Boston's awakening

Introduction

BY A. Z. CONRAD, D.D.

Ten days after the first edition of ^'Boston's Awakening" was received, the edition was exhausted. Five months have passed since the conclusion of the great EvangeUstic Campaign, the story of which is told in this volume. We are far enough away to estimate some of its immediate results. What are they in the churches of Greater Boston ?

1. An aroused church with largely increased membership. The accessions at the May Communion were unprecedented.

2. An arrested and interested community. The general public exhibit a more reverent spirit and a greatly increased religious interest.

3. The Great Commission, ^^Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel," has received new emphasis and witnesses have multiplied.

4. "Redemptive Love" as a commanding compulsion has vastly increased the zeal of Christians.

5. The eyes of the church have been centered anew upon the one and only irresistible attraction. "I if I be lifted up will draw J ^

6. An attitude of hope obtains because the irreversible assurance of Jesus: "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom," has filled the hearts of the people with courage.

6 INTRODUCTION

7. Attention has been directed to the great realities: Divine personality; Human accountability; Redemption; Eternity; Destiny.

8. The call to service has aroused the indifferent. "Saved to serve," is the watchword. The investment of self for humanity is insisted upon.

9. The Word of God has new meaning and a new place. It is being restored to its rightful place.

10. The power of Prayer is once more emphasized, understood, and relied upon. Prayer as a procuring cause is believed in and practiced.

11. The revival has wonderfully increased church loyalty. Hundreds attend the prayer meeting who had long neglected it. A multitude of church letters have been presented, establishing vital relationships.

12. A new Spiritual Fraternity has developed. Denominations are closer together. Unity of purpose is perfectly apparent.

13. The city itself has been lifted to a higher ethical level. Reforms have received a new support.

14. The financial strength of the churches and the spirit of benevolence has immensely increased.

Such are some of the more evident results of the revival.

There has been no reaction. There will be none. The work was calm, deep, and sane. The Simultaneous Evangelistic Campaign more than ever commends itself to consecrated Christian leaders and

teachers. a rz n

A. Z. Conrad.

Boston, June 9, 1909.

REV. J. WILBUR CIIAPMAX, D.D.

Foreword

The Boston Evangelistic Campaign gave me the greatest experience of my life. In all my twenty-six years of ministry I have never had such joy in preaching the Gospel as in the city of Boston for almost four weeks. All classes and conditions of people gave me the very best of hearing, and I had the joy of seeing a great host turn unto Jesus Christ and accept Him as their Savior.

I am making this foreword exceedingly brief because I do not wish to appear in this book, entitled '^Boston's Awakening," other than just as one of the evangelists, with some special responsibility resting upon me, of course, because of the fact that I was expected, with Mr. Alexander, to direct the movement.

I would pay a tribute ,to the ministers of Boston. More sympathetic, earnest, consecrated men I have never met; to Dr. A. Z. Conrad and others associated with him on special committees for their wise and careful directions of all the details of the work; to my own brother, Mr. E. G. Chapman, for his indefatigable labors; for, without his assistance, I could accomplish little ; and to all the hosts of Christian people, who were instant in season and out of season, to push forward this mighty movement. Through time and into eternity I shall not forget Boston. Gratefully and sincerely,

CHARLES M. ALEXANDER

FOREWORD

I TRUST that the story of the great work of God in Boston will be the means of cheering thousands of hearts and lead them to a firmer trust and a more consecrated service for the winning of lost people to Christ. Up to the present this has been the greatest work Dr. Chapman and I have been together in. We learned to know each other better and to know God more intimately and the wonders of His mighty power to save. Stories of the people led to Christ through the Gospel hymns will fill a great volume. I have never seen people more eager for the truth in Gospel songs than our Boston friends were. Our newspaper friends told us day after day that the whole city and the surrounding country were singing the hymns of the mission. For all this my heart is full of praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through whose power it was accomplished.

I-4B'.',V/.?'.STKV:AR.T Hii\'.H.V.'.STOUGn,D.I). ;<i;V. U.N.KAULCONEr^'.

EVANGELISTS

RSV.M.D. SHELDON

RSV. y.S.TCY

.'ixT.'.J.E.THACKBR

EVANGELISTS

Part I Bostoi^'s Spiritual Awakemng

G,V. MEHAFFEY

Cti'M'N.COt-i, PERSONAL WORKERS a USHERS

TREASUftER

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PART I BOSTON^S SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

BY A. Z. CONRAD, D.D., CHAIRMAN

The City of Boston, as represented in the evangelistic meetings which have just concluded, comprehends not only Boston proper, but suburbs and outlying towns reaching out to ten miles in three directions. The area covered includes Boston, Charlestown, Everett, Maiden, Melrose, Melrose Highlands, West Medford, Stoneham, Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, •Brookline, Newton Center, Jamaica Plain, Quincy, Roxbury, Dorchester, South Boston, East Boston, Brighton, and Allston. This area includes a population, in round numbers, of one million people.

Churches, representing a total membership of approximately 120,000 persons, of the Congregational, Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, and Presbyterian denominations are to be found in the territory covered by the Simultaneous Campaign. A few churches of other denominations entered into the movement. The number of churches actually registered as constituting to co-operative effort was 166.

Few cities have undergone a greater change in the past few years than has Boston. From a distinctively American city of a few years ago, homogeneous, tenacious of tradition, loyal to precedent, Boston has become almost a foreign city. One may hear spoken on the streets of Boston many languages, and the number of either foreign-born, or children of foreign-born parents, is something like 70 per cent, of the population.

The suburban tide is not less significant than the urban tide. Old Boston, with its ancestral pride, and Puritan and Pilgrim ideals, has geographically disappeared. Nevertheless, the Boston of old is still here, its inhabitants located in various suburbs, and actually exercising a dominant power in the intellectual, moral and social life of the city. There is probably not in any city in America a larger body of men and women who stand for the noblest and the best in civic, social, and spiritual life. Bostonians enjoy a heritage of which they are justly proud.

The estimate placed by them on true culture is not only not to be despised, but worthy of emulation everywhere.

Religiously, Boston, like other cities, has undergone a considerable change in its attitude toward the church and the spiritual activities represented by the church. A considerable indifference toward church attendance has been painfully apparent. A sense of religious responsibility has seemed to grow more and more feeble. As a corrective of these tendencies the church has been importuned to popularize its services. But the effort in this direction has not seemed to stem the tide outward. The church has been importuned to rationalize her preaching. But every added elimination of the supernatural has only accentuated the disinterestedness of the people in the church. The church has been urged to institutionalize herself and devote her attention increasingly to the material interests of the people. In Boston, as elsewhere, where an honest effort to answer the demand has been made, it is perfectly apparent that this has not solved the problem of disinterestedness and inattention. Indeed, it has been in this very period when the church has been trying all these various devices to stem the outward tide, that the decline in church attendance has been most in evidence.

It is no secret that the intellectual atmosphere and attitude of Boston has been regarded as unfavorable to a distinctly evangelistic type of preaching and teaching. Furthermore, the people have rather prided themselves on this very fact. No man, familiar with the facts, can deny certain alarming tendencies, among the most conspicuous of which have been the passion for pleasure, the passion for power, and spiritual inertia. It has been apparent for years to those seriously and profoundly interested in the betterment of Boston, that something more than a good school system for the masses, and university privileges for the few, together with ethical culture even of a high order, was necessary and even imperative. Many have known perfectly well that the trouble with Boston is exactly the same as that of other cities of modern times, namely, sin. These same people have been equally confident that the only effective remedy for sin is the salvation distinctly taught in the New Testament. Without any insistence upon old-time words and phrases, and with no disposition to require the employment of any particular method, many have been confident that the regeneration of the individual is positively the only hope of collective elevation and improvement. Boston has gained the reputation of being cold and irresponsive and it has been freely declared, even by men supposedly representing evangelical Christianity, that anything like a revival of religion would be quite impossible. Definite failure was predicted of any attempt to present Jesus Christ as the Savior of lost men and women in an evangelistic way. With a great show of learning, it has been declared that all these things are outgrown, outworn, and their introduction would be such an anachronism as would insure a complete collapse in such an undertaking.

These, then, were the prejudices, and this the attitude that had to be met in the inauguration of an evangelistic campaign in Boston. Let it not be supposed, however, that the mmiber was small who entertained an abiding faith in the Religion of the Fathers, in the Gospel of Christ, and in Jesus as the Savior of men.

II Preparation For The Revival

In May, 1908, a little group of men, thoroughly convinced that the hour was ripe for an evangelistic movement in this city and agreeing that the Rev. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman was the one man best calculated to take the evangelistic leadership, determined that a meeting should be called representing those in sympathy with the movement. As president of the Evangelical Alliance, it naturally devolved upon me to call together the pastors of Boston to consider the wisdom of a "Simultaneous Evangehstic Campaign." The call was issued, and a large number of representative clergymen were present and were unanimous in the conviction that decisive action should be taken. It was not to be expected, in a great city like Boston, that there would be absolute unanimity. Accordingly, the invitation distinctly stated that we desired to meet the men in sympathy with an evangelistic effort. What we desired to know was this: how many men could be positively counted on to co-operate and stand loyally by the work.

The wisdom of the method of the invitation has been abundantly vindicated.

A second meeting, including the pastors of Greater Boston, was called, and Mr. E. G. Chapman, who is the brother of the evangelist. Dr. Chapman, and a business man of rare ability, sagaciousness, suavity, and effectiveness, attended this meeting, and was very favorably impressed with the attitude of the Boston pastors toward the prospective meetings. The pastors of every evangelical denomination were invited to participate.

A large general committee was formed, and this committee was instructed to issue an invitation to the Rev. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman and Mr. Charles M. Alexander to assist the pastors of Boston in conducting simultaneous evangelistic meetings in twenty centers in and about Boston. The general committee organized with Rev. A. Z. Conrad, D.D., as chairman; W. H. H. Bryant, Esq., as treasurer, and Rev. Duncan MacPhie, secretary. It was definitely agreed that the entire movement should be one of the churches, and that no ecclesiastical body, aside from the churches, whether ^^ Conference," '' Ministers' Meeting," ''Club," or ''Social Union," should be asked to take any action, as such, regarding the movement. While the initiative was taken thus by the ministers, laymen had already been invited to sit in council with us and become a part of the organization; to which they readily assented. It was immediately discovered that the prominent la5rmen of the churches were even more enthusiastic than the ministers for a gi^eat revival in Boston. The ministers for one hundred and fiftyseven churches had signified their hearty endorsement of the general proposition for evangelistic meetings. In accordance with instructions, the invitation was sent by the chairman to the Reverend Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman early in July. The invitation was not at first accepted because Dr. Chapman felt very keenly the strategic character of Boston, as related to city evangelism throughout the United States. It was later agreed by the chairman that Dr. Chapman should have an opportunity of personally meeting clergymen and laymen in Greater Boston interested in the movement in September. On the last of September, in the Park Street church, about three hundred clergymen and laymen met Dr. Chapman.

At this conference Dr. Chapman outlined his policy and purpose and invited discussion. At the conclusion of this conference, it was agreed to secure the signatures of all those interested in having Dr. Chapman come. Some three hundred and seventy-five signed invitations were secured from pastors and the most prominent laymen of the city.

A little later Dr. Chapman desired another conference which was held in Park Street church. The attendance was very large and the interest had wonderfully deepened.

This conference was a most impressive one and convinced everybody interested that God was definitely and remarkably guiding in all deliberations, and that his seal of approval had already been set upon the steps taken. Dr. Chapman outlined anew his policy and purpose. He made it clear that his coming to Boston would have as its single object the salvation of men and women in this city. For a month following this conference, the committee was engaged in determining the number of churches to be definitely counted upon and in organizing these churches into groups for effective evangelistic work. In this new, and in most cities untried method of simultaneous evangelism, very naturally many difficulties presented themselves. In many instances churches were unwilling to commit themselves until they knew definitely who the evangelist would be, and, in others, churches insisted upon themselves selecting the evangelists. In all these things Dr. Chapman was kindly considerate, and in no sense arbitrary. But, in view of the fact that he must personally be held responsible for results, it became evident to the committee that the matter of the selection of men must be left very largely in the hands of the evangelist. It was further perfectly apparent that some things must be accepted on faith, and that nothing was more unreasonable than to select and appoint an evangelist for a specific group before such a group was really organized and conmaitted to the movement. The way in which God interposed, overruled, directed to the unifying of all forces is nothing less than marvelous. It became clear to us that the two invincible elements in the campaign must be Faith and Love. They worked wonders. The time fixed for the revival was three weeks, beginning January twentysixth and concluding February seventeenth.

Ill

ORGANIZATION

The business side of the Chapman- Alexander meetings is significant. The importance of organization is very properly emphasized. Early in December Mr. Ralph C. Norton, who is on Dr. Chapman's staff to organize the Personal Work Department, came to Boston and met the men and women who had been appointed for this important service. We were favored in having with us, for one week, Mr. E. G. Chapman, who wonderfully aided us in perfecting the organization. This organization was constituted as follows:

1. The Boston Evangelistic Campaign Committee.

2. The Executive Committee of Twenty-five.

3. The Committee on Finance.

4. Committee on Buildings.

5. Committee on Music.

6. Committee on Entertainment.

7. Committee on Personal Work and Ushers.

A full list of these committees appears elsewhere in this book.

Immediately after the organization of the Finance Committee it determined that the financial security of the movement demanded an entirely different method than that which had been proposed. It was estimated that $16,000 would be required for the general expenses of the campaign in twenty-five centers. This was to include every expense except the payment of the evangelists themselves. In this connection it should be stated that there was a definite agreement that the compensation for the evangelists should be wholly in the nature of a free-will offering during the last three days, including the last Sunday of the campaign, and that whatever might be the amount it should be deemed absolutely satisfactory by the evangelists without the slightest obligation of any name or nature beyond the amount so given. In all the correspondence there was not one hint or suggestion as to the amount any evangelist should receive. No guarantee of a dollar was asked or given.

The Finance Committee decided to undertake to raise approximately $10,000 in advance, and proceeded to apportion this amount to the various churches, in no way as an assessment, but in the nature of a request and desire on their part to guarantee the fihancial success of the enterprise. Notwithstanding the fact that this was an entire change from the plan of a voluntary collection first proposed, the churches, with very few exceptions, proceeded to give their people an opportunity to meet the expectation of the Finance Committee. So far as I know, in every church where subscription cards were placed calling for dollar shares in the campaign, the amount received, without effort or urging, was a substantial increase on the amount apportioned.

Especial mention should be made of the splendid work of Rev. Duncan MacPhie, the secretary of the committee. He devoted himself unremittingly to the campaign from November to the very close of the meetings. His services were invaluable. His attention to detail, his constant courtesy, and his untiring zeal won all hearts to him.

We were also most fortunate in having the very highest class business men as chairman and treasurer. They opened a set of books, exactly as though beginning a great partnership business. A good bookkeeper was employed, and everything done in the most business-like manner. Mr. George E. Briggs and Mr. W. H. H. Bryant practically devoted their whole time to the evangelistic business for a month. The services of Mr. Harold, of Philadelphia, in the publicity department proved to be one of the wisest moves of the committee. He is an expert in that line of work and saved the committee twice the amount of his salary.

IV Grouping The Churches

Simultaneous evangelism is comparatively new. The task of organizing a great city with its suburbs is nothing less than colossal. In no city in the world could there be a greater variety — intellectual, social, and religious — than is to be found in Boston. The chairman immediately discovered that every section regarded itself as absolutely unique.

There were churches in almost every group that were perfectly sure no other than a man of almost supernatural endowments could possibly accomplish anything in their section of the city. Geographical difficulties had to be overcome. Natural affiliations had to be considered. In the process of development there were additions and eliminations. Many suburban communities desired to be included, just as soon as they found that it was definitely determined to proceed with the great campaign. The interest continued undiminished and unabated and steadily increased from the very moment it became clear to the public, as it had been to the promoters from the beginning, that the movement was fixed and inevitable. Care was exercised that all denominations should be represented on important committees. The responsibility was then placed upon the individual group to develop an effective organization within itself and prosecute the work with vigor and independence. Any interference with group work was studiously avoided. In all this, however, the sense of the unity of the entire movement was never lessened or lost. A full list of the groups, co-operating pastors, evangelists, and singers appears elsewhere in this volume.

V

OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN

Appreciating the great popularity of Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander, it was feared by some that a large central meeting might be so dominatingly attractive as to interfere with the group meetings, notwithstanding the prominence of the men selected to conduct the services in the various groups. A large per cent, of these men are pastors of renown in prominent pulpits of the country. It was decided to give the group meetings three days' headway before the central meetings should be begun.

On the evening of January 26 the first meetings of the campaign were held throughout the city. So careful had been the preparation and so great was the interest that at the very outset the meetings were largely attended, splendidly supported, and bore immediate fruit. Within three days the revival had gained full headway, and the attention of the whole city was focused upon the movement.

As an indication of the immediateness of response, the first noonday meeting held the day after the opening of the revival, in Tremont Temple, witnessed a throng of people taxing an auditorium holding 3,000 people to the utmost, and all standing room was taken. From that noonday meeting to the end of the campaign, day after day, people collected an hour and a half before the time of meeting in such throngs as to make traffic through Tremont Street almost impossible. Hundreds, and some days thousands, were unable to gain admittance to the Temple for the noonday meeting. Large overflow meetings were immediately arranged for in Park Street church and Faneuil Hall. These were continued throughout the entire campaign at the noonday hour. So absorbing was the interest in the great movement that it became the one topic of conversation throughout the whole city among all classes of people.

VI Pulpit And Press

Sunday morning services were conducted in the usual way and the preaching was with few exceptions by the pastors of their own churches. The very first Sunday after the opening of the campaign the whole pulpit of the city seemed to have caught the spirit of the revival and tenderly, earnestly, eloquently appealed to the people to avail themselves of this unusual opportunity to bear witness for Jesus Christ. Under the spell of this united appeal, hundreds of men and women committed themselves unreservedly to the work of the Lord in a personal effort to win souls to Christ. The effect of this was exactly what might have been expected. Thousands of indifferent people and a multitude of those antagonistic to special religious service, became definitely interested, and from curiosity and a general disposition to go with the multitude, these people later found the way of life and in turn became aggressive Christian workers.

The general public was astonished to see the secular press of the city devoting whole pages, day after day, to the revival. The public press is extremely sensitive to public sentiment. The proprietors and editors of Boston's newspapers are men of intellectual acumen and high moral purpose. They immediately recognized the unusual and extraordinary nature of the religious activity in the city. They saw the inevitable benefit from a social and civic standpoint which must accrue from the kind of preaching and teaching that fell from the lips of Dr. Chapman and his associate evangelists. Their co-operation was hearty and generous.

The Christian people of Boston discovered their opportunity to awaken a revival sentiment in other sections and purchased these papers by the thousands, sending them to all parts of the world.

Sensational exaggeration was conspicuous by its absence in these newspaper reports. Naturallyenough, emphasis was often placed upon unimportant yet striking incidents of the campaign. But a wonderfully fair presentation of the situation, from day to day, was given by the press of the city. Whole pages were devoted to the revival.

Right here let it be distinctly and emphatically understood that for this large space, continuing day by day for a whole month, was voluntary and gratuitous. Not one dollar was offered or paid for these splendid narrative stories of the evangelistic work. No contract of any name or nature was entered into with the press of Boston. The fact is, the livest and best news of the entire period was the news of the revival, and good newspapers want news, and are ready to recognize what will claim the attention of the great public.

As chairman of the committee, I cannot speak too highly or too admiringly of the painstaking work of the reporters, the high character of the work they did and their continuous courtesy and considerateness to the wishes of the evangelists and the committee throughout the campaign. Our indebtedness to the public press of Boston is simply immeasurable, and we confidently believe that in their report of the ^^ Great Revival" they rendered a service to this city immeasurably valuable. To Rev. Herbert S. Johnson, chairman of the Publicity Committee, the greatest credit is due. He daily met the reporters and wisely communicated the information most needed.

VII An Aroused And Awakened City

The central meeting under the leadership of Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander began Friday evening, January 29. These men instantly captivated and captured all who came within their hearing. Within one week after the opening of the campaign, Boston had become an awakened and an aroused city. Not a distinctly sensational element was introduced into any part of the work and yet the interest was nothing else than thrilling everywhere. The chief characteristic of the massive congregations assembled was the great calm which pervaded these assemblies, and out of the deeps of this calm there seemed to come manifestations of God and His grace which seized upon the hearts of the people as they hstened, spellbound, to the telling and re-telling, over and over again, of the ^' story of Jesus." The appeals were directed to the understanding, and decisions were the result of calm, earnest deliberation. Of course, the affectional nature was aroused, as it must always be, when the sacrificial love of God is faithfully and fervently presented. What occurred at the central group meetings was repeated almost everywhere throughout the city in the other groups. There were many, many occasions when the results were out of all proportion to human instrumentalities, and there was no explanation for the way in which men and women, representing all classes and conditions, arose in response to the invitation to "come to Jesus," except the fact that the Holy Spirit had Himself taken possession of the hearts of the multitudes, and that in a strange, new and unusual way the living Christ was passing through our city.

Each Monday a meeting of two hours' duration, beginning at 11 o'clock, called together the evangelists and clergymen of all the groups with as large a number of people as could gain admittance to the Temple to receive reports of what was being accomplished in various parts of the city. Monday was thus called "good cheer day." And the day of good cheer it invariably was.

Not a discordant note was struck; during the entire period not an adverse criticism or comment was given. The fact is, so persuasive, so unexpectedly powerful was the work, that it fairly swept people from their feet and they stood by and saw the "Salvation of God."

A special description of scenes and incidents will be found in the "Reporter's Narrative" in another section of this book as to the general impressions made by the "Flower Day," "Day of Rejoicing," and "Mother's Day." It is perfectly evident that these special services intensified the feeling that had already come to obtain that all true evangelism concerns itself with the well-being, the holiness and happiness of humanity as such. There was a touch of Christ-like sympathy in the distribution of flowers and of material stores for the benefit of the sick, the shut-in, the discouraged and the disconsolate. The readiness with which men not allied with the church co-operated and contributed to make these days memorable for the magnitude of their contributions was noteworthy. Too much cannot be said in praise of the management of these special features of the work where twenty-five evangelistic meetings were simultaneously being conducted. The amount of detail can scarcely be appreciated, yet all was so wisely guided by Mr. E. G. Chapman and the chairmen of the various committees that there was no evidence of friction anywhere. One great advantage of the "special days" was the interest they developed on the part of the general public. It was extraordinary.

VIII PERSONAL WORKERS AND THEIR WORK

Dr. Chapman's method of securing a record of decisions is simple yet effective. There is a wide variety in details and a flexibility which makes possible the most effective employment of conditions, circumstances, changes of spiritual atmosphere, etc., yet in general the method is direct, definite, and easily described. The "inquiry room" is scarcely ever employed. The appeal is made in various forms of expression which seem best to comport with the circumstances of the moment.

Personal workers were chosen by the pastors of all co-operating churches supposed to be especially qualified to meet inquirers and assist them in reaching a full decision. They were carefully distributed throughout the auditorium where meetings were held. They were all supplied with cards upon which were printed two statements, one to meet the needs of those who had at one time been members of the church, but who had failed to keep up their Christian life and activity, and the other for those who were for the fkst time committing themselves to Christ. The personal workers were instructed to learn from those who sat near them their spiritual standing, and especially to urge all who had indicated an interest on any basis to record that interest upon the card. In each group these cards were sent to a central committee, where they were carefully tabulated and then sent to the pastors for whose church they had indicated a preference. It was all done in a methodical, business-like way. It is well understood that a card is not a convert, but an opportunity. It furnishes the pastor and Christian worker with a point of contact which, carefully followed up, usually results in the addition of one more person to the Christian forces of the community. The evangelists made no effort to emphasize numbers. No public statements of the number of cards received in any of the groups were authorized by the ministers or the evangelists themselves. Ostentation and display of every nature was discouraged. In a clear, distinct, and perfectly comprehensible manner Dr. Chapman outlined to the converts each evening the various steps in the Christian life essential to progress. This was true in all the groups. The new convert was not left to grope his or her way to the truth, but a clear, definite instruction was given and the kindliest interest shown in their firm establishment in the Christian life.