End of a Mission

Protestantism's most ambitious venture in mass evangelism was weighed and found wanting last week in most of the 22 cities visited by this winter's National Christian Mission (TIME, Oct. 14). It had given the already faithful a notable stirring-up, but as a program for "reaching the unreached" it had barely scratched the surface. With 70,000,000 Americans still outside any church, the best figure the Mission could claim was 50,000 new members added to the 40,000,000 already within the Protestant fold--a gain of one-eighth of 1%, or about 1% of the Protestant church membership of the cities visited.

If the Mission failed, it was not for lack of effort. America's most famous foreign missionary came all the way from India to lead the drive--Dr. E. Stanley Jones,* author of The Christ of the Indian Road. One hundred ninety-one volunteer speakers (including 15 bishops, 102 pastors, 33 educators) traveled a million miles to address 6,160 meetings attended by 2,355,880 persons. Newspapers gave over a thousand columns of free publicity. Radio stations contributed 403 free broadcasts. High schools assembled hundreds of thousands of youngsters for special auditorium rallies. Unions opened their labor temples. Kiwanis, Rotary and Lions held Mission luncheons. Prison wardens mustered convicts from their cells. And thousands of church workers rang over 100,000 doorbells in a great interdenominational drive to bring in the converts.

Because it is not likely the church will ever do a better or more thorough job of evangelism, TIME asked ministers, religious editors, businessmen and politicians in each of the 22 cities for a frank appraisal of its achievements, especially in reaching the unreached, bringing the community back to the church, and making a lasting impression rather than a seven days' wonder.

The answers:

In Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Washington and Houston, almost everyone agreed that the Mission was a real success. In Houston, for example, overflow meetings "reached all classes, especially important business executives," and one Methodist pastor "has had to add an extra Sunday service to take care of the crowds" since the Mission left. In Washington the drive was particularly valuable in rounding up churchgoers recently arrived from other cities.

In Syracuse, Denver, St. Louis, Little Rock, Louisville, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Springfield (Ill), Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles, the local clergy seemed reasonably well pleased, but in many cases the franker ministers agreed with other civic leaders that from 80 to 90% of the audiences were more or less regular churchgoers, that the Mission failed to "reach the unreached," and that its principal value was to "give church people a shot in the arm."

Comment from the other seven cities was more outspoken:

Kansas City. Said one religion editor: "The Mission failed completely." Added the head of the Ministerial Alliance: "It failed to reach the unreached, and I hesitate to credit any increased church membership to the Mission, though it brought a better community understanding."

Chicago had the same attendance as Oklahoma City (only one-seventeenth as large a town)--a reported 50,000--though one church editor "will eat his hat if it went over 18,000," and a nationally known minister felt that the Mission merely "whipped up the enthusiasm of the faithful" and caused scarcely a ripple outside.

In Baltimore the Mission "had no lasting effect. . . . Even churchmen admit that the biggest gain was in laying groundwork, which might produce results later."

Oakland-San Francisco. Consensus of church leaders was that the Mission "was not markedly successful in reaching the unchurched and definitely failed to reach labor" (A.F. of L. and C.I.O. both canceled meetings).

Philadelphia filled barely two-thirds of Convention Hall for the long-heralded mass meetings. Labor and other groups failed to respond. Said an official report to the Mission sponsors: "General indifference and major apathy. ... On the whole there was unwillingness to leave congregational or denominational tasks. The 'mighty army' of Christian believers is badly disorganized, indifferently led, and poorly equipped to meet the challenge of the hour."

In Pittsburgh the Mission "is just a memory--a hazy one for the layman and a shade brighter for the minister." The head of the Community Fund and the executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce "never heard of it," while other laymen and pastors agreed it "didn't make much of an impression."

Hartford had the least successful Mission week of all. The chairman of the State committee felt that it did not attract the unchurched, brought no increased membership, has already been largely forgotten. Said he: "The Mission message was not particularly attuned to the great needs of the time, did not produce a dynamic gospel."

Everywhere so much time, space and work was given free as a labor of love that the cash outlay for the Mission was a mere $158,600, and collections by local committees along the way brought in $132,000. Figured that way, the 50,000 new church members cost the national committee only 50-c- apiece--a notable bargain, especially when the quickened interest of the already faithful is counted in at no cost as a byproduct. The Evangelism Department of the Federal Council of Churches is delighted with this result. (Reported its secretary, Dr. Jesse Moren Bader: "The Mission has been so timely. It has been providential. ... At a time when the nation has been working on defense, the Church has been making an attack.") It is already planning another Mission next winter to hit cities in the 25,000-to-100,000 group. But on the basis of this winter's experience few realistic churchmen could argue that such evangelism was an adequate answer to their problem of reaching America's 70,000,000 unreached.

*Missioner Jones last week explained why he had not sailed at mission's end to resume his work in India: "Very early in the morning of the day the boat was due to sail, the Inner Voice kept repeating, 'I want you here.' It was so compelling as to be inescapable. I had my baggage taken from the steamer. . . . Perhaps in this time of crisis there is something I must do. Just what it is I am not sure. That, too, will be made clear. The call to stay was unmistakable."

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