St. Clair County, Illinois - Chapter 30, 1928

'HESE two organizations have worked together for more than a quarter of a century to promote the rehgious interests of the students m McKendree. But even before they existed, reUgious influences were not wanting in the college. In the early days of McKendree's history the students were summoned by the bell that hung m the little belfry on the roof of the first college building, to six o'clock prayers every morning; which of course in winter comes long before daylight. After that building was burned m i8^6, and the row of small buildings known as the "College Commons" had disappeared from the campus, there were no students living on the hill, and so the prayers before breakfast were abandoned. But down to about 1890, the daily chapel service was held before any classes, and generally not later than eight o'clock. For many years, notably during the administrations of Dr. Allyn and Dr. Locke, Sunday afternoon lectures were given throughout the school year, for the special benefit of the students, tho they were open to the public if any others desired to attend. These were delivered in the college chapel by the President or some member of the faculty, or the pastor of the church, or by some outside speaker of distinction.

Revival meetings were often held m the college and sometimes an intensive religious campaign was carried on to secure the conversion of every student in the college who was not already a Christian. According to the traditions handed down by members of the faculty of those days there were times in more than one year when the very last student m the institution had yielded to the Christianizing influence that were so abundant on college hill.

During the Eighties and the Nineties a prominent feature of the religious life of the institution was the "College Prayer-meeting". This meeting was held every Tuesday evening throughout the school year and was a mighty influence for good in the lives of many of the students. They were usually held m one of the recitation rooms and were attended by anywhere from twenty to fifty students. The man chiefly responsible for this meeting during the ten years of his connection with the college was Dr. Albert G. Jepson, Professor of Mathematics. Occasionally a student was the leader of the meeting, but usually it was led by Dr. Jepson or Dr. Ferguson, or the President. Professor Jepson had served for years as a Methodist Class Leader, and Sunday School Superintendent, and he loved to help young people who were inquiring the way of the religious life. He often held private conferences with young men who were troubled about their religious experience, and none ever appealed to him for religious advice without receiving real help.

Dr. Ferguson, the Professor of Greek, was always at the meeting during the years of his connection with the college and was a great help to it. He often led the singing. There was never a musical instrument in the room for the meeting was held in a class room. Dr. Jepson never made any attempt to sing at all, but Dr. Ferguson, while not much of a singer from the professional standpoint, was acquainted with many familiar devotional songs and could usually start them at the proper pitch; so that he was very useful to this group of spontaneous worshippers. When he was to lead the meeting he would sometimes have neither Bible nor hymn book in the room, but when the time arrived would start a familiar song. After that without naming any individual he would ask some one to lead in prayer. There were plenty of volunteers. Then another song would be sung without any special selection, tho sometimes some one called for a favorite. After a little while spent in prayer and song he would call for testimonies. They usually came in quick succession interspersed with an occasional verse of song, until the hour had passed and then the meeting was promptly dismissed. Students, and sometimes teachers, frequently told of their religious difficulties, and their success and failures in dealing with the snares and temptations of college life. There were boys and girls both in these meetings. Usually a group of thirty or forty live young Christians, some of whom were rather anxious to give expression to their earnest desires and aspirations would bring about a real lively and interesting religious meeting. It may be that some of the boys came to the meetings only for the opportunity of taking the girls home, but it often happened that the boy who first came for other reasons, afterward came because he was interested in the meeting. Many a student testified that his religious awakening was due to the influence of the college prayer meeting.

the state already had them and some members of the faculty thought that McKendree should get in line. Shortly after the Christmas holidays a meeting of the students and faculty was held, in which it was voted to organize the Y. M. C. A. and a committee, representing both faculty and students, was appointed to nominate officers. The first president was William E. Stilson, professor of Mathematics. He was a young unmarried man, not much older than some of the students, and had already had some experience with the College Y. M. C. A. For these reasons it was thought that he could more successfully pilot the new organization thru the first uncertain period until it was well established. The first student president was Duff Piercy who was elected the next year. Ever since that time its officers have been students, tho some of the faculty members have been active in the work and usually one or more men from the faculty have been designated as faculty advisers. After the first year the practice was begun of sending delegates to the student conference at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Our chapter never fails to have representatives there. It is really a great privilege to spend ten days on a trip to that famous summer resort and get the inspiration resulting from contact with some of the great leaders of young men such as Mott and Speer, and McDowell and others, and to be a part of that great gathering of several hundred earnest active young men, bent on having a good time both physically and spiritually.

At least the greater part of these men are willing to avail themselves of the spiritual benefits of the conference; tho it must be admitted that some are more interested in the sports that occupy the afternoons at Geneva, such as baseball, swimming, boating, a chance to visit the great observatory, and the matchless fellowships that are always possible in a group of that kind even tho most of them have never seen each other before. However, there is a well-grounded suspicion that even from McKendree some men have been sent as delegates who were not at all noted for their religious inclinations, but who were men of good ability and the idea was to give them a real religious inspiration and induce them to consecrate their superior ability to some field of service in the cause of Christianity.

In those early years it was more common to choose upper classmen as delegates because of their greater capability, and then they usually had only a year or two to give back to the home organization the benefits of their Geneva experience. In iqoi the delegation to Lake Geneva included Cameron Harmon who was then a student in McKendree. The next year he insisted that some member of the faculty who would not be so likely to leave the college in a year or two, should be a member of McKendree's delegation. So Prof. W. C. Walton was one of the delegates that year, and several times since then faculty members have represented McKendree at Lake Geneva. In fact in the later years a considerable number of college professors are found mingling with the students at Geneva's great assembly.

About a year later, or to be exact, February 3, 1899, the girls of McKendree were organized into a Y. W. C. A. There were only nine members in the original group and the first president was Miss Anna Love of Edwardsville. In fact, it was largely thru her influence that the organization was effected. In those days the proportion of girls at McKendree was very much smaller than at present. But the Y. W. soon caught up with the Y. M. in numbers, and occupied the field of religious work, perhaps more thoroughly than the men's organization did. During all the years they have sent their delegates to Lake Geneva, and have taken their full share of the religious activities and responsibilities of the college life. It has been the custom most of the time for the two organizations to have a joint meeting once a month, and sometimes oftener when a speaker of special interest could be secured. For many years the two societies have had their budget in common. A joint budgetary committee would esti' mate the amount that should be appropriated for each line of work for the current year. Then some morning in chapel the cause would be presented by a member of the faculty or some student leader, and the subscriptions taken on the spot for several hundred dollars, or else a canvassing committee appointed to see every student and teacher and get their pledges in the next few days.

McKendree has never been able to have a "Y" building, and the associations have never had very definite quarters which they could call their own. There was a time when a room in the lower story of the chapel was used for that purpose, and since in those years the girls met in the afternoon and the boys in the evening, the same room was sufficient for the needs of both, and both their charters hung on its walls. Chairs were purchased to furnish comfortable seating and both faculty and students joined their contributions for the purchase of an organ to be used in the meetings. While the room was not large, it was usually sufficient for the group who attended these meetings. In this room some very impressive meetings have been held and perhaps several revivals have had their origin. Also some important speakers have dehvered their messages to the small group who could assem' ble in this small auditorium, such as returned missionaries like Isaac Taylor Headland, who once spoke there, and when leaders of their professions in the law, medicine, and ministry, and perhaps other lines, have dehvered vocational addresses to enable students to better decide the great question of the choice of a vocation.

But as the years passed, in one of the periods of expansion that came to McKendree, it became necessary to use the room for other purposes. So in recent years the girls have held their meetings in Clio Hall. Since largely the same girls belonged to Clio and the Y. W. C. A. it was an easy matter for the former to grant the use of the hall to the latter. In the very recent years the attendance of Y. W. has been larger in proportion to their numbers than that of the Y. M. In fact the attendance of the girls who live in Clark Hall is almost one hundred per cent.

The boys have been permitted to hold their meetings in the chapel and when the room seems so much larger than the crowd that they seem lost in the greater space they change to the Bible room or the reception room of the boys' dormitory.

At the opening of school each year these two organizations, through their committees, render much service to the new students, by meeting them as they arrive in Lebanon, showing them around the college, introducing them to their fellow students, assisting in the activities of freshman week, holding acquaintance socials and making themselves generally useful in every possible way. It is generally recognized now that the social life of the college is as much a field for the properly directed activities of the "Y" organizations as is the rehgious life.

In addition to what has already been set forth m this chapter, the religious influences of the college include a series of addresses or sermons each year by some recognized and outstanding preacher or religious leader, who conducts a systematic campaign for a week or more speaking twice each day in the chapel and holding personal conferences with the students in the meantime. By these, many students have been started in the religious life or had their hazy and unsatisfactory religious experience clarified and made a part of their natural and rational thinking and acting in the every day walks of life.