Fonds F36 - Methodist Church (Canada) Laymen's Missionary Movement fonds

The Laymen's Missionary Movement was founded in 1906, at an interdenominational meeting held in Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York. It was an educative and inspirational movement among laymen of the churches, and operated through existing denominational agencies. It did not collect money or appoint missionaries; rather, it was founded on the belief that the laymen of the churches are "equally responsible with the ordained ministers to pray and work for the coming of the Kingdom of God upon earth"; its aim was "to enlist the men of the churches in a supreme effort to evangelize the world in this generation" [Journal of the Methodist General Conference, 1910]. An International Committee with headquarters in New York had general supervision of the Movement in North America. The Movement was founded in Canada in 1907, when the Canadian Council of the Laymen's Missionary Movement was organized. The Laymen's Missionary Movement of the Methodist Church (Canada) was constituted at a rally in Toronto in 1909; the Reverend Jesse H. Arnup served as Secretary from 1910 to 1912.