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The rise and fall of the Student Volunteer Movement
1887: regrouping to shore up
The story of the Cambridge Seven and a copy of the “Appeal to Disciples Everywhere” was published by B. Broomhall in a book titled The evangelization of the world. In London, a new Missionary Intelligence and Registration Office was set up to keep track of occupied mission fields in order to better ascertain where new efforts were needed; Royal Wilder called for such an office to also be set up in the United States. In October, Wilder died, after passing on editorship of The Missionary Review to A. T. Pierson and James Sherwood.
Not surprisingly, no national tours were made in 1887. Robert Wilder was physically and emotionally exhausted. But the flame could not be quenched: with little leadership or oversight over 600 new volunteers were added during the college year of 1887-88— the result of the personal work of the old volunteers in small committees at various places.
Women continued to labor to organize nationally for missions. At the Southern Baptist convention meeting in Louisville, the convention decided “an official vote on the question of creating a Convention-wide central committee of women” would take place the following year. The women advocating the committee did not align themselves with the greater women’s rights issues dominating the country’s attention, instead wisely issuing a statement: “Resolved, that [the call for a central committee of woman’s work] is not to be construed as a desire upon the part of the ladies to interfere with the management of the existing [male-led] Boards of the Convention, either in the appointment of missionaries, or the direction of mission work, but is a desire, on their part, to be more efficient in collecting money and disseminating information on mission subjects.”
Christian Endeavor was strengthening. Numerous youth movements were being founded during this period—the Epworth league, the Young People’s Methodist Alliance, the Young People’s Christian League, the Methodist Young People’s Union. But while there were perhaps 1,000 of these and similar small societies, Christian Endeavor alone had over 2,000 societies.
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Justin, thank you for a well researched SVM article. Over the past 30 years I have had an enduring interest in this history, as a scholar, practitioner and mobilizer. http://www.jaygary.com/students.shtml
But now I think the student generation following World War I also made good choices regarding the gospel. While Robert Wilder chose fundamentalism, Sherwood Eddy embraced both the gospel and social justice, and rallied the church to work with marginalized urban youth. As 21st century Christian leaders, we must not let this divide between evangelism and social action divide us any longer. Even as evangelicals, both WEA and Lausanne have dealt with this both theologically and practically for 30 years now. There are new paradigms of global engagement emerging. We must not be frozen in the 19th century, but open to our own paradigms becoming more biblical and integral.
Second, whatever calls to come to a new generation, their watchword must deal substantially, in a post-Bosch world, on how the gospel must change both the evangelized and the unevangelized. Jesus linked both the rich man and Lazarus in his parable. We must link our overconsumption with the destitution of the developing world, and consider ways to create sustainable enterprises that are culturally relevant, environmentally appropriate and wealth generating among the bottom of the pyramid. See the work of Stuart Hart in this, his book _Capitalism at the Crossroads_ http://www.stuartlhart.com/frameworks%20and%20t...
I am encouraged by your work from Asia. May God continue to give you strength to sound the trumpet.
–Jay, Program Director, M.A. in Strategic Foresight, http://www.regent.edu/global/msf
Assistant Professor, School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University