EPWORTH LEAGUE, a society of young people of the Methodist Episcopal Church; formed 15 May 1889 in Cleveland, Ohio, by the union of five societies affiliated with the Meth odist Church. It adopted as its motto: ((Look up, Lift up," and its declared object is to ((pro mote intelligent and loyal piety in the young members and friends of the Church; to aid them in the attainment of purity of heart and constant growth in grace, and to train them in works of mercy and help?" The following pledge is required of its members: "I will earnestly seek for myself, and do what I can to help others to attain, the highest New Testa ment standard of experience and life. I will abstain from all forms of worldly amusement forbidden by the discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and I will attend, as far as possible, the religious meetings of the chapter and the Church, and take some active part in them?' The league exists in both the Northern and Southern branches of the Methodist Epis copal denomination and also in the Methodist Church of Canada. The league is governed
by a board of control, partly appointed by the bishops and partly elected by the General Con ference distncts, one member for each district; represented by an executive cabinet, consisting of a president, four vice-presidents, general secretary, general treasurer and an assist ant treasurer. The league has grown rap idly, extending to foreign lands, and there are chapters in India, Mexico, South America, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, China, Japan and Hawaii. There are in the league about 30,000 chapters and over 2,000,000 mem bers. Its official organ is the Epworth Herald, published in Chicago, which has a circulation of over 100,000. Consult Bacon and Northrop, Young People's Societies' (New York 1900) ; The Methodist Year Book' ; Brummett, (Ep worth League Methods' (New York 1906).