The Winslow mail., 1923-06-29
METHODIST DEVINE
TELLS OF CHURCH
EXTENSION WORK

A new type OF leadership in home
mission work has come through the
Centenary program of the Methodist
Episcopal Church according to d
statement issued by Rev. D. D. For
syth, D. D., corresponding secretary,
Board of Home Missions and Church
Extension, Philadelphia.
DR.. Forsyth in survey of three
years work of home missionary ad
vance under the centenary program
says:
'The coming of the Centenary has
made possible a new type of home
mission leadership This has been
brought about through the providing
of training for leaders already in
service and through the raising up
OF new leaders For the leaders in
service a program of summer school
and institute training, for both rural
and city pastors has been developed.
The number Of pastors reached by
these schools now totals into the
thousands. These men have gone
back to their respective fields, not
only with fresh enthusiasm, but also
with definite training for meeting
the concrete problems of their par
ishes. The work of the Kingdom
has profted immeasurably by the
increased efficiency of these men.
The more adequate support of work
kers made possible by the Centenary
has been another factor of no small
proportions in increasing the effec-
tiveness of the work
THAT new types of specialized
home mission workers might be de-
veloped, Me board has cooperated
with department of religious educa-
tion in the training of students. At
present about six hundred of these
special workers are employed in
various home mission fields They
serve as directors of religious edu-
cation and as community workers OF
various sorts.
Negro Work
THE number of absentee Negro
ministers has been very largely re-
duced by the securing of better sa-
laries for the men employed. At
the opening of the Centenary period
substantially all of our ministers in
the Delta Of the Mississippi were
absentee pastors Today practically
ninety per cent of them are resident
ministers. A similar transformation
has taken place in other sections of
the South
gn-Speaking work
with increased funds the Board
of Home Missions and Church EX-
tension has been able to give better
support to it's work among foreign
speaking peoples. The number of
new churches have been erected and
the quality of the leadership has
been greatly improved by the larger
maintenance funds available. Among
the Mexican in the Southwest, not
able progress has been made Sew
eral new churches have been built
and part-time workers have been re-
placed by fu1ltime workers. The
school for Mexican boys at Gardena9
Cal, has been built and larger faci--
lities provided for the Harwood
Boys School at Albuquerque, N. M.
During the year 1922 assistance
was granted to ninety-one building
projects in foreign-speaking neigh
borhoods The total for the three
completed years of the Centenary is
238.
Indian Work
''It has been possible to employ
jointly with the Woman's Home Mis-
sionary Society, a director of Indian
work, and for the first time our work
among American Indians is giving
promise of being placed on a salts
factory basis of efficiency. num-
Der of new churches are being erect
ed, and new leadership is being pro-
vided. This includes special COM
munity workers so greatly needed
on some of our Indian reservation"
n