Francis Edward Clark

Francis Edward Clark ( born September 12, 1851 in Aylmer (Quebec ), † May 26, 1927 in Auburndale ( Massachusetts)) was an American pastor and founder of the international Christian youth organization Christian Endeavour (CE).

Life

Clark's ancestors came from New England. After the death of his father, Charles C. Symmes in 1853 he was at the age of eight years of his uncle, the Rev. EW Clark, adopted, whose surname he adopted.

He earned a degree from Dartmouth College in 1873 and in 1876 the " Andover Theological Seminary ." After his ordination in a Congregational church, he worked from 1876 to 1883 as pastor at " Williston Congregational Church " in Portland (Maine) and from 1883 to 1887 at the " Phillips Congregational church" in Boston.

On 2 February 1881 he founded in Portland, the " Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour" in an effort to integrate young people into his church. In its efforts towards 57 young people signed a pledge to pursue a serious according to Christian standards of life and to get involved in their church. Initially a small group in a single church in New England, however, CE is developed very quickly to a interdenominational organization. In 1908 recorded one 70 761 branch associations with more than 3.5 million members in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, India, Japan and China.

After 1887, Clerk devoted exclusively to the expansion of which he founded in the work he as manager of the "United Societies of Christian Endeavor ", an umbrella organization headed. In 1895 Clerk founded the "World's Christian Endeavor Union ," which was internationally. He was also the editor of the organization's own magazine " Christian Endeavor World," which was first published under the title "The Golden Rule".

His house 379 Central Street in Auburndale (Massachusetts ) is out on the National Register of Historic Places.

Works

• The Children and the Church. 1882
• Looking Out on Life. 1883
• Young Peoples Prayer Meetings. 1884
• Some Christian Endeavor Saints. 1889
• World Wide Endeavor. 1895
• A New Way Round an Old World. 1900 ( Note: if the work is a travelogue with the newly opened Trans-Siberian Railway )
• Memories of Many Men in Many Lands. An Autobiography. Boston, Chicago, United Society of Christian Endeavor, 1922