Jesse Moren Bader (1886–1963) was a 20th-century
evangelist and
ecumenist. He was an evangelical leader who played a role in the establishment of the
World Convention of Churches of Christ
The World Convention of Churches of Christ is a Christian world communion that links Restoration Movement churches known by a range of names including Christian churches and churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, and Christian Church (Disciples ...
.
Youth
Jesse Bader was born on April 15, 1886 in
Bader Bader is a German occupational surname derived from the German word "Bad" meaning "bath". It originally referred to the owners or attendants of bathhouses, who subsequently took on other tasks including cutting hair and dentistry.
List of people wi ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. His family was actively involved in the Christian Church (
Disciples) in Bader. When Bader was four years old, his family moved to
Coffey County,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, where he lived until he was nineteen. In 1897,
Clara H. Hazelrigg was ordained and she subsequently was the pastor who converted Bader.
In 1905, he enrolled at the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
with plans to study medicine, but he instead found a calling to ministry, partly as a result of his role as a student minister in the nearby town of Perry. After two years of study, he moved to
Drake University
Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...
in
Des Moines
Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
,
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
. Drake University was founded in principles historically affiliated with the
Christian Church
In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...
, and allowed him to pursue studies in preparation for
ministry.
Marriage
At Drake University, Bader met Golda Maud Bader (née Elam). They got married in 1911 during Bader's last year at Drake, and they remained married for more than fifty years. She was born September 6, 1885 to Edward E. Elam and Lillie Elam (née Jones), and died in February of 1981. Golda Maud Bader was a leader in the United Church Women (now
Church Women United
Church Women United (CWU) is a national ecumenical Christians, Christian women's movement representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox and other Christian women. Founded in 1941, as the United Council of Church Women ...
) and the Protestant Motion Picture Council. She was also involved with Japan International Christian University and the
American Bible Society
American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engag ...
. Bader née Elam was an ordained minister and held associate pastor positions in two of the churches that the Baders belonged to.
First Ministry
Bader's first full-time ministry was at First Christian Church, in
Atchison,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. During his seven years there, the membership grew from around 300 to 1400. Bader emphasized the role of lay people in evangelism with the slogan, "Each one win one". In Atchison, he was a member of the masonic ''Washington'' Lodge no.5. (see William Denslow - ''10,000 Famous Freemasons'', Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Richmond, Virginia, 1957). He resigned from the church in Atchison in 1917, which was at the time adding a member each day, when the USA entered
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, to become a
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
secretary with the armed forces. From 1918 to 1919 he served with the
35th Division in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and at the end of the war, he was one of several selected for a preaching mission among the American forces in Germany.
Jackson Avenue Christian Church
After his return to the United States in 1920, Bader became the pastor of Jackson Avenue Christian Church in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, which after his death was renamed Bader Memorial Christian Church. Coinciding with the beginning of this ministry, he drafted a proposal for a five-year evangelistic program, titled 'Win a Million', for the International Convention of Disciples of Christ, the national assembly of Christian Churches in the USA and Canada at that time. According to his writings, Bader had developed a passion for the centrality and prioritization of evangelism in the ministry of the church, saying in a well-known quote, 'What the Lord made primary, we have no right to make secondary.'
Superintendent of Evangelism
In 1920, Bader became Superintendent of Evangelism in the newly established United Christian Missionary Society, a position he held for the next twelve years. He travelled throughout the Christian Church (Disciples) family in the United States and Canada, contributing to the church communities. He also became the head of the major UCMS 'home missionary' program.
World Convention of the Churches of Christ
While Bader was working with the
UCMS, his interest was growing in the Christian World Communion that he belonged to the '
Stone-Campbell family'. This global family had churches with the same origins and traditions using the names '
Christian Churches
In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...
', '
Churches of Christ
The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...
', or '
Disciples of Christ
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...
'.
Baptists
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
,
Congregationalists
Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
,
Lutherans
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...
,
Methodists and
Presbyterians
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
had all established global conventions and a means of cooperating or acting globally. Bader attended the meeting of the
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is an international communion of Baptists, with an estimated 51 million people from 266 member bodies in 134 countries and territories as of 2024. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA accounts f ...
in 1925, and, according to his writings, began to consider how this concept might develop for his Stone-Campbell family. He canvassed suggestions amongst leaders in several countries, including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, receiving strong support. In October 1930, with attendance from around the world, the first
World Convention of Churches of Christ
The World Convention of Churches of Christ is a Christian world communion that links Restoration Movement churches known by a range of names including Christian churches and churches of Christ, Churches of Christ, and Christian Church (Disciples ...
was held in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, USA. Up to 10,000 people attended, and the program featured an afternoon tea at the White House hosted by President Herbert Hoover and the First Lady. 'World Convention' was firmly established. Bader became the first president (1930–35) and was also appointed as the first general secretary, a post he held until his death, working part-time until his retirement and then graduating to full-time work. Conventions were held every five years until 1970, though the pattern was interrupted by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and currently continue every four years.
On the subject, Bader wrote in 1930, "While preaching unity to others, our churches around the world have too often neglected to practice unity and promote a closer fellowship amongst themselves".
Department of Evangelism for the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America
In 1932, Bader moved from his denominational position to become Associate Executive Secretary of the Department of Evangelism for the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America.
The Executive Secretary was Dr. Charles L. Goodell, a figure who many considered well-respected in his community. Dr. Goodell saw Bader as a successor for himself in his
retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
and proposed that he be invited to become his associate. Samuel McCrea Cavert, General Secretary of the Federal Council, was to discuss the matter with Bader, and wrote of his surprise at Bader's hesitation, noting, "I still have vivid memories of my conversation with him at a long-drawn-out breakfast in the Severin Hotel in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
. To my surprise, he had some hesitation in accepting the invitation. He needed assurance that the Federal Council would give evangelism enough emphasis to provide the best base for his enthusiasm. He was, however, quick to see the future possibilities in the united program that the Council could develop as an official agency of cooperating churches" (Herald of the Evangel, page 18).
For the next twenty-two years until his retirement, Bader continued in this position and a similar position in the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, which succeeded the Federal Council in 1950, providing evangelistic leadership for the member churches and their local communities.
Influence
Evangelistic staffing of the Councils under Bader's leadership increased from one full-time person to seven. It became, according to Daniel L Poling, "the most dynamic and largest department" of the Federal Council. Evangelism was said to receive "adequate emphasis" among the council. Denominational evangelistic leadership showed further growth; In 1932 only two denominations (Presbyterian and Bader's own) had full-time secretaries of evangelism. In 1956, Bader recorded that there were 46 secretaries of evangelism in 35 Protestant communions. Evangelism had apparently become central in the life of the churches.
Bader's influence extends to the number of inter-church nationwide programs he led. In his time in leadership, Bader maintained a dozen evangelist programs, such as the National Preaching Mission, the University Christian Mission, the National Christian Teaching Mission, and ministry in National Parks (where visitor numbers increased to 15 million each year in the 1950s) and the missions to the American Forces during World War II. Likely due to Bader's influence, local cooperation among churches grew significantly through this time, in contrast with earlier more competitive denominationalism.
Contributions to the Evangelistic Life of Churches
Bader placed emphasis his perceived importance of 'Visitation evangelism'. Visitation evangelism, or proselytizing by making private visits to the people being converted, was a method of sharing the gospel and disciplining that had been in effect in the twentieth century, with many denominational leaders contributing to its development. The Department of Evangelism of the Federal Council of Churches officially adopted visitation evangelism and recommended it to all churches under its influence. Visitation evangelism stressed the idea that all Christians should spread their faith to those who did not follow it, and it provided a method to achieve this mass conversion. In 1946 and 1947, an emphasis was placed on this form of proselytization. Visitation not only added to the sizes of the church, it was said to have strengthened the faith of those members taking part. As visitation evangelism was interdenominational, it also gave the church a further sense of unity.
Furthermore, Bader contributed to the formation of the religious
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, which tallied opinions and data about churchgoers. Bader believed that it was essential to know people's church preferences, as he thought this knowledge was needed to be obtained by churches working together in order to visit house to house. The technique he created required careful processes and months of preparation. As society was becoming much more mobile, Bader and the people he worked with believed that the data needed to be put into action quickly.
The Annual Universal Week of Prayer (now Week of Prayer for Christian Unity) held in January also received Bader's interest and encouragement. In the United States of America, his department sponsored this emphasis. Bader states that churches in local communities could do no better than to begin the year by sharing fellowship and prayer. Prayer would, as he affirmed, provide the focus for all that was planned. Although Bader and other evangelists recognized that large revival meetings were not the most effective form of outreach, they nevertheless received his support.
Bader was a friend and consultant for the young Billy Graham and his team. Bader was proud of the transparency of the public accounting of the Graham organizations.
World Communion Sunday
Bader has been recognized as the founder of the global, ecumenical
World Communion Sunday, which was launched on October 6, 1940, and continues on the first Sunday in October each year. Bader was aware of the Worldwide Communion Sunday of the Presbyterian Church, first celebrated in 1936, which was designed to strengthen Presbyterian global fellowship. During 1939, he brought a recommendation to the Department of Evangelism of the Federal Council of Churches, proposing the observance of a world wide, church wide communion Sunday. The recommendation was approved. Although the World Council of Churches felt unable to take up the promotion of this project,
Henry Smith Leiper, who was Associate General Secretary when the World Council was in process of formation, sent out many letters encouraging participation. This was a considerable contribution to the establishment of World Communion Sunday globally. The emphasis on World Communion Sunday had never been on combining services for communion, something that is still not possible in many situations, but rather on all churches and congregations celebrating communion on that day. The purpose of this focus was to provide Christian communities with a sense of unity and togetherness.
Leadership
From 1937 onwards, Bader attended all major ecumenical gatherings related to the formation and establishment of the
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...
including
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
(1937),
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
(1948),
Evanston (1954),
New Delhi
New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
(1961), and the annual meetings of the World Council of Churches executive committee once it was set up in 1948. In 1962, on behalf of the World Convention, he represented the global family of Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ at the Vatican Council.
Book
During 1956, two years after his retirement on December 31, 1953, Bader wrote his first and only book - ''Evangelism in a Changing America'' (The Bethany Press, 1957). In the introduction, David S. McNelly wrote, "He has outthought, outworked, and outloved his contemporaries, to turn the tide of religion in America towards a great revival. His passion for evangelism, his zeal for ecumenicity, his compassion for the misguided, and his love on behalf of the unlovely, as well as his concern for the unconcerned, has excelled in every circle on the American scene. Dr Bader has moved across America and many kindred nations in the last quarter of a century, breathing the evangelistic spirit of life into the church, making bold the Great Commission of
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. ... today many patterns of evangelism used by the American church were pioneered, perfected and promoted first by Dr. Bader. He … has done as much as any living man to establish a climate for evangelism in America today." Bader had been a pioneer in promoting the idea that evangelism and ecumenism went hand in hand, as opposed to being mutually exclusive. The final chapter of the book, ''Evangelism Together'', stresses that, although there is a place for churches to focus on their own evangelism, some evangelism must be done together. Bader claimed that this idea was formed from his own lived experiences.
Retirement
Following his official retirement at the end of 1953, Bader became the full-time General Secretary for the World Convention of Churches of Christ, what he called a "spare time" activity of his since 1930. In the week leading up to his death, he had expected to be in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
, preparing for the 1965 World Convention there. He died after a brief illness in New York City, on August 19, 1963. Bader was 77 years old. His funeral was held at First Christian Church,
Atchison,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. An interdenominational memorial service was held at The
Interchurch Center in New York and several other memorial services were held in Christian Churches around the United States. His death was also marked at the next World Convention in Puerto Rico in 1965. In honor of Bader's contributions, the permanent lecture series World Convention established in his name is entitled 'The Bader Lectures in Evangelism'.
Bibliography
*''Herald of the Evangel'', edited by
Edwin T. Dahlberg. (Essays in a memorial volume.)
*
*''Evangelism in a Changing America'', by Jesse M Bader
*Convention handbooks (World Convention).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bader, Jesse Moren
1886 births
1963 deaths
People from Schuyler County, Illinois
People from Coffey County, Kansas
Ministers of the Churches of Christ