uniting church bodies have provided representative organiza- tion which operates through various commissions, including those on the Church and social service, evangelism, councils of churches, the Church and country life, temperance, Christian education, relations with the Orient, international justice and goodwill, and relations with France and Belgium. A staff of secretaries at New York and Washington care for these activities.
Side by side with federation has developed a movement in the direction of organic union. In several denominations union has taken place, as between Baptists and Free Baptists, and among various Lutheran churches. There has been ap- proach, also, between unrelated communions, as Congrega- tionalists and the Protestant Episcopal Church. The year 1910 was notable: on the same day there was organized, by the Protestant Episcopal General Convention, the Commission on a World Conference on Faith and Order, and, by the Disciples of Christ, the Association for the Promotion of Christian Unity, while earlier in the same year the Christian Unity Foundation had been formed. Over 70 commissions have been appointed by various church bodies to cooperate in plans for the con- ference on faith and order. The proposal contemplated an organic union of aU the churches, Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, on the basis of an agreement concerning essential doctrines. The Roman Catholic Church, however, declined to participate. Some important Protestant churches, also, look with little interest on the conference.
The tendency in the movement towards church unity has been toward, not a complete amalgamation of denominations, but a federal union which would allow for diversity of temperament, practice and doctrine. Such was the purpose of the Council of Organic Union held in 1918, attended by representatives of 19 Protestant denominations. An ad interim committee was appointed which presented a plan of union at a second con- ference, in 1920, to become effective when adopted by six denominations.
Social Service. The widening interest in social questions was a notable development of the decade 1910-20. This showed itself, first, in the recognition of social service in the programmes of the various national church bodies, and, later, in its growing recognition by local churches. During the first half of the decade most of the larger Protestant denominations adopted in their national gatherings a definite social service programme, nearly the same as the " Social Creed of the Churches " put forth by the Federal Council of the Churches. A similar state- ment was published by the social service commission of the American Federation of Catholic Societies. Social service com- missions or departments were organized by most of the larger denominations, many having executive secretaries in charge. The commission on the church and social service of the Federal Council has been one of the most active commissions of that body since its formation, and more recently the National Catholic Welfare Council has put in operation a vigorous social programme. One result of this development of social interest is seen in the place given in the theological seminaries to social service and training for community leadership. Quite as significant is the addition of these subjects to Sunday-school study courses. So far as the official organizations of the de- nominations are concerned, social service has become definitely established as a vital part of their programme.
Naturally the progress in the local churches has been slower, but it may be said in general that the churches have come to recognize their social responsibility, though in their work- ing programmes they differ widely. While the movement of churches from the business sections of large cities toward the residential sections and suburbs still persists among Protes- tant churches, a tendency in the opposite direction has also developed, and well-organized churches are being established in the heart of large cities. In some cases several denominations have cooperated in apportioning the field. In Cleveland, for example, 30 such churches are planned, of which 10 are already in operation, different sections being cared for by different
denominations. A similar and allied movement is the establish- ing of Christian centres or community houses. These are under church direction, are staffed by trained workers and undertake various activities: kindergartens, day nurseries, mothers' meetings, industrial classes, forums, boys' and girls' clubs, employment bureaus, rescue work, lectures, music classes, gymnastics, etc., besides Bible study and religious worship. In rural communities progress has been slower, but in many of the Protestant denominations larger attention has been given to the cultivation in the country churches of the ideal of thorough- going community service religious, social, educational, econom- ic. Both nationally and locally the churches, city and country alike, have exercised a powerful influence in favour of prohibi- tion, and the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment is due principally to their efforts.
In the field of industry, the social service pronouncements of the churches have been outspoken in favour of better con- ditions and opportunities for labour. Efforts have also been made to cultivate closer relations with the unions, as by sending fraternal delegates or appointing special representatives. The Federal Council of the Churches each year issued a Labour Sunday message for the first Sunday in Sept. and many churches observe the day.
Missions. The American churches in their mission work have progressed in cooperation, organization and expansion. The decade opened with the holding of the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, in which American Protestant mission boards played a large part. As a result of this conference and the Congress on Christian Work in Latin America, held at Panama in 1916, and of the continuation conferences that followed in many mission fields, the boards have largely broadened their field of cooperative activi- ties, particularly in educational and medical work. Other important factors aiding in this development have been the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, the Federation of Women's Boards of Foreign Missions, the Home Missions Council and the Council of Women for Home Missions, which represent most of the mission boards of the Protestant churches. The Edinburgh Missionary' Conference resulted in increased efficiency of organization and greater interest in missions. In several church bodies missionary agencies have been combined and missionary administration centralized; steps have also been taken toward uniting the missionary agencies of different denominations. Increased attention has been given to missionary education, through study groups, women's societies, Sunday-school classes, and reading contests. Interdenominational summer conferences and schools for development of missionary leaders have grown rapidly in number and quality of work. A very important movement has taken place in the securing of new mis- sionaries. Some denominations have appointed candidate secretaries for their mission boards, and interdenominational conferences have been held to consider the problem. The most significant develop- ment in this connexion was the organization in 1911 of the Board of Missionary Preparation, which made a thorough study of the best methods of preparing for work among peoples of different lands and different religions.
The rapid expansion of mission work by the American churches during the decade will be evident from a few figures. For home missions the Protestant churches appropriated in 1912 (the first year for which figures were compiled) $10,653,119; in 1920, $23,- 135,601. The number of home missionaries fully supported by the church boards in 1916 was 3,372; in 1920, 4,473. Foreign mission income grew even more rapidly, the figure for 1910 being $11,946,- 281 (including both the United States and Canada); in 1920, $40,292,602. The number of foreign missionaries sent out was as follows (United States and Canada) :
1910 1911 1912
1913 1914
1915
617 818 812 620
531 609
1916 1917 1918 1919 1920
772 661 641
I-I37 1,686
In 1910 the Roman Catholic Church had 20 American foreign mis- sionaries; in 1920, 50. The first American Roman Catholic foreign mission seminary was founded during the decade, and several religious orders of this Church were engaged in preparing men and women for the foreign mission field.
While new enterprises have been undertaken the policy has been primarily to strengthen existing work. Expansion has taken place especially in union schools, colleges, hospitals and other institutions. Many denominations have frankly faced their whole task in those parts of the world which might be considered as their responsibility, and after careful survey of the needs and requirements they have undertaken financial campaigns covering home and foreign missions and education. The total number of these forward movements was
