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Publicity for the Burlington Self-Survey on Human Relations

""Missions Accomplished"" Page 30

A Mission to Prepare the Way

THE COMMISSION on Evangelism and Devotional Life regards its work as a soft o forerunner, an opener of the way, for such Christian tasks as church extension, Christian education, social action and foreign missions. It believes that evangelism provides that stimulus to the whole church, ministry and laity, that makes the Christian World Mission. 

The Study of Evangelism
We have discovered that we need to study evangelism and we have found that the kind of careful, grass roots study of its particular phases which emerges from a seminar provides practical evangelistic aids. The Non-Resident Members or Absentees program, adopted at the 1952 General Council and still widely used to evaluate membership rolls realistically, originated in just such a seminar, one of three completed in the past biennium. Three more now under way include Rural Evangelism and Mixed Marriages as topics. 

Extending Our Mission Through Literature. 
Devotional literature is one means of extending our Mission, and in the past two years this important function has increased in volume and quality. some 2,000,000 pieces of literature now reach practically all of our churches and thousands of our homes every year. Our Lenten booklet, The Fellowship of Prayer, has been selected as a devotional guide by the National Council of Churches, the United Church of Canada, and the YMCA and YWCA. One indication of the Commission's intent to continue to raise the standards of such literature is the Devotional Writer's Workshop, held at Craigville, Mass. In the summer of 1953. 
To train our people in vital and workable methods of reaching the unchurched to bring them into the Christian fellowship, we have conducted workshops and institutes on evangelism on national, conference and association levels. The demand for Schools of Churchmanship for laymen has increased steadily . For ministers alone, 46 workshops have been held in the past two years. Convocations have reached about one third of our ministers, and would reach more if financial resources were available. 

An Eye to the Future
With an eye to future leadership of our churches, the Commission has conducted Campus Missions in Congregational Christian Colleges in cooperation with our Department of Higher Education. 
In every section of the country, our churches, with characteristic enthusiasm, have taken part in the visitation evangelism programs, teaching missions and preaching missions of the local and national council of churches. 
While church growth is only one gauge of the effectiveness of evangelism, it is worthy of note that in 1953, the year of the United Evangelistic Advance, our membership increased by a record 102,420. While 1954's gains will doubtless be less spectacular, we ascribe this in part to new and realistic accounting of our "absentee" members, reducing our numerical strength but clarifying our real strength. Whatever the final statistics, it is the hope of the Commission that in these activities during the biennium real contributions have been made to prepare the way for Christian action.

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A Mission to Prepare the Way THE COMMISSION on Evangelism and Devotional Life regards its work as a soft o forerunner, an opener of the way, for such Christian tasks as church extension, Christian education, social action and foreign missions. It believes that evangelism provides that stimulus to the whole church, ministry and laity, that makes the Christian World Mission. The Study of Evangelism We have discovered that we need to study evangelism and we have found that the kind of careful, grass roots study of its particular phases which emerges from a seminar provides practical evangelistic aids. The Non-Resident Members or Absentees program, adopted at the 1952 General Council and still widely used to evaluate membership rolls realistically, originated in just such a seminar, one of three completed in the past biennium. Three more now under way include Rural Evangelism and Mixed Marriages as topics. Extending Our Mission Through Literature. Devotional literature is one means of extending our Mission, and in the past two years this important function has increased in volume and quality. some 2,000,000 pieces of literature now reach practically all of our churches and thousands of our homes every year. Our Lenten booklet, The Fellowship of Prayer, has been selected as a devotional guide by the National Council of Churches, the United Church of Canada, and the YMCA and YWCA. One indication of the Commission's intent to continue to raise the standards of such literature is the Devotional Writer's Workshop, held at Craigville, Mass. In the summer of 1953. To train our people in vital and workable methods of reaching the unchurched to bring them into the Christian fellowship, we have conducted workshops and institutes on evangelism on national, conference and association levels. The demand for Schools of Churchmanship for laymen has increased steadily . For ministers alone, 46 workshops have been held in the past two years. Convocations have reached about one third of our ministers, and would reach more if financial resources were available. An Eye to the Future With an eye to future leadership of our churches, the Commission has conducted Campus Missions in Congregational Christian Colleges in cooperation with our Department of Higher Education. In every section of the country, our churches, with characteristic enthusiasm, have taken part in the visitation evangelism programs, teaching missions and preaching missions of the local and national council of churches. While church growth is only one gauge of the effectiveness of evangelism, it is worthy of note that in 1953, the year of the United Evangelistic Advance, our membership increased by a record 102,420. While 1954's gains will doubtless be less spectacular, we ascribe this in part to new and realistic accounting of our "absentee" members, reducing our numerical strength but clarifying our real strength. Whatever the final statistics, it is the hope of the Commission that in these activities during the biennium real contributions have been made to prepare the way for Christian action.