Williams news., 1920-03-12
SOUND BUSINESS
 BASIS FOR CHURCH
lnterchurch World Movement Natural Growth of Tendency
 to Eliminate Waste.
AVOIDS USELESS COMPETITION
Religious Financierine Revolutionize6 by Success of Men and Millions Movement and ,Co-operation
 Is Result.


 The Interchurch World Movement of
 North America is an attempt by for
 ward-looking leaders of the various
 evangelical denominations Of the United States and Canada to CO.,
 ordinate the resources of men, money
 and material of Protestant America.
 Historically it is the logical out
 growth of tendency of the national
 boards in each denomination to form
 working alliances among themselves,
 in which each board shall preserve its
 identity and control its own personnel
 and treasury.
 k- In former times, the home mission
 society, the foreign mission society,
 the church extension society and the
 various philanthropic and eleemosyn-
 ary agencies of any denomination con; ducted their affairs independently ot one another. Each surveyed it's own restricted territory, prepared a budget of money and workers for it's own purpose and made it's own appeal to | its constituency for support.
 This could only mean that these l agencies were more or less in com i petition with one another; that there were waste and duplication of work and money, and that among them all | some work was neglected and some denominational resources were en- | tirely overlooked. Because of their specialized training, the leaders of each agency regarded themselves as peculiarly fitted for their tasks, and jealously regarded attempts at outside interference.
 After decades of such haphazard methods, the leaders of one denomina- ton decided on an experiment. They thought it would be possible for the agencies to get together for a common study of all the opportunities and re- sources of their brotherhood, to make out unified budget of men and money, and to conduct a concerted appeal for funds. It was made clear that each constituent board should preserve complete autonomy. When the board representatives met they. found it possible to eliminate a great amount of organization ex- penses. They ultimately worked out budget and plan of campaign that was satisfactory to all This resulted in the famous Men and Millions Move ment" of the Disciples of Christ, which | brought in what was then considered | the staggering sum of $6,300,0 ,000 for a | fiVe-year program. The members of | the communion were so pleased with | this business-like method of conduct 1 ing affairs that they contributed even 1 more generously than had been ex- pected.
 The success of this enterprise /revo- lutionized the whole business of church fnanciering. The other great denominations immediately adopted the plan. The denominational associa- tions have come to be known as for ward movements" and some thirty of them are in existence today. Each one has clarified all the information in re- lation to enterprise within the denomi- nation, and has reduced the business of collecting and spending money to a science.
 World-Budget Formed.
 The Interchurch World Movement is simply plan to do interdenomination- ally what the forward movements have done within the various com munions. It means that every denomi- national budget will be made in the light of world needs instead of in the semi-obscurity of incomplete informa- tion. It means that contributions to one denomination will not be in waste full competition with contributions to another, because all the fellowships will have worked out their program to- gether.
 The functions of the Interchurch World Movement are threefold. First, it collects, by means of world surveys, all the pertinent facts on which de- nominational programs may be built. Second, it sets up the practical ma chinery of cooperation. Third, it acts in an advisory capacity whenever it's advice is requested.
 The Movement has nothing to do with organic church union or matters of creed or doctrine. Each constituent unit preserves complete autonomy, and is bound only so far as it wishes to be bound. Financial appeals are made by each denomination to it's own con stituency. Any surplus in undesig- mated funds, over and above the actual cost of administration, will be pro- rated among the denominations en- gagged in a given financial underta king.
 An illustration of one thing the move 1fent can do is to be found in western of 1900 persons in which thirteen denominations have been sup porting separate churches with mis- 5ionary funds, while an adjacent terri tory of 50,000 persons has only three churches. By seeing that all mission ary boards are supplied with informa- jon in such cases, the movement will make possible wiser distribution of ,unds
 Its first goals are to reduce unneces- sary duplication and overlapping to minimum and to bring about an intelli- gent division of labor in unoccupied