LAYMAN'S MISSIONARY MOVE MENT, a movement which grew out of a mis sionary prayer meeting held in the chapel of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York 15 Nov. 1906, planned to commemorate the centennial of famous Haystack Prayer meeting held at Williamstown, Mass., from which the modern missionary movement re ceived its impetus. The movement is not a society for missionary work, but is an inter denominational, movement designed to aid the denominational boards already in existence. The object is two-fold: the education of the people so that there shall be a general under standing of missionary methods, plans and needs, and second, the examination of the for eign mission work in the field by commissions of laymen who pay their own traveling ex. penses. The movement has been recognized by most of the churches. In the first stages of its work banquets and get-together meetings were held in all the large cities of the United States and Canada. Later great conventions of lay men have been held within denominational lines, notably by the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The proceedings of most of these conventions have been pubhshed in full. These conventions have discussed more than the missionary movement. They have in cluded in their programs many things per taining to a general forward movement of the Church. The movement spread to England and Scotland in 1907. By invitation six American laymen represented the movement to the people of Great Britain. Within 30 days Eng land and Scotland each had an organization at work. The movement employs a general secre tary with headquarters at 1 Madison Square, New York. There is no membership and no organization apart from a series of com mittees. There is a general committee of ap proximately 100 laymen, which meets annually, giving general direction to the movement. An executive committee of 25 members meets each month in New York giving closer supervision to the work. Division committees are developed in different sections of the United States to give immediate direction to the work in their own territory. I'n each separate city, community or county where work is un dertaken a co-operating committee of the move ment is organized to give it direction and assistance. Detailed suggestions are printed for the guidance and help of such committees.
The chief features of a standard missionary church, as emphasized by the Laymen's Mis sionary Movement, are the following: 1. A missionary pastor. 2. A missionary committee.
3. A missionary Sunday school. 4. System atic missionary education, including: a. Regu lar missionary meetings. b. The use of mis sionary literature. c. Organized mission study classes. 5. A program of prayer for missions. 6. An annual every-member canvass for mis sions. 7. The weekly offering for missions.
By the use of these methods whole cities have already, more than doubled their entire previous missionary offerings. It is the purpose and hope of the movement to assist in enlisting the men of all churches in the steady support of a missionary policy adequate to the presenta tion of the gospel of Christ to every creature.
When the Laymen's Movement began its work very few churches had discovered the value of the missionary committee. The rea sons for having such a committee in every con gregation may be summarized as follows: The missionary committee 1. Divides and locates responsibility. 2. Enlists lay activity. 3. Reinforces the pastor's efforts. 4. Chal lenges to the study of missions. 5. Provides a great opportunity for Christian service. 6. Reaches the membership individually. 7. Stimulates the spiritual life of its members. 8. Greatly increases intelligence, intercession and offerings.
Many thousands of these committees have been appointed as the result of the agitation conducted by the Laymen's Movement. It is estimated that some hundreds of thousands of laymen are now serving as members of such committees.
Missionary offerings have increased largely as a result of the movement. In 1905, the year before the movement was organized, the churches of the United States and Canada were giving $8,120,725 for foreign missions. In 1915 they gave $18,793,000, a cumulative gain of a million dollars a year. In other words, the churches were now giving $10,000,000 a year more than they gave in 1906.
From its inception in 1906 to 1916 the Movement organized fully 3,000 conferences and conventions, attended by at least a million men. Two national campaigns have been con ducted in which ther0 was a paid registration of 175,000 delegates. The first national cam paign, in 1909-10, closed with a congress in Chicago, the second, in 1915-16, culminated in a similar national congress in Washington, D. C.
The periodical of the movement, Men and Missions, has been published regularly since 1909, millions of pieces of printed matter have been distributed and a vast amount of publicity has been given the missionary enterprise in the press and in connection with the conventions of the Movement.