The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-04-17
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

of flame were claiming the Capital City to be a place of opportunity.
 Now, in a much larger sense, America is the land of opportunity, and have small patience with the mourners' bri- gade who are alyays engaged in crepe hanging and shedding tears over the go ,d old days which have forever fled.
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 In this hour when so many are whining about not having chance and seeking to cover up their shiftlessness in an ef- fort to be carried along in some fra ternal. social, religious or socialistic it will pay us to pause and think on sacrifice. thrift, and the virtue of the gospel of sweat.
 This is why I am going to take the story of little lad, born in 1851, at Ayl- nler, Province of Quebec, Canada. but of New England ancestry, who, orphaned at the age of 8, with small chances of sue cess from the worldly standpoint, is to~ day world figure and has travelled around the globe five times in spreading the glad tidings of Christian service for young people.
 Francis F. Clark. or as he is frequentiy called, Father Clark was adopted by his uncle on the death of his father. Charles c. Symmes, and took from him not only famous but beloved. pr. Clark, while born across the border, graduated at Dartmouth College. another example of the worth of the small colleges throughout the land. and later finished at the Andover Theological Seminary.
 Not only is the story of his youth an incentive to ambitious boys, but his young manhood is a call and an inspiration to every young minister in the land. It was my privilege for many years as editor of the Alabama Baptist to come into close personal relations with scores of young men in the ministry. Some of them. fresh from college or seminary, were chafing because of the smallness of their field.
 But frequently some inconspicuous pas. torate is Gods training ground for one of his preachers. I haven't the time here to mention some of the men who first before being called to take up the bur- dens of larger work Francis F. Clark began at mission church in Portland, Me, but he lifted the Williston Congrega- tional Church into state, national and worldwide fame.
 We may well ask, as has been so often done, What was there about Dr. Clark's little society of young people, formed in a New England state, less than two- score years ago, that marked new era in church life?" It gives emphasis to the fact that in humble environment fre- quently great movements are born. Take for thought the birth of Methodism, the founding of the Salvation Army, the in- ception of the Y. NJ c. A., or the growth of the w. c. T. [.
 Study it through and you win find that the first Christian Endeavor Society stood for no new principle in Christian faith or practice Then what made it spread like wildfre all through the churches of this land and every land from sea to sea? for it long ago became an international reli- gious movement, finding a foothold not only in the European countries, but get ting lodgment in mission territory. No doubt it was the spirit of God, for noth- ing less could have opened so many doors for it's entrance into the hearts of Chris tian people of verving faiths.
 It is both interdepominational and in, and yet 1t started in the Will. liston church under the guidance of Dr. Clark in weekly meeting of boys and girls for prayer and conservation, while social, literary, and religious work was made a part of the programme. Primarily it is religious movement emphasizing apew to the young people of the church the thought of a covenant of a complete a definite personal service and effective cooperation, as each mem- Der takes solemn pledge to attend reg ularly the prayer meeting, and to take part in it (unless inordinately hindered).
 The movement is not denominational one Any society belonging to an Evan. gelical church, which adopts the leading principles set forth in the constitution including a prayer meeting pledge, and which guarantees these principles by the name of Christian Endeavor, either alone or in connection with a denominations. name, is admitted to all the privileges of the organization, and while there are many such societies in Baptist. Methods. and Lutheran churches, these denomina- tions have organized societies or leagues to care for their young people.
 George w. Coleman, recently president of the Northern Baptist Convention. and the moving spirit in the Ford hali meet ings in Boston, a kind of open forum for discussions of various topics of public interest, and an unusually live and wig orous thinker. thinks that from human standpoint Christian Endeavor got it's wide hearing and great following on ac- count of the spirit of democracy which ruled in it's organization. crediting it with being one of the most homogeneously democratic institutions in the church.
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 There is TO ruling hierarchy..no ''church bosses" for every one is on the same footing, and no one is oyershadowed by a superior class But this is not all. |, is expected that every one will be a worker. place being provided for all to have a part and every six months it