Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-09-19
How Movement of
Endeavor Society
Began Its Course
Founder to Be Honored by Fol-
lowers-Growth of the
Organizations.
BY Carl Lehman. Field Secretary of the
United Society of Christian Endeayor.

BY Carl Lehman. Field Secretary of the
United Society of Christian Endeavor.
Doubtless no other man in the
world has travelled SO many miles
and done so large a work for the
world as Rev. Francis e. Clark. d. D.,
deavor Society and president of the
Worlds Christian Endeavor Union.
He has just passed his sixty-third
year of age.
Thirty-three years ago DR. Clark
was pastor of the Williston Congre-
gational Church. of Portland. Me. He
was then a young man just fresh
from college and seminary. Williston
Church was a typical New England
church, with all of the problems and
difficulties that those churches had
to meet.
In the winter of 1ss0-1ss1 a series
of special evangelistic services in the
church had led a great many young
people into church membership. This
young pastor realized that If those
young people were to be held for the
church they must be trained for SER
vice, they must have something to
do, and they must be shown how to
do it, He called his young people
together, and on February 2, 1881, the
first Christian Endeavor Society was
formed the first Christian Endeavor
pledge was signed and the following
Sunday the first Christian Endeavor
prayer meeting was held.
From that small beginning in Port
land the society has spread and
grown, until today there are more
cieties in the world, with more than
1000 900 members.
There are Christian Endeavor So
cieties in every country of the world,
and each week meetings are conduct
ed in more than eighty different Ian
guages: the literature of the society
has been printed In as many tongues.
Something like 1900 daily, weekly and
monthly periodicals carry Christian
Endeavor news; more than 200 perl
odicals are devoted entirely to the
work of Christian Endeavor. There
are more than $50 different kinds of
books leaflets, cards etc, published
for use in the work of the society and
as aids to 1t. Millions of pages of
special printed matter are issued
every year.
Observation-Disclosures.
From almost the very beginning of
the movement Christian Endeavor has
been interdenominational In its scope
and work. Though II began In a Con-
gregational church, today there are
eighty-seven different denominations
that take Christian Endeavor as their
youngpeople's society. Throughout the
world there are probably more Meth
odist Christian Endeavor societies
than those of any other denomination,
though In North America many of the
Methodist churches have q purely
UNCONVENTIONAL young peoples society.
On this continent there are more So
cieties In Presbyterian churches than
In those of any other denomination;
the Christian Church has the second
largest number of societies. the Con-
gregational third, the Baptist fourth
In England, Burma and India the
Baptists lead In Christian Endeavor
while In Australia, Spain. France and
other countries the Methodists lead
In Norway, Denmark, Germany and
Russia the Lutherans lead; in Italy
the Waldensians, etc.
No agency has done more to bring
the Christian people of all denomina-
tons closer together than has this
great society. The present tendency
toward a unity of Christian people
and churches Is due. In large part,
to Christian Endeavor, with its more
than $4,000 union meetings every year,
ranging from local and county Chris
tian Endeavor union gatherings of one
hundred or less to the State. interna-
tional and worlds conventions, with
thousands and tens of thousands OF
delegates present. Some of the county
conventions In this country are large;
n AV.er G.I
fewer than 1000 at It's county conven-
ton: Middlesex county. Mass, had
2,406 at Its convention this year. The
twenty-seventh international and fifth
worlds convention Is to be held in
Chicago, July to IL, 1915.
Worldwide Work.
Because this work is world wide In
its character the time came when II
was necessary that some one man
should give all of his time to the
work, travelling from State to State,
province to province, and country to
country. There were no funds avail
able for this work from which to en-
ploy a worker: but twenty mine years
ago Francis e. Clark gave up the
passionate of the Phillips Congrega-
tional Church, Boston. where he had
gone from Portland, and through all
these years he has given himself to
this work without one penny of sal
airy from the Christian Endeavor
movement. DIR. Clark has earned his
own living by the use of his pen, the
books he has written and the special
articles for magazines and news
papers. Not only has DR.. Clark
earned his own salary thus, but he
has paid practically all of his own
railway, steamship and hotel bills, as
he has Travelled in foreign countries
for Christian Endeavor. DR.. Clark
has gone five times around the world
and many times to Europe and Great
Britain. There Is no country in which
he has not travelled and spoken for
Christian Endeavor. 1t Is estimated
that he has Travelled at least 1926, 900
miles--325. 900 of this by water, $4,000
miles by rail and fully $4,000 by
wagon, horseback, camel, in Jinrih-
shas. In man-carried hammocks, etc.
He has addressed at least 100000
people; he has been in the midst Of
danger by land and by sea, In re-
ligious riots, in earthquakes, torna-
does, cyclones. billiards., shipwreck,
train wreck and a score of similar
catastrophes.
DR.. Clark has been received by
presidents of the United States, of
Panama, Peru, Argentine, Brazil, the
kings of Norway. sweden, Greece, the
Mikado of Japan and scores of other
celebrities.
Christian Endeavorers have decided
that they wish to build a memorial
for DIR. Clark In appreciation Of the
many years OF service for the cause,
and they don't want to walt until he
Is dead to do 1t. The matter was fully
considered, and 1t seemed to all that
the wisest and most substantial thing
to do was to erect a building which
should be the International Christian
Endeavor headquarters. The plan
calls for five-story building, two
stories of which shall be used for the
Offices OF the movement, and thus
save the $1,000 a year that is now paid
in rents for that purpose, and three
stories of the building to be rented
to provide an income for the extern
sion of the movement in this and