El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-09

" HE vigorous religious conventions
which are now in operation in
New Orleans, Dallas Kansas
City, Milwaukee. Columbus and Fort
Worth. are a part of the regularly or
ganized program Of the greatest relg-
ious campaign ever made in the history
Of this country. The men and religion
I forward movement extends from ocean
to ocean and from Hudson bay to the
] gulf of Mexico embracing the whole
{ Of the United States and most of Can
/ ada. Tt is a systematic, practical ef-
] fort working throughout the country
! for certain definite results which can
/ not but have a vitaliZing influence upon
/ the religious progress of the times Its
| direct object is to secure at least $780,
| 600 men who viii become members of
/ the different churches and thus equallZe
/ the number of men communicates in
/ the churches with that of the women
And in the words of the resolution au-
/ thOrizing the movement adopted at the
[ Buffalo convention to increase the
/ permanent contribution of the church
/ to the best light of the continent, So
| cialy politically, commercially and
/ physically and to emphasize the mod
ern message of the church in social
service and usefulness
Utilizing the Churches.
The wider use Of the church plant
I viii soon be as popular as that OF the
| public school plant Instead OF being
closed to the people six DAYS in the
week, methods viii be found by which
every church building may be made
I helpful to the progress OF the commu-
nifty.
This movement is practically a lay
mems movement. While the clergymen
Of every denomination are doing all in
/ their power to aid in the work, its
unique feature is that the idea Of the
campaign originated entirely with lay
q % FHs1 b De-
mittee is composed chiefly OF laymen.
The credit for the idea Of this great eff
tort must be given TO Harry w. Arnold
/. formerly connected with the Young
Mems Christian Association Of Wash
ington, D. c.. In 1907, during the in
ternatiOnal convention of the Y. NJ. Q.
A, Mr.. Arnold conceived the idea OF
concerted action on the part of all the
churches Of the country to increasing
the number Of male members and hold
ing nation wide campaign with this
end in view. The idea commended
itself to many prominent business men
In attendance upon the convention ana
they carried the thought home with
them TO their own churches Meeting
after meeting was held in which all
Protestant denominations were asked
to cooperate. In October. 1910. a large
conference was held In Buffalo ATTENDED
by men representing churches from y
cities In So states and provinces OF the
united states and Canada, and spe-
cial committee consisting Of 81 mcn
from different parts of the country was
selected to arrange a definite plan Of
work for the men and religion forward
movement
Three Visions of Work.
1t is a significant fact Of the spirit
ual influence at work during the
months preceding the Buffalo cOnven-
ton that no less than three men in
different parts Of the country. unknown
to each other, had the same vision Of
the organization Of mighty campaign
militant, which would build up the re-
HgiOus forces Of the continent. The
features Of these three plans are iden-
teal in their chief essentials. and IL
was with a marvellous unanimity that
the convention agreed upon the great
religious crusade.
The results Of the work of this com
mittee are now being demonstrated in
the religious conventions which began
in Minneapolis on October 2. and which
VIII end on April %, next 1t has con-
Centrated its efforts upon a definite
plan for covering the entire country
IN one vigorous eight months cam
paign- map has been made showing
the leading cities In the United states
and Canada, each of which is to be
made the center Of q religious effort
under the leadership Of team OF Z
trained experts Each Of these cities
forms the nucleus Of a circle including
q number Of smaller or auxiliary cities
which viii also be included in the spe-
cial convention and receive aid from IL I
IN ORGANIZING It's OWL local NDLA- r OF
instance, Detroit which held Its elglt I
day convention the last week in OctO- Z
Der, has regularly organized connection I
with Battle Creek, Adrain, Ann ArbOr, !
Windsor, saginaw, Mt Clemens, Bay ]
City, Lansing, Durard, Pontiac and sew
eral other cities. In each OF these
smaller towns examinations have been D
formed similar to those of the large /
city.
Large central conventions have been /
arranged in 90 cities In lI6 cities I
smaller conventions will receive help ]
from the organized central committee. /
and there are at least 100 smaller cit Z
les having auXillarieS which viii eN-
tend the work TO still smaller towns /
and these small towns VIII reach out /
to the villages and, so far as possible, I
to the farms.
More Men for Religion.
Taking for their slogan the words
More men for religion and more rellg-
ion for the man" the committee planned I
to have this religious campaign work
along five lines Ihese are. Evan
gelism. work with boys, social service,
bible study and community extension
The teams which conduct the conven-
tons in the large cities include a man
who has had training and experience
qualifying him as an expert in each
Of these lines In addition to the OBJ
jeCts bearing particularly upon the To-
cal religious advancement there is
program for missionary work, covering
both the home and the foreign field,
which is made a feature Of each OF the
A great feature Of the work is that it
Is absolutely Observation-Disclosures All
IF the Protestant churches are uniting
In this movement. The local commit
tees represent the pastors Of every de-
and the influence of the
men and religious forward movement In
unity Of action among the
churches cannot but aid in this much
10 be desired result. All of the work of
this movement is done under the direc-
lion Of the committee of 81 which has
headquarters in New York This COM
nittee is composed almost entirely of
aymen and yet il is directing the
greatest organized religious movement
IF the century. All its members are
practical business men who for months
nave been concentrating their minds
lDOn all details essential to the sue
.ess Of the movement. This committee
s financially responsible for the sup
port of the movement. Tt has conduct
ID the arrangements with the local
organized under its direc-
ion fin other cities. and arranged the
schedules for the conventions for which
{ also supplies trained leaders
Campaign IS Organized.
In each of the so large cities selected
IS Centers from which the movement is Z
O -ae oh orrf IN the grr1n1 Her towns there