RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Young People’s Societies
every city and almost every hamlet of the island continent. Into Japan it found its way, into Hawaii, Samoa, and the other islands of the South Seas. Then to Germany (where a strong contingent of 500 societies is now found) it made its way, as well as to Spain, France, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, Persia, Egypt, and South Africa; and in all lands the characteristics are very much the same.
But the society was not destined to make progress unchallenged or unhindered, for many opposed it and predicted its early demisé. After a few years, its rapid growth alarmed the stricter sectarians, who feared some weakening of denominational loyalty on the part of the young people if they were
allowed to mingle too freely with other 3. Unavail- young people at conventions and union ing Op- meetings, though loyalty to their own position. denomination was one of the cardinal tenets of Christian Endeavor. The best way, they thought, to head off the new movement was to start another society with substantially the same principles and methods, but purely denominational in name and affiliation. This was done in several instances, the first of these societies being started some eight years after the beginning of the Christian Endeavor movement, but several of these organizations, feeling the impulse of these later days toward a larger fellowship, have come into the ranks of Christian Endeavor. This larger fellowship of Christians has been greatly promoted by the different unions which began to spring up very early in the history of the Christian Endeavor movement. The United Society (or national union of the United States and Canada) was organized in 1885, and now numbers more than 50,000 societies. Local unions and state unions soon followed, and now every state and territory and province, and every city and nearly every considerable town in the United States, has its Christian Endeavor union, which holds yearly, semiannual, or quarterly conventions or conferences, which are great sources of interdenominational Christian fellowship.
When the societies began to grow numerous in other lands, similar unions sprang up there, until now there is scarcely a Christian country in the world that does not have its National Christian Endeavor Union, while in India, China, and Japan these unions are equally flourishing and influential.
The conventions conducted by these
4. Christian national unions have been interesting, Endeavor and in some respects phenomenal Conven- features of the religious life of the last tions. quarter ofacentury. In numbers, they
are said by well-informed church his-
torians to have surpassed any religious gatherings in the history of the Church. The national convention held in Boston in 1895 brought together 56,425 registered delegates, and several others have approached that number in attendance. Notable conventions of this sort that have attracted the attention of the nation have been held in New York, Washington, San Francisco, Baltimore, Seattle, and other cities. For these conventions, cities make elaborate preparations; parks and railway stations, public buildings, stores, and private residences are
elaborately decorated; great tents, holding 10,000 people each, are called into service when more substantial meeting-places are inadequate, and the spiritual life of the community is often profoundly stirred. In Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, London, Glasgow, Belfast, and Berlin, in Fu-chau and Ningpo in China, and in Osaka and Kobe in Japan similar national conventions, great in numbers and religious power, have been held, while thousands of smaller conventions, but of a like character, are held every year in different parts of the world. The World’s Union of Christian Endeavor was organized in Boston in 1895, and since then has held three great conventions, one in London in 1900, which was attended, it is estimated, by 50,000 delegates; the second in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1906, attended by people speaking thirty different languages and representing forty countries and more than fifty different denominations; and the third in Agra, India, in 1909. These Christian Endeavor unions of all kinds—world’s, national, state, district, county, and local—exercise no authority over any local society, but exist simply for fellowship and inspiration. The only authority for any Christian Endeavor society is its own church and pastor.
In many unusual and unexpected places the society has found a place for itself, as on the ships of the United States Navy and on ships of the merchant marine, where many “floating societies ” exist. In many prisons societies have been established among the converted prisoners after special evangelistic meetings, and, so far as is known, these Endeavor prisoners, when once re-
5. Wide leased, have never gone back again. Range of In soldiers’ barracks, policemen’s quar- Activity. ters, fire-engine stations, trolley-car
barns, factories, department stores, and large hotels (among the employees) societies have been formed that have done great good. A very interesting development of the Boer War was the formation of societies in the prison camps of St. Helena, Ceylon, and the Bermudas, which resulted in the conversion of hundreds of young Boers, and in sending more than 200 of them into the mission fields of Africa on their release. The society has always striven to cultivate the missionary spirit among its members, and it has contributed thousands of its members and millions of dollars to the mission fields. Good citizenship has for many years been a leading plank in the platform of the society, and temperance, civic purity, national patriotism, and international peace have a large place in its literature and on its program. The scope and principles of the society have never been stated more succinctly than at the world’s convention at Geneva, when the following 6. Scope, platform of principles was adopted by Principles, the representatives of all the great and nations and Protestant denominations:
Statistics. Christian Endeavor is a providential movement, and is promoted by societies composed largely of young people of both sexes found in every land and in every section of the Christian church. Its covenant for active members demands faith in Christ, open acknowledgment of Christ, service for Christ, and loyalty to Christ’s ehurch. Its activities are as wide as the needs of mankind, are directed by the churches of which the societies are an integral
Young People’s Societies