Christian Endeavour

CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR. -

I. HISTORY

It is the name of a Protestant youth society that may be translated as "Christian Activity" or also "Christian Action or effort." It was founded in 1881 in a small town in Maine (United States of America), by the Congregationalist pastor Francis E. Clark. He had begun with a small group of volunteers for the study of the Bible, and seeing that young people of both sexes flocked there in great numbers, he conceived the idea of founding a youth society that would work for the "kingdom of God," and he called it C. E. He gave it an exclusively religious and practical character, proposing to the young members great ideals, which stirred their enthusiasm, and it enjoyed extraordinary success first throughout North America, and later also in other countries.

II. THE FOUR PRINCIPLES OR IDEALS OF THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR

They are summed up in these few words: confession of Christ, service of Christ, companions of the people of Christ, loyalty to the Church of Christ.

Confession of Christ. - The member of the C. E. must feel no human respect in the practice of his religion; he must speak of Christ whenever the occasion offers itself; he must cultivate the life of piety through prayer and the study of the Bible. As a practical proof of this confession, all "active" members must sign a promise made to God (hence the accusation brought against Clark of having introduced religious vows into a Protestant institution): for example, to pray every day, to read the Bible, to attend the meetings, etc. In the meeting halls and in the sight of all, many models of various acts of piety and zeal are hung, among which each

CHRISMON - Some types of c.: 1. Diploma of Berengar I (d. 912) - Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, D. I. 20 (from F. Steffens, Paleographie latine, French ed. by P. Coultin, Teorie-Paris 1918, inv. 67); 2. Privilege of Benedict IX for the monastery of Grottaferrata (May 1937) (from G. Battelli, Acta Pontificum, II, Vatican City 1933, inv. 2); 3. Diploma of Henry III (1953) - Koblenz, State Archive; 4. Diploma of Conrad III (1139) - St. Gall, monastery archive (from Steffens, op. cit., inv. 72, 83).

associate or "endeavourer" may read and choose the one that pleases him most.

Service of Christ. - Piety and the study of the Bible must be the fundamental practice of the associate. The fruit of this is the "service of Christ." This embraces any religious and philanthropic activity. Descending to particular cases, the activity of the young is directed to offering themselves to the pastor to help him form choirs for sacred music, committees for vigilance, for propaganda, for the beautification and cleaning of the temple; to lead erring companions and friends back onto the right path, to visit prisoners, the sick and the poor in their homes; to take an interest in the missions, choosing one as the object of one's own study, entering into correspondence with some missionary, procuring gifts and alms for him; to found small printing presses to publish the church notices, leaflets and religious pamphlets. Other directions: to adorn the pulpit with flowers, to mend the Bibles and common hymnals used in the church when they are worn out, or to replace them with others at one's own expense; and for the young women, to offer themselves sometimes to substitute for the pastor's wife in the affairs of the house, so that she may rest and make visits, etc. To organize all these manifold activities, periodic meetings are held, in which the good running of the society is made principally to consist. Such meetings are organized, divided and subdivided so that all the young associates have a part and some responsibility in them. The strictness with which attendance and order are insisted upon, the method with which proceedings are conducted and the guidance of active and experienced leaders have contributed to the surprising success of the society.

Companions of the people of Christ. - By this is meant that the society must work for all and with all, excluding no one, whatever the nation or religion to which he belongs.

Loyalty to the Church of Christ. - By this principle, the society, although founded by a Congregationalist pastor, is declared interdenominational, since it inculcates in each associate that he remain faithful to his own sect or church, and therefore it is declared that the natural head of every group must be the minister or pastor. It is to be noted how, since the associates belong to many different sects, the society does not appear to have had difficulties with any of them, and this must be attributed to the fact that Clark and the continuators of the movement, having fixed the fundamental principles, leave full freedom to the individual groups, provided that they remain faithful to them.

III. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR

The center or bond of union among all the groups was and is the International Society of C. E. (The International Society of C. E.), with its main seat in Boston, U.S.A., 41 Mt. Vernon St., which endeavors to hold a great meeting or congress every two years.

One of the most famous was the one held in San Francisco on the occasion of the jubilee of the founding of the Society (1881-1931). In the statistics presented at that meeting there are 80,113 societies or groups scattered throughout the world; the number of members composing each group varies from 10 to 100 and more members, and taking 50 as the average figure one arrives at the 4,000,000 associates that the association claims to have, belonging to more than 20 different Churches or sects. There was no lack of those who, studying these numbers, pointed out how the Y.M.C.A. (v.), or Young Men's Christian Association, much older, since it arose in 1844, despite the attractions of entertainments, gymnastics, etc., in that same year 1931 counted barely 800,000 members, whereas the C. E. in less time, and with religious ideals alone and therefore greater, more universal and thus more apt to capture the imagination of the young, counted a number five times greater of associates.

IV. CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR IN ITALY

In Italy the C. E. is represented by the "Federazione giovanile valdese" (Waldensian Youth Federation), whose motto is "For Christ and for the Church."

Camillo Crivelli