
 of the difficulties which has presented itself to me in the work 
 is that where you have been preparing a candidate for baptism 
 and you have felt bound to postpone that baptism for good reasons, 
 some other Christian body has stepped in and baptized your man. 
 It is that want of common discipline that seems to be a very 
 great evil on the part of those who are about to become Christians. 
 On the question of bigamy and polygamy which is spoken of 
 on pages 64-74 of the Report, I venture to ask that the Com- 
 mission would embody in their Report the decisions of the Lam- 
 beth Conference of 1888, which I think are of value in helping 
 to formulate a common policy in dealing with this most difficult 
 subject.
 
 DISCUSSION 371 
 
 REV. J. CAMPBELL GIBSON. D.D. : It may save time if I say 
 that the Commission entirely accept that proposal, and have 
 already arranged, as stated in the Report, to print these Resolu- 
 tions of the Lambeth Conference in our appendix (see p. 321). 
 
 MISSIONAR A. BETTIN (Rhenish Missionary Society, Germany) : 
 I should like to speak a few words about Church discipline 
 in connection with the provisional agenda in yesterday's 
 print. The Christian Life and the condition of membership. We 
 often hear in missionary circles of the unchristian life of so^ 
 called European Christians being a stumbling - block to non- 
 Christians which hinders them from becoming members of the 
 Church of Christ. That is certainly sure, but I am even more 
 convinced of the immoral and unchristian life of baptized heathens 
 being a vast hindrance to the conversion of their fellow-country- 
 men. It cannot be denied that there are men of bad character 
 members of the Church in the non-Christian world of ten years 
 ago. I know there was one Disciple amongst the twelve who 
 betrayed the 'Lord, but if the number of Christians with bad 
 character is so large as one in twelve it is an event of great danger 
 to the Church in the mission field. Missionary Societies are fond 
 of good statistics. They are certainly of value to all who take 
 an interest in mission work, but they may be a danger to some 
 missionaries who like to please their committee and show the 
 marvellous result of their work by large numbers. I really do 
 not mean to say large numbers are always a proof of carelessness. 
 Praise God they are not, but nevertheless there have been con- 
 gregations increased with men who received Baptism but did 
 not follow Christ, and decreased the good name of the Church. 
 As far as the civilised non-Christian nations are concerned, where 
 a few of the multitudes enter the gates of the Church the greatest 
 care must be taken with those who are received by Baptism. 
 I think men are not so very particular in turning from one 
 religion to another. They do not find much difficulty in throwing 
 away their idols and they soon learn what is required for Baptism, 
 but we want more than that before baptism. To be a Christian 
 means to be a Disciple of Christ, to follow Him. Therefore we 
 must, if we receive a non-Christian into the Church, be convinced 
 that he has begun to follow Christ. There must be a change in 
 his life such that his non-Christian friends cannot deny that to 
 become a Christian means to be a better father, a better mother, 
 a better sister and brother, and a better citizen it means to be 
 a child of God. 
 
 Mr. D. E. HOSTE (China Inland Mission, Shanghai) : I think 
 we shall all agree that this is amongst the most important sub- 
 jects that we have to consider at tliis gathering. Unless active 
 measures be taken, the tendency will be for the standard of
 
 372 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 Church membership, of Christian intelligence and of Christian 
 life generally, to degenerate, and we may have a repetition of 
 what occurred in the history of Western Christendom. The 
 Vice-Chairman of the Commission in his comprehensive outline 
 alluded to various measures for the edification of the Church, 
 and in the brief time at my disposal I venture to draw attention 
 to two. I think experience has shown that in Clu'na at all events, 
 and I imagine in other countries also, one fruitful means for the 
 uplifting of the Christian life of the Church is the holding of special 
 meetings. I think it has now been established beyond contradic- 
 tion that where suitable arrangements are made and a suitable man, 
 whether a foreigner or a native of the country, is invited to hold 
 special services I speak more of services directly for the edifica- 
 tion of the Church, and the upbuilding of Christian life, and that 
 where such meetings are preceded by regular and prolonged prayer, 
 it may be for mouths beforehand or for weeks beforehand ex- 
 perience has shown in China that God is pleased greatly to bless 
 such services. A remarkable fact in connection with this kind 
 of work in China has been that the Lord has used as missioncrs 
 to men ah 1 classes of Society. I speak now of the Chinese workers. 
 I want to allude now to the second and very important point, 
 that we do see to-day that the children of the Christians scattered 
 for the most part in the villages are receiving instruction in the 
 Holy Scripture and that means are being taken to mould their 
 lives and character on Christian lines. 
 
 Rev. Dr. T. HARADA (Kumiai Church, President of the Dosliisha, 
 Kyoto) : I am going to speak a word about the standard of faith 
 in non-Christian lands. The question is often asked in some 
 sort of way like this, are the expressions of faith as formulated 
 by the Western Churches acceptable to and sufficient for the various 
 Churches in the East ? In answering such a question as that 
 I wish to speak frankly and boldly of what I regard as the funda- 
 mental principle which should ever be kept in our view, namely, 
 Christianity is life the life of God hi man nothing other than 
 that can be considered as real Christianity. The life cannot be 
 translated into another life except through that life. The organisa- 
 tion and the system of doctrine will follow on, but all the organisa- 
 tions and the systems of doctrines are not powerful enough to 
 produce that life. In saying this I do not mean to say there 
 is no need of organisation, nor do I mean to say that there is no 
 need of the statement of faith not at all. What I want to say 
 is that the expressions of faith must be the fruits of the Christian life 
 and the spiritual experience. Perhaps some of you may say 
 that it is too commonplace, too simple, but let me remind you 
 that very often the simplest truths are the truths very easily 
 forgotten by us. The essential faith of Christianity is our faith 
 in the personal God our Father, hi a living Christ and in the
 
 DISCUSSION 373 
 
 Holy Spirit \vho is living with us all the time. Teach the Bible 
 without too much of our interpretation, and then be patient 
 as well as watchful to await the outcome of the Christian life 
 in non-Christian lands. I think we want faith in God, but we 
 want faith in man, not in the goodness of man, but in man as 
 the living temple of God. We should not judge of others by our 
 own thoughts. Our system and your system are not necessarily 
 the perfect or final type of Christianity and therefore in the matter 
 of the expressions of faith in non-Christian lands we must be 
 patient, we must wait for the time of the real expression of their 
 spiritual experience. That is important, not only for the sake 
 of the Churches in non-Christian lands, but I think that is important 
 for the sake of the mother Churches, because in all those and 
 only in all those our Lord's full personality will be glorified and 
 revealed in all the world. 
 
 Rev. Lord WILLIAM GASCOYNE-CECIL (Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel, London) : I only presume to intervene in your 
 counsels at this moment to put before you one fault. We have 
 heard tlus morning of the importance of an independent Church. 
 We have heard this afternoon of the difficulties that surround 
 the discipline of the Church and of the difficulties there are in 
 providing funds for the support of native workers. I would 
 suggest to you that all these difficulties could be solved by one 
 remedy and one alone one remedy which is referred to in your 
 Report and that remedy is that you should give to your converts 
 a sufficient education and knowledge to enable them to deal 
 with these questions. A Church will always be in slavery 
 to others when it is an ignorant Church. An ignorant man is 
 always a slave to someone else. Knowledge is power. It is 
 no good altering your regulations and your rules unless you can 
 take advantage of these alterations. If your workers are capable 
 of governing the Church, they will govern the Church. If they 
 are incapable, they will not govern it. To make them capable 
 you must educate them. Questions of discipline will not be 
 decided until they are decided by the natives of the country and 
 they will never decide them till they have had a thorough educa- 
 tion in the history of our civilisation, such as in the history of our 
 religion. 
 
 Again on the question of money, a Church will never be safe 
 unless it depends on itself. Your members will not be able to 
 support your Church as it ought to be supported unless you give 
 them education which will enable them to cope with the many 
 advancements of science which must take place in all lands. I 
 unhesitatingly say this is the key to the situation educate your 
 native workers not merely a theological education, but a wide 
 education trust them with the knowledge which has made
 
 374 THE CHURCH IN THE MISSION FIELD 
 
 you powerful and then you can leave your Church and your 
 work, confident that they will work out their own salvation. 
 
 Rev. J. CAMPBELL GIBSON, D.D. : I do not think Commission 
 No. II will desire that any reply should be offered in their name. 
 But it is due to the Conference that we should acknowledge 
 the exceedingly full and relevant and brotherly criticism and 
 supplementing which our report has received at your hands. 
 For that we are very grateful, and if I may say a few words 
 in review of the debate, I should like to do it upon two points 
 only. One is with regard to that very important subject of the 
 independence of the Church in the mission field. There are 
 two aspects of that independence to which I should like to refer. 
 One was the fear which was powerfully expressed, and I think 
 so timeously expressed, by his Lordship the Bishop of Birmingham, 
 when he insisted on the necessity that, whatever liberties are 
 recognised as belonging to local Churches, it should be impressed 
 upon them from the beginning that there are great affirmations 
 of divine truth, the making of which is of the very essence of 
 the Christian life, and of the testimony of the Church of God. It 
 hardly needs your applause or my words to assure his Lordship 
 that that feeling is very strong in the hearts of missionaries of 
 nearly all communions. I may add that those who have shown 
 themselves ready to die for the Faith, as many members of the 
 Mission Churches have done, are not likely to be found lacking in 
 the positive affirmation of truth. The other word I wish to 
 say is this. I wish to address myself to my dear brethren from 
 Eastern lands, from Japan, from China, from Korea, from 
 India, and from Africa. You have seen within these few days 
 with what sincere cordiality and sympathy yourselves and your 
 views as expressed to us have been received by this Conference. 
 You have seen how hearty and encouraging was the recognition 
 given to the great principle that the Church represented in your 
 countries is one which has its rights and its future as well as the 
 older Churches of the West, and that we who are connected with 
 these Churches of the West do not grudge full recognition of the 
 liberties of the Churches which you represent. Having seen that 
 encouraging recognition I venture to make this appeal to you in 
 turn, that you will carry to your own Churches, not only the ex- 
 pression of this cordial sympathy with your national and racial 
 aspirations, and your Christian aspirations, but that you will also, 
 in view of the cordiality of this recognition, assure your brethren 
 that they need not be over-anxious upon that point, and above all 
 things that they should not by rash haste make it more difficult 
 for the representatives of the older communions to accord the 
 absolute liberty which is your right.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Adult schools, 133-6. 
 Ancestor worship, 114-5, 153, 
 328-9. 
 
 Baptism, period of probation 
 required for, 42-3 ; moral 
 and intellectual tests for ad- 
 mission to, 50-5 ; evils to be 
 renounced before, 62-74 > 
 profession of faith at time of, 
 55-7 ; authority admitting to, 
 74-6 ; baptism of women by 
 women, 76-7 ; comity to be 
 observed with regard to ad- 
 ministration of, 269. See also 
 Catechumenate. 
 
 Baptist Missionary Society, form 
 
 catechumens, 50-5, 57-62 ; 
 stages in catechumenate, 77-8. 
 See also Baptism. 
 
 Centenary Missionary Confer- 
 ence. Shanghai (1907), de- 
 cisions regarding ancestor 
 worship, 114, 153, 328-9 ; 
 the study and use of the 
 Bible, 143, 157-8, 334-5 ; 
 self-government of the Church, 
 203-4, 206 ! inner life of the 
 Church, 1 68 ; the Chinese 
 ministry, 197, 329-31 ; Chris- 
 tian literature, 255, 258, 264-5, 
 335-6 women's work, 332-3. 
 
 Children's services, 130-3. 
 
 Christian life, in the Church in 
 
 of agreement drawn up by the mission field, character 
 missionaries at Seramporei 0^207-33,272-3,360-1. 
 (1805), 284-5. | Christian literature. See Litera- 
 
 Bible, importance of translation ture. 
 
 and circulation of the, 235-8 ; , Christians, relation of, to the 
 importance of study of, 334-; general community, 219-24. 
 5. i Church of Christ in Japan, Con- 
 
 Bigamy. See under Polygamy. 
 Boarding schools, 137-43. 
 
 Caste, attitude of the Church to, 
 
 "5-6. 370. 
 
 Catechumenate, necessity for, 
 48, 268-9 ; generally de- 
 manded as preliminary to 
 baptism, 42-3 ; lack of uni- 
 formity of practice with 
 regard to, 44 ; resulting dis- 
 advantages, 44-5 ; admission 
 to, after preliminary investi- 
 gation and probation, 46 ; 
 admission by public confes- 
 sion, 46 ; duration of, 43, 46, 
 48-9 ; treatment and pre- 
 
 fession of Faith and Constitu- 
 tion of, 294-6. 
 
 Church in the mission field, 
 significance of the, 2-3, 38, 267, 
 340-1 [cf. ix. 182-4, 214-5]; 
 difficulty of defining limits of, 
 4-6; world -wide extent of, 
 6-10 ; importance of develop- 
 ing on national lines, 346-8, 
 349-50 ; relation of, to the 
 foreign " mission," 35-8, 342. 
 345. 348-55. 358-9 [cf. ix. 289- 
 315]. See also Organisation, 
 Self - Government, Self -Sup- 
 port, Edification, Christian 
 Life, Discipline, Baptism, Cate- 
 chumenate, Workers, Theo- 
 logical Training. 
 
 paration of catechumens, 47-8. 
 
 49-50; instruction given to Church buildings, 129-30. 
 
 876
 
 376 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Clergy, training of. See Theo- 
 logical Training. 
 
 Commission, Report of the. 
 See Report. 
 
 Communion, the Holy, admis- 
 sion to, 78-81, 164-8. 
 
 Conditions of membership. See 
 Baptism. 
 
 Conference of the Anglican Com- 
 munion in China and Hong- 
 Kong (1909), Resolutions of, 
 290-3. 
 
 Conferences, 149-52, 270. 
 
 Confirmation, 78, 81, 165-6. 
 
 Congregational Unions in Amoy 
 and Madagascar, 286-8. 
 
 Constitution of the Church. 
 See Organisation. 
 
 Co-operation in theological 
 training, 183 ; in the pro- 
 duction of Christian litera- 
 ture, 273-4. 
 
 Discipline, necessity for exercise 
 of, 93, 118-20, 269, 343-4; 
 difficulty of administering 
 rightly, 93-4 ; the authority 
 administering, 94-6 ; offences 
 dealt with in, 96-7 ; stages of, 
 97 ; duration of suspension 
 under, 97-8 ; publicity of, 
 98-100 ; application of, to 
 non-observance of the Lord's 
 Day, 100-4 ! to drunkenness, 
 105 ; to litigation, 105 ; to 
 mixed marriages, 105-10 ; to 
 customs of doubtful expedi- 
 ency, 110-21 ; to ancestor 
 worship, 114-5 5 to caste, 
 115-6 ; need for greater uni- 
 formity in administering, 
 117-8 ; for Christian bodies 
 respecting discipline of others, 
 269 [cf. viii. 21]. 
 
 Edification of the Christian com- 
 munity, 12270, 26970, 360. 
 
 Education. See Schools. 
 
 Enquirers, difficulty of judging 
 motives of, 40-1 ; variety 
 and mixed nature of motives 
 of, 41-2 ; usual lack of a sense 
 
 of sin in, 42 ; enquirers not 
 candidates for baptism, 81-4. 
 See also Baptism, Catechu- 
 menate. 
 
 Evangelistic efforts of the 
 Church, 224-6 [cf. i. Index, 
 " Church in the Mission 
 Field "]. 
 
 Family, influence of Christi- 
 anity on the life of the, 217-9. 
 
 Family worship, 143-6, 270. 
 
 Fear, removal of, through Chris- 
 tianity, 211-3. 
 
 Funerals as an occasion for in- 
 culcating Christian ideals, 
 152-4- 
 
 Generosity a fruit of the Gospel, 
 
 215-7- 
 
 Government of the Church. See 
 Self-Government. 
 
 " Hearers' Class " in Living- 
 
 stonia, 45-6. 
 Hostels, 138-43. 
 Hymns, 124-5, 252-3. 
 
 Idolatry, 211. 
 
 Literature, Christian import- 
 ance of providing, 234, 335 ; 
 difficulties arising from wide- 
 spread illiteracy, 238-9 ; 
 literary provision in lands 
 without an existing literature, 
 240-5 ; spread of corrupt 
 and anti-Christian literature 
 in eastern lands, 197, 246-9 ; 
 provision of Christian litera- 
 ture in Moslem lands, 249 ; 
 in India, 249-50 ; in China, 
 250-1, 335-6 ; in Japan, 
 251-2 ; creating of a hymn- 
 ology, 252-3 ; devotional 
 literature, 253-4, 2 55> 2 73 j 
 need for increase of Christian 
 literature, 254-6, 263-5, 273-4 ' 
 need for original works, rather 
 than translations, 256-8 ; 
 lack of independent native 
 thinkers and authors, and its 
 causes, 258-63 ; need for co-
 
 INDEX 377 
 
 operation and better prgani-! 21-2; Anglican polity, 22-4, 
 sation in the production of, 289-93 ; memorandum of 
 273-4 ! n 9 e d f r setting men Church Missionary Society on 
 apart for literary work, 264-5, Church organisation, 31 7-20 ; 
 2 73-4. 335 5 recommenda- Presbyterian polity, 24-5, 
 tions of the commission re- 294-308, 309-1 1 ; Methodist 
 garding, 273-5. polity, 25-7 ; polity of the 
 Litigation as an obstacle to ', Friends' Mission, 28 ; polity 
 baptism and subject of dis- of the Reformed Church of 
 cipline, 89, 105. France, 28-9 ; polity of inter- 
 Lord's Supper. See Com- denominational missions, 29- 
 munion. 30. See also Sclf-Goverumcnl. 
 
 Mass movements towards Chris- Pastors, training of. See Theo- 
 tianity, 85-91. logical Training. 
 
 Membership, conditions of. See Persecution, endurance of, 220, 
 Baptism. 226-7. 
 
 Ministry, training for the. See Polity, Church. Sec under Or- 
 Theological Training. ganisation. 
 
 Missionaries, relation of, to the Polygamy. 64-74, 321-7, 369-70. 
 Church in the mission field, Prayer in the Church in the 
 32-3. 35-8, 342, 345, 349-55- mission field. 232-3, 367 ; 
 358-9 [cf. ix. 289-315]; the' importance of cultivating, 270. 
 problem in Japan, 36-8 [cf. Presbyterian Church in China, 
 ix. 298-305] ; in respect of Declaration and Resolutions 
 self-support, 198-206 ; in of Union of, 305-8. 
 regard to movements in the Presbyterian Church in India, 
 direction of unity, 33-5. See] Confession of Faith and Con- 
 n/so Self-Government, Self- stitution of, 297-304. 
 Support. Probation. See Catechumenatc. 
 
 Mission field, Church in the. Public worship, 122-30. 
 
 See Church. Purity of speech a fruit of the 
 
 Gospel, 213-4. 
 
 National spirit in relation to', 
 
 the supply of men for the Racial characteristics, as affect- 
 ministry, 184-7, 346-7; to ing the progress of Chris- 
 character of theological train- tianity, 91-2. 
 ing, 197-8 ; to self-support, : Rationalism, spread of western, 
 201. 197-8. 
 
 Native workers. See Workers. Report of the Commission 
 
 Nippon Sei Kokwai, Constitution importance of the subject 
 of, 289. dealt with by, 2 ; scope of. 
 
 3 ; procedure followed in pre- 
 
 Organisation of the Church paration of, 1-2, 277-83. 
 ambiguity of terms regarding, Revival, spiritual, 227-32. 
 1 1 ; different authorities to 
 
 be considered, 13 ; congrega- Sacraments, 123-4. See Dap- 
 tional polity, 14-8, 286-8, tism, Communion. 
 309-11, 356-7 ; polity in Schools, importance of, for the 
 missions of the Churches on development of the Christian 
 the Continent of Europe,! community, 136-43, 270. 
 1 8-2 1 ; Moravian polity, Scriptures. See Bible.
 
 378 
 
 Self-government of the Church 
 in the mission field in rela- 
 tion to the individual con- 
 gregation, 31-2 ; to the de- 
 velopment of the whole 
 Christian community, 32-3 ; 
 to the congregational polity, 
 15 ; to the polity of the 
 Churches on the Continent 
 of Europe, 18-22 ; to the 
 Anglican polity, 22-4 ; to the 
 Presbyterian and Methodist 
 polities, 24-7. See also Or- 
 ganisation, Self-Support. 
 
 Self-support, problem of, arising 
 from financial relations be- 
 tween the mission and the 
 local Church, 35, 198-201 ; 
 importance of developing, 
 199-201, 330-1 ; methods of 
 advance towards, 200-1 ; 
 relation of the national spirit 
 to, 201 ; rates of payment 
 to native workers, 202-6 ; 
 disastrous effect of making 
 control of the purse the 
 basis of authority, 203-4 > 
 sacrifices made by native 
 workers, 205-6. 
 
 Sin, absence of sense of, 42. 
 
 Social conditions as affecting 
 the progress of Christianity, 
 91-2. 
 
 South India United Church, De- 
 claration and Plan of Union 
 and Confession of Faith of, 
 309-11. 
 
 Station classes, 133-6. 
 
 Sunday Schools, 155-64, 270, 
 
 334-5- 
 
 Supply of students for the 
 ministry, 184-7. 
 
 Theological training, inade- 
 quacy of present arrangements 
 for, 182-4, 362 ; advantage of 
 co-operation in, 183, 272 ; 
 supply of students for, 184-7, 
 2 7 I > 33 ; need for broadest 
 and most thorough training 
 possible, 186-7, 197-8, 271, 
 329, 362 ; staffing of theologi- 
 
 cal colleges, 187^-8; theological 
 courses, 189-91, 330 ; danger 
 of undue emphasis on western 
 forms, 190-1, 362 [cf. iii. 407] ; 
 preparatory training of theo- 
 logical students, 191-3 ; tests 
 of character and fitness, 193-4 ' 
 language employed in teach- 
 ing, 194-5 ; practical training, 
 J 95~6 ; need for greater 
 financial support of, 271-2, 
 331. See also Self -Support, 
 Workers. 
 
 Truthfulness a fruit of the 
 Gospel, 214-5. 
 
 Unity, movements towards, in 
 the mission field, 35, 268, 
 312-6 ; importance of en- 
 couraging such movements, 
 268 ; relation of foreign mis- 
 sionaries to them, 33-5. 
 
 Visitation of Christian families, 
 147-9. 
 
 Weddings as an opportunity of 
 inculcating Christian ideals, 
 
 152-4- 
 
 Women, baptism of, by women, 
 76-7 ; place in public worship, 
 130 ; training of women 
 workers, 172-3, 174, 177, 179, 
 332-3, 366 ; in China, position 
 of, 332 ; education of, 333. 
 
 Workers, training of, 171-82, 
 271, 342 ; variety of types of 
 workers, 171-2, 329-30, 342, 
 366-7 ; workers not limited 
 to a professional class, 171 ; 
 training of women workers, 
 172-3, 174, 177, 179,332-3; of 
 men evangelists, colporteurs, 
 etc., 173-4; in Japan, 174; 
 Korea, 174-5 ; China, 175-7 ; 
 India, 177-80 ; Africa, 180-1 ; 
 Philippines, 181. See also 
 Theological Training, Self- 
 Support. 
 
 Young People's Societies, 168- 
 70.
 
 LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS AND AUTHORITIES 
 QUOTED, AND OF SPEAKERS WHO TOOK 
 PART IN THE DISCUSSION. 
 
 This Index has been prepared to facilitate reference. The 
 extent to which any correspondent is quoted is not to be taken as 
 an indication of the importance attached by the Commission to 
 his paper in comparison with other papers. 
 
 Anderson, Rev. H., r.$i. 
 
 Bacon, Rev. J. R., 258. 
 Baylis, Rev. F., 359. 
 Bettin, Missionar A., 371. 
 Bickersteth, Mrs. Edward, 366. 
 Birmingham, Bishop of, 354-7. 
 Bitton, Rev. W. Nelson, 351-2. 
 Brent, Bishop, 364-6. 
 Brown, Rev. Arthur J., 344-6. 
 Brown, Rev. F., 158. 
 
 Callaway, Bishop, 64-5. 
 
 Centenary Missionary Confer- 
 ence, Shanghai, 114-5, 143, 
 153. 157-8, 168, 197, 204, 
 206, 255, 258, 264, 328-36. 
 
 Chamberlain, Rev. F. B., 159. 
 
 Chandler, Rev. J. S., 159. 
 
 Cheng Ching Yi, Mr., 352-3. 
 
 Chengtu Conference (1908), 137. 
 
 Chitamber, Rev. J. R., 362-3. 
 
 Church Missionary Review (1909), 
 139- 
 
 Dawson, Rev. Leonard, 370. 
 
 Decennial Missionary Confer- 
 ence, Bombay (1892), 131. 
 
 Decennial Missionary Confer- 
 ence, Madras (1902), 145, 158, 
 264. 
 
 Duckies, Mr. T. E., 357-8. 
 
 Conference (1908), 109, 126, 
 266-7. 
 
 Fenn, Rev. C. H., 367-9. 
 Fuller, Rev. B., 364. 
 
 Gairdner, Rev. W. H. T., 265. 
 Gascoyne-Cecil, Rev. Lord 
 
 William, 373-4. 
 Gibson, Rev. J. Campbell, 339- 
 
 44.371. 374- 
 Graves, Bishop, 197. 
 
 Harada, Rev. Dr. T., 372-3. 
 Hertzberg, Rev. Otto, 363-4. 
 Hodgkin, Dr. Henry T., 353-4. 
 Honda, Bishop, 349-50. 
 Hoste, Mr. D. E., 371-2. 
 Hume, Rev. R. A., 346-8. 
 
 Jackson, Rev. James, 114. 
 Jones, Rev. G. Heber, 366-7. 
 Jones, Rev. J. P., 361-2. 
 
 Lambuth, Bishop, 359-61. 
 Liu Chuan Yao, 229. 
 
 Madras, Bishop of, 89-90. 
 Marais, Rev. Prof. J. I., 369-70. 
 Melanesia, Bishop of, 112. 
 Moffett, Rev. S. A., 155. 
 Murray, Rev. D. A., 350-1. 
 
 Encyclical Letter of Lambeth Pieters, Rev. A., 348-9. 
 
 370
 
 380 COEEESPONDENTS AND AUTHOEITIES 
 
 Richter, Dr. Julius, 33, 34, 236. 
 Robinson, Bishop, 222. 
 Roots, Bishop, 186. 
 Ross, Rev. J., 258. 
 
 Sharrock, Rev. J. A., 370. 
 South Indian Missionary Con- 
 ference, Madras (igoo), 137. 
 
 Thobnrn, Bishop, 263-4. 
 
 Tokyo Decennial Conference 
 
 (1900), 156. 
 Tucker, Bishop, 70-1, 223, 
 
 256. 
 
 Warneck, Dr. Gustav, 50, 60-1. 
 Warneck, Lie. Theol. Joh., 212. 
 Webster, Rev. James, 231. 
 
 Yun Chi Ho, Hon., 358-9. 
 
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