One of the most interesting features of the sessions of the American Christian Missionary Society were the greetings from a few of the missionaries who are employed by the society, and some other workers. These greetings were given in two halls. W. J. Wright introduced the men in one hall, and George B. Ranshaw introduced them in the other. These men were from different parts of the country, and they all told of difficulties and of need. But they also stirred their hearers with the story of the great opportunities before the Disciples of Christ. These men did not talk about the theory of missions, but they told of the work which is being done under the direction of the missionary society. They were a part of the Centennial exhibit of the Home Board.

      Roy Dedman, of Buffalo, N. Y., reported that he is laboring in the center of a district in which, for a mile on either side, there is not a Protestant church, and, although the church of which he is pastor meets in a store building, yet the people of that great section are looking to him and to his workers for spiritual guidance. Since January there have been sixty-six accessions, and this has been made possible by the gift of the American Christian Missionary Society.

      Jos. Keevil made a plea for more generous support of missionary work in New York City. He said the church of which he is pastor is in the center of a section where the foreigner is coming in and the American is moving out. He said that for three years they have faced the problem as to whether they should do as the other Protestant churches are doing, and seek more congenial quarters, or whether they should grapple with the problem and seek to give the gospel to the Greek, to the Jew, to the bond and free, to the Italian and Bohemian, the Slav and the Russian. He declared that it is their determination, by the grace of God, and the help of the brotherhood, to stay where they are, and, as the American moves out and the immigrant comes in, they will be there to meet him with the gospel of Christ. They have already begun this work, and they have two groups of Russians to whom they are teaching the word of God. He said if the Disciples of Christ are to do the work that God has given them for the century that is before them, they must seek to meet the problem in the cities of our land, in those great, congested sections that are without God and without hope in the world. "If the American city," said he, "is to represent what our civilization is to be, then, if the largest city of the country is the example that we have to face, there is but little future for us, unless we give to them the gospel of Christ." That is the work which the Greenpoint Church has determined to do.

      Mr. Johnson, a Russian worker in New York City, spoke in behalf of the ten thousand Russian people in the nation's metropolis. Almost all of that people, he says, are in darkness, and he spends all his time, when he is free from work, to carry them the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is among them a little group of forty Christians, and every Wednesday and Saturday and twice on Sunday he preaches the gospel to them. He says they stand on the same ground as do the Disciples, for their creed is only the Bible and nothing else. He pleaded for help from the [228] Disciples to carry the gospel to the ten thousand Russians in New York City, that they may carry it back to the millions in Russia who are in darkness. He closed by saying, "I speak very bad English, but you understand very well, and I am glad to be with you in one spirit in Jesus Christ our Saviour."

      J. E. Stewart spoke of the victories of the Disciples in the nation's capital city. Not quite five years ago he was sent by the American Christian Missionary Society into the southeastern part of Washington, where there was at that time no Protestant church, and was told to stand by the work until he had established a church. He began with four members, and now there are 171. A year ago their Sunday-school had grown to 250 members, and, as their chapel would not accommodate them, it was necessary to divide the school into two sections, one meeting in the forenoon and one in the afternoon. There are now nine churches in Washington, and without the aid of the American Christian Missionary Society this growth would have been impossible. He thinks Washington is ripe for the plea of the Disciples, and that there should be a church in easy reach of every person in every part of the city.

      Nelson H. Trimble told of difficulties and achievements in Baltimore. In Baltimore we have eight churches, two of them are self-supporting, and the other six receive help. He has been at Christian Center for eighteen months, and during that time he has baptized two hundred people. Christian Center is trying to do institutional work, and they have been successful in reaching a class of people which the others have overlooked. Mr. Trimble made a plea for the city, and urged that the Disciples adapt their methods to the needs and conditions of the cities.

      Traverce Harrison reported splendid progress in the Columbia Church of Cincinnati, O. He reported that this church had almost been crushed under the financial burden, but the American Christian Missionary Society had come to their rescue, and now they were doing good work. During the two years of his ministry the church has grown from 150 to 350, and the Sunday-school has grown from fifty to 160. He said the church would become self-supporting at the beginning of the new year.

      G. G. Bresler, missionary in Galveston, Tex., was introduced as coming from the city which owns the finest of all the Southern harbors, and which is becoming daily of the greatest importance by reason of the construction of the Panama Canal. Mr. Bresler declared that, if the Home Board did nothing else but support the Galveston Church, it would have a right to exist. Galveston has prepared for storms and put around herself a mighty sea wall, and when the storm did come they were safe. Galveston is situated at the best harbor in all the Southern land, and there great ocean steamers are unloading their burdens of material wealth and of human freight. A great waterway across the channel, which will cost three million dollars, is under construction, and an immigration station is being erected. The city is bound to have a wonderful growth, and the Disciples should get in on the ground floor. Our cause has been struggling there for about fifteen years, and we need to undertake the work on a larger scale.

      F. F. Grim, the corresponding secretary of New Mexico, said the country in which he lives is the great natural tuberculosis sanitarium of the world, and it is also the great land of opportunity. Thousands are coming into that country, either for health consideration or for gaining a fortune, and that makes the religious problem a difficult one. But in addition to these, there are many who are the salt of the earth, that are coming down into New Mexico, and they bring their religious convictions with them. New towns are springing up rapidly, and help is needed from the American Christian Missionary Society to plant churches in these new towns. When these churches are planted with the town they soon become strong and self-supporting.

      Ernest Elliott, the new missionary in Tampa, Fla., made a plea for the Southland, and especially for Tampa. He said: "Perhaps no country surpasses the Southland in its rapid springing from a serious loss, and men who know say, without hesitation, that it is now in its great constructive period, and that in the next fifteen or twenty years there [229] will be witnessed things that men have never even thought possible in the Southland." Tampa is a city of fifty thousand people, who have come from all parts. He urged the society to put more money in the Southland, and promised large returns on the investment.

      Marcellus Ely, who is closing his work at Charleston, S. C., said that, although he would not again, at least for some time to come, speak as a representative of the American Christian Missionary Society, yet he would continue as long as God gives him breath to try to represent the work of this great society. When he took up the work at Charleston, there was a debt on the property of $2,000, but now that has all been paid. During his three years' ministry there have been eighty additions to the church, but the subtractions have almost equaled the additions. Yet the church is stronger in influence and ability, and they are raising $350 a year more on current expenses. He pleaded for an increase in appropriation to the church, rather than a decrease. Mr. Ely said he was leaving Charleston to go to the great West, where cities spring up as if by magic. And he thinks that, while the Disciples should give of their money and of their prayers for the East, that they should give even more liberally for the West, because in this new country money counts for more.

      All the other speakers were from that part of our country which we designate as the great West. W. E. Crabtree was introduced as a man who went to San Diego when it was but little more than a village, and when we had but a small band of discouraged people, and yet who has stood by the work until it has become a great church, and he has been designated by one of the city papers as San Diego's most influential citizen. Mr. Crabtree said: "I come to speak a word for the commonwealth of California. It was her glitter in the early forties that set the gold standard for the money market of the world; her gold in flower, fruit and grain is more potent. Then one hundred thousand men walked two thousand miles rather than stay away, and later built a railroad three times as long as the world had ever known to reach her. To-day they are coming by multiplied train and ship loads. Thank California for transcontinental railroads and all they have meant in national development. Thank California for all the intervening West. Think of California with all her outdoor room, with mountains fifteen thousand feet high, waterfalls twenty-five hundred feet, farms of two hundred thousand acres, twenty-thousand-acre wheatfields, and seven-thousand-acre bean patches, and squash weighing three hundred pounds, and one-hundred-and-fifty-pound watermelon, with apricots nine and one-half inches in circumference, and grapes like those of Eshcol. You first said all Californians are liars, but those men you sent out for sober facts returned with no spirit left in them to say the half has not been told. The bigness of California is brought over into the vision and enterprise of the church. We are anxious to establish the church of Christ in California, and we plead with you not to neglect this Western, unharrowed, unsown State as you did the East until it was set. We who have lived there for several years grow enthusiastic over the California that is to be. In and about San Francisco five millions of people will be living before the present working force quits the field. In the seven lower counties is the natural basis for five millions more. Into this land there is coming, and will continue to come, with increasing column, of the best people of the East. We plead with you, help us save California, for your children will come out there to live."

      Finley B. Sapp, of Fargo, made a plea for North Dakota. He said he came as a representative of a field that is the bread-basket of America and of the world. The only church in the State that has a roof over it is the one at Fargo. Fargo is a city of sixteen thousand people and three thousand students, and is the second city in the world as the distributing point for farming machinery. This city is growing rapidly and demands our work. This State demands our help, and the American Christian Missionary Society is co-operating with the Christian Woman's Board of Missions to take this land. [230]

      J. S. Raum, the State secretary of Montana, told of the wonderful growth of Montana, and of the splendid opportunities in this State for the Disciples of Christ. By the application of the principles of scientific soil culture we have discovered that millions of acres of what was considered barren and unprofitable lands can become very fruitful, and much of this ground is to-day covered with waving fields of grain. So, we expect within the next two years that the population of our State will at least have doubled, if not tripled. And to-day the opportunity for taking Montana for Jesus Christ is ripe. The settlers that are coming now are bringing their religion with them, and are calling for churches. They are writing to our society and begging us to come and start organizations in their localities. We could organize a church every month in the year in Montana, but unless we can support them it would be folly to organize them. We need two things in Montana, and the first is more money. The Congregationalists have at their disposal in Montana $25,000, and we have to compete with them in these same fields with only $1,200. In the second place, we need ministers who do not come to seek a fortune, but who come to seek souls.

      B. H. Lingenfelter, of Seattle, Wash., spoke of the victories of the Disciples in that rapidly growing city. "When I went to Seattle nine years ago, I was told that there was no hope for our cause, as the life had gone out. We had no church property, and we only had $230 in money, which had been received from the sale of the old property. When I met with the Disciples that first Sunday morning on the 11th of February, 1900, there were about forty present. We had no organ, no hymn-books, and our furniture was valueless. After a ministry of nine years, five and a half of which were at the First Church, we have eight organized congregations, with five resident pastors. While I was at the First Church, I organized the Fremont Church, of which I am at present the pastor. During my pastorate here we have built twice, and are talking of building a third time to accommodate our work. While we have done much lately, we are still a small body in a great, growing city. If you will give us much we will show you that we can do greater things than we have been able with the small amount we have received."

      T. J. Shuey, of the University Place Church, Seattle, said: "I went there the first Lord's Day in December, and it was a gloomy day, and we went into a little chapel with about thirty-five persons, and there had been twenty-five at Sunday-school. The little church had been struggling for some time in that community under the eaves of the great university. At that time there were thirty-five members on the roll. We have now, for our Centennial report, 215. Last year the student body numbered fourteen hundred, and we had twenty-three who expressed desire to work in the Christian Church, and there were four young men preparing for the ministry. Should we continue that work? That university is growing by leaps and bounds. This year a million and a half of money has been put into permanent buildings, and the enrollment is growing, and in a short time there will be two thousand students enrolled."

      J. W. Baker, the corresponding secretary in Washington, was introduced as the man who, when he got to his field and saw the need, was determined to support his own missionary out of his meager salary. Mr. Baker said: "I am here to call your attention to the most strategic point in all the globe for the Restoration movement. Sixty per cent. of the people now living in western Washington have come in during the last nine years. They have come from the Central or Middle West where our people are strong, and thus many of our own are among the number. At the present time three transcontinental railroads are extending branch lines into the State. Twenty millions this year are being invested in steamship lines to meet these railroads, and thus the commerce of not only nations, but continents, is being transacted in our ports. Along these new lines are springing up new towns which are open to our people. In fact, the whole country to-day is in a formative state. The doors of opportunity are now open to us, but they will soon be closed. If we do not profit by [231] past experience, the slow and expensive task of evangelizing which we are experiencing in the East will have to be repeated in the West. To-day one missionary dollar spent in Washington will do the work of twenty dollars spent in the East, and it will do the work of ten dollars spent in Washington ten years hence. The other churches are putting large sums of missionary money into this new country, but struggling bands of Disciples appeal in vain for aid because the society has no funds. And so I come this morning to lay the burden of my heart and the burden of my people upon your hearts, and to quicken your consciences in the matter, as my conscience has been quickened. Will you go home and tell the people that America's gateway to the Orient, the most strategic point on the globe for the Restoration movement, is ready to be molded and taken for Christ? But it needs the touch of a master hand, and God's hand must be supported while the bread of life shall be broken to these people." Such a supreme call will not be repeated.

[CCR 228-232]