Lessons from Christian Endeavour, A Training School for the Church.

1/12/23

Previously printed in The Gippsland Anglican, September 2023

In the early 20th century, Christian Endeavour (CE) was the largest youth organisation in the world, with more than four million members. In 1938, Australia had the strongest CE union worldwide in proportion to our population.

Today, CE has faded from memory and few young people have heard of it. But are there lessons that we can learn from this remarkable youth organisation?

The first CE society was formed in 1881 by a congregational pastor, Francis Clark. Clark believed that there was a youth problem in the churches. When young people finished Sunday School at the age of fourteen, there was a gap before they became adult members in the church. Because there was nothing for them there was a danger that they would drop out. Churches held social events like tea-parties, tennis matches, musical soirees, and picnics. These events, however, were failing to retain young people as they were lured away by other worldly entertainments.

Clark established CE to train youth, not to entertain them and believed that churches and families had a responsibility. They should train young people by instructing and modelling Christian life and service (Proverbs 22:6). Clark was in part reacting against the revivalism of the day. He believed that parents could nurture their child’s faith so that they would never know themselves not a Christian. Clark’s priority was retention, not outreach, but he believed that a high commitment ministry would also attract those from non-Christian families.

Clark composed the object of CE, “To promote the earnest Christian life among its members, to increase their mutual acquaintance and to make them more useful in the service of God.”[1] He wrote a constitution and manual that were sent to pastors around the world. Those that embraced CE were largely from Congregational, Methodist, and Baptist churches.

The prayer meeting was the foundational activity of a CE society. Clark wrote in the pledge that every member had to attend every week and take some part. “The society teaches that no Christian is too young, too inexperienced, too obscure, too bashful, to make some genuine contribution to the life of the meeting.”[2] This contribution could be a paper, testimony, prayer, or an edifying verse of scripture.

Clark also required each member to make a pledge. Members promised to read their Bible and pray every day, attend church services, prayer meetings and the consecration service. An endeavourer promised that “I will strive to do whatever He (Jesus) would have me do, … and that just as far as I know how, throughout my whole life, I will endeavour to live a Christian life.”[3] The pledge trained the young people to live a Christian life that was committed to obedience and service.

The final way that CE trained young people was through committees. Every member had to be part of a committee, including the Look-out committee, Prayer Meeting committee, Social committee, Missionary committee, and others. My favourite is the Sunshine committee, which brought “good cheer and practical service” to others.[4] Committees trained younger members in important skills like the ability to lead, speak, organise, encourage, pray, give, and be a witness.

The training of CE involved a high commitment. In fact, when Clark first suggested his idea to the 57 young men and women in his living room, they balked and had to be convinced. Even Mrs Clark was shocked at the commitment, and as she listened to her husband in the kitchen, she burnt the batch of cookies she was baking!

In our churches today, we don’t call young people to the same level of commitment and pastors are still worried about the high drop-out rate. Perhaps there is something we can learn from the CE strategy? For us the task remains: how can we train young people not just entertain them?

I believe we need to provide mentors who will disciple youth and walk alongside them. This will mean more than teaching them Christian truths, but encouraging young people to participate, organise, and lead. There is a challenge—for as Clark warned his readers—often older Christians and pastors talk too much and have a propensity to take over.

The Fuller Youth Institute has studied churches that are effective in growing young and found that these churches offer young people “keychain leadership”. That is, they entrust youth with the keys to the church instead of centralising authority.[5]

Churches need to give young people more space and empower them to lead, even if we could do the job much more efficiently and professionally ourselves. This could involve organising an event, becoming a member of the parish council, sharing a meaningful verse, or giving a testimony of God’s work in their life.

CE warns us that we can underestimate young people. In 1892, J. B. Jackson, the honorary secretary of the CE union in Victoria said, “We have trained our members to definite and practical Christian service. The records of societies before us are in many instances astonishing. It has been said that we ask too much of our members, but the results show that the Church has hitherto asked too little of her young people.”[6]

Do we ask too little of our young people? Let’s be inspired by the model of CE and organise ministry in our churches, ministry that is not to youth but with youth.[7]

[1] Francis Clark, Memories of Many Men in Many Lands: An Autobiography (United Society of Christian Endeavor, 1922), 85.

[2] Francis Clark, The Christian Endeavor Manual: a Text-Book on the History, Theory, Principles, and Practice of the Society, with Complete Bibliography and Several Appendixes, 12.

[3] “The History of the Pledge,” The Golden Link, Nov. 1894, Vol. III, No.27, 40.

[4] Francis Clark, The Christian Endeavor Manual: a Text-Book on the History, Theory, Principles, and Practice of the Society, with Complete Bibliography and Several Appendixes, 139.

[5] Powell, Mulder & Griffin, Growing Young (Baker: 2016).

[6] J.B.Jackson, “Three Years of Christian Endeavour Work in Australia,” Christian Colonist, 13 May 1892, 6.

[7] Hull, B. C. A Brief Overview of the Christian Endeavor. Amazon Digital, 2019, 27.