THE MINISTER AND THE BOY***
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THE MINISTER AND THE BOY
A Handbook for Churchmen Engaged in Boys' Work
by
ALLAN HOBEN, PH.D. Associate Professor of Practical Theology, The University of Chicago Field Secretary of the Chicago Juvenile Protective Association
1912
PREFACE
The aim of this book is to call the attention of ministers to the important place which boys' work may have in furthering the Kingdom of God. To this end an endeavor is made to quicken the minister's appreciation of boys, to stimulate his study of them, and to suggest a few practical ways in which church work with boys may be conducted.
The author is indebted to the Union Church of Waupun, Wis., and to the First Baptist Church of Detroit, Mich., for the opportunity of working out in actual practice most of the suggestions incorporated in this book. He is also indebted to many authors, especially to President G. Stanley Hall, for a point of view which throws considerable light upon boy nature. The Boy-Scout pictures have been provided by Mr. H.H. Simmons, the others by Mr. D.B. Stewart, Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen, and the author. The greatest contribution is from the boys of both village and city with whom the author has had the privilege of comradeship and from whom he has learned most of what is here recorded.
The material has been used in talks to teachers and clubs of various sorts, and in the Men and Religion Forward Movement. The requests following upon such talks and arising also from publication of most of the material in the _Biblical World_ have encouraged this attempt to present a brief handbook for ministers and laymen who engage in church work for boys.
ALLAN HOBEN
CHICAGO, August 19, 1912
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. THE CALL OF BOYHOOD II. AN APPROACH TO BOYHOOD III. THE BOY IN VILLAGE AND COUNTRY IV. THE MODERN CITY AND THE NORMAL BOY V. THE ETHICAL VALUE OF ORGANIZED PLAY VI. THE BOY'S CHOICE OF A VOCATION VII. TRAINING FOR CITIZENSHIP VIII. THE BOY'S RELIGIOUS LIFE IX. THE CHURCH BOYS' CLUB
CHAPTER I
THE CALL OF BOYHOOD
The Christian apologetic for today depends less upon the arguments of speculative theology and the findings of biblical science than upon sociological considerations. The church is dealing with a pragmatic public which insists upon knowing what this or that institution accomplishes for the common good. The deep and growing interest in social science, the crying needs that it lays bare, together with socialistic dreams of human welfare, compel Christian workers to pay more heed to the life that now is, since individualistic views of salvation in the world to come do not fully satisfy the modern consciousness.
Hence the ministry is compelled more and more to address itself to the salvation of the community and the nation after the fashion of the Hebrew prophets. Lines of distinction also between what is religious and what is secular in education and in all human intercourse have become irregular or dim; and the task of bringing mankind to fullness and perfection of life has become the task alike of the educator, the minister, the legislator, and the social worker. In fact, all who in any capacity put their hands to this noble undertaking are co-workers with Him whose divine ideal was to be consummated in the Kingdom of God on earth.
