Pastoral and Personal Evangelism 195 spiritual leadership—the difficulty of finding strong men to fill spiritual offices and to lead in spiritual service—Boards of Trustees being more easily filled than Elders’ or Deacons’ Boards, men more responsive to ushering or even to taking official duty, than to taking a Sunday School superintendency or class, or^attending and participating audibly in the weekly prayer service. I also found men ready to relieve one in dis tress or assist materially in any emergency, who seemed em barrassed and helpless when asked to assist or direct in things spiritual. Since this actual condition has been discovered, the effort has been made to remedy it by giving constant and faithful attention to individual Christians, not only pointing out the way of growth through exhortation and inspiration, but through instruction, example and personal direction. “The community in which our church is placed has many thousands who are unreached and unattracted by any church. It has large numbers of youths of both sexes and many young families. Although there are many whose homes are perma nent, even a larger number are transient and hence apt to scatter and drift farther from all moorings. “No pastor nor force of professional assistants can hope successfully to reach such a field, but trained membership can, and young men and young women who are interested, in structed and directed can see in such a neighborhood a vast storehouse of raw human material which may be made into finished product for God. Better still, such latent life may become energized and utilized to win and save itself with responsive, joyful life. “Organization has accomplished much, but the work and worker need Divine inspiration and spiritual food as well, and the Word of God, prayer and common sense combine to make the work effective and permanent. This little handbook is thus sent out to assist in meeting that need, that the hundreds of young men and young women already won may become winners of others; and primarily that the half hundred young people now working on these Invitation Committees may have a ready reference in time of immediate need. “We have also felt that our need may be the need of others elsewhere, and cordially extend to you as well, our comrade ship.”
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