The stein is thick beige porcelain with a colorful lithographed decoration, 5 1/2 inches high,
and stamped on the bottom with an A&Eagle logo. The central design features the first line of
the 65 word Jaycees Creed. “We believe that faith in God gives meaning and purpose to human life”.
It is portrayed against a backdrop of blazing yellow sunlight, flanked on both sides by winged cherubs,
and the logo of the U.S. JCI Senate above the Budweiser “bowtie”.
The story behind the Jaycee Creed is inspiring it was written in 1946 by C. William (Bill) Brownfield
with whom I may share a somewhat rare family
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name, but am unable to find any family connection.
He was a Jaycee activist and deeply devout Methodist lay-minister from Ohio. He rejected formal
ordination for himself because of his doubts about there being any “one true faith”. He thought
good people of different religions were alienated from each other by such doctrinaire beliefs.
Unable to embrace the ministry with the commitment he felt necessary to be ordained, he chose,
instead, to make his living in business, never compromising his high ethical and moral standards.
This shortened story loses a lot about the complexity of Bill Brownfield, his personal struggle
with Multiple Sclerosis, his horrendous |  |
business setbacks, his optimistic leadership role, and his
initial resistance to putting any mention of religious faith in the Jaycee creed, only to be inspired
to write the stunning first line (which appears on the stein) during a 20-minute solitary drive
in the country.
What a surprise it was to discover such depth of meaning in the story behind a simple beer stein!
The Creed of the Jaycees is a guideline for the “good life” in a free society, whether or not one is,
or ever has been in the Jaycees.
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