New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-07-03
THE MISSION CONGRESS-
A Unique acknowledgement
Toward Unity,

| IS---plc "liClC toSIll6IlC lilSOlOkIdHs
ought naturally TO have pacific aspira-
tons. Catholics worshipped there for
generations; John Knox often preached
there, and after the Reformation It be-
came a stronghold of Presbyterianism,
and II was the cathedral of the Bishop
of Edinburgh when Charles I under
took to re-estabHsh the Scottish Epis-
copal Church. Religious zealots ought
to feel at home there. whatever may
have been the changes of environment
and the chances of ecclesia stical restora-
! ton. It has been the appropriate scene
of the opening services of the Worlds
Missionary Congress. where Christian
workers have agreed to forget their diff
ferences while attempting to establish
modus vivendi in the evangelizaton Of
the world There has been nothing of
dra attic interest as there was when the
solemn League Of the Covenanters was
signed at ST CHESS in 1913 The mod
orator Of the Established Church Of
| Scotland and high dignitaries of the
| United Free Church have Joined in well
| coming the delegates of many Prot
estant bodies. and q congregation gath
cred from the ends of the earth has been
surprised to find how easy It is to re-
peat together the Apostles Greed and
the Lords Prayer and to sing "Old
Hundred
When the Archbishop of Canterbury
set the style of fraternal fellowship by
rising among a group of Scottish and
American Presbyterians and welcoming
Christians without reference to denon-
national lines, but solely on the ground
that mission work was the life blood OF
the churches. the horizon was enlarged
for every narrow-minded bigot in the
kingdom. a truce was proclaimed from
polernics and pickering, and the con-
gress settled down for practical work
with adequate safeguards for the pre-
vention Of desultory talk and the sup
preston of bores- With DR.. John R
Mott. an embodiment of American en-
ergy and common sense, in the chair for
general conference there was the GER
tainty that business would be dispatched
and that delegates would speak TO the
point and not waste time 4 library on
missionary work had been issued in the
Reports u various COutIIllSSIOIlS DdSCo Ol
voluminous evidence and personal ex-
perience, and there were experts from all
churches and lands to discuss the future
evangelization Of the world Short and
sharp as musketry- fire came the
speeches from representative workers Of
every fold, and it was not long before
there was white heat of fervor in the
great assembly of 1900 delegates-one
Of the most remarkable councils which
the world has ever known.
There was neither time nor place for
narrowness Of dogma when conprehen-
sive questions interesting all Christian
bodies were raised There was the fun
damental issue: Ought the churches to
enter at once on unoccupied fields or
ought they to enlarge their activities in
corners and sections where they were al
arduous Iabors in small fields and en-
thusiasts anxious to sound a trumpet
call for & new crusade could not be e1-
pected TO agree of-hand on this ques-
ton Equally important was the alter
native choice between the conversion Of
individuals and the subsection Of COM
raunities to Christian influence as the
main object Of missionary effort. One
was the old-fashioned method Of labor
ing in foreign fields and the other was
the modern system Of concentrating eff
fort and doing things in a large way, as
prairie produces crops Ought mis-
sionaries to be satisfied with their own
preaching and labors in self-civilized
nnaunittes, or ought they to be mainly
employed in recruiting and training ma
tive evangelists and in releasing them
SO far as possible from dependence upon
foreign support Scarcely less in
portant than the use TO be made of ma
tive agencies for evangelistic work was
the expediency Of cooperation among
Christian bodies at home as the first
stage Of the advance into unoccupied
fields
All these complex and rnonlentous
questions were discussed in seven min
ute speeches II was little short of a
miracle Of grace in a country like Scot
land, where sermons have invariably ex-
ceeded an hour Here was a theme SO
far-reachtng as the vastness Of the work
y
field, with 100000 wholly outside the
sphere Of Christian influence, and scores
Of fluent. earnest men sprang in turn to
their feet and showed how much could
be said in seven minutes of compressed
debate. No sooner had DR. Robson pro-
posed that strong missionary force
should be thrown across Central Africa
10 bar the onset Of Islam than Dr. Karl
Kurarn supported him with an evangel
against the warlike tribes OF the Sou
dan. and Coreans, Chinese, japanese and
Indians followed him J . quick success
sion, with luminous accounts of the
work to be done in the Far East. DR.
Zwerner, from Arabia, without exceed
ing the time limit, made 4 really great
sneech in favor OF invading at once all
the unoccupied territory Equally direct
ware the appeals for the two ideals of
missionary effort-individuaI conversion
and the gradual enlightenment Of com
nounities by Christian influence; and
Rishop Robinson and Nj Robert Speer,
Bishop Brooks and Dr.. Ross made a pro-
found impression by their incisive elo-
o,1ence Diversity of views prevailed re-
snActing the constitution of native
churches. the best method OF dealing
with the growing spirit of independence,