Recruiting for missions: the Baylor volunteer foreign mission band, 1900-1906: the Protestant foreign mission movement in the United States began early in the nineteenth century, but as late as 1890, fewer than one thousand missionaries lived abroad

Baptist History and Heritage, Wntr, 2008 by Bill Pitts

When invited program presenters failed to show up (an infrequent occurrence), the group turned the meeting into a personal testimony session or an extended prayer meeting. The students expressed deep awareness of need for divine guidance as well as for education. They found ongoing inspiration through prayer and through regular contact with fellow students who were devoted to missions.

The band soon adopted specific projects. Almost immediately they began to create a mission library at Baylor. Later they raised money to support one missionary each year. They corresponded with missionaries and prayed especially for former band members who had gone to foreign fields. The band also sought to heighten awareness of missions among the student body. They prepared programs to present to the Baylor student body, presented the challenge of missions in local churches, and later created Friday Night Missions, an opportunity for any university student to work with disadvantaged Waco children. This institution enjoyed great popularity for decades as a training ground for experience in practical Christian service.

The band was originally designed specifically for students who had accepted a call to missions in foreign lands. In addition to the original goal of serving those students already committed to missions, the Volunteer Band soon learned that many other students were seriously exploring the possibility of becoming missionaries. Therefore, the additional goal of recruiting more missionaries naturally emerged. For this reason, the band adopted a membership scheme with three categories: (1) active membership included only those who had already decided on a foreign missionary vocation; (2) associate membership was reserved for those seriously considering foreign missions; and (3) honorary membership was designed for others who were deeply interested in the missionary cause, usually interested administrators, professors, and active missionaries. (36)

The band's minutes revealed clearly the thought processes of the students regarding recruiting. The secretary wrote, "Mr. Marony joined us as an associate member, pledging himself to pray over the matter of becoming a foreign missionary. (When a person joins as an associate member, we pledge to pray with him until he decides one way or the other.)" (37) On October 1, 1903, the minutes recorded that band president H. H. Muirhead "begged us to try to get more interested in foreign missions." (38)

The band offered associate students considerable opportunity for reflection on the option of missionary work as a lifetime vocation. Students were not expected to make a quick decision, and it was expected that some would choose not to become missionaries. For example, the October 29, 1903, minutes reported that "Mr. McDowell withdrew from the band, for he found that God does not intend for him to be a foreign missionary. He was an associate member." (39) For the meeting the following week, the minutes noted the opposite outcome: "Brother Hosea Garrett made a statement saying that he had decided to go to the foreign field. He was received as an active member of the band." (40) Membership lists regularly had names that had been struck out, and the business report sections of the minutes gave full attention to careful listing of new and departing members. (41) Careful tabulation of membership is one of the most obvious characteristics of the minutes, which clearly demonstrated that the students had a deep interest in recruiting fellow students into missionary service.