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THE 



Endeavor Greeting 

A Manual of Information and 
Suggestion for New Members 




AMOS R/ WELLS 




United Society of Christian Endeavor 
Boston and Chicago 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

LJDrary of Cewgragf^ 

APR 2 - 1900 

Register of Oopyrigftfi^ 



.Wf- 



60102 

Copyright, igoo 

BY THE 

United Society of Christian Endeavor 



SECOND COPY. 



Mc Melcome l^ou^ 

We rejoice that the Holy Spirit has led you to join 
our society. 

We receive you most cordially into our fellowships 
and ask you to think of us as your brothers and sisters 
in Christ's blessed service. 

We trust that the society will gain much from youy 
and that you will gain much from the society. Let 
us be laborers together ^ — hand in hand and heart to 
heart. 

That you may enter rapidly and fully into the spirit 
of the society s and into the performance of your duties 
and enjoyment of your privileges^ we give you this 
books trusting that you will read it carefully , and 
gain from the reading a clear view of Christian 
Endeavor, Your friends. 

The Members of the Society. 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 




What the Christian Endeavor Society Is* 

HRISTIAN Endeavor has two aspects, 
and you will not gain the whole benefit 
from your membership in the society 
until you enter heartily into both phases of its 
work. It is a local organization ; it is a world- 
wide movement. 

It is a part of our church, under the control 
of its pastor and the other church officers, and 
has the upbuilding of the church for its one aim, 
as is declared by our motto, " For Christ and 
the Church." All authority over the society is 
vested in our church and denomination, and no 
outside body has a right to govern us. 

But we are also in fellowship with the thou- 
sands upon thousands of Christian Endeavor 

5 



6 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 

societies that exist in other denominations, that 
own our Christ as the divine Saviour of the 
world. We are also in touch, through Christian 
Endeavor, with the young people of all nations 
and races, for the movement has passed into 
every quarter of the globe. 

You will not be a true Endeavorer, therefore, 
unless you are loyal, completely, to our church 
and pastor and denomination ; and at the same 
time you will not enjoy the full blessedness of 
the society unless you have some share in our 
interdenominational fellowship as expressed in 
our city, county, and State unions, and unless 
you make some room in your knowledge and 
sympathy for our Christian Endeavor brothers 
and sisters in all parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, 
and the islands of the sea. 

It is to this two-fold service and double privi- 
lege we welcome you. 



fl^ 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 



What the Society Will Do for You- 

[T will strengthen your will, as you hold 
your life firmly to the pledge standard. 
You will learn from your failures 
where your life most needs strengthening, — and 
that is half the battle. 

It will give you many opportunities of influen- 
cing others through testimony and example. 

You will get practice in the great art of self- 
expression. You will become better able to 
obey that sensible command, " Let the redeemed 
of the Lord say so.'' 

The Bible-study, the daily prayer, required by 
the pledge, will draw you nearer to Christ, and 
greatly enrich your life. 

Your membership in the society will commit 
you more decidedly on the side of Christ, and 
make you more outspoken for Him. 

In the society meetings and the socials you 
will increase the number of your acquaintances, 
and you will learn how pleasant it is for Chris- 
tians to dwell together in unity. 



8 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 

This contact with so many different lives will 
widen your horizon. You will gain from others 
a new enthusiasm and many fresh ideas. 

You will become familiar with the orderly and 
effective conduct of business. 

As you enter heartily into the committee work, 
you will learn how to carry on all kinds of 
Christian work, and you will gradually become 
more efficient in this service, until you can 
graduate from the society into the full activities 
of the church. It is our prayer that you will 
attain this blessed goal. 



What You Will Do for the Society. 

OU will bring us, we hope, a n^s^ access 
of zeal, so that those of us who may 
have grown cold in the service may be 
quickened by your fresh enthusiasm. 

You will bring us new ideas, novel methods 
of work. If you see a better way to do anything, 
don't hesitate to tell us about it. 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 9 

You will bring us a new voice, which we hope 
will be heard at every meeting. 

You have behind you your experience, of 
which we want the benefit, — whatever you have 
learned, through failure or through success, about 
the will of God. 

You can help us by joining your prayers to 
ours, by taking thought for all details of the 
work, by contributing your share of the money 
for society enterprises and for missions, and by 
doing with your might whatever committee work 
falls to your lot. 

We are sure that you have learned the truth 
of our Master's word, " It is more blessed to 
give than to receive," and that in joining our 
society you are as eager to assist our labors as to 
win the blessings the society has in store for you. 



^ 




lO THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 



Make Yourself at Home* 

HIS is your society. Just as much 
yours as the president's. Just as much 
yours as the pastor's. We want you to 
take a personal pride in it, and to have a feeling 
of personal possession. You have read the story 
of the street urchin who gave five cents to a cer- 
tain mission, and who was seen not long after, 
dressed in his best, smartly stepping up to the 
door of the mission " to see what they were 
doing with his money." We want you to have 
just such a feeling of ownership in this society ; 
and you will have it if you put something into 
it, — some time, some thought, some careful 
planning. You will be at home in the meet- 
ings, if you take part in them with force and 
regularity. You will feel at home in the socials, 
if you try to make some one else feel at home 
there. As you give yourself to our society, it 
will become truly yours. 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. II 



Don^t Wait to Be Told. 

UR society lacks original members. We 
hope you will be one of them. Mem- 
bers that move without prodding. 
Members that have their own ideas, and are 
not afraid to express them. Members that are 
not all the time asking to be excused. Members 
that actually hunt around for work to do. Auto- 
mobile members. 

Will you not be one of that kind ? 




Prepare for the Meetings. 

ON'T put it off. Good thoughts never 
come " at the last moment." 

Have a prayer-meeting note-book, 
putting at the head of the blank pages the topics for 
several weeks to come, and writing under each the 
thoughts that occur to you, or the suitable quota- 
tions and anecdotes you come across in your read- 




12 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 

ing. You will be astonished to see how many 
fish run into your net — when once it is spread. 

Read the daily readings. One of them will 
surely give you a hint. 

Ask yourself some question on the topic, and 
then answer it. That answer will be your speech. 

Consider whether you have ever had any ex- 
perience bearing on the subject of the meeting. 
If sOj give it. Life is sure to influence life. 

Keep a collection of scraps, in envelopes la- 
belled with general topics, such as " Faith," 
" Courage," " Missions," " Temperance," " The 
Bible," " Prayer." These will be a rich reservoir. 

Talk with your Christian friends about the 
topic. Every such conversation will set your 
brain to working. 

Pray to God, and ask Him to give you a mes- 
sage. He will. 

Consider whether the topic might not be illus- 
trated by some recent event. That will always 
be helpful. 

Do you not know some passage in a book — 
some paragraph, some poem — that bears on the 
subject of the evening? 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 1 3 

Read the comments on the Christian Endeavor 
topics published in the denominational and Chris- 
tian Endeavor papers. Expand some idea you 
find there. 

Try to put in practice the truth of the lesson, 
and tell the society the result. 

Now one of these ways will work and now 
another, but some of them will always give you 
something to say that is well worth saying. 




Taking Part in the Meetings 

^EVER take part merely by calling for 
the singing of some hymn. If you 
really wish to do this, give some value 
to it by adding a few words, telling why you want 
that hymn sung — what feeling of yours it ex- 
presses, what experience it voices, or how you 
think it bears on the subject of the meeting. 

The same remark applies to Bible verses. 
Commit to memory what verses you give, thus 
storing your mind with rich treasures, and always 



14 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 

add some sentence, however short, which will 
make of the verse a personal testimony. In that 
way, going from your life, it will reach other lives. 

Write out, if you wish, what you are going to 
say in the meeting. It is always best to do this, 
no matter how fluent you are, because thus you 
give point and pith to your testimony. Then 
you will do well to burn up what you have writ- 
ten, and trust to your memory. 

Don't worry about words and forms of expres- 
sion. Don't mind it if you do stammer and 
hesitate. It is the breaking voice that breaks 
hard hearts. " Don't be afraid to break down for 
Christ." 

If you are timid, it will help you to resolve the 
society into its elements. There is Mary Brown. 
You are not afraid of her. And George Cul- 
ver. You are not afraid of him. And so on. 
Now since you are not afraid of any of them 
separately, why should you be afraid of them 
collectively ? 

Your fault may be that of speaking too long. 
Remember that our pledge calls upon each of us 
to take some part in the meeting, and if you oc- 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 1 5 

cupy more than your share of the time, you are 
keeping some one else from keeping the pledge. 
Note how many are present, subtract the leader's 
introduction from the hour, and see how many 
minutes remain for each member, on the average. 
Govern yourself accordingly. 

In no way, probably, can you help the meeting 
more than by leading the society in prayer. 
Make up your mind that you will attain this high 
ability and become master of this noble Christian 
service. Always join in the sentence prayers. 
Commit to memory the Bible prayers, especially 
the prayer Psalms. Often read the devotional 
books that are in the form of prayers, like the 
" Book of Common Prayer,'' and Taylor's 
" Holy Living and Dying." Offer short and 
simple prayers in public, and pray much in pri- 
vate, and you will soon be able to carry the 
society with you, up to the foot of the throne. 

Throw your whole soul into whatever you say 
in the meeting. Ten words spoken with ringing 
voice and flashing eye are worth ten thousand 
spoken listlessly. 

Don't be afraid to use the voice God has given 



1 6 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 

you. Remember that you are speaking in order 
to be heard, and pitch your voice so that those 
most distant from you can hear you. 

If you wish to gain efficiency in speech, rise in 
giving your testimony or in praying. It is the 
universal assertion of those that have tried it that 
in this way less embarrassment is felt, and cer- 
tainly what is said when standing is better heard 
and is more impressive. 

You are responsible in part for the ^^ spirit of 
the meeting." It depends partly on your earnest 
attention. It depends on your thoughtful, eager 
face. It depends on your hearty singing. It 
depends on your prayers uttered in secret for the 
success of the meeting. Any meeting, no matter 
how bright and wise the words spoken, may be 
utterly spoiled by a group of tittering simpletons 
whose whispering and silly pranks prevent them 
from gaining any good, and destroy the enjoy- 
ment of all around. Where two or three are 
gathered together in His name, there Christ is in 
the midst of them. We count on you to help in 
making our meetings worthy of that invisible 
Presence. 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 1 7 



When You Lead the Meeting* 

,N the first place, please don't say, " I 
really cannot lead the meeting." Ask 
yourself, rather, "Is this something 
Christ would like to have me do ? " And if you 
decide that it is, be sure that Christ will be the 
real leader of that meeting, and you certainly need 
not fear. 

When you lead, prepare carefully. The United 
Society of Christian Endeavor sells for a few cents 
a variety of most useful helps for leaders. 

I don't mean : " Prepare a long opening talk." 
Make your opening talk no longer than your 
average testimony in the meetings. More meet- 
ings are spoiled by too long openings than by 
anything else. 

Your chief work as leader is to devise ways 
of getting the Endeavorers to take part. Be 
a leader in truth as well as name. Sentence 
prayers, silent prayers, question-boxes, answer- 
boxes, questions on the topic distributed among 
the inexperienced, quotations to be commented 



1 8 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 

upon, hymns to be started impromptu, Bible 
passages to be read in concert — there are a 
myriad ways in which you can " stir up " your 
meeting and give it that " snap," that freshness 
and force, which do so much to vivify any subject. 

Have a programme, and a written one ; but 
don't hold to it slavishly. 

It is far better to speak your opening remarks, 
even if they must be very brief, than to read 
them. "Talk it out'* as if you meant it, and 
you will influence others and give a warmth to 
the meeting such as the most eloquent essay 
could not give. 

Whatever you can do during the week before 
the meeting to spur on the thoughtless and guide 
the inexperienced, will greatly contribute to the 
success of your meeting. It will be more of a 
triumph to lead the meeting in which John 
Stevens led in prayer for the first time, though 
the meeting is filled with pauses, than to preside 
over the most cultured assembly — without John 
Stevens. 

Get into your plans for your meeting one new 
idea, some plan never before tried in your society, 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 1 9 

or seldom tried. One such plan will be enough 
to enliven the entire evening. For example, 
have you ever tried reading a hymn in concert 
before you sing it ? 

Especially, look out for the opening of the 
meeting, and keep it away from the stereotyped 
forms ; and look out for the close of the meeting, 
that it is closed on time and with an earnest and 
reverent spirit. 

Few privileges given to the Christian are 
greater than this of conducting religious meetings. 
It is a blessed opportunity for doing good. We 
hope that you will avail yourself of it whenever 
you are appointed to the post. 



^ 




20 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 



The Singing, and Your Part in It* 

E urge you to consider the singing in 
our prayer meetings as a regular part 
of the worship. Sing heartily, " as unto 
the Lord.'' Don't take a time of your own, but 
keep with the organ. As you sing, have regard 
to the thought of the hymn, and don't sing 
" Nearer, my God, to Thee " as if it were " On- 
ward, Christian Soldiers." Fine, enthusiastic 
singing may be as genuine a help to your fellow 
Endeavorers as anything you can say in your 
testimony; remember that. The clause in the 
pledge which promises to " take some part, aside 
from singing," is not intended to minimize that 
portion of the worship. You will find this part 
of our meeting one of the most blessed of all, if 
you "sing with grace in your heart to the Lord." 



^ 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 21 



How You Can Help the Meetings in GeneraL 

SIDE from your "taking part" in the 
meeting, there are many little things 
you can do for it. 

You can call for sentence prayers at a suitable 
time, saying, "Will not many follow me in 
sentence prayers? " and then giving one yourself. 

You can start a hymn without calling the num- 
ber. This is always a stimulus to the meeting. 

You can add a word now and then to some 
testimony that has been given — some experience 
of yours that corroborates it, some fresh illustra- 
tion, or some approving comment. This, of 
course, should be done sparingly, and with due 
regard to the time at the disposal of members, 
but it may be made a great encouragement to 
beginners in the prayer meetings. 

You can make motions promptly when they 
are needed in the business meetings. 

You can listen earnestly and prayerfully. 

You can sit in the front seats. 

You can be there on time. 



22 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 

You can fill the first pause with your testimony. 
You can be the first to respond to any request 
from the leader. 




Our Crowning Meetings 

iHE purpose of the monthly consecration 
meeting is to strengthen your Christian 
zeal, to confirm your determination, to 
remind you of the vows you have taken, to praise 
God for His guidance during the past month, and 
to make new resolutions for the month to come. 

Don't say at that meeting, " I want to re-con- 
secrate myself" ; you have consecrated yourself 
once for all, if you have ever consecrated your- 
self at all. Don't use any stock phrase. Speak 
very simply, and right out of your heart's needs 
and experiences. 

Tell of some joy the past month has brought 
you. Express some purpose for the coming 
month. Offer some simple prayer. Repeat 
some truth that has lately become precious to 
you. Don't " make a speech " ; that would be 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 23 

foreign to the spirit of the meeting. It is an 
" experience meeting/' as it was originally called. 
Its purpose is to get closer to Christ, to obtain 
fresh zeal in His blessed service. 

Simply to answer, " Present," to your name 
at the roll-call, is, therefore, no adequate response. 
Neither is the announcement of a hymn, unless 
by some added words you make that your per- 
sonal testimony. Not even a Bible verse meets 
the idea of the meeting, unless by some personal 
word you make it your own. 

If you are compelled to be absent from the 
consecration meeting, you are to send " at least 
a verse of Scripture " to be read in response to 
your name. But don't be satisfied with that " at 
least." Often send more,= — some warm message 
fresh from your heart. 

This meeting is rightly taken as a test of ear- 
nestness, and if any one is absent from it for 
three consecutive months without excuse, the 
lookout committee has a perfect right quietly 
to drop his name from the roll. Such a person 
has broken a solemn pledge, made not to us, but 
to Christ : " I promise Himr 




24 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 



If You Are Away from the Society^ 

E hope that when you are away on a 
vacation or a visit you will consider that 
one of the things Christ would like to 
have you do is to transfer your pledge, for the 
time being, to the nearest Christian Endeavor 
society. Join in their meeting as conscientiously 
as if their society were your own. You cannot 
imagine how much good may be done by a fresh 
voice thus introduced, while the example of your 
evident zeal for Christian Endeavor and faithful- 
ness to your pledge will be a great stimulus to 
all the members of that society. 

At the same time we hope that while you are 
away you will take occasion to send a message 
once in a while to your own society. Tell us of 
the new Endeavor friends you have met, of any 
new methods of work you have come across, of 
anything that will quicken our society life and 
increase our faith. Thus during your absence 
you will be twice an Endeavorer, instead of being, 
as so many are, no Endeavorer at all. 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 2$ 



When You Are on a Committee* 

ON'T say, " I have no time to serve on 
a committee." This committee work 
is the manual training-school of the 
church. If you expect to take time to do " the 
Father's business/' you ought to take time to 
learn how to do it. 

Do not say, either, " I will serve on a commit- 
tee, but it must be the social committee " — or 
whatever your preference is. Don't have any 
preference. " I will go where you want me to 
go, dear Lord." 

Learn what the work of your committee is. 
Read the brief description of it in our society 
constitution. Obtain from the United Society 
of Christian Endeavor some of their inexpensive 
pamphlets with abundant helps for the work of 
your special committee, whatever it is. Keep 
your eye on The Christian Endeavor World for 
accounts of the new committee plans that our 
bright workers are all the time contriving. 

Attend the committee meetings regularly ; con- 



26 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 

sider them always a ^^ previous engagement/' if 
other demands upon your time interfere. It is 
God's time, and cannot be better used than in 
His service. 

Get to the committee meeting on time. Your 
absence will make the meeting start oif under a 
cloud, and when at last you come you will render 
it necessary for everything that has been done to 
be repeated in your hearing. What a clog you 
have made of yourself ! 

And when you go, go with the determination 
to stay until the meeting is comfortably com- 
pleted. We are all familiar with the committee- 
man who goes bustling in and announces, " Now 
I have to go at eight o'clock, so let's hurry up 
and get it done with." No wise plans can be 
formed with such impatient, grudging attendance. 

At the committee meeting don't be so very 
modest that you let the others make all the sug- 
gestions ; that is not being modest, it is only 
being stupid. Do your share of the thinking; 
propose your share of the plans ; and don't mind 
if they are voted down. 

When matters are ready to come to a head, 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 27 

be ready to make a motion. Many committee 
meetings flash in the pan just because no one 
has the wise gift of motion-making. 

Then do your full share of the work laid out 
by the committee, and don't be afraid of doing 
more than your full share. Set apart a regular 
time for committee work. Pray over it, and 
throw your whole heart into it. 

For whatever is accomplished, give credit to 
the committee as a whole. Seek to establish an 
esprit de corps. 

And don't allow yourself to forget what com- 
mittee work signifies, and the high ends it has in 
view. You are to be hands and feet, eyes and 
ears, for your Lord, who ascended to heaven in 
order that the church might become His body. 
Let Him not be ashamed of the work you do as 
His representative. 





28 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 



When You Are Chairman of a Committee^ 

UCH of what has just been said will ap- 
ply still more to this office. Especially 
will it be necessary for you to inform 
yourself regarding the best committee plans by 
means of the literature of the United Society of 
Christian Endeavor. Send for the price list, and 
notice especially the "Worker's Library." If 
your local union holds committee conferences 
(as it easily might, and as it should), attend them 
regularly and exchange plans with other chair- 
men. 

Remember that it is your duty not to do the 
work of the committee, but to see that it is 
done. The chairman that " has to do it all him- 
self is an absolute failure as a chairman. 

The first essential is regular committee meet- 
ings. Always have them on the same week day, 
and always meet at the same place. This is an 
important aid to memory. Let the place be 
your own house, if that is not very inconvenient. 
Weekly meetings may be necessary in getting 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 29 

the work started at the beginning of the year. 
Don't be afraid, at any time, to meet as often as 
is necessary for the good of the work. 

Hold your committee meetings on a week-day 
evening, if possible. Hurried gatherings after 
the Christian Endeavor meeting or the church 
prayer meeting are always unsatisfactory. 

Begin promptly at the time appointed, though 
only one other member of the committee is 
present. Open the meeting with prayer for 
God's guidance in it, and close the meeting with 
prayer for God's blessing in the work that is to 
come. Let one of these prayers be by yourself, 
and one by a committeeman. 

Preside with decision. Put motions in a swift 
and businesslike way. Hold the committee to 
the point, and tactfully check aimless discussions. 
Slovenly chairmen are responsible for a vast 
waste of time. 

Don't call a committee meeting without hav- 
ing definite plans to propose, or at least a clear 
idea of the matters to be discussed. Set them 
before the committee at once in as few words as 
possible, and " get right down to business." 



30 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 

Be tenacious in holding on to these plans. 
Allow no resolution of the committee to remain 
unexecuted. Bring it up at every meeting until 
the thing is done. 

Go to your pastor and ask him what he would 
like to have your committee do. Address the 
same inquiry to your Sunday-school superintend- 
ent, your president, the superintendent of the 
Junior society. 

Co-operate with all the other chairmen, and 
never push your work without courteous regard 
for others. To this end be zealous in your 
attendance on the executive committee meetings. 
This is the co-ordinating body of the society. 

Appoint a committee secretary, who will record 
everything done and the substance of all discus- 
sions. Always have these records read at the 
opening of the committee meeting. 

It is your business to make the report of the 
committee at the regular business meeting of 
the society, or else to delegate some committee- 
man to do it. The report should always be in 
writing, and after it is read, it should be handed 
to the secretary for preservation. All such re- 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 3 1 

ports should contain three items : what the 
committee has done; what the committee pro- 
poses to do ; and what help the committee wants 
from the society. 

Help the Other Committees* 

E hope that you will not be a "one- 
committee member." That is, we trust 
that your energies will not be exhausted 
by the little work required from the special com- 
mittee upon which you are placed, but that you 
will have an eye to the helping of all committees. 
For instance, whether you are on the lookout 
committee or not, be on the lookout for possible 
new members, and report them to the lookout 
committee, leaving them to do the rest. Though 
you may not be on the social committee, if you 
hear of a good new game^ "just the thing " for your 
socials, let the social committee have the benefit 
of your find. We are to be one brotherhood in 
this society, remember, and each is to work for 
all. 




32 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 



A Word about the Socials* 

E want you to attend them. We count 
them an essential part of our society 
work. They should be genuine " ser- 
vices " of the Master. 

You will get good from the socials, not as you 
go to them for a good time, but as you go to 
make some one else have a good time. 

Don't attach yourself to some bosom friend 
for the evening, but try to break up cliques, and 
transplant the wall-flowers into the midst of 
things. 

Be ready to enter heartily into all the games 
and other amusements. And don't be so modest 
as to imagine you cannot furnish part of the 
entertainment yourself. 

Our socials are " social — to save." We are 
especially anxious to make them the means of 
drawing some that do not know Christ into the 
" inner circle " of His friends. Will you not aid 
us in this endeavor ? 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 33 



The Society Finances* 

HRISTIAN Endeavor societies have 
very few expenses. Our topic cards 
cost money, and occasionally some com- 
mittee needs a little money to do its work most 
effectively, but in general the demands upon the 
society treasury from the society itself are very 
few. We know that you will be glad to do your 
share, and more than your chare in this direction. 

But for another purpose the society wants 
money, and wants all of it that can be obtained, 
— for the missions and other enterprises of our 
church and denomination. The church has never 
before enjoyed so many opportunities as the 
present affords. Christians may freely send mis- 
sionaries over the world. Many heathen lands 
are hungry for the Word of Life. Everywhere 
there are open doors and open hearts, and thou- 
sands of missionaries are trained and waiting to be 
sent. Never before was the missionary dollar so 
needed. 

Christian Endeavor hopes to raise up a body 



34 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 

of liberal givers, — givers that do not wait to be 
asked, but pass the contribution box to them- 
selves ; Christians that look forward to the mis- 
sionary collection with great joy. Missionary 
Sunday should be both a holy day and a holiday 
to them. So it will be, when the grace of God 
gets into all our pocketbooks. 




Keep Posted* 

OU will wish to know about the history 
of the Christian Endeavor Society, with 
which you have connected yourself, and 
we refer you to the " Short History of Christian 
Endeavor,'' sold by the United Society of Chris- 
tian Endeavor, Tremont Temple, Boston, for 
five cents. It describes the progress of the 
movement in all lands and under all its many 
aspects. It is a wonderful story. 

You will wish also to know what is going on 
to-day in Christian Endeavor circles. You will 
want to be in touch with the leaders of the 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 35 

movement in all denominations. You will wish 
to know what your Endeavor brothers and sisters 
are doing in Africa, Asia, Europe, at the ends of 
the earth. You will find all this in the weekly 
issues of our international organ, "The Christian 
Endeavor World. It is a high-class illustrated 
paper, employing as writers the leaders of Chris- 
tian thought in both hemispheres, and it costs 
only one dollar a year. If you will send a postal- 
card request to " The Christian Endeavor World, 
Tremont Temple, Boston,'' you will promptly 
receive a sample copy. In its pages you will find 
all kinds of helps for committee work, while the 
prayer-meeting helps contributed by the great 
writers of all denominations are marvels in their 
extent and real helpfulness. 



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36 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 



When Elected to Office. 

F the nominating committee proposes 
your name for any office, even for presi- 
dent, — don't decline ! If so many of 
your fellow Endeavorers think you fitted to the 
post, their judgment is more likely to be right 
than yours. Treat the call as a sacred one, a call 
to religious service. Don't allow sloth, or fear of 
men, or the claims of worldly interests, to draw 
you away from this duty. It often happens that 
our Christian Endeavor work suffers just because 
the natural leaders are too lazy, or too timid, or 
too much engrossed in secular affairs, to take the 
leadership for which God fitted them. Do not 
place yourself in their number. 

And, having accepted the post, throw your 
whole soul into the work. Obtain the best 
printed helps, relying on the Holy Spirit for 
guidance, and you will be able to guide the so- 
ciety into ways whose blessedness and fruitfulness 
you will never know till the Judgment Day. 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 37 



What Is Union Work? 

E urge you to attend the meetings of our 
local union, and to avail yourself of the 
privilege, whenever possible, of attend- 
ance at the conventions of our State union, and 
at the international gatherings. Christian En- 
deavor is an interdenominational movement as 
well as a local organization. One of its glorious 
aims is to draw close together all that love our 
Saviour. We are none the less true to our de- 
nominations because of this wider fellowship. 

In this union work, you gain the inspiration 
that comes from the knowledge of the great 
movement of which you form a part. You catch 
the onrush of the mighty army. There is a great 
inspiration in numbers. 

You also get from these union meetings a 
knowledge of other bodies of believers and new 
respect for them, and in just that proportion you 
feel new pride in the one kingdom of our Lord 
of which all His churches are parts. 

These union meetings are exchanges in which 



38 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 

good methods are passed from one to another, 
and no Endeavorer can afford to miss this 
contact with the most skilled and experienced 
workers. 




Bible - Reading Every Day. 

LLUMINATE this, as every, portion 
of the pledge, by that inclusive promise 
to " strive to do whatever Christ would 
like to have " you do. Certainly He would want 
you to read, as a general thing, more than a verse 
or two a day, and certainly He would want you 
to make your Bible-reading count for something, 
fixing it in your mind by study and meditation. 

It is a good plan to read the Bible straight 
through, marking those portions which you find 
most helpful, and returning to them again and 
again until you have become familiar with them. 
Some plan of Bible-marking is a great aid in 
gaining an acquaintance with the Book of Books. 
Use a good commentary, and don't be afraid of a 
little study, and you will find that some of the 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 39 

books of the Bible that seem most obscure have 
grown to be your delight. 

Try the plan of reading whole books of the 
Bible at a sitting ; it will be no more than you do 
for other books. Always make it your rule to 
read on and on until you have received a blessing 
from the Scripture — it may be within a few 
verses, it may be many chapters. 

Give your Bible-reading the cream of the day, 
the early morning. Heart and brain should be 
at their best for this supreme work of the day. 

Early in the week read the Bible passage for 
the next Christian Endeavor meeting, and follow 
that with the " daily readings." Thus you will 
often obtain just the thought that will be most 
helpful in the meeting. 



^ 




40 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 



Praying Every Day* 

F course the hasty mumbling of the 
Lord's Prayer at night, with your brain 
half asleep, is a technical observance of 
this part of the pledge, but it is a violation of its 
spirit. If you are " trusting in the Lord Jesus 
Christ for strength," as in the first clause of the 
pledge you say you are, then you know where 
you can get it, and you know that time is not 
lost that is spent in communion with God. The 
Quiet Hour is the most fruitful hour of the day. 

We cannot here give a treatise on prayer. Let 
us refer you to Andrew Murray's " With Christ 
in the School of Prayer," to Professor Phelps's 
^^ The Still Hour," and to the other works of 
Andrew Murray and those of Rev. F. B. Meyer, 
and to Doctor Clark's devotional books published 
by the United Society of Christian Endeavor. 

One suggestion, however, we wish to make : 
Begin your season of communion with God by 
trying to realize His actual presence with you, 
which is just as real as it was when He walked the 



THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 41 

shores of Galilee. Then go on to a period of 
thanksgiving, recalling every blessing God has 
bestowed upon you within the last twenty-four 
hours. Then, and not till then, begin your 
petitions, and see that the greater part of them 
is for others rather than yourself. 




Supporting the ChurcL 

OU have promised to "support your 
own church in every way.'' What are 
those ways ? 
The most obvious one is by becoming a church- 
member, if you are not one already. Hundreds 
of thousands have been led into the church of 
Christ through this Christian Endeavor pledge 
of ours. You remember Christ's promise to 
those that confess Him before men, and His 
warning to those that do not so confess Him. 
Is not joining the church one of the things " He 
would like to have you do " ? 

Supporting the church means regular attendance 



42 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 

on all Its services, unless you have an excuse 
Christ would receive. The church prayer meet- 
ing is to be your prayer meeting just as much as 
the Endeavor meeting — and more. 

Supporting the church means also taking what- 
ever part in church activities you fittingly can. 
It means speaking at the church prayer meeting 
whenever opportunity is given. It means regular 
attendance at the Sunday school. It means pay- 
ing your share toward the church expenses. It 
means joining in the church missionary collections. 
It means studying the doctrines and the history 
and the government of the church. It means 
" talking up " the pastor, and getting new mem- 
bers for the congregation. 

In short, the Christian Endeavor Society is a 
loyal portion of the church, and has for its chief 
aim to train up faithful and enthusiastic church- 
members. You will be one of them, we are 
confident. 



^ 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 43 



Your Excuses^ 

.N the pledge, you promise to do certain 
things provided you have no excuse 
that would be acceptable, you think, to 
Christ, — to whom, and not to us, you have made 
the pledge. We urge you to hold before you at 
all times this high standard. If you are tempted 
to read some story and let your Bible-reading go, 
ask yourself whether that is an excuse Christ 
would accept. If you hesitate about taking part 
in the prayer meeting because what you have to 
say will not sound as fine as what James Black 
has just said, ask yourself what Christ would 
think of such an excuse. If you remain away 
from the consecration meeting because you had 
a slight headache, though within a week you went 
to a party bearing with you a far worse headache, 
don't forget to determine Christ's probable opinion 
of that excuse. If you refuse to lead a meeting 
because you " have no time," stop and think 
what Christ, who gave you all your time, would 
think of that excuse. If you are minded to omit 



44 THE ENDEAVOR GREETING. 

your prayers at night because you are so sleepy, 
bethink yourself that you have been sitting up 
late to play halma, and ask yourself whether 
Christ would balance halma off against prayers. 

There are sensible excuses, but they are not so 
plentiful as our inclinations sometimes lead us to 
imagine. We are not going to set ourselves up 
as judges of your excuses, and we shall be glad 
to believe at all times, whenever you may fail to 
perform any Christian Endeavor duty, that you 
have an excuse that you can take with perfect 
confidence to your Lord and Master. 



The Goal of It AIL 

UR Christian Endeavor work does not 
end with itself If it did, there would 
be little reason for it. In all your 
activities within this society we want you to keep 
constantly before you the time when you will 
leave this society. We count our society a suc- 
cess, not in proportion as it retains its members. 




THE ENDEAVOR GREETING, 45 

but as it sends them out into the full church work, 
completely equipped for it. 

To that end, learn to do everything you can 
that will be of use later. Learn to pray in public, 
to testify with effectiveness, to lead the uncon- 
verted to Christ. Study your Bible, and become 
master of its treasures. Become filled with the 
Spirit in your hours of private devotions. Get 
skilled in all kinds of committee work, in leading 
meetings, in conducting socials, in guiding busi- 
ness meetings, in the raising of money for religious 
purposes. There is no ability which our society 
can develop that will not become useful in the 
great work to which you will graduate. 



^ 



Hnb mow fll>ai? (5ob Bless l?ou» 

May your determination be unwavering. 

May your trust be confident. 

May your zeal be fervid. 

May you never be satisfied with what you have 
achieve dy but go on front hard things to harder things^ 
for the glory of God, 

May the fear of God be your constant stay from 
temptation. 

May the knowledge of God be your guide through 
all perplexity. 

May the love of God be your unfailing comfort and 
support. 

Into the secret of His presence may you go farther 
day by day^ until you come to know Him whom to 
know aright is life eternal. 

And at the close of all your Christian endeavors 
may He receive you to Himself. 



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46 



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