USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The Religious Education Association : proceedings of the first annual convention, Chicago, February 10-12, 1903 > Part 25
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DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
The Convention was called to order at ten o'clock. The hymn, "A Glory Gilds the Sacred Page," was sung. Scrip- tures (Luke 24 : 25-7, 44-53 ; Acts 1 : 1-8) were read by Rev. E. Munson Hill, D.D., Principal of the Congregational Col- lege of Canada, Montreal, Can. Prayer was offered by Pro- fessor Milton S. Terry, D.D., of Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Ill. A soprano solo, Protheroe's "Lead, Kindly Light," was given by Mrs. William D. Ferguson, of Chicago.
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ADDRESS
President William R. Harper, Ph.D., D.D., LL.D., of the University of Chicago, addressed the Convention upon "The Scope and Purpose of the New Organization."
DISCUSSION
The discussion was continued by Rev. J. H. Kirkland, Ph.D., LL.D., Chancellor of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn .; Rev. Edward A. Horton, D.D., President of the Unitarian Sunday School Society, Boston ; Rev. Caspar W. Hiatt, D.D., Pastor of the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church, Cleve- land, O .; Professor George W. Pease, of the Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy, Hartford, Conn .; and Rev. Albert E. Dunning, D.D., Editor of "The Congregationalist," Boston.
Informal discussion was participated in by Mr. M. C. Haz- ard, Ph.D., Editor Congregational Sunday School Publica- tions, Boston; Mr. F. C. Morehouse, Editor "The Living Church," Milwaukee, Wis .; Rev. Charles W. Pearson, Pastor of the Unitarian Church, Quincy, Ill .; Rev. Philip S. Moxom, D.D., Pastor of the South Congregational Church, Springfield, Mass .; Rev. A. Wellington Norton, LL.D., President Sioux Falls College, Sioux Falls, S. Dak .; Mr. Edward O. Sisson, Director of the Bradley Polytechnic Institute, Peoria, Ill .; Rev. C. R. Blackall, D.D., Editor of Periodicals, American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa.
BUSINESS
The Committee on Enrolment, through its Chairman, Pro- fessor Charles M. Stuart, D.D., of Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Ill., reported as follows :
The registration of members of the Convention is thus far 360 persons,I representing twenty-three states, two provinces of Canada, and four foreign countries. New England is largely represented, as well as the states of the interior. Fifteen denominations are represented, and a large number of educational institutions. The members of the Convention are individuals rather than formally appointed delegates of institutions or organizations.
On motion the report was accepted and referred to the Publishing Committee.
I The total attendance of invited members, as determined at the close of the Convention, was over 400. Still others were present whose names were not formally registered.
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The Committee on Permanent Organization reported through its Chairman, President Henry Churchill King, D.D., of Oberlin College, Oberlin, O., as follows:
The Committee has especially desired not to force any plan on the Con- vention, and yet I am sure we all see that it would be a great pity to have this Convention adjourn without adopting some permanent plan of organiza- tion. It seemed therefore that we ought to be able to suggest something definite and well thought out in the way of a constitution. The one thing certainly that we cannot fail to do at this Convention is to adopt some kind of a reasonable organization, so that the fruits of the Convention may not be lost. Your committee therefore faced the problem of devising some plan for a permanent organization. We felt that we ought to provide for an organization that, in the first place, would be large; that, in the second place, would be broad in its outlook, and be able to take in all kinds of organizations, and all the different classes of workers that would naturally be interested in religious and moral education ; that, in the third place, would allow some freedom of work and yet be effective, get something done; and finally, that should have a constitution which had been thoroughly tested. I think that all these requirements have been in the minds of the committee ; that the constitution ought to allow for largeness, for breadth, for freedom, for effectiveness, and that it should be a tested constitution.
The constitution recommended by your Committee is not-I think I owe it to you to say-hastily prepared. You can well understand, of course, that back of the calling and organization of such a Convention as this there has had to be a great deal of thought and planning. The pre- liminary conferences held in different parts of the country have taken up this question of the constitution. Besides this there has been a great deal of correspondence bearing upon the question of the form of the organiza- tion. Many of the committees too that had the calling and organization of this Convention in mind have gone over this same subject ; and your Com- mittee-a committee of twenty-one - were obliged to deprive themselves of the entire afternoon session yesterday to go over the Constitution and adopt it phrase by phrase. I have a right therefore to say that the consti- tution offered is certainly not hastily recommended.
The consensus of all these preliminary considerations has been just this, that we probably could not do more wisely than to organize along essentially the same lines as the National Educational Association. Their constitution seemed to meet the needs that I mentioned, namely, it provides for as large a membership as we should ever need to anticipate; in the second place, it provides for great breadth in the number of departments that shall be represented in the organization; in the third place, it allows great freedom of work in these separate departments, and still in its Exec- utive Board and in its Board of Directors and in its Council it provides for some really effective work; besides it is, as I said, a tested constitution - there has been the test of thirty years' trial by the National Educational Association. We are therefore not presenting an untried plan in the consti-
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tution now reported. The constitution of the National Educational Asso- ciation has been essentially transferred, therefore, except in two particulars : one in the direction of simplification, and one in the direction of making the Executive Board larger and more representative. The two essential differences, therefore, from the National Educational Association constitu- tion are just these : that, in the first place, instead of having two boards, a Board of Trustees and a Board of Directors, this constitution recommends one Board of Directors; in the second place, instead of having a compara- tively small Executive Committee of seven, the constitution recommends a large Executive Board of twenty-five.
It seems necessary, in order that the constitution may be fairly before you, to read the constitution recommended in detail, article by article. I am sure you will bear with this reading; there are a number of points that I should like to call your special attention to as I read. Your Committee recommend unanimously and heartily the adoption of the following consti- tution :
(The constitution as printed on pp. 334-9 was then read.)
I now have the pleasure of presenting the unanimous and hearty recommendation of the Committee on Permanent Organization in favor of the constitution just read. The Committee counted itself very happy in having the example of the National Educational Association before it, that it might be possible to present at once a constitution that would really meet our case.
It was voted, on motion of Rev. Philip S. Moxom, D.D., of Springfield, Mass., that the report of the Committee be accepted and its consideration be postponed until the time provided by the program for its discussion in the afternoon session.
ADJOURNMENT
After singing the hymn, "Rise Crowned with Light," the session closed with the benediction by Rev. Cornelius H. Patton, D.D., Pastor of the First Congregational Church, St. Louis, Mo.
SIXTH SESSION
THURSDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 12
After a luncheon provided for the members of the Con- vention by the General Committee, given at the Quadrangle Club of the University of Chicago, the last session of the Convention was called to order by President Sanders at half- past two o'clock.
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DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
The hymn, "The Church's One Foundation," was sung by the congregation. The Scriptures ( Ephesians 4) were read by Professor Waldo S. Pratt, of Hartford Theological Seminary, Hartford, Conn. Prayer was offered by Rev. Erastus Blakes- lee, editor of the Bible Study Union Lessons, Boston. Mr. Charles Knorr, of Chicago, rendered the tenor solo, "Fear Ye Not, O Israel" (Dudley Buck).
ADDRESS
Rev. Frank W. Gunsaulus, D.D., President of Armour Institute and Pastor of Central Church, Chicago, spoke on " The Relation of the New Organization to Existing Organi- zations."
DISCUSSION
The subject was farther treated by Rev. George R. Merrill, D.D., Superintendent of the Congregational Home Missionary Society, Minneapolis, Minn .; Rev. Charles J. Little, D.D., LL.D., President of Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Ill .; Mr. L. Wilbur Messer, General Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, Chicago; Rev. William F. McDowell, Ph.D., Secretary of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church, New York city, whose paper was read in his absence by Professor Milton S. Terry, D.D., of Garrett Biblical Insti- tute, Evanston, Ill .; Rev. Richard M. Hodge, D.D., Instructor in the School for Lay Workers, Union Theological Seminary, New York city.
BUSINESS
It was announced that Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D.D., of Boston, who greatly desired to be present at the Convention, but found this impossible because of the state of his health, had sent a letter to the members of the Convention, copies of which would be found upon the table before them.
It was voted, on motion of Professor Edwin D. Starbuck, Ph.D., of Leland Stanford Junior University, Calif., that the Convention adopt the report of the Committee on Perma- nent Organization, and that in adopting the report the members of the Convention consider themselves organized under the new constitution. The vote was unanimous.
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The Committee on Nominations made its report through Professor Shailer Mathews, of the University of Chicago, in the temporary absence of the Chairman of the Committee, President Rush Rhees, D.D., LL.D., of the University of Rochester, Rochester, N. Y., as follows:
President-Professor Frank Knight Sanders, Ph.D., D.D., Dean Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn.
Vice-Presidents-President Nicholas Murray Butler, Ph.D., LL.D., Columbia University, New York city; President James B. Angell, L.L.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich .; Rev W. G. Ballantine, D.D., LL.D., International Y. M. C. A. Training School, Springfield, Mass .; Rev. William C. Bitting, D.D., Pastor Mt. Morris Baptist Church, New York city; Rev. Amory H. Bradford, D.D., Pastor First Congregational Church, Montclair, N. J .; Mr. J. W. Carr, Superintendent of Schools, Anderson, Ind .; Professor Thomas F. Day, D.D., San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, Calif .; Rev. George E. Horr, D.D., Editor "The Watchman," Boston, Mass .; Rev. Jesse L. Hurlbut, D.D., Pastor Methodist Episcopal Church, Morristown, N. J .; President William DeWitt Hyde, D.D., LL.D., Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me .; President Burris A. Jenkins, Kentucky University, Lexington, Ky .; President Charles J. Little, D.D., Garrett Bibli- cal Institute, Evanston, Ill .; Rev. S. J. McPherson, Head Master Lawrence- ville School, Lawrenceville, N. J .; Rev. John Moore, Ph.D., Pastor First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Dallas, Tex .; Professor James S. Riggs, D.D., Auburn Theological Seminary, Auburn, N. Y .; President Mary E. Woolley, Litt.D., Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.
Treasurer -Mr. James Herron Eckels, President Commercial National Bank, Chicago.
Directors at Large -Mr. Herbert B. Ames, Montreal, Canada; Mr. Nolan R. Best, Editor "The Interior," Chicago; Rev. Nehemiah Boynton, D.D., Pastor First Congregational Church, Detroit, Mich .; Professor Edward L. Curtis, Ph.D., D.D., Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn .; Rev. Samuel A. Eliot,D.D., President American Unitarian Association, Boston, Mass .; Pres- ident R. D. Harlan, D.D., Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Ill .; Rev. Pascal Harrower, Chairman Sunday School Commission of the Diocese of New York, Rector Church of the Ascension, West New Brighton, N. Y .; Profes- sor J. I. D. Hinds, Ph.D., University of Nashville, Nashville, Tenn .; President Richard Cecil Hughes, D.D., Ripon College, Ripon, Wis .; Rev. Charles E. Jefferson, D.D., Pastor Broadway Tabernacle, New York city; President R. J. Kelly, Earlham College, Richmond, Ind .; Rev. William M. Lawrence, D.D., Pastor Second Baptist Church, Chicago; Rev. William F. McDowell, Secretary of Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, New York city; Professor John E. McFadyen, A.M., Knox College, Toronto, Canada; Professor Walter Miller, Tulane University, New Orleans, La .; Professor Samuel C. Mitchell, Ph.D., Richmond College, Richmond, Va .; Rev. A. B. Philputt, D.D., Pastor Central Christian Church, Indianapolis, Ind .;
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MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION
President Albert Salisbury, Ph.D., State Normal School, Whitewater, Wis .; Rev. Charles H. Snedeker, Dean St. Paul's Cathedral, Cincinnati, O .; Rev. Floyd W. Tompkins, D.D., Rector Holy Trinity Church, Phila- delphia, Pa.
Executive Board-President William Lowe Bryan, Ph.D., Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind .; Professor George A. Coe, Ph.D., North- western University, Evanston, III .; Rev. Lathan A. Crandall, D.D., Pastor Memorial Baptist Church, Chicago; Rev. H. P. DeForest, D. D., Pastor Woodward Avenue Congregational Church, Detroit, Mich .; Mr. J. Spencer Dickerson, Editor " The Standard," Chicago ; President Frank W. Gunsaulus, D.D., Armour Institute, and Pastor Central Church, Chicago; President Charles Cuthbert Hall, D.D., Union Theological Seminary, New York city ; President William R. Harper, Ph.D., D.D., LL.D., The University of Chi- cago, Chicago; Mr. N. W. Harris, Chicago; Mr. W. L. Hervey, Ph.D., Examiner Board of Education, New York city ; Mr. Charles S. Holt, Chi- cago; Mr. J. L. Houghteling, Chicago; Mr. Charles L. Hutchinson, Chi- cago; President Henry Churchill King, D.D., Oberlin College, Oberlin, O .; Chancellor James H. Kirkland, Ph.D., LL.D., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn .; Professor W. Douglas Mackenzie, D.D., Chicago Theo- logical Seminary, Chicago; Rev. William P. Merrill, Pastor Sixth Presby- terian Church, Chicago; Mr. L. Wilbur Messer, General Secretary Y. M. C. A., Chicago; Mr. S. J. Moore, Toronto, Can .; Professor George L. Rob- inson, Ph.D., McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago; Professor Herbert L. Willett, Ph.D., The University of Chicago, Chicago.
It was voted that the Secretary of the Convention cast a ballot in behalf of the Association for the President, Vice- Presidents, the members of the Board of Directors nominated by the Committee, and the members of the Executive Board.
It was voted that the reading of the minutes be omitted, and that they be referred to a special committee for revision. The Committee appointed by the presiding officer consisted of two members, Professor George S. Goodspeed, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago, and Rev. S. M. Campbell, D.D., Pastor of the Emerald Avenue Presbyterian Church, Chicago.
Professor Graham Taylor, D.D., of the Chicago Theologi- cal Seminary, made the following statement and motion, the Convention voting its adoption :
GRAHAM TAYLOR: Mr. Chairman, the success of this Convention, in my judgment and the judgment of many others, is perhaps due, more than to any other reason, to the thorough preliminary work done by the General Committee of this preliminary organization. This Committee consisted of seven men. Everyone of us is indebted to the gratuitous and splendid ser- vice of each of these men ; and I do not think it invidious to name one of
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them, and I think all his colleagues will bear me out in saying that the suc cess of this Convention is perhaps due more to the fidelity and indomitable energy and the utmost devotion of Professor Votaw, than to anybody here I therefore move that the thanks of the Association be extended to the General Committee for their splendid preliminary work, and especially to Professor Votaw for his great fidelity and efficiency in service upon this Committee.
It was voted that that part of Art. V, Sec. 6, of the consti- tution, relating to the election in 1903 of members of the Board of Directors for each state, etc., be suspended, in accord- ance with the provision of Art. VII, and the election of these members be referred to the Executive Board.
The Committee on Resolutions, through its Chairman, Rev. George B. Stewart, D.D., President of Auburn Theologi- cal Seminary, Auburn, N. Y., made the following report, which was unanimously adopted :
The Convention for Religious and Moral Education, meeting in Chi- cago, on February 10, 11, and 12, 1903, hereby expresses the conviction that a forward movement is necessary in religious and moral education. Inas- much as an important service can be rendered by co-operation of workers for the studying of problems, for furnishing information, for mutual encour- agement, and for the promotion of higher ideals and better methods, a new organization for the United States and Canada has seemed desirable. The organization should be comprehensive and flexible. This will exclude advocacy of the distinctive views of any denomination or school of opinion; it will forbid the limitation of the work to any single phase of religious and moral education, as, for example, the Sunday school ; it will prevent the control of the organization by any section of the country, by those inter- ested in any single division of the work, or by those representing any one school of thought. It is not the purpose to publish a series of Sunday-school lessons or to compete with existing Sunday-school or other organizations; but rather to advance religious and moral education through such agencies.
To the Council of Seventy which called this Convention, and to the committees which provided remarkably complete arrangements therefor, we express our deep indebtedness.
We wish also to extend our thanks to Professor Chamberlain, the director of the music of the Convention; to Dr. Falk, the organist, and the chorus for the first session, and to the other organists and singers of the subsequent sessions ; to the officers of the Second Presbyterian Church and the University Congregational Church for the privilege of meeting in their buildings; to the friends in Chicago who have opened their homes and extended hospitality to delegates; to the Auditorium Hotel for the use of a room for the headquarters of the Convention; to the Chicago Telephone Company for the installation of a telephone at the Convention headquar-
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ters; to Messrs. E. H. Stafford & Bros. for the use of desks and chairs; and to the railroads of the Central and Western Passenger Associations for the special courtesies shown the Convention in their arrangement for the trans- portation of delegates.
The program and the business of the Convention having been completed, the time for adjournment was at hand. The President of the Convention, Professor Frank K. Sanders, said in closing :
I am sure we should all be glad to extend indefinitely the sessions of our Convention. We all feel that this has been a notable gathering, notable in many ways. I am sure every one of us feels that whatever sacrifices he may have found it necessary to make in order to be here have been abundantly repaid to him in the richness and fulness of this splendid meeting. I trust that our interest will deepen and abide.
I wish there were time for the expression of the opinion, which I am sure is in many of your hearts, regarding the duty that now lies upon the members of the Convention to prepare the way for the future work of the Association. This should be the special privilege of those of us who are pastors, who are leaders in any branch of the great work of religious and moral education. It is highly appropriate that we should speak to our churches and to our communities, that we should avail ourselves of all opportunities not merely to advocate the principles in which, I am sure, we have come to believe, but to make entirely clear the spirit and purpose of this gathering and the work which the Association proposes to do. Let each and every one of us regard himself as a special representative, a general secretary at large of this Association. With our effective co-operation at the present time a broad field of usefulness will surely open before the movement. We have asked repeatedly and earnestly for God's blessing upon it ; let us support our prayers by our service.
Let us now bring our gathering to its fitting close with sincere and reverent recognition of the constant presence and guidance of God.
ADJOURNMENT
After singing the hymn, " Onward, Christian Soldiers," the closing prayer was offered by Rev. Frederic E. Dewhurst, Pastor of the University Congregational Church, Chicago. The Convention was then declared adjourned, sine die.
M. C. HAZARD W. C. BITTING Secretaries.
CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION
ARTICLE I-NAME
This Association shall be entitled "The Religious Educa- tion Association."
ARTICLE II -PURPOSE
The purpose of this Association shall be to promote religious and moral education.
ARTICLE III -DEPARTMENTS
SECTION I. The Association shall conduct its work under several departments, as follows : (1) The Council; (2) Uni- versities and Colleges; (3) Theological Seminaries ; (4) Churches and Pastors; (5) Sunday Schools; (6) Secondary Public Schools; (7) Elementary Public Schools; (8) Private Schools; (9) Teacher Training ; (10) Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations ; (II) Young People's Societies ; (12) The Home; (13) Libraries ; (14) The Press ; (15) Correspondence Instruction; (16) Religious Art and Music.
SEC. 2. Other departments may be organized on the approval of the Executive Board hereinafter provided.
SEC. 3. Members may belong to such department or departments as they may select, except in the case of the Council as provided for in Sec. 4.
SEC. 4. The Council of Religious Education shall con- sist of sixty members, who shall be active members of the Association. The original membership shall be selected by the Executive Board of the Association, ten for one year, ten for two years, ten for three years, ten for four years, ten for five years, ten for six years.
Vacancies in the Council shall be filled in alternation, one- half by the Council itself, the other half by the Board of Directors hereinafter provided. The absence of a member from two consecutive annual meetings of the Council shall be equivalent to resignation of membership, and a new member shall be elected for the unexpired term.
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CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION
There shall be a regular annual meeting of the Council, in connection with the annual meeting of the Association. The regular election of members of the Council shall take place at this meeting. If the Board of Directors shall for any reason fail to elect its quota of members annually, such vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the Council itself.
The Council shall elect its own officers and adopt its own by-laws, provided that these shall not be inconsistent with the constitution of the Association.
The Council shall have for its object to reach and to dis- seminate correct thinking on all general subjects relating to religious and moral education. Also, in co-operation with the other departments of the Association, it shall initiate, conduct, and guide the thorough investigation and consideration of important educational questions within the scope of the Association. On the basis of its investigations and considera- tions the Council shall make to the Association, or to the Board of Directors, such recommendations as it deems expedi- ent relating to the work of the Association.
There shall be appointed annually some person to submit, at the next annual meeting, a report on the progress of reli- gious and moral education during the year ; this person need not be selected from the members of the Council.
ARTICLE IV-MEMBERSHIP
SECTION I. There shall be three classes of members : Active (individual and institutional), Associate, and Corre- sponding.
SEC. 2. Active members shall be (1) teachers, pastors, and any persons otherwise engaged in the work of religious and moral education as represented by the sixteen departments named in Art. III; (2) institutions and organizations thus engaged.
SEC. 3. Associate Members shall be persons who are not directly engaged in the work of religious and moral education, but who desire to promote such work.
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