The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1920-02-26
SOUND BUSINESS
BASIS FOR Church
lnterchurch World Movement
Natural Growth Of Tendency
To Eliminate Waste
AVOIDS USELESS COMPETITION
Religious Financierinu RevoIu+ion;...
Hy Success OF Men And Millions
Movement And Cooperation
Is Result
AVOIDS USELESS COMPETITION


Of North America is en- attemnt hu
forWard-looking leaders of the variors
evangelical denominations of the Tint
ed States and Canada to Coordinate
the resources in men, money and rnata.
rial for Protestant America.
Historically it is the logical or+.
growth of a tendency of the national
boards in each denomination to form,
working alliances among themselves
in which each board shall preserve its
Identity and control it's own personnel
and treasury.
In former times, the home mission
society, the foreign mission society
the church extension society and the
various philanthropic and eleemosv.
nary agencies of any denomination
| conducted their affairs independently
| or one another Each surveyed its
own restricted territory, prepared a
budget of money and workers for it's
| own purposes and made it's own an
| peal to its constituency for support.
This could only mean that these
agencies were more or less in com.
! petition with one another; that there
| were waste and duplication CT work
and money, and that among them al
some work was neglected and some
| denominational resources were entire
| ~ overlooked. Because of their spe-
cialized training, the leaders of each
agency regarded themselves as pecu.
liarly fitted for their tasks, and ioaI-
| ously regarded attempts at outside
| interference
] Decide On Experiment
| 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 COM
mon study of all the opportunities and
resources of their brotherhood, to
make out a unified budget of men and
money, and to conduct a concerted ap-
peal for funds. 1t 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 cut
a budget and plan of campaign that
was satisfactory to ALL This resulted
+ in the famous "Men and Millions
| Movement" of the Disciples of Christ,
which brought in what was then con-
sidered the staggering sum of &c.
| 100000 for five-year program. The
members Of the communion were so
pleased with this business-like method
of conducting affairs that they con-
| tributed even more generously than
had been expected. o
The success of this enterprise revo-
| lutionized the whole business Of
church fnanciering.. The other great
denominations Immediately adopted
the plan. The UNCONVENTIONAL associa-
| lions 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
| science.
| WorId-Budget Formed
The Interchurch World Movement is
simply plan to do INSTRUMENTATION
ally what the forward movements
| have done within the various com
munions. 1t means that every denomi-
national budget will be made in the
light of world needs instead of in the
semi-obscurity of incomplete informa-
ton. It means that contributions to
one denomination will not be in waste
full competition with contributions to
another, because all the fellowshps
will have worked out their program
together.
nf %In Ta%N n0I,1 Y1rN1
| 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 its
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 undesignat-
ed funds, over and above the actual
cost of administration, will be prorat-
ed among the denominations engaged
in a given financial undertaking.
An illustration of one thing the
Movement can do is to be found in a
western community of 1,6OO persons
in which thirteen denominations have
been supporting separate churches
with missionary funds, while an ada
cent territory of $4,000 persons has
only three churches. BY seeing that all
missionary boards are supplied with
information in such cases, the Move
ment will make possible wiser dis
tribution OF funds.
It's first goals are to reduce unneces-