In Bill Brownfield's 1967 autobiography, It's a Good Life, he tells of a legend surrounding his birth: "Aunt Ione brought the new baby [Brownfield] down the stairs, stepped into the warm room occupied by the prod grandparents and said, "Well I've got it, but I don't think much of it. He looks like a skinned rabbit" ... I have always insisted that it was a rare bargain at $1.25 a pound ($10 doctor's fee and 8 pounds) skin, bones and all."
Brownfield is considered by many to be the most remarkable Jaycee of all for his ability to sum up, in a few extraordinary words, a statement of belief and principle of what henry Giessenbier had started more than a quarter century earlier. His Jaycee Creed also eloquently reflected a feeling on the hearts of the returning World War II veterans.
Shortly after the original five-line creed was officially adopted in September 1947, Andrew Mungenast, of of the movement's founders, wrote Brownfield to urge a statement indicating a belief in God. Soon he was virtually besieged with similar requests form all directions.
He thought that faith in God already was implied in the five statements of belief, but he realized that such an addition had to be made. In 1950, he put the line ahead of the others and presented the world with 65 of the most clearly expressed words it had known.
Adopted in full by Junior Chamber International in 1951, the Jaycee Creed has transcended ideological, geographical, philosophical, political and religious barriers. A year later, Brownfield was severely paralyzed by the onset of multiple sclerosis. By 1962, he was confined to a wheelchair and was on the brink of suicide.
Bill Brownfield in 1968 greets former Vice President, former Jaycee and good friend Richard M. Nixon
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A rare Jaycee Creed plaque shows the creed minus the "Faith in God phrase, which Bill Brownfield added in 1950, giving it a place of honor preceding all other sections of
the creed.
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Brownfield said childhood memories of Bible verses promising God's grace brought to mind the "thousands of jaycees who would lose some reverence for the Jaycee Creed if its author could find no faith to give meaning and purpose to his own life." He has sidestepped disaster and continued to serve the Junior Chamber until his death in February 1971.
Click here to hear C. William "Bill" Brownfield recite the Jaycee Creed.
This discussion of the Jaycee Creed below appeared in a "Special Edition" of FUTRE Magazine
distribiuted in the
early 1980's.
Throughout the world, Jaycees close their membership meetings
with the same 65 words that embodies all the principles for
which this organization stands. The
Creed was applicable in 1947 and it is
applicable today.
Had it been written in
1920, when the organization was founded,
the same would have been true.
The precepts of the Creed are dateless.
They do not rely on fashion for their
acceptability. Faith in God will never go
out of style, nor will brotherhood, the
worth of humanity or service to others.
And, neither will a government of laws
and a system of free enterprise that has
built America.
Very simply, then, those 65 words of
the Jaycee Creed are the golden rule.
They are the foundation upon which
rests the history and the future of Jaycees.
These 65 words are a guide after
which Jaycees may pattern their everyday
lives. The Creed is a way of life.
We Believe:
That Faith In God Gives Meaning
And Purpose To Human Life ...
Without faith in a greater power,
our lives are meaningless. And it is faith
in God's love and His
eternal promise
that gives purpose to our lives.
That The Brotherhood Of Man
Transcend's The Sovereignty Of Nations ...
God made man in His own image to
work together and share the earth.
Jaycees gives us an opportunity to practice
the art of living together in the spirit
of brotherhood and in the true
interest of
humanity.
That Economic Justice Can Best Be
Won By Free Men Through Free Enterprise
For years, men have debated the
question of how to best secure freedom
for their fellowmen: government regimentation
or cooperation of free enterprise
and free government? Jaycees
believe the best way to nurture and
support the rights of all citizens is within
the framework
of checks and balances
known as the free enterprise system.
That Government Should Be Of
Laws Rather Than Of Men ...
Government must rest on a foundation
of constitutional Jaw, accepted and
ratified by a
majority of the people. If
government does not rest on such a foundation,
tyranny will
flourish and people
will be anipulated by those in power.
That Earth's Great Treasure Lies In
Human Personality ...
None of the great and wonderful
inventions and discoveries since the
world began can compare
with something
each of us has - the uniqueness of
human spirit. That spirit, that personality
is the most basic and important element
of humanity. And it is that which
sets us aside from
all other life - yet
gives us a special relationship with one
another. Jaycees work hard at
developing
that uniqueness - and that relationship.
And That Service To Humanity Is
The Best Work Of Life.
Why do Jaycees give so much of
their time and energy to their activities?
Because they believe that giving of themselves
to serve others is really doing what
their God asks of them: to make their
lives of lasting value, something enduring
and immortal. We live through our
deeds.
The Jaycee Creed: a guide for living
- a pathway on the road of life. But, it
may be more. It may also be the answer
to racial and religious prejudice, ethnic
animosities, antagonism between those
of different economic status and many
other forms of bigotry. In fact, it may be
more than that - the Jaycee Creed, if
lived by enough people, may be the hope
of our world.
Bill Brownfield was often asked for his interpretation of his masterpiece work, the Jaycee Creed. Here is part of what he had to say:
"The creed makes a powerful ascertation in the first two words, "We Believe."
"A weakness of the free world is a frequent failure to demonstrate faith in its basic principles. The descendents of those who wrote the Magna Carta, who broke the yoke of feudalism in Europe, and who have risen from colonial status to independence often act as though the battle for freedom has been won forever. But to believe in democracy is to live and work in that faith so that all men may know what freedom means."
"If we stand fearlessly beside those who seek freedom for themselves, and if we lead out boldly toward the building of a better world, the the voice of free men will resound across nations, and men will listen!"
"But first of all, WE MUST BELIEVE!"
Bill Brownfield is pictured with his daughter Margaret and his wife Lillian.
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Photo taken in 2012 of Foundation Board
Member Jack Gamel with the original
United States Junior Chamber Creed.
The Creed, sealed in a glass case for
protection,
hung in the
US Jaycee Headquarters
in Tulsa, OK and now is on loan
and displayed
in the JCI offices in St. Louis.
Click on the image to see a larger version
of the Creed and see if you can find an
interesting fact about this Creed banner!
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