Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1920-03-05
SOUND BUSINESS
BASIS FOR CHURCH
lntercfaurch World Movement
Natural Growth Of Tendency
To Eliminate Waste
AVOIDS USELESS COMPETITION
Religious Financierine RevoIutionlzed
sy Success OF Men And Millions
Movement And Cooperation
Is Result

OF North America is an ATTEMPT bv
1orWard-looking leaders of the various
evangelical denominations of the Unit
Cd States and Canada to coordinate
me resources in men, money and mate.
rial for 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 it's
Identity and control it's own personnel
and treasury
IN former times, the home mission
society, the foreign mission society,
me church extension society and the
various philanthropic and eleemosv
nary agencies of any denomination
conducted their affairs independently
OF one another. Each surveyed its
own restricted territory, prepared a
budget of money and workers for it's
own purposes and made its own ap-
peal to its constituency for support.
This could only mean that these
AGENCIES were more or less in COM
Net1tfon with one another: that there
were waste and duplication Of work
aHd money. and that among them all
some work was neglected and some
denominatiCnal resources were entire
~ overlooked. Because OF their spe-
cialized training the leaders Of each
agency regarded themselves as pecu-
Harly fitted for their tasks, and jeal.
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 an.
peal for funds. 1t was made clear
that each constituent board should
| preserve complete autonomy.
When the beard representatives mot
they found it possible 10 eliminate a
great amount of organization ex-
penses. They ultimately worked our
q budget and plan of camnaign that
| was satisfactory 70 all. This resulted
in the famous Men ard NTl1ion
Movement" of the Disciples Of Christ.
| which brought in what was then con
siderod the STAGGERING sum Of SC.
100000 for a five-year program. The
members Of tho communion were SO
pleased with this husiness-Iike method
Of conducting affairs that they con
tributed even more generously than
had been expected
The success of this enterprise revo-
lutionized the whole business OF
church financiering The other great
denominations immediately adonted
the plan. The UNCONVENTIONAL associa
tons 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
WorId-Budqet Formed
The 1nterchurch World Movement is
simply plan to do INSTRUMENTATION
ally what the forward movements
have done within the various com
| munions. It means that every denomi,
| national budget will be made in the
lgh: Of world needs instead of in the
semi-obscurity of incomplete informa.
ton. 1t 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
together
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,
2hinery Of cooperation. Third. if acts
IN an advisory capacily whenever its
advice is requested.
The Movement has nothing TO do
with organic church union or matters
l SiNNi VI uoStl4llt. GdCn constituent
unit preserves complete autonomy. and
is bound only so far as it wishes to he
bound. Financial appeals are made
by each denomination to its own con
stituency. Any surplus in undesignat
cd funds, over and above the actual
cost of administration, will be prorat.
ed among the denominations engaged
in given financial undertaking.
An Illustration OF one thing the
Movement can do is to be found in a
western community of 1900 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 sseing that all
missionary boards are supplied with
information in such eases. the Move,
ment will make possible a wiser dis.
ribution Of funds.
Its first goals are to reduce urrncas
airy duplication and overlanDing tc
! minimum and to bring about an In
+elligent division Of labor in unoccu
Hied fields