THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
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Baptist churches where no young people’s society exists. The union maintains international headquarters in Chicago, Ill., and holds its meetings annually, in such places as may be decided upon from year to year, in what is known as the International Convention of the Baptist Young People’s Union of America. The object of the union is declared to be, “ The unification of Baptist young people; their increased spirituality; their stimulation in Christian service; their edification in Scripture knowledge; their instruction in Baptist doctrine and history, and their enlistment in missionary activity through existing denominational organizations.” For the accomplishment of these ends the union, immediately after its organization, inaugurated a scheme of studies which are known as the Christian Culture Courses. These are three in number and are as follows: the Bible Readers’ Course, a system of daily, devotional Bible readings which goes through the Bible every four years; the Sacred Literature Course, a four-years’ course of study in church history and Christian doctrine; and the Conquest Missionary Course, a comprehensive and correlated system of missionary study, including all departments of missionary activity in which the denomination is engaged. To meet the increasing needs of the union these courses have been extended into the Junior and Advanced Departments, so that now the Baptist Young People’s Union of America is carrying forward nine courses of study in all.
The Junior Union, with the same object as the senior society, was called into existence to serve those of younger age, and is supposed to be made up of those between twelve and sixteen years old. The Advanced Department is for those who, having completed the regular courses, wish to pursue further study in any of the same lines. The courses of study in the Junior and Senior Departments are followed by annual examinations, and diplomas are issued to successful students. While only a small proportion of those taking the studies undergo examination, it is conservatively estimated that not less than 1,500,000 young people have taken one or more of these courses during the past sixteen years.
In the first years of the movement the enthusiasm was phenomenal, and though the interest is not now so vigorous, it is far more satisfactory and significant. The most recent statistics would indicate that there are 600,000 persons connected with the societies of the Union in the United States and Canada.
The organs of the movement are two, Service, a monthly illustrated magazine which is the successor of The Baptist Union, the original organ; and Our Juniors, a monthly sixteen-page paper devoted to the interests of the Junior work. These organs carry the text of the study work and general information of the movement, and are now published by the American Baptist Publication Society in Philadelphia, the denominational publishing-house. The Rev. E. Y. Mullins (q.v.), of Louisville, Ky., is president of the union, and the Rey. George T. Webb is the general secretary.
Grorcre T. Wess.
II. Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip. See An- DREW AND PHILIP, BROTHERHOOD oF.
Ill. Brotherhood of St. Andrew. See Protss- TANT HpIscoPpALIANs, II., § 6.
IV. Daughters of the King: An order of women in the Protestant Episcopal Church, having as its object the spread of Christ’s kingdom among women and the strengthening of parish life. It had its origin in the senior, Bible class for women in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, New York City, which had chosen as its class name ‘“ Daughters of the King.” The teacher of the class, Mrs. M. J. Franklin, who al’o:became the founder of the order, called a meeting on Haster Eve, 1885, and, the rector’s consent for the formation of an association being obtained, a committee was appointed to select a badge and a motto for the order. The badge chosen was a Greek cross fleury of silver, charged on the horizontal with the words Magnanimiter crucem sustine, which became the motto of the order, and at the base of the perpendicular were the initials of the watchword, F. H. 8. (“‘ For His Sake’’). It was neither intended nor expected that the order would in any way supersede the old-established aid societies, women’s gilds, or other parochial activities, since it was organized as a semi-religious order, standing for the ratification of the confirmation vow. Only communicants of the Episcopal Church are eligible to membership. They are admitted with a solemn service before the altar, invested with the cross—the emblem of their faith—and pledged by a vow to prayer and service.
The order works through parochial chapters, and has a central council, composed of fifteen members elected at the triennial convention, these members themselves meeting twice annually. Local assemblies have been formed in nearly every diocese in the United States, and the order is also well established in Canada, England, China, Haiti, the Danish West Indies, Honolulu, and Australia. The order is distinctively churchly in character, loyal to the rector of the parish, and intended to give the best expression to the Christian life. Its aim is quality rather than quantity. There are at present nearly 900 chapters and about 15,000 members on the roll of the order. It supports a Daughter in the foreign field, and its office is in the Church Missions House, New York City. The official organ of the order, The Royal Cross, has been issued since 1891, and serves as a medium for the free exchange of views and as a record of chapter work for the spread of Christ’s kingdom among women.
Sara D. Buuxome.
V. Epworth League: The name given to the independent, though closely similar, official organizations for young people in the leading Methodist denominations of America. The Epworth League in the Methodist Episcopal Church is the outgrowth of organized work for young people within the denomination, and, as far as can now be determined, the movement began in Philadelphia prior to 1872 in the Fifty-first Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of which the Rev. T. B. Neely, now a bishop, was then pastor. It spread among the churches of the city, and a union was organized. The general conference at Brooklyn in 1872 was memorialized but took no action; the general conference of 1876 gave official recognition, As the new movement did not