Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-03-21
~. N. C. A. NOTES.

Eli lPudSiS 10 pidCCU upOil PCi oOAl-
ality, rather than equipment. Mem
young men bear in service, rather
than what they get in privileges. The
vital centre is not place, but per-
sonality. 1t thus becomes the work
of the County Secretary to discover,
enlist, train and develop men for
leadership for groups, using as the
redemptive force, the resident forces
in the community, rather than inn
| ported.
When a competent leader is secured
a meeting place is all that is neces-
sary for the convenience of the mem
bers, room, a headquarters. Some
times a vacant room over a store is
rented, sometimes lecture room,
/ basement of a church, or a fire hall is
secured. Even barns have been used.
ANY considerable equipment of appar-
atus, especially in the first few years
| is sometimes more of hindrance
than a help. In fact whatever de-
mands closer expert attention than the
/ County Secretary can give, should not
| be undertaken 1t is plainly evident
/ that it would be a physical imposSi-
bility for the County Secretary to per-
sonally lead these activities in eight
or ten different towns. The largest
service he can render, is that of close
contact with the leader, cooperating
with him in perfecting methods, and
1 organizing features of interest. What
/ is done for men and boys is apt to
/ weaken them, but what they do for
/ themselves is sure to strengthen them.
4 There is task for every man and boy
1 in a community, ,and a boy or man for
every task. The successful County
I Secretary helps to bring the boy and
man, and their task together, and
shows them how to perform it.
The group organization consists in
bringing together congenial groups OF
| boys and young men, who will form
a natural group of from ten to twenty
five fellows. They have their own
officers and committees, and are train
ed to do things for themselves, rath-
er than have things done for them.
1t is here that the Leader has mas
! ter hand over the situation, and by
careful cultivation and patience de-
velopes unruly and so-called bad boys
into valuable citizens Their actiyi-
ties consist in games. socials, enter
tainlnents, Bible classes, talks by bnsi
ness and professional men, stereopti-
con lectures, debates, mock trials,
outings, observation trips, athletic
| features, baseball teams. boy scout
activities, first aid work, calisthenic
drills, and variety of other things,
depending upon the ability of the
1 leader, and the character of his group,
j with which he works. A meeting of
the group is usually held once a week
with occasional features ON Saturday
kafternoon.
Of all the men in the County Work
plan service, no one has "a greater OPP
portunity of making vital and per-
manent contribution to the building of
/ boyhood and young manhood than the
local leader. He is at the very centre
of the local organizations, and upon
him rests not only the opportunity of
/ splendid success of the organization,
but also the possibility of failure, for
/ in County Work personality is the key
| to permanent efficiency.
1T has come to be a common saying
among the promoters of County Work
/ that the number and extent of local
| activities in community are abso-
/ lutely conditioned upon the character
! AS a power house is to a manufac-
! turing plant; so is a leader to a little
group of boys who believe in him, and
who often, more closely than he real
ICES, are patterning their lives after
i his
The possibilities of this line of work
under volunteer leadership carefully
| trained and supervised, offers one of
. y, ,n<.f fac for ON
/ of the smaller towns. In many in
/ stances with a leader prompted by
| love and true spirit service the life
ola community has been transformed,
by giving proper directions to the boys
and young men, whose energies were
/ formerly misdirected, resulting i'm
waste and great loss to the church,
the community and the home.
If there is anything in the theory
Iof character contagion, here is a place
/ for it's fullest expression, for whether
| the leader is a director of Bible
Glass or promoter of athletics,
/ what he is speakes louder than what
he says.
If he has faith, love, courage. a
sympathetic interest in boys,a willing
ness to study, and a passionate desire
to share his own life with others,
County Work will succeed and the
| Kingdom of Christ will grow among
the boys of his community.
The ideal County Young Mems
Christian Association consists Of
many small groups, each with its own
leader working in harmony in the
/ Spirit of Christ to make the COM
/ munity better place in which to live.
rrxr- e IL.