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THE
MASSACHUSETTS
CONGREGATIONAL CONFERENCE
1926
MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING
WITH THE STATISTICS
DORCHESTER, MAY 17, 18, 19
THE JORDAN & MORE PRESS BOSTON
EDITOR'S NOTE.
This final page of the 1926 volume is penned on June 26, an earlier date than for more than a dozen years^ and the book will reach most of its readers before their summer vacation begins. The Year Book tables and addresses of ministers are revised as nearly as may be to July 1^ and in some cases^ by anticipation, to September 1.
There are several cases of ministers without address, the local scribes confessing ignorance and the state secretary unable to surpass them in these cases. The note on page 62 of the statistics is meant for every minister to read, and, if necessary, to act thereon.
Next January is so far away that the usual exhortation to promptness in Year Book reporting next winter will be omitted, lest we forget.
CONTENTS
Officers of the Conference, 1926-1927 Committees of the Conference, 1926-1927 Board of Pastoral Supply Apportionment of Expenses Directory for Benevolent Contributions Rules of the Conference . Past Annual Meetings The Next Annual Meeting Minutes of the Meeting of 1926 Report of the Secretary . " " " Treasurer . " " " Board of Pastoral Supply " " " Board of Ministerial Aid " " " Boston Seaman's Friend Society . " " " Missionary and Apportionment Com
mittee ..... " " " Committee on Federation of Churches Rural Conditions . Religious Education Moral and Social Welfare Colleges and Churches Inter-relations " " " Executive Committee . Overture from Suffolk North Association on Andover Seminary ........
STATISTICS
Explanatory .......
Statistics of the Churches and Sunday-Schools Summaries: I. Church Statistics .
II. Benevolence ....
III. S. S. and Y. P. S. C. E. Statistics
IV. Annual Changes
V. Continued Table of Summaries The Association and Conferences of the Churches Ministerial Standing .....
Ministerial Record of 1925-1926 Names of Ministers .....
General Index ......
OFFICERS OF THE CONFERENCE, 1926-1927
Moderator. — Rev. Samuel H. Woodrow, Newton Highlands. Vice-Moderator. — Dr. Enos H. Bigelow, Framingham. Secretary. — Rev. Henry Lincoln Bailey, Longmeadow. Registrar. — Rev. Francis J. Marsh, Upton. Assistant Registrar. — Rev. Harrison L. Packard, Worcester. Treasurer. — Ernest L. Miller, Newtonville.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The six officers named above, and Rev. Manley F. AUbright, Allston; Arthur H.' Merritt, Dorchester; Elbert A. Harvey, Brookline.
TRUSTEES
Rev. D. Augustine Newton, Westboro, 1927; Charles D. Kepner, Newtonville, 1927; Rev. Shepherd Knapp, Worcester, 1928; Gustavus J. Esselen, Roxbury, 1928; Walter B. Russell, Jamaica Plain, 1929.
COMMITTEES
Program Committee. — ^Rev. Albert F. Pierce, Boston, 1927; Aaron Bagg, Holyoke, 1927; Rev. WiUiam A. Knight, Framingham Center, 1928; John C. Redmond, Boston, 1928; Rev. Shepherd Knapp, Worcester, 1929; Isaac T. Ripley, Dorchester, 1929; Rev. Fred A. MacDonald, Worcester, ex officio; Rev. Henry L. Bailey, Longmeadow, ex officio.
To Audit Accounts. — Charles F. Allen, Waltham; W. Herbert Abbott, Newtonville.
Missionary and Apportionment. — -Mrs. Clifton H. Mix, Worcester, 1927; Frank E. Rowe, Winchester, 1927, secretary; Rev. Henry O. Hannum, Newburyport, 1927; Elbert A. Harvey, Brookline, 1928, chair- man; Rev. Ralph M. Timberlake, Dalton, 1928; George H. Leach, Campello, 1928; Mrs. George E. Brock, Brighton, 1929, Mrs. Henry Francis Smith, West Medford, 1929; William L. Adam, Pittsfield, 1929.
On Federation of Churches and Co-operation with Other Denominations. — • Rev. Frederick H. Page, Waltham; Rev. Arthur J. Covell, Wakefield; Rev. Merritt A. Farren, Boston; Rev. John J. Walker, Newton Highlands; Delcevare King, Quincy.
On Evangelistic Work. — Rev. Claude A. McKay, Springfield, 1927; Edward N. Huntress, Pittsfield, 1927; Rev. Horace F. Holton, Brockton, 1928; Ehner W. Keever, Waban, 1928; Rev. Stanley H. Addison, Marl- boro, 1929; Harry G. Dixon, Neponset, 1929.
On Rural Conditions. — Ambert G. Moody, East Northfield, 1927; Rev. Edward U. Cowles, Spencer, 1927; Rev. John J. Walker, Newton Highlands, 1928; C. H. Tisdale, West Roxbury, 1928; Rev. John C. Wightman, Northampton, 1929; Rev. Charles H. Baldwin, South Easton, 1929.
On Religious Education. — Miss Lorna G. Townsend, Campello, 1927; Rev. Douglas Horton, Brookline, 1927; Rev. George E. Brown, Leomin- ster, 1927; Sidney A. Weston, Boston, 1927; Rev. George W. Owen, Hyde Park, 1928; Miss Ruth Richards, Medford, 1928; Rev. Lyndon S. Beards- lee, Westboro, 1928; Rev. Henry E. Oxnard, Rehoboth, 1928; Mrs. Manley F. AUbright, Allston, 1929; Rev. Eugene G. Bewkes, Norwood, 1929; Prof. Herbert C. Mayer, Auburndale, 1929; Rev. Laura H. Wild, South Hadley, 1929; Rev. Erwin L. Shaver, Hyde Park, ex officio; Rev. Herbert W. Gates, Boston, ex officio.
On Moral and Social Welfare.— EMhu H. Cutler, Springfield, 1927; Rev. Robert W. McLaughlin, Worcester, 1927; H. A. Maxwell, Maiden, 1927; Rev. Robert Campbell, Jr., Swampscott, 1928; Rev. Leslie C. Greeley, New Bedford, 1928; W. R. Meins, Boston, 1928; Rev. Edward C. Camp, Watertown, 1929; Rev. Harry W. Kimball, Needham, 1929; Rev. William M. Macnair, Cambridge, 1929.
On Nojjiinations for 1927.— Uev. William B. Tuthill, Lowell, 1927; Oren C. Boothby, Boston, 1927; Rev. Robert W. Coe, Campello, 1928; Dr. Enos H. Bigelow, Framingham Center, 1928; Rev. Edwin B. Robinson, Holyoke, 1929; Appleton P. WilUams, Newton Highlands, 1929; Elbert A. Harvey, Brookline, ex officio
On Relation of the Colleges and the Churches. — Rev. Edwin B. Robinson, Holyoke; Prin. Frank L. Boyden, Deerfield; Rev. John A. Hawley, Amherst; Rev. Eric A. Lindh, Quincy; Prof. Eliza H. Kendrick, Welles- ley; Prin. Alfred E. Stearns, Andover; Rev. Harry T. Stock, Boston.
On Women's Organizations. — Mrs. Wilham L. Adam, Pittsfield; Rev. Frederick H. Page, Waltham; Elbert A. Harvey, Brookline; Rev. Henry O. Hannum, Newburyport; Rev. Boynton Merrill, Boston.
On Conference Organization. — The above committee on Women's Organizations, and Henry K. Hyde, Ware; Rev. Ashley D. Leavitt, Brookline; H. Le Baron Sampson, Middleboro; Rev. Horace F. Holton, Brockton; Harold S. Davis, Boston; Ethelbert V. Grabill, Roxbury; Miss Clara Palmer, Chicopee; Mrs. Ambert G. Moody, East Northfield; Mrs. Franlc G. Cook, Cambridge; Mrs. Fred C. Brigham, Springfield.
Delegates to the National Council, 1925-1929. — Rev. Albert F. Pierce, Boston; Rev. Samuel H. Woodrow, Newton Highlands; Rev. Arthur J. Covell, Wakefield; Rev. Edwin B. Robinson, Holyoke; Mrs. Henry F. Smith, West Medford; Mrs. Ambert G. Moody, East Northfield; Rev. Henry L. Bailey, Longmeadow; Mrs. Cornelius H. Patton, Boston.
1927-1931 .—Mrs. Frank Atkinson, Natick; Ethelbert V. Grabill, Roxbury; Mrs. Bertha Jenkins, Campello; Rev. Robert W. McLaughlin, Worcester; Rev. J. Burford Parry, Springfield; Theodore E. Plunkett, Adams; Rev. JohnReid, Peabody; Rev. Willard L. Sperry, Cambridge.
Alternates. — Rev. William H. Spence, Salem; Rev. Charles N. Thorp, Holyoke; Rev. Arthm- M. ElUs, Newtonville; Ambert G. Moody, East Northfield; Stephen Alden, Brockton; Oren C. Boothby, Roxbury; Mrs. George Seagraves, Wellesley; Mrs. John V. Holt, Andover.
CONGEEGATIONAL BOARD OF PASTORAL SUPPLY
Office, 615 Congregational House
Rev. Watson L. Phillips, Chairman
Appleton p. Williams, Treasurer
Rev. Arthub J. Covell, Secretary
George F. Kendall, Auditor
Massachusetts Directors. — -Rev. Claude A. McKay, Springfield, 1927; Irwin W. Tapley, Haverhill, 1927; Rev. Frederick E. Emrich, Boston, 1927; Sylvanus G. Morse, Boston, 1928; Appleton P. Williams, Newton Highlands, 1928; Rev. Arthur P. Pratt, Greenfield, 1928; Rev. D. Augustine Newton, Westboro, 1929; Rev. WiUiam B. Tuthill, Lowell, 1929; George F. Kendall, Cambridge, 1929.
Connecticut. — Rev. Watson L. Phillips, New Haven, 1926; Rev. Charles H. Ricketts, Norwich, 1926; Oscar A. Phelps, Hartford, 1927; Rev. J. Edward Newton, New Haven, 1927; Rev. Ernest L. Wisner, Bristol, 1928.
Maine. — Pres. Warren J. Moulton, Bangor, 1927; Rev. Milo E. Pear- son, Auburn, 1927.
New Hampshire. — Rev. Frank G. Woodworth, Somersworth, 1927; Rev. Edward R. Stearns, Concord, 1927.
Rhode Island. — Rev. Gideon A. Burgess, Providence, 1927.
Vermont. — Rev. Walter R. Blackmer, Saxton's River, 1927; Rev. William F. Frazier, Burlington, 1928.
APPORTIONMENT OF EXPENSES The churches are requested to contribute through the treasurers of their associations for the expenses of the Conference a sum equivalent to thirteen cents for each member, based upon the total membership of January 1, 1926, and the treasurers of the associations are requested to forward the amounts as soon as possible to the treasurer, Mr. Ernest L. Miller, 20 Woodside Road, Newtonville.
DIRECTORY FOR BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Congregational House, Boston. — Frederick A. Gaskins, Treasurer.
Woman's Board of Missions, Congregational House, Boston. — Mrs. Frank Gaylord Cook, Treasurer.
Congregational Home Missionary Society, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York. — Charles H. Baker, Treasurer.
Massachusetts (constituent of Congregational) Home Missionary Society, Room 611, Congregational House, Boston. — Rev. Oliver D. Sewall, Treasurer.
Massachusetts Woman's Home Missionary Union, Room 609, Congrega- tional House, Boston. — Mrs. Albert Greene Duncan, Treasurer.
American Missionary Association, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York. — Irving C. Gaylord, Treasurer.
Congregational Church Building Society, 287 Fourth Avenue, New York. — Charles H. Baker, Treasurer.
Congregational Education Society, Room 616, Congregational House, Boston. — Arthur J. Crockett, Treasurer.
Congregational Sunday-School Extension Society, 289 Fourth Avenue, New York. — Charles H. Baker, Treasurer.
Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief, 441 Lexington Avenue, New York. — William T. Boult, Treasurer.
Ministerial Relief in Massachusetts is represented by the Board of Ministerial Aid. — Charles L. Ziegler, 1257 Columbus Avenue, Roxbury, Treasurer.
Boston Seaman's Friend Society, Room 618 Congregational House, Boston. — Charles F. Stratton, Treasurer.
RULES OF THE CONFERENCE
ARTICLE I. — Name
This body shall be called The Massachusetts Congregational Con- ference.
ARTICLE II. — Object
Its object is to promote (a) intercourse and fellowship between Congre- gational ministers and churches of the Commonwealth; (b) the coopera- tion of the churches with one another for their mutual comfort and develop- ment, and for the rehgious care of the home field; (c) the presentation and discussion of matters vital to our faith, and the interests of our denomi- nation; and (d) the cooperation of this body with other ecclesiastical bodies for the general increase of Christian union and spiritual efficiency, and the advancement of Christ's kingdom in the earth.
ARTICLE III. — Doctrinal Basis
This Conference declares its steadfast allegiance to the faith which our fathers confessed, which, from age to age, has found its expression in the historic creeds of the Church Universal and of this Communion.
ARTICLE IV. — Denominational Basis
Being based exclusively upon Congregational principles, this Conference shall, under no circumstances, exercise ecclesiastical authority over churches or individuals, or interfere with the government or discipline of the churches, or consent to hear appeals, or give advice in ecclesiastical causes of any kind.
ARTICLE v. — Members
1. Each evangelical Congregational Church, Conference, and Associa- tion in this Commonwealth may choose one delegate, and these delegates, together with the pastor or pastors of each church (who shall be members ex officio), the officers and committee members of this body, two delegates from the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, one from the Board of Ministerial Aid, one from the Boston Seaman's Friend Society, one from Andover Theological Seminary, and one from the Board of Pastoral Supply, shall constitute the Conference.
2. Delegates from corresponding bodies and persons appointed to speak before the Conference, together with such other persons as the Con- ference may vote to admit, shall be honorary members, with the privilege of speaking, but without vote.
ARTICLE VI. — Officers
1. The officers shall be a Moderator, a Vice-Moderator, a Secretary, a Registrar, an Assistant Registrar, and a Treasurer. All members of Con- gregational churches in this Commonwealth shall be eligible to any of these offices. The officers shall be elected by ballot, the Moderator and Vice-Moderator each to serve one year, the other officers each to serve three years and until the election of their successors. The terms of all
1926] Rules of Conference 9
officers, save when chosen to fill vacancies, shall begin at the close of the meeting at which they are elected.
2. The officers, together with three delegates annually chosen by ballot for this purpose, shall constitute an Executive Committee.
3. The Moderator, or in his absence, the Vice-Moderator, shall preside over all the meetings of the Conference and shall be chairman of the Executive Committee.
4. (a) The Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Conference, collect and publish in connection with the annual " Minutes " the statis- tics of ministers and churches, distribute the publications of the Con- ference, copies of which he shall preserve for permanent use, give suit- able notice to the churches of the time and place of each annual meeting, notify officers and committees of their election or appointment, and fulfill such other functions as the Conference may from time to time direct.
(b) The Secretary shall receive a salary of twelve hundred dollars, and by the authority and under the direction of the Executive Committee, he may, when necessary, employ an assistant, at a compensation to be fixed by the Executive Committee.
5. The Registrar shall keep a full record of each meeting, which he shall preserve as the permanent property of the Conference, and he shall also keep the minutes of the Executive Committee.
6. The Assistant Registrar shall aid the Registrar in making the records; shall take his place during his absence; and, in the event of a vacancy in the Registrar's office, shall act as Registrar until the office shall be filled by the Executive Committee or by a regular election.
7. The Treasurer shall receive all money raised for the use of the Con- ference, disburse the same as directed by the Executive Committee and shall make an annual report, to be audited as the Conference may direct.
8. The Executive Committee shall have charge of all the interests and business of the Conference between the annual meetings, shall fill all vacancies occurring during the interim, and shall make an annual report to the Conference.
9. The travehng expenses of the Secretary, Registrar, Assistant Regis- trar and Treasurer, in attending the annual meetings, shall be paid by the Conference.
ARTICLE VII. — Trustees
1. A board of five Trustees shall also be elected, two to serve three years, two to serve two years, and one to serve one year; and on each elec- tion succeeding the first, the successors of those whose terms expire shall be chosen for three years and until others are appointed in their stead by ballot; and all members of Congregational churches in this state shall be ehgible thereto.
2. The Board of Trustees shall hold and manage trust funds for the benefit of the Conference and perform such duties as may be prescribed by vote of the Conference for their government, making an annual report to the Conference. The Trustees may receive such property, real and per- sonal, as may be given to the Conference or to the Board of Trustees to be invested, used, and managed in such manner as the Conference shall from time to time direct; and in the absence of such vote of the Confer- ence, in such manner as a majority of the Trustees .shall by vote determine at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Trustees, for the use and benefit of the objects of the Conference.
10 Rules of Conference [1926
ARTICLE VIII. — Annual Meeting
The annual meeting shall be held at the appointed place on the third Monday of May at two o'clock p.m., or at such other hour as the Executive Committee may find expedient.
ARTICLE IX. — Organization
The Moderator or, in his absence, the Vice-Moderator, shall call the Conference to order. In the absence of both, any member of the Execu- tive Committee may call the Conference to order, and a moderator pro tern, shall be chosen to serve during the absence of the proper officer.
ARTICLE X. — Committees
1. Immediately after the opening of the annual meeting the Moderator shall appoint : —
(a) A Committee on Credentials, to which all credentials shall be referred.
(b) A Business Committee, the duty of which shall be to prepare* and present all matters of business at each session, not presented through some other committee of the Conference. All matters of business presented by any member of the Conference shall be referred to the Business Committee unless ordered to some other committee by the Conference. All matters of business referred to any committee shall be reported for action before the final adjournment of the annual meeting.
(c) A Budget Committee of three, which shall report before the close of the meeting on the state of the treasury, the amount of money needed for the ensuing year, and ways and means for meeting the need.
2. At each annual meeting there shall be elected by viva voce vote:
(a) A Program Committee of eight members, of which the Secretary of the Conference and the pastor of the Church which is to entertain the next annual meeting shall be members ex-officiis, the other members to be elected two for three years, two for two years, and two for one year, sub- sequent elections to be for three years each. This committee shall prepare the program for the next annual meeting, selecting the preacher of the annual sermon, and the various speakers for each session.
(b) A Committee of two, to be elected for one year, to audit the Trea- surer's report.
(c) A Nominating Committee of seven, consisting of the retiring Moder- ator or, in his absence, of the retiring Vice-Moderator, of each annual conference, together with six other members; two to be elected annually for three years, which shall make all nominations required by the Rules of the Conference or by vote. The retiring members of this committee shall not be eligible for re-election for at least one year.
(d) Such other committees as the Conference may vote to elect. Mem- bers of these committees shall be elected for such terms as the Conference shall determine. The Executive Committee shall present at each annual meeting a list of the committees the appointment of which it recommends.
3. The reports of all committees that are to be presented to the Confer- ence shall be furnished to the Secretary on or before April 1 of each year and shall be printed and distributed to the churches not less than two weeks before the annual meeting. These reports shall not be read to the Con- ference save by special order; but the Program Committee may arrange for the adequate discussion of any or all of the topics presented in the reports.
1926] Rules of Conference 11
ARTICLE XI. — Massachusetts Home Missionary Society
In the practical administration of its home missionary work, the instru- ment of the Conference shall be the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, a place for which shall be made in the program of the annual meeting.
ARTICLE XII. — Board of Ministerial Aid
The Board of Ministerial Aid shall be the agent of the Conference in the work of aiding needy ministers and their families, and shall make an annual report to the Conference. On notice of a vacancy in the mem- bership of the Board of Ministerial Aid, the Conference shall nominate a person to fill the vacancy.
ARTICLE XIII. — Boston Seaman's Friend Society
The Boston Seaman's Friend Society shall be the agent of the Con- ference in the work of promoting the spiritual and temporal welfare of seamen, and shall make an annual report to the Conference. The Con- ference shall annually elect five members of the Society for a term of three years each.
ARTICLE XIV. — Board of Pastoral Supply
1. The Conference shall elect nine members to represent it on the Congregational Board of Pastoral Supply, three members to be elected each year to serve for a period of three years.
2. The Congregational Board of Pastoral Supply shall, through its Secretary, make an annual report to the Conference.
ARTICLE XV. — Special Orders
1. Each session of the annual meeting shall be opened and clossd with divine worship, and one minister to have charge of these services for all sessions of the Conference shall be named by the Program Committee.
2. On each morning of the annual meeting, after the first day, the minutes of the preceding day shall be read; the minutes of the last day shall be read immediately before the final adjournment.
3. On Monday evening of each annual meeting the annual sermon shall be preached, followed by the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
4. The place of the next annual meeting shall be recommended each year by the Business Committee and designated by vote of the Conference.
5. As far as possible, all business of the Conference shall be completed by noon of the second day of the annual meeting.
ARTICLE XVI. — Rules of Order
The Rules of Order shall be those of common parhamentary usage subject to the following specifications:
1. No member shall speak more than twice on the same question without leave of the Conference.
2. When a question is before the Conference the Moderator shall enter- tain motions only as follows: To adjourn, to table, for the previous ques- tioa, to postpone to a fixed time, to commit, to amend, or to postpone indefinitely; these several motions shall have precedence in the foregoing order.
12
Rules of Conference
[1926
3. No vote not essential to the conduct of the business of the Confer- ence shall be passed except by a two-thirds vote of those present and voting ; nor shall any such vote be passed, except by unanimous consent, until at least fifteen minutes shall have been allowed for debate.
ARTICLE XVII. — Amendments
1. Any of the above articles, except the first five, may be amended at any annual meeting by a two-thirds vote, provided that the proposed amendment shall have been submitted to the Conference in writing on the day previous.
2. Either of the first five articles may be amended by a two-thirds vote but only after the proposed amendment has been submitted to the Con- ference in writing at the previous annual meeting, and notice has been sent to the several associations, conferences, and churches connected with this body at least three months prior to the meeting at which action is to be taken.
PAST ANNUAL MEETINGS
1898 Greenfield
1899 Brockton
1900 Amherst
1901 Andover
1902 Plymouth
1903 Great Barrington
1904 Fitchburg
1905 Lowell
1906 Worcester
1907 Westfield
1908 New Bedford
1909 Boston
1910 Springfield
1911 Haverhill
1912 Holyoke
1913 Fall River
1914 Gardner
1915 Pittsfield
1916 Cambridge
1917 Taunton
1918 Worcester
1919 Northampton
1920 Plymouth
1921 Lawrence
1922 Fitchburg
1923 Great Barrington
1924 Brockton
1925 Holyoke
1926 Dorchester
Moderator Rev. G. R. W. Scott John L. Brewster Rev. Phihp S. Moxom Henry M. Moore Rev. Charles H. Beale Wilham B. Plunkett Rev. Wilham E. Wolcott Seba A. Helton Rev. Edward M. Noyes Charles N. Prouty Rev. Samuel C. Bushnell Rev. Clarence F.Swift Samuel Usher Rev. Theodore E. Busfield Victor J. Loring Rev. Frank R. Shipman Kenyon L. Butterfield Rev. Edward A. Reed Edwin O. Childs Rev. George W. Andrews Wilham B. Aspinwall Rev. Frederick H. Page Henry K. Hyde Thomas Weston Rev. Shepherd Knapp Arthur H. Wellman Rev. Edward P. Drew Rev. Charles H. WiUiams Elbert A. Harvey
PRE.iCHER
Arcturus Z. Conrad Edward L. Clark Wilham H. Davis Reuen Thomas George A. Gordon John H. Denison Edward A. Reed Leonard W. Bacon John H. Lockwood Samuel H. Woodrow Albert P. Fitch George S. Rollins Wilham V. W. Davis Nehemiah Boynton Edward P. Drew Raymond Calkins William C. Gordon Ambrose W. Vernon Newton M. Hall Benjamin A. Willmott William A. Knight Ernest G. Guthrie George A. Gordon Robert MacDonald Hugh Gordon Ross Robert R. Wicks Edward M. Noyes James Gordon Gilkey Allen E. Cross
NEXT ANNUAL MEETING The annual meeting of 1927 will be with the First Church of Wor- cester, on the fourth Monday in May (May 23, 24, 25).
MINUTES
The Massachusetts Congregational Conference held its one hundred and twenty-fourth annual meeting with the Pilgrim Church in Dorchester, May 17-19, 1926. The roll of delegates when complete was as follows :
ROLL OF THE CONFERENCE
CHURCHES MINISTERS
Abington Robert J. Black
" North
Acton, South Ralph A. Barker
Adams E. Ellsworth Shumaker
Amesbury, Main St John Moore
Union Ernest L. Baker
Amherst, 1st John A. Hawley
2d Clair F. Luther
" South Archibald Kerr
Andover, South E. Victor Bigelow
^ /Alfred C. Church
^'^® IFrederick A. Wilson
Ashburnham Franklin H. Reeves
Ashland Laurence H. Blackburn
Athol Benjamin A. Willmott
Attleboro J. Lee Mitchell
Auburn Albert H. Wheelock
Ayer
Barnstable, West Francis D. George
Centerville Francis D. George
Barre Charles M. Crooks
Belmont, Plymouth Edwin S. Pressey
Payson Park Charles L. Morgan
Bernardston Howard R. May
Beverly, 2d . Joseph J. Russell
" Dane St William E. Jones
Immanuel Willis E. Smith
Billerica J. Harold Dale
Boston, 1st, Charlestown Thomas W. Davison
Old South Boynton Merrill
•• 2d. Dorchester / . . . • g^.fe^Aik^Tjr.
'■ Park St Arcturus Z. Conrad
" Union Ernest G. Guthrie
Phillips, South Howard A. Morton
Brighton S. Whitman Anthony
Village, Dorchester . . . John R. Cheney Eliot, Roxbury . . . . :
Central Seeley K. Tompkins
West Roxbury Edwin H. Byington
Maverick, East Kenneth L. Danskin
Shawmut
Central, Jamaica Plain . . Charles H. Williams
Neponset
Hyde Park George W. Owen
Pilgrim, Dorchester . . . Clarence W. Dunham
Highland William R. Campbell
Boylston, Jamaica Plain .
Clarendon, Hyde Park . .Francis M. Jones
Allston Manley F. Allbright
Harvard Edwin E. Aiken, Jr.
13
DELEGATES
Fred C. Woodbury Mrs. Grace Arnold
Mrs. Ernest L. Baker
Mrs. B. A. Willmott Charles R. Lawrence
Dea. H. A. Pollard
James H. Carney
Mrs. A. M. Nightingale
Alvah J. Bradstreet Rev. E. A. Robinson F. W. Pierce W. Frederic Berry Dea. Charles M. White
Rev. E. D. Mallory John MacDonaJd Mrs. Roger Hatch F. G. Newhall Dea. Albert H. Durell Rev. George R. Hewitt
Franklin W. Davis Miss Clara L. Russell Dr. Horatio S. Card Rev. Laurence Perry Harry G. Dixon Herbert O. McCriUis Isaac T. Ripley Ethelbert V. Grabill Mrs. George E. Seabury Mrs. Lettie Alexander Mrs. Bessie H. Santesson
14
Minutes
[1926
Boston, Central, Dorchester . . .
Seaman's Alfred Shelley
" RosHndale Winfield S. Holland
" St. Mark CUgord L. Miller
Baker, East
" Romsey, Dorchester . . .
French Francis C. Argento
" Cilician-Armenian .... Aram T. Bagdikian
Braintree, 1st Harry Grimes
Bridgewater, Central Sq Asa M. Parker
Brockton, 1st Edwin H. Gibson
South, Campello .... Robert W. Coe
Porter Horace F. Horton
Waldo, Montello .... Charles A. Forbes
Lincoln Roland T. Heacock
Brooklme, Harvard Roger A. Dunlap
Leyden Douglas Horton
Cambridge, 1st Raymond Calkins
Prospect William M. Macnair
" Pilgrim Hubert E. Beckwith
Carlisle
Chelmsford, North Clement F. Hahn
Chelsea, 1st John H. Quint
Central John M. Trout
Chicopee Falls Henry S. Hitchcock
Clinton, German Richard E. Herholz
Cohasset, 2d Fred V. Stanley
Dalton Ralph M. Timberlake
Dana
Danvers, 1st Albert V. House
Maple St Leon E. Grubaugh
Dedham, Allin George M. Butler
" Riverdale
Deerfield, South Charles L. Stevens
West Henry E. Akerly
Douglas, 1st A. Avery Gates
2d, East A. Avery Gates
Duxbury Lewis J. Thomas
Easthampton John L. Findlay
Easton, EvangeHcal, South .... Ch.irles H. Baldwin
Edgartown Allan E. Burtt
Egremont, South Robert W. W. Campbell
Everett, 1st Hugh MacCallum
Courtland St D. Turner Conlan
Mystic Side Charles E. Dunn
Fall River, 1st John E. LeBosquet
Central Clarence E. Hellens
Falmouth, 1st Hubert A. Allenby
Fitchburg, Rollstone
Foxboro Archibald Cullens
Framingham, Saxonville W. Henry McBride
Grace Theodore B. Lathrop
Franklin Arthur W. Dycer
Gardner, 1st Ernest E. Youtz
Gloucester, West Charles G. Fogg
Grafton, Fisherville Henry H. Noyes
Granville, East
Great Barrington C. Thurston Chase
Greenfield, 2d Arthur P. Pratt
Greenwich William A. White
Groton Arthur V. Dimock
Groveland Frank Crook
Hardwiok Frank N. Merriam
Gilbertville Henry F. Burdon
Harvard Simon F. Goodheart
Haverhill, Bradford George E Cary
Centre Harry E. Hurd
Ward Hill George H. Credeford
Hawley, 1st Edward P. Kelly
Hinsdale Samuel R. Swift
Holden Thomas E. Babb
Holyoke, 1st Charles N. Thorp
Grace Edwin B. Robinson
Dea. William Stewart
Dea. Thomas R. Linton Mrs. Lois J. Allen Miss Alice Brown Mrs. Edward Wilson
Lucia N. Mikaelian
Rev. Lewis E. Perry Mrs. A. G. Baldwin Preston B. Keith , Mrs. Maude E. Kelsey
Mrs. OpheHa C. Smith Mrs. Elbert A. Harvey Walter B. Mossman H. Le Baron Sampson
Mrs. George F. Nash Miss Sarah L. Davis Mrs. E. S. Yeomans Mrs. Elizabeth Tukey Robinson Y. Russell Mrs. H. S. Hitchcock
Oliver H. Howe
Mrs. Louis R. Wells
Dea. John S. Learoyd
Mrs. Martha E. Gebhardt Dea. Otis Hager
Mrs. Walter E. Schuster
Mrs. John L. Findlay Mrs. D. W. Heath Mrs. Allan E. Burtt
Franklin Pierce
Mrs. H. A. Brayton JeSerson L. Harbour W. C. Davis Dea. Charlie H. Davis
Mrs. Mary S. Dawson "Frank G. Stearns Mrs. Arthur W. Dycer Mrs. Ernest E. Youtz
Miss Jennie D. Johnson
Mrs. Grant W. Shattuck Mrs. Gladys S. Bingham
Mrs. S. F. Goodheart Mrs. Arthur A. Briggs
Mrs. G. H. Credeford
Mrs. Charles N. Thorp Miss IsabeUe M. Chute
1926]
Minutes
15
Hopkinton Halah H. Loud
Lawrence, Lawrence St Harry J. Newton
" Riverside Thomas G. Langdalfc
Lee William H. Mousley
Leicester Frederick B. Noyes
Leominster, Pilgrim George E. Brown
Leverett Arthur L. Truesdell
" Moore's Corner Arthur L. Truesdell
Lexington
Longmeadow
Lowell, Highland Richard Peters
" EKot-Union William B. Tuthill
Lunenburg
Lynn, 1st J- Bernard Root
" North D.Emory Burtner
Lynnfield, 2d J. Buckley Glasgow
Maiden, 1st Roy L. Minich
Maple wood Alexander J. Cameron
Manchester Frederic W. Manning
Marshfield George Zartman
Mattapoisett John D. Waldron
Maynard, Union ........ William L. Boicourt
Medfield
Medford, Mystic
West Henry F.Smith
Union
HiUside
Medway, 2d, West David Crockett
" Village
Melrose Fletcher D. Parker
Highlands John O. Paisley
Methuen Egbert W. A. Jenkinson
Middleboro, Central John P. Garfield
Middlefield James G. Robertson
Middleton Harry A. G. Abbe
Milford, 1st . . . . ; Frederick B. Richards
Millbury, 1st Thomas Sims
2d Elliott O. Foster
Milton G. Edwin Woodman
" East Warren P. Landers
Monson Henry L. Bailey
Natick
South Everard W. Snow
Needham Harry W. Kimball
New Ashford Horace V. Blackford
New Bedford, Trinitarian .... Roy B. Guild
Newbury, 1st Charles S. Holton
Byfield James F. Scott
Newburyport, Belleville George W. Hylton
Central Henry O. Hannum
New Marlboro, 1st Montie J. B. Fuller
Southfield .... Montie J. B. Fuller Mill River .... Montie J. B. Fuller
New Salem, 1st William P. Barton
North William P. Barton
Newton, 1st, Centre Edward M. Noyes
2d, West I. Edgar Park
Eliot Ray A. Eusden
" Auburndale Edward P. Drew
North Robert L. Rae
Newtonville Arthur M. Ellis
Highlands Samuel H. Woodrow
Northampton, Florence
North Attleboro, Oldtown .... John J. Lockett
Attleboro Falls . Eber E. Craig Northbridge, Whitinsville .... Walter H. Commons
Rockdale James T. Carter
Northfield Francis W. Pattison
North Reading J. Herbert Jones
Norton George H. Cummings
Oxford Almon J. Dyer
Peabody, South John Reid
Pelham, Packardville
Mrs. Thomas G. Langdale Walter N. Howe
S. Randolph Kelley Dea. Harry M. Burt
Mrs. Mary Kyle Miss Nellie M. Jewett Mrs. Robert Barker
J. M. Caunt
Rev. Elton K. Bassett
Mrs. John Baker
Dea. Wm. L. Gutteridge Mrs. F H. Webb Walter J.Rhodes Dea. Ernest R. Brackett Dea. William Frost Mrs. Thomas Carly
Rev. Sumner G. Wood Franklin P. Shumway
J. Edward Barns
Mrs. Henry L. Bailey Fred M. Rice
Jervis E. Horr Mrs. Elizabeth Holr
Anna A. Sherwood Mrs. M. J. B. Fuller
Joshua M. Dill
Marcus A. G. Meads Rev. Otis Gary Reuben Forknall
Leonard Boyd
Mrs. J. C. Wightjnan
Dea. Henry A. Owen Benjamin W. Brown
Dea. Homer B. Blandin Mrs. Almon J. Dyer Mrs. John Reid Mrs. Jessica B. Chaffee
16
Minutes
[1926
Peru Samuel R. Swift
Petersham Richard B. Grover
PhiUipston Preston R. Crowell
Pittsfield, 1st Howard G. Parsons
Plainfield Edward P. Kelly
Prescott Caleb E. Smith
Quincy, Bethany Eric I. Lindh
" Wollaston Isaiah W. Sneath
" Point Carlton Easton
" Atlantic Rosmond M. MacDonald
" Finnish Veijo V. Sundelin
" Park and Downs .... William B. Ayers
" People's Union Hugh C. Leggat
" Squantum Albert H. Burrows
Randolph Melbourne O. Baltzer
Raynham, Center C. Leonard Holton
" North C. Leonard Holton
T?„„,i,-r,„ fPayson E. Pierce
^^^^^"^^ \D. Augustine Newton
Rehoboth Henry E. Oxnard
Revere E. Ambrose Jenkins
Beachmont Israel Ainsworth
Richmond Frederick C. Wilson
Rockland Walter B. Jerge
Rockport WalterW. Campbell
" Pigeon Cove Clark L. Paddock
Salem, Tabernacle William H. Spence
Sandwich Edward L. Marsh
Saugus, Cliftondale Charles B. McDuSee
Sharon Joseph B. Lyman
Shelburne, 1st Charles G. White
" Falls John Sargent
Shirley Philip King
Somerville, 1st Stephen C. Lang
" West David Fraser
Prospect Hill Thomas B. Bitler
" Broadway- Winter Hill . Springfield, Hope .' J. Burford Parry
" Faith J. Lincoln Thomas
Sterling Kenneth C. MacArthur
Stonebam Henry J. Kilbourn
Stoughton ; . . A. Edward Martin
Sudbury, South JohnO. Haarvig
Sutton Oren D.Fisher
Swampscott Robert Campbell, Jr.
Taunton, Trinitarian Frank B. McAllister
" Winslow Edmund A. Burnham
" Union Edward H. Chandler
Townsend Sherman Goodwin
Tyngsboro John J. Louden
Upton William G. Poor
Wakefield Austin Rice
Walpole Charles F. Weeden
Waltham, 1st Charles W. Huntington
Wareham, Finnish Eino J. Hamalainen
Watertown Edward C.Camp
Wayland Elbridge C. Whiting
Wellesley Stanley R. Fisher
Hills Carl M.Gates
Wenham Thomas H. Derrick
Westboro . Lyndon S. Beardslee
West Boylston Herbert E. Lombard
Westfield, 2d RoyG.Pavy
Westford Edward D. Disbrow
Westhampton
Westminster Winfield S. Randall
Weyrnouth, 1st, Heights Stanley Marple
'' Old South-Union . . . Francis A. Poole
" and Braintree .... J. Caleb Justice
Pilgrim, North .... Arthur W. Chfford
" East Karnek A. Handanian
Whitman
Wilbraham Fred A. Leitch
Mrs. Richard B. Grover William L. Adam
Mrs. Mabel S. Badger Frank E. Bridgman Charles H. Sherburne Mrs. Louisa Tead
Mrs. Hugh C. Leggat Jennie L. Harper
Mrs. C. Leonard Holton Frederick L. Canham Mrs. Marion B. Temple
Dea. H. B. Dunnells Asbury Ward
Dea. Henry M. White Mrs. W. W. Campbell Mrs. Ada H. Whitney J. Asbury Pitman
Arthur J. Struthers
G. B. Dodge
Dea. Frederick A. Higgins Mrs. C. H. Singleton Howard Dawson
Miss H. F. Clapp Mrs. John O. Haarvig Mrs. Oren D. Fisher
Mrs. James Connell
Mrs. Mary H. Fairchild
Miss Hazel N. Lane
Mis^Rachel P. Snow Miss Margaret E. Wheeler Rev. William S. Kelsey
Mrs. Roy G. Pavy Mrs. E. D. Disbrow Ralph S. Bridgman Mrs. W. S. Randall
Mrs. Charles T.Crane Mrs. George O. Jenkins
1926]
Minutes
17
Wilbraham, North William Ganley Mrs. William Ganley
Williamstown, 2d, South Horace V; Blackford
White Oaks .... J. Harold Gould
Winchester, 1st Lisle Burroughs John L. Coyting
2d John E. Whitley
Windsor Euphemia Drysdale
Winthrop, Union M. E. Van de Mark Mrs. F. S. Davis
Point Snirley Elmer T. Blake
Woburn, North .James McD. Blue Wallace W. Perkins
Worcester, 1st Fred A. MacDonald Arthur E. Barlow
Central Shepherd Knapp
Union Benjamin F. Wyland Madeline B. Walker
" Memorial Ellsworth W. PhiUips Miss Fanny A. Haseltine
" Plymouth Charles H. Rust
Piedmont Robert W. McLaughhn
Bethany Ray E. Butterfield
Armenian Kapriel Bedrosian
Adams Sq Harrison L. Packard Mrs. H. L. Packard
Finnish, 1st Alexander Kukko
DELEGATES FROM ASSOCIATIONS OF CHURCHES
Berkshire, North Rev. William M. Crane Richmond
South Rev. Montie J. B. Fuller Southfield
Essex, North Mrs. Leroy S. Edmands
South Rev. T. Currier Craig Beverly
Franklin Rev. David H. Strong Shelburne Falls
Hampshire Mrs. A. D. Montague Westhampton
Middlesex, South Rev. W. Henry McBride Saxonville
" Union Rev. Alfred W. Stone Concord Junction
Suffolk, North Samuel Usher Cambridge
" South Rev. William B. Ayers WoUaston
West Rev. Robert L. Rae Newton
Woburn Benjamin F. Kimball Woburn
Worcester, Central Chester Bavis Worcester
North Rev. Franklin H. Reeves Ashburnham
" South Rev. Vernon H. Deming Hopedale
DELEGATE FROM ASSOCIATION OF MINISTERS
Suffolk, West Rev. Roger A. Dunlap Brookhne
OFFICERS, COMMITTEES AND BOARDS
Moderator Elbert A. Harvey Brookline
Registrar Rev. Francis J. Marsh Upton
Treasurer Ernest L. Miller Newtonville
Trustee Gustavus J. Esselen Roxbury
Executive Committee Arthur J. Crockett West Roxbury
Alfred M. Ziegler Newtonville
Federation Committee Rev. Merritt A. Farren Boston
Rev. John J. Walker Newton Highlands
Inter-relations Committee .... Harold S. Davis Boston
Missionarv Committee Mrs. George E. Brock Brighton
Mrs. Clifton H. Mix Worcester
Frank E. Rowe Winchester
Mrs. Henry F. Smith West Medford
Nominating Committee Dr. Enos H. Bigelow Framingham
Oren C. Boothby Roxbury
Program Committee Rev. Albert F. Pierce Dorchester
Religious Education Committee . . Miss Lorna G. Townsend Campello
Mrs Manley F. AUbright Allston
Rural Work Committee Rev. William S. Anderson Montague
College and Church Committee . . Prin. Alfred E. Stearns Andover
Mass. Home Missionary Society . . Henry K. Hyde Ware
Board of Pastoral Supply Rev. Arthur J. Covell Wakefield
Seaman's Friend Society Arthur H. Merritt Dorchester
Andover Theological Seminary . . Rev. Daniel Evans Cambridge
YOUNG PEOPLE REGISTERED AS HONORARY MEMBERS Abington Joseph C. Hunt
North Lena T. Whitmarsh
Amesbury, Union Prescott Baker, Beryl I. Bonney
Beverly, 2d Doris Nutter
18 Minutes [1926
Boston, 2d, Dorchester Donald Shepherd
" Pilgrim, Dorchester .... Ruby Sellew
" Allston Bertha Buxton
" Romsey, Dorchester . . . Esther Peterson, Helen Tromgo
Brockton, South George Brooks, Jr., Madahne Cote
Dedham, Riverdale Elsa Anderson, Mr. Colby
Douglas, East Ingeborg Wilhamsen
Easthampton Frederick J. Jayes, Roena M. Mack
Everett, Courtland St Roscoe Freman
Mystic Side Russell Taylor, Ruth Winchell
Falmouth, 1st Harvey Mather, MoUie Peterson
Holyoke, Grace MoUie Bluemke, Edith Macdonald
Medfield Helen Homer
Medford, Union Ethel M.Frost
Hillside Agnes Hanson, Mrs. Hilda Ketchen
Middleboro, Central Adnah H. Harlow, Helen Mainwaring
Quincy, People's Union Avis M. La Charity, Laura Taylor
Rockport, Pigeon Cove Mrs. H. Chester Story
Taunton, Winslow Marguerite Richmond
Tyngsboro Mrs. John Stone
Wakefield Wilhs N. Moore, Jean Whittet
Westfield, 2d Rachel D. Allyn, Ehzabeth Clark
Westhampton Frances P. Loud
Winthrop, Union Mildred Cusiter
HONORARY MEMBERS
By Program Appointment. — Rev. J. Percival Huget, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Rev. Allen E. Cross, Manchester, N. H.; Frederick H. Page, Waltham; Miss Ruth I. Seabury, Boston; Pres. Benjamin T. Marshall, New London, Conn.; Pres. Daniel L. Marsh, Boston.
By Conference Vote. — Rev. George L. Cady, New York City; Rev. James R. Smith, New York City; Charles H. Baker, New York City.
At 2.05 the Conference was called to order by the Modera- tor, Elbert A. Harvey, Brookline.
Worship was conducted by Rev. M. F. Allbright, Allston, Chaplain of the Conference.
The Moderator announced the following as members of the
Business Committee, the remaining members to be announced
later :
H. L. Sampson, Middleboro; Rev. S. K. Tompkins, Boston; I. T. Rip- ley, Dorchester; W. L. Adam, Pittsfield.
The Address of Welcome was given by the pastor of the entertaining church. Rev. C. W. Dunham, who brought the greetings of Pilgrim Church and Suffolk South Association.
The Moderator responded to the greetings and then gave a synopsis of suggested work for this Conference.
The Secretary, Rev. H. L. Bailey, read his annual report. The report was accepted and placed on file.
The Treasurer, E. L. Miller, made his annual report.
The Auditing Committee's report was read by the Secretary.
The reports of the Treasurer and Auditing Committee were accepted and referred to the Budget Committee.
1926] Minutes 19
The address of the afternoon was given by Rev. J. Percival Huget, D.D., of Brooklyn, who spoke on the subject "Enthu- siasm and Enablement."
The Moderator then announced the names of Mrs. H. F.
Smith, Medford, and Mrs. A. G. Moody, East Northfield, to
be added to the Business Committee. Also other committees
as follows:
Budget Committee: Rev. S. R. Fisher, Wellesley; Howard Dawson, Winter Hill; Mrs. J. L. Findlay, Easthampton.
Credentials Committee: Rev. R. E. Butterfield, Worcester; Mrs. G. E. Brock, Brighton, and the Secretary.
Upon motion of Rev. S. H. Woodrow, Newton Highlands, the discussion of Dr. Huget's address was voted postponed and the Moderator introduced Rev. D. I. Patch, Washington, D. C, who spoke on the proposed new edifice for the First Congregational Church of that city.
The Moderator then introduced Rev. W. S. Beard, New York, who described the proposed method of increasing the revenue of our national societies.
Opportunity was then given for the presentation of business. Rev. F. H. Page, President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, presented resolutions regarding the Pil- grim Memorial Fund pledges and regarding the date of the meeting of the Conference in 1927; Samuel Usher, Cam- bridge, presented a resolution regarding the gifts to the Church Building Society. An invitation from the Old South (First Congregational) Church of Worcester was given to hold the annual meeting of 1927 at that church. These were referred to the Business Committed.
The Chaplain pronounced the benediction and a recess was taken till 7.30.
MONDAY EVENING
The session opened at 7.30 with worship conducted by the Chaplain, Rev. M. F. AUbright, Vice-Moderator S. H. Woodrow, Newton Highlands, presiding.
20 Minutes [1926
The Necrology for 1925-26 was read by the Secretary, Rev. H. L. Bailey,
The work of the Board of Ministerial Aid was presented by Rev. Austin Rice, Wakefield, and an offering of $120.57 was made.
The annual sermon was preached by Rev. A. E. Cross, Manchester, N. H., from the text: "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" Isaiah 55 -.2.
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered by Rev. R. W. Coe, Campello, after which the Conference took a recess till Tuesday morning.
TUESDAY MORNING
The session was opened at 9.00 with worship conducted by the Chaplain, Rev. M. F. Allbright.
The Minutes of Monday's sessions were read and accepted.
The Business Committee gave notice of a proposed amend- ment to Article VIII of the Rules by adding: The date for any meeting may be changed by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at the next preceding meeting.
The Committee on Federation of Churches made its report through Rev. J. J. Walker, Boston, The report of the com- mittee was accepted. The recommendation was adopted.
That a committee on federation of churches and cooperation with other denominations be appointed to serve for the next Conference year, that this committee consist of five members, and that it be empowered to appoint the representati»ves of this Conference in the voting membership of the Massachusetts Federation of Churches for the year.
The recommendation that the sum of $1,809 be appropriated for the support of the Federation for the next Conference year, was referred to the Budget Committee.
The report of the Committee on Rural Conditions was presented by Rev. J. J. Walker. The report was accepted.
The report of the Committee on Moral and Social Welfare was given by Rev, H, W. Kimball, Needham. The report
1926] Minutes 21
was accepted and the following recommendations were adopted:
We recommend that the Committee on Social Welfare be authorized by the State Conference to express, in behalf of the Conference, our ap- preciation of the efforts which men and corporations within the Common- wealth are making to solve industrial difficulties in the spirit of the Golden Rule, and to write to these men and organizations in the name of the State Conference wherever it is evident that justice, the "square deal," and the spirit of Jesus are manifest.
We recommend that the Social Welfare Committee of the State Con- ference cooperate with the Social Relations Commission of the National Council in setting up a social and industrial conference in Boston some time during the coming winter, and that the ministers of the state be invited to join in such conference to be addressed by representative leaders of labor and of management and of social agencies.
The recommendation that an appropriation of $150 be made for the use of the committee was referred to the Budget Committee.
The Nominating Committee made the following report. The report was accepted and adopted, and the committees named were declared elected. The Registrar was authorized to cast one ballot for the officers named:
Moderator: Rev. S. H. Woodrow, Newton Highlands.
Vice-Moderator: Dr. E. H. Bigelow, Framingham.
Executive Committee: Rev. M. F. Allbright, Allston; A. H. Merritt, Dorchester; E. A. Harvey, Brookline.
Trustee: W. B. Russell, Jataaica Plain.
Program Committee, for 3 years: Rev. Shepherd Knapp, Worcester; Isaac T. Ripley, Dorchester.
Auditors. C. F. Allen, Waltham; W. H. Abbott, Newtonville.
Missionary Comjnittee, for 3 years: Mrs. G. E. Brock, Brighton; Mrs. H. F. Smith, West Medford; W. L. Adam, Pittsfield.
Evangelistic Work: Rev. S. H. Addison, Marlboro; H. G. Dixon, Ne- ponset.
Federation of Churches: Rev. F. H. Page, Waltham; Rev. A. J. Covell, Wakefield; Rev. M. A. Farren, Boston; Delcevare King, Quincy; Rev. J. J. Walker, Newton Highlands.
On Religious Education, for 3 years: Mrs. M. F. Allbright, Allston; Rev. E. G. Bewkes, Norw'ood; Rev. F. L. Cooper, Newton Centre; Prof. Laura A. Wild, South Hadley. For 2 years: Rev. H. E. Oxnard, Rehoboth. For 1 year: Rev. Douglas Horton, Brookline.
22 Minutes [1926
On Moral and Social Welfare, for 3 years: Rev. H. W. Kimball, Needham ; Rev. W. M. Macnair, Cambridge; Rev. E. C. Camp, Watertown.
On Nominations, for 3 years: Rev. E. B. Robinson, Holyoke; A. P. Williams, Newton Highlands; E. A. Harvey, Brookline, ex officio.
The report of the Committee on Rehgious Education was made by Rev. Vaughan Dabney and was accepted.
The report of the Committee on Church and College Rela- tions presented its report, which was accepted and the recom- mendation for an appropriation was referred to the Budget Committee.
Rev. S. K. Tompkins, Boston, presented the report of the Seaman's Friend Society. The report was accepted.
The report of the Board of Pastoral Supply was given by its Secretary, Rev. A. J. Covell, Boston. The report was accepted.
The Committee on Missions and Apportionment pre- sented its report by F. E. Rowe, Winchester. The recom- mendations were accepted:
That the assignment of $1,087,500 by the Commission on Missions be recognized as Massachusetts' fair share of the $5,000,000 goal and that efforts be made to raise the full sum, with a determined effort to raise .at least $821,239, the amount assumed by the churches. That the gifts collected and not designated by the donors to specific objects, be divided between the societies on the following basis:
State Work 14% Home Boards 44% Foreign Boards 42%
100% and that the church treasurers be requested to remit to the Massachu- setts Home Missionary Society, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, for such division.
The recommendation that an appropriation of $500 be made for the use of the committee was referred to the Budget Committee.
An address, "Men, Methods and Motives," was given by Rev. F. H. Page, Boston.
Miss Ruth I. Seabury, Boston, gave an address on ''Women's Work."
1926] Minutes 23
Discussion followed the addresses. E. A. Harvey, Boston, presented a resolution regarding representation of women on organizations, which was referred to the Business Committee.
It was voted that the action at Holyoke reorganizing the Committee on Missions and Apportionment be rescinded.
H. L. Sampson, Boston, presented the report of the Com- mittee on Inter-church Relations. Owing to the lateness of the hour action was deferred, and after prayer by the Chap- lain recess was taken till 1.30.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON
At 1.30 the Conference reassembled for a business session. The following recommendations of the Committee in Inter- relations were adopted :
I. That the Massachusetts Congregational Conference continue its Committee on Missions and Apportionment on the present basis, under which the Committee is made up of nine members elected from the state at large, of whom three are chosen annually, each for a three-year term; that this Committee represent the Conference in its relations with the national Commission on Missions, particu- larly in the following respects :
a. In bringing before the Conference the amount proposed by the Commission on Missions as the total objective under the ap- portionment plan with a recommendation as to the fair share to be assumed by the Massachusetts churches.
b. In approving percentages for the distribution of Massachusetts contributions among the national societies and for work within the state.
c. In subdividing the total amounts recommended by the Massachusetts State Conference to be raised for the designated purposes and referring the amounts to the local associations and the individual churches for their acceptance.
II. That a field secretary be appointed by the Massachusetts Congrega- tional Conference on nomination of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, concurred in by the Committee on Missions and Apportionment of the Conference.
III. That a field secretary have his office with the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society and cooperate as one of the group of workers in that society with the understanding that the officers and employees
24 Minutes [1926
of that society will give him such cooperation as will enable him to devote his time and energy to field work both educational and promotional, in so far as this may be necessary in furthering mis- sionary interests of the denominations.
IV. That the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society assume the salary and other expenses connected with this position of field secre- tary and make any necessary adjustments on this account with the Survey Committee of the Commission on Missions.
V. That the Committee on Missions and Apportionment of the Massa- chusetts Congregational Conference should include among its duties :
a. Cooperating with the field secretary and with the Massa- chusetts Home Missionary Society in the forming and carrying out of plans for the promotional work.
b. Reviewing the work of the field secretary.
c. Reporting to the Conference.
d. Acting as a check and balance in relation to the work and position of the field secretary.
VI. That the Conference recognizes and approves the existing practice by which|the President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society has represented the missionary interests of the State Conference in the national and missionary agencies and in meetings of state superin- tendents and authorizes the President to continue so to act.
A resolution regarding the appointment of a committee to consider the reorganization of the Conference was referred to the Business Committee.
By motion of the Credentials Committee the following men were voted honorary members of the Conference: Dr. G. L. Cady, Dr. J. R. Smith and C. H. Baker, all of New York.
Rev. G. L. Cady spoke regarding the national reorganiza- tion and the Conference then took a recess till the close of the meeting of the Home Missionary Society.
Business Session at 4.25
The Conference assembled at the close of the meeting of the Home Missionary Society for a business session.
The reports of the Committees on Missions and Apportion- ment and of Inter-relation which had been considered at an earlier session were approved as a whole.
1926] Minutes 25
The Business Committee made the following recom- mendations which were adopted:
(1) The Business Committee learns with satisfaction that a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Andover Seminary has been called for the near future and that the Board of Visitors have been invited to sit with the Trustees at that meeting in a joint effort to take steps towards the solution of the problems of the Andover trusts. The Committee also learns from the Visitors that they welcome this invitation and plan to accept it.
Pecause this Andover situation is essentially a case for the Supreme Court, involving as it does so much of intricacy that it would be difficult for the Conference to secure a clear understanding upon which to base action, the Business Committee recommends:
1. That this Conference commend the efforts of both the Trustees and the Visitors in this very difficult responsibihty; and
2. That no further action be taken on the overture of the Suffolk North Association.
(2) By reason of the changes now so rapidly transpiring in our denomina- tion, a serious situation has risen with reference to church building in Massachusetts.
The Conference therefore recommends :
1. That in order to clear the situation for 192S any interested groups within our state confer with the Home Missionary Society, that the President, whom we have commissioned to act for us, may present to the Survey Committee at its meeting next January a full and adequate statement of our state asldngs.
2. That to meet a special need present during the remainder of this year, 1926, and through 1927, the National Church Building Society be urged to increase its appropriations for work in Massachusetts.
3. That the amounts to be asked of the Church Building Society be determined in Conference between the interested groups and the Home Missionary Society.
(3) In view of the fact that there is a considerable number of deUnquent pledges to the Pilgrim Memorial Fund from Massachusetts, Voted, that the Conference recommends to the Congregational churches of Massa- chusetts that they make earnest endeavors to secm-e payment of such pledges where this course seems warranted.
(4) Resolved, that the members of the Massachusetts Conference of Congregational Churches earnestly urge the observance and the strict enforcement of the Eighteenth Amenchiient and of the laws enacted in support of it.
(5) We place ourselves on record as opposed to the pending initiative measure which has a tendency to weaken Sunday observance by permitting commerciahzed sports on that day, and we urgently appeal to the people of our churches to defeat the measure.
(6) Recognizing the importance to our whole denomination of having a strong, free evangeUcal church in the Nation's Capital to represent the broad spirit of Congregationalism, and recognizing the splendid work
26 Minutes [1926
historically done and now being carried on by First Congregational Church, Washington, D. C, to great congregations, and approving the action of our National Congregational Council in its determination, with the cooperation of such individuals and churches as will respond, to make successful the campaign for a new and much needed building and supporting funds for an enlarged ministry in this great center:
Therefore, this Conference hereby records its hearty sympathy with and endorsement of this project, and bespeaks the earnest support of our Congregational constituency that success may crown the endeavor.
(7) Voted, that a representative committee be appointed to consider and report to the 1927 meeting what changes if any are necessary in the organi- zation of the State Conference to meet new conditions that have arisen in recent years.
(8) The Massachusetts Congregational Conference recommends to the associations of the state that in view of the national plan of missionary reorganization and especially the urgent need of taking advantage of the splendid organization of the women in the Woman's Board and Branches and the Massachusetts Home Missionary Union and Alliances, the re- orgjanization of the Associations be considered with a view of utilizing women to a greater extent and broadening the scope of the Association activities. The Conference suggests the establishment in the Associations of regular committees on (1) Missions, (2) Religious Education, (3) Social Relations, and (4) Young People, as well as an Executive Committee.
We recommend that the Nominating Committee of the Conference be requested to nominate five persons to act as representatives of the Con- ference, to consult on this matter with the Committee of seven appointed by the Woman's Board and the Massachusetts Home Missionary Union for a similar purpose.
(9) The success of every Conference rests in no small measure upon the convenience of its setting and the generosity of its welcoming host. This Conference of 1926 has been blessed with a most helpful hospitality. Our own Pilgrim Church has been assisted by two sister institutions, the Baker Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church and the Stoughton Street Baptist Church. To those who have assisted and to the Pastor and people of this church who have given so unstintedly of their building and of them - selves we give this expression of our hearty appreciation.
The following nominations were made by the Nominating Committee and they were elected:
On Relation of Colleges and Churches: Rev. E. B. Robinson, Holyoke; Prin. F. L. Boyden, Deerfield; Rev. J. A. Hawley, Amherst; Rev. E. I. Lindh, Quincy; Prof. Ehza H. Kendi-ick, Wellesley; Prin. A. E. Stearns, Andover; Rev. H. T. Stock, Boston.
Delegates to National Council, 1927-1931: Rev. John Reid, Peabody; Rev. J. B. Parry, Springfield; Rev. W. L. Sperry, Cambridge; Rev. R. W. McLaughUn, Worcester; E. V. Grabill, Boston; T. E. Plunkett, Adams; Mrs. Frank Atkinson, Natick; Mrs. Bertha Jenkins, Campello.
Alternates: Rev. W. H. Spence, Salem; Rev. C. N. Thorp, Holyoke; Rev. A. M. ElUs, Newton; A. G. Moody, Northfield; Stephen Alden,
1926] Minutes . 27
Brockton; O. C. Boothby, Roxbury; Mrs. George Seagraves, Wellesley; Mrs. J. V. Holt, Andover.
Seaman's Friend Society Members: John Gordon, Boston; W. C. Hill, Lexington; Rev. J. H. Quint, Chelsea; Samuel Usher, Cambridge; Rev. R. B. Guild, New Bedford.
Board of Pastoral Supply, for 3 years: Rev. D. A. Newton, Westboro; Rev. W. B. Tuthill, Lowell; G. F. Kendall, Cambridge.
Trustees Massachusetts Anti-Saloon League: Rev. M. A. Farren, Boston; Rev. W. M. Macnair, Cambridge; Rev. Gail Cleland, Concord; Rev. E. H. Gibson, Brockton; Rev. S. H. Addison, Marlboro; Philip Emerson, Lynn; A. W. Robinson, Natick; C. M. Cox, Melrose Highlands.
Field Secretary, Commission on Missions: Rev. A. M. Parker, Bridge- water.
A vote of appreciation was given the Committee on Inter- relations. After prayer by Rev. B. A. Willmott, Athol, the Conference took a recess till evening.
TUESDAY EVENING
The Conference Banquet was held in the vestry of Baker Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. H. F. Holton, Brockton, Toastmaster. Greetings were extended to new ministers in the state with brief responses.
At the same hour a Young People's Rally was held in Pil- grim Church with a supper and conference. Maurice B. James acted as toastmaster at the supper and the conferences were conducted by Rev. E. E. Aiken, Dorchester; Mrs. M. F. Allbright, Allston; Rev. E. G. Bewkes, Norwood; Rev. Douglas Horton, Brookline; Prof. Herbert Mayer, Boston University, and Rev. L. S. Beardslee, Westboro. An over- flow supper was also held at the Stoughton St. Baptist Church.
At 8.35 all reassembled in Pilgrim Church where an address was given by Pres. B. T. Marshall, New London, Conn., on the subject: "God, the Eternal Youth."
After prayer by President Marshall the Conference took a recess till Wednesday morning.
28 Minutes [1926
WEDNESDAY MORNING
The session opened at 9.10 with worship conducted by the Chaplain, Rev. M. F. Allbright. The Minutes of Tuesday's session were read and accepted.
The Business Committee presented the following recom- mendations which were adopted:
That the invitation of the Old South Church in Worcester to hold the Conference of 1927 with that church be accepted.
That Article VIII of the Rules be amended by adding: "The date for any meeting may be changed by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at the next preceding meeting."
That the 1927 Conference open on May 23.
The Nominating Committee made the following nomina- tions and the Registrar was instructed to cast one ballot for those named and they were elected:
On Missions and Apportionment: (to fill vacancy) G. H. Leach, CampeUo.
On Women's Organizations: Mrs. W. L. Adam, Pittsfield; Rev. F. H. Page, Waltham; E. A. Harvey, Brookline; Rev. H. O. Hannum, Newbiu-y- port; Rev. Boynton Merrill, Boston.
On Conference Organization: H. K. Hyde, Ware; Rev. A. D. Leavitt, Brookline; H. L. Sampson, Middleboro; Rev. H. F. Holton, Brockton; H. S. Davis, Boston; E. V. Grabill, Boston; Miss Clara Palmer, Chicopee; Mrs. A. G. Moody, East Northfield; Mrs. F. G. Cook, Cambridge; Mrs. F. C. Brigham, Springfield; Mrs. W. L. Adam, Pittsfield; Rev. F. H. Page, Waltham; E. A. Harvey, Brookline; Rev. H. O. Hannum, Newburyport; Rev. Boynton Merrill, Boston.
On motion of Rev. C. W. Dunham, Boston, a vote of appreciation was given Secretary Bailey for his efficient work.
Following a discussion on publicity of the denomination and of the conference meetings, it was voted that the Executive Committee appoint a Committee on Publicity.
The Moderator then gave the meeting into the charge of Rev. E. B. Robinson, Holyoke, Chairman of the Committee on Churches and Colleges, and an address was given by Prin. A. E. Stearns, Andover, on ''Religion for Youth." A discus- sion of church and college relations followed.
1926] Minutes 29
Pres. D. L. Marsh of Boston University then gave an address on "The Religious Responsibility of the College."
The Budget Committee made the following report which was accepted:
1. That the reports of the Treasurer and the Auditors be accepted.
2. That the following appropriations be made (on the basis of 158,131 members) :
National Council $12,650.48
Board of Pastoral Supply 2,897.07
Massachusetts Federation of Churches .... 1,809.00
Secretary's Salary 1,200.00
Secretary's Expenses -. . 200.00
Printing 900.00
Delegates' Expenses 300.00
Contingencies . . . . . ■ . . . . 150.00 For Committees:
Moral and Social Welfare 150.00
Missions and Apportionment 500.00
Church and College Relations 100.00
Rural Conditions 50.00
Evangehsm 50.00
Religious Education 250.00
Total $21,208.55
3. That a levy of 13 cents per member be made, the balance required to be taken from money in the treasury.
The Credentials Committee made the following report which was accepted:
Churches represented
By pastors only
By delegates only
By pastors and delegates
Associations of churches represented Associations of ministers represented
Affiliated boards and societies
Officers and committees
Speakers and guests
Totnl membership
Deducting duplicates
Net enrollment 450
Young people enrolled as special honorary members, 40 from 28 churches.,
|
Individuals |
|
|
286 |
|
|
123 |
124 |
|
35 |
35 |
|
128 |
258 |
|
15 |
15 |
|
1 |
1 |
|
4 |
4 |
|
20 |
20 |
|
10 |
10 |
|
467 |
|
|
17 |
30 Minutes [1926
It was voted that the invitation to young people to attend be given next year, the same as at this Conference.
It was voted that the Registrar complete the Minutes sub- ject to the approval of the Executive Committee.
A recess was taken to allow the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society to hold a short session and then the Chap- lain pronounced the benediction and the Conference ad- journed.
FRANCIS J. MARSH, Registrar.
HARRISON L. PACKARD, Assistant Registrar.
ELBERT A. HARVEY, Moderator.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY
The traditional impulse of Congregationalism is independence, a centrif- ugal force. Perhaps that is why this Conference so seldom comes to the Hub. With 25 per cent of our membership in the three Suffolk Associa-_ tions, we have met in Suffolk County but four times since 1858 when we last met in Dorchester. Very fittingly do we today exhibit the newer centripetal force of our denomination by seeking the Hub. What a change there has been in Massachusetts Congregationalism since that day, 68 years ago, when this body last met in this town, nine years before it became a part of Boston, and nine years also before this Pilgrim Church was born ! Thirty per cent of our churches today, 183, were not in existence then, and our membership was less than 70,000 as compared with almost 160,000 today. Then there were but three churches with as many as 600 members; today there are 69.
Our church roll in the Year Book carries 603 names, the same as last year, the Scandinavian of Lynn having withdrawn and Union of Spring- field entered. Anticipating next year's report it may be added that within a fortnight two other churches in Springfield have come into our fellowship through Hampden Association, — Memorial, an undenominational church in splendid isolation for 60 years, but Congregational when its women talked missions, and the new church in East Springfield.
Eight churches made no reply to repeated requests for annual statistics. The Home Missionary Society furnished partial reports for Maiden, Swedish, New Boston and Sherborn; but Hyannis, Fall River First, Orleans, Seekonk and Islington maintained an imperturbable silence. The Fourth of Haverhill, reduced to five women, maintains no active organization, but those women do their bit for missions, so that the church is credited with more in the apportionment totals than 46 other churches combined with a membership of 3,561. Four of the 46 gave $1 each; the Haverhill church gave .$5.
Our church membership has reached a total of 158,131, a net gain of 2,862. While not as large an increase as in some recent years it is one-third larger than the average in the experience of your present statistician; and it might have been more this year had not three large churches taken occa- sion simultaneously to prune their membership, Boston Park Street cutting off 340; Springfield First, 273, and Maiden First 259. Other churches swelled the column of roll revision to a total of 2,820, 23 per cent larger than ever before. Additions on confession, 6,536, and total addi- tions, 10,509, are each second best; but additions by letter, 3,973, fall below the figm-es of the five preceding years. On the other hand, removals by death, 1,979, and by letter, 2,848, are well below the average of recent
31
32 Report of Secretary [1926
years. Among the district associations Middlesex Union leads in relative gain, over 5 per cent ; while four, Barnstable, Berkshire South, Hampshire East and Worcester North, show trifling losses aggregating 50. Roll revision in one Berkshire church would account four times over for the net loss, and one in Worcester, North, five times over.
Aside from the five churches not reporting, 110 had no additions, and 152, an unusually small number, had no additions on confession. This shows that the other churches averaged almost 15 on confession. Only 1&5 churches showed a net loss in membership as compared with 212 the year before. Adult baptisms, 2,457, are the most in eight years, and infant baptisms jump to a new high record of 3,981.
The Missionary and Apportionment Committee has already put into your hands a study of our benevolences for the past year, the apportion- ment total being $17,000 above the previous year and about $5,000 better than ever. But our per capita giving, $4.38, was only 3 cents larger than in 1924, and 15 cents smaller than in 1923. Aside from apportionment, undenominational gifts show a gain of $52,000, special Congregational contributions a loss of $46,000, and the Pilgrim Memorial Fund a drop of $80,000. This last is not surprising; the five-year pledges have for the most part been paid in. Out total benevolences stand at $1,057,715, a drop of $57,394. On the other hand we paid $44,365 more than ever for home expenses, the total being $3,645,282, with 50 churches not reporting; and the value of our property increased well over $1,000,000 to a total of over $29,000,000. Just a quarter of our increased home expenses reappears in the salary column, the average pastor getting a boost of $23 from $2,083 to $2,106.
For the first time in history Massachusetts sent a full quota of delegates to the National Council at Washington. At Springfield in 1923, the quota was filled by creating a few new delegates on the spot to fill vacancies; at Washington the whole group of 76 brought official credentials from home. Let us try to do as well at Omaha next spring.
The obituary list for the conference year carries 20 names, to which should be added three others in the preceding year not listed here before. Only two of the 23 were ordained since 1900, while seven date back 50 years or more, the senior being Henry A. Stevens, ordained in 1861, and the average fife of all since ordination being 41 years. Six times the active pastorate was invaded by death, and two more were emeritus pastors; while two of the 11 listed as retired had only within the year left the pastorate. Two had missionary oversight of districts on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and one Avas employment secretary of a great industrial corporation. The 40 days just before Lent were filled with tragedy. On January 6, Burke F. Leavitt was killed by an automobile in BrookUne. Two days later M. A. Dougherty was similarly killed in Cambridge and George H. Tilton died. On January 28, Newton M. Hall dropped dead in a Boston subway.
1926] Report of Secretary 33 .
On February 6 and 11, W. W. Dornan and C. P. Marshall, both ex-pastors of Plymouth, ended their bitter fight with cancer. On the 8th news came of the passing of Fred Rouse on sick leave in Florida, and on the 14th Edward A. Chase was suddenly snatched away. Let me very briefly call the roll, regretting that this occasion forbids me opportunity for more than the barest hint concerning the quality and influence of this score of breth- ren who have won earlier promotion than we to the consummation of our hopes.
Charles B. Atwood spent 40 years with a dozen Vermont churches and then came to Georgetown in 1917 to spend his retiring years. Andrew Campbell was 26 years with our churches in Deerfield, Webster, Groveland and Orange, and was just beginning an auspicious pastorate in Peterboro, N. H., when his work was suddenly stopped. Edward A. Chase had been 41 years in Hampden, Lawrence, WoUaston and Beverly, and only within the year had retired from the pastorate. Will S. Coleman was in his first year's work at Montello, having come from one previous Congregational pastorate at Kennebunk, Me. Marshall M. Cutter was one of my prede- cessors as conference secretary. He had been pastor at Ashland and West Medford 14 years, was district secretary of the American Tract Society for a time, and was in business after 1886. His term as conference secretary was from 1881 to 1888. Wilham W. Dornan, trained at Bangor and Yale, had his first pastorate with the United Presbyterians, coming back to us in 1902, for service at Holbrook, Plymouth and Whitman.
Michael Angelo Dougherty held a roving commission, with a number of brief pastorates, the longest of 5 years at West Newbury and the latest at Canton, 1897-99. Lincoln B. Goodrich was 25 years at Marlboro and Taunton. In 1921, he became an apostle of our Home Missionary Society to the weak churches of southeastern Massachusetts in the Old Colony and on the Cape, a pastor at large with fruitful ministry to both clergy and laity. A sudden illness of a day or two removed him all too soon. Newton M. Hall was a preacher. For 22 years he was pastor of the North Church in Springfield and 4 years emeritus, worthily following the late President Seelye and Washington Gladden there. Separately, and jointly with Prof. Irving Wood, he was author of several popular books on the Bible. Wil- fred D. Harrison, youngest on the list, had only 11 years of ministry, being in our churches at Dracut, Romsey in Dorchester, and North Chelmsford since 1917. Stephen B. Jacobian had rendered home missionary service to the Armenians of Boston and Fresno, Calif. Frederick I. Kelley, 15 years at Pigeon Cove, Peabody and Dracut, kept his fellowship with Essex, South, although pastor at East Derry, N- H., since 1904.
Burke F. Leavitt had pastorates in Portland, Me., and Chicago before coming back to his native state for service at Melrose Highlands, Belmont, and East Boston, his active ministry covering 49 years. Carl A. Lundgren was another absentee from Essex, South, his service to Swedish brethren
34 Report of Secretary [1926
in our state covering a dozen years up to 1902 with pastorates at Pigeon Cove and Waltham. Charles P. Marshall came from Maine in 1900 and for a score of years preached in Lawrence, Westford, Quincy and Plymouth. Then he practiced the gospel as employment manager of the Plymouth Cordage Co., touching the whole force and the whole community for good. Archibald McCord was two years in Taunton and 10 in Randolph, after earlier ministries in Keene and Providence. Ebenezer N. Pierce had been for 29 years in another denomination before he began at North Falmouth in 1910. Thenceforth he was numbered with us, so that "his last days were his best days," spent in partial service and partial retirement. Freder- ick T. Rouse had been with Pilgrim Church, Worcester, six years, but back of that was a record of forceful ministry across the continent and touching Hawaii, his longest pastorates being in Appleton, Wis., and Omaha _ Henry A. Stevens was 20 years at Melrose, Brockton and Brighton from 1861; then 20 years out of the state, and back in 1901 to serve at George- town and Rochester until he retired in 1913 at the age of 77, living on to 89. George H. Tilton was 40 years a pastor, up to 1914, all but a few years being spent at Pi,ehoboth and North Woburn. Cyrus L. D. Younkin, more than half a century in service, gave 35 years to the North End Mission in Boston, and later, still zealous to serve, was pastor at Byfield and Way- land. Thomas A. Emerson, ordained in 1869, was 12 years at Braintree and seven at Hadley, besides a 15-year pastorate at Clinton, Conn. He retired in 1910 and died last month. Today was held the funeral of Silas P. Cook, emeritus county missionary of the Berkshires. More than half of his 56 years of ministry was given-to the little churches among the Berk- shire hills, and he held pastorates in Chelsea and Northfield besides earlier service in other states.
And so I pause. "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." These names recall to you memories more eloquent than any necrologist could hope to depict.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE SECRETARY'S REPORT
Charts Compiled from the 1925 Statistics, Exhibited at Dorchester, and Ordered Printed. LARGEST CHURCHES SMALI,EST CHURCHES
Rank Last Year 1. North Truro,
1 . Holyoke, Second
2. Springfield, First
3. Boston, Park Street,
4. Dorchester, Second,
5. Brookline, Harvard,
6. Worcester, First
7. Attleboro, Second,
|
1,734 |
3 |
|
1,568 |
1 |
|
1,470 |
2 |
|
1,405 |
4 |
|
1.317 |
6 |
|
1,285 |
5 |
|
1,207 |
8 |
|
1,198 |
9 |
|
1,185 |
7 |
|
1,109 |
11 |
|
1,086 |
10 |
|
1,060 |
15 |
Springfield, South 1,198 9 »• i;^T .' xt .i,
Holyoke, Grace, 1,185 7 „ i?°'''^n*i?V?-u*^ -11
Northnmntnn. Edwards. 1.109 11 H- Plymouth, Chiltonville,
2. New Boston, 4
3. Haverhill, Fourth, 5
4. Yarmouth, West, 7
5. Truro, 9
6. Hawley, 10
7. Bridgewater, Scotland, 12 [Milford, Swedish, 13 { Pelham, 13 1_ - " • 13
15
10. Northampton, Edwards, 1,109 11 ^^- i-iymouin v^nuronvme, lo
11. Worcester, Piedmont ^ "'^'= ■■" f Falmouth, Waauoit, 16
12. Brockton, Campello,
IL Worcester, Piedmont, ' ^086 10 ^^ l^tnTverfsSr''
NewAshford, 16
1926]
Report of Secretary
35
LARGEST SUNDAY SCHOOLS
Dorchester, Second, 1,253
Holyoke, Second, 1,035
Dorchester, Pilgrim, 1,022
Beverly, Dane Street, 997
Everett, First, 972
Springfield, First, 968
Brockton, Campello, 954
Somerville, West, 941
Springfield, South, 926
Roxbury, Ehot, 925
Attleboro, Second, 904
Wakefield, 836
ADULT BAPTISMS
Easton, 76
Groton, 45
Brockton, CampeUo, 37
Boston, Park Street, 34
Reading, 32
fHaverhiU, Centre, 31
\ Melrose, 31
iNorthampton, Edwards, 31
Springfield, First, 30
Brockton, Porter, 29
Northampton, Florence, 26
/ New Bedford, North, 25
IShelburne FaUs, 25
INFANT BAPTISMS
Somerville, First, 66
Holyoke, Grace, 56
Springfield, First, 42
Dorchester, Second, 40
i Holyoke, Second, 37
Hyde Park, 37
Springfield, Hope, 37
AUston, 36
Framingham, Grace, 36
Roxbury, Highland, 36
Quincy, Bethany, 32
Springfield, South, 31
LONGEST PASTORATES WiUiam R. Campbell, Roxbury, 1881
George A. Gordon, Boston, 1884 Gustavus W. Jones, Winchendon, 1890 Edward M. Noyes, Newton Centre, 1894
Andrew Groop, Fitchburg, 1895
Charles S. Holton, Newbury, 1897 Wilham N. DeBerry, Springfield, 1899
J. Lee Mitchell, Attleboro, 1901
T. Nelson Baker, Pittsfield, 1901
Edwin B. Robinson, Holyoke, 1902 f J. Harold Dale, Billerica, May 3, 1903 \AndrewH. Mulnix,
Brighton, May, 3 1903
ADDITIONS ON CONFESSION
Easton, 96
/Boston, Park Street, 93
\ Holyoke, Second, 93
Pittsfield, South, 89
Springfield, First, 76
Nortnampton, Florence, 75
Holyoke, Grace, 70
Reading, 69
Nortnampton, Edwards, 67
/Leominster, Pilgrim, 65
INortufield, 65
Brockton, Campello, 64
PROPORTIONATE ADDITIONS ON CONFESSION
Mem- Add
1. Erving,
2. Kingston,
3. Raynham, Center,
4. Medford Hillside,
5. Quincy, Squantum,
6. West Bridgewater,
7. Taunton, West,
8. Groton,
9. Princeton,
0. Templeton,
1. Harvard,
bers 32 25 21
183 107 56 53
12. Otis,
Per Cent 62.50 40.00 38.09 37.88 36.36 35.55 31.88 30.05 27.10 26.78 26.41 25.00
Also 50 others above 10 per cent.
TOTAL ADDITIONS
Springfield, South,
Boston, Park Street,
Springfield, First,
Pittsfield, South,
/Holyoke, Second,
\ Northampton, Edwards,
Needham,
Easton,
West Roxbury,
Reading,
Holyoke, Grace,
Northampton, Florence,
GREATEST NET GAIN
Easton, Needham, Pittsfield, South, Holyoke, Second, Northampton, Edwards, Haverhill, Centre, Northampton, Florence, West Roxbury, Leominster, Pilgrim, Reading,
/Springfield, Faith, (Winchester, First,
181 172 133 124 121 121 119 118 106 102 101
PROPORTIONATE NET Mem- bers Erving, Kingston, Quincy, Squantum West Bridgewater, Turners Falls, Groton,
Medford Hillside, Taunton, West, Easton, Templeton, Wilmington, Bernardston,
32
25 55 45
145
183 66 69
403 56
112 58
GAIN
Net Per Gain Cent 22 68.75 16 64.00 54..54 42.22 30.34 53 28.96 19 28.79 19 27.53
19
GREATEST NET LOSS
1. Maiden, First,
2. Boston, Park Street,
3. Springfield, First,
4. Quincy Point,
5. Roxbury, Eliot,
6. Belmont, Waverley,
7. Brockton, Waldo,
263 215 207 105 79 70 60
36
Report of Secretary
[1926
Greatest Net Loss — Continued.
8. Adams, 54
9. Worcester, First, 48
10. Holyoke, First, 42
11. Housatonic, 39
12. Shelburne, First, 33
APPORTIONMENT BENEVOLENCE Last Year 1
3 4
1. Boston, Old Soutii,
2. Broolcline, Harvard,
3. Pittsfield, First,
4. Dalton,
5. Cambridge, First,
6. Worcester, Old South,
7. WhitinsAalle,
8. Holyoke, Second,
9. Fall River, Central,
10. Newtonville,
11. Worcester, Central,
12. Newton Center,
$33,141 20,262 15,079 11,860 11,787 11,109 11,041 11,016 10,198 9,830 9,547
PER CAPITA GIVING TO APPORTIONMENT BENEVOLENCE Members Total Average
1. Boston,
Old South, 989 $33,141
2. Whitinsville, 535 11,041
3. Boston, Central, 346 6,614
4. Dalton, 641 11,860
5. Pittsfield, First 842 15,079
Per Capita — Continued.
Members
6. Lee,* 363
7. Worcester, Cen., 611
8. Brookline,
Harvard,
9. Petersham,
10. Newtonville
11. Williamstown,
First,
12. Brookhne,
Leyden,
Total Average
1,317
70
653
340
6,083 9,547
20,262 1,070 9,830
16.75 15.62
15.38 15.28 15.05
4,608 13.55
|
$33.51 |
10. |
|
20.63 |
11. |
|
19.11 |
12. |
|
18..50 |
|
|
17.91 |
* Most of 1924 credited on 1925. Also Fall River, Central; Andover, Seminary; Cambridge, First; Newton Centre; and Newton, Eliot, better than $10.
TOTAL BENEVOLENCE
1. Boston, Old South, $141,220
2. Brookhne, Harvard, 25,378
3. Springfield, South, 19,362
4. Pittsfield, First, 16,942
5. Dalton, 16,379
6. Worcester, Old South, 15,762
7. Newton, Eliot, 15,254
8. Cambridge, First, 14,775
9. Boston, Central, 14,089 Newtonville, 12,858 Worcester, Piedmont, 12,694 Whitinsville 12,598
Also 6 others above $10,000.
REPORT OF THE TREASURER
ERNEST L. MILLER, Treasurer, in account with MASSACHU- SETTS CONGREGATIONAL CONFERENCE May 1, 1925, to May 1, 1926
Receipts To cash in hand May 1, 1925:
Regular Fund $4,006.02
Permanent Fund 241.09
— $4,247.11
Received from Associations 17,682.72
Interest on deposit, Beacon Trust Co 44.99
Interest on Bond, State of Massachusetts . . . . . 20.00
$21,994.82 Expenditures
By National Council $12,421.52
Board of Pastoral Supply 2,846.60
Massachusetts Federation of Churches 1,812.00
Secretary, salary. Rev. H. L. Bailey 1,200.00
Secretary, travel, postage, stationery, etc 164.33
Treasurer, travel, E. L. Miller 7.00
Treasurer's Bond, Harry G. Dixon 12.50
Minutes of Annual Meeting, Jordan & More Press . . 672.86
Reports of Secretary and Treasurer 10.00
Advance Reports 80.00
Programs, Annual Meeting, Grace Church Press . . . 25.25
Credential Cards 7.75
Reports Special Committees, Fort Hill Press .... 157.00
Delegates from Home Missionary Churches, travel . 312.29
Rev. H. L. Packard, travel 14.37
Rev. F. J. Marsh, travel 19.20
Program Committee and speakers 149.16
Committee on Missions and Apportionment .... 92.70 Committee on Religious Education and Young People's
Work 204.90
Committee on Moral and Social Welfare 12.03
Committee on Relation of Churches and Colleges . . 40.21
Cash in hand May 1, 1926:
Regular Fund $1,472.06
Permanent Fund 261.09
1,733.15
$21,994.82 In hand, one Massachusetts Bond, face value $500.00
ERNEST L. MILLER,
Treasurer.
REPORT OF THE AUDITING COMMITTEE I have examined the accounts of Ernest L. Miller, Treasurer, for the year ending April 30, 1926, and find them correct to the best of my knowl- edge and belief.
He reports $17,747.71 as collected from the different Associations, which,
37
38 Report of Treasurer [1926
with the balance of $4,247.11 at the beginning of the year, makes a total of $21,994.82 to account for. Payments amounting to $20,261.67 were made, which were approved by H. L. Packard.
The balance at the end of the year amounting to $1,733.15 was found to agree with the amount on deposit with the Beacon Trust Company to the credit of the Conference.
A bond of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the sum of $500.00 and in the name of the Conference is in the keeping of the Treasurer.
The books show a balance unpaid by different Associations amounting. to $3,435.95.
C. F. ALLEN, -
Auditor. Boston, May 6, 1926.
REPORT OF THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF PASTORAL SUPPLY
REV. ARTHUR J. COVELL, SECRETARY ROOM 615, CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE
Boston, Mass., April 1, 1926.
The eleventh Annual Report of the Congregational Board of Pastoral Supply to the Congregational Conferences of New England is herewith respectfully presented.
The work of Pastoral Supply this past year has reflected all its varied phases without manifesting any new dominant tendency. Statistically we show an improvement over last year in eight of the ten points at which comparison has been made. Spiritually we have striven to reahze con- stantly that the quality of the work is of supreme importance to the best life of our churches. Practically the different types of churches and ministers have shown themselves in about their usual proportions. The number of vacant chvu-ches is not large, judged by past standards, par- ticularly if we consider only those with adequate fields and a sufficient salary. Churches as a whole are learning the wisdom of carefully looking up a man's past record before issuing a call. Indiscriminate candidating is still practised, although less freely than formerly. There have been conspicuous instances in the year of churches following the methods continually emphasized in our work as ideal in secm-ing a pastor, and the assurance is borne in upon us that wise ways of securing a minister are increasingly prevaihng. And then faith is shaken when the man who wants more candidates, and who can always be found, is able to upset the care- ful conviction of a careful committee, and commit the congregation to a long period of candidating. The candidating fever then must run its course, and when it wanes a pastor will be called. But there might have been a saving of power and a wiser conclusion if the fever had not been developed. In spite of discouraging exceptions, however, the careful method of testing men by their real fitness rather than by Hmiting the decision to the pulpit impression is prevaihng, and our Congregational Churches are steadily learning wisdom, through experience, in the matter of pastoral supply.
40 Report of Pastoral Supply [1926
In response to requests for aid in securing pastors we have rendered service this past year to 304 churches, 19 more than in the preceding year. In view of the fact that we are the official organ of the New England Conferences, it is natural that the greater portion of these churches should be from the New England states. They are, however, from 21 states and 2 districts. Of these churches there were in Maine, 33; in New Hampshire, 28; in Vermont, 24; in Massachusetts, 123,' in Rhode Island, 1; in Connecticut, 30; in New York, 21; in IlUnois, 6; in Minnesota, 5; in New Jersey, 5; in Florida, 4; in Wisconsin, 4; in Michigan, 3; in Ohio, 3; in the District of Columbia, 2; in Kansas, 2; in Louisiana, 2; in Mis- souri, 2; in Nebraska, 2; in the Canal Zone, 1; in Iowa, 1; in Oregon, 1; and in South Carohna, 1.
In this statement of service rendered we have not included the fur- nishing of occasional or temporary supplies nor commendations for positions outside the pastorate.
So far as information has come to the office, the number of pastoral settlements in which the Board had an important part was 90. In this statement we have not taken account of arrangements with ministers for less than six months, nor of successful commendations for positions kindred to but outside the pastorate. It is frequently true, especially with churches at a distance, that a settlement is made without notification being sent to us.
Of the Churches conferring with the Board this past year about past- oral settlement, 48 had less than 100 members; 156 had from 100 to 300 members; while 100 had more than 300 members. Of these same churches 93 paid a salary of less than $1,200 and parsonage; 120 paid from .$1,200 to 2,000 and parsonage; while 91 paid more than $2,000 and parsonage. The number of churches vv'ith the larger membership and paying the larger salary increased during the year.
During the year opportunities for preaching were furnished 260 men, of whom 118 were candidates for settlement. In most cases repeated opportunities were given.
The Secretary has travelled on Board business during the year more than 6,800 miles.
The number of letters sent out from the office this past year was 6,105, several hundred more than for the preceding year.
The number of occasional supphes and the total number of appoint- ments made for the year are larger than for some years past.
The Treasurer's account, with the Auditor's statement, wiU be found in the appendix.
The office fees are larger than for two years past. The amount received for the Secretary's preaching is the largest for any year in the history of the Board, with the exception of one year when the amount was less than $17.00 larger than in the present year.
1926] Report of Pastoral Supply 41
The Treasurer's report from the constituent New England Conferences indicates the following: Maine: Paid in full for 1925. New Hampshire: Paid in full for 1925. Vermont: Paid in full for 1925, and $71.13 for 1926. Massachusetts: Paid in full to April 30, 1926. Rhode Island: Paid in full to March 31, 1926. Connecticut: Paid in full for 1925, and $850.00 for 1926. ■ Since there are variations in the times and methods of payment of the different states it may save confusion to report specifically. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut begin their year January 1, and compute the 1 S/6c per member from the Year Book at hand at the beginning of the calendar year. Massachusetts begins her year January 1, but changes her basis of computation May 1, taking the figures of the new Year Book for the balance of the year. Rhode Island's year begins April 1, and the figures of the Year Book issued January 1 are used by this state.
Interest in the work of Pastoral Supply is shown by inquiries received each year concerning our methods. These inquiries come from dif- ferent denominations and sometimes from other countries. Some years ago one of the County Congregational Associations of England put into practice a modified form of our work. A few years ago we had extended correspondence with Baptist officials who proposed to model closely after our Board. A Baptist book has referred to our work as the most successful effort yet known to meet the needs of Congregationally governed churches in securing pastors. This past year we have had rather full correspondence with a Bishop of one of the Methodist denominations.
In the past few months there has been formed in our own fellowship the Mid- West Bureau of Ministerial Information (Congregational), with IlUnois, Missouri, Nebraska, No. Dakota, and Wisconsin as co- operating state conferences. While this work will be carried on differently from ours, yet it is in harmony with three principles which we have steadily advocated in the past ten or twelve years in conference with the Secre- taries and Committees of the National Council and in gatherings of the state Secretaries and Superintendents. First, our Directors have reached the clear conviction that sectional boards, developed in accordance with the ideals of their constituency, would prove most effective. On the one hand the state agency is not a large enough unit, and on the other hand a national agency is open to the two-fold objection of concentrating too much authorit}^ in itself, and of becoming formal and bureaucratic through lack of sufficiently close contact with ministers and churches. We are convinced, too, that there is advantage in having the form of organization and the methods of work in harmony with the ideals and methods of the churches in a particular section. Second, we are convinced that the
42 Report of Pastoral Sup'ply [1926
most effective method is the careful one of forming a smaller board in a compact Congregational territory and letting it enlarge as it demonstrates vitality. Third, it would be most in harmony with our order, and most responsive to actual needs, if financed and directed by state conferences.
In the different annual reports an effort has been made each year to set forth the methods of the Board. It might be of interest and profit this year if some account be given of the details of the office work. One of our pastors, who has been closely acquainted with New England mis- sionary work, found his ideas of the work of an organization kindred to ours revolutionized when he himself became a Secretary. Some new ideas as to the detailed work done and the responsibilities borne in the office would be begotten in the mind of anyone who might be summoned to the position of Secretary of the Board of Pastoral Supply.
The primary object of the Board as stated in the by-laws is "to secure for the Congregational churches the most effective pastoral service." This is our fundamental task and involves doing all that may be needful for this end. In his suggestions to his successor the Secretary of the original Massachusetts Board wrote this first of all: "The first business of the office is the gathering of information respecting ministers, which may be furnished to representaives of churches asking for it and having a right to its possession. Knowledge of the churches is also very desirable. Information should be gathered diligently and in every possible way. It is a distinction of our office that it has such a store of information much more full than is anywhere else to be found. This distinction should by no means be lost. This part of the work is m-gent and endless." We now have discriminating reports about the large majority of our Congrega- gational ministry whether in this country or on the foreign field, and knowledge of practically all the Congregational ministers of New England. To follow intelligently the development of our ministers, and to know the changing hfe of the churches as well, is no small task.
In carrying out the work it is needful that there be extended conferences with churches and men, as well as extensive correspondence. Many of the letters sent require special care and mature consideration.
Men from other denominations are constantly knocking at the doors of our Denomination, especially in recent years when controversial questions are troubling a number of the larger denominations. While the Board does not assume the function of inducting such men into our fellowship, always realizing that this belongs properly with Councils and Associations of Churches and Ministers, and perhaps in some cases with missionary Superintendents and Secretaries, yet these men are continually coming to our Board. Probably we have some information about as large a number of ministers outside our fellowship as about Congregational ministers.
Careful copies are made of all descriptive letters, so that we may know
1926] Report of Pastoral Supply 43
exactly what has been said. It is reahzed that our letters are not private epistles but are open to official inspection.
A record is kept of all the places that have been supplied through the agency of the Board, with the exact dates of such supplies.
Likewise a record is made of the places where each individual minister has supphed and of the dates of such supplies.
The correspondence is carefully indexed so that we may quickly turn to any particular letter.
The visits of the Secretary to the theological seminaries each year have been very fruitful. In this way the office is brought into close touch with the newer men entering the ministry and with their instructors. It is of interest and profit to learn the special problems with which the theological students are concerned at different times. In the war period pacifism was often a burning issue. A few years later economic reconstruc- tion and a living wage for the ministers were vital themes. This year psycho-analysis, behaviorism, and kindred themes are in the minds of the theological students studying in proximity to universities, and are modifying and shaping conclusions.
The conferences of the Directors and Advisers of the different states in connection with the annual meetings of the State Conferences have been of marked value in removing misunderstandings,, bringing the Secre- tary and Directors into close contact with the real situation in the different parts of New England, and in developing new suggestions about the work.
Of great value in making the work vital and definitely helpful in specific cases have been the visits of the Secretary to pastorless chiu-ches and his supply of the pulpit. To see the congregation, preach to them, and have full conference with a committee is better than any possible long range methods of working.
The by-products of our work are numerous and important. Closely alUed with our main work are kindred activities.
Our office is one of the busy places in the Congregational House. There are times when different activities converge and we are unusually busy, but there is always work. Callers at the office who ask that question of the Secretary, "Are you busy?" may not reahze that we are rarely anything but busy. There have been years in succession when the work was never fully cleared up, and probably in no year of the last twelve or thirteen have there been more than a dozen times when the work could be said to be outwardly finished.
The privileges and rewards of the ministry have been emphasized by the Secretary on occasion but merit attention in this Report.
There are burdens and limitations in the ministry. To right wrongs and better conditions is the constant task of the layman as well as of the minister, and although the leader has special responsibility, yet the moral
44' Report of Pastoral Supply [1926
imperative for high achievement is laid upon the occupants of the pews as well as upon the man in the pulpit. Every calling has its problems, and life itself is the great adventure.
In this hurried age few people reaUze the multipUcity of demands upon the minister's time. Too many share the conception of the Massachusetts deacon's son who asked his father what salary their minister received. The father reported a modest but fair salary. The boy thought a moment and then said: "If he could only find something to do between Sundays he would have a pretty good thing, wouldn't he?" The "between Sunday" things are so numerous and insistent that ministers are often in a desperate plight. And yet, after all is said, the minister has more control of his time than most of the men of other professions who are in his congregation. The fact that he is in demand is but an expression of the conviction that he is vital to human activities. Every pastor realizes what heart burnings come to many people because of lack of social standing. There is a heartlessness in social life that casts a constant blight upon a great mul- titude. The minister, however, does not have to seek recognition in the community, for it comes to him in a natural way; not as conspicuously as in the past, but it comes.
The material rewards of the minister have increased somewhat in the last year or so. The tendency to raise salaries up to a better, fairer level has continued. Now and then there has been an instance where a back- ward church has not seen its way to recognize financially the great increase in living expenses, but there have been many more cases where generous increases have been made. And we may hope that in the years to come the minister will have a more adequate financial support.
But the rewards of the ministry are not in dollars and cents. It might be unfortunate if it were so. The minister's satisfactions are of a more permanent and enduring type. His highest rewards are in the impon- derables. They are not altogether visible to the worldly minded, yet they are very real and pertain to the essential values of human life. In practical experience with the men in the ministry to-day we find clear indications that these men have food to eat that the hireling knoweth not of. These rewards are not limited to the men of genius who have such insight, com- passion, and power of expression that the multitude always hears them gladly, but are the possession of the more ordinary men who consecrate what gifts they have to their Master's service. The instinct that drove the Christian from the troubled world of the early centuries into the monastic life still survives, but shows itself in other ways. The young man in college wonders whether his ideals will long survive in the atmo- sphere of the present-day business world. Many have realized the ad- vantage of having the framework of one's calling ministering to the soul, and have realized that their best chance to be a good man was through the profession of the ministry. To have the privilege of being a spiritual
1926] Report of Pastoral Supply 45
refuge to men in their times of deepest distress makes it possible for right minded men to become rooted and grounded in the faith. Our modern psychology lays emphasis upon the unconscious mind, and we have much to do in the way of eliminating and sublimating and in transforming our stumbling blocks into stepping stones. The Christian ministry, seriously accepted and sacrificially followed, marvelously helps in this process. Likewise there is the reward that comes from building one's self into an institution. Our specific effort may not bring the expected result, but we are only very small parts in a larger whole. A leader in our denominational work once had a very tempting offer to take up a worthy task outside specific Christian activities. The outward rewards were very great. But he decUned on the ground that there was not a sustaining moral motive in the work that would keep him steadfastly in that activity. The minister may go but the work continues. The specific chm-ch itself may pass but the Kingdom extends. One plants, another watereth, but God giveth the increase.
The greatest reward is doubtless in the attainment of the type of spiritual hfe which the minister discovers in his fellowship with God and man, and tries to estabhsh in his parishes. But there are signs and promises on the way to cheer and sustain the minister in his time of weariness. The choice associations developed and the multitude of personal friend- ships formed in the ministry are a rare reward, and these friendships are often born in connection with life's most sacred experiences and they endure. When the bonds between minister and people are so close that a minister cannot consider a field with a triple salary in a splendid New England Church because the sacrifices of his own people for him, and their need of him at that juncture, is so great, there is a kind of riches that moth and rust doth not corrupt. If a man is in some hill town parish, and has a few words one day with a young man who chanced to be there temporarily, and years after is sought out by that same young man and assured that the word spoken in season, and wellnigh forgotten by the speaker, marked the turning point in his life and sent him out to large achievement for the Kingdom, that shows the value of seed sown by the wayside. And if a minister preaches in behalf of world-wide Christianity to his congregation of very hmited means, and a score of years later some great bequest for missions comes from that preaching, that is altogether heartening. And if he longs for more of this world's goods, and his success- ful laymen tell him in all humihty their increasing regret that they had not given their fives to the more spiritual worthwhile things, that too cheers the ministerial pilgrim on his way. In the time of awakened social consciousness it is reassuring to hear the calm, and dehberate state- ment of one of our leaders: "The social gospel is just as clear and author- itative to me as it was in the beginning, and the mystic and spiritual side is vastly deeper and more filled with music. I have had absolute freedom
46 Report of Pastoral Supply [1926
of utterance and have received personal loyalties, financial backing, and hallowed friendships far beyond the deserts of any man.''
The work of the Executive Officer of the Board of Pastoral Supply has its burdens, but it also has rewards in being linked up closely with the work of the pastor. Our Board is called upon to deal with vital human interests. We are concerned with spiritual relationships. We are striving for more effective spiritual leadership, and nothing is more important in the life of our churches.
1926] Report of Pastoral Supply 47
APPLETON P. WILLIAMS, Treasurer, in account with THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF PASTORAL SUPPLY
RECEIPTS
Balance on hand, April 1, 1925 $1,346.30
Rebate on Rent 193.13
Interest ..... 10.14
Office receipts:
Fees 760.81
Preaching 908.01
Refunds 6.86
1,675.68
Receipts from the States :
Maine 408.80
New Hampshire . 371.27
Vermont 500.00
Massachusetts 2,846.60
Rhode Island 184.49
Connecticut 1,475.56
5,786.72
$9,011.97
EXPENDITURES
Telephone and Telegraph $145.19
Stationery 107.55
Postage 163.85
Secretary's traveHng 309.73
Directors' travehng 230.32
Stenographic help 522.50
Office sundries 58.23
Printing 164.00
Advertising 140.40
Secretary's salary 3,000.00
Assistant's and Substitute's salary .... 1,053.34
Rent 1,038.95 $6,933.95
Balance on hand, April 1, 1926 2,078.02
$9,011.97 (Signed) APPLETON P. WILLIAMS Treasurer.
I have examined the foregoing account with vouchers and find the account correct.
(Signed) GEORGE F. KENDALL, Auditor. April 10, 1926.
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MINISTERIAL AID
The Board of Ministerial Aid, designated by the Conference as its agent "in the work of aiding ministers and their famihes," has ministered to 99 through its regular grants during the year ending December 31, 1925. Of that number, 41 were ministers, 53 were the widows, the remainder the sons or daughters of ministers. To 6 of these, and to 6 others not on the rolls, special assistance was given through emergency grants in times of stress.
More than one-half of the total number to whom the Board has min- istered reside within this Commonwealth; the others are in all parts of the country, from Maine to the Pacific Coast, but represent service rendered in the chm'ches of Massachusetts. The Congregational Board of Min- isterial Relief and other state organizations have shared with the Mas- sachusetts Board in the ministry to about one-third of the total niunber, because of their service in other states.
The total amount distributed in regular grants was $20,807.01. and in emergency grants $2,100. By the generous response made to the appeal for the Christmas Fund, this Board, in cooperation with the Con- gregational Board of Ministerial Rehef, was able to send Christmas cheer to every home represented in its fellowship, the average gift being $40.00. The balance of the Christmas Fund, received after the distribution was made, has been set apart for the emergency needs of this year.
The contributions received by the treasm-er of the Board from churches, organizations and individuals amounted to $9,161.62; the income from invested funds was $3,335.47, the receipts from other sources $300. By agreement with the Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief, commonly called the National Board, these receipts were paid over to that Board, which in turn honored the requirements of the Massachusetts Board for the payment of its grants of aid, $20,793.01 being provided for that purpose.
We cannot too strongly urge the importance of this ministry of help- fulness, which goes far beyond the payment of grants into the field of personal ministries of counsel and consolation and the care for those who are unable to care for themselves. We are confident that our churches desire to maintain this ministry adequately and will furnish the funds required.
F. E. EMRICH, Chairman of the Executive Committee.
REPORT OF THE BOSTON SEAMAN'S FRIEND SOCIETY
Four years ago the six New England Congregational Conferences voted to assume the administrative and financial responsibility for the work of the Boston Seaman's Friend Society. More than $200,000 in real estate, bonds and cash were turned over to the reincorporated Society. The forty-two representatives chosen by the six state bodies to manage the affairs of the Society have been faithful in their attendance at the meetings of the Board of Managers and in the discharge of their several duties.
One result of the new order is that in our churches today there is a more general knowledge of and a far keener interest in this Society's work for the social, moral and rehgious welfare of the men of the sea than ever before. Another result obtained has been an increase of contributions from the churches from $6,152.77 in 1922 to $10,649.89 in 1925. The number of contributing churches has been increased during the same period from 179 to 705. Of the total amount contributed by the churches for the past year, Massachusetts gave $6,910.70 from 366 churches.
The annual cost of maintaining this work for seamen is $36,000. The churches provide less than one-third of the required amount. Gifts from individuals have for several years exceeded the receipts from churches. Individual gifts in 1925 totaled $11,207.22. The balance required to meet our financial obligations is received from the store rentals of the Hanover Street building and the income from invested funds.
The usual activities of the Society have been carried on during the year with good results. Between 25,000 and 26,000 sailors have attended the Society's free entertainments on Tuesday and Friday evenings. Some- thing in excess of 19,000 have attended our religious services and profited thereby. 1,975 Bibles, New Testaments and Scripture portions have been given away. Dormitory privileges were provided for 8,201 men. Refreshments have been served to 30,101 men. Due to unfavorable shipping conditions, there has been a good deal of destitution among seamen during the past winter which the Society has been privileged to help relieve.
Plans have been approved for a much needed new building to replace our present outworn and inadequate structure at 287 Hanover Street, Boston. The new edifice will cost about $250,000. It is hoped that this new Sailor's Rest will be erected and ready for use during 1927, which is our centennial year. The building has been planned by experienced architects after a careful study of similar buildings in other cities and will be in every respect one of the best of its kind.
49
50 Report of the Boston Seaman's Friend Society [1926
The Society has recently entered into an arrangement with the Church House, Providence, R. I., for the inauguration of work for seamen in that city. At the request of the Directors of the Church House, two of the members of our Board of Managers have been chosen to serve with them in the proposed enlargement of the work which they have been doing.
The Woman's Seaman's Friend Society, with a membership of 800, has been doing its usual good work during the year. At the Marine Hospital, Chelsea, this organization maintains a hut for the men which is in charge of a very capable and sympathetic woman, who does many things for the sick and injured sailor lads. At Christmas time the ladies made and filled 525 comfort bags for distribution by the Boston Seaman's Friend Society at the Sailor's Rest, Boston, and at otir Bethel at Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard. Monthly entertainments have been provided by the Woman's Society for the benefit of the sailors who come to our building at 287 Hanover Street.
We were all very proud, recently, of the heroism of Capt. Fried and his crew of the United States S. S. "President Roosevelt" in saving the men of the British freighter "Antinoe." In the four days of effort before success was achieved, the "Roosevelt" lost two members of its crew and six boats. The best traditions of the sea were exemphfied by this act of valor and self-sacrifice. Such men deserve well at the hands of all- who love their fellowmen.
The Boston Seaman's Friend Society by the distinctiveness of its service to thousands of lonely and tempted sailors surely merits the support of every one of our Congregational Churches.
President: Rev. Samuel H. Woodrow, d.d., Newton Highlands, Mass. Vice-President: Rev. J. Romeyn Danfobth, New London, Conn. Treasurer: Mr. Charles F. Stratton, Cambridge, Mass. Clerk: Rev. Theodore E. Busfield, d.d., Pljrmouth, Mass. Chairman of Executive Committee: Mr. Franklin P. Shumway, Melrose,
Mass.
MASSACHUSETTS REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. Walter H. Barker, Newton.
Rev. Theodore E. Busfield, d.d., Plymouth.
Hon. George D. Chamberlain, Springfield.
Rev. Howard J. Chidley, d.d., Winchester.
Mr. John Gordon, Boston.
Mr. Willard C. Hill, Lexington.
Rev. Albert A. Madsen, Gloucester.
Rev. Edward L. Marsh, Sandwich.
Mr. Ai-thur H. Merritt, Dorchester.
Rev. Francis A. Poole, So. Weymouth.
1926] Report of the Committee on Missions 51
Rev. Arthur P. Pratt, d.d., Greenfield.
Rev. John H. Quint, d.d., Chelsea.
Mr. Albert R. Sharp, BrookUne.
Mr. Franklin P. Shumway, Melrose.
Mr. Charles F. Stratton, Cambridge.
Mr. Gardner E. Thorpe, Boston.
Rev. Seeley K. Tompldns, d.d., Boston.
Mr. Samuel Usher, Cambridge.
Rev. Samuel H. Woodrow, d.d., Newton Highlands.
MERRITT A. FARREN, Secretary.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON MISSIONS AND APPORTIONMENT
There has been very little variation during recent years in the totals given by Massachusetts churches to missionary work with apportionment credit. The gifts in 1925 were, however, the highest in any year and $17,001 larger than in 1924. This gain contrast, with a disheartening dechne in other denominations. The totals during the past five years were as follows :
|
1921 |
$677,240 |
|
1922 |
656,891 |
|
1923 |
688,903 |
|
1924 |
676,633 |
|
1925 |
693,634 |
These have been the gifts under an allotment to Massachusetts of $1,087,500 of the total of $5,000,000 sought. In 1924 we adopted the pohcy of asldng the chiu"ches and associations to consider their own resources and obligations in connection with the needs of the missionary work and requested each association to assume its own quota with the hope of enlisting the determination of the associations and churches to provide an accepted budget. The associations assumed totals ag- gregating $821,239 to be raised in 1926. This new scheme is therefore now in operation for the first time, but as many as twenty-one of the associations have already made much progress toward the new goals. The committee aims to co-operate in an earnest endeavor to reach these goals. The fol- lowing table indicates the old apportionment quotas, the amounts given in 1923, 1924, and 1925, and the new totals assumed by the associations for 1926.
52
Report of the Committee on Missions
[1926
|
Association |
Old Apportion- ment Quotas |
Gifts 1923 |
Gifts 1924 |
Gifts 1925=1 |
Self-as- sumed quotas for 1926 |
|
Andover |
$35,000 |
$20,499 |
$23,876 |
$24,208 |
27,600 |
|
Barnstable . |
5,000 |
1,617 |
1,379 |
1,267 |
2,500 |
|
Berlishire North . |
52,500 |
40,070 |
44,469 |
45,726 |
42,012 |
|
Berkshire South . |
20,000 |
8,248 |
5,088 |
11,527 |
9,248 |
|
Brookfield . . . |
16,250 |
7,291 |
6,920 |
12,505 |
|
|
Essex North . . |
25,000 |
12',546 |
15,635 |
15,105 |
18,837 |
|
Essex South . . |
42,750 |
25,506 |
24,428 |
26,915 |
41,280 |
|
Franklin . . . |
26,250 |
15,732 |
14,736 |
16,230 |
25,695 |
|
Hampshire |
37,500 |
21,627 |
21,865 |
22,038 |
37,500 |
|
Hampden . |
87,500 |
48,383 |
45,157 |
54,595 |
72,185 |
|
Hampshire East . |
22,500 |
13,480 |
12,341 |
13,220 |
20,875 |
|
Mendon |
10,925 |
5,403 |
4,917 |
6,103 |
7,070 |
|
Middlesex South . |
26,250 |
16,295 |
17,910 |
19,790 |
20,965 |
|
Middlesex Union . |
21,250 |
14,202 |
13,223 |
16,794 |
21,250 |
|
Old Colony. . . |
12,200 |
8,652 |
8,698 |
9,926 |
11,630 |
|
Pilgrim Suffolk North . . |
— |
24,131 |
26,230 |
28,885 |
30,079 |
|
52,500 |
32,913 |
33,208 |
33,896 |
52,500 |
|
|
Suffolk South . . |
62,500 |
36,072 |
35,556 |
40,686 |
41,304 |
|
Suffolk West . . |
250,000 |
126,630 |
125,087 |
142,418 |
154,375 |
|
Taunton |
41,575 |
28,144 |
22,259 |
29,096 |
31,177 |
|
Woburn . . . |
57,500 |
41,856 |
42,225 |
43,155 |
47,820 |
|
Worcester Central. |
67,500 |
48,461 |
49,668 |
52,634 |
54,595 |
|
Worcester North . |
16,250 |
9,831 |
8,866 |
9,743 |
10,400 |
|
Worcester South . |
41,250 $1,081,250 |
24,072 |
21,634 |
22,757 $693,634 |
27,185 |
|
Total . . . |
$688,903 |
$676,633 |
$821,239 |
* These figures may be amended somewhat as the Undesignated total of $57,625 has been pro-rated to the associations.
During the past years, Mr. Cooper worked along previously developed lines in an endeavor to have an effective Every Member Canvass in as many churches as possible, but stressing missionary education as the surest foundation for giving. The feature of the work during the past season was a series of association and district meetings addressed by two different missionary teams. This work was most effective, and probably had considerable influence upon the giving in preventing curtaihnent. The work of these teams was considered by many to be the most effective promotional work done in the state for many years.
At the meeting of the National Council in Washington during October, 1925, a report on Missionary organization was adopted. This report is referred to and summarized in the report to the Conference of your Com- mittee on Inter-relations. Following the action in Washington, the Commission on Missions decided to discontinue all state agents with the intent that the work be taken over by the states. Mr. Cooper has ac- cordingly resigned and gone into other work, leaving this work as of March 31, 1926. The Committee on Inter-relations deals with this whole situation and makes specific recommendations in respect to the organization and work of this committee and proposes cooperation of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society in this work in the future. We concur most heartily in these recommendations.
In connection with the reorganization of the national missionary soci- eties under the adopted plan of the Committee of Twelve, there are many
1926] Report of the Committee on Missions 53
things to be worked out; we hope that much thought will be given to (1), the relation of religious education and promotion, (2), the development of the Regional Committees, (3), the organization and affiliations of the Promotional Council, and (4), the organization of women under the new order. We have arranged for at least a preliminary discussion of these things at this Conference.
At the meeting of the National Council in Washington, the American Board brought forward the fact that for several years the giving by the churches had been practicallj^ stationary, and that the work in the field had been inadequately supported in many instances, so much so that to maintain the work at the going level, several societies including the American Board had incurred some debt. The American Board took the position that it was not prepared to incur further debt, but would curtail its work in certain mission fields during 1926, unless provision which could be relied upon should be made to provide additional revenue. Quite similar presentations were made by some of the other boards. These resulted in the National Council authorizing the raising of a special fund on or before September 1, 1926, of $200,000; $115,000 for the Amer- ican Board and smaller amounts for some of the other societies. The enterprise has been turned over to the Laymen's Advisory Committee. A sub-committee for Massachusetts has been formed, which is endeavoring to raise $54,000 in this state. It is hoped to procure this sum through individual gifts without making a general appeal to the churches. These gifts are to be in addition to regular apportionment giving. Neverthless, they are being given apportionment credit. A pamphlet headed "An Appeal to CongregationaUsts, Massachusetts Edition," presents this matter in full.
Attention of the churches of the state is called to the needs of city missionary societies and other local enterprises which are not provided for under the apportioimient. No scheme can be all-embracing. The Apportionment Plan is a pooUng of all nation-wide and state-wide mis- sionary enterprises. Local needs where they exist should be taken care of localty. The City Missionary Society of Boston is one of our oldest and most honorable enterprises, but its support by the churches has seemingly been adversely affected by the apportionment plan, the rate of giving during recent years being approximately the same as twenty years ago. During this period the work has grown through income from individuals given for relief and recreation work and through bequests, but there is a pressing need for greater contact with this work on the part of churches of Greater Boston. The Society is maintaining some thirty missionaries in the more needy churches of Boston. This work is of the highest value. Local work of this kind should be considered by the churches of a community as having a preferred claim similar to that of necessary home expenses. However, this is not true of every local
54 Report of the Committee on Missions [1926
charitable enterprise, many of which should not properly receive direct support from the churches. We commend the City Missionary Society of Boston to the three Suffolk Associations and the Woburn Association for more liberal support than in the past. Similar situations exist in Springfield, Worcester, Pittsfield and other cities.
The plan of missionary reorganization adopted by the National Council provides that the churches of each state shall be requested to divide their benevolences in three parts: one for work within the state, another for work of the foreign boards and the third for the work of the home boards. The Commission on Missions has recommended certain percentages for adoption by each of the states. Our recommendation below, is, approx- imately, in conformity with the recommendation of the Commission on Missions.
The allotment for work in Massachusetts covers work of the Mas- sachusetts Home Missionary Society and the Boston Seaman's Friend Society, the latter having approximately one per cent of the total. The division of the assignment to the home and foreign boards between the various branches of the work has been left for 1927 to the Executive Committee of the Commission on Missions.
We make the following recommendations for the year 1927: I. That the assignment of $1,087,500 by the Commission on Missions be recognized as Massachusetts' fair share of the $5,000,000 goal and that efforts be made to raise the full sum, with a determined effort to raise at least $821,239, the amount assumed by the churches. II. That the gifts collected and not designated by the donors to specific objects, be divided between the societies on the following basis: State Work 14%
Home Boards 44% Foreign Boards 42%
100% and that the church treasurers be requested to remit to the Massachu- setts Home Missionary Society, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, for such division. III. We ask for an appropriation of $500, for expenses of the Committee to be used if needed.
ELBERT A. HARVEY, Chairman FRANK E. ROWE, Secretary MRS. GEORGE E. BROCK MRS. CLIFTON H. MIX MRS. HENRY FRANCIS SMITH WILLIAM L. ADAM HENRY O. HANNUM ASA MERRICK PARKER RALPH M. TIMBERLAKE
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FEDERATION
OF CHURCHES AND COOPERATION WITH
OTHER DENOMINATIONS
Interdenominational cooperation has maintained its steady progress throughout the year. It is our privilege to report the increase of such cooperation within our Commonwealth.
1. Many of the federations in our cities and larger towns are maintaining strong programs of service. There are now forty-eight such federations, of various types; the oldest of these is the Christian League of Methuen, organized in 1888.
2. Our federated churches also increase in number, and proposals for such combinations are being considered in other places. This method of cooperation has been studied by a special investigator of the Institute for Rehgious Research; 350 such combinations throughout the country were surveyed. It was found that very few, if they had been continued five years, were afterward disssolved; that while the total membership in such churches is not always maintained without loss, local budgets have averaged an increase of 50% and benevolences an increase of 150%; and needless and wasteful competition has been ehminated.
3. The Massachusetts Federation, as the agent of all the churches, has continued its work effectively under the skilled leadership of Secretary Root. In its annual meeting, held in New Bedford, two new denomina- tional bodies were represented: The Advent Christian churches and the Greek Orthodox Church; the bishop of the latter church accepted election as vice-president of the Federation. The new department of rural work has proved its usefulness in the work of the country churches. The ministry to the sick in Rutland is continued with good results; the chaplain's parish includes about 450 patients and 300 in the personnel of the in- stitlitions.
The most significant event of the year in the field of interdenominational cooperation has been the Stockholm Conference on Life and Work. Profes- sor Brown of Union Seminary has said, quoting others: "The most wonder- ful thing about the Stockholm Conference was the fact that it took place." That meeting officially represented more than one hundred independent communions, including in their membership three hundred million cov- enanted followers of the Christ, three-fifths of the total number that bear the Christian name. The Conference registered in the following declaration its essential unity of spirit and purpose: "The Conference has deepened and purified our devotion to the Captain of our Salvation. Responding to His call, 'Follow me,' we have in the presence of the Cross
56 Report of the Committee on Rural Conditions [1926
accepted the urgent duty of applying His gospel in all realms of human lif 6 ^ — -industrial, social, political, and international." Thus is manifested the deepening sympathy among the great Christian communions and their increasing cooperation in the greater matters of the Kingdom of God.
In all such work within our own sphere of service this Conference surely desires to be represented. We therefore present the following recommendations :
I. That a committee on federation of churches and cooperation with other denominations be appointed to serve for the next Conference year, that this committee consist of five members, and that it be empowered to appoint the representatives of this Conference in the voting membership of the Massachusetts Federation of Churches for the year. II. That the sum of $1,809 be appropriated for the support of the Fed- eration for the next Conference year.
JOHN J. WALKER, Chairman, ARTHUR J. COVELL, MERRITT A. FARREN,
For the Committee of Fifty-one.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RURAL CONDITIONS
We recognize the need of a re-grouping and reorganization of the rural field, as has been done here and there, in some favored places. We feel however, that here and now such an attempt would be unavailing, because of unwillingness or unreadiness of Churches to join in the plan. But possible and helpful, now and always is a Visitation Program. Let some of the ministers and laymen from the larger Churches visit the smaller parishes in the country. The people in the small parishes need to see men of affairs who are Churchmen. They need the touch of men of power who are earnest and effective Christians. Let the "pep" and drive of the larger centers be felt, once a year, at least, by the people who feed that vigorous life and make it possible. There is a reciprocal benefit. They will not come back empty. "All who near to God abide are just a little countrified."
"What man would read and read the selfsame faces? And like the marbles which the windmill grinds Rub smooth forever with the same smooth minds?"
Such a visitation was arranged in Hampden County, a few years ago, with marked benefit. Twenty men, with automobiles, might tour the
1926] Report of Committee on Religious Education 57
Cape. There are human values there capable of an immensely greater increase even than Cape Cod real estate. Let a general Laymen's Vis- itation be arranged during the year, in the fall, October, November or December. The rural churches might be asked to set apart a day and ask for speakers. Let the initiative come from the Church inviting. A bugler might announce the meeting. The Visitation may be arranged on a Sunday, or on a Mid- Week evening, as may be most expedient under the circumstances.
Let the Fellowship Committee of each District Association be charged with the work of carrying this Visitation into effect.
JOSEPH B. LYMAN, WILLIAM S. ANDERSON, AMBERT G. MOODY, EDWARD U. COWLES, JOHN J. WALIvER, C. H. TISDALE.
Committee.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
In addition to its routine work through individual members and the Secretaries of the Congregational Education Society in interesting the churches in the work of religious education, your committee would respect- fully submit the following list of activities for the past year :
1. State Young People's Conference. As a part of the Annual Meeting of our Massachusetts Congregational Churches a Young People's Con- ference was held on Tuesday evening, May 19, 1925, at Grace Church, Holyoke. Supper was served at 6.30 p.m., and this was followed by singing, cheers and a short period of fellowship. The conference adjourned to the church auditorium where the following program was carried out as arranged by the young people. The general theme was "What should the Congregational Chm'ch Program for Young People Be?" This was discussed by a committee of young people consisting of Alden W. Miller, Medford; Laura Pearl, Campello; George C. Shepherd, Jr., Dorchester; Ellen C. Peterson, Hyde Park and WiUiam J. Hendrick, Auburndale. A discussion of this report by the young people was led by Professor Herbert C. Mayer of Boston University. The closing address on "The Challenge of Congregational Young People" was given by Rev. Harry T. Stock, Young People's and Student Secretary, Congregational Education Society. The work of the young people was well done, the addresses were of a high order and the attendance was large.
58 Report of Committee on Religious Education [1926
Conference of Local Association Committees on Religious Education
2. One significant feature of the work of your committee for the year was the Conference on Religious Education held at Worcester on November
10. The purpose of this conference was to bring together the committees of the several associations on religious education to ascertain their needs in order to minister more effectively unto them. Some twelve associations of the state were represented during these sessions. This conference was held at the Y. W. C. A. The morning session opened at 10.30 with the devotions in charge of Rev. Shepherd Knapp, d.d. From 10.45 to 11.30, there was a conference period on the needs of the local associations. Rev. George E. Brown of Leominster presided. Some of the problems discuss- ed were: teacher training, curriculum, inspiration of the worker, local cooperation and the problem of later adolescence. Following this discus- sion was an address by Dr. A. J. W. Myers of Hartford, Conn. The discussion continued during the lunch horn: which was presided over by Dr. Fred G. Morecombe of Mittineague. The afternoon session was in charge of Rev. George W. Owen of Hyde Park. Two general problems were discussed :
I. The problem of arousing the local church to entertain the modern program of Religious Education. The following suggestions were unanimously adopted:
1. Exhibits compiled by the State Committee on Religious Education should be sent to the various association meetings.
2. Time should be provided on the association programs for addresses on and discussion of Religious Education.
3. The State Committee (at once) get in touch with State Committee on program for the next Conference.
4. The State Committee be urged to make a thorough survey of all fields, and the blanks of C. E. S. be used.
5. Strongly urged to get Sunday School Superintendents together as conveniently and as often as possible.
6. A letter be sent to each Superintendent in the Association strength- ening him in his work and also to send him suitable printing matter.
11. The Problem of Teacher Training:
1. Standard Community Training Schools were endorsed and urged to be established wherever possible.
2. It was also suggested that the mid-week meeting be used for a course in ReUgious Education.
The final address was given by Mr. Gilbert H. Roehrig, of the Boston Y. M. C. A. Much interest was manifested by those who attended the conference. Your committee sent a synopsis of the findings of the Wor- cester Conference to every member of the Religious Education Committees
1926] Report of Committee on Religious Education 59
of the local associations. We desire to call attention to the importance of the work done in the field of Religious Education by the committees appointed by the several associations for this purpose. Your state com- mittee feels that it can render its best services by working with the com- mittees of the local associations. As an example of what may be done in this field, attention is called to the work of Rev. Eugene G. Bewkes, of Norwood, Rev. Charles C. Keith, of EUot Church, Roxbury, and Mrs. W. H. Bailey of Hyde Park, serving on the committee for the Suffolk South Association. This Committee has made a careful survey of the churches of this association by means of a questionnaire and is rendering valuable help on the basis of this study. The Woburn Association has for its general topic at the spring session "Christian Education for Young People."
3. Denominational Rally at the Springfield State Convention of the Inter- national Council of Religious Education. Rev. L. S. Beardslee, of Westboro, made an address and conducted the discussion period for Congregational Workers. Miss Lorna G. Townsend of Brockton also took part. About 100 were present.
4. Young People's Sessions at National Council in Washington. While not assuming full responsibility for the young people of the churches who attended the Young People's Conference in connection with the Annual Council held in Washington, the several members of yom- Committee encouraged individuals to attend, and Massachusetts was represented.
5. Report on Association Committees. In closing, your committee would strongly urge that those associations which have not yet appointed committees on Religious Education, according to the vote passed in Holyoke, would do so at their earhest convenience. To date thirteen associations have acted, leaving eleven yet to hear from. Those who have appointed these district committees are convinced of their value. Your State Committee stands ready to work with and through the committees of the local associations.
6. Appropriation. We would recommend that an appropriation of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) be made for the coming year.
Pastors, Directors of Rehgious Education, Church School Officers and Teachers are urged to avail themselves of the agencies and advisers in the state office of oiir denomination and to write to the members of this committee concerning suggestions and help.
LEAN F. ALLBRIGHT. FRED G. MORECOMBE.
LYNDON S. BEARDSLEE. GEORGE W. OWEN.
GEORGE E. BROWN. RUTH RICHARDS, Secretary.
VAUGHAN DABNEY, Chairman. ERWIN L. SHAVER.
HERBERT W. GATES. LORNA G. TOWNSEND.
HERBERT C. MAYER. SIDNEY A. WESTON.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON MORAL AND SOCIAL WELFARE
The Committee on Moral and Social Welfare urges ministers and laymen of our Congregational Churches to read widely on the social problems of the time, to be famihar with "The Survey," and with "The Nation" for a more radical point of view. They can also learn much from "Industrial Management" and certain magazines published for the bankers of this country. The Journal of the American Federation of Labor will give the labor viewpoint. Among the new books which our ministers ought to read is one by Stuart Chase, entitled "The Tragedy of Waste," which etches in broad Lines some of our economic weaknesses. For a very opti- mistic and reassuring account of our economic progress there is no better book than the one by Professor Carver, entitled "Economic Revolution of the United States."
A fair examination of the facts shows that there is a distinct trend in industry upwards. The Golden Rule is becoming less of an abstract principle and more of a real program. The Christian spirit of service much talked about, is also being actually practiced. In Massachusetts, men like E. A. Filene, Howard Coonley, Henry Dennison and Harry Kendall, and many others with similar ideals, are proving that it is good business to indulge in the "square deal" and treat the workers as human beings. In the United States many of our largest corporations, like the Browning Company, the International Harvester Company, Swift & Company, and Hart, Shaffner and Marx, are witnesses to the fact that justice ■ and fair dealing are possible in industry, that strikes are not necessary, and that all disputes between management of capital and labor can be adjusted by open-minded and sympathetic conferences. Note- worthy among these experiments in good-will and worthy of a study of our ministers is that of the Dutchess Bleachery at Wappinger Falls, and of Mr. Arthur Nash and his clothing factory in Cincinnati. The success of these endeavors toward democracy in industry should be closely watched.
We recommend that the Committee on Social Welfare be authorized by the State Conference to express, in behalf of the Conference, our ap- preciation of the efforts which men and corporations within the Common- wealth are making to solve industrial difficulties in the spirit of the Golden R\jle, and to write to these men and organizations in the name of the State Conference wherever it is evident that justice, the "square deal," and the spirit of Jesus are manifest. The committee on Social Welfare asks that pastors and laymen send to them the names of individuals or of corporations
1926] Report of Committee on Social Welfare 61
who they believe are entitled to such recognition, with the facts and reasons for such behef.
The Committee on Social Welfare has been asked by the Department of Social Relations of our Congregational Churches, to secure from every Church in the Commonwealth, the name of one man and one woman other than a minister who is particularly interested in Social Service, or Social Relations, that the Department of Social Relations may have persons with whom they can communicate directly. The Social Welfare Committee would be willing to undertake the preparation of such a list if the State Conference deems it advisable and backs it with its approval of this plan. It would require considerable correspondence and detailed work. Therefore, your Committee, would recommend for the purpose of arranging for the Social and Industrial Conference in Boston, and also for obtaining the suggested list, that the Conference vote to them an ap- propriation of One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150).
We recommend that the Social WeKare Committee of the State Con- ference cooperate with the Social Relations Commission of the National Council in setting up a social and industrial conference in Boston some time during the coming winter, and that the ministers of the state be invited to join in such conference to be addressed by representative leaders of abor and of management and of social agencies.
Regarding Military Training and Propaganda CongregationaUsts have ever been nmnbered among the most patriotic of citizens of the land. The history of New England for the first two hundred years is largely a history of events as shaped by men of Con- gregational affiliation, and during the past one hundred years since the population has become more diverse, CongregationaUsts have maintained the honorable record which was estabUshed by their ancestors.
As Christian patriots, however, we look with apprehension upon the efforts being made to direct the thought and life of our youth into miUtary channels and we deprecate the tendency to introduce military training into our High Schools and compulsory military training into our colleges. We believe that the world needs at present constructive leadership in ways of peace and in the development of international good-will. Christian statesmanship, with good-will as the animating principle, is needed far more than a swashbuckling policy which irritates and provokes. There- fore we look with disfavor upon all efforts to set up a MobiUzation Day whether called by this name or by some more euphemistic term and we disapprove the efforts being made to introduce into our educational, system military training and propaganda.
HARRY W. KIMBALL, WILLIAM M. MACNAIR,
for the Committee.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE
RELATION OF THE COLLEGES
AND THE CHURCHES
Pastors and lay leaders of our churches may well spend thought upon the conditions existing in our colleges for the light which such thought throws upon church necessities; the necessity of ennobled public worship; the necessity of a new Christian apologetic able to withstand the cold blasts of materialism; the necessity of obtaining a moral excellence capable of winning the respect of even the students from Oriental lands ; the neces- sity that we abate the scandal of sectarianism; and the necessity that we build toward world wide brotherhood ; in short, that our churches become more Christian. America has the largest enrollment of foreign students in the world. Eight thousand of them are in four hundred colleges and universities, and six thousand more are in our secondary schools. Many of them are studying in Massachusetts. Dr. Robert E. Speer speaks wisely when he says:
"American life and the Christian Church have never met a more
severe test than in the presence of these foreign students. They will
not carry back what they do not get, and they will not get what we
cannot and do not give." This does not take into account the evil that they learn. Moreover, all students prompt us, of the church, to a profound recital of the General Confession. Were there no chance for us to give direct assistance to the colleges, study of their condition throws searching Ught upon our own needs.
President Mary E. Woolley of Mt. Holyoke College for twenty-five years, living as the shadow of a great rock in a weary educational age, is reported to have said in a recent address at New Haven :
"Women's colleges in general dread the aftermath of the short
vacation, when the college infirmary is too small to accomodate the
daughters who are recovering from the two weeks' 'rest' at home.
Parents wonder why college will so overwork their girls." Homes and home churches should face mercilessly the question as to what they are doing toward diminishing, or toward increasing the physical, moral, and spiritual resources needed if one is to be immersed in modern New England college life. The academic preparation for college is likely to crowd to the wall any adequate moral and religious preparation, and though one can solve all problems raised in a comprehensive examination,
62
1926] Report on Relation of Colleges and Churches 63
it will profit him nothing unless somewhere and somehow he has become prepared to recognize, and honor, and gain, and use the true wisdom. As George A. Coe puts it:
"What ails the parents, then? Then- rehgion? A respectable sincere piety that is not without good fruits, yet not the de- termining motive or principle where life is most active, most new, most a struggle, most swift in its movement ; a rehgion that saves many individuals from many a thing that is evil, and to many a thing that is godly; but a rehgion that, though it contains a germ of infinite possibiUties, is not yet developed into a form that could produce a Christlike society."
Conferences
During the past year, your Committee has not held any conference. We hoped to arrange a Conference where selected professors would meet with selected ministers. We will mention three conferences held under other auspices, and it must be added that whatever older people may do, the students themselves arrange frequent conferences, where they free their minds in regard to rehgion and the chiu-ch.
In February, nineteen colleges held a four-day conference at Spring- field College. The National Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. sponsored the affair. The "Repubhcan" reported it to be the sense of the Conference that:
"A college man who practices Christianity would be unpopular on the campus. A real Christian is one who lives as Christ would. Not more than one-half of one per cent of those calUng themselves Christians are trying to live the life of Christ. It can, however, be done. A student who would attempt to be a Christian would be regarded as queer."
It was decided that prayer is answered if it represents "A soul's sincere desire expressed through effort to accomplish or achieve some worthwhile end." It was the general opinion that the honor system is being disre- garded by the students. Neverthless, it was considered as an ideal that should not be given up. Holy Communion was celebrated, and the rector of Grace Church, Amherst, the Reverend Arthur Kinsolving, gave a talk on "Can one be a Christian on the College Campus?"
The Connecticut Valley Annual Intercollegiate Missionary Union
The twenty-fourth Annual Conference of the Connecticut Valley Inter- collegiate Missionary Union was held in March, a three-day session at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. One hundred and eighty-four delegates were present. The spirit of the conference is suggested by the following newspaper chpping:
64 Report on Relation of Colleges and Churches [1926
"Dr. Daniel J. Fleming, in his address on 'Mission Work in Lands of Ancient Cultures' stressed again and again the importance of the missionary of to-day having a thorough education and being prepared on the first furlough to continue studies for a higher degree. To work with the intelhgentia in lands of advanced culture is to be in need of the finest education obtainable. A missionary should be in touch with the currents of thought. Missions are just beginning. It is more of an exchange of thoughts, culture, and experience; and an attitude of receptivity has supplanted the former attitude of giving, establishing a relationship of mutuality. Each country has a different psycho- logical aspect and there are even to-day vast unoccupied areas for pioneer work in missions. The East judges the West by its own Christian standards. The demand to-day is for the missionary who can train someone to take his place. Each country is desirous of having its own people as leaders. Spiritual influence, not evan- gelical fervor characterizes the worker in the foreign field, whether he be a Y. M. C. A. secretary, a medical missionary, or a teacher.
"Miss Jean Dickinson, a college professor in China, told her audience that the Orient wanted trained leaders in education and sociology among their own people and that they were impatient of 'church- ianity' and desired Christianity.
"Rev. Charles Hurrey spoke of the allurement of South America to the educators, engineers, tradesmen and reformers and said that he believed exchange professorships would do more to aid in cultural cooperation with these proud patriotic nationalists of this great continent than out and out missionaries."
The Evanston Conference
This important Interdenominational Student Conference was reported admirably by our Mr. Stock in The Congregationalist of January 14, under the title "Youth Has Its Say." We are proud to note that Mr. Stock is one of the six secretaries chosen to serve with fifteen students on the Con- tinuation Committee. Nine hundred student delegates gathered, representing about twenty denominations; and almost two hundred colleges, universities, technical schools, and seminaries were represented.
"Jesus reigned at Evanston. Denominationalism was regarded as the chief curse of Protestantism. Christianity can only be restored to its original power as we have contact with Oriental people and the American Church will save itself through humble fellowship in services with those of other races." A delegate declared:
"When you gentlemen of the press play up to the fact that the majority of us have not taken the complete pacifist stand, be fair
1926] Report on Relation of Colleges and Churches 65
enough to say that all of us mean business on the war question.
We are out to kill war." These students demanded adequate religious education (in their minds the concept is a vast one) and they expressed a craving for the presence in their lives of real communion with God, which neither the home nor the church is doing much to cultivate, but which must be their support if they are to achieve mightily in a world which worships other gods than the Father of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Fitch offers this judgment in regard to the delegates:
"They did not think clearly and deeply, but they were moved by high intentions and by impressions of ideas."
This statement will be appreciated by any mature person that has listened to the talk at almost any student conference .
The New Freedom
These conferences illustrate the fact that the modern educational trend is in the direction of complete freedom of choice and thought and 'action on the part of students. There is a decided departure from the idea that faculty members lead the minds of youth toward conclusions in which they themselves beheve, or even toward conclusions which society has accepted as necessary to a well ordered common life. Stress is laid upon the truth that students need to think for themselves, and not to try to get along on second-hand truth. We do not quarrel with the general principle, but as the new principle is working out, unhappy results and even tragic results are all too evident. We Uve in a real world, not in an ideal one, and we are coming to see that where a college does little to help students to appreciate the Christian way of hfe, the result too often is no real thinlcing, no conclusions personally wrought out, no high ideals, no philosophy of life, except a lazy fatalism.
Where there is no positive Christian influence on the part of the admistra- tion or of the faculty, it must be clear that the advantage is all on the side of the materialists, the cynics, the hedonists, even though the number of such faculty members be small. The new and the negative make their appeal easily, especially where they seem to give an intellectual justification for low moral ideals. The teacher who presents a "new view" whether it emphasize "Nordic supremacy"; the impossibility of making any room for God in a scientific scheme of Ufe; or the advisability of substituting "self-expression" for self-control, such a teacher will create a stir. A recently won Ph.D. degree is no proof of wisdom. Cleverness in some branch of science is no proof that one is fitted to speak the final word of God or of man. As a rule, students that applaud such teachers do it as superficially as they denounce many of the teachings of earlier days. Their dogmatism may surpass the dogmatism of those that support out-
66 Report on Relation of Colleges and Churches [1926
worn teachings. The student is not getting a square deal when he is exposed to flippant teaching uttered by some popular young teacher, unless constructive, intelligent, thoroughly modern religious instruction is also presented by faculty members of rich personahty. If the student welcomes the unturned cakes served him by an amateur in the wisdom of life, he is just as hkely after a few years of Ufe as an alumnus to swallow other unturned cakes, but this time from the conservative instead of the radical kitchen and perhaps equally unnourishing. Moreover, the college itself becomes unfairly judged by the adult public. In the absence of a sympathetic and tolerant Christian emphasis the reputation of a college comes to be made by the few professors whose opinions make sensational newspaper copy.
The editor of "The Congregationalist" deserves commendation for his thoughtful treatment of many of the problems of the college and church. In quantity as well as in quality of copy, "The Congregationalist" has revealed its understanding of the need for a more Christian type of higher education; has given us much constructive material; and has reported student gatherings with intelligence and sympathy.
If one may judge from the press, the live issues in Massachusetts college circles during the past conference year have been those of compulsory chapel and church attendance; and of the advisability of allowing women students to smoke while under the jurisdiction of the college. Officers of administration have stumbled over the query on the part of women students, "If my mother smokes and professors smoke, why shouldn't I smoke?"
Suggestions for Reading.
Anyone that proposes to study the moral conditions now existing in our colleges will find food for reflection in reading Chapter X, with the title "President of Harvard" in "Edward Everett, Orator and Statesman," by Paul Revere Frothingham. President Everett was inaugurated on August 20, 1846. An indictment for malicious childishness could be readily sustained against his student body. Our problem is very serious. So was the problem of eighty years ago. His journal for February 6, 1838, contains this entry:
"President Quincy (his predecessor) passed half an hour with me explaining the case relative to the recent explosion in the chapel. He stated also the circumstance of the providential discovery of a most outrageous attempt to blow off the roof of the Ubrary."
This is the incident to which Thomas Wentworth Higginson refers in his diary:
"What a sight the chapel presented at prayers this morning! About two hundred panes of glass blowrx up, the hands of the clock
1926] Report on Relation of Colleges and Churches 67
taken off and the dial stove in, the front panels of the lower part of the pulpit removed and all the damask between the pillars torn away, and 'a bone for old Quin to pick' written on the wall."
Another entry in the diary gives this information :
"A meeting of the Corporation in the evening. I brought before them the subject of the thefts frequently committed in the college and the appearance of prostitutes in the college yard — recommend- ing the appointment of a patrol." The professors as a rule did not attend chapel. The services lasted only so long as was necessary for the markers to do their work. The conduct of worship had fallen into a disgraceful condition of disorder and general lethargy. President Everett took the stand that where there was com- pulsory chapel for the students, there should also be compulsory chapel for "the officers of instruction and government." In 1847 by a supreme effort he secured the restoration of the seal which contains the words "Christo et Ecclesiae."
"Men, Women and Colleges" by Dean LeBaron Russell Briggs of Harvard is a Uttle book to be commended in no uncertain terms. In the chapter entitled "Leading One's Own Life" are these words:
"We know what the Founder of Christianity would think of the doctrine of 'self development' as it is preached to-day. We know how far from practising it he himself was. And whose self develop- ment has approached his?"
As one reads this book, so sane, so Christian, with the dehcious humor of deep insight and understanding love, one cannot but wish that men living in the spirit of this book were available for distribution among the faculties of Massachusetts.
"What Ails Our Youth," by Coe, is another small but valuable book. "It strikes straight at the heart of the deepest problem of present day civilization, — the problem of maldng the world fit for its young people and of making its young people fit for the world." In "The Congregaiionalist" of December 3, 1925, there is a thoughtful editorial on the book "Ruth Talks It Over." This is the type of book which Y. W. C. A. secretaries might well study with their boards of direc- tors; and which the leaders of our church guilds might study to their profit; as well as mothers with their daughters of high school age. The editorial to which we make reference includes these sentences :
"The one defect of the book from our standpoint is that it does not seem to think quite deep enough in the matter of moral foundations." To the lofty, able, and largely convincing conversations of this book, one would hke to add that penetrative saying of Sir John Seeley in "Ecce Homo" that "No virtue is safe that is not passionate."
68 Report on Relation of Colleges and Churches [1926
There is such a thing as scholastic malpractice on youth. As a sug- gestion of the proper attitude of college leaders toward rehgion, we in- clude these important words by Dean Herbert Hawkes of Columbia College :
"One frequently hears that there has recently been a marked decline in the interest shown by college students in religious matters. Those who are most intimately in contact with college men for the most part do not share this feeling. It is true that the effective method of ap- proach to religious questions for college students has shifted materially during the past twenty-five years. In the old days religion was a college activity, like the dramatic and literary organizations. The newer approach to the subject of religion is not so much in the direction of affording an opportunity for the expression of the religious life of the individual as it is a means for analyzing and studying the religious life of man in as objective a manner as anyone would study any other himian trait.
"For many years most colleges have offered a few courses in the literature of the Bible and have left the rest to student religious or- ganizations. This is good so far as it goes, but it does not recognize the whole problem. The activities of these organizations continue the social and religious interests which the student brings with him to college. They tend to preserve such religious nurture as the home training has afforded, and to give adequate opportunity for the exercise of the various types of service that are associated with these organizations.
"It is commonly believed that college tends to upset the religious faith. Just how far this is true it is impossible to say. Statistics on such questions are almost valueless, since they are usually based upon terms which are not, and often cannot be, defined. In this connection 'atheist,' 'agnostic,' 'infidel,' are used freely, often meaning little more than a divergence in opinion on matters of doctrine from the critic. But after all, anyone who has come in close contact with many students reahzes that the college experience almost inevitably causes, or at any rate accompanies, a readjustment of feeling toward religious matters. In many cases the roots of religious faith are intimately intertwined about alleged facts of science, history, or philosophy which modern scholarship finds to be without foundation. It is natural that as the student feels the disturbance around the roots of his faith he should mistake the sensation for an injury to the faith itself. In the course of time, frequently after graduation from a college, the matter is readjusted on a firmer and finer basis than the old one, but often not without serious agitation and distress. It can hardly be expected that the various college instructors, who have replaced the erroneous dogmas of science by something better, should them-
1926] Report of Committee on Inter-relationship 69
selves always be able to pause to adjust any religious feeling that may have been disturbed. Often no one but the person himself knows of the disturbance. It is, however, a part of the responsibility of the college to afford abundant opportunity for wise and reverent advice, consistent with modern scholarship, to students who feel that the learning experience has interfered with the life of the spirit. "The colleges are awakening to their responsibilities in this direc- tion. Even now there are more able students looking foward to the ministry than five or ten years ago. If the church can so manage its affairs as to make it possible for a person who has any interest or regard for the integrity of the mind to do the work of the church, the future is by no means dark. If however, a man must take leave of his intellect and regard for scientific truth in order to take up ec- clesiastical work, the church can expect very little support from thp. younger generation."
On the Wednesday morning of the State Conference, nearly two hours will be given to the consideration of the relation of the Colleges and of the Churches of Massachusetts. Three-quarters of an hour has been reserved for thoughtful consideration of questions, which we trust will be sent in generous number to Rev. Harry Thomas Stock, 14 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. As this report goes to press, the first of such questions has arrived. It is from a pastor in a small town with a daughter near- ly ready for college. He asks, — "Would I do better for the moral and religious interests of my daughter were I to influence her toward Oberlin, rather than toward any one of the women's colleges in New England?" We recommend that the Committee be continued for another year; and that the State Conference authorize the same budget as in the past years.
EDWIN BRADFORD ROBINSON, Chairman. HARRY T. STOCK FRANK A. BOYDEN
JOHN A. HAWLEY ELIZA H. KENDRICK
ALFRED E. STEARNS ERIC A. LINDH
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON INTER-RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES
This Committee was created by a vote passed by the Massachusetts Congregational Conference at its meeting at Brockton, on May 20, 1924. The Committee submitted a report to the Conference at Holyoke in 1925, which is printed in the Minutes of that Conference. The Conference
70 Report of Committee on hiter-relationship [1926
adopted a number of the recommendations of the Committee and continued the Committee and recommitted its report for the following purposes :
1. For the purpose of taking such steps as might be advisable in co- operation -ttdth all the several organizations concerned, in order to carry into effect those recommendations contained in the report which had been adopted by the Conference.
2. For further consideration of the recommendations of the Committee in respect to the President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, except as already acted on by the Conference.
The Committee was also requested in the course of the discussion upon its report to consider further whether any recommendations should be made concerning the relationship between local missionary societies in Springfield and Worcester and the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, although no formal vote was passed upon this subject.
The Committee submits the following report:
The extent to which recommendations already adopted have been carried into effect Two major recommendations by the Committee which required action by various missionary societies in order to carry them into effect were adopted by the Conference. These were:
a. The creation by the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, the City Missionary Society, and the Congregational Church Union of an Advisory Committee for the Greater Boston district.
b. Making the President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society a full time salaried officer to perform such duties with respect to the affairs of the Society as its Trustees might determine.
Both these recommendations have been carried into effect by all the societies concerned. The Advisory Committee for the Greater Boston district was duly constituted and has been in active operation since August, 1925. It has acted upon a number of special problems, including the building of a new church at Medford Hillside (now under construction) and the proposed new church edifice at Hough's Neck. It has also started, through the President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, an inquiry into the problems relating to the St. Mark Church in Boston, and has made suggestions in a number of other cases where the interests of more than one missionary society were involved.
The recommendation concerning the President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society has also been put into effect by the Trustees of that Society. The Rev. Frederick H. Page, d.d., of Waltham, was elected as President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society on July 27, 1925, and assumed his duties on November 1, 1925. He has been made by the Trustees the executive head of the Society. His duties involve the determination, subject to the approval of the Trustees,
1926] Report of Committee on Inter-relntionship 71
of general questions of policy for the Society and the investigation of par- ticular problems which require special study. He has also been called upon, in consequence of the reorganization which is taking place in the national Congregational missionary societies, to act as the Massachusetts representative at meetings in which other states having organized con- ferences were represented by state superintendents or secretaries. This aspect of the work of the President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society is more fully discussed later in this report. The Committee is satisfied that the change in the character of the office of President of that society and the appointment of Dr. Page have been of great importance to the work. The finest kind of cooperation has existed between the President, the Secretary, and the Treasiu-er of the Society, and already some problems have been solved and the solution of others promoted through this additional service afforded by the office of President.
Local Societies in Springfield and Worcester The Committee is of opinion as a result of its own investigation and of conferences with the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society that no action by the Conference is advisable concerning these local societies. Helpful relations exist between these societies and the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society and it is felt that any changes which may from time to time prove advisable can be worked out by the joint action of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society and these local societies.
Recommendation concerning the Committee of the State Conference on Missions and Apportionment
The recommendation of your Committee as adopted by the State Conference at Holyoke concerning the Committee on Missions and Ap- portionment was that beginning with the year 1927, the Committee on Missions and Apportionment now consisting of nine members, consist of seven members to be chosen annually by the State Conference, two on the nomination of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, two on the nomination of the Trustees of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society and three to be chosen as members at large. This recommendation was made in view of the then existing relationships of the agencies engaged in promoting the missionary program. The field work was carried on by a state representative. Rev. Francis L. Cooper, whose salary and expenses were paid by the national Commission on Missions. Mr. Cooper worked under the direction of the state Committee on Missions and Apportionment. Part of the expense of Mr. Cooper's work was met by a contribution from the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society to the Commission on Missions.
Your Committee was of the opinion that under this method of or- ganization the Massachusetts field secretary had no adequate reinforcement
72 Report of Committee on Inter-relationship [1926
through association with other workers, and that he needed additional cooperation from executives and representatives of the foreign and home missionary work. You,r Committee felt that by giving the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and the Trustees of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society direct representation on the Apportionment Committee, the executives of those societies could be called upon for assistance to Mr. Cooper in many ways.
Since the Committee's report was made the situation has changed completely. This change has grown out of the adoption of the plan of reorganization of the work of the national societies at the meeting of the National Council at Washington last October. The Commission on Mis- sions has voted to discontinue state offices, including the office in Massa- chusetts. The responsibility for promotional work in Massachusetts is therefore now placed squarely upon the Congregationalists of the state. In consequence, the whole ground work upon which the previous recom- mendation of this Committee with reference to the constitution of the Committee on Missions and Apportiomnent of the State Conference was based, has been swept away, and an entirely new method must be found in the state for carrying on the work as a whole. Under these circumstances, your Committee would recommend that the vote passed at the last Conference by which the Conference Committee on Missions and Apportiormient was to be reorganized, be rescinded, and that the following plan which has been formulated by members of the State Com- mittee on Missions and Apportionment be adopted.
The Committee on Missions and Apportionment and the promotional work under its direction Recommendations :
I. That the Massachusetts Congregational Conference continue its Committee on Missions and Apportionment on the present basis, under which the Committee is made up of nine members elected from the state at large, of whom three are chosen annually, each for a three-year term ; that this Committee represent the Conference in its relations with the national Commission on Missions, particu- larly in the following respects :
a. In bringing before the Conference the amount proposed by the Commission on Missions as the total objective under the ap- portionment plan with a recommendation as to the fair share to be assumed by the Massachusetts churches.
b. In approving percentages for the distribution of Massachusetts contributions among the national societies and for work within the state.
c. In subdividing the total amounts recommended by the Massachusetts State Conference to be raised for the designated
1926] Report of Committee on Inter-relationship 73
purposes and referring the amounts to the local associations and the individual churches for their acceptance. 11. That a field secretary be appointed by the Massachusetts Congrega- tional Conference on nomination of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, concurred in by the Committee on Missions and Apportionment of the Conference. III. That a field secretary have his office with the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society and cooperate as one of the group of workers in that society with the understanding that the officers and employees of that society will give him such cooperation as will enable him to devote his time and energy to field work both educational and promotional, in so far as this may be necessary in fm-thering mis- sionary interests of the denominations.
IV. That the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society assmne the salary and other expenses connected with this position of field secretary and make any necessary adjustments on this account with the Survey Committee of the Commission on Missions.
V. That the Committee on Missions and Apportionment of the Massachusetts Congregational Conference should include among its duties:
a. Cooperating with the field secretary and with the Massa- chusetts Home Missionary Society in the forming and carrying out of plans for the promotional work.
6. Reviewing the work of the field secretary.
c. Reporting to the Conference.
d. Acting as a check and balance in relation to the work and position of the field secretary.
The trustees of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society are ready to cooperate in the plan. In order to prevent promotional work from being stopped in the interval between the giving up of the field secretary's office which has been maintained and the action of the State Conference on this subject, the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society has tem- porarily undertaken to carry on some of the work under the general direction of the state Committee on Missions and Apportionment.
As the State Conference has no executive head giving his full time to administrative work, and as the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society is controlled by the vote of the representatives of the churches, who, as members of the Conference, are also voting members of the Society, and its President, Secretary and Board of Trustees are, in fact, elected by the vote of the churches through their delegates, it seems to the Committee that the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society is the best existing agency to undertake this work permanently. The proposed plan will make for increased efficiency on account of the fact that the work of the
74 Report of Committee on Inter-relationship [1926
field secretary is, to some extent, seasonal. At certain times he could profitably use additional assistance, if it were available. The Massa- chusetts Home Missionary Society will be in a position to give him such help.
It may be urged against this plan that the appeal for all the societies should not be made by one who is in such close relation to a single society. Under the present circumstances, however, the Committee does not feel that this objection is valid. The plan for the reorganization of the work of the national societies contemplates that appeals by the several societies shall be discontinued and that the money for the work of all the societies shall be raised by one appeal. This is to be done under the general super- vision of the reconstituted Commission on Missions. The actual raising of the money is to be entrusted principally to the state agencies with the assistance of the new Promotional Council. The appeal to the churches is to be presented as an appeal for all the missionary work of the denomina- tion, and the normal way in which any particular missionary society may expect to profit from it is by receiving its proportion of the total gifts.
Individuals may, of course, continue to give to particular societies in which they are interested. The predominant interest of every society however, will be to increase the contributions of the churches to the general fund and thereby to increase the amount to be received under the percentage apportionment by each society.
Bearing in mind that the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society is in reahty a representative body of delegates of the churches, that the field secretary is to act under the general supervision of the Committee on Missions and Apportionment chosen by the Conference; and that the interest of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society itself, as has been pointed out, will be best served by increasing the total gifts available for distribution, it seems to the Committee that the plan is not open to the objection which has been discussed and that it presents obvious advantages over any other plan which has been suggested. This plan seems also to be consistent with the general promotional plans which are being carried ■ out under the vote of the National Council. These plans are described more fully in this report in connection with the recommendation of your Committee with respect to the duties of the President of the Massa- chusetts Home Missionary Society.
The office of President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society The Committee is of opinion that the plan for the reorganization of the work of the national societies, which has been adopted since the Conference at Holyoke, emphasizes the importance of having someone who should be regarded as the executive head of Congregational missionary and extension work in the state and as representing the cooperating chvu-ches of the state in that aspect of their work. This reorganization
1926] Report of Committee on Inter-relationship 75
relates itself in an important way both to the recommendations already- made in this report as to the Committee on Missions and Apportionment and to your Committee's recommendation in its last report as to the office of the President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society. The principal features of the plan which need to be borne in mind in considering the relation of this reorganization to the questions under discussion are stated below.
The -plan for the reorganization of the work of the national societies The National Council at Washington on October 26, 1925, took action which involved far reaching changes in the organization, work, and methods of promotion of most of the Congregational national societies. A com- plete statement of the plan is too long to be included in this report. Certain aspects of it, however, should be clearly understood in order that the Massachusetts chm-ches and societies may cooperate effectively in carrying out this plan. These are as follows :
The organization of the societies themselves. The new plan provides for the administration of the foreign work and of the home work of the de- nomination by two managing boards of 36 members each. The managing board for foreign work is to be the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions serving in effect as a Board of Directors. The work of the three regional woman's boards is to be completely unified with that of the American Board and one-third of the Prudential Committee of the American Board are to be women.
The home societies are to be hnked together in the first instance by electing identical boards of directors for each of the home societies included in the plan. This brings the following organizations under identical management :
The American Missionary Association
The Congregational Home Missionary Society
The Congregational Church Building Society
The Congregational Sunday School Extension Society
The Congregational Pubhshing Society
The Congregational Education Society
The Congregational Foundation for Education
The Congregational Board of Ministerial ReUef
The plan contemplates the eventual consolidation of all the societies themselves, so far as this can be done legally and consistently with the faithful carrying out of the trusts imposed upon the funds held by the several societies. The plan does not depend, however, upon any such complete merger of the societies. It is based on the beUef that even though it may be found advisable to continue the corporate existence of the societies, they can be administered as departments of the work of the
76 Report of Committee on Inter-relationship [1926
Congregational Home Board, which is a collective name to be applied to the entire home work as administered by the identical board of directors.
The support of the national societies. The new plan provides for a re- organized Commission on Missions which is to consist of 81 members, 36 of whom are the members of the Prudential Committee of the American Board, 36 the Board of Directors of the Home Board and 9 are appointed at large by the National Council. The Commission on Missions is to have general charge of the raising of funds for the support of all the societies, and of the apportionment among the societies of the amounts raised. This Commission is to have an Executive Committee and a Survey Com- mittee.
The administrative work relating to the raising of funds for the support of the national societies is to be placed in charge of a Joint Promotional Council which is to represent the two national Boards directly, and to have charge of all solicitation of funds for the entire program of benev- olences. The plan contemplates that each national society shall cease to maintain promotional secretaries for the purpose of soliciting funds directly for that society. This does not mean, however, that the work of individual societies is not to be emphasized or that gifts are not to be accepted from individuals for particular objects in which they may be interested. On the contrary, it is expected that the Promotional Council will be able to augment the number of those who are wilUng to respond to such appeals. This council is to consist of 16 members, including five persons chosen by each of the two national Boards, three chosen by the body of state superintendents, the General Secretary of the National Council, the Promotional Secretary and the Secretary of the Laymen's Advisory Committee. It is an administrative, not an authoritative body. The Commission on Missions and ad interim its Executive Com- mittee authoritatively represent the Boards.
The general administrative head of the Promotional Council is to be a Promotional Secretary elected by the two national Boards on nomination of the Commission on Missions.
In order to provide for the fullest contact of the Promotional Council with state organizations and the churches. Regional Committees are to be appointed composed of volunteer workers. These Regional Committees are to work through the existing organizations. The country has been divided into five regional districts, the first of which consists of the New England States, with Boston as a center. Each Regional Committee is a joint branch of the two national Boards. Its members are to be ap- pointed by the two Boards sitting jointly. Regional secretaries, state superintendents and persons doing similar promotional work in states not having organized conferences are to be members of the Regional Committee in their territory without vote. These Regional Committees are not intended to affect any existing direct relations between the state organ-
1926] Report of Committee on Inter-relationship 77
izations and the national Boards and the Commission on Missions. They are expected to be of assistance in the entire promotional program in the chm-ches by helping to create interest in the objects of the work and secur- ing support for it.
The Congregational Woman's Home Missionary Federation, which is composed of many units in various state organizations, is not to be consolidated with the Home Board, but the work carried on by the Federa- tion is to be assumed by the Promotional Council and the Regional Com- mittees. The existing local organizations of women for the purpose of support of missionary enterprises are probably to be encouraged and will function in connection with the Promotional Council and the Regional Committees. The details of this plan have not yet been fully worked out.
A provisional Regional Committee in New England has been formed. The President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society has been chosen as its temporary chairman.
Relations of state and national organizations. The recommendations which were adopted by the National Council include a statement of general principles with respect to the responsibility of the churches of a conference for missionary and extension work within its borders. This recommenda- tion is as follows :
"We recommend that the directors of the Home Boards, whenever it seems to them advisable and as speedily as possible, commit the execution of all local work now done by the extension boards, the Education Society and the American Missionary Association to the State Conferences. This recommendation of commitment of executive work does not include any suggestion that the national societies should not make appropriations for state work. This commitment of work should be made not alone where the Conference is now self-supporting but also where it is sufficiently strong to contribute, under the total apportionment, amounts equal to the needs of the state budget, in- cluding provision for the work turned over; arrangements being made so that part of the benevolent fund of the churches of the state may be paid to the national societies, somewhat under the terms of the present plan for Co-operating States in the constitution of The Con- gregational Home Missionary Society. This would grant the states autonomy in administration with fraternal advice as well as financial assistance."
The National Council also recommends that state organizations consider the advisabiUty of inviting representatives of the national Foreign and Home Boards to sit regularly with them and that the national Boards reciprocate, and also that state organizations consult with the national societies to secure harmony and cooperation.
78 Report of Committee on Inter -relationship [1926
State percentages. In ^dew of the simplification of percentages through the proposed plan, the National Council suggests that in the future the Survey Committee of the Commission on Missions, after conference with representatives from the states and the Home and Foreign Boards, shall present at the midwinter conference recommendations as to three percentages for each state, — one for state work, one for foreign work and one for home work, and arrange with the Home Board for subdivision of its apportionment.
It is to be noted that under this plan, the initiative with respect to turning over to state conferences work previously carried on by the nat- ional societies is expected to come from the Directors of the Home Board. They are to commit the execution of local work to the state conferences "whenever it seems to them advisable and as speedily as possible."
The taking over of work of any magnitude, if it is to be done without injury to the local work or to the national societies, evidently requires (a) a state organization able and wilUng to do the work, and {h) a readjust- ment of the percentages in the apportionment within the state so as to provide funds for the work. This will also involve a readjustment as between national societies of the percentage from that state which goes for national work, corresponding in some measure to the relief which is given to the treasury of the national society by the taking over of the work by the state organization. As this percentage is determined at the midwinter conference which is usually held at Chicago, it is advisable that the changes which are contemplated should be made carefully and with full cooperation on both sides.
The foregoing summary of the chief features of the national plan has been made not for the purpose of passing on the merits of any particular portion of it, but in order to furnish a better understanding of its relation to the State Committee on Missions and Apportionment and to the office of President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society.
The office of President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society considered in relation to the reorganization of the national work. The plan for the national work which has been simimarized is based on the fact that Congregational churches are as a rule organized into state conferences with state superintendents as executive officers of the conferences.
The plan also contains these features which call for a representative of each state: (a) three members of the Promotional CouncU are to be chosen by the body of state superintendents; (b) state superintendents are to be members, ex officiis, of the Regional Committee in their territory ; (c) the suggestion is made that state organizations invite representatives of the national Boards to sit regularly with them and that the national Boards reciprocate.
It is also to be noted that the state superintendents meet regularly at Chicago at the midwinter meeting of the various missionary executives
1926] Report of Committee on Iiiter-relationship 79
and that it is at this meeting that the Survey Committee expects to get much of its information on which to base its recommendations as to state percentages.
The Congregational churches in all the states, except Connecticut and Massachusetts, are organized into conferences with a state superintendent or secretary as an executive head. For some time it has been the practice of the Commission on Missions and other national organizations to consult the President or the Secretary of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society on questions on which in other states they would consult the state superintendents. The President of the Massachusetts Home Mis- sionary Society has since his appointment been invited to attend the meetings of the state superintendents, and there is a general tendency, without any action on the part of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society or its President to that end, to treat the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society as if it were the organization of the Massachusetts State Conference and its chief executive as if he were the actual head of the organization of the Massachusetts Congregational chm-ches. This has been done for the sake of convenience in passing on information and in order that Massachusetts may be represented at gatherings of state superintendents and also at meetings of representatives of the National Council and other national officials where representatives of state organ- izations are expected to be present.
The President of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society has stated in such gatherings that he acted without state authority, but his disclaimer has been pohtely waved aside and he has been extended the same com-tesy and privileges as though he were an official representative of the Massachusetts churches. Substantially the same course has been followed with respect to Connecticut.
Your Committee recommends that the State Conference should recognize the existing situation and should authorize the President of the Massa- chusetts Home Missionary Society to act as its representative in meetings with state superintendents.
Your Committee recognizes that we are in the midst of very important changes in the organization of all work which is carried on by the co- operation of the various churches. We think it would be unwise to pro- phesy the changes which are to come in the future, or to attempt to an- ticipate them. For this reason, we confine our recommendations in this report to those which we have already made.
We beUeve that Massachusetts is fortunate in having agencies which readily lend themselves to the carrying out of any plan which may be made in cooperation with the national program. Until that program is further developed, we believe that the recommendations which are made in this report as to the work of the state Committee on Missions and Ap-
80 Report of the Executive Committee [1926
portionment and as to the duties of the office of President of the Massa- chusetts Home Missionary Society are sufficient.
ENOS H. BIGELOW SIDNEY LOVETT
OREN C. BOOTHBY EDWARD M. NOYES
WILLIAM R. CAMPBELL ASA M. PARKER
HAROLD S. DAVIS H. LeBARON SAMPSON
WILLIAM ELLISON SAMUEL USHER
ELBERT A. HARVEY
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee met early in June for the transaction of routine business and has not held a formal session since then.
The Treasurer's bond of $5,000 was renewed and Rev. H. L. Packard and A. J. Crockett were elected Finance Committee for the year. The resignation of C. E. Ivelsey as Auditor was accepted and W. H. Abbott of Newtonville was elected to the vacancy.
It was voted to recommend that the Committee on Federation of Churches consist hereafter of five members instead of the fifty-one who have been named as our quota of delegates to the State Federation of churches, and that the committee of five be authorized to appoint such
The Secretary was instructed to print and distribute the usual number (1800) of copies of the Minutes for 1925. He was also authorized to fill all vacancies during the year. Vacancies occurred in the delegation to the National Council, and the list of alternates elected by the Conference was exactly sufficient to insure a 100 per cent representation o£ Massa- chusetts in the Council at Washington.
The Secretary was instructed to use such means as might seem wise to impress upon churches and ministers the importance of their attendance at the meetings of Conference, in the endeavor to secure a much larger representation throughout the state. He was also instructed to secure such assistance as may be needed by the Registrars at Dorchester in the matter of wider pubhcity of the doings of the Conference.
FRANCIS J. MARSH,
Secretary of the Committee.
OVERTURE OF THE SUFFOLK NORTH ASSO- CIATION TO THE MASSACHUSETTS CONFERENCE
Whereas: by a recent decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of chusetts, it has been declared that the so-called Creed of Andover Theo- logical Seminary (given in full below) must be affirmed by the Professors and by the several members of the Board of Visitors strictly in accordance with its literal terms, and in the meaning at the time the Creed was orig- inally written, and
Whereas: this decision of the Supreme Court puts an end to the practice which has grown up during many years past, in which the Creed has been taken with various expressed reservations beUeved to have been permissible, as for example: "According to the best Ught that God shall give me," or "for substance of doctrine," or as by one believing himseU to be "in the historic succession of Orthodox Trinitarian Congregational ministers," and
Whereas: this Creed now made mandatory in its original meaning on all Professors and the several members of the Board of Visitors, contains statements of doctrine which have not been held or affirmed by orthodox Congregational churches for a great number of j^ears, but on the contrary, would be inadmissible in statements of faith or in creeds commonly held by orthodox Congregational chm-ches, and
Whereas: by the decision of the Supreme Court such statements of the Creed must not only be affirmed by Professors and Visitors, but must be taught the students, and the Visitors must remove professors who do not so beheve and teach, and
Whereas: students so taught, if such could be found willing to accept such teaching, would not be acceptable in orthodox Congregational churches, therefore be it
Resolved: by the Suffolk North Association of Congregational Churches that the State Conference of Congregational Churches of INIassachusetts, soon to be in annual session at Pilgrim Congregational Chm'ch, Dorchester, be memorialized to take such action as shall make it plain that the so- called Andover Creed was never required of orthodox Congregational churches, and does not prevail among them ; and that if it were to be taken literally by the Professors and the Visitors of Andover Theological Sem- inary, the usefulness of Andover Theological Seminary to the orthodox Congregational chm-ches of Massachusetts would be at an end. 81
82 Suffolk North Association Conference [1926
ASSOCIATE STATUTES 1808 ARTICLE II
"I believe that there is one, and but one Uving and true God; that the word of God, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, is the only perfect rule of faith and practice; that agreeably to those Scriptures God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth; that in the Godhead are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and that these Three are One God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; that God created man after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness; that the glory of God is man's chief end, the enjoyment of God his supreme happiness; that this enjoyment is derived solely from conformity of heart to the moral character and will of God; that Adam, the federal head and representative of the human race, was placed in a state of probation, and that in consequence of his disobedience, all his descendants were constituted sinners; that by nature every man is per- sonally depraved, destitute of hohness, unlike and opposed to God; and that previously to the renewing agency of the Divine Spirit, all his moral actions are adverse to the character and glory of God; that being morally incapable of recovering the image of his Creator, which was lost in Adam, every man is justly exposed to eternal damnation; so that, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God; that God, of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity elected some to everlasting life; and that he entered into a covenant of grace, to deHver them out of this state of sin and misery by a Redeemer; that the only Redeemer of the elect is the eternal Son of God, who for this purpose became man, and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever; that Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the office of a Prophet, Priest, and King; that, agreeably to the covenant of redemption, the Son of God, and he alone, by his suffering and death, has made atonement for the sins of all men; that repentance, faith, and holiness are the personal requisites in the Gospel scheme of salvation; that the righteousness of Christ is the only ground of a sinner's justification; that this righteousness is received through faith; and that this faith is the gift of God; so that our salvation is wholly of grace; that no means whatever can change the heart of a sinner, and make it holy; that regeneration and sanctification are effects of the creating and renewing agency of the Holy Spirit, and that supreme love to God constitutes the essential difference between saints and sinners, that by convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds, working faith in us, and renewing our wills, the Holy Spirit makes us partakers of the benefits of redemption; and that the ordinary means, by which these benefits are communicated to us, are the word, sacraments and prayers; that repentance unto life, faith to feed upon Christ, love to
1926] Suffolk North Association Conference 83
God, and new obedience, are the appropriate qualifications for the Lord's Supper; and that a Christian Church ought to admit no person to its holy communion, before he exhibit credible evidence of his godly sincerity; that perseverance in holiness is the only method of making our calUng and election sure; and that the final perseverance of saints, though it is the effect of the special operation of God on their hearts, yet necessarily im- plies their own watchful diligence; that they, who are effectually called, do in this hfe partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification, and the several benefits, which do either accompany or flow from them; that the souls of behevers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do im- mediately pass into glory; that their bodies, being still united to Christ, will at the resurrection be raised up to glory, and the saints will be made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity; but that the wicked will awake to shame and everlasting contempt, and with devils be plunged into the lake, that burneth with fire and brimstone forever and ever. I moreover believe that God, according to the counsel of his own will, and for his own glory, hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, and that all beings, actions, and events, both in the natural and moral world, are under his providential direction; that God's decrees perfectly consist with human liberty; God's universal agency with the agency of man; and man's dependence with his accountability; that man has understanding and corporeal strength to do all that God require of him; so that nothing, but the sinner's aversion to holiness, prevents his salvation; that it is the prerogative of God to bring good out of evil, and that he will cause the wrath and rage of wicked men and devils to praise Him; and that all the evil which has existed, and which will forever exist in the moral system, will eventually be made to promote a most important purpose under the wise and perfect administration of that Almighty Being, who will cause all things to work for his own glory, and thus fulfill all his pleasure. — And furthermore I do solemnly promise, that I will open and explain the Scriptures to my pupils with integrity and faithfulness; that I will maintain and inculcate the Christian faith, as expressed in the Creed by me now repeated, together with all the other doctrines and duties of our Holy Religion, so far as may appertain to my office, according to the best light God shall give me, and in opposition, not only to Atheists and Infidels, but to Jews, Papists, Mahometans, Arians, Pelagians, Antinomians, Ai-minians, Socinians, Sabellians, Uni- tarians, and UniversaUsts; and to all other heresies and errors, ancient or modern, which may be opposed to the Gospel of Christ, or hazardous to the souls of men; that by my instruction, counsel, and example, I will endeavor to promote true Piety and Godhness; that I will consult the good of this institution, and the peace of the Churches of om- Lord Jesus Christ on all occasions; and that I will reUgiously conform to the Con- stitution and Laws of this Seminary and to the Statutes of this Foundation."
84 Suffolk North Association Conference [1926
ARTICLE III
The preceding Creed and Declaration shall be repeated by every profes- sor on this Foundation at the expiration of every successive period of five years; and no man shall be continued a Professor on said Foundation, who shall not continue to approve himself a man of sound and orthodox principles in Divinity agreeably to the aforesaid Creed.
STATISTICAL TABLES
EXPLANATORY
The tables which follow compriae:
1. The statistics of the churches, giving the ministers, church membership, additions, removals, baptisms, Sunday schools and famihes; the statistics of the Young People's Societies; the amount of benevolences and expenses. These tables, in accordance with the vote of the Conference, in 1887, are made to conform to those in the Year-Book; but names in the pastoral column are changed according to the latest information before going to press.
2. The Associations of the churches, with the names of officers and the times of meeting.
3. The Ministerial Standing, giving the date of ordination of each minister, the date of membership, the residence and his "employment." "P. C." means pa.'ator by council; " P.," pastor otherwise; " W. C." means without church; " Prof." means professor; " C. M.," city missionary; " T., " teacher; other abbreviations are self-evident. " W. C," however, includes many who have retired from active service, and some who are in bu.siness.
4. The Ministerial Record, containing lists of ordinations, installations, dismissals, and deaths.
The tables of the first part coutain the names of all the Congregational churches in Massachusetts, the towns and cities being arranged alphabetically; churches in each town according to age. If the post office name of the church and the town name differ, a foot note on the page whqre the post office nams would naturally be found will direct the reader to the town name.
Church members and families are reported as numbered January 1, 1926. Admissions, removals and baptisms cover the year 1925. " Absent " are not additional to " males," " females " and " total," but included in them. " Sunday school " includes total member- ship of officers, teachers and scholars, January 1, 1926, or when the school is in operation (if not at that date), covering " branch schools," " mission schools " and " home depart- ments," so far as maintained by the reporting church.
The months and days in the dates of the organization of churches are omitted. They will be found in the publications of 1873 , those of churches since organized being given in the " Minutes " of each year Also the months and days in the dates of ordination and installa- tion of ministers are omitted. The former may be found in the lists of the local Associations which follow the tables.
" Ordained " denotes the date on which the person was originally set apart to the ministry by the " laying-on of hands." " Commeuced " denotes the date of the beginning of his present pastorate.
In accordance with the recommendation of the National Council, in the Statistical Tables pastors installed are marked " i."; pastors recognized by a council called for that purpose are marked "r."; pastors duly called by their churches, but not installed or recognized by council, are not marked.
Blanks in any column of figures are never equivalent to " none," but mean " no report "; but blanks in the column of ministers do mean that the church has no pastor or acting pastor, and the blank is left for the convenience of those who note changes.
Under Simday Schools, "c" denotes cradle roll, "h" home department, "e" both cradle roll and home department, and "m" a mission or branch school.
Statistics — Churches
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