The American Social Gospel and the Chinese Ymca

bad name missionaries have been given in popular American lore was at least partly earned for all of them by those who were bar ren-minded, devotees and bigots, who were often immensely shrewd but were seldom immensely intelligent. 'How could a Protes tant God have stomached such stupid enthusiasts?' So said David Treadup, Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) hero in John Hersey's book, The Call.1 Unlike evangelical missionaries who went to China to save the heathens from damnation, YMCA secretar ies (or administrative officers) went primarily to reform social or der. The YMCA story breaks many of our deeply held stereotypes about Christian missions in China.2 While most missionary groups tended to exercise a strong sense of paternalism, YMCA group of nondogmatic and service-oriented men preached earliest spirit of racial equality among their own ranks. Contrary to popular opinion that foreign missions were financed and remote-controlled from home boards, YMCA movement transformed itself quickly into an indigenous movement supported and managed by Chinese. And unlike most Christian missions, which were spreading gos pel of Western Civilization, idealistic Association men strove to

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