College Evangelists and Foreign Missions The Student Volunteer Movement, 1886-1920

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C ollege evangelists and foreign m issions: The Student Volunteer

M ovem ent, 1886-1920
Ramsey, Dwayne George, Ph.D .

University of California, Davis, 1988
C o p y rig h t © 1 9 8 8 b y R am sey, D w ayn e G eo rg e. A ll rig h ts reserved .
300 N. Zeeb Rd.

Ann Arbor, MI 48106
C o l l e g e E v a n g e l i s t s and F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s
The S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement^ 1886- 1920
By
DWAYNE GEORGE RAMSEY

A . B . ( U. C. B e r k e l e y ) 1963
M.A. ( U. C. D a v i s ) 1970
DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
History
in the
GRADUATE DIVISION
of the
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
DAVIS
Approved:
Committee in Charge
1988
- i-
C o p y r i g h t by
DWAYNE GEORGE RAMSEY
1988
-i i -
Acknowl edgment s
The c o m p l e t i o n o f t h i s s t u d y wo u l d have been i m p o s s i b l e
w i t h o u t t h e g e ner ous a s s i s t a n c e o f many p e o p l e . I was g i v e n
unlimited access to the archives of the Student Volunteer
Movement a t the Ya l e D i v i n i t y School Library. I also be ne
fited from the fa c ilitie s of the archives of the Amer i can
Board of Commi s si oner s for Foreign Missions, the Amer i can
Baptists Missionary Union, the Methodist Episcopal Board o f
Foreign Missions, the Y.M.C.A., and the Presbyterian Board
o f Foreign Missions. I am g r a t e f u l for r e s e a r c h g r a n t s f r om
t h e Amer i can H istorical Association, the U. S. De p a r t me n t of
State, and the University of C alifornia at Davis. I wi sh
also to acknowl edge s p e c i a l debts of gratitude to Professor
Wilson Smi t h and members of his seminar for their guidance
and e n c o u r a g e me n t , and t o my f a m i l y for their patience.
- m -
1
Introduction
My s t u d y of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign
Missions (SVM) was d e s i g n e d t o use t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n as a way
t o e x p l o r e t h e most e x t e n s i v e Amer i can m i s s i o n a r y r e v i v a l of
the nineteenth century. To t h a t end I d e c i d e d to study the
SVM f r o m i t s beginnings in 1886 t h r o u g h the year 1920, when
t h e movement began i t s decline. My method has been t o t r a c e
the a ctivitie s of the volunteers beginning on the Amer i can
college campus and extending to their careers as m i s s i o n a
ries in China. The Volunteers, comprising mor e than ten
t h o u s a n d men and women who s a i l e d fo r fo re ig n mission fields
over a period of nearly f o r t y years, represented the evange
lic a l churches of America abroad. Ov e r the life of the
movement , the number of volunteers who actually became fo
reign missionaries amounted to less than three hund r e d p er
year. When compared to the number of college students in
the c o u n t r y - - 2 3 8 , 000 in 19 00 , nearly 600,000 in 1920--the
volunteer totals wer e small. Compared with the aggregate
statistics of the missionary enterprise, however, the num
bers of student volunteers were s i g n i f i c a n t indeed. By t h e
beginning of the twentieth century considerably more than
2
half of a ll active Amer i can Protestant foreign missionaries
were f o r m e r s t u d e n t v o l u n t e e r s . *
Much o f the m a te r ia l for this d isse rtatio n is d r a wn
from a study o f the f i r s t 150 s t u d e n t volunteers who s a i l e d
t o Chi na f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e movement t h r o u g h 1896. I
chose Chi na because o f my own i n t e r e s t , and because it has
been a popular area for mission studies. I believed it
woul d be e a s i e r t o do a case s t u d y than t o attempt a survey
o f the e n t i r e fie ld . Because o f t h e size o f the m i s si o n a r y
effort in China, I believe that the choice is ju stifia b le .
A cursory reading of the sources indicates that the most
serious p r o bl e ms and most common t a s k s wer e s i m i l a r t o t h o s e
o f I n d i a and o t h e r a r e a s o f m i s s i o n w o r k .
The f i r s t chapter is devoted to the origins of the SVM
a t t h e Mt . Hermon c o n f e r e n c e of 1886, the early d e v e l o p me n t
o f t h e movement, and i t s relationship to e x is tin g missionary
agencies A c o n t i n u i n g t h e me , volunteer motivation, is firs t
exami ned i n t h i s chapter in a discussion o f t h e SVM d e c l a r a
tion. The second c h a p t e r takes up a n o t h e r ma j o r t h e me , the
organizational character of the movement , focusing on its
internal structure, the development of its leadership, and
its external relations with other r e li g io u s groups.
The n e x t chapter develops a p ro file of the volunteers
and c o n t i n u e s the exam ination of th e ir m otivations and
commi t ment . It outlines their preparations fo r a missionary
career and discusses their expectations. A complimentary
chapter b a s e d on c o r r e s p o n d e n c e from China d e s c r i b e s the
3
m i s s i o n a r y work of the volu nte ers and includes a discussion
of th e ir m o s t common p r o b l e m s , working conditions in the
fie ld , and t y p i c a l career lin e s. Because t h e volunteers
constituted a m ajority o f Ameri can m i s s i o n a r i e s , a descrip
tion of th e ir c a r e e r s and concer ns can h e l p us g a i n a better
understanding of the nature o f Amer i can Protestant missions
as a w h o l e .
The f i n a l c h a p t e r r e t u r n s t o t h e theme o f o r g a n i z a t i o n .
Deal ing again w i t h the r e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h e l e a d e r s o f SVM t o
other r e li g io u s organizations, it explains some o f t h e c h a n
ges i n Amer i can c h u r c h life in the e a r l y years o f the ce n tu
ry by f o c u s i n g on t h e new o r g a n i z a t i o n s of Christian l aymen
t h a t grew o u t o f t h e s t u d e n t C h r i s t i a n movement. Of p a r t i c u
lar interest is the I n t e r c h u r c h Wor l d Movement o f 1 9 1 9 - 1 9 2 0 .
My s t u d y of the SVM i s a way of looking at Amer i can
religious history from the particular perspective of those
collegiate Christians who sought t o evangelize the world in
a generation. Modernization of the foreign missions enter
prise was the mo st significant accomplishment of the move
me n t , and its lasting effects were more p r o no u n c ed in the
religious life o f Ame r i c a t han i n its in f lu e n c e overseas.
4
Notes
1. John R. M o t t , Ad d r es s e s and Papers o f John R. M o t t (New

York: A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 4 6 ) , v o l 1, p p . 1 / 5 - 6 . "SVM
S t a t i s t i c s " , S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r A r c h i v e s , Ya l e D i v i n i t y
S c h o o l , New Haven. U n i t e d S t a t e s Bureau o f t h e Census,
The S t a t i s t i c a l H i s t o r y o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s f r o m C o l o
n i a l Ti me s t o t h e P r e s e n t . ( N e w Y o r k : H o r i z o n P r e s s ,
" 1 3 ' 6 5 ) p . ' 38.
5
Chapter I
Organizing a Student R e v iv a l;
The B e g i n n i n g s o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement, 1886- 1888
I am amazed a t t h e i r s u c c e s s . I believe
t h a t t h o s e who have o f f e r e d t o go t o t h e
m i s s i o n f i e l d a r e s i n c e r e and t h o r o u g h l y
in earnest. Has any such o f f e r i n g o f
l i v i n g men and women been p r e s e n t e d i n
t h i s a g e - - i n t h i s c o u n t r y - - i n any age or
any c o u n t r y , s i n c e t h e day o f P e n t e c o s t ?
P r e s i d e n t James McCosh o f
Princeton College 1
The most remarkable feature of the Student Volunteer
Movement f o r Foreign Missions (SVM) from the outset was its
astonishing growth. From t h e t i m e of t h e Mt . Hermon Bible-
study conference in July 1886 to the end of the academi c
year in the spring of 1887, 2,106 men and women f r o m 162
colleges and theological seminaries pledged themselves to
become foreign missionaries. ^ By the summer of 1892 the
n u mb e r s had increased t o mor e t h a n 7,500.^ Observers and
participants characterized the movement as a s t u d e n t "upri
sing" b ecause o f its s p o n t a n e i t y and e x p l o s i v e style. 4
conception, expansion, and momentum o f the movement during
its firs t two years were due largely to the energy and
p e r s e v e r a n c e o f a young man r e c e n t l y g r a d u a t e d f r om P r i n c e
6
ton.
Ro b e r t Par mal ee W ilder's enthusiasm for foreign mis
sions came from his fam ily. Born in India of missionary
parents, he was instructed in p ra ctical m issionary work
there. Both he and h i s sister, Gr a c e , began t e a c h i n g their
own Sunday s c h o o l classes at about age t e n , when t h e y firs t
professed re lig io n . Their fa th e r, Royal G. Wilder, labored
a t an i s o l a t e d station for th irty years. Upon h i s r e t u r n to
the United States in 1877 he f o u n d ed The M i s s i o n a r y R e v i e w ,
whi c h he e d i t e d . Robert's a m b i t i o n was t o become a f o r e i g n
missionary, and he e n t e r e d Princeton in 1881 as p r e p a r a t i o n
for his seminary t r a i n i n g . ^
Both Robert and Grace worked for the missionary cause
in th e ir respective colleges. Their father had been a
member o f the Andover Brethren, a c la n d e s tin e m issionary
society which flo u rish e d before the C ivil War , and the
children tried to create sim ilar missionary societies. Du
ring the 1 8 8 3 - 4 academi c y e a r Grace o r g a n i z e d t h e Mt . Holy
oke M i s s i o n a r y A s s o c i a t i o n w i t h o v e r t h i r t y members. Ro b e r t
gathered a handful of young men into the Princeton Foreign
Missionary Society that same y e a r . An i m p o r t a n t feature of
bot h societies was a signed pledge. The Princeton form,
whi c h was later adopted by the SVM, read, "We ar e w illin g
and desirous, God perm itting, to become foreign missiona
ries." By 1885 W i l d e r and h i s sister began to think about
the p o ssib ilitie s for a widespread missionary movement in
Amer i can colleges and universities which might p r oduce as
7
many as 1 , 0 0 0 v o l u n t e e r s f o r foreign service.6
In the spring of 1886 M ilder saw an opportunity to
begin such a movement. The famous evangelist, Dwi g h t L.
Mo o d y , in conjunction w ith the College Department of the
Y.M.C.A., a gr eed t o s ponsor a Summer School for Bible St udy
in July at his Mt . Hermon School for Boys near N orthfield,
Massachusetts, in July. Already W i l d e r was e n c o u r a g e d by
news t h a t Moody was showi ng i n t e r e s t i n m i s s i o n s and t h a t he
t h o u g h t a "new movement i n m i s s i o n s s h o u l d be i n a u g u r a t e d by
a tour of the w o r l d . " Charles K. Ober, one o f t h e Y . M. C. A .
College Secretaries, even b e l i e v e d that Moody m i g h t " be led
to give h im s e lf to it and become t h e l e a d e r and o r g a n i z e r of
10, 0 0 0 m issionaries, to take the world for Christ, or at
least witness for Hi m, till (sic) He c o me . " ^ Wilder also
hear d rumors, probably exaggerated, that Moody might have
access t o large new s o u r c e s o f money f o r m i s s i o n s , especial
ly for India. Although Wilder was undoubtedly excited by
such p r o s p e c t s , he and h i s s i s t e r b o t h had more modest hopes
for the summer s c h o o l . They want ed t o r e c r u i t new p r o s p e c
tive missionaries and hoped that somehow the associations
they had begun woul d become intercollegiate. Night after
night Robert and Grace pr a yed for success, and he prepared
h i m s e l f t o wi n o v e r t h e B i b l e s t u d e n t s . 6
At Mt. Hermon 251 college men assembled during the
firs t week o f J u l y , 1886, t o a t t e n d c l a s s e s in s c r i p t u r e and
listen to lectures and sermons by Moody and o t h e r w e l l known
evangelists. Most of t h e young men came f r o m New E n g l a n d .
8
Despite the fact that invitations had been m a i l e d to every
college Y.M.C.A., the response from the South and West was
so weak that additional representatives f r om eastern col
leges had to be drummed up by the College S ecretaries,
L u t h e r D. Wi shar d and C h a r l e s K. Ober. 1® Of t h e s e s t u d e n t s
about 125 intended to become m i n i s t e r s , 25 were interested
in Y . M. C. A. work, and about 20 planned to become foreign
missionaries. H
Ther e were no f o r m a l addresses on m i s s i o n s during the
firs t t wo weeks of the school. The students listened to
lectures and a t t e n d e d services in the mornings, and hiked
or swam i n the afternoons. Moody' s advice to the "boys"
typified the evangelical style of the school: " Pr each the
Bible and t h e gospel. The churches want just that and are
sick and t i r e d of e s s a y s " ^ ^ other evangelists expounded on
fam iliar theological concerns. A r t h u r T. Pierson, f o r exam
ple, discussed s c i e n t i f i c proofs o f the i n f a l l i b i l i t y o f the
scriptures. Even t hough the Ol d Test ament had been com
pleted by 400 B . C . , he n o t e d , and “ a t t h a t p e r i o d b u t one o f
the sciences had been developed, not a s c ie n tific error
appear ed i n i t . " 13 Pierson also lectured on e s c h a t o l o g y and
prophecy.I4 Adoni r am Judson Go r don, James H. Br o o k e s , and
William G. Moorehead all concerned themselves with m illen
nial prophecy. The o n l y a d d r e s s whi c h stirred the students
to criticism was by Dr . Brookes. Hi s "extreme position" on
the verbal insp ira tion of the scriptures apparently went
beyond the beliefs of some less conservative students, a l
9
t h o u g h most o f t h e young men seemed c o n t e n t w i t h the c onse r
vative o r t h o d o x y o f the s c h o o l . * 5
I n t h e meant i me W i l d e r was busy o r g a n i z i n g t h e s t u d e n t s
who were committed to foreign missions. Soon 21 men had
signed the Princeton p l e d g e and wer e m e e t i n g together daily
for prayer and m u t u a l encouragement. W ilder persuaded a
visitin g Baptist missionary on leave from China, William
Ashmor e, to speak t o a number o f students on t h e s u b j e c t of
missions. Arthur T. Pierson addressed a sim ilar meeting,
and a p p a r e n t l y some o f t h e men were d e e p l y moved. Wi t h the
help of Wi s h a r d and Ober, the Y.M.C.A. secretaries, Wilder
per suaded Moody to authorize a special student missionary
meeti ng from the speakers' platform. It was this dramatic
meeting that in large part redirected the focus of the
Summer School toward the s u b j e c t o f f o r e i g n m i s s i o n s . * 6
"The Meeting of the Ten Nations" was a series of ten
three-minute pleas by s t u d e n t s r e p r e s e n t i n g the c o u n trie s of
their b irth . Some o f the students like Wilder (India) and
Benj ami n L a ba r e e (Persia) were t h e sons o f Amer i c an m i s s i o n
aries. Otners were foreign students studying in America.
All were passionately devoted to the mission cause. The
bur den o f t h e speeches was t h e more p r e s s i n g needs o f p e o p l e
in foreign lands--usually expressed in the ratio of m inis
ters to population. Wilder explained the urgency of the
situation:
10
T h r e e - f o u r t h s o f our ra ce are w it h o u t
e x c u s e , w i t h o u t hope, w i t h o u t C h r i s t ,
w i t h o u t God; and E t e r n i t y i s b e f o r e
t h e m. Gr a n t t h a t many o f _u^ may c a r r y
t h e Gospel t o t h e s e p e r i s h i n g m i l l i o n s .
At t h e end of each talk the speaker woul d r e p e a t "God is
love" in h is n a t i v e tongue.
In the aftermath of this meeting many o f the students
seriously reconsidered th e ir p ro sp e ctive careers in the
lig h t of the call to foreign missions. By t h e end of the
school an even 100 young men had s i g n e d W i l d e r ' s pledge, the
h u n d r e d t h man a p p e a r i n g on t h e l a s t day as t h e o t h e r s met i n
prayer. The "Mt. Hermon Hundred", as they were late r
called, f o r me d t h e nucleus for an intercollegiate movement .
Before the group disbanded at the conclusion of the school,
they decided to send a tra ve lin g delegation through the
colleges and s e m i n a r i e s d u r i n g the ensuing year to te ll the
Mt . Hermon story and expand t h e movement by signing up new
volunteers.
Four s t u d e n t s were s e l e c t e d : Wilder, John R. M o t t , and
t wo o t h e r s . D.W. M c W i l l i a m s , s e c r e t a r y and t r e a s u r e r o f the
Ma n h a t t a n E l e v a t e d R a i l w a y s Company, p r o mi s e d t o p r o v i d e t h e
necessary travel funds.^ But despite the momentum d e v e
loped at the Mt . Hermon meeting, the movement nearly col-
1apsed.
M o t t and t h e o t h e r two s t u d e n t s d e c i d e d n o t t o accompa
ny Wilder on the college circu it. On the advice of his
parents and friends Mot t decided to give his time to the
Cornell Y.M.C.A. instead. The t wo other students declined
11
f o r personal r e a s o n s . 2® Wi shar d was amazed a t t h i s d e v e l o p
me n t . Compari ng the pr oposed tour with the tria ls of the
original apostles and e a r l y m i s s i o n a r i e s he w r o t e ,
A y e a r's travel among t h e l e a d i n g

c o l l e g e s w i t h expenses p a i d i s a g r e a t
t r e a t . . . .When you add t o t h i s t h e Grand
M i s s i o n i n v i e w . . . . I c a n n o t see t h a t any
man can r e f u s e t h e p r i v i l e g e . . . I g r e a t l y
f e a r f o r t h e e f f e c t upon t h e one hund r e d
i f t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t i s made t h a t " t h e
m i s s i o n band i s d i s s o l v e d . "21
Ober, while "pained" by t h e n e ws , nonetheless found some
basis for e n c our agement f o r Wilder by d e s c r i b i n g the defec
tion as "sim ply another case of the s iftin g of Gideon's
B a n d " . 22
Despite the support he r e c e i v e d from the t wo secre
taries, Wilder found himself in a d iffic u lt position. Hi s
father, who lay ill and dying, re lie d on Robert to edit
The M i s s i o n a r y R e v i e w , and W i l d e r ' s own h e a l t h was e x t r e m e l y
fra g ile . Nevertheless, he knew t h a t if he d i d not undertake
the tour, the movement might disintegrate. Encour aged by
his father and sister, Wilder decided to go regardless of
what t h e d e c i s i o n might cost him i n personal terms. At t h e
l a s t m i n u t e he was a b l e t o p e r s u a d e John N. Forman, a f e l l o w
member o f t h e P r i n c e t o n g r o u p , t o postpone h i s firs t year at
Union T h e o l o g i c a l Seminary in favor of tra ve lin g for the
mo v e me n t . 22
Wilder and Forman st a g e d a t r a v e l i n g revival of sorts.
Wi t h t h e a i d o f s t a t e Y. M. C. A. secretaries, Wi s h a r d and Ober
provided itin e ra rie s . W ilder or For man would arrive by
train, hold meetings for several days t o wh i p up e n t h u s i a s m
12
for missions, enroll the volunteers, and then move on to
begin the cycle again. It was g r u e l i n g work. Wilder col
lapsed t w i c e i n t h e e a r l y s t a g e s and had t o t a k e t i m e o u t t o
rest, but his health gradually i mpr oved as the year went
o n . 24
Most o f the colleges they v i s i t e d were small and d e n o
minational. In Kansas, for e x a mpl e , Forman visited Baker
Uni v e r s i t y at Baldwin C ity, Ottowa Uni v e r s i t y at Ottowa,
Washburn College at Topeka, the state agricultural c o l l ege
at Manhattan, Doane College at Crete, and Hastings College
at Hastings. In Minnesota, Wilder's itinerary included the
state university, Mecalester College, Ha ml i n e University,
and C a r l e t o n College. Forman e n r o l l e d volunteers at t wo
Bl a ck in stitu tio n s, Fisk and Roger W illiams, and of course
the larger, Ivy l eague schools were given much attention.
The s ma l l colleges often had less than 100 students, but
usually at least a f ew woul d sign the missionary pledge.
Occasionally a school like Oberlin with a strong missionary
tradition might enroll sixty or more volunteers. The res
ponse f r o m s t a t e institu tion s was u s u a l l y lo w .^
The c o l l e g e t o u r d u r i n g t h e academi c y e a r 1886- 87 was a
triumph for Wilder and Forman. Of t e n traveling separately
t h e y managed bet ween them t o vis it 162 c o l l e g e s and s e mi n a
ries and to enroll 2106 men and women. Although these
numbers wer e and a r e impressive, sta tistics cannot te ll the
whol e story. Responses to the visits of the t wo young men
varied f r o m campus t o campus and among i n d i v i d u a l s . ^
13
I n some i n s t a n c e s t h e i r v is it n o t o n l y s e r v e d t h e cause
of m issions but also provided the impetus for a general
revival of re lig io n on t h e c a mp u s . One Bowdoin student
reported that "God's s p irit is moving m ig h tily h e re...I
b e li e v e the v i s i t o f you and Forman was i n d i r e c t l y t h e cause
of th is awakening." Ober!in reported a " good revival inte
rest among t h e students". This effect was p a rtic u la rly
ma r k e d in those in s titu tio n s which had n o t experienced a
revival in some t i m e . The phenomenon also carried over to
s t u d e n t s who wer e a l r e a d y involved in Christian associations
but who were not p a rticula rly interested in missions. As
one v o l u n t e e r w r o t e t o W i l d e r :
Your wor k he r e was n o t i n v a i n . Several

have been v e r y t h o u g h t f u l since you were
h e r e b e s i d e s t h o s e who s i g n e d t h e pledge
and I have no d o u b t b u t t h e y w i l l be l e d
t o do b e t t e r work f o r t h e m a s t e r even i f
i t is not in the f o r e i g n f i e l d . 2'
The whirlwind revivalism of the firs t tour someti mes
caused confusion and misunderstanding. Some students who
were moved t o volunteer scon r e c o n s i d e r e d . As W i l d e r p o i n
ted out "undoubtedly there was some c h a f f among the
w h e a t . o n e y o u n g man asked f o r help:
A l l o f us s i g n e d t h a t p l e d g e , but at
l e a s t one has no i n t e n t i o n o f e v e r b e i n g
a f o r e i g n m i s s i o n a r y . . . o t h e r s h e r e ar e
g e t t i n g t h e i d e a t h a t t h i s p l e d g e does
n o t a m o u n t t o m u c h . . . I need t o u n d e r
s t a n d t h i s b e t t e r , and a l s o t o know more
o f t h e wor k i n f o r e i g n f i e l d s . Coul d
you recommend some paper o r b o o k ? 29
Another l e t t e r , w h i c h began "You have p r o b a b l y f o r g o t t e n me,
but I was one o f t h o s e who s i g n e d as a f o r e i g n missionary",
14
asked W i l d e r to send some Bible references related to mis
s i o n s because t h e w r i t e r was " n o t c o n v e r s a n t enough w i t h the
Hol y S c r i p t u r e s to find all the chapters and b o o k s " .
Some s t u d e n t s signed the pledge w i t h o u t adequat e know
l edge o f the e x a c t i n g q u a l i f i c a t i o n s r e q u i r e d by t h e d e n o mi
national mission boards. One young woman asked that her
name be w i t h d r a w n because she had v o l u n t e e r e d in ignorance.
I n h er "eagerness to aid in the salvation of souls" she had
overlooked the educational requirements. “ Circumstances
would never perm it" her to "acquire the necessary educa
tion." Another student asked if there wer e some o t h e r way
than spending "seven years in preparation. ...It seems a
long tim e, and I'm now a l m o s t 22 y e a r s . E v e n w ell-
qualified volunteers somet i mes had d iffic u lty figuring out
how t o a p p l y f o r s e r v i c e . ^2 The w i 1d e r - F o r m a n r e v i v a l s were
not only confusing to many of the participants, but also
disruptive enough t o dr aw s h a r p c r i t i c i s m .
Substantive criticism r e s t e d on t h e c o n t e n t i o n t h a t t h e
effect of the movement was to circumscribe the choices of
Christian vocation. The p l e d g e seemed t o r e g is t e r decisions
for m issionary work prematurely and perhaps w ithout due
consideration. While i t was easy t o i n d u c e a r o m a n t i c young
p e r s on t o "pledge him self to some g r e a t act of self-denial"
such as e m b a r k i n g for the mission fie ld , there was a danger
of "giving prominence to a peculiar method of C hristian
work, as i f only thus could a disciple' prove "his fid e lity
to C hrist." In a closely related issue at least one c r i t i c
15
believed that the missionary advocates pressured students
too s t r o n g l y . Students at Princeton, he a r g u e d , were asked
"to pledge themselves w h i l e y e t sophomor es in college to go
as f o r e i g n m i s s i o n a r i e s . They ar e even u r g e d t o go i n o r d e r
to save their own souls" as if "their salvation depended
upon it, and th is when they had no thought, before, of
preparing fo r the m i n i s t r y .
Undoubtedly W il d e r and Forman a r gued the case f o r mis
sions strongly. Forman, especially, was a man o f zeal and
powerful emotion. Hi s enthusiasm somet i mes got the better
o f h i m, and by h i s owna d m i s s i o n he had a " h a r s h and s c o l d
ing manner". Reacting to a college p r e s i d e n t who spoke o u t
a g a i n s t t h e wor k ("Think of i t ! The P r e s i d e n t o f a M e t h o d i s t
college!") , Forman q u o t e d A c t s : "'If this counsel or this
work be o f men, i t w i l l be o v e r t h r o w n , but if i t is o f God,
ye w i l l not be a b l e to overthrow them'." "Our T r u s t " , he
continued, "has f r o m t h e f i r s t been i n t h e Hol y S p i r i t . And
if He has n o t c l e a r l y identified Hi s own wor k t h e n my senses
are no l o n g e r re lia b le ."^ 4 The mor e c i r c u m s p e c t Wishard
cautioned W ild e r. Noting t h a t "many o f t h e i m p r e s s i o n s made
upon s t u d e n t s [were] transitory", he s u g g e s t e d that Wilder
d esist from "a ll individual persuasion." Wishard argued
that such c r i t i c i s m s h o u l d be a c c e p t e d " as a suggestion t h a t
you c a n n o t be t o o careful in doing thorough work." Wilder
agr eed t h a t pledges should n o t be p u s h e d , and he r e s t r a i n e d
Forman as b e s t he c o u l d . ^5
16
A n o t h e r cause f o r concer n if not c r i t i c i s m was t h e l e s s
obvious but more p r e s s i n g p r o b l e m o f the sheer size of the
student response. In t h e i r tour o f the co lle g es Wilder and
Forman enrolled about as many volunteers as there we r e
a c t i v e Ame r i c a n P r o t e s t a n t m i s s i o n a r i e s i n s e r v i c e a b r o a d . 36
Even t h o u g h many v o l u n t e e r s wou l d not seek m i s s i o n a r y posi
tions for several years, the potential for a sizable in
crease in foreign work existed. The secretaries of the
denominational mission boar ds wer e unprepared for the sur
plus caused by this outpouring of enthusiasm. Si nce they
were unable to gauge the staying p o we r of the m o v e me n t ,
their responses to Wilder' s inquiries about projected in
c r e a s e s were t e n t a t i v e .
"We have no t r o u b l e to get all the m is s io n a rie s we can
possibly send out", a secretary of the Methodist Episcopal
Mission (Northern Methodist) replied, "we can get 500 m i s
sionaries if we want them and i f the church w i l l furnish the
means to send them." Despite th is rebuff the secretary
expressed his support of the movement , acknowledging that
Wilder and Forman's appeal might "do great good in our
Methodist c o l l e g e s . "3? The American B aptist M issionary
Uni on (Northern Baptists) estimated their manpower needs a t
ab ou t 120 for the next five years. Arthur M itchell, a
secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions
(Northern P resbyterians), estimated that a thousand new
missionaries might be sent out in the next five years if
funds were un lim ite d, but that such large number s might
17
deplete the supply of m inisters at home. A more re a listic
a s s e s s me n t , he insisted, indicated that p er haps 50 of the
140 annual graduates of Presbyterian seminaries might go in
the comi ng y e a r and that a five-year projection might come
to about 200 m i s s i o n a r i e s . Mitchell also asked whether it
was sounder strategy to send out large numbers of mission
aries i n an a t t e m p t t o e v a n g e l i z e t h e w o r l d in a gene ra tio n,
or to use a sma l l force to train a native pastorate to the
t a s k i n a more d e l i b e r a t e fashion. He o b v i o u s l y f a v o r e d t h e
second policy which seemed " more practicable" to him.
Despite the c o n s e r v a tiv e estimates of the secretaries, W il
d er was pleased with the growth of the movement . It was
much l a r g e r than he c o u l d have expected, and its prospects
seemed f a v o r a b l e .
Although Wilder was the driving force of the movement
during the f i r s t year, he a c t e d i n a most f a v o r a b l e e n v i r o n
ment and had e n t h u s i a s t i c s u p p o r t and e n c o u r a g e me n t f r o m t h e
start. Moody, who was more interested in city evangelism,
rescheduled part of his s c h o ol to include the "Meeting of
the ten Nations" and o t h e r m i s s i o n a r y addresses. Arthur T.
P i e r s o n was d e e p l y i n t e r e s t e d in m issions. Hi s The C r i s i s
of Missions: Or t h e V o i c e o u t o f t h e C l o u a ( 1886) was one o f
t h e most w i d e l y r ead m i s s i o n a r y tracts o f the day. I n 1888
he began t o e d i t Royal G. W i l d e r ' s review, calling it
The M i s s i o n a r y Revi ew o f t h e W o r l d . A.J. Gor don, editor of
The Watchman and p a s t o r o f t h e Cl a r e n d o n St. B a p t i s t Church
i n B o s t o n , was a l s o a s t r o n g advocate o f m i s s io n s . Un-
18
doubtedly t h e i r s u p p o r t as w e l l as t h e p r e s e n c e o f W i l l i a m
Ashmore i n f l u e n c e d many s t u d e n t d e c i s i o n s made d u r i n g t h e
l a s t days o f t h e s c h o o l . 39
Wilder was n o t t h e only student dedicated to the mis
sions cause: nearly ten p er cent of the students came to
Mt . Hermon w i t h sim ilar aspirations. He c o u l d a l s o c o u n t on
Wi s h a r d and Ober. Even though Wi s h a r d had abandoned his
p l a n s t o become a f o r e i g n m i s s i o n a r y , he c o n t i n u e d t o "advo
cate the claims of this great fie ld upon the students with
great earnestness." Ober a p p a r e n t l y f e l t tha t his "rm issio-
nary zeal woul d enable him t o infuse a sp irit of missions"
in the c o l 1e g e s . Bot h men, but especially Wishard, had
spent the years immediately prior to 1886 building college
Y.M.C.A.'s, and i t is impossible to imagine W i l d e r ' s success
except in the c o n te x t provided by t h e c o l l e g e a s s o c i a t i o n s .
The f i r s t college Y.M.C.A.'s wer e o r g a n i z e d in the l a t e
1850's. Those a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of Virginia ( 1856} and t h e
University of Michigan were the most successful, although
there were a l s o associations at Cumberland U niversity in
Tennessee and M i l t o n Academy i n W i s c o n s i n . Col u mb i a b r i e f l y
organized bet ween 1861 and 1863, while Howard and Cornell
founded Y . , M . C . A . ‘ s ir. 1869. These scattered associations
had no o f f i c i a l connection to the national organization,
which did no c o l l e g i a t e wor k at that time. In 1870 Ro b e r t
Weidensall, a p i o n e e r i n g Y.M.C.A. organizer, obtained autho
rization from the Y . M. C. A. convention at Indianapolis to
wor k among t h e colleges. Between 1870 and 1877 he r e o r g a
19
nized some o f t h e existing college associations and f o u n d ed
24 m o r e . At t h a t p o i n t Wi s h a r d t o o k up t h e c o l l e g e w o r k . ^ l
Born in a log cabin in Indiana in 1854, Wi shar d firs t
hear d a b o u t c o l l e g e a s s o c i a t i o n s from his f a t h e r , who a t t e n
ded t h e Indianapolis convention. Upon e n t e r i n g Princeton in
1875 Wi s h a r d joined the Philadelphian Society. He became
its president in 1877 and vowed to bring the old society
into closer relations with the Y. M. C. A. He was one of 25
delegates from 70 c o l l e g e associations who attended the
Y.M.C.A. convention in Louisville that year. At the close
of the convention Wi shar d accepted a position as a College
Secretary u n de r the Student Department. He i m m e d i a t e l y set
out to plant a Y . M. C. A . in every college. During the next
nine ye ar s w i t h a s s i s t a n c e f r o m Ober he i n c r e a s e d t h e number
of college associations to 227 including more than 20,000
m e m b e r s . ^2 Unquestionably th is network of associations
provided both the organization for W ilder's tour and the
forum f o r h i s message.
State Y.M.C.A. c h a i r me n developed the itineraries and
prepared the ground. W i l d e r and Forman a l s o r e c e i v e d assis
tance from n a t i o n a l officers. Nettie Dunn, an e a r l y volun
teer, visited more than 65 colleges during 1886- 87 in her
o fficia l c a p a c i t y as N a t i o n a l S e c r e t a r y o f t h e Y. W. C. A. She
a t t e n d e d many o f t h e m e e t i n g s g i v e n by W i l d e r and Forman and
enrolled most of the 500 women who signed the volunteer
pledge t h a t y e a r . 43 But even more i m p o r t a n t t o t h e SVM were
the y o u n g men and women of the college associations who
20
p r o v i d e d a s y m p a t h e t i c a u d i e n c e f o r W i l d e r and Forman.
Most Ame r i c a n c o l l e g e s were d e n o m i n a t i o n a l , and a sub
stantial m inority of college students led an active re li
gious life . Typically ten to fifteen per cent of the stu
dents were active members of a college association, and a
slig h tly larger number wer e associate members. Thirty or
forty per c e n t m i g h t be " p r o f e s s i n g Christians. The new
Y. M. C. A. had e n c o u r a g e d a more a c t i v e k i n d o f C h r i s t i a n life
on campus. Nettie Dunn d e s c r i b e d t h e change:
Many of us who were students in

C h r i s t i a n c o lle g e s in the e a r ly * 8 0 's
can remember t h a t t h e r e was a s t e a d y and
f a i r l y deep r e l i g i o u s l i f e i n each
c o l l e g e , c e n t e r i n g per ha p s i n a c o l l ege
p ra y e r m eeting p a r t i c ip a t e d i n an d
l a r g e l y ur ged by members o f t h e f a c u l t y .
But i n ' 8 4 and ' 8 5 some o f us came i n
touch w ith t h e Y . W . and Y . M . C . A .
These a s s o c i a t i o n s opened o u r eyes t o
new p o s s i b i l i t i e s , new me t h o ds , and an
a b s o l u t e l y new r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . The work
f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e was o u r s , n o t t h a t o f
the p r o f e s s o r s .
The most actively religious students were certain to listen
to the SVM a p p e a l . Consequently t h o u s a nd s were potential
volunteers. While some s t u d e n t s who s i g n e d the pledge may
have intended to become m i s s i o n a r i e s in any case, most of
the volunteers probably were recruited from the pool of
aspirants to Christian service who were s t r o n g l y identified
with the Y.M.C.A. on campus.
Another i m p o r t a n t source o f v o l u n t e e r s d u r i n g the f i r s t
year was the Inter-Seminary Missionary Alliance. A loose
confederation connecting small gr oups of d ivin ity s c h o ol
students, the Alliance met in conference every year or t wo
for p r a y e r and mu t u a l encouragement. W i l d e r and Forman had
attended the 1883 conference as undergraduates w ith the
special permission o f A.J. Gor don, who was one o f t h e s p i r i
tual me n t o r s o f t h e A l l i a n c e . Most o f t h e Alliance members
who signed the volunteer pledge had already decided on a
missionary career. Nevertheless, the Alliance provided a
smal l but i m p o r t a n t base f o r SVM i n t h e s e m i n a r i e s . 46
The s p i r i t u a l force and p e r s e v e r a n c e of Wilder, Forman
and a few o t h e r s , combi ned with a favorable environment in
the c o ll eges and s e m i n a r i e s , insured the in itia l success of
t h e SVM. Moody and h i s friends supplied sp iritu a l guidance
and m a t e r i a l aid, while the years o f work by W i s h a r d , Ober ,
and Dunn produced a sustaining environment of re lig io u s
organization. But i t is d iffic u lt to i ma g i n e t h e b e g i n n i n g s
of SVM w i t h o u t Wilder and For man. In the summer of 1887
they had r e a s on to feel a solid sense of their accomplish
me n t s , but pride was t e mp e r ed by f a i t h . As Forman w r o t e to
Wilder on the eve of the second Northfield conference, "I
was t h i n k i n g over the y e a r 's work last night and it was
blotched all over w i t h sin. I fe lt ashamed o f m y s e l f . And
how g l o r i o u s was God' s p a r t ! " 4^
At the second N orthfield conference in the summer of
1887 m i s s i o n s held a p r o mi n e n t p l ac e in t he p ro cee di ng s from
the beginning. But except for a p a mp h l e t wh i c h used the
name S t u d e n t Volunteers for Foreign Missions for the firs t
t i me and c a l l e d f o r more v o l u n t e e r a ctivity ("Every tick of
22
your watch sounds the death knell of a heathen so u l"),
little planning for comi ng y e a r occurred. No one t r a v e l e d
t h r o u g h Amer i c an c o l l e g e s o f b e h a l f o f SVM d u r i n g t h e acade
mi c y e a r . 48
Even though the movement retained enough momentum to
generate about 600 new v o l u n t e e r s during the academi c y e a r
1887-88, e n t h u s i a s m began t o wane among t h e old volunteers.
Pessimistic reports and w i t h d r a w a l s plagued W i l d e r : "Concer
ning the foreign work, we her e at Brown seem t o be going
backward." "We seem c o l d : at lea st I do not fe e l the
sy mpat hy w i t h t h e wor k whi ch we had l a s t y e a r in the hearts
of some. " In the seminaries volunteers also drifte d away:
“ As to the Volunteers they have folded th e ir tents like
Arabs...I know o f no new V o l u n t e e r s . " 49 Individual r e asons
fo r withdrawals f r o m t h e movement v a r i e d .
Some v o l u n t e e r s abandoned f o r e i g n missions in favor of
t h e home p a s t o r a t e wor k in the cities, in the West , or f o r
other careers. "I am aware t h a t t o be a l a w y e r , a Christian
lawyer, and a c c o m p l i s h much good is a great task, but I am
tempted to try it." A young p h y s i c i a n changed h i s mi nd
about m is s io n s i n o r d e r t o work w i t h city children. D ivini
ty graduates altered course because of faculty opposition,
t h e c l a i m s o f t h e home f i e l d , physical d is a b ility , or perso
nal and financial r e a s o n s . 80 At an y rate the movement
seemed to be l o s i n g headway. Wilder summed up the p r obl em
in a d e s c r i p t i o n of a hesitant volunteer:
Thi s i s a s impl e case. U n l e s s t h i s man

k e e p s n e a r t o Go d , r e a d s m i s s i o n a r y
23
b o o k s and w o r k s f o r m i s s i o n s he w i l l
cool o f f . So i t i s w i t h a l l t h e v o l u n
teers. Tremendous p r e s s u r e i s b r o u g h t
t o ' b e a r upon t hem. Ambition, love of
e a s e , and home t i e s p u l l ,h.ard, and t h e
f o r e i g n f i e l d i s f a r a w a y . 51
The f i r s t phase o f t h e movement was o v e r . Runni ng on p r a y e r
and e n t h u s i a s m , voluntary co n tribu tio n s and s e r v i c e , t h e SVM
quickly ski mmed the rich potential provided by well-orga
nized c o l l e g e s and s e m i n a r i e s . But t o enroll v o l u n t e e r s was
not enough d e s p i t e the "binding" pledge. To p r e v e n t "cool
ing off" the volunteers needed to be guided and nurtured.
T h a t wou l d require organization and structure. The l e a d e r s
of SVM s p e n t the next two years creating an organization
whos e v i a b i l i t y was a s s u r e d and wh o s e r e l a t i o n s w ith the
mission b o a r d s were s o l i d l y grounded.
Notes
1. Quoted i n R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , The Gr e a t Co mmi s s i o n , ( L o n

don and E d i n b u r g h : O l i p h a n ts L t d . , 1937), p. 26.
2. Ibid. p . 25.
3. John R. M o t t , " H i s t o r y o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Move

ment f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s " , ( C h i c a g o : Student Volun
t e e r Movement f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , 1 8 9 2 ) , p . 22.
4. John R. M o t t , "The S t u d e n t M i s s i o n a r y U p ris in g " , (Chi

cago: S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r Foreign M is sions,
1889) passim.
5. Wilder, The Gr e a t C o m mi s s i o n , p. 16.
6. Ibid. pp. 14-18.
7. C h a r l e s K. Ober t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , A p r i l 15, 1886.

W i l d e r P a p e r s , Ya l e D i v i n i t y School L i b r a r y , New Haven.
8. Wilder, The Gr e a t C o m m i s s i o n , p. 20.
9. I b i d . , pp. 17-18.
10. " Y . M . C . A . C o l l e g e S o u v e n i r , Summer S c h o o l f o r B i b l e

S t u d y , Mt . Hermon, M a s s a c h u s e t t s , J u l y 1 8 8 6 " . p . 8.
11. The S p r i n g f i e l d R e p u b l i c a n , July 14, 1886., W ilder,

TFe Gr e a t C o mmi s s i o n , p . 20.
12. The S p r i n g f i e l d R e p u b l i c a n , J u l y 24, 1886.
13. I b i d . , J u l y 22, 1886.
14. I b i d . , J u l y 1 4 , 1 6 , 1886. P i e r s o n ' s br a nd o f e s c h a t o l o -

gy was t y p i c a l o f t h e way t h a t h i s f e l l o w p r e m i l l e n n i a -
l i s t s l ooked a t h i s t o r i c a l e v e n t s . " P ro p h e tic proofs
are c o n s t a n t l y a c c u m u l a t i n g . Pr ophecy i s t h e p e r p e t u a l
miracle in h i s t o r y . Pr ophecy i s o f t e n d e s i g n e d l y ob
scure. I t s mai n p u r p o s e i s o n l y answer ed a f t e r i t s
f u l f i l l m e n t t o show t h a t i t a l l r e ma i n e d i n t h e mi nd o f
God. . A p r o p h e t i c e n i g ma , when s o l v e d i n h i s t o r y i s a l l
t h e more s t r i k i n g f o r i t s p r e v i o u s o b s c u r i t y . "
15. I b i d . , July 12, 1886.
16. Wilder, The Gr e a t Co mmi s s i o n , pp. 20-1.
25
17. R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , " No t e s f o r t h e Ten N a t i o n s M e e t i n g " ,

MS, 1886, Ro b e r t W i l d e r P a p e r s , Ya l e D i v i n i t y School
L i b r a r y , New Haven.
18. Wilder, The Gr eat Co mmi s s i o n , p . 22.
19. Ib id ., pp. 23-4.
20. W. P. T a y l o r t o Robert P. W ilder, August 19 , 1886,

W i l d e r Paper s.
21. L u t h e r D. W i s h a r d t o Robert P. W ilder, September 1,

1886. W i l d e r Paper s.
22. C h a r l e s K. Ober t o R o b e r t P. W ilder, September 17,

1886, W i l d e r Paper s .
23. Wilder, The Gr e a t Commi s s i on , p . 23.
24. Ib id ., pp. 24-5.
25. John N. Forman t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , May 21, 1887. H. F.

W i l l i a m s t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , A p r i l 9 , 1887. John N.
Forman t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , May 8 , 1887. G.A. C l a r k t o
R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , F e b r u a r y 3 , 1887, W i l d e r Paper s.
26. G.L. Robinson to Robert P. W ilder, Mar ch 29, 1887,

27. R.C. Fenner t o Rober t P. W i l d e r , May 12, 1887. C. F.

Her sey t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , December 13, 1887. G. A.
C l a r k t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , F e b r u a r y 3 , 1 8 8 7 , W i l d e r
Papers.
28. W i l d e r , The Gr e a t Co mmi s s i o n , p p . 25-6.
29. A l b e r t J . McGaw t o Ro b e r t P. Wilder, April 25, 1887,

30. C o l i n R. C l a r k to Robert P. W ilder, May 15, 1887.

31. B e s s i e Ri c h wi n e t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , A p r i l 25, 1887.

A l b e r t J . McGaw t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , F e b r u a r y 12, 1887.
32. R o b e r t Vi nson t o Rob e r t P. W i l d e r , May 24, 1887. W i l d e r

Papers.
33. H. Cl a y T r u m b u l l to D wi g h t L. Moody, April 12, 1887.

26
34. John N. Forman to Robert P. Wilder, April 13, 1887.

W i l d e r Papers.
35. L u t h e r D. Wi shar d t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , March 3 1 , 1887.

J o h n N. Forman t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , J u n e 7 , 1887 .
W i l d e r Pa p e r s .
36. Edwin M u n s e l l B l i s s e d . , The E n c y c l o p e d i a o f M i s s i o n s

(London and New Y o r k : Funk and Wagnal 1s , 1 8 9 1 ) , Volume
I I , p. 436. A m e r i c a ' s 42 s o c i e t i e s s u p p o r t e d about
2700 f o r e i g n m i s s i o n a r i e s i n 1890.
37. C . C . McCabe t o L u t h e r D. W i s h a r d , O c t o b e r 1 5 , 1886.

E . F . M e r r i a m t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , O c t o b e r 1 , 1886.
W i l d e r Papers.
38. Arthur M itchell to C h a r l e s K. Ober , October 1, 1886.

W i l d e r Papers.
39. V a l e n t i n Rabe, "The Ame r i c a n P r o t e s t a n t F o r e i g n M i s

s i o n s Movement, 1 8 8 0 - 1 9 2 0 " , ( U n p u b l i s h e d PhD. D i s s e r t a
t i o n , H a r v a r d , 1 9 5 5 ) , V o l . I I , p . 19.
40. "College Souvenir", pp. 10-12.
41. C. Howard H o p k i n s , The R i s e o f t h e Y . M . C . A . i n N o r t h -

A m e r i c a , (New Yo r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 5 1 ) , do"! I F 1
40, 2 1 - 6 .
42. Ib id ., p. 280, "College Souvenir", p. 8 .
43. N e t t i e Dunn C l a r k , “ I n t h e E a r l y Days o f SVM", Ty p e

w r i t t e n MS, 1924, R o b e r t W i l d e r P a p e r s , Ya l e D i v i n i t y
School L i b r a r y , New Haven, p. 2.
44. "College S o u v e n i r " , p. 36. These s t a t i s t i c s w ill be

h a n d l e d w i t h more p r e c i s i o n elsewhere.
45. Clark, "In t h e E a r l y Days o f SVM", p . 14.
46. Wilder, The Gr eat C o m m i s s i o n , p. 14.
47. J o h n N. For man to Robert P. W ilder, June 7, 1887 .

W i l d e r Papers.
48. "Student Volunteers f o r Foreign M issio n s, N orthfield,

Mass. ' 8 7 “ , (SVM p a m p h l e t , no p u b l i s h i n g d a t a ) , p. 7
and p a s s i m .
49. C . G. H a r t s t o c k t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , Ma r c h 3 , 1888.
W i l l i a m N. Hannum t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , A p r i l 4, 1888.
Edwin B. S t i l e s t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , A u g u s t 21, 1888.
W i l d e r Papers.
r .
50. Thomas W. S mi t h t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , March 1 4 , 1887.
C . C . V i n t o n t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , Nov e mb e r 2 2 , 1 8 8 7 .
E. B. S t i l e s t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , A u g u s t 2 , 1 8 88. W i l d e r
Pa p e r s .
51. R o b e r t P. W i l d e r t o D.W. M c W i l l i a m s , November 2 4 , 1888.

W i l d e r Papers.
28
Chapter II
From R e v i v a l to National Organization: The S t u d e n t
V o l u n t e e r Movement , 1888 t o 1892.
The S t u d e n t Volunteer Mo ve me n t for Foreign M issions
(SVM) passed t h r o u g h a crisis in t h e summer o f 1888. Meet
ing at the third N orthfield conference, some f i f t y leaders
and members surveyed the condition of the mo v ement and
concluded that it might collapse without strong direction.
They all agr eed that the movement showed signs of internal
disintegration. Enthusiasm waned among the s ma l l bands of
volunteers recruited by W ilder, Forman, and Dunn. Some
leaders were d i s t u r b e d to hear that the movement lacked
unity. In response to the missionary revivals of 1886-87,
students had somet i mes created local organizations whose
m e t h o d s and p u r p o s e s d iffe re d from the inte ntio n s of the
founders. In some cases volunteer groups antagonized mem
bers of existing religious agencies. Such f r i c t i o n damaged
attempts by those in the movement who sought closer re la
tions with the powerful mission boards and struggled for a
general accommodat i on w i t h i n the r e l i g i o u s community.*
29
At N orth field , SVM l e a d e r s decided to organize the
movement on a permanent basis in order to "avoid these
evils" and t o "extend the movement" to colleges and s e mi n
aries wh i c h r e ma i n e d u n t o u c h e d . Ober c h a i r e d the organiza
tional committee. He b e l i e v e d that "all the dangerous ten
dencies" could be " c he c k e d by judicious organization," and
he used his knowledge as Y.M.C.A. College Secretary to

p
develop a c l e v e r , if simple, stratagem.
Nearly a ll the volunteers belonged to one of four
in te rc o lle g ia te C h ristia n a s s o c ia tio n s ; the College
Y.M.C.A., the College Y.W.C.A., the Amer i can Inter-Seminary
Missionary A llia n c e ( AI SMA) , o r t h e Canadi an I n t e r c o l l e g i a t e
Missionary A llia n c e ( CI MA) . These a s s o c i a t i o n s p r o v i d e d the
organizational s i ne ws o f t h e SVM. Ober d e c i d e d t o create a
per manent executive c o mm i t t e e with a representative f r om
each a s s o c i a t i o n . Both t h e AISMA and t h e CIMA chose W i l d e r .
Dunn spoke f o r the College Y.W.C.A., and John R. M o t t r e p r e
sented the College Y . M. C. A. and served as chairman. The
executive c o m m i t t e e was d e s i g n e d to "develop and f a c i l i t a t e
t h e Movement in accord w i t h the s p i r i t and c o n s t i t u t i o n s of
the organizations wh i c h they represent, and as an organic
department of them--thus obviating a new and unnecessary
o r g a n i z a t i o n . Through this structural device, the SVM
continued to exploit the favorable environment provided by
the e x i s t i n g intercollegiate associations.
By m e r g i n g the volunteer bands with the college asso
ciatio n s and s o c i e t i e s , the executive committee hoped t o
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
30
solve the two p r o bl e ms of SVM s i m u l t a n e o u s l y . As part of
the intercollegiate Y.M.C.A., t h e bands wou l d be s u b j e c t to
controls initiated by t h e executive committee and s u p p o r t e d
by the weight of the e xistin g organizations. Increased
internal cohesion and pu r po s e wou l d shore up the movement
inte rna lly and c o u n t e r a c t c e n t r i f u g a l f o r c e s whi c h t en d e d t o
antagonize other re lig io u s agencies. To a c c o m p l i s h th is
task the executive c o mmi t t e e appointed a traveling secreta
ry. Hi s job consisted of "organizing, educating, quicken
ing, and setting at work the volunteers in the d ifferent
institu tio n s" as w e l l as p l a n t i n g t h e movement in new l o c a
tions wher e p o s s i b l e . Appointing a traveling secretary was
an a t t e m p t to in stitu tion a lize t h e r o l e p l a y e d by W i l d e r and
Forman d u r i n g t h e i r firs t tou r of the c o lle g e s . The o b v i o u s
choice for t h e j o b was W i l d e r and he was a g a i n d r a f t e d into
service.4
Wilder h a r b o r e d no i l l u s i o n s about the d ifficu ltie s he
faced. During the h ia t u s follow ing the i n i t i a l su r g e o f t h e
movement , he had carried affairs forward as best he could
t h r o u g h s p e a k i n g engagement s and m a s s i v e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e w i t h
volunteers and c h u r c h o f f i c i a l s . From h i s vantage p o i n t the
movement seemed to be faltering, and the me e t i n g s in the
summer o f 1888 c o n f i r m e d h i s d o u b t s a b o u t t h e f u t u r e o f SVM.
W riting to Forman, who was by that time a m issionary in
India, Wilder reported that the volunteers in the c o l l eges
" wer e not as strong as when we visited t hem. Some have
given up a l l intention of going--others are l o s i n g courage."
31
The movement was in “critica l condition", and he believed
that "to leave this movement where it is wo u l d be disas
trous. Ther e i s more need o f c o n s e r v i n g t h a n e x p a n d i n g , " he
wrote. Nevertheless, Wilder r emai ned o p tim istic. He knew
t h e work b e t t e r t h a n anyone e l s e . Cheerfully he i n t e r r u p t e d
his studies at Uni on T h e o l o g i c a l Semi nar y and prepared once
again f o r a grueling tour of colleges and d i v i n i t y schools.
He e s t i m a t e d that there might be as many as tw enty-five
hundred new v o l u n t e e r s to be won among the in s titu tio n s
w h i c h he and Forman had been u n a b l e t o v i s i t previously.®
D u r i n g t h e academi c y e a r 1 8 8 8 - 8 9 , W i l d e r r e a c h e d n i n e t y -
three colleges and s e m i n a r i e s and e n r o l l e d some s i x hundr ed
new v o l u n t e e r s for foreign missions, but the bulk of his
w o r k was r e p a r a t i v e . He c o n c e n t r a t e d on re v is itin g and
reorganizing the volunteer b a nd s w h i c h he and For man had
inspired two years before. He succeeded in bringing the
bulk of the volunteers--over sixty organized bands--within
the j u r i s d i c t i o n o f the existing associations. By f o c u s i n g
his e f f o r t s on f a m i l i a r te rrito ry, Wilder not only attempted
to infuse new l i f e into the bands, but also had an o p p o r t u
n i t y t o s u r v e y t h e movement a t f i r s t hand. As a consequence
he was i n an e x c e l l e n t position to evaluate p r a c t i c a l propo
s a l s designed to strengthen and i mpr ove t h e movement during
the f o l l o w i n g f ew y e a r s . ®
Wilder found that the most serious internal threat to
t h e movement was t h e d e f e c t i o n of the individual volunteer.
Signing the pledge card registered a student's decision to
32
become a f o r e i g n missionary. Even t ho u g h Wilder and Forman
had f o r c e d t h e m s e l v e s t o a d m i n i s t e r t h e p l e d g e c o n s e r v a t i v e -
ly--re frain in g from pressing it on individuals--neverthe-
less, students had apparently c o m mi t t e d themselves without
sufficient soul-searching. As r e p o r t e d by Dunn,
Many have a wrong u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e

p l e d g e and e n l i s t o t h e r s who do n o t
understand i t . Some b e l o n g t o t h e bands
now who have no i n t e n t i o n o f g o i n g [ t o
t he m i s s i o n f i e l d ] unless something unu
sual happens. And t h e r e a r e even some
who s i g n e d l a s t y e a r who t a l k w i t h me as
i f i t wer e a w h o l l y new and u n d e c i d e d
q u e s t i o n w i t h them, r a t h e r than a d e
c i d e d o n e , as i t i s supposed t o be.
Even t h o s e who r e ma i n e d c o mmi t t e d t o l i v e s of Christian
s e r v i c e somet i mes t u r n e d away f r o m m i s s i o n s . " Ar e t h e r e not
equally honorable fie ld s? ", asked one undergraduate. "Jo-
siah S t r o n g ' s book p u t s o u r own c o u n t r y ' s claims in a strong
lig h t." Another volunteer explained that "there gradually
grew o v e r me t h e c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e g r e a t f i e l d i n o u r own
country, and e sp e cia lly in our large c itie s . I now b e
lie v e ," he c o n t i n u e d , " the greatest good may be e x p e c t e d
from individuals striving to i mp r e s s habits of thought and
prudent action on lim ited numbers of city children through
years o f f a m i l i a r intercourse."®
Wilder also found conditions in the seminaries discou
raging. His survey of some f i f t y in s titu tio n s revealed
scanty m is s io n a ry re a din g resources in l i b r a r i e s , infrequent
and poorly attended missionary meetings, and meager fund
ra isin g e ffo rts for foreign work.® D iv in ity students --
those volunteers closest to taking up a c t u a l m issionary
33
w o r k - - d r i f ted away from the movement for a number of rea
sons. 11Some had too large fa m ilie s, some wer e un fitte d
physically, and som e...lost interest because of the treat
ment their fellows received at the hands of the Boar d. "*®
The l a s t r e a son undoubtedly demoralized the se mi n a r y bands.
M i s s i o n s b o a r d s expended l i m i t e d resources only on t h e most
promising candidates. Young m i n i s t e r s must have been b i t
te rly disappointed to be r e j e c t e d after giving a binding
pl e d g e o f l i f e - l o n g service.
Y o l u n t e e r s who waver ed in th e ir purpose did so l a r g e l y
because the movement passed over t h e m, swept them up, and
t hen moved o n , leaving them more o r less in their previous
condition. Months o r y e a r s later th e y found it d iffic u lt to
recapture the special a t mospher e surrounding the pledge,
much l e s s to redeem it with a life 's work. Wilder and t h e
SVM l e a d e r s h i p recalled the strong missionary revival ge ne
rated in English universities by t h e Cambr i dge Seven s e v e r a l
years e a r l i e r . That s t u d e n t movement had f a l l e n apart soon
after the Seven sailed for Chi na in February, 1885.** The
Brethren, an Andover society which furnished Amer i can mis
sionaries (including W ilder's father) t o t h e boar ds f o r many
years, seemed t o be a more h o p e f u l mode. S trict and e x c l u
sive admission procedures enabled t h e Brethren to sustain a
high rate of success--over sixty per cent became foreign
missionaries--but their numbers wer e not impressive. Less
t han four hund r e d belonged to the society during a span of
five dec ad e s . Because SVM a l r e a d y enrolled more t h a n three
34
t housand member s, the u tility of the Andover model seemed
1i m i t e d . ^
In o rd er to sustain and n u r t u r e the volunteers, Wilder
attempted to systematize the a ctivitie s of the bands. In
doing so, he and the other SVM s e c r e t a r i e s who immediately
succeeded hi m c h a r t e d t h e c o u r s e w h i c h t h e movement f o l l o w e d
for many y e a r s . Dunn suggested the outlines as early as
January, 18 88 . "My thought in regard to band meetings was
that they should have more d e f i n i t e plans and do more t h o r
ough w o r k . " She b e l i e v e d that volunteers should be o r
ganized to take a d v an t ag e of opportunities to recruit new
members. In h er work as Y. W. C . A . College Secretary, she
found that few v o l u n t e e r s read m issionary books "or even
papers." She p r o posed that they study "mission litera ture
and things that w ill be good preparation for their future
work." The bands needed t o be g u i d e d t o s y s t e m a t i c r e a d i n g ;
and " i f in any way a s h o r t course o f study c o u l d be p l anned
by someone, it woul d be an i n f i n i t e h e l p . " 13
Usi ng the traveling secretaries, the executive c o mm i t
t e e s e t up a pr ogr am t o keep t h e cause o f m i s s i o n s c o n s t a n t
l y before the v o lu n te e r s . By 1 8 9 1 , t h e p u r p o s e s and a c t i v i
tie s of the bands had been spelled out. They included
"weekly p r a y e r , systematic study of missions," and a t t e m p t s
to "spread missionary intelligence, kindle the missionary
sp irit in c h u r c h e s and young p e o p l e ' s societies, and s t i m u
late in te llig e n t and system atic giving to the cause of
m i s s i o n s . " 1^ V isits by traveling secretaries stirred the
35
local bands t o a c t i o n . The e x e c u t i v e c o m m i t t e e s e l e c t e d its
s t r o n g e s t men and women f o r t h i s task. They t r i e d to create
an e n v i r o n m e n t i n wh i c h t h e v o l u n t e e r s wo u l d lite ra lly live
for the cause o f m i s s i o n s . In addition to weekly meetings
of his band, the volunteer also fo llo w e d special courses of
study, attended re g io n al conferences, visited special summer
institutes, and in some cases served as a delegate to na
tional convention. E xtra-curricular a c tiv itie s from reading
to social life were prescribed by SVM and revolved ar ound
mi s s i o n s .
W ilder and h i s immediate successors re vita lize d and
reorganized the life of the bands and merged t hem into the
college associations. Rob e r t Speer and W i l l i a m Cossum added
nearly two t h o u s a n d v o l u n t e e r s to the ro lls during the next
two years. Lucy Gui ness traveled for the movement during
1890-91, and enrolled 240 women. The next year Eloise
Mayhem became the firs t fu ll time traveling secretary for
women, focusing h er attention on d e v i s i n g courses of study
as d i d he r mal e c o u n t e r p a r t , Walter J. C la rk .^
The d r i v e t o o r g a n i z e SVM i n j e c t e d new p u r p o s e i n t o the
bands and i n s u r e d t h e s u r v i v a l o f t h e movement by p r o t e c t i n g
its mai n s o u r c e of strength, the individual volunteer. But
the o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r u g g l e a l s o made p o s s i b l e an accommoda
tion bet ween SVM and t h e r e l i g i o u s c o mm u n i t y .
When M o t t explained the decision to organize SVM on a
per manent basis, he c i t e d "dangerous tendencies whi ch were
beginning to manifest themselves." First among them was a
36
"tendency in t h e movement a t some p o i n t s to lose its unity.
All sorts of missionary societies and b a n d s - - w i t h diffe re nt
p u r p o s e s , met hods o f w o r k , and f or ms o f p l e d g e and c o n s t i t u -
tion--were springing up." Mo t t and other founders of SVM
feared "it woul d l o s e much o f its power s h o u l d its unity be
destroyed." Loss o f u n i t y a l s o meant l a c k o f c o n t r o l , whi c h
in turn might jeopardize re la tio n s w ith other re lig io u s
agencies, especially the powerful mission boards.
Wilder and Forman had not been the only agents trave
ling and p r o s e l y t i z i n g on b e h a l f o f t h e movement during its
firs t year, 1886-87. Dunn and t h e Y . M . C . A . college secreta
ries, Wi s h ar d and Ober , also e x t e n d ed t h e wor k during their
o fficia l journeys. The Mt . Hermon Hundred r e t u r n e d to t h e i r
colleges and sem inaries to boost the movement, s o lic it
funds, and sp r e ad t h e message t o new t e r r i t o r y . Typically,
the Hundred and the other new v o l u n t e e r s recruited during
the firs t year tried to p e r s ua d e college associations and
local churches to pledge financial support, which would
hasten a volunteer to the mission fie ld . Volunteers who
were undergraduates or beginning d iv in ity students estab
lished i n d e p e n d e n t bands o f v o l u n t e e r s on campus t o c a r r y on
t h e wor k u n t i l they, too, wer e r e a d y t o s a i l . ^
During the next summer and e n s u i n g academi c year, the
volunteer movement proliferated along sim ilar lines. Stu
dents told the story as t h e y traveled to the second North
fie ld conference in July, 1887, and again on their way to
the fa ll term. During the academi c y e a r 1887-88, t h e move
37
ment generated some s i x hundr ed new v o l u n t e e r s by internal
moment um, even t h o u g h no d e s i g n a t e d s p o k e s me n t o u r e d the
colleges and s e m i n a r i e s . 1® Rapid, somet i mes chaotic g r o wt h
of the mo v e me n t during its firs t two years caused some
consternation among t h e evangelical churches and t h e i r mis
sion boards. Board s e c r e t a r i e s adopted a w a i t - a n d - s e e a t t i
tude. While welcoming such an o u t p o u r i n g of m issionary
sp irit, they were, nevertheless, uncertain about the inten
tions, staying power and u t i l i t y o f t h e m o v e m e n t . 19
A collection of students from many evangelical chur
ches, t h e SVM depended a t t h a t t i m e on t h e in itia tive of its
individual members to a p pr oach appropriate denominational
agencies. Enthusiastic volunteers somet i mes came i n t o con
flic t with church policy, especially in so licitin g funds.
Typically, a student asked to speak at a local church on
behalf of SVM i n hopes of e lic itin g contributions which
woul d be used to send him or one of his fellows abroad.
Gf t e n the pastor balked w it h o u t authorization from h i s mis
sion board, since churches contributed d ire c tly to th e ir
boards, which managed the m issionary e n terprise. The
boards, on the other hand, refused to endorse fund-raising
activitie s by outside gr o up s as a matter of policy. The
Boards did not want to e ndanger their relations with the
churches and local missionary associations, because they
contributed the bulk of the funds. This financial p r o bl e m
was c o m p l i c a t e d for SVM because the boards woul d eventually
a d m i n i s t e r t h e f u n d s r a i s e d by v o l u n t e e r s , and had t h e f i n a l
38
say ab ou t w h i c h c a n d i d a t e s woul d be s e l e c t e d for missionary
service. Possibly the board secretaries feared that the
selection process could be compromi sed if a volunteer suc
ceeded in raising enough money for his own support. Cer
tainly they worried that the f und raising p r o cess might be
disrupted. In any case they were re lu ctan t to make an
exception f o r SVM.20
Although t h e boar ds did not sanction volunteer s o lic i
tations, n e i t h e r did they express ly f o r b i d t hem. Volunteers
succeeded in getting contributions from some churches and
continued to press their cause. A more promising ar ea for
fund-raising was the college c o mmun i t y . The common method
was to persuade a c o l l e g e or seminary to undertake the
support of a volunteer on a per manent b a s i s through regular
contributions to his mission board. Many o f the firs t one
hundr ed v o l u n t e e r s , including Forman, were f i n a n c e d by t h e i r
college associations. Bu t even th is stratagem met some
resistance from college presidents, who feared that it
“ woul d diminish contributions to other chu r c h causes" and
preferred to w a it f o r a formal e n do r s e me nt by t h e b o a r d s . 2 *
In an effort to r e a c h an agr eement with the churches
and t h e boards on t h e issue o f funding, the SVM l a u n c h e d a
major o f f e n s i v e in the s p r in g of 1888. A p l an for systema
tic giving was devised and sent to the secretaries of the
boards for their approval. Entitled "Volunteer Gifts for
Foreign M i s s i o n s " , this plan provided for long term pledges
o v e r and above t h e amounts a l r e a d y being given by t h e chur
39
ches f o r foreign missions. The money was t o be c o l l e c t e d in
weekl y installm ents. Shoul d a c h u r c h c o l l e c t enough p l e d g e s
to fund a missionary for five years, it woul d report that
fact to its board, which would then make an appointment.
Several churches could combine forces, or r e s i d u a l funds
could be forwarded to the board. SVM l e a d e r s h o pe d to
g a t h e r enough e n dor s ement s so t h a t t h e p l a n c o u l d be p r e s e n
ted to the churches after the Northfield conference in the
summer o f 1 8 8 8 . 22
The p l a n was not o rig in al. In fact, it had been pro
posed p r e v i o u s l y by s e v e r a l m i s s i o n board s e c r e t a r i e s inclu
ding Presbyterians F.F. E l l i nwood and A r t h u r M itchell. But
even t h o u g h they believed in the proposal, they refused to
give o f f i c i a l endorsements. E l l i n w o o d commented:
I p e r s o n a l l y b e l i e v e t h a t the idea of
r e g u l a r s u b s c r i p t i o n s i s a good one, i n
f a c t t h e o n l y a d e q u a t e one f o r t h e
c h u r c h e s . . . . But t h e d i f f i c u l t y her e l i e s
i n t h e i d e a o f what seems t o be c o l l e c
t i n g a g e n c i e s a u t h o r i z e d by t h e b o a r d . 23
Despite repeated requests, the Presbyterians s till refused.
Ge or ge G i l l e s p i e , another secretary, replied that he had
again c o n f e r r e d w i t h his "brethren as t o some f o r m o f e n d o r
sement f o r t h e work o f y o u r s e l f and y o u r c o l l e a g u e s , but we
fa il to see o ur way c l e a r to do a n y t h i n g . . . . " 2^ Neverthe
less, Ellinwood offered some e n c o u r a g e me n t . He p o i n t e d out
that the board could not be critic iz e d for independent
a c t i o n t a k e n by t h e v o l u n t e e r s :
40
I t i s one o f t h e f e l i c i t o u s c i r c u m s t a n
ces c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e movement made by
Mr. W i l d e r and Mr . For man, t h a t i t was
d i s t i n c t and s e p a r a t e f r o m t h e wor k o f
the board. 6
Furthermore, he suggested that the SVM p r o c e e d without the
o fficia l en do r s e me nt o f t h e b o a r d :
But t h a t y o u r wor k i s i n t h e r i g h t d i
r e c t i o n I have n o t a p a r t i c l e o f d o u b t ,
and I c a n n o t do o t h e r w i s e t h a n w i s h
success t o any l e g i t i m a t e means t h a t may
be used f o r i n c r e a s i n g t h e i n t e r e s t o f
t h e Church i n t h e s u b s c r i p t i o n p l a n . 26
The C o n g r e g a t i o n a l i s t Board followed a sim ilar course.
It supported the plan subject to the approval of local
pastors and c h u r c h e s .
In effect, the t wo most powerful mission boards gave
ta c it approval for SVM t o push the plan for systematic
giving, but they wer e not w illin g to accept responsibility
for the actions of individual volunteers. If SVM succeeded
in gaining acceptance, the resulting benefits woul d accrue
to t h e boar ds i n any c a s e .
During the o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c risis i n t h e summer o f 1888,
SVM l e a d e r s confronted a p r o b l e m t h a t was in some ways akin
t o t h a t whi ch p l a g u e d t h e b o a r d s : n a m e l y , who r e a l l y repre
sented the SVM? W ilder, Wishard, M ott, Dunn, and Ober
enjoyed the confidence of prominent churchmen and board
members. But what o f t h e t h o u s a n d s of volunteers scattered
about the country? If the SVM l e a d e r s did not establish
their authority over the movement , they r an the risk that
overzealous or unorthodox volunteers could antagonize the
churches and t h e b o a r d s . To e s t a b l i s h cre d ib ility , t h e y had
41
t o make s u r e that they wer e really in control of the move
me n t . Much o f the wor k of the executive committee during
the n e x t two y e a r s c o n s i s t e d o f drawing t o g e t h e r a ll of the
bands and e s t a b l i s h i n g clear lines o f a u t h o r i t y . 27
Although Wilder was generally successful in bringing
t h e v o l u n t e e r bands i n t o line w ith the c e n t r a l organization,
some g r o u p s r e s i s t e d , and t h e e x e c u t i v e c o mm i t t e e used p r e s
s u r e t o subdue t hem. M o t t used h i s leverage w ith the i n t e r
collegiate Y . M. C. A . to gain control. "The W i s c o n s i n volun
teers had an i n d e p e n d e n t o r g a n i z a t i o n on f o o t " , he r e p o r t e d .
"I succeeded in heading it off at the Wisconsin State Con
vention; but i t was w i t h t h e promise t h a t I wou l d g i v e them
a c o r r e s p o n d i n g m e m b e r . " 2®
Such p r o b l e ms wer e not a l wa y s solved so easily. The
Foreign Mission Volunteer Association o f Mai ne asked W i l d e r
to i n t e r c e d e on i t s behalf:
As t o t h e v o l u n t e e r movement we had a
s ta te c o n v e n tio n , organized fo r s ta te
w o r k , and chose o f f i c e r s . We s p e n t days
o f w o r k and p r a y e r . . . . The scheme was
working g r a n d ly . A l l expenses were
promptly paid. I ma g i n e how I f e l t when
M o t t a s k e d us t o d i s b a n d . . . . T h e s t a t e
was b e g i n n i n g t o f e e l t h e movement.
Although the Maine v o l u n t e e r s applauded the decision "to
effect a national o rganization", they disapproved of the
centralization of authority. "You s h o u l d c a l l a state con
vention and a l l o w the member s to choose th e ir executive
r a t h e r t h a n a p p o i n t him y o u r s e l v e s . " Further, they believed
in a federal syst em so that "some organization or bylaws
such as o u r s should go ver n the work in each s t a t e . B u t
the o r g a n i z a t i o n a l struggle i n v o l v e d more t h a n the question
of authority.
In at least t wo states volunteers attempted to set up
a g e n c i e s whi ch woul d bypass t h e m i s s i o n boards and send lay
missionaries d i r e c t l y to the f i e l d . Such a t t e m p t s d ire ctly
contravened the practices of the boar ds and threatened to
inject SVM i n t o a debate over the philosophy of missionary
work. From t h e beginning of the movement, some members of
the missionary communi t y f e a r e d t h a t SVM wou l d f o u n d m i s s i o
n ar y s o c i e t i e s s e p a r a t e from t h e d e n o m i n at i o n a l boards. The
boards follow ed a po licy of sending lim ite d n u mb e r s of
ordained m i s s io n a r ie s or d o c to r s abroad t o make c o n v e r t s and
build up n a t i v e churches. A c o mp e t i n g philosophy empl oyed
in England by Hudson T a y l o r ' s China Inland Mission ( CI M)
favored sending large numbers of missionaries, including
l aymen. These missionaries lived simply in the in te rio r,
wore native dress, and required less financial support.^
I n some ways SVM seemed t o be more s u i t e d t o CIM mo d e l .
SVM was d e d i c a t e d t o t h e e v a n g e l i z a t i o n o f the world in
a single generation. Mo s t of its large membership were
undergraduates, and many lacked the q u alifications or the
wherewithal to attend d i v i n i t y school. What wou l d become o f
them? Although W ild e r and t h e executive committee intended
for volunteers to apply for the boards, there wer e some in
t h e movement who t o y e d w i t h t h e CIM i d e a .
Moody was drawn to the CIM because of his friendship
43
w ith Taylor and his connections w ith the Studd fa m ily.
During the summer of 1886, when SVM was founded, Moody
considered planting a mission in India a l o n g CIM l i n e s . He
had been g i v e n a l a r g e sum o f money by C. T. Studd f o r such a
purpose,* but decided instead to f i n a n c e t h e Moody B ible
In stitu te in Chicago. Nevertheless, he m a i n t a i n e d close
ties with T a ylo r. In J u l y , 1888, T a y l o r came t o N o r t h f i e l d ,
and "his sim ple, c h ild lik e trust and the methods of the
China Inland Mission impressed Mr. Moody g r e a t l y . " The
visit l e d Moody t o "realize the defects i n our b o a r d s . "31
Moody was not alone. In India, Forman chafed at the
restrictions of the Presbyterian Board and a t t e m p t e d t o move
in the direction suggested by the CIM. Si nce his support
had been s u b s c r i b e d by P r i n c e t o n , Forman want ed t o leave the
board, reduce his own s a l a r y , and bring out at least one
m issionary to jo in him. His i n t e n t i o n s embarrassed the
Princeton a sso cia tio n , which had no d e s i r e to sever its
connections with the board, and threatened to set a prece
dent f o r other volunteers who d e r i v e d th e ir support from
c o l l e g e s . 33 W i l d e r u r ged h i s friend to reconsider.
The g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f t h e V o l u n t e e r s
a r e , I b e l i e v e , i n s y m p a t h y w i t h and
e x p e c t t o go o u t u n d e r t h e b o a r d s . If
t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e SVMFM a n t a g o n i z e t h e
boards, they w i l l a l i e n a t e these v o l u n
teers. C o n s e q u e n t l y o u r movement woul d
d is in te g ra te . Prudence says l e t th e
S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement r emai n l o y a l
t o t h e b o a r d s . 33
W i l d e r ’ s unequivocal support of the bo ar d s for the sake of
t h e movement t y p i f i e d the t h r u s t of the organizational cam
44
paign.
CIM s t y l e movements in Kansas and M i n n e s o t a aggravated
relations bet ween SYM, the Y.M.C.A., and the boards. Al e x
N. O'Brian, the leader o f the Kansas volunteers, planned to
recruit lay missionaries for A frica, accompany them there
for a year, get the feel of the work, and t h e n return home
for another batch. O'Brian disapproved of seminaries, be
cause he b e l i e v e d that they fostered "in te lle c tu a l ambi
tio n ." His passion was “ the g e ttin g of layworkers
and. . . i n t e r d e n o m i n a t i o n a l w o r k . " 34 O ' B r i a n ' s wor k i n Kansas
and a s i m i l a r movement i n M i n n e s o t a t h r e a t e n e d t o t e a r a p a r t
the lo c a l associations. C ritics ar g ue d t h a t t h e a s s o c i a t i o n
should not be drawn into general missionary wor k and that
the lay volunteers were p o o r l y equipped fori t in any case.
Describing two who had already sailed for t h e Congo, one
critic complained t h a t their support was uncertain and t h a t
they departed "without a very adequateidea of wher e t h e y
are going or what work they are to do when t h e y reach this
unknown p l a c e . " Another criticism rested on t h e contention
that "this class of m i s s i o n a r i e s . . .deem themselves upon a
higher plane than the churches or the d e nom inational
b o a r d s . " 35 Wi s h ar d directed the International Commi t t ee o f
t h e Y . M. C . A . t o head o f f t h e Kansans.
In view o f the d iffic u lty which the

m is s io n boards have in s e c u r i n g th e
l a r g e sums o f money n e e d e d f o r t h e i r
s t e a d i l y i n c r e a s i n g w o r k , I am s u r e t h e y
w i l l l o o k w i t h v e r y g r e a t d i s f a v o r upon
t h e Kansas Movement . . . . 3 5
Once again the SVM l e a d e r s h i p took care neither to offend
45
the boards nor to allow the disruption of local organiza
tions.
The drive to ce n tra lize the SVM n o t only revived a
faltering movement , but also d e a lt with a crisis of le g iti
macy. Externally SVM s o u g h t a general a c c ommodat i on with
existing agencies. To be s u c c e s s f u l , SVM r e q u i r e d internal
control and a h i g h - d e g r e e o f unanimity. To a v o i d criticism
ab ou t r e c r u i t m e n t , fund-raising, and p h i l o s o p h y , SVM had t o
convince the churches and t h e i r boards that the movement
woul d not deviate from orthodox practices. Therefore SVM
un der mi ned the aut onomy o f its local societies in order to
d i s c o u r a g e h e t e r o d o x y and d e m o n s t r a t e c o n t r o l . Between 1888
and 1 8 9 0 , SVM e s t a b l i s h e d internal control and r e a s s u r e d t h e
churches. In February, 1891, SVM s t a g e d its firs t national
convention at Cleveland, Oh i o . A t t e n d a n c e and p a r t i c i p a t i o n
by thirty-tw o representatives from mission boards signaled
their approval and d e m o n s t r a t e d that the movement had wea
thered the c r i s i s of legitim acy.
In e f f e c t , the o r g a n iz a tio n a l struggle h a r n e s s e d SVM t o
t h e uses of the boards. The movement had also demonstrated
its u tility . W i l d e r and h i s associates s u b s c r i b e d more t han
forty thousand d o l l a r s for the m issio n a ry enterprise during
the academic year 1888-89, and increased the total the
fo llo w ing y e a r . 37 Mor e s ig n ific a n tly the SVM c a m p a i g n
he l p e d persuade the Presbyterian Chur ch of the efficacy of
the plan for system atic givin g . Since the Presbyterian
Board had l o n g advocated such a p l a n , it was d e l i g h t e d when
46
the church f o r m a l l y accepted it. I n a warm endor sement for
SVM and t h e plan, the b o ar d observed that "wherever it has
been t r i e d t h e r e has been a g e n e r a l surprise at the f a c i l i t y
w i t h wh i c h c o n t r i b u t i o n s can be q u a d r u p l e d and q u i n t u p l e d . "
The board realized that the SVM r e p r e s e n t e d a powerful
potential not o n ly as a s o u r c e of prospective missionaries,
but also as t h e shock t r o o p s of the fo re ig n missions enter
prise in A m e r i c a . ^
W ilder had u r g e d his fund-raisers to use t h e phrase
"your money or your life ". The intended message was that
s i n c e t h e v o l u n t e e r s were g i v i n g th e ir lives t o t h e cause o f
evangelization, good Christians should match that exampl e
fina ncia lly. W i l d e r and t h e o t h e r t r a v e l i n g secretaries had
s w e l l e d t h e v o l u n t e e r r a n k s t o more t h a n s i x t h o u s a n d . This
swarm o f ide a listic young men and women had become a p o w e r
ful lever a g a in s t the apathy o f the churches:
I t is not t o o much t o say t h a t , t o a

l a r g e e x t e n t , t h e u p r i s i n g o f so l a r g e a
number o f c o n s e c r a t e d men and women who
ar e o f f e r i n g t h e m s e l v e s f o r t h e f o r e i g n
missionary w o r k , i s due t o [ SVM' s ] i n
fluence. And we r e c o g n i z e w i t h equal
clearness and s a t i s f a c t i o n t h e large
p a r t w h i c h t h e mo v e me n t has p l a y e d i n
a r o u s i n g C h u r c h e s , Young Men' s C h r i s t i a n
A s s o c i a t i o n s , C h r i s t i a n Endeavor S o c i e
t i e s , e t c . , t o a new i n t e r e s t and t o a
more ad eq u a t e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f means.
The SVM had d e m o n s t r a t e d its u tility , but it had a l s o coun
t e r a c t e d t h e "dangerous t e n d e n c i e s " t h a t Mo t t w o r r i e d about.
"So f a r as o u r Presbyterian Churches are co n c e rn e d ," the
endor sement c o n t i n u e d ,
47
we most h e a r t i l y recommend t h e w o r k . We
are glad to le a rn t h a t the v o lu n te e r s
a r e t h o r o u g h l y l o y a l t o t h e Boards o f
the d i f f e r e n t denominations; t h a t they
have no sympat hy w i t h t h o s e o u t s i d e and
i r r e s p o n s i b l e mo v e me n t s w h i c h , as we
b e l i e v e , are c a l c u l a t e d to d i v i d e the
s y m p a t h y and e f f o r t o f t h e C h u r c h e s ;
t h a t t h e y ar e i n t h o r o u g h harmony w i t h
t h e p r i n c i p l e s upon w h i c h t h e g r e a t
boards o f m is s io n s are c o n d u c t i n g t h e i r
work. Havi ng become e n t i r e l y s a t i s f i e d
on t h i s D o i n t , we wel come t h e i r c o - o p e
ration. 9
Endor sement by t h e l a r g e s t and most p o w e r f u l boar d i n Decem
ber, 1890, ended t h e struggle for legitimacy and paved the
way f o r t h e comi ng c o n v e n t i o n .
The t h e me o f cooperation between SVM and the boards
d o mi n a t e d t h e Cleveland g a t h e r i n g . Mott told the delegates
that the purposes of the c o n v e n t i o n , in addition to a d is
c u s s i o n o f t h e p r o bl e ms o f t h e movement , were t o " s e c u r e f o r
the volunteers t h e ad v an t ag e s comi ng from intimate contact
with missionary boar d secretaries and r e t u r n e d foreign mis
sionaries," and to "enlighten b oar d secretaries and others
in regard to t h e met hods and ai ms o f the SVMFM." Finally,
he hoped t h a t " by c l o s e r union in prayer and p u r p o s e on t h e
part of volunteers, se cre ta rie s, and m i s s i o n a r i e s , " the
convention woul d "give a new i mp e t u s to the great cause of
w o r l d wi de e v a n g e l i z a t i o n in the present generation.
After the convention the executive c o mmi t t e e continued
to consolidate its control over the movement. Administra
tion was i mpr o v e d by t h e a d d i t i o n of a recording secretary,
and the SVM began to maintain an o f f i c e in New York City.
By 1892, when t h e movement o c c u p i e d per manent o f f i c e s at the
48
Moody B i b l e Institute in Chicago, accurate records and f o r
mal correspondence k n i t t h e bands f i r m l y together. Prepara
tions for an o fficia l organ, The S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r , were
well u n de r way. The SVM was now a pe r ma n e n t organization.
Its character and its pur po se s had been institu tion a lize d ,
and its structure fixed for decades to come. In its early
years it had b e en "a movement, pulsa tin g w ith new life ,
carried on by prayer and voluntary offers of service and
generous g ifts. By 1893, SVM was a well organized wi ng
of the student Christian movement, a bureaucratic shepher d
to several thousand would-be missionaries. Wi shar d summed
it up in a lette r to Wilder, who had since departed for
India. "The v o l u n t e e r movement i s on t h e wh o l e i n a h e a l t h
ful condition. The e n t h u s i a s m s and f e r v o r o f t h e e a r l y days
of rapid enrollments no l o n g e r distinguish it, and p r o b a b l y
never w ill. It is now p a s s i n g through the training period
preparatory to s e rv ice in the f i e l d .
49
Not es
1. J ohn R. M o t t , “ Report o f the E x e c u tiv e Committee“ ,

Report o f the F i r s t I n t e r n a t i o n a l Convention o f the S tu -
cfent V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s Hel d a t C l e
veland, O h i o , U . S . A . , F e b r u a r y 2 6 , 2 7 , 2 8 , and March 1 ,
1 8 91 , ( B o s t o n : T.O. M e t c a l f & C o . , 1 3 9 1 ) , pp. 2 2 - 3 .
R o b e r t W i l d e r t o John N. Forman, n . d . , ( A u g u s t , 1 8 8 8 ? ) ,
R o b e r t W i l d e r P a p e r s , Y a l e D i v i n i t y School L i b r a r y , New
Haven. J o h n R. M o t t , " T h e S t u d e n t M i s s i o n a r y U p r i
s i n g " , ( C h i c a g o : S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r F o r e i g n
M i s s i o n s , 1 8 8 9 ) , pp. 9 - 1 1 .
2. John R. M o t t , “ H i s t o r y o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Move
ment f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s " , ( C h i c a g o : S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r
Movement f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , 1 8 9 2 ) , p p . 1 8 - 9 .
3. Mott, “ The Ame r i c a n Student Missionary U prising ", p.

13.
4. Mott, "History of the Student V o l u n t e e r Movement " , pp.

20 - 1 .
5. R o b e r t P. W ilder to John N. Forman, n.d., W ilder

Papers.
6. Mott, " H i s t o r y o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement " , p p .

22-3. W i l d e r ' s s e c o n d t o u r seems t o h a v e been as
s t r e n u o u s as h i s f i r s t , " S i n c e O c t o b e r 17, I have t r a
v e l e d a b o u t 2500 m i l e s and had a b o u t 63 m e e t i n g s ,
b e s i d e s a f t e r m e e t i n g s . " R o b e r t P. W i l d e r t o D . W .
M c W i l l i a m s , November 24, 1 8 88 , W i l d e r P a p e r s .
7. For some v o l u n t e e r s t h e a c t o f s i g n i n g t h e p l e d g e seems

t o have been an e x p e r i e n c e s i m i l a r t o c o n v e r s i o n . The
pi edge w i l l be d i s c u s s e d i n C h a p t e r I I I . N e t t i e Dunn
t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , J a n u a r y 9 , 1 8 8 8 , W i l d e r Pa p e r s .
8. C.C. Vinton to R o b e r t P. W ilder, No v e mb e r 2, 1887,

W i l d e r Papers.
9. Robert W i l d e r , "Report to the Ex e c u ti v e Committee", MS,

1889, p . 2.
10. Edwin B. S t i l e s t o Robert P. Wilder, August 21, 18 88 ,

W i l d e r Papers.
11. Led by C. T . S t u d d , E n g l a n d ' s most f amous amat eur c r i c

k e t p l a y e r , t h e Seven j o i n e d Hu d s o n T a y l o r ' s C h i n a
Inland Mission. M o t t , " H i s t o r y o f th e Student Vo lu n
teer Mo v e me n t " , p. 17. R o b e r t P. W i l d e r t o John N.
Forman, n . d . , W i l d e r P a p e r s .
12. R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , " S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r
F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s ; Some P e r s o n a l Re mi n i s c e n c e s o f i t s
O r i g i n and E a r l y H i s t o r y " , (New Y o r k : The S t u d e n t
V o l u n t e e r Movement, 1 9 3 5 ) , p p . 1 1 - 1 2 .
13. N e t t i e Dunn t o Robert P. W ilder, January 9, 1888,

14. M o t t , "Report o f the E x e c u t i v e Committee", Rep o r t o f -

t h e F i r s t I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n v e n t i o n , p. 26.
15. Mott, "H istory of the Student V o l u n t e e r Movement " , pp.

24-5.
16. Ib id . , pp. 10-11.
17. Wilder, "Reminiscences", pp. 19-33.
18. Mott, "The Amer i c an S t u d e n t M i s s i o n a r y U p r i s i n g " , p. 9.
19. C . C . McCabe t o L u t h e r D. W i s h a r d , O c t o b e r 1 5 , 1 8 8 6 .
A r t h u r M i t c h e l l t o C h a r l e s K. Ober , Oc t o b e r 1, 1886.
E . F . M e r r i a m t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , O c t o b e r 1 , 1 8 8 6 . ,
20. F.F. Ellinwood to J.P. Stolopes, May 9, 1888, Wilder

Pa p e r s .
21. George F. P i e r s o n to Robert P. Wilder, May 1, 1888,

22. R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , " V o l u n t e e r G i f t s f o r F o r e i g n M i s
s i o n s " , ( D e t r o i t , C h r i s t i a n H e r a l d P r i n t , 1888) p. 1.
23. F.F. Ellinwood to J.P. Stoopes, May 9 , 1888, Wilder

Pa p e r s .
24. Ge o r g e N. G i l l e s p i e to J.P. Stoopes, May 10, 1888,

25. F.F. Ellinwood to J.P. Stoopes, May 9 , 1 8 8 8 , Wilder

Papers.
26. F.F. E llinw ood to J .P . Stoopes, n .d ., W ritten soon

a f t e r May 11, 1888.
27. Mott, "History of the Student Volunteer Movement " , p.

23.
28. John R. Mo t t t o Robert P. Wilder, November 5, 1889.

29. F.W. Sa n f o r d t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , March 1 , 1889.
51
30. Arthur M itc h e ll t o C h a r l e s K. Ob e r , Oc t o b e r 1 , 1886.
31. Studd l i q u i d a t e d h i s i n h e r i t a n c e when he j o i n e d T a y l o r .

Because t h e f a m i l y f o r t u n e was a c c u mu l a t e d i n I n d i a , he
hoped a m i s s i o n c o u l d be f o u n d e d t h e r e . He gave t o
Moody because Moody had c o n v e r t e d h i s f a t h e r . Rober t
P. W i l d e r t o J o h n N. F o r m a n , n . d . , W i l d e r P a p e r s .
Norman P. Gr u b b , C . T. S t u d d ; A t h l e t e and P i o n e e r , ( L o n
don: R e l i g i o u s T r a c t S o c i e t y , 1933) p. 46.
32. Donal d McCol l t o Ro b e r t P. Wilder, Oc t o b e r 10, 1889.,

Wi l d e r Papers.
33. Rob e r t P. W i l d e r t o John N. Forman, Oc t o b e r 19, 1889.,

W i l de r Papers.
34. Al e x N. O ' B r i a n t o Rober t P. W i l d e r , Au g us t 1 , 1889.
35. Thomas Cochr an t o L u t h e r D. W i s h a r d , F e b r u a r y 28, 1890,

L u t h e r D. Wi s h a r d C o l l e c t i o n , Y . M . C . A . A r c h i v e s , New
Yo r k .
36. L u t h e r D. Wi s h a r d t o George F. Fisher, July 21, 1890,

Wi shar d c o l l e c t i o n .
37. Wilder, "Reminiscences", pp. 23-30.
38. F . F . E l l i n w o o d e t . a l . t o The S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Move

ment f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , December 18, 1890, p. 4,
Wi l de r Papers.
39. Ib id ., pp. 6-7.
40. Mott, Report o f t h e First International C o n v e n t i o n , p . 3.
41. Wilder, " R e m i n i s c e n c e s " , p. 51.
42. L u t h e r D. Wi s h a r d t o Rob e r t P. W i l d e r , June 2 , 1893.
52
Chapt er I I I
The V o l u n t e e r s
During the five decades bet ween 1886 and 1935, nearly
fifty -th re e thousand North American students signed the
declaration of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign
Missions (SVM). The d e c l a r a t i o n read, "It i s my p u r p o s e , if
God perm it, to become a Foreign M issionary." Of those
t h o u s a nd s o f students who p l e d g e d t h e i r lives to the evang
elization of the world in a generation, only a quarter--
a b ou t thirteen thousand--actually became foreign mission
aries of the protestant churches of the United States and
Can a d a . A ll of the young men and women who signed the
declaration, nevertheless, made a sol emn commi t ment t o s e r v e
the missionary enterprise. This commitment--sometimes ho
nored, somet i mes abandoned— was an important measure o f the
v a l u e o f SVM as a m i s s i o n a r y a g e n c y . *
The o r g a n i z a t i o n a l d r i v e undertaken by John R. M o t t and
the SVM l e a d e r s h i p between 1888 and 1891 was designed in
part to sustain and nurture the thousands of ind ividu a l
v o l u n t e e r s who had s i g n e d t h e p l e d g e , b u t wer e n o t y e t r e a d y
to apply to the denominational mission boards. Mo t t out
53
lined t h e expanded p u r p o s e s o f SVM i n 1892:
Not o n l y does t h e movement p l a n t o en

l i s t v o l u n t e e r s , but a ls o t o guard and
d e v e l o p t hem u n t i l t h e y pass beyond i t s
proper sphere of in flu e n c e . This in
volves the organizing of volunteers in to
bands; o u t l i n i n g courses o f study for
t hem; e n l i s t i n g them i n a c t i v e wor k f o r
m i s s i o n s on e d u c a t i o n a l , f i n a n c i a l , and
sp iritu a l lines; maki ng t h e bands p r a y
i n g and s e l f - p e r p e t u a t i n g c e n t e r s ; and,
f i n a l l y , h e lp in g to b rin g the v o lun te e rs
in touch w i t h the v a r io u s m i s s io n a r y
so cie tie s or boards.2
To a c h i e v e these purposes, Mott attempted to make ana c c u
rate count o f the volunteers and t o d e t e r m i n e w h i c h o f them
s till held to t h e i r declarations.
Hi s f i r s t survey utilize d declaration cards and exten
sive correspondence with 1 e a de r s of the volunteer bands in
colleges and s e m i n a r i e s . A "large proportion of the volun
teers" responded, and Mott projected what he thought were
"safe estimates". The total number of volunteers by the
fa ll of 1892, he believed, stood at seven thousand, five
hundred. Mott separated this total into three categories:
geographical d istrib u tio n , age, and "distribution of volun
teers according to stages o f p r e p a r a t i o n . " ^
In this last category Mott found that 510 had "sailed
to engage in foreign work", and another hundred had been
"accepted by some foreign mission society." S till another
125 he d e s c r i b e d as "ready to go", and seventy had been
rejected by m i s s i o n boards. Nearly three thousand volun
teers continued to m atriculate at “ institu te s of learning".
About two-thirds of these attended colleges, seminaries ,
54
and n o r m a l schools; the remainder studied at academies,
medical colleges, and training schools. About two hund r e d
non-students a ffilia te d w ith volunteer bands. SVM m a i n
tained c o n t a c t w i t h most o f t h e s e volunteers, (some t h i r t y -
eight hundred) through correspondence with the volunteer
bands.4
Of the remaining thirty-seven hundr ed volunteers, 625
had been “ hindered by o u t war d surroundings or health", but
s till desired to go out as m issionaries. Another five
hund r e d wer e “ graduates, post graduates, special students,
etc.", who p r e s u m a b l y s till intended to make go c d th e ir
pledges. On the other hand more than twenty-four hund r e d
volunteers seemed l o s t t o t h e movement. ®
Nearly one thousand had dropped out of educational
in stitu tion s for one r eason o r a n o t h e r . Over seven hund r e d
were designated " unknown or lost." Mott claimed that "a
m ajority of these [were] lost track o f before t h e movement
was o r g a n i z e d . " S i x hundr ed f i f t y r enou n ce d t h e p l e d g e , and
another ninety died. According to Mott's estimates, then,
some th irty-e ig h t h u nd r e d volunteers maintained an active
allegiance to SVM, eleven hundred were in an uncertain
status, and t h e r e s t were l o s t . ®
Considering the d iffic u ltie s involved in obtaining
accurate s ta tis tic s for such a large, fa r-flu n g group,
M o tt;'s estim ates were r e m a r k a b l y accurate. At th e same
time that Mott conducted his survey, Walter J. Clark, the
new C o r r e s p o n d i n g Secretary of SVM , began a survey of his
55
own, whi ch was based on e n r o l l m e n t blanks or questionnaires
wh i c h had been sent to volunteers who had signed the dec
la ra tio n . The blanks ide n tifie d student volunteers and
f or med the basis for per manent file s . Returned enrollment
b l a n k s c o n v i n c e d C l a r k t h a t SVM's a c t i v e member shi p s t o o d a t
about t h i r t y - f o u r hundr ed i n 1 8 9 3 . ^
SVM s t a t i s t i c s presented certain d iffic u ltie s . When,
for example, did a volunteer pass beyond SVM' s "proper
s p h er e o f influence?" Missionaries who had already sailed
someti mes k e p t in cl os e touch w it h t h e movement , encouraging
members o f a college or seminary with letters. Volunteers
who had been "hindered" for some reason might wait years
before s a i l i n g . Of t h e 781 v o l u n t e e r s who s i g n e d t h e p l e d g e
in 1896, f o r e x a mp l e , 203 e v e n t u a l l y sailed as m i s s i o n a r i e s ,
but only 28 d e p a r t e d in 1896. The remainder le ft at the
rate of a b ou t twenty per year until 1903. The last made
good h i s p l e d g e i n 1918. ®
By posing a series of questions in the enrollm ent
blanks, the leaders o f SVM a t t e m p t e d to find o u t more a b o u t
t h e membershi p i n o r d e r t o make a q u a l i t a t i v e j u d g me n t a b o u t
the progress of the movement. They were keenly interested
in the influences which motivated young men and women to
make such a sol emn c o mmi t men t . They were especially inte
rested in the ro le played by SVM r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s and
Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. secretaries. V o l u n t e e r s wer e asked t o
describe th e ir cu rric u la , educational and professional
plans, Christian a ctiv itie s , and the state of the movement
56
at their colleges and seminaries. SVM l e a d e r s used these
enrollment blanks as a basis for internal studies designed
t o s t r e n g t h e n t h e movement . ^
In a t wo part question on t h e enrollm ent blank SVM
a s ked, "Were you l e d t o f o r m t h e pu r po s e t o become a f o r e i g n
missionary by some r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the Student Volunteer
Movement and i f so when?" The q u e s t i o n continued, "If not,
under what influence and when?"*® The answers to those
q u e s t i o n s were n o t o n l y significant for the SVM l e a d e r s h i p ,
but also for an u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the American protestant
m i s s i o n a r y movement and SVM's f u n c t i o n w i t h i n t h a t movement.
The most important device used to recruit student vo
lunteers was the volunteer declaration. During the firs t
f ew y e a r s of t h e movement , volunteers were asked to sign a
pledge: "We are w illin g and desirous, God perm itting, to
become f o r e i g n m issio n a rie s." In 1892, the form of the
p l e d g e was c h a ng e d . Now c a l l e d a declaration, it read, "It
i s my p u r p o s e , if God p e r m i t , t o become a f o r e i g n missiona
ry."^ Both t h e p l e d g e and t h e d e c l a r a t i o n were d e s i g n e d t o
form a d e f i n i t e purpose in t h e mi nd o f t h e v o l u n t e e r . Lea
ders of SVM, especially Mott, Ro b e r t E. Speer, and D. W il
lard Lyon, carefully explained the declaration, which had
been a controversial feature of the mo v e me n t during its
early years. The d e c l a r a t i o n , they insisted, was u s e f u l in
a number o f ways.
Its most important function was to "secure decisions
for foreign missions." In explaining the early pledge SVM
57
declared that the “ p rin cip le of decision is operative in
successful wor k among C h r i s t i a n s . " For e xa mp l e ,
Ge n e r a l a p p e a l s f o r p r a y e r do good. But
i s n o t more a c c o m p l i s h e d by o r g a n i z i n g
p r a y e r g r o u p s , whose members a r e p l edged
t o pr ay f o r d e f i n i t e o b j e c t s ? . . . In secu
r i n g money f o r m i s s i o n s , many w o r k e r s
a d o p t t h e same p l a n . When h e a r t s heed
t h e i r a p p e a l s and a r e e a g e r t o a i d , t hen
t h e y name a d e f i n i t e o b j e c t and e l i c i t
contributions. Here a g a i n a p i edge i s
h e lp fu l: it re g is te rs d e c is io n s ,
s t r e n g t h e n s d e t e r m i n a t i o n , and c o n s e r v e s
inte rest. Why n o t empl oy t h e same me
t h o d i n s e c u r i n g men. .
Lyon a r g ue d that it was " n o t enough t h a t one f a c e t h e ques
tion o f what his life 's work shall be. He must s e t t l e it."
Furthermore, "He must d i s c o v e r , so f a r as he may, God' s p l a n
for his life and t h e n d e c i d e t o fa ll into his place in that
pi a n . "13
Not o n l y did t h e y want a s t u d e n t make a d e c i s i o n , but
t h e y a l s o wa n t e d t h e d e c i s i o n t o be made e a r l y in the course
of study. An e a r l y decision was important according to SVM
because otherwise men and women wer e like ly to d rift into
mor e c o m f o r t a b l e or mor e in vitin g careers. Prospective
ministers needed to confirm their intentions to engage in
foreign wor k before being t e mp t e d by a " 'good c a l l ' to a
city church." Sim ilarly lay people needed t o r each a deci
sion as u n d e r g r a d u a t e s so t h a t they could begin to prepare
for missionary work. “ An early decision allows more time
for p re pa ra tio n ," w r o t e Lyon,
. . . T h i s i s an age o f s p e c i a l i s t s . To
su c c e ed i n a n y t h i n g a man must c o n c e n
t r a t e and s t u d y on t h a t one t h i n g . . . . T h e
58
s t u d e n t who d e c i d e s i n h i s f r e s h m a n y e a r
can d e v o t e t h e r e m a i n i n g y e a r s i n c o l
l e g e , and t h e t h r e e o r f o u r y e a r s o f
t h e o lo g y or m e d ic in e , to a p r a y e r f u l
study o f the fo r e ig n f i e l d . Has n o t
such a man an a d v a n t a g e o v e r one whose
d e c i s i o n i s n o t r eached u n t i l t h e s e n i o r
year o f h i s p r o f e s s i o n a l c o u r s e , and can
give b u t a f ew weeks t o p e r s o n a l s t u d y
and p r e p a r a t i o n ?
Another advantage o f an e a r l y decision was that a volunteer
could appeal more effectively for "money and men. " Havi ng
made a p e r s o n a l commi t ment t o m i s s i o n s , the volunteer asked
others to join hi m in a new e n t e r p r i s e . He became an exam
ple to his fe llo w s .^
Finally, the declaration was d e s i g n e d to confirm those
who had already decided to become foreign missionaries and
to fu rn is h a "tangible, clearly defined, basis upon whi c h t o
unite a ll students" who e x p e c t e d t o e n t e r t h e f o r e i g n fie ld .
SVM l e a d e r s believed that human nature was weak and that
p r o mi s e s made i n even t h e " h o l i e s t moment s" might easily be
forgotten. From t h e i r experience in administering the dec
laration, t h e y had f o und t h a t "ju st as t h e new c o n v e r t needs
to make a public confession of his fa ith in C hrist," the
v o l u n t e e r c o u l d be " g r e a t l y h e l p e d by s t a t i n g with no u n c e r
tain sound t h e m i s s i o n a r y purpose" which God had g i v e n hi m.
Wh i l e " Go d ' s S p irit alone" gave power to the f a i t h f u l , the
leaders of the SVMr e a l i z e d t h e need for p r a c t i c a l mechan
i sms by w h i c h young men and women could be bound to the
movement. The declaration identified volunteers and sep
a r a t e d them f r o m o t h e r C h r i s t i a n s whose ai ms m i g h t n o t be so
specifically d efined.^
59
Lyon a r g ue d that without the declaration there was no
movement . Wi t h some pride he contrasted the movement in
Ame r i c a w i t h the "uprising" of English students responding
to the appeal o f t h e Cambr i dge Seven. Although hundreds of
young men and women i n Engl and were moved by "such eloquent
scriptu ra l appeals," no permanent organization had been
effected to s tre ngth en the r e s o lv e o f the s t u d e n t s ' and t h e
potential missionary force dissipated.
W i t h o u t t h e D e c l a r a t i o n what woul d t h e
V o l u n t e e r movement mean? Ever y o r g a n i
z a t i o n must have a b a s i s o f me mbe r s h i ps .
The V o l u n t e e r D e c l a r a t i o n i s t h e b a s i s
o f m e m b e r s h i p i n t h e V o l u n t e e r Mo v e
m e n t . . . . N o one who r e a d s t h e p r o v i d e n
t i a l h i s t o r y o f t h i s mo v e me n t i n i t s
r e l a t i o n t o o u r own t i m e s , can f o r a
moment d o u b t t h a t i t o u g h t t o e x i s t , and
e x i s t f o r t h e supreme m i s s i o n s e t f o r t h
i n t h e D e c l a r a t i o n . 16
The message was c l e a r . Ame r i c a n students had d i s c o v e r e d an
important tool whi c h could be used to fashion an o r g a n i z a
tion .
SVM l e a d e r s wer e a l s o c a r e f u l t o e x p l a i n t h e meani ng o f
the declaration. According to the litera ture of the move
ment, the volunteers were "fu lly determined to become
foreign m issionaries unless God b l o c k e d the way." The
presumption was in favor of foreign missions. Those who
signed the d e c l a r a t i o n placed " t h e b ur den o f p r o o f on A m e r i
ca." They woul d "throw open the throttle-valve and steam
out on the track of the greatest need, believing that God
woul d switch them o f f on a side track if He wan t s them in
60
less needy fie ld s .” Volunteers might be "hindered" by ill
health or circumstance , but nevertheless t h e y must continue
t o be f a i t h f u l to the d e c l a r a t i o n because t h e i r p u r p o s e had
n o t been a l t e r e d . They had been "providentially prevented"
from t a k i n g t h e f i e l d .
The p l e d g e could be "renounced" only by t h o s e " who,
t ho u g h h a v i n g no v a l i d excuse f o r remaining in America," had
"renounced all thoughts of becomi ng foreign m issionaries."
A valid excuse was s o m e t h i n g t h a t had t o be " s e t t l e d by each
volunteer with God. " Traveling secretaries, band o f f i c i a l s ,
and individual volunteers wer e given specific instructions
ab o u t a d m i n i s t e r i n g the p l e d g e . ^
Si n c e the academi c year 1886-87, when Ro b e r t Wilder,
John N. Forman, and Nettie Dunn made their firs t tour of
colleges and s e m i n a r i e s , SVM's t r a v e l i n g secretaries encou n
tered d iffic u ltie s and criticism when leading students to
sign the pledge. Although they sought to arouse large
numbers o f s t u d e n t s , Wilder and Dunn soon r e a l i z e d t h a t they
should not press the pledge ind iscrim in a te ly at the same
tim e. They w a n t e d steady, dedicated volunteers. Church
o ffic ia ls and b oar d secretaries criticized SVM f o r pressing
the pledge too strongly among young undergraduates. Wilder
had to restrain Forman from this practice, and Speer con
tinued to defend the declaration from such attacks as late
as 1892. As a consequence SVM c o u n s e l l e d a conservative
appr oach t o t h e p l e d g e . 18
The firs t set of instructions to SVM w o r k e r s appear ed
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
61
a b out 1890. The p l e d g e was t o be c i r c u l a t e d a t me e t i n g s i n
theological seminaries, since the audience was "composed o f
Christians." At college meetings workers wer e not to pass
the pledge about d u r i n g la rg e meetings. Interested students
could come t o a second m e e t i n g d e s c r i b e d as a “ b r i e f conse
cration service." In t h i s " a f t e r meeting" the pledge could
be o f f e r e d . In p r e p a r a t o r y s c h o o l s and c h u r c h e s SVM w o r k e r s
were told that it was “ not advisable" to d is trib u te the
pledge either at t h e mai n m e e t i n g or at the after meeting.
" Ad o p t an additional precaution," the instructions conti
nued ,
Ask t h o s e f u l l y d e c i d e d upon f o r e i g n
wor k t o t a r r y a t t h e c l o s e o f t h i s a f t e r
meeting. Be much i n p r a y e r w i t h t h e s e
young r e c r u i t s . . . . I f , a f t e r p e r s o n a l
p r o b i n g , you a r e c o n v i n c e d o f t h e i r s i n
c e r i t y , a l l o w them t o s i g n . 19
SVM a l s o r e s t r i c t e d t h e use o f t h e p l e d g e by v o l u n t e e r s .
Onl y SVM band leaders were allowed to administer the
pledge, and t h e n only "after being instructed in its use by
the fie ld secretary or corresponding me mb e r . " Individual
volunteers could engage in personal work, but recruits had
to have t h e approval of the band leader before signing the
pledge. Onl y " c a r e f u l l y selected and c o m p e t e n t men" were t o
be a l l o w e d t o a d d r e s s "churches or i n s t i t u t i o n s .
When t h e d e c ! a r a t i o n - r e p l a c e d t h e pledge in 1892, Lyon
again r e mi n d e d v o l u n t e e r s t o be c a r e f u l in its application.
"It s h o u l d n e v e r be used i n a l a r g e m e e t i n g , " he w r o t e . "In
general, no s i g n a t u r e s should be c a l l e d for in a meeting of
any k i n d , whether large or small." Volunteers wer e o n l y to
62
" p r e s e n t t h e c l a i m s o f God, " b u t t h e y were n o t a u t h o r i z e d t o
ur ge anyone to sign the declaration until he had resolved
the question "alone w ith God. We may help men towards
conclusive thinking," Lyon wrote, "but it is not ours to
draw t h e c o n c l u s i o n f o r t h e m . "21
Despite these in stru ctio n s, an a m b i g u o u s atmosphere
surrounded the d e c l a r a t i o n . I t was t h e b a s i s for member shi p
in SVM, "the keystone to the arch of the Student Volunteer
Movement f o r Foreign M issio n s," yet it could " n o t be h a n d l e d
too carefully." It was a convenient gauge for the gross
dimensions of the movement , but it could not measur e the
d ept h o f t h e commi t ment made by an i n d i v i d u a l volunteer. It
was a t once t h e mo v e me n t ' s most valuable tool and its most
vulnerable fe a tu re . The f a c t t h a t a young p e r s o n s i g n e d t h e
declaration did not measure the influence of SVM. The
decision fo r f o r e i g n m i s s i o n s wor k m i g h t have been made many
years previously o r o n l y moments b e f o r e t h e act of signing.
Because all volunteers who signed the pledge had r e s p on d e d
to representations of the SVM i n at least a minimal sense,
an i m p o r t a n t question remained. Had t h e m o v e m e n t really-
caused young men and women t o seek c a r e e r s in missions?
According to the responses entered on the SVM e n
rollm ent blanks, t h e answer t o t h i s q u e s t i o n was n e g a t i v e in
a large number of instances. SVM made several surveys of
the enrollment blanks, but no o fficia l study of volunteer
motivations i n t h e y e a r s b e f o r e 1895 i s e x t a n t . In order to
inve stig a te th is question mor e t h o r o u g h l y , I studied 119
63
enrollment blanks. These b l a n k s had been c o mp l e t e d by v o l
unteers who s a i l e d for Chi na d u r i n g the years 1886 t o 1895.
Twenty-six volunteers answer ed question number nine ("Were
you led to form the purpose to become a foreign missionary
by some r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement and
if so, when?) affirm atively, sixty-six answer ed negatively,
and twenty-seven responded in such a way that no clear
distinction was made bet ween SVM and o t h e r influences.
T h o s e who a n s w e r e d yes credited W ilder, Forman, and
Speer most often, although Lucy E. Guiness and Alex N.
O ' B r i a n were a l s o m e n t i o n e d . Albert G. McGaw, for exampl e,
answered that he was "not fu lly decided until January 29,
1887, after lis te n in g to an appeal by R.P. W ilder." Of
t h o s e who r e sp o n d e d t o t h e sequel to the q u e stio n , ( " I f not,
under what influence and when?" ) most discussed family in
fluences. James D. Ingle wrote that the i dea had grown up
with h i m. Another wrote t h a t it had been h i s purpose since
his "conversion at nine years of age.," Ot h e r answer s were
b rie f ( “ No.") or vague ("Sense of duty"). Fortunately t he
d ire ctio n of the responses c a n be c l a r i f i e d or confirmed
through other sources. The best of these are biographical
questionnaires completed by th irty of the study group for
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
(ABCFM) after reaching China. ^
A l mo s t all of this sub-group came f r o m strongly re li
gious fam ilies. Ten wer e childrenof clergymen, five were
children of missionaries, and nine had relatives who were
64
missionaries. Onl y three sets of parents wer e not p r o f e s
sing Christians f o r most of their lives, and one s e t had
recently been converted. Responses to the question, "When
d i d you d e c i d e t o go t o t h e h e a t h e n and what l e d you t o t h e
subject?" were u s u a l l y f i l l e d with references to a C hristia n
upbringing. Jenny Pond A t w a t e r ans wer ed,
I have a l w a y s c h e r i s h e d t h e ho pe . It
was a s e t t l e d p u r p o s e i n 1878 and p e r
haps b e f o r e . I can n o t remember d e f i
n ite ly. My p a r e n t s were al ways m i s s i o n
a r y w o r k e r s and many f r o m t h e [mission]
f i e l d w e r e t h e i r c o r r e s p o n d e n t s and
guests.
Fr ances M. Nieberg, MD. wrote that her "final decision was
made i n 1 8 9 2 , " b u t t h a t a l l her l i f e she had been " i n t e n s e l y
interested in missions." Another responded, "Think of it?
I was b r o u g h t up on i t , dedicated to i t at b i r t h . " Anni e A.
Gould dr ew on a l o n g f a m i l y t r a d i t i o n :
My g r a n d p a r e n t s on b o t h s i d e s wer e d e e p
l y i n t e r e s t e d in m issio ns. Mo t h e r and
her o l d e r s i s t e r b o t h w o u l d h a v e been
g l a d t o be m i s s i o n a r i e s , b u t n e i t h e r had
s u f f i c i e n t health. They were among t h e
f i r s t t e a c h e r s s e n t t o c o l o r e d p e o p l e by
the A.M.A.; Mot her r e mai n e d i n t h e work
two y e a r s . I b e l i e v e my c o m i n g t o a
f o r e i g n l a n d was d ue t o h e r i n f l u e n c e
p rim a rily.
Another missionary noted that her great uncle had been an
ABCFM m i s s i o n a r y to the Indians in Ge o r g i a and t h a t another
u n c l e had been a m e d i c a l m i s s i o n a r y to In d ia and C e y l o n . ^3
Even those who mentioned SVM o f t e n spoke of a prior
decision for m issions. George H. Ewing, for ex a m p i e ,
"joined the Student Volunteer Movement in October, 1886,"
65
but his intention to go, " w h i c h was never relinquished, was
influenced by t r a i n i n g at home and by r e a d i n g m issionary
books." George L . Williams decided during his junior year
in college. "An old, long time interest in missions was
i n c r e a s e d and my d e c i s i o n was made by a d d r e s s e s by...W ilder
and Forman o f t h e SVM." E. R. A t w a t e r a t t r i b u t e d his call to
the m issio n a ry atmosphere of O berlin, and he signed the
p l e d g e when W i l d e r and Forman v i s i t e d there in the fa ll of
1 8 8 6 . 24
For this rather exclusive group--the early volunteers
who made good t h e i r pledge w i t h i n the f i r s t f ew y e a r s o f t h e
movement— SVM was p r o b a b l y most i m p o r t a n t as a c a t a l y s t . Of
the th irty ABCFM m i s s i o n a r i e s only six attributed th e ir
decision d ire ctly to SVM. Of the study group as a whol e
per haps a third we r e led to form a purpose by SVM. Ot h e r
v o l u n t e e r s seemed t o follow a s im ila r pattern.
I also studied the enrollment blanks from a c o mp a r a b l e
gr oup o f volunteers who d i d not venture a br oad as m i s s i o n -
aries. This group of sixty-five volunteers was evenly d i
v i d e d between t h o s e who c l a i m e d t h a t t h e y had been p e r s u a d e d
by SVM and t h o s e who d e s c r i b e d other influences. Thirteen
did not r e s p on d clearly enough to be p l a c e d in either camp
w it h accuracy.
SVM s e c r e t a r i e s made c o mp r e h e n s i v e studies of volun
teers who signed the declaration in the years 1895, 1897,
and 1905. Usi n g the dec!arat ions, e n r o l 1ment blanks , fo l
low-up letters, and other correspondence, the secretaries
66
attempted to portray the movement sta tis tic a lly and t o in
vestigate its influence among students. “ A St u d y of the
Influences Cau si n g Men to Volunteer in 1895" was simply a
numerical br eakdown o f t h e r e a s o n s men gave f o r volunteering
on 309 enrollment blanks. A c o mp l e me n t a r y study detailed
influences guiding women based on an e x a m i n a t i o n of 194
blanks. "Student Volunteer Secretaries" topped both lis ts .
Next on t h e women' s lis t was t h e "Holy S p i r i t " while "noth
ing d e fin ite " moved the men. B o t h men and women placed
"volunteers and volunteer bands" th ird . A host of less
numerous r e a s o n s followed including "facts and needs," "re
turned m issionaries," "reading missionary lite ra tu re ," and
" p u r p o s e s i n c e c o n v e r s i o n . " 2®
By a d d i n g up "influences" directly connected with SVM
and t h e s t u d e n t Christian movement , I made a c r u d e calcula
tion that fifty-seven per cent of the 1895 volunteers re
sponded t o some i n s t r u m e n t o f t h e movement. T h i s f i g u r e was
at odds with the evidence f r o m my s t u d y group and the SVM
studies of volunteers from 1897 and 1905. In 1897 about
th irty-e ig h t pe r cent of all volunteers responded to direct
efforts of t h e movement . In 1905, although the categories
o f t h e s t u d y wer e somewhat c h a ng e d , a b out t h i r t y p er c e n t o f
the declarations wer e responses to SVM a c t i v i t i e s . Si nce
p er haps a t h i r d o f my e a r l y s t u d y g r o up were moved t o d e c i d e
by SVM, t h e 1895 f i g u r e s seemed u n u s u a l l y h i g h . 2®
A closer comparison of the two d e p r e s s i o n years, 1895
and 1897 r e v e a l e d that the 1895 f i g u r e was i n d e e d an anoma
67
ly. In that year total declarations reached 947 compared
with 371 in 1893, and 411 in 1897. The significant d iffe
rence between 1895 and 1897 was in the volunteer secre
taries. In 1895, 117 men and e i g h t y women l i s t e d the secre
taries as t h e most important influence on t h e i r decision to
sign the d e c l a r a t i o n . Two y e a r s later volunteer secretaries
s till ranked firs t on both lis ts , but they were named by
only twenty-seven men and sixteen women. The t r a v e l i n g
secretaries for 1895— George Sherwood Eddy, Henry W. Luce,
and Hor ace Tracy Pitkin--were an unusually forceful trio'.
They were t h e most p e r s u a s i v e and b e s t remembered traveling
secretaries in the h isto ry of SVM w i t h the exception of
W i l d e r and S p e e r .
A fter taking into account th is anomaly in 1895, SVM
studies seem t o c o n f i r m the data from t h e e a r l y ye ar s o f the
movement . Per haps a third of the volunteers were d ire ctly
influenced by SVM and t h e student Christian movement. The
r e m a i n d e r p r o b a b l y r esponded t o what t h e 1905 s t u d y r e f e r r e d
t o as " c u m u l a t i v e influences."
The SVM s t u d i e s not only attempted to discover why
students jo in e d t h e movement, but they also t r i e d to account
for the large numbers of volunteers who le ft the organiza
tio n . Each y e a r a substantial n u mb e r of volunteers who
signed the d e cla ra tio n fa ile d to complete an e n r o l l m e n t
blank. These students ra rely reestablished contact w ith
SVM. The o r g a n i z a t i o n "lost track of" another large g r o up
of volunteers who had c o mp l e t e d the enrollment blanks, but
68
drifte d away f r o m t h e movement. Many of these disappeared
at graduation time; others departed when they dr opped out
of school. In 1 8 92, Mo t t had assumed t h a t the large totals
in these t wo c a t e g o r i e s were due t o a lack of organization
during the early years of the movement . The annual dis
a p p e a r a n c e o f h u ndr eds o f v o l u n t e e r s , however, pr o v ed to be
endemic, and the annual total of "lo st" volunteers ranged
bet ween t h i r t y and s i x t y p e r c e n t d u r i n g t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s . 2**
Wel l over h alf of all the volunteers who signed t he
declaration before 1905 had a l r e a d y given strong considera
tion to a missionary career. Of those who a c t u a l l y became
foreign m issionaries, it seems safe to estim ate that at
least two-thirds had p r e v i o u s l y decided the question before
being approached by r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of SVM. The e v i d e n c e ,
then, suggests that the most im portant function of SVM
during its early years was n o t to recruit large numbers of
new f o r e i g n m issionaries, but to organize would-be m ission
aries into an effective force for promoting the missionary
cause at home. Perhaps the most effective feature of t he
SVM pr ogr a m was m i s s i o n a r y e d u c a t i o n .
The SVM i n t r o d u c e d t h e s t u d y o f f o r e i g n m i s s i o n s t o t he
colleges of America. For the firs t twenty years of its
existence, the SVM was t h e o n l y organization which directed
its energies toward pr omoting the systematic study of mis
sion fie ld s and methods in c o lle g es and u n i v e r s i t i e s . Mis
sionary education was the most successful endeavor of t he
SVM, and t h e m i s s i o n a r y e d u c a t i o n p r o gr a ms i t d e v e l o p e d were
69
probably more important to the missionary enterprise as a
whol e than any other service, including recruitment, ren
dered by the movement. The SVM f i l l e d a void when its
leaders began to press for m issionary education in the
colleges and sem inaries. During the early years of the
movement, reports by R o b e r t P. Wilder, John N. Forman, and
other traveling secretaries indicated that the thousands of
students who responded to the call of the movement simply
could not find m aterials about foreign missions in th e ir
school lib ra rie s. According to Mo t t there were fewer than
t w e n t y g r o u p s among n e a r l y 2 4 0, 0 00 Ameri can c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s
who had sufficient resources at hand to undertake a "pro
gressive study of m is s io n s ." Those r e p o r t s claimed that it
was r a r e t o f i n d an i n s t i t u t i o n p o s s e s s i n g a dozen m i s s i o n a
ry b o oks. Seminaries tended to be indifferent to the sub
j e c t of missions, and some were o p e n l y h o s t i l e . ^
One o f t h e r e a s o n s f o r the d r iv e t o o r g a n i z e t h e SVM on
a permanent basis in 1888 was that volunteers tended to
d rift away from the movement . Wilder, Luther D. Wishard,
N e t t i e Dunn, and o t h e r s initiated m i s s i o n a r y s t u d y g r o u p s as
a means t o bind the small bands of volunteers together and
to give them a common purpose and f r ame of reference. In
1894, the SVM l e a d e r s h i p created an educational department
under t h e d i r e c t i o n of Davi d W. Lyon. When Lyon s a i l e d for
Chi na t h e f o l l o w i n g year, his duties were assumed by H a r l a n
P. B e a c h . 30
During the ensuing decade, Beach, a returned China
70
m issionary, turned the educational department into the
strongest element in the volunteer organization. Und e r
Ly o n, the educational department organized 144 c l a s s e s w i t h
an a t t e n d a n c e o f fourteen hundr ed college and s e mi n a r y stu
dents. By 1 9 0 6 , there were 1,049 classes enrolling 12, 629
students. In the interim Beach had d e v e l o p e d th irty -s ix
d i f f e r e n t c o u r s e s o f s t u d y and s u p e r v i s e d t h e p u b l i c a t i o n of
a host of missionary textbooks. Some o f these he s p e c i f i
cally commissi oned; some he w r o t e him self. Many of the
works were re p rin ts of m issionary books and a r t i c l e s put
together by the SVM w i t h the aid of the Fl e mi n g H. Revel!
Company, a p rin te r closely a llie d w ith the e va ng e listic
efforts o f D w i g h t L. Moody. 3*
Many of these books were designed to inspire young
volunteers. Usually such wor ks relayed' missionary ju s tifi
cations gleaned from s c r i p t u r e , or limned the spiritual and
personal q u a litie s of well known m i s s i o n a r i e s . The m o s t
common k i n d of tra ct was w r i t t e n by a m issionary in the
fie ld or r e c e n t l y retired. Such w o r k s d e v o t e d most o f t h e i r
pages to descriptions of the needs of a particular country
or people. More d i f f i c u l t to find, e s p e c ia lly during the
e a r l y days of t h e movement, were s c h o l a r l y wor ks d e s c r i b i n g
life and c u l t u r e in a foreign land. S. Wells W illia m s '
The M i d d l e K i n g d o m, wh i c h was used in the e a r l y SVM Chi na
curriculum, was an e x c e p t i o n and f a r superior t o most o f t h e
oth er books. Beach g r e a t l y i mpr o v e d t h e q u a l i t y of instruc
tional m aterials. As t i m e went on he was a b l e to r e ly less
71
on t h e prophetic screeds of the early years and more on
tailor-made "scie n tific" s t u d i e s w h i c h seemed more modern t o
t h e s t u d e n t s . 3^
From the beginning, substantial numbers of non-volun
teers attended the classes of the educational department.
As one SVM o f f i c i a l observed,
T h i s E d u c a t i o n a l D e p a r t m e n t has been a
g e n u i n e s u r p r i s e t o me. Not because I
have q u e s t i o n e d t h e me t h o d , because t h a t
i s one o f t h e t h i n g s i n w h i c h I h a v e
a l wa y s had t h e most p r o f o u n d c o n f i d e n c e .
But t h a t so many s t u d e n t s n o t i n t e n d i n g
t o become m i s s i o n a r i e s s h o u l d c o n t i n u e
w it h t e n a c i t y in t h e i r s t u d i e s which
have been based a t t i m e s on v e r y s t u p i d
b o o k s , goes t o m a n i f e s t t h e w o n d e r f u l
r e s u l t s whi ch can come f r o m a p e r s o n a l
s u p e r v i s i o n o f s t u d y c l a s s e s and some
d e f i n i t e attem pt t o a i v e real help to
t h o s e who l e a d t h e m . 33^
The number o f n o n - v o l u n t e e r s can a l s o be used as an i n d e x o f
missionary interest among s t u d e n t s . Fully three-fourths of
the twelve thousand missionary education students of 1906
had no in te n tio n of becoming m i s s i o n a r i e s . According to
M ott, 47,666 students enrolled in such classes in 1919.
When t h i s figure is compared w i t h the t o t a l number of post
secondary school students f o r 1920, i t seems t h a t a b o u t one
in t w e n t y Ame r i c a n c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s s t u d i e d f o r e i g n m i s s i o n s
t h a t y e a r . 3^
The academi c y e a r 1919- 20 marked t h e peak e n r o l l m e n t in
m issionary education classes. The s u b s e q u e n t d ecline in
e n r o l l m e n t s was a h a r b i n g e r o f t h e end o f t h e a c t i v e life of
t h e SVM. According to a re p o rt th a t the e ducational depart
ment subm itted to the executive committee in September,
72
1920,
The g e n e r a l s p i r i t o f r e s t l e s s n e s s among
s t u d e n t s f o l l o w i n g t h e war has had i t s
e f f e c t i n m i s s i o n s t u d y as i n o t h e r
l i n e s o f r e l i g i o u s work. The r e q u i r e
ment s o f p r e p a r i n g a s s i g n m e n t s and a t
t e n d i n g s e s s i o n s have seemed so i r k s o m e
t o many s t u d e n t s t h a t t h e y h a v e been
u n w illin g t o be e n r o l l e d in study
g r o u p s . 25
The a u t h o r s o f the r e p o r t thought that this lapse of enthu
si asm f o r organized study was temporary, and bl amed it, in
part, on t h e i n f l u e n z a epidemic.
In conjunction with these study groups, the SVM cam
paigned over the years for the establishment of missionary
lib ra rie s. Hundr eds o f i n s t i t u t i o n s added e x t e n s i v e c o l l e c
tions of mission l i t e r a t u r e to their lib ra rie s. In some
cases, e n t i r e libraries were endowed for the s p e c if ic pur
po s e o f co lle ctin g m issionary m a te ria ls . The M i s s i o n a r y
Research Library in New Y o r k C ity, and the Day Missions
Library at the Yale d iv in ity school are two among many .
Many c o l l e g e s and s e m i n a r i e s introduced mission studies into
their curricula. Others endowed m i s s i o n a r y chairs and l e c
tureships.^®
Undoubtedly the educational department of the SVM had
its greatest success in motivating non-volunteers to f or m
and m a i n t a i n an interest in foreign missions. The success
of the m issionary enterprise rested, a fte r a ll, on the
w illingness of Christians at home t o support the volunteers
abroad. By reaching a significant m inority of the e d uc a
tional e lite of the country over a period of th irty years,
73
the educational department stimulated systematic giving to
m issions and eased the lo g istica l burden of the m ission
boards. But in one respect missionary education could not
succeed. It was really not possible to prepare missionary
candidates for the shock of confronting an a l i e n and some
times h o s t i l e culture.
In t h a t respect, t h e s t u d e n t v o l u n t e e r s were v i c t i m i z e d
by the propaganda of their own movement. Their wat c h wo r d
was " The evangelization of the world in this generation,"
and t h e i r w o r k i n g h y p o t h e s i s was t h a t m i s s i o n a r i e s and money
in sufficient quantities woul d accomplish the task. Volun
teer exhortations relied heavily on images of war and con
quest, romance and s e l f - s a c r i f i c e . As Mo t t explained to a
volunteer convention, " Ev e r y war and e v e r y perilous expedi
tion illu stra te s the same thing. Our movement needs that
whi c h w i l l appeal t o the e n t e r p r i s i n g , the h e r o i c , the s e l f -
sacrificing i n y o ung m e n . " 3 ' The SVM t r i e d to present the
challenge of foreign missions, but the romanticism of their
presentation obscured the real d iffic u ltie s of evangeliza
tion. The r e a l i t y was d i s c o u r a g i n g enough, but it was not
possible for the leadership to be r e a l i s t i c about m i s s io n s .
If any o f them s u s p e c t e d t h a t the nineteenth century m i s s io
nary venture had p r o d u c e d a nearly unblemished record of
fa ilu re , t h e y gave no s i g n .
The l e a d e r s o f SVM o p e r a t e d u n de r a syst em o f r e l i g i o u s
imperatives that denied the p o s s i b i l i t y of ultimate fa ilu re .
If faith was a v i r t u e and d o u b t a sin, how c o u l d one assess
74
one's progress in a d iffic u lt mission fie ld such as Chi na?
For t h e v o l u n t e e r s , all p r o b l e ms were u l t i m a t e l y sp iritu a l.
M issionaries abroad, Mott noted, repeatedly stated that
their chief battle ground was in their own hearts. Their
greatest d iffic u lty was in "preserving a trium phant and
ever-expanding s p i r i t u a l life ." The s t r u g g l e r a g ed o v e r s e a s
because " h e a t h e n i s m " e x e r t e d such a " c h i l l i n g and d e p r e s s i n g
i n f l u e n c e on t h e s p i r i t u a l life ," and because t h e m i s s i o n a r y
was "so largely cut o ff from intim ate association w ith
deeply s p i r i t u a l people."^®
75
Notes
1. T h i s f o r m o f t h e p l e d g e was a d o p t e d i n 1 8 9 2 . SVM
S ta tistics," Student Volun te er A r c h i v e s , Yale D i v i n i t y
S c h o o l , New Haven.
2. John R. M o t t , " H i s t o r y o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Move

ment f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , " ( C h i c a g o , S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r
Movement f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , 1 8 9 2 ) , p . 43.
3. Ibid. , pp. 3 8 - 4 2 .
4. Ibid. , pp. 3 8 - 4 1 .
5. Ib id . , pp. 4 0 - 1 .
6. Ibid.
7. W a lte r J. C la rk to Robert W ild e r , August 11, 1893,

W i l d e r Papers, Yale D i v i n i t y S ch o ol , New Haven.
8. "Student Volunteers f o r 1896," SVM A r c h i v e s .
9. S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r F o r e i g n Missions, "C ir

c u l a r o f Q u e s t i o n s , " SVM A r c h i v e s .
10. Ib id ., pp. 1-2.
11. " T h e P l e d g e o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Mo v e me n t f o r
F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , " (SVM P a mp h l e t , no p u b l i s h i n g d a t a ) ,
p. 16. D. W i l l a r d L y o n, "The V o l u n t e e r D e c l a r a t i o n s , "
(New Y o r k , S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r Foreign Mis
s i o n s , 1 8 9 2 ) , p . 3.
12. "The P l e d g e " , p . 6.
13. Lyon, " The V o l u n t e e r Declaration," p. 7.
14. "The P l e d g e , " p. 8. L y o n, "The V o l u n t e e r Declaration",

p . 9.
15. L y o n, "The V o l u n t e e r Declaration," pp. 10-1.
16. "The P l e d g e , " pp. 10-1. Lyon, " The Volunteer Decla
r a t i o n , " p. 11.
17. L yon, "The V o l u n t e e r Declaration," p. 14. "The Pled

g e , " p. 17.
76
18. H. Cl a y T r u m b u l l t o Rob e r t P. W i l d e r , A p r i l 12, 1887,

W i l d e r P a p e r s , Ya l e D i v i n i t y School L i b r a r y , New Haven.
John N. Forman t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , A p r i l 13, 1887.
L u t h e r D. Wi s h a r d t o Ro b e r t P. W i l d e r , March 31, 1887.
John N. For man t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , J u n e 7, 1887.
Ro b e r t E. S p e e r , "The S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r
Foreign M is s io n s ; I t s P r e s e n t A s p e c t s , " The Sunday
School T i m e s , F e b r u a r y 27, 1892.
19. "The P l e d g e , " pp. 19-20.
20. I b i d . , p. 21.
21. Lyon, "The V o lu n te e r D e cla ra tio n ," p. 21. "The

P l e d g e , " p . 21.
22. I s e l e c t e d a l a r g e r s t u d y g r o up o f t h e f i r s t 148 m i s
s i o n a r i e s who s a i l e d f o r Chi na a f t e r s i g n i n g t h e p l e d -
g e , and have c o m p l e t e d b i o g r a p h i c a l r e s e a r c h on most o f
t hem. Not a l l t h e b l a n k s f o r t h e l a r g e r g r o u p were
a v a i l a b l e . " Q u e s t i o n a l r e , " pp. 1 - 2 . A l b e r t Go r don
McGraw t o SVM, May 18, 1889. James A d d i s o n I n g l e t o
SVM, May 1 8 , 1889. SVM A r c h i v e s .
23. Ame r i c a n Board o f Commi ssi oner s f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s

Archives. Ca mb r i d g e , Ma s s . , ABC 6 . 5 . 3 . v . 1 , pp. 57,
3 7 2 , 5 4 0 , v . 2 , p. 431.
24. ABC 6 . 5 . 3 . v. 1 , pp. 56, 4 6 0, v . 3, p. 4Q4.
25. SVMFM, " A S t u d y o f 1895 V o l u n t e e r s , " SVMFM " A St udy

o f 1897 V o l u n t e e r s , " SVMFM," A S t u d y o f 1905 V o l u n
teers. "
26. SVMFM, "A S t u d y o f 1895 V o l u n t e e r s . " SVMFM, "A St udy

o f 1897 V o l u n t e e r s . " SVMFM, "A S t u d y o f 1905 V o l u n
t e e r s . SVM A r c h i v e s .
27. Ib id .
28. Ib id . Mott, "H istory," p . 41. W i l d e r Papers.
29. Kwang C h i n g L i u , " E a r l y C h r i s t i a n C o l l e g e s i n China",

J o u r n a l o f A s i a n S t u d i e s , Volume XX, p p . 7 1 - 2 .
30. Dwi g h t Goddard t o t h e Amer i can Board of Commi ssi oner s

f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , May 24, 1895.
31. Lyman P. Peet to Judson Smith, March 31 , 1896, ABCFM

Pa p e r s .
32. W i l l a r d L . Beard to Judson Smith, January 31, 1898,

ABCFM P a p e r s .
77
33. Joseph E. Wal ker t o A.G. Clark, Au g us t 31, 1880, ABCFM

Papers.
34. W i l l a r d L. Beard to Judson Smith, September 2, 1897,

ABCFM Paper s.
35. C a l v i n W. Mat eer t o A r t h u r Judson Brown, November 14,

18 9 8 , P r e s b y t e r i a n Board o f F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s Pa p er s .
36. Henr y W. Luce to Arthur Judson Brown, June 25, 1900,

PBFM Paper s.
37. W i l l i a m N. Hayes t o A r t h u r Judson Brown, June 25, 1900,

PBFM.
78
Cha p t e r IV
The V o l u n t e e r s as M i s s i o n a r i e s
The purpose of this chapter w ill be to complete a
p ortrait o f the volunteers by d i s c u s s i n g their preparations
for missionary careers, some common p r o b l e ms s h ar ed by new
missionaries, working conditions in the fie ld , and typical
career l i n e s . U ltim ately, Amer i can m i s s i o n a r i e s were f o r c e d
to fin d an a c c o mo d a t i o n between e v a n g e l i z a t i o n in its s tric
test sense and the need to bring c iv iliz a tio n to backwar d
peoples. Because the volunteers constituted a m ajority of
Amer i can m issionaries, a description of their careers and
concerns should also lead to a better understanding of the
n a t u r e o f t h e Amer i can p r o t e s t a n t m i s s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e as a
whole, a n d , more s p e c i f i c a l l y , how w e l l it was a b l e t o make
t h a t accomodation.
In January, 1920, the Student Volunteer Movement for
Foreign M i s s i o n s (SVM) held i t s eighth international conven
tion in Des M o i n e s , Iowa. Since 1894, the movement had
gathered members and friends at quadrennial conventions.
Worl d War I broke the rhythm of these meetings--the most
r e c e n t a s s e mb l y o f some f i v e thousand o f the f a i t h f u l having
79
been h e l d at Kansas C i t y in 1 9 14. After thirty-three years
of growth, t h e mo v e me n t was at the zenith of its power.
Reporting for the executive committee, as was his custom,
John R. Mo t t surveyed the accomplishments of t h e movement .
" The d i s t i n c t i v e achievement of the Student Volunteer Move
ment has been t h e e n l i s t m e n t o f v o l u n t e e r s . . . . I t has p r e s s e d
upon eight successive student generations the claims of
fo re ig n missionary s e r v i c e . H e attributed the s ucc ess of
t h e movement t o its single-minded efforts--a "splendid exam
ple of undeflected energy." According to Mott the con
tinuing v i t a l i t y o f t h e movement c o u l d be seen i n t h e number
of No r t h Amer i can students whom i t directed to the foreign
fie ld . "The Student Volunteer Movement has been preserved
from stagnation," he reported, because it has kept a con
tinuous human stream flow ing out from the American and
Canadi an u n i v e r s i t i e s to the nations o f the e a r t h .
That human s t r e a m c o n s i s t e d o f 8 , 1 4 0 men and women who
had sailed for foreign m ission fie ld s in the past three
decades. Within five more y e a r s , more t h a n three thousand
more woul d embar k. Spr ead over the life of the movement ,
the number o f volunteers who a c t u a l l y sailed amounted to
less than three hundred per year. When c o mp a r e d to the
number o f c o l l e g e students in the country--238,000 in 1900,
nearly 600,000 in 1920--the volunteer to ta ls wer e qu ite
small. Compared w i t h the aggregate statistics of the mis
sionary enterprise, however, the numbers of student volun
t e e r s were s i g n i f i c a n t indeed. After the t u r n o f the c e n t u
80
ry, considerably more than half (Mott claimed seventy per
cent) of a ll Ame r i c a n protestant foreign missionaries had
been s t u d e n t v o l u n t e e r s . ^
Once appointed by the denominational mission boards,
the student volunteers were scattered throughout the n o n-
Christian world. Because the boards placed candidates ac
cording to p rio ritie s based on ass e s s men t s of the needs of
dozens of far-flung outposts, the wishes of individual vo-
lunteers wer e r a r e l y considered. The h a n d f u l of exceptions
to t h i s p r a c t i c e were t h e sons and d a u g h t e r s o f m i s s i o n a r i e s
who had been brought up i n a particular fie ld and knew its
language, customs, and the details of the work there from
d ir e c t experience.
The placement of student volunteers, therefore, pro
vides an e x c e l l e n t indication of the d isp o sitio n of the
f o r c e s o f American p r o t e s t a n t i s m o v er s e a s . Early records of
t h e SVM show t h a t 1891, some 321 v o l u n t e e r s had been a p p o i n
ted by t h e boards. Of these, sixty-n in e had sailed for
China, forty-nine for India, forty-six for J apan, th irty-
three for A frica, eighteen for Burma, fifteen for Turkey,
and t w e l v e f o r Sout h A m e r i c a . ^
As t h e c e n t u r y came t o a c l o s e , SVM s t a t i s t i c s began t o
show a s h ift of missionary emphasi s away from the M-i ddl e
Ea s t and India and toward East Asia. The Re p o r t of the
Executive Commi t t e e o f t h e SVM f o r 1906 showed a cumulative
total o f some t h r e e t h o u s a n d v o l u n t e e r s who had d e p a r t e d f o r
service abroad. Chi na had now c l a i m e d twenty-seven percent
of the new m i s s i o n a r i e s , w hile India, Bu r ma , and Ceylon
accumulated twenty-one percent. Japan and Korea surpassed
Africa. By 1920, th irty percent of all volunteers sent out
by t h e boards since 1886 r e s i d e d in China; nineteen percent
in India, Burma, and Ce y l o n ; twelve percent in Japan and
Ko r e a , and t e n p e r c e n t in A f r i c a . 6
Mission boards sent relatively f ew m i s s i o n a r i e s abr oad
during the nineteenth century. In 1890, for e x a mp l e , there
we r e only 2,716 active American protestant m issionaries
overseas. As a c o n s e q u e n c e , the proportion of active mis
sionaries who had been s t u d e n t v o l u n t e e r s rose rapidly. So
many volunteers had been assigned to Chi na that by 1895,
more t h a n one q u a r t e r o f t h e 617 a c t i v e Amer i can protestant
missionaries were former student volunteers. An important
task of t h e SVM was t o try to prepare would-be m i s s i o n a r i e s
for careers with the more than forty societies whose out
p o s t s wer e s c a t t e r e d about the g l o b e . 6
Most new m i s s i o n a r i e s suffered a sharp l e t - d o w n follow
ing t h e i r arrival in the f i e l d . A f t e r years o f a n t i c i p a t i o n
and preparation in the highly charged a t mo s p he r e of their
student C hristian m ilie u , it must have been d i f f i c u l t to
settle down w i t h t wo o r t h r e e s t r a n g e r s i n some d i s m a l rural
outpost or the walled compound o f a h ostile, teeming city.
Instead of grappling immediately with the unconverted, they
began a long pr ogr am o f l a n g u a ge study. Per haps in a year
they m ight deliver a halting sermon t o a handful of dubious
converts or attempt to distribute tracts. In the meant i me
82
t h e y were free to contemplate the prospects of the next
th irty years while taking on t h e mundane t a s k s of adminis
tration, correspondence, and m a i n t e n a n c e .
Be c a us e they were deeply re lig io u s, they described
th e ir in itia l disappointm ents in s p iritu a l terms. When
Forman r e a c h e d his post in India he w r o t e to his friend
Wilder,
I f e a r so much g e t t i n g i n t o a s p i r i t u a l
rut. I d i d n o t know t h a t I had been
t h i n k i n g o f t h e romance o f m i s s i o n s .
But a t a l l e v e n t s , I have e x p e r i e n c e d a
t r emendous s h o c k . . . . O h ! How dead e v e r y
thing i s . " '
Hi s r e a c t i o n was even more t e l l i n g for the f a c t that he had
been bor n in India of missionary parents and was fam iliar
with the work. The more e x p e r i e n c e d missionaries wer e at
on c e mor e re a lis tic and mor e resigned. To Wilder they
seemed t o have lost their zeal. "Pi :, how many o f ou r dear
missionaries have been dr agged down....The mission fie ld is
a d anger ous p l a c e . " I ndeed i t was, e s p e c i a l l y for t h e newl y
arrived volunteers.
For many, the firs t casualty was the notion that the
work of evangelization could be a c c o mp l i s h e d quickly. En
counters with the peoples o f I n d i a or Chi na c o n v i n c e d n e a r l y
all that a generation woul d not suffice for the evangeliza
tion of the world. One f o r m e r volunteer returned from a
furlough i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s and r e p o r t e d h i s d e a l i n g s w i t h
t h e movement a t home:
The demand w a s . . . f o r s p e a k e r s who a r e

i mp r e s s i o n i s t i c , o p t i m i s t s f u l l o f en
83
thusiasm. I do n o t see t h i n g s i n t h a t
lig h t. I e x p e c t a l o t o f har d work and
a long p u l l before the world i s brought
to th e Gospel. I cannot reasonably
e x p e c t t h e h e a t h e n t o be c o n v e r t e d i n a
h und r e d y e a r s . ®
Hi s a n a l y s i s was s h a r e d by m i s s i o n a r i e s who had been in the
fie ld f o r any l e n g t h o f t i m e . For t h e newcomer s, abandoning
the concept of rapid evangelization seemed to be a step
b a ckwar ds. They gave up t h e idea reluctantly. Recognizing
the e xt r eme d i f f i c u l t y of the task at hand, they projected
their fears of f a i l u r e o n t o t h e seasoned m i s s i o n a r i e s , accu
s i n g them o f sp iritu a l lapses or c riticizin g their tactics.
In turn, those who had g ear ed down f o r the long ha ul wer e
someti mes irrita te d by t h e impatience and r i g i d i t y of their
new c o l l e a g u e s . This seemingly inevitable co n flict led to
the kind of bickering that somet i mes disrupted the mission
station f o r years at a tim e .9
Those who a d a p t e d quickly to the re a litie s of fie ld
work and l e f t the romance of the volunteer movement behind
were more l i k e l y to have l o n g , productive careers. Perhaps
it was simply a m atter of p e rso n a lity, but substantial
number s o f new m i s s i o n a r i e s did n o t make t h e tra n sitio n .
Consider, for example, Henr y W. Luce and Hor ace T. Pitkin.
They had been volunteer activists and seminary r oommat es .
With Ge o r g e Sherwood Eddy, they had been SVM t r a v e l i n g
secretaries during t h e academi c y e a r 1 8 9 4 - 5 , and had s c o u r e d
the country for new member s with great energy and real
success. Both sailed for Chi na within the same y e a r , a l
t hough under t h e a u s p i c e s o f d i f f e r e n t m i s s i o n b o a r d s . Luce
84
adap t ed q u i c k l y . He t o o k up t h e t a s k s a t h a nd . Assumi ng t h e
adm inistrative burden of the Presbyterian Tengchow C o l l e g e ,
he r e c o g n i z e d more quickly than many experienced missiona
ries the potential of higher education as a means to l on g
range goal s o f e v a n g e l i z a t i o n and c o n v e r s i o n .
Pitkin, on the other hand, ne v er r e a l l y got started.
He a l i e n a t e d the other missionaries with his criticism s of
th e ir methods, and seems to have become embroiled in a
doctrinal dispute. After th re e years in the fie ld he was
floundering and b a d l y i n need o f guidance. A senior m issio
nary re p o r t e d to the board that P itkin's "dilatoriness with
the l an g u a ge is as i n e x p l i c a b l e as i t is p i t i f u l . B e
cause P i t k i n was k i l l e d by t h e Boxers a t P a o - t i n g - f u in July
o f t h e same y e a r , it is i m p o s s i b l e t o know w h e t h e r o r n o t he
woul d have adjusted successfully to his new c a r e e r . From
his letters to the board, it is clear that he missed the
high spirited conferences and c o n v e n t i o n s that had taken so
much o f h i s time w i t h the SVM. He was a l s o one of the few
v o l u n t e e r s who m a i n t a i n e d his ties t o t h e movement . Pitkin
was an i n f l e x i b l e and o b s t i n a t e young man. L i k e many o f h i s
peers, he was unable to make the transition from student
e vangelist to working m issionary.
A new m i s s i o n a r y ' s assessment of the prospects for
successful evangelistic wor k depended l a r g e l y on his firs t
hand observations of the unconverted. In China mo st new
missionaries were not encouraged by their encounters with
Chi nese people as a whole or their contacts with Chi nese
85
converts. The Rever end Henr y Ki ngman, for e x a mp l e , f ound
the Chi nese contemptible and untrustworthy. Commenti ng on
their “ almost t o t a l lack of lovable q u a l i t i e s , " he w r o t e ,
I f t h e y were o n l y s a v a g e s - - i f o n l y t h e y
had any o f t h e c h i l d l i k e q u a l i t i e s l e f t
i n t h e m , o r even t h e a f f e c t i o n a t e i n
s t i n c t s o f d o g s . . . . A n d v e r y r a r e l y do
you see a member o f a c h u r c h t h a t t h e
m i s s i o n a r i e s make e v e n a p r e t e n s e o f
t r u s t i n g , as you wou l d t r u s t an A n g l o -
Saxon .
According t o Joseph B a i l 1 i e t h e y were a "mean and s n e a k i n g
set," and d i d n o t have " p l u c k enough t o speak t h e i r own
minds." Wi n n i n g such p e o p l e f o r t h e c h u r c h woul d n o t be
easy. "How much p o w e r , then, t o c o n v e r t these animals to
men?" asked t h e n e wl y a r r i v e d E. R. Atwater.
Such opinions were based in part on contacts with
members o f t h e "native churches," as t h e y were c a l l e d . Yet
these converts, "rice Christians," wer e usually outcasts
from t h e i r own s o c i e t y , drawn to the church because of its
financial largesse or the protection of the treaties. In
some cases the m issionaries were thankful for the tiny
numbers o f t h e i r converts. As one f o r m e r v o l u n t e e r r e p o r t e d
after a survey o f the n a tiv e churches o f h is d i s t r i c t :
No g r e a t e r c a l a m i t y c o u l d b e f a l l us t h a n
t h a t a v a s t number s h o u l d a t once r u s h
in to the ranks. I f e a r t h e r e s u l t woul d
be a c h u r c h m i l i t a n t on a v e r y u n s c r i p -
t u r a l b a s i s . 12
Smal l wonder t h a t t h e new m i s s i o n a r i e s wer e p e r p l e x e d by t h e
wor k a t hand o r t h a t seasoned m i s s i o n a r i e s found the t a s k o f
evangelization formidable.
86
In r e t r o s p e c t it was easy t o see t h e s e l f - r i g h t e o u s n e s s
of these missionaries. Looking back at his early letters
from I n d i a , Eddy o b s e r v e d ,
As I r e - r e a d t h e s e a t t h e age o f e i g h t y
I am amazed and o f t e n ashamed o f t h e
l an g u a g e and i d e a s . . . . They r e p r e s e n t t h e
s p irit o f t h e t i m e . . . . W e b e l i e v e d we
were e n a c t i n g and w r i t i n g c o n t e m p o r a r y
cha pters o f the A c t s . . . . W e almost envied
Pitkin h i s m a r t y r d o m . . . .We a l l had t h e
same s p i r i t , f e r v i d , somewhat f a n a t i c a l
and n a r r o w . I had n o t t h e n met Ghandi
or T a g o r e , who f o r c e d me t o br oad e n my
sympat hy and t h e o l o g y . 13
It is tempting to characterize the m is s io n a rie s of the p r e
war er a as s e l f - r i g h t e o u s bigots, and t o h o l d them r e s p o n s i
ble, as some s c h o l a r s h a v e , for creating unfavorable stereo
t y p e s o f t h e Chi nese i n t h e mi nd s o f W e s t e r n e r s .
Certainly the m is s io n a r ie s of the nineteenth and e a r l y
twentieth centuries sh a r e d the A n g l o - Sa x o n ethnocentrism of
their contemporaries. But d e s p i t e the r h e t o r i c of superio
rity used by missionaries of the day, their closely held
religious assumptions wor ked toward a kind of egalitarian
ism. Th e y believed that the most im portant differences
between men wer e s p iritu a l, that a l l human b e i n g s c o u l d be
redeemed f r o m s i n , and t h a t once t h e y were t r u l y saved t h e r e
could be no h i e r a r c h y of souls. They believed that the
Chi nese were d e s p i c a b l e , not because of innate in fe rio rity ,
b u t because t h e y were heathens, a condition which could be
rectified. Because o f this b e lie f they wer e more progres
sive in th e ir a ttitu d e s toward the Chinese than most of
their contemporaries in the United States. Further, they
87
wer e w illing to dedicate their lives to working for that
p e c u l i a r f or m o f e q u a l i t y and d e f e n d i n g t h e p r o g e n y o f t h e i r
a d o p t e d homel and i n p e t i t i o n s t o Congr ess and l e t t e r s t o the
press.
By t he t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y t h e SVM began t o a b s or b more
mo d e r n attitudes about cu ltu re from its contacts in the
fie ld . Mott, who had r e c e n t l y c o m p l e t e d one o f a number o f
world tours for the movement , war ned the volunteers a b ou t
t h e p r obl ems o f c l o s e c o n t a c t w i t h other c u ltu re s :
The m i s s i o n a r y u n d e r c e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s
f i n d s i t har d a l s o t o come i n t o c l o s e
touch w i t h the l i f e o f the n a t i v e C h r i s
tians. Ther e i s more o r l e s s o f a g u l f
b e t w e e n t h e O c c i d e n t a l and O r i e n t a l ,
even t h o u g h b o t h be C h r i s t i a n s . The
d i f f e r e n c e in c l o t h i n g , fo o d , houses,
s o c ia l customs, ed uca tio n , language,
and m e t h o d s o f t h o u g h t a l l make t h e
chasm mo r e d i f f i c u l t t o b r i d g e . B o t h
m i s s i o n a r i e s and n a t i v e C h r i s t i a n s have
t o f i g h t a g a i n s t m u t u a l d i s t r u s t and
s u s p i c i o n , and a l s o a g a i n s t t e m p t a t i o n s
t o e x c l u s i v e n e s s and a sense o f s u p e r i o
rity . Wherever such b a r r i e r s a r e a l
l owed t o s t a n d , t h e y n o t o n l y i n t e r f e r e
w ith h e lp fu l s o c ia l in te r c o u r s e , but
also p re ve n t u n it y in C h r i s t i a n s e r
vice . ^
Perhaps Mott's statement was a trifle bland in the year of
t h e Boxer R e b e l l i o n . C ertainly it fa lls s h o r t o f any n o t i o n
of cultural relativism , but it does seem t o recognize that
there ar e d i f f e r e n c e s t h a t must be d e a l t with in a diploma
tic way. In China, where missionaries wer e routinely at
tacked as though they were some species of sub-human mon
ster, and n a t i v e Christians wer e pariahs, such admonitions
must have been d iffic u lt to heed. One won d e r s about the
88
fe e lin g s of the rice C hristians for th e ir benefactors.
Wh a t e ve r their feelings for the rest of the Chinese, the
m issionaries were not w i l l i n g to treat th e ir converts as
equals.^
Even in m atters of church p o lity , the m issionaries
practiced paternalism. Apparently, the kind of autonomy
required by churches in America could not be risked in
China. Not only were the native pastorates, as they were
called, dependent upon board funds, but also their members
could not be t r u s t e d to control their own a f f a i r s . As .one
missionary put it, "I long for a little more episcopacy in
our church in China, at least for a generation to c o me . " * ®
Despite these reservations, the former volunteers labored
steadily for the salvation of the Chinese. A strong sense
o f s u p e r i o r i t y was one o f t h e n e c e s s a r y i n g r e d i e n t s for such
an e n d e a v o r .
The t a s k o f w o r l d evangelization f e l l to a tiny m inori
ty of Amer i c an Protestants. In 1890, forty-tw o missionary
societies sustained 2,716 a c t i v e laborers abroad. Of t h e s e
missionaries, 985 were o r d a i n e d . Wel l over half of all the
missionaries wer e women- - 884 listed as "wives" and 700 as
" o t h e r women." The r e m a i n i n g 147 m i s s i o n a r i e s wer e d e s c r i b
ed as "lay workers," mostly physicians of both sexes. A l
t h o u g h t h e number o f a c t i v e m i s s i o n a r i e s increased r e g u la r ly
u n til the early 1920's, the re la tiv e numbers of men and
women, m i n i s t e r s and l a y workers r e mai n e d substantially the
same.
89
A1 t h o u g h evangelization and conversion were the u lti-
mat e goals of the A me r i c a n missionaries, most of them d i d
not devote th e ir energies to d ire c t exhortation of the
unconverted. Ot h e r a c tivitie s o c c u p i e d most o f their time.
These a ctivitie s, educational, medical, and litera ry, made
up t h e bulk o f mission work. Seasoned m i s s i o n a r i e s , to be
sure, traveled from v i l l a g e to v i l l a g e i n search o f f r u i t f u l
new t e r r i t o r i e s and s y m p a t h e t i c listeners. These " i t i n e r a t
i n g " m i n i s t e r s were, in e f f e c t , the scouts o f the mis sio nary
enterprise, seeking s i t e s for the institu tion s which su ppo r
ted their work. Those in stitu tio n s absor bed most of the
energy of the m issionaries. The native churches, the
schools, and t h e c lin ic s needed constant care and atten
tion.^®
Missionary institu tion s developed from the experience
of missionaries in the fie ld rather than from theoretical
imperatives a t home. Over t h e c o u r s e o f t i m e t h e s e i n s t i t u
tions, which seemed to be necessary adjuncts in the early
years, threatened to dominate the wor k as a whole. By t h e
time student volunteers began to reach their posts, e d uc a
tion had become t h e most i m p o r t a n t means t o e v a n g e l i z a t i o n .
More m i s s i o n a r i e s in Chi n a spent their time supervising or
teaching in schools and colleges than in any other e n de a v
or .
E d u c a t i o n seemed t o be t h e answer t o t h e ma s s i v e
i n d i f f e r e n c e most m i s s i o n a r i e s encountered in the f i e l d .
They b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e c u l t u r a l strength of non-Christian
90
s o c i e t i e s was i n p a r t a me n t a l h a b i t t h a t c o u l d be
c o u n t e r a c t e d o n l y by a c o u r s e o f r e m e d i a l education. As
Mott described it,
We h e a r much o f t h e s l o w n e s s o f t h e
masses o f C h i n a t o r e c e i v e new i d e a s .
T h e i r m i n d s seem t o r u n i n c e r t a i n
grooves from which i t is d i f f i c u l t to
t u r n t h e m . . . . T h e i n t e l l e c t u a l p r i d e and
c o n ceit of the s c h o la s tic classes of
C h i n a , I n d i a , and o t h e r l a n d s i s , as
everywhere, a high b a r r i e r to the appre
h e n s i o n o f C h r i s t i a n t r u t h . *0
For w o r k e r s in the f i e l d , t h e problem o f overcoming c u l t u r a l
inertia seemed m o n u m e n t a l l y d i f f i c u l t :
I f i n o u r own G o d - e n l i g h t e n e d l a n d ,
numbers o f C h r i s t i a n f r i e n d s may combi ne
t o p r a y and w o r k , even w i t h t h e f a i t h
and z e a l o f a Moody, f o r t h e c o n v e r s i o n
o f one who has been b r o u g h t up f r o m
in fa n c y in the m id st of the s tr o n g e s t
C h r i s t i a n i n f l u e n c e s , w i t h a Godl y an
c e s t r y b e h i n d h i m , and f a i l ; what number
o f m i s s i o n a r i e s w o u l d be t o o g r e a t t o
c e n t e r t h e i r e f f o r t s on t h e c o n v e r s i o n
o f a Chi naman, whose a n c e s t o r s f o r m i l
l e n n i u m s have been i n i g n o r a n c e o f t h e
t r u e God, and have been s t e e p e d i n i d o l
a t r y and f a l s e h o o d , i n a v a r i c e and v i c e ,
who has a l w a y s l i v e d i n a h e a t h e n home
and l a n d , and i s d e e p l y i mb u e d w i t h
he at h en p r e j u d i c e and e d u c a t i o n . . . ? 21
Former v o l u n t e e r s learned vicariously a b o u t t h e d e v e l o p me n t
of educational systems. As Fr ank S. Woodruff reported to
his fr ie n d Wilder,
Si n c e comi ng t o B e i r u t , my i d e a s r e g a r d
i n g m i s s i o n a r y l i f e and wor k have become
much c h a n g e d - - a n d . . . much mor e p r a c t i
c a l . . . . A f t e r many y e a r s o f p r e a c h i n g i t
was f o u n d t h a t t h e Word made b u t l i t t l e
seemi ng i m p r e s s i o n . . . .So t h e m i s s i o n a
r i e s f o u n d e d a syst em o f s c h o o l s - - c o m -
mon, h i g h , and headed by t h e c o l l e g e - -
w i t h t h e o l o g i c a l d e p a r t m e n t and m e d i c a l
s c h o o l . 22
91
During the n i n e te e n th century, missionaries p r o du c e d a s i m i
lar syst em i n Ch i n a .
The d e v e l o p m e n t of secondary schools and in s titu te s
during the 1860's and 7 0 ' s led to the founding of colleges.
Five o f the s i x Christian colleges existing i n Chi na i n 1900
were f ounded by Amer i can missionaries. Although these in
stitutions r e s e mb l e d Amer i can c o l l e g e s , Amer i can missiona
ries did not simply transfer denominational colleges to
China. None of the mission bo ar d s originally intended to
establish Christian colleges as a means to evangelization.
Instead, colleges evolved from the nurturing of primary and
s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l s by i n d i v i d u a l m i s s i o n a r i e s . ^
Early educational e f f o r t s were p r a c t i c a l attempts to
bridge the litera cy gap, impart C hristian i deas to converts,
and t r a i n native pastors. U l t i m a t e l y the f a t e o f t h e ch u r c h
in China would depend on the quality of its indigenous
leaders. Yet t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f sch o ol syst ems r e q u i r e d t h e
efforts of a substantial m issionary community, and t h e r e
were a l wa y s missionaries who opposed the growth of educa
tio n . Even in 1895, when m o s t stations had established
sc h o o l systems, many f o r m e r volunteers were im patient. One
complained that if "less t i m e had been spent in preaching
and s e l l i n g tracts," and more had been d e v o t e d t o t h e "ju d i
cious, kindly training of the native pastorate, more con
verts and a stronger Church would have been the re su lt
today." Many v o l u n t e e r s f i l l e d positions i n day s c h o o l s and
boarding schools designed to educate converts and th e ir
92
c h i l d r e n . 24
A f ew men and women began t o work a l m o s t i m m e d i a t e l y t o
adyance higher education. Lyman P. Peet of the Ame r i c a n
Board o f Commi ssi oner s f o r Foreign Missions (ABCFM) reported
soon after his a r r i v a l in Chi na in 1890 that he wished to
teach “ higher branches o f s c i e n t i f i c knowledge." By 1 8 96,
he was pouring most of his time and ener gy into a typical
boys school. Calling it the Banyan City S cie ntific In sti
tute, he expanded i t s curriculum to include algebra, geome
try, and c h e m i s t r y . Because he had been bor n i n China, Peet
knew b e t t e r t h a n most o f his fellow volunteers that m issio
nary e d u c a t i o n , especially West er n s c i e n c e and the study of
E n g lish , was becoming in cre a sin g ly a ttra c tiv e to the
Chinese. Following the lead of educational pioneers like
C lavin W. M a t e e r and D e v e l l o Z. S h e ffie ld , Peet realize d
t h a t h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n c o u l d appeal to a wider audience:
C e r t a i n l y the o b j e c t o f a mission school

i s n o t a l o n e t o p r e p a r e young men t o be
t e a c h e r s and p r e a c h e r s , b u t t o f i t them
t o l e a d u p r i g h t and h o n o r a b l e l i v e s i n
w h a t e v e r v o c a t i o n t h e y may engage. All
ar e n o t f i t t e d n a t u r a l l y t o be t e a c h e r s
or p r e a c h e r s , and i t i s f o r t h o s e t h u s
s i t u a t e d t h a t we must p l a n as w e l l as
f o r t h e o t h e r s . 2^
More e x p l i c i t l y , according to another v o lu n te e r , t h e aim had
changed "during the last ten years f r om training Christian
boys t o become e f f i c i e n t Christian workers," to influencing
"heathen boys, through the use of higher education and
English" to become C h r i s t i a n s . By o f f e r i n g more a ttra ctive
courses in the schools and colleges, missionary educators
93
hoped t o attract a better class of students and t o g a i n the
s u p p o r t o f t h e C h i n e s e g e n t r y . 26
As e a r l y as t h e 1 8 8 0 ' s a f ew m i s s i o n a r i e s believed th a t
the boar ds should allow a significant broadening of educa
tional policy for strategic reasons. S i n c e West er n l e a r n i n g
woul d come t o Chi na s o o n e r o r l a t e r , it wo u l d be i n t h e b e s t
interests o f the m i s s io n a r ie s to control its dissemination.
As one m i s s i o n a r y o f t h e ABCFM o b s e r v e d ,
S o m e t i m e t h e r e w i l l be a s c i e n t i f i c
awakeni ng i n C h i n a , and t h e n i t w i l l be
a g re a t help in fa v o r o f C h r i s t i a n i t y
and a g a i n s t i n f i d e l i t y t o have a wa keni ng
m i n d s come t o C h r i s t i a n m i s s i o n a r i e s
instead of in fid e ls fo r s c ie n tific
w o r k s . 27
Whent h i s awakening flo u rish e d in the years between the
Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer R e b e l l i o n , the handful of
men who c o n t r o l l e d m i s s i o n a r y e d u c a t i o n c o n f r o n t e d what t h e y
believed to be an u n p r e c e d e n t e d opportunity to control the
educational d e s t i n y o f China.
In the aftermath of the Japanese hum iliation, Chi nese
o ffic ia ls turned to We s t e r n learning to solve China's na
tional problems. One m i s s i o n a r y r e p o r t e d that
...books w r i t t e n f r o m a West er n s t a n d
p o i n t on t h e c o r r e c t i o n o f e v i l s in
Chi na and on t h e b e t t e r m e n t o f C h i n a ' s
i n d u s t r i e s a r e much s o u g h t a f t e r . The
est eem i n w h i c h We s t e r n l e a r n i n g i s h e l d
i s a s t r a w w h i c h shows c l e a r l y w h i c h way
t h e wi n d i s b l o w i n g i n C h i n a . 2®
The C h ' i n g g o v e r n me n t o ffic ia lly e n c ou r a g ed m i s s i o n a r y edu
cators in 1897 when it established the National University
at Peki ng u nder t h e d i r e c t i o n o f the E n g li s h m i s s io n a r y , Dr .
94
W. A. P. M a r t i n . In o r d e r t o staff t h e new U n i v e r s i t y , Martin
raided the faculties of the Christian c o l l eges, especially
t h e P r e s b y t e r i a n Tengchow C o l l e g e . Its founder, M a t e e r , was
delighted,
We need a l l t h e f o r c e we h a v e , and need

i t w e l l i n hand. The p r o s p e c t s f o r t h e
c o l l e g e f o r w i d e r u s e f u l n e s s were n e v e r
brighter. We a r e now t h r o u g h o u r g r a d u
ates l a r g e l y c o n t r o l l i n g the e d uc a ti o n a l
f o r c e s o f a l l N o r t h C h i n a . 29
Although they were excited by this new o p p o r t u n i t y , Mat eer
and o t h e r m i s s i o n a r y educators knew t h a t ma s s i v e reinforce
ment s woul d be n e c e s s a r y in order to seize the opportunity.
Henr y W. Luce warned t h e P r e s b y t e r i a n Boar d:
The C h u r c h may be e m b a r r a s s e d by i t s
o p p o r t u n i t y and e s p e c i a l l y so i n t h a t we
a r e t o o weak t o c o p e w i t h t h e r a p i d
i n t r o d u c t i o n o f We st e r n 1 e a r n i n g . . . . C h i -
na o u g h t t o h a v e f i f t y c o l l e g e s l i k e
T e n g c h o w a nd T ' u n g c h o w [ N o r t h C h i n a
C o l l e g e ] , p r e p a r i n g men who c o u l d t a k e
these i n s t i t u t i o n s f o r C h r i s t i nst ead o f
l e a v i n g them f o r h e a t h e n i s m and i n f i d e
l i t y . 30
Even if the mission boards of Ame r i c a had been w illin g to
underwrite such a large enterprise, the evangelization of
China by the graduates of the C hristian colleges seems
im possible in retrospect. But in 183S, the P resbyterian
Board actu a lly reduced M ateer's budget for Tengchow and
rejected his plea f o r an e n d o w m e n t . 3 *
The br oad e d u c a t i o n a l policies of t h e men who c o n t r o l
led the Christian colleges went far beyond the wishes of
th e ir own c h u r c h people in the United States, and those
p o licie s also drew sharp critic is m from m issionaries in
95
China. These c r i t i c s , including some n e wl y arrived student
volunteers, believed that such educational policies were
wasteful because t h e y were n o t t i e d dire ctly to the process
of e va ng e liza tio n . “ We m u s t d i s c r i m i n a t e between a free
Gospel and a f r e e education." William Ashmor e, a respected
P r e s b y t e r ia n m is s io n a r y of long s e r v i c e , complained b i t t e r l y
to his boar d s e c r e t a r y :
any a har d ear ned d o l l a r i s b e i n g used

to g iv e a c o l l e g e e d u c a t i o n t o some
h e a t h e n b o y w h i c h d o l l a r was g i v e n t o
e v a n g e l i z e t h e h e a t h e n by p o o r p e o p l e
who c a n n o t g e t an academi c e d u c a t i o n f o r
t h e i r own boys at home. 32
Such a r g ume n t s carried special weight at a time when the
boards were staggering under the effects of the depression
of 1893. Even d u r i n g the best of times, boar d secretaries
exercised e x t r e me caution in apportioning their fiscal re
sources among c o m p e t i n g m i s s i o n a r y e n t e r p r i s e s . None o f t h e
b o a r d s was w i l l i n g to re -allo cate its meager f u n d s t o expand
higher education in C h i n a . ^
One m i g h t e x p e c t t h a t t h e f o r m e r v o l u n t e e r s , with their
strong pr ogr am of missionary education at home, might have
favored the broader a p p l i c a t i o n o f education in China. They
were, h o we v e r , no more united in their thinking about that
problem than about any other. Even those who favored the
b r o ad p o l i c y were a p p r e h e n s i v e a b o u t its p o s s i b l e consequen
ces. Graduates of the C hristian colleges took lu cra tive
positions in the cust oms and telegraph offices, the press,
and secular education. According to one former volunteer,
96
that trend needed to be countered by an "advance in the
syst em o f t h e o l o g i c a l instruction," o r most o f t h e g r a d u a t e s
woul d be l o s t and t h e c h u r c h woul d be le ft without a "high
grade o f n a t i v e pastorate." Others simply agr eed w i t h Ash
more :
I am g l a d you a t home a r e l e a n i n g hard

on t h e e v a n g e l i s t i c ai m. We a r e under a
t r e me n do u s p r e s s u r e t o g i v e a l l a t t e n
t i o n t o e d u c a t i o n h e r e , and so I hope we
may keep t o t h e t r u e c o u r s e o f u s i n g a l l
means t Q w i n as many as p o s s i b l e t o
C h r i s t . 3*
A f ew v o l u n t e e r s , Luce, Peet, and some o t h e r s , embraced t h e
br oad educational policies of the Christian colleges. Jo
seph B a illie , for e x a mp l e , resigned his post at Tengchow i n
order to teach at the National U niversity. For the next
th irty years, he d e v o t e d himself to a variety of tasks for
the Chi nese government, serving either as an a d v i s o r or in
o fficia l or quasi-official c a p a c i t i e s . 3^ Despite his at
t e mp t s to help moderni ze China, B a illie had given up his
original mission in order to be u s e f u l to the Chinese. But
B a illie , M artin, Mateer, and S heffield we r e exceptional
cases. They had become so engrossed in higher education
that it had ceased to be s i m p l y a means to evangelization,
but had become an end in its e lf. Historians of Chi na m i s
sions have t e n d e d to hold out these few e x c e p t i o n a l m issio
naries as exampl es to show t h a t missionaries made i m p o r t a n t
contributions to the modernization of China. Not o n l y have
the effects of the work of these exceptional missionaries
been e x a g g e r a t e d , but, by e x t e n s i o n , t h e wor k and t h e inten
97
tions of the bulk of the m i s s io n a r ie s have been distorted.
Most of the student volunteers wer e c o mmi t t e d only to the
evangelization of Ch i n a , and t h e i r educational efforts were
largely traditional and s p i r i t u a l l y oriented. Even t h e work
of the e XC9p t1 onal missionaries may have been largely irre
levant to the m o d ern iz ation of China. West er n learning had
ne v e r been the exclusive property of the missionaries, and
they did not excel in the kind of technical studies that
Chi nese o f f i c i a l s hoped woul d bring wealth and power to the
empire. The flow of Chi nese students to Japan after the
turn o f t h e c e n t u r y was an i m p o r t a n t indication that China's
brief reliance on some of the graduates of the Christian
colleges had been a m a t t e r o f c o n v e n i e n c e . ^
One o f every twenty m issionaries who sailed from the
U n i t e d S t a t e s was a p h y s i c i a n . By t h e end o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
century, the secretaries of the denominational bo ar d s had
accepted medical m i s s i o n a r i e s as an e s s e n t i a l element in the
wor k of evangelization. The m inistry of healing provided
i mme d i a t e and i n t i m a t e access t o the unconverted. It demon
strated t h e compassi on o f C h r i s t i a n s and t h e good i n t e n t i o n s
of missionaries in general. Even if non-Christians failed
to correlate the efficiency of Western m e d icin e w it h the
superiority of Christian religion, they might be t empt ed to
question th e ir own h e a l e r s . As one v o l u n t e e r explained,
"Every patient that l eaves our hospital goes to his or her
home w i t h a better idea of the foreigner and his religion
and becomes a p o we r for breaking down su p erstitio n and
98
hatred to C h r i s t i a n i t y . " The b o a r d s also appointed me d i c a l
m issionaries to me e t the demands of m issionaries in the
fie ld f o r medical c a r e .
At l e a s t one f a c t seemed t o f a v o r t h e b oar d s e c r e t a r i e s
in their search for medical missionaries. The country was
experiencing a doctor boom. During th e last two decades of
the nineteenth century, the number of medical schools more
than d o u b l e d , reaching 160 i n 1 9 00, and an a l l ti me high of
162 i n 1 9 06. These s c h o o l s p r o duced an i n c r e a s i n g number o f
graduates, w h o s e n u mb e r s increased from 3,241 in 1880 to
5 , 747 in 1904--a peak n o t s u r p a s s e d u n t i l 1944. Per c a p i t a
figures show that the number of physicians kept pace with
population through the firs t decade Of t h e new c e n t u r y , and
that th e ir number r e a c h e d more t h a n 1 3 0 , 0 0 0 i n 1900. Unfor
tunately grave d i s p a r i t i e s existed in the q u a l i t y of medical
training and c a r e . 38
At the time that the SVM was founded, sig n ifica n t
numbers of A me r i c a n physicians s till practiced homeopat hy,
medeci ne based on replicating the symptoms of the disease.
Because the bulk of doctors practiced allopathy, h o stility
between the t w o g r o u p s was in e vita b le . C on flicts flared
openly in the State Me d i c a l Society of New Yor k in 1882.
The Ame r i c a n Medical Association excluded homeopat hs, re le
g a t i n g them t o a s t a t u s more a p p r o p r i a t e to p r a c t i t i o n e r s of
mesmerism and phrenology. The c o n flic t between these
schools illu stra te d the p r o bl e ms associated with judging
medical c o m p e t e n c e . 38
99
A balanced a ssessment of me d i c a l philosophy and prac
tice a t t h a t t i m e came f r o m a gover nment f u n c t i o n a r y , Albert
L. Gi hon, Medical Director of the U.S. Navy. In a biting
a ddr ess to the AMA, he summed up t h e situation and made a
rhetorical judgment: "It is unquestionably true that there
are no homeopat hs in the AMA, but are there any al l o p a t h s
there?" He t h e n par aded a s u c c e s s i o n o f i g n o r a n t p r o n o u n c e
ments and potential medical a tro cities gleaned from his
examination of graduates of the best medical schools. Ac
c o r d i n g t o Gi h o n , h o me o p a t h i c t r e a t m e n t m i g h t be p r e f e r a b l e .
The best remedy for the ills of the profession was stan
dardized tra in in g follow ed by rigorous testing by state
b o ar ds o f m e d i c a l e x a m i n e r s . 4®
Secretaries o f t h e m i s s i o n boar ds had no c o n v e n i e n t way
of judging the medical tra in in g of th e ir candidates, and
t h e y had t h e a d d i t i o n a l burden of selecting candidates with
t he pr oper moral and r e l i g i o u s qualifications. The l e a d e r s
o f t h e SVM made t h e i r own e v a l u a t i o n :
The m e d i c a l s t u d e n t s o f t h e c o u n t r y ,
j u d g i n g f r o m t h e r e p o r t s o f Dr . W a n l e s s ,
t h e l e t t e r s o f i n q u i r y whi ch have been
r e c e i v e d , and t h e ones t h e y send i n on
t h e i r p e r s o n a l b l a n k s , ar e e x c e e d i n g l y
c r u d e C h r i s t i a n m a t e r i a l . 41
The b e s t way t o i n s u r e t h a t medical s t u d e n t s w o u l d make more
promising candidates, according to the SVM, would be to
strengthen the C h r i s t i a n a s s o c i a t i o n s and v o l u n t e e r bands i n
me d i c a l schools. I n t h e l o n g r un t h e y hoped t h a t more young
men w o u l d d e c i d e to become p h y s i c i a n s after developing a
keen interest in missions. Their do ub t s probably did not
100
extend to the sp iritu a l q u a lific a tio n s of women m e d i c a l
students. In any e v e n t t h e r e is no e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e y were
specifically considered in the t a c t i c a l deliberations o f the
SVM.42
They were not, however , ignored by the secretaries of
the mission boards. In the years bet ween the turn of the
century and t h e Worl d War, about one m e d i c a l missionary in
four was a woman. Apparently fewer questions were raised
about their spiritual qualifications. SVM s t u d i e s showed
that women f or med t h e intention of becomi ng m i s s i o n a r i e s at
an e a r l i e r ag e, held t o their commi t ment f o r a longer time,
and were more likely to achieve their g o al of sailing as
m issionaries. S ta tis tic s show t h a t women w e r e far mor e
like ly than men to become m e d i c a l m issionaries. In 1913,
for example, 154 women g r a d u a t e d f r o m m e d i c a l schools in the
United States. El even of these women became m i s s i o n a r i e s .
Th a t y e a r 3 , 9 8 1 men g r a d u a t e d , b u t o n l y 31 j o i n e d the fo rc e s
o f the boards. During t he e n t i r e period one i n e v e r y t w e n t y
women g r a d u a t e s o f AMer i can m e d i c a l s c h o o l s became a m e d i c a l
m i s s i o n a r y . 42
That such a high percentage of Amer i can women physi
cians chose missionary careers is not surprising. Except
for teaching and n u r s i n g , m issionary work, mor e t h a n any
other profession, had been the province of women. The
motivations of women volunteers we r e overwhelmingly re li
gious, but in this case t h e y were also professional. Me d i
cal missions provided an opportunity for women to combi ne
101
th e ir religious beliefs with t h e i r professional aspirations.
I n Chi na o r I n d i a t h e y c o u l d a c t u a l l y p r a c tic e medicine. In
the United States t h e i r c a r e e r s were r o u t i n e l y circumscribed
by p r o f e s s i o n a l societies and communi t y a t t i t u d e s . 44
The new m e d i c a l missionaries probably experienced cul
tural shock as did th e ir mo r e evangelical counterparts.
They were u n u s u a l l y taciturn. Their annual reports to the
boards rarely mentioned more than the cumulative number of
patients who v i s i t e d th e ir smell c lin ic s . Some e v i d e n c e
indicates t h a t m e d i c a l m i s s i o n a r i e s f a c e d t h e i r own p e c u l i a r
problems. Although they were less lik e ly to w rite about
their experiences, they did g r o u s e more t h a n other mission
aries about f i n a n c i a l m a t t e r s . 4®
Until the tu r n o f the ce n tu ry the mission boards s till
appointed both homeopat hs and allopaths. Thus Dr . James S.
Gr a n t of the Amer i can Baptist Missionary Uni on (ABMU), the
missionary or gan of the Northern Baptists, wrote home t h a t
he was "much d i s a p p o i n t e d " to learn that his new c o l l e a g u e ,
Dr . Burchet, belonged "to the h o me o p a t h i c school, while he
was e q u a l l y disappointed" to learn that Gr a n t was an a l l o
path. Wh i l e such a p o l i c y could h ardly a f f e c t t h e number o f
c o n v e r t s won, it probably did little to f o s t e r harmony among
t h e p h y s i c i a n s . 4®
A more d i f f i c u l t problem f o r medical missions was t h a t
d u r i n g t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s some m i s s i o n a r i e s in the f i e l d t o o k up t h e
doctrine of divine healing. Like Christian Science, this
doctrine emphasi zed the sp iritu a l power of God. Although
102
both wer e reactions against the scie n tific rationalism of
the n in e te e n th century, the d o c t r i n e o f d iv i n e healing rest
ed on traditional scriptural foundations. The ABMU some
times sent homeopat hs and allopaths to stations wher e the
other m issionaries believed that reliance on medical arts
was p e r n i c i o u s and s i n f u l . The b a t t l e s over medical prac
tice and h e a l t h c a r e were s a v a g e l y d i v i s i v e and waged w i t h a
bitterness that u n d e r mi n e d t h e harmony o f some s t a t i o n s for
y e a r s . 47
The d o c t r i n a l battles t o u c h e d on l i f e and d e a t h m a t t e r s
for a ll m issio n a rie s. Even in communities where d ivin e
healing was n o t an i m p o r t a n t issue, the health of missiona
ries was a vita l concern. At the same t i m e that some m i s
sionaries denounced medical practice, others demanded that
more p h y s i c i a n s be s e n t t o care for the missionary communi
ty, because by We st e r n standards missionaries' health prob
lems wer e a p p a l l i n g . 4**
Missionaries s u f f e r e d from a high incidence of physical
and me n t a l disorders. A report from one station concluded
t h a t o f f o u r t e e n young p e o p l e who had a r r i v e d in the preced
ing t h r e e y e a r s , only f i v e wer e f i t to work. In a d d i t i o n to
the effects of diet, clim ate, and e x p o s u r e to new d i s e a s e s ,
many m i s s i o n a r i e s were not mentally strong enough to cope
with the stress of their work. Lar ge numbers suffered from
"nervous Prostration." Some f e l t that there was something
in the c l im a t e that caused t h e b r e ak d o wns :
Th e r e is a strong tendency to break us
103
a l l down n e r v o u s l y . Th e r e have been two

o r t h r e e m i s s i o n a r i e s who h a v e l o s t
t h e i r mi nds i n t h i s p r o v i n c e , o t h e r s who
have n e a r l y done s o , and a l l have f e l t
i t s d e l e t e r i o u s e f f e c t . ^9
Some c a s e s w e r e severe e n ou g h that the m issionaries went
home t o a sanitarium for prolonged periods. These ind ivi
d u a l s sel dom r e t u r n e d t o t h e f i e l d .
M issionaries who d i d not believe in the practice of
divine healing c l a m o r e d f o r more p h y s i c i a n s and f o r sanita
riums and rest stations. Otherwise loyal missionaries de
nounced t h e b o a r d s on h e a l t h related issues. In the United
States, Harlan P. Beach a c c u s e d the boards cf "murdering
missionaries by n e g l e c t , " and Henr y Kingman w r o t e f r o m Chi na
that it was d i f f i c u l t t o speak o f t h e " c u l p a b l e d i s r e g a r d o f
health" that he had w i t n e s s e d . Missionaries o f t h e Amer i can
Bo a r d e n v i e d th e ir counterparts in Hudson T a y l o r ' s China
Inland M ission. Although they were paid less, Taylor's
missionaries enjoyed b e t t e r fa c ilitie s for rest and r e c u p e
ration. Despite the evidence o f wretched health care, some
missionaries not only had to ju s tify their own demands for
physicians, but also had t o ju s tify medical practice its e lf
in the face o f c r i t i c i s m by a d v o c a t e s o f d i v i n e healing.^®
Edwin N. Fletcher o f t h e ABMU a r r i v e d in Chi na i n 1892.
In 1894 he lost his son, and his wife nearly died after a
prolonged illn e ss. Believing that a doctor should be s e n t
to the s t a t i o n , he began t o p r e s s t h e b o a r d f o r action,
. . . n o t h i n g d i s a r m s p r e j u d i c e as a k i n d l y
m edical t r e a tm e n t does. Th e y may n o t
c o m p r e h e n d o u r d o c t r i n e s , b u t a l l can
u n d e r s t a n d t h e Go s p e l w h i c h r e l i e v e s
104
p a in .re s to re s sig h t, and prolongs

l i f e . 51
At the same t i m e he became embroiled in a vicious contest
w i t h one o f h i s f e l l o w s o v e r t h e q u e s t i o n o f d i v i n e healing.
For t h e next four years the correspondence of both men was
fille d with self ju stifica tio n and personal attacks. The
station divided on t h e issue and b o t h men r e s i g n e d . Even-
tually Fletcher triumphed. Returning to the wor k he ag ai n
pl eaded for a physician and su g ge s t ed that the b oar d pro
scribe the doctrine of divine healing. His victo ry was
short-lived, however, because he d i e d o f b l o o d p o i s o n i n g t h e
following y e a r . 52
It is im p o s s ib le to determine the e f f e c t s o f the d i v i n e
nealing controversy on m e d i c a l missionary work. The d a i l y
routine of the small c lin ic s was probably not hampered.
Perhaps some p h y s i c i a n s were prevented f r om sailing because
o f the r e s i s t a n c e o f the advocates o f d i v i n e healing. There
is no e v i d e n c e that t h e b o a r d s were w i l l i n g to take a posi
tion on t h e i s s u e . C e r t a i n l y the phys icia ns f e l t the enmity
of the practitioners of divine healing, and the wor k as a
whol e suffered from prolonged quarrels among the missiona
ries. From th e ir correspondence it is clear that many
missionaries harbored strong resentments against the boar ds
for neglecting health care. Wh i l e i t can be a r g u e d t h a t t h e
p h y s i c i a n s were n o t v e r y e f f e c t i v e , efficiency a l o n e demand
ed t h a t Christian workers should not be w a s t e d . In human
costs the in a b ility of the boards to provide better health
care i s an i n s t a n c e o f p a r s i m o n y whi ch s h o u l d n o t be f o r g o t
105
ten.
D i v i n e h e a l i n g was n o t t h e o n l y d o c t r i n e w h i c h t r o u b l e d
the v o lu n t e e r s as t h e y t o i l e d a t t h e work o f e v a n g e l i z a t i o n .
During the last two decades of the 19th century, higher
criticism of the B i b l e and t h e new t h e o l o g y began t o filte r
into the theoiogical seminaries of the United States. The
resulting tria ls for heresy and f a l s e doctrine reverberated
all t h e way t o C h i n a . 55
Most o f t h e student volunteers were t h e o l o g i c a l l y con
servative. The s p i r i t u a l mentors of the SVM, Arthur T.
Pierson and A d o n i r a m J. Gordon, were among the group of
c o n s e r v a t i v e s who o r g a n i z e d t h e N i a g a r a B i b l e C o n f e r e n c e and
led the f r o n t a l a t t a c k on t h e new t h e o l o g y . W i t h Moody t h e y
established the s p i r i t u a l t o n e o f t h e SVM and s y m b o l i z e d t h e
forces of orthodoxy u n til the turn of the century. The
m i s s i o n b o a r d s emphasi zed t r a d i t i o n a l doctrines and s c r e e n e d
their candidates accordingly. Even students who were ex
posed t o h i g h e r c r i t i c s i g n o r e d them as o f t e n as n o t . Eddy,
for e x a mp l e , remembered h i s own i n d i f f e r e n c e ;
I am p a i n e d and ashamed as I r ead t h e s e

e a r l y l e t t e r s from I n d i a t o f i n d a f t e r
my s t u d y u n d e r t h e g r e a t P r e s i d e n t
M c G i f f e r t a t U n i o n , a h i g h e r c r i t i c and
i n t e l l e c t u a l g i a n t , t h a t my c r i t i c a l
f a c i l i t y was so l i t t l e d e v e l o p e d , and
t h a t I seemed t o have t a k e n up an o v e r
s i m p l i f i e d , a l mo s t f u n d a m e n t a l i s t p o s i
t i o n . 54
The m i s s i o n a r y community in China was, for the most
part, a product o f the r i g i d selection syst em o f t h e b o a r d s .
As Peet wrote, "We a r e to preach the Gospel, not specula
106
tions, not t h e o r i e s , not h y p o t h e s e s . . . . " Another missionary
was even more d i r e c t :
We want men who a r e t h e m s e l v e s t h o r o u g h

ly converted. We do n o t wa n t men who
are going a f t e r a l l t he l a t e s t f a d s . We
need no d e s t r u c t i v e h i g h e r c r i t i c s . . . .We
do n o t w a n t men who a p p r o a c h h e a t h e n
r e l i g i o n s i n an a t t i t u d e o f a p o l o g y f o r
i n t r u s i o n . . . . T h e r e i s no p l a c e f o r t h o s e
who have o n l y one d r o p o f J l o s p e l t o two
o r t h r e e oceans o f t h e o r y . ^
Although the y a s t m a j o r i t y of missionaries in the f i e l d
adhered t o o r t h o d o x v i e w s , t h e r e were enough d i f f e r e n c e s to
fuel doctrinal disagreements i n many s t a t i o n s .
Per haps t h e most common s o u r c e of disagreement was t h e
question of the prem illennial advent. The boards did not
require candidates to declare themselves on this issue, so
it was possible to be considered sound whether or not one
believed in the doctrine. Nevertheless, premillennialism
was one of a cluster of beliefs usually held by the most
rigid and c o n s e r v a t i v e m issio n a rie s. Often it was asso
ciated w ith d ivin e healing and a strong defense of the
inerrancy of the scriptures. The prem illennialists in the
fie ld , as at home, considered themselves the guardians of
orthodoxy. An y o n e who did not accept the p re m ille n n ia l
a dvent was suspected of holding unsound doctrines in other
areas. Ar gument s a b o u t t h e p r e m i l l e n n i a l advent o ften fo rm
ed the basis of long standing feuds, in which both sides
tried to vindicate their own positions in long letters to
the boar d secretaries at home. These theoretical alterca
tions usually interfered with the wor k of the stations and
107
sometimes ended w ith the re signation of one of the par
t i e s . 56
Few m i s s i o n a r i e s in the fie ld openly embraced the new
theology. To do so woul d usually have meant leaving the
work. But in one area, the re a litie s of liv in g in Chi na
forced a few t o soften their theology. For those mission
aries the most troublesome question was future (second)
probation. The literature of missions abounded with pleas
to evangelize the world in order to prevent m illions from
fa llin g into the abyss. Much o f the drama and urgency of
the m i s s i o n a r y enterprise came f r o m t h e v i s i o n of a torrent
of humani ty perishing forever. As Hudson T a y l o r told the
volunteers,
The g o s p e l mu s t be p r e a c h e d t o t h e s e
people in a very s h o r t t i m e , f o r they
are p a s s in g away. . . . There i s a g r e a t
Ni ag ar a o f souls passing i n t o t h e dark
in China. Ever y d a y , e v e r y week, e v e r y
month t h e y a r e p a s s i n g away! A m i l l i o n a
month t h e y a r e d y i n g i n Chi na w i t h o u t
Go d ! 57
Wh i l e such imagery was compelling at home it could be un
settling in China. As one former volunteer explained, "My
four years at Ningpo effected no change i n my opinions
e x c e p t dumb wonder t h a t God c o u l d condemn t o p u n i s h me n t the
m illions r o u nd about u s . " 5** First hand contact with the
perishing m illio n s led that missionary to rethink his theo
l o g y and, e v e n tu a lly to resign. O t h e r s wer e a b l e t o make an
accommodat i on bet ween t h e i r wor k and t h e i r changing v e r s io n s
of s p i r i t u a l re a lity . Henry Kingman n o t e d t h a t " one o f the
108
most successful missionaries here...is a man who, after 25
years o f work, believes i n a s o r t o f second p r o b a t i o n . . . p r o
bation in the most p r o no u n c ed form." In this case, said
Ki ngman, such a b e l i e f had n o t “ c u t t h e n e r v e o f t h e m i s s i o
nar y e ffort." No one can determine how many m i s s i o n a r i e s
were persuaded by their environment to alter their notions
of re p ro b a tio n , b u t what is certain is that only a handful
ever e x p r e s s e d t h e i r change o f h e a r t . 59
Ver y f ew student volunteers in the fie ld embraced the
socialgospel, but the most o u t s p o k e n was W i l l i a m H. Cossum.
A Traveling Secretary for the SVM, Cossum l a t e r went to
Chi na u nder the auspices of the ABMU. He was contentious,
and his unwillingness to curb his t ongue kept him in hot
water w i t h t h e ABMU. W h i l e on f u r l o u g h in 1897, Cossum made
a speech i n Pittsburgh i n w h i c h he c r i t i c i z e d -John D. Rocke
fe lle r's connections with f o r e i g n m i s s i o n s and " t h e o v e r r i d
i ng influence of t h e money power upon o u r benevolent in sti
tutions." Chastised by the b oar d and given the choice of
apology or r e s i g n a t i o n , Cossum r e s i g n e d :
I do n o t even i mpugn Mr. R o c k e f e l l e r ' s

since rity, he w r o t e b u t t h e St a n d a r d
O i l Co. i s a m a t t e r o f h i s t o r y , and I am
not "ju d g in g " whe n I t a k e a s t a n d
a g a i n s t i t s o p e r a t i o n . . . u n t i l some pub
l i c e x p l a n a t i o n i s giv en f o r h i s connec
t i o n w i t h t h a t c o m p a n y , Mr . R o c k e f e l
l e r ' s p o s i t i o n b e f o r e t h e p u b l i c as an
a s s i s t a n t f o r f o r e i g n m i s s i o n s i s an
a nomyl ous o n e . ° 0
After leaving the board, Cossum was a s s o c i a t e d w i t h a varie
ty of independent agencies in the United States and China.
Between 1910 and 1922 he e ar ned h i s living selling insurance
109
and exterm inating rats rather than return to the fo ld .
Finally, i n 1923, he assumed t h e p a s t o r a t e o f t h e Ravenswood
Baptist Church in Chicago. Cossum was a m a v e r i c k and some
thing of a s p ir itu a l gadfly. Most o f h i s work l a y o u t s i d e
the influence o f the mission board, and he was a l m o s t alone
among t h e former volunteers in C h i n a who a r t i c u l a t e d the
social gospel i n any s y s t e m a t i c way. ®*
Occasionally missionaries made reference to the kinds
of Christian wor ks commonl y a s s o c i a t e d with the social gos
pel. Dwi g h t Goddard o f t h e ABCFM j u s t i f i e d h i s pet p r o j e c t ,
an i n d u s t r i a l school, by s a y i n g that it was like the prac
tice o f ou r "Lord and M a s t e r , who f i r s t relieved the t e mp o
ral want s o f t h e p e o p l e b e f o r e m i n i s t e r i n g to the spiritual
needs." Yet his pu r po s e was to “ knock out their ignorant
reliance on hand methods." Because Goddard came from an
engineering background, he was more preoccupied with e ffi
c i e n c y than poverty, and h i s p r o j e c t was more an a t t e m p t to
follow his old calling than to address himself to social
concerns.
Missionaries were a l wa y s w i l l i n g to undertake new p r o
jects on b e h a l f o f t h e i r prospective converts. Thus W i l l i a m
B. Hamilton begged t h e Presbyterian Board f o r an a p p r o p r i a
tion f o r the r e l i e f o f f l o o d victim s. “ R e l i e f work a t t i m e s
speaks w i t h more power o f t h e d i v i n i t y o f ou r religion than
a hundred preachers." M issionaries started anti-opium
leagues and anti-footbinding societies. They pioneered in
the education o f women. But these a ctivitie s did not come
110
from any new v i s i o n of social C h ris tia n ity . Th e y were,
instead, mo r al antidotes to noxious evils. Chi nese customs
were b a r r i e r s to the t r u t h , and t h e r e a c t i o n s o f t h e m i s s i o
naries wer e tactical and t r a d i t i o n a l . As Robert Speer re
mi nded an i m p o r t a n t m i s s i o n a r y c o n f e r e n c e ,
I r ead i n a m i s s i o n a r y p a p e r a w h i l e ago
t h a t t h e f o r e i g n m i s s i o n t h a t was t o
a c c o m p l i s h r e s u l t s o f p e r ma n e n t v a l u e ,
must aim a t t h e t o t a l r e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f
the s o c i a l f a b r i c . This is a m ischie
vous d o c t r i n e . 63
Of t h e SVM l e a d e r s at home, only Sherwood Eddy was p r e p a r e d
t o a d d r e s s t h e economi c and s o c i a l questions that lay at the
heart of the social gospel. The former volunteers who
worked in Asia taught, preached and healed for the same
reasons t h e i r p redec es s or s had.
Neither the SVM i n the United States n or its former
members i n t h e m i s s i o n fields was i n c l i n e d t o a c c e p t t h e new
ideas that followed the new t h e o l o g y or the social gospel.
Like the American foreign m issions movement, the SVM r e
mained a bulwark of denom inational orthodoxy and social
conservatism. W h i l e t h e c h u r c h e s o f Ame r i c a moved h a l t i n g l y
toward new ideas in the e a rly tw entieth century, their
missionary forces lagged b e h i n d .
We st e r n expansionists collided with Chi na in the 19t h
century. Because t h e West was successful for a time, mis
sionaries have been seen by some as the agents of West er n
imperialism, the w i l l i n g shock t r o o p s of an economi c adven
ture. C ertainly they were im p e ria lis ts , but they were,
I l l
above a l l , religious im perialists. They c h e e r e d t h e m i l i t a
ry victories of the West and Japan, not only because they
enlarged western influence, but because they advanced the
comi ng ki ng d o m. Their notions of history wer e prophetic,
n o t economi c o r p o l i t i c a l . The h u m i l i a t i o n of Chi na was b u t
one part of a grand design leading inexorably to a new
dispensation. Chi na m i s s i o n a r i e s b e l i e v e d that t h e West ern
im perialists were t h e advance g u ar d o f t h a t ultim ate empire,
the m i ll e n n i a l k i ng d o m. Perhaps t h e y also found comfort in
the triumphs of th e ir secular a llie s because the harvest of
their own l a b o r was so p i t i f u l l y meager . As one d i s c o u r a g e d
volunteer wrote, "One is somet i mes t e mp t e d to ask what is
t h e use o f all this. And as f a r as we can p o i n t out d ir e c t
re s u lts , the c ritic has the best of us. But as
C hristians...w e must obey our o rd e rs....O n ly the fie ld -
marshall u n d e r s t a n d s t h e who l e p l a n o f b a t t l e and what seems
t o be d e f e a t i n one p l a c e may h a s t e n t h e v i c t o r y for a l l . "64
Because they saw the world through sp iritu a l lenses,
the volunteers in the fie ld were unable to embrace the
social reconstruction o f Chi na w h o l e h e a r t e d l y . N e i t h e r were
they able to ignore the p e r s is te n t social problems t h a t they
faced every day. Consequently, the tension between the
needs of evangelization and m o d e r n i z a t i o n persisted in the
m i s s i o n a r y co mmu n i t y .
112
M a + o c
U ( /C O
1. John R. M o t t , Addr esses and Papers o f John R. M o t t , 6

v o l s . (New York"! A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1946) v o l T7 p.
174.
2. Ibid., p. 198.
3. M o t t , A d d r e s s e s and P a p e r s , v o l . 1, pp. 1 7 5 - 6 ; United

S t a t e s Bureau o? t h e Cen s u s , The S t a t i s t i c a l H i s t o r y
o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s f r o m C o l o n i a l Ti mes t o t h e P r e s e n t ,
(New Y o r k , H o r i z o n P r e s s , 1965) p. 38.
4. Mott, Ad d r e s s e s and P a p e r s , v o l . , 1, p. 32.
5. Ib id ., p. 98.
6. Most o f t h e m a t e r i a l f o r t h i s c h a p t e r i s dr awn f r o m a
s t u d y o f t h e f i r s t 150 s t u d e n t v o l u n t e e r s who s a i l e d t o
Chi na f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e movement t h r o u g h 1896.
I chose Chi na because o f my own i n t e r e s t , and because
i t has been a p o p u l a r a r e a f o r m i s s i o n s t u d i e s . I
b e l i e v e d i t woul d be e a s i e r t o do a k i n d o f case s t u d y
than t o a t t e m p t a survey o f t he e n t i r e f i e l d . Because
o f the s i z e o f the m i s s io n a r y e f f o r t in China, I be
l i e v e t h a t the choice is j u s t i f i a b l e . A cursory read
i n g o f o t h e r s o u r c e s i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e mo s t s e r i o u s
p r o b l e ms and most common t a s k s were s i m i l a r i n I n d i a
and o t h e r a r e a s o f m i s s i o n w o r k . James T . B l i s s ,
The E n c y c l o p e d i a o f M i s s i o n s , 2 v o l s . (New Y o r k , L o n-
d o n , ancl T o r o n t o , Funk £ v T a g n a l l ' s , 1891) v o l . 2 , p .
11 .
7. John N. Forman t o Rob e r t P. W i l d e r , April 10, 1888.
8. I b i d . ; W i l l i a m H. L i n g l e to F.F. Ellinwood, February

T T T 1 8 9 9 , PBFM Paper s.
9. James B. Thomson t o Judson S m i t h , May 12, 1 8 8 6 : Henry

Kingman t o Judson S m i t h , F e b r u a r y 11, 1899, ABCFM Pa
pers.
10. C a l v i n W. Ma t e e r t o A r t h u r Judson Brown, November 14,

1898; Henr y W. Luce t o A r t h u r Judson Br own, June 25,
1900, PBFM Pa p e r s .
11. Henr y Kingman t o Judson S m i t h , F e b r u a r y 11, 1 8 9 9 , ABCFM

Papers.
12. Henr y Kingman t o Judson S m i t h , F e b r u a r y 26, 1889; J o

seph B a i l l i e t o A r t h u r G i l l e s p i e , J u l y 2 2 , 1 8 91; E. R.
A t w a t e r t o J u d s o n S m i t h , J a n u a r y 1 6 , 1 8 9 3 ; F r a n k H.
C h a l f a n t t o F . F . E l l i n w o o d , A p r i l 7 , 1 8 9 4 . James C.
113
Thompson J r . ; P e t e r W. S t a n l e y , and John C u r t i s P e r r y ,

S e n t i m e n t a l I m p e r i a l i s t s ; The Amer i can E x p e r i e n c e in
E a s t A s i a ,(New Y o r k : H a r p e r & Row, 1 9 8 1 ) , pp^ 5 4 - 6 0 ;
Henr y Kingman t o Judson S m i t h , F e b r u a r y 26, 1889; J o
seph B a i l l i e t o A r t h u r G i l l e s p i e , J u l y 2 2 , 1891; E. R.
A t w a t e r t o Judson S m i t h , J a n u a r y 16, 1 8 93, ABCFM Pa
p e r s . Fr ank H. C h a l f a n t t o F . F . E l l i n w o o d , A p r i l 27,
1894. PBFM Paper s.
13. Sherwood Eddy, I n t r o d u c t o r y n o t e s t o h i s p a p e r s , Ty p e

w r i t t e n MS, Ya l e D i v i n i t y School L i b r a r y , New Haven,
Oc t o b e r 1, 1951.
14. Mott, E v a n g e l i z a t i o n , p. 40.
15. John Ki ng F a i r b a n k , The U n i t e d S t a t e s and C h i n a , (New

Y o r k : V i k i n g P r e s s , 1 9 6 7 ) , p. 147; Kennet h S c o t t L a t o u -
r e t t e , The C h i n e s e ; T h e i r H i s t o r y and C u l t u r e , (New
Y o r k : M c M i l l a n Company, 1 9 6 7 ) , p . 299.
16. F.H. C h a lfa n t to F.F. E llinw ood, A pril 7, 1894, ABMU

Papers.
17. Edwin Mu n s el l B l i s s e d . , The E n c y c l o p e d i a o f M i s s i o n s

(London and New Y o r k : Funk and WagnaI I s , 1 8 9 1 ) , Volume
I I , p. 436.
18. C h a r l e s A. S a l q u i s t t o Arthur Judson Br o wn , December

1 0 , 1891. ABMU Pa p e r s .
19. Op. Cit. B liss.
20. John R. M o t t , The E v a n g e l i z a t i o n o f t h e Wor l d i n T h i s

G e n e r a t i o n (New Y o r k , A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1900) p. 35.
21. W i l l i a m M. Langdon t o Robert W i l d e r , F e b r u a r y 15, 1889,

22. Fr ank W. W o o d r u f f t o Robert Wilder, November 22, 1886,

23. Kwang Chi ng L i u , " E a r l y C h r i s t i a n C o l l e g e s i n China",

J o u r n a l o f A s i a n S t u d i e s , Volume XX, pp. 7 1 - 2 .
24. D wi g h t Goddard t o t h e Ame r i c a n Board o f Commi ssi oner s

f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , May 24, 1895, ABCFM Pa p er s .
25. Lyman P. Peet to Judson Smith, March 31, 1896, ABCFM

Papers.
26. W i l l a r d L . Bear d to Judson Smith, January 31, 1898,

ABCFM Paper s.
114
27. Joseph E. Wa l ker t o A. G. Clark, August 31, 1 8 80, ABCFM

Papers.
28. W i l l a r d L . Beard to J udson Smith, Sept ember 2, 1897,

ABCFM Pa p er s .
29. C a l v i n W. Mat eer t o Arthur Judson Brown, November 14,

1898, PBFM Paper s.
30 . Henr y W. Luce to Arthur Judson Brown, June 25, 1900,

PBFM Pa p e r s .
31. W i l l i a m N. Hayes t o A r t h u r Judson Brown, June 2 5 , 1900,

PBFM Pa p e r s .
32. W i l l i a m Ashmor e to Robert Speer, August 30, 1897.

Speer Pa p er s .
33. F. H. C h a l f a n t to F.F. Ellinwood, March 8, 1894, PBFM

Pa p e r s .
34. W illard L. Beard t o ABCFM, J u l y 1, 1895, ABCFM Paper s.
35. Joseph B a i l l i e t o PBFM O c t o b e r 28, 1898, PBFM Pa p e r s .
36. George W. Cornwell to PBFM, Sept ember 16, 1898, PBFM

Papers.
37. L u t h e r D. W i s h a r d , A New Programme o f M i s s i o n s , (New

Y o r k , S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r F o r e i g n FTTssions,
1 8 9 5 ) , pp. 1 5 - 1 6 .
38. E d g e r t o n H. H a r t to A.J. Palmer, A p ril 30, 1896,

MEBFM Pa p e r s .
39. Journal o f t h e Amer i can M e d i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n , Vol ume 79,

August, 1922, pp. 6 3 2 - 6 3 3 .
40. A l b e r t L. Gi h o n , " A d d r e s s o f A . L . Gi hon t o t h e Amer i can

Me d i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n , C l e v e l a n d , June 5 , 1 8 9 3 " , J o u r n a l
o f t h e Amer i can M e d i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n , Volume I I , No. 2,
J a n u a r y 12, 1884.
41. Ib id .
42. H o m e o p a t h y was a s y s t e m o f t r e a t m e n t d e v e l o p e d by a
L e ip z ig p h y s ic ia n d u rin g the 1 7 9 0 's. Homeopaths
a t t e m p t e d t o c u r e p a t i e n t s by a d m i n i s t e r i n g d r u g s whi ch
w o u l d p r o d u c e i n a h e a l t h y p e r s o n s y mp t o ms c l o s e l y
r e s e m b l i n g th o s e o f t h e d i s e a s e b e in g t r e a t e d . H.B.
Sharmon t o John R. M o t t , A p r i l 9 , 1896. SVM A r c h i v e s .
43. H . B . Shar mon to John R. M ott, A p ril 9, 1896. SVM

Archives.
115
44. J o u r n a l o f t h e Ame r i c a n Me d i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n , Vol ume 79,

A u g u s t , 1 9 2 2 , p . 6 32. "D irectory of Active Protestant
M i s s i o n a r i e s " , T y p e w r i t t e n MS, 1895, SVM A r c h i v e s , Yal e
D i v i n i t y S c h o o l , New Haven.
45. J o u r n a l o f t h e Ame r i c a n Me d i c a l Association, Vol ume V,

no. 2 , J u l y , 1 1 , 1885.
46. J.S. G r a n t t o ABMU, November 14, 1889, ABMU P a p e r s .
47. St ephen Gottschalk, The Emergence o f C h r i s t i a n S c i e n

ce i n Ame r i c a n R e l i g i o u s L i f e , 1885- 19101 Arbor,
U n i v e r s i t y M i c r o f i l m s , 1 9 7 9 ) , pp. 3 9 4 - 3 9 5 ; Adoniram
Judson Go r don, The M i n i s t r y o f H e a l i n g ; o r m i r a c l e s o f
c u r e i n a l l Ages~| ( B o s t o n : fTI G a n n e t t , 1 8 8 2 ) , p a s s i m . ;
E . N . F l e t c h e r t o H e n r y C. M a b i e , November 1 9 , 1 8 9 4 .
E. N. F l e t c h e r t o Henr y C. Ma b i e , J a n u a r y 4, 1899.
48. C h a r l e s A. K i l l i e t o PBFM S e p t e m b e r 3 , 1 8 8 6 , PBFM

P a p e r s . Henr y Ki ngman t o Judson S m i t h , A u g u s t 2 1 , 1889,
ABCFM P a p e r s .
49. John A. F i t c h to Arthur Judson Br own, March 2, 1898,

PBFM P a p e r s .
50. F. W. D a v i s t o J u d s o n S m i t h , November 7 , 18 99 , Henry

Ki ngman t o Judson S m i t h , May 14, 1 8 91, ABCFM P a p e r s .
John A s h l y F i t c h t o A r t h u r Judson Br own, J a n u a r y 12,
1 8 9 8 , PBFM Papers.
51. E.N. F l e t c h e r to S.W. Duncan, Ma r c h 3, 1894. ABMU

Papers.
52. E . N . F l e t c h e r t o H e n r y C. M a b i e , Nov e mb e r 1 6 , 1 8 9 4 ,
November 1 1 , 1 8 9 5 , November 17, 1898, J a n u a r y 4 , 1899.
ABMU P a p e r s .
53. J . B . Thompson t o J u d s o n S m i t h , May 1 2 , 1 8 8 6 , ABCFM

P a p e r s . C l i f t o n E. O l m s t e a d , H i s t o r y o f R e l i g i o n i n t h e
U n i t e d S t a t e s , ( Engl ewood Cl i f f si, New J e r s e y : Prenti-
c e - H a l 1, I n c . , 1 9 6 2 ) , p p . 4 6 5 - 4 9 4 . V i r g i l F. P a r t c h t o
the P r e s b y t e r i a n Board o f F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , A p r i l 28,
1 9 0 0 , PBFM P a p e r s . Henr y Kingman t o t h e Ame r i c a n Board
of Commissioners f o r f o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , February 26,
1 8 89, ABCFM P a p e r s .
54. Sherwood Eddy, “ F a m i l y H i s t o r y " , Typewritten MS, Eddy

Papers, Yale D i v i n i t y School .
55. F.W. B a i l e r , " The Pr obl em o f C h i n a ' s E v a n g e l i z a t i o n " ,

i n D a v i d W. L y o n , e d . , The E v a n g e l i z a t i o n o f C h i n a
( ^ N a t i o n a l C o m m i t t e e o f t h e Col l e g e YMCA 57 C h i n a ,
l i e n t s i n , 1897) p p . 2 4 - 5 .
116
56. E . N . F l e t c h e r t o H e n r y C. M a b i e , Nov e mb e r 1 6 , 1 8 9 4 .
ABMU Pa p e r s . E r n e s t R. Sandeen, The Root s o f Amer i can
F u n d a m e n t a l i s m ; B r i t i s h and Amer i can M i l l e n a r i a n i s m T
1 8 0 0 - 1 9 3 0 , ( Ch i c aqo : U n i v e r s i t y o7 Ch i caqo P r e s s ,
1978).
57. Hudson T a y l o r , The S t u d e n t M i s s i o n a r y E n t e r p r i s e ; Ad

d r e s s e s and D i s c u s s i o n s o f t h e Second I n t e r n a t i o n a l
“C o n v e n t i o n o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r F o r
e i g n M i s s i o n s (New York and C h i c a g o , Fl e mi n g H. Revel 1
& C o . , 1894) p . 48.
58. V i r g i l F. Partch to the PBFM, A p ril 28, 1900 , PBFM
Pa p er s .
59. Henry Kingman to the ABCFM, February 26, 1889, ABCFM

Paper s.
60. William H. Cossum t o Henry C. Ma b i e , June 5, 1897. ABMU

Pa p e r s . For a good d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e o f t h e
social g o s p e l see R o b e r t T. Handy, ed. The S o c i a l Gos
pel in A m e r i c a , 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 2 0 , (New Y o r k ! A s s o c i a t i o n
Press, 1966), I n t r o d u c t i o n .
61. W illiam H. Cos sum, B aptist Biographical Index, ABMU

Pa p er s .
62. Dwi g h t Goddard t o ABCFM, May 27, 1895. ABCFM Pa p e r s .
63. W i l l i a m Beeson H a m i l t o n t o A r t h u r Judson Brown, Decem

b e r 25, 1898. R o b e r t S p e e r , Ad d r e s s b e f o r e t h e Ecume
n i c a l M i s s i o n s C o n f e r e n c e , New Y o r k , A p r i l 23, 1900.
I n R o b e r t S p e e r , M i s s i o n a r y P r i n c i p l e s and P r a c t i c e
( F l e m i n g H. R e v e l ! C o . , New York and C h i c a g o , 1902) pp.
35-36.
64. C.A. S a l q u i s t to Arthur Judson Brown, May 1 9 , 1897.

PBFM Pa p er s .
117
Chapter V
SVM Expanded; John R. Mo t t
and C h r i s t i a n Organizations, 1900- 1920
" M i s s i o n s I woul d q u i c k e n w i t h t h e Wal l Street S pirit." *
Herman M e l v i l l e
After 1900, t h e SVM began t o show some s i g n s of inte r
nal decay. Although the mechani sms put in place between
1888 and 18 93 ^ s u s t a i n e d t h e movement through several cycles
of college students, the number of volunteers r emai ned re
mar kabl y s t a b l e . Budget s i n c r e a s e d t e n - f o l d , and t r a v e l l i n g
s e c r e t a r i e s made f r e s h appeals; b u t t h e movement had r eached
its lim its. The significance of the movement during the
p r e - w a r y e a r s was t h a t it was t h e model for other organiza
tions and t h e s p ear head o f t h e d r i v e to bring cooperation to
m i s s i o n a r y work by c r e a t i n g new v o l u n t a r y a s s o c i a t i o n s .
From t h e beginning, the Student volunteers enjoyed
influence greater than th e ir numbers w ith in the student
Christian milieu woul d have suggested. As early as 1891,
Student Volunteers held at le a s t o n e - f i f t h o f the o f f i c e s in
118
the College Y.M.C.A.'s and wer e an important force in the
Inter-S em inary M issionary A llia n ce . W ithin the next few
years, they expanded their collegiate base by f o u n d i n g the
World's Student Christian Federation with chapters overseas
as w e l l as i n Nor t h A m e r i c a . ^
During the firs t twenty years of the new c e n t u r y , the
SVM c a d r e , especially Mott and S p e e r , were a t t h e center of
in te rd e n o m in a tio n a l o rg a n iza tio n s, com m ittees, and
conferences that d ire cte d the m issio n a ry e ffo rts and
a d m i n i s t e r e d much o f t h e w h e r e w i t h a l o f the C h r i s t i a n l aymen
of Nor t h America. In 1910, for e x a mp l e , Mott was chairman
of the Edinburgh Wor l d Missionary Con f e r e n c e and organized
the Wh i t e House Conference on the Wo r l d - Wi d e Expansion of
the Y.M.C.A.. Bo t h Mott and Speer we r e instrum ental in
founding the powerful Lay man ' s Missionary Movement ( LMM) at
the Student Volunteer Convention in N ashville in 1906.
Mott, Sp e e r , Eddy, W i l d e r , and o t h e r s o r g a n i z e d t h e war work
of the Y.M.C.A. and adm inistered its canteens, ra isin g
n e a r l y t wo h u ndr ed m i l l i o n dollars in the process. The i l l -
fated Inter-church world movement of 1919- 1920 represented
th e ir u ltim a te attempt to translate the p rin c ip le s of
c o lle g ia te o rg a n iza tio n in to an in te rd e n o m in a tio n a l
superagency-- a m issionary t r u s t . ^
John R. M o t t d i d n o t become one o f t h e most i n f l u e n t i a l
C h r i s t i a n s o f h i s t i m e by c h a n c e . He and a h a n d f u l o f other
SVM l e a d e r s wer e a b l e t o d o m i n a t e t h e N o r t h Amer i can M i s s i o
n a r y e n t e r p r i s e because t h e y s u c c e s s f u l l y applied techniques
119
they had learned as student evangelists. Mott and the
others believed in p r a c t i c in g leadership. They assumed t h a t
one m o t i v a t e d pe r s on c o u l d cause others to achieve results.
The dynami sm o f W i l d e r and Forman had created a great suc
cess in the early days of the SVM. They a ssu med that
leadership was easy if the proper principles were applied.
By 1899, for example, Mott had developed a form ula for
r u n n i n g a Y . M. C. A. m e e t i n g :
B e g i n n i n g on t i m e , l e t t h e l e a d e r keep
i n mi nd t h a t he i s t h e r e t o l e a d - - n o t
s i m p l y t o make a s p e e c h . He s h o u l d make
one p o i n t and t h a t t h e k e y n o t e o f t h e
m e e t i n g . . . Have good s i n g i n g o r none
. . . Be i n s t a n t i n p r a y e r . Be i n dead
earnest. Expect r e s u lt s . C l o s e on
tim e.4
Strong personal contact was im portant. Commenting on an
evangelistic campai gn a t Princeton, Mott noted t h a t although
they had a s e r i e s o f speakers " s u c h as Dr . Mc Ke n z i e , Sp e e r ,
Van Dyke, Woodrow W i l s o n , President Patton, etc."; no one
p e r s o n was " k e p t on l o n g enough t o get hold strongly of the
situ a tion ."5
M o t t was u s u a l l y able t o g e t hold o f things. By 1889,
he was already perfecting the techniques wh i c h would make
hi m a f o r m i d a b l e f u n d r a i s e r :
The Lor d was a l s o w i t h me i n g r e a t power

a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f I o wa . I found . . .
t h i n g s c o l d as can b e . Their b u ild in g
f u n d s t o o d a t $ 4 , 0 0 0 when I l e f t i t a
y e a r ago. None o f them had f a i t h . We
held a l i t t l e c o n s e c r a t i o n m eeting. I
k e p t them i n c o n s t a n t p r a y e r d u r i n g f i v e
days. One by one t h e L o r d e n a b l e d me t o
l e a d t h e men t o t h e p o i n t o f s a c r i f i c e
120
f o r Him. H e a r t s began t o m e l t . When I

l e f t , t h e f u n d had r u n p a s t $ 9 , 0 0 0 - - and
a l l t h a t f r o m s t u d e n t s and f a c u l t y .
S i n c e t h e n i t has passed $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 . 6
Ten years later Mott was raising m illions of dollars
for t h e Y.M.C.A. and f o r e i g n m i s s i o n s . Asking f o r a m illion
and a half for overseas construction, he pointed out that
associations in the United States and Canada had spent some
th irty m illio n s on f a c i l i t i e s in the previous few y e a r s .
C haracteristically, Mott argued for one f u n d with as i n g l e
financial goal to finance some f i f t y p r o j e c t s abroad. As he
said,
Th e r e a r e two ways o f g o i n g a b o u t t h i s
matter. One wo u l d be t h e way t h a t has
too l a r g e l y o b ta in e d in the p a s t in
c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h i s and o t h e r o r g a n i z a
t i o n s , even a l l o f o u r c h u r c h e s , and
t h a t is to l e t f o r t y - n i n e separate p r o
p o s a l s l o o s e upon t h e good p e o p l e o f t h e
U n i t e d S t a t e s and C a n a d a . The o t h e r
p l a n i s t o c o n s o l i d a t e t h e s e a p p e a l s and
come t o t h e f r i e n d s o f t h i s wor k once
fo r th is period. 7
One o f the "frie n d s of th is work", John D. R ocke feller,
pledged $540,000, and other substantial contributions wer e
soon secured. Mott put together these systematic funding
p r o g r a ms u s i n g met hods he had l e a r n e d in h is early experien
ce ra isin g money for the Student Volunteers among the
churches. As the years went by, he became a master of
interdenominational finance and the instigator of united
ca mp ai g n s w h i c h r a i s e d huge sums.®
C a r e f u l l y o r c h e s t r a t e d c o n f e r e n c e s and c o n v e n t i o n s gave
Mott and his associates the proper at mospher e in which to
operate. The g r e a t q u a d r e n n i a l conventions o f the SVM g e n e
121
rated enthusiasm and p r o m o t e d the ideas of the m o v e me n t .
The i mmensel y powerful Laymen' s Missionary Movement (LMM)
grew o u t o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r c o n v e n t i o n in Nashville in
1906. In time the LMM woul d h ol d its own conventions of
from t h r e e to five thousand promi nent Christian Laymen. At
l u n c h e o n s and c o n f e r e n c e s across the country, t h e y met "for
the unhurried exposure t o the f a c t s as p r e s e n t e d by t h e most
competent inte rpre te rs and p r o p h e t i c voices o f the day."
These i n c l u d e d Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wi l s o n among
other notable s p e a k e r s . T h e creation o f t h e LMM, h owever ,
was no a c c i d e n t . Mott invited a carefully s e l e c t e d g r oup o f
l a y me n to the convention w ith the express purpose of
l a u n c h i n g such an o r g a n i z a t i o n . ^
By 1910, when M o t t o r g a n i z e d a conference at the Whi t e
House f o r the foreign department of the Y.M.C.A., he c o u l d
c o u n t on t h e s u p p o r t o f R o c k e f e l l e r , George W. Perkins, John
Wanamaker, and o t h e r prominent business figures, as w e l l as
popular figures such as Gener al Leonard Wood. Typically,
Christian l aymen woul d be i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h v e t e r a n Y. M. C. A.
secretaries, former Student Volunteers on l e a v e from the
mission fie ld , and foreign churchmen in carefully wrought
proceedings. Mott le ft nothing to chance. Usually he
chaired the conferences, guiding hundreds of delegates
s k illfu lly through a weighty agenda and long reports. At
major conferences he insisted on arranging the seating of
the delegates himself. At the Edinburgh Wor l d Missionary
Conference, for e x a mp l e , he asked the delegates to "applaud
122
concisely", and held each speaker to the exact number of
minutes allotted for the scheduled address.^ Many o f the
d e l e g a t e s were h a n d - p i c k e d by M o t t o r his associates. Con
cerning a delegate to the World's Student Christian Federa
tion conference, he asked Wilder to have the man "made a
member of the Indian National Council and of the College
Commi t t ee . Coach him as carefully as possible so that he
may s t r o n g l y represent y o u . " 13 M o t t ’ s genius for organiza
tion transformed church life in the years before the Worl d
War and altered the structure of church finance. Increa
singly after the turn of the century, the finances of for
e i g n m i s s i o n s were c o n t r o l l e d by o r g a n i z a t i o n s o f l aymen who
stood o u t s i d e of the regular church hierarchy, and whos e
a llegiance was t o M ott's visio n of the m issionary enter

p ris e .^
That vision was b e s t articulated by Mo t t in 1900, when
he b r o u g h t o u t The E v a n g e l i z a t i o n o f t h e Worl d i n t h i s Gene
ration. The philosophical ingredients of his vision were
sim ilar to the values of the business communi t y wh i c h ar e
o rdinarily associated w ith progressivism.
Mo t t was u n i q u e l y equipped to articulate a modern pro
gram f o r m issions. Along w ith his work as a m issionary
re cru ite r and f u n d r a i s e r , he had seen m i s s i o n a r y e fforts
firs t hand d u r i n g his extensive tours of the Far East. He
was c e r t a i n that experience had created the basis for a
science of missions. In this he was echoed by his friend
Speer:
123
A l l t h i s s u g g e s t s . . . t h e p o s s i b i l i t y and
t h e need o f a s c i e n c e o f m i s s i o n s . A
c e r t a i n amount o f e x p e r i e n c e was n e c e s
sary. A science of missions could not
be d e d u c t i v e l y r e a soned o u t . But now,
a f t e r one hundr ed y e a r s o f a c t u a l e x p e
r i e n c e , o f b l u n d e r a n d m i s t a k e , and
s u c c e s s , t h e t i m e w o u l d seem t o h a v e
come f o r some s i n c e r e a t t e m p t t o embody
the approved r e s u l t s o f the b e s t m i s s i o
n a r y w o r k i n s u c h s t a t e m e n t s as s h a l l
c l e a r t h e g r ound o f much p r e s e n t d i s c u s
s i o n and save much n e e d l e s s d u p l i c a t i o n
of past p a in fu l e x p e r i e n c e s . ^
Modern m i s s i o n s should also be b u s i n e s s - l i k e and e f f i c i e n t .
As a v e t e r a n m i s s i o n financier, Mott knew t h e d iffic u lty of
supporting evangelization abroad. Precious funds should not
be w a s t e d . He was e s p e c i a l l y c o n c e r n e d t h a t d u p l i c a t i o n s o f
effort in the fie ld devoured t o o much capital. He p o i n t e d
out t h e most important areas of cooperation to the mission
boards:
The p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e s p i r i t and p r a c
t i c e o f c o m i t y i n t h e wor k o f t h e v a r i
ous m i s s i o n a r y s o c i e t i e s i s an e s s e n t i a l
fa c to r in accomplishing the e vangeliza
t i o n o f t h e w o r l d . . . Such a s p i r i t woul d
do much t o p r e v e n t t h e r e p r o d u c t i o n on
the m is si o n f i e l d o f the narrow s e c t a r i
ani sm o f t h e home l a n d s . By a v o i d i n g
wasteful d u p lic a t io n of machinery, there
woul d be a d e c i d e d s a v i n g i n number o f
w o r k e r s , i n m o n e y , and i n p o w e r . A
l a r g e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f e f f o r t wou l d be
made p o s s i b l e . The Chur ch wo u l d p r e s e n t
a u n i t e d f r o n t t o t h e e n e my . . . . T h e r e
ar e many ways i n whi c h t h e v a r i o u s m i s
sions can a d v a n t a g e o u s l y cooperate.
. . . T h e y may u n i t e i n t h e c o n d u c t o f
t r a i n i n g schools, of higher educational
in s t it u tio n s , of hospitals, of philan-
t h r o p i c e n t e r p r i s e s , and a l s o i n t h e
p u b l i c a t i o n and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f l i t e r a
ture. They may come t o an a g r ee me n t t o
r e s p e c t each o t h e r ' s r u l e s o f d i s c i
p l i n e , p r i n c i p l e s o f a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , and
124
s c a l e o f wages. T h e y may a g r e e on a
j u s t t e r r i t o r i a l a p p o r t i o n m e n t and h o n o r
each o t h e r ' s s p h er e s o f i n f l u e n c e . . . . 1 6
Ro b e r t Speer went even f a r t h e r . “ I believe in one Chur ch o f
Christ in each m i s s i o n fie ld ," he w r o t e , "... a ll d e n o mi n a
tions should u n i t e in establishing one c h u r c h . " Where t h i s
was not practicable because of the "unwillingness of any,
there should be c o m i t y " in the salaries of native workers,
in recognition o facts of d iscipline in another mission's
sphere, in education, printing, and hospitals. Speer also
advocated the division of the mission fie ld into areas of
influence and a d v o c a t e d s p i r i t u a l u n i o n and f e l l o w s h i p among
converts even if the m issions refused to allow them to
" u n ite o r g a n i c a l l y " .*7
Both Mott and Speer want ed to make t h e church abr oad
more e f f i c i e n t by setting asidedenominational differences.
Mott favored an interdenominational a p pr o a c h to missions,
but he did so on pragmatic rather than on th e o lo g ical
grounds. Evangelization of the world in t h i s generation, he
wrote,
. . . d o e s not i n v o l v e t he e n t e r t a i n i n g o f
s u p p o r t o f any s p e c i a l t h e o r y o f e s c h a t -
ology. For e x a mp l e , t h e h o l d i n g o f t h i s
i d e a does n o t . . . n e c e s s i t a t e a b e l i e f i n
t h e p r e m i l l e n n i a l v i e w o f t h e comi ng o f
C hrist. Nor does i t s t a n d i n t h e s e r
v i c e o f any o t h e r p a r t i c u l a r t h e o r y o f
eschatology. Men e n t e r t a i n i n g w i d e l y
d i f f e r e n t o p i n i o n s as t o t h e s e c o n d
advent o f C h r i s t accept a l i k e t h i s view
o f w o r l d - w i d e e v a n g e l i z a t i o n . 1®
He b e l i e v e d , on t h e other hand, that "the want of unity
among d i f f e r e n t branches of the Chur ch at home as a result
125
of denominational pride, jealousy, and misunderstandings"
was a " s e r i o u s hindrance" t o m i s s i o n a r y wor k i n t h e f i e l d . ^
Mott's p r a g ma t i s m l e d hi m t o the b e lie f that doctrinal
d iffe re nce s should be m i t i g a t e d in favor of cooperative
applications. He was u n w i l l i n g to take sides in the dis p u te
o v e r p r e m i l 1e n n i a l i s m and was more i n t e r e s t e d in keeping his
forces together. He and Speer, for e x a mp l e , believed that
Sherwood Eddy was t h e b e s t man t o pr e ach t h e social gospel,
and they protected him from attacks through their co n n e c
tions with powerful l aymen. Neither was p a rticularly taken
with the doctrine. Speer was hardly a church liberal--he
contributed t o a vol ume o f t h e F u n d a m e n t a l s - - b u t he b e l i e v e d
that important wor k did not depend on doctrinal purity.
Mott protected his friend Eddy, persuading him t o remain
with t h e Y . M. C . A . despite c r i t i c i s m . As Eddy l a t e r w r o t e ,
. . . I began t o p r e a c h t h e S o c i a l Gospel
and men l i k e J u d g e Gar y saw g a r b l e d
r e p o r t s on my t a l k s . . . . T h e y t h r e a t e n e d
not o n ly to c u t o f f a l l sup port from the
Y.M .C.A., but to induce o th e r c a p i t a
l i s t s t o do t h e same. Mo t t as a m a s t e r
s t r a t e g i s t c o u l d p l a y John D. R o c k e f e l
l e r , J r . a g a i n s t Judge Ga r y , o u t ma ne u v e r
t h e l a t t e r , and r e f u s e t o l e t me r e s i g n .
I had t o work t h u s u n de r f i r e f o r some
years u n t i l I r e t i r e d . . . . T h e n e x t day
I j o i n e d t h e s o c i a l i s t p a r t y . 21
Mott found it necessary to smooth over denominational d if
ferences among churchmen and l aymen alike in the i n t e r e s t s
ofcooperative efficiency. He was an intensely practical
man. One o f his biographers thought it doubtful that "he
was d e e p l y aware o f t h e i n n e r meani ng of h istorical separa
tions and theological differences." Another observed that
126
he w o u l d side neither w ith fundam entalists nor lib e ra ls ,
because it would have " compr omi sed his ecumenical leader
ship." I n any c a s e , M o t t was more i n t e r e s t e d i n bending h i s
energies toward organizing cooperative l aymen into a force
for evangelization t han he was in fighting doctrinal bat
tles. 22
The power o f t h e C h r i s t i a n laymen o r g a n i z e d by v e t e r a n s
o f the stu d e n t C h r i s t i a n movement reached its zenith during
t h e Gr e a t War. At the reque st o f President W il s o n , a number
of re lig io u s service organizations agreed t o combi ne forces
as the National War Work Council. These included the Na
tional War Work Councils of the Y. M. C. A. and the Y.W.C.A.,
the Na tio n a l C a t h o l i c War C o u n c i l , t h e Je wi s h W e l f a r e Boar d,
the War Camp Communi ty Service, The Amer i can Library As s o
ciation, and the Salvation Army. The Council p r o mi s e d to
raise about 170 m illion dollars for support wor k during a
series of three c a mp ai g n s . Two-thirds of the money was to
be r a i s e d by the Y. M. C. A. councils. Mo t t was the c h a i r ma n
and t h e d r i v i n g force behind the National War Work C o u n c i l .
His long tim e associate, Cleveland H. Dodge, was named
treasurer, and George W. P e r k i n s was a l s o assigned a promi
ne n t r o l e . 22
Mo t t approached this proj'ect with the same practical
philosophy he had espoused for years. "There are manifest
ad v an t ag e s t o t h i s cooperative arrangement," he s a i d , ..."It
w ill mean not only a great saving of money, but even more
the conservation of the time and the energy of many thou
127
sands of the busiest and most in te llig e n t business and
professional men o f t h e c o u n t r y . . . . " He b e l i e v e d that "tens
of m illion s" of dollars could be saved by means o f coopera
tive arrangements that did not "involve any compr omi se of
principles," but woul d prevent any u n n e c e s s a r y "duplication
of e ffo rt and m o n e y " . 2^
C alling on his vast experience and organizational
s k ill, Mott p u l l e d to g e th e r the c o a l i t i o n of religious orga
nizations and surpassed the goals he had set for them.
During one week in November, 1918, the United War Work
Campaign r a i s e d more t h a n ISO m i l l i o n dollars. Mott called
it the l a r g e s t v o l u n t e e r o f f e r i n g in h i s t o r y and p o i n t e d o u t
that the objectives of the campai gn had been met despite a
host o f u nfavorable circumstances.
Preparation was accomplished in less than two months
because o f d e l a y s in bringing negotiations among t h e p a rti
cipating groups to a successful conclusion. The te rrible
influenza epidemic put forty per cent of the campai gn team
workers in bed d u r i n g t h e week o f scheduled a ctivitie s, and
public g a t h e r i n g s wer e banned i n many s t a t e s in an e f f o r t t o
contain the spread of the disease. The key note addresses
of the campai gn were interrupted by reports of peace, and
r umor s a b o u t i mm e d i a t e d e m o b i l i z a t i o n a b ou n d e d. Both d i r e c t
competition from the Fourth Liberty Loan and t h e high level
of taxation at the time discouraged vo lu n ta ry co n tribu
t i o n s . 2^
Despite these d i f f i c u l t i e s , M o t t and t h e l e a d e r s o f the
128
"cooperating agencies" were a b l e to carry out a campaign
described by M o t t as " n o t h i n g less than m a r v e l o u s . " 26 The
Y . M. C. A. collected more t h a n half the money, and u n de r the
campaign's a llo c a tio n form ula, was a b l e to put the money
into its war wor k p r o j e c t s a t home as w e l l as o v e r s e a s . The
Y . M. C. A. had a v i r t u a l sp iritu a l mon op o l y in m i l i t a r y camps
in the United States and i n Europe, and t h e war p r o v i d e d an
unprecedented opportunity to reach vast numbers o f young
men. Mo t t p u t W i l d e r and o t h e r v e t e r a n s o f t h e SVM i n t o the
camps and bases to gather in the convenient m ultitude. As
Religious Work d i r e c t o r , Wilder signed up t h o u s a n d s of sol
diers on the War Roll, a document reminiscent of the old
Student Volunteer Pledge: "I h e r e b y p l e d g e my a l l e g i a n c e t o
the Lo r d Jesus Christ as my Savior and Ki n g and by God’ s
help w i l l fig h t His b a t t l e s for the v i c t o r y o f t h e K i n g d o m. "
The War Work C o u n c i l , however, decided ve ry e a r l y i n t h e war
not to "attempt anything like a missionary p r o gr a m in the
c a m p s . ” 2^ Mott r e l i s h e d the o p p o r tu n i ty to demonstrate th a t
the cooperative d e n o m i n a t i o n a l ism he had always advocated
woul d work among f a r more d i s p a r a t e g r o u p s than ever b e f o r e .
The w a r w o r k "furnished the most im pressive example thus
afforded of religious unity and cooperation." When in the
past, Mott asked, had " t h e l e a d e r s and t h e many f o l l o w e r s of
the Protestant, Roman C a t h o l i c , and J e wi s h religious bodies
of a great nation joined forces for the establishment of a
common unselfish object?" As he pointed out, none of the
groups "obscured, m inim ized, or apologized" for w h a t was
129
" most d i s t i n c t i v e in its life and w o r k . . . an i l l u s t r a t i o n of
i n t e r d e n o m i n a t i o n a l ism rather than of undenominationa-
1 i s m . "28
I t m i g h t have been r e g a r d e d as w o n d e r f u l
had t h e s e b o d i e s come t o g e t h e r on a
p la tfo rm o f p u ttin g aside a ll t h e ir
d i f f e r e n c e s and a l l t h a t i s most c h a r a c
t e r i s t i c o f t h e m; b u t i t has been f a r
more w o n d e r f u l t h a t t h e y have been a b l e
t o come t o g e t h e r and wor k t o g e t h e r j u s t
as t h e y a r e . each b e i n g t r u e t o i t s b e s t
s e l f . 29
The s p i r i t o f t h e campai gn and t h e war y e a r s as a whol e
confirmed h is belief in p r a c t i c a l , cooperative organization.
The work g e n e r a t e d a c l i m a t e i n w h i c h men "came t o l o a t h e t o
d iffe r and t o d e t e r m i n e to understand." Without " we a k e n i n g
or s a c r i f i c i n g any v i t a l p rin cip le , they [sought] to under
st and those with whom they conscientiously diffe r[e d ]"30
The war e x p e r i e n c e a l s o made a deep i m p r e s s i o n on t h e thou
sands of Y.M.C.A. workers and chaplains who r e t u r n e d from
Europe d e t e r m i n e d to accelerate the momentum o f theunited
ch u r c h organizations and apply their accumulated force to
the cause of evangelization abroad and revival and recon
struction a t home. P r o b a b l y t h e s e young men and women woul d
have r e ma i n e d zealous workers in any case, but the feeling
of accomplishment and the sense of immense responsibility
they brought to the wor k came f r o m the exhiliration of the
war e ffo rt.Im m e d ia te ly after the war, Mott and others
worked t o combi ne t h e p r o v e n f i n a n c i a l power o f t h e War Work
Campaign w i t h the sp irit of the returning fie ld workers to
130
build a mighty organization which woul d be t h e culmination
of th irty years of cooperative d e n o m in a tio n a l ism. Their
goal was to institu tion a lize the financial a c c o mp l i s h m e n t s
o f t h e war .
The v e h i c l e fo r m obilizing the Christian forces of the
c o u n t r y was t h e I n t e r c h u r c h Wo r l d Movement (ICWM). The ICWM
would, according to the master plan, organize the evangeli
cal churches and l a y m e n ' s societies of Ame r i c a into a kind
of trust i n w h i c h each e n t i t y wo u l d r e t a i n its own i d e n t i t y ,
but would agree to cooperate under the d ire ctio n of an
executive apparatus. An in itia l survey would determine
needs among the churches a t home and abr oad for financial
support in the i mm e d i a t e f u t u r e . Denominations and socie
tie s would budget and set fin a ncia l goals to me e t those
requirements identified in the survey. A united campai gn
sim ilar to the War Work C o u n c i l woul d raise the budget ed
amounts andd i s t r i b u t e them back to the participants accor
d ing to a fo rm ula designed to maintain the inte grity of the
a s s o c i a t e d g r o u p s . ^2
All o f t h e e l e me n t s of the ICWM were f a m i l i a r to Mott.
In the early years of the SVM, he had learned to respect
denominational authority in his dealings with the boards.
In a sense each successive organization over the years was
based on the systematic plan of giving he had devised to
make t h e work of the volunteer bands palatable to the m is
sionary establishment during the ea rly 1890's. Now Mo t t had
perfected t h e mechani sms of interdenominational cooperation
131
through years of experience, and he understood that there
was g r e a t power to be h a r n e s s e d , especially in the area of
finance. The war had d e m o n s t r a t e d to hi m t h a t huge s u c c e s
ses wer e p o s s i b l e , and he e x p e c t e d the ICWM t o surpass even
t h e g r e a t c ampai gns o f t h e w a r .
The s c a l e o f the ICWM made i t the largest single re li
gious fundraising effort in the history of the country. As
the survey began to take shape and the budget projections
accumulated, a financial g o al o f one b i l l i o n dollars was s e t
for the three-year period beginning in 1920. The b u dg e t
called for $ 3 3 6 , 7 7 7 , 5 7 2 t o be r a i s e d during the firs t year.
The figure was based on the re su lts of the prelim inary
survey conducted by t h e ICWM and d e s i g n e d to determine the
condition o f church l i f e and c h u r c h r e s o u r c e s in the c o u nt ry
as w e l l as identifying financial arrangements and s t a n d a r d s
for local f u n d i n g . ^3
The survey was am bitious and was designed to delve
deeply into every ar ea of religious work. Eventually the
s u r v e y pr o du c e d vol umes on t h e condition of rural churches,
city churches, m issio nary support groups, unoccupied p a r i s h
es, the needs o f veterans, and o t h e r subjects associated
w ith re lig io u s work. The title of one volume, Stan
dards f o r City Church P l a n t s t o be used w i t h the ICWM S c o r e
card f o r Rating City Churches and R e l i g i o u s Education
PI a n t s , c a p t u r e s the technical orientation and g e n e r a l tone
of the s u r v e y . 34 I n v e s t i g a t o r s wer e i n t e r e s t e d not only in
the financial goals of the existing in stitu tio n s, but they
132
also attempted to e s t a b l i s h c r i t e r i a f o r rankin g the present
and f u t u r e needs of those institu tion s in a s cie n tific or,
at least, a businesslike way. One o f the papers presented
to the Executive Commi t t ee o f t h e ICWM, f o r e x a mp l e , set up
a standard or "par" for the su ppo rt of country church work
including a d e ta ile d breakdown of "physical equipment"
deemed necessary for the purposes of a rural m issionary
pastor. Among other items, the report suggested a church
building with an auditorium, " mo v a b l e chairs and a stage,"
separate classrooms, "stereopticon or mo ti on p i c t u r e fa c ili
ties, a w e l 1-equipped kitchen, and an up t o date parsonage.
A mi ni mum salary for the pastor was prescribed along with
suggested annual i n c r e a s e s a mo un t i n g t o more t h a n t h i r t y per
cent w i t h i n a five year period. Sim ilar kinds of standards
we r e e s t a b l i s h e d for the d e n s ity of churches in American
rural areas, for work among r e t u r n e d veterans, for city
churches, women' s m i s s i o n a r y s u p p o r t g r o u p s , wor k i n "indus
tria l re la tio n s", and so on. The p u r p o s e o f the survey was
to e s t a b l i s h the f i n a n c i a l needs and g o a l s f o r the churches,
but the products o f the survey tended to be s e t s of c o mpr e
hensive standards f o r i m p l e m e n t a t i o n by t h e ICWM.35
By F e b r u a r y , 1919, the ICWM had outlined the scope of
the proposed b u d g e t . I t woul d i n c l u d e
The r e g u l a r and l e g i t i m a t e l y e n l a r g e d
b u d g e t o f t h e home m i s s i o n s , f o r e i g n
m i s s i o n s , e d u c a t i o n a l and Sunday s c h o o l
church boards.
In te rd e n o m in a tio n a l m ission budgets,

i n c l u d i n g . . . the i n t e r n a t i o n a l Y.M.C.A.,
the N at io n al Y.W.C.A., the B i b l e S o c i e
133
t y , Sunday Sc h o o l a g e n c i e s and o t h e r s as
d e t e r m i n e d by t h e E x e c u t i v e Commi t t ee .
E d u c a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t i o n s o f the churches
u n d e r t h e o v e r s i g h t o f Ch u r c h B o a r d s ;
r e tir e d m in is te rs funds; philanthropic
i n s t i t u t i o n s u n d e r c h u r c h c o n t r o l ; [ ar . b]
o t h e r i n t e r e s t s as d e t e r m i n e d by t h e
E x e c u t i v e Committee.
Although the o u t l i n e s wer e c l e a r , "other interests as d e t e r
mi ned by t h e E x e c u t i v e C o mmi t t e e " might lead to other areas
which could not be neatly categorized. In addition to
denominational quotas, proportional shares of non-denomina
tional contributions had to be considered. To a l l o w "per
sons interested on s p e c i a l objects and f o r entire d e n o mi n a
tional followings to give to causes dear to them," and at
the same t i m e t o make i t possible to c o n trib u te to "compre
hensive plans", the ICWM c r e a t e d a plan designed to insure
equity
Eventually the ICWM wo u l d wor k o u t an e l a b o r a t e set of
mechani sms to colle ct, a llocate, and distribute funds back
to to the churches and s o c i e t i e s , taking into account g i f t s
for sp e cific, general, denom inational, and non-denom-
inational purposes. These a r r a n g e m e n t s were hammered o u t in
e x e c u tiv e meetings and t h e n sold w ith varying degrees of
success to the denominational bodies. Much o f the in itia l
e f f o r t o f the ICWM was d i r e c t e d t o wa r d f i n d i n g common g r o u n d
w ith those in s titu tio n s and g ivin g t hem assurances that
th e ir interests would be served by p a r t i c i p a t i n g in the
ca mp a i g n . Some 140 governing boards representing th irty-
four Protestant denom inations agreed to work w ithin the
134
framework of the ICWM, but un qu a lifie d support for the
campai gn was r a r e l y secured. ^
The ICWM r e p e a t e d l y s t a t e d that its b u s i n e s s was l i m i t
ed to efficient fundraising a ctivitie s, but denominational
c o n c e r n s a b o u t t h e power and p u r p o s e s o f t h e ICWM were never
far from the s u r f a c e . In meetings with denominational lea
ders, and in public statements, ICWM spokesmen, including
Mott and Speer, denied that they intended to meddle in
denominational affairs.
The I n t e r c h u r c h W o r l d Mo ve me n t i s n o t
organized f o r the purpose o f a d m i n i s t e r
ing m iss ionary or e d u c a t io n a l e n t e r p r i
ses, or f o r d e t e r m i n i n g the p o l i c i e s of
the s e v e ral d e n o m in a t io n s , but leaves
a l l s uch m a t t e r s i n t h e h a n d s o f t h e
ch u r c h e s and d e n o m i n a t i o n a l o r i n t e r d e
nom inational agencies recognized by
t hem. 38
Despite these disclaim ers, the ICWM was vi ewed with suspi
cion by some c h u r c h members in each of the major d e nomi na
tions and w i t h h o s tility by many. The antipathy of impor
tant segments of the religious communities of the country
was t h e main r e a son f o r t h e f a i l u r e o f the ICWM. C ritics of
the ICWM f e a r e d that doctrinal purity woul d be hopelessly
compromised. Fo r y e a r s M ott, Speer, and the others who
controlled the ICWM had been advocating comity on t h e mis
sion fie ld and c o o p e r a t i o n at home. Their language, es p e
cially during the war y e a r s , suggested a united Protestant
church of No r t h America, despite the repeated denials and
the careful legalisms of their organizational document s.
Moreover, the threatening rhetoric of unity came f r o m men
135
who now c o n t r o l l e d powerful organizations funded by the
contributions of w e a l t h y l ay me n . The ICWM was seen as a
threat because i t had t h e potential to control the expendi
tures of vast sums and t o compet e f o r money w i t h those very
b o d i e s who r e j e c t e d it.
These sentiments were best expressed by the President
o f t h e So u t h e r n B a p t i s t Convention, Dr . J.B. Gambrel!. Gam
b re l!, who had successfully p e r s ua d e d his entire d e no mi n a
tion t o r e j e c t t h e ICWM, a f f i r m e d that
Our message i s d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e mes

sage o f o t h e r s . . . .Does any sane B a p t i s t
b e l i e v e t h a t o u r c h u r c h e s can a d o p t t h e
p o lic y of l i m i t i n g t e r r i t o r y , of r e c e i
v i n g members f r o m o t h e r c h u r c h e s . . . o f
p u t t i n g t h e s o f t p e d a l on t h e g r e a t
d i s t i n c t i v e p r i n c i p l e s f o r w h i c h we
s t a n d — does any B a p t i s t b e l i e v e t h a t we
can p u t on t h e pr ogr am s u g g e s t e d by Dr .
M o t t and h i s a s s o c i a t e s i n C h i n a and
South Amer i ca w i t h o u t c o m m i t t i n g Denomi
n a t i o n a l s u i c i d e ? 39
The pr ogr am Dr . Gambr el l referred to sp e cifica lly was the
one articulated by Mott in The E v a n g e l i z a t i o n o f t h e Wor l d
in This Generation twenty years e a r l i e r .
Fear of outside c o n t r o l was another concern raised by
Ga mb r e l l in his rejection of the ICWM. The ICWM, he n o t e d ,
was one of a "group of in te ro rg a n iza tio n s, such as the
Federal Council of Churches, the Edinburgh C ontinuation
C o mmi t t e e , the Y.M.C.A., and n o t a f ew o t h e r s , all u nder t h e
same l e a d e r s h i p , and a l l movi ng i n t h e same d i r e c t i o n . " The
idea o f t h i s g r o up maki ng d e c i s i o n s o r s p e a k i n g f o r So u t h e r n
Baptists was a n a t h e ma to Gambrell. Pointing to the war
experience, he not ed t h a t Mott and o t h e r s had "represented"
136
Protestants in the wor k and made decisions about how bap
tists could function in the camps and c a n t e e n s without any
specific authorization from the Convention or from any par
ticu la r Southern Baptist. A ffilia tio n with the ICWM woul d
subject Baptists again to the c o n tr o l of an o u t s i d e organi

za tio n.^
The n o t i o n of a superagency for religious matters was
als o repugnant t o many. Describing Mott's tours among m i s
sions overseas and his plans for comity in the fie ld ,
Gambr el l wrote t h a t
A l l t h e s e m e a s u r e s a r e p u t among o u r
m i s s i o n a r i e s abr oad w i t h no c o n f e r e n c e
wha tev er w i t h our Fo re ig n Mi s si on Board.
We have s e l f - a p p o i n t e d , s u p e r d e n o m i n a -
t i o n a l l e a d e r s h i p . . . b u t t h e y f e e l bound
by n o t h i n g t h a t even t h e most r e p r e s e n
t a t i v e B a p t i s t body i n Ame r i c a s a y s . 41
The image o f a s u p e r a g e n c y was reinforced by M ott's corpo
rate a ffilia tio n s . With o ffice s in New Y o r k , and close
connections with Rockefeller and other corporate leaders,
the ICWM somet i mes seemed f a r removed f r o m the life of the
ordinary church organization. This perception was r e i n
forced by t h e fact that the ICWM b o r r owed several m illions
of dollars to pay the cost of organization and the in itia l
survey r a t h e r than w a i t i n g until t h e money c o u l d be r a i s e d .
Although the l o a n s were g u a r a n t e e d by t h e boards, Mott gave
assurances that the loans wou l d be r e p a i d by contributions
from non-denominational backers and woul d be to ta lly sepa
rate from the c a mp a i g n . Nevertheless, the loan its e lf came
t o be an i m p o r t a n t issue.
137
Resistance t o th e ICWM came a b o u t f o r other reasons as
w ell. Over and above the specific religious complaints by
B a p t i s t s and o t h e r s , a l e g a c y o f more g e n e r a l i z e d c o m p l a i n t s
about the war wor k of the Y.M.C.A. r emained. At the time
the ICWM was founded, Mott was s till busy defending the
Y. M. C. A. a g a in s t unfounded, but p e r s i s t e n t charges o f p r o f i
teering, corruption, favoritism , and c o w a r d i c e . 42 The ICWM
was hastily organized and its force of volunteers was un
w i e l d y . The b r oad p r o g r a m s , lack of detailed planning, and
the enthusiasm of the workers led to uncontrollable situa
tions whi ch wer e bound to be o f f e n s i v e to some. As i n the
e a r l y days o f t h e SVM, M o t t was f a c e d w i t h an o u t p o u r i n g of
zeal, but this organization was beyond even his a b ility to
control. In d u strialists, especially the National Associa
tion of Manufacturers (NAM) , were outraged when the Indus
tria l Relationship Department o f the ICWM s e n t observers to
report on t h e steel strike of 1919. No amount of explana
tion or j u s t i f i c a t i o n was s u f f i c i e n t t o quiet criticism and
c h a r ge s o f r a d i c a l i s m by segment s o f the business c ommuni t y
w h i c h had f o r m e r l y been s u p p o r t i v e . 4 ^ The young w o r k e r s who
toured the c o ll e g e s and universities securing signatures on
"Life Pur pose Car ds" wer e p o o r l y o r g a n i z e d , and t h e ICWM was
not prepared to consolidate the gains they did make by
systematic follow-up work. As w i t h the tour of Wilder and
Forman th irty -fiv e years p re vio u sly, fric tio n developed
between t r a v e l i n g teams and l o c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s . 44
The ICWM was short-lived and controversial. Cau si n g
138
d i s h a r mo n y w i t h i n the denominations, saddled w i t h the legacy
o f t h e war w o r k , and t o u c h e d by t h e s t e e l strike and char ges
of radicalism, the organization nevertheless raised more
t h a n 176 m i l l i o n dollars during its campai gn o f 1920. Look
ing back twenty years la te r, Mott p o in te d out the mo s t
obviousf a i l i n g s of t h e movement. The " s c o p e of theunder
taking was f a r too vast to be d e a l t with adequately within
the set time l i m i t s " , he w r o t e ,
...Too l i t t l e t i m e was g i v e n t o t h e
s e l e c t i o n o f men t o m a s t e r u n p r e c e d e n t e d
and b a f f l i n g c o n d i t i o n s . . .The l e a d e r s h i p
was a s s i g n e d l a r g e l y t o t h e p r o m o t e r
t y p e . . . T h e p u b l i c i t y was a t t i m e s g o
v e r n e d by t h e wrong m o t i v e s and was t o o
s e l f - 1 a u d a t o r y . . . .The management o f t h e
M o v e m e n t , r i g h t l y o r w r o n g l y , had t h e
r e p u t a t io n f o r extravagance. The w a r
wor k d r i v e s , whi ch d e a l t w i t h such m a t
t e r s w i t h a p r o d i g a l hand, had t e n d e d t o
f o s t e r such p r a c t i c e s . . . . A n o t h e r m a t t e r
w h i c h caused a g r e a t d eal o f c r i t i c i s m
was t h e scheme f o r f i n a n c i n g t h e Move
ment p r i o r t o t h e a c t u a l c a m p a i g n . . . . i t
c o n s i s t e d o f b o r r o w in g from t h e banks
and h a v i n g c e r t a i n M i s s i o n Boards v i r t u
a l l y u n d e r w r i t e the l o a n . . .ha ving accep
ted t h e p o s i t i v e assurance o f l e a d e r s o f
t h e Movement t h a t t h i s p a r t o f t h e f u n d
w o u l d be p r o v i d e d b y t h e s o - c a l l e d
“ frie n d ly citizens". A l t h o u g h t h e cam
p a i g n e xp en s e s r eached t h e l a r g e f i g u r e
o f o v e r $ 8 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , t h i s vague s p e c i a l
fund y i e l d e d l e s s than $ 3 ,0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . The
b a n k s , o f c o u r s e , came b a c k upon t h e
M i s s i o n B o a r d s , and i t can be w e l l u n
derstood how t h i s one t h i n g alone
queered t h e w h o l e Movement i n the
t h o u g h t and f e e l i n g o f many. 45
Although Mott recognized the denominational tensions
caused by t h e movement , he d e v o t e d only a paragraph in his
voluminous p u b l i s h e d p a p e r s t o t h e phenomenon t h a t more t han
139
any o t h e r led to the collapse o f what was t o have been h i s
greatest achievement. Ther e w e r e , he w r o t e , "fears for de
nominational prestige, not a little rivalry and discontent
in the working out of p o l i c i e s , . . . and a lack of under
standing and c l o s e collaboration bet ween those in char ge o f
the M ovem ent...and the leaders of the va rio u s Church
B o a r d s „ " 46
By c h o i c e or oversight, Mott minimized the role of
d e n o m i n a t i o n a l i sm in the collapse of the ICWM. He e i t h e r
did not appreciate or could not admit the strength of the
co n tro v e rs y generated w i t h i n the denominations by t h e ICWM.
Not all denominations shar ed the unanimity of the Sout her n
BAptist C o n v e n t i o n , whi c h r e j e c t e d the ICWM o u t o f hand. As
Mott, Speer, and t h e o t h e r s negotiated the terms by whi ch a
particular b oar d agr eed t o work w i t h i n the ICWM, the boar ds
themselves s t r u g g l e d to f i n d a c o n sensus among t h e i r member
ship. As o f t e n as n o t , t h e b oar d a g r ee d t o a ffilia te based
on a p r e p o n d e r a n c e o f s e n t i m e n t among t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of
the denominational constituency, leaving behind a minority
as h o s tile to the movement as the Reverend G am brell.
Churches, Boards, and d e n o m i n a t i o n s d i v i d e d d u r i n g the f i r s t
year after Wor l d War I over the ICWM, whi c h forced them t o
deal with the issues of denominational identity and o u t s i d e
control. The f a u l t lines ran deep into church po lity, and
the ICWM, representing the forces of mo d e r n i s m, helped po
larize the major denominations.
H istorians of the schisms that struck the major de
140
nominations in the early 1920's have t ended to focus their
attention on theological differences and to look to those
differences for an e x p l a n a t i o n . What has been d i f f i c u l t to
explain is the tim in g . The i m p o r t a n t doctrinal differences
had existed openly for d e c ad e s . One e x p l a n a t i o n rests in
part on t h e emergence o f a new, second g e n e r a t i o n of Funda
m entalists who were less w illin g to compr omi se or co-exist
than wer e their p r e d e c e s s o r s . ^ a g r oup of m inisters less
compromising than the prem illennialists of the 1870's and
1880's as t y p i f i e d by Arthur T. Pierson wou l d be d i f f i c u l t
to imagine. A more p r o m i s i n g e x p l a n a t i o n is that the force s
o f moder ni sm embodi ed in the ICWM had grown so threatening
that the more traditional segments of the churches had no
choice but to react. If one thinks of mo d er n i s m not in
t e r ms o f t h e new t h e o l o g y or t h e s o c i a l gospel, but i n t er ms
of the practical non-denominationalism of Mott's Christian
l ayme n , the timing of these schi sms is more easily under
stood. Mott, Speer, and t h e o t h e r leaders of b u s in e s s -s ty le
or p r o g r e s s i v e o r g a n i z a t i o n s were n o t t h r e a t e n i n g because o f
th e ir s p e c ific a lly re lig io u s doctrines--they had little
interest in promoting a particular eschatology or arguing
with fundamentalists or l i b e r a l s about t h e o l o g i c a l niceties.
They wer e t h r e a t e n i n g because t h e y seemed i n d i f f e r e n t to the
closely held beliefs of some, and because t h e i r adoption of
p re v a ilin g business methods as a me a n s to accom plish
Christian work had led them to control access to a large
measure of the available resources of Ame r i c a n Protestant
141
i s m. As the ICWM s o u g h t to expand its control over the
finances of the churches and to extend its power over the
use of those resources by promoting comity in the mission
fie ld , for exampl e, t h e r e b e l l i o n began. As s u c h , it was as
much a rebellion against the structure of modern business
life as i t was a g a i n s t liberal theology.
The f i r s t c r a c k s appear ed where one wo u l d e x p e c t t hem—
within the mission fie ld . The o p e n i n g salvos for the Pres
byterians and the Northern Baptists came from China, a
protest against the im plications of M ott's policy of comity.
As Dr . Ga mb r e l l had p o i n t e d o u t, . . . “ real Baptists w ill not,
cannot t a l k down t h e g r e a t doctrine of the New Te s t a me n t in
order to keep in with o t h e r s ; . . . does any real Baptist be
lieve that we can become a p a r t o f an o r g a n i z a t i o n control
l e d by men who b e l i e v e d i f f e r e n t l y from o u r s e l v e s and c o n t i
nue t o e x i s t ? " 4® The ICWM pu r s ue d e f f i c i e n c y a t t h e expense
of denominational particularism . Thirty years e a rlie r, as
leader of the SVM, Mott had taken the necessary steps to
reassure the religious establishment about the pu r po se s of
his program. The ICWM, h o we v e r , was p e r c e i v e d by a s i g n i f
icant portion of that same e s t a b l i s h m e n t as w i l l i n g to trade
doctrinal specifics for an e f f i c i e n t allocation of resour
ces. The s c h i s ms of the 1920's, then, wer e precipitated by
the expansion of a specific form of religious organization
whose a r c h i t e c t was John R. M o t t .
The y e a r 1920 was a momentous one i n the h i s t o r y o f the
P rotestant churches of America. The ICWM c o l l a p s e d , and
fault lines began to appear within the denominational bo
dies. It was also the last great year for the SVM. Mott
resigned as Chai r man of the Executive Commi t t ee of the SVM
that year and turned his energies to John D. Rockefeller,
J r.'s In s titu te of Social and R eligious Research. S ti
mulated by t h e campai gn of the ICWM and carried forward by
t h e momentum o f the war y e a r s , SVM s e c u r e d more pledges in
1920 t h a n in any y e a r in its history. It was, h o we v e r , to
be t h e f i n a l triumph o f t h e V o l u n t e e r movement . Few o f the
p l e d g e s wer e e v e r r edeemed, and t h e movement , w h i c h had been
g r o w i n g weaker f o r n e a r l y ten y e a r s , fe ll into a precipitous
d e c l i n e from which it did not r e c o v e r . ^
143
Notes
1. Herman M e l v i l l e , The C o n f i d e n c e Man, (New York: The

New Ame r i c a n L i b r a r y , 1 9 6 4 ) , p . 48.
2. S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , “ M i
n u t e s o f t h e E x e c u t i v e C o mmi t t e e , J a n u a r y 3 , 1 9 1 1 , " SVM
A r c h i v e s , Y a l e D i v i n i t y S c h o o l , New H a v e n ; John R.
M o t t , A d d r e s s e s and P a p e r s o f J o h n R. M o t t , v o l . 2 ,
The W o r l d ' s S t u d e n t C h r i s t i a n F e d e r a t i o n , fRew Yo r k :
A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 4 7 ) , p . 28.
3. John R. M o t t , A d d r e s s e s and P a p e r s o f John R. M o t t ,

v o l . 5 , The I n t e r n a t i o n a l M i s s i o n a r y C o u n c i l , (New
Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 4 7 ) , p . 28.
4. John R. M o t t , "How t o Make t h e M c s t o f a 4 5 - M i n u t e

A s s o c i a t i o n M e e t i n g , " The I n t e r c o l l e g i a n , ( O c t o b e r ,
1 8 8 9 ) : p. 9 0 .
5. John R. M o t t t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , Ma r c h 3 , 1900.
W i l d e r P a p e r s , Y a l e D i v i n i t y School L i b r a r y , New Haven.
6. John R. M o t t t o Ro b e r t P. Wilder, November 5, 1889.

W i l de r Papers.
7. Mott, Missionary C o u n c i l , p. 289.
8. Ibid.
9. Ib id ., pp. 685-6.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Rob e r t C. Mackie, Layman E x t r a o r d i n a r y ; John R. Mo t t

(New Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 6 5 ) , p. 44.
13. John R. M o t t t o Ro b e r t P. Wilder, November 14, 1899.

Wi l de r Papers.
14. John R. Mott, The E v a n g e l i z a t i o n o f t h e Wor l d in his

G e n e r a t i o n (New Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 0 0 ) .
15. R o b e r t S p e e r , M i s s i o n a r y P r i n c i p l e s and P r a c t i c e ; A
D i s c u s s i o n o f CTTr i st i an M i s s i o n s and some C r i t i c i s m s upon
Them(New Y o r k : Fl e mi n g H. R e v e ' l l , 1 9 0 2 ) , pp. 4 4 - 4 5 .
16. Mott, E v a n g e l i z a t i o n , pp. 176-7.
17. Sp eer , Missionary Principles, p. 67.
144
18. Mott, E v a n g e l i z a t i o n , pp. 3-10.
-19. I b i d . , p p . 43-44.
20. Ro b e r t S p e e r , "God i n C h r i s t t h e Onl y R e v e l a t i o n o f t h e

F a t h e r h o od o f Go d , “ The F u n d a me n t a l s ; A T e s t i m o n y t o t h e
T r u t h . . . C o mp l i m e n t s o f Two C h r i s t i a n Laymen( C h i c a g o :
Te s t i mo n y P u b l i s h i n g Company, 1 9 1 0 - 1 9 1 5 ) , v o l . 3 .
21. Sh e r wo o d Eddy t o B r e w e r E d d y , June 9 , 1 9 4 2 . Eddy

P a p e r s , Ya l e D i v i n i t y School L i b r a r y , New Haven.
22. Ro b e r t C. M a c k i e , Layman E x t r a o r d i n a r y ; John R. M o t t ,

1865- 1955 (New Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1965) p . 51; t.
Howard R o p k i n s , John R. M o t t ; 1865-1955 ( Grand R a p i d s :
W i l l i a m B. Er dmans, 1 9 7 9 ) , p. 224; John R. M o t t ,
Addr esses and Papers o f John R. M o t t , v o l . 4 ,
The Young Men' s C h r i s t i a n A s s o c i a t i o n (New Y o r k :
A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 4 7 ) , pp. 7 8 2 - 3 .
23. Ibid.
24. I b id ., p. 7 8 5.
25. I b id ., pp. 801-3.
26. I b id ., p. 803.
27. R o b e r t W i l d e r t o Emmanuel G a l l a n d , J u l y 2 , 1 9 1 7 . J .
Ross St evenson t o F e n n e l l P. T u r n e r , December 2 8 , 1917.
28. Mott, Young Men' s C h r i s t i a n A s s o c i a t i o n , p. 8 0 3 .
29. Ib id .
30. I b id ., p. 8 0 4.
31. Y . M . C . A . , Commi t t ee on t h e War and R e l i g i o n Among

Amer i can Men,(New Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1920) pp.
$2-5.
32. I n t e r c h u r c h Wor l d Movement o f Nor t h A m e r i c a , H i s t o r y o f

t h e I n t e r c h u r c h Wo r l d Movement , 10 p a r t s ( l o o s e l e a f ) ,
( C h i c a g o : D e p a r t me n t o f P h o t o d u p l i c a t i o n , U n i v e r s i t y o f
C h i c a g o , 1 9 6 6 ) , P a r t I , p . 45.
33. M o t t , M i s s i o n a r y C o u n c i l , p. 748. Mo t t was i n i t i a l l y

n o t so e n t h u s i a s t i c a b o u t t h e ICWM, b u t s o o n became
d e e p l y i n v o l v e d . C. Howard H o p k i n s , John R. M o t t ; 1865-
1 9 5 5 , ( G r a n d Rap i d s , M i c h i g a n , Wi I 11 am P. E r d m a n ' s ,
1 9 7 9 ) , pp. 5 6 9 - 7 0 .
145
34. I n t e r c h u r c h Worl d Movement o f N o r t h A m e r i c a , S t a n d a r d s

f o r C i t y Church P l a n t s t o be used w i t h t h e ICWM S c o r e
c a r d f o r R a t i n g C i t y Churches and R e l i g i o u s E d u c a t i o n
P l a n t s (New Y o r k , I n t e r c h u r c h P r e s s , 19201.
35. ICWM, H i s t o r y , Part III, p. 93.
36. Ib id ., Part I V , p. 5.
37. Ib id ., Part III, p. 4.
38. I b i d . , Part III, pp. 8 5 , 111.
39. J . B . G a m b r e l ! , " D r . G a m b r e l l ' s A f t e r Campaign Message

t o S o u th e rn B a p t i s t s ; A Warning A g a i n s t E n t a n g l i n g
A l l i a n c e s , " Southwestern B a p t i s t T h e o l o g i c a l Seminary,
F o r t W o r t h , Texas, n . d . , p . 13.
40. I b i d . , p. 10.
41. Ib id .
42. Mott, Young Men' s C h r i s t i a n A s s o c i a t i o n , pp. 8 1 7 - 3 0 .
43. ICWM, H i s t o r y , P a r t I I I , p p . 1 2 5 - 1 3 1 ; D a v i d B r o d y ,
L a b o r i n C r i s i s ; The S t e e l S t r i k e o f 1 9 1 9 f P h i l a d e l p h i a
and New Y o r k : J . B . L i p p i n c o t t Company, 1 9 6 5 ) , p. 172.
44. ICWM, H i s t o r y , P a r t IV, pp. 89-92; Mott, Missionary

C o u n c i l , p. 749.
45. Mott, M i s s i o n a r y C o u n c i l , p. 7 49.
46. Ib id .
47. E r n e s t R. Sandeen, The Root s o f F u n d a m e n t a l i s m ; B r i t i s h

and Ame r i c a n M i l l e n a r i a n i s m , 1 8 0 0 - 1 9 3 0 ( C h i c a g o : U n i v e r
s i t y o f Chi cago f ' r e s s , 1 9 7 8 ) .
48. Chester E. Tulga, The F o r e i g n M i s s i o n C o n t r o v e r s y i n

t h e N o r t h e r n B a p t i s t C o n v e n t i o n , 1 9 1 9 - 1 9 4 9 ; T h i r t y Years
o f S t r u g g l e ( C h i c a g o : B a p t i s t F e l l o w s h i p , 19 5 0 ) , p p .
1 1 9 - 2 0 ; Gambrel 1, " Me s s a g e " , p. 14.
49. Mott, M i s s i o n a r y C o u n c i l , p. 7 49.
146
Conclusion
The S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement
and Ame r i c a n P r o t e s t a n t M i s s i o n s , 1886- 1920
When R o b e r t W i l d e r and John N. Foreman undertook their
firs t tour of colleges during the 1886-87 academic year,
thousands of men and women signed the pledge to become
foreign m issionaries. * The t o u r not only served t h e cause
of missions, but also provided the i mpetus for a general
revival of re lig io n on campus. The r e v i v a l i s m of that tour
somet i mes caus ed c o n f u s i o n and m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g . Objections
to the tactics of the movement were widespread w ithin the
religious community. C riticism of the movement rested on
the contention that its effect was to pre-empt the choice
of Christian vocation. ^
Another ca u s e f o r concern among e a r l y observers of the
movement was the sh e er size of the student response. The
secretaries of t h e d e n o m i n a t i o n a l m i s s i o n b o a r d s were u n p r e
par ed for the increase in candidates. The huge response
also reopened the d iffic u lt question of whether it was
sounder strategy to send out large numbers of missionaries
i n an a t t e m p t t o evangelize the world in a generation, or t o
147
use a s m a l l , select force to t r a i n a native p a s t o r a t e t o the
task in a mo r e d e l i b e r a t e fashion. Some member s of the
missionary communi t y f e a r e d that SVM woul d found m i s s io n a r y
societies separate from the boards. Yet in spite of the
o b je c tio n s of the c ritic s the movement flo u ris h e d .^
The strength of the mo ve me n t was based on t h e fact that
Amer i c an colleges of the day were usually religious. Most
of them wer e denominational, and a substantial m inority of
co lle g e students l e d an a c t i v e religious life .^
In the summer o f 1888, the leaders organized the move
ment in order to avoid c o n flic t w ithin the religious commu
nity and to extend the movement to untouched colleges and
seminaries. The o r g a n i z a t i o n a l struggle a l s o made p o s s i b l e
an accommodat i on bet ween SVM and the mission boards.® To
avoid criticism about recruitment, fund raising, and philo
sophy, SVM c o n v i n c e d the churches and t h e i r boards that the
movement woul d n o t d e v i a t e f r o m o r t h o d o x p r a c t i c e s . I n some
cases, SVM even u n d e r mi n e d t h e aut onomy o f its local socie
ties in order to discourage heterodoxy and d e m o n s t r a t e con
tro l.® The o r g a n i z a t i o n a l struggle harnessed SVM t o the
uses o f the boards. By 1892, SVM was a w e l l organized wi ng
of the Ame r i c a n foreign missions movement , a bureaucratic
haven f o r several thousand woul d-be m i s s i o n a r i e s . ^
Th e r e i s no e v i d e n c e i n any o f t h e v o l u n t e e r lite ra tu re
to suggest that volunteers were m o t i v a t e d by a n y special
awar eness of, or interest in, world affairs. Few m i s s i o n a
ries had any i d e a o f wher e t h e y want ed t o s e r v e o r what r e a l
148
m i s s i o n a r y wor k w o u l d be l i k e . SVM s t u d i e s showed a g a i n and
again that early childhood re lig io u s motives were the
strongest i mp e t u s f o r most v o l u n t e e r s . The v o l u n t e e r p l e d g e
was an important organizational device wh i c h bound the vo
lunteers to t h e movement whether or not they ever actually
sailed as m i s s i o n a r i e s . Women were c o n s i s t e n t l y steadier in
their r e s o l v e t o become m i s s i o n a r i e s t han men.**
Perhaps a th ird of the volunteers were d ire c tly in
fluenced in some way by SVM and t h e s t u d e n t Christian move
me n t . Most o f t h e v o l u n t e e r s who a c t u a l l y s a i l e d woul d have
tried t o go even w i t h o u t t h e movement. Of t h o s e who a c t u a l
ly became foreign missionaries, it seems safe to estimate
that at l e a s t t w o - t h i r d s had p r e v i o u s l y d e c i d e d t h e q u e s t i o n
before being approached by representatives of SVM. The
evidence, then, s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e most i m p o r t a n t f u n c t i o n o f
SVM d u r i n g its e a r l y y e a r s was n o t t o r e c r u i t large numbers
of new f o r e i g n missionaries, but to organize would-be mis
sionaries into an e f f e c t i v e force for promoting the m is s io
n a r y cause a t h o me . 9
Missionary education was the most successful endeavor
o f t h e SVM, and t h e m i s s i o n a r y education pr o gr a ms it devel
oped were probably more important to missions as a whol e
than any o t h e r services it p e r f o r me d including recruitment.
The SVM i n t r o d u c e d the study of foreign missions to the
c o l l e g e s o f A me r i c a and i n f l u e n c e d t h o u s a n d s o f s t u d e n t s who
had no intention of becomi ng missionaries. The SVM a l s o
campai gned o v e r t h e y e a r s for the establishment of mission
149
ary libraries on campus. From the beginning, substantial
numbers o f n o n - v o l u n t e e r s a t t e n d e d the c l a s s e s o f the educa
tional department. By reaching a significant m inority of
the educational e lite o f t h e c o u n t r y over a p e r i o d o f t h i r t y
years, the educational department stim ulated system atic
giving to missions and eased the logistical b u r de n of the
mission boards.
In the fie ld , a new m i s s i o n a r y ' s assessment of the
prospects for successful evangelistic work depended largely
on h i s f i r s t - h a n d observations o f the unconverted. I n Chi na
t h e s e i m p r e s s i o n s were r a r e l y favorable. Consequently, the
m issionaries practiced paternalism in matters of church
polity. Not o n l y were t h e native pastorates dependent upon
board funds, but also they were not deemed su fficie n tly
trustworthy to control their own affairs. In some cases,
missionaries were a c t u a l l y thankful for the tiny numbers o f
their converts.
Missionaries of the pre-war era had a d iffic u lt time
accepting traditional culture. As one scholar has noted,
liberals and c o n s e r v a t i v e s alike shar ed “ a common ina b ility
to grant exotic cultures the kind of hearing automatically
expected for Christian and We s t e r n v a l u e s . B u t despite
the rhetoric of su p e rio rity u s e d by m i s s i o n a r i e s , th e ir
religious assumptions worked toward a kind of egalitarian
i sm. They believed that the Chi nese were despicable, not
because of innate in fe rio rity , but because they were hea
thens-^ condition th a t could be r e c t i f i e d . The i d e a o f
150
missionaries as agents of modernization has probably been
o v e r d r a wn by h i s t o r i a n s of foreign missions. Although evan
g e liza tio n and c o n v e r s i o n were t h e u ltim a te goals of the
American m i s s i o n a r i e s , most o f t hem d i d not devote th e ir
energies to d i r e c t exhortation of the unconverted. Missio
nary i n s t i t u t i o n s devel oped from the e x p e r i e n c e o f missiona
ries in the fie ld rather than from theoretical imperatives
a t h o me. * ^
E d u c a t i o n seemed t o be t h e answer t o t h e m a s s i v e i n d i f
ference t h a t most m i s s i o n a r i e s encountered in the fie ld .
One m i g h t expect that the former vo lu n te e rs, w ith their
strong background of m issionary education at home, would
have been in favor of the broader application of education
in Ch i n a . Most of the student volunteers, however, were
committed only to the evangelization of China, and th e ir
educational efforts wer e l a r g e l y traditional and s p i r i t u a l l y
o riented. ^ None of the the mission boards o rig in a lly
intended to e sta b lish C hristian colleges as a means to
evangelization. The broad educational policies of t h e men
who controlled the Christian colleges went far beyond the
wi s h e s of th e ir own c h u r c h people in the United States, and
o f t e n dr ew s h a r p c r i t i c i s m from m i s s i o n a r i e s in China. ^
Although the v a s t m a j o r i t y of m iss io n a rie s in the f i e l d
adher ed t o o r t h o d o x views, t h e r e wer e enough d i f f e r e n c e s to
fuel doctrinal disagreements in some m i s s i o n stations in
Ch i n a . The most common s o u r c e o f d i s a g r e e m e n t was t h e q u es
tion of the p r e m i l 1e n n i a l advent. The r e a l i t i e s of livin g
151
in Chi na f o r c e d a few to soften their t h e o l o g y on t h e trou
bl esome q u e s t i o n o f f u t u r e ( s e c o nd ) probation. Occasionally
m i s s i o n a r i e s made r e f e r e n c e to the kinds of Christian wor ks
commonly a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the s o c i a l gospel. But these a cti
vities did not come from any new v i s i o n of social Chris
tia n ity . Chinese customs were seen as barriers to the
truth, and the reactions of the missionaries were for the
most p a r t p r a c t i c a l and t r a d i t i o n a l
Missionaries have been seen by some as the agents of
West ern imperialism. Certainly t h e y wer e im perialists, but
t hey were, above a l l , religious im perialists. Their notions
o f h i s t o r y were p r o p h e t i c , n o t economi c o r p o l i t i c a l . Humi
liation of Chi na was b u t one p a r t of a g r a nd d e s i g n leading
inexorably to a new d i s p e n s a t i o n . They c heer ed the m i l i t a r y
victories of the West and Japan not because they enlarged
Western in flu e n ce , but because they advanced the coming
ki ngdom.
The m o s t s ig n ifica n t thing about the SVM d u r i n g the
progressive e r a was its organizational style. John R. Mott
and t h e C h r i s t i a n l aymen who c r e a t e d SVM and s i m i l a r organi
zations b r o u g h t moder n business techniques to the churches,
dram atically increasing the power of lay organizations at
t h e expense o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l evangelical churches. Scien
tific management of missions and t h e search for efficiency
lead to pleas for comity in the fie ld and the blurring of
denominational lines. The e x p e r i e n c e o f Wor l d War I a c c e l e
rated these te n d e n c ie s , and t h e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e Interchurch
152
World Movement (ICWM) confirmed the fears of many that
denominational control of resources and doctrine we r e
threatened.^
The f o r c e s of modernism r e p r e s e n t e d by M o t t and t h e
ICWM have been overlooked in discussions of the causes of
the fundam entalist-liberal s c h i s ms that tore the fabric of
church l i f e after t h e Gr eat War. What has been d i f f i c u l t to
explain is the timing of those schisms. If one thinks of
moderni sm not in t e r ms of the new t h e o l o g y or the social
gospel, but in terms o f the practical n o n - d e n o m i n a t i o n a l ism
of Mott's Christian l aymen, the timing of these s c h i s ms is
more e a s i l y understood.
The fundam entalist re vo lt was as much a re b e llio n
a g a i n s t t h e p r e v a i l i n g methods o f modern b u s i n e s s l i f e as i t
was against liberal theology. The ICWM p u r s u e d efficiency
a t t h e expense o f d e n o m i n a t i o n a l particularism . It was per
c e i v e d by a s i g n i f i c a n t portion of the religious establish
ment as w illin g to trade away doctrinal specifics for an
e fficient allocation of resources. Denominational particu
larism was a g r e a t source of power for protestant missions
a t t h e end o f t h e c e n t u r y , but it was i n a d v e r t e n t l y weakened
by a t t e m p t s to strengthen the economi c power of the evange
lica l churches by rationalizing their financial resources.
Mo t t and t h e other apostles of unity and cooperation inad
ve rte n tly contributed to the d isruption of the churches
t hey sought t o s t r e n g t h e n .
153
Not es
1. R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , The G r e a t C o m m i s s i o n , ( L o n d o n and
Edinburgh: O l i p h a n t s L t d . , 1 9 3 7 ) , p p . 1 6 - 2 6 . , John
R , M o t t , " H i s t o r y o f t h e S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r
Foreign M is s io n s ” , ( C h i c a g o : S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Move
ment f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , 1 8 9 2 ) , p. 22, John R. M o t t *
“ The S t u d e n t M i s s i o n a r y U p r i s i n g " , ( C h i c a g o : Student
V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , 1889) p a s s i m.
2. B e s s i e R i c h w i n e t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , A p r i l 25, 1887,
A l b e r t J . McGaw t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , F e b r u a r y 1 2 , 1887,
R o b e r t Vi nson t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , May 2 4 , 1887.
3. Arthur Mitchell to Charles K. Ober, October 1, 1886.

4. C. Howard Hopkins, The Ri se o f t h e Y . M. C. A . i n No r t h

A m e r i c a , (New Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n Pr e s s , 1 9 5 1 ) , p p . 38-
4 0 . FTet ti e Dunn C l a r k , " I n t h e E a r l y Days o f SVM",
T y p e w r i t t e n MS, 1924, R o b e r t W i l d e r P a p e r s , Yale D i v i
n i t y School L i b r a r y , New Haven, p. 2.
5. M o t t , " Repor t o f the E x e c u t i v e Committee", Report o f

t h e F i r s t I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n v e n t i o n , p . 2 6 , N e t t i e Dunn
t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , J a n u a r y 9 , 1888, W i l d e r P a p e r s .
6. R o b e r t P. W i l d e r t o John N. Forman, n . d . , W i l d e r Pa

p e r s . Norman P. Gr ubb, C . T . S t u d d ; A t h l e t e and P i o n e e r ,
( L o n d o n : R e l i g i o u s T r a c t S o c i e t y , 1 9 3 3 ) , p. 46.
7. M o t t , " Repor t o f the E x e c u t i v e Committee", Report o f

t h e F i r s t I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n v e n t i o n , p. 3.
8. "SVM S t a t i s t i c s " , S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r A r c h i v e s , Y a l e
D i v i n i t y S c h o o l , New H a v e n . M o tt, " H i s t o r y o f the
S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement " , pp. 3 8 - 4 3 .
9. " S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r s f o r 1 8 9 6 " , SVM A r c h i v e s , Y a l e D i v i

n i t y S c h o o l , New Haven. S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement f o r
F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , " C i r c u l a r o f Q u e s t i o n s " , SVM A r
c h i v e s , Yal e D i v i n i t y S c h o o l , New Haven; "SVM S t a t i s
t i c s " , S tu d e n t V o lu n te e r A r c h iv e s , Yale D i v i n i t y
S c h o o l , New H a v e n ; J o h n R. M o t t , A d d r e s s e s and
Paper s o f John R. Mo t t (New Y o r k : Association Press,
1 9 4 6 ) , v o l 1, fT. 1 7 5 - 6 . "SVM S t a t i s t i c s " , S t u d e n t Vo
l u n t e e r A r c h i v e s , Y a l e D i v i n i t y S c h o o l , New H a v e n .
U n i t e d S t a t e s B u r e a u o f t h e C e n s u s , The S t a t i s t i c a l
H i s t o r y o f the U n i t e d S t a t e s f r o m C o l o n i a l Ti mes t o t h e
P r e s e n t . ( New Y o r k : H o r i z o n P r e s s , 1 9 6 5 ) , p. 38.
10. A n o n y m o u s , " R e p o r t o f t h e E d u c a t i o n a l D e p a r t me n t t o t h e
E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e . " Sept ember 29, 1920. Typewritten
MS, SVM A r c h i v e s , Yal e D i v i n i t y S c h o o l , New Haven.
154
11. C o n v e r s i o n s wer e f ew and s l o w i n c o mi n g . I n 1889 t h e r e

were o n l y 3 7 , 0 0 0 P r o t e s t a n t communi cant s i n C h i n a . By
1905, t h e number had i n c r e a s e d t o 1 7 8 , 0 0 0 . James C.
Thompson J r . , P e t e r W. S t a n l e y , and John C u r t i s Perry,
S e n t i m e n t a l I m p e r i a l i s t s ; The Amer i can E x p e r i e n c e i n
East . Asi a, ( New Y o r k : Har per & Row, 1 9 8 1 ) , pp"I 5 4 ^ 6 0 .
Henry Kingman t o Judson S m i t h , F e b r u a r y 2 6 , 1889. Jo
seph B a i l l i e t o A r t h u r G i l l e s p i e , J u l y 2 2 , 1891. E. R.
Atwater t o Judson S m i th , J a n ua ry 16, 1893, ABCFM.
Fr ank H. C h a l f a n t t o F . F . E l l i n w o o d , A p r i l 27, 1894.
PBFM. Sherwood Eddy, I n t r o d u c t o r y Not es t o h i s p a p e r s ,
T y p e w r i t t e n MS, Ya l e D i v i n i t y School L i b r a r y , New Ha
v e n , O c t o b e r 1 , 1951.
12. W i l l i a m R. H u t c h i s o n , E r r a n d t o t h e W o r l d : A m e r i c a n
P r o t e s t a n t T h o u g h t and f o r e i g n Missions (Chicago: U ni
v e r s i t y o f Ch i c a g o P r e s s , 1 9 8 7 ) , p . 1 1 3 . "
13. John R. M o t t , The E v a n g e l i z a t i o n o f t h e Wor l d in This

G e n e r a t i o n (New Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 0 0 ) , p . 40.
Kennet h S c o t t L a t o u r e t t e , The C h i n e s e ; T h e i r H i s t o -
r y and C u l t u r e . (New Y o r k : M a c M i l l a n Company, 1 9 6 7 ) , p.
29'8~. Thompson, S t a n l e y , and P e r r y , S e n t i m e n t a l I mpe
r i a l i s t s , pp. 54-60; B l i s s , Encyclopedia of MissionsT
v o l 2j p. 4 3 6 . C h a r l e s A. S a l q u i s t t o A r t h u r Judson
Brown, December 10, 1891.
14. Kennet h S c o t t Latourette, The C h i n e s e ; T h e i r H i s t o r y

and C u l t u r e . (New Y o r k : MacMi 11 an Company, 1 9 6 7 ) , pT
298. Thompson, S t a n l e y , and P e r r y , S e n t i m e n t a l I mpe
r i a l i s t s , pp. 5 4 - 6 0 . L u t h e r D. Wi sh ar d ^ A New P r o g r a m
me o f M i s s i o n s , (New Y o r k : S t u d e n t V o l u n t e e r Movement
f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s ) , 1895, pp. 1 5 - 1 6 . E d g e r t o n H a r t
t o A . J . P a l m e r , A p r i l 30 1 8 9 6 , M e t h o d i s t E p i s c o p a l
Board o f F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s Paper s (MEBFM).
15. F r a n k W. W o o d r u f f t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , F e b r u a r y 1 5 ,
1 889. W i l d e r P a p e r s . Kwang C h ' i n g L i u , " E a r l y C h r i s t i a n
Colleges in China", J o u r n a l o f A s i a n S t u d i e s , Vol ume
XX, p p . 7 1 - 2 ; D wi g h t Goddard t o t h e Amer i can Board o f
C o m m i s s i o n e r s f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , May 2 4 , 1 8 9 5 ,
ABCFM; Lyman P. Peet t o Judson S m i t h , March 3 1 , 1896.
W i l l a r d L. Beard t o Judson S m i t h , J a n u a r y 3 1 , 1898.
F. H. C h a l f a n t t o F . F . E l l i n w o o d , March 8 , 1894. PBFM.
16. C l i f t o n E. Olmstead, H i s t o r y o f R e l i g i o n i n t he Uni te d

S t a t e s , ( Engl ewood C l i f f s , New J e r s e y : P r e n t i c e - H a l 1,
I n c . , 1 9 6 2 ) , pp. 465-4 9 4 . V i r g i l F. P a r t c h t o t h e
P r e s b y t e r i a n Board o f F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , A p r i l 2 8 , 1900.
PBFM P a p e r s . Henry Kingman t o t h e Amer i can Board o f
Commi s s i o n e r s f o r F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , F e b r u a r y 26, 1889.
ABCFM P a p e r s ; V i r g i l F. P a r t c h t o t h e P r e s b y t e r i a n
155
Board o f F o r e i g n M i s s i o n s , A p r i l 28, 1900. PBFM Pa

pers; W i l l i a m H. Cossum, B a p t i s t B i o g r a p h i c a l I n d e x ,
Amer i can B a p t i s t M i s s i o n a r y Uni on Papers (ABMU); W il
l i a m Beeson H a m i l t o n t o A r t h u r Judson Brown, December
2 5 j 1898, PBFM P a p e r s . R o b e r t S p e e r , Ad d r e s s b e f o r e
t h e Ecumeni cal M i s s i o n s C o n f e r e n c e , New Y o r k , A p r i l 23,
1900, i n Ro b e r t S p e e r , M i s s i o n a r y P r i n c i p l e s and P r a c
t i c e , (New Yor k and C h i c a g o : Fl e mi n g H. Revel 1 C o . ) ,
pp. 3 5 - 6 . C. A. S a l q u i s t t o A r t h u r Judson Brown. May 19,
1897. PBFM Pa p e r s .
17. John R. M o t t , Ad d r e s s e s and Paper s o f John R. M o t t v o l

2, Tire' W o r l d ' s S t u d e n t C h r i s t i a n F e d e r a t i o n (New Y o r k :
A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s , 1 9 4 7 ) , p i 28"! v o l 5"I The I n t e r n a
t i o n a l M i s s i o n a r y C o u n c i l , ( New Y o r k : A s s o c i a t i o n P r e s s ,
1 9 4 7 ) , pp 6 7 6 - 9 1 , 7 4 8 - 4 9 ; M ott, Missionary Council,
p. 289.
18. John R. Mo t t t o R o b e r t P. W i l d e r , November 1 4 , 1899.

Mott, Evangelization; E r n e s t R. Sandeen, The Root s o f
Amer i c an F u n d a m e n t a l i s m ; B r i t i s h and Amer i can Millena-
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— ............. - *• -- — ................ — —.— - . . - trx*

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C ollege evangelists and foreign m issions: The Student Volunteer

Ramsey, Dwayne George, Ph.D .

C o p y rig h t © 1 9 8 8 b y R am sey, D w ayn e G eo rg e. A ll rig h ts reserved .

300 N. Zeeb Rd.

DWAYNE GEORGE RAMSEY

Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of

DWAYNE GEORGE RAMSEY

The c o m p l e t i o n o f t h i s s t u d y wo u l d have been i m p o s s i b l e

w i t h o u t t h e g e ner ous a s s i s t a n c e o f many p e o p l e . I was g i v e n

unlimited access to the archives of the Student Volunteer

Movement a t the Ya l e D i v i n i t y School Library. I also be ne ­

fited from the fa c ilitie s of the archives of the Amer i can

Board of Commi s si oner s for Foreign Missions, the Amer i can

Baptists Missionary Union, the Methodist Episcopal Board o f

Foreign Missions, the Y.M.C.A., and the Presbyterian Board

o f Foreign Missions. I am g r a t e f u l for r e s e a r c h g r a n t s f r om

t h e Amer i can H istorical Association, the U. S. De p a r t me n t of

State, and the University of C alifornia at Davis. I wi sh

also to acknowl edge s p e c i a l debts of gratitude to Professor

Wilson Smi t h and members of his seminar for their guidance

and e n c o u r a g e me n t , and t o my f a m i l y for their patience.

My s t u d y of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign

Missions (SVM) was d e s i g n e d t o use t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n as a way

t o e x p l o r e t h e most e x t e n s i v e Amer i can m i s s i o n a r y r e v i v a l of

the nineteenth century. To t h a t end I d e c i d e d to study the

SVM f r o m i t s beginnings in 1886 t h r o u g h the year 1920, when

t h e movement began i t s decline. My method has been t o t r a c e

the a ctivitie s of the volunteers beginning on the Amer i can

college campus and extending to their careers as m i s s i o n a ­

ries in China. The Volunteers, comprising mor e than ten

t h o u s a n d men and women who s a i l e d fo r fo re ig n mission fields

over a period of nearly f o r t y years, represented the evange­

lic a l churches of America abroad. Ov e r the life of the

movement , the number of volunteers who actually became fo ­

reign missionaries amounted to less than three hund r e d p er

year. When compared to the number of college students in

the c o u n t r y - - 2 3 8 , 000 in 19 00 , nearly 600,000 in 1920--the

volunteer totals wer e small. Compared with the aggregate

statistics of the missionary enterprise, however, the num­

bers of student volunteers were s i g n i f i c a n t indeed. By t h e

beginning of the twentieth century considerably more than

half of a ll active Amer i can Protestant foreign missionaries

Much o f the m a te r ia l for this d isse rtatio n is d r a wn

from a study o f the f i r s t 150 s t u d e n t volunteers who s a i l e d

t o Chi na f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e movement t h r o u g h 1896. I

chose Chi na because o f my own i n t e r e s t , and because it has

been a popular area for mission studies. I believed it

woul d be e a s i e r t o do a case s t u d y than t o attempt a survey

o f the e n t i r e fie ld . Because o f t h e size o f the m i s si o n a r y

effort in China, I believe that the choice is ju stifia b le .

A cursory reading of the sources indicates that the most

serious p r o bl e ms and most common t a s k s wer e s i m i l a r t o t h o s e

The f i r s t chapter is devoted to the origins of the SVM

a t t h e Mt . Hermon c o n f e r e n c e of 1886, the early d e v e l o p me n t

o f t h e movement, and i t s relationship to e x is tin g missionary

agencies A c o n t i n u i n g t h e me , volunteer motivation, is firs t

exami ned i n t h i s chapter in a discussion o f t h e SVM d e c l a r a ­

The most advanced technology has been used to photo

Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re

Movement a t the Ya l e D i v i n i t y School Library. I also be ne

college campus and extending to their careers as m i s s i o n a

over a period of nearly f o r t y years, represented the evange

movement , the number of volunteers who actually became fo

statistics of the missionary enterprise, however, the num

exami ned i n t h i s chapter in a discussion o f t h e SVM d e c l a r a

constituted a m ajority o f Ameri can m i s s i o n a r i e s , a descrip

other r e li g io u s organizations, it explains some o f t h e c h a n

ges i n Amer i can c h u r c h life in the e a r l y years o f the ce n tu

a generation. Modernization of the foreign missions enter

prise was the mo st significant accomplishment of the move

participants characterized the movement as a s t u d e n t "upri

Ro b e r t Par mal ee W ilder's enthusiasm for foreign mis

children tried to create sim ilar missionary societies. Du

ring the 1 8 8 3 - 4 academi c y e a r Grace o r g a n i z e d t h e Mt . Holy

and desirous, God perm itting, to become foreign missiona